tv American Politics CSPAN June 6, 2010 6:30pm-8:00pm EDT
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kumbaya moment is a beautiful spot but it is not going to happen. >> this year, there was a 13 trillion dollar debt burden for the country, which is getting increasingly politicized past the election gets near. the farm bill seems to be in a nexus between home state concerns, jobs, the economy and concerns over the debt. how does this all play out? >> it plays out the way mike has outlined in terms of different regions fighting for their priorities. the two chairmen of the agriculture committees in the house and senate are concerned about what is going to happen to the baseline for the farm bill. they generally, when things get tight in the budget, the cuts come out of agriculture. come out of agriculture. the house agriculture chairman ,
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that's one of the reasons he started hearings so early, to find out what the priorities are and get a sense of what is people can live without. it is going to be tight and it's going to be tough. it is going to have a broad it is going to have a broad range effect on people. >> the secretary repeatedly referred to there listening to and working with a chairman. while the chairman of the agriculture committees are typically captured by the industry and serving the interest of the administration but of the farm groups, mr. peterson from minnesota is an effective chairman. his interests are more aligned with farmers then white house policy. the chairman of the senate agriculture committee is running for reelection in a tough year for her. there's a possibility she will not be back to chair the committee in time for the completton of the 2012 farm bill. the players are still in flux.
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keep in mind the secretary of agriculture may not be, in fact agriculture may not be, in fact will not be, the prime leader in the rewriting of the bill. >> thank you to the tube for your questions and for the secretary to being on "newsmakers" this week. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> they have an agenda, and as long as the facts are right, that's a story you can write about. >> over the past year, an investigator from the "wall street journal" has written a series on lawmakers overseas trips funded by taxpayers. he is our guest tonight on c- span's q &a. >> david cameron feels questions from parliament in his first prime minister's questions as head of the coalition government tonight at 9:00 on c-span. >> congressman kevin mcarthy
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held a town hall meeting in his district of bakersfield, california. it is part of an initiative called "america speaking out." it solicits opinions through a web site. he heard from constituents on the new arizona immigration law, job creation, social security, and the gulf coast oil spill. his question and answer session is just under 90 minutes. >> who has some ideas?
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come on down. state your name for everybody. >> [inaudible] as far as the federal, state and local unions, as far as what they give their employees as far as the private-sector -- [unintelligible] as far as an excise tax on [unintelligible] as far as being accountable for a consumption tax, we should pay for it as we use it and push ourselves away from people actually trying to [unintelligible] i know there is an
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accountability issue [unintelligible] on the past two fiscal and financial responsibility. >> from the fiscal challenges, what we face? the tension is you is tremendous because we made promises to a lot of people and you are not going to be built have a because pensions are underfunded. the other problem is energy independence. i think he been pickens has done a tremendous job at educating the -- i think t boone pickens has a tremendous job in educating the country. we could be stronger because the money would be invested in america. one type of technology will not get us there. technology continues to change and improve, but what is so unique about 22nd district and where we all live, we are one of the largest in wind, one of the largest in seller, we had geothermal. we do our part -- largest in the
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solar and we have geothermal. we do our part. our oil costs less and get less for it. but if you are buying from another country come are we funding part of the problems and is going somewhere else? how can we protect the environment but make that investment where we control our own destiny? that's a fundamental difference. let's go over here. >> [inaudible] >> is that gone? i do not think i hear it -- is that on it i do not think i hear it. let's do this. you figure it out. we will go over here and come back to the spirit -- come back to you.
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with. -- internet security needs to be dealt with. we have a big problem with identity theft in this country. i guess that is it. >> thank you. different points. the difficulty with the oil is on two fronts right now. one, you have to cap it. second, we have known for about 40 days that this oil is coming to the coast. we have to be able torotect that. hurricanes are coming. this is where the government has faltered. i have a couple of friends who represent new orleans. they have been working for quite some time to get waivers to put
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barriers in the ocean. that would ge them protection. my friend was telling me a story where he has continued to tal to local and federal government. he called the president. it has not -- it has been a week and the president has not called him back. we cannot wait for action. a couple of different questions that you go through. i think when we look at this, we have to look at it a couple of different ways, much like any other crisis. we want to make se that oil drilling is safe and that this never happens ain. how much and how fast were things approved without looking at the chae in the diagram?
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where were the checks and balances? where are the protections as we go forward? is that other microphone working? >> i will give it another try. the first thing i would like you to answer is how to save some money. i took my granddaughter to the welfare office the other day. there are a lot of nice new cars down there with people getting welfare many people -- getting welfare money. they're going to get a load they can handle and they are going to be more selective in who they give money to. regarding the oil spill, let me go back about 40 ars. i worked for the telephone company in 1960.
