government's dependence that plays a role. how much is the big question. host: what should viewers watch for when it comes to housing policy after the november elections when they return, both on capitol hill and regulators with the new consumer watch dog group? >> you mentioned them that is interesting because i think people are probably familiar with elizabeth warren who has been appointed the special assistant to pro boesident obam because she could not look to be confirmed as the first director of the bureau of consumer financial protection. one issue that they are tackling is the mortgage disclosure forms. they had a roundtable i think last week with secretary geithner and that is one that they are looking to do and they have moved to the front of this. that will be an issue that the new bureau will be operating on. it will be interesting to see what the regulators do if the problems that we are seeing in

the foreclosure market exacerbate and they will get involved with that, as well as what happens in the housing market where you look at housing starts and home sales. that reverberates a lot on the local level. .

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> spokesman jeff merrel schedule for a 4:00 p.m. eastern, live coverage as that -- for that as well. vice-president bidens's wife

will run the afternoon session which will focus on the role of community colleges. that will begin at 3:00 p.m. eastern >> enter c-span's student cam competition. tell us about an issue, the event, or topic that helps better understand the role of federal government in your life or community. download your video to c-span by january 20, 2011, and you will have a chance to win the grand prize of $5,000. it is open to all students grades 6 through 12. for complete details, go online studentcam.org. >> keeping track of the delaware senate race, and a new tv

advertisement, christine o'donnell talks about her foray into witchcraft. she is backed by the tea party. if you are not familiar, christine o'donnell said it back in 1910 and that she had dabbled in witchcraft and hung around people who were doing these things. continuing in her advertisement, she said none of us are perfect. i will go to washington to do what you do. you can follow all the political races on our website, c- span.org/politics. lee fisher and rob portman meet in their first televised debate, the fighting to replace senator george voinovich.

of the poll shows ms. portman leading mr. fisher. both political report and cq politics rate this race. this is about an hour. here is your moderator, diane larson. >> good evening, everyone, and welcome to tonight's debate. i am your moderator. gentlemen, thank you so much for being here tonight. eight newspapers make up the

organization sponsoring tonight's debate as well as two others. both campaigns have agreed to the format of this debate, and it will feature questions from our four panelists. panelists include -- thank you all for being here tonight. each candidate will have two minutes to respond to questions posed by the panelists. the other will have one minute to respond to those answers. lee fisher won the coin toss it to go first and will begin this evening with 82-minute opening. >> ohio, washington, main

street, wall street. export goods, export jobs. i begin this way tonight because this is a very clear choice between someone who has traveled ohio fighting for the people of ohio, and someone who has spent the last 20 years fighting for the special interests. as attorney general, i have closed drug houses throughout our state. i have helped struggling families get back on their feet. as a lieutenant governor, i have been in every corner of the state, in the middle of this unprecedented economic storm working to save it and create jobs. what about congressman portman? you would never know it by listening to him tonight.

he was a lobbyist for a foreign country. he was a congressman that supported the the regulation of wall street. he was the budget director for george bush, advocating for policies that gave tax breaks to large companies that ship jobs overseas. the washington post has described him as mr. washington. if you want to know reforms, take a look. the congressman portman has received more money than any republican candidate in the country from washington lobbyists and has received more money from every -- than any candidate in the -- he is on his way to being number one because he will lead the fight to repeal wall street's reform. i think it is time to take responsibility for his role in

helping cause of this recession. he knows better despite his commercials. this is not a state recession. this is a national recession. washington had their choice. now it is our turn. >> thank you, mr. fisher. >> thank you, diane, and thank you to the organizers predict it is great to be back in toledo. i wanted to come here because this part of the state too often gets left out. since, meeting with small business owners, economic development folks. i have done that all over this great state. what i have seen it will not surprise you because you can feel it. our state is falling behind the rest of the country. we have lost 400,000 jobs in the last four years.

our unemployment rate has nearly doubled. ohio has one of the top-10 highest unemployment rates in the country. we have lost business to other states and have lost the best and brightest people. for the last four years, my opponent has been the lieutenant governor of ohio and the director of the department of development for ohio responsible for creating jobs. you just heard from him and you just heard his attack. all of those attacks are partisan attacks and are discredited. he is going to do it all night, and that think he is going to do it to distract us. one, from his record, and second, the policies that he is supporting. he is a strong supporter for washington's health care laws. i believe ohio and this country

is moving in the wrong direction. i believe there is a better way on health care, on taxes, on spending that is out of control, on energy and regulations to help get private sector jobs back. check out our job plan. i was born and raised in ohio ohio to come back, but we need to turn things around in washington to get back on track. >> thank you very much. our first round of questions begin. >> in this campaign, you have been very critical on international free-trade deals, and yet during the most recent 12 months, the highest trade top $20 billion. it wouldn't a protective trade policy reversed ohio's [unintelligible] >> tom, exports are good.

as lieutenant governor, i actually worked to promote exports. we have counseled countless businesses right here in northwest ohio, helping them to access the 14 different markets in which ohio has offices. the issue here is not whether exporting goods is a good thing. the issue is whether or not we are exporting to many jobs. when you have fair and balanced trade, you can do both, but when you have a trade deficit, that means you are saying we will export goods even if it means the price we pay is a jobs leaving the state at a record number. that is not a price any of us should be willing to pay. the bottom line, we are selling too little, buying too much. we are producing too little and producing what we do it do in china and in other countries.

there is an easy solution. you increase your exports, reduce your imports, bring production offshore back to america. i want to make it clear. i want more trade, not less. i want more exports, not less. but i wanted to be fair and balanced. i do not want hard working people that have spent their lives in manufacturing and in technology losing their jobs, not to mention the businesses and industries that we are losing almost every month to another country. >> thank you. >> tom, you have it right. you can't have it both ways. the cleveland plain dealer yesterday endorsed my candidacy.

a one of the reasons in the editorial was because of lee fisher on trade. ohio depends on exports. one out of every 3 acres planted in ohio are exported. we need to expand exports. my candidate does not support a higher factory workers and farmers. he says he is for helping companies stay in america. he supports higher taxes on u.s. companies, both small and big companies. he supports higher regulations and more burdens. this is going to make it more difficult to keep jobs here. we need to endorse our trade laws. if we don't, we will be heard in ohio workers. >> thank you. >> mr. portman, even those that

believe free trade enriches the overall u.s. economy, certain sectors or individual communities can be decimated by foreign competition. but what do you say to people that have lost jobs in foreign countries, and what responsibility does the u.s. government have in assisting those people? >> trade should be about two things. one, insuring that we have a level playing field. i did that when i was in a position to do it. we won. it was on autoparts, and it helped ohio. i have been there, i have done it. we need to level the playing field. second, we need to expand exports. export jobs pay more and they have better benefits. we cannot allow ourselves to

continue in this way. i agree with what joe just said. we need to be sure we are minimizing the effects the need to make sure that the government steps in to provide workers the training that they need. i am for revamping and reforming the system. under the lieutenant governor, ohio is a 44th in the country in terms of getting money into worker retraining. that money is not well spent. we need to coordinate better and get the bureaucracy out of it in columbus that takes up too much of that money so that we are first in the country and getting workers the training that they need. >> thank you. one minute to respond. >> it is hard to look men and

women in the eye and ohio that there is not damage done when we have the free trade. 50,000 jobs have been lost. because of trade with china, 100,000 jobs have been lost. think about this. at the end of the bush years, the trade deficit in the united states was about 800 -- $800 million. they are selling us a hundred billion dollars worth of stuff -- they are selling us $800 billion worth of stuff more than we are selling them. when congressman portman was the trade adviser, he refused to put quotas on steel pipes despite the fact that manufacturers and the trade commission asked him to do it. his record is not what he says it is. >> thank you. the next question goes to lee

fisher. >> you were the director of ohio department of development. when ohio lost nearly 400,000 jobs and the unemployment rate climbed, why should voters in this economy send you to the united states senate. >> in the middle of a national economic storm that has affected every single state in the country, whether republican or democratic governor or lieutenant governor, states have two choices. they can go down to the basement and pray for a better day. or they can do what the governor and i have done. the list goes on and on. we have worked to save jobs, one job at a time. if you are unemployed, and there are too many people unemployed,

the unemployment rate is 100%. i know that. it is not a state recession. it is a national recession. only once did in this country has received recognition for bringing in the most new jobs, not once, not twice, but three times in the 2007, 2008, and 2009, and that is ohio. does that mean everything is good? of course not, but it means we are working harder than other states. we are going down that field in a cloud of dust and we are not giving up. you want people leading you who, when the wind is in their face, they don't go up and down the sidelines. they keep moving down the field. if you go to some of those companies that i am talking about, they will tell you when

