My dad supports me in everything i do. I have a great relationship, my dad had challenges growing debt but he got clean the law earlier in the newseums to work for the federal government. He did well for himself but he had some challenges growing up also that he had to overcome. That was my relationship. We have the beating aside, totally against that. 1,000 this is in the early 70s. Selling that out, just the fact that she is not doing that, and that was love. I am from and eddie and eddie amityville and i have a question about my relationship with my sister. She is an entrepreneur, and she entwines all these things and gets caught up with unsavory elements in our environment so she has been incarcerated most of my adult life back and forth. Since i was 15 years old. In the frost this of differing times she has impersonated me. I am counselor and the work and different boards and that live in the town of babylon to assist in opening a silver home and i have been awarded certain things. As a veterans they allow me to start my own business and i think that mean i have one major challenge and that is how do i at this age find healing and forgiveness for my sister and be able to help her because literally she is asking for my help. Let me have tracy answer the question. I have to be fair, i have to give her a chance but where and how do i start . It has to be a way that i havent been manipulated in the past. That is of very important question. I have a lot of family members in prison. Just recently, my cousin that i got in trouble with that i was locked up with, that same cousin is locked away for murder, and i still write him, send him money, support him even though he is still in prison now and may be in prison for a long time. I think it is a way you can support from a far. It is hard these are my brothers and sisters, these are my cousins, my cousins are like my brothers. We are always that close. I try to support him and support them. Another cousin, his brother actually who came home from doing 17 years, has a job and lost the job so i am trying to help him get another job to keep him from going to survive, family is family. You dont let them bring you down and stop you from doing what you need to do. Family can do that also. You have to support your sister, that is never going to change. You have to support her but you dont want her to hamper you from doing what you wouldnt do for yourself or your family. I appreciate your time. I dont know how much time we have. I need a timekeeper. We have eight or so minutes. Ten minutes. Lets have your question. Right on time. I always find it a privilege to be in places like this. How is it that you havent found your darkest period . That is what your grandmother said, you will be found in your darkest moment. You were able to recover to a point that you flew to the heights that you did and open a business and have people who come to you to be employed with the same background you have. And your people are pursuing and the people before me. Where did you find that you can pass on to the next person to do the same thing . It is less god for me. They dont like to talk about religion but they help me, that is what helped me. My faith and my belief in god. And that would be the cornerstone. When you start reading the bible and the talks about the first will be less than the last will be first and i look at myself and was rejected. And what you really believe in is nothing that i believe even with all the stuff you have, all the convictions, prior addictions, everything i have my still believe and my faith allows me to believe this. There is nothing that i cant do. People say you should run for mayor or senate. In my mind, and if i wanted to, not something im interested in right now but when people say that to me, it is not farfetched for me because my faith allows me to believe that anything i want to do in this lifetime is impossible for me to do and do is cut and dried with me. I grew up in trinidad in the tropics where we have a lot of bats at night and my father would say to us you are not a bad. When you fall you dont fall on your head and get knocked out because you are not a bad. You dont fall on your head and get knocked out. You fall on your feet and jump up. The piece that a lot of people need to tell lot of young people again, here i am as the teacher, it is about hard work and persistence. They missed the idea of hard work. People say to me he elizabeth, how come every time i look around you have written another book . This morning at 5 30 in the morning i was on my computer. I knew i had to get here. From 5 30 to 9 30, how many hours is that . I got four hours of riding the morning i just started. It is persistence and doing the work. When students come to me and tell me, when i start, if you coming at 10 30 when you better go to somebody elses class. Because i have to model it. I have to be fair on the dust at 10 30. When you and your papers, the next class i have to have your paper corrected. I want you to give me back. So you models that. There are no exceptions and it always interests me that students come to my class the next semester, you know what you are into. Sometimes when you say you wish it, i want it, i wish it, i want it, that is fine but young people have to understand people who reach where you are, wishing it and dreaming and imagining it, it is by working, putting hard work, i say to my