generation of people have children who were told they are special. they can do anything they want to. and the collision of that attitude in outlook with this economy has been painful to watch. when the recession began, in light of millennial's quite understandably didn't really realize what was happening to them. then he moved back in with their parents after graduation. many had to do that. ..

>> job tenure among millenials spiked for more than it has than for older workers. in a recent survey it asked if they wanted to switch employers, and an overwhelming majority said they wanted to stay with the same employer for their careers. more than that, you know, millenials are beginning to feel -- well, not beginning to feel, but they are seeing their entire lives really put on hold. you know, i spoke to a young attorney in dc who had graduated from law school in 2009 and could not find a job. he finally found a job with the

federal government not making use of his law degree, and he was worried he would never be able to use it. he was living in efficiency with a roommate. his parents were a machinist and a secretary and said by the time by dad was 23 years old, he had a house, wife, kids. these things have been pushed back so far for me, you know, i can't even see them, and that attitude, i think, has become more and more pervasive with 20-somethings. they feel trapped increasingly i think in an adolescence from which they simply can't escape. it's interesting when you look at the political beliefs of 20-somethings today. those, too, are changes radically. i shouldn't say radically, but changing significantly. this was already a liberal generation, but what we see in survey data now, 0-somethings are becoming more liberal in

principle and more in support of the poor, more cognizant of the role luck plays in life, but at the same time, they are more skeptical that the government can actually be trusted to come tently carry out good policy. this, too, is not a surprise. it's exactly what's happened to prior generations who came out in deep slumps in the 1980s and 70s and before, and those characteristics in the past have then stayed with those cohorts, you know, for decades afterwards. i where a bit about the millenials who had to move home and spend extended time with their families. there's been some good news from this. you know, i think both parents and their adult children have, at times, said that they've grown closer, appreciated spending the time together, but it's been a pretty complex

relationship to say the least. [laughter] you know, psychological research shows while parents are more than willing to give financial support to struggling adult children, they actually prefer to spend their time with children who are already succeeding, perhaps because it flatters the parents more. when we look -- when we look at japan, which is a very interesting case, 20-somethings began to live at home quite a lot more than they used to beginning in the late 80s and early 90s. just before japan's two decade long slump began. at first, people were doing that by choice. they were doing it because they had artistic ambitions frequently. they were rejecting the kind of sally man lifestyle that characterized their exairnts, and --

parents, and in many ways there was criticism, but in many ways they were glamourized for doing that, but what we see is as more and more 20-somethings had to move home and couldn't move out because the economy remained weak for years and years, social attitudes towards 20-somethings changed markedly. all glamour went away and one term describing them is parasite singles, and 20-somethings today are blamed widely in japan for everything from low birthrates to low economic growth, so i think it will be interesting to watch how social views of millenials change over the next few years, and how our attitudes towards youth changes as well. again, if we don't recover more quickly. i do want to stress that not all of the changes under way from

millenials are bad. i mean, some are merely transformations. you know, i don't think that the political changes, the changes in political views are necessarily that for 20-somethings. i sense a return to thrift in this generation. you know, we saw a generation of thrift after the depression that was only undone by the long inflation of the 1970s and the lessons that young boomers drew from that. i think we will likely to -- we are likely to see a turning towards generational thrift again after this period, and i think that will stand millenials in goodstead. it's also interesting to look at adolescence. in the depression, addless sents were shaped different than 20-somethings. they could not be blamed for the economic struggles their families were having, and at the same time, they were counted on for more during the depression and pampered less, and they became the greatest generation after that.

they -- and were renowned for their ability to postpone gratification for their firm commitment to family, and generally for a sort of can-do very practical attitude. now, the greatest generation had world war ii which was a horrific event, but provided an uplift to the economy at the beginning of their careers, but if we can get out of this period quickly, i think we will see some benefits for people who are currently in their teens. that's a little taste of one how this period will probably leave enduring marks on the u.s., how our culture, our politics, the character of our society will likely be changed for decades even after we fully we cover. part two is the way that this period is accelerating deep

economic forces that were already underway in society and that were kind of changing our classes and changing life in america any way. let me -- let me just ask a question to everyone here. how many people -- just raise your hand -- how many people feel personally in your own life, your own career, your own close social circles that you're still living in a bad slump? yeah, not too many people. you know, i would say less than one in five people just raised their hands, and that's not surprising because we're in northwest washington, d.c., and -- [laughter] and america's power cities and creative enclaves, the places to which the most highly educated, highest potential people flocked before, you know, over the past 20 years have felt this recession much more lightly than

most of america, housing values didn't decline as much, and they rebounded more. wage growth is remarkably rapid in the last year or so particularly in places like manhattan and silicon valley. it's a very different environment than characterizes much of the country now. in part, it explains why politically we have been less focused on job growth than we really should be today. david, an economist at mit looked carefully at the structure of job losses in this recession. what we found was that overwhelmingly what was they call mid skill jobs, jobs in manufactures and nonoffice work like clerks, add min straitive staps that typically have been taken by people with a high school degree, but not a four

year college degree. about 60% of the adult population. it's that group of job overwhelmingly that disappeared in this recession. you know, jobs throughout the economy should have been growing a with respect, but if you look at high school jobs in management and professional work, there was no net job loss. the unemployment rate of professionals with a degree is 2% today. look at jobs in security, food preparation, minimum wage jobs were just a little bit better. there's been no net loss in those jobs either. all of it has been in the middle, and companies as a result of the recession and because the recession gave them license to do this, have largely pulled forward restructuring offshoring decisions that they otherwise would have taken years to do and e enormous number of people are falling out of the middle class. the job growth is towards the

bottom of the economy. economic data are not great here, but it's jobs that are at the $15 an hour level and less that have been growing, not jobs in the middle, and i don't think there's good reason to believe those middle skilled jobs are likely to come back unless we do something to change it, and there are no quick fixes in this particular case. i think we're looking at a large chunk of middle class that is going to be working if they can find work at all at much lower wages than they had in the past. this has been called the man jcession, and it's true about three quarters of all pink slips delivered during the recession were to men, and that has issues too. manufacturing declined by a third of total jobs. the construction bubble hid that

for a time, but now that's gone too, and men without a college degree are really, really struggling. in fact, men have not adapted well to the post industrial economy as a group. college graduation rates among men have not risen substantially since 1980. men have not successfully transitioned into the services either. field like education and health care remain just as lopsided in employment towards women today as they were at the beginning of the decade. what men have done is they have exited the work force. they've been doing it for years, more quickly since the recession. in 1967 men with a high school degree in working years, 90% were working, and today 70% are working. now, what does that mean? it has more -- the consequences are more than one might initially suppose, and they have more -- not just about paychecks

and bank accounts -- family life is changing really significantly in many parts of the country that are characterized by blue collar work and communities where people overwhelmingly do not have college education. women don't marry men who don't have jobs or who are economically insecure, but they do have children with them, and those children tend to struggle as when usually happens their parents don't stay together, so what are we seeing kind of as far as an acceleration of the trends that were already existing in the u.s.? well, we're seeing recovery among the rich, continuing concentration of the wealth among the top 1% of society, and we're seeing not just the hollowing of the nonprofessional middle class, but we're seeing changes to family structure and community character that i fear

unaddressed will change the future of children in those communities and possibly make class divides much harder to bridge in the future. i've been running on a bit. i'll go more quickly. i was going to tell a story of one of the many struggling men that i met -- i won't. so how do we -- quickly -- i met this guy outside -- [laughter] outside redding, pennsylvania, and you know, he's a great guy, optimistic guy, caring guy. when he and his wife were still together before he lost his job in the recession, he and she had adopted eight children, you know, really is the salt of the earth. he lost his job as a construction foreman. started life outside, worked in a factory, italian-american

outside of redding. he didn't know what to do. he struggled in school, and that was 20 years in the past. he new retraining efforts were available for him, but he was terrified of the classroom and too old to take these opportunities. his whole manner, you know had been shaped by blue collar work, and, you know, a human resource -- like an interviewing coach provided by a low cam church group told him, you know, with the style of conversation that you're using, you're not going to get a job outside construction. his response, by the way, he told me was you can kiss my ass. [laughter] you know, he felt like he was a good worker, and that's what was important. you know, in many ways he represents, though, i mean, there's a lot of men -- they are good guys. they work hard. their work has been devalued. they are being forced now into parts of the economy that require very different social skills and skill sets.

i just don't know how to react to that. i mean, this guy who i call "frank" in the book -- he asked for a pseudonym. he got by by rooting through his neighbor's trash for a year and a half. he learned the garbage collection schedule for his neighbor and then town within 30 # miles of his town and drove his pickup truck through much of the night looking for appliances that he could salvage for scrap, sometimes with his children in the cab. not an easy problem to fix. i think we're going to see more and more in society and even as the economy recovers, it's a fundamental change in the nature of work that is really harming men, their families, and their communities in blue collar areas. the last thing that i want to talk about before taking questions, the third message of

the book is -- and it's important is, you know, we can get out of this period more quickly, and we can build a more robust society, but it's going to take a wide array of actions, and we need to start now, and i will mention three things. in the short run, the most important problem facing the economy is fundment tally a lack of consumer demand. the housing bubble allowed middle class consumers whose wages were not growing for a decade to feel like they were getting ahead taking on more and more debt expecting housing debt to make up the difference. that leaf blew away. it's going to take a couple more years if you look at debt levels for consumers to finish deleveraging and then be able to

spend again. when that happens, unemployment is high, it is appropriate and necessary for the government to step in and provide support for the economy and direct job growth. we need to worry about the debt in the long run of the we need to pass binding measures today to reduce the debt once the economy is healthy again, but it is dead wrong to be moving towards austerity today, and it is -- it is something we, as citizens, i think need to struggle against. what we should be doing is investing more in infrastructure, for instance, which is deteriorating and decaying. it's a necessary investment, and we could bring, you know, hundreds of thousands of unemployed construction workers, manufacturing workers back into the economy, keep them working, so we need, you know, i describe in the book, you know, it's more

than simple stimulus. i describe in the book the ways i think the government can, in the short run, create jobs, support the economy, and kind of help us help carry us through this period with consumer demand is still recovering, but that is the most important thing in the short run, and we're just not doing it today. the second thing and this is really important and much neglected today i think. in the longer run, a lot of the story is about technology, and it's not just about the kinds of innovations that have been eliminating work for american workers. it's been a slow down throughout the rate of breakthrough innovation, the source that creates new products, new services, whole new industries. i don't have time to get into kind of why that's happened, but it quite clearly has, and it's happened at the same time that innovations diffuse globally

more quickly so that the work leaves our borders more quickly. i call for a sort of manhattan project to try to reinvigorate the rate of breakthrough tech knowledge innovations. part of that involves more investment in scientific advance, in research and development, and participant involves a really different way of thinking about regulation, especially regulation of young industries that have real growth potential and can provide the next generation of products and services for america. the last thing that i -- set of things that i recommend in the book have to do with filling the hole in the middle class. if our government is willing to intelligently and creatively expand its support for the economy today, and if we start taking measures, some of which cost money and some of which don't to raise the rate of

innovation in the u.s. economy, a lot will go right over time, and jobs will come back and particularly for people with college degrees who are struggling badly today. things will get a lot better, but it's not clear that things will get entirely better for people who don't have college degrees. the forces that are hollowing the middle class appear quite inexitble. so what do we need to do to re-- to mitigate these trends, allow for a good middle class life for people who don't have a college degree? we should encourage college, but only 30% of the population, even mng young adults are college graduates. it's been growing slowly, one percentage point every four years. college, while we need to widen access to it, it's not the problem facing middle class.