they were about to leave, we stepped in and saved a thousand jobs. there are too many people that have not benefited from our work, which is why our work is never done. that's always remember, it is in national recession brought to us by the policies of former president bush. >> thank you. >> i think it is an insult. it has not been a successful game. we have been losing the game. we lost 400,000 jobs. we have lost companies in the toledo area and the past year. the four companies have left toledo to go to indiana. i read that story a couple of days ago. these guys have not done the job. now the lieutenant governor

wants to take that record to washington. i have been to some of these companies around the state that he says he has been helping in the last year and a half. they don't want higher taxes, higher health-care costs. they want to be given to improve jobs, a pro-growth approach. that is what i am offering, not a failed record. unfortunately, mr. fisher does not deserve it. >> thank you. >> you were in congress and then budget director to increase federal spending. now you are calling for less spending to control the deficit. what would you cut, would be off-limits, and why do you have credibility on this issue? >> i am not just calling for less spending today, i have always been calling for less

spending. the administration should of had the president vetoing spending bills. the month after i got there, i sent a letter and the spending got under control. we had a 50% reduction in the deficit. i thought it was too high because of a proposed a balanced budget. today's deficit is nine times higher than that. think about that. we are talking about tripling the dead in 10 years. this is an unconscionable for our kids and grandkids, to leave them with this incredible burden. now. we need to put a freeze on domestic spending and we need to grow the economy. we need pro-growth economies --

policies to get the economy moving. we need to take a look at the entitlement plan. every other person that has looked at this says that we need to have a sensible bipartisan approach to the entitlement spending to get our country back on the right path in terms of its fiscal future. these are all things i will do. >> thank you. mr. fisher? >> we do agree that the deficit and the debt are out of control, but he is leaving out a little bit of history. when bill clinton left office, he handed a record surplus to george w. bush. eight years later, a record deficit of $1.30 trillion. what was that budget deficit when congressman portman was the budget director? it was all around $5 billion --

it was all around $5 billion when he was trade adviser. when he was trade adviser, the deficit ballooned to $200 billion. now he wants to give $700 billion to millionaires and billionaires, as opposed to use that money to reduce the deficit and create jobs. that does not sound like fiscal discipline to me. >> thank you, mr. fisher. we ask that the candidates let each other finish. >> building on your last answer, why is it a good idea to extend all of the bush era tax cuts except those on the wealthiest americans? wouldn't a tax cut harm the

recovery? >> joe, there are a couple of reasons. those that have been hit hardest are in the middle class. that has been my focus of my career and will continue to be my focus in the u.s. senate. those tax cuts on questionably should be extended. here is why the tax cuts for the millionaires and billionaires should be not. economists usually say they put their money away. 75% of our economy today is consumer spending. the middle-class does that, the wealthy put it away. $700 billion is an awful lot of money that would -- that we could be using to create more jobs. no. 3, the amount of tax cuts that the wealthy are getting our disproportionate. we are talking averages of like $100,000 a person.

it makes no sense. it is not all or nothing when you are a legislator. you pick and choose your priorities. my priority is the middle-class. >> thank you. >> what we are seeing tonight, very different visions for the future of our state and country. lt. gov. fisher wants to raise taxes. at a time when we are trying to climb out of this recession, that is the last thing we should be doing. he talked about $700 billion that somehow people zero of the government. this is by raising taxes on people when we should be passing pro-gross, a pro-jobs legislation to reduce health- care costs and to ensure our energy costs are stable. we should be sure we are putting out regulations that make sense that our science- based so that companies and

factories are not burdened by these regulations. we should be sure that we are controlling spending. 84% increase in that kind of spending. that is not sustainable. >> thank you. >> mr. portman, if elected, would you try to appeal the new health care reform lot and start over, or other parts of the reform law that you would like to keep? >> the health-care costs in this country are too high. now they are even higher with this legislation. this legislation was a good opportunity to get control of costs because if helps all of our families, our businesses, and it ensures that we have health care costs we can afford so that there are fewer people in short.

yet the legislation went the other way. the number one issue that is being raised with me is the cost of health care. these businesses are seeing their costs go up this year, higher than last year, because of the new legislation. a business owner told me today at a factory, "we just don't know what is coming, rob." one guy told me he is going to pay time and half overtime rather than hiring new people because of the increase in health-care costs. this was an opportunity to get health-care costs under control. if elected, i will try to get health-care costs down by putting sensible reforms out there that should be bipartisan. i know lieutenant governor has a lot of support from the trial lawyers, but we need to get the frivolous lawsuits under control.

these are sensible reforms that we can do. that is what i would fight for if elected for the senate. >> thank you. mr. fisher? >> i think it is irresponsible to say that if you like some parts of the bill, you are going to repeal the whole thing and start all over again. he had his chance to do something, and he did nothing when it comes to health care reform. now he wants to go back and repeal it and start over again even though he had that chance. it is far more responsible to take a look at what looks -- that what works in the bill and what does not. today, if you have a prior medical condition, thanks to this law, they cannot deny you coverage anymore. now if you want to get a mammogram, you do not have to

have a " pay any more. are there things to improve? of course there are. there is no question in my mind that we should not be taxing health care benefits. those are things that we can do, but you mend it. you don't end it. >> thank you. our next question goes to lee fisher. >> house majority leader john boehner got a lot of heat from democrats about the issue of retirement benefits. do you think these ideas should be off the table, and if so, what would you propose for social security's long-term viability? >> i support getting it out of

the firing line on the floor of the senate and house and getting it into a bipartisan commission were smart republicans and democrats who do not have to run for election can give us their best recommendations. at least that way, we will get the best thinking. as long as this is a political football on the floor of the senate and house, we are never going to solve these problems. my attitude is, it is a sacred promise with the seniors of our country, and there are ways we can solve this. one of the ways is not to raid the social security trust fund. there are other ways to do it. >> thank you. >> it is a sacred promise to our seniors, and we need to be sure to preserve social security.

it is heading towards insolvency. i know it is getting close to halloween. i want to ask mr. lee fisher to stop scaring senior citizens about social security. no one should be doing anything to affect social security benefits that seniors have earned. no one should be touching that, but we need to look at reforming the system. when lee fisher was talking to a group of senior citizens recently, he gave his scare talk about social security. at the end of the conversation, one of the seniors asked about his solutions for social security. his answer was, "elect me," a political answer.

>> thank you. our next question goes to mr. portman. >> mr. portman, given the threat posed to the world by al-qaeda and the taliban, is it wise for the u.s. to begin withdrawing troops from afghanistan as president obama plan to do beginning next year? >> thank you for that question. we saw on tv that there are additional concerns, particularly in europe, about terrorist concerns. i hope the administration continues to view this as a war, because it is. president obama has supported and lee fisher has supported a withdraw from afghanistan on an arbitrary date line. this is what the military is

saying. this is what the people in afghanistan are saying, including president carter said. this is what the people are saying all around the world who are worried america will not be able to protect them and us against terrorism. if we have an arbitrary deadline to withdraw, they will wait us out and afghanistan will be a safe haven for terrorists. it becomes a platform for another attack on our country. we simply cannot allow that. as we look at the news today and realized the terrorist threat is real, we need to be sure not to create a safe haven in afghanistan for them to attack freedom-loving people all over the world including those in america. >> thank you. >> there is no issue more important to any member of the u.s. senate or congress then our responsibility to whether or not

to send young men or women into battle and to make sure that when they are there there are safe. these are not easy decisions, and they should not be political. hopefully they will not be. i happen to believe that iraq was a misguided werar. afghanistan made a lot of sense after 9/11, and i supported that, but we took our eye off the ball. i think it is time to bring our troops home. we never, never, never, never give up the fight on terrorism. if we have learned everything since 2001, you cannot fight them with conventional warfare. it must be strategic with heat forces and predator drones. we need to put less of our men and women in harm's way.