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it was falling apart. they ghered up a whole bunch of technicians all over the united states. they hadorror storiessto tell about how they would spend eight hours on hold not doing anything. these guys were not doing their job. th the oil spill, you have two people not doing their job. first is bp. you guys were nottdoing your job either. we are in a place where we have to mak sure that everybody is doing the right job. the agencies have had a lot of close calls now, and it is because people are not doing their jobs. the fda says they have to recall a lot of things that are fatal. that is scary. i have things written down, but
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i cannot seem to remember. >> we can just address where you have brought so far. >> no, let me get rid of this. [laughter] our government is at a point where it wants to do everything for us. they cannot do everything for us. let's take a seat belt. i think seatbelts are a good idea, i think a lot is a bad job. we ought to be able to take care of ourselves. motorcycle riders are getting all banged up and they did not ve money to pay for it, so they made a lot about helmets. child seats are a good idea, but there does not need to be a lot. there is a woman they want to put in jail because of herhild died in iraq and she did not have a car seat.
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we kill 40,000 dogs and cats around here every year because people do not take care of them. we is to be able to immerse a leasto them and drag on them -- we used to be able to mercifully shoot them and drown them, but now you cannot do that. the government can. i have a long page. >> you know, in congress, we have a time limit. let's say three minutes. is that fair? >> one more thing. i would like to see you guys, democrats and republicans, take the same stance as the super bowl. there are no winners and losers. you guys are working for us. [applause] alright, i will tell you this. the last thing you said, i agree
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with you. i thank you for giving your opinions, but i do not agree with some of them. if you ever come to d.c.,, office before. i want to make sure to give you a tour. assure you my favorite monument. -- i willhow you my favorite monument. it i the stairs to the first floor of the chamber. why? because of the marble is worn out. whatever party or from, you must think of what has transpired there before. i love watching their every day, because it brings you back. if you come, i want to be able to show it to you. let's go over here. >> i have two things. one, i get really irritated when i go to vote and everything is in several languages. you're supposed to be american.
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even if you come from somewhere else, you are supposed to know our language. we should be able to get through the ballot box. the other things, i have been disabled since 1993 from a workman's comp accident. i would love to be working. i am on ssi. everybody on ssi lost $100 per month last year. en you are on ssi and every penny you make, every dollar, it is bad enough that you cannot go back to work. you lose everything. we are already struggling so much. there are other things, such as what is at the welfare.
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i am not against welfare. i had to do that when i was waiting on ssi. but sometimes it seems it is being taken to the wrong place. >> thank you for your comment. >> hi, my name is dennis. i have a very -- mining is -- my name is janice. i like very simple, straightforward ideas. i am also of animal lover. i believe in animal control. i am concerned about our presence and our borders. we spent $52,000 to incarcerate our prisoners, to have a much better lestyle than our
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veterans who i see here on the street. why don't you buildhe prisons in the desert east of where i live, in the mojave desert? i also heard that insteadf all of the expensive guards protecting the perimeter, they put those lovely, as sweet dogs that are dangerous. it only cost $300 to feed them. it does not cost expensive dogs. you could also run some of those dogs along the border. it does not cost very much at all. all you have to do is feed the dogs. >> that is a good point. animal control and prisons. one of the ideas that you bring
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up would be a state issue as well. one thing i would say regarding state ison reforms is health %+re. theeway state prisoners get health care is a fundamental difference from the way you and i get it. some of these issues are challenges for the court. they are court issues. next. >> thank you forolding this town hall? . >> is that mike on -- is that microphone on? >> i am nning for city council in a local election. i would like to say that you are in at the leadership back in washington. this country is hurting. i do not think the fallout from
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the finances and what is happening globally -- if we do not all put our shoulders together, we are going to lose this country that we love. if you can get down there after the elections and work together for the benefit of the country, because we all worked to put you there, whether we voted for you or not, we have to start working together to save this country. we are in bad shape. we do not have time to be fighti with each other. i am looking for you all to go back there and work together, put your differences aside and try to get something done for the people. >> i appreciate -- let me respond in case you have a difference of opinion. i do agree that i get frustrad that someone is going to dislike an idea does because it comes from one side or the other. that is what america speaking
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out is for. there is one thing i did. it is a smallhing, but i think over time it willlchange. when i got to congress, i discovered that even where you sat on t floor was based on what party you were in. i decided t have a gathering that i only invited freshman congressman to, because i d not want the others teaching us bad ideas. weere all about the same age, concerned about the same things. we realize there were a lot of things we might be similar in. we wanted to find ways we could agree to do well for this country.
