take it outside, and i'll just -- [laughter] you know, maybe take it outside and the rest of us will have a cocktail. [laughter] but i will close by saying that, first of all, thank you to both of you, and we can continue a discussion at another time about -- [applause] hold on. hold on. we can finish the discussion at another time at about the motives and man fess cases of this. but you all do both agree on this political system of ours that is very problematic. so you says it was an immovable concern. >> immovable object. >> the big thing that's hard to move. [laughter] and you say it's the hopelessly corrupt political system. and so i think that all of us want to do something to fix that. so leeing the motives out of -- leaving the motives out of this particular president, you say organize, you say organize and write, and it seems like something that all of us can together try to move the whole system.

and as the agenda project says, politicians are the least important part of politics. so we do need to take that whole playing field and move it in a different direction. so thanks, y'all, for your guidance and your insight. thank you very much. [applause] >> roger hodge is the former editor-in-chief of harper's magazine. for more information visit his web site. >> next, texas governor rick perry talks about the power of the federal government and offers that of the problems currently being managed by washington would be better handled by individual states. governor perry present his argument -- presents his argument at the heritage foundation in washington d.c. >> you're welcome. good morning, welcome to the heritage foundation. i'm pleased to welcome you to

our auditorium. for those in house, we would appreciate that last check that cell phones have been turned off as a courtesy to our speaker. hosting our event this morning is becky dunlop who serves as vice president for external relations here at heritage. prior to that she had served as a cabinet officer for governor george allen as well as governor of cabinet affairs for former president ronald reagan as well as service for ed meese at the department of justice and don hoe dell at the can't of the -- at the department of ther into on. please join me in welcoming my colleague, becky dunlop. >> let me add my words of welcome to each of you here and those of us watching on television. what a great opportunity we have here this morning to hear from one of the best governors in the entire country. we're just delighted to welcome him to heritage. well, rick perry is the lone star state's 47th governor.

he has defended texans' conservative values, fought for principled solutions to tough challenges and worked to implement a clear vision for better schools, more jobs, safer communities and can a brighter future. sounds like our kind of governor, doesn't it? as a result, texas is consistently ranked as the nation's best-placed to do -- best place to do business and create jobs. i'm sure some of you here know that texas has led the nation in job creation with more jobs gained than any other state in 2010 and over the past ten e years. texans are safer because golf perry -- governor perry has pursued an aggressive border security strategy that is putting more boots on the ground, more helicopters in the sky and more resources into the hands of texas peace officers standing between texans and the exploding drug-related violence across the border.

he has refused to raise taxes when texas faced a record $10 billion budget shortfall in 2003. instead, he was the first texas governor since world war ii to sign a budget that lowered state spending and has now done it twice. as governor, rick perry has used his line-item veto to cut over $3 billion in proposed spending. he led the battle to pass the country's most sweeping lawsuit reforms, closing the tour on junk lawsuit -- door on junk lawsuits that had been making trial lawyers rich while driving countless doctors either out of the stateover out of the profession altogether. since texas voters approved these reforms, malpractice claims and premiums have fallen and access to health care is increasing across the state as doctors have applied in droves to practice in texas.

i'm sure that makes him more concerned than most governors today about the recent passage of supposed health care reform hoar. in 2005 governor perry signed an historic $15.be 7 billion property tax cut for homeowners and businesses that also included new taxpayer protections against appraisal increases. in 2009 governor perry secured a tax cut for approximately 40,000 small businesses in texas and protected the rainy day fund for future challenges. governor perry is a fifth generation texan. he group the son of tenant farmers in the tiny west texas town of paint creek. he was one of the first of his family to go to college earning a degree in animal science at texas a&m where he was also a minute of the corps of cadets and a yell leader.

