Methodists From The United States

"Iowa is strong and proud because of its education leadership. When Gov. Kim Reynolds signed education savings accounts into law earlier this year, she gave families the freedom to choose the school that’s right for their children. I fought for that same freedom as governor, and I’ll deliver it nationwide as President. And I’ll make sure no politician can close our schools ever again. Iowa’s strength and pride spring from many sources. This is a state that backs the blue, putting the police and safe streets ahead of criminals and chaos. It believes in defending religious liberty and the lives of the unborn. Families here believe in military service, which matters to me, as the wife of a combat veteran. And Iowans know we have to secure our border and stop the flow of dangerous drugs like fentanyl. The lives of our children, and the survival of our nation, depend on it."

"As a former Republican political operative who worked in South Carolina presidential primaries, I look at Ms. Haley now, as she prepares to launch her own presidential campaign, with sadness tinged with regret for what could have been. But I’m not a bit surprised. Her rise and fall only highlights what many of us already knew: Mr. Trump didn’t change the Republican Party; he revealed it. Ms. Haley, for all her talents, embodies the moral failure of the party in its drive to win at any cost, a drive so ruthless and insistent that it has transformed the G.O.P. into an autocratic movement. It’s not that she has changed positions to suit the political moment or even that she has abandoned beliefs she once claimed to be deeply held. It’s that the 2023 version of Ms. Haley is actively working against the core values that the 2016 Ms. Haley would have held to be the very foundation of her public life."

"In her 2019 book, With All Due Respect, the sort of autobiography candidates feel obligated to produce before launching a presidential campaign, Ms. Haley mentions Mr. Trump 163 times, overwhelmingly complimentary. In one lengthy passage, she insists that she was not alluding to him in her 2016 Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, when she called on Americans to resist “the siren call of the angriest voices.” It is always sad to see politicians lack the courage to say what should be said, but sadder still to see them speak up and later argue any courageous intent was misinterpreted. It didn’t have to be this way. No one forced Ms. Haley to accept Mr. Trump after he bragged about assaulting women in the “Access Hollywood” tape. No one forced her to defend the Confederate flag. No one forced her to assert Mr. Trump had “lost any sort of political viability” not long after the Capitol riot, then reverse herself, saying she “would not run if President Trump ran,” then prepare to challenge Mr. Trump for the nomination. There is nothing new or novel about an ambitious politician engaging in transactional politics, but that’s a rare trifecta of flip-flop-flip."

"There is a great future behind Nikki Haley. She will never be the voice of truth she briefly was in 2016, and she will never be MAGA enough to satisfy the base of her party. But no one should feel sorry for Ms. Haley. It was her choice."

"So if we're talking about entitlement reform, the first thing we do is, look, I have parents in their 80s. We take care of them. I don't want anything to hurt the seniors or anyone that's getting ready to retire. But I have kids in their 20s, those are the ones that need to go and know that things are going to be changed. So what you would do is for those in their 20s coming into the system, we would change the retirement age so that it matches life expectancy. The second thing we would do is we would limit benefits for the wealthy. Then you go further instead of cost of living increases do increases based on inflation. That's something Republicans and Democrats would agree with. And then more than that, expand Medicare Advantage plan so that we have more competition, and we run the costs down. That's what entitlement reform will look like. That's how you're going to make it sustainable. And that's also how you bring down the cost of what we're seeing right now."

"You keep your promises to those that we've made, promises to. Those that have invested in should keep what they have. We shouldn't in any way jeopardize those that are already expecting something. This is about the new group coming in. It's the new ones coming in. It's those in their twenties that are coming in. You're coming to them and you're saying the game has changed. We're going to do this completely differently. That's how you go and you focus on it. We've got to start doing things like that. But more than that, we have to look at the fact that there is a spending problem in DC and Republicans and Democrats have done this to us, Neil. Don't forget that when this all started, with the Republicans, they passed a $2.2 trillion COVID stimulus package 419-6 in the House and 96 to 0 in the Senate that expanded welfare. Now we have 90 million people on Medicaid. You've got 42 million people on food stamps. We should be taking people from welfare to work. We shouldn't be paying people to sit on the couch and adding to the rolls of welfare. It was under Republicans' watch. They opened up earmarks again. Why are we spending on pork projects when one in six Americans can't pay their utility bill? We should stop borrowing. We don't have endless credit cards in our households or our businesses. Why are we allowing that to happen? And we should make sure that they understand that you should not pass a spending bill that doesn't take us back to pre-COVID levels. This is going to have to be harsh. It's going to take a president that is going to call out Republicans and Democrats. I did that as governor. I'll do it again as president."

