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we're so grateful for your engagement and recommend in cream the federal government following upon the challenge of president obama's executive order. we are incredibly grateful for the teams that are represented in the room here today you have been working so hard and so diligently over the past two years to meet all of our milestones that were outlined in eo 13514, and we are equally grateful for are extraordinary partner in the green that symposium this year, dan krieger and a coat. thank you. [applause] [applause] all right. were going to jump right into the program here. i am very, very proud to

introduce nancy sully, the chair of the white house council on environmental quality. nancy has been an extraordinary champion of this effort absolutely 61 and cq under her lead has advanced an extraordinary set of initiatives since -- focused on environment and clean energy in this economy. she's been a champion for the national oceans council demanding that ever stood up and also watching americans great outdoors just to name a few. with that i would like to welcome nancy to the stage. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. good morning to all of you. it's great to see you all here, although i see there are people out there. welcome to the dream of symposium. very happy to see you all here. it has been just a little more than two years since president

obama signed the executive order on federal in our mental energy and economic performance. this important executive order and the reason we are all your today is to really be smart and responsible and how we operate the federal government's and not to get complacent. the point is really to make decisions, informed decisions about how we run our operations so that we can leverage our purchasing power for innovation and job growth. we aim to be good stewards of the government and an asset to the communities. and i'm glad to say that we are making excellent progress. the federal community has really made great strides toward meeting these green gov goals by working together across agencies and within regions by replicating what is working in focusing on the kind of results that demonstrate how

environmental and economic health, and and and. let me just recap a few of the achievements that we have reached together. in january 2010 the federal community set a greenhouse gas reduction goal of 20% reduction by 22 and. we completed the first ever greenhouse gas inventory which also shows that agencies are making progress toward a commitment to measure, report, and reduce pollution. the next, we doubled the federal hybrid week with gsa and department of energy leading the way. a few months later we publish the first ever comprehensive set of strategic sustainability performance plans making sustainability to each agency's mission. and we know that you can't manage what you don't measure, so earlier this year we released

the omb is energy and sustainability scorecard benchmarking each agency's performance toward these goals. also this year earlier in the year the president signed the memo requiring that all new cars and trucks purchased by the federal agencies must be alternative fuel by 2015, and we are very excited to announce the purchase of the federal government's first hundred electric vehicles. the federal police an agency can lead by example. reduce the amount of fuel use and practice what we preach. it's how we build on and support the historic advance is that the demonstration is making it is slashing pollution from cars and trucks in building the next generation of advanced vehicles in the united states. working with the automotive industry we target a course to double the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks, saving consumers thousand dollars and

conserving billions of barrels of oil. we have made historic investments in the electric vehicles and the advanced batteries that power them to ensure that these high-quality fuel efficient cars and trucks of the future are built right here in the united states. across the government we are making sustainability part of how we worked every day. teams like last year's green go presidential award winners are cutting costs and fuel use by inventing solar power parts to get around the campus. and general service the administration's energy management team have connected their 400 biggest energy consuming buildings with a system that allows them to monitor and manage how much energy gsa building is a using

in real time. you will hear more about progress today and not just in the recesses of agreeing of agenda we're working with agencies to release strategic sustainability performance plans which will be available on-line. together these plans demonstrate what the leading companies across the american economy are showing also that smart operations makes sense for the environment, our health, and also for our bottom line. in this effort along with all of uc eq is that a great partner in the spring of effort every step of the way, and thus the office of management and budget. i'm happy to welcome the directed to the stage. jack had an incredible history of distinguished public servce

which included leading a windy during the clinton administration and experience in the private sector and as executive vice president and chief operating officer of new york university. i'm pleased to introduce the director of a windy and thank him for joining us here today at green gov. [applause] [applause] you don't need this. >> thank you. that kind introduction. bringing together this impressive group today. it is, indeed, a very strong partnership between the 0nd and ceq. i think that it is fair to say that green of and a green eyeshade keep things i die. there is no question that as a consumer of real estate and motor vehicles we have a great deal that we can do together

will to save energy and money. quite the opposite, one in the same. the numbers are big in terms of what we as the federal government occupy as space and consuming fuel. as all of you know from the pieces that you have in your agencies, we have 500,000 buildings and 600,000 vehicles in the federal government. with numbers this big it means that everything that we do has enormous impact both on that federal budget and the environment. we do is critical commandos going to take a minute before going into some of the more specific issues that you're here today to meet on to put it in the context of why this is an important part of the overall administration agenda. i think you are pro way all aware of that recently the

president as the vice-president to head up the campaign to cut waste. he started a few weeks ago by calling the cabinet meeting. having cabinet meeting squarely on that. saving money on energy, saving money through efficiency, saving money through reducing how much we print, how much waste recreate is all part of the. it has many elements. just for example in medicaid we are announcing initiatives that will save $2 billion. spending that was not necessary or appropriate. there is $3 billion in real-estate cost savings that we're looking to accomplish by the end of total. by holding regular cabinet meetings with the vice-president and president as directing him and me to do is to make sure that the work that we're talking about here today is not on the

back burner but always on the front burner. every dollar we spend is the taxpayer's dollar. every dollar we spend on energy that we don't need is also wasting energy, and everything that we do to consume energy is something we don't need to do, in meeting pollution that we don't need to be part of. so that's why it really is one large challenge. i think that if you look at the efforts that we have made or the federal government to go green, there is quite a lot we have to show for. as nancy said in her opening remarks, if you don't measure it is very hard to say that this serious and very hard to say -- you know what you doing. i think it is important that omb and see if you have lived together in developing a scorecard where we have been identified goal leaders and we

have been working to improve our measurement systems and evaluations to the scorecard and sustainability. we have a tool that allows us to improve federal practices and strategies and goals. today we're taking an important step but posting on line as nancy mentioned the strategic sustainability performance plan so that everyone can see them. that is point to give the american people an opportunity double all this accountable and to make sure that we don't just announce the we are doing these things, but that we actually get them accomplished. when people log on and begin to read about the plans that all of you put together at think you're going to be proud of the work you've done. agency after agency, security, not security, larger agencies and small agencies, innovative and common-sense solutions that

are helping to make the government more sustainable and that the same time save taxpayers money. let me give you a few examples. the department of energy, nearly a half-million square feet of cool rooms or installed. these will result in annual savings of $100,000 in heating and cooling costs. i think all of you know that when you save money and heating and cooling you're saving energy the main campus is planning a water conservation projects that would save a hundred and 5 million gallons at the central plan by 2012. the project implementation cost is over one half million dollars and will have $700,000 in annual savings. that's a pretty good pay off. a million seven for seven and a thousand dollar your savings. a u.s. aid they have set up high-quality video teleconferencing dcc systems in washington and overseas and installed the stop ritualization

software across the u.s. aid network. by 2012 usaid projects this will save one half million dollars. from its use of sure point software usaid anticipates a 20% reduction of paper filing systems over the next two years. that is estimated to avoid a return have million dollars. and last to the first ones to run an active army installation came on line. this is a 2602 ft. tall wind turbine that has the capacity to generate one-and-a-half megawatts of electricity. it will save the base 14 and and a half billion ct use of energy. that has an initial volume of $200,000 a year and will pay back quickly the initial investments. i can go on and on because almost everyone in this room from an agency has an example of something that they have

accomplished. other things that they're working on. i think one of the values of a meeting like to dace is for us to learn from each other and to share the best ideas that would help of my work better, produce results, save energy, protect the environment, and not on importantly save money at the same time. as we continue to strive to make the federal government cleaner, greener, and more efficient i know one thing, it won't just be accomplished at cabinet meetings or by what we do that allenby. it will be done by all of you who are on the front lines coming up with the ideas day after day and implementing them out in the field. as you do your work let me leave you with a few pieces of advice. first comports as your investment, put your time and effort and said the things that have the highest return. second, fund capital improvements that are just calling to have savings in the short run but will continue to

produce savings year after year and improve the sustainability of our performance. three leverage agency dollars with private sector investment through effective and responsible use of the authorities that you have to work and public-private partnerships. if you do that and continue the work that you have done i am confident that we together will effectively manage the resources that the american people give us the trust to manage. at the same time deliver long-term savings so that we can show the american taxpayers that their tax dollars are being well spent. i want to conclude by thanking all of you for your hard work. difficult days. i hope you find these three days of workshops forms and opportunities to exchange ideas educational and even a bit inspirational so that if you go back to your agencies and back to your work you do it with the confidence that together we really are getting something

very important fun, making a difference in terms of how well government performs and how much we as public's towards can do to help protect our environment. i assure all the best in the days ahead. >> thank you so much, director. i know have the pleasure of introducing our next couple of speakers will be focusing on the future sustainability and the future of government. the first is administrator martin johnson who heads up the general services ministration. administrator johnson is not only the leader of gsa, not only a woman with an extraordinary professional background and private sector leading, innovation, and public sector services will, but she is also an expert in organizational transformation and change management which has been critical to the approach that gsa is taken to their efforts in

the agreement of initiative and to their commitments to zero environmental footprint. without them, without their leading, without administrator johnson's vision it would be extraordinarily challenging for the federal community and particularly for the civilian agencies to reach these goals. so please, administrator, join us on stage. thank you. [applause] [applause] >> happy halloween. thank you for the kind introduction. it was terrific. hearing director jack lew speak, and i want to thank him for his remarks as well. i'm delighted to be here to help kick off that 2011 green go symposium. it is a tremendously important event, and then know that this year the conference will shed some very valuable lessons, and

i look forward to learning about those. let me begin by sharing a few words about gsa and how we conduct the business of government. we manage acquisitions for the federal government's, which touches about 95 billion in its vast river of consumption that happens every year. we build and manage about three and 60 million square feet of space, which by some estimates is more than 2 percent of all commercial real-estate. our positioning is very important. our position is is if you are membrane between government and industry, and it needs to be of force in helping them, but a place in which we can interact and share back and forth and be part of the discussion and the creativity for our nation. green go hits that same sweet spot. it brings the pieces together, business and government, industry and agency.

