program said i'm a little puzzled by it. here we are three years later watching what seems like a very similar effort by a state attorney general. >> i'll let gary speak. this is with all due respect with my former colleague, i think he's got it wrong. you know, the reality is that, again, we've done a substantial amount. we are looking now at a specific area in which we have great harm

and continues to do great harm to the consumers in this nation. we are bound and determined and will hold people accountable in this sector and as a result as secretary donovan indicated, i think great relief to many people who have been harmed. we are coming up with ways with the number of agents both this effort we are talking about not only involves new agents, what we talked about and we are bringing people in from the state. it's a very significant thing that we will have the ability to have resources from the state level as well as the federal level use statutes that exist at the state level that we don't have on the federal side and come up with ways in which we decide where best to handle these investigations. what we do today is extremely significant. i think ultimately will be

significant. >> yes. i think i became u.s. secretary-general about a year ago and a few months into my tenure, really learned about first of all the death of the ongoing harm and how things were actually getting worse for everyone to regular americans but also to the financial services institute. that negative equity out there is questioning -- are heeding our best efforts to improve the economy. i think there is a recognition that you have to have accountablibility. i think there's a recognition by the folks in financial services to put it bluntly. we know what they did. they know what they did. they know what we know what they did. and we're putting our resources to do this. it's absolutely critical. having all of us together enables us to go places where each of us individually couldn't go. we have jurisdiction over the trusts that are the bricks and mortar of our structure. the martin act which some of you may have heard of, and one of my

predecessors is more flexible than federal securities laws. we're having the irs on the team opens up the possibility of looking at the tax issues. and as far as resources go and staff, what attorney general holder are talking about are people who are, specifically, deployed to this working group only to work on the group working. is that doesn't mean the 15 people in my office are stopping working of all the people at the fcc or in civil justice who are already working on this. this is to create a vehicle for us to share resources, share information and to proceed in a more coordinated and effective way. >> sorry, i have a quick follow-up on that. will the state a.g.'s have access to work product and documents, investigating findings that folks that the fcc has been investigating for years? attorney generals have been stimied the high burdens of proof in which they have to

bring cases but as attorney general schneiderman they don't have to have proof. they just have to prove that the act has been committed. >> we signed confidentiality agreements and we can't talk about specifics of the investigation and to share documents and to collaborate and there will be some areas in which one of us may proceed with the case -- it's not as though everyone in all this working group will be named as a party in every case. there will be instances in which one or another of the actors are doing it but it's going to be done in a coordinated way and we do have the ability to share information. >> so there's no prohibitions in document sharing? >> there's some prohibitions like the grand jury secrecy and things like that. but we're looking to share everything we can share. >> and let me -- though there are rules, prohibitions of sharing of federal grand jury information there are ways in which we can deal with those issues. there are ways in which we can structure these investigations

so that i don't think there are prohibitions on the federal share will prevent us from sharing information from our federal partners. >> alan with dow jones. how does the creation of this working group affect the taking whether you'll be -- [inaudible] >> can you say today that you're in? >> no. i'm happy to be here watching this investigation and working with my colleagues on this and as mr. donovan pointed out, the whole other area of abuse. >> to follow up on that, how you will this get to be -- [inaudible] >> first of all, let me go back to the comment i made earlier about how these issues really are separate in the sense that the origination and securitization was the conduct that really led to the crash,

the servicing of the mortgages, compounded the harm but didn't create it. and so in that sense, the issues that we're looking at here really are the larger issues. but i would also say we would not be standing here today if we weren't absolutely confident that releases that are being contemplated were quite narrow, focused on the conduct that was actually investigated, focused on the conduct that we have found significant problems with. in fact, going beyond that, that this -- those releases are narrowed enough to allow us to go forward aggressively with what we're describing today, and i would just say i would give some real credit, not only to attorney general schneiderman but to other attorney generals that are part of this group, lisa madigan, bill biden, and others that are part of it for

pushing to make sure that those releases are narrow. so that is a significant, significant part of what has been accomplished in the work done on service guesson service. but i think the announcement today makes very clear that the focus that we have and the releases that are being contemplated are narrower enough to allow us to go forward while still completing the service. >> attorney general holder, kevin waxman from the american banker. you talked about the accomplishments of the financial fraud enforcement task force but this is today a pretty significant announcement of additional resources and collaboration information-sharing from what was going on before. and it has been more than three years since the market crashed. looking back on it, do you wish you had done something like this sooner? >> well, you know, i think we

always want to make sure that we are -- when we do an investigation like this we want to do checks along the way and i think what we're doing today, makes sense where we are given the work that we have done. and the work we have done builds on the work that has already been done by the task force and by our colleagues in the state. so i think we're doing this at the right time and i don't think necessarily we would be in the position today had we not done the other work. >> last question. >> you said there were 25,000 pages of document -- >> that would be 5 million. >> 5 million -- [inaudible] >> are you covering the same ground that has already been covered in terms of some of the same firms or is it all going to be new things that have not been investigated before? >> i think this is actually a good example of the way in which

this task force is going to work. we consulted with the success making a determination where this should go and we have started -- we talked a little bit about things they are looking at and we are not going to be looking at the same things they are and we will be working with them but looking at the separate institutions. >> all right. thank you so much. >> one quick question. i was wondering if you had seen the video that was released yesterday by the u.s. attorney's office on the shooting spree and what was your reaction to it. >> all right. thank you very much. >> remarks from attorney general eric holder and other officials this morning on a new administration initiative to investigate how toxic mortgage-backed securities figured into the financial crisis and market collapse. you can see this briefing in its entirety on its website at c-span.org. the initiative was the focus of president obama's remarks during tuesday's state of the union

address. >> and that's why i'm sending this congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at historically low rates. no more red tape, no more run-around from the banks. [applause] >> a small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won't add to the deficit and we'll give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust. [applause] >> let's never forget, millions of americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same. it's time to apply the same rules from him to bottom. no bailouts, no handouts, and no

coppouts, an american to built to last insists on responsibility from everybody. we've all paid the price for lenders who sold mortgages to people who couldn't afford them. and buyers who knew they couldn't afford them. that's why we need smart regulations to prevent irresponsible behavior. [applause] >> rules to prevent financial fraud, or toxic dumping or faulty medical devices -- these don't destroy the free market. they make the free market work better. there's no question that some regulations are outdated, unnecessary or too costly. in those, i've approved fewer regulations in the first three years of my presidency than my republican predecessor did in his. [applause]

>> i've ordered every federal agent to eliminate rules that don't make sense. we already 500 reforms and it will save businesses -- some rule that could have forced dairy farms spend $10,000 a year proving they could contain a spill because milk was classified as an oil. with a rule like that i guess it was worth crying over spilled milk. [laughter] [applause] >> i'm confident a farmer can contain a milk spill without a federal agency looking over his shoulder. [applause] >> absolutely.

[applause] >> but i will not back down for making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the gulf two years ago. [applause] >> i will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury poisoning or making sure that our food is safe, and our water is clean. i will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny your coverage or charge women differently than men. [applause] >> and i will not go back to the

days when wall street was allowed to play by its own set of rules. >> yeah. [applause] >> the new rules we pass restore what should be any financial system's core purpose, getting funding to entrepreneurs with the best ideas and getting loans to responsible families who want to buy a home, or start a business or send their kids to college. so if you are a big bank or financial institution, you're no longer allowed to make risky bets with your customers' deposits. you're required to write out a living will that details exactly how you'll pay the bills if you fail because the rest of us are not bailing you out ever again. [applause] >> and if you're a mortgage lender or a payday lender or a credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they can't afford with confusing

forms and deceptive practices -- those days are over. today, american consumers finally have a watchdog in richard cordray with one job to look out for them. [applause] >> we'll also establish a financial crimes unit of highly trained investigators to crack down on large scale fraud and protect people's investments. some financial firms violate major antifraud laws because there's no real penalty for being a repeat offender. that's bad for consumers. and it's bad for the vast majority of bankers and financial service professionals who do the right thing. so pass legislation that makes the penalties for fraud count. and tonight i'm asking my attorney general to create a special unit, of federal

prosecutors and leading state attorneys to expand our investigations into the abusive of lending and packaging of risky mortgage that led to the housing crisis. this new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an error of recklessness that hurt so many americans. >> president obama on tuesday night. by the way the task force just announced a few moments ago by attorney general eric holder. the a.p. recording the point of the initiative is to root out wrongdoing in the market for residential mortgage-backed securities. those securities are the huge investment packages of what turned out to be near worthless mortgages that bankrupted many investors and contributed to the nation's financial crisis. you can see that briefing with other officials along with attorney general eric holder in the c-span video library. president obama will be speaking to house democrats this afternoon. he'll be in cambridge, maryland, talking to them about strategy for the next year, after a

closed door meeting, the president will make public comments and we will have live coverage of those remarks at about 1:20 eastern here on c-span2. republican presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail after last night's debate. much of that debate revolved around immigration. mitt romney is speaking at the hispanic leadership network this afternoon. and you can see live coverage of that in just a few moments at 12:20 eastern on c-span. newt gingrich was there this morning, and you can see his comments online at c-span.org. rick santorum also is addressing the florida-based latin builders association this afternoon. c-span will also have live coverage of that speech. that starts at 1:30 eastern and you can see all the candidates' events covered by the c-span's networks on our website, c-span.org. >> c-span's road to the white house coverage takes you live to the candidate events in florida over the weekend leading up to the gop primary. >> by the end of my second

term -- [applause] >> we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be american. [applause] >> and by the end of 2020, we will have the first continuous propulsion system in space capable of getting to mars in a remarkably short time because i am sick of being told we have to be timid and i'm sick of being told we have to be limited to technologies that are 50 years old. [applause] >> and when the founders said, that the creator endowed us with certain unalienable rights, among them life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they laid out a path for america that was not temporary but enduring, a path that says an america we can pursue happiness as we choose. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of car to get. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of light bulb we can have. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of health care

we're going to have. >> and see what the candidates are posting on social media along with political reporters and viewers like you at c-span.org/campaign2012. >> i do believe the west for all its historical shortcomings and i'm scathing in for my book in discussing these shortcomings because they have to be admitted -- for all of these shortcomings the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable universally workable culture. >> in 1991, the united states was the only global superpower. today, how to restore its status in the world from former national security advisor zbigniew brzezinski on his strategic vision saturday night at 10:00 eastern on after woshdz. also this weekend on booktv did fdr use world war ii as a cover

to create a more powerful executive branch? burton and anita foalston saturday at 11:00. and the new privacy is no privacy. gloria andrew on how your rights are being eroded by social networks. booktv every weekend on c-span2. >> european leaders are meeting in davos switzerland to talk about the eurocrisis. countries have to pay their own way and not have help from others at the start. e.u. leaders will set down stricter rules on deficits. german chancellor angela merkel spoke at the economic forum on wednesday. she talked about the lessons learned on the global financial crisis and the importance of having a united front on the eurozone. she answers questions in this

40-minute event. [applause] [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: professor schaub, madam president and allow me to welcome my colleague and the prime minister of denmark to welcome you very welcome on behalf of all the heads of government because she's currently in the presidency in the european union. excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, mr. schaub, let me tell you i very gladly accepted your invitation to come here again. and particularly to come here this year to the world economic forum, the annual meeting i'm sure is in many ways the climax of many activities that you have during the year. the motto is the great transformation shaping the new

models that is more appropriate, it is very ambitious but davos has always been a very ambitious kind of place. what is needed is, as it were, ever since 2008/2009 we've been debating time and again what sort of lessons can we draw from this big global financial and economic crisis. so let us take a moment and reflect a question that was asked last year that i'm going to this year what sort of lessons did we learn from the global and financial crisis and is it sufficient from what we learned? i think the answer to that is that even in this year it's still not quite sufficient. and if we're talking about having rethink and breaking new ground, i think there's still room here for improvement because if one is realistic, even perhaps a little bit

pessimistic, one has to say that although in 2008/2009 we experienced very clearly that there's a very close interdependient si, we've not been able to bring the doha round to a successful conclusion, the international trade round. quite the contrary, during our last meeting it was said to us that there are increasing signs of protectionism so that protectionism is rather on the rise around the country. we have made certain progress as regards regulation during our last g20 meeting. in cannes we found rules and regulations were the big systemic banks but with regard to an important area of shadow banks we will have to wait until two years until we come to satisfactory regulations and if people ask us what have you learned because after all, there was a glaring lack of regulation that brought us into this

predicament, let me perhaps not elaborate at any great length about the financial transaction text but had the world learned investment, we have to show to our citizens that we're not only paying some kind of tax on each and every product, but not on financial products and we have to introduce that, well, we have to grant it doesn't look promising. and the outlook in rio that we will meet in rio de janeiro but if we say there's an agreement on the kyoto, we have to be honest and say well, there's going to be a time where we have less binding commitments in overall climate policy, then more. so there is a lot that remains to be done to the global leaders, and we also have to come up with the necessary speed. so we don't allow for unnecessary and irreversible

damage to be done to our planet. now, europe is certainly a continent that currently needs to debate new methods. we've learned. we're interdependent. we're part and parcel one in the same world and one of the same global community but we also learned in europe that the financial and economic crisis that started in america left a deep imprint on europe and was still working on the fallout of this trying to redress that. so europe is a great and magnificent european political project. and i'm standing here before you firmly convinced that we -- and i think i speak on behalf of all of me colleagues wish to further develop this great achievement on the anniversary of the signing of the treaties. we said we are fortunate in being united in europe. and it is to our great luck that we are united.

and we will not be happy and lucky if we do not show this commitment in unison. this year marks a year where some billionth citizen of the planet was born. if we look how the world has changed ever since the world war, europe was a work of peace when it was first achieved. and i think we cannot overestimate what a success was after centuries of wars that tore our continent apart, but at the time, there were 2.4 billion people living on this planet. and the europeans have not exactly grown in size but the world these days has 7 billion inhabitants. and we have about 7% of the population, 20% of the -- of the world's gdp in europe. both of these figures will shrink over the next few years so apart from the question of war and peace, democracy and freedom, another question has been added to that, how can we

actually maintain our position in this world? how can we bring our interests and our weight? and this is only possible not for individual european countries, after all we in germany, for example, have about 1% of the world's population and -- because like the rest of europe, we have a demographic problem, the tendency is rather going downward, we need others to bring our way to it. so we are actually lucky to be able to be with others and to shape our common future. this motivates us to go through this crisis and to come out strengthened at the end of this process. at the foreground of discussions is quite often the question of public indebtedness and sovereign debt. this is why many people call this a sovereign debt crisis but what has also become very clear and this is just as important is that we have difficulties and weaknesses as regards to our competitiveness in a number of

european countries and that's even more difficult to combat. it's also become clear is that in those countries which share a common currency weight and an economic union has made progress where one decided to opt for the euro, there's a clear lack of political structures of the necessary underpinnings to make this product work. now, we will not become faint hearted in the face of this challenge. i'm quite sure this is an analysis that is shared basically by all. those are benefits that have accrued over the years and this means it's not going to be with one sort of waving of a magic wand we'll be able to overcome this, to get over this but we are resolved to do what is necessary to address this and because these structural weaknesses, because of the burden the great global and economic crisis created, it was

acutely felt. we would have to address them and we would probably have -- have not had to acknowledge that there are these weaknesses at some point in time but now we really have to do something about them because now we have a very clear erosion of confidence we have the rest of the world. they don't believe we are able to cope with this. the question is, do we dare europe and yes, we are dare more europe to be more european. this is a good message. we're ready in different areas to show that we're willing to dare europe in more budget discipline. not only because we're talking about budgets here, the finances because we're talking about sustainability. this after all is what we're after. is stable growth, not only for europe but for the whole of the world. stable situations to the global economy and sustainability will have to be the trademark of future policies so that so we

can sustain. and linked also to that is jobs. that is an essential and crucial area. people won't believe in europe if there's too high unemployment and thirdly, solidarity, showing solidarity towards each other. this after all is also an expression of our willingness and our conviction that we belong together, that we wish to belong together and the world outside is expecting us to stand up for each other. ..

