Republican presidential hopeful, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, shares a laugh with customers after refusing to sign a Boston Red Sox hat Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007, at the Country View Restaurant in Greenland, N.H.

Rudy Giuliani pens this op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal today:

With economic uncertainty weighing on the minds of many Americans, Congress is preparing to recess after another year of profligate spending, protectionist talk and promises of higher taxes. No wonder some people feel like we’re moving in the wrong direction. But I’m optimistic as I look to the future. It’s not our country that’s moving in the wrong direction — it’s Congress, and Washington’s culture of wasteful spending.

Over the last decade, nondefense spending has increased by 65% — the federal government currently spends $24,000 per household — while the number of earmarked pork projects rocketed from close to 1,000 to a height of nearly 14,000. This year, with only one appropriations bill enacted, earmarks already number 2,161.

A return to fiscal conservative principles can put America back on the right track, while giving Washington a much-needed dose of discipline.

Fiscal conservatism is based on two fundamental principles — cutting taxes and controlling spending. In recent years, the Republican Party has successfully cut taxes, but we have fallen short when it comes to controlling spending. The next president will need to strengthen both sides of the fiscal conservative equation, while reforming the culture of wasteful government spending with transparency and accountability. I believe I can do it because I’ve done it, and in a place that might even be more difficult than Washington.

We need to keep taxes low for our economy to grow. It’s not just a theory for me. I cut taxes 23 times as mayor of New York City with a Democratic City Council and State Assembly, and saw that lower taxes can result in higher revenue. Amid fears of an economic slowdown, now is the time to cut taxes, not raise them. But the Democratic presidential candidates all seem determined to impose an unprecedented $3 trillion tax hike on the American people.

Republicans have a clearer understanding of how our economy works. This summer, I unveiled my tax plan, which committed to making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, while aiming for still-lower marginal rates. We’ll give the death tax the death penalty, index the Alternative Minimum Tax for inflation as a step toward eliminating it entirely, expand tax-free savings accounts, and expand health-care choice through tax reform. We also need to reduce the corporate tax rate — which is currently the second highest in the industrialized world, behind Japan — to at least the average of the other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations, or 28%. These actions will protect American jobs, empowering us to compete and win in the global economy.

Controlling spending must be a chief executive’s priority or it doesn’t get done. That’s a lesson I learned from Ronald Reagan, and put into action when I was mayor. Real per capita spending actually fell during my administration. We cut the city bureaucracy by 20%, excluding cops on the street and teachers in the classroom.

We can do the same thing in Washington. Over the course of the next two terms, 42% of the federal civilian workforce is due to retire. We’ll only hire back half, taking the opportunity to right-size government by taking advantage of technology like the private sector did in recent years, and ultimately save taxpayers $21 billion annually.

We also need to return to spending controls and caps, a proven way to make Washington set priorities. As president, I will direct all federal agency heads to find 5% to 10% efficiency savings. If they come back to me and say it’s impossible to find 5% savings in a $2 billion agency, I’ll call on the Office of Management and Budget to identify the cuts. It’s time to put the “M” back in OMB.

Reforming a culture of wasteful spending requires standing up to special interests and insisting on transparency and accountability. Congress spent $29 billion on earmarks last year alone. Earmarks are the broken windows of the federal budget, signs of dysfunction and distress. Recent examples range from the absurd ($1.1 million in 2005 for researching baby food made from salmon) to the self-congratulatory ($2 million for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service). The American people want us to end earmarks once and for all.

But more needs to be done. We need to root out wasteful spending and fraud in benefit payments and contracts by convening a Government Waste Commission, such as the one that closed military bases. It can require Congress to vote up or down on a whole package of recommended cuts, beginning by considering the 3% of programs currently rated “ineffective” by the federal government itself.

Finally, we can both save money and provide better services by consolidating duplicative programs. We don’t need 342 economic development programs or 130 programs serving at risk youth or 72 federal programs dedicated to ensuring safe water (according to a 2004 report). No doubt many of these programs are worthy, but citizens shouldn’t have to navigate a maze of overlapping bureaucracies. Digital one-stop-shop centers will provide better citizen service at lower cost, while transforming industrial age bureaucracies to fit the information-age citizen.

Returning to principles of fiscal conservatism is not an end to itself. We believe these ideas ultimately help government work better for all Americans. Cutting taxes and controlling spending creates a government that is smaller and smarter, more efficient and more effective. It can help balance the budget and reduce the deficit. Most of all, a healthy combination of pro-growth policies and fiscal discipline unleashes the genius of America’s free-market economy — empowering not government, but the citizens it exists to serve.

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Republican Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani speaks at Family Research Council’s Washington Values Voter Summit Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007, in Washington.

Giuliani tries to assure conservatives

Rudy Giuliani tried to find peace with a restless bloc of the Republican Party Saturday, telling religious conservatives not to fear him for his stand on issues such as abortion or expect he would change purely for political advantage.