solving problems and collaborating and sharing across that line. let me just explain that the way i see gsa is we play a number of roles, and any time were trying to figure out the best role that we can play in terms of supporting the agenda going forward. we are pretty substantial, and so weekend in size and region, so we can make can move markets. the important thing is to do it intentionally, not was serendipity. we are also very operational. many agencies work through grants, second and tertiary parties. we directly do things, and that means that we can get into gear sometimes more quickly and directly. where some parts of the federal government regulate and others legislate by gsa because it holds influence over the government purse is in the position to incentivize, and i think that's a huge role that we comply. we need to play it intentionally

and carefully, but it can be rather substantial. and we are also in the position to model and try new behavior's and new technologies and new ways of thinking for the rest of the federal family and the private sector. i believe very seriously the gsa goes first. we can give things to try and then the whole government does not have to put itself with the risk of being -- trying out certain things, and we are proud of that role. innovative and the like to try things out and show off. you heard it from jack and certainly heard it in the press, in the middle of this. these are very tough economic times. many of us have worked in and around government for many years and many budget cycles, and we have seen austerity conversations come and go. we can point to many times when we have been told as agencies to go on a budget diet. cut back on the cards and ditch the rich and creamy ice-cream.

today it is really different. today the government is having our stomach stapled. a gsa, sorry about that, but it's halloween i realize. gsa, our new construction and renovation budget was slashed 90% last year, 90. that is 9-0, no new buildings and our future if you look hard. agencies, all of the government rest is -- must respond, and there are two ways. the first is that we need to find deep operational efficiencies. we need to find out how to do things smarter and faster. we can learn from each other and the private sector. there are a lot of ways to do this, and gsa can be a good partner in that. but the savings that we get from those efficiencies we need to plow into the reforms that we need to do. we need to transform.

we need to figure out whole different ways of being effective in delivering our work for the nation. this is the jiujitsu comments you know. this is where we need creativity in collaboration said that we can reach to those new solutions you might say it's ironic, but i actually feel it is kind of yuri that we are at a time right now where budgets and resources and our economy are being so tightly squeezed on the one hand and on the other we are on the edge of an extraordinary revolution, an extraordinary change in how we use our resources. we are in a sort of tsunami, if you will. new technologies, new solutions, new inventions, intellectual property, and workplace and organizational cultural norms are changing just as rapidly. clean energy technology, green industries are maturing before

our eyes and with the commitment shown by this a ministration the promise i skilled dream collar jobs rawhide take efficient economy. the ban on the road a lot recently, trouble in the country from 17 or 18 cities in the last couple of months, visiting companies that are investing in new and really cool technologies i have towards a major, major production facilities that are operating sustainably and also producing more fuel efficient products. a very interesting. it is as if what you do and how you do in a beginning to blend in the minds of some of these companies. i have been able to call to about crawl all over some very interesting custom built machinery. in the one case it was to sort. the recycled parts of car batteries. we are breaking into not just the processes, but the whole -- of the new equipment that we need to do this work. i met a lot of people.

ceos and recruiters of companies that i was just in chicago, milwaukee, cleveland. they need workers. hundreds of jobs. they're talking about that. i visited with oil drillers to turn into geothermal drillers. i visited with bets to know install solar panels, and i have been at community colleges where students are really retooling and tooling up to be part of this new economy. it has tremendous possibilities and exceptional opportunities for them, and this is upon us. across the board smart resources, resources conscious techniques and technologies are on parity, practical, safe, and they are scalable, one of the important things. here we stand. the vice cripple budgets in the economy, and that is holding as tight while at the same time we have new technologies and knowledge, which can propel us into the future.

there is nothing like being between a rock in a hard space to find some good creative answers. the question is with in this frame how does the government succeed? how can we thrive? the answer, as you all know, is, of course, that we must lean toward a sustainable future. when we can choose we must choose the future, not hold to the habits and techniques of the past. this requires technology, culture, lead, curiosity, risk. the entire surround sound becomes when a nation is turning a corner. i would like to talk about what i know best, but let me talk about our gsa terms. had gsa we have embraced sustainability in the extreme. we agree that the sea -- we set zero environmental footprint.

it gets everybody's attention. it's exciting to the next generation, and we are getting phenomenal talent trying to come to a gsa and are able to hire some. it is a big magnet so that all the filings can head in one direction. it takes all. what is the agenda and what are we doing. it's a big one. i am, like many others, personally sympathetic and deeply sympathetic because it resonates with my environmental side. i am, i confess, a hybrid driving composting put on a sweater by local real gift,. thank you. but truth be told, truth be told that is not why i as a gsa administrator support and encourage the zero environments ( cool. it might be a harpies, but i support that for two big

reasons. first, it is a -- it is about no waste, no waste, no waste in our space, energy usage, resources, time and effort in process these . think about this. it is one thing to have the congress tell you, cut those budgets and another to have the entire agency say we have to find the waste in our system because we are on the meteor. that is the judo that we are after. instead of talking about how tight it is we are talking about where we can find the next bit of waste. no waste. it is a tremendous way to transform an organization. it is also about good government getting ever better, which is gsa is vision. we do that by teeing up the workspace of the future so that government workers can do their work ever better. we're not going to have an innovative government if we can now work in innovative ways.

we do that by supporting innovative business partners that have clever solutions that will help the government solve problems, and we do that by thinking in new ways. for example, about cradle to cradle design. we are the design people. we need to think of the full cycle. we need to think about tennant behavior supporting green buildings, not just the steel and concrete. and we need to think about using challenge doctor of to one of the possibilities. there are many new ways of killing at things and many new members weekend poll. we are trying to find all of them and put them to use. we can't just think about the gh emissions that went into making a product. we also have to think about how the product is used and reused and then disposed. any shopper needs to think about that and we are the nation's shoppers. we cannot just think about the design of the building. we also have to think about

whether that building was built for its first day as well as its last day and every day in between, and when you build buildings that are to last a century they need to be serious to read we can't just think about recycle ability of a product. we also have to think about the upstream supply chain that created that product. and the signals we are sending as we are trying to choose which products to buy. ..

and find out new ways in which we can run them efficiently? we are wrestling with creative ways to engage the supply chain in sustainability. this is one of the toughest, toughest problems. it is very complicated. at big huge industry is struggling with it. we are sharing ideas and we need some really good ideas. this is very hard especially when you are not in the -- at one point in the product moves through you and then it goes further down the supply, further down the chain. how do we have an impact on that? had we know what the impact is? we are developing tools by which we can assess our executive edge based on organizational footprint. i do not want to be giving people a gazillion measures about how many pictures you have and how many people telework and how much square footage ahead. i want to give them one energy measure and then they can choose how they are going to get to it. we are reducing our environmental footprint by

dramatically reducing our actual footprint here in the d.c. metropolitan area with a dramatic consolidation of our personnel into just two buildings. we have so much to share, much to learn. the deeper we dig, the more we can cover and we all know and we learned and we offer is expertise and in service to our clients and the rest of government. indeed if gsa doesn't move forward on this, how can the government make raucous on sustainability? we see the dots and we hope to understand the connections. we know that the effectiveness of government and the sustainability and vibrancy of our economy are one and the same. this is about our nations future. green gov is ever so important because we must pull together on this. we all must be growing in the same boat. this conference does bring us together. industry and government to boomers like me and brilliant millennials like the next panel.

students, teachers and concerned students. concerned citizens. this is a great opportunity that continues to connect those dots and builds a partnership to connect them even further. thank you and i look forward to hearing about the accomplishment and aspirations in our next panel. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you so much administrator johnson. before introduced the next panel i want to share one housekeeping announcement. those of you who have looked at your watch probably know we started a little bit late and a running a couple of minutes over so i just wanted to assure you that you are going to get full time that we had planned out. we will work a little bit into the break that we have scheduled and then the next set of sessions, the tone setters, will begin immediately following the plenary so everybody will have time to get to their next room.

as we get going as well and is there a lot of you standing in the back of around. their seceding available down front if you want to come join us here or if you are juiced up on caffeine any want to pace around that's okay too. as i shared in as administrator johnson just alluded to in our next conversation we are really going to be hearing perspectives on the future of sustainability in the future of the grain government from emerging existing young leaders, 30 and under, and the green business, grain government and also in social equity and social enterprise event. leading that panel for us and moderating is someone who i have a tremendous respect and admiration for. simran sethi is an award-winning journalist and associate professor at the university of kansas. she has been named as a top -- a contributor to nbc nightly news, the nbc tbs, the oprah winfrey show and "the today show" just

to name a few. and she is the founding host and rider of the sundance channel the green and creator of the good fight. her work is dedicated to redefining environmentalism and bringing greater diversity into the movement. so please, simran join us on the stage. [applause] >> thank you, thank you. good morning. it is such an honor to be here with all of you. i think i'm actually seated down here at the end. it it as such in on it to be here with all of you today. i think for me, and i think what you will learn as well, this opening plenary exemplifies what we all hope to achieve an hour sustainability efforts. that is deeper understanding, broader commitment and engagement from everyone. sustainability is not an issue for a single government, a single socioeconomic class or a

single political party. it is an issue and concern for all of us. one that requires not one silver bullet that what activists and -- bill mckibben is called silver buckshot. today we will be joined by some of the brightest young people leading this charge, creating innovative participatory and sudden solutions to our most pressing problems. together we will discuss what we see as the evolution of the sustainability and governments role in ensuring a just and more sustainable future for every american and for the global community. i will start off with a brief introduction from each panel member and then we will do a question and answer session to conclude with remarks from each panel member. i would like to start by introducing to you chiara camponeschi. [applause]

i will introduce each panel member and have them sit down and then we will actually do opening comments. if we could be joined by also phillipe cousteau. [applause] and ashok kamal. [applause] will byrne. [applause] and tarak shah. [applause] chiara briefly tell us about the work you are doing and explain to us how your organization defined and advances sustainability. >> i run a project which is

based on creative common publication that i released just release just about a year ago, and it looks at the creative problem-solving and mutually reinforcing role that social innovation and participatory government play in advancing and promoting sustainability particularly in urban sectors but not just limited to that. at the heart of the definition of sustainability that i embrace is the concept of cultural sustainability so really embedding culture and creativity and the sort of experiential knowledge and communities in advancing solutions for sustainable change. >> thank you. >> my work is certainly forced -- focused on sustainability and really innovation and we think about the different project initiatives we are involved in about finding solutions and thinking differently, thinking outside the box and the challenges facing people in our planet. we are really bad action.