"We are giving huge amounts of cash to countries that vote against us most of the time. That doesn’t make sense. I’ll stop it. America can’t buy our friends. We’ll certainly never buy off our enemies."

"America spent $46 billion on foreign aid last year. That’s more than any other country by far. Taxpayers deserve to know where that money is going and what it’s doing. They will be shocked to find that much of it goes to fund anti-American countries and causes. As president, I’ll put a stop to this fiasco."

"The Biden administration resumed military aid to Pakistan, though it’s home to at least a dozen terrorist organizations and its government is deeply in hock to China... strongly supported President Donald Trump’s decision to cut nearly $2 billion of military aid to Pakistan because that country supports terrorists who kill American troops.... It was a major victory for our troops, our taxpayers and our vital interests, but it didn’t go nearly far enough. We’ve still given them way too much in other aid. As president, I will block every penny."

"No country has a right to the American taxpayer’s money. Our leaders have a responsibility to protect our people and promote our interests. Our politicians aren’t doing that, all the way up to President Joe Biden. It’s about time we had a president who did."

"The values that sustain Iowa are the bedrock of America. Yet President Biden is hard at work undermining them. He’s weakening our country – economically, culturally, and spiritually – at the exact moment we need to be strong. And he’s destroying the pride that inspires each generation to defend our freedom, which is an urgent necessity in the face of Communist China. President Biden and his party have even spread the lie that America is racist. Take it from me, the first minority female governor in history: America is not a racist country."

"When I focused on the profiles in this book, I didn’t research if the women were Republican or Democrat. I didn’t know which president they voted for. What I know is they inspired me. They inspired me because they were above the noise. They each had one life and were determined to make the most of it. How amazing is that? They knew they were meant for great things, and they chased them until they fulfilled their purpose."

"Many think women are too emotional. Some think we are too ambitious. Some are convinced we are defined by one issue: whether we are pro-life or pro-choice. That’s unfortunate. I feel a kinship and sisterhood with women regardless of party. I often send supportive notes to women who have excelled in their field regardless of their political affiliation. Many have asked why I do that and waste my time. My answer: we are more than the issues the media divides us on. Growing up, I was always aware of how the media, the establishment on both sides, and academia divide women. You don’t see the same bias with men."

"I am increasingly trying to make the most of my life and fulfill my purpose. And it’s okay if you don’t know your purpose yet. Just never stop searching and trying to find it. Every day you wake up, you have a choice. Either you push through the fear to find greatness or you sit on the sidelines, avoid challenges, and settle for comfort. One of the most important things we can do in life is push through the fear. When you do that, you live life the way God intended. The amazing women highlighted in this book all pushed through the fear. They knew they were called for a higher purpose. They faced challenges head-on. They were often ridiculed and isolated. But they showed us that challenges can be overcome and are worth the fight."

"It’s easy to talk about principles. It’s hard to stand by them when everyone is lined up against you."

"Sometimes it seems like we live in a zero-sum game, where one person’s success detracts from another person’s. Or we think we can only be successful by trampling on other people on our way to the top. Or that being great demands a certain isolation or mean streak. That’s simply not true. We are so much stronger when we join together with others. We are so much better off when we use our personal success to help others succeed."

"Amelia Earhart would have been a great aviator no matter what she did outside of the airplane. She was a great person and leader because of everything she did to help other women. She understood one woman’s success was all women’s success. We should learn from her legacy."

"Let us be the leaders who love our families, love our communities, and love our country. We can remind our country what it means to be patriotic, to love thy neighbor, to focus on solutions and not arguments, to raise the next generation to be even better. If we want to return to a strong, patriotic, loving America focused on lifting up everyone, women will lead the way because we know — as Margaret Thatcher famously said — how to get something done. We have our work cut out for us. But we got this. Let the profiles in this book serve as our motivation, inspiration, and constant reminder. We are stronger than any label people give us. Our country is worth fighting for, and women will be the ones who save her."

"Anything Joe Biden signs will all but guarantee that Iran gets the bomb. No deal is better than a bad deal. And if this president signs any sort of deal, I’ll make you a promise. The next president will shred it on her first day in office. Just saying, sometimes it takes a woman."