>> thank you very much. we are doing wonderfully on time so it is likely we will have enough time for two more additional questions. the next question goes to mr. fisher. >> lake erie is critical to the economic and recreational vitality of the area. how would you advocate for swift action from the federal government to keep asian carp out of the great lakes? >> i want to go back to one thing that the congressman said. i don't want to disappoint him because he said he liked my answer but did not like other answers. i am going to go back to my other answers. what i neglected to mention tonight is that one of the most vocal proponents of privatizing social security was congressman portman. that means seniors would be able to put some or all of their

social security into the stock market, which means on thursday, they might make a lot of money and on friday, they would be wiped out. imagine what would happen if the congressmen and president bush privatized social security during the recession. it would have been a disaster. now, asian carp. we are next to one of the largest fresh bodies of water in the world. i was on a call with the white house several months ago, saying to them i thought they were not being tough enough in dealing with asian carp. these large fish are literally eating other fish all throughout the great lakes. we are allowing them in because we have not closed blocks over in chicago. we should close those immediately. we have been clear to the obama

administration that they have been too slow and they need to focus on protecting lake erie in particular because lake erie is the shallowest of all of the great lakes. we are in most danger frfmo asian carp. , you stop them from getting in, then you put all of your energy into getting rid of them so we can keep the great lakes has the beautiful, recreational source that it is. >> thank you. >> this is a huge issue and it is a jobs issue there is a $7.5 million industry and the great lakes. it is threatened by this asian carp infestation. he better call them again because day are still not there. they have discovered asn asian carp within 6 miles of the lake.

the administration has not handled it properly. in terms of the attack and moment ago, another partisan attack from my opponent that is not accurate. i do not support privatization of social security. i do support strengthening social security for the future. he would like to distract us that during his tenure, which lost 400,000 jobs. our unemployment is of the 10 worst in the country. in fact, he supported an even stronger government role with the public auction. and the stimulus plan, he said it would work so well for ohio. >> thank you. >> mr. portman, mr. fisher just mentioned the apartment -- the partisanship of the groups in congress. i think all of high winds would

hope that their two senators would work together. in this campaign, you have been partially criticized by ohio's junior senator, democrat sherrod brown. if you win, how would you work with him, particularly given your fundamental differences with trade and job creation? >> an interesting question. senator brown is the other senator from ohio and he has been partisan. look, i suppose he is trying to make up for the fact that he chose not to endorse lee fisher when he ran in the democratic primary. that is all i can guess. i talked to senator brown on this. i look forward to working with him. he looks forward to working with me. i know he is supporting my

opponent, not me. i talked to george voinovich today. he is someone who has worked across the aisle to get stuff done, as i have done during my tenure in congress. 12 of my bills were signed into law, which makes some republicans nervous sometimes. i can defend all of them as fiscally conservative. that is what i would do if elected for united states senate. i would work with anybody who wanted to help me help ohio. we need to turn things around in washington. this deficit is hurting our economy and it is unfair for future generations. taxes are going up year end on small businesses all over ohio, making it even harder to create jobs. we are seeing more and more burdens. we need to go the other way. we need to give small businesses

more help. i will work with anybody who wants to work with me to help ohio and those small businesses. >> thank you. a minute to respond? >> i do think it is very important to work across the aisle with members of the other party, just as i did when i was in the state legislature. i think it is -- more important than that, you are not rubber stamped to your party, as i have done many times in my career even when president obama was president. watching congressman portman, i have to tell you that i have not seen a time that he departed from the republican playbook. george voinovich stood his ground and opposed the tax cut for the wealthiest percentage of

americans and supported a reasonable jobs bill that congressman portman opposed. i would expect that that was, i think, being a rubber stamp for the republicans. if you are going to be bipartisan, you have to show it. >> thank you. >> mr. fisher, does ohio's economy need another jolt of stimulus money from washington? if so, what do you think realistically would pass if republicans hold even more seats than they do now? >> i think we all know that also that stimulus has helped, it has not been enough. bottom line. without it, we would have lost another 8.5 million jobs. but the bottom line is, making progress is good, but it is not good enough. here is what i think we should do. we should and the tax breaks to

the large companies that ship their jobs overseas. no. 2, which should have a new national jobs creation tax credit modeled after one i have been using for the last four years here in ohio that is a powerful incentive for businesses to create jobs right here in ohio. we should make the research and development tax credit permanent. it is ridiculous that it remains temporary and has to be extended every couple of years. we are an innovative state and nation. we should be planting those seats now, as we have on the third frontier at the state level. it is outrageous that we have bailed out the wall street banks but have shortchanged the small businesses the small businesses that we see everywhere that are 98% of our economy -- even if they did not miss a single payment, cannot get a loan, which is why i have supported a

$30 billion pool of money to go to community banks with requirements that they get that out of the door to small businesses to help them survive and grow. i don't care what you call it, whether it is stimulus or anything else. i just want to be sure that we are creating jobs and giving incentives to create american jobs and ohio jobs come and get rid of the incentive that encourages shipping jobs overseas. >> mr. fisher, thank you. the response? >> again, we are going to see very different visions. he thinks the stimulus was not enough. $800 billion, over $1 trillion if you include the interest costs, was not enough. this was the stimulus package

that said would create all kinds of new jobs. ohio has lost almost 150,000 jobs since the stimulus package was signed into law, and he wants more of the same kind of stimulus. he wants to put tax increases on u.s. companies during a time when we want to climb out of this recession. that would cost 70,000 more jobs in the state of ohio if his tax increases got enacted into law we don't need to lose another 17,000 more jobs, lieutenant governor. >> thank you. >> mr. portman, you have been critical of the cap and trade energy bill that passed the house. what would you do to reduce u.s. dependency on foreign oil? and also to improve the environment in this country? >> it is an exciting opportunity for ohio to take energy and

convert it to jobs. let me explain. the cap and trade tax strongly supported by the democrats in congress would cost 100,000 jobs in ohio. the alternative, if we develop nuclear power here in ohio, natural gas -- if we move forward with clean coal technology, move forward with green technology, not just hydro some of the manufacturing capacity in ohio and create thousands and thousands of jobs. babcock and wilcox in ohio make this stuff. take all of that manufacturing capacity that we can use and create more jobs and opportunities here in ohio. that is the alternative.

when you do that, you make us less dependent on foreign oil, which is incredibly important to our national and economic security. it is a cleaner environment because you are using nuclear power and natural gas. clean coal technology takes the co2 and makes a clean burning. these are exciting opportunities for our state. i will be focused a lot on energy if elected on these great opportunities to move forward. check it out on our website. >> mr. portman, thank you. mr. fisher, a response. >> 53 years ago to that date, 1957, the russians send something up in space called sputnik. it was a reawakening and america, that we were behind.

we are behind today. the solar panels and the wind turbines, they are being made in china. not enough of them are being made in america. we are depending on countries that hate us and even want to kill us for oil. now is the time to have a new sputnik, and in a sense, gather around it as republicans and democrats and say this is our time. now it is the time to move toward a clean environment and not to rely on others. it is exciting, and i can guarantee you that working with these companies we absolutely can do it. >> thank you, mr. fisher. we have a bonus round now.

>> mr. fisher, if you win, one of your duties will be to vote on nominees to the supreme court predict which criteria which you bring in judging a nominee? if you could quickly go through the four most recent nominations in which you voted for. >> first, let me say that i had the great honor of working for a federal judge out of law school. paul white was appointed and i always admired the fact that he hired me knowing full well that i was a staunch democrat. he taught me that the law ought to be blind against politics and ideology. first of all, i tried to gauge

whether or not this person when put on that rope, they understand at least for that moment have become one of the most powerful people on earth that can affect what happens for generations to come. we have seen that with some of these cases. i want to be sure that they are bright and have classical experience in life and not just purely in academia. i think it is fair to say that we need a denver scored in every respect in terms of gender, of law school that they go to .rin i have to give you the honest answer -- i have not paid enough attention on their confirmation hearings. i know most democrats voted against them, and i probably

would be skeptical. i am not telling you today that i would have voted against them. when you are a senator, you listen to those hearings and gather information. at the time, i was running the center for families and children and not watching those hearings. i am not sure what i would do in those cases, despite the fact that i would probably be skeptical. >> thank you. >> the senate does have a solemn responsibility and that is the confirmation of supreme court judges. i would only consider those that did not judge from the bench. judges have a lifetime appointment. george voinovich opposed elena kagan's confirmation.

i would have done the same thing. i believe her record indicated that she would have legislated from the bench. i hope i am wrong. i think this is the criteria we should be using. >> thank you. our next to last question. >> mr. portman, could you articulate your view on financial reform, cleaning up all st.? would you repeal some of them, and if so, why? >> earlier, i counted six inaccuracies from lee fisher, and that was one of them. look, i am very disappointed with what passed through congress with financial reforms because it did not solve the problem. everybody knows that the housing market triggered the financial collapse in 2008.

