responsibility to those who have served our country with the finance that we need to be able to meet these obligations, and not base our offer on monday that we cannot afford. >> the liberal democrats decided to use one of the days allocated to them to debate the issue. their leader was clearly unimpressed with what gordon brown had had to say. >> hearing the prime minister, i think his answers on the ghurka issue are deeply evasive. how is it honest or decent to say that soldiers who have served 20 years can come and live in this country, when he knows full well that the majority of them only serve 15? how is it honest reason to say that they have to prove their illness was caused from the military service, when he knows full well that the free list veterans cannot do that? can he see there is a simple,

moral principle at stake? if someone is prepared to die for this country, surely they deserve to live in this country. >> a short time later, the debate got under way and hostility from his own bench as soon became apparent. next i rejoice that they enrich the borough educationally and public life. they also earned money and pay taxes. the thing that upsets me is the degree of inevitability about it. as sure as night turns in today, they will win ultimately. why don't you embrace it now? >> why are they trying are theygurkhas coming here? they failed to stop some any less deserving people from coming here and staying here.

there have bill long list of failures on immigration policy that has driven the minister to his present uncomfortable position. >> on wednesday afternoon, in a letter to the home secretary made some concessions. jackie smith syrup there would be a review of outstanding individual cases. she added she could not foresee circumstances where a gurkha would be removed. >> order. . ayes to the right, 267. the noes the left, 246. >> a government defeat by 21 votes. nearly 30 labor mps rebelled.

the result was not binding, but represent gordon runs first major commons defeat. a few weeks later, he met to tell her there had been a change of heart. all those who had served in the army for more than four years were to be allowed to apply to settle in britain. in mid june, gordon brown made the long awaited announcement of an inquiry into the war in iraq. it would cover the time from 2001 and have complete access to officials, ministers, and documents. it would also be held behind closed doors. >> taking into account national security considerations, for example what might damage or reduce our military capability in the future, evidence will be held in private. evidence given by former ministers and officials will be

as full and candid as possible. >> the franks inquiry reported in just six months, and yet this inquiry is due to take until july or august 2010. by delaying the start of the inquiry and by for lonnie the publication until after the next election, while everyone conclude that this has been fixed to make sure the government avoids having to face up to the convenience provision? >> everyone knows that the invasion of iraq was the biggest foreign policy mistake this country has made in generations. the single most controversial decision taken by government since suez. i am staggered that the prime minister today seeking to compound that error, fatal for so many of britain's sons and daughters, by covering up the path that led to it. >> the iraqi conflict has led to lost of 4600 coalition

personnel, and 100 victory thousand iraqi civilians. their loved ones want to know the cause of this war and why their loved ones fell. if every session is held in private, that may not be possible. will the prime minister think again holding a secret inquiry as the wrong thing to do? >> it announced he believed as many hearings as possible should be held in public. that was not the only change of heart forced bonn ministers. here in the house of lords, the business secretary came to the house to announce that the government is shelving its controversial plans to privatize the royal mail. the bill that actually cleared the lords but was facing serious rebellion in the house of commons, where up to 140 labor mp's were opposed to it. he said it had not been possible to accept an agreeable bill.

rex on terms we can be confident and it would secure value for the taxpayer. there is therefore no prospect in current circumstances of achieving the objectives of the postal service's bill when market -- when market conditions change, we will return to the issue. >> the mentor voted to bar secretary of state in guard rounds -- garden -- gordon brown summer reshuffle. while it has tried to push its own agenda and a document called building britain's future, dealing with economic recovery and public services, it has often failed to grab the headlines. i ask the chief political correspondent why. has the government reached the point where it just seems to

have run out of love? no matter how -- have run out of luck. >> a lot of the members of the government think they have reached that point, everything and try to do either gets negative publicity or gets no publicity, or blows up in their faces. they feel that the wind is against them in there is not much they can do about it. they talked about new policy documents that the government announced, and it hardly got any coverage at all. it's sort of drifted. some people moan about that in the government. some said the reason it doesn't work is because there is no real marriage, no sense of all the policies -- we had a climate change policy recently that was quite radical. there was a belief -- brief flurry of coverage and then it disappeared. add to that, tiredness,

exhaustion, a sense of the government that is pretty old now. you have a government that has been riven with division for some time over the leadership. a status quo was established recently, but the tensions are still there. there are a lot of bruised egos and personalities. then there is the bunker mentality of no. 10. i am thinking of the way the inquiry into the iraq war was announced, and to whether or not evidence would be held in public or in private. it is an example of one of the things where the right decision has been made. there should be an inquiry into the way the war was conducted, but a slight misjudgment over precisely how it should take place. that is just a function of things not being called for the

way they should be. if you talk to anybody who was there during the latter days of john major's government, that is exactly the way it was. you start shedding the staff as they move to other art as asians, and the decision making suppers. >> what about david cameron and the conservative party? are they bound to win the next election? >> everybody make that assumption, but i think it is a mistake. we have to be mindful of the scale of the challenge facing david cameron. to win a majority, he has to win over 120 seats more than he has at the moment. it is a huge ask to have such a large turning of the tables. it is a sort of swing you saw in 1997 when overwhelmingly the country voted for tony blair and new labor. he is bobbing above and below