>> more than we have seen in the past, and the state of government that until 2010, they want europe to be the most competitive continue innocent in the world, and quite frankly and quite obviously we have not been able to achieve it, but over the past few year, we have seen that something needs to be changed here, so it's not only austerity measures, and i know each and everyone is talking about this, but this is not firmly in and&7f itself of the essence, but also structural reforms that lead to more jobs, and i'm deeply convinced -- look at the different examples we've seen in europe that have already undergone those things. sweden, for example, look at the labor market reforms that we have launched in germany.

they have brought us a massive change for the better and in germany for more than five million to less than two, but we all know this takes longer than 12 or 18 months to achieve, and it's extremely important we're there for the dure race, we don't -- duration, we don't lose patience, and we remain steadfast on the path of reform, not moving so quickly that people tend to be impatient. we have to tell each other this is necessary. on the 13th of january and in two days, there's an extraordinary meeting with the heads of government of the europeanupon -- union and a spring counsel to look at jobs and growth on the agenda. the president of the european commissioner said we have 20 million companies, we have 23

million people who are out of a job in europe. if each and every one of the companies were to employee a person, we would have solved the problem. it's to think of it in this way, we have no true mobility on the labor market among european member countries because we have not as of yet had such a convergence of labor market reforms. look at what countries made the best experience, look at the benchmarks, the legal assistance underpinning those, and, for example, labor legislation may not be an area of european confidence, but we have to take a look at that. we also have to reflect where they do not make the most effective use of the moneys. how can we address that? how can we perhaps set up

partnering? partnerships between countries that have made good experience in certain areas because i think it is really urgently necessary that particularly young people can make the experience that there is progress. if there are certain countries with a 20% youth unemployment rate, some even 40%, i don't think it's a great miracle that you've seen many, many young people not being exactly convinced that europe is a good option for them. we are convinced and that the danish presidency is going to fuse together with the european commission and incidentally, independently of whether you answer the euroarea or not. it's a project to all join in on. we have euro plus tax to do that. there's quite a number of people with bining commitments in europe for more solidarity.

i think in europe we have come to a point where foreign policy gradually becomes common domestic policy. we have to debate what the shape and form the single markets ought to take. we have to be clear and honest here. it's of no use to always sort of say we're so lucky, so fortunate to be united in this great europe -- that is true -- but if future generations are to say the same thing, then it is incumbent on us to turn this europe into a working functioning europe which means we have to be ready to transfer more confidences to europe. we have a stability that grows in the past, we had this in place for years, but this stability growth effect was not captured. actually, germany and france have worked down and at the time the lisbon treaty was thought

up, it was said the european justice will not have the competence to choose or pass a ruling if we infringe on the rules, and so in the end, they were saying and the public was saying that they were promising things they don't really keep, and so that is the view all over the world, and so the real message of the fiscal compact that we're trying to agree on right now is that each and everyone is to introduce a cap on debt, bad, do this and incorporate this in the constitution and the european court of justice monitors this whether this has actually begun. we are no longer using any excuses. we are no longer deluding ourselves or others. we're opting for this, and this is obvious; otherwise, we deluge credibility, but i'm telling you, over the next two years, there has to be more steps of

integration. this cannot be the last one. we will have to make more progress in the interest of competitiveness and of job creation as i said earlier on. obviously, we can also argue why do they make these incredibly am bshes appeal -- ambitious appeals to us? i know in germany some people say it's because of economic imbalances, whether it makes sense within one monetary area to actually look at economic imbalances and could do the same thing for germany because it's traditionally much stronger -- much weaker germany than the south and there's intentions there, but it's true that tensions are in the area. germany is going to participate in reducing such imbalances in those areas where we see unfair barriers. for example, in the services area, but if these imambulances

come -- imbalances come out of different levels of competitiveness, that brings us to a very interesting point. do we wish to cohere to the consistency with that efficiency then or does it boil down to the lowest common dee nonnater or -- denominator or who has the best practices and can serve as a bench benchmark for all of us, and then can we follow them to be global players? it's not the cohesion to be after, but the goal of europe. what sort of role can europe play in a globally interdependent world, and so we cannot say because for 50 years we've been at the very top, we're confident that we'll remain there for the next 250 -- 50 years. no, quite the contrary. we have to have competitive product in the product range that people like to buy all over the world. we have to be innovate --

innovative, and if we fail to do that, we'll be an interesting place to vacation in, but we will not be able to maintain and increase prosperity for our people. what's important is not who is stricter and less strict; what's important is creating and entertaining prosperity for europe of the future, and i think we ought to be ambitious in bringing this about. which is why i'm firmly convinced that we have to continue to work on this opportunity. there's certain steps that we have already made and that will bring us closer to fiscal contact and the fiscal union, but if i look at the discussions that are still raging, how can we be more cohesive and how can i -- i would say we can even be faster and more resolved in bringing about changes. is europe actually growing

closer together? that's what's happened over the past few months. there is a tension, still, one can be very open in addressing that. there's euro and non-euro member countries, and we have to be certain we remain a common europe and more countries work more closely than others in areas, but i'm convinced we can keep this common europe together. now, how do i measure this solidarity of european members for each other and particularly of the euro area? i sometimes have the impression that internationally, people seem to use as a yardstick the degree to which we are willing to be liable for each other and to what extent we are willing to set up a fire wall, the extent to which we are willing to spend money, and that is a very controversial issue, very con contentious issue, has to do

with where you come from, from different cultures. we have said that a temporary rescue mechanism in the shape of this, and we have 770 billion guarantees and the markets only say, well, 440 really in real money because they want to be aaa. we have the necessary programs. portugal, ireland, and also future greece can be financed. then we rendered the umbrella more flexible, and nobody heard recourse to it which is a good thing, and then we said let's set up a permanent mechanism because that is a clear acknowledgement this is not just a short term exercise, but a lasting and durable one. 550 billion capital that has already been paid in, one that may rely on this because this is going to protect the shape and

form of the instrument and international loans, and then people say this is not sufficient although the ecb by the end of the year is what's supporting the banks on the year end basis, and 500 to a billion, and people say, well, this has to be doubled. we would believe you, i would say, but it has to be tripled, and we would be true believers in your solidarity. now, that's bringing me to the question, but for how long will this be credible because if people then say, well, show us whether you actually have the money. are we credible? allow me to our -- over that each and every country in europe is a strong country. people believe germany is particularly strong. true, germany is particularly is quite strong, particularly big compared to others, but it's not as if we were saying we don't

wish to show solidarity. we're not willing to enter into binding commitments. that's not true. we said right from the start that we stand for the euro, but what we don't want is a situation where we are forced to promise something that in the end we can't fulfill. if germany, for example, on behalf of all of the other member countries promised something that if the markets really attack us, we will not be able to come up with, and then we have an open flank, and i think we have shown in many, many ways that we are serious about showing solidarity and binding commitments with the rescue package in the willingness we say, yes, if we violate the rules, we're ready to have others bring legal action against us and also militarize areas that are not part of the law, and all of those we say to those who are watching our solidarity and our steadfastness to stand up and

our willingness to stand openly. ladies and gentlemen, the problems of the past are the ones that i addressed quite frankly here. let me tell you we -- i know that we are labeled the big economic headache of the global economy, but i think if one is honest, we'll probably not -- we're probably not the only headache that the global economy has. there's a number of other countries where quite a lot still remains to be done. if we agree on this, i am calm because i know we all have our work cut out for us, and we'll be kept busy for the next couple months. in the next g-20 meeting when we meet in mexico, i want to work on the agenda for growth employment, the mexican has set out an agenda on this, apart from green growth and sustainable growth, food security, and climate protection

and energy. we will need to continue to work on financial market regulation and also on how can we secure free world trade? now, one last remark on the transatlantic relationship. because we make such slow progress on the round, one will probably resort to a course of action where individual regions will come to bilateral agreements with other regions. we've done that with south korea, working on with japan, although i don't consider this to be the best course of action, but also across the atlantic we have many, many possibilities of creating a free trade area that we as of yet do not have. we are the most important trading partners to 90% of europe, and the potential of our cooperation by far has not been tampered. we have still quite numerous

obstacles that hinders us from cooperation, like the area in services, investments, technical standards, procurement just to mention a few, and i'm very glad to know that i noticed both from the european and the american side a willingness to work together more. it will take time, but there is a willingness apart from the cooperation with many others like japan, india, america, apart from these classical areas that we cooperated with, and i see many, many other areas where we can work together more closely. i wish you every success. i wish you interesting and fruitful discussions. i think it was open for great opportunities for having open debates, and i noticed there's quite a number of players from particularly the social security area that are present here. chair, i would like to tell you quite frankly, we as

politicians, need this kind of input because we've seen that after all we can only achieve success -- can only be successful with the experience that we face from the global financial and economic crisis is that market economy has proved itself in such a sense that both sides have to be in on this, that for our economies to be successful, and so every success for your meetings here in davos. [applause] >> well, you have raised a lot of issues that are important to us, and you announced the questions too saying you are prepared to go into some of them

perhaps in a little more detail. my first question is in connection with position. you said we need to get more europe, and we have to have more -- we need to give more powers to europe. what is your long term vision of europe? are we going in the direction of the united states of america, and do you see the future of europe as a young man or woman if they were to ask you today what will europe look like in 20 years time. what would be your answer? >> well, i actually think that we're a model in and of itself, a very unique sense and the united states of america so quickly a model of sovereign, but what we really need a clear commitment for ourselves that we wish to coordinate policies as closely as possible. with regards to the relationship of the nation state and europe,

we'll have very difficult debates ahead of us because particularly in germany, there's very strict rules laid down and also monitor that our constitutional court is to the very nature and structure of the nation state. i would say to young people that in a few year's time, you will be able to change your residence as choose to in these days, and quite often you'll be able to take your pension rights with you. you'll be able to take out insurances. you will be able to take up a place of residence and also to work. that is something that essentially you can do already now, but there's still quite a lot of obstacles to doing this, and i hope there's going to be a european public that will come out of that and will develop that, will be more and more a method and workers will be able to live and work at different

places, and the european institutions? well, i think we have to actually become used to the commissioner becoming more and more like a government with all the confidences that it will be given. first in germany, this is not all that unusual because we have lender governments with their own competence since we'll probably have a stronger european parliament and the heads of state and government will be something like a second chancellor and the european courts of justice will be our legal -- in a sense for many, a legal justice -- [inaudible] >> almost owl countries will be members of the euro, not all, but i don't i want to create diplomatic problems here.

>> do you mean the u.k., denmark, prime minister is here today, let's perhaps not go too deeply into that, but you talked about the values of peace and freedom and democracy. this has been the message that europe gave to the rest of the world. do you not believe that peace by the younger generations is taken for granted? freedom is also taken for granted, and democracy is considered to be something that works very slowly, but people have often doubted it. what should be the message for europe in the 21st century? >> i believe that each and every generation needs to ensure that democracy works. we are actually -- we actually

have to face great challenges particularly with regards of the importance of the internet as regards to getting people to participate, and traditional parties will have it very difficult to be able to secure the support and their voters for all kinds, and there will be certain projects that young people will be interested in, and as the democratic structure changes, but the democratic -- the general democratic principles that there is with the opinion of a secret ballot, there's freedom of voting, i will certainly stand up for this because i have not yet seen a better model. the biggest danger that i see is that a number of people who do not know the federal democracy that we have will say to people, well, it's so slow that these politics are in the really

granting us our rights. that's something that will be perhaps be acceptable, but they are constantly living at the expense of future generations. if that's the acquisition against us, then we have a big problem. >> with president sarkozy, chancellor, you've done a great deal together, but there's a number of question marks over that as well. how do you see the integration in the future? how do you see the basic basis for that process that you're driving with the president sarkozy, and where would the problems lie in your view? >> i believe that, i guess on the one hand expected from germany and france that we show a harmonious front when we come to the council meetings and that people don't really like us when

we announce something previously, so they don't like us at all when we don't like each other, and they don't like us either when we have already agreed upon most matters before we come there, and then people are frustrated because they think we're the ones who call the shots apparently. why is this important? it's important because it's not that sarkozy -- important, but the way of thinking the way of politicians and also germman politicians -- german politicians, but there's patterns that are played out, and we have to overcome them. the belgium prime minister said to me recently that belgium is a good role model because on a small scale it is, in a way, emblematic of what france and germany have with their systems. the polls, for example, saying who do you think you are?

italy and spain, after all, are big countries, and europe is only working if we strike the right balance between countries, and that's not an english task, and the danish prime minister will also tell us a thing or two about this. anyone who's been in the presidency knows how difficult it is to inform each and every one of the 27 member countries one or at the same time about what's going on and they also have to overcome language barrier, and in the few years time we'll have telephone conferences, and i'm confident of them. modes of communication also need to be changed, but it's not always that easy. it's an ambitious project. >> when you mentioned the countries at the end of your presentation, you didn't mention russia. russia is an important partner of europe. can you say a few words about our relations with russia and what you want to see about the

relationship between europe and russia? >> europe, as we see it, i think, also i would like to remind you is all surrounded by countries who wish to be closer with europe, and, for example, the european partnership. the ukraine is a good example and others. secondly, we have a situation with turkey that we have not yet resolved, and that is quite a delicate one, and we also have a relationship with russia that is being intensified. we will also have debates about the forces of -- however, russia is an important supply of

energy, partner for products, and partner for foreign policy issues so i consider them to be very important, and that's why i've always tried to foster our relationship, but that's also important never sort of without at the same time acknowledging the interests of poland. we, together with poland and vis-a-vis russia. >> with great courage and is there something you doubt in your policy? >> i'm not yet all that doubtful or dispairing, otherwise i wouldn't be here, but things do tend to take a long time. sometimes i know we germans are at fault here. on the one hand, you have this enormous dinism in the economic area, but on the other hand, the fact that it's only legitimate

to have all those who are participating in the political process, truly giving them their say, so i would like to ask all of you who are here, representatives of the business community, please realize that when you're working in a democracy, it is a great thing to be in, and please take the long drawn out processes with a certain degree also of acceptance. what would be your wish? how can the side of industry of the business community support you? >> the business community to the extent they come from europe can give a contribution by creating more jobs, creating thereby more hopes for people. i think industry ought to be candid, tell us why they leave us and go to other places in the world. we want to create jobs for people in europe and for those who look for the outside have

not yet invested in europe, i would invite them. take a very close look at us on what has happened in the past 12-18 months. europe will become more attractive once we have cop -- conquered the crisis, and i'm absolutely certain we'll come out of the crisis, we have done our homework, and don't forget about us when you think about investments. >> we thank you the very best wishes and thank you very much, indeed, to make this presentation and come to speak to us this evening. thank you very much indeed. [applause] >> president obama speaks to house democrats this afternoon. he'll be in cambridge, maryland to talk strategy the next year after a closed door meeting. the president will make public comments, and we'll have live

coverage at 1:20 eastern here on c-span2. ..

>> we will have the first continuous propulsion system in space capable of getting to mars in a remarkably short amount of time because i'm sick of being told we have to be timid and i'm sick of being told we have to be limited to technologies that are 50 years old. >> and when the founders said that the creator endowed us with certain unalienable rights one of them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they late out a path for america that was not temporary but enduring. a path that says in america, we can pursue happiness as we choose. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of car to get. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of light bub we can have. we do not feed a government to tell us what kind of health care we're going to have. >> and see what the candidates are posting on social media, along with political reporters and viewers like you at c-span.org/campaign2012. >> april 15th, 2010, i had

arrived in paris, walked into the hotel room, hotel lobby, met general mcchrystal for the first time and he said you're the rolling stone guy. i don't care about the article, i just want to be on the cover. >> michael hastings wrote about the commander of and you say nato forces in afghanistan in the june 2010 issue of rolling stone. >> i said, well, it's between you and lady gaga. i was just making some -- trying to make some joke not knowing lady gaga was actually going to be on the cover. general mcchrystal put me and lady gaga in a heart shape tub and this is a different kind of general. this is going to be a different kind of story. >> several months later as a result of the article, general mcchrystal had been fired. michael hastings continues the story and talks about his new book, the operators sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q & a. [applause] >> again, president obama's live at 1:20 eastern on c-span2.

steve larsen recently spoke about implementing the health care law. his remarks are part of a conference hosted by the national association of health underwriters looking at the faculty of our health care system. >> i really have been looking forward to the opportunity to speak with you today because there are so many important health care reform issues that we're working on. and i got to say when i was in insurance commissioner i had a lot of positive experiences with our agents and brothers and the underwriter community so again i'm really pleased to be here. you all -- and i know this from my past experience, really are critical partners in the health care system and certainly in the implementation of health care reform that's going on now. there are so many opportunities ahead, and i know you've been working hard here in washington and across the country to facilitate implementation in your respective states. and i just want to share with you this morning some of our

thinking at hhs on some of the key issues relating to the implementation of the aca as we call it particularly in respect to exchanges in the state-based exchanges. let me start by saying that we believe that the success and effective functioning of the exchanges will depend on a strong and active role for the agent and broker community. we believe that the aca creates an infrastructure that preserves an important role for agents and brokers and also will soon provide you with significant new business opportunities. you probably know these numbers but the cbo, the congressional budget office estimates that more than 14 million americans will gain access to health care through the private coverage options and the exchanges by 2015 and up to timillion in 2016. and in addition the cbo

estimated that 2 million people will be enrolled in employment-based coverage in 2014 and other estimates -- estimates from rand health care and the urban institute confirm these projections and project that the offer rates by businesses particularly by small businesses are going to increase significantly under the aca. and these businesses are going to be accessing this coverage in many cases through the exchanges as part of the expansion. so, again, in short, as it is with the private issuers because this is a private market-based expansion, the aca is a major business opportunity for you all. and you, i think, are going to be central to the success of the exchanges changes with respect to the shop exchanges for small businesses. you are the people that are trusted by the small employers out there to help them navigate

the system and your small business owners yourself. i want to share with you a couple of findings that we at hhs -- that we find instructive and you may be familiar with some of these, but in looking at the material out there, for example, the state of pennsylvania recently did what i think is a pretty extensive survey of small businesses and small business employees on health care exchanges. and first, as you might expect, unfortunately, 2 out of 5 businesses currently don't offer coverage. and again as you know they typically site the current cost of coverage as the main reason they don't offer coverage and this is the problem with the current system and this is why the affordable care act is so important and it's the issue that we're seeking to address. for those businesses that do access health coverage information, agents and brokers are the most trusted source of information, more than the company websites and at least

for now more than government websites. by 2013 and then 2014, exchanges we believe will become the key vehicle for health care information and shopping for individuals and small businesses. but we think they will do so in working in tandem with not in competition with you all again, the trusted sources of information for so many people today. so we recognize this and we think that the states recognize this thanks to the large part of work that you are doing in the states. again, a couple of examples, maryland's advisory group on exchanges recently issued a report emphasizing the important vital role that agents and brokers play in the market today. the report found that 90% of small businesses who purchase insurance do so through

producers. the insurance advisory committee recommended looking at partnering with the existing resources out there, you all, in the states to make sure that the shop exchange is going to meet the ongoing needs of businesses in maryland. utah has already developed an exchange for implementing choice and future options in their small group market. this is even before the full market reforms have taken effect. and that exchange also relies heavily on you all and has ensured agents and brokers are paid a uniformed commission inside and outside the exchanges. and we're going to come back to that point in a minute. and other states are following the lead of utah, at least that we're familiar with. and we know that the experiences in massachusetts when they first started out and also in california point to the need to work collaboratively to ensure a

successful exchange experience. so we at hhs certainly expect there to be a large number of state-based exchanges but we do realize there are going to be some states when we get to 2013 and 2018 that won't operate a state-based exchange. i want you to know that we're going to continue to seek your input and your advice as we develop the shop exchanges in the states in which we are operating a federal facilitated exchange and we had a meeting with janet and her team and we really look forward to ramping up that input over the coming months. as we continue to develop exchange policy at hhs, there are some guiding principles for us as we think about the next set of regulations and guidance and the operational development of the federal exchanges.