we are really about helping people take action in the various different ways that may be relevant to them in their daily lives. and speaking about innovation we have a saying that are nonprofit that we run one of the leading youth environmental conservation organizations in the country, is not that you can make a difference with everything you do make a difference and also your choices are consequences. it focuses really on how we think differently about the best ideas which may not necessarily come from the traditional green sustainability space. my work is really meeting corporate sustainability everything from the way we travel to the food we to telecommuting and our staff and we are small and nimble but it is also about thinking outside the box. the financial mark gets, the education and thinking in various different places that we can innovate and think differently. we do a lot of different things and we will get into them shortly but i'm really delighted to be here this morning to share

this time with you all. >> you kennard is there to see the various definitions and manifestations of what this looks like. will. >> my name is will byrne and i think i have a microphone malfunction. i'm the executive director of an organization called the d.c. project, which is a nonprofit based here in the district and will soon be taking on the name groundswell. the focus of our work is really zeroing in on the promise of the clean energy economy and focusing on those projects that can achieve both significant environmental outcomes on the community level while also yielding deep economic opportunity and community benefits that sort of everyday people care about. so, in terms of our approach to sustainability we are really looking at it from you know, the

lens of the community level, the local level and more holistically than you know, just thinking about environmental balance or ecological balance but to have a sustainable community you really need to have your full community engaged. and sort of available to economic opportunity etc., so we are focused on working with communities to identify those clean energy projects that not only sort of yield future ecological balance and neighborhoods, but also actual significant new economic opportunities, and we think sort of advancing the broader challenge of environmental imbalance and ecological protection is a big part of that strategy that needs to be making

clear economic impacts for everyday people. >> thank you. >> i would just say thank you for being our moderator this morning. it is an honor to join his panel and address all of you and thanks to chair subtly and michelle moore for allowing me to speak with you. i work at the defense department in a new office called the office of it energy plans and programs. it is a mouthful but when we say green at dod, most of the time we are referring to the army and when we say sustainability people usually hear the word sustainment, which refers to our logistics supply chain which keeps our troops and our systems moving and in support of our mission which is to protect and sustain the mission and its interest. the good news is energy is really a part of that sustainment. as general petraeus said in his last month in afghanistan

earlier this summer, he said energy is the lifeblood of our warfighting force and so we actually use a lot of that lifeblood. we send $15 billion in direct energy purchases in 2010. most of that is the equivalent of 5 billion gallons of oil equivalent so within the federal government and we use the lion's share, but 80% of the defense department and that actually makes as the nation's largest user of energy, 1% of the nation's total. so after 10 years we have learned i think, maybe we learned a difficult lesson of our energy needs are a risk multiplier of the battlefield. at the tactical and operational level but also the strategic and fiscal levels. and the defense authorization congress created this new office that i work in and the president nominated my boss the assistant secretary, sharon bernick. as i alluded to a moment ago the impetus really came from our

troops and that came from our experiences in iraq and afghanistan where troops faced attacks on -- instead of moving on the battlefield and where some of these trips pay the highest price whether injured or killed moving this field. in the 2005 timeframe, a general in iraq sent back an urgent request to the pentagon. we have a fancy acronym for them. in it he said, unleash us from the of fuel and what he was referring to and what is asking for were alternative energy solutions that would mitigate the demand for fuel on the battlefield. so that the left had to be moved around in these convoys that were vulnerable. so that is my focus. 75% of energy we use in operations and training for flying our planes and fueling our ships in combat vehicles and our combat bases in theater and the other 25% is used at our installations at home here and abroad in places like germany,

korea and bertha roubini was her dod sustainability officer tackles the challenge for us. but to sort of gets you this question what is sustainability for the department? it means recognizing the basis that we live and work at are a part of the communities they are and so protecting the land in the air in the water they are is part of the mission. and then on the battlefield that means making sure our troops at the energy to get the job done, to be able to fulfill the set of missions that we foreseen the 21st century and we realize now at the department that it means making sure we are using that energy better. with that i look forward to the conversation. >> thank you, thank you. will you tell us a little bit more about -- is doing and how it defined sustainability please? >> sure. let me say it is a real honor to be here. i came by with new york city with new york city and escape the blizzard which i think is

alarmingly symbolic on the halloween and many of the issues we are discussing and climate change in particular. my name is ashok kamal. i heard the introduction somebody mentioned the group is under 30. i must confess i'm slightly north of that. i have worked running a youth development organization. i worked on the green rankings for "newsweek" for kob research and analytics with the largest social responsible research firm and most recently after going to business school i started a company called xanadu which is a social media marketing company focused on sustainability initiative so we developed the strategic campaigns. we do the creative messaging, tactical execution and also the return on investment analogies. we have a unique what we call marketing methodology combining greening which of course everyone in this room is familiar with and a believer and along with social media, today's

communications platform of choice and and a medication. that is really about the behavioral drivers that make us all human. are need to be social, our need to be recognized and achieve and also even for a little bit of friendly competition. and the way it i designed -- defined sustainability is learning how to create maximum shared values for all stakeholders which includes the planet and communities and businesses while still living within the means that we are granted by our natural ecosystems. i think those two agendas do not need to be mutually exclusive and i will be speaking about some of the successful examples that i've been involved with. >> thank you, thank you. i think that is such a great expansive definition and that is what you will see we are all

striving for in different ways here. i recall one of my students who worked in the military said i would rather redefine this question of what is sustainability as asking, what sustains us which again i think opens up the conversation in a completely different way and that is what you will hear today. everyone is trying to engage with people people in innovative new ways. i want to talk first about a little bit more about what dod is doing specifically about what you said. as you said in your opening comments the department of defense is the single largest consumer banerjee in the nation and as you detailed in the green defense sustainability report, the pentagon and its subsidiary were to form a country the department of rank among the top 60 energy consuming nations in the world and one of the top 50 greenhouse gas emitters. although climate change has become politicized in many circles dod is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions in domestic and tactical operations and the military has really led the way.

it is extraordinary in the way it's become the nation's leading renewable energy purchaser are certainly one of them. can you talk was a bit or about innovative ways your agency is mitigating carbon emissions and why dod is so committed to renewable energy and has kind of management with some of that polarization that we have seen in other areas? >> yeah. i will take that. the first part of the question which is why the department cares about these challenges, climate change and about energy. the climate change side is about the new and sort of dangerous missions that we see on the horizon that come from climate change do you can look at the arctic and take about what happens as climate opens up there. if you think about the effects of climate change as an accelerant of instability. that is how we defined in the 2010 defense review so you think about the severe weather events

that are driving increased demands on the military, whether that is in our support with civil authorities here at home or where that is humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. so it is a set of missions that climate change may lead to that really gets the department interested in looking at this issue. on the energy side, it is because we are recognizing energy efficiency and better energy sources can serve as a force multiplier. and so you can see increased range and endurance so to speak to one of the technologies that we we are looking at on a ship, we have installed a hybrid electric drive and so it is two more engines that operate the ship at low speeds and in its first voyage, the maiden voyage from its yard to san diego, it saved over a million gallons of fuel. over its lifetime is going to say the department $250 million worth of fuel.

band that is just feel alone. that doesn't include the increased benefits that come from the range and endurance of that ship being able to loiter longer. that is the key point that better energy for the department is about better capability so anything that provides more capability is necessarily an interest to our military leaders. and the other thing is you know, briefly i would say energy security at the department is defining it is important to our national security. and so, if you think about the cost of our nation's energy addiction, it's too high particularly in the billions of dollars we are sending overseas and all the geostrategic consequences that arise from that. so we as a department tackle that challenge for cells, i think we have an opportunity to really improve this picture, in terms of real spending reductions for taxpayers and in terms of direct energy purchases but also in leading the way for the nation on energy technology. >> thank you. let's talk a bit more about what you said about the dependence of

fossil fuels comes at a cost, a mission this -- and mission effectiveness and always. we talked earlier voucher cost accounting of what is embedded in the cost of a gallon of petroleum. you had said that 1.7 millions of gallons -- 1.7 million gallons and the cost ranges from $7 to $40 a gallon. the dod spent $13.5 billion last year to purchase energy. talk a little bit more about what that embedded quality means and why there is this price volatility and how it impacts people on the ground. >> let me do it by telling you a story and this is of a company of marines out of the first marines. last year, they trained with the suite of energy technologies and they had jetliners to keep heat in the winter and cool air and in the summer they had l.e.d. lights for their tents.

they had solar panels that they used for power generation and they had sort of fold up backpack sized solar panels to recharge their batteries. they deployed in october of last year to helmand province in some of the most difficult fighting. i won't go into too many details but they were and a tough tough i. they lost a lot of guys, but what they found is with this energy technology they were able to increase their capability, what we are focused on. they ran to patrol bases without any risk and they were able to take 90% off the supply line. line. unattended for patrol they took 700 pounds of battery supply out of their system and you can see what that means for our troops. now would they be able to have done that without that gear? sure, we did all the time. other units out all the time but it is a matter of looking at this in terms of opportunity cost. what is it mean in terms of having men and women guarding

and moving fuel and in terms of dollars? what is it mean in terms of lives? so the question is can we do -- so i think the department is coming to the realization that yes we can. their fiscal benefits like you said and so we have a concept called the fully burdened cost of energy which is not just the commodity price of fuel but also the cost in terms of moving that fuel, the assets required to move that fuel and the personnel costs. it is hi. the fiscal cost is there and it is a driver but the real driver is that we can do this better, that we can protect the nation better with it. we can be more capable if we look at energy differently. >> and that is the return on investment. >> right. speak to me this is one of the most heartening examples i've heard of from the government but i am so inspired by what we see at osha and the doj and the doe and the dod. i'm so grateful to all of you

for the work you are doing and your willingness to join us here today to continue to advance sustainability. i want to move into sort of what was going on maybe outside of your world the bed and find out what is happening on the ground in our communities and how we can make that connection for ford's more sort of like dynamic relationships with our community members. so we'll can you tell us more, you are in addition to round energy or just a little bit different than what we heard from tarak. >> absolutely, thank you. fascinating also to learn about the sophistication of this thinking around this issue from the department of defense. so essentially, one of the major issues in achieving place-based sustainability as we see it is actually really opening up a

