Both Paul and Perry lauded the tea party and 2010 election results, saying the conservative moment cut across party lines.

“We don’t need to just change political parties, we need to change the philosophies of what this country is all about,” Paul said.

“Pink slips were handed out to legislators in both political parties,” Perry said.

He added, “It was awesome!”

At the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday, Paul was the first speaker to talk about the revolution in Egypt and the resignation of Pres. Hosni Mubarak. Calling Mubarak a “dictator,” Paul said the U.S. invested $70 billion in his regime, the majority of which Mubarak’s family siphoned off for themselves.

When asked what course of action the U.S. should take in Egypt, Paul said his answer is, “I would say we need to do a lot less, a lot sooner, not only in Egypt but around the world.”

He predicted the political uprising will spread to neighboring countries, until it hits Saudi Arabia, then the U.S. will see “real problems.”

Comparing U.S. foreign policy to military spending that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union, Paul said, “We just don’t flat out have the money, and we shouldn’t be doing it.”

Touching on the topic of the Federal Reserve, over which Paul’s congressional sub-committee has oversight, he said, “Our job is to figure out what the Federal Reserve has done, audit them and find out who their buddies are they’re taking care of.”

Paul lays out his case against the central banking system in his latest book, “End the Fed.”

That’s not to be confused with Perry’s book against U.S. government intrusions, called, “Fed up!”

Like Paul, Perry did not reveal his 2012 political aspirations in his CPAC speech, nor did either refer to the other when speaking. The two Texans are each the subject of speculation for a possible White House bid in 2012, though Paul is keeping his options open and Perry says he’s not running.

Perry said, “I stand before you today as a governor and as a lifelong conservative who is deeply, deeply concerned with the fed government and its willful neglect of its responsibility.”

He re-affirmed his commitment to states’ sovereignty over rights not delegated to the federal government. “As a governor, I like to focus on the 10th amendment. It’s a very sensible dividing line between our rights and their responsibilities,” Perry said.

Perry, who refused to meet with newspaper editorial boards during his 2010 re-election bid, alluded in his speech to “big government advocates and their friends in the mainstream media.”

On the one hand, according to Perry, the federal government has overstepped its bounds with things like “Obamacare,” while on the other it is not performing its key duties, such as border security.

“In the rush to become all things to all people, the federal government has lost sight of its core responsibilities. As a result we’re stuck in this frustrating paradox where Washington actually neglects things it’s clearly supposed to be doing, while interfering in other areas where they are neither welcome nor authorized,” Perry said.

Perry called on Congress to create a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution — one of his designated emergency items for the Texas Legislature. He also alluded to replacing federal health care spending with block grants to states, a topic also on state policymakers’ minds.

Perry took time to brag on Texas and its pro-business economic policies.

“People oughta be pointing to Texas and saying, ‘That is what this country oughta be aspiring to be about.’ Then get the hell out of the way and let the private sector do what the private sector does best,” he said.

Texas “is not some problem-free Nirvana that’s been created out there,” Perry said. “–Close.”

Perry didn’t mention the state’s estimated $27 billion budget shortfall in order to maintain services over the next two years.

Perry, who is chair of the Republican Governors Association, appealed to CPAC attendees to elect conservative Republican governors.

“Governors will lead the charge for reformation in this country,” he said.

The news that Palin is speaking at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, however, protects her from a little of the criticism that she’s skipping established political events because they won’t pay her. The SRLC conference doesn’t pay its speakers and is seen as must-attend run-up to the presidential primaries.

“An article containing a false headline has been published by Capitol Hill newspaper Politico today regarding an issue with expansion of the National Labor Relations Board.

This article concerns two letters; one issued by ACU and another issued by a separate organization.

Mr. David Keene’s name was on a letter prepared by another organization.  This was a personal decision on his part and he was not representing ACU at the time.  No permission was given by ACU, and no logo was provided by ACU, to the organization who issued the letter in question.

ACU’s policy position on this issue has not changed and it will not change.

ACU’s positions on important policy issues have never been for sale.

ACU does not support moving businesses under the jurisdiction of the NLRB or expanding the federal government’s power, reach or authority under the NLRB.

In fact, as we pointed out last year when auto bailouts were first proposed, the actions of organized labor in Detroit helped lead to a downfall of America’s storied auto industry.  This is a clear example of what can happen when organized labor extends its fingers too far into American business.

In this regard, ACU stands with the policy that FedEx should not be placed under the NLRB.

This was ACU policy – before and after – any letters in question were drafted.

No contributions, to date, regarding this issue have been given or promised to ACU from any organization mentioned in the Politico article.

For the record.

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The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.

For the $2 million+, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and / or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)”

The ACU, of course, heads up the massive yearly Conservative Political Action Conference. Its ratings for members of Congress are repeated by conservative Republicans all the time — “I have a 99 percent lifetime rating from the ACU,” for example. This is a big, embarrassing deal.

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The ACU quietly filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee — the group’s Website features no mention of the action — against the Democratic presidential nominee. From The Boston Globe:

Rezko was convicted in June on federal corruption charges not involving Obama. But Republicans have been saying there’s something fishy about the 2005 deal for Obama’s home in Chicago.

He paid $300,000 less than the asking price for the Victorian, on the same day Rezko’s wife bought a vacant lot next door for the full asking price. Obama has said that was a “boneheaded” move. But independent fact-checking groups have concluded that there’s no proof that Obama was involved in any wrongdoing.

Still, the American Conservative Union filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee today alleging that Obama’s home purchase violated the Senate’s gift ban. In the letter to the Ethics Committee, ACU Chairman David Keene said that “sufficient information exists to demonstrate that Sen. Obama solicited, received, and accepted a gift greater than $50 from Mr. and Mrs. Rezko, and Sen. Obama failed to disclose this gift.”

Right on cue, the McCain campaign held a conference call with reporters that featured former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), who was a colleague of Obama’s for two years in the Illinois Senate, and Ed O’Callahan, a former federal prosecutor in New York.

During the call, the participants wanted to know why Obama has never answered questions from the media about the matter, while acknowledging Obama did answer questions about the matter from The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times in March.

O’Callahan, clearly reading a script, veered off-topic into McCain campaign talking points:

“Obama needs to come clean on this deal before the election, so that voters can judge whether Obama received monetary benefits from these Rezko favors.

Since the Democrats took control of Congress only two years ago, they have driven our economy into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. What’s their solution to the problem? To spread more of our wealth around by giving it to those who don’t pay a single penny of federal income tax. With friends and priorities like these, Barack Obama and his Democrat allies lack the judgment to lead our country.”

Fitzgerald and O’Callahan had taken just one question from the reporters before the call was abruptly ended.

I’ve sat in on dozens of these conference calls, and I’m pretty sure this is a record for fewest questions allowed from reporters.

The obvious question is: If this is such an important controversy, why did the ACU wait until five days before the presidential election to file its complaint?

With no new information being offered, the complaint appears to be a stunt aimed at influencing the election. However, if this is what the McCain campaign has been holding up its sleeve, to be sprung at the last moment, it doesn’t look like Obama has much to fear from this year’s October surprise.

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