What Republicans in Congress wish they could say to liberals

I recently talked with members of the House Republican Conference after the State of the Union. Being one of the few liberals in the room I asked several Republican members of Congress what they would say to a liberal.

The answers were in the following themes:

Energy: 

Congressman Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) asked me how can the president call for energy independence and then turn down the XL Pipeline? He said he would say to the liberals where are they going to pipe the tar sands oil? Where are they going to refine it? If the friendly country of Canada can't pipe the oil through the United States it will be piped across Canada an loaded onto ships for China.

On that note he said that it was important that the Democrats stop make political calculations to do nothing.

Defense:

On Defense Congressman Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said he wanted liberals to understand that we can't slash the Army by 80,000 troops, the Marine Corps by 20,000 and reduce the Navy to World War I levels.

He wants the liberals to know that we need the troops to fight the pirates in Somalia and that we need to work with the African Union to train their troops. He believes that liberals are naive about the numbers of the military that China has. China is a "challenge not a threat" he said.

However, since they are an authoritarian state they are not going to reveal their capabilities to us.

Debt:

Congressman Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) would like the liberals to know that the choices we make in the next two years will define what kind of country we are.

He said that we all want to feed the hungry but the question is how do we active that goal. He explained the debt crisis to me as follows: "we are 15.3 trillion in debt. If you won $40 million in Powerball, just one trillion of that would be like winning $40 million dollars a year for twenty five thousand years."

Taxes:

Congressman Joe Heck (R-Nev.), a physician is as concerned about taxes as he is about health care. He believes we need a flatter tax and he wants liberals to consider the possibility that everyone should pay into the system.

Congressman Heck want everyone to have some skin in the game and believes we can accomplish things if the rhetoric was toned down.

Congressman Tipton also weighed in on taxes. He would like to lower the tax rate and take away most deductions except for the home mortgage and the charitable deduction. He thinks that that would be fair to all Americans.

Economy:

The most outspoken member I spoke with was Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). She believes that liberals don't understand economics and that you can't spend more than you take in because you will be bankrupt.

She says the liberals need to know that we have been paying for the wars with borrowed money and that we will not be "saving" money by not paying for the wars.

Her last words were:" Get the facts, and don't be fooled by the Wizard."

Ellen Ratner is a Fox News contributor and Washington bureau chief for Talk Radio News Service.