Jim DeMint's Quotes

I have been on shop floors. I have talked to a lot of the companies that create jobs in South Carolina and across the country. And what they want is less regulation.

I think people are confused about what the Tea Party is. I mean, they were a broad cross-section of Americans who came together concerned about our debt and our spending. And they're interested in constitutional, limited government. And so they're not one group of people. They're thousands of small groups all over the country.

I want to find the candidates who understand the principles of American exceptionalism and have the character, the courage, and the confidence to actually lead the greatest nation in the world.

I'm getting optimistic. I think, as I talk to people around the country - they seem to get it. They want a return to those things that made America different and great.

If you remember you just have one constituent, and that's God himself, and if you try to please him I think you usually come with a lot steadier pace and a lot more peace in your life.

Motorists who want to save money on gas will demand and buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. We should not limit their freedom with more government regulations.

So, the point I'm making is, we are not going to cut spending in Washington if we think it's the job of every congressman and senator is to pave local parking lots and build local sewer plants. These parochial interests are getting in the way of the national interests.

Something happens to me when someone says, 'You can't.' I'm generally not very competitive; unless someone tells me I can't do something that should be done.

Today is a celebration of hope for the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people can now take control of their government and their future by creating a society that protects the rights endowed to us by our creator - life, liberty and freedom.

We have been blessed with a healthy, growing economy, with more Americans going back to work, and with our Nation acting as a positive force for good in the world.

You've got the Democratic Party that now depends on more government spending and actual building the dependence on government in order to increase their political party.

One of the greatest titles in the world is parent, and one of the biggest blessings in the world is to have parents to call mom and dad.

The hope and change the Democrats had in mind was nothing more than a retread of the failed and discredited socialist policies that have been the enemy of freedom for centuries all over the world. I fear America is teetering towards tyranny.

Compromise works well in this world when you have shared goals.

I believed the only thing that could turn around this government spending and mounting debt would be if the people rose up.

If we become too scared to confront the chief problems of our time, there is no hope of ever solving them.

Well, we lost a lot of our independence already. We are dependent on China for credit. We are dependent on Middle Eastern countries for energy supplies. And many Americans are dependent on the government for their income, health care, education of their children, food stamps.

It doesn't make sense to have to do the wrong thing in order to do the right thing.

I just want people to know that if they want to change the direction of the country, they can do it, but only if they're active, informed, and engaged.

A free and stable Iraq will be a shining light against the shadow of Islamic extremism.

I went through two pretty dark years being fed up with the system and frustrated with my own party after two disastrous elections in 2006 and 2008.

I'd like to see a Republican Party that embraces a lot of the libertarian ideas.

If a person wants to be publicly gay, they should not be teaching in the public schools.

The debate in the Republican Party needs to be between libertarians and conservatives.

We know from our own history that democratic institutions take decades to mature, and we know from past conflicts that freedom is not free.

Since the dawn of time, traditional marriage - the union between one man and one woman - has been the building block of civilization, and at no point in our nation's history has that foundation been under more severe attack than now.

American businesses and upper incomes pay a larger portion of the federal taxes of our national taxes than any country in the world.

Anyone who says the Republicans have been irresponsible aren't looking at the facts.

First of all, no candidate is going to win by catering to the alleged Occupy Wall Street vote.

From a policy standpoint, the Judeo-Christian principles are important.

I can tell you if you look at the polls, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, they do not think we should increase the debt limit.

I don't even like playing a contentious role.

I don't have the support inside Washington or even inside my own party.

I don't need to be asking for money for local museums and other projects just to make me look good back home.

I drive Fords, and I've driven American cars all my life, and I want to have a strong American manufacturing sector, especially in automobiles.

I have no plans to run for president.

The word 'hospitality' in the New Testament comes from two Greek words. The first word means 'love' and the second word means 'strangers.' It's a word that means love of strangers.