first, we recognize that the shop exchanges and the exchanges generally have to offer a simple and efficient and appealing process for individuals but for employers, for employees, for agents and brokers. and all the stakeholders in there. that's critical. so exchanges have to add value if they're going to be effective. and we think they will in terms of the ease of shopping experience and efficiency on both administrative expenses and other costs as well. second, as i said, we anticipate that your community is going to continue to be involved in small employers purchases of coverage in the shop exchange. and to this end we believe we are able to accommodate in technology that employers and individuals are able to enroll through the exchange and we're actually in the process of declining and looking at tools

specifically to help you all explore and present options to employees and employers and individuals to facilitate exchange enrollment of employees efficiently in the exchange, in the coverage that they select and then to manage your book of business through the exchanges. that's all under development. and thirdly, again, i think -- i think you know this. if the commission is on the shop product -- products are not equivalent to those outside the market, then we risk creating incentives to move the business outside the market. so that is a -- [applause] >> a quick survey of kind of our guiding principles how we're going to operationalize the federal commission and in the federal states we're hoping and we are expecting they will transition to a full state-based exchange if not in 2014, then afterwards.

so i want to share with you some of the statistics that we look at that give us is reason to be optimistic about the progress that states are making and let me run through some of these. first of all, 46 states have begun their background research on their markets, their current conditions, their capabilities and 34 of the states have completed that research. almost all of the states, about 46 have consulted with stakeholders and over 30 of them continue the process which is required by the aca to have regular meetings with stakeholders in the development of their exchanges. one of the most important things that states can do is to assess their current i.t. capabilities, particularly, as it relates to enrollment in medicaid and the merger and the synthesis of the kind of single point of entry as we come in to exchanges. 43 states have initiated what we call this i.t. information

technology gap analysis. 33 states have completed that initial analysis. that's a precursor to the up element to the precursor that we do. 17 states have drafted their business requirements for key functions of the exchange such as the planned management function. eligibility and enrollment. 23 states almost half have developed a governance model and they are in the process of appointing a governing body, whether it's an advisory board or some kind of decision-making body, a management team, they have developed charters and bylaws and 17 states have authority to start their exchange whether it's regulation and executive risk pool. and one of the big ones we focus on is the number of states that have received the -- what we call the establishment exchange, establishment funding. this is the significant grant program provided for in the aca.

today we have 28 states in the district of columbia that have received establishment grants to conduct the process of establishing exchanges in their state and we have obligated over $700 million to the states to do this work. so we view this as a key measure of success and key measure for potential for a state to operate their own exchange. and we -- we just had another deadline recently in december for states to apply for another round of these establishment grants. and so we anticipate making another round of awards in february. and, again, we were very encouraged at the number of states that have come in. i think we haven't finished reviewing them. we can't talk about specific states until the decisions are made but i would very much expect that we would be well over 30 states that have received significant funding under this establishment grant program to proceed with their

development. some of you may have seen last week we did issue a short report that summarized some of the progress states are making. the report doesn't go through all these 28 states individually but does highlight some of the interesting examples of how states are working to create their own exchanges. and, again, i think you know this, but these are states kind of across the geographic spectrum, across the political spectrum which we have had very encouraging. in alabama, governor bentley first issued an executive order setting up an exchange study commission and the commission recommended that alabama establish its own exchange and legislative leaders in that state have supported creating a state-based exchange. one of the leaders out there, colorado, passed a bipartisan bill to establish the colorado health insurance exchange and there's been a lot of key involvement by great groups,

national federation of independent businesses, the nfib locally, colorado association of commerce and industry have all been active participants in creating the small business component of the exchange there in colorado and nevada. unanimous bipartisan support for the legislation that authorized their state-based exchange which the governor signed the legislation back in june. so, again, we're pleased with the progress that states are making out there and we are working extremely hard to make sure we're getting the guidance that states need to proceed with their decision-making process. we know -- we put out a set of five different rules in july and august of last year, and we know that states are hungry to get additional guidance to have those rules finalized. we've had a number of formal and informal discussions with states to gather up the types of

information that they need to proceed. so we're looking at that. we issued a number of, i think, significant pieces of guidance to states at the end of last year that you may be familiar with, first of all, in november, we posted a set of what are called frequently asked questions z faq's which is a way we convey information out to the state community on a whole range of topics that we had gotten a lot of questions on, like, how are the exchanges going to be funded? is it going to cost us anything if there's a federal exchange in our state? questions about how does eligibility work? if we want to do eligibility for medicaid but we don't want to do eligibility for the advanced tax credits, can we do that and still run a state-based exchange and we said yes. how are we going to coordinate with the local departments of insurance, which is an issue, of course, that i'm very sensitive to. and on that one, for example,

we -- i think indicated clearly that we intend to preserve the traditional role of the state doi's as best we can and rely on them to do as much as they're willing to do and as much as is practical if we're running a federal exchange in a state and this will come in to play in a whole number of areas whether it's solvency licensing, certification to qap's and rates as well. so again we want to be able to rely on the state doi's as much as we can in states where we're ultimately implementing a federal exchange. and we intend to issue further guidance in the states in the coming months about those and other issues. we also in that november q & a clarified that states have a longer timeline to request funding from that establishment grant program that i mentioned. so, for example, if a state isn't quite ready to be certified as a state-based

industry come january 2013, which is not that far away they can continue to get funding if they they may be ready or if they're in the partnership model. maybe you're familiar with some ideas that we floated last year which is well, it's not a black and white situation. either state-based or federal exchange. we can have a federal exchange but the state can form perform many of the key functions in that state, even where where we're a federallifully stated exchanges and the guidance we put out last year you can continue to get funding for those state-based functions even where there's a federal exchange so i think we've provided a lot of latitude and a longer on-ramp for the states to get to the exchange -- to the state-based exchange. i think you also know -- you may have heard in december we put out a bulletin on essential health benefits. we wanted to make sure that as states were coming into their legislative sessions this year,

that they had, i guess, a sense of our thinking on the direction that we're going to go in ehb's. in the bulletin we indicated our intent to propose that essential health benefits be defined using a benchmark approach. and, again, the bulletin is an expression of what we intend to do. it will be followed up by a proposed rule and then a final rule but, again, it gives states the benefit where we think we're heading and i think we got a lot of good reaction back from the states on that. and that one follows -- the rules we used in many of the exchanges decisions which is try to leave to the states as much flexibility as we can as they implement their exchanges. in this case, states have the ability to select from a number of different benchmark plans that are out there, and that would be the essential health benefit package in your state and one of the things we did was allow them to select from existing market-based packages like their existing small group market benefit packages.

so, again, we think doing that is consistent with what is intended in the affordable care act but avoids market disruption and also gives the states the flexibility to look to their own benefit packages as they think about what's critical for a benefit package in their state. we're continuing to review all the comments that we got in for the set of regulations that we put out last year. that's a key part of our process. we're also working closely with the department of labor and the irs to develop and provide guidance on a lot of the employer-based issues relating to employer responsibility, employer-based verification and other technical issues that the employers have to deal with in connection with the offer of coverage and the exchanges. one of the other important things that's on the horizon for us is putting out some guidance

about what does the federally facilitated exchange looked like? i shared you with some of the principles in terms of the shop exchange and your role but we get a lot of questions about states about what is that going to look like? and when we put out our regulations last year providing flexibility to the states, as they set up their exchange for some key decisions like how is the plan management going to work or network adequacy or, you know, is it going to be a purchaser model or an open market model, all of those decisions that we left to states, we have to make those decisions when we implement the federal exchange and how are we going to interact with the states? and we're hoping in the near future to put guidance out to states and other stakeholders on how we're going to land or how we propose to land on many of those issues as well as qualifying operationally how the interactions are going to occur between the federal government and the states. and then there are other issues about acuarial value and

cost-sharing values and the implementations that we're plowing through as well. we are continuing our work on building the federal exchange. we get a lot of questions about that as well. and that's just a lot of blocking and tackling that we're doing internally. you are all probably familiar with a lot of these basic steps for building a new system. we've got to first define the key exchange functions, what does an exchange do? and that's a lot what we put out in the proposed reg and what we'll finalize soon when we finalize that reg. then we have to develop the business process flows for laying out how do we -- how do we accomplish those functions and then write the business requirements for implementing those business process flows and we're working on that. and then ultimately you're writing the code to do all the things that you just mapped out under that blueprint and all of that is going on now and we've hired a number of contractors through the procurement process to help us do that including both building a federal exchange

and also building what you may have heard referred to as the federal data hub which is a service that we will be providing to the states and to ourselves when we're running a state-based exchange where it's a one stop shop for all the verification information tax and homeland security information that states have to do to verify eligibility. one stop shop at the data hub. that's under development as well. so we're excited. we're ready. we think we know we're going to be toward serve consumers in 2014. we also get that question asked a lot. are you guys going to be ready? we're going to be ready but also we're doing as much as we can to help the states along. yeah, i know there's probably a few states out there that are going to wait until this june, but once the supreme court upholds the aca, i think they're going to be ready to move forward quickly. and we're going to be there to help them. we keep saying we're going to meet states where they are.

and although some states may have said that they're going to wait for that decision, many of those states are also the ones that are getting establishment grants and i think they know they want to keep moving forward as best they can even though they may be waiting for something that may not happen. so i want to close my remarks with two other points that -- one of which i know is probably on some of your minds. and this relates to the impact on agents and brokers from the decisions by a lot of issuers out there to reduce commissions in the short term. and we have had ongoing discussions, a number of meetings with janet and her team and some of your representatives here. we've certainly been monitoring and watching and in some cases talking with the neic about the work they've done on this. and in the end -- and we have revisited this issue once again with our lawyers in house.

we concluded as the neic lawyers, i believe, concluded when they first came to us with their recommendations about the mlr package which is we just don't see an avenue to modify or delay the mlr regulation for asian producer business. we just don't see any regulatory fixes there and we've looked again. you know, we do -- we do in the context of the adjustment applications that come to us from the states, that is one of the criteria we look at. we did that at the recommendation of the neic. and we agreed with that recommendation and we have as you know granted a number of states' adjustments so that does provide some relief in those states and we continue to look at the impact that -- that this may have on consumers' access to health care so we continue to monitor this and it's not something we take lightly but

that's, unfortunately, where we've landed from a regulatory perspective. second and lastly, i hope you know this but the affordable care act today is really having a real impact on many, many people's lives, hopefully many people that you deal with, maybe clients, children of clients. you can stay on your parents' health insurance coverage up to age 26 now so that means you got 2.5 million young people that have access to affordable coverage that in many cases didn't have access before. you can get coverage if you have a preexisting condition now. i think many of you are familiar with the preexisting condition insurance program. so we have tens of thousands of very, very sick people who did not have access to coverage who are now covered. and when we look at -- by the way, when we look at the diagnosis codes that come in for people enrolled in the pisa

program, over 25% of those are cancer-related diagnosis. so these are people that have some cancer-related diagnosis that did not have health care and probably would not have gotten health care if not for this bridge program until we get to 2014. insurance companies can't deny cap or limit your coverage now thanks to the provisions on annual and lifetime limits. health insurers have to provide a basic -- we think basic justification when they're going to raise rates more than 10% and those jurisdictions are going to be reviewed by independent actuaries and the good news in that program states really stepped up and so although hhs will do those reviews when a state is in a position to do that, the fact is that the vast majority of states are conducting those rate reviews for those increases and we think that's -- that's a very important program for our

consumers. this is the latest impact for the aca today. so in conclusion, we look forward to implement other exchanges in other portions of the reform law in the future. these are exciting times for all of us, and we look forward to working with you and i very much appreciate the opportunity to come speak with you today. so thank you very much. [applause] >> house democrats are holding a retreat this weekend in cambridge, maryland. that's on the eastern shore of the state. this is an annual strategy session. earlier today members heard remarks from vice president joe biden and shortly they'll hear remarks from president obama. we will have live coverage as soon as it get underway on

c-span2. until then from house speaker john boehner who said wednesday that the house will repeal the class act as part of president obama's health care law that deals with the long-term health care proposal. this is about 10 minutes. [applause] >> thank you all. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you. [applause] >> let me say thanks to john for the very generous introduction. let me say thanks to all of you for taking the time out of your productive lives and running your businesses to come to washington to play a role in your government. it's important that the voices of the people of our country come to washington, talk to

their members of congress about the important work that you do in your communities. as john pointed out, i used to run a small business myself. the last thing i ever thought i would ever do would be involved in politics. but after my business was up and running, i got involved in my neighborhood homeowners association. [laughte [laughter] >> and.. up in the united states congress and i tell people, this too could happen to you. [laughter] >> i never thought i could do this. i come from a family -- there's 12 of us. and, yeah, i grew up working in my dad's bar, but i had the same kind of opportunity that all of you in this room have had, an opportunity to get a good job, to start a business, to grow a business. and live the american dream. and i got involved in this for

one simple reason. i thought government was getting in the way of those opportunities that would be available for our kids and our grandkids. it's as simple as that. and i believe that someone from the real world, somebody from the private sector ought to take a more active role in our government. and that's what's brought me here. and i can tell you that it's an honor to be chosen by your 434 colleagues as the speaker of the house. and -- but i don't feel one bit differently today than when i first came here 21 years ago. i'm still fighting for a smaller, less costly and more accountable federal government here in washington, dc. [applause] >> you know, last night, we heard from the president. and let's understand that i get

along with the president fine. i've got a good relationship with him. he's a likeable person. the american people like him. and so the fights that we have are not about personality. it's about the policies that we're dealing with. and the president acted last night like it was his first year in office, maybe for the last three years he was backpacking around europe. [applause] >> and so we got a litany of new proposals but it really boils down to this. the president is going to double down on the same policies that haven't worked. more spending, more taxes, more regulation. the idea that government knows best and a government can always do this better than the people of america. and i know that as i listened to the president's speech last night -- >> we will leave this now for

live coverage of president obama. he is speaking at the house democrats strategy retreat happening this weekend in cambridge, maryland. >> ha-hoo! hey! [applause] [applause] >> mr. president, mr. president, this has been an emotional and inspiring week, which was underscored by your embrace of our colleague gabrielle giffords. [applause] >> which was carried in every newspaper and on the front of the "washington post," which epitomizes all that is rich

about public service and it means so much to all of us here. we thank you for that, mr. president. you then gave an address that reignited and energized this caucus. [applause] >> but more importantly, the american people. [applause] >> inspired, we came here to work. [applause] >> we came here to work on reigniting the american dream. [applause] >> because we know that if we reignite the american dream, that we build these ladders of opportunity. is that not right, madam speaker? and in building those ladders that we make sure that we're laser focused, laser focused on small business. that's right, small business. that we make sure that

innovation is in the forefront in that the entrepreneurs, those architects and engineers who make a robust middle class will make it so that we can make it here in america. [applause] >> 'cause we know when you make it in america, every american makes it. mr. president, we implore our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, you have made every attempt humanly possible to get them to bring your legislation that will put this country back to work to the floor. we stand committed. we stand with you to make that happen in this session of the congress. ladies and gentlemen, our leader, our champion, the

commander in chief of our forces, the 44th president of the, barack obama. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, everybody. [applause] >> thank you so much. thank you. thank you, everybody. thank you. everybody, have a seat. now, let me begin by saying i was told that on a cd that i just received -- [laughter] >> that all of you participated in a rendition of al green. [laughter] >> what i did not realize was

that you also had a reverend who can preach as good as al green in john larson. [applause] >> so i was -- i kept on looking for the collection plate. [laughter] >> getting passed. but john, thank you for that rousing introduction. to the leader of this august body and soon to be speaker of the house again, nancy pelosi. [applause] >> to the rest of the leadership team, steny hoyer. [applause] >> jim clyburn.