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we should be able to stand up and say that no bill should come to the floor that has not been out there 72 hours for the public to see it. [applause] >> thank you for having this town hall meeting. i would like to speak on the social security. it started in the 1930's. it has gone all the way to today, and it is pretty much bankrupt. next year, the people bo after 1946 are going to get the benefits of social security. when they get in theit is like a ponzi scheme. th people who are paying into the system are not going to be able to have the benefits because of the people now getting the benefit. it is a horrible problem. i do not know what the answer is, but that by itself could bankrupt this whole country,
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this social security. i want to go back to the graph that youad. you guyspend and print money like mad. there is nothing behind it. i wish you would go back to a system where money has value instead of using a printing press. >> would use the social security is right. when social surity firss started, there were 40eople working to pay for every one person. your life expectancy was less than when yyu started to receive it. the difficulty is tt the numbers no longer pan out and we have to do something about it. there are now three people working toay for everyone. forhe first time, about a year and a half ago, more money
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started going out of cial security dan actually coming in. it depleted faster than they thoughit would. that is a place where people are going to have to come together, not make it a partisan issue, because it does not matter who get social secury, republicans andemocrats have to have an honest debate and find a real solution. thank you for that. yes. >> i would like to ask you a question. whe do you stand on arizona's le -- arizona's a lot? do you supported -- arizona's law? do you support it? >> i do support it, because it is not much different than what the federal government has on
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the books. the kidnap capital of the country is arizona. drug cartels have a final -- have a funnel coming through. a rancher who would help the people coming across at the mortar -- come across the border got murdered. they cannot sit back and ignore a problem that the are having. they may need to have a debate, but thecannot sit back when they have a murder capital,nd if it is only enforcing the laws that are already on the federal books, and the federal government will not do their job, we as a nation that has been able to grow by immigration -- my family came here from the
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highlands. we have problems with immigration. people cannot t through the system rapidly and honestly. we have a lack border protection. ev during the time of the financial meltdown, people still invested in america. why? because we believe in the rule of law. we believe in treating people fairly. well, if we allow generations of people breaking the lawo come here, it breaks down the country. we have toave an honest debate about this. states have to act because the federal government will not, i do n blame the state for doing their job. [applause]
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>> thank you, a congressman. i would like to support yr idea of the tour, a second year marks, -- second,ear marks, third, the oil spill. i onceent on a tour of moun vernon and my son got to lay a wreath. i can tell you from looking at the tomb that george washington was not baathist. -- was not a theist. if you compare the declaration of independence to the 159 new
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agencies and the health-care bill, many progressives do not think the declaration of independence has anything to do with the constitution, but it needs a debate. on the oil company tng, i have a failed company that had an array of naturally occurring organisms, many of which a on your body as we speak, and we used them to do an array of thgs. we were successful at oil cleanup. we put in a proposal to the exxon valdez and the huntington beach oil spills. we did not have the resources, and we certainly could not work through the bureaucracy at the time. during dunton beat bill we have the san walkingelicopters -- during the huntington beach
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spill, we the san joaquin helicopters spraying chemicals everywhere. ww could have taken care of it your guys said no way, the bugs will mutate and spread. i was listening to marc levin today. he saithe epa has changed all e rules against microbiology. a professor says that nature will take care of this in time. these buds would take care of the hole clean up, and right now they desperately need it. i could not take care of it
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anymore, i do not have the supplies. i am just trying to find out if anyone is ting biological mediation. >> we have a lot of oil expertise working to clean it up. this is an unbelievable problem. i think, in a tough situati, we should learn from it. if youave ideas for how to clean it up, please prode them to me. i will make sure they get passed on to the coect a stories. -- the correct authorities. let's go over here. >> i will bring up something a product three years ago on the fourth of july. -- something i brought up three years ago on the fourth of july. if the government wants to get back to being relevant, it must ensure justice, promote the
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general warfare -- general welfare, d secure the blessings of liberty. i have not seen much of either party that indicates that they understand that. if they dnot understand that, maybe we ought to elect new people to congress. [applause] >> i appreciate your opinion. you definitely should hold people accountable. people choe to call their office however they . -- to hold their office however they do. when we set up this website, people ask if we were using government money to cate aay for people to express their opinions to us? we said yes.