consumer-driven clean energy marketplace, one in which everyday people, we are we creating a self-sustaining economy around issues of efficiency, renewable energy etc. on the community level. and a major barrier and challenge that we have identified and many have across the field is demand and consumer behavior, sort of everyday people understanding that sustainability investment oranges for the tree huggers anymore, right? these are investments that can really be transformative for families that are suffering from energy burden, energy cost burdens, want to see local business development. so what we have done is essentially focused, built a model that allows for community organizations and faith-based

institutions to shift consumer behavior sort of that scale across communities by identifying those services and those projects that went communities come together and pool their purchasing power, can yield significant cost savings, significant jobs and that economic development can stay local. so, sort of to quickly break down how that model works, essentially we have an approach with faith-based institutions, community based organizations and the beauty of this model is these are sort of natural human resources that are everywhere. every city, every town has these resources, but these institutions because of the trust and the social networks that they have, have a really transformative effect in

accelerating markets and sort of tipping the scales around consumer behavior where conventional messengers that are trying to move people, everyday people to invest in these types of services might not have that same trust. so we are really sort of focused on that carrier and that is coming out of a lot of new study around behavioral economics, on behavioral psychology, that really shows that there are a number of levers you can pull to create incentives for everyday people, like financing etc. but it is really peer pressure from you know peter that people trust that really can tip the scale. so focusing on that, we have worked in wholesale, clean energy, electricity and is one segment and as is a single-family residential efficiency, to give the example of the clean energy electricity. we worked with just under 40

faith-based organizations, community institutions, that were they to try to invest in switching over to an alternative electricity provider that a source more from renewables they couldn't have really afforded it. the economics didn't really work out but by pooling institutions across d.c. and their purchasing power together we were actually able to switch, it was about a $1.6 million purchase. we saved about -- over three and a thousand dollars across the the street institutions that are community institutions that desperately need this help, and while also switching from sort of a dirty energy provider to shifting that demand over to renewables. so these kinds of -- this approach of really community scale aggregation and also focusing on making community the

messenger in shifting behavior has been a really key piece of our success. so after the success in d.c. we are now taking on a project in baltimore on the process of scaling around the united states. >> thank you. ..

this sort of social action hub in most communities and have deep history to the civil rights movement, particularly in low-income communities, the places for a civic drivers for civic action. and so from that perspective and the fact that the huge number of members, the congregation, a synagogue, etc. that can be

influenced if they are central, the institution of faith makes their own investment. but the second answer to that is from a value standpoint that there -- we have found that institutions of faith, you know, they are significant actors and -- they are significant actors in the economy. but they have their own focus on preservation, sustainability in the community, and their own charge for taking care of people in the community. so it was definitely a natural fit, but one quick anecdote in terms of why it has been so newt in terms formative and exciting to work with faith based leaders. we had one leader here in d.c. whose name is reverend tom null, and we work with him on our

community energy purchase and his church was one that switched over to clean energy electricity he shared with us that the savings that they were able to achieve by making that switch along with other faith based leaders allowed them to actually continue running because of the budget tightness there would need to cut social service programs, particularly around transitional housing for low-income people. there is a sort of social role that churches, synagogues, mosques play which has helped us have more social impact to these energy issues. now he has gone on to not just preach around, you know, his fate, but also around some of the economic benefits that his congregants make some of these changes in their own homes and can achieve. so there is that multiplier effects as well in that space.

>> and the ways that we define sustainability is around this notion of a bottom line and seeing those. economic environmental and social return. so you can see two people already how radically different the definition is. they both get back to the same thing of return on investment. the enabling city's approach to sustainability promotes division of interconnections similar to what we were talking about. sponsored in part by purchase of the tory governments. can you explain how citizens can be directly involved in shaping the way policies are created and delivered and what roles governments play in creating those enabling frameworks for sustainability. >> what i argue with the foundation of my argument with the enabling city is that if we look at the everyday level and the lives of people in the day today we see it as a product potential. it can be deeply transformative, and it can open up avenues of

participation that enhance the very basic understanding and expand the understanding of both governments and citizenship. it is understanding that citizens have more than just needs, but they can provide solutions based on their own exponential knowledge and knowledge of the community and their needs to really diffuse the creativity and problem-solving to not experts. so it really opens us, avenues of participation that create a certain language and a common understanding around values such as expertise, but also the very notion of sustainability and what can empower your local residents to become decisionmakers over their own environment. also expanding the idea of the notion of environments in the south. so incensed when we -- when

governments and institutions invest in sharing those sorts of capitals and complimenting that with the other forms of capital and competencies' that the community groups bring to the table, that's really when we move from speaking about government to governance. from control to enable months, but really has the potential of transforming cities, communities, and institutions as platforms for community empowerment. in particular one that has been quite successful is go design, where it is really where citizens and governments come together to articulate visions for policies and services and projects that are determining the difference stakeholders. much more, a prolonged process of consultation that really from beginning to end. a greater sense of ownership involved in the process.

and so just to give you a few examples on the government's side, the enabling cities showcases over 40 examples from categories that range from growing and eating to financing. more specifically in relation to governments and cities, there are a few examples that i like to cite. there is -- there was a greater vision for the city of help that was organized a few years ago. it had 14 municipalities come together to involve the public in articulating a vision for the sustainable future, particularly with the changed and overpopulation invented transportation, energy provision policies that would really help make the city more resilient and also more inclusive. and so with this generated, the

wealth of emissions that were incredibly insightful and my particular favorite example is a report called city to zero put together by a collective called social silicon valley which in itself is very interesting, but they combine the idea of open governance and apply the very hyper and local levels from communities and neighborhoods, incrementally forming greater changing cities. and if they have this idea of common fate reduction and a spiritual knowledge hiding to the very process of policy-making in decision making in cities. and the fundamental shift is the residence and users, not just consumers of these services, but as participants in them. and so these tools, the local tools, innovative funding mechanisms and co working spaces, incubators and tubs

really have the effect of stimulating an ongoing political conversation with city leaders. also they created this figure of the social innovation layer wycherley connects are happens these local levels into the larger fabric of the cities and then also the country. so it's really working across levels and scales and across issues and areas of expertise in a more holistic way that has the potential to do things really incredible. then there is another example that i like to cite. there are three ministries, business affairs, taxation, and unemployment. across ministerial innovation ups. specialize thinking along cannot solve because everything is connected and therefore collaboration to solve these issues is required.

created in april space for brainstorming outside of the ministry with a small team of interdisciplinary experts that competencies' ranged economics of the more designed facilitation. and what they do is that in this interspace they had designed office that i visited. in particular this room is covered and white board, they joined forces with stickle dozen participants princeton solutions and scribbled on walls and think about creative problem-solving outside the rocks. but then it comes together in the stomach of the office which is really a kitchen to discuss the experiment with these ideas and how that might be piloted and launched. and they have done some incredible work on issues like gender equality, employment,

climate change, citizen engagement. inco would beneficial to these ministries that have a neutral innovation. now it is this merging of different layers of approaching issues and discussing stability. and really meant to be the greatest thank an asset for the success. the policies other been implemented across the country. >> fantastic. thank you. your both hitting. hitting on the role of civil society in implementing sustainability. such a fascinating way because this isn't just -- these are just words. cook creates something is very different than being mandated were told to do something. the executive order which set targets including a 28% by 2020 reduction. absolutely incredible. we all know it is essential and

needed at the same time without the people, the citizenry of the people on board. only so far that we can go. all kinds of examples to engage our citizenship. that leads me to one of the more fun ways that we can engage with people. show both of you creating shared value for stakeholders in meaningful ways that takes a different kind of spin on it. harness innovation and financial markets to tackle these problems . then these personal options that the bill discussed. saudis see that coming together? use the mechanisms that are already in place to ups advances in ability. >> as i said in the opening comments with respect to innovation, my background and

legacy stems from the ocean and ocean conservation and exploration with the work of my grandfather. but growing up they help me understand the broader issues that state with respect the ocean conservation that relate to land-based pollutions and climate change. carbon. i progressed in my career. i get increasingly interested in the marketplace. miler -- my work will launch in the investment fund and the beginning of next year. it will go live on the new york stock exchange and focus on a sustainable exchange-rate fund. it's basically like a type of mutual fund that is traded on the exchange added individual come by intraday trading on shares and the percentage of the management fee that goes into a brand new foundation that will be granting funds to communities , women and the education of girls, water issues , etc. it's going to be the first man

is to exchange traded fund of its kind that does this. a kind of surprising in 2011. it's a way that we can think differently and look at how financial markets can leverage. i know from the perspective of the government, did a little bit of research and specifically in a meeting ahead with some folks last week around energy conservation and energy education and energy policy issues, led a little bit above the energy-saving performance contract going on in the government. the opportunity for government help to provide financial incentives, again, to drive the market to be able to make the decisions on the best way to implement energy efficiency in leasing contracts of federal buildings. of course, the federal government of the united states is a major real-estate owner around the world. the potential for the u.s. government to find these ways and to leverage dollars from market-based perspective and a lot of market to drive and find the efficiencies and the best technology, it's no different

than what the doe is doing with respect and the dod with respect to helping companies in real energy company said a campeau pride better services. and in all of those companies to go along with innovation. go along with the public. how can i take action, public education through the educational nonprofit are run. we have a series of that focuses on these issues. we do a lot of work and design and development. also during the u.s. -- the world expo. people always ask me how we getting dates. we need to be thinking about financial markets and the we do with the dollar, not just volunteering in recycling. installing energy efficiency light bulbs. also the dollars.