[applause] >> javier becerra, and the best possible chair we could have for the dnc, debbie wasserman schultz. [applause] >> we got an all-star team assembled and ready to get to work. i know that you guys have been here quite a bit. you already had to suffer through a relatively long speech for me this week, so i'm not going to speak too long. what i wanted to do, first of all, is just say thank you. so many of you have served this country, your districts forever years, through good times and through bad times. and, you know, let's face it, public service doesn't always get the credit that it deserves. but knowing each and every one

of you personally, understanding the sacrifices that you and your family members, some of whom who are here today make each and every day, understanding how much your heart bleeds when you see constituents who are going through a tough time and how much you want to make sure that government serves as a force for good in their lives, i just want to say thank you for everything that you do. you guys are putting it all on the line because you believe in america in which everybody gets a fair shot. and everybody does their fair share. and everybody plays by the same set of rules. that's when you have a been about. that's what this caucus is about. and that's the vision that we're fighting for. this year and in years to come. now, as i said at the state of

the union, the critical debate in this country right now, the defining question that faces all of us is whether we are going to restore that sense of an american promise, where if you work hard, if you're carrying out your responsibilities, if you're looking out for your family, if you're participating in your community, if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, you have the chance to get a job that allows you to support your family. you won't be bankrupt when you get sick. you can send your children to college. you can retire with some dignity and some respect. you can expect that the next generation, your children and grandchildren will do better than you did. that american promise, that

central driving force in what has created the greatest country, the largest economy, and the broadest middle class on earth -- that promise has been eroding for too many people. and all of you know it. and this is not a new trend. this is something that's been going on for years now. wages and income stagnant at the same time that the costs keep going up and up and up. outsourcing and jobs moving elsewhere. young people wondering -- even if they invest in a college degree, are they going to be able to find a job that supports an ever increasing load of debt? and all of that was before the economic crisis hit in 2008 and 2009 that put millions of people out of work. now, here's the good news. the good news is that we are

moving in the right direction. thanks to your efforts, thanks to some tough votes that all of you took, thanks to the leadership that nancy pelosi and the rest of the leadership team showed, we righted the ship, we did not tip into a great depression. the auto industry was saved, credit starts flowing to small businesses again and over the last 22 months we have seen 3 million jobs created, the most jobs last year since 2005, more jobs in manufacturing than we've seen since the '90s. [applause] >> a lot of that has to do with tough decisions that you took. i just came from michigan. and there's very few states that had been harder hit by these long-term trends than michigan. but you can feel this sense of

renewed purpose and renewed hope in that state. they understand that had we not acted, a million jobs might have been lost. they understand that had we not acted, the big three automakers but then all the suppliers, the entire ecosystem of the economy in that state would have been decimated. and now they're thinking, gm is number 1 again. [applause] >> and chrysler is on the move again. mra[applause] >> and ford is investing in plants again. you get a restoration of hope and possibility. but people understand that the jobs will not done. not even close to being done yet. and they understand if we're going to finish the job, then

we've got to first of all make sure that american manufacturing is strong. and that means we're creating a tax code that doesn't provide tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas we are focusing on companies that are investing right here in the united states because we believe that when you make it in america, everybody benefits. everybody does well. [applause] >> they understand that we need american energy. and part of my goal on tuesday was to dispel this notion that somehow we haven't been on top of developing american energy. oil and gas production up higher than they have been in eight years. percentage of imports lower than in the last 16.

we've been developing and opening up millions of acres to development. but what we've also said is oil is not enough. we've got to think about the future, not just look backwards at the past. we got to invest in solar and wind and biofuels. we've already doubled our fuel-efficiency standards on cars and trucks. we've got to make sure that we build on these successes which are good for our economy and create jobs and by the way, are also good for our environment and that's important to the american people as well. [applause] >> i know the other side doesn't always believe in this agenda. they think that the only subsidy that's worth providing is subsidies to oil companies. well, as i said, we've been subsidizing oil companies for close to a century now. rarely have they been more

profitable. let's take some of that money, take some of those tax breaks and make sure that we're investing in a clean energy future that's just as promising. skills for american workers, making sure that every young person in this country has the skills to succeed. i told the story at the state of the union but i want to make sure everybody hears this because we're going to have to work hard on this. companies are starting to say it makes economic sense for us to move back here into the united states. [applause] >> wages in places like china are going up faster than productivity. american workers have never been more productive. energy costs increasingly are competitive here in the united states, partly because of all the development that's taking place around natural gas. transportation costs are higher from other places. when you look at the whole package, a lot of companies are

saying, we want to be here, closer to our market, but one of the biggest impediments is, we got to be able to find the skill workers that are going to be managing million dollar pieces of equipment. they don't all have to go to four-year colleges and universities, although we need more engineers and we need more scientists and we got to make sure that college is affordable and accessible. but we also need skilled workers who are going to community colleges. more middle age workers who are willing to retrain, have a commitment to work, have that, you know, work ethic but want to make sure that technology is not passing them by. and so focusing on our community colleges and making sure that they're matched up with businesses that are hiring right now and making sure that they help to design the programs that are going to put people in place

to get those jobs right away, making college more affordable which i mentioned at michigan. we got $24,000 worth of debt for every young person that's graduating right now. they're starting off in a hole that most of us didn't have to start off with. and it's brutal. and there's ways we can solve it. this caucus helped to make sure we increased pell grants and we increased student aid but now there's some concrete things we got to do right now like making sure that the interest rates don't double on student loans this year, in july. we're going to require congress to act. [applause] >> we're also going to put pressure on states to make sure they're prioritizing higher education. we're going to make sure that colleges and universities are held accountable. and that they do what they need to do to hold down costs. but most of all we've got to restore a commitment to the american values of hard work and

responsibility and shared responsibility. over the last three days, i've traveled around the country amplifying what we said on tuesday. one of the points i make -- and everybody understands this. i say, you know, if we're going to make the investments we need, if we're going to invest in basic science and insurance that leads to inventions like the internet that create entire industries, entire platforms for long-term economic growth, if we're going to invest in the skills of our workers, if we're going to make sure we got the best infrastructure in the world and if we're going to pay for this incredible military that just saved this young woman -- [applause] >> out of somalia, if we're going to take care of the veterans once they're finished serving so that we serve them as well as they serve us --

[applause] >> all those things cost money. we got to pay for it. and if we're serious about paying for it, then, yes, we've got to cut out programs that don't work. this caucus has gone ahead and been willing to make some of the toughest cuts we've ever made, $2 trillion, over $2 trillion in deficit reduction, but we've also said at a certain point you know what? everybody's got to participate in this. and when we've got a trillion -- more than a trillion dollars, where the tax breaks were supposed to be temporary for the top 2% slated to continue, we've got -- [inaudible] >> for folks who don't need them and weren't even asking for them, we got to ask ourselves, what's more important to us? is it more important for me to

get a tax break or is it more important for that senior to know that they've got medicare and social security for the state? is it more important for me to get a tax break or is it better for that young person to get a break on their college education? is it more important for me to get a tax break or is it more important that we care for our veterans? you know, this is one of the biggest things i'm going to be pushing back against this year this notion that this is class warfare, that we're trying to stir up envy. nobody envy rich people. everybody wants to be rich. everybody aspire to be rich and everybody understands you got to work hard if you're going to be financially successful. that's the american way. the question is, are we creating opportunity for everybody? which requires some investments. and the question is, how do we pay for that? because when you give me a tax

break that i don't need and the country can't afford, two things happen. either the deficit increases or alternatively, somebody else has to pay the tab. that senior or that student or that family who's struggling to make ends meet. so we are going to push hard for the buffett rule and we're going to push hard -- somebody making over a million dollars a year isn't getting tax breaks and subsidies that they don't need. not out of envy but out of a sense of fairness and mutual responsibility and a sense of commitment to this country's future. [applause] >> that's what we're fighting for. [applause] >> and the american people understand that. mra[applause] >> the same way they understand that we're going to have to keep in place smart regulations. to ensure a health care company can't drop you when you get sick or charge women differently than they do men.

these other folks want to reverse regulatory reform. you want to water down and weaken rules that make sure that big banks and financial institutions have to play by the same rules as everybody else? that makes no sense. the american people understand that. you understand that. that's what you've been fighting for. so obviously, we're in an election season. and when the other side decides who they want to be their standard bearer, then we're going to have a robust debate about whose vision is more promising when it comes to moving this country forward. it's going to be a tough election 'cause a lot of people are still hurting out there. and a lot of people have lost faith generally about the capacity of washington to get

anything done. the main thing i want to urge all of you is that even as we are out there making our case, even as we push hard to persuade not just the american people but also some folks on the other side about the brightness of our future if we work together i think it's important during the course of this year not to forget that there's still work that we can do right now. we can extend the payroll tax cut right now without drama and without delay. [applause] >> we can work together right now to help startups and entrepreneurs get easier financing and use r&d more effectively.

there are things that we can do right now, and so even as we engage in a robust debate with the other side, i want us all to remember that there are folks out there that are still counting on us. there are people out there who are still hurting. and wherever we have an opportunity, wherever there is the possibility that the other side is putting some politics aside for just a nanosecond in order to get something done for the american people, we got to be right there ready to meet them. [applause] >> we got to be right there ready to meet them. [applause] >> on the other hand, where they obstruct, where they're unwilling to act, where they're more interested in party than they are in country, more interested in the next election than the next generation, then we've got to call them out on it. [applause] >> we got to call them out on

it. [applause] >> we got to push them. we can't wait -- we can't be held back. you know, at the state of the union, obviously, i talked about our military. i had a chance to see some folks out at buckley in colorado as well. >> yea, colorado! >> there you go. [laughter] >> you know, obviously, the work that our military has done these last -- this last decade has filled us with awe. i think, you know, as you saw during the state of the union, everybody stands up when you mention the military. and appropriately so, that's something that should not be partisan. but the point that i tried to make on tuesday and i hope we all keep in mind, there's a reason we admire them and it's not just because they do their jobs so well.

it's not just because of their incredible capacity and training and skill, it's also because of an ethic that says, we're all in this together. i can only succeed if the guy next to me and the gal next to me are successful as well. i can only succeed if somebody's got my back. we do not succeed on our own. we all have to pull our weight. we all have to do our work. america is not about handouts or bailouts or coppouts. we all have to focus on what our responsibilities are. we have to do our jobs, but we also understand that we're all more successful when we do it together, black, white, hispanic, asian, latino, native american, gay, straight. it doesn't matter.

what matters is that we have the sense of common purpose and common resolve. that's what is going to help ensure that this recovery continues. that's what's going to make sure that this country's future is bright. that is at the core, i believe, not only of what it means to be a democrat, but i also think it's at the core of what it means to be an american. i believe in you guys. you guys have had my back through some very tough times. i'm going to have your back as well, and together we're going to move this country forward. god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> and thank you, democratic caucus, for all the great work that you do. [applause] >> let's go out there and change the country. thank you. [applause]

♪ ♪ >> members, please understand that we have -- we have buses waiting out there and i know how important this is, but if everybody could be quick, the president, understanding his time, and also the need for you to board these buses for some of you have planes, that would be greatest appreciative. greatly appreciative. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

>> remember, members, buses will be boarding right away. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪..

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> members. new york doing an extraordinary job. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> tonight and c-span2 state of the state addresses. governors have gathered to deliver remarks on the condition of their state. tonight we will show you 5 speeches beginning with republican governor dave heinemann and state of the city address with oklahoma city mayor court. after that remarks from governor jay nixon of missouri and later we head or for your comments from rick snyder of michigan before finishing with susanna martinez of new mexico. stay of the state addresses on c-span2.

>> i do believe that the west for all of its store quote shortcomings that are discuss these shortcomings because they had to be admitted. for all these shortcomings the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable universally workable political culture. >> in 1991 the united states was the only global superpower. today how to restore its status in the world from national security adviser bvrzezinskoi on afterwards. afterward that c-span2 did fdr used world war ii as a cover to create a more powerful executive branch? saturday at 11:00 p.m.. sunday night at 10:00 the new privacy is no privacy. gloria andrews on her you're right are being eroded by social

networks. booktv every weekend on c-span2. c-span's road to the white house coverage takes you live to the candidate events in florida through the weekend meeting of tuesday's gop primary. >> by the end of less second term. [applause] we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be american. by the end of 2020 we will have the first continuous propulsion system in space capable of getting to mars in a remarkably short time because i'm sick of being told we have to be timid and limited to technologies that are 50 years old. >> when the founders said that the creator had an doubt as with certain unalienable rights among them life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they laid

out a path for america that was not temporary but enduring the. a path that says in america we can pursue happiness as we choose. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of car to get for what kind of light bulb we can have or tell us what kind of health care we are going to have. >> see what the candidates are posting on social media along with political reporters and viewers like you at c-span.org/campaign2012. >> americans are for tax reform grover norquist and other leaders in the republican and tea party recently took part in a panel discussion on the future of the conservative movement. we spoke to the southern leadership conference in charleston, south carolina for just under an hour. >> good afternoon. welcome back from lunch. we will have a good afternoon

with some additional panels here. i would like to introduce our panelists this afternoon. we are talking about what it means to be conservative in 2012. first of all we have grover norquist, president of the american surtax reform right here. we have karen floyd, former chairman of the south carolina republican party and publisher of the palladian of you. that is palladianview.com. then we have to my left any kramer, chairman of the tea party express and chuck connors joined us from the and are a. i believe grover is going to start this afternoon. >> there are two themes in american politics and in the past there were two parties and somebody told you they were republican 100 years ago or 50

years ago. all you really knew about them was the they were more north of the mason-dixon line. the two parties were regional. they were not ideological or based on principles. you didn't know if there were for more spending or less than the road with their foreign policy was. you simply knew where they were born. that was about it. it was during the lifetime of ronald reagan that the two political parties and the conservative movement around republican party and the liberal progressive movement around the democratic party separated themselves out in a coherent way. people who wanted more government leaders and the more my government control, taxes leader deregulation and spending became democrats, people who wanted more limited government, more individual liberty became republican. we separated out and stopped having the situation with a

little old lady from mississippi who agreed with ronald reagan on everything but voted for george mcgovern because sherman had been mean to atlanta recently. but as people decided to divide up into two team is based on whether they wanted more government or less government, more individual liberty or more state control of people's lives it became easier for the two parties to work together. the two political movements. i think to answer the question what is a conservative and what is a reagan republican, if you were to have the modern conservative movement and modern reagan republican movements a round table you can tell who is at the table. taxpayers don't raise my taxes, small business community, don't regulate my ability to run my business or be self-employed or

independent contractor. home schoolers, people who wants to be left alone to educate their own children and maintain control of their children's of bringing. the second amendment community. i serve on the board of directors. national rifle association. chuck cunningham, will be talking later. but again the second amendment community does not go knocking on doors insisting that you be a hunter or we have guns stamps or every fourth grade child in public school in america be taught books titled has two hundred. all they ask is to be left alone with their second amendment rights and then we have the various communities, people for whom the most important thing in their life is practicing their faith, transmitting it to their children. they are not insisting the government make everybody be a baptist or not be a baptist. they simply wish to be left alone so that they have

religious liberty and that is why this center right conservative movement, very economical movement, evangelical protestants and conservative catholics and orthodox jews, people who don't agree at all on who or how or why but do agree everybody should be free to practice their own religion so they can go to heaven and everyone else is complete misunderstanding scripture can go to haiti. the reagan republicans, everybody is and on different issues, wildly different issues. on the issue that move their vote, they want one thing. they wish to be left alone. leave my guns alone, my kids, my money, my business, my property.

everyone is fair because they want limited government to protect property. the center right conservative movement is not anti-government any more than cancer doctors are and i sell. cancer doctors don't like cells that grow so rapidly and mess with everybody else that they make people sick. we don't want the government that gets so big that it becomes interested in our lives and destructive of human liberty. we want the government the right size which focuses on protecting people's property rights, making sure annoying people don't steal your stuff. and national defence that can keep canadians on their side of the border but on the other high and we alone to run our lives and organize their affairs as we see fit. problem role of government, people in the army and police force and judiciary are cheerfully members of the leave

us alone coalition and fit comfortably into the reagan republican conservative movement. by contrast the other team if they were to sit around, hillary clinton or barack obama's table on the left on the progressive side, who would be around their table? the competition. the other team. leave us alone coalition -- the left has the taking coalition and vague view the proper role of government as taking things from some people and giving them to other people. often money. around the table, trial lawyers, big city political machines, the organized labor particularly in the public sector, two wings of the dependency movement, people locked into welfare dependency and people who make $90,000 a year managing the dependency of others making sure none of them

get jobs and become republicans. then you have all of the coercive utopians, people who get government grants to push the rest of us around. the people who are better than we are and know better than we do how to run our lives and organize ourselves. these people mandated cars too small to put your entire family in to, who developed and required toilets too small to flush completely, invention of the light bulb that don't creating a flight so you have glaucoma. and of the people who organize that on the sabbath you have to separate the white class from the green glass from the brown glass for the recycling priests. our friends on the left, the progressives have a whole list of things you have to do at a whole list of things you're not allowed to do and their lists is slightly longer and more tedious than leviticus.

it goes on and on. around left's table, they can get along as long as we are stupid enough to keep throwing taxpayer dollars into the center of the table. everyone on the left -- they each want different athens but as long as we are foolish enough to keep throwing cash into the center of the table they can get along just as they do in the movies after the bank robbery to address the one for you and one for you and everybody on the left can be happy. but if we do our job properly we say no new taxes and the it. if we put our foot on the air hose and stop the flow of cash into the center of that table and a pile of cash begins to dwindle our friends on the left begin to look at each other a little bit more like the second to the last seen in those lifeboat movies. now they are beginning to wonder about who to eat or who to throw

overboard. left is not made up of friends and allies. left is made up of competing parasites and if we do not allow them to non taxpayers they will not on the guy sitting next to them at the table. our job is to not raise taxes, not throw cash in the center of their tables so that when we meet the left in elections in two or four years they are both shorter and fewer of them. those of the two competing coalitions in american politics. the collection of those who view the proper role of government as facilitating liberty and otherwise leaving us alone, and those of you who the proper role of government is taking sion from some people and giving them to others. that explains everything about republicans and conservatives do when they come in to power and when the left gets into a power

and certainly explains the stimulus spending program which was the first order of business when obama, nancy pelosi got united control of the federal government and they took a hundred billion dollars and they threw it in the center of the table. one for you, one for you, one for you. they had a theory called keynesian economics that explained why they did this. if you took $1 from somebody through debt or taxes and gave it to somebody who was politically connected, somehow there would be more money at the end of the day. take $1 and there are $2. that was their theory. if harry reid and nancy pelosi and obama stood on one side of of lake and gave three buckets into the lake and walked all the way around to the front of the ms nbc cameras towards the water

back into the lake that they could announce that they were stimulating the lake to create debt. you may wonder whether this would work but the plan was to do it eight hundred billion times after which it would be a very deep lake. it is nonsense on the face of it but that was the argument that they used. what they really wanted was access to the cash from people who earned it so they could pay off their friends who did precinct work but they really needed a slightly better articulation of the plan than that. so they came up with keynesian economics and the idea that the government takes your dollars and spend that we are all richer. that is their argument. was nonsense. it didn't work. million more people not working in america today than when they wasted a hundred billion dollars of your money. they will keep coming back to do that because they are not trying to govern. they're not trying to create jobs. they're trying to feed all the

hungry mouth around the left's table. on the right the properly organized conservative movement the digital ronald reagan republican party will figure out how to make more americans freed the girl independent, self-reliance so they join the leave us alone coalition and focus their political activity on being left alone. for those are the two structures in american politics. we do have the possibility of third parties but it is not like you're. in europe if you get 1% of the vote and everyone talks to you, if you get 1% of the vote you are a net but if you don't fly air force one you might get a radio talk show. [applause] >> good afternoon. i am karen floyd. grover gave you a macrocosm of

what the conservative republican looks like. i am going to ask you to do the other eggs -- exact opposite and look at the microfocus. i want to talk about the conservative republican woman and i want to do so from two vantage points. i wanted to share a little about myself and talk about the palladian a few and the findings that we have learned literally over a 100 a period. i am a wife, i am a mother of two, 15-year-olds and then attorney by profession and i have three businesses and i am as most women of the twenty-first century multitasking at any given time. what we decided 100 days ago was to take an idea of women, empower women to see their fleece. through technology we created the palladian view. the palladian view has 100 women from across the united states

that ride in any given day to a series of topics that are timely. we have learned that these women are very diverse, they can be segmented to three different areas. they are either value voters, they are drawn to the republican party is the value centric ideas, ideology typically save face. they are drawn to the republican party as traditional republicans and these women much like myself and as grover mentioned are more of the ronald reagan -- these women tend to be more of a financial backing and pushing and we are the ones that watch your show and attend your wednesday meetings. in the third is a group that is going to the libertarian movement and we have seen probably the most growth in that third area of the two previous areas and yet these women are

all collectively drawn to one theme and that one theme is get government out of our way. give us the ability to make decisions in our personal lives and our business. give us the ability to do what our founding fathers gave us the privilege to do. the palladian view the last 60 days has begun a process through promethean would it going to events like the myrtle beach debate with fox news, sitting down with groups of women and asking them very specific questions about why they vote, who they vote for leaders to how they solve the fine when they vote and most importantly where they see their push, where they see their purpose and push in future years and this is what we have learned. women can forecast trends.