so he has the science right, he has the business right, and he knows how to lead inspirationally. between 1972 and 1977 governor perry served in the united states air force flying c-130 tactical aircraft in the europe and the middle eastern part of our world. he is a lifetime member of both the national rifle association and the american legion post number 75. he also served as the commissioner of agriculture in texas, and he served in the texas house of representatives. he married his childhood sweetheart, and they have two with children, griffin and sidney. we are delighted to once again welcome governor rick perry to the heritage foundation, and we are delighted to hear from him today both about his ideas about how to improve america and his new book, "fed up," which we

will have copies of available for you in which he has indicated a willingness to sign if we have time today. so without further ado, let's welcome to our podium governor rick perry from texas. [applause] >> becky, thank you very much. it is, indeed, an honor to be here today back at the heritage foundation. this foundation has been a singular standard bearer of conservative thought for some time, and again, i just want to say thank you for what you all have done. today is almost a week, now, since the american voters sent a bold and simple message to our nation's political establishment. it wasn't complex, it was pretty short and sweet actually. [laughter] they said, we're fed up.

and we're ready to take our country back. americans are, obviously, fed up with the democrat party that long ago set aside their interests in favor of expanding government, raising taxes, doing the bidding of labor unions and the personal injury trial bar, activist judges. americans are fed up with the repeated incursions into their liberty. however, their disdain for washington doesn't just stop at the party line. americans are fed up with democrats and can republicans who have embraced bailouts, championed so-called stimulus programs and supported big government giveaways. voters understand the true threat posed by this mountain of debt and are increasingly perplexed by bankrupt federal

programs like social security, and they're deeply frustrated by federal officials who do nothing to address these serious problems. the american people are fed up with bureaucrats telling them how to live their lives, calling the shots of health care insurance they say they must buy. what kind of food they eat, what kind of lightbulbs they use in their homes. they're also fed up with elected judges telling them when and where they can pray. how we can display the ten commandments. this simmering frustration e erupted into an overwhelming landslide for republicans on election night. in looking at the historic gains in both the house of representatives and the united states senate, some commentators call that a republican tsunami.

i refer to accentuate the positive and echo what senator-elect marco rubio simply said. he said that this was for conservatives in washington a second chance. it offers a second chance to republicans and democrats in washington to set aside the accepted way of doing business inside the beltway, devote themselves to getting it right starting with is essential constitutional limits on government. i whole heartedly believe that the tenth amendment to the united states' constitution cast a very narrow path, a very narrow role for government. conveyed that our founding fathers' understanding that the government closest to the people truly governs best be. you know, in that key phrase

that reads "the powers not delegated by -- to the united states by the constitution nor prohibited to it by the states are reserved for the states respectively are to the people." in my the view the federal government's shameful disregard of the o tenth amendment pushes us backwards down a very slippery slope. down that slope the precepts of the bill of rights, they end up compromised. the essence of our republic can be lost forever along with those god-given freedoms. the words of the tenth amendment are timeless, but they also are a rallying cry for such a time as this. reminding citizens of their rights and elected officials of their responsibilities. that includes those official

bees who -- officials who rode that wave of satisfaction into statehouses across the nation. i believe some 19 legislatures switch to republican control that night, including two -- north carolina and alabama -- which will be experiencing republican leadership for the first time since the 18 p70s n. 1870s. that's a long time to wait. that's a long time to wait. but we must insure that it's worth the wait. at the state level, my fellow governors and i need to work with legislators to prove the wisdom of our founding fathers when they limited the power of the federal government and entrusted the challenges of day-to-day governance to leaders at the state and local level. and in federalist 45 james

madison wrote: the powers delegated by the proopposed constitution -- proposed constitution to the federal government are few and defined. those which are to remain in state governments are numerous and indefinite. if he were here today, i have to wonder if mr. madison would look at today's leaders in washington, d.c. and say, did i mumble? this. [laughter] i believe he and his peers were incredibly clear, and our nation's success was proof of their wisdom for a long, long time. this short -- in short, free people work harder, they live better, they take better care of one another than those who are being crushed under the weight of an oppressive government. that freedom helped america grow

into the greatest nation that the world has ever known. bar none. unfortunately, that greatness is threatened because we have allowed washington to expand at the expense of liberty. maybe it was the siren song of earmarks for local projects, but we have allowed for the creation of a monster. the federal government's current role directly contradicts the principles of limited constitutional government that our founders, they establish withed to protect us from -- they established to protect us from. my frustration with this skewed balance of power that subjugates states' rights to federal dominance led me to write that book, becky. led me to write "fed up: our