yet this legislation does nothing to try to help on that issue. these two organizations, fannie mae and freddie mac, which gave banks the ability to sell these subprime mortgages, they were not touched during this legislation because the democrats in charge of the committees are very close to fannie mae and freddie mac. the taxpayers have already spent over $200 billion freeing up these entities, and yet there were no reforms at all. it is interesting. the big wall street firms, including goldman sachs, strongly supported the legislation that lee fisher supported. the banks in ohio did not support this legislation because they are very concerned about the new regulations, making it harder, not easier, to get credit. that is what i am finding traveling around ohio.

community banks are feeling more pressure from regulations and the mandates. i was at the company today. they wanted to expand and create more jobs but they could not get a loan. we need to be sure that when we are talking about regulations, we are focused on how to create jobs in ohio. that is being sure that the community banks have the ability to make a loan. lee fisher supports the government buying stock of banks. this is like mini tarp. >> thank you. mr. fisher? >> i had a law school professor who once said it is better to [unintelligible] than have an ambulance below.

as far as i know, all of the big wall street firms are thrilled with the fact that congress wants to repeal of that reform. i think that having a consumer financial agency that looks out for the consumer everything ranging from credit card rates, which are outrageous, to the kinds of consecutive derivative trading that occurred when banks played with middle-class famil ies' money, that should never happen again. congressman portman was one of those that voted for repealing the glass-steagall act, which basically said eubanks can go and start speculating. >> your time is up, mr. fisher. >> at this point, we have

closing statements, two minutes for each gentleman to give their closing statement. rob portman, you go first. >> thank you, diane, and i want to thank the four reporters here today. could questions. i want to thank our organizers for giving us a chance to talk directly to the ohio voters. what you have seen tonight is two different approaches. lee fisher is proud of his record at a time when we lost 400,000 jobs here in ohio. he is having to want it both ways. he is proud of certain things that happened and he will take credit for it, but other things, he wants to blame someone else. i don think that it's the right record to take to washington. more importantly, what he is supporting that will make it harder for ohio to get back contract. i am running because i believe we are headed in the wrong

direction pretty i think our country is headed in the wrong direction. the status quo is not working. we need some strong ideas. check out our website credit check out the 1-year suspension for small business taxes. we need to change direction because our great state and the workers of ohio deserve it. i was born and raised in this state. i want to be sure that ohio can get back on track, and we can do it. this is a great state with innovators, inventors, and entrepreneur, but we need to create the climate for success. i would ask for your vote tonight, and i hope to see you out on the campaign trail. thank you. >> mr. fisher. >> rob and i both have our wives here tonight.

i want to thank all of you for giving us this great opportunity. we have had a lot of facts and figures tonight, so i think i want to take a different approach and tell you a quick story. one day i got a call from the mayor of norwalk, ohio. i got a call from her, panicked. i cancel my schedule for the rest of the day and drove out there, spent the day meeting with business leaders. we convinced the bank to back off, to reconsider and give the company a second chance. we gave the company a loan. we saved the company and we saved many of the jobs. one of the jobs we saved was

kate whose husband was in a coma for many years. she said the only thing that kept her going was that job. a job is much more than a paycheck. it is about hope, dignity, and purpose in someone's life. i am proud of the work we have done at norwalk furniture, first solar, goodyear, bridgestone, firestone, and many more. am i satisfied? of course not. i am not satisfied because until we change these policies on the federal level, there is no governor or lieutenant governor, democrat or republican, who will be able to do it. even mitch daniels, a friend of congressman portman, has said there is something beyond the control of governors that can only be fixed and that broken

place called washington, d.c. thank you. >> thank you. gentlemen, that is our debate tonight. thank you for being with us and i thank all of you at home for watching. a special thanks to all of our panelists . thanks also to the ohio newspaper organization for sponsoring this debate. election day is november 2. i am diane larson. have a great night. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] . .

>> thank you for joining us for the ohio u.s. senate debate. >> we have more campaign 2010 programming for you coming up tonight at 8:00 eastern. debate between candidates to be illinois' next governor. after that we will show a " washington journal" segment. >> the season and networks provide coverage of politics, public affairs, non-fiction books and american history. it is all available to you on television, radio, on line, and social media network sides. we take c-span on the road with their digital bus and local content vehicle. bringing the resources to your community. it is washington your way, the c-span networks.

created by cable, provided as a public service. >> president obama is at the white house today. he will host the first ever summit on community colleges. he will deliver an opening remarks about 12:15 eastern. after that, in today's pentagon briefing. that will be live here as well. later, we will return to the white house for more on the community college summit. joe biden wall around the afternoon session focusing on the role of committed ecologist and developing the community workforce. -- jill biden. keeping track of the new york and alabama house races, new pulling from the democratic congressional campaign committee shows two the vulnerable democratic freshmen with leaves. scott murphy is leading army

veteran chris gibson by 13 points in the 20th district. and in alabama second district, bobby bright is beating of the republican by nine points. we're following both of these races. for more, check our website c- span.org/politics. connecticut's u.s. senate candidates richard blumenthal and richard mcmahon held their first televised debate on monday, sparring over jobs in campaign advertisements. they are running to replace christopher dodd. a poll commissioned by the connecticut capital report released yesterday showed mr. blumenthal leading. both cook political but politics and another institution place it

at a time. senator scott brown is campaigning for linda mcmahon the saturday in connecticut. this last about an hour. >> live from the building theater, fox connecticut in hartford current prevent the bridgette present the debate for the u.s. senate seat. now here is our moderator -- threadbare -- brett baehr. we bring you this debate tonight that will cover a wide range of topics. joiningñ are laurie parikh and chris keegan.

once asked a question, the candidates will have 90 seconds to ask each question. timekeeper's are watching the clock for us tonight. they will signal the candidates. the order has been determined by echoing costs. the specific subjects were tourism by fox connecticut and have not been shared with or cleared by either campaign. audience here has promised to remain quiet. no cheers, applause, or outbursts of any kind. the first question will be directed to mr. blumenthal. we solicited for questions anfrm readers and viewers. he asks, how has your public elected office experience

without business experience prepared you to be a senator? >> thank you. i have stood up and for people of connecticut for over 20 years to fight for them tenaciously, and fighting for their interests, putting them first. i have a plan that contradicts what we have been seeing in washington, which has not been listening. it is a plan based on my experience for reviving my economy and putting people back to work first. i will fight for them and washington. second, more manufacturing that is absolutely necessary by americans is a policy i will fight for in washington again, using my experience, fighting

for connecticut. third, ending the tax breaks for corporations that sen jobs overseas. very important that someone with that experience, standing up and fighting for connecticut be there to change those trade policies, particularly currency manipulation by china. my opponent has a very different approach. he would take us back to the policy that led to the problems. at middle-income tax cut, which i believe it is necessary for economic revival, i would give people a middle income tax cut without holding it hostage to a tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent of the country. >> thank you. you helped build the business with your husband and family. he went on to the ceo of that business. a viewer wants to know how has

your business experience without any public elected office experience prepared you to be a senator? >> thank you. i would like to welcome our audience and audiences watching at home. thank you for joining us. this election is about their career choices and very dark callosities. on the one hand you have my opponent was been and government all of his life, and that is his position. he is about raising taxes, and i want our money to stay in the hands of our families. when he is talking about middle class tax cuts and holding hostage, that is not true. what i do not want to see is us to raise taxes on anyone. if we raise taxes on small businesses, we are going to cramp not only their growth and job creation, but that will impact the middle class.

and at times are recession, let's not raise taxes on anyone, because we have to focus on making sure that small businesses that create 70% of the jobs in this country will have the ability to grow and create jobs, because if we handcuff them and continue to suppress our economy, we will not get our economy back on track. the government does not know how to create jobs, we have to let small businesses create jobs. that is what i will bring to washington with my business experience. >> mr. blumenthal, 30 seconds to respond. 70% of all jobs are created by small business. my plan would aid small businesses by targeting tax cuts to small businesses. in payroll tax exemptions, startup costs to be deducted. a series of measures without holding hostage at middle

income tax cut to the wealthiest 2% receiving one. i would vote immediately for a middle-class tax cut. >> you keep saying middle-class tax cuts, but i absolutely think we should not raise taxes on anyone. well happen under his plan is that about $12.5 billion would leave the state of connecticut to go to washington so they can spend it. i am for keeping it here. let's hang on to our own money and keep it in the hands of the businesses that do create jobs. let's not raise taxes on anyone. we're in a recession. and to go over the last few weeks, connecticut voters have seen you attack each other on the airwaves many times. we wanted to ask questions related to the advertisements. >> on friday the clinton fall

campaign release its latest advertisement. >> linda mcmahon is everywhere, but will she be there for you? she took $10 million from the state to create jobs, but fired 10% of the workers. her business is under investigation for failing to pay social security or unemployment. tacom>> i am guessing you woulde umbrage with the picture of your business that way. >> it is incorrect. i would consider reducing the minimum wage is alive. i never said it. let's take that off the table. we actually share the same thoughts relative to raising the minimum wage. we both have said we need to take a look at it.