on october 4th, we watch the palladian view in kansas city, missouri and we polled more than that, 80% of 1300 women that participated in the convention and during that process we learned that there was a gentleman by the name of herman cain that had great traction. the monday afterwards we did a little bit of a national television shows that we asked does herman cain legitimately have an opportunity and we said yes. ..

it is unknown. we know the status airliner right now but pickard cambridge's numbers are surging. we know right now that senator santorum's numbers are stabilizing and we know right now that there is a dynamic switch the ascent or the leaving of governor perry. there is a shift in the very, very fluid next 24 hours. so start core group of conservative women in these three segments that can predict what will happen on a national scope because these women are formed, and in on the date they understand the port of what's going to have next. the conservative republican woman, if you ask me to give one word to what captures this person, i would say she is passionate. she is passionate about her

children, about her family and about her politics because she inherently and that its politics that will drive the health and well-being of her family. and so, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of today as we share a little bit of the palladian view with our 100 women who write on a daily basis and with 30,000 followers with just a website that is over 100 days. and we ask you to join us and learn or about the iterative republican woman. thank you. [applause] >> hello, i am amy kramer, chairman of tea party express and i'm excited to be here today. i love charleston. i'm i miss having done it interesting that some of the prizes at the south and this is really exciting. where in the center of the political universe right now and

everyone's iser and south carolina, so it's really exciting to be here. i am also excited to be here because three years ago i was just a mom who was not engaged in politics at all. and i got involved because i was concerned about my country. and i was one of the ones. there were a large number of us that started the modern-day tea party movement. and so i am a tea party mom. and what it means to me today to be conservative in 2012 is essentially the same thing that got me involved in this movement and that is this core responsibility of limited government free-market. those are the principles and values that the tea party movement was founded upon. this movement was started because every day average people were fed up with washington and the out-of-control spending in washington. washington needs to live within their means. they need to have a balanced budget just like families and businesses do all across the

country. but instead, washington is spending, spending, spending and all they can do is blame it on each other and there is no accountability to we the people, the people they work for, the people that hired them. and so, what we have done over the past three years has been nothing short of amazing. to look at what we did in the election cycle or 2010 and now here we are going into 2012 and we need to make a difference. the movement was actually started because people were frustrated and angry and fed up with both political parties. they were tired of this bickering between the democrats and the republicans. and so, people started focusing on the issues and that is what the movement is about. we are issue oriented and we focus only on those fiscal issues because when you get into the social issues or foreign

policy, it divides us. we are never all going to agree on that stuff. that everyone can agree that washington needs to live within their means. and so, we have all come together. we've had a tremendous impact in 2010 and now here we are in the 2012 elections haeckel and the media wants to write a narrative that the tea party movement in that we are not having them in fact. and it's simply not true. what has happened is the movement has grown and matured. i call i.t. party 2.0. we are no longer standing out on the steps of the capitol or your state capital holding our big rallies with a sign, which is sensational journalism that the media likes to take pictures of and show a visual. people get that. instead of my people are engaged on a local and state level. they are sitting at home behind a computer, on their keyboard, you know, maybe with their

phones today are here: their representative, calling their senator, engaging on the issues that really matter to them. even down to the school board level and city council. that is what people are working on. but it is hard for the media to go in and take a picture of an individual in their home and aired across national airwaves because that is not sensational. so they are not going to do that. but we are engaged and we are focused and we are having a huge impact. in 2010, not only did we have a huge impact on the federal level, but we had a huge impact on local and state levels and that was the untold story of 2010. the one thing that a-alpha nice this movement are than anything else was obamacare. people cannot at their houses, their homes and they gagetown obamacare because there's nothing more personal than health care. not everyone of us are.here, but

everyone of us very patient. i know that all of you, just like myself and people appear with me don't want the government involved in decisions that should be between myself and my doctor or your self and your.err. we don't need washington making those decisions. yet, that legislation was crammed down our throats. and we are not going to take it. we have an opportunity to repeal obamacare and we have one opportunity to repeal it. and that is, if we take back the u.s. senate and if we vote barack obama out of office and put in a new president. otherwise, we are going to have socialized medicine. and that is not what america is about. that is not what i've grown up with. i do want my children to grow up with that or my grandchildren and i'm sure most of you don't. so sure we are.

we have an opportunity to effect change at the highest level of american government. after all we fought to push back on obamacare and after washington is still spending, grover and sure can still speak to the theater, but i think this congress will spend more than nancy pelosi's congress lifecycle. the spending is out of control. it is simply out of control and we cannot continue down this path. washington is not the answer. washington is the problem. washington needs to get out of the way and the government needs to be put back into the hands of the american people. they work for us. and that is what i am here trying to do. that is what the organization tea party expresses about. we've done five national bus tours across the country. we did a mini tour up in

wisconsin to support governor -- actually did the minitour last summer to support the republicans that were being recalled. now governor walker and the lieutenant governor are up for recall any number of senators and we will support them as well. we also did the first-ever tea party presidential debate last september in tampa with cnn, which is a testament to the power of the movement. they keep talking about us being dead, but you know what, we are a threat. we are a threat to that liberal leftist agenda and that is why they continue to talk about us. they wouldn't talk about us if they were in a thread and if we were a relative. they wouldn't even mention us. so we did the cnn debate, but the most important thing we have done is engaged in election activity because tea party express believes -- tea party express believes that if you truly want to effect change, you have to change the players.

and that is what we want to do. we want to think conservatives to washington. we need to spend on transcend more conservatives to stand with america to admit and grandpa and michael e. and take the gavel out of harry reid hands. we need to send more conservatives to the house so that the conservatives in the house can push back on leadership and show them who is really in charge. and that is we the people. we simply cannot continue down this path. and that is what we are focused on. that is what the tea party movement is focused on. you are going to see us engaged in this election cycle because of the first time we can actually have an impact as i said at the highest level of the american government. it is their only opportunity to repeal obama carried. and not what galvanized the movement in polls show over 60%

of americans today still want that legislation result. we cannot just sit back and pray that the supreme court rules that unconstitutional because we have seen what judicial activism has done to this country. the bottom line is after what happened to beaks ago, i have set all long that we need to focus on the senate, no weather if barack obama is reelected or not. but after two weeks ago, i realize just how important it is that we defeat 10. because this man has proven that if he cannot push the stuffed down her throat to the legislative process, he will do it through the regulatory process. and if you can't do it to the regulatory process, in the writing process, he will do a power grab, the congress senate and constitution are we the people and he proved that two weeks ago with the recess appointments.

we cannot let this happen. we cannot continue to sit here and so i encourage everybody right now to get engaged. we have the field of candidates. we have no one else to get in the race. i know people are undecided, but choose your candidate. go work for your candidate. donate money. whether it's $3 or $5. volunteer your time because we have to make him a one term president. and that's what it means to me to be conservative in 2012 and i'm looking forward to the great things that were going to do this election cycle. thank you. [applause] >> grover did a great job about talking in the broader sense of what a conservative is in 2012. i'm going to focus more on the

second amendment aspect. i'm chuck cunningham with the national rifle association. conservatives are freedom lovers and that's what the second amendment is all about. the rate of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. it is very clear except in some supreme court justices and others who agree with you. there have been recent supreme court decisions and landmarks in the last four or five years at the heller case and mcdonald cases relating to the second amendment. the heller case related to it is the second amendment and individual fundamental right as compared to a collective right only exercise supposedly by a maliciousness the first half of the second amendment mentions galicia. it doesn't say the right of the militia to keep and bear arms. the people he used another of the bill of rights. with the mcdonald case and what the the heller decision was about was the d.c. gun dan and

whether or not law-abiding citizens can own guns in their own homes, which d.c. prohibits them it's do or of course a criminal. in the mcdonald case, it was, does your right to keep and bear arms confirmed by the heller case applies to the states, not just the federal enclave of the nation's capital. and both of those for 54 decisions. so if you are freedom overcome a need to be involved in the political process because that fight for a majority can be reversed through the appointment of more supreme court justices and just because it's been affirmed once doesn't mean the court will reverse it. the president is not to do that, but i wouldn't put it past people are the ends justify the means in every case. so it is the right to keep and bear arms. not just keep passing you get to keep it in your house or take it to a shooting range or use it for hunting, but you have an

opportunity to own and possess and bear arms for self-defense. and so, it is a broader right and just the ability to purchase the gun. since 1998, there's been a national check system to screen people who are prohibited under federal law from purchasing and owning and receiving a fire. and conservatives shouldn't have a problem with diamond messages expanded to people who are undesirables. in fact, there's a bill that would allow the attorney general to unilaterally take tait who is on a terrorist watch list. we know which entered reno would've done. we certainly know what eric holder would do. the vast right-wing conspiracy would all be on the terrorist watch list and they would be automatically created from purchasing a firearm. so we are freedom lovers that think we -- that the constitution means what it says.

we don't support our own government forcing gun dealers can make transactions to illegal people for illegal purchases or purchasers who are going to transfer those times and the fast and furious program and the most insidious part is it seems like based on the sheer number and play them at the firms they transferred, it just wasn't in line for every team. you can do that with a couple dozen and just trace them nitrates democrat mexican border in the mexican government doesn't know about it, but you can trace at least until that point. when you do this with dozens of firearms, it raises the suspicion that there's something more devious and sinister at stake and the fact that his foot, not in the congressional oversight hearings is this was a means of trying to prove and exacerbate a problem so that the liberals in government can use this set makes use to justify

more gun-control, even though laws were violated in order to make this happen. and this was our government -- the government that is here to help you doing now. and so conservatives obvious they should oppose efforts like that. when it gets down to it on the second amendment, while it may be that you are a competitive shooter or recreational shooter or hunter, it also really gets down to the core of it, which is ownership of firearms were sold defense. we've been very active over the years and changing laws as it relates to conceal, kerry will reform itself defense laws come whatever the terminology is. standard law, castle doctrine. we do think people should have the ability to own firearms and the ability of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms and use those firearms for self-defense believe they are attacked in their home or outside of their home. it may be on the work.

it may be on the way to the store. it may be in a park and not somewhere. but the police can't always be there. we can't afford further to be enough of them out there. they are usually there at the crime scene after it occurs. and so, people need to have the means for self-defense. and more importantly, they need to be able to, through statutes should be good for my ability, not to be sued if they use a firearm for self-defense. worth a criminal breaks of their home or attacks on public, that they will not be the ones who go to jail because they chose to defend themselves. there's a case a quarter century ago up in new york city and so many other cases of self-defense that are lesser-known, but in many cases, people end up going to jail because they've used a firearm for self-defense.

and that is just wrong and certainly unconstitutional. and that's the liberal way of doing things, certainly not conservatives. what we are also trying to do is identify any of the laws passed over the years your history, both at the federal level, shakily state-level. in many cases it is because they are antiquated and no longer really relevant and duplicate it like a permit to purchase and registration statute in michigan because there is a national check now that applies to every gun sold at every dealer in every state. so something like that that is onerous, expensive, ridiculous, needs to be repealed. also in this state, south carolina actually is made that step. and the 70s i believe it was passed will be caught gun rationing law, limiting law-abiding citizens to one handgun per month.

you might say well, why does someone want or that one a month? it's not the role of the government to take shape how many -- it's an arbitrary period of time, ivory trade number and criminals are going to obey the law. the south carolina inactivate. unfortunately, virginia and a couple other states passed at incompetent, the south carolina came back five or six years ago an appeal of that and hopefully we'll built to do that this year. what conservatives really want is to set a rate not inanimate objects because guns are incapable of committing crime underground. you can load it. you can it if it is a pistol or revolver you can set on the table and it's not going to commit any crime. it takes an evil person with evil intent to misuse a firearm. and that is where she focuses on the criminals, not the firearms.

and that is where there is a separation between gun-control advocates and second amendment supporters. criminals as we know. your hands by definition, violate laws, particularly gun-control laws. but what we also know is they like their big guns to be unlearned. and though the gun free school zones, designed, and visible sign that the potomac river for years about law-abiding citizen not able to auto transport firearms have never stopped the criminals because they guess to paraphrase bill clinton, it's the criminal. so they don't decide -- there is not a conscious decision by drug dealers that we may have a deal tonight that while the government has been a fun time, but the other one is legal so i will use the legal one tonight. they don't apply this guy to carry this, but i don't have a

permit so i guess i'm not going to be able to commit this crime. it's just ridiculous to believe it defies common sense that gun control is crime control and we know from experience that's not the case. but we also are excited about and conservatives should be excited about is the federal and state not only have laws with the exception of california got less restrictive, but they been more friendly to law-abiding citizens and the process violent crime rates are now at record low levels. so what that means is the argument that the brady bunch and mayor bloomberg in new york city that more guns, more people with firearms is not the case at all. so what it means to be conservative in 2012 is that you love freedom, you support individual liberty and of that year a civil libertarian. the liberals like to capture

that mantra to aclu and others. but when it comes to individual freedom and individual rights, can you reduce our civil libertarian, not liberals. thank you. [applause] >> to further get the discussion, let's go to the panel members might u.s. question of the other individuals on stage. your table mics should be on. >> before we get to questions, let me put one more thing on the table and maybe that will generate a question. and that is the central -- one of the central differences between liberals and their today's is where they stand on the tax issue. because of the government is going to get weaker, it has to have higher taxes to pay for the more spending obama certainly

increase spending and i was trying to raise taxes to justify in the higher level of spending to be the new normal in the united states. we have about dirty 5% of the economy slowed up a government, federal state and local. but in europe it's 50, 55% and is trying to get us to crossover and become a set of traditional american liberty focus society, more of a european welfare state for the state takes an increasingly large chunk of people's lives and control over their lives. they offer up candidates ran a written pledge and i will vote against. and in a lesser to raise my taxes. what is interesting is over the last 25 years that we've made this public pledge available to all candidates.

we are getting almost other republican candidate for house-senate to take the pledge. all the six members of the u.s. house of representatives who are republican senate pledge. all but seven is a public commitment. not for americans for tax reform, but as long as they're in the congress or the senate, they will oppose all to pay taxes. this separates republicans from democrats because there have been democrats who are programs. there have been democrats who are pro-life. even some democrats that sometimes against the interests of trial lawyers or labor union boss says. but what you get is this incredible divide on the tax issue between republicans and democrats. only one democrat in the u.s. senate who made the commitment not to raise taxes. ben nelson and he's leaving. only two democrats in the house

who have made that commitment in each of them have broken that commitment. so where is on the republican side, republicans have not only made that commitment, but have kept it. to the point where the modern republican party is actually branded it felt as the party that will never raise your taxes is the same with the coca-cola brand of. so if you go into a store you can pick up a coke easily. you don't have to ask people what they think. you don't have to taste it. you take it home, you know exactly what in the coca-cola because coke is quality control and they brand their products. however, if you buy a bottle of coke and get home and you're two thirds of the way through your bottle of coke and there is a rat head and what is left in your coat off will come you don't just say to yourself, i'm thinking i may not finish all the rest of this bottle of coke tonight. you wonder whether you will by coke in the future. it damages the brand for everyone else.

you go on twitter and tell everybody about the coat bottle and you do when a local tv at youtube and coke has a problem. republican elected officials who vote for tax increases are rat heads from the coat bundled. they damage the brand for everybody else. and that goodness is they don't do that anymore. we've had bad examples in the past as a republican or two putting for a type increase. they've tended to have trouble getting reelected. others of like the night and said if you want to run as a republican and oppose taxes come you take the pledge and keep it. you want to raise taxes, run as a democrat. so that distinction between the two parties i think has really solidified over the last decade, two decades, but it also explains why would people in washington d.c. say what it would compromise?

why don't we all get together and do some thing quiet what those people are telling you is how old they are because they are so old they remember when everything in washington d.c. in the 50s was on one side for liberal republicans and democrats would fight conservative republicans and everything was bipartisan because the two parties didn't mean anything. but today the liberals have gone into one corner and conservatives in the other corner. all the political fights are now partisan. some people say the old days when it was nonpartisan. now, two teams didn't tell you anything. the two parties didn't tell you anything back then. now they do. when someone says republicans should compromise on taxes come in many raise taxes. somebody was to raise taxes or cut them, with the compromise? if someone wants to go west and someone wants to go east, with

the compromise? there's not a compromise that people go in opposite directions. the clarity in modern american politics on taxes up or down, spending up or down is very, very helpful in making it easier for people to vote intelligently and hold elected officials responsible. and so i will raise my voice at the end of that and turn it into a harvard question. so what do you think linux >> so if you think about her and the minister is sent, that was based in reality. what we have found with republican conservative women when we asked them very specifically to prioritize issues that are highest invested, least important in the 21st century or more specifically in 2012, daley said the economy number one and taxes and spending number two. said to be intellectually honest, it is absolute if you talk about a three-legged stool, it is the third leg making

certain that taxes are raised in government decided away so americans can do what he needs to do. the republican conservative women understand this so much that before every large function, the same question is posed and we always rank between number one the economy. number two, taxes and spending at over 80%. so it is a tremendous finding consistently over this. it's time. >> i agree with everything that both of them have said. an ionized off than i do a lot of media and i am not a fan, do i need to the wealthy should pay more taxes? at the end of the day, raising taxes is the next used to spend my money. at some point, you have to stop spending. you cannot raise enough taxes to pay for this out of control spending.