fight the save america from washington." the federal government's expansion really kicked into gear during the progressive era as it's sometimes called with the adoption of the 16th amendment that gave the federal government access to our wallets via taxation. i know a lot of people think the world of roosevelt's new deal. i grew up in rural texas. but the fact of the matter is it is a legacy of glut. glut of federal programs including a social security program that is not only bankrupt, but also had very little to do with america's emergence from the great depression. and i congratulate scholars like amity shlaes and burton pollsome

for -- folsom for oping the balloon -- popping the balloon of adoration that surrounded these flawed programs unfortunately. the new deal has essentially become the third rail of american politics that indiscriminately kills the political careers of any leader who would be courageous enough to criticize them publicly. you know, you combine the new deal with president johnson's great society, and it's associated medicare and medicaid costs, and can you end up with $106 trillion of unfunded liability and approximately zero dollars set aside to pay for it. that is not the sort of thing that we do in texas. i can texas a prime -- i consider texas a prime example of how responsive and effective government can be when it's closer to the people. for example, texas has long led

the nation in job creation as becky shared with you. half of the jobs created in the country this year were created in texas. since 2005 until present four out of five jobs, 80% of all the private sector jobs created in the united states, were created in texas. and the jobs that were created by texas -- texans who, it was by people who risked their capital, who got up every day and went to work, and they worked long hours. in a fiscally-conservative environment. there's four simple principles that we adhere to in texas. first, we don't spend all the money. [laughter] we left upwards of $8 billion in a rainy day fund. second, we have defended a predictable and a table regulatory climate so that

employers know what to expect, and they can take the risk at that particular point in time when they know what those costs are going to be. we reformed our legal system so that we would cut down substantially on that plague of junk lawsuits that had employers and doctors tied up at the courthouse instead of creating wealth and doing good. and fourth, we put into place accountable public schools which sends a clear message that the skilled work force will be available if you expand or if you want to move from another state like many from california are doing today, 153 california businesses since the first of the year through september have relocated from california to texas. you know, my fellow republican governors including bob

mcdonald and chris christie, they're doing the same thing that we're doing in texas. they're, they get it. now, that's not to say that each state is some problem-free nirvana. the challenges are still real. the states face. and whether they wrestle with pension fund issues or debt problems, states have their work cut out for them. however, the difference compared to the federal government is rather drastic. for example, texans face about $520 per capita in debt. per capita debt at the federal level is around $42,600 and growing, i might add, as we speak. at the same time, the average texan pays $1691 in local taxes,

$1750 in state taxes but a whopping $8,916 in federal taxes. and, you know, even if you take away the 25% for national defense -- and we gladly do -- the federal tax burden is about twice the local and state tax combined. now, trust me, our citizens can do the math, and they see the difference in value between the state and the federal government. and they are really ready to regain that constitutional balance. last tuesday's vote totals pretty much reaffirms that for me. on november the 2nd, 2010, people push back. they pushed back against a washington establishment that is spending too much and borrowing too much, that is ignoring the constitution and, i might add, the views of our citizens. the election affirms the power

of individual americans, and it actually in a powerful way repudiates an overly controlling central government can. we need to keep the dialogue rolling on how limited government, that closest to the people, will maximize our liberty. our citizens have elected leaders willing to fight for our beliefs, and it's time to hold these leaders accountable. for example, repealing and defunding nationalized health care in it entirety is vitally important because you can't go through that kind of legislation piecemeal and parse every element of it i. instead, they need to start from the premise that the states can handle these questions better and look to them to support that process.

they need to support the states, not punish them. the new leaders in washington and those who profess to be conservative should vote to handcuff the big spenders, simplify our tax system amending the constitution to restrict federal intending. federal spending. a balanced budget amendment would be the perfect tool for that, and it would protect future generations for, from this new administration to run rampant. like my fellow voters, like my fellow conservatives in this room i don't see storm clouds and sadness on the horizon. i happen to see some of our greatest days ahead of us. i see a bright, bright future, the future is contingent upon a return to our essential

constitutional value and individual freedom. restoring a constitutional limited government will take a massive effort, but our people are more than equal to the task. surely, the people who were willing to die on foreign battlefields in the defense of freedom for others and sheltered complete stranger in the afterhath of storms like katrina that and ike have the heart and the compassion to tackle this with the continued influence of conservative groups like the heritage foundation and bold leaders from our elected class everywhere. we can surely recapture what is great about america. restore this nation to preeminence in the world as a beacon of individual liberty and economic prosperity. and there is no greater cause in