40% of the polls, as opposed to tony blair who was always touching the 50%. he was much more assured. david cameron has not sealed the deal with the british electorate. it is a function of two things. it is a function of the expense system, which has left many voters disillusioned with all parties. the conservatives have been affected by that. secondly, there is still a sense of uncertainty in the minds of some voters that people are slightly unsure what the conservative party stands for. they know is different and they know they like david cameron. there is uncertainty when you ask them about policies they put forward. >> what about neglect and the liberal democrats? are they in danger of being

squeezed out altogether -- nick clegg and the liberal democrats? >> they could play a huge role in whatever cooperation takes place in that scenario peak. they did well over the ghurkas issue. they were early on to that issue defending their rights to stay in this country, and making sure they were recruited. on certain issues, he has picked his point. he still struggles in prime minister's questions to be his voice heard. there are still areas where the liberal democrats struggle to make their distinct voice. >> been all but rao about expenses and parliamentary reform, the state of the economy had dropped down the agenda. the term had begun with the

chancellor unveiling his budget. he said britain would have to borrow 175 billion pounds this year and a similar amount next year. there would be more money for pensioners. there would be a rise in the cost of cigarettes, alcohol, and petrol. mr. darling extended the amount they could be saved tax-free. there was a revised prediction on growth. mr. darling said the economy would begin to come out of recession this year and there would be held the growth down the line. a few days later, after the dust had settled, alistair darling and his conservative show faced each other directly for the first time. in the intervening time, some economists had accused him of being over optimistic in his forecasts, appointed by george osborn. >> mr. chancellor knows the growth forecast to get us in the budget last week that predicted a level -- that the economy is

dead the boom levels afterwards and agreed -- were greeted with near universal the region. when he gave those forecasts, the know that the imf for planning to flatly contradict them just an hour later? >> yes, i knew the imf forecast. they do take a more pessimistic view not a star economy but every economy across the world. we insure that our forecaster based on the information we have. if you look at the imf and forecasting over the last three months, it has downgraded its forecasting three months since last october. that demonstrates the uncertainty in the system. i believe that because of the action we are taking, because of the fact we have low interest rates and inflation will be coming down this year, and because of the action that most other countries are taking to look after their economies, that will have an effect, which is why i remain confident we will

see growth returning toward the end of this year. >> he said the chancellor's budget had unraveled in just a week. >> he said his tax plans were a breach of that bested promise that is damaging to the economy. today we have the prime minister getting a lecture on prudence while he is in warsaw. doesn't the collapse of the budget in the last week and the damage to his credibility make an unanswerable case for an independent office for budget responsibility, so that we get independent forecasts on budget day and the assumptions of the budget are believed by the public? >> his solution is to stand back and let nature take its course. that is a price i am not prepared to pay.

i set out not just measures to help people who may be facing unemployment, but also businesses in this country. we have also insured over the last few years that we went into this in a position with the bank could reduce interest rates, unlike in the past when interest rates had to be increased. i believe that action we have taken to help the economy now and the action i set out to get borrowing down again are realistic and sensible, given the situation we face. the question he will have to answer sooner rather than later , what exactly is he proposing in relation to public spending? what is he proposing to do to help people and businesses in this country at the moment that is absolutely opaque? >> gordon brown made one of his twice yearly appearances in a different corner of westminster, appearing before the liaison committee made up of senior mp's. he admitted that tough choices on public spending would have to be made in future years but

denied reports that they were planning for massive cuts up to 2011. >> we all hope that next spring will be recovering from the recession, but we will be faced with some very difficult choices. we'll have a budget deficit of 14% for every four pounds that we spend, we will be borrowing 1 pound. difficult choices will have to be made. do not think that we should have an open debate now about what we intend to do with their public services, and in particular, about where cuts should fall? >> first all, we have to get back to grow. the major determinant of our deficit is the level of growth and the level of employment in the economy. the first priority is to get growth and employment into the economy. that is why we are spending

additional money now to make sure that we come out of recession. >> mr. lee said that was existing policy and he wanted to look to the future. >> the sunday times says the secret domesday plans for 20% cuts in public spending are being prepared by senior civil servants. is this going on? >> edgar, you must not believe everything you read in newspapers. it is quite ridiculous. in a situation where there is uncertainty about what will happen in next few months to the economy, you cannot predict absolutely what your level of growth will be, and therefore what resources or going to be available two years from now. >> there will be spending

choices and a greater need for efficiency across the board and less spending in some programs. he is the first secretary of state, your right hand man. what does he mean? what was he talking about? >> you cannot ideologically predetermined allocations to individual products. that does not mean you do not say -- we have had to spend additional money to take this country out of recession. i hope you will of knowledge we are having some success in doing that. the profile of public spending will be different in years to come. there are tough choices that have to be made about how you get more efficiency so that you can spend more on your front line services, how you can change the balance of priorities, how to enact a program of asset sales that we bought. yes, there are tough choices that have to be made, and is right to say we are spending money now to take us out of recession. therefore the profile of capital

spending will be different in years to come. you cannot say in july 2009 that you know exactly what the growth level of your economy will be in 2011, what level of unemployment will be. it will become clearer as we move forward that action we have taken is having an effect, which cannot say absolutely now with the right level of allocation for a service in 2011 is going to be. >> the committee turned its attention to afghanistan where there was a recent spate of british troop debts. the chairman of the defense committee turned to press reports that the army had asked for 2000 extra troops and the british government had sent 700. >> did the chief of defence staff recommends that an extra 2000 troops should go to afghanistan? >> we have 8000 -- 8150 troops now. no one is suggesting 10,000

troops. >> i am trying to get to a yes or no. >> you have to allow me to explain that a variety of options were considered. for the mission we are doing at the moment, we have the troops on the ground. obviously, as anyone -- they would like to have more troops and equipment and more of everything, but we are equipped to do the job we are doing at the moment. we will agree that we will consider that after the elections, probably august, but possibly october. there could be a second round. that is where we are. we are determined to do everything we can to equip our forces properly and to make sure that decisions are made in light of the needs of the commanders on the ground as well as in discussion with our allies. >> there are two ways of dealing with select committees.