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they seemed to think that was wrong. only been -- only in washington would people think it was wrong to use government money to allow people to express their opinions to you. but you're a republican. yes, but people can come to this whatever they are. hi. >> thank you for this town hall, the telephone town hall, and america speaking out. asn american of mexican descent, and thank you for your support of enforcingurrent immigration laws, something we really need to put pressure on the federal government to do. any eps you can take to do that are very powerful. i detest the raciay charged
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rhetoric being used to describe arizona's law. i am a college sophomore, and it is really hard -- >> where do you go? >> i go to the university of redlands in southern california. it is really troublesome for people mage to get jobs. in california, minimum wage is $8 per hhur. it is hard for someone who is unskilled to actually have their labor valued at $8 per hour. anotherroblem is that our public schools do not provide
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the education necsary. i ok the most advanced courses possible. i honestly felt that high school was more of the day care than anything else. our schools don't offer courses that actually teach us how to live our lives once we get out in the real world, and this is a major problem that is going to affect the generations to come. i think we need some aation to confront this problem now. is there anything that you can do in the next session, hopefully when rublicans gained a majority, because this is of ve pressing issue. >> it is a pressing issue. there was atudy about republican leadehip. this was before 2000. it said the greatest american threat to america was an attack
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>> financial battles happen often. how retrying to isolate iraq for the actions that are doing for the world from a financial basis? i would we ever put ourselves in this situation? when you bring up foreign policy, it goes even further to also the debt issues when it comes to foreign policy as well. a few short years, we will pay more on our interest that we pay for national defense. that is the difficulty that we have. >> i think a lot in arizona is not so much a problem with enforcing our borders. i am as much for enforcing the borders as anyone in this room. the problem is that within moments of signing the bill into law this coming july, the
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governor said she would not know how to profile an illegal immigrant, and is now legislating, legalizing racial profiling. to perpetuate this idea that we can legislate racial profiling on any level, and that just does not speak to illegal immigrants, but also in the airports, where we are now not only racially profiling people of middle eastern descent, like the gentleman who flew his plane into the irs building. he looked very much like you. we should not do that. i don't think we as americans are that unimaginative or and creative that we cannot find a better way. except in terms that we would not previously agree on, that
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forfeiting our constitutional rights for the sake of drug trafficking -- i am completely against that, but that is done away. there is a better way. thank you for your comment. the reason that china has the resources to buy debt from our country and other countries abroad, not only is their public education system so much more in advance, it is that we buy things from them that we should not come at a low-cost, like baby formula with high traces of lead in it. because the fda does not regulate that, we continue to buy it, and they pay their work for nothing. they have a very small work force and pay them hardly anything. it is a free market utopia. but wages, hardly any benefits, and everybody else can go out on a rice paddy. i agree with the other gentleman
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about that. it is odd that you mentioned that the federal government' was slow to act. what it sounds like is that you want the federal government to use these taxpayers' dollars to regulate a private industry, which british petroleum is, of bailout is what you are suggesting. that is what it is. you know as well as i do, as in the exxon valdez, i am thinking faster than i am speaking. they were required to pay several hundred million dollars right afterwards. what they ended up paying after appeal an appeal an appeal was something like $20,000. so you are going to pick up the check. that is what you are saying, not only should we pick up the check, but the federal
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government needs to do it faster. they are causing not only economic problems but environmental problems. they are causing. health problems for people who live on the coast of louisiana and other people along the gulf coast of mexico. >> i appreciate your comments. let me just correct you. i never said anywhere that we would pick up the tab for british petroleum. british petroleum can take over everything the calls and every problem that they cause. . .
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a person cannot be pulled over and asked just because of the color of their skin. just like, you have to have reasonable suspicion to search a car if you think there is something inside it right now. this is the uniqueness of america. we have the court system. when i say the american government has a responsibility, i believe in limited government. i believe we have a responsibility to protect our bbrders. the idea of the state having to do it, they are having to do it because of the actions transpiring by the federal government. wouldn't we all admit that the
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immigration system itself for people to come here legally is not working? why, if we are a nation of immigrants, why do we not have a system that works right? why is it today that i can send a package from ups or fedex and they can track it at any time, but i cannot go inside immigration and fill out a form and nowhere is at and where it is going? there are quite a few things that we need to reform, but you know what, the state cannot reform everything. arizona does not have a responsibility to do that. when i say the federal government, they do have a responsibility. >> the moment that they become u.s. citizens, they get the most powerful tool of all, which is democracy. and the moment they have heard
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you say that you do not support them, they will vote you out. that is what is happening in arizona. the people in charge do not want them to have the votes. [applause] the great thing about america -- let's be respectful of one another. everyone has their opinion. but what i would said -- but i would say, i watched arizona as a lot take place and the frustration hrough the years -- law take place and the frustration and through the years. but i also watched a rancher get murdered. we have the 10th amendment. i respect the 10th amendment. i believe everybody has the right to vote, but i want a nation that is protected. i want this nation to be able to
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grow, but i also want the rule of law. i appreciate your comments. >> while i believe that america is a proud and generous nation, we cannot continue on this social services state that we are in. we need to create some jobs in order to create a tax base to pay for the social services. on my shirt it says "no severance tax," because i believe that is a jobs killer. ." >> oh. i na believe va is -- i believe that nava is
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taking thousands of jobs out of kern county. they pay $20 to $25 per hour. while they are not the dollars per hour, but having experienced that wage, i was able to educate my children, i was able to stay off public assistance, i was able to prepare for my retirement. i feel that every american should be able to be allowed to produce and be self-reliant. so, some of these regulations and that everyone is talking about, i think they need to be tied to unemployment. if the unemployment rate down here is around 5%, we get a little picky about who we hire, what they do, how they do it.