i think that the narrative that we need to keep putting out there, that you cannot raise enough taxes for this out of control spending. $16 trillion in debt. i cannot even imagine. and i don't think most americans can imagine how much money that is. it's not tangible. it's bigger than anything. and these people in washington are out there with this little credit card to make key and barack obama and harry reid want to raise taxes and we have to keep pushing back on them in saying no, stop spending. >> can ask a question? , in terms of the concealed carry permit? how many americans can't? how many americans have become at home for self protection? when we talk about these, what

are the rough numbers? >> the good news is in many cases they had ownership number is not precise and well known because our government doesn't have a registration list. and you have to depend on people being honest with pollsters and others to determine that. i know someone called my home and asked me anonymously if i owned a firearm by a repeat. but the estimates are 65 billion to 75 billion gunowners. about 20 million hunters. and i'm not quite sure what the number is on carrying permit holders. wisconsin decided a huge batch with their new law. it is several million. >> the last number i saw was 7 million. it is a pre-wisconsin number. >> other states i was at sheets is now a year and a half old, so they picked up as well here is that we hope pick up the last frontier in illinois sometime this year.

i sometimes the process for law-abiding citizens for self defense. i didn't have really an issue to speak with about the previous question, but also one issue that separates conservatives and liberals is this phenomenon that really has happened, maybe for the last 50 years. but that his government now being involved. most people didn't care about the government one way or another because it didn't affect them. government is in the business of picking winners and losers. whether it's to the tax policy and take your money and give it to somebody else or regulatory policy will regulate you cannot we do that you cannot people have gotten involved in politics. for the most part because it's been forced to. to defend their ability to keep government out of their lives or their businesses by assert their

industry and the bigger picture. so between that and the nanny state, where government is trying to buy less because they think we are too to run around my stomach decisions about whether we have a gun and have health insurance and whether we get this lightbulb without my boat, i think that it's been a big emerging issue is not just them taking money from us every paycheck. >> i'd love to asking a question. we chatted a little bit before hand. for the tea party to endorse, what is the cataclysmic element that causes that to happen? or is it simply not going to? i am just curious how that process works? >> it's an internal process and we have discussed it. we thought that we would've endorsed by now. we only focus on federal races other than with tom then we think was kind and is the most

important election that's going to happen next year. but we need to know that we are working with the movement. we don't want to go out there and indoors and be working against the movement. and honestly and those of you in here may have heard me say it before. i'll tell you right now, i am a huge sarah palin fan. i think she is the ronald reagan of our time and there is no other person who brings the energy and excitement and really rallies like she does. and i think that the tea party movement and conservatives were waiting on that candidate is going to rally the base and bring everybody together and it hasn't happened. so everybody has been across the board and the movement hasn't coalesced around anybody. since michele bachmann got out a

couple weeks ago and now governor. getting now, you can see it coalescing around a candidate. we may endorse before south carolina. we may not. we may do it in florida. the thing is that we all have an impact with their vote and that is what we need to focus on. and really encouraged people to get out there and do that. >> i want to thank our speakers this afternoon. i think it is very important that what i've gathered from mass is that we all agree it is disbanding. the the spending has to stop. this is the most dangerous thing the united states faces that would really got to get a handle on it and we've got to take our government that. i want to thank our palace. grover norquist from americans for tax reform. kramer of the tea party express and chuck cunningham at the nra.

thank you for joining us and we will be back with the next panel in a few minutes. thank you. [applause] >> walked into the hotel lobby, not general mcchrystal are the

first time. he looked at me and said come and see where the "rolling stone" guy. i don't care about the article. i just want to be on the cover. i said well, sir, i think it's between you and lady god god. general mcchrystal replied just put me in lady god god in a heart shape to. i thought this is a different kind of general with a different kind of story. >> it would be intolerable if a handful of violent people, and that is what it is coming just a handful could hardness against needing change. i seen an uglier violence to in

a perverse the very experience of america. i thought the republican expressing governor rockefeller was shouted down. i thought in minneapolis with a man whom i disagree was heckled into silent and happened to me in philadelphia. we must give notice to this violent few. there is millions of decent americans who are willing to sacrifice for change, but they want to do it without he had threatened and they want to do it peacefully. there the nonviolent majority, black and white, who are for change without violence. these are the people whose voice i want to be. >> our ancestors came across the oceans diamond chips. when they arrived there is nothing here.

they built their tiny cabins and did it with laborers helping one another, not federal grants. [cheers and applause] they came here because they wanted to be free and they wanted to crack is the religion of their choice. and after 200 years, to many of us take those privileges for granted. >> for our white house environmental guys are, van jones had rebuilt the train that focuses on economic issues. he talks about the role of government provided health care and basic services for individuals and how the health care debate. he spoke at the annual health action conference of families u.s.a. for just over an hour. [applause] >> i will take the applause of the positive meaning.

i have the pleasure and it's an enormous pleasure of introducing van jones, the cofounder of the rebuilt the dream movement. and you hear him emphasizing good jobs and economic opportunities. but his work is much broader than not. he also, being a very busy man is involved in good things, among others, cofounded to elevate or is center for human rights, color change, green for and "time" magazine in 2009 named as one of the 100 most important people in the world. anyway, we as health care

advocate are of course part of the broader movement. and as you'll discover, the broader progressive movement could not have a more elegant voice dan van jones. and that began a couple personal comments. i also wanted to tell you that the broader gender of which we are a part of something not all of us need to be even more conscious of these days before. and van jones's umbrella covers everything from the occupied movement to other progressive causes that many of us are

involved in. and i am personally proud to be and have been for some time, one of dan's supporters and you are about to see why. van. [applause] >> admitted dark in here. hope you all can finish eating. and one year, one year from now we will be back in this room or a room like it and we will be in one of two scenarios.

either the country will have a firmness but does in moving forward, trying to get a few more.tears to babies, building on the success of the people in this room and across this country, or we'll have decided to take a step back where it. whether or not the hair was on that was shown by this white house and the people in this room is honored, it is largely in our hands. but i want to talk about is not the specifics of health care. you know more about that than i do. but the contacts with the this takes place. rationally it cannot be the case. if people are the subset that would make it more doctors than babies, i mean, that cannot be the real issue. it cannot be the case that

people are the subset that the opponents of this progressive movement are the subset because a few more americans might be able to see a doctor when they are sick. there is something else that is going on. and what is at stake is whether the care or of our country? who are we as americans? what is the need to be an american? that is going to be the subtext in the context of diverse uncle attack ad, every single debate, every single our room discussion , every single discussion in the laundromat will be fundamentally who we are going to be as a country. this is a key issue for us. i get my mind wrapped around it by thinking about my father. my father was born in abject poverty. he was born in memphis, tennessee in a community called

orange mound. orange mound was the biggest blackout in the country before harlem overtook it. he was born in poverty. his parents were together, but his father died when he was five years old. in part because he couldn't get good health care. one of the last things my grandfather ever said to my father five years old was i am not going to be here and i want you to take care of her little brothers and a little sisters. you are the man of the house now. my father was five years old. as a child growing up years later, whenever we go back to memphis, and i say to my father, willie, how are you doing? to me that's a perfectly good sense because at that point he was old. [laughter] probably 35.

so it made perfectly good sense to me they would call my old dad my old dad they started to call him at six years old trying to trying to beat a man helped me understand what i found that out later on why he put his cousins through me in my has to show people. you cannot see this this is,

nobody can going to stop you name that will what you're doing, but keep this in mind. money and in their spirit they will be broke again in a week. every individual has to society has to make sure that there a ladder for the child to crime

and that's where we have been failing where it is. by people who have a financial stake in it, breaking the rules so they can get more and more money at the top and that the rounds that is fundamentally what's to quality and nobody in here to train their what we are saying is that we want people work hard and harder and harder to fall are old-fashioned have

old-fashioned values that when you work hard you should be up go to, come back home but that child in the ini you can get that child you work hard and play by the rules. the problem now is your people working the hardest to playing most honest people falling further behind and yet, we as people, doing a thousand trades a psycho for them on wall street, but no matter how. they've now american values are

big to. that's too neighbors are too american dream we are going to do what we have to do this year to make sure it, to me when a country is on this change as a service discussion of the deeper issue the people themselves. who are tumble over attempt as a country to make sure that one of the logo on you can see a

doctor. that should be the top of the latter. you shouldn't have to be healthy to get if you now, the struggle we are going through now has to people in thishow an alien idea and where they always point she was the founding. notice how they abuse the constitution justify their agenda. but we should actually take them suggest to you that we little bit i know a little they don't

even go in the neighborhoods we know something of you have put a lot of your life on hold trying to fight for liberty and justice for very little about either. i think we might know a little have something might be helpful for us to say something about them when we type america is let's talk about america born in

thatthat

the reality on? at the drama tries to figure out, what can we do to take another stab closer to that dream? and the beauty of the last century is that the dream builders, the tram defender won the last century. we won the last century. if you don't believe me, just rewind the tape to 1900. anybody want to go back there?

anybody in this room want to go back to 1900? think about 1900. when men and a secondary status didn't have to write to go. their rights were in the garbage can. people of color, not even considered human beings. our rights were in the garbage can. the environment was being trashed from coast to coast. trees are being shut down. pollution is being dealt out in the air and water with no regulation. mother nature was in the garbage. workers never had a day off. no such thing as a weekend. not one paid federal holiday. there is no middle class at all, just people working hard and a few people owned everything. and children were working in fact areas. working families and children in the garbage can. and did even have a name.

they didn't even get a garbage can. didn't even get a garbage can. that's 1900. and there are some people who look around and a sad, this looks great. this is wonderful. let's consider this. let's conserve this. thank goodness there are some deeper picture it to the around and they were appalled. and they were aghast. and they said we will never be a perfect nation, that we can be a

more perfect union than this and they marched and they rallied. they didn't strike. they voted. some are eaten, some are jailed, some were murdered. their blood is on the ground of this country. so by the year 2000, everything that they said that americans should eat, we are many, many steps closer to you this thing we call the american way in 1900. it wasn't people trying to conserve 1900. it was the people that said let's progress. let's progress jan 1900 that gave us a middle-class, the first-ever, the greatest

american invention. a big middle-class of ordinary people could know things than by name and then passed out into the middle class. with all kinds of measures to get us closer to starting point to quality. that's absolute equality. when everybody to stay the same. i don't know what they think we want. a starting point equality requires real work as a nation, to make sure everybody can get to a kindergarten and everybody can see about during the knesset and clean air and clean water. these things are about making sure every american can pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. can enjoy, liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness. ..

now, there is a lot of cheap patriotism get that gets thrown around now and we have let them get away with it. we let them set this up as the patriots versus the progressive's, and this is shocking to me. my father was a deep patriot, so were your parents and so were we. it's very easy to have an

ideology that is all about liberty. liberty, liberty, liberty. they turned it into a blog. they call it libertarianism. i have to tell you, i am african-american. you don't have to sell me on liberty. [applause] you had me at hello on that. you don't have to have a whole political party and all this. but i have two children and i have tried to teach them just one thing. when they learned the pledge of allegiance, they don't stop with the word liberty. they say liberty and justice for all. liberty and justice for all.

not liberty and justice for all accept people, not liberty and justice for all except for the immigrants. liberty and justice for all. why is that so fundamental? i can tell you, i have got a little education. my parents were tough on me. i had to read those books. and it turns out that an american value cannot be reduced to a single principle and anybody who does so inevitably runs the country off the rails. there is a reason we say liberty and justice. if you only care about justice, and you care nothing for individual rights, you care nothing for individual liberty, you are driving your country in the direction of totalitarianism, of government

tearing with no concern for the individual. and we reject that in this country, as well we should. but, if you only care about liberty, individual economic liberty, and have no heart or concern or compassion for justice, you drive the country into another format tyranny and domination, corporate tyranny and domination and in fact our liberties are under threat in this country much more from big money trying to buy the government than government itself. i love my friends in the tea party. they say our liberties are under threat. you just figured out what happened? [laughter] come to my neighborhood. oh really? you think? but they get the puppet master relationship wrong. they say the government is

trying to take over the economy. and obama is a socialist. the government is trying to take over the economy. the corporations are trying to take over the government. citizens united. that is a danger. it's the corporations that are trying to take over the government. [applause] that is the real threat to our liberty. if you would try to reduce all of the american principles down to one single principle and close your eyes to every other value, you actually disable the people from defending themselves against the real threat which right now is global corporation, masquerading as american corporations that take, take, take, take from this country and don't want to give anything back. i have never seen anything like corporate america now. they want to be an american corporation when it's convenient for them.

you see when it's time for them to enforce all the fine print on their contract, then they want to be able to go into an american court. they don't pay for american court, they pay for american court. they have a conflict over intellectual property rights, then they are american. when they want to hire some workers here in the united states on those rare occasions -- [laughter] they did not train those workers. they didn't teach them how to tie their shoes. you did that, the taxpayers, the public schools. some oil conflict and their resources are being imperiled, then they are american. if they are american when it's time to drive their product down that road. they didn't pay for that road, you paid for that road. then you ask them to pay taxes or to hire an american worker or invest in their own country and

surprise, surprise, their taxes they want to put into some of the country called tax savings. when it's time to open up a factor they want to do it in another country. time to hire a worker they want to do it in another country half the time. think about this. think about it. gives me, give me, give me but give nothing back. does that sound familiar? corporate america would be the worst boyfriend ever, the worst boyfriend ever. [laughter] we have seen this before. am i wrong? ask our business community to pay america back in the form of taxes and fair wages. that is not redistribution of wealth, class warfare.

that is called return on investment, return on investment. [applause] if you are an american corporation you have the best shareholder in the world, the american people. we do everything we can to set you up to succeed. we have a court system for you, we respect your property rights, we make sure you have a trained workforce if we stop paying taxes we can train someone to do a better job. we set you up to succeed and if you don't succeed, you shouldn't pay taxes. but if you do succeed, you should be proud. you should be proud. if you do well in america, you should do well by america. that is how are grandparents worked. [applause] why should we have to beg you? why should we have to beg you to do well by a country that has

done well by you? it's a cheap form of hatredsism to let them off the hook. and say that the whole country is supposed to serve them and they are not supposed to help us. it's a cheap form of patriotism. the epa is a job killer. think about that. epa. what does the epa do? think about this because we go i don't know if we can defend the epa. the economy is bad. excuse me. [laughter] the epa keeps americans from dying. i don't want to pull the values card here.

[laughter] i don't want to plug the values card here, but the epa is probably saved more american lives in the past 30 years than the department of defense. think about this. [applause] you are mad at the epa? mercury rules alone probably saves 100,000 american lives every single year. if you take out the epa, don't call me a job killer. you are a kid killer. let's be honest. what will happen if we don't have an epa? mercury, lead, poison. the epa is holding back poison to keep americans alive. how many of my children do you want to kill for one job? let me understand your math. what is your math? how many of my children are you willing to kill for a job? at some point we have to be able to say it's a cheap form of patriotism to have your children

sing america the beautiful but then do nothing to defend american beauty against the oil spills, against the clear cuts, against the mountaintop removers and against the people who want to belch poison into our water and into our skies and our children's lungs. it's a cheap form of patriotism to sing america the beautiful and then sell that beauty out for 1 dollar. there is something wrong with that version of patriotism. my problem is not that they are too patriotic. in this country there is no such thing. my problem is they are not patry not make it -- patriotic enough. that is my problem. that is my problem. [applause] you think about the statue of liberty. it's so easy to go there, isn't it? well now it's closed because they are trying to fix it up. but it's not hard to get there

and look at it from across the water. everybody loves to do that. bring the kids, get their picture taken, the little statue in the back. [laughter] we love that. and you put it on your facebook page, you know. [laughter] such a patriot. i just wanted my children to see some of the greatness of america. [laughter] easy, cheap, zero in on that picture to the base of that statue. what do the words say?

you can be italian, give me your poor, give me your huddled masses who year and to breathe free. how can you be so passionate about the symbol of american democracy and have contempt for the substance? you cannot he anti-immigrant and a patriot at the same time. those two things don't go together. [applause] they don't go together. they don't go together. they don't go together. [applause] c., -- you see the color of the skin of a newcomer may change but our values don't. our values don't. we are american, patriots. send us the folks you don't want and we will turn them into millionaires and artists and give them a chance to be an

inspiration to the whole world. send us the folks you don't want. we will use their genius inside of a system to lift up the whole world. we have done it for centuries. and this is the great challenge that we have. to stand up and be for patriotism and be speak in these terms. you see the danger we are in is that you are headed into a century, and don't worry you will win this century too that you are heading into a century that has some new challenges and it. that is why this health care fight is so important to us. it's a new challenge in this century. there is a scenario out there, a dangerous scenario and we have got to use his fight to get ready for it. we could be living in a country

very soon that is more and more diverse, more and more racially diverse, more and more socially diverse, more and more socially diverse, more and more religiously diverse, more diverse and less prosperous. now you know, you have a situation where you have more and more diversity and less and less prosperity, that is not a replica usually for a common ground. it can be a recipe for a battleground. we have to take this very seriously. now, we have opponents who will say well van you are right. i finally agree with you. you said something that makes sense to me. you are right and what we should do is kill the diversity.

i am not making stuff up. these people actually think the worst thing to happen to america as we are getting too diverse, that our diversity as a weakness. they say get rid of the emigrants. it's all their fault. if they weren't here it would be perfect. but they are still a patriot. or, it's the muslims. they say i live and we say god so that must be it. or worse, they attack the and community which is just to me the most bizarre. i cannot get my head wrapped around that. they say, we have got to do something about the and the. really, why? what are they doing? [laughter] you haven't heard? what is it?

they want to get married. [laughter] and? [laughter] well, that's it. they want to get married. what is my reason to be concerned about that? and then they say well, you see, if they gave people start getting married, then all the straight people have to get divorced. [laughter] because there is only so much marriage in america and they wanted for themselves and -- [laughter]

these people are serious people and i say, can't we just print out some more marriage licenses? is it that hard to do? the last time i checked the main problem in america was that too many people wanted to make loving lasting commitments to each other. that is not the main problem. i checked with the kardashians. that is not the main problem. i just don't get it. [applause] don't attack the diversity. of the diversity of the country is not our greatest weakness. it's going to be the source of every solution that we have. it's because we have everything here. it's because we have every color, every class, every kind of human being in the world is right here in the united states of america. and we get along.

it's not perfect but i have been to countries, they have two ethnic groups and they fight all the time. two, two, two. [laughter] you all can't make it was two? my kid is in second grade. i am in california. they have 36 languages in the elementary school. 36 and they don't fight over that. if you bring out the legos they will fight like heck over the legos but they don't fight over ethnicity. we are getting better. as tough as it is we are the best in the world right now. we make it work. it is a miracle in human history what we do every day in america, a miracle in human history.