son all the time, and that is important. And it started early and end very late. And i believe in hard work. I believe like you said from being on time, doing what you say you are going to do. If you cant be on time, the early. That is something we have to live by. I also believe no excuses. I dont believe in making excuses for anything. I believe in results. My dad always told me for every problem there are Ten Solutions and as you walk away at you get harder and harder but you have to figure it out. I really believe that. People have to understand. What i tell you i stopped at 9 30 my granddaughter who is 7 years old had not finished her chapter in the book yesterday and i told her parents at 930 she comes over to my house at 9 30 and says can i look at tv . I simply 10 minutes. You have to finish the chapter. I am saying to you you put that with generations, you let somebody i let her know if you are going to finish this and you didnt finish it today you finish it tomorrow even if it is you finish it. And i think we need many more years that i want to tell you but i know really my students who have done well who have achieved and some of them i just, you know, i was walking down lewis avenue and this man comes to me and practically bows in the streets and everyone is walking him and he says do you know who i am . He is a doctor ought some prestigious hospital and he says to me i was in your class where i teach thousands of students, cant even remember, when i heard you call yourself a doctor elizabeth nunez, what is that . Talking bout modeling and i am not american but it is that and the sense of knowing is not just a few can dream it you can achieve it. That is not it. You dream it that is the first the. If you work hard you can achieve it. You have a question. My name is david. I wanted a quick question. How can we address the mentality young black males in our communities, get them, find some way to get them out from that mentality and getting themselves in trouble realizing that is not really a thing . I got to get them to read my book. That is the reason i titled it some students i teach in my Business Program didnt know anything about it. I dont want you to experience that. I want you to go straight to the board room. And how to get there and allow our kids in the inner city and the young man who did the introduction to the book said it so eloquently, it is a walking beautifully with god, hard work and opportunity and those three things, i dont believe in good luck, i never wish anybody good luck. I believe we all have the ability to create our own version of lock through hard work and opportunity. I try to spread that message wherever i can. I dont believe if you dream it you can achieve it. When you dream you got to wake up. Do something to make that happen. I am tired of hearing that, you have no idea. This is the first time i met you but i am inspired by you, i am inspired to get more involved and work harder. Thank you, appreciate it. Read his book, by the book, pass it on. I didnt say much about my book. Thank you for being here. Thank yo Rick Santorum is the author of bluecollar conservatives. [laughter] remember they were colleagues in the senate together. He is the author of bluecollar conservatives recommitting to an america that works. I guess as a bluecollar conservative that is why hes not wearing a coat and tie today. Rick santorum served in the u. S. House and the u. S. Senate from 95 to 2007 in the state of pennsylvania. He was a leading contender for the nomination in 2012. He was a staunch defender of the right to life and marriage of a growing faith and family Film Production company. After the 2012 election he cofounded patriot voices a grassroots and on Line Community of americans committed to faith family freedom and opportunity. His other book is it takes a family and american patriots answering the call to freedom. Please welcome former senator Rick Santorum. [applause] all over duddy. Thank you for inviting me to be here. When they asked me to do something the answer is always yes. Shes a great lady and a great leader and thank you for participating in working with the eagle forum this year and you are to be congratulated for your wisdom in choosing to help with that organization. Let me mention a couple of things. First off im going to be back here next month in this round two i guess he could say premiere in washington our next movie. Echo lights studios is a Movie Distribution company. We make featurelength Motion Pictures and we have done a couple of films that is already out. We have couple months ago released their redemption of henry myers. But we felt, i felt that it was important for us to weigh in to a faithbased movie company. I thought it was important for us to weigh into an area that i think is the quintessential issue of our time with respect to faith and that is their religious liberty. So we put together a documentary which is coming out september 1. We will show it in august and you can talk to heritage and get an invitation to see the gui so youre weigh in here. Its called it chronicles seven or eight i cant remember which cases. The hobby lobby case and the substance of that but it also talks about the cake baker in oregon the florist in washington the photographer who wouldnt participate in samesex weddings. With a military travel issue and in education we have someone who was kicked out of eastern