our time than that. thank you all for coming and allow me to -- [applause] i will be happy to attempt to answer any of your questions. and then we'll sign books. >> good. let's make sure that when you stand up with a question, you get a microphone before you speak. you identify yourself, and if you're with an organization here in town, please, let us know what organization that is. all right. i think we've got -- we can start over here and i'll just let you -- >> yes, sir. >> my name is cami, i write for the pakistani spectator, and it was so refreshing to hear you on npr a couple of days ago. but my question is that do you feel any backlash from some segment of the republican party by not lumping all muslim

together and not trashing islamsome you get very positive feedback. we have to work together because we are all american, and we have to bring people together, and it was very refreshing. >> whether i think i used the -- i think i used the example of my friend -- >> [inaudible] >> well, not only him who's a very dear personal friend, but also a businessman of some note in texas. i'm sure there are a lot of ladies in the audience that know his products, chi. but he is a great businessman. and we were talking about the issue of ground zero, and he said, i know how to take care of this. we build a synagogue, a mosque and a church. and we have a great muslim community in texas. businessmen and women who are dear friends and supporters, a substantial number of whether

it's the india house in houston, the very large pakistani population that we have across the state of texas, i mean, just a -- and working together to build our space. and i think it's very important whether you're democrat or republican, independent or you don't want to be associated with any of those political parties, the future of our country clearly lies into finding the things that bring us together and not separating ourselves by, you know, culture or religion or what have you. you know, recognizing clearly those that would use the religion in the wrong way, those radical islamists who with would use that and that they are, they are the enemy of all. yes, ma'am. >> hi, i'm tracy with -- [inaudible]

the tea party has been, you know, some have credited the tea party for the republican tsunami. i'm just wondering how do you see the movement going from here, and now that they've brought some senators in, how do you think they're going to be working with the republican party, the relationship between the two blocs, i would say? >> i give the tea party great credit for a number of of things. one is there have been more people read the united states constitution in the last 18 months than maybe read it in the last 50 years. and i absolutely give that credit to the tea party. and if for to other reason their engagement has been a very positive impact on our country. politically, i saw the tea party, went to many of their

events, focused on fiscal conservativism and small government. that was the mantra day after day. a very diverse group of people from all across the political spectrum, i will suggest to you. so i suspect that their engagement will be still positive, and i hope they will stay engaged for a number of reasons, the least of which is to really hold the feet of these elected officials to the fire when it comes to the constitution, respecting the tenth amendment and allowing these state to become the laboratory of innovation, to compete against each other. i'll share with you one little anecdotal story that i think crystallizes it very well. cnbc does a yearly ranking of the states. they have a matrix of which they measure and then they rank the

states for business climate, the best state in america to do business. well, in august it came out texas was number one -- and rightfully so. [laughter] but number two was virginia. the first phone call i got was from bob mcdonald. and bob was very upbeat and gracious, and he said, perry, he said, i just want to tell you congratulations on being ranked number one in that cnbc poll. enjoy it, because we're coming after you. [laughter] and that's the type, that's exactly the type of competition and the spirit that should happen in all of the 50 states. not having washington, d.c. mandating from on high this one-size-fits-all whether it's health care or education or transportation policies. those can best be addressed at

the state level. frankly, they can be done more efficiently, more effectively, and we can help save washington substantial amounts of money in that process as well. yes, sir, in the back. >> hi. my name is sam stein, i'm with the huffington post, and george w. bush be is doing a round of media tours for his book right now. i'm wondering if you could reflect a little bit on the man who was your predecessor at the governor's office, but also the head of the republican party for eight years. you talk about the need for republicans to reclaim the lost opportunities of the past. does that extend to missteps in the bush administration? >> look, i don't -- i want you to read the book. [laughter] first off. so i'm going to refer you to that. >> i will. >> republicans are not unscathed democrats, republicans, the supreme court, they all get on