in the book i look to different education models in high school, vocational programs, apprenticeships which research has shown do not fore close post secondary opportunities, but which do provide young men in particular who night not go to college a better sense of real careers available to them and how they can reach them. i think this is going to be critical for the u.s., but the last thing within kind of filling the hole in the middle class, and then i will stop is to some extent the answer is to the problems we are seeing today must be political. a lot of middle class, former middle class americans will not recover the wages they had. a lot of middle scale jobs that were available will not come back, and i think we really need to think about more aggressive sub --

subsidize. economists on the left and right advocated a social compact with americans who are working. you know, over time the problem in the u.s. is going to shift from unemployment itself to the pay that many people are getting, and when we're seeing such explosive rates of growth among the wealthy, and still good incomes among the professional middle class, i think we owe it to ourselves as a society. i think we need to think about more aggressively subsidizing the low skill, low income work that many people are going to need to take who are now falling out of the middle class, so let me stop there, and thank you very much for your attention for a very long presentation. [applause] >> we have 20 minutes for questions from this microphone. >> okay. thank you, that was very interesting, and i listened to

you yesterday on point. you're talking about the effect of the recession on us. my question is about the politics that have affected the recession and our response to it. i graduated from college in 1969. my parents graduated from college in 1943, so the response this time is so different from the kind of response of the people from the depression. roosevelt was not afraid to say that the problem was the bankers, and he immediately put in regulation, which was popular, in the 60s and it was just assumed that social security and progressive income tax and labor unions were the source of our prosperity. this time, when the government went to bailout gm and chrysler, the response of people like

frank, middle class workers, was why should they get $40 an hour when toyota only pays $20? they should get twenty like the rest of us. response of people in wisconsin was the same. why can't public employees have good pensions if we don't have good pensions. it was exactly the opposite. i wonder why that's happened. >> that's a great question, and when you look at the depression, the depression especially really stands out from other long slumps in american history and in european history as well, and i think in part the very depths of that period, which, of course, was deeper than what we're in today did pull society together. the middle class came to identify with the poor more than with the rich which is unusual in american history, and, you know, the iconic images of the period including bankers selling apples on street corners. there was a sense everyone was

together to get out of it together. that's not the case today. the bankers do not involve the sale of apples. [laughter] the recession is felt differently by different people, and so i think that has something to do with the response, and as i mentioned in the talk, you know, part of what's going on is many of the most inflew enrnl people in the u.s. and the most influential places in the u.s.. i feel like the recovery is well advanced. washington, d.c. at a recent gallop poll shows as the most optimistic city as for the future of the state and economy. we have this geographic separation in the u.s. that i think contributed to a -- an unintention on the part of many american elites, but there's also something else going on this periods like this typically, and that is, you know, bust psychology takes over, and what we see again and

again in periods like this is people become much more yes louse of -- jealous of their status with regards to others. support for the poor diminishes, and among middle class people who are not employed, but have seen their housing values decline and career prospects decline, you know, to them, a lot of the benefits they see, a lot of the government programs that they see are benefiting people unlike them, and they don't support them. national debt takes on an oversized importance again in again in periods like this. in the 1980 when the debt was smaller than it is today, a large majority of americans were concerned that the debt was going to choke off the recovery. reagan didn't listen. in 1936, the economy was

improving, but still bad, but they didn't believe the federal budget absolutely had to be balanced in that year, and in 1937, the government tried to do that, cutting spending radially, raised taxes, stock market crashed, unemployment skyrocketed to 19 years and world war ii to get a fully out of the depression. in some ways, i think, you know, the push towards austerity, the reluctance to do more is actually understandable today. it's a psychological and emotional reaction, and it's happened before, but we really, really need to struggle against it because it is ultimately an emotional reaction, and it's leading us towards very bad policies. >> thank you. >> hi, thank you very much for the most compelling discussion. i wanted to address more of the

situation of professionals. you talked about the lawyer who can't find a job. we're seeing a shrinking of options for professionals. not the least of this is the fact that in india there's many college educated people who are assuming jobs in engineering and other fields, and law can be outsourced at certain levels, and some are doing that for mrt pedestrian kinds of things. we are seeing a shrinking of state governments that are going to continue no matter who the president becomes, and, of course, perry will certainly be influencing that discussion. in new york city, teachers are being laid off in huge numbers. these are good middle class, maybe you could call them middle middle class jobs, some of the professional jobs like engineering is upper middle class depending on the income so i think this effect does not so totally focused on folks who are

blue collar workers, sometimes heights of the blue collar pay scale, and i think again the whole globalization, the fact that engineers in china are turning out in huge numbers. many of the people are learning how to speak english so there's an international dimension that are not going to go away, and with government cut backs and support for training and other programs, the situation is in some ways kind of dire i would think. i'd be interested in your comments. ..

the unemployment rate with a professional degree is 2% in people with a dot mac -- bashers degrees 4.5% on over 9% overall and when you talk about high school graduates and high school dropouts you are into the teens and 20s so i mean, it is true that it is less certain today and that is not going to change for just about everyone. but it is also true that people with more education have been much better insulated than everyone else. it is funny in the depression, people began to question the value of a college degree quite widely. and of course they were wrong. i think people who are doing that today are also wrong. i mean, the return on a college degree remains near historical high and while there is more competition overseas, there is also more demand overseas. this period is about the rise of

the middle class globally, just not our middle-class. and for people, for people with strong skills thomas drunk generalizable skills and a good education and some ability, you know, while there is going to be more competition there is really also more opportunity because markets have expanded so much, so it is not so much kind of a one-way street with globalization and particularly for people of strong skills. i think over time, the benefits are going to outweigh the cost. >> there was quite a lot of violent labor unrest in the late 19th century and i noticed that you talked about japan, but not any of the employment unrest in london. what is your sense of what it is going to take her there to be led on the streets in america?

>> well, islands is very unpredictable, but we do know from history that as periods like this have extended we tend to see more incidents of it, and as you mentioned the 1890s and the end of the 19th century in general was a violent period in the u.s.. and we didn't see anything comparable to the depression but we did see a substantial increase in lynchings and in mob violence in that era as well. we saw to some extent in the 70s -- what is interesting is even when we recover, reactionary sentiments once they come out of the bottle aren't easily stuffed back in so when you look at the 70s for instance the oklahoma city bombing occurred in 1994 or 1995 as the economy was just beginning a period of incredible growth, but when you actually look at the specific ideology and kind of the origins of that

ideology of the bomber, you know they can clearly traces to the 70s and things that were written in the 70s. when the economy was really in bad shape and a lot of white men were losing faith in the country. so, i don't know what is going to happen as to violence. japan hasn't had a lot of violent. it is very hard to predict, but i do think that we are going to be vulnerable certainly to reaction and extremism much more than we have been in the last decade or two, probably for the next decade or two. >> the like others i really think it is an excellent presentation. a lot of times, the culture

can't see the forest for the trees and you are sort of putting a little bit of the forest out there. but i think constantly we have heard from earlier questioners there is a bigger force than even you are presenting. what we are going to experience as you describe may only be a prelude to a greater reconfiguration of human existence and human history and i am saying that says we are not geared up institutionally and politically and psychologically. i mean, they put another layer for example of the environment on top of what you are describing, that is going to make it more -- so i just wanted to hear your response to that, that this may be even a greater turning point in history then you are describing because we are accelerating and that is the difference. we changed over hundreds and hundreds of years, but now we

are accelerating to where we are eating compressed into a smaller time time period with greater stress. >> i mean, there is a lot that is changing profoundly in the world, and that is kind of accelerating a lot. a lot of changes in american life. and i think that we have been kind of lyrically unprepared for many of the changes that have been occurring actually for 15 or 20 years and have been hidden like credit and by the housing bubble. so i mean that is why. and "pinched" we need to look very broadly at how we need to change our economic policy and our industrial policy, our technological policies. and, our kind of taxation and

redistribution systems to try to accommodate ourselves to a new world that is likely to continue to change very quickly. the one source of -- not the one source but the one source of hope i had been speaking very broadly when i talked about the rise of the global middle class, wages in china are rising rapidly, and over the course of you know, a couple of decades or more, we will begin to see wage disparities being eliminated and we will see a lot more demand globally if the u.s. can get out of its own way and continue to increase education, provide a fertile environment for innovation. i think the country will be fine. in the long run. my worry is more what is happening to specific classes within the country. >> the world can't even afford the level of pollution that you

describe. >> i have got a question about job creation and this is partly an outgrowth of what we have seen in the last few weeks with the political polarization. and what your thoughts are on how we can get a situation where we really are as a country creating more jobs for these people that you are describing. in the face of, it seems, very uninformed electorate that has put in place elected officials who are almost against people that are of economic interest, so we saw in the last few weeks with competing job creation, not helping it and one of their side point point is, know you've made a comment about northwest d.c. but my guess is most people in northwest d.c. just by example with the in favor of some of the

government programs that would encourage job creation. >> right, right, right. it is an intractable commented i wish i had a good answer for you. this is a tough. not politically and you are right. the political forces today are really pushing against what we need to do and not towards it. i guess i have two answers. one is, ultimately it is incumbent upon all of us to speak with aloud voice, to be politically active when we really believe in things and i kind of feel like to some extent the people who have been the loudest and most active are the people that are pushing against government support and stimulus and job creation so i think all we can do as citizens is talk about these issues and write and call our elected officials, and

make a stink about it. and you know, i don't think that, i don't think that has happened is much actually on kind of the pro-government support site as it has on the anti. the other thing -- well it is really not other thing. even if that doesn't push the government towards a wholesale change in strategy, there is a lot that we can be doing right now that doesn't actually cost money. we are just not doing it because frankly our elected officials aren't really focused on job growth. let me give you one small example of that. there is bill before congress now called the start of peace act and it was supported by american venture capitalists and what it would do is, it would more or less automatically granted visa to any foreign entrepreneur who wanted to settle in the u.s. and had

already secured american venture capital funding. there are a large number of highly-skilled entrepreneurs who would love to move to the u.s.. they could create jobs immediately, and the bill is languishing. if this wouldn't cost any money. we are not doing it. i described that another tactics. there are a host of measures that we could be pursuing without any impact on the deficit. collectively they at least add up to something and we are not doing them. >> one last quick question here. >> the putting bad government policies aside for a moment, a lot of people have talked about economics and right economic books and talk about this problem. they seem to believe in something that i guess i could call the business cycle that you know there are the dips in in the troughs in the peaks and

stuff like that. and i'm wondering whether business cycles is really something that we are still dealing with? i mean, cheaper labor offshore is a phenomenon. if you want to get a job go to india. to china, not a problem. that is certainly one solution, but we have the internet is a phenomenon that has only existed 10 or 15 years. that is certainly makes mince meat of a lot of work and mortar jobs. computers, automation, artificial intelligence, robotics. they are all the future. what business cycle, i mean what kind of solutions do we have for these things that i personally don't believe our you know every business cycle has had these kinds of things thrown at society. what kind of hoped might there actually be for people, given

the ugly reality? >> i think there were two things going on in the economy and one is essentially a business cycle although an extended one. we have spent years overspending consumers were taking on debt war or and board, and what we are seeing is kind of a hangover now from that period. the fallout from our natural crises is almost always very slow and recovery usually does take a number of years. so i mean, part of what is happening today is kind of cyclical and the problems will mitigate and go away once consumers deleverage and can spend again, but that is a very long process and will be all the longer of government hinders rather than helps. let you are right, the other thing that is going on that i have tried to in this talk is much more than business cycles.

it is an acceleration of the hollowing of the middle class driven by technology and offshoring. that may slow down again a little bit once we come out of this period for a time but it is certainly going to continue and that is why i think that in addition to short-term measures to stimulate the economy we really need to think broadly as a nation about how for the next generations and for people who are currently following the middle class that we can build a broad and sustainable middle class country the one we have is falling apart. [applause] >> thank you gone for a great talk and thank you for being here. copy of "pinched" are in the front of the store. asked questions, say hello. thanks for coming and have a great evening.