[applause] and we have a long way to go. by taking steps backwards is not going to work. protect the diversity, restore the prosperity. that is the way forward. how do you restore the prosperity? well one way you might want to restore the prosperity is stop dumping tons and tons of money, more money than and very industrial country in the world into a health care system that gives us nothing back. if you took some of those dollars and put them toward something else we might actually be able to grow the economy again. you see this health care system is actually a check on the good growth of the country. now you all know more about math than i do. i found it on the internet. [laughter] i'm going to talk about it. i found it on the internet.

that we spend three times as much money on our health care system as the entire it gdp of india. now if it's wrong, blame google but i wouldn't be surprised. because the gdp of india, they are beginning to develop, they are still relatively strong in dollar terms wide or insurance companies need to try to keep us from getting a pill, three times as much money as all the people in india used to live. there is something wrong. and it is this argument we have now about what is in the way of us being able to reinvent and renew and rebuild the american dream in this country? now when i say the american dream, some people react funny

and they should. i don't mean the american -- do you know what the american vanity is? everybody's going to be rich. i am going to ride my credit card out to the hills and get me a big mansion, and x-box and i'm going to get a dig green tv to cover the holes in my life. then i will be happy. that is not the american dream. that is the american fantasy that has led to an american nightmare. that's an american fantasy that has led to an american fantasy. we will get to that, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. the very first thing dr. king said about his dream in that it

opposed in 1963. by the way he was 33. do you know that? he was 33 years old when he marched on washington. don't count out young people. they act like dr. king was 97. [laughter] he was dead at 39. i am 43. i would have to call him kiddo. don't count out young people. somebody mentioned occupy wall street. i don't speak occupy wall street. i will speak up for occupy wall street. [applause] they woke up the country and i hope people will stay awake but the first thing, don't -- the first thing that young man did about history and, he said i have a dream. it is a dream deeply rooted in the american dream.

he was not talking about consumerism. he was not talking about commercialism. he was talking about living in a country where everybody counts and everybody's dreams matter. talking about living in a country where you did not have to be born with a famous last name or a lot of money and your parents bank account to be able to work hard and get somewhere, to be able to not be the biggest consumer but to have a productive life, have a productive life, to be a contribution to the world. not just to be reserved for a few. that should be attainable by all. that is worth defending. we know it's worth defending because people were put in the ground including that young man because they wanted that dream to be real in america. think about the sacrifices that were made by that generation and many of you in this room.

to continue the quest for that dream. and you think about the kind of vitriolic, nastiness, dishonesty that these dream killers want to spew into our body politics and say that is what america is about. and you can see that this fight you are having to make sure that we believe that people are born equal, that is a part of what makes us americans, that's starting point equality in life should include to be able to see a doctor if you are sick. the fundamental commitment to each other so that this child who was got a lot of money and this child who has gotten on that lease can bring a healthy body to kindergarten with a starting point of a quality. and that after contributing through a lifetime with a few

pickups along the way that late in life you don't have to worry about losing everything that you have dealt up for your family just because you got sick. that you want to have some basic floor, some starting point of equality so people can rise on their own. it's that vision, that dream to endure and to take another step forward. your heroism has to be grounded in something deeper than just an abstract technical policy debate. they are not treating you like a technocrat. because you are not. that little policy you are going back home to try to push through that said state legislature is a piece of a dream. it's a piece of the deeper vision. it's another thread in the fabric of a nation that we are

stepping toward, being the land of the free and the home of the brave. we have to be courageous now. we had hoped, we had despair under w. we had hoped with obama. we had feared with a tea party. we have had outrage and indignation thank goodness with occupy wall street but now it's courage, just courage, just standing for what we believe, standing for who we are and knowing that we are standing on the shoulders of giants, giants and never gave up on the dream. thank you very much. [applause]

[applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> in my enthusiasm i neglected to ask for index cards, so we have 15 minutes. here is what we are going to do. we will have a couple of questions from the floor to buy time and if the rest of you would like to send some index cards up, we have 15 minutes and for those of you who want to

have further exposure, let me remind you that at 2:30 van will participate at the herndon annual meeting which will be in regency d and you will have a second opportunity, including asking some questions. so, okay. maybe we could have the lights. it will be a lot easier to see hands than in the dark. so, if you would fill out some cards but in the meantime, who would like to ask the first question? and we have some walking microphones. >> hello. >> hello. >> you talked about standing on the shoulders of giants.

and patriotism. the utmost form of patriotism for which people have died is voting. >> you said voting? >> voting, voting and there is so much activity and so much discussion about voter suppression that is coming up. would you speak to that? >> how many people are aware that in the equal number of states that it would take to elected elect a president, there are active efforts to make voting harder rather than easier for americans. are you aware of this? this is injustice. they are geniuses though. at a certain point you have to admire the genius of this. they say to themselves, my god, all of these young people voted

for obama 2-1 for obama. here is what we have got to do. we have to go talk to those young people. we have to find out what their issues are. we have to find out a way to convince them to be a part of our power -- party and nevermind. we will just keep them from voting. it's cheaper, easier. how did they do it? remember when you were in college and you went to gloat? did you have to have a driver's license in the state you went to college in to vote? no. you just brought your college i.d.. maybe you had your home state license. they said you can't bring your college i.d., kid. you have got to have a driver's license in the state. they are doing that all over the place to knock out young people. they are doing a whole other thing to knock out african-americans, and when you combine the two threats to

democracy, big money and quiet bigotry, citizens united flooding in big money and this group called alec. did you hear about this group called alex? ain't that terrible? it such a nice name, alec. can alec come over for dinner? of course, dear. this group alec comes up with all these terrible ideas and they spread them around and corporations that you like give them money to do it. isn't that terrible? the corporations you corporation july can you give them money and they buy their products they give money to alec and they take away your vote. remember the white citizens council that tried to stop us from voting? this is like the white citizens council on steroids. >> we have already got one of the index cards.

this comes from ken. sorry if i mispronounced your name. question, do you feel the american dream will expand to focus from the occupy movement, which has provided a necessary change in our nation's dialogue, to include a greater focus on changing our nation's laws to make a real positive systematic change for all americans? >> well, first of all, again i don't speak for occupy wall street. i speak up for them because, just like the student non-violent coordinating committee. will you stand up? i know, i know. [applause] stand up. [applause] i was not going to make you

that -- but i was going to brag on you for caring about the work. the student non-violent coordinating committee our young people who are willing to put their bodies on the line. they occupied lunch counters. they occupied buses that went down south. some of them are beaten and some of them were killed. i wanted you to see who carried that work forward brick here's the thing about those young students. no one is thinking those young students who risk their lives to then turn around and produce comprehensive legislation to end segregation. we tell these young folks out there, sure you were out there protesting but what is your proposal for derivatives reform? [laughter] i mean what are your demands after all? isn't that ignorant?

they are thrown on the hard ground, pepper spray, chased around by the police. i would like to have a job, i would like there to be a middle-class. but what are your demands? no, their job is to start the conversation so the rest of us can talk about something that makes some sense so they have done a great job but i don't speak for them. now what i will say is that they put us in an important, they have given us an opportunity. some of the energy that they have kicked out into power. you think about that. a lot of energy in november and december.

no power. when the tea party, god bless them, had their protest they turn those protests into some power and they took over a big chunk of congress and pretty soon they were holding up all the conflicts on the debt ceiling stuff. that is power. do you know what? if you go to a tea party rally or protest right now it is about as many people as these two tables that will show up. they are not a big protest form. they have a caucus on the house, in the house. they have presidential debates that people have to, and they turned the protest energy into political power. we have got to do that and the way we do that is to begin to election night some of the issues we are talking about. standing up for their right to be free from the student loan oppression that they are suffering under. [applause]

let me just say a few words about this because i'm surprised that we have been as silent as we have been. in the face of the sort of abuse of our young people. now first of all you have to understand why people are so mad out there protesting in the streets and getting pepper sprayed. why? because a they can't get a job, but you know that, but you and i told them to go to college. they don't want to go to college. i can learn anything i want to on the internet. that is not enough. you listen to me young man. you are going to college. can i have a -- no. i want to see the world. you are going to see the world if you go to college, and we made them go. and they went. some of them well, some did badly, some four years, some

five years, some five and a half but when i got out, they graduated off a cliff into the worst economy since the great depression and they wind up sitting on the couch next to their ne'er-do-well cousin who has been playing on the x-box for four years and he does not have any debt. and they do. they have got the debt, because tuition was going up, up, up and they had to get loans, not just federal loans but the private loans. and what you don't understand is that the bankers went to congress in 2005 and they change the law so that you can never go into bankruptcy court with your student loans. the federal has federal has always been that way. private, which means they can never get out from under the obligation, which means when they miss a payment and they miss another one the bank has no incentive to work anything out with them.

their credit scores destroyed and they are unemployable because we did what we told them to do. now, that is wrong. if i go get a bank loan and blow my money in las vegas i can go into bankruptcy court and be fine. if you get a loan to go to college and you get out and can't get a job, you are ruined. if we talk about that along with health care, along with the underwater mortgages and talk about an agenda that americans can agree with, then you won't have to ask, there are people that are out there protesting for what? are we going to give them something to vote for? that's the question. about this young generation, let me say this. they talk funny. they have piercings. they make up genders.

[laughter] i can't always relate. [laughter] they talk with their thumbs and they get mad. [laughter] what are you doing, son? i am having an argument. [laughter] they are strange. don't underestimate them. the biggest generation we have ever had since the baby boomers. the baby boomers when they hit their teens and 20s they turned the whole country around just like that. 1959 look like "leave it to beaver." unless you are black. [laughter] you get the basic point. 1959, "leave it to beaver." 1969, totally different country.

why? a whole bunch of young people got involved. broke the back of jim crow, women's rights, the war, 10 years, boom, different country. we have a wave that big coming now, every color in the skittles bag. they walk around with these little ipads and iphones and stuff. more computing power on their person than the u.s. government had to put a man on the moon. every one of them a walking technological superpower. and they have an interest now in make and sure everything we talk about comes true. don't underestimate these young folks. they stood up in 2008 and made history. it was no landslide in the country except with them. they made it into a landslide. they stood up in 2008 in history. they sat down in 2010 and made history, the wrong time. they lay down in the streets in

2011. occupy wall street made history. stand up, sit down, lay down, they make history. don't underestimate the young people. i think we are going to see lots of them this year and if we listen to them they can tell us more about what is wrong and could be right in this country but the attack on their voting rights, the attack on african-american voting rights has gone unanswered. we talk about citizens united. that is only one edge of the scissors. the other edge is stoppage of voting. we have to be a will to stand up to both of them and we will be able to get the job done. >> so would who would like to have the honor of asking the final brief question? >> use the mite.

>> okay. what are your suggestions to help us move the message about supporting the affordable care act no matter the skin color or communities that are diverse or whatever the community how can we supported? support it? >> well you know what i know for sure is that the tools that are emerging both high-tech and high touch, give us the opportunity i think to do a much more effective job. you see part of what we are doing wrong when it comes to the people who want to keep tilting this dream is that we talk to somebody about our issues, health care in this case, green jobs in my case. if they are not interested in our issue, we code them as nevermind and we move on, and we

don't actually -- it could be somebody is not interested in your issue but they are interested in another issue. if we have the kind of movement for all of us are trying to figure out not will you support me but what do you want to support and then we can actually feed that information back. we would be much stronger. something with rebuild a dream i've been trying to talk to leaders about. it doesn't make any sense. some poor person, not only economically but -- in their neighborhood and they knock on the door for the unions, knock on the door for environmental or worse e-mails from the environmental, e-mail from the women and at no point do you get the sense they are talking to each other. i would like to begin to see, part of why we put together this contract for the american dream. to give us a basis to start cooperating a little bit better than this.

the contract for the american dream, we got 131,203 people to write a document together. yes they worked hard. but we did it on line and also in person. the tea party did their contract from america, they had 50,000 people on line. we did 131,203, triple the tea party. health care was one of the agendas in the program but we came up with an agenda and we had 70 organizations involved, the head of file cio and a common ground agenda for progressives called the contract for the mac and dream and one of the.bullets is health care. gives us a basis to what we are desperately wanting to do right now, to get all the groups working on this issue to cooperate so we can begin to share data so that even if only

30% of the people you're talking to care about your issue, those other people you are talking to don't get lost. i guarantee it will create big outcomes for us in terms of power not to just move your agenda, my agenda his agenda but the whole agenda and the whole country. thank you very much. [applause] [applause]

>> i do believe the west for all of its historical shortcomings and discussing the shortcomings because they have to be admitted. for all of the shortcomings the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable universally workable, culture.

>> by the end of my second term. [applause] we will have the first permanent days on the moon and it will be american. and by the end of 2020, we'll have the first continuous propulsion system in space capable of getting to mars in a remarkably short time because i'm sick of being told we have to be timid and sick of being told we have to be limited to technologies that are 50 years old. >> and when the founder said when the creator had in dowd us

with certain inalienable rights among them rights and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they laid out a path for america that was not temporary but enduring. a path is says in america we can pursue happiness as we choose. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of car to get. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of lightbulb again at. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of health care we are going to have. >> up next the u.s. conference of mayors winter meeting and a look at military personnel and the family. one of the featured speakers was the white house joining forces initiative director brad cooper. he urged nations mayors to engage their communities helping veterans and families transition to employment. this is about an hour. >> good morning.

welcome to the u.s. mayors task force on military. i know we just broke from our plenary sessions so hopefully people will be coming in and out but with a tight schedule i wanted to introduce myself. i am mayor joy cooper one of the co-chairs of this task force and we are here today to address a very critical issue concerning our communities and our partners with our veterans as well as all the agencies with our federal government and how we can bring resources to our returning veterans. we often get involved in the u.s. conference of mayors with military installations but with the climate today, we really understand on the grassroots level that the men and women returning back home will need jobs and will have a different type of critical need that we hopefully can partner with

social services, jobs and making sure their transition back home goes smoothly. we are very very lucky today, fortunate to have a distinguished group of speakers from the white house. the department of defense and the justice for veterans. they will discuss various resources that they have been working on to assist our military families, men and women, with job training, job placement and a number of supportive services for veterans treatment courts. i want to welcome you all and also welcome my colleague mayors and i am really excited about not just talking about bricks and mortar and infrastructure today but actually our greatest resource, our citizens and our veterans. with that i would like to introduce my cochair, to say a few words. >> i am mayor of sumpter south

carolina, the home of shaw air force base central command so what we are talking about today is something that is extremely important to me as it is any merit or as a military facility because at the end of the day it is the people that are our neighbors that we worry so much about and appreciate so much. moving right along our first speaker is caps and brad cooper. he is the executive director of joining forces which is a broad outreach effort by the white house office of the first lady michelle obama, to assist military men and women and their families. brad is a graduate of the united states military academy. he finished in 89, which i thought he was about 20 years old when i looked at him. he is a little older than that but i think when you look at brad's history as an officer in the navy, it emphasizes what we are doing today.

he was explaining to me, we have six combat areas in the world or regions and in his career he has served in every one of them. if you look at the places where he has served and in the interest of time i'm not going to read all of them, though i probably should because it really emphasizes what we try to do as mayors when we have military presence in our community whether it is a base, retirees whatever. he started in desert shield and desert storm and has actually served in afghanistan more than once. he has been all over the world and has been in every hotspot that our military and our country has had since he has been serving. brad we are proud to have you today, proud of your service and also buried just in hearing what you have to say about the first

lady's program and how we can participate. >> thank you so much mr. maher and maam thank you for the group. we appreciate you joining today and thank you are the kind words. one small clarification. consistent with my core belief i went to the naval academy, not the united states military academy. important because after 10 years of football wins, this is something you really have to bring to attention at any meeting and any group and of course the good thing about streaks is when they go on they are good but they stop, we hope they won't stop but thank you so much serve. i really appreciate it. we appreciate your service as well. so i have had the great privilege of working directly with the first lady for the last six months in her campaign along with dr. joe biden's campaign called joining forces. this is their effort that you have seen probably in both public and more private venues to recognize honor and really

support our nations veterans, servicemembers and their families and gives them the support that we believe they have earned. i think most people believe they have earned it after almost 10 years of war. we are doing it in a way to generalize action above and what is going on with the federal government so this is an engagement effort with the private sector, energizing action from individuals, businesses, communities, faith-based institutions and nonprofits and asking each of them to honor and recognize and support the 1% of americans who have served and their families over the last 10 years. not well-known around the country that is the case but there are literally less than 1% who carry this fight if you will for 10 years and as you might imagine, and we can talk to this, the challenges of being at war for 10 years have long since

arisen. several concrete examples. a couple of months the president awarded the medal of honor to an army ranger who earned that in his seventh deployment. he also has four kids they can appreciate that seven deployments means seven deployments for him and seven deployments for his family, really an unprecedented ask her coach is the last couple of months we had another army soldier killed who was on the support team deployment. almost incomprehensible that we would have soldiers, marines, airmen and folks from the navy deployed that often but that is where we are. that is where we are. we all know that we have begun -- we are out of iraq from about military standpoint. we have become the trajectory to come out of afghanistan but we are not out yet. use all the news today, six americans killed yesterday in afghanistan and of course i

think that is going to continue so the question then becomes what can we do as a country to help this group and support them and those who are giving so much and so very rarely asked for a whole lot in return. so the first lady and dr. biden rolled out joined forces to give support and more public way and really rally the country to action. they did this back in april of last year so we are only about nine months into this. we are working down to four lanes, public awareness, employment, education and wellness particularly mental health so public awareness. if you have been to a movie or watch any football in the last couple of weeks you have seen tom hanks and oprah winfrey and steven spielberg give public announcement calling for action the country to do something, step up and do something and do what you do best in your

communities to help serve this population. it's also manifested in major league baseball our region biting the first lady and dr. biden to join with them in the world series where they celebrated veterans military families. i believe was nascar back in the fall which was honoring 5000 military families and spouses and also came together to help work with an organization called beacon council in south florida to commit to hiring 40,000 veterans just at the local level in two years. most recently and just last week the ncaa, great organization is committed to doing 600 special things for military families and 2012 along. and then for those of you who have tweens you saw the first lady appear in the first episode of i carly with the important

emphasis of raising and elevating the issue of what it means to a child to have a parent who is deployed and while it may sound fundamental and regimen tree to those who have been a part of the military structure, with more than 60% of americans are 190 million saying 10 years of war had impact on them, the communication needs to be reviewed. these are the realities of mom and dad going off to war so that was great fun and an important in public schools that have a

large military population and not known to most, most public schools, well most military children go to a public school so this is an effort to submit for the long-term some advanced education opportunities. as we do that we are also looking to cement opportunities that are sustainable for the long-haul in terms of the nations future teachers so we have been working with 100 universities around the country with the goal of getting them to commit to training all of the teachers in their respected institutions in some fundamental course relating to a military child and what it means to have a military child in their classroom. a simple example is if your public schoolteacher in hopkinsville kentuckian fort campbell and you have a couple of young kids falling asleep and you were teaching a sixth-grade class and they're falling asleep in the middle of a class that would be helpful for you to have understanding that hey this young kid's parent is in

afghanistan. you may or may not have heard from the parents. mom or dad is stressed. they have been gone for eight or nine months. i think anyone at a human level can appreciate the challenges to have that same perspective. it has stepped up in great ways by some pretty prestige institutions, harvard among them. and then, wellness or behavioral health, working on two pieces. one, and they are fairly broad. there isn't a day that goes by that we don't read something in the newspaper about ptsd and tbi. they are obviously the invisible wounds of this war and the signature wounds of this war although they are hardly issues. ..