>> tell me a little bit more about what you think. some is already addressing this. what can government learn from these successful private enterprises and up and some of that be implemented in the work that is being done here? >> i think there are a couple things. one common thing that i draw from the conversation is this notion of shared values which is taking a stakeholder approach as opposed to just a shareholder approach. it includes shareholders and profits, but also the triple bottom line. the social impact of our actions along with our financials, but the successful private sector examples that i both of zurvan work with, they do have the business case. maintain the initiative. if there's no bottom line impact that unfortunately they tend to dissipate as just a charitable

when, and i think if you look at ge and at the imagination, there is a $20 billion revenue driver for the company. it is the fastest-growing segment of the revenue and generally environmental projects, environmental, you know, lines of business. that is sort of a hopeful example of one of the larger corporations in the world. driving sustainability. the other important thing to consider is making this fund. i think we have gotten past the brain and as my finance, we like to focus on fun and games, not guilt and shame. if elected the organic food market is 3 percent of the total market share. thirty years of advocacy. the recycling rate in the u.s. is about 30%. renewable energy consumption,

ten, 12, 14 percent is not mainstream. in order for us to have the global significant impact that we need, we need to make green mainstream, and i've worked on some great projects. my company include everything from a fortune five hunt to startups. some really great work out there around this concept of imitation which is a bit of a mouthful as a word, but it really comes down to one basic thing. the human behavioral drivers that will begin to motivate us to take action. things like peer pressure. traditionally we think about being in high school and simply trying to the this month the cigarette in the back from this negative peer pressure. there is a company called recycle bank, an online rewards platform that rewards people for every day green action such as recycling or conservation of

energy. there are leader boards and coins. challenges and educational websites to teach you about going green. at the end of the day not only did they create a social community where you're able to showcase the actions you're taking into good about them, coming back to that fund, you also receive will -- rewards like discounts on granola bars and more robust incentives that they have. there is another great startup called simple energy. what they do is work with utilities. they track consumption and to facebook and other social platform, leader board cannot means for people to compare themselves to their peers and their friend. it is really using that notion of social comparison and positive peer pressure. you don't want to be the person that is not thinking about your children's future.

you want to be somebody who can proudly say to your friends, your neighbor that i am considering the sustainability of the planet. my grandchildren, you know, ability to have a decent life. so using those kind of games, mechanisms, we find that people are actually, changing their behavior for the better. that is a way that we try to celebrate our loved curries' other as opposed to focusing on creating fortune. >> thank you. i think that's the perfect end to start to move to our conclusion on the idea let us know how everyone here can take a bit of that away and work with their organs and to ensure that your generation and generations to come will also be a will to meet their needs.

>> certainly i draw inspiration from every day from people like michael panelists here and all of you. my grandfather. kieffer each and everyone of us to find the stories that resonate with us and to keep our eye on the ball. a lot of challenges with respect to the news cycle and politics around these issues and as you see with these amazing people in all the work you're doing, there is innovation happening on the ground. thinking differently, speaking outside the box, the financial markets, leveraging gun people. under focused market out there. an army of young people that want to take action can take action. and thinking about how this affects our health and broaden the dialogue that's not just time right and you're wrong. we are about security, health, stronger, safer communities and my two things would be leveraging young people and also

really thinking about how markets work. remembering the inspiration. whoever inspires you and holding on to that every day and never ever giving up. a lot of challenges. a lot of people just look around too. they're so focused. so passionate about it. i think it's very, very exciting time to be doing this word. >> thank you. >> similar to what he said, i think in operation, not underestimating the importance, but the inspiration can play a new level, from institutions to the very grass roots. it is the capacity. it is our ability to unlocked our creative potential and our ability to contribute to problem solving collaborative lee and to lavish the language and shared understanding of our common values and what we need but what we mean by these cities.

so similar to that i would also say enabling that goes was access to infrastructure and not wasting resources and in particular enabling public service to understand the significant shift from a leading to enabling and from controlling to influencing, from working in isolation to working in collaboration with others. so the term that i particularly fine significant, the government is going. the city of open policy making that is responsive to today's challenges. it's really on the ground working with others in partnership and maximizing responses that at the same time is able to drive change. i think that is really crucial as a shift that needs to happen on a larger scale and at every level of governments and participation. rarely invests in the capacity

building and the creation of a platform for bringing democracy to the everyday. >> thank you. >> sure. i think we all feel the energy in the room because enthusiasm and passion and winning is contagious. i'm already hyped-up. it's barely 10:00 in the morning. i think first of all we need to recognize the victories that are already in motion. i also want to a knowledge the government in this administration because i learned about a project called the green of challenge and the greenbelt collaborative that was initiated last year which taps into the wisdom of federal officials and getting recommendations on how every agency could implement more green initiatives. i believe there were something like 5,000 suggestions made across the board. over a hundred thousand votes, and that is, again, using dynamics to engage people and to be social. so i think that is the direction that we want to be going in.

toward that end today we set up a little challenge for all of you posing the question but made sustainability fun to you. you can answer the question by using e of a half stag dream of 2011 on twitter. the number symbol green gov. what makes this inability fun to you, or you can go to a facebook tag that we have set up an answer the question. at the end of the date today, tomorrow, and on wednesday we are going to select randomly three winning responses received prizes, the association of climate change officers has donated several animal memberships and were several hundred dollars. some recycled merchandise, backpacks, t-shirts, and philippe has graciously donated a signed copy of one of his books. you can go to our facebook page or you can check out on the climate of the conference

website at lebron and find a link to this challenge. again, it's all about celebrating in making this fun and hopefully we will be collectively inspired by the responses that are coming in over the next few days. >> thank you. >> sure. i was trying to think. but i think one of the things you guys probably explore over the next two and a half days is the agency's all, sustainability for different reasons. for the defense department the reasons we are coming at this is because of our mission, which is to protect and defend the nation. to that we see sustainability st. better energy use means increased the ability for our war fighters, butter, the effectiveness, low risk, lower-cost. that is why we are interested. throughout the third government we have had federal partners. the department of energy has been fabulous. we are working with their

components delivers their capabilities and match them to our needs. that has just been really a pleasure to watch. i think one of the other reasons i was asked to join this panel is because i bring the federal government perspective. i join the federal government three years ago and absolutely have no idea what to expect. and from my perspective as a young person but also a young citizen there is a lot to be proud of and the work that all of you guys doing. with the president's lead, the rule of executive orders implemented in the recovery act and all the programs and departments to your end, we have done a lot done. for me i am really proud to be a very small part of that in my corner of the defense department. i really just hit my hats all of you guys and think you have some great conversations this week that will help us get all the work we still have to be done. >> thank you.

>> so to build all little bit, i talked a little bit about peer to peer engagement and the power of civic and really moving behavioral change on the community level as a way of driving so sending markets. that can seem very far removed from the work of some folks in this room. i wanted to actually knowledge that there are ways that the federal government can really push for a new way of thinking about community is not just recipients of policy changes and market base changes, but actually the driver's of market transformation. and i wanted to recognize one way that the federal government has already tried to institute that. the retrofit ramp up project

with the federal government put competitive funding out first city based municipal and state based efficiency programs. recognize that the power of this sort of civic and local messenger and actually recommend that all of these projects around the country after seeing it work here with our work in a few other projects around the country costa arrests -- overall government, community organizations and the civic networking local level as central partners. drive up did among consumers. that's an example. the government has succeeded. for the creative ways of engaging. a few other quick of the bus ideas. one is americorps, you know, there is an opportunity to potentially create fifth

powerful grass-roots infrastructure to create a curriculum of program by which community organizations can be trained to be messengers to shift consumer behavior and move communities and help communities to invest in windows when sustainability projects. and one last parting thought is to think more. a think it's really important the folks on the 30,000 put policy level think more in terms of an everyday citizen and more in terms of even an everyday consumer and thinking about how we focus on the benefits of sustainability or environmental initiatives that are beyond just in our mental. how do we present the benefits of these programs more around

other things that every day people really care about like economic opportunity and energy-saving. and so be more proactive about that kind of framing, i think the federal government has a real opportunity to frame these issues in ways that are more practical and engaged coming days more folks across different interests.

next, a debate on the future of the u.s. economy and national debt. you'll hear from former u.s. senator allen simpson who co-chaired president obama's debt commission. lawrence summers and karl rove, and former white house press secretary robert gibbs. the debate is moderated by brett bayer. this event is hosted by regent university. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you, ladies and gentlemen, this is the nine annual clash of the titans. it's become one of the great debates. we couldn't afford a football team. so, we did the next best thing. we had a bunch of scholars fighting each other, and they turned out to be very good. when we select the topic. you say, what happens if they get everything fixed before our debate. no worry about that this time. [laughter] >> none at all! the supercommittee isn't going to fix anything. we have people here who have answers, some of distinguished people, allen simpson, dear friend, whose father served in the senate with my father, and we have been friends for years, and he is here, and brett bayer who has done a superb job of

taking the anchor chair on fox news. filled in for brett hume, who was a marvelous news man, and he has covered himself with glory, and we're so glad that he is here as the moderator of this debate. he is going to introduce to you the distinguished members of the panel, and one of them, by the way, is larry summers. he was president of harvard, and they gave him a rough time. i want to yale. i told him if he had gone to yale, they would have been nice to himself but he didn't. he was working in the clinton administration, and we all -- several of us were there and worked on a debt forgiveness package for third, world countries because larry has a heart of compassion for those who suffer, and the initiative taken in that gathering with bill clinton and larry summers

and others, resulted in a debt reduction of $30 billion to overindebted third-world countries to give them a fresh start. he is a wonderful person, as are all the members of this panel, and you're going to get to know them. one of them, by the way, says he worked for man who worked for my father. it's incestuous in washington. everybody works for everybody sooner or later. so actually, we're all friends. but they have rules. no dodging, no biting, no kicking, and you maintain civility, and i think you're going to have a wonderful debate, and i hope they come up with some solutions to america's debt problems. right now it's a great pleasure to introduce a tremendous broadcaster, brett bayer.