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due to waterborne diseases. >> watch more what's more from the senate hearing live at the c-span video library. >> last year mas leicester massachusetts state senator scott brown was elected to fill the remainingsenahe terf the late u.s. senator tede kennedy. senator brown talked about his political career at the ronald reaganpr presidential library i

simi valley california. this is 40 minutes. [applause] >> before i get started i just want to say i had an opportunity to go-round and try to meet everybody and say hello, and i know you talk about the weather here. no offense. [laughter] i have snow that is about as high as the flags over here, so and they did get a chance to go into her this amazing facility and be part of history. it is such a wonderful opportunity for not just young people but every person from every walk of life and i'm so honored to be here. i want to thank you all for the very very warm welcome and john i appreciate the kind introduction and a chance to visit the ronald reagan presidential library. you know this is my first time here and what an honor it is for me to really meet a living

legend, obviously nancy reagan herself and it is wonderful to be with you, maam. thank you. [applause] it is a tremendous thrill forming to be here and it was great to meet so many of you at the book signing. i tried to meet all of you and get pictures and learn about you and your families and he said such nice things. i just hope that the reviewers are just as charitable. and, as you may assume there is a lot of treasure, big pressure on a first-time author especially when you are out there talking about your life story. now i haven't felt so exposed since i appeared in cosmopolitan mega-zine in 1982. [laughter] now, it is just -- i guess you can imagine also that you do not see too many massachusetts republicans coming out this way. [applause] so in this year and month of the

ronald reagan centennial i am proud to note of the connections between our 40th president in the base date. just for starters mrs. reagan and i were talking out in the hall and she is a distinguished graduate of a fine massachusetts school, smith college in northampton. i've been there many times. you are right, it is a wonderful school and then there is a portrait of the great man that president reagan gave a place of honor in the cabinet room. it is the former massachusetts governor, calvin coolidge, and i will wager that the magnificent air force one that i saw and any of you have seen out in the area that is just as big as i could tell. i have never seen such a large museum space has set down more than a few times at logan airport and hampton air force base because as a kennedy as you know ronald reagan carried my state. and you also know that no other republican has won massachusetts in the last 50 years.

and the gipper did it twice. [applause] when i think the ronald reagan i think of someone who was larger than life, a powerful figure who was proud to be an american. i did my small part. yeah, you can clap on that. it is true. it is true and i like you did my part in supporting him and in the working-class neighborhood where i lived that put me in a majority. to this day in american politics, we speak of reagan republicans and reagan democrats, and that is the legacy of the man who respected everyone and spoke to everyone. now a lot of old political assumptions fell away in his time because his convictions were so clear and his integrity was so obvious. people of every background, even many who had never considered voting for a republican sized up

ronald reagan and five do you know what? this is my kind of guy. he understands the country. he wants everyone to have a chance and he knows that in this world, the united states of america is a force for good. the american people reagan said are hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent and fair. he was all of these things himself and everyone could see that. we can all think of leaders who wrote -- throughout history they came up a little short in the qualities of goodness and somehow when we remember this great man, we think of his goodness. he was engaged in the biggest events of his time, the kindness and courtesy were never ever beneath him. it is just the way he carried himself with that confident gentlemanly manner. he was all class and in hollywood you can't even fake that.

sometimes the best tributes come from opponents because the other ones as you well know that are looking for weaknesses, and it was a notable adversary who once had a president reagan, a largest of spirit infused his presidency. ronald reagan was one of those rare presidents who lifted our vision and enlarged our very conception of this nation and its mission on earth. his time will long glow in history and memory. that was pretty high praise coming as it did from edward m. kennedy and while nobody could ever call ted a reagan democrat -- [laughter] he certainly knew the type and he knew that they don't like either party taking their votes for granted. the reagan democrats, many of you know, are still a mighty force in my state and definitely across this country. otherwise, i would not be here today as a proud successor of the late senator kennedy.

so, i guess as you know there was a little bit of luck working for me last year too although when i got into the senate race i am sure he didn't look like i was a guy about to catch any breaks, as you well know and after the passing of senator kennedy, most people thought that the special election would be decided in the democratic riemer e., simple as that. who wanted to be the sadsack republican who was going to take the fall in the general election? it was me. [laughter] [applause] well, i will tell you what, i knew what i wanted. i wanted to be the republican nominee and not just to prove that i could lose by a little instead of a lot. [laughter] and i remember talking to some political pros about getting into the race, and they were sure i couldn't make it. but they did see one upside. by getting my name out there apparently and raising my

statewide profile, maybe, just maybe i could position myself for a run at state treasurer or state auditor or something like that down the road. and even after he managed to get the republican nomination, i heard the same thing from commentators. with certain defeat awaiting me i must trying to set myself up apparently for some type of consolation prize later on. this is the way it is, massachusetts. i never bought into that type of thinking. i sensed opportunity and a chance for change in on the other side, i just sensed overconfidence. now many of you who may know me will know i am a competitive guy and i have always loved the game of basketball. i learned early on that no self-respecting player ever ever leaves the court before taking his best shot. the way i saw it running for the united states senate was absolutely no different. i was going to give it my best

shot and take absolutely nothing for granted. i was going to run hard, and i was going to run to win. in our lives, you know we all know that at some time in our lives where all to be the underdog at one time or another and i hope my book will help others to get through those trying times because everyone has moments when others are saying that something can be done. however the worthy the goal, it is just not possible. let me tell you something, when your gut tells you otherwise, you have to go with your gut. if it is truly in your heart to take a big chance, but my advice is ignored the doubters and give everything lasts that is inside of you because sometimes it just taking a risk and overcoming the fear of failure is actually kind of a victory in itself. i don't know if you agree with me but that is how i have always felt.

[applause] and you never know. you just never know when you might beat the odds and go all the way. and against all odds seemed like a fitting title for a story of my unlikely win last year and frankly for the longer tail that you actually find in the book, it is my life. it is definitely not life and as you will quickly gather it has not been cleaned up or made to look any more gentle or tidy than it really was. a time or two it was suggested that i could be a little more vague, little more vague about some of the things i experienced a move little faster over the roof spots toward the happy ending and being a united states senator. but my attitude was, there are enough self-serving books by politicians and quite frankly i didn't want my name on it. i did not want my name on it. so i left in some stuff i am

quite frankly not especially proud of. in a few moments in my life that i would rather been forgotten. i just figured if i was going to tell my story at all, i ought to just trust you, the readers, and just tell it straight. some of the earlier experiences i recounted in his book, let me just say that no one will accuse me of idealizing my youth. it is a life story. in my family, when i was a kid, it wasn't anyone's idea of a model household. my mom and dad between them had eight marriages. yes, eight marriages. mom is happily divorced and dad is happily married. and as i grew up at various times outside boston dad was always in and out of my life and unfortunately he was mostly out. we moved 17 times by the time i was 18 and it was always either

in a cheap apartment or someone else's house. my mom raised my sister lee ann at may basically alone. sheeted waitressing work, office work and other odd jobs and at times yes we were even on public assistance. my mom had a pretty hard. sometimes adding to her own troubles in having a restless kid like me around to look and acted a lot like his absent father while getting harder to handle every year didn't exactly brighten her outlook either. stepdad came and went in our lives including some pretty sorry characters. two of them had a very violent streak that brought a lot of grief and fear into our lives are go just to give you an idea of how miserable we were with one of these guys, when the house we shared with them came up for sale a few years ago i dropped by and i looked at it and it brought back a lot of memories. as i was driving away i said man i wish i had some money so i could buy the place in burned down.

i know, would have been trouble. it really was that unpleasant sometimes and there is no getting around the plane telling of it in my book. but let me tell you, before you take out your receipts and i know a lot of you save them, to see they can return the copies on your way out of here -- [laughter] you should know that things do get that are in the last chapters. yeah they do. is hopeful book and i'm glad to say my mom and dad are in my life and play a pivotal role in it. they know and love their grandchildren. we are all content to focus on what we have today instead of what could have been or should have been. and besides this family i have absolutely no complaints. my luck turned in a big way in the mid-1980s when i married my wife, gale. and our girls are grown now. being the dad and a happy family has been the greatest thing in

the world that has happened to me. i am not going to cry. [laughter] it is a world away from what we called the family when i was growing up. and when you see, when you see the opposite you can never ever take a loving peaceful home for granted ever. most of us when we think back on our own personal journeys and i know i'm not the only one who has had tough times, we can remember the toughest times the clearest of all. i know everyone in this audience has those tough times and you think back and you say wow. that is how it is and was for me in writing this book. it wasn't hard to pull up the details of some of the adversity that came my way. for example when a 6-year-old young boy is taking the best bunches of a drunken stepdad and when a kid can't even find a safe haven at a bible camp, i

won't lie, it leaves a mark. for me, when there were times in my boyhood when i felt like i couldn't trust anyone, couldn't trust anyone. for a while i wasn't actually been that trustworthy myself and fell in with some older kids whose idea of an afternoon outing was going to the mall to do some shoplifting. that is how i find myself at age 13 sitting in a big courtroom facing an even bigger judge in feeling like they little that i actually was. the judge, fine man didn't know that i've been reagan ripped off a suit that i was wearing that day. but the judge did know, he did know that there was a young kid in there who could still go one way or the other. he gave me the talking to that i needed and a big big break that started to point me in a better direction.

there are other great people in my life, teachers, basketball coaches and parents and friends who showed up in my life just in time. from them, i learned to take responsibility for the first time in my life, to channel my energy in a structured way and to give discipline and whatever talent i actually had. for so long, i remember it like it was yesterday, for so long i felt like a loser kid who is missing out on everything good and they showed me how much i really had going for me. and in part because of them, and also because of my grandparents, things never completely came unraveled. and i escaped to beat the odds. well, let me take a little drink here. i hope you like basketball. how many here like basketball? [applause] i like the celtics a little better than they could clippers

and the lakers but that's okay. don't hold that against me, all right? i hope you do like basketball because there is a lot of it in the book. i'd love to lose myself in the intensity of the game when i played. on the court, but chaos and let downs in my daily life are completely out of my mind. there were clear rules and boundaries that i actually needed. i knew my abilities and how to use them when i played. i once told my coach as a matter fact when i was younger, probably eight to ninth grade, that i wanted to wear knee pads because that was the cool thing. he told me scott, serious players aren't the guys with kneepads but the ones with the scrapes and bruises because they always die for the ball and then brush off the pain. those are the guys you have to watch out for. given my home life i knew exactly what it meant to brush off the pain. on the basketball court i i wasn't the fastest kid, that being tough and a hard worker counted for an awful lot.