my radar screen, and, you know, the torpedoes have been launched. they hit those targets. look, there's nobody perfect many this, and nobody walks away out of "fed up" unscathed. and appropriately so. there hasn't been anybody done it perfect yet. >> what about issues like the medicare prescription drug program? you talk about -- >> read the book. [laughter] >> okay. we'll just go back over here. over here. >> hi, governor. i'm jennifer daniels, i'm a texan and, more importantly, a fighting texas aggie. [laughter] so welcome to d.c. we're proud to have you here. >> it's wonderful to be ranked in the top 25 in both polls. >> wonderful football game saturday night. [laughter] i wanted to ask you about the health care bill. of course, we're hoping hoping t soon to be speaker boehner will lead the effort to repeal and replace and, of course, i'm glad to see so many ags are going

to court over the bill with, but it's not going to happen overnight. so what can you and your like-minded governors do in the meantime to help slow or defer the implementation and all the burdens that have been put on you by this federal legislation? >> one of the real aspects of this book is to talk about how the states can be engaged this a conversation -- in a conversation. as i said in my remarks, there have been a lot of political figures totally and absolutely afraid to talk about that social security is a ponzi scheme. my child, my eldest child is 27, my baby is 4, and they know -- 24. they know, they know that the social security is not going to be this for them. so let's talk about it. what are some of the options that are out there? i think that's one of the great rolls that the governors can play in leading that conversation because the fact is many of us would like to be in

charge of those pension programs. medicaid's -- excuse me, yeah, medicaid's a good example of just last week right after the elections at our texas house had a study group on how to better deliver those health care costs. we think we can save the federal government over the next six years $40 billion in health care delivery costs if they will let us do it in the state. and, frankly, we'll have more people covered and be able to deliver the health care better. we feel very comfortable that we can do that. and saturday night speaker-elect or presumptive speak every-elect boehner and i had a meeting. we spent a couple of hours together talking about how the governors can be more engaged with this process. i mean, the message from john

boehner is very clear, that he was listening tuesday night ask that find -- and that finding the solution to the challenges that face us as a country emanate from the states ask not from washington, d.c -- and shot from washington, d.c. and that there's going to be a real partnership there like we haven't seen possibly in decades and decades. yes, sir. >> good morning, governor. my name is james reid from california, i'm a freshman at george washington university, disputedly one of the most politically active schools in the country. >> yes, sir. >> many of my friends and i have aspirations of entering politics. what advice would you give to aspiring leaders of integritiesome. >> i would suggest that you find some campaigns to work in, go actively involve of yourself this public policy and find out if it's really what you think

it's going to be. find a campaign to work in as well as an office somewhere that, you know, whether you're salespersonning or -- interning or -- find those places where you're passionate. i tell young people on a regular basis to give back. this is a great country, and we're different from any other country this the world because people who came before us gave back. it didn't matter whether you joined the peace corps or the marine corps. give back to our state, our country, our communities. and in that you will find your place. yes, sir. >> this is going to have to be the last question. >> my name's caleb, i'm from massachusetts, and can i'm an intern here at heritage. we know that when president bush proposed reforming social security to try and save it, he couldn't get a hearing even this his own congress.

>> he got hung out. >> right. so how do you think that republicans whether on the that'll or the state scene can propose reforms to entitlement programs without scaring people who can't invest a lot of time in looking into it? >> good point. and standing up and, basically, telling the truth about it and not being afraid to, you know, i told people i said, if you need a reason, exhibit a, that i'm not running for the presidency of the unite, i -- united states, i wrote this book. i love this country, i love texas. i want it to be a powerful and a great place to live for my children. and for it to be that way we have to address these issues and not be afraid and tell the truth and push back on those who would do nothing more than be fear mongers for the standpoint of, oh, they're going to take your social security away. they don't have to tell that to

my children. they already know that. there will be no social security for them if we don't stand up as a people and address this issue. so that is the powerful message, i think, the 20-something and the young 30-year-old, they want a country that is economically sound and on good, powerful, solid foundation. to do that, washington has to stop spending money that we don't have on programs that we don't want. god bless you all and thank you for coming out and being with us today. [applause] >> for more information about governor rick perry, visit governor.state.t x.us. >> you're watching booktv on