michigan because of her beliefs, her religious beliefs so its a great chronicle over whats going on. We have some fabulous people. Jennifer marshall is probably the leading spokesperson. She is in a movie quite a bit. We have mike huckabee, me and a whole host of other. Its great that we have barry lynn and then we have the Southern Poverty Law Center and freedom from freedom for religion. We have peter singer from princeton. These folks are in their letting you know their worldview. I think its really important to see them uncut, what they believe in. That is one of the things we will be launching and we will be taking that out. We have a different way of showing our movies where we decided not to premiere movies in theaters anymore. We are going to premiere our movies in churches because churches now have the ability to be theaters, a lot of them. Instead of encouraging pastors and people to get their congregants to go to the theater we are going to have them be the theater and the center of culture instead of sending them to theaters and making hollywood a lot of money. Hopefully we will make the church and thus a lot of money by showing it. If you belong to a church and you were called acolytes in the medicine you want to get your church to be involved in that we would encourage you to go do echo lights cinemas. Com and do just that. Let me talk about the subject that is the title of the book. Ive been doing a book tour for the last couple of months about this issue of what i call bluecollar conservatives. When i ran for election 2012 we did very well. What every experts said would happen. We were given the least and all these odds they have oddsmakers. We are at the bottom. No one had a lower chance of being the republican nominee than me. In the end we were right there and were leading the race at one point and after missouri, colorado and minnesota when we won those three states we have an opportunity to potentially steal the election that way even though we were being outspent seven to one. People say well its because he was the conservative alternative and he had a strong base among evangelical christians and that was what was making the difference. It was certainly been a good purgative to romney was a good thing though what was really making the end and we went over to them the message i was delivering. The message was a message focused on workers, focused on what i call economic populism but it was a message focused on the people in america who were being left behind by the economy today. 70 of americans do not have a College Degree. 70 of americans who are in their 30s dont have a College Degree. Its not changing. That number has been fairly constant. In fact it may be going going down and the reason may be going down is because of the enormous expense of a college education. We have 70 of americans who dont have a College Degree and get if you listen to both Political Parties i might add you here the emphasis on technology and on the new economy and all these things. If you look at 77 americans they dont necessarily see themselves as part of the picture that is intended by either political party. The democratic party, they at least Pay Attention to these voters not in a way that i think is helpful to voters that is what they want to do is redistribute wealth and send money but they dont want to send opportunity and they dont want to send the ability to rise. Their problem with republicans as we dont speak to those voters. We simply dont talk to them. If you think about the economic message of the Republican Party it has been the same as its been for the last 35 years. It hasnt changed. It hasnt changed at all. Think of the three things and think about if you want to boil it down to three things. Your pastor will tell you three things. What is the three thing Economic Policy . If you are going to say what are the three things republican focus on Economic Policy, number one, come on. Cut taxes. Number two, spending. Number three getting there, close. Balance the budget. Reduce the debt balance the budget. That has been our message for 35 years. We all go back to Ronald Reagan and say we had Ronald Reagan. When Ronald Reagan came to office that wasnt the message of the republicans. There was a new message. He didnt say eisenhower did this. We are going to do what eisenhower did. It was a new message. We are stuck. Are these bad messages. [inaudible question] not suggesting they are bad messages but the problems Ronald Reagan were dealing with are different than the problems we are dealing with today. If Ronald Reagan said we are using the same message that we used 40 years ago what are you doing . Havent you looked at look at america and see the different america that we d ago . Of course its very different. I got my First Mortgage in 1982 for a house. Anybody know what i paid in Interest Rates 1982 and i would i was a firsttime firsttime homebuyers at a discounted rate. 17. 