i never said that in an interview, but it made it into the advertisement real quick. as to the fact that we have had tax incentives, i am encouraged tax incentives to small businesses. we grew about 52 jobs in the digital media air yet. we have grown by about 20 jobs per year for the past 28 years, and we need more of that and washington. we need people who know how to create jobs. we also need people who have experience when things are not so good. i have been bankrupt. i had an opportunity, because of the american dream, to grow and to experience what a lot of us are experiencing in the state now.

mr. bloom of all this not have that experience. he has been on the government payroll all of his life. -- mr. blumenthal. >> would you like about serving in a war? we have learned something very important. he did it again and again. >> when we return, we saw nothing of his gratitude. he covered one live with another. -- one lie with another. >> do you regret making those mistakes or not explaining why he made the statement? >> let me say again, there is nothing new in this advertisement, and nothing new about the attack on me. she is spending millions of dollars on it, and everyone knows it because they have been seeing it in their mailboxes,

but as i said before, i am proud of my military service. on a few occasions out of hundreds when i commented on its, i described it in accurately. i were great -- i regret it. it was not intentional, but that is no excuse. i want to say that i am sorry, particularly to our veterans, and most especially to the veterans of vietnam. i will continue to fight for veterans. i have a champion their cause over 20 years. the fact of the matter is i take accountability for my mistakes. my opponent has not done so. she took $10 million to create jobs and laid off 10% of her work force. she took home $46 million. that is a fact. when she was asked of our reporteby reporters about minim,

she said she would have to look at cutting it. it might stance has been we will not cut minimum wage. people are struggling economically in our state and nation. >> he knows very well that when i was talking about looking at and considering it was relative to an increase in the minimum wage. i do think that if you understood about how business works and how tax incentives work in the state, they are not $10 million. there are tax incentives that months you have made an investment, you get credit for reducing your tax liabilities. i did not take 10 million from the state. if you knew anything about business, you would know that. >> i know more about business

then ms. mcmahon may think. 20 years in enforcing the law, i know when you take pride tax credits and then cut you first -- i know that when you take tax credit and then you cut the work force, something is not right with this picture. that is what connecticut once, someone who will put people above profits. >> our next question is from chris. >> the biggest issue of the year is the struggling economy, and so we look like to ask you both about that. mr. bloom of all you have called for middle-class tax cuts, but the democratic leaders have decided to postpone any votes on tax cuts until after the elections. was that decisions by the democratic leaders wrong? >> i believe for should have

voted and the congress should have voted right away before going home. i would have preferred, as other members are delegation what have preferred, to have that phvote sooner, because middle income families are struggling. we need not only the middle income tax cuts now, but also programs that build small businesses, provide them with the capital they need to expand. we need better trade policy so that we can export more from connecticut. my opponent has taken the position that those middle- income tax cut should be held hostage. i believe the tax cut should go to the small businesses because they need them, and we should be supporting small businesses by targeting with the benefits we think they deserve so that they can create the jobs that we so

vitally needed been in our state and country. we need to preserve the minimum- wage and make a profit on the campaign trail to maconserve -- [inaudible] >> mrs. mcmahon, with 10% unemployment and an ailing economy, more workers are being forced into minimum-wage jobs. you said you have been mischaracterized about the minimum wage and what you did not say. can you tell us what is your position on the minimum wage and what role does that play in getting the economy back on track? >> we certainly -- i would never

advocate lowering or reducing the minimum wage. that is not what i said. i said we need to take a look at whether we need to increase the minimum wage. i am not sure how long the legislation is once the minimum wage is increased, but i know it is some amount of time. we need to always look at it and make sure it is then the right economic frame. -- make sure it is in the right economic frame. i have to go back to the tax incentives creating jobs. we did create jobs. 52 new jobs in the digital media area. that is what i am proud of. we were able to grow and make the company's stronger. next year, because of the restructuring that was done and a smart business that was done relative to the company -- let me just say layoffs are hard and tough to do.

some have to have to make those tough decisions an order for the company to move forward. as a result of that, we're at the same level we were before the layoffs in 2009. and because of tax incentives that are moving forward and the new initiative of the network, we will add 100 employees to 140 employees next year. >> the record will show that when my opponent was asked, would she cut the minimum wage, she said she would have to look at it. the record will show that that is so. i would have said absolutely not. i am glad to hear that the company is hiring now that we are in good times. but when the economy was down, she cut 10 percent of her work force. she is continuing to send jobs overseas by buying merchandise

there. >> you did reverence before about my money going home. i will not let you count my money and i will not talk about the fact that your family owns the empire state building. we certainly look to create jobs here, and i am really proud of the additional media growth and a new television network that will happen next year, which has been on the drawing board for a couple of years. >> the next question is about the stimulus package. you talk often about your opposition to the stimulus, $787 billion stimulus package. you have said it is too expensive and special-interests driven. if that passed, it would require either a huge spending cuts,

massive tax increases, possibly both. can you name specific programs he would cut outside of attacking the waste and fraud in various agencies. agencies you would get rid of and what specific taxes you would increase. >> let me say i think the money did not work, the stimulus did not work. government group. government jobs grew like this. private sector jobs grew like this. i want to be sure and the clear that stimulus money does not work. what we really need to do is take the balance of the sense that stimulus money and pay down debt. we're spending a billion dollars per day to pay debt service on

our debt. that is one way we could really decrease expenses. i think the stimulus money was going to create a lot of infrastructure jobs and i have talked to mayors and connecticut that absolutely did not see that money. the red tape to try to get it was unbelievable. it did not work. why would we have more stimulus to day? let's take the money and pay down the debt, reduce the debt, and therefore start chipping away at the deficit. i also think we should roll back the non-defense discretionary spending to 2008 levels. i think we should cap government hiring, a government wage increases, and take the balance of stimulus and pay down the debt and we would be a long way towards reducing deficit. >> you were quoted as saying the stimulus was wrongfully structured, and i would have opposed the stimulus as it was

structured. it is also known as the recovery act. it received the votes of every democratic senator, and all but seven house members. is president biden called it an absolute success at one time. -- vice president biden called in an absolute success at one time. what doesn't the vice president understand now? >> with all due respect to the vice-president, and i have great respect to him and the president, i would have opposed the bailout as well, because it did too much for wall street and not enough for main street. in the same with the stimulus was too big without accountability. we need infrastructure projects that are necessary. but money in people's paychecks and pocketbooks.

stimulate small business. inadequate accountability. not enough restrictions on how the money was used and too big for those features. i believe strongly we need to cut spending. i believe we need to rein in national debt for our own sake and our children's. i would make very specific cuts. i would end a sweetheart deal, $200 billion that goes to pharmaceutical drug companies because there is a bar on medicare drug prices. i would end the tax breaks for corporations that sen jobs overseas. incredibly they are rewarded for sending jobs overseas. -- i would end the tax breaks for corporations that send jobs overseas. tens of billions of dollars we can save. we must do it.