[applause] >> thank you very much. it's a pleasure to be here. thank you for that introduction. i know you just celebrated 50 years, cbn celebrated 50 years of broadcasting, and dr. robert robertson, a pioneer in that. i can only hope to be broadcasting in 50 years. it's a real pleasure to be here. i'll be honest with you. i received the e-mail and it said, will you come down to clash of the titans. and i wasn't sure if it was a wrestling match or monitor struck rally. a little research, and i am so impressed with what what you have done here, the ninth year of a truely fair and balanced debate. and this is just that.

we are 375 days away from the election. that, bill the way, is 9,010 hours as of right now. and the biggest issue, obviously, will be the economy. and the precipice that really the world has been facing when it comes to dealing with the economy, debt, taxes, and to deal with that we have an amazing array of panellesses. temperatures lawrence summers was a key economic decisionmaker in the obama administration while serving as the direct or of the white house economic council in 2009 and 2010. at the chief advisor to the president on economic policy he developed the recovery act, and other job-creation measures, co-chaired the president's auto task force to restructure the u.s. automobile industry, and played a leading roll in managing the nation's international economic

relationships. summers' wealth of knowledge about economics has earned him the john baits clark medal, an award earned -- award given to outstanding american economists under the age of 40, which he received in 1993, following his service as chief economist of the world bank. from there he became a key policymaker in the u.s. treasury department, ultimately rising to serve as secretary of trussry from 1999 to 2001. the only time within the past 60 years that america saw a decline in the national debt. during this period he played a key role in every major economic policy decision from the enactment of nafta and the world trade organization to the response to the final crisis in mexico, asia, and around. he received the alexander hamilton medal, the treasury department's highest honor. the was president of harvard university, where he was an

outsubpoenaed slow cat of reform in higher education. he currently serves as professor at harvard and a member of president obama's economic recovery advisory board. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome dr. lawrence summers. [applause] >> hailing from a family that was heavily involved in law and politics, it's no surprise that alan simpson has held distinguished positions in both fields. a third generation lawyer. simpson earned his law degree from the university of wyoming, after serving overseas in the army, he practiced law in wyoming briefly as assistant attorney general and ten years as city attorney in his home town of cody. following in the foot steps of this hour two served as a governor and senator. simpson served in the wyoming house of representatives for 13 years, holding the he was0s

majority whip, majority floor leader, and speaker pro tem. the was then elected for three terms in the u.s. senate and was named by his peers to the position of assistant major leader for ten years. he served as the direct you or the institute of politics at harvard university roz john f. kennedy school of government before returning to his mall matter, the university of wyoming, as a visiting lecturer in the political science department. his class, wyoming's political identity, it's history and politics, is one of the most popular courses at the university. i'd like to take that class in 2010, president obama appointed simpson to serve on the bipartisan national commission of fiscal responsibility and reform. simpson continues to serve on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards and travels the country speaking on a variety of subjects. his book, right in the old gazoo, livetime of scrapping with the press, chronicles his

personal experiences and views of the fourth estate. i can attest to that since the subject of numerous questions of mind have been called a gnat belch in a tornado. ladies and gentlemen, senator alan simpson. [applause] >> our next guest, robert gibbs, has been an adviser and strategist for president obama since the area day0s of obama's senate race. he second as president obama's press secretary. a graduate of north carolina state university, gibbs began his political career threw an internship with former congressman glen brown of alabama. he went on to specialize in senate campaigns, serving as communication director for the democratic senatorial campaign

committee and for four individual senate campaigns, including those of fritz holings in 1998 and senator obama in 2004. gibbs was communications director in the obama campaign and serve in that role throughout the presidential campaign until becoming senior strategist during the general election. members of the media often noted gibbs' quick wit and candid style as he presided over daily press briefings in his role as press secretary. having spent many years as a close adviseyear to the president, robert gibbs is able to offer a white house insider's perspective on current issues effecting the nation. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome robert gibbs. [applause] >> karl rove became known as the, a tell o george w. george s 2000 and 2004 campaigns.

he was president of car rove and company, public affairs firm that worked for'mage counties, nonpartisan projects. his clients including more than 75 u.s. senate, congressional, and gubernatorial candidates in 24 states as well as the moderate party of sweden. from that consulting role, rove's winning political strategies earned him great respect. he was describe at the greatest political mind of his generation and probably of any enation, respected author and columnist wrote in u.s. news and world report, quote, no presidential appointee has ever had such a strong influence on politics and policy, and none is likely to do so again anytime soon. rove now puts the skills to use as a fox news contributor, also the author of animes names best

seller, "courage and consequence" my life as conservative in the fight. he also writes a weekly op-ed for the wall street journal and was written for news week, time, the washington post, weekly standard, financial times and forbes, rove has taught both undergraduate and great what students at the university of texas in austin and is also a faculty member with the salisbury global seminary. back by popular demand, the only debater who has clashed twice here, he is a two-time titan. please welcome karl rove. [applause] >> let's go over the ground rules. we want this to be feisty. substantive. we have questions that were submitted by yaw all in the audience, selected by a panel of

distinguished professors. our panel members, professor jim davids, professor of government, and professor michael hernandez, professor of law. our time keeper for today's debate, dr. bob drier. professor in the robertson school of government and a city council member here in the city of virginia beach. we'll be using what you see here, a traffic light system. obviously green means go, yellow 30 seconded left to speak, and red, time is up. we don't have, like, i have at the debate, the fancy bell. but i'll try to get in the middle if it drags on. the agenda is listed in your program, but we'll begin with opening statements by each participant. four minutes each. then a roundtable, where each participant holds the floor and can ask another -- the others questions. that's their time and i have the option of following up. next i present your questions to all of the panelists in four different rounds. each of our debaters then have

four minutes to make closing statements. i'll not ask any followups from those. and then the program will conclude with a bit of a wrapup by me. so, with that, the opening remarks by each participant. let's start first with dr. summers. >> thank you very much. and thank you for this invitation, and for the generous introduction. it's much better than we economists usually get. last time i spoke i was introduced by someone who said, larry, do you know what it takes to succeed as an economist. i said, no. he said an economist is someone who is pretty got figures but doesn't quite have the personality to be an accountant. that was in moscow, and no one got the joke. [laughter] >> we have a lot to talk about. three years ago, in the fall of 2008, this country was in the most critical economic juncture

it has reached since the great depression. it's no exaggeration to say that everything was collapsing. stock market in freefall. panic in the banks. hundreds of thousands of jobs being destroyed a month. vicious cycles. a declining financial system. a credit crunch that hurt the economy. a collapsing economy. meant no one could pay back loans, meant a collapsing financial system. people's incomes going down. meant less spenting. less spending meant less job creation, and incomes were economic statistics in the fall of 2008 to the spring of 2009. then from the fall of 1929 in the next six months. that situation has to be contained. those vicious cycles have to be

broken. they were. a combination of strong government action to jump-start the economy, through necessary spending and infrastructure, through tax support to working families, to support so we didn't wreck the future even in a troubled present, by allowing teachers to continue working in schools, prevent law enforcement officials from being laid off. painful, necessary choices, not because anybody cared about the banks, but because people did care about those to whom they lent money and didn't want to see a worse credit crunch protected our system. where are we today? there's no collapse. the economy has grown for the last two years. people said the money was going down the toilet. it didn't go down the toilet. the money has been put in the banks, has always come back.

the growth isn't anything like what we want it to be. unemployment at 9%, is 4% too high. and you know the reason why. who is going to hire people to work at their restaurant when it's half empty? who is going build a new factory when the existing factories only are being worked one shift. who is going to build a new house when there's two million houses sitting empty. this economy needs more demand. it needs spending that creates employment, that creates income, that keeps the economy going. it needs it from the private sector, and it needs it from the public sector. this is not a time to be laying off teachers across the country. that's why we need to use this moment to renew and rebuild america. that why we need to support our

housing and financial system. we need to insist the rest of the world does its part to grow american exports on a substantial scale. that's why we need to cut taxes on families who are in a position to spend that money and put it back in the economy, and that's why we need to recognize that confidence is the cheapest form of stimulus, and do what's necessary to assure that not right away when we can't afford it but over time our government stops piling up debt at the rate that it has. thank you very much. >> dr. summers, thank you. [applause] >> now opening statements, senator alan simpson. >> i think you're going to have to stand. my feet are dogging the floor already. you tack that off my time. a great honor and privilege to be here at this remarkable university. you all must be very proud of

it. i surely am after my visit with staff and students and faculty. rich has certainly taken care of me. james basher, my handlers, and it's been a lovely treat. and a special treat to see pat robertson, who served as with my father in the u.s. senate and to meet dedebradford afford. a map of great faith and forthrightness, voicely. this is a fine forum with people i have come to know and respect, even though we surely do not and will not agree -- we wouldn't want that at all. you find that out fast. but it will be a real debate. i serve on the commission on presidential debates. the sites will be announced next week. would that this active type of thing were what the politicians were able to accept this kind of debate, but they won't. as we meet with them on the commission, they would not go for this. but first i want to answer a

question when i walked in here, somebody asked me a question. i was taken aback and i want tints right now and the answer is, yes, i did sleep in this suit. [laughter] >> all right. a quick story for you. 3:00 in the morning, the phone rings, i answered it, that's 2,000 miles, hangs up, his wife says, who was it? he said, down know. some guy called and asked if the coast was clear. [laughter] >> quickly -- my time is expiring. we did ten months of work on this commission, and came up with a vote of five democrats, five republicans, one independent, 60% of us voted for us. took us three months to establish trust. there's no civility. the coin of trust is severely tarnished in america in the congress. and people still get on their

hind legs and say, we can get this done without touching medicare, medicare social security and defense. that's a fake. a total phoney. you cannot get there without touching all four of these. paul reason spoke up. they cruise identified him. president didn't accepted our plan. they would have torn him to bits. that's the way it works. plenty of fat in the defense budget. plenty of fat everywhere and we can't get there without walking every single one of the big four how to get there social security. i had more guff on that i can choke down. the nastiest letters i get from people who are 70, all juiced up by the aarp and i ask them are there any patriots here or just marketers? you have to find that out. and then we said, what do you want? we said, well, lower tax base, lower rates, spending out of the -- said, great, get rip of 1,100,000,000,000 worth of these

tax accident -- accident -- expenditures, we take the mow and give them 8% tax, 0 to 70,000, 14%, 70,000 to 210, and over that you do 23. medicare, is a disaster. it doesn't matter if you call it obama care or -- i don't care. it cannot be sustained. it cannot be sustained. and it will not be sustained. all you have to do is look in your own neighborhood and finally. if grover nor quest is the most powerful man in america today he aught to run for president. and i'll deal with that later. thank you very much. [applause] >> okay coast is clear, robert gibbs, to you. >> thank you for coming and thank dr. reportson and the

university for having us. even though my introduction said i had a quick wit -- and aim glad the people in virginia beach got your joke but you're not going to be as funny at senator alan simpson. that's one argue. we're all likely to lose. i want to speak a little bit about -- count countdown to toe collapse and the economic crisis, and i think we think about this country an economic collapse that started on september 15, 2008, when the banks on wall street collapsed. and i don't doubt that it had a significant impact, as larry described, on the financial markets and on confidence, but i think we should be clear and honest with each other. the economic collapse has been