>> train the nation's future physicians and the military cultural competency. the reason being more than half the veterans in this country do not seek medical care within the va or dod systems so in order to address important long term behavioral health issues, all the physicians around the country, whether you're in des moines, south florida, wherever you may be, need to have some understanding because there's a tremendous impact on the growing population. the great news, they stepped up and did it, had an announcement at the virginia commonwealth, we're 130 medical colleges came

together and thought that was an important endeavor and are training the nation's future physicians in this. that's great. that's the future. we're working with 30 medical associations around the country getting them -- asking them to fundment tally do the same thing and more of a now context, and that is for all of the medical disciplines in the country, asking them to have nurses, physical therapists, physicians, emergency room surgeons to have some basic understanding of pstb and tbi to recognize it and take action. you don't have to have the access, but based on where the veteran population in the country, we believe it's a must, and we'll see announcements in the coming weeks. the last is an area where each of you could have an impact and essentially do it today is in the world of employment. you may or may not know that young veteran and unemployment

in particular for young veterans is significantly higher than the national average, comes as a shock to many people. why? good question. why is that? number one reason is the nation lost 8 million jobs. young veterans hit particularly hard. there's other pieces to go with that historically what's not a need to earn those but with fewer and fewer leaderses in our nation's institutions having been veterans themselves, and it's important they translate those great experiences into civilian speak so employers can understand it. were i seeking a job today and say i drive warships, fire missiles, and i hunt submarines. there's not a need for that in the private sector these days,

but there is some need for managing thousands of people on a $500 million budget, and material in the billions of dollars. that's where our young people need to see these opportunities and translate the skills. the good news is -- that's one piece, and i'll talk about more good news in a second. we really embarked in a significant effort to address this issue in using the private sector. back in august, the president challenged the private sector to hire or train 100,000 veterans or military spouses by the end of 2013. it's an ambitious goal, and he asked the first lady and dr. biden to lead the effort under the officers of the forces and particularly with businesses both big and small. the great news is companies have stepped up left and right and just under our umbrella, an enormous country, we've had about 1500 companies already hire more than 35,000 veterans

and spouses in just five months so we're on an incredible trajectory. the same companies committed to hire 135,000 in the next two years, veterans and spouses so that's good news. 1500 companies, of course, is a dot in this country. it's nothing, and you can see what a small group has done. our message is to continue to address this by spreading the news in the most impactful way where folks can make a difference clearly at the community level, and i suggest the mayors of the nation can help with this whether it's engagement with the local chamber of commerce in encouraging veteran hiring wha. we find out is for those who have done this -- if you're a verett rap, and you're hiring veterans, you get it, you understand the type and quality of person you are getting. for those not in the veteran hiring space, and a great example is a sponsor of this event said, we'll lead into this

hiring 300 veterans this year. eight weeks later, they did it. they love the people they hired saying let's go to 450. eight weeks later they did it again. gee, we love the quality of these people we're getting. 24 is not -- this is not a population we had targeted, but they are really outstanding folks. let's go to 600. that was in an eight month period and they ended up with 620 folks in 2011. that's a great story, just one company in the united states of america. replicate that times 29,000, and you can see the possibility of really helping the young veteran population in a really short period of time. my ask of the group is go back into your communities and spread the word hire a veteran or military spouse, and you'll find and time and time again the quality of the person you get who, by the way, on the veteran side, is already a graduate of the world's greatest training institution regimen, the united states military, is a positive

at the company level, and it's good for the bottom line. we emphasize that. it's one thing to hire a veteran because it's patriotic, and that's good, but it's another thing to do it because it makes good business sense and good for the bottom line. i get feedback every day from ceos saying give me more. i love this group. they are talented. you are not alone in this endeavor. no one from the federal government says mr. mayor, go out and do this and good luck, and just the last couple of months, we had the most robust public-private partnership with i.t. giants in the country to help this out and there's been policies in place to help us. we'll talk about the policies first. on november 21, the president signed a law authorizing tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans up to $5600. we're less than two months into this. most of the nation probably got a good injection of it in the

night that one night, but if you were not watching the news, you may not have known. this is huge news back in main street, so hire a veteran, does it because it makes good sense for the company and, oh, by the way, get a tax credit for it up to $5600, and if you hire a wounded warrior, that tax credit is up to $10,000, 10 there's financial -- so there's financial incentive to do it as well. please, spread that word. i use every opportunity to tell every businessman and woman in the country this is an opportunity to not only help out and do great things for your bottom line, but help the bottom line in the process of doing that. the vote from was that a 520-0 # vote from a bicameral congress. this is an american issue. while that policy piece is well in place, there's other enablers that are helpful. i think secretary talked about

the goal card. this is -- the department labor one stop throughout the country. the card is available to every post 9/11 veteran in the united states of america, and it gives prior toy counsels, resumé building, skill translation services to help take sergeant cooper and introduce him into the private sector in a meaningful way putting him or her at the top of the cue to find meaningful employment. spread that word. the department of labor is deeply involved and has a great opportunity in terms of counseling and resumé building and resumé writing and skills translation at a very percent way in matching and match individuals who with a need for a job and unemployed with the pools of opportunities that are out there. >> we also worked, and most people don't believe this, and it's incredible, worked closely

with i.t. giants of linkedin and took what used to be job portals for veterans around the country, and there's still a fair number of those, and provide a single stop shopping opportunity for veterans. a collaboratetive effort created the job bank with private sector organization called simply hired scoops audiotape the veteran hireing sites around the country into one single stop veterans job bank. behind that, google developed what they refer to as a tagging scheme where they offered every single company in america who desires to use it the opportunity to electronically tag any job that they'd like to hire a veteran into and then google's very large search

engine scoop the jobs up and deposit them into the veteran's job bank. two-way street here. great for companies because now they have an opportunity to advertise where they want jobs, great news for veterans because they have one place to go to with a per pond rains of jobs and they don't have to work through the mosaic. anyone who served can appreciate when a service member leaves, particularly a young member leaves service, all they have known typically, if you graduated from high school, i graduated, joined the military, spent five years in, learned a lot, great leadership experience, now i'm out. wow. it's a pretty dramatic shift. to help enable that process, the president asked that the department of defense and va to stand up a task force public terms you've heard, the term to design the reverse boot camp. we spend time training veterans at the front end, have not spent

a lot of time on the back end helping transition. this is a work in in progress with the group, making great step, and we'll hear from them in the coming months. my message is on the employment lane is as far as and loud and wide as you can communicate, tell companies to hire a veteran or three or 50 or 10,000, whatever's within their capacity. there's a tax credit involved, several government measures like the goal card behind it, incredible support with the va including opening up vocational train, and i think we can get to this in 2012. optimistic that we're on a trajectory to be able to really hit this hard in the next ten months. i probably took more than my five minute, but i appreciate it. >> no, we appreciate you. no, we appreciate you, and that's why we're here to make sure we as mayors can make sure we utilize resources on the

ground to partner, and that's what it's about or message to our chamber of commerces, our, you know, economic development people on the ground that these resources are there. the u.s. chamber of commerce is would one of our great teammates. the chamber has ha 80 hiring fairs around the country in 2011 hiring more than 7,000 veterans as a result of these. we learned a lot. we learned so much that we're going to have 300 to 400 fairs in 2012, one will be in a city near you. we ask for your support with this to communicate it, and, again, i think it can be helpful. >> thank you, brad, and one thing is brad is still active duty. we are very fortunate to have as our next speaker barbara

thompson, director of the family and children office and undersecretary defense, officer of community and family policy. she's responsible for programs and policies that promote military families' well being and quality of life. she holds a ba in early education and spanish from st. louis university and a masters in management from troy state university. she's here to talk with us about the services available through her office to support our military families. barbara, thank you for being with us here this morning. >> thank you. good morning, everybody. thank you for the opportunity to share some of the wonderful programs that we have to support military members and their family, and i just want to give you a little bit of a context because two-thirds, even we say up to 70% of the active duty force live in your community. they do not live on the installations like we did in the 1970s. they are embedded in your

communities, attending your churches, shopping in your shopping malls, and they really are a part of your community, and we want to make sure that we don't see them as being isolated on an installation and not supporting your community. this, as brad was saying, this has been ten years of intense deployment, separation, and a lot of worry for our families, and one of the things that has changed in my world is that the use of the garden reserve -- never before have we deployed the reservists as we have, and the infrastructure and the department was really not set up for geographically dispersed family members, and so in 2007, we really did change some of our programming and how we approach garden reservists not near military installation, but the

active duty folks who sometimes go back home or go live with extended family while their loved one is deployed, and so i want to share some of the resources and our thinking about how we reach and contact those people. in your dark blue folder, i just kind of listed the programs that fall under military community and family policy. we say we cover the cradle to the grave because we start at birth in the early childhood program, and we also have casualty assistance and funeral honors in the portfolio, and so we look at all aspects of support during those times. a lot of websites and a lot of information because when you are informed with what's available, you can share it with the right people in your spheres to ensure they are em base dorees to share this information -- em base dorees to share this information, one of the greatest

challenges is to make sure they know about the programs and resources that are available to them. i think that is critical, and because it really is frustrating from the policy level when we hear of issues that military families are face, and it's like my goodness, we have this and that, and support military children in the public school system or it is something as rudimentary as how do you get help in a relocation and finding out information about your new community, and so i hope this will be a good reference for you all on some of the programs that we have available, but i will say that our military families, as brad was saying, one of the primary focuses 1 the children's education. that is one of the number one worries because they move so often, and if you are a child attending six to nine schools in

your career, you now how difficult it is to transfer from school to school and state to state with all the different requirements, and so we have 39 states that have signed the interstate compact which is a effort to help the children who are transitioning to different states not to lose credit or have to stake state history from three states before they graduate from high school or how they can get into ap classes or even on to the sports team because they missed the tryouts. well, we know we have 39 states 245 cover 88% -- that cover 88% of the children. we know that the implementation is sketchy. this next year, we're working carefully to make sure our states school's superintendents now how it impacts military children, and not just military, but children in general, but our

children move so often, it was an effort to protect them. employment for military spouses 1 a particular interest and it falls into my portfolio. we know the financial stability of the family hinges on the spouse's income took into consideration and we know our -- spouse's income too, and we know our spouses are under employed by about 25%, and we know that they are more highly educated, 24% of the spouses have bachelor's degree, and so we have a program called the military spouse employment partnership which is, again, an effort to connect employers to a really great asset in their communities, and that's military spouses, and even though they are mobile, they have the leadership, they adapt the flexibility skills just as they're a service member. they are loyal. they're an excellent source of employment, and so since june 29th, drft --

dr. biden launched the hiring and have a hundred companies partnered with us to provide opportunities for our spouses, so, again, our goal is to increase the numbers of businesses, especially for portable careers, our virtual careers so that spouses have the opportunity to have a career path and not start from scratch every time they move to a new location. i think with the reintegration piece of deployment, we consider that probably the most difficult phase. separation is one thing, but reint grating into jr. -- reintegrating into your family after a year can be very challenging. we're working with law enforcement to ensure the awareness about domestic

violence and use of alcohol so hopefully our law enforcement is attuned to the fact they should ask a person who they stop have you received because it may -- served because it may be telling their behavior is based on what they lived through, not that they're trying to not be a good citizen. that's important. like brad said, access to health and mental health services not only for the service members, but also for their families. this has been a tremendous toll on our children in particular. it has been also a toll on spouses trying to keep the home front stabilized while the spouse is deployed, and that's challenging, and then i think we also have an emphasis on predatory lending and financial entities that prey on military families because they know they have a paycheck coming in every

month, and so we're working very closely with the new consumer federal protection board and the office of service members with mrs. petraeus to ensure that our families are safe from predatory lenders and from predatory practices. what i would like you to take away with are two things. one is that our military installations really mirror your communities. your installation commander is basely a mayor of a town and whether it's churches, schools, recreation facilities, child development centers, youth centers, there's a really important connection between our community and your community, and our offices have a new initiative called capacity building working with the university of georgia and the university of north carolina chapel hill to really empower our helping professionals with the skills to reach out to the

communities helping professionals so that you are awear of the needs of military families and we are aware of the resources you have, and you are aware of the resources that we can bear in this effort. it's going to take a village, if you will, to really support these families because they are out in your communities, and a lot of the time they seek the support of their neighbors, and the great thing about joining forces is random acts of kindness whether it's the larger city or the neighbor next door or the person you did to church with that it's important to have those acts of kindness that impact how they manage the stressors of the military life lifestyle, and so the last thing i want to leave with is it's also an administration initiative called let's move. mrs. obama has been a

spokesperson for preventing childhood obesity, and the department of defense considers this is national security issue. only 25% of the youth are eligible to enter the military whether it's for physical, not physically fit, obese, they have had some problems with the law, they don't meet the education standards, but o beetty is preventable, and so she is an initiative called let's move city and towns where the mayors commit to making physical activity, better nutrition, and reduced screen time a focus of their administration. we are taking that model, and we are developing a let's move installation so that our installation commanders as mayors of the installation also get on the band wagon because it's critical not just for the well being of our families, but for our future force. the army, for example, extended

boot camp for a week because of the physical fitness aptitudes of their troop, and that's scary because that's more coastally. they have more skeletal, muscle injuries, and we have to put ourselves in front of the issue, and i consider the other issue is the health costs. we know that if we do this, and we do it right, we'll save our health affairs and our tricare management, and very significant dollars in our health costs, so i leave you that little tidbit that if you can go back to your community to think about it, i think it not only supports military children, but it supports all of your future force and your future citizens. >> thanks. thank you very, very much. ms. thompson touched on an issue

for the next speaker that is very important, and i know as mayors we often see veterans by no choice of their own homeless or in trouble with the law because of the lack of resources whether it's mental health issues, access to jobs, or just simp access to a roof over their head, and i was really excited to hear about this program. our next speaker's actually matt steiner. here's a fourth generation marine receiving combat action ribbon for his service in iraqi freedom, following an honorable discharge from the marine corp. attended oklahoma state university receiving a ba in political science receiving an ma in public administration from the university of oklahoma. matt is here to talk about veterans' treatments courts and how they impact the lives of military families in our

communities. i know, actually in the state of florida, tampa rolled out their veterans' court as well as brourard county in florida, of course, and was really excited to see they are progressively moving forward, but they have endorsed the program by acts of resolution, and here to partner to hopefully, again, build public awareness and actually use our positions in local government to have a program to help prevent with the incourse ration in the country and importantly get the length of the services out there, so let's welcome mr. steiner to the day, and i'll turn it over to him. >> thank you very much, mayor

cooper, and for allowing me the opportunity to say. i was four years in the marine corp., received # the combat action ribbon, and then went to oklahoma state, and then i worked for the mayor of oklahoma, a part of this distinguished group and presented many time, and i definitely have firsthand experience of what it's like to work in local government, and i felt like i was back in combat in iraq with the issues we were dealing with on the local political level. [laughter] but it really was, and i worked were mayor taylor that she implemented the third veteran's court in the nation. she used the power of the mew municipality and the community to rally the support of the district county office, federal organizations, the va to put a stance to stop having veterans becoming suicidal, becoming incarcerated, and that's how i got the role, and after i worked for the mayor, i coordinated the

tulsa's veterans' court and became a national model while i went to grad school at the same time. getting out the marine corp., i never thought it was by miss, but it's something i'm passionate about and something every mayor here can implement, and today, i'll go through the powerpoint. i know everybody's busy. i'll try to keep it brief, but my contact information it in the folder and feel free to contact me at any time. we know the issue, we've been at war for ten years now, never deployed our military like this before in the nation. several units have gone -- captain cooper said seven tours. i know my grandfather went to world war ii, in the pacific until the job was done and came back, but my friends have gone on several tours.