now, l.a. basketball fans might remember the wisdom of the legendary coach john wooden. he said, never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. it was relevant then and it it is relevant today and that type of thinking helped me to see past my own limitations, to supplement my financial aid by playing basketball. i held jobs that usually involves a mop or a paintbrush or a shovel, any honest work that would pay the bills and it was good by me because it kept moving me closer to something better that i knew that was out there. when reporters in this most recent senate race actually thought i had a chance to win, they did a little research, the research and my background, i am shocked. shocked. and they didn't linger on my 25 year legal career, my years in

the state legislature or my 31 years in the army national guard. no, what really got their attention was the work i did in the 80's with "cosmopolitan" magazine. [laughter] let's just say it seemed like a good idea at the time. [laughter] especially when they fedex me a ticket to new york city and a check for $1000 back in the 80's. that was good. and there i was without a nickel to my name and a mountain full of tuition bills ahead of me, so i accepted. and for a while there i was. i was the cosmo guy, accepting all the duties and privileges you might imagine that comes with such a title. i was even on "the today show" back then. even on "the today show," brian gumbel and jane pauly, you remember it. in the green room i remember someone asked if dana contest

number might hinder a political future by had one in mind. no, politics isn't for me. anyway i figured who is going to care about these pictures 30 years from now? go figure. strange as it might sound experience as i read about in this book and yes even my modeling days, they add up to a life that i wouldn't trade for anything. it is often like that as you know. you all know that. you know exactly what i'm talking about, just like you. we look back and we see how even the roof times that we have had, all those rough experiences have happened -- actually shaped as for the good and actually made us who we are. i try to get that across in my book. it is a story that millions and millions of other people could tell with different scenes and scenarios in different details about being poor and feeling trapped and wishing you could just get up and run away from it

all. some kids whether they are in boston or south-central l.a., that is all life seems to offer some times. let me tell you something. i know for a fact that i'm a better man for having been one of those kids, with no money in my pocket, no father to protect me and my sister, no feelings of pride of achievement outside of basketball and if my story, if my story can reach one kid and show everything can be better if they listen to the right people, let me tell you something. i will take that over even the best book review. [applause] it is also a book about second chances and the people who gave them to me. may be the only people we remember better than the ones who knock this down, and we all

have them, are the gracious one to help this up and actually give us a break in our lives. and encouraged us and gave us the encouragement and direction we needed when absolutely no one else would. they didn't even think we would be worth the trouble. i know better than to think that any good thing in my life was preordained. i know that and i have come this far only because long ago a few people in my life thought i was actually worth the trouble and thank goodness for that. from his youth president reagan said the mantis and bases rating on the game is won or lost but on the record of the player in later life. what kind of man and the boy had become. i had a couple of coaches just like that. this good influence i can still feel today. i still have a relationship with these coaches in these mentors in my life today. and they found a decent work ethic in me and reinforced it on

a daily basis. they toughened up my inside game and gave me combatants to play with the best and to never ever let the other team inside my head. those are the strengths that will serve you well in any line of work. let me tell you, they absolutely come in handy if you are a republican running for political office in massachusetts. [laughter] like any kids in my state and in my generation i grew up respecting the name of john f. kennedy. even in our messed up houses we often had a picture of jfk on the wall. ted followed him in the seat and held it from the time i was three years old, 51 now. on top of that honored legacy we are in a state where 12% of registered voters are republicans. 12%. in a republican it bothers to run for political office is in just taking on an opponent. you are taking on the entire

democratic state committee and this whole machine of unions and special interest. most times they can keep a pretty tight hold on things in massachusetts and my race was different for a whole lot of reasons. in a bad economy with two wars going on voters when a pretty serious frame of mind. while the machine was treating the whole thing as a formality. iran on the issues and voters appreciated being treated as if they actually had a choice. i said a government takeover of health health care was a bad idea and i was against it. i also said that we needed to get off the road of big government and dangerous debt and focus again on private enterprise and growing our economy and new jobs for our people. [applause] and dealing with america's terrorist enemies, is that our tax dollars should pay for weapons to stop them not lawyers to defend them.

[applause] and do you know what the default position of the political machine is always to brush off political republican candidates who are running for offices as right wingnuts. this time it was different. it didn't fly in massachusetts and i remember a short time before the final debate, rembert liked was yesterday on a biblical night. not as cold as it is here. [laughter] this is tropical, come on. i shook hands. actually went outside. it probably was -- it had to have been 10 or 20 below zero. it was a cold night, but they were out there holding signs were each other and i went outside and shook hands with everybody, including those people who were supporting my opponent. they were mostly union guys who said hey scott, we are voting for you. [laughter] we are here because we are getting paid to hold the signs.

we are voting for you, yes. [laughter] well, that was sure a confidence builder for the debate i was having an hour later which had the usual back-and-forth until one question was put to me by the moderator. it was a chance to say what was on everybody's mind. the question was whether i was really really willing to vote against obamacare, even as the senator from massachusetts holding ted kennedy's seat. well, i began my answer. look, with all due respect, it is not the kennedy seed and it is not the democrats eat, it is the people's seat and it is still the people's feet. [applause] and from that point on it was amazing. you could feel a real shift in the momentum of the race and it wasn't long before a quick visit to boston was added to the president's schedule. yeah. remember that? and my response was that the

president of the united states is always welcome in the commonwealth of massachusetts. i even for gave him for disrespecting my truck. [laughter] it was too late anyway because something bigger than both of us was happening in massachusetts, the ideals of reagan republicans and reagan democrats were once again uniting us and as i said on election night if it can happen in massachusetts it can happen again all over america. [applause] and he did because as we saw again in this past election in november there are some convictions that need only be stated plainly, plainly to win a majority. at a time when the national debt is more than $14 trillion rising, if you stand for spending discipline than the people will stand with you. and with eight, nine or 10% of

our fellow citizens out of work and a year and a half after we are told -- that our opponents pitch another stimulus bill. to the barricades to keep obamacare and see what happens. if our cause is free enterprise, lower taxes and personal responsibility, then trust me, a lot of working people may keep hearing those democratic signs that they will vote republican. [applause] i have been in the senate now for a little over a year now, a year and a couple of weeks and to this day i keep on my mantle in my office a picture of ted kennedy. it reminds me not only of someone i liked and admired but also of a promise i made to my friends back home, which was to

work with good people wherever i find them. i have always told my fellow republicans if you are looking for a full on an ideologue i am not your guy. but to someone who needs an ally in the cause of limited government and individual liberty and the confident advance of freedom in this world, then i say count me in because that is the cause to earn my loyalty long ago in the days of president ronald reagan. in the way of examples to follow, there is still no finer example of then-president reagan. [applause] and let me just say in closing because i know i hear some grumbling stomachs out their -- [laughter] thank you for braving the weather and coming. [laughter]

i think i may run in my shorts a little later. but truly, mrs. reagan i feel like i am dreaming. i am so honored to meet you. you and your husband were such role models for all of us as americans and it has truly been my privilege to join each and everyone of every one of you at this beautiful place that bears his name, so thank you, god bless and have a wonderful dinner. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. please sit down. i know we are getting hungry. i just want to go down and say hello to mrs. reagan for just a minute, so i will be right back.

>> senator brown has been kind enough to agree to spend about 10 or 12 minutes with us. we have a list of questions i became to the library this evening. >> and i haven't seen them so here we go. >> i think you you'll find his first one interesting. >> who is going going to win the nba? celtics, come on. [laughter] [applause] go ahead. i know everyone is hungry. fire way. >> what he think about what is happening in wisconsin? >> the question is, what is happening in wisconsin? obviously the people of wisconsin are trying to get a handle on their $3.6 deficit and they elected a new governor to deal with that problem. they elected a new legislature to back him up. he sent his plan to the legislature. i encourage the senators to come back into the people's business. [applause]

and everything is on the table right now, folks. we are in very deep fiscal trouble not only federally but in each individual state as you well know and everybody needs to get in a room, sit down and hammer things out in a richer, responsible fairway so the citizens of wisconsin can actually compete not only throughout this country but throughout the world on a global market. [applause] >> in light of the recent shooting of congresswoman giffords what are your opinions regarding protection of congressmen and senators during public appearances? >> i feel safe you are protecting me today. i must say that. first of all, listen, what happened to the congresswoman is a shame, and the deranged individual who did it is absolutely no excuse for it. my thoughts and prayers go out

to her and her family. i am so thankful that she is moving along and seems to be getting better but let's not forget the young girl that was killed and the others that were actually killed. the political rhetoric throughout this country while we have the ability to freely and openly debate and criticized, we also need to be respectful. like president reagan and tip o'neill. remember they would battle and battle but then they would go out and have a beer. no, don't use any additional security that i will say i am aware and when i feel that the threat level rises, do what i have to do to protect myself and my family. my deepest wishes that people debate, they disagree, they solve problems but in my personal philosophy is i will debate to death and i will argue to death in a respectful responsible manner and if i can go out and have a beer with you

after, that is how i tried to do my bargaining and negotiating. >> what has surprised you the most about washington? that's easy. [laughter] >> laugh but what surprises me most is listen i'm the luckiest guy in the world, no doubt about it. i am blessed to be united states senator. there couldn't be anything besides the birth of my kids in and my marriage that i'm more proud of. as they travel around the world to afghanistan-pakistan israel dubai and jordan do you know what they talk about overseas from the prime ministers and presidents and business leaders all the way down to the poorest farmer pushing a cart full of pomegranates -- talk about jobs. up until we got back we spend 12 to 15 days talking about anything to do with jobs. we are in the middle of a two-year recession and we have done nothing to deal with anything to do with jobs. are you kidding me? really? so here we are in a new year.

i am encouraged that we are looking at the debt and deficit and while everyone else is talking about you know, illegal immigration i'm talking about jobs. when they are talking about this or that i'm talking about jobs. and finally, it seems to be they're focusing on jobs and we will see the first issue is is the 10996 and we will do with that in two with a medical device tax in the health care bill. streamline and consolidate and do whatever he can to get this economy moving and repatriate all the offshore money. work on the tax code and reduce corporate taxes. there are so many things we can do and we are missing such a great opportunity right now to work with the american people in a bipartisan bicameral basis to do just that. the people of the united states of america sent a very powerful message in november that they are tired of business as usual. we need to get our fiscal house in order. i'm so anxious to get back to do just that. [applause] >> how did your parents is as a

child a way you raise your own children? >> well, haven't missed any basketball games or recitals or parent-teacher things. i am probably -- it is funny when i was doing work wherever i was, what time is the game? i try to teach them the things that i didn't learn and the things that i did learn. i try to teach them better. we all can learn and grow from our parents mistakes and i remember growing up and saying i am not doing that and definitely not doing that. i may do that but i will try to do it a little bit better and i like that. so, you will read in the book and i hope you all do get the book because it does send a very powerful message that regardless of your circumstances, and there are many many people who have way worse circumstances than i did, if you have a few good people around you just there as mentors you can actually make a difference. so i've tried to just be a good

dad. the best way i can. we are a family like many other families are a work in progress, but i think so far so good, you know. knock on wood. >> how did your parents feel about the book? >> as you saw my parents have had their own difficulties. they are the first ones to admit that they made mistakes but it was a different time. 50, 40 years ago, different time, different time for women, it different time as young people. my parents were obviously concerned about everyone knowing their business, but they were also very thankful that i created this opportunity to actually talk about the things that we had dealt with in our family because publicly like many of you there are certain taboo things you don't talk about in your family. i remember when i was dealing with some of the abuse issues at camp and i called home once in to come home. my mom three or four weeks ago

said, was at the time when he wanted to come home from camp when you were being abused? i said yeah. she said, i am so sorry. that enabled us to then talk about a few other things and other things and other things. my dad for weeks ago, we sat down for breakfast and he is dealing with parkinson's. he is battling his own health right now and he looked me in the eye and he said, i'm sorry. i wish i had known. i wish i'd been there and that enabled us to -- oh great. there was like this big weight being lifted off. wow, he gets it now. than we were able to build on a relationship unlike many other families folks we are working progress but i love them and they love me. and the other time that they spent battling and doing the things in their lives they have now concentrated on our kids which is a wonderful value to me and to them. >> what the until due to seek the senate seat in the first

place that it was so traditionally democrat? >> it was on a dare first of all. done ever challenge me. [laughter] that is why the president doesn't want to play me in basketball. [applause] spewed by kyrgyzstan the middle of your answer that is actually the final question, could you be the president at basketball? >> just tell them to him to bring his wallet. [applause] but seriously, yeah i could beat him. i have been blessed. like i said i had some good people and enjoy playing sports. use a lot of references to sports in the book, and there are so many things that we are dealing with right now it is overwhelming and you are dealing with it here on a more local