"People matter. Their stories matter."

"Our foreign-aid policies are stuck in the past. They typically operate on autopilot, with no consideration for the conduct of the countries that receive our aid."

"Many of the women in this book were firsts. The first to be prime minister. The first to take a stand. The first to fly. Being the first is hard. It can be lonely and isolating. There is no road map, and people assume something is impossible simply because it hasn’t been done before. These women are leaders because they paved the way for the women who came after them. We walk in their footsteps and leave a well-trodden path for the women who come after us. As you read these pages, remember we have the potential to make life better for others. In our own small way, we can inspire, mentor, and encourage other women to do great things. So, don’t hold back. Don’t be silent. Don’t give in to fear. Be bold. Be adventurous. Be yourself. There will always be people who want to tell you what you can do and what you can’t. What is possible and what is not. I know because I have encountered those people throughout my life. Some of them were well meaning. But all of them wanted to limit my potential. Your potential is limitless. Your life — the life you want — is worth fighting for. So, fight."

"To Joan Jett, you fill my funnel on rock ’n’ roll. You broke every stereotype there was, and you were criticized and isolated for it. You never gave up and in turn reminded me to never give up. Thank you for being my musical go-to when I was down, pushed aside, or rejected. Sisters in Rock Forever. To my sisters in arms: Life is hard, and you make it look so easy. I hope this is a reminder that you are not alone. Your intelligence, love, compassion, strength, grit, and tenacity are nothing short of awesome. Buckle up. We have a country to save. God bless each and every one of you."

"Look, I think Biden is the ultimate socialist president. He loves to spend everybody else's money. His answer to everything is to increase taxes. And I think we need to be realistic. We're $31 trillion in debt. I think we're borrowing money to make our interest payments. This is not sustainable. The problem is Washington, D.C. has a spending problem, and we need to put them on a diet and put an end to it. I did this in South Carolina. We need to do it for the country. The first thing Biden should have done is said, "We're going to claw back the $500 billion of unspent COVID money." The second thing he should have said is, rather than the IRS agents going after innocent Americans, go back and go after the $100 billion of COVID fraud that happened along the way. We need to make sure we get on Republicans and Democrats because they both opened back up earmarks. This is not the time for them to be spending $2 billion on counties that don't exist and don't have government structures."

"As President, I will bring back our country’s strength and pride, building on the success that I see in Iowa and that I saw as governor of South Carolina. I’ll be back again soon, and I look forward to talking with even more Iowans about your lives and your worries. But I also look forward to hearing your hopes. Iowa is proof that America’s best days are ahead of us, and I look forward to proving it together with you."

"Before Communist China gave us the coronavirus, we were breaking economic records left and right. The pandemic has set us back, but not for long. President Trump brought our economy back before, and he will bring it back again. There’s one more important area where our President is right. He knows that political correctness and “cancel culture” are dangerous and just plain wrong. In much of the Democratic Party, it’s now fashionable to say that America is racist. That is a lie. America is not a racist country. This is personal for me. I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. They came to America and settled in a small southern town. My father wore a turban. My mother wore a sari. I was a brown girl in a black and white world. We faced discrimination and hardship. But my parents never gave in to grievance and hate. My mom built a successful business. My dad taught 30 years at a historically black college. And the people of South Carolina chose me as their first minority and first female governor. America is a story that’s a work in progress. Now is the time to build on that progress, and make America even freer, fairer, and better for everyone. That’s why it’s tragic to see so much of the Democratic Party turn a blind eye toward riots and rage."

"A Biden-Harris administration would be much, much worse. Last time, Joe’s boss was Obama… this time, it would be Pelosi, Sanders, and the Squad. Their vision for America is socialism. And we know that socialism has failed everywhere. They want to tell Americans how to live… and what to think. They want a government takeover of health care. They want to ban fracking and kill millions of jobs. They want massive tax hikes on working families. Joe Biden and the socialist left would be a disaster for our economy. But President Trump is leading a new era of opportunity."

