And I think Americans are phenomenal people.

If we continue to allow the federal government to live beyond its means, we will all soon have to live beneath ours.

If you like big government, move to Massachusetts.

The entitlement state has driven us into insolvency.

The state of Alaska has a minimum wage which is higher than the federal level because our state leaders have made that determination.

We are at crisis point. I think anybody that sees this nation as being on stable economic or fiscal ground is fooling themselves.

And I think we as a people need to stop being disingenuous about what the Constitution provides for. It does not provide for this all-encompassing power that we've seen exercised over the last several decades. It's what's gotten us into this bankrupt position.

But again, you know, the views that we've expressed are transferring power back from the federal government to the states, giving Alaska an incredible opportunity to expand its economy, especially at a time when our federal government is coming close to bankruptcy.So that is a broad-based appeal. It's not an extreme view.

I believe that it is irresponsible, it is basically part of the crisis of leadership in D.C. to not look at Social Security and understand that there has got to be a solution posed. We've got to take a look at it and make sure that we create a solution so our seniors aren't left out in the cold.

Now is the time for all Alaskans to come together and reach out with our core message of taking power from the federal government and bringing it back home to the people.

Social Security, for example - I'm 43. I've paid into the system. You know what? That money has been stolen from me. I know that my parents who are on Social Security - they've got to continue to receive it. They're dependent on it. It is their primary source of income.

We just simply want to get back to basics, get - restore essentially the constitutional foundation of the country, and that means the federal government becoming less onerous, less involved in every - basically every item of our lives. And what that means is there does have to be some transition.

What is good for Alaska is good for the country. Transferring power from the federal government to the states provides opportunity to all states, not just Alaska.