you can answer the questions, or you can appear not to answer the question. i really trying to get to an answer of whether the chief of defence staff recommended an extra 2000 troops. i am not getting to one vigorous you are not, because i am saying that we looked at a number of options. if the number now -- is the number now is 9150, there was no recommendation for 11,000. we discussed a variety of options. it is the right thing to do. i actually think i have given you more information than you might have expected about this situation, because i am sure that we have done our best but those troops or on the ground at the moment. people are wrong to suggest that for the operation we are involved in at the moment that we do not have the troops we need. >> finally, there's a big

anniversary for every -- a big british symbol, begin. it notched up is 150th birthday. i asked a historian why its architects had been so keen on the clock tower. >> it was a very modern building in terms of its construction, in terms of circulation and the way it was heated and generally service. the clock tower was the pinnacle of modernity. an incredible, modern buildings arriving in the heart of london. it captured the spirit of the whole building project. >> you mentioned several times about it being modern at the time it was built. how is it standing up to the test of time now? is it really the symbol we want for the future?

>> for me, absolutely. it is a funny question. it remains modern, in many ways. we may have sadly move on from that and no longer see the need for ornament. it was essential to have a cultural been here almost modern buildings. it is clad with stone, but has a brick corps and a lot of iron. the whole top is cast-iron. a lot of concrete issues. it has a veneer of the past, with respect for traditions. >> that is it for now. we will be back on october 12 when parliament returns with a daily digest of life here at westminster. for now, goodbye. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2009] >> tomorrow, a tribute to longtime political activist phyllis schlafly. she is being presented with a lifetime achievement award. that will begin at 1 blog 30 p.m. eastern on c-span2. -- at 1:30 p.m. eastern. >> tomorrow, health care officials from the government and private sector gathering at the white else for discussion of proposed health-care legislation. live coverage of that at 2:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. with this ball, enter the home to america's highest court, from the grand public places to those only accessible by the nine justices. the supreme court, coming the first sunday in october on c- span. >> next, herman cain, former chair and ceo of godfather's

pizza talks about keeping conservative values. he spoke at a conference hosted by the young america's foundation for just over an hour. [applause] >> good morning. thank you all for coming and welcome to the 31st annual national conservative students conference. young america's foundation is the premier organization that educates college students on the principles of liberty, government, individual liberty, strong national events, and traditional values. for more information, i urge you all to go to our website. i have had the benefit of working with young america's foundation for the past two years. have great success with the foundation. i am very excited for our next speaker. herman cain is an accomplished speaker and writer on

leadership, motivation, national and economic policy and he is the american dream. godfather's pizza was performing poorly before he became the president and transformed it by providing focus and getting people personally engaged in the turnaround. he empowered the leadership skills and every individual in the organization. for his efforts, he was hailed by the wall street journal and business week as a visionary leader. he's been called a new voice for common sense, urging business leaders to stand up and fight against a government reregulation and taxation. he was the chair of the federal bank in kansas. he's been engaged with national debates on fiscal and government policies. his website is www.hermancain. com. he is a radio host in atlanta

and can be heard weeknights. join me in welcoming mr. herman cain. [applause] >> good morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> that is a lot better. it is about to get loud in here. tony is a good friend, but tony is a mild-mannered, great guy. we are very good friends. i've enjoyed his comments. i'm glad to be here with you today. like many of the other speakers that have probably commented on this, i am glad to see that some conservatives are still alive on college campuses in america. [applause] thank you. there is hope. this is encouraging.

many of you will recognize these words. "we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal. that they are endowed by their creator or with certain unalienable rights. that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. but it did not say anything about the department of happy located in washington. it says the pursuit of happiness. [applause] what part of "pursued" and delta bandstand? -- "pursuit"don't they understand?

in the declaration of independence you don't stop there. keep reading. the next paragraph says "when any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it." [applause] so, when you hear some of your friends say what can we do? tell them to keep reading. read the rest of that paragraph. because if you look at what is going on, we have some abolishing and altering to do in order to take back this nation and to take back our government. the thing that i would start the thing that i would start with is to abolish the tax

the thing i would start with is to abolish the tax code and replace it with a fair tax. abolish the tax code. [applause] i was not here during slavery in this country, but i do know a little bit about, and the tax code has become the present date slave master for all of us. abolish it. we also have some altering that we need to do. we have some altering we need to do. we have got collectively to alter this liberal express going on in washington d.c. we have to alter this liberal express. let's make sure we are on the same page. i am an old math major. the first thing you do as a math major is make sure you understand the assumptions and

the definitions. that is restart. . in less government, taxes, and more individual responsibility. and a liberal believes in more government, more taxes, and less individual responsibility. conservatives believe in the free-market, free enterprise, and freedom. liberals believe and government markets, government enterprises, and the governmengovernment.