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if unemployment is up. 18%, we need to back off. first of all, we do not have people doing the jobs that are harming the environment or -- the small business does not have a chance to grow and strive. everyone who is a public servant, i appreciate the job you're doing. but you're not producing. we need some producers. we've got to grow it. we cut to mina. we cut to manufacture it. we got to produce it -- we've got to mind it. we've got to manufacture it. we've got to produce it. then we can have some exports. the other thing i have a strong opinion about is that 60% of all the oil that is imported in
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california, which does not always come from a friendly sources, is not taxed. so the local producer has no incentive to reinvest in this county. they are going to take their reinvestment dollars, especially if we do away with the depreciation allowance and various other things, and they are going to another state. that other state is in america and on our soil, but it is not california. california is bankrupt. we need to keep every job that we have got and create three or four more for every one we have. >> i appreciate that. she is referring to one thing in the oil industry. we also have to remember, what about the american domestic oil industry? but it does not mean that you are going to stop putting gas in your car, but where are you
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spending your money? and we tell you a few statistics. california has 12% of the nation's population, but with 32% of the nation's welfare population. we get 25% of our entire budget from 144,000 people. that is in a state of 36 million people. we cannot sustain that if we say that if you are a wealth creator we are going to push you out, but if you want assistance, we will give you more than other states and create an incentive to come here. texas has 2% of the welfare population. look at tiger woods. he is a good golfer. he could have gone to any college. he closed -- he chose to stay close to his parents and went to stanford. the day he left california was the day he went professional. look at the williams sisters.
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they grew up playing in the parts of california. they no longer live here. we cannot drive that out and think we are going to create jobs. we cannot sustain that if we do not have the job creation base to be able to help people. 7% of all new jobs are created through small business. when you put a severance tax on small business, it is not going to help it grow. california needs to pull some regulations back. we live in the 21st century. we can do things smarter and wiser, and give greater protection to the consumer and the environment to have a prosperous state. we have to think logically about this. i am not going to cut anybody off, but i am going to ask if we could shorten it. i did not tell you ahead of time that c-span is covering this. if i had told you ahead of time,
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have the guys would have been putting on makeup, so that is why i did not tell you. >> thank you very much. i have a brother-inlaw to is a veteran. on behalf of all the veterans, i appreciate all the help that you are giving them. [applause] secondly, i would like to know what you think we concerned citizens of california can do to help get our country, our state back into some kind of stability. there is enough anger and hatred to go around. i do not hate anybody. but i do believe arizona has a right to their law. i am not, i am not against the
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mexican people or other people. the word illegal means something to me. i am old. i am old. i was taught that words mean something. i want everyone to be able to have the kind of life i have had all these years. i am afraid my children and my 16 grandchildren are not going to be able to have the kind of a wonderful country that i grew up in. what can i do? >> well, you are doing part of it right now. i want to applaud everybody, because we are having a very respectful conversation. we all have differences of opinion, but you know what? that is what the founding fathers device for government. you should be able to have a free debate, but at the end of
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it, find a solution. we should be able to hold our elected officials accountable for solutions. we elect people to create solutions, not to punish one side or the other. i am thankful that we have all different spectrums here on ideas. ideas that we decide at the end of the date should be the strength, we will have a much better forum. a dome was being built during the civil war for the capital. they did not even know if the country would stay together. but they made it big enough for all to see. i still believe that our best days are ahead of us. i still believe that the best message for america is a common message from a common man. that is what we are getting tonight. i understand the frustration. we have challenges. we are frustrated. we can express the frustration, but at the end of the day, let's find a way to come together.
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>> i am with united way of kern county. we are about helping families here, advancing the common good by supporting programs around health, income and education. i am asking for your assistance here today are around our financial stability initiative with our voluntary income tax assistance program. we have several partners that are giving services to our families. the new america foundation just put out an article that there are $37 million being left unclaimed by our families here. that is money that does not stay in kern county. so, what we are trying to do is help our residents reclaim what is already theirs. since 2003, we have shown a 140% increase of people coming to our centers. it is not just about volunteer income tax anymore. if we are also serving financial institutions, opening
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savings accounts. we are channeling them into other programs. we are educating them on how to save up for emergencies. we have seen us bike with the need to have these programs here. the president's -- we have seen a spike with the need to have these programs here. in 2009, we had our first appropriation of $12 million. we had over $1.6 billion in federal tax refunds and nationally totaled through our program -- funneled through our program. we are asking you today ffr an appropriation of $36 million for fiscal year 2011, or at the very minimum, to keep the level of funding at the current state. that is what i am here to ask you for. >> i want to thank you for the work united way does. i will not pledge that i will ask for that amount of money.
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i will seriously look at it. just like if you ask about anything else, i am going to look at where our resources are, and we are going to prioritize. if it makes the criteria that it is the best use of money, then we will do it. i believe the program that you do is very very good. >> we also found not that there is a $37 million left on the table. that affects revenues being lost here with businesses. that is an estimated at over one nelson positions in job losses. >> thank you very much. -- 1000 positions in job losses. >> thank you very much. i do not know that the microphone is on. >> this is a conspiracy. >> andy, give him your microphone. >> thank you. my name is joey williams.
