I am going to give the American people a huge helping of unbridled truth: that we can't continue to spend what we are spending, that we can't avoid entitlement reform because we are afraid of third rail politics.

I grew up in a house with no running water, 16 miles from the closest place that had a post office. I had a very parochial view of the world.

The citizens of America and the citizens of Texas expect to be able to live in safety in their communities. That's what the rule of law is truly all about.

There's places where a secure fence will work, and that strategic type fencing will work. But the idea that people can easily just stand up and say, oh, let's build a fence and be done with it, wipe our hands, it's going to secure the border, that's not reality.

It is up to us, to this present generation of Americans, to take a stand for freedom, to send a message to Washington that we're taking our future back from the grips of central planners who would control our healthcare, who would spend our treasure, who downgrade our future and micro-manage our lives.

But of course, now we're told we're in recovery but this sure doesn't feel like a recovery to more than 9 percent of the Americans out there who are unemployed, or the 16 percent of the African-Americans, 11 percent of Hispanics in the same position, or the millions who can only find part-time work or those who have even stopped looking for a job.

Americans want government that is leaner, more efficient, and less intrusive into their personal lives.