that is how you tell them apart. we have to stop this liberal express. now, there are three ways when you are trying to have a discussion with a liberal, three key is that let you know how tough a job you're going to have been able to engage them in civilized dialogue. you have all been there. i get it sometimes from some of the callers who call us. they are determined that they are going to knock me off my game with their passion, with all of their unsubstantiated ideas. but i have noticed the pattern. this whole health care deform

legislation. normally, if you reform something, it gets better. not one i did that is floating around in congress will make our health care system better. all of those ideas, either individually or collectively, will further deform the best health-care system in the world. even though we have issues. yes, we have issues. i am a federally calling it the health care reform distraction. not a debate. liberals don't debate you. they tried to distract you. here are the three things to look for. one night i called my radio show. he is one of my regular flaming liberals that listens to my show a lot. i announced to the audience ahead of time, i said this is

him coming up now. let me tell you what thomas is going to do. let me tell you how this conversation is going to go. because thomas is a flaming liberal and he just goes right down the script every time he calls. the first thing you look for when you are trying to have a discussion with a liberal and you are about to nail them on a point, they changed the subject. they change the subject. you have had that happened. you can be talking about the tax code and out of nowhere they will start talking about "inner- city crime has gone up." we were not talking about that. so the first thing you notice is they will change the subject on you. second, conservatives like to

use facts and logic. the liberals ignore the facts. they cannot handle the facts, as jack nicholson would say. you can have all the facts in the world, but they will just ignore the facts. so, if they don't change the subject on you, if they don't ignore the facts on you, and you are trying to have a dialogue, the third thing that they do is they blame bush. [applause] it has to be bush's fault. so thomas called one night and we were talking about health care. that is exactly what he did. i just sat there and did not say a word for about two and a half minutes while thomas entertained my listeners. that is exactly what he did.

let's apply this to the health care discussion. when the democrats in congress and the liberals in washington, d.c. could not convince enough of us to drink the health-care the fordeform kool-aid, based oe erroneous statistic of 50 billion uninsured people -- 50 million uninsured people, they were trying to get 256 million of us to feel guilty about the 50 million. there were touting that 50 million people are uninsured. my, don't we feel sorry for them. we need to tear up the health

care system and fix the problem for this 50 million. but a strange thing happened on the way to stretching the truth. in that 50 million -- and people started to figure this out -- i have talked about it -- we don't have 50 million chronically uninsured people in this country. part of that 50 million, about 10 million or so, to give you a round number, they are illegal residents -- legal residents, but not citizens. if they choose not to have health insurance, that is their problem. why are we going to feel sorry for them? those are just the legal ones. then you have about 17 million

of that 50 million, they make more than $50,000 a year. why should we tear up our entire system? don't get the idea that i am not compassionate. i am compassionate. when it's as "the pursuit of happiness" it also meant the pursuit of your health and health insurance, but you have to do something yourself first, for the government does it for you. [applause] a lady by the name of sally pipes, the ceo of the opposite against -- ceo of the pacific research institute. she wrote "unraveling the myth about american health care." it is an easy read.

she goes through all the myths that are there, relative to what is going on and the message that the leveliberals and democrats e trying to get people to believe. in arbuckle, she takes that -- when the book was published, the lie that they were perpetuating was 47 million. she breaks down that 47 million by the various groups. she got the information at the census. that breaks down to tell you how many people are chronically uninsured. the number is anywhere from 8 million to 10 million. that is the real number. she documents it in her book. and so, the liberals, in an

attempt to dismantle and confiscate our entire health- care system, have used this number to try and to convince the 256 million of us that we ought to turn our system totally upside down because you have 47 million people out there without health insurance. then they go a step further. they start proclaiming that people don't have access to health care. that is al lie. emergency rooms in america are not allowed to turn anybody away. they have access. [applause] and so, when you start trying to share the facts with the liberals, they changed the subject on you. they don't want to hear the facts. the good news about the whole health-care deform legislation

-- i want you to get that into your lexicon -- the good news is you and i and the american people have been able to slow it down. [applause] before you reverse something, the laws of physics say that you have to slow it down first. we are not going to turn it around overnight, but it is slowing down. why? many of the american people are starting to understand what they were trying to ram down the throats of the american people. we have had an opportunity to read some of it. those who did not get an opportunity to read it, have had an opportunity to listen to someone who has. a lady by the name of dr. betsy

mccloy-- mccoy. i had her on my radio show. on my website page -- herman cain.com. cain, like kane and abel in the bible, but i did not kill anybody. that is how you remember it. you'll see a big link that will take you to the radio station to my radio show. i have her interview that was so compelling that i have added a page for my radio show site that highlights three articles she has written. and you can listen to the interview i did on the radio. technology is a wonderful thing. her name is not spelled mccoy.