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we had a chance to speak earlier. i am and native american. i am not american like most of you guys. in american indian. i am not an immigrant. i believe arizona has a right to enact its own laws, except when it violates the civil rights of people. i denounce the new law right now. you said that there were other solutions to vengeance enforcement. repeatedly, and immigration center has given you a 0 rating on your immigration report card. i am asking you today, what real solutions do you have besides border enforcement? >> i think we should reform, as i talked about earlier, the immigration process itself. that is broken. if you have to wait in the system for seven years, it is not broken. first and foremost, i would
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protect the borders, so you have a system there. i would reform the process itself to make it more efficient. in the 21st century, you're going to tell me we cannot process something faster? i would support the idea of making sure that you have a labor coming in with agriculture, but i would also make sure that there is truth that people are keeping their word of where they are providing it and the need of where it is going. i think that would be very strong stuff. much like when we talked about health care, i think we would have had four hundred votes if we had just dealt with pre- existing conditions, for reform, and selling insurance across state lines to lower the cost. that is something we ought to have agreed on. uni have had a respectful debate today. -- you and i have had a respect debate today.
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why do not just arbitrary degree instead of focusing on what divides us? i will tell you that if someone racially profiles, that is wrong. that is why we have a court system. i would be the first to defend them. that is why i am proud to be an american, because we have the rule of law to protect people. this law has not gone into effect. they have changed the amendments on it as well. i think we're punishing the wrong situation in trying to punish arizona. the federal government has not acted. they are the ones that have the power to change the process. >> the second part of the question is, in 2008, republicans did not do very well concerning the latino vote. obama carried two-one over john mccain. what would your party due to address these concerns? this county is deeply hispanic.
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what would you do to make those numbers better? >> i would address it the way i would address anybody of any color of skin, create a country that they can believe them, create jobs, create a good education system. i think that is the best way that everybody gets treated fairly. i think that is the most honest approach and the best way of going about it. i do not think someone should produce something just for an election. the power rests with the people. every two years you get to redress that. i think the best thing we could always do is be held accountable, come before you+ with my votes, come before you with any opinion i have and answer your questions. i think the respect that we have for each other goes much further
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in trying to find a solution. >> i am also with the united way. i would like to talk with you about another issue i would like you to consider supporting, and that is the 211 system. >> uh, yes. for the fun. -- for the telephone. it is very successful in a time of need. i cosigned on the legislation. >> great. well, that is all we're asking for. just for the benefit of everyone here, it helps match people with resources that are in the community. we do have been here -- we do have 211 here. we are asking for support so that we can get full coverage in the country so that people can access the benefits that are available.
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many of those resources and benefits are provided by faith based groups and non-profit. we just really wanted to ask you for your support on that legislation. >> i supported. >> thank you for the opportunity to be able to participate in this this evening. my question, i will just preface this by saying that both of my parents came to the united states over 60 years ago. they came and worked their way through the system legally as soon as they got on this soil. they pledged their allegiance, their lives to this country.
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i am very blessed to be able to be here as a citizen of this country and i would understand why a lot of people would want to be here why do we have a system, a constitutional provision that allows individuals who are here illegally, regardless of their country of origin, the color of their skin, whatever, why, just because they have children who are born here, just -- if they are not citizens, why should they be entitled to the benefits and rights of this country, when they are not here as a legal citizens, legal residents? >> there is different legislation on despot -- legislation on at this. maybe you or nine months
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pregnant. there is an interpretation. some argue that there was a different time when we were divided about equality for one another. i think this is a debate that will happen with immigration as well. >> dec that is being key to any kind of comprehensive legislation or immigration reform that would come about? is it something that you feel like you could stand behind? >> it is something we will have to address. understand why it people desire to come. now you create a larger problem, that if the child is born is a citizen and the other person is not, think of all the conflict that is created. is it an incentive for someone
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to break the law just to get here? what rather costs and effects of that? it goes back to can you create a process that is honest and open if someone can get through. i believe at the end of the day, it will be addressed. >> we get some of the charge you are talking about, a lot of the expenditures are a social welfare programs and things like that that have just grown exponentially. we are no longer in a position where we can just do everything for everybody. mitt>> border states get affected differently than other states in the country. they are not reimbursed as far as the federal government's responsibility. >> >> would you getting your degree in?
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>> spanish. >> you have a lot of good professors out there. >> i have a binder here with some information and some contact information from a group. halli don't know if i can give it to one of your aides and give it to you. it is just for you, with some contact information i want to give you. i want to ask you a question regarding immigration also. i am glad to hear that you officeobviously it is a very long process. even if you wanted to come here legally, it takes forever. if your passport expires, it ought takes a long time to get things done.
