"We have to recognize that we’ve got 12 million undocumented workers who are already here. Many of them living their lives alongside other Americans. Their kids are going to school. Many of the kids, in fact, were born in this country and are citizens. And so it’s absolutely vital that we bring those families out of the shadows and that we give them the opportunity to travel a pathway to citizenship. It’s not automatic citizenship. It’s not amnesty. They would have to not have engaged in any criminal activity. They would have to learn English. They would have to go to the back of the line so that they did not get citizenship before those persons who had come here legally." - Larry King Live, March 19, 2007

“We need to have a guest worker program. ... Our proposal is, basically, you can get a tamper-proof visa after your job has been proven that it cannot be filled by an American citizen. ...What do you do with the 11 million people that are already here? ... Make them earn citizenship because they have broken our laws. My friends, that's not amnesty. Amnesty is forgiveness. We're not forgiving anything." - In New Hampshire, April 7, 2007

“The opinion advanced [by Thomas Jefferson] is undoubtedly correct, that foreigners will generally be apt to bring with them attachments to the persons they have left behind; to the country of their nativity, and to its particular customs and manners.They will also entertain opinions on government congenial with those under which they have lived; or, if they should be led hither from a preference to ours, how extremely unlikely is it that they will bring with them that temperate love of liberty, so essential to real republicanism? There may, as to particular individuals, and at particular times, be occasional exceptions to these remarks, yet such is the general rule. The influx of foreigners must, therefore, tend to produce a heterogeneous compound; to complicate and confound public opinion; to introduce foreign propensities. In the composition of society, the harmony of the ingredients is all-important, and whatever tends to a discordant intermixture must have an injurious tendency."

“Col. Mason - If it were possible by just means to prevent emigrations to the Western Country, it might be good policy. But go the people will as they find it for their interest, and the best policy is to treat them with that equality which will make them friends not enemies."

“The only encouragements we hold out to strangers are a good climate, fertile soil, wholesome air and water, plenty of provisions and fuel, good pay for labor, kind neighbors, good laws, liberty, and a hearty welcome; the rest depends on a man’s own industry and virtue. Lands are cheap, but they must be bought. All settlements are undertaken at private expense; the public contributes nothing but defense and justice.”

“The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions, whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct, they appear to merit the enjoyment.”

“The combination of globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers. I would add an anti-union climate to that list. But all weaken the position of workers, particularly blue-collar workers, in the economy... We have drastically increased productivity since 1995, and there was the theory that if you increase productivity enough some of these problems of living standards would solve themselves. But what we’ve seen is rising productivity, rising average family.”- Interview with Bob Davis and Amy Chozick as published in the Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2008

“For too long, government has been the voice of big business, not small business. And, to make matters worse, even when very large businesses violate their trust, they seem to be held to a different standard -- getting away with conduct that would leave any small business owner broke. We need rules that assure fairness and punish wrongdoing in the market, and hold every business person in America to the same fair standards…. Americans are right to be of-fended when the extravagant salaries and severance deals of CEOs -- in some cases, the very same CEOs who helped to bring on these market troubles -- bear no relation to the success of the company or the wishes of shareholders. Something is seriously wrong when the American people are left to bear the consequences of reckless corporate conduct, while the offenders themselves are packed off with another 40 or 50 - million for the road.If I am elected president, I intend to see that wrongdoing of this kind is called to account by federal prosecutors. And under my reforms, all aspects of a CEO’s pay, including any severance arrangements, must be approved by shareholders.”- Remarks by John McCain at the NFIB and eBay 2008 National Small Business Summit, June 10, 2008

“Present-day society is wholly based on the exploitation of the vast masses of the working class by a tiny minority of the population, the class of the landowners and that of the capitalists. It is a slave society, since the ‘free’ workers, who all their life work for the capitalists, are ‘entitled’ only to such means of subsistence as are essential for the maintenance of slaves who produce profit, for the safeguarding and perpetuation of capitalist slavery."

“It is a fact that should strike us with surprise and with shame that we are now obliged to borrow money in order to pay the interest of our debts. It is a fact that these debts are everyday accumulating by compound interests. This…will one day endanger the peace of our country, and expose us to vicissitudes the most alarming.”

“Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.”

“To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers have acquired too much, in order to spare to others who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equaled industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, 'to guarantee to everyone of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it.' If the overgrown wealth of an individual be deemed a danger to the state, the best corrective is the law of equal inheritance to all [his descendents] in equal degrees; and the better, as this enforces a law of nature, while extra taxation violates it."

“Think what you do when you run in debt: you give to another power over your liberty.” “I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading them or driving them out of it.”

“There is no practice more dangerous than that of borrowing money;…for when money can be had in this way, repayment is seldom thought of in time, the interest becomes a loss, exertions to raise it by dint of industry cease, it comes easy and is spent freely, and many things [are] indulged in that would never be thought of if [they were] to be purchased by the sweat of the brow. In the meantime, the debt is accumulating like a snowball in rolling.”

The utopian schemes of leveling[redistribution of the wealthy], and a community of goods [central ownership of all the means of production and distribution], are as visionary and impracticable as those which vest all property in the Crown. [These ideas] are arbitrary, despotic, and, in our government, unconstitutional.”