"The American people know we can do better. And of course we know that every single black life is valuable. The black cops who’ve been shot in the line of duty – they matter. The black small business owners who’ve watched their life’s work go up in flames – they matter. The black kids who’ve been gunned down on the playground – their lives matter too. And their lives are being ruined and stolen by the violence on our streets. It doesn’t have to be like this. It wasn’t like this in South Carolina five years ago. Our state came face-to-face with evil. A white supremacist walked into Mother Emanuel Church during Bible Study. Twelve African Americans pulled up a chair and prayed with him for an hour. Then he began to shoot. After that horrific tragedy, we didn’t turn against each other. We came together – black and white, Democrat and Republican. Together, we made the hard choices needed to heal – and removed a divisive symbol, peacefully and respectfully. What happened then should give us hope now. America isn’t perfect. But the principles we hold dear are perfect. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America. It’s time to keep that blessing alive for the next generation. This President, and this Party, are committed to that noble task."

"It was an honor of a lifetime to serve as the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Now, the U.N. is not for the faint of heart. It’s a place where dictators-murderers-&-thieves denounce America… and then put their hands out and demand that we pay their bills. Well, President Trump put an end to all that. With his leadership, we did what Barack Obama and Joe Biden refused to do. We stood up for America… and we stood against our enemies. Obama and Biden let North Korea threaten America. President Trump rejected that weakness, and we passed the toughest sanctions on North Korea in history. Obama and Biden let Iran get away with murder and literally sent them a plane full of cash. President Trump did the right thing and ripped up the Iran nuclear deal. Obama and Biden led the United Nations to denounce our friend and ally, Israel. President Trump moved our embassy to Jerusalem – and when the U.N. tried to condemn us, I was proud to cast the American veto."

"Good evening. It is great to be back at the Republican National Convention. I’ll start with a little story. It’s about an American Ambassador to the United Nations. And it’s about a speech she gave to this convention. She called for the re-election of the Republican President she served… And she called out his Democratic opponent… a former vice president from a failed administration. That ambassador said, and I quote, “Democrats always blame America first.” The year was 1984. The president was Ronald Reagan. And Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick’s words are just as true today. Joe Biden and the Democrats are still blaming America first. Donald Trump has always put America first. He has earned four more years as President."

"This President has a record of strength and success. The former Vice President has a record of weakness and failure. Joe Biden is good for Iran and ISIS… great for Communist China… and he’s a godsend to everyone who wants America to apologize, abstain, and abandon our values. Donald Trump takes a different approach. He’s tough on China, and he took on ISIS and won. And he tells the world what it needs to hear. At home, the President is the clear choice on jobs and the economy. He’s moved America forward, while Joe Biden held America back. When Joe was VP, I was governor of the great state of South Carolina. We had a pretty good run. Manufacturers of all kinds flocked to our state from overseas, creating tens of thousands of American jobs. People were referring to South Carolina as “the beast of the southeast,” which I loved. Everything we did happened in spite of Joe Biden and his old boss. We cut taxes. They raised them. We slashed red tape. They piled on more mandates. And when we brought in good-paying jobs, Biden and Obama sued us. I fought back… and they gave up."

"We seek a nation that rises together, not falls apart in anarchy and anger. We know that the only way to overcome America’s challenges is to embrace America’s strengths. We are striving to reach a brighter future where every child goes to a world-class school, chosen by their parents. Where every family lives in a safe community with good jobs. Where every entrepreneur has the freedom to achieve and inspire. Where every believer can worship without fear and every life is protected. Where every girl and boy, every woman and man, of every race and religion, has the best shot at the best life. In this election, we must choose the only candidate who has and who will continue delivering on that vision. President Trump and Vice President Pence have my support. And America has our promise. We will build on the progress of our past and unlock the promise of our future. That future starts when the American people re-elect President Donald Trump."

"Everything that's working, we're going to make it better, everything that's not working we're going to try and fix, and anything that seems to be obsolete and not necessary we're going to away with."

"For those that don't have our back, we're taking names, we will make points to respond to that acccordingly."

"With all due respect, I don't get confused."

"To those outside of our state the flag may be nothing more than a symbol of the worst of America’s past. That is not what it is to many South Carolinians. The statehouse belongs to all of us."

"Our goal with the administration is to show value at the UN and the way that we'll show value is to show our strength, show our voice, have the backs of our allies and make sure our allies have our back as well."

"This was one of the oldest African American churches – these 12 people were amazing people, they loved their church, they loved their family, they loved their community [referring to nine people who Dylann Roof killed in June 2015] And here is this guy that comes out with this manifesto, holding the Confederate flag and had just hijacked everything that people thought of (about the flag). But you know people saw it as service, and sacrifice and heritage – but once he did that, there was no way to overcome it."