she wrote three topics on healthcare in america and the legislation. when she was on my show, one of the things that impressed me so much was she has not only read the 1018 page legislation, she has read it twice. i said, you poor thing. she has read it twice. she was able to tell you pages where you find the treaty language that does, in fact, lead to socialized medicine and lead to rationing and leads to end of life counseling, and leads to destroying the health insurance industry, and on and on. that is another source i would highly recommend it to you so that you can be armed with the facts. one gentleman was asking about

the town hall meetings coming up. find one but near you and attend in your congressional district. i spoke at the las vegas tea party last april 15. i have spoken at a number of key parties in atlanta and around atlanta. the administration and the liberals want to try to marginalize the people who are upset and frustrated. they want to try to marginalize folks for exercising their they want to ignore it. and the thing about trying to marginalize them and make the tea party folk and the folk showing up at town hall meetings all appear like they are a bunch of crazies, it reminded me of what my grandfather used to say. "we are going to show you some

crazy. we are going to show you some crazy." because there are some people in this country who are crazy about liberty. we are crazy about freedom, and we are crazy about keeping this country moving in the right direction, not moving in a backward direction. that is what we are crazy about. [applause] and so, as you get into the debate or the discussion, whether you are talking about health care or taxes, cap and trade or tax and kill, when you are talking about that, we are talking -- are yourself with the facts. arm yourself with the facts -- arm yourself. not to just counter the liberal rhetoric, but you will be in a position to appeal to a lot of people that just do not know.

they do not have the time. there are busy trying to raise their families, or they are working. -- they are busy trying to raise their families. you'll have those occasions where you can help somebody by giving them what i call a few compelling facts about a particular issue to get them to adjust at least stop and think about it rather than -- to just stop and think about it. what i call the mainstream media, because that is really what it is right now, and so stm yourselves with the facts -- arm yourself with the facts. calls all the time from thewho get frustrated when they see what's going on --. the misuse of power in washington. they always ask me "what can we do? we have a democrat in the white

house and the democrat controlled house and senate by a large margin at least in the house." too many conservatives are being beaten into submission. they want us to believe that we should simply surrender. every night on my radio show i send a message to washington, d.c. conservatives will never surrender. no matter what they say or what they do. we will not surrender [applause] i realize that we had -- we are at a bit of a disadvantage right now, but we have two powerful weapons. we just have to know how to use them. the first one is our vote. we got beat last november. no need crying over that.

let's get ready for november 2010 when we get an opportunity to vote. because, unfortunately, too many conservatives kept their votes at home last november because they did not like either candidate. the popular vote difference was only about 4 million votes. pretty soon acorn won't have any more criminals they can register. so, if the conservatives voted, we can beat them. they will run out of criminals to sign up. remember, let's start looking to november 2010. we may not be able -- then again we may be able to totally reversed control of congress. if you look at what is going on at these town hall meetings, there are some angry, determined folks out there. they are waking up. even though the liberals and the

democrats don't want to believe it, there are more americans who are not stuck in stupid land today it than those that are. those are the people that are showing up. as tony said, that movement is real, because it is real people that have real anger about what is going on and what is being shoved down our throats. don't forget the power of that vote. last week i was shopping at a store. a lady wanted to talk with me. she said, mr. cain, you are my favorite conservative. i said thanks, arguable or conservative? she said, i don't know, but i am having some real concerns about president barack obama. i said, did you vote for him? she said, nope. i said, did you vote for john mccain?

she said no. she said ansari to say i did not vote. i said, i called her by name, although i won't call the now because she might be watching on c-span, i said, that is why the republicans lost, because they were looking for the perfect republican candidate. and look what we got. sitting at home with your vote is a vote for the other side. in november 2010. don't waste your vote next time. [applause] the second thing that we have that is probably -- not probably, that is even more powerful right now than the vote is our voice. our voices. that is what we have that is

powerful. this is what congressmen and senators will experience when they hold a town hall meetings, if they have the courage to do so. some of them, especially democrats, are canceling town hall meetings, because they are scared. they say it in the country way 0 ,"scared." they cannot stand in front of their constituency and ecologica -- they cannot give a logical argument on why they are supporting health care legislation. so they are not showing up or they tried to control it to the point where people cannot get an opportunity to ask questions and voiced frustrations. many of you may be members of

organizations on your campus. you may be members of some other national conservative organizations. we have plenty of them. my message to you is this, be a member of something where your voice can be expressed selectively, regularly, frequently, and loudly. that is what we have, not just on election day, that is what we have every day of the year in between election days. i believe the voices of the people of this country are being heard, which is why we have been able to slow this socialist express down. your voices. your voices. if you don't have your favorite conservative organization that you are able to express your voice through right now, this is a shameless promotional plug from mine.

it is called the intelligent thinker is movement. you can find it at herman cain.com. there is a link called hitm. i wanted to call with the intelligence think this movement, but my staff said you have to put another letter in front of itm. so they said to put an h in front of it. so it stands for herman lator intelligent thinker is movement. check it out. you need to be aligned with some organization that can express your voice and my voice collectively, frequently, regularly, and loudly.