c-span2. here's our prime time lineup for tonight. >> well, another los angeles times reporter from the beijing bureau has been nominated for the national book award in the nonfiction category, and this is barbara demick. and her book "thog to envy, ordinary lives in north korea." how did you get access to north korea? >> i spent about seven years interviewing north koreans not in north korea, but in south korea, around the chinese

border. i've been to north korea quite a few times, but you can't speak to anybody in north korea. you can't even make eye contact with them. to say this is the most repressive regime in the world is, you know, actually a case where we can use superlatives. when you work in north korea, you have a minder, and your minder has a minder to make sure you don't talk to anybody. but i found north koreans, actually, to be quite talkative when they got out of the country, and i really just painstakingly pieced together their stories which, in my mind, were 1984 come true. >> these north koreans that you spoke with, did they escape from north korea? were they visiting south korea? how -- why were they out of the country? >> everybody has to escape. north koreans, basically, live in a large prison. they're not allowed out of their country unless they're very, very elite. these are people who largely

when they were starving to death crossed the rivers that border china and tried to make new lives for themselves. and, you know, the funny thing is when they were in north korea although they were starving, they had been fed this propaganda that they lived in the best country in the world. that's where the title comes from, we have nothing to envy in the world, and then they come out and realize that, my god, in china people eat rice, and they have televisions, and they can read whatever they want holtz. more or less. >> so you found they were pretty uni ware of the -- unaware of the outside world? >> up with of my chapter titles -- one of my chapter titles. but north korea is really almost hermetically seals in how they keep their power. convincing people of this great lie. and, of course, the greater the lie, the greater the power. >> barbara demick, can you give us a snapshot of the daily life

of an urban dweller in north korea and a rural dweller? >> sure. the people who i wrote about were mostly from the city. they get up, the first light of dawn and the minute the sun is up what you do is you start looking for weeds and grass that's edible. you have to get out before everybody else. go out to the countryside, take a thigh and a basket looking for something to eat. basically, people spend their whole days looking for something to eat dinner, and then they go to bed early to conserve energy. maybe they'll go out to the woods to collect firewood. this was a situation in the 1990s that during the famine got better and now, unfortunately, it's gotten worse again. >> when you travel to north korea, what was the process like getting in? >> it's really difficult as an american and as a journalist. i speak a little bit, not very

much, korean. i was rejected for years for a visa. i don't know why they finally let me in, i've got to honestly say. but in 2005 i finally got the proper visa to visit pyongyang, and i think they let some of us in, basically, because they need money. there aren't a lot of people who want to visit north korea, and can it's a bad hi-needed source of -- badly-needed source of high currency. >> what was your experience like? tell us quickly. >> pyongyang is a lovely city. it's one of the cleanest, least polluted cities in all of asia. there's no industry, there's very few cars. the people are friendly, they're completely brainwashed. i mean, they'll only talk about their great leader. you don't really have any kind of honest conversation. but, you know, i would say that there is a warmth to the people. and one of the reasons i wrote

the book is i felt north koreans were so mysterious, and a lot of the very peg negative -- negative stereo types that american have about asians, the the inscrutable communists, you know, all this whole garbage was always applied to north koreans, and i wanted to show them as real people. and so i portrayed these six people who i still know, and they're wonderful people. >> do you find yourself being stared at? >> no. that's what's very interesting. they're taught not to stare, and they don't stare at you which is one sign of how controlled the environment is. in china i'm stared at, in south korea i'm stared at, not north korea. they don't make eye contact. >> were you relieved when you got out? >> yes. always. but it's not nearly as scary as you might think because once you get a proper visa as opposed to walking across the river, you're

chaperoned every moment. and, you know, i knew not to say anything that would get me in trouble or the people who were guiding me. >> how long have you been working on "nothing to envy"? >> it's embarrassing to say, but it was about seven years. i started intir viewing -- i started interviewing north koreans in, i guess, 2001, and i think because i couldn't get into north korea i became obsessed. as journalists, we're very simplistic creatures. if you tell us you can't go some place, you want to go. kind of like the cat and the string. so i was really obsessed about what life was like. and, you know, i imagined it was a little bit like "1984" or "brave new world," and, in fact, it is. >> you've already won the samuel johnson prize for "nothing