>> i was asking for specific programs he would cut. i think i heard one. do you have two programs you would cut? >> i want to address what he said regarding my support of the bailout. at the time congress voted on the bailout, i would have done it holding my nose, because quite frankly i believe when the treasury of the secretary says we're on the verge of economic collapse, that we clearly should have supported that. i think he has made a great case for the fact that government cannot spend our money into account for it very well. stimulus not big enough or not fast enough? >> stimulus not fast enough, but most important not accountable enough. we need government to be

accountable. as united states senator i would fight for the people of canada can put them first. the people of connecticut cumbrous to me, just as they have throughout my career. -- the people of connecticut, first to me, just as they have brought my career. >> this is an on-line question coming from south windsor. she asks, a politics are becoming increasingly less civil with little regard of willingness to compromise. are you willing to work with the other party, and you please give me an example where you agree or see merit in the position of the other side and are willing to cross party lines to promote? >> i see great merit and opposition of many republicans to the bailout as it was

structure then. as it was too big when diand dio o mchucj for wall street. all lot of what i have done is to lead national coalitions against a tobacco, internet safety, republicans and democrats coming together. connecticut is a small state, but i have boxed above my weight by reaching out to republicans as well as democrats. that is the kind of leadership i think we need in washington, because there is cahoot totoo m acrimony. i believe i bring those qualities of leadership, which might opponents simply has never shown, because she has never had that experience, to this great

challenge, historic challenge to fight for connecticut's people, and make sure the united states senator from connecticut stand strong against the special interests and for the public interest. >> would they be the special interests of our funding your campaign? i do believe we need to reach across party lines? . we are in gridlock. we much reasoreach across partys to get things done. you have to negotiate many deals. you have to drive consensus when necessary and hold the line when necessary. the best deals i ever did as a ceo or the ones where poolsides walked away from the table knowing both sides got what they wanted and not everything they wanted. because of the deal is too good

for either side, you will wind up at the negotiating table or end up back in court. i think what we've seen in congress when we have a bipartisan effort on social security, medicare, that was a real bipartisan effort. what you did not see was the bipartisan debate with health care. it was a bad process, and we wound up with a bad product. that is clear evidence what happens when there is not my partisan debate and good ideas. there are good ideas on both sides of the ideal. let's bring them together and move our country and state forward. -- there are good ideas on both sides of the aisles. >> my opponent knows about lobbying in washington because she hired lobbyists for $1

million. i will give her that experience. i believe she knows that i will stand strong against the special interests, but she does not, certainly the people of connecticut do. no matter how large the contribution, i will stand strong for the people of connecticut. >> we did higher government relations firms, primarily to build this back down your vote program, contribute to the troops program, and also to talk to them about how we would get our young people more involved in the voter programs. yes, we have utilize government relation companies in washington. to g>> the next question is the candidates sections. they will ask each other a question and will have time to respond.

capito as you know, i am a very strong proponent of a program called by america's, which means federal tax dollars have to be used to buy american products. region >-- >> as you know, i ama very strong proponent of a program called by ameritech, which means federal tax dollars have to be used to buy american products. >> we have forced products outside of the united states, because we do not have the kind of policies in place here that are conducive to manufacturing. i agree with you. i believe we can do better in our country and create an environment to attract businesses. we have the largest tax rate, corporate tax rate at 35%. the average is 18%. let's make it conducive here in

america to make things in america so the prices will be down, so that we can put people back to work. we have high labor costs, high energy costs. all of these things are contributing to driving prices up in this country. i believe we need to do a better job so we can have more jobs here in the united states. i also believe we need to have markets where we can export our products, because we're manufacturing here, exporting from countries. that also drives the economy and keep our prices down. i am all for making products here in america. they do not make toys in america, but that is not our job. we license them and pay taxes on all of the money that comes back to us. none of it is kept offshore. >> cutting through all of what

you just heard, at the bottom line was benefiting, more profit by sending those jobs and the fed oversees by having the products made there. as the ceo of divi-div w.w.e. ds to be held accountable for those choices of the loss of american jobs by making the products overseas. we need to assess each of the candidates here as to how they treat the voters of connecticut by having made these decisions and we need to hold them accountable. >> i am very proud of the fact that i have created over 600 jobs in connecticut. i have created an average of 20 jobs per year. we need more of that in washington and here in our state. i think it is a great record --

how many jobs have you created? as a follow-up, you have talked about you want to incentivize small businesses. tell me something, how do you create a job? >> a job is created in a variety of ways, by a variety of people but typically at business is as a response to demand and services. the main points about jobs in connecticut is we can and we should create more thaa creative policies. i have stood up for jobs when they have been at stake. i stood up for jobs at general motors when they wanted to shut down that dealership.

did i stood up for jobs as stanley works when it was threatening with a hostile takeover. -- i stood up for jobs at stanley works when it was threatening with a hostile takeover. we need stronger intervention by government to make sure we used the made in america policy and by america policies to keep jobs here, rather than buying products that are manufactured overseas as w.w.e. has done. >> government, government. government does not create jobs. it is very simple how you create jobs. an entrepreneur craig saicreate.

>> i am not going to be an entrepreneur as a senator. [applause] i will do my best to assist entrepreneurs and exactly the way i just described, which may not have been the answer my opponent wanted, but the kind of answer that government needs to provide in tough times when our economy is struggling to revive, rather than talking about cutting board looking at cutting the minimum wage. to dump the next question is a question on forest policy. -- >> the next question is a question on the foreign-policy. >> how would you assess president obama strategy in afghanistan, and do you believe it is working? >> do not answer is one more

time about the minimum wage. it is a lie. in afghanistan -- [inaudible] i am a mother and a grandmother, and i believe before we send our young men and women into harm's way anywhere in the world, we should have a clear goal and a clear strategy in place. my concern relative to afghanistan is that we have seen different strategies. i do applaud the fact that our president did put general petraeus in charge in afghanistan. he had great success in iraq, , and i hope he will have the success in afghanistan. my fear is we have conflicting messages to and strategies. we have a political strategy that says we will start withdrawing in july of 2011.

we have a middle rigid military strategy that says we are increasing troops and we have a surge. -- we have a military strategy that says we are increasing troops and we have a surge. i would like a detailed briefing on what the goals and strategies are in afghanistan, because i think we need to make sure our strategy is clear before we send our men and and women in harm's way. when we bring them home, we have to take care of veterans in mixture that have the benefits they deserve. >> what would you change about the president's strategy in afghanistan, if anything? >> i believe he must adhere to the timetable we have set, despite the talks about carrying on its. -- varying on it. we must continue the war on terror. we must take that to where ever the terrace make safe havens,

whether it is in pakistan or other countries. we must begin withdrawing combat troops in july of next year. i begin -- i believe the war on terror requires indented and aggressive means using cyber attacks, using special operations, confusing means that make us more nimble and aggressive and successful. i believe the american people deserve the time table, at least to begin withdrawing our combat troops on that time table. >> i certainly agree that we need to fight terrorism and identify where it is, and hopefully always fight it not on our shores, but somewhere else when the need arises. we need to have a firm hand, but a strong policy to do that. >> one area of where we need to

increase our capability is in some of the arms programs were conn has played a leading role. i would reinstitute the f-22 fighter. we should continue with the program, not only because it is the right thing for the economy of, but also our national security. take out the next question is about health care. -- >> the next question is about health care. you have said it is a bad product and want to repeal it and start over. which portions of the federal law would you have in place, still remaining? >> i do address that it was a bad policy and therefore we have at bad products. we need to have bipartisan

over 70% of our country is affected and i agree we need health care reform. what this bill does not do, which is what the intent of it was to do, was to bring down the cost of health care and make sure there was proper coverage. what i am seeing is just opposite. premiums are going up. taxes on small businesses are going up. it will be a squeeze on families. it is a squeeze on small businesses. also what is happening in this bill is we are cutting medicare fight half a trillion dollars. -- we are cutting medicare by half a trillion dollars. i do not think that starting out with premiums increasing in double digits and cutting costs -- cutting medicare payments to the seniors to the tune of half a trillion dollars is a good start. it is a bad bill. we need to repeal its, and we

need to start over again. we want to be able to provide insurance to many, but i am afraid we will continue to see doctors leave the profession or not take medicare patients, and that is what is happening today. we really need to take a look at that, because we need to protect our seniors at all costs. >> you have said the ryou suppot the health care law. what do you see as the end? >> this bill recognizes some fundamental facts. no child in america should be denied health care because they are sick. no worker should be dropped from health care insurance after they get sick. no american family should go bankrupt paying for health care. this bill is a good start, because it eliminates some of the abuses that i have fought.

thousands of people coming to my office. i fight for them because the health insurance companies have denied coverage simply because they said they had a pre- existing condition or the doctor is out of network or the treatment is experimental. this bill ends of those kinds of abuses. we need to do better in controlling costs. medicare costs are spiralling. i would end a provision in that bill that provides a special give away for those pharmaceutical drug companies, presents negotiations on medicare wages. i see this because i go after it as an attorney general. we have combined to pursue health care fraud and waste and eliminate or recover millions of dollars for the state of connecticut. we need stronger measures to rein in premiums.