basis. you know exactly what i'm going to -- talking about and i'm going to go off topic for just a minute. we are the point right now in her country where we have to make some tough and serious decisions about where we go as a country. are we going to be a leader like in the days of president reagan or are we going to be a follower? every going to just kind of be going along? i for one want to be proud to be an american as i am now and i want to be proud of. i want to be able to get our fiscal and financial house in order. i want us to be leaders when it comes to our national security, setting the example and letting people know that when they invest their dollars here in the united states of america they are going to be safe. so we need to make some very serious choices and i'm hopeful that we will do it in a rational responsible manner because listen, 2011, this is the time to do it. there is going to be plenty of time for politics. 2012 you will see all those nice commercials and say a oh my god,

not again. 2011 though we need to get to work. we have got to get to work. you demanded it. you send a message, we need leadership from everybody, top to bottom. are there any other questions? >> that is all we have time for. >> thank you very much and enjoy search for your favorite author and every program we have a yard at booktv.org. tune in every weekend for booktv, with 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors. our web site has the entire schedule. >> the july 20 u.n. declaration of famine and the two regions of somalia were not made lightly and truly reflects the dire conditions of the people in somalia. is based on nutrition and mortality surveys, data that has been then verified by the cdc

and on the basis of fact we estimate that in the last 90 days, 29,000 somali children have died. this is nearly 4% of the children in somalia. are fear and fear the international community and the governments in the horn of africa is that the famine conditions in those two regions of somalia will spread to encompass the entire eight regions of southern somalia. the next rains are september and october and even if they are good, we could their witness to another wave of mortality in the south due to waterborne diseases. >> watch more from the senate hearing on line at c-span video library. >> independent senator bernient sanders gave in aid half-hourave speech on the senate floor about taxes and the economy. the speech is published as aed a booka titled "the speech."

[applause] >> thank you. that was such a wonderfulthat introduction. su i wish wech could've kept going and going. it sounded very good. i want to thank busboys and poets for hosting this event and to all the great work you do. thank you veryu much. and i want to thank everybody for a wonderful crowd. thank you very much for coming out. let me talk a bit about myself, kind of how i got to where i am and i'm going to read a few pages. i will read the introduction to the book and go on for seven or eight hours after that. they didn't how you that, right? then we will take some questions and answers at 4:00 in the morning. as you heard, i am the longest-serving independent and the american congressional

history. and you may say why is that?co why are you an independent and the answer is pretty simple.. believe both political parties are heavily dominated by money to trust and they think millions and millions of working families don't have the kind of voice that they should be having in all levels of government and i have chosen to be aven independent. .. i began my political career in vermont by running for the united states senate on a third-party ticket. i received all of 2% of the vote. that was back in roughly 1971. and, not deterred, he then ran for governor of the state of vermont. the same party called liberty union and i went from 2% to 1%.

[laughter] not a trajectory we were hoping for, but i may not be very bright but i am persistent. i came back ran for the senate again in 1974 against my now colleague patrick leahy. he won, i lost but i got 4% of the vote in a three-way race. i saw the boats going up in two years later i ran for governor again. we have elections every two years in vermont and i got 6%. at that point they took the hint. may be getting elected to political office is what -- not what my life is going to be loud and i went about doing other things, mostly doing some writing and working on historical filmstrips and actually having a pretty good time. in 1981, you know how politicians always tell you that people came up and said you should run for office? actually in my case it was true. they were never friends who said

you know what? we have looked at the election results and you did really well in burlington and if you run in burlington which is the largest, you might actually win. so i did. and, we put together a wonderful coalition of unions and senior citizens and women's advocates, environmental habitats and police officers came on board. and on election night, we won by 14 votes competing with a five term incumbent which will probably go down in vermont history as a significant political upset of modern vermont history. then we went to the recount and i ended up winning by 10 votes. i took office in 1981 with two supporters on the city council and the rest were democrats or republicans who are not particularly supportive of -- in fact they fired my secretary on the first day i took office and

i had to run the city for the first year with the previous mayor's administration. it is like obama running with bush's administration. was a little difficult but a year later we had rallied people and we won a number of seats and the city council. i developed be no power and we began to do some really exciting things in burlington. after two years i ran for re-election against a democrat and one and then they combine the parties and we won anyhow. that was in 1987 and 1988 i ran for the united states congress and a lot of my liberal friends said you shouldn't win because you'll be a spoiler. there is a strong democrat running against a strong republican. on election night the republican won by 34% and i got 31%, the democrats got 19%. two years later i ran for the same seat in the house and a one

by 16 points against a strong democrat and served there for 16 years, ran for the united states senate in 2006 when senator jim jefferies as many of you know a very courageous person, chose not to run for re-election. he retired. we ran against the wealthiest guys in the state. up until that point the most anyone had ever spent in an election in the state of vermont was 2.5 million. he spent $7 million. we had to raise 5 million but we ended up winning by a very strong vote in 2012. so that is my political history. let you now take you to why you are here tonight and talk a little bit about the book. and i will read you from the introduction. on friday december 10, 2010 i woke up at my usual time at my usual breakfast of oatmeal and coffee at the dirksen senate building and then had a typical

daily discussion with some of my staff. at 10:30 a.m. i walked onto the floor of the senate and began a speech. it turned out to be a very long speech, and modern urchin of the filibuster. at one on for a nap hours until 7:00 p.m.. there were several reasons why went to the floor for that speech. first i had promised to do everything i could to oppose what i believed was a very bad tax agreement between president barack obama and republican leadership. at a time when this country is at a $13.8 trillion national debt and the most unequal distribution of wealth of any major country it seemed to me totally absurd to provide hundreds of billions in tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. further, by confirming that this was the lame-duck session before republicans took control of the house, further by confirming under democratic presidents, democratic democratic how senate democratic senate the basic tenets of roche's horrendous

trickle-down economic theory disagreement was laying the groundwork for more bad decisions in the future. unfortunately, i was absolutely right and that takes us to the rhine republican budget of today. second, more tax breaks for the very rich is only one symptom of an economic and political system that is grotesquely failing the average american. the simple reality is the middle class of america is collapsing. poverty is increasing and the gap between the wealthiest people and everyone else is getting wider. how did this happen? why did it happen? what can we do about it? these are issues that had to be talked about and talked about in a way that is not often heard in washington. over the 20 years i had served in the house in the senate i had examined these issues. issues far too often ignored by the corporate media and i colleagues in congress. from a wide variety of perspectives. now was an excellent opportunity to bring them together and to make the connections.

what does it mean morally and economically that in 2007, the top 1% earned over 23% of all income in this country, more than the bottom 50%, more than the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 90%. given the political power that goes with this concentration of wealth and in terms of capabilities campaign contributions in media ownership is the united states on its way to becoming an oligarchy form of society with almost all power resting in the hands of a tiny few? what does it say about our economy in the political choices we make about it on capitol hill that today despite all of the huge increases in road activity and technology that we have seen in recent decades a two income

family now with less disposable income than a one income family did 30 years ago. why is it that americans today work the longest hours of any people in the industrialized world. what is the correlation between the united states having by far the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country while we also have more people in jail. doesn't it make more sense to invest in our kids then and -- how does it reflect upon our political and legal system when the crooks on wall street who caused this around this recession now earn more money than they did before there banks were bailed out by the taxpayers? how come none of them are in jail? and what does the financial reform bill mean when three out of the top four too big to fail banks in this country are now

larger than they were before the wall street collapse? with assets of over half the gdp of this country. what does it mean to the economic teacher of our country that over the last 10 years we have lost 42,000 factories and millions of good paying manufacturing jobs and it is harder and harder to buy products manufactured in america. how does it happen that ceos of large corporations boast about the advantages of outsourcing their production and jobs to china but when hard times hit, they come running to u.s. taxpayers for a bailout? and on and on and on. so those were some of the themes that i wanted to talk about in my remarks so i wanted to try some of the dots together. now, what does it feel like to stand and talk for a nap hours when you can't leave the floor?

most importantly the question has to be, time and time again, especially specially by the media, how come you didn't go to the bathroom? how was that? [laughter] and that is my secret and i'm not telling anybody. you will never know. and you are doing this with a national television camera on you. and the answer is, my profound answer is, it is hard. try it sometime. and interestingly enough the after effect hit me a few days later when i found myself very very tired. during the speech itself a legs began to cramp up a bit in my voice also became pretty horse. when i walked onto the floor, had no idea how long i would stay. when i was mayor of burlington in the 1980s, sometimes gave speeches for as long as an hour. that was it. what i last three hours, five hours, 20 hours? i really didn't know but what i was sure about in my own mind however was that i wasn't going

to read from the phone book or sing songs. you will be happy to know i didn't sing any songs, believe me, just to eat uptime. want to speak as long as i had something relevant to say. while i didn't have a script of the speech i mostly worked over previous speeches i've given or articles that i've written and occasional excerpts from books i had read. i've read a few lines of pages and go off from there. twice colleagues came to the floor and engaged in it colloquy and i remain grateful to senator sherrod brown and mary landrieu for my support. all so it contains some repetition. what do you want? eight to the half-hour's. [laughter] and this is not an accident. in giving this speech i was more than aware that most people were not going to be listening to it in its entirety. i suspected that most people would tune in for half an hour or an hour then move on with their lives. i made it a point to keep

returning to my basic themes. was i surprised about the kind of intention -- attention that the speech received? are you kidding? the phones in my washington and vermont offices never stopped ringing. in vermont everyone of my eight staff people did nothing else all day but respond to calls, thousands of calls and e-mails. the senate television web site crashed because of the huge number of people who wanted to watch the speech live on line and currently c-span2 had an exceptional day. according to "the new york times" my speech was the most twittered event that day. what a distinction, most twittered event and someday i will learn what twitter is all about. >> there were front page stories in newspapers all around the country and the speech was talked about widely in the media. the number friends who signed up on my facebook page double.

some journalists even claimed that claim that obama had an unscheduled impromptu press conference with warmer president bill clinton who defended the tax deal in order to divert needy attention away from what i was doing on the senate floor. it just turned out clinton was in the white house. .. we have got to cut through the fall and that the station of the corporate mainstream media and start focusing on the life-and-death issues that working families really care about. a strong response to may speech tells me that there's a hunger for america for a discussion about economic truths or attackt

on the tortious assaults takingd place against working families and for practical plan on how we ob can reverse the scene politicsd to pay for the rich over thealsp middle class and theabout s disadvantaged in our nation. if my speech to educate people about issues made him aware that they are not alone if you turnsy and pointed away to the future it was well worth it it. thank you. [applause] >> okay. but i would love to do now is take any questions anybody may have. just be allowed. yes. >> will have to shout so everyone can hear you speak to [inaudible] >> what is your advice on what we were congress should be doing