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i am glad to hear that you like to reform that process. but to touch on the dream act, of blue and will open a which for people that do not understand what it is, it goes into helping students. as a student myself, i have seen of waws tons of students come to this moves will both moves are country. their parents brought them when they were two years old. they had no choice in it. they did not try to break any laws or do anything. they came to this country and became just as american as anyone else, learned english, studied the constitution, done everything it needed to do. many of them went to college. one of my best friends is undocumented. when he gets done with his degree, there is absolutely nothing out there for him because he has no u.s. citizenship, even though he has been here since he was very young. he has no opportunity. he wants to be a u.s. citizen, but there is nothing he can do about it. can the dream act be one of the solutions you are talking about, to help some of these students that don't want to do anything
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wrong, make the country better, and have a college education? they are very skilled in their trade. can we not put that in as a part of the solution in the emigration problem? >> i have a couple of different opinions on this. as an individual that is here illegally, are they getting benefits that taxpayers are paying where citizens are not? >> no. he pays for his own education and is paying out of state tuition. >> we want to encourage the best and brightest to compete inside our college system. i think it's something we can debate and talk about. do i have the perfect solution for it? off the top of my head, i don't think i do. we can address it, but it goes back to a system. if you teach a generation that we are a nation of laws, but it is ok if you break it because we are going to allow it, you cannot sustain that. so there ii a way to do it
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properly. if we had a process system that allowed it to process, i think we could probably get there. until then, is something we will have to debate. i don't have the direct answer. maybe you have some ideas for me. >> i graduate next saturday. >> congratulations. [applause] >> thank you, mr. mccarthy. i believe that the beginning of your presentation is the most important. if this country does not get their budget squared away, we are going to crumble. all of these other issues we are discussing will be moot. i believe we need to get back to basics. the budget should be what the dollars available are.
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we should arrange our budget according to that. also, anyone who is raised in a household knows that if you have credit, the interest will kill you. we need to pay down our deficit. also, it has only been touched on once tonight. one of the ways to do that is to create and maintain jobs. if we don't have the jobs, we don't have the taxes to pay the deficit or the budget. also, that being said, in regard to jobs, i would like to know what your position is in regard to hr-173, which maintains six-state meal delivery. if you support hr-173, you will go a long way in preserving over 50,000 jobs across the nation. there is a bill before the congress from the postal committee reducing mail delivery to five days a week.
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there is also the bill 173 which supports maintaining six- day delivery. the have a position on this issue? >> the bill has not been before my committee, but i like the idea of the male being there six days a week. i think the postal department needs to be more modernized. they have come along way, but there is a fundamental difference that there is a way we can change something. how my wife and i pay our bills are different today. we pay a lot of them on line. how we buy our movie tickets. things may change as we go forward. i have not gone through it enough to steady the ramifications on both sides.
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a more efficient way to do it -- this is another pressure of the government. when you listen to people, they said the only way to do it is to raise more money. could we make the system more efficient and actually lower the cost of that? what we first have to say the stamp has to go up in price? is there a way to do it differently? there is a different way to communicate with congress and hold them accountable. it has not been before my committee yet, but i am glad to look at it. i agree wholeheartedly with you. job creation should be number one, and deficit reduction. >> congress is the one who decides whether or not to increase [unintelligible] >> i am one of the three registered democrats in kirk county.
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[laughter] there were four up, until my husband died, and it gets lonely up there. many of the issues that are being discussed here, immigration and so forth, were issues that came up over the past 10 years in congress. over the past 30 years, they would get started, the plot would get boyle, and then they would drop it because it was in their political interest to it. there are thinking of the next election. i have heard here tonight people asking about the welfare
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department, and after being a retired social worker 40 years, i can say that i never drove that expensive a car. i would say that the staff or under some big difficulties right now. but i have heard people express concern about our veterans. i have heard people express concern about many different issues. you say we are becoming a welfare state. i want to know from you, what are going to eliminate? we are going to have more and more veterans coming as the afghan war goes on and on and on. iraq is still not settled. their constant boiling points coming up all over the world, so there'll be more people to treat and more people need help. our unemployment rate is astronomical, if there was some center that blocked unemployment benefits for a while for people who are struggling.
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so i want to see what you would eliminate, and i want to know that there is some hope that the animosity, the rancor, the petty bickering that is going on because they are so worried about the 2012 election, there is some hope for ending at. americans are suffering. they are suffering. many of us pay our taxes, and we want to do all we can. what would you eliminate? would you do away with ssi? we eliminate social security or veterans' benefits? >> no, i would not eliminate any of those. in the last two years, discretionary spending in the federal government has grown by 82%. how many small businesses grew by 82% in the last two years? i promise i would find one penny out of every dollar the government has and find savings.
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i would fundamentally redirect how you create a budget. i am a firm believer in structure dictates behavior. he the create a structure where you give all the committees in congress to go out and create a wish list, i will give you every difference study and every revision, every different funding mechanism for every single district to somehow get reelected, and then you go and say you have to get this much money and borrowed is much more. what i would fundamentally change would be to say this is all the dollars we have. now you go back to committee and prioritize. so it would knock out and eliminate some of the waste. then i read start a national dialogue, much as how we started the debate today. this is the deficit, this is how much we are borrowing, and how to be changed? i would tell line by line. we could probably do it in this room.