that is what is causing the liberals to retreat on health- care legislation. i spoke earlier about how they will change the subject. since we did not to drink kool- aid about the 50 million people not having held insurance, they have changed the strategy now. let's go after the insurance industry. let's demonize the insurance industry. let's demonize the insurance companies. we did not fall for it. so now they have a new strategy that they will try to explain to the people. isn't it ironic that they are not questioning the wrongheadedness of what they are trying to do. they just assume its it is a foregone conclusion that they have to do this. the american people are screaming at the top of their voice, we don't want socialized medicine in the united states of

america. screaming it. so, on health care, they have changed the subject. instead of talking about all the chronically uninsured out there that cannot get access, which is a lie, cannot get insurance, and now they are going to shift it to talk about let's demonize the health insurance industry. they have changed the subject. how about ignoring the facts? canada, england, germany, and other countries, fact, all of the country's that put in

government controlled health care, eventually led to rationing. no country on the planet, in the history of the world has ever been able to avoid rationing when the government took it over. but they are ignoring that fact. they don't even want to talk about that fact. they simply choose to ignore it. but then it is up to us to basically make people up and say have you noticed that it did not work in these other countries? facts. social security is a mess. fact, medicare is a mess. medicaid is a mess. fact, the prescription drug plan

was passed in 2004 by republicans. the original cost was estimated to be about $300 billion. before the ink dried, they realized that it would probably be over $500 billion. before they issued the first prescription, the cost estimates were close to $900 billion. those are facts. not one program run by the government in this country has ever hit the estimated cost, including "cash for clunkers." these are the same people that want to take over our health care.

[applause] i don't edget it. whether they are talking a trillion or 1.5 trillion, it will never hit the number. that is a fact. they like to ignore the facts. i am happy that you are here, because that means you are engaged and involved. keep up the fight. we are not going to surrender. we're not going to surrender. i know there are times when you get frustrated and you cannot do all what you want to do, you cannot have the immediate impact that you want. let me share this with you and then i will start taking some questions. the 2000 olympics had one of the most powerful closing songs i have ever heard. the words to the closing song of

the 2000 olympics settled but life can be a challenge, life can seem impossible it is never easy when there is so much on the line, but you can make a difference. there is a mission just for you. just look inside and you will find just just look inside, and you will find just what you can do, the power of one, it begins with believing. that you hold the key to all of your achieving.

conservatives are not going to surrender. thank you. [applause] thank you. [cheers and applause] thank you very much. thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you. i think i will come back. [cheers and applause] thank you very much. yes, ma'am? >> i am from cincinnati. i do not know if you have been from cincinnati, but it is very urban and very racially diversde. -- diverse. >> yes. >> and i think maybe that obama

won their because they think that the conservatives are a white man's party. what do you tell people who believe that? >> arm yourself with the facts, and that means pointing out a little bit about the history of the republican party and how so many blacks became attached to the democratic party. y. they collected the credit for passage of the civil rights act of 1964. in fact, it took republicans and democrats to pass the civil rights act of 1964 off as well as the voting rights act of 1965. the republicans did a terrible job of getting their fair share of credit for making that happen. i always go back to how the republican party got started. a lot of people don't know about it. especially minorities. abraham lincoln said i cannot

get these silly way to go along with me about getting rid of slavery, so i'm going to start a new party. that is how the republican party started. at the beginning of the 1900's, the first 50 years, the majority of blacks or african-americans were republicans. the clan was started -- the koga clan-- the kkk was started by democrats. you should on yourselves about today's issues like the tax code and how it is more regressive on poor people than on rich people. don't fall for the rhetoric of class warfare. that is all that it is. arm yourself with the facts. so that when you get an opportunity -- the republican party, generally speaking, has done a terrible job of getting its conservative message out.

tony said the same thing. i was talking to rod in the back. the more you are yourselves with the facts and history and be able to explain some of these issues like i talked-about health care, also cap and trade, then you will gradually get to these people. first of all, you will not save everybody. save the ones that you can save. thank you. >> i think you could be our next black president. >> you are very kind. yes, sir. >> i commend you on your courage and your conviction. >> thank you. look at this room. you have a lot more courage than a lot of folks. what are you talking about? we have some work to do. >> as a black conservative, what

more can i do -- i have called into the glenn baceck show and i had an op-ed. what more can i do as a person of moral authority to expose those who owned slavery and segregation and social institutions, the party that owns it. like you said, the kkk and margaret sanger. and now has selected the biggest trojan horse to the highest office in the land, how do i get justice? >> do more of what you are doing like being here.

there are radical ups. take some of your friends with you there. if you take them to an environment they would not normally go to. -- there are rotary clubs you can take your friends to. speaking opportunities, especially you walking into an environment where they may not look like you and you take some of your friends with you, you have an opportunity to get themselves awakened. >> a couple of weeks ago one of my callers named mitchell called to say he often disagreed with me on a lot of things but he agreed with me on more things than he disagreed. he said he was black and voted for barack obama. he said he regrets that he did.

more and more of them are starting to wake up to the conservative party. >> do you think i'm right by attacking the race factor? i am an american. i don't like race being put into it. >> don't attack that person. when i ran for the u.s. senate, i ran for office in georgia in 2004 for the u.s. senate as a republican in georgia. look at me. georgia, republican. guess what, i finished an impressive second. not just seconds, an impressive second. you don't ever just finished second. georgia has 159 counties. i went to every one of them to campaign. i would walk into rooms that all white. people with their arms folded because they could not believe a

black guy was running statewide in the state of georgia. by the time i left, arms or open, smiles on their faces, because i never brought up race. i talked about the issues. that we need to eliminate the tax code and what we need to do about things. i went after the issue. here's what we need to do to stimulate the economy. you lead with solutions to the big issues. that is how you get the message across. lead with solutions. what is your name? >> jerome. >> i have some solutions at hermancain.com. >> kevin burns from the university of dallas. i read an article about how certain minorities are seen as traders of their race if they are conservatives and if they oppose a rsocial programs.