just recently i tried to fight a 20% premium increase. i will do so again. >> a couple of the persons who cut that down what the health care reform in looking at reducing costs, which were not addressed, what have been tort reform. -- would have been tort reform. our physicians bentsen much time and money making sure they're not going to get sued. -- our position spend so much time and money making sure they're not going to be sued. >> you mentioned the insurance companies, has this had a detrimental effect on the state since so many insurance carriers are here in connecticut? >> absolutely not. and there is an irony and my

opponent talking about health care reform, because she denied health care insurance to the wrestlers who work for her. her company is under investigation right now for improperly or illegally ms. classifying those employees as well as talking taxes for unemployment compensation, social security, and medicare. the bill did not cut medicare, it cut medicare special advantage, which is no way cutting the benefits seniors receive. >> connecticut and the nation has sincbeen stunned by the trie murder case. the jury began deliberations in the stephen hays case. if convicted, he faces the death penalty. how do you feel about the death penalty? >> i support the death penalty. there are crimes and are so

horrible they support it. in my view, i believe mr. hayes and deserves the death penalty. certainly if any case cried out for it, this one is it. i support it because it is a deterrent to certain kinds of crimes. for example, crimes against law enforcement officers, police, or firefighters where others their risk their lives on our behalf. i believe it is a strongly merited punishment in some cases, such as this one, which are so absolutely terrible that they merit it. >> same question to you. do you support the death penalty? >> i do, and that absolutely agree with him and his assessment. now have to go back to something you raised in the prior question. all of the 600 employees have

full benefits and coverage and independent contractors have full coverage for any accidents there received in the ring. let's make that clear. i find it a little bit unusual, maybe just a coincidence, that in the 20 years that w.w.e. has been in connecticut, it has never been investigated or find it relative to contractors, and only time it has been investigated is just after the campaign got going. i am not sure why that may be. the only time you have stopped by is when you came to visit me and we had a cup of tea. i would like to make sure for those that are listening, the men and women who perform in the ring, perform in the soap opera that is w.w.e., their health and well-being is so important

to us. they have a full physical every year. concussion testing. a drug policy in place to prevent illegal drug use and to make sure they are well cared for. >> thank you. as you well know, my jurisdiction is exclusively civil. allegations seems to be criminal in nature. it is no coincidence that my investigation has not covered them. i have no investigation, had never done an investigation, because of allegations about independent contractors are investigated by the department of labor and the department of revenue services. i have no knowledge about that investigation that is being conducted by the state. >> i have no comment.

[laughter] >> many in your party have demonized the tea party. how would you describe the party? >> i will come -- welcome anyone who wants to be in the political process. i welcome those who commit their time, energy, and passion to be involved. one of the great parts about this campaign is that we have enlisted the services of so many volunteers. we need the volunteers, because i do not have anywhere near the $50 million that might y opponet has committed to spend. i welcome the kind of energy

that is brought to this process by volunteers of what ever yoevr view. i have said that my campaign may be outspent, but not out worked. >> how do you describe thie tea party in do you welcome their support? >> first of all, i am spending money in my campaign with money i have earned. i have earned every nickel of this money. if i choose to invest in the campaign because i still firmly peobelieve we need change, i am willing to spend my own money. i am not expecting private interests, because i want to have an independent voice when i go to washington. and i said at the beginning, i would fund the campaign with my

money, and i know the people of connecticut cannot be bought. i have been out every single day since i announced my candidacy a year ago. i have a talk and listen to the people of connecticut, and they have told me so much. they have given me so many good ideas and shared with me how they want to make sure their senators they connected with them and continue to listen once they go to washington. i am very pleased with the work i have put in for this campaign. my view on the tea party which is i have found their commitment and passion to reduce spending, reducing the deficit, making sure that government is reduced and does not continue to grow, i have found that we are in step on those particular issues. i have enjoyed the meetings i have had with them. >> listening is a very important

part of this process. i have spent 20 years listening to the people of connecticut. there is a joke that if there is a broad store opening, he will be there. -- if there is a garage door opening, he will be a share. it is about washington not listening. i want to go to washington to make sure that washington does better for the people of connecticut, and in fact, listens to all people. >> costs mrs. mcmahon. -- mrs. mcmahon. >> i have found my meetings to be informative and they are very passionate. i welcome their support for those areas. we have found common ground on reducing the deficit and lowering taxes.

>> we have time for quick lightning round. this is one-word answers. first, one word to describe senator chris dodd. >> not running. and h>> retired. >> red sox or yankees? >> yankees. >> yankees. >> been crest or thick crust -- thin crust or thick crus? t? >> thing. >> thin and crispy. [laughter] >> thank you to our audience here this evening and to the audience that is watching here at home. i am running for the united

states senate because our economy is in shambles. people are at a fork, families are hurting, a nest eggs have been devastated, and there are not enough people in washington that know how to create jobs. i want to make sure the american dream, which i have had the privilege to live, will continue to be there for my children, grandchildren, and for generations to come. mr. blumenthal has talked about fighting for the people of connecticut and making sure you know he has experience in government, and clearly he does because he is a lifelong politician and he has spent his adult life and the government payroll. i am a mother, grandmother, wife, and a businesswoman. a businesswoman who has created jobs. a businesswoman who has struggled a career and family, and neither of those jobs is easy. i want to go to washington

because i think we need more people in washington who can understand the plight of those workers and have created jobs. i have known that lean times and prosperity. i have been bankrupt and come back. it is important to the american dream that we focus on this particular issue. this election you will have a clear choice. you have a choice between someone that has been a lifelong government person, or someone that has been in the private sector creating jobs. i want to grow at the economy. someone who wants to raise your taxes and send money to washington, and i want to keep money in that hands of the families of connecticut. as your senator, i want the young woman who is a single mother, lost her job, and looks at us and says do not forget us. the teachers fighting to be innovative. i want them to know i will be your champion and seniors will be fully protected for their

benefits. >> thank you. thank you all for being here and listening to us tonight. elections are about choices, and this election offers a very clear start choice. linda mcmahon said she is different, and she is different from me. i have spent my life, and it has been my life's work trying to help people. kathy black is here tonight. and i worked with her to save her automobile dealership when gm wanted to shut her down. i have stood with workers saving their jobs when pat wanted to -- pratt wanted to a legally end their contracts -- illegally end their contracts.

i am proud of my record and public service. i am proud that i have helped people build their futures. my opponent has built her fortune. she has put profits ahead of people. even now she refuses to recognize that steroids can cause long-term health consequences. she is on the side of the bailout, the wall street banks supported it. i think more of the aid should go to small businesses. i oppose the tax breaks that reward businesses for sending jobs overseas. she is staying with the corporations. i think more of the small businesses deserve breaks and middle income families need and deserve a tax breaks now. we should not wait, as my opponent would do, for the wealthiest 2% to receive their tax breaks. you can count on me to be on

your side, fight in washington at deskagain special interests o always put you first. >> thank you very much. that ends tonight's debate. we would like to think fox connecticut and the hartford current -- "the hartford courant." we leave you tonight with a few words from the ceo, president, and publisher of the "harvard courant." . .

-- how many jobs have you crted? host: joining us this morning is danielle, a political reporter with the "hartford current." here is the fronpage of your newspaper, "finally face-off." what were the big moments from last night? >> there were a couple of moments. jobs, the economy, her record at wwe. no huge gasps. the candidates are huge for both can -- the expectations are huge for both candidates. this was the first time that they were in the same room together for a debate. the stakes are pretty hig they both emerged fairly and

skate. perhaps they got -- unscathed. perhaps they got more support from their own party, but there has not been much about those that are uecided. host: there has been a critical tone for this election. linda mcmahon dropped a critical tone right before the debate. >> yes, vietnam. ther was a new clip that was reported but there was no video , the attorney general talking about his record, implying that he served there. that was a bit of a bombshell, people were suspecting that she was tried to get him off of his game. he apologized for his misstatements in the past. the ad was shown, and he reacted

to it, but other than that, it did not dominate the debate. host: spending, presidential visits, thatill be a big part of the race. that will continue for the next 27 days. who will they be bringing into the state? >> linda mcmahon will be bringing in scott brown. of course, sheid not need any fund-raising, like mr. umenthal. talking about the senate candidates here, linda mcmahon dropping in her own money, how does blumenthal doing? >> he says his fund-raising is ok.

clearly, he has also said that there is no way to match her. she may spend up to $50 million. she certainly has it, and has a willingness to snd it. i think he realizes there is no way to compete with that. one thing that came out of the debate is, he is a man of significant wealth. she made a jab at him, saying that if you do not count my money, i promise not to mention that your family owns the empire state building. his family are major real-estate moguls in new york, but he is not pouring vast sums of hiswn money, at least up to this point. host: what do the polls show in the senate race? >> the polls show blumenthal up by a few points. here was another online paupoll

that showed a much large relief for mr. blumenthal, 8 to 12 points, so it is anybody's guess. host: c-span will be covering a debate for them tonight. why is this so competitive? >> yes, we have tom foley, a big republican in the state. former ambassador to ireland. we also have dan molloy, the former mayor of stanford as the democratic nominee. that is matching the senate race in terms of intensity and nastiness. host: thank you for your time. we will be covering that debate be covering that debate tonight.