going on in many parts of america and many parts of virginia for many, many, many years. it didn't start in september of 2008. for a long period of time we watched incomes decline. we watched college educations become harder and harder to get, yet more and more necessary for the future. this is something that started in late 2008. this is something that started 15 and 20 years ago. and the questions that we're going to ask each other today, and the debate we're going to have is, what are we going to do about it? because i think all of us agree we're at an interesting inflex pound in our country's history. a time in which it is not simply guaranteed that we're going to pass on to our children and to our grandchildren a better life than the one we had. we're going to have to make some very hard and honest decisions with ourselves to make sure that

happens, and i wish that we could go back to one thing, and that would be to go back to the washington that alan simpson and dr. robertson's fathers both worked in. they were from different parties. and though the constitution requires that every two years we elect a congress and every four years we elect a president, those two men and the men and women that were in the senate and the house decided that in between those dates, we would get together and figure out what was best for the country so that we didn't face the exact economic calamity that larry describes. [applause] >> that's not going on right now. you know that and i know that. i think the most remarkable thing that happened this summer

wasn't a debt crisis or a default was averted or a grand bargain was or wasn't accepted. it was a credit rating agency that downgraded our debt, not because we don't have the physical ability to pay our bills. understand that. not because we have the -- don't have the ability to pay our short term debt. it's because they didn't believe we had the government necessary to overcome the dysfunctions to deal with it. that is an economic and a political crisis. and if we do not deal with them both simultaneously, i can assure you one thing. when bread is here in 50 years, capping his 50-year broadcasting career, there will be a clash of the titans, and you will be listening to the very same discussion that we're going to have today. except we're going to have wasted 50 years in dealing with those problems. and if we're going to pass on a country that is better to our

children and our grandchildren that the one great country we have today, then we better get about solving some of the problems, democrats and republicans, right now. [applause] >> thank you, alan. mr. karl rove. ... to the regents for having me back. every person on this podium today is here under false pretenses. not a single one of them as a titan, accept me. [laughter] all of this high school, titans, class of 1951. -- columbus high school, titans, class of 1951. 14 million fellow americans are out of work today. september, unemployment 9.1%,

the 32nd month and a row in which unemployment was 8% or more, the long sustained time of high unemployment since the great depression. it happened despite the fact we tried the 2 1/2 year experience of spending our way to prosperity. it has not worked. i country faces fundamental issues regarding how to get ourselves on the right track. we have lost 1.5 million jobs net since the stimulus bill was passed. we have had spending the size of the government relative to the gross domestic product of the united states, 20% in 2008. today it is near 25%. in 2015 it will be 23%, and then marched upward after that. by the middle of the century, if left unchecked, using the president's own projections, it will consume 40% of our gdp, the federal government.

on january 20th 2009 of public head of the united states, that0 which is secured tustin the form of a bond and sold was equal to 40 percent of gdp. but december 301st of 2009 it00i was equal to 54 percent gdp.dp. by the end of last year it wasql equal to 62 percent of gdp.p. as of this morning it was equals to 70 percent of gdp, and by th% end of t ohe year will be equalf 72 percent of gdp. the super committee is able to p cut the rest of those trillions y dollars in the next trillions the budget, by the end of the to when l. -- window will be equal the 76%. slowing the future growth, not .urning it down word. growth the answers are pretty clear. ce we have to stop the spending.pen we don't have money that we're spending today. we need to remove the burden ofn regulation and uncertainty that is diminishing business confidence. who wants to invest in plan and equipment when their word aboutr the cost of regulation and the d affordable care act. we need said repeal the t affordable air -- care act. w

and absolutely essential that wn tackle the fundamental challenge facing not us today but us today and our children tomorrow, and that is performing entitlementet programs which have made which deomises that our country cannot keep. maybe we can do so today, but we cannot in five years or ten years or 15 years, and these systems are going broke.. by 2020 the hospital insurance paner medidicare is going to be bank.upt. we're already spending more each year on social security than we are taking in in the way of takn payroll taxes. 2037, we we will exhaust the trust fund which is actually kept in the bottom drawer of the bureau of the debt in parkersburg west virginia in the form of notes that we have to pay back. that does busted 2037. now, this is going to be easy. i want to "a great statesman who said this will be as easy is easy giving birth to a porcupine.

[laughter] balan he also said we are the healthiest course and the gluele factory. [laughter] he said if you think spending money is money than the drinks smart me. on me.ter] that's about as smart as sending ss ink of potato chips to the obese. [laughter] is, you did. [laughter] and it's not going to be easy because simpson once said, have alienated every special interest there is out there. president bush 41 said no, there ere a couple more you haven't yet. ar are going to have to do that in a bipartisan way. >> your time has expired. [laughter] stop eating into my time. eatinm [laughter]tell the >> thank youm.ob ank you.e] [applause] .> thank you >> with that introduction, senator simpson, in this round table discussion each debater

has their own time.th they can do withei it as they ww four minutes. -- >> let me get back to grover norquist. a good guy with a baimpsd idea.. let me tell you, anybody that can go around during the rosy years and pick up the pledge that you're never going to raise taxes under any situation, evenx if your country is an extremity is just, he came and testified before us and said my hero is ronald reagan. great great. is he's mine too.in ronald reagan raised taxes 11 r times in eight years. i know. i didn't like that of all. that is in the issue. thaid that. what did you do that? that is i have no idea. he did it to make the countrye y run. well, here you have a situation ofre 95 percent of the republicans that are serving have signed that pledge.. how can you sign a pledge before you have hearddg the debate, red the information, know the

position of your country and pretend you are a legislator. think tthat is a remarkable absurdityha. remarkae i spend a lot of time talking about him, and i mean it.he is e the m most powerful man in the united states right now. now, i don't use charts, i don'a use powerrt point. you just say, if you spend moree than you are and you lose your d butt. if you spend a buck and borrow $0.42 you have got to be stupidr that is what your country isdoig doing every day, borrowing $0.42 for every book we spend. thisy this day your country is borrowing 4 trillion, 4,600,000,000 bucks, and it will borrow that tomorrow and thear next day and the next eight. and ire cannot succeed, and up till you why. it's very simple.ple. yoo is look. to around. you have a situation where one person in america with more than the other two.

this is not o funny. this cannot be helped in manyy people.that as the way it is.e it have bo the booze, tobacco, designer drugs, all this, andhi. just roll it up in a big ball. yowalk up tou walk up to the window, and if you are over 65 e you can get $150,000 heart operation and never even get a t annever what is that about? and then you have this guy,u h medigap, this and that. if everybody walls up and neverl pen,o payes a penny, do you believe they're going to cut y back in any possible way? of course not.of cours that's where we are.e we can't grow our way out of ouf this. everybody you testified said we could have double digit growth for 20 years and never grow our way out of this box.our way out the big bang theory, if you that,e that, the big bang theory happens.

billion ars agyears ago. that is the third of a trillion, and we hold 16 and a half trillion, trillion dollars. until we get to take the be away from it and put it tea in front of it we will never get out oft. the whole. k would ask one other question.s they sanay that comes off my ti, too. the question is, we don't care b hw we got here. the first three months of our or commission, who is the biggest peending president in the history of america, george bush. i don't want to hear that.then t the other side, this caster to entry to one. 1. will adjust to a two-person report. it will just be the two of persgning this thing because we are going to do bs and are not going to do much. dd we it iidn't, and it's very specific. sixty-seven pages. it's in english. www fiscal commission dr. of, and it is all there. the reason it gets so much flak

from the special interest groups is because it is very specific. you have to get out of this whole. take a look at it.tlines h to ge >> he did get a question in your four minutes, but i'll take my minute to ask the question that he post, which was you talked yd about politicians working poli together to getti past this. to he's saying blaming whoever, george bush or before does not thance the ball in solving the crisis. how do you get past that and actually get something done with the current politicalho environment in washington?ical >> well, i think we -- look, i don't think -- i don't want to speak for larry, but i willla probably. i don't think that any of us on this states disagreed with the notion that we are on a path ruh that is simply unsustainable. nobody would argue that. the question is how to use ourun politics to get out of this

litics mess.? and i think senator simpson has dedicated his life to this problem and dedicated is serious amount of time very silly to this problem.s a he mesa dramatically point. dratically one way to do it. we are going to have to do aot e little bit of all of it. we can grow our way out. we can't cut our way out. we're not going to raise taxes f it. get out we willoing to have to do some little bit of all of that.all of we are going to have to addressd medicare.re we're going to have to address e social security. we're going to have to adjust the defense budget. we're going to have to look atet the amount of money our government to extend into it takes in from. but if you leave one of those le iut it's not going to add up. i think the sooner we recognize that we are all in this togethen have tot we all have to be in this together and that we all al have to contribute to its

solutions will much more likelye to get up live where we are note we debating this bill we are agreeing. >> the current environment does not indicate that is happening.e >> but there is no reason that it shouldn't. reason t i mehaan, the problem isn't goig the to get less. le senator simpson appropriately points out that it's going to get worse. if we don't deal with it you arh going to be debating this issue for a long time. we had a real opportunity to do this.or we had a real and genuine opportunity to do this. the speaker and the president sat in a room and got very close a . it did not happen because the speaker decided that we actually could not to the notion of having everybody be involved. the defense had to take some cuts. the entitlements had to be restructured, and we had to loor at our tax base.

we were close. we were close to somethingured,e really really really big.ally, a d decided because politics will allow that we wouldn't do it. the credit rating agency, the ink abode, think about this for a second. credit rating agencies. agencs. you've heard of them. they are the ones that give aaa credit ratings to secure aaa mortgages.secu you have heard of those.u he of that's what got us into thisthat mess. into none of you are going to walk out of this room despite theed fact that they have a aaa credit rating and invest in secure captain mortgages. none of you.our our debt is downgraded at less than a securitized mortgageat because we don't have the political will as senator simpson said, to just a minute we are all in this s together.sl bob dole had a great saying ande may be quite frankly caught it from alan simpson. the only way we do this without

tipping over the canoe is toanue step in it -- step into that inr it together at the same time. w all know you have all probably been canoeing or can imagine what would happen if you is tto step in it at a different time. everybody gets wet. et. in this case i think the analogy is a little closer to drowning in debt that is to thik simply give away. >> to mix it up, to you have a question? >> i would ask a question, and it builds awful little of myoulk leader trent. bu that is, i think we had annk terestining -- we have had an interesting summer around things weke the grand bargain. we have had interesting debatess on the republican side about how we're going to deal with this. i thought one of the most eliminating things that happened in one of these debates and ithe don't know if it was the debate over withat.-- >> i think i know where you're going. >> maybe it was you ask this. >> it was. >>aughter]

>> ayatollah forgot.. >> dear andreas. >> yes.>> >> okay. >> even better. a simple question. of all the participants running for president on the republican side. that was and you'll correct meen if i'm wrong, would you agree to a grand bargain of sorts if for every $10 in spending cuts you would agree to $1 increased agre revenue. raise your hand. w whether you would take that. not one person raise their hand. >> would you turn down a deal? deal. >> even better. and my question would be to a senatornd simpson, if you were n the senate today would you take that deal? >> you can't get out of this without everybody was skin in the game. thi

no such thing as shared sacrifice since world war ii, and if we don't step up to thef. plate and forget this absurd wee are americans first, not am democrats and republicans. >> can i ask.ans. [applause] [applause]l, >> would you take that? >> i would. i will tell you what oui told bd after the debate.thought i thought that was an unfair question to toask in a republicn debate. democrat debate and you think if you sit with you except deep changes and fund a massivet the reforms in medicare, medicaid in command entitlement programs that you would have a lot of rad raise tanzanite platform? no. >> i will say this. if the debate on the democratic party was had with the current occupant of the white house that is what we had agreed to.>> >> hold on.n, >> hold on. hold let me finish. he can answer. >> good.