“…I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness. We saw an article today which showed that the top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year -- $29 billion for 50 individuals. And part of what has happened is that those who are able to work the stock market and amass huge fortunes on capital gains are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries. That’s not fair. And what I want is not oppressive taxation. I want businesses to thrive, and I want people to be rewarded for their success. But what I also want to make sure is that our tax system is fair and that we are able to we’re able to invest in our infrastructure and invest in our schools. And you can’t do that for free.” - Democratic presidential debate hosted by Charlie Gibson, April 16, 2007

“I won’t let the Democrats roll back the Bush tax cuts. I believe we should protect the American family against tax increases by requiring a three-fifths majority in Congress to raise taxes. But I will cut middle-class taxes and keep them low the right way - by also cutting spending so we don't add to the debt we leave to our children." - Address to "Americans for Prosperity" Summit, Livonia, MI, January 12, 2008.

"Capitalist production,therefore, develops technology, and the combining together of various processes into a social whole, only by sapping the original sources of all wealth-the soil and the laborer.”

“Arbitrary taxes, under which denomination are comprised all those that leave the quantum of the tax to be raised on each person to the discretion of certain officers, are as contrary to the genius of liberty as to the maxims of industry. In this light, they have been viewed by the most judicious observers of government, who have bestowed upon them the severest epitaphs of reprobation as consulting one of the worst features usually to be met within the practice of despotic governments"

“Some who have not denied the necessity of the power of taxation, have grounded very fierce attack against the Constitution on the language in which it is defined. It has been urged and echoed, that the power 'to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States,' amounts to an unlimited commission to exercise every power which may be alledged to be necessary for the common defence or general welfare. No stronger proof could be given of the distress under which these writers labour for objections, than their stooping to such a misconstruction."

“A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.”

“When the government finds it necessary for the common benefit, advantage, and safety of the nation, for the security of our liberties, property, religion, and everything that is dear to us, that certain sums shall be yearly raised by taxes, duties, etc., and paid into the public treasury, thence to be dispensed by government for those purposes, ought not every honest man freely and willingly pay his just proportion of this necessary expense? Can he possibly preserve a right to that character if, by any fraud, stratagem, or contrivance, he avoids that payment in whole or in part?"

“We're not going to defeat the threats of the 21st century on a conventional battlefield...We're not going to win a battle of ideas with bullets alone. Make no mistake: we must always be prepared to use force to protect America. But the best way to keep America safe is not to threaten terrorists with nuclear weapons; it's to keep nuclear weapons and nuclear materials away from terrorists.” - 'New Beginning in Iraq Speech' given at DePaul University, October 2, 2007

"Defeating radical Islamist extremists is the national security challenge of our time. At home, my administration will be fully prepared to deter, detect and respond to any attack. But we must stay on offense. The 9/11 attack highlighted a failure to adequately respond to a hostile global terror network. Before 9/11, al Qaeda was basically free to plan, train, and conduct attacks from Afghanistan - despite bombing US embassies and attacking the USS Cole. As President, I will not allow such terrorist sanctuary. We must never again assume that the activities of extremists overseas do not impact our own security, which is why we must succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan." - Washington Post Interview, 2008

"Our aim is to achieve a socialist system of society, which, by eliminating the division of mankind into classes, by eliminating all exploitation of man by man and nation by nation, will inevitably eliminate the very possibility of war."

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood."

“Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that, however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition, of others.”

“War should not only be declared by the authority of the people whose tolls and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits; but…each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on at the expense of other generations.”

“Peace,commerce, and honest friendship with all nations – Entangling alliances with none.”

“The nation which indulges toward another a habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.”

“The very fame of our strength and readiness would be a means of discouraging our enemies; for ‘tis a wise and true saint, that one sort often keeps another in a scabbard. The way to secure peace is to be prepared for war. They that are on their guard, and appear ready to receive their adversaries, are in muchless danger of being attacked than the supine, secure and negligent."

“As a general principle, I believe that the Constitution confers an individual right to bear arms. But just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can’t constrain the exercise of that right, and, you know, in the same way that we have a right to private property but local governments can establish zoning ordinances that determine how you can use it.” - ABC Democratic Debate, April 16, 2008

“…The Second Amendment is unique in the world and at the core of our constitutional freedoms. It guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. To argue anything else is to reject the clear meaning of our Founding Fathers.” - Address to Annual Convention of National Rifle Association, Washington, DC, September 21, 2007

"Disarmament is the ideal of socialism. There will be no wars in socialist society; consequently, disarmament will be achieved. But whoever expects that socialism will be achieved without a social revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat is not a socialist. Dictatorship is state power based directly on violence. And in the twentieth century—as in the age of civilization generally - violence means neither a fist nor a club, but troops."

"The said constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms"

“That the people have a right to keep and bear arms; that a well regulated militia composed of the body of the people trained to arms, is the proper, natural and safe defense of a free State. That standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, and therefore ought to be avoided, as far as the circumstances and protection of the community will admit; and that, in all cases, the military should be under strict subordination to and governed by the civil power.”

“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries, whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”

“No free man shall ever be de-barred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain their right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”

“Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms under our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?”

“Arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but, since some will not, others dare not lay them aside. And while a single nation refuses to lay them down, it is proper that all should keep them up.