whehow can we combat the assumpn that is brought by the mainstream media that all minorities are democrats? >> basically, ignore it. don't fan it. it is easy for them to take something like that and generalize. i know a lot of black people that did not vote for barack obama. so they tried to use intimidation and they make blanket statements about if this person or not hispanic, they would be working for fox news. so i ignore that kind of stuff. you're not going to save everybody. save the ones that are saveable. you can say, here's a guy who is conservative and his black and his name is herman cain. yes, i get some brief from some

of my friends, but most of them don't give me any grief because they know that i am firm in my convictions. that is how you combat it. stay firm in your convictions. >> thank you. >> my name is melissa harris representing the university of louisiana regions. it is sad that everyone pays so much attention to barack obama when alan keyes was completely ignored. >> yes. >> i would like to ask, do you have a podcast on your radio show that we can access somehow? >> yes. i can go one even better. if you go to my website, there is a link called besto of herman cain audio and video. click on that and we have a collection of some videos and features i have done, as well as

some of my best radio shows. if you go to the homepage of my soul, you can podcasts as well. the answer is yes. also there are some you can click on and listen to right there on the computer. make sure you have speakers on your computer. we have a best of section that i think you'll enjoy. >> hello. steven lynsey from princeton. going off of what kevin just ask, after witnessing an early '90's the ordeal of black conservatives such as clarence thomas, why do you feel so many african-americans still are not resentful of the liberal african-american establishment being hostile toward the freedoms -- >> you have more conservative

blacks than you realize. for a lot of them, it is easier to be below the radar than to be flying above the radar. i am just all out here. i cannot hide, but that is okay. the good thing in my case is every night five nights a week i get a 50,000 watt megaphone so i can speak with 250,000 people. bring it on. they want to harass me, go ahead. there are a lot more of them that are conservative, but they are keeping a low profile. i go to church in savannah, ga., a baptist church. -- atlanta, georgia. we have 1400 members. there are a few white people in this church of 99% black. a few friends of mine say, i heard a radio show, i agree with you. they're whispering this.

if they are trying to avoid the intimidation they may get. not everybody has the strength of character to say, if you disagree with me, fine, i'm not going to this appeal. >> if that is the case, voting in this country has done enough with the secret ballot. no one would know how you are voting. why do the statistics prove so many of them of-- >> when people to exit polls, they don't always tell the truth. they don't know who is going to be looking at it. they may say they voted for barack obama but they might not have. i question the accuracy of the exit polls. if some stranger walks up and ask who you voted for. people get nervous. they don't know what will happen to the information. >> thank you. >> charlotte evans.

richmond college in wisconsin. -- agilent college. if i go to your web site, [unintelligible] >> yes, thank you, darling. there is a photo link. you click on it and i have two shots of me. one is my business attire that you see me in right now. the other one is me with my radio cowboy hat on. take your pick, darling. thank you so much. you are very kind. >> i would like one for my dormitory wall and my door. >> you are very kind. qwest it in wisconsin we have a

program called badger care. the conservatives are not looking at that program and how it's doing in wisconsin. i have not seen any attention on the program, and it should be. i'm sick of paying taxes for people who have too many children and cannot take care of them. >> of the same reason they are ignoring the facts in wisconsin, they are ignoring the facts in tennessee. tennessee has a similar program. they are ignoring the results in massachusetts. they choose to ignore the facts. it is that simple. i did not even know about the one in wisconsin. >> it is there anything to do to increase awareness? increase awareness? >> yes, make sure that you on a regular basis. so you need to be able to do

that in state as well as nationally. >> i love you. >> thank you. aw, shucks. thank you very much. >> hello, mr. cain. i am a political science student in georgia. >> georgia! all right. i thought i heard you earlier. that is great. >> i have been working on a gubernatorial campaign, and states' rights is becoming a very big issue. >> yes. >> what part d you think state rights and state sovereignty place in gaining popularity in the nation as a role -- what part do you think states' rights and state sovereignty plate -- play? >> it sends a signal back to washington, d.c., and it is a signal that we need to send, so most recently, that has picked up in activity, and for those of you who are not familiar with

what some states are doing, they are basically going back to say, "the 10th amendment says this, so that does not give you the right to impose this on us," and i think over 30 states have done something, and when you get that many states along with others to say to washington, d.c., today we do not have to take some of these programs," -- "we do not have to take some of these programs," that is a good thing. we have talked a lot about politics and race. the republican party has forgotten its focus on minorities and has written off the whole demographic of the african american community. mostly african-americans had been voting for democrats. now that the democrats have put a new set of strains on people, people may start noticing

republicans are doing so much for folks like school choice and payroll taxes. if i have the guts in chicago to go out in the community. i volunteer. i don't see any volunteers that are conservatives out there. that discourages me. there are no conservatives at the center that michelle obama started. these are my positions, i'm a republican, i go out to tell my position. i'm sure you have been called an old, along with other black conservatives. >> that's right. >>-- >> that you have been calld an uncle tom. >> if you are armed and courageous. don't just at random though do a

particular part of town. you could become a statistic. i would not even do that. [laughter] but i am saying be persistent. remember, we can save the saveable. the latest statistics shows you have a third of the people and a third of the voters -- the ones that don't vote, don't worry about them right now -- a third of the voters, less than a third -- it is in the 20's of people considering themselves liberal. the number of people who consider themselves conservatives are about the mid 30% of them. the remainder consider themselves independent. those are the people you go after. but remain persistent. >> penn state. thank you for speaking. >> before you go on, i hate to do this. we have five people.