[inaudible] >> let me back up that excellent question because perhaps not a trip latinos with the citizens united decision is about. for many, many years we've had a disastrous campaign finance system, which clearly favors both people have a lot of money in corporate interests against those of us who do not. a year or so ago, our supreme court by a five crusco four decision passed a disastrous decision called the citizens united decision, and in their wisdom we found actually five people in the same room, the only five people in america who actually believe that a corporation is a person. five people in america and the happen to be on the supreme court at the same time. [laughter] and essentially but the decision does is it says to the large corporations that you have first

amendment freedom of speech rights, and therefore you are able to express your freedom of speech by putting 32nd ads on television, telling the world how terrible bernie sanders is, and by the way, you could do that in secrecy. you don't even have to reveal who you are. you can come up with a phony name and organization. this is a disastrous decision which makes it very bad campaign finance situation much worse. we saw it in the last election and you're going to see a lot more of it. essentially this spring to happen is a handful of billionaires' and very wealthy corporate people will sit around the room and say okay 10 million at the vermont, 20 million in california, and for these guys this is a small sum of money to win a senate seat or house seat. it's a horrendous decision. now what we have tried to do on the floor of the house and the

senate is at least pass some legislation that would minimize the impact of citizens united said there was legislation brought forth which not shockingly no republican support which said okay if i put an ad on television attacking my opponent, which i've never done, i have to have my name on tv and say i take responsibility for this ad so we said fine. if you are a ceo of a corporation whose paying for this and get your face up there and say take responsibility for this ad and we thought it would discourage a lot of corporations from doing that. second of all, we want to make sure that if a chinese company, a company in the united states owned significantly by the chinese interest that they should not be allowed to participate in american politics. third, what we want to do is to say if you utilize that, then your opponents, some of the

attack me using that process i would be able to get the cheapest possible to respond to. we lost those votes. we couldn't get any republicans. for the republicans this is a very good supreme court decision. your question is should we go forward with a constitutional amendment? in general i have to tell you i'm not a good fan of the constitutional amendment. people think everybody has a problem we need a constitutional amendment to solve it, that weakens the constitution is about which is a pretty good document. but on this issue i think we can make the exception to the rule. so i do believe that certainly a constitutional amendment is one of the options we have and should simply say that a corporation to everyone's shocked and surprised is not a person. last point i would say on this issue we had a town hall meeting -- we did a lot of town hall meetings in vermont and had won a couple weeks ago, a lot of

people out and then and jerry's, you know, ben and jerry was there and was very funny and says you know, ben. i'm a person. this is jerry comegys a person. ben and jerry's, not a person. [laughter] [applause] and in a nut shell that's about it. the idea that we give corporate corporations first amend their lights is an absurd. >> i was wondering we missed out on kyoto -- recommend? >> i think in my view global warming is a huge issue, and it saddens me very much that today in the congress you have a

majority of people in the house, almost all republicans including intelligent people who are willing to ignore the whole scientific community who tells us the global warming is real and is today closing serious problems and that those problems are only going to get worse in the future. you have the cia telling us in terms of national security, global warming which can lead to the war as people around the world fight over the limited resources because the drought and floods, food shortages, you've got the cia, the defense department, the agriculture, all of these organizations all of the world, and yet the feeling on capitol hill is such that we certainly this political moment are not going to move forward on global warming. but we can talk about education

and health care, what are the answers, and the main point i want to make to you is the solution is not going to come inside of the 12th defeat to build a. it's great to come in cities and towns all over this country where ordinary people begin to stand up and organized and get out on the streets and say enough's is he not. i can tell you without any fear of contradiction that what goes on in the converse is far removed from the reality of the lives of ordinary people. and that's true whether it's economics or health care to read what goes on in the congress is there is an invisible wall infiltrated by lobbyists and very powerful corporate interests who shape the whole discussion, shape the whole debate. you have a corporate media the will talk about everything in the world except issues most important to ordinary people. so it is a huge issue and right

now i don't think that there's anyone who thinks we are going to make serious advances in addressing that. what we may be able to do is get some investment in energy efficiency and the state of vermont is a good job in that area, gets investments in a sustainable energy like biomass and other investments in the public transportation but as you notice, for example in the recent that was passed in order to prevent republicans from shutting down the government, obama had to give up on billions of dollars of high-speed rail. so instead of investing in the public transportation we had to cut back on that and i feel very much that is this debate goes forward on the budget you will see more of these cutbacks. but the other questions on your mind, we can turn this thing

around. i believe that we can. there are very few people in america not located in sight of the capitol. who believe that it makes any sense at all to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country, to cut the corporate tax rate at a time when many corporations seeking billions of dollars already pay nothing in taxes and then having given huge tax breaks to people who don't need it cut back on the infrastructure, cut back on the needs of our children, cut back to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars on medicaid, madcap, few people believe that makes anything at all but our job is to cut through the media which doesn't discuss this issue from a take on the big money interests who sponsored the members of congress and a large campaign contributions to organize and educate, and if we do that we are going to win this

thing. >> thank you very much for being a member. the election has opposition -- >> we think there are at least the one serious candidate on this but as of this point they are not spending money against me. >> to [inaudible] and immigration are you finding the conversation? >> good question. i will tell you what we intend to do on that issue in the area that i have jurisdiction. there are some very frightening statistics out there that we don't talk enough about having

to do with that poverty in america is in many ways a death sentence, and what i mean by that is if you look and contrast in terms of the racial disparities, say a rich white guy who has access to good quality health care from the disease prevention, doesn't live under an enormous amount of stress because the of the income that he needs etc, contrast that to a low-income black person and you were going to see a very significant discrepancy and disparity in longevity. we are going to see that and do a hearing and get some studies done on that. but the fact of the matter is whether you're black, white, hispanic or whatever, when your poor, you are going to live a shorter life span and the quality of your life will not be as good as somebody else. and the report issues.

>> i hope you can get democrats to stand strong. no one wants the debt ceiling raised more than though wall street banks who are the heart and soul of the republican party. we have to stand up to the treaty party -- [inaudible] >> that's a very good question so let me back it up so everybody knows what we are talking about. and let's be honest about this, i do a radio show every friday. we speak with a fellow named tom harkin, does a great job, and we talked to a couple million people, and every week somebody raises this issue.

the issue they raised is why is it the republicans are so tough they don't compromise and democrats compromise all the time. that's the question they raise and just look at what has happened in the last year. in terms of what this book is about, but the republicans said is okay, there are several million people whose unemployment compensation is going to expire, but we don't want to extend unemployment. and unless you give us -- by the way, that was a historical because historical the when unemployment was above a certain level where we are right now, generally they wouldn't buy the partisan support for extending unemployment. we are not going to do it. well, that's terrible. you've got to do it. okay, we will do it, but this is what we need from you.

we need to expand the bush tax breaks for the wealthiest people. we need to lower the tax rate on the state tax which goes to the very wealthiest people, top three tenths of 1%, have to bring those things down, and we are -- this was the republicans are the support of the $120 billion from the social security fund by giving a tax holiday on the payroll tax. 120 billion. that is what they demanded and essentially they got everything that they wanted. i thought and that is what was on the floor eight and a half hours that was a very cool compromise, the was a very poor compromise which they got 90% of what they wanted. we are not going to expand unemployment now. a few weeks ago what was the black male then? if you don't give us to cut that

we want we are going to shut down the government. 800,000 federal employees and i'm going to have a paycheck, government services are not to be available to people you better give us what we want or we are going to shut down the government. well, i voted against that, the democrats fought back and protective head start and among other things the program that i worked very hard which is the community health centers to the 20 million people we have to increase that so that in five years we will have 40 million people be able to get primary health care and mental health counseling and the start to come back $600 million of that program millions of people won't have access in the future to the community health center health care. all right? so the black male was we are going to shut the government down. and democrats fought back a little bit. but not enough. now to your point we are in part three of the movie and this time

is unless you make devastating cuts or leave the groundwork for the devastating cuts in the future, we for the first time in the history of this country are not going to pay our debt. we're going to default on our debt and cause an international financial crisis, the outcome of which nobody knows will lead to a world depression? will it lead to higher interest rates? almost definitely. it will mean that for the first time in the history of this country people who buy bonds for the united states will have second thoughts about that. republicans have said we are prepared to do that. we are prepared to do that unless you give us what we want. and this is like, you know, a child having a temper tantrum now i'm going to go nuts when companies want give the candy or i'm going to burned on the place unless you give me what i want.

with the questioners suggest which is an interesting point is that probably the first group of people are going to be honest by not raising the debt ceiling on wall street and i agree with you. i happen to think that our friends on wall street alone, a good part of the republican party will probably not allow their employees to do that. [laughter] so i think we have to because the point is it never ends. so these guys are very bold, they are very tough, and they're very irresponsible. my suggestion to the president is to say to them to look them in the eye and say if you want to for the first time in default or if you want to send the world go ahead and do it and the voters are going to hold you accountable in the next election, but we are not going to keep certain during on issue

after issue. [applause] [inaudible] >> say your question again. [inaudible] >> as i was coming back to washington and i went to the burlington vermont airport a lot of people said it is a great day and i share that. look, you have a guy out there and one doesn't know in the last few years how actively he was involved in terrorist movements because he was kind of isolated and they learned more about that i suspect within the next few weeks. but this is a guy that not only

on 9/11 but in other actively thousands and thousands of innocent men, women and children, and i think the world is better off without him. now, but i am asked on capitol hill by some of the media is what does this mean about the war in afghanistan and so forth and so on. number one, if anybody thinks that it was osama bin laden single-payer sidley running the international war on terrorism and that it was his demise suddenly everything is going to be fine, that is a naive point of view, it is not the case. we have cells all over the world and people who want to do very, very bad things. i think psychologically that taking him out and does have a positive impact. i think more importantly the growth of the space movements in the middle east are very, very significant and when i'm asked about afghanistan my view is it didn't really change the day before he was killed or the day

after. we have been there for ten years, and i was in afghanistan a couple of months ago. it was an enormously complicated and difficult situation. what you have as a country which is totally, totally poor and underdeveloped. do you know how much education, the average police officer in afghanistan today has? >> where an international group germany, the united states, ireland i think and others were training police officers in afghanistan with the hope they would read what the first degree or third grade education. i visited a village in the southern part of the country and over the last thousand years that taliban had been strong and walked on the street with a few senators passed the united states marine corps.

you walk down the main street and see these guys selling vegetables or meat or would it is on the street in an effort in the world behind closed doors. the goal of afghanistan is to make sure that taliban never red ant that would be very bad for a wide variety of reasons. on the other hand, after ten long years i believe the time now is to bring our troops home as quickly as we possibly can. [applause] >> [inaudible]

and what is your plan on justice for the palestinian people -- [applause] >> i think that the israeli lobby is one of many, many lobbyists in washington, and my hope is that the president will work with israel and the arab countries and people of all political persuasions to develop what i suspect will be a two-stage solution, and i think we have to be aggressive. it breaks my heart because i've been to the middle east to see decent people on both sides in this never-ending so i would hope that the united states will play an active role. it's very difficult because you have loonies on both sides trying to tear apart, but i would hope that we can bring people together so that this never ending violence comes to them and to read

>> [inaudible] >> i didn't know him personally but he did listen vermont, yes. >> sullivan by the way, do any of you know who he was? she was a -- >> [inaudible] >> did you? do you know i.f. stone? he was intellectually for stone. he was one of these guys, one of these independent journalists who actually read material and asked hard questions and wrote a lot of books. i think in the last years of his life but i've never met him sorry to. okay. one more question i think.