5 . Mortgages were 20 mortgages. That was stagflation. Youre at all sorts of problems in america and 70 tax rates. So you say cut taxes, 70 tax rate its a big deal but when its 38 , 38 to 34 . Really . Such a platform . Thats pretty minimalist isnt it when it went from 70 to 30. Reagan had big ideas at the time. The problems that were in place when he was there so we need to learn from reagan but we dont need to be him. Most of the folks, most of the voters particularly your generation most of them dont even know who he is. Whats the problem facing America Today . What is the economic problem facing America Today . Lots of people do really well. That wasnt necessarily the case in the 1980s. Overall things were really bad. But there are a lot of people doing very well. There are a lot of people who arent. Actually a lot more people who arent them are. What are we saying to them . What is our message to them . What is our message should ever namic average american who see their wages stagnating who are seeing inflation beginning to creep up who see people who save getting 0 interest on their investments and getting involved in more risky ventures. What do we say to the folks who are living good responsible lives and working . Balance the budget. I challenge anybody here to tell me how balancing the budget is going to help average american workers. If you do, do it in 30 seconds. Good luck. But that is what we are on a message that doesnt connect. What is your favorite word . No. Everybody has the same favorite word although its different. Your name . Its her favorite word. Some of you may remember her from the campaign she is a little girl with disabilities. She has a lot of capabilities but she knows her name. When i sing her song she likes me to sing songs but she loves to have me sing songs with their names in the lyrics so i change all the words around and i have to say bella every four or five words and she loves the song. Everybody loves to hear their name. They love to see themselves. If you think about the republican message and we paint this beautiful picture of the economy and most americans dont see themselves in that picture. Where is the firemen . Wheres the construction worker . Wheres the truck driver . Where is the electrician . Where are they in this picture . They are nowhere. They are not getting a tax cut because they are not higher income and you say we tax them but we focus higher because thats what creates growth and that is what we talk about. They may have their benefits cut because they are on lower income receiving food stamps or other types of benefits but they dont see themselves in this picture. If we are going to be successful in painting a future vision for america we have got to include people in the picture. We dont need to become them to do it. That is what i wrote this book because you know what, dont know how many followed closely the 2012 election but i can tell you of all the things i did in the 2012 elections the things i hear and i gave thousands of speeches. I cant tell you how many speeches i gave. The one speech that people always asked to talk to me about this is speech that i gave in des moines iowa on caucus night. I got up there and i talked about my grandfather who was a coalminer. I talked about being at his funeral. It was the first funeral i had ever been to. I remember kneeling next to his casket. My eyes were eye level with him when i knelt down there. I looked down and i saw his hands folded like this. My grandfather it was a coalminer until he was 72 years old. He had the biggest, thickest hands i have ever seen in my life. I have got these little spindly fingers. He had big meaty tough working man hands. All i could do was sit here. He was an immigrant to this country brought my dad as a kid and he works like i said until he was 72 digging coal. I sat there and all i could think about was that those are the hands that doug mike i heard that everywhere i went. And people who arent coalminers but their dad was for their grandfather and they realize how important that work is and how we dont honor that anymore. America feels disconnected to its Political Class because we are a Political Class. We are not connected to the average worker in america. If you want to connect to hispanics, hispanics are like every other immigrant group. They come to harvard and d. O. At m. I. T. But the vast majority of immigrants like every other immigrant group that is effort come to america, they are working their way out. When you are talking bluecollar issues you have to be talking to hispanics. And you were talking to workers. A big issue that fallows talks about his immigration. We as republicans never talk about that. We never talk about immigration and how it affects the average worker and how it affects hispanics and their ability to provide for their families. We always talk about it in academic terms or cultural terms that we dont talk to them about it in terms of how its going to impact working men and women in this country and how it is impacting them and keeping wages down how its causing less employment. There is a message out there for us that is consistent with conservative policies that we can drive and be successful in and that is why wrote this book. That is why wanted to come here today and share it with you. It is a vision for and won final point and im out of time. One final point. America is sick and tired of division. Conservatives are sick and tired of division. They are tired of the fighting, tired of nobody getting along and tired of the victory. They really are tired of it. Even your most hard conservatives say enough with this. Its because we are we have the most divisive president in the history of this country. He personally attacks people and attacks them and goes after the other party like i have never seen a president before. Bill clinton didnt do it reagan didnt do