how many people? 5. ok. everybody gets a minute with the question and/or the answer. in five minutes i have to go catch an airplane. >> about the fairtax, i love the fairtax. when i tried to talk about it even to conservatives, they don't get it. how do you recommend telling people what the fairtax is? >> if you go to buy websites, i have written the abc's of the fairtax. i have taken every letter of the alphabet and given an attribute of the fairtax. that is an easy way to get people going. print a copy of that. it is on my radio show page. start with the abcs. then you hav

-- the abc's. i got the same question from a caller. go back to the abc's. >> owen from ole miss. you mentioned at one time a vote -- not to vote for your guy is like a vote for the other guy. i am proud to say i voted for bob barr. i felt disillusioned that both parties needed a message from us. you mentioned we did use our voice and our vote. do you feel it is important to use your voice and your vote not just to send a message to one party, but to vote and send a message to both parties? >> some republicans are starting to say that we heard you.

rev. wanda bynum-duckett. tony perkins said the same thing. it is i-- it is important to give your vote. your conservative representatives need you to go support them. they need to know you support them. it is important to send a message to both parties. >> my name is stephanie hernandez from lone star community college. thank you for being here and for the animated speech. >> you're welcome. >> i don't support any of obama's health care reforms. i realized he is using the

uninsured to bolster his policies. as someone who has been uninsured and the fact that there are people uninsured in the country, including the 9.5 million with no long-term health care, could you tell me if there could be changes in health care policy that do not involved taxing people were taking money away? also, any conservative ideals? >> the first three things i would do, you never hear about this because the mainstream media don't want you to hear the proposals on the other side. first, level the playing field in terms of who owns their insurance. that has prevented new products from coming to market. the employers take a deduction, but if you buy yourself, you cannot take a deduction. as a result, if -- perspective of who bought it, a tax reduction under the current

system, that lowers the cost for people who who would be able to go buy it themselves. second, i would allow group health plans across state lines. right now you cannot do it across state lines. what if all the barbers in america wanted to have a barbarous health insurance program? they cannot do it because of the rules. remove the barriers. but in washington they call them association held plans. that is another thing you can do. if the third thing i would do, if they are so concerned about making health insurance affordable for people who chronically don't have it, allow them to buy a policy to participate in medicare. at least they would have something. they don't offer that because then they would have to defend the deficiencies in medicare. here's the fourth idea, if you want to help the people that do not have it chronically for whatever reason, what do we do

with people who cannot buy enough food? we give them food stamps. this office as give them the health insurance voucher. first make tax deductibility the same for the individual as it is for the employer. those are four quick steps off the top of my head. . >> go to the town hall meetings and take as many of your friends

that you want. it does not have to turn into a shouting match. i can assure you that that -- there were probably 25 others that did not get into a shouting match. but the mainstream media want to try to help marginalize what is going on. just continue to go, state your case and go on with the facts. i wrote a commentary, guess where you can find it? [laughter] very good, you are paying attention. i wrote a commentary entitled " seven ways to make health care better." i wrote another one that said " seven questions that president obama and the democrats cannot answer." you get those two when you put to a town hall meetings and that will give you structured. -- when you go to the town hall

meetings. go and go in big numbers. last question. >> my name is erica from houston, texas. i was ecstatic to hear that you ran for office. i was wondering if he were considering doing that again. in 2010, democrats stated they want to make a case and have president obama speak. i was wondering if you could say you are speaking as well. >> yes. [laughter] [applause] bring him on. contact my office. i tell you what -- let me answer the second one first. yes, i would consider coming for any event in houston, as well as to a lot of them, but it is all based on availability. if the president will try to draw a crowd, if you guys want to put something together, and when you guys -- when i come to

speak i will not need a teleprompter. [applause] i promise, and i will not need a teleprompter. the answer to your first question, have i considered running again? this is the honest truth, i am still praying about it because i believe in the power of prayer. [applause] i do believe in the power of prayer. the last time i ran for office i had to pray about it. this is a beauty about the power of prayer, when you pray about it and you know in your heart that is something you are supposed to do, you never looked back. i don't regret running even though i came in second, but i am still praying about when and if i am supposed to run again. thank you very much. you contact my office. i would love to be down there for that. let me leave you all with this.

all of you all are much younger than i am, at that is obvious, but let me assure you that what you are doing can and will make a difference. one of the lessons i learned from the president of morehouse college when i was a student, he constantly reminded us no matter how old you are, to always keep in mind as you are on your life's journey, as you are trying to make a difference, life is just a minute, only 60 seconds. you cannot refuse it, you did not choose it, but it is up to you to use it. you must suffer if you lose it. just a tiny little minute, but your eternity is in it.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> tomorrow, on "washington journal," the u.s. chamber of commerce's patrick kilbride. keith epstein talks about why democrats are winning. represented brad sherman talks about u.s. policy towards afghanistan and pakistan -- representative brad sherman. and they are discussing the discussion about the oceans with alexandra cousteau. that