2014 Manhattan Institute Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner - PAUL SINGER

As Chairman of the Manhattan Institute, it's my honor to welcome everyone to the 14th Annual Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner. Tonight's dinner has raised $1.8 million, and thank you for your generosity. Special thanks to our patron-level supporters: the Vice Chairman of the Manhattan Institute, Dr. Michael Fedak, and his wife, Marilyn; and our fellow MI trustees, Cliff Asness and his wife, Laurel, and Ravenel Curry and his wife, Beth. I also want to thank our benefactor-level supporters: Myron Kaplan, Paula and Tom McInerney, Alex Navab, John Paulson, fellow board members, MI board members Timothy Dalton, Jay Newman, and Maurice Greenberg. It's also my pleasure to welcome our Hamilton Award honorees: Governor Jeb Bush, Chairman Paul Ryan, and Manhattan Institute Trustee Tom Smith.

Governor Bush should feel right at home at the Manhattan Institute, given his well-deserved reputation as a policy wonk. We regard as national models many of the innovative policies he put in place in Florida, especially in the area of education reform. Governor Bush was among the first leading policymakers to use words like 'injustice' and 'civil rights' to describe the inequities in our public school system. Anyone who has seen him speak on this topic knows that he is a truly passionate person about reform. At MI, we believe that many of Bush's—Governor Bush's—achievements in Florida should be replicated across the country. Come to think of it, while you're here in New York, maybe you can educate our new mayor.

Our new mayor is the kind of guy who saw the movie Waiting for 'Superman' and was rooting for Lex Luthor. Getting back to real leaders, Chairman Paul Ryan is one of the most thoughtful and resolute members of Congress. While many members talk in generalities about the need to control spending, Chairman Ryan has put forward concrete, detailed proposals on how America can bring down its debt, encourage growth, and preserve our vital safety nets for generations to come. Chairman Ryan recently had to endure the President of the United States calling his budget proposal a, quote, 'stinkburger,' close quote. This Churchillian oratory makes me wonder: if the President is going to talk like this, why does he need Joe Biden?

More recently, Chairman Ryan has been focusing his energy on the issue of poverty in America. He recently got a lesson in what happens when you dare to suggest that cultural headwinds in our poorest communities have limited the ability of policymakers to fix this difficult problem. As we at MI know all too well, Paul's real sin was to challenge the false notion that bigger government is always and everywhere the solution. What he said was right, it was courageous, and we applaud him for it. Finally, Tom Smith. Tom has made it the mission of his philanthropy to propagate the principles that have made America a source of opportunity and hope. And he has never sought the spotlight. I'm grateful that Tom is letting us honor him tonight.

He is truly a model for all of us. I want to spend a moment telling you how proud I am of the Institute's work on both national and local issues. These days, I'm sure, we're all especially grateful for the local part of its focus. Our staff and scholars have recently doubled their commitment to New York City and to preserving the gains that have occurred over the last 20 years, especially in crime prevention, reforming welfare, and educational choice. And they are committed to fighting to ensure that vital public services are not crowded out by promises that the city cannot keep. Our new mayor clearly states that he is not a free-marketeer. And accordingly, we at MI are determined to do what we can to prevent New York City from becoming, say, New Havana.

Over the past six months, the Institute's vital role came into sharp relief in the debate over education. When charter schools came under fire, MI fellows produced a wealth of research and flooded the media market with facts, analysis, and public policy journalism. Their empirical work demolished the arguments of those who oppose greater educational choice and accountability. Thanks to a surge of support from parents and educators, the outlook for charter schools is better today than it was when 2014 began. However, there is still much to do. All children, especially those from disadvantaged neighborhoods and backgrounds, deserve a top-quality education that prepares them for success. The Manhattan Institute remains firmly committed to this goal.

This goal is inseparable from the goal of maximizing economic opportunity for all Americans. With the rhetoric surrounding the issue of income inequality becoming increasingly demagogic, MI fellow Scott Winship has done a great service in bringing facts and rationality to this debate. Unlike those who focus myopically on zero-sum redistribution, Scott keeps his eye on economic mobility. He understands that the real promise of America and the proper focus of these debates is what Governor Bush, Chairman Ryan, and others have called the right to rise. Here at the Manhattan—here at the Manhattan Institute, we are committed to independent thinking. That means listening with an open mind to views we disagree with and never fearing to say what we believe to be true, even when there's a price to pay for speaking the truth.

Places like MI were created, in part, to provide alternatives to the stultifying trend of political groupthink that prevails in too many corners of our culture. Here at MI, we're proud to provide a forum and a home for those who have the courage to say what is right and stick with their views, no matter how intense the pressure to conform to a comforting yet false consensus. To this point, I'd like to recognize a special guest who is here with us tonight. She personifies MI's commitment to independent thinking. Please join me in welcoming Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ayaan, you are always welcome here and we're honored to have you with us. At the Manhattan Institute, we celebrate courageous leaders like Ayaan, like Governor Bush, Chairman Paul Ryan, and MI Trustee Tom Smith.

We celebrate them because the Institute is a place where ideas are taken seriously, a place where policy trumps politics, a place where the focus is on solving problems. I am proud to be chairman of this great institution. Now please enjoy your dinner, and we'll be back with you shortly to start our formal program. Thank you.