>> i have some strong words for the trade [inaudible] rhetoric to know what do you think of all forms of budget? >> by the become in my office, remember eyelift -- we came here on the subway but we don't have subways like this in vermont. so to get to work in vermont and all over america you drive, and what happens is you've got millions of working people many of whom who are now paying $4 or more for a gallon of gas that is coming right out of their paycheck and it is making their

very sorry economic situation today even worse. now, here's what you've got with the gas prices. let me just back it up above that for the friends on wall street. when you talk to people in vermont or anyplace else in this country people are very, very angry. it was a poll today i think was the gallup poll, and they showed i believe for the first time is that people now believe their kids are going to have a lower standard of living than they did. my parents didn't have any money at all and my dad worked his wife we live in a small apartment but their dream was like every parent's dream come every parent dreams their kids will do better than you especially if you start off without any money. all of this country now people are thinking kids are going to have less education than i did, my kid is going to earn a lower

wage than i did come and with a lot of despair and anger all over this country. if you would ask me one issue, one fact that symbolizes that people solve the crux on wall street coming into use that word very and wisely. the crux on wall street whose greed and recklessness and illegal behavior destroyed our economy from millions of people out of their jobs, people lost their homes, people lost their life savings when wall street collapsed and now after they were bailed out by the people of this country they are making more money than they ever did before and not one of these guys is in jail. these people are destroying an entire economy and the end up making tens of millions of dollars in compensation. what all of that is about is i

think people are beginning to understand that these guys have so much wealth and so much power that they are untouchable. they can commit a crime in midday light a terrible crime the whole world is looking at, destroying millions of lives and they say and nothing you can do to me because i own the united states congress. you can't touch me. you're not going to throw me in jail. so what if i destroyed millions of lives. and that is, in my view, the real reality. now, how does that deal with your question about the gas prices? what you are seeing right now is with the theory of the oil prices is supply and demand, that's capitalist economics. when the supply is limited and the demand is high, the prices go up. we all learned that in economics one no one. so let me be the first to tell you right now that there is more

oil supply in america today than there was a year ago. and on top of that, there's less demand in america today than there was a year ago. more supply, less demand. what is supposed to happen? prices are supposed to go down and they go off the wall. the reason for that is our friends at exxonmobil and the other large corporations many of which by the weight make huge profits and pay nothing in taxes but that is an aside. with the of done is they've used the excuse of unrest in the middle east as a reason to raise prices. that issue number one. they are not alone. and one of the amusing things that is taking pleases you see the vision of some degree but in the oil companies and wall street. the oil companies yeah, we are greedy and selfish, that's true, but we are not the only ones. what you see now is the speculation for wall street where the wall street firms are bidding up oil futures prices and don't use the product later

just making money as the prices go up to read under the financial reform bill passed a year ago, we give the authority to an arcane commission nobody in the world has ever heard of called the commodities futures trading commission to in fact in the extreme speculation. that is what their job was. they have not done it, and i have urged the president to take action of these guys don't want to do it, get their resignations, but a whole lot of people, working people come and the economy as a whole are suffering while the oil companies and wall street a whole lot of money but this would be a perfect example of the powerlessness of congress to deal with a very powerful entities seeking huge sums of money. all right, thank you for the question. let me just conclude by --

>> [inaudible] [inaudible] >> do you know anything about what is going on like the trillion dollar being printed out and i was just wondering like where that money is going to come is it going to be for creating jobs or what to pay the debt? >> [inaudible] >> i guess so. and also would be spent all but one source -- hyper inflation so i was just wondering -- >> i don't know what that is a

good policy issue. let me pick up on the point that you raised that goes someplace else that he reminded me. [laughter] and that is an issue coming together of the left and the right and that is the fed in general. now i have serious doubts about the financial reform bill, the dodd-frank bill, because i didn't think it went anywhere near far enough. other things i mentioned in the introduction, we bailed out to these huge financial institutions because they were too big to fail. if they went down they would seek a good part of the economy with them after unemployment. i didn't vote to bail them out, but my colleagues did. and then we find out that after the bailout three out of the four are even larger today and a number of economists believe that at some point we are going to see a repetition of what we saw a few years ago. now what i got into the bill working with -- this is

interesting, my right wing friend, ron paul -- and we had worked together while we were in the house that this is an interesting coming together of the right and left. and that is what we wanted to do was an audit of the fed. what i ended up getting is a couple of things to do everything i wanted. we got a lot. and that is during the bailout there was a whole lot of debate about the talks, the bailout which was my memory is correct seven or $800 billion i voted against it and it ended up passing. bottomline is committed the american people are outraged about this bailing out the people what caused the problem etc., etc.. in any case, if you want to know, you go to the u.s. department of the treasury, go to their web site, you find where every nickel went and it is pretty transparent. at the same time, with very little discussion, a friend of the fed, ben bernanke and company, were lending out for

$3 trillion at very low interest rates. as a member of the budget committee couple of years ago, bernanke teamed for the committee, and i set my constituents, the people of america want to know which financial institutions got the money. where did ago, how do you get it? and then i was very clever and i said to you have to be totally dishonest major financial institution to get the money for can be an honest business person? is there an 800 number that you have to call? they didn't think it was that funny. he said i'm not going to tell you and on that day we introduced legislation to bring a transparency, and we managed to get that position in the financial reform bill. and a couple of months ago, the gao did the work but they did a good job and they revealed with $3 trillion went. needless to say, every major financial institution in this

country got huge amounts of very low-interest loans. what was also surprising, you will all be delighted to know that at the same time a small business all over this country can't receive, i'm not able to find affordable loans, virtually every central bank in the world including arab central banks, korean central banks also got a bailout as well as wealthy families in this country and as well as large corporations like general electric. they all got a bailout and was made public. we also learned one of the arab banks the got a bailout is now owned majority-owned by libya. that's how crazy it is. we are also looking at the fed. the point about this grant is that the fed is an enormously important agency.

enormously important, of which the american people know very little. so we are fighting to bring transparency. also, you have bankers sitting around the room deciding who got these loans in what i consider to be the direct conflict of interest, and we have a position, which i hope will be implemented in july, the gao we will be talking about conflicts of interest. and people were part of the process in which the benefit of very handsomely, but the fed is a huge issue, and we need to work much more aggressively on that issue, and the function of the fed in my view should be to protect the middle class, to create decent paying jobs in this country, and not just to bail out very large financial institutions. [applause] >> my question is about the federal [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> i've known elizabeth for many, many years. elizabeth is one of the smartest people that i have ever known. she came to vermont to do some town meetings with me and what i love about her is that she is able to take the difficult economic concepts and translate that into english so that people know what she's talking about coming and i will tell you i did more lobbying to get elizabeth appointed than on any other issue because i will tell you this also, when net not long into the obama administration i can tremor, six months, eight months after, half a dozen senators went to the white house to meet with them and said you know, mr. president, we are

concerned that you are surrounding yourself with all of the same old wall street height with larry summers or ten -- tim greider geithner to read but i was determined i would do everything i could to make sure there was at least one progressive voice and then certainly elizabeth has that background. now there are a lot of republicans who were not with elizabeth. i certainly would have supported a recess appointment. i hope elizabeth will get the permanent appointment which she doesn't have right now but she is an extremely capable person who is dealing with issues of the enormous importance to read if you look at the bible or any other religious tract whether it is the koran, what ever it may

be, the charging of high interest rates usually is considered to be immoral, and the furious if you don't have a lot of money by lending you money it is wrong to kind of get blood from a stone, i shouldn't be charging such high interest rates. today in america we get calls on this all the time working people paying 25, 30% interest rates on their credit cards. that is no different than the loan sharking. i don't know that the ground breaking kneecaps like the gangsters to do it, but they punish people if they don't pay, and this is an issue i know e. elizabeth has been working on but it's certainly something i hope we can deal with through her agency. maybe just a couple more questions. >> you actually filibuster on one ground the supermajority --

[inaudible] i'm wondering what do you see might have been different [inaudible] >> i can tell you there are a number of people all over this country and a number of us in the senate who feel the same way. harry reid is a good friend of mine and i like him very much. his dilemma always is that he believes that he has a job, that we have a job to pass legislation to address the problems facing america, which is what his job is about, that is what the leader's job is. i think that we could have and should pick a particular issue. with the gentleman is talking about is we have seemed a record

level of obstructionism on the part of the republicans the day after obama was elected. if you to accomplish something. in the old days, it was very rare for people to require the 60 votes for you to have to break the 60 votes to get cloture. a very rare. now on almost any significant piece of legislation would come the of demand 60 votes which is very difficult. but again, just one example. during the health care reform debate, i introduced legislation which would call for the medicare single-payer program. [applause] and by the way, i hope that my state that vermont is going to lead the nation in that program and they're working hard. [applause] in any case i had no illusion that all that this was going to win. no way. if we would get between five to ten votes but i thought that it was important to get out there with in the first time of

history that a single payer program had a voter on it, of which i got there to introduce the legislation and a republican colleague refused. when you do when you introduce legislation and say i ask that the bill be considered as read. in other words, you don't have to read the whole bill. this guy got up and said i object. i want the whole bill read. it would have required 16 hours of reading. and this wasn't going to win. was lucky to get ten votes but that's called obstructionism and that is what they have been doing. so i agree with you think we should have picked an issue when republicans are objecting and let the american people shouted down and let the media and the american people focus on that issue, and it takes a week, two weeks, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, let's do it. that would have been my preference and i think the preference of some other people.

[applause] >> [inaudible] i think all of you for coming out. >> [inaudible] earns a great deal of respect. i know that in 2008 we hope for the change and with the politics 62 in 2000 and over what saying the extremists and the capitalization [inaudible]

allow me to answer that not specifically only in this sense because anybody can look if you are asking in my going to be involved in that process, but here is what i think. and i speak with some knowledge about this because i am an independent and i've run on certain parties and the longest serving independent in the congressional history. i think you've got to be traditions about it. in other words, i think in the real world, in the real world i don't give a damn about anything i'm going to run for office and i don't really care if you have a white ring republican or senate, i really don't care. i'm running on principle. that's fine to really understand. disagree with that. all over the country there are

opportunities for the progress of candidates to run if you want to run outside of the democratic party. i think that if the context is right, do it. i did. in 1988i was told not to run because it turns out i got a lot more votes from the democrats that they but you've got to be judicious about it. this i do believe, you know, that the republican agenda of the tax breaks for millionaires and savage cuts on the need for the middle class and working families, these guys do want to take us back to the 1920's where if you were old, broken on your own, no health care for you, didn't matter if you were a kid, didn't matter. workers had no rights. do not underestimate. these are serious people.

they are not fooling around. they want to take us back to the 1920's to win all the arctic for a society where the power rested with a handful of very, very wealthy people. i think that their views, that ideology is we, we, we of touch with what the american people believe. now, one of the problems that we have is you have a media which is a pretty poor job, which is also a corporate to a large degree, not to mention a television station. steve got that problem. but i think whether you run within the democratic party or not, i give you do not become cynical, do not give up on the political process. we are fighting for not only our generation, but for our kids and our grandchildren. i have six grandchildren. i take their future seriously. okay? and we do not have the option of not fighting.

we can beat these guys. we can beat them. nobody believes in their ideology. nobody thinks that children in america should not have health care or that workers should not have lights. [applause] hey are a i'm not .. if we work together on this thing, we can beat them and beat them badly. [applause] but we can't do it -- i know that it's hard. look, i know. people all over the country are disappointed. i'm disappointed. but you can't give up. we have to raise that progressive agenda, make it loud and clear, organize people about that, educate. because what we are fighting for is so important it is the future of this country. so i just want it. >>ys thank you for coming out.