The GOP presidential candidate sought common ground with his audience by casting himself as an imperfect man who has asked for guidance through prayer.

He offered assurances that despite his support for abortion rights, he would seek to lower the number of abortions. He pledged that if elected, he would appoint conservative judges, support school choice and insist on victory in Iraq — all issues important to the audience at the Value Voters Summit.

The MONEY QUOTES:

• “My belief in God and reliance on his guidance is at the core of who I am, I can assure you of that,” Giuliani said. “But isn’t it better for me to tell you what I believe rather than change my positions to fit the prevailing wind?”

• “People of good conscience reach different conclusions about whether abortions should be legal in certain circumstances,” he said while vowing to increase adoptions.

• “We may not always agree,” he said. “I don’t always agree with myself. But I will give you reason to trust me.”

• Religion is about love, inclusion and forgiveness. It is about salvation. … If we expect perfection from our political leaders, we will be disappointed.

• “You have nothing to fear from me.” Some make me out to be an activist for liberal causes. If you believe that, just check any New York Times editorial while I was mayor.

• “We’ve got to find a way to be more inclusive,” Giuliani said. “Christianity is all about inclusiveness. It’s built around the most profound act of love in human history, isn’t it? … I’m running for president of the United States because I believe I can bring us together. Strong leadership can help us find common solutions to our problems.”

• “I’ll continue to extend my hand to you,” he concluded, “and I hope you’ll take it.”

Rudy on abortion:

• Veto any reductions of the Hyde amendment.

• Support any reasonable suggestion that reduces the number of abortions. Mentions parental notification and PBA ban.

• Make the 10k adoption tax credit permanent.

• Mentions faith-based initiatives.

• Judges.

The Reaction:

• “He comforted a lot of conservatives,” said Bob Kilbanks, an anti-abortion Republican and former congressional candidate in Pennsylvania. “It would be against my conscience to vote for him, but I think he would get a lot of conservative votes and he would come as near to protect life without changing his views and values.”

• Soren Dayton: “His closing applause was much, much stronger than the opening. A lot of the people sitting when he came in were standing. That’s a difference. He may not win the crowd, but he doesn’t need to. He needs to neutralize it.I think he did that. Rudy couldn’t hit a home run, but he could hit a double. And he did.”

• David Brody of CBN: “Here’s the way I see it. The speech was very good and had a lot of issue oriented meat in it. Giuliani was greeted with polite applause but left the room to an even friendlier crowd. To use a football analogy, he may not have gotten in the end zone with this crowd, but he “moved the chains” with this speech. The ball is marching down the field. No fumble.”

• There were signs that Mr. Giuliani might have succeeded in drawing some Christian conservatives to him.David and Merrily Crowe of Tennessee, who run an evangelical group called Restore America, arrived at the convention hall this morning skeptical but curious about Mr. Giuliani. They came away moved by what they described as his “honesty” and “transparency.”“My wife leaned over to me afterward and said, ‘I’m going to vote for him,’” Mr. Crowe said. “And I probably will, too.”

Rudy went into the Lions Den today and stood up for his own beliefs and conscience - respectful but firm.

Isn’t that what America needs as a President? A LEADER

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Giuliani Now Confirmed for Value Voters Event

And with those words, all eyes will now be on this event. I am told Giuliani will speak Saturday morning. There will be a straw poll at the event and the results will be announced sometime Saturday afternoon.

You can say whatever you want about Giuliani but give him this much: he’s not backing down. This is typical of him and his campaign. They will not concede the social conservative vote. They believe (as documented in this space before) that they can win over quite a few social conservatives. They are not rolling over.

And most of the voters, although they may not agree with Rudy on all issues, will I am positive WILL with him on 90% of them. Rudy will tell it like it is.

Rudy will NOT win the straw poll, but so what?

Both will need each other in order to beat Hillary Clinton.

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Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani speaks at the Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s Defending the American Dream Summit in Washington, October 5, 2007.

Giuliani criticizes GOP on spending - Shame on Us

Republican presidential contenders on Friday scolded Congress for extravagant spending of taxpayer dollars, and Rudy Giuliani blamed the issue for GOP losses in last year’s elections.

“We lost control of Congress because we were just like the Democrats as far as spending is concerned — shame on us,” Giuliani told the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity.

But the former New York mayor spent most of his 25-minute speech ridiculing Hillary Rodham Clinton and other Democratic candidates, saying, “Republicans are amateur spenders, and Democrats are professional spenders.”

Giuliani addresses more than 1,700 grassroots activists at the first annual Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream Summit in the Mayflower Hotel Ballroom, Oct. 5, 2007:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The transcript of the Mayor’s remarks is here.

The Giuliani campaign’s video is here.

And here is the Hillary Clinton Baby Bond the Mayor references in his speech:

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