>> to spanish dancer.r answer >> i just think we have to be clear. i i give you some credit. there is no doubt, and if you iu saw, quite frankly, whatth happened over the summer a lotot of democrats were very upset president gesident got that close to the grand bargain with the speaker of the house.they they were. but this president was willing to go alone with some with restructuring to entitlements in order to offset.l step io tha that is quite frankly to be honest with you, i think that is the definition of. leadersp. >> let me just clarify. at the time we could not give any details of exactly what that was that he was agreeing to end what the plan was, so when you say you was agreeing to it, it i may haveng been in principle, bi as far as pacific's the could not get exactly what was going to happen. >> let's debate the way for>>

rather than going l back.rd >> just clarify. >> everybody here i think in greece that everything has got to be on the table. that o means entitlements. means renues,ans revenues. both of them have got to be thao there, and we want to see the political leaders find a way too that. that is an important point of agreement here. i'll let others fight back and forth about who is the greaterer center. the republicans of the democrats . we can kind of predict where demrats, going to come out on that.u could which side of the podium there sitting on, but i think what isp much more important is that weit can all agree that all thethat things have to be on the table and that anyone he denies that is speaking passed the truth.>> >> okay. call rove, four minutes.ove.

>> i want to play out this because i think their is a fundamental role. bipnrequire bipartisan, and with all due respect to my credit -- credit thethe current -- current president of the aited statesn for e bipartisn environment in which they cannot be bipartisan cooperation. i talked to the speaker and he was never clear on what the deat was, but the trust was simply not there because of the way the president has done with thehe pe ltpublican opposition from tsihe beginning.nning. dr. summers and i talked about this. the president invites in the house republicans. come and give some council on the stimulus program. the congressman begins to enter to offer some suggestions. he's put off by the president. made no effort to up swap but elements. and you see it this year. the president says we have a hae serious -- congressman ryan inn, pnuary, a serious head up proposals and he goes to the d use republican conference. in april he invites congressman ryan to sit in the fourth row of

the thspeech of the president is going to deliver as he savages and over the proposal that he call serious in the spring which was a proposal first offered byn ofmocratic senator john gloom of louisiana as chairman of the medicare reform commission. we saw it in the july speech to the congress where the presideni has this unique moment to bring the country together and whattoi does he do, three paragraphsand? from then he says the republicap opposition, i know there's another philosophy and approacho it says, we should shut down thd government, give back the money, and the moregulations untilyboda everyone you're on your own, buo that's not the way of america to be how conducive is that when you go before congress andrtisan insult the people you're trying to get to pass this bill. then the president is going out on the campaign trail. lastly, i know what the omic growth pointpublican is.wth plan hat's have dirtier air, dirtyt water, fewer people in healthite insurance. that is not the language of somebody wants to bring the not country together.ho wants t coungethe]

[applause] i know. i no dr. summers says don't go back, but there is an instructive lesson. we had a slightly more contentious election thatlightle president obama. you may remember florida. meet the press two weeks before bush was sworn in being askedt twice. do you think bush was a legitimately elected president of the united states? the democratic leader saystic li refused to ad nswer the questio. yet in june with the democratic senate, the bush tax cuts, and a quarter of the democrats voted for it because we negotiated wh with them, sat down with them and try to come to an agreement and did things we did not want g to do. ever going to get this done ntitlegoing to have to do that. let sayell you one quick note about taxes. i do think we ought to put the t focus on tax systems that system renues as ore revenues as a result of economic growth. and interestingly enough, and i

would be interested in what our budget experts here in our economists say.get expertand we have budget scoring rules in the congress that make it congrt impossible. a static scoring rule when it comes to taxes, so if we pad an it protects plan the grow congressional budget office is budget o score it is neutral. now, we have to find a way to also make some systematic to ma reforms in how wkee go about budgeting, move to a two-yeartw budget, have true zero based-bad budgeting and as core rules that don't allow us to getin away wio withimmicks to get away with and doesn't allow us to truly understand the economic nsplioations of things like a pro-growth economic point. >> let me follow what. senator simpson is sitting nexts to you and just said that taxes need to be on the table, but hee is correct in saying that most s republicans say raising taxes in do ite right thing to do ever let alone now. how do you respond? >> announcer now is the time for an across-the-board tax n increase, but i do think one of

the most interesting things thad came out, and where thebut e th president could get some agreement is on tax expenditures but we opted focused on his tax. expenditures a really don't add to the economy. at ta >> define what you mean. ehes >> these are subsidies and giveaways and deductions and exemptions and the law.ptions. we will have a robust this he agreement.or he's in favor of getting rid of the research and development tax credit and i'man not.not, we can find a parcel.l a lot of them in the energyin tdustry, there is no need to subsidize the offshore oil drilling. we have the technology necessary at a time when we needed todisah encourage people. en the technology is there and we don't need to. we should not do is take up thet energy industry and say we treat the manufacturing and industrial sector this way and are not going to say that a big chunk of it, the energy industrynergy involving chemicals, natural cha gas, and while is no longer a part of manufacturing base andgr you get treated differently. be that is in punitive and

politics. we ought to focus on the things we can try and agree with and te put the politics to the degree that we can decide. >> four minutes. dr. sumrs? >> i want to say a couple things first and then put a question.t. we actually have an importantwe agreements. someing on ao something. carl llis right, we need to do e arithmetic for budget proposals in a sophisticated way.d way. i would agree with him that theh tax change produces economic growth. we ought to take account of gro that.ake account i hope he would agree with me hd that if collecting money from ci people who are paying their taxes, the ira's budget plus $5 for every dollar we spend to my hope we will take account of that.spen it pretty about more competition in health care saves cost i hope ses costske account of that. if we can do that in asymmetric

way i think that would be an important step forward.bu look. you can cast blame in both directions.ions. republicans have traditionally sen much stronger supporters of medical malpractice reform than democrats.democr personally i am a democrat that, things republicans are more right about that issue. the president would have been prepared to make a big epar thmproedmise on the bill, that issue in the context of health care. care. it would have made a big change sold out people who have beene, longtime supporters to the jumocratic party. just one thing. if we did it the once somebody d who was a republican to vote foe the bill. that seemed fair. not one was willing. so it's complicated. it is compc i'm not one is going to tell yoi that all the san is on the republican side, but if yourepuc think there is not san on bot't

on this question of of partisanship i think that's wrong. but my question for my friendsfr isthis. we have to get together on the budget deficit. o do, and we have to touch allt of the places that alan simpson talked about.e deficits in this country. but think the deficit, pplellion people have to rely on charity for the health care. my life was saved by the health care system 25 years ago, but i would not have gone in the treatment i did if i did noteatt come from a relatively privileged family and i think amat's wrong in america.n do you? i think it's wrong and in ain a variety of our state's public pen fos open four days a week.

i think that is a deficit.it. at the dance on. we need to address that deficit. how many of you have ever flown into kennedy airport from some place internationally?someple it does it make you proud to be an american?n you think about what kennedy airport looks like and what thea airports your coming from look , le, i that is an example of another deficit we have. our infrastructure is not remotely what it should be. so my question is, yes, we hlutelyly have to do the right thing. the budget deficit. but when we are sitting herewhen right now with 20 percent of 20% construction workers unemployed able to borrow money at 2%, shouldn't we do something about

the education deficit? shou wewe do something about the innovation deficit? should we do something about thd health careef deficit as well?tq that's my question. >> senator simpson, to you, and i will boil this town, do wemorg currentle government spending trrentlyy on these things that dr. summers talks about?? [laughter]fair? >> for the record, questions queson four minutes. >> i did know. >> was that fair?airpor >> it is what it is. >> you said in your opening statement when the bill spendint on the public sector and the sup private sector. >> absolutely. spendin >> to narrow that question athed sect to try to fit into one minute.stion? >> you reconstructed his question beautifully. >> let me just say if you'll read the report. >> if you will read the report we deal with the issue of a the fragile economy, not doing too

much too soon talking about too infrastructure and every time i get a load of stuff, whenever i ay,i say don't call my house anymore until you read this 67 page report because it is very specific. i'm talking about defense.i am l let's get to that just quick. we said how many contractors to you have and the defense department? they said, it's quite a range. etween a million and 10 million. well, do you have any way to audit? no.ehab anyo military retirees, a military guy. in active duty. here is one and then you'll know why we can't get out of this box. 2 million military retirees. i'm fully aware. and in the country with the love them. that's great. was

reseyears active duty. under eight years and i would have been a mental it to cut y military retiree to be great. they give up a lot.th they have their own health ceyan plan called try care. the premium is four under and $70 a year.0 no copay takes care of every single defendant and cost $53 billion a year.f you think we can change that? the drinks are on me. here comes the professional veterans. im a member of the vfw. a lot of those people a professional veterans, some of them could not waive their way through cam bill bailey and don't know of order to. and they are the ones that come to the meetings and raise hell. if you can't get that one done we went and said come on. he taken over. we have been cremated by theseie people. cremated by these p everybody has one. i guess what i'm trying to boil down here, and all cl