[applause] [applause]

>> during his two terms in congress republican james rubin

was one of the 13 house managers in the impeachment trial of president clinton. he brought about the and he's right in his book catching on the flack in yorba linda california. this is 50 minutes. >> urie here because you know, james rogan and admire what he has done and knows w something about hisut background.. if you go to the early background read the book rough edges which you mays have. we've pre-mirrored it when it first came out. it is about his life from welfare to washington. it is fascinating because he has endured a tough life which all of the senate he has said this is not for me

and picksi himself up and dust himself off and went on to be very successful in public service. he is a good friend of ours.st he first met richard nixon because he has an obsession with presidential memorabilia.in it is ang obsession per robot what his wife taka broadcom much it is in bigger ride gin boxes or how much is inhi his office probably or how a much is all over his home. he has been kind enough to share a lot of it with us. and we have much of it on display. but meeting nixon as a young man, he is a neighbor. they live here and a member of the board for quite some time. ag

but his life in public service and the legaln profession began when he graduated from moscow as a practicing attorney. very successful and a private legal practice. deputy d.a. in los angeles, the youngest municipal court judgeted elected. he went on to be a congress man. you know, him as a congress man. he also served as undersecretary of commerce in washington after serving. and head of the patent office. then he came back here to do private practice and drafted to the judiciary per he now serves. he has done not only rough edges which is a fascinating

book about his life, buthng o also "catching our flag" which you are here to hear about which deals with his assignment as one of the principal managers to helpp on the prosecution of the president clinton a few years ago. he kept copious notes and i don't think talk about a publicly but decided to commit his memory to of books for the sake of history.nk it is my pleasure to introduce him, congressmen james rogen -- james rogan. [applause] >> thank you. we are old friends for i have known him over 20 years. think you to my friends at

the nixon libraryf t where hosting or anybody in southern california you are a tremendous resources and of the nixon library with a free things they do if the programs for kids. also grateful for all ofd those who volunteer. of please give them a round offor applause.b? [applause]d if you allow me a moment, it a point* of personal privilege, if i were going through all of the introductions i would like, i would burn my time but a number of dear friends and family, colleagues, i have to introduce good judges that i see when the judge pays a dollars for a

ticket, good judge stanford from the superior court. [applause] and also load judge craig griffin my other colleagues. [applause] and a special love and thinks and affection for those who worked on myan assembly and congressional staff better here. i wasn't going to talk too much about this but since i was given the introduction played an important role in my young life for i group in san francisco in this very blue-collar lowfami income family and we were a all union democrats. there is every republican and i never met one.unn [laughter] but i love history and government and politics. when net nixon was running for reelection a was only 14. i get nothing in the mail that says we have a group called the young voters for

the president if you are between 18 and 40 you coul dy pay $240 to be on a charter plane and fly to miami beach for thne republican nationalete convention and get into the convention. $2 i had $240 saved up for our was 14 per cry learned of a very early age it is far far better to ask forgiveness than permission. i walk down to the local 7-eleven and got a moneyr order and scented and when$4 my mom came home later i said here is the thing i ami'm going to miami beach by myself for one week. i will get on an airplane in fly to miami and then probably come home at the end of the week. [laughter] my mother said you are 14. you cannot do that. you cannot go 3,000 miles

all by yourself with no supervision. said i will be with 20,000 republicrepublic ans how much trouble can i geti into? [laughter] she said you can't go. i had a great impression they were no fun and i thought this will be 20,000 boring people but i will have a chance to collecto political memorabilia. i take the plane to lax were there is a holding arianna at midnight put us on a charter plane just filled with young voters.'v i have never been on a charter plane. ie learned that there is no waiting for the plywood to save the year at the cruising altitude you can get out of your seats. 10 seconds later they were out of their seats making a

beeline for the liquor cabinets passing out blooms within minutes they are dancing and drinking having a party trying to look golden maturek my seatmategoin baby 28 was sitting with me in right out of central casting as schoolmarm. her in a bun but somebody offereder her a glass of whine. she took it.o and another and another and flying for our she started to complain it is getting hot on the airplane. [laughter] the plan came out.h the buttonsai started to get a button to. i am guessing we're somewhere over kansas when she looks at me after a 12 drinks and says, you are a really nice guy. you seem like you are easy to talk to. can i tell you a secret?

it sure. she said i have a personality disorder. [laughter] that piqued my interest. what is it? she said, and i am a nymphomaniac. [laughter] i must tell you as one who was educated in the public school of the san francisco bay area, i did not know much geometry but i knew what that meant. [laughter] and she looked at me and said, how old are you? and i said 37. [laughter] of a point* is from that experience going to miami beach seeing nicks said renominated for his second term, i came home and learned a valuable lesson in

america there truly is a vibrant two-party system and san francisco democrats should not be so narrow minded. [laughter] i should move on to the subject that is my book and to make a preliminary observation that there is a fellow named bob packwood a former senator in my opinion is very bad for history. nothing personal. he was a senator for about 25 years.na 20 years ago he was accused of sexual harassment fromso someme staffers and lobbyists.nd the senate was investigating this. somewhere it turned out of somebody disclosed every single day he took very copious notes for our daily diary not only wrote down the legislative issues but

found himself compelled to write down what he ate, what clothes he wore and every pass he made at another woman. grimness came out, the senate subpoena the diaries and then he had to resign.so f when i got to washington as a historys junkie who always felt like a frustrated his story and i felt it was very important to keep a verya careful diary.ere during the clinton impeachment i was on thegot judiciary committee one dayhe before monica lewinsky was revealed her. of the aa was then not keeping a careful record they would have to rely on faulty logic or verdes or motives. , so i started to bring my legal pad if 52 get the word

as they came out of people smells thinking this would be a valuable archive a congress man said are youpthe keeping a diary? i said thise could be important history and said as a that violates the packwood rules.sa nobodyid keeps a dire rude -- diary. they cannot subpoena what u dodon't write down. do you see anybody else keep the notes? i did not see anybody else. interesting but i think this is important and he said the mass. that was his impression. i felt this to the m&a -- a very, very important archive. why publish it now? i had a number of people with publishing contracts prepared to buy a new was keeping a diary and they

didn't care after a while like it was just background noise. but after the impeachment uublishers said it would be y great book but i refuse to write a book.o i did not want to write a book while i was still in end congress to color my participation murphy's the angry electorate and also but in fairness to theg president, i should wait at p least 10re years to let passions cool and the far more objective. l that is what i have waited. when i was defeated for reelection as a result of the clinton impeachment, the first guy to take me out to lunch was speaker gingrich. he started to plan my life for me during the lunch. you need to write several books but impeachment is not the first for the first is rough edges then wait for

croix took his device and quite frankly it is the reason i wrote to the first book it talks about how leu got to washington because heto encouraged e me and said it was inspirational. the book sold out and i still give people sending it to me to sign it eight yearso later which is gratified. although they are borrowis v copies i do not get royalties any more. [laughter]ar but the premise is important. my mom was not the mom traditional mother but single mother welfare and food stamps a convicted felon raising four kids and i dropped out of high school the tenth grade and went to work to support the family. we were getting in trouble and breaking in and at some point* i decided if i will run for congress which was

my goal from the fourth grade probably have to straighten up and get an education. [laughter] the book chronicles just how tough it is for kids that come from that typeedo of life to turn their life around and there hurdles.nlive but it can be done. i tell the story of gettingor through college and law school i worked in the hell's angels bar and all black and ina between my bartender jobs worked in the pornographic movie theater and all of the things that prepare you for a life and congress. [laughter] when i was in congress somebody named kennedy lectured me on what it was like to be poor per car thought that was eliminating burger wrote the book first. because when we went through the impeachment exercise i

heard over and over they are in teaching bill clinton because they are stiffs who are trying to punish him to make a personal mistake.etlec that could not be further from the truth. what really led to theent impeachment of clinton? what are all of the mistaken assumption is that peoplee had that are just the opposite of what washi happening?nd i get to congress after the third year voyage i tell you because we need to knowo something when somebodycaus comes from that kind of background to set the goals in works their heart out for 30 years thenu gets there, i was in no hurry to leave. i would not just below zero way a career to get even was somebody for having an affair especially after my background.

i get to washington d.c. four freshman orientation. within one week queer there to learn how to be a congress man. one of my great fio heroes called me. henry hyde. he was pretty beat up during the impeachment but before thatr he was one of the most beloved and respected men of the house. funny, charming, a brilliant, a kind, everybody loved him. as chairman, inviting me to come see him to be a former prosecutor in judge it was my hope he would ask me to be ong the judiciary committee. when i mentioned it that chairman hyde has called me and bill paxon was the chairman of the campaign committee to get us reelected sat me down and

said you have to turn that down. it will be the death knell you represent most of theaf hollywood movie studios you one when the top of your ticket was blown out by 20 wh points. you can be on the judiciary committee. the last thing you need is to be on tv every day fighting with maxine waters and barney frank fightingn with abortion and drug'sf price said i will deal with you of theon votes that matter is a social conservative but i do not need to be involved with the infighting. but henry kept approaching me saying you are the guy i want of the committee and for the same year i would

say no. who finally he found a key steal. your member and have most of those hollywood movie studios and the district, as a have intellectual property.f we have an intellectual property subcommittee that would be good for your district that you could be back there to protect their economic interest. we have no openings but we will than a year and a halfe with theni next congress.man we cut the deal and in a year and a half i come on. a couple months later my dear friend sonny bono who was one of the most gracious, a and with theti guys i have known was killed in a skiing accident for our have to say a word about him. i loved him dearly and became fast friends.

he knew my background and he loved it because he had a similar story. i remember sitting with him one night late on the floor of the house it was about 3:00 in the morning and was trying to sleep in my seat but he could not getinas enough of the factv he was a congress man. he was in all of the atdyin institution. i am falling asleep and he looks around the chamber to say can you believe it? abraham lincoln and served here. and webster. yes. webster. >> john f. kennedy and names all of the people but i am pulling him off to not show enough reverence. he elbows me to say you should be ashamed. look at you. used to be a bartender on the sunset strip. are used to drive a meat truck on the sunset strip. but we are here. members of congress. it did you ever just off and

wonder how we ever got here? by this time i had had enough and i said i looked around every day and i wondermi how you got here who. [laughter]ight i know how i got here i went two law school. i am trying to figure you are out. [laughter] a few months later that after thatte conversation with chairman hyde, 1998 coming he was killed tragically. and i show you the dates for a reason. january 9th, i went to his funeral and we all sat in a side chapel waiting for the service to start i'm in there with president ford and share but who sits with me? chairman hyde he was the big irish and emotional and sentimental guy. as we talk about him, henry

is sitting next to me and starts crying prefer i am watching one of my heroesn cry and it chokes me up.h i of a tough guy.e i don't cry in public three he is killing me and pulls out the handkerchief. he is whimpering and wiping his eyes and i'm doing they same thing and i said stock. and then he says you know, , but sought 1/2 he was on the judiciary committee. [laughter] it is like the body being wielded, sonny was on the judiciary committee and remember the conversation? i have to pick someone to take his place and you are my guy. i feel this is sacrilegious.i

i blew my new at -- minos andye said this justice of this time or place to talkplac about this but i will take it. [laughter] but there was a problem. on the commerce committee itex is exclusive you cannot serve on any other committee and he said no problem we train with the democrats.ve i two days later henry hyde says a letter to speaker gingrich all the reasons he wants me to be on the committee and he approves its knew have unapproved going on the judiciary committee. the next morning as i was drinking my cup of coffee i open a "washington post" and there it is, monica lewinsky

story is all over the front page did i was off to the races. within hours i give back to my officecfey with 20 tv cameras and ever readyand shows -- shows microphones in my face saying you put onto i this to increase the president and i said i am just here to look-- for climate copyrights and patents walking through theo timetable it really was au coincidence. when i got to congress could democrats had been in maturity four years. one of the senior democrats was of a guide named john conyers was a senior democrat and i would pop down next to them and talk about his years of service he was the only living member of congress stilelhe

surveying on the youth watergate committee. when i would talk to john he would pull me off and now the ranking democrat.judi i know that he blows not mess predisposed but because i was a collector of political memorabilia, ian went home one weekend andh shuffled their mike election and found something. i sat down next to john one night on the floor presley walked away, i grabbed him and said you remember 30 years ago? teddydi kennedy coming to your district to do our rally with you? he looked at me had you know, that? he said yes that was the biggest rally in the history of my district price did you

remember seeing a yellow campaign button that said the people's choice in 72 kennedy for president in conyers for vice president? he said i saw those and i told my staff to gethontd me one butho they never did better reached into my pocket. i bought it for $0.25 and said i saved it for your and walked away. i did not think anything of a broad the first day of mythin judiciary committee i was on with lindsey graham. another person had died so now the a impeachment is in full a bloom so the first committee hearing afterwards and thee press is there everybody assumes it will be fireworks. henry by a tradition to introduces a new members. and john conyers and representa s