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we are fairly respectful of one another. the one thing that unites us all, we are all americans and we all want this country to do best. i would make the investment. when you put priorities down, i think we make a commitment when it came to social security. we made a commitment long term, too. there may be some changes in the system we have to provide. we also made a commitment in the system as well. i would not expand government into all these private sector jobs, because i do not believe that is getting a return on investment are making the united states as competitive. i would not expand the federal government the way it is. i would simplify the private sector to grow. >> the issue is that right now, there are so many americans that are hurting. you are talking about a plan that is going to take a long time. i don't know exactly what your
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budget is, but i do know there are a lot of families in this country right now that are worried about next week's groceries. thank you for your time. >> thank you for coming, and thank you for your question. i do understand america is hurting. do we ignore the long term in the short term? the greatest thing someone can do in america is be able to create a job. if they have a job, they can be able to prosper with the next generation. if you bird and that next generation with debt, they will not have the opportunities that we have 3 gb burton that next generation. -- if we burden the next generation with debt, they will not have the opportunities that we have. we are well past 7:30, so i will take this question and then come and answer everybody's question individual. i will stick around as long as
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you want, if you are shy about asking questions. >> thank you for having this forum. we really appreciate being able to voice our opinions and get feedback from you. one of the first things i want to bring up that has come up a couple of times this as a citizen, it is our duty to read the laws and understand them and not take someone else's work for what they say. i think that is the main problem with this arizona law. everybody is hearing what the other side is saying, this is what it means. if you read the bill, there are so many checks and balances in it, there is no way could happen that way. i am not saying human beings are not going to miss manage it.
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that could happen, but we have laws to manage it. first and foremost, before you make an opinion, make sure it is your opinion and not somebody else's. it is the government's duty to protect our borders. one thing i wanted to bring up, i am a veteran of the united states army. one of the problems we have with our soldiers and why these wars take so long is because rules of engagement have changed. they have tied their hands. some people are walking into hot areas without ammunition in their guns. that is just ridiculous. you wonder why this goes on and on and on. in world war ii, we had a war where there is a beginning and end. ever since then, it is police actions and no one ever wins, and no one really knows why we are there. one of the main things we need to do is address the rules of engagement. we have to untie our soldiers' hands, and a lot more of them will come back home. [applause] another thing, high school
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american history. the first two years of school, what did they deal with world history? this is america. not to mention, when they do hit junior and senior year, the books that are put out there have been gone through, so much history of our founding fathers has been taken out, that they are not even getting the full measure of what this country is all about. they need to know who we are. that is another thing we need to address. [applause] the other thing is tax breaks for small businesses. that is what will bring jobs back to the country. there are more and more taxes being raised. every time you turn around, they need more money, so they raise more taxes, which puts more businesses out of existence, which lays more
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people off. and we have more people going on help. how many times are going to extend benefits? it is getting ridiculous. we are in 99 weeks, and is growing. that is the main thing. we have to get back to creating jobs, and not temporary jobs. they are going to come up with these 500,000 jobs, which are census workers that are going to die off in a few months. we need real jobs. those are just my opinions and things i wanted to bring up. >> thank you for that. one thing i would tell you, the military -- as i said earlier, they have made the ultimate sacrifice, more so than ever before. we are just coming of memorial day. this community is very patriotic. one thing i am working on, there are a lot of men and women that are not coming back, and some are coming back not hold. we cannot ignore that fact. we have to be able to give them
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the treatment, from a lot of different aspects. i am afraid that when people are leaving, they are not being screened properly. they are young, strong, and they do not want to admit they have a problem. later down the road when they realize they do, we have to be there for them, but actually screened them earlier. it will cost less, and we will bring them back sooner. that is something i am fully engaged in. small-business -- many of the know the story, i started when i was 19 in my first business. i applied for a summer internship program with matt local congressman, and he turned down. today i have a job i could not get an intern for. 70% of all jobs are created for small business. that is what we have to focus on. that will bring people back. we have to knock away this regulation. you brought of taxes. just think in your own life.
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just think for a moment what we pay. when we get up in the morning i take a shower. i pay tax on the water. you stop to buy water or coffee, you pay tax. stop to get gas in your car, you pay state and federal highway tax. the first two hours to work, you pay a tax. you pick up the phone to call your family, you pay tax on that too. i've paid in airplane tax, will car tax, hotel occupancy tax. i pay cable tax. we put enough money away to leave for our children, and the government comes back with inheritance tax. we are taxed from the moment we wake up until the end of the night. he should be able to keep more of what you make, and more people have the dream. they have turned off the air to try to get us out of this place. thank you for coming. thank you for your opinions. i appreciate it.
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