"When I tell you I'm angry, it's an understatement. Mike has been nothing but loyal to that man. He's been nothing but a good friend of that man... I am so disappointed in the fact that [despite] the loyalty and friendship he had with Mike Pence, that he would do that to him. Like, I'm disgusted by it."

"Yes, it's part of a traditional – you know, it's part of tradition [...] And so, when you look at that, if you have the same as you have Black History Month and you have Confederate History Month and all of those. As long as it's done where it is in a positive way and not in a negative way, and it doesn't go to harm anyone, and it goes back to where it focuses on the traditions of the people that are wanting to celebrate it, then I think it's fine."

"The current push to raise the federal debt limit is depressing. Worse is the fact that this same fiasco will keep happening. Washington simply isn’t serious about getting spending under control. We must be honest: Both Democrats and Republicans are responsible for America’s spending crisis. They have both supported multitrillion dollar deficits that have brought us to a $31.6 trillion national debt and counting. The nonstop spending binge of the past three years also gave us the soaring inflation that’s still squeezing families and an economy that’s stumbling toward recession. We need a president who will do what no one has done to date: Stand up to the big spenders in both parties. The past few years prove that while Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on much, they do agree on spending America into bankruptcy."

"I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it. That’s something that we’ll have a conversation about at some point if that decision is something that has to be made."

"For many people in our state, the flag stands for traditions that are noble. Traditions of history, of heritage, and of ancestry. The hate filled murderer who massacred our brothers and sisters in Charleston has a sick and twisted view of the flag. In no way does he reflect the people in our state who respect and, in many ways, revere it. Those South Carolinians view the flag as a symbol of respect, integrity, and duty. They also see it as a memorial, a way to honor ancestors who came to the service of their state during time of conflict. That is not hate, nor is it racism. At the same time, for many others in South Carolina, the flag is a deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past. As a state we can survive, as we have done, while still being home to both of those viewpoints. We do not need to declare a winner and a loser here. We respect freedom of expression, and that for those who wish to show their respect for the flag on their private property, no one will stand in your way."

"I will cut every cent in foreign aid for countries that hate us. A strong America doesn’t pay off the bad guys. A proud America doesn’t waste our people’s hard-earned money. And the only leaders who deserve our trust are those who stand up to our enemies and stand beside our friends."

"Those who argue for a nonpolitical reading of Paul can point out that one of the first things he addresses in the beginning of the letter to the Romans is sexual perversion—usually seen as a moral rather than a political issue. Through must of its history, the church has picked up this concern and focused on morality instead of politics. Everything changes, however, if we realize that we are presented here with a false dichotomy, now as then. In Paul's world, it would have been understood that sexuality was tied up with power since one of the prerogatives of the powerful was sexual penetration. Certain homosexual activities in Paul's time could thus be considered displays of the inequality of power. Equally important, the sexual escapades of the emperor were well known to the people. In Romans 1:31 Paul reproaches rebelliousness against parents; most of his readers would have been aware of Emperor Nero's incestuous relations with his mother. Not even sexuality and politics can be separated in Paul's thinking."

"When Christians in a context of empire are unaware of the political implications of their faith, their Christ is likely to be co-opted by empire by default."

"God in Christ is a different kind of lord who is not in solidarity with the powerful but in solidarity with the lowly. ... This position—at the heart of the new world proclaimed by Paul—directly contradicts the logic of the Roman Empire."

"The Emperor cult provided an alternative way of producing order and of ordering social relationships and thus an alternative to traditional politics. Without awareness of this context, Paul's writings might indeed be seen as nonpolitical. Paul is political in a different way, however, not by challenging the administration and official politics but by resisting three of the most powerful mechanisms of control of the Roman Empire: The emperor cult, the system of patronage, and the prominent themes of the empire's rhetoric."

"Paul refused to enter into patronage relationships with Corinthian elites; the system of patronage is problematic because it destroys the horizontal bonds of the common people—their solidarity with each other—and ties them to the powerful and the wealthy."

"Economism is the view that the economy is the most important part of society and that the other dimensions such as politics and education should serve it. Economism has become the ruling ideology, not because of claims of economists, but because of the decisions of political leaders, financiers, corporate leaders, and the general public."