>> that starts in a couple of minutes from now, that of a clock 15 eastern we will have live coverage on c-span. this morning on "washington journal" we ask viewers about paying for higher education. we will show you this until the community college summit gets under way. is "the washington post" with that story.

it says that gallup found the increase in those who plan to make little or no contribution to tuition increase, especially among hispanic families.

by the way, we will be covering that event. it starts this morning and goes into the afternoon and you can go to c-span.org for our coverage. so, are you paying for college or do you plan to pay for college? texas. a student. what do you think? caller: i am unique.

just looking at the statistics you had. i am a returning student. i came in in the 2006, texas a&m, and i can definitely tell you my tuition has gone up. in 2006, it was about $3,000 for the semester -- sorry, for the year. almost about $4,000 for the year. now it is about $6,000 for a semester. i don't know what the percentage of that is, but it is a $2,000 increase -- or a $4,000 increase. my parents helped me pay. but i am still waiting for my financially. but more than likely i will have to take all loans of my own and have my parents support on the side. host: do you think that your parents had to contribute less

because of the economy? did they plan to give you more? caller: not necessarily more or less thing. as far as it goes, it was the same amount. what i am trying to say is that the inflation rate of what we are plate -- paying has gone up. it may be more in the numerical value but actually the same amount. host: i think i missed that part. you say you are returning. why did you return? and how old are you? caller: i am 23 years old. i came here when i was 19. to be quite honest, i partied too much and got into too much trouble. i left. i matured through those years. lost my job, got evicted, and decided to go back to college because i need to get this done

so i can have a better job in the future. i came back here. i was on academic probation but i am getting off on that thankfully this semester. i am proud of that. host: what are you majoring in? caller: political science major and minor in philosophy and i plan on going to grad school to pursue a law degree at the university of texas'. host: appreciate a phone call. lexington, ky. jane on the line for parents. is paying for college tuition a priority for you? caller: yes, it is a priority. my problem is, i've got two daughters who are four years apart. one is a sophomore at university of kentucky and the other is a sophomore in high school. two years ago when this market

meltdown happen, my daughter's college plans lost about 50%. i am having to shift money from the retirement account to pay for college. i assumed it would have all been paid for. host: what about student loans? have you decided against that? caller: no, i haven't. but i see too many kids coming out of college with a lot of debt. when they get a job, their priority is paying on the student loan. it makes the life style for them very difficult. host: the article talks about that this is reverberating in washington, this issue. i wondering what you would like to see your elected representatives do on this issue when it comes to the cost of college tuition. caller: i would like to see them kind of keep a cap on it of some sort.

the universities -- our public universities have been increasing about 5% a year. from four years ago, the increase in college tuition has skyrocketed really. and the kids that are out there having to work and its total loans to pay for their college education because their parents can't afford to pay for college, it's terrible. host: why do you say that? you were talking to talk about -- starting to talk about that. how difficult it is when you graduate with a lot of student loans. caller: i have seen stories where people graduate from college and i have 40,000, 50,000, $70,000 of student loans. that is like having to pay a mortgage even before you start to pay for a place to live.

and the job you get, certainly they will not come out of college making 100 grand a year. host: talking about whether paying for college is a priority. we divided the lines by parents and students. trenton, new jersey. linda on our parents line. what are your comments on this issue? caller: i have one border that i wanted to send to college -- daughter. all my life it was my goal. but i ended up losing my job over a year ago. now the money that i have for her, i had to use it to provide my own expenses and living.

i was just down to the unemployment office yesterday trying to get some assistance for going to school, and everything i wanted to do for school cost so much, i don't know what direction to go. i'm lost. host: you are trying to go to school yourself? caller: yes. host: and you want to send your daughter to school. what school? caller: she wanted to be a pediatrician. she wanted to go to princeton. we talked about it. now she decided to go into the service so they can help pay for her school. host: hudson, new hampshire. good morning, grace, on the parents line. caller: yes, i have a student who is in college right now and i pay for his first two years and now i am making him pay for his second two years. ev

[applause] >> hello. good afternoon. welcome to the first ever white house summit on community colleges. i am jill biden and i am proud to stand here today as a community college professor. this is a historic and exciting opportunity for all of us. for years i have said that community colleges are some of america's best kept secrets. well, i think that that secret

is out. today's summit is an important next that in meeting the president's goal of having the best educated, most competitive work force in the world by the end of this decade. as we meet here today, families all across our country are struggling. we see it firsthand in community colleges. people determined to build a better life for themselves and their families, no matter how hard it is. today community colleges are the largest, fastest-growing, most affordable segment of america's higher education system. for generations these schools have been an option for many students that did not have other options. for students that could not afford or were not quite ready for a four year institution.

students are one step closer to realizing the american dream. these schools are flexible and innovative. for that reason, countries around the world are looking at community colleges as a model to increase community prepared this amongst their own citizens. citizens that provide students with the preparation for jobs in the 21st century. schools are forming partnerships with businesses in their community, making sure that students are trained for jobs that need to be filled. getting americans back to work is america's great challenge. community colleges are critically important for preparing graduates for those jobs. we are here today because

community colleges are entering a new day in america. here is why. for more and more people, community colleges are the wave of the future. they are giving real opportunity to students that otherwise would not have it. they're giving hope to families that thought the american dream was slipping away. equipping americans with skills and expertise that are relatives to the emerging jobs of the future. opening doors for the middle- class at a time when the middle- class has seen so many doors close to them. as the president said, the nations that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow. that is why he is committed to increasing the number of college graduates in america so that we will once again lead the world in the percentage of our

citizens with a college degree. community colleges are absolutely critical to meeting this goal and ensuring our country's economic prosperity in the future. that is why the president has also challenged all of us to graduate an additional five college graduates by 2020. reaching that goal will take the commitment of everyone in this room and all of a hard-working community college leaders, faculty, and students that you represent. community college students and graduates across the country are working in jobs that will enable us to expand our grain economy, provide americans with the excellent health care that they deserve, rebuilding our country is infrastructure. students like the ones i visited in their state of the art

radiology lab last spring at delgado community college in new orleans, where the woman that i met, after 16 years as a lab tech, came to kings broke community college in new york for retraining, graduating with a job offer waiting period learning about industry partnerships on every campus that i visit reinforces what we in this room know well. community colleges are at the center of america's efforts to educate our way to a better economy. i have been a teacher for nearly three decades. i have spent the past 17 years teaching at a community college. i know the power of community colleges to change lives. i have seen the wisdom, "education is not the filling of

the pale, but the lighting of a fire. the teachers here today know the magic of lighting that fire in the soul of a student. as i work hard every day to inspire students, ultimately is they who inspire me. i am inspired by students that overcome significant odds just to show up. workers that have returned to school to improve their job prospects. mothers the juggle jobs and child care while preparing for a new career. students that spent two years at a community college before transferring to a four years school. at the president's request i have visited community colleges around the country to see innovative job partnerships and creative student support programs. at each school i hear stories

about the perseverance of community college students to make a better life for themselves and their families. students like albert, who inspired me and i am thrilled to walk -- welcome here today. you are amazing, albert. the programs are different, the students are different, but the aspirations of the same. these students are working hard to get the training and education that they need to make their lives better. they know that education can open the door to a world of new opportunities. they are students, like the mother who shared with us on the white house web site of working towards a degree while raising three children and straddling financial challenges. now employed and a holder of a bachelor's and master's degree, she wrote to -- community colleges did not just changed my

life, they gave me my life. community colleges do that every day. through the support and attention of the people in this room, we can serve more students and serve them better than ever. >> our challenge is not just getting students into college, but keeping them there, graduating them faster with the skills that they need to succeed in the american work force. this is the moment for community colleges to shine. teaching is my life's work. i am grateful and tremendously proud to work with the president and vice president that value that work. president obama is committed to restoring the promise of the american education system. he recognizes the value of community colleges and is investing in them so that they

are the best that they can be. his leadership is inspiring to all of us who believe that each and every american deserves the opportunity to realize their full potential. i am honored to introduce a leader that shares our belief in the power of the community college, president barack obama. [applause] >> that was great. great speech. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you so much. thank you, everyone. thank you so much. have a seat. thank you so much. i want to acknowledge some of the folks that are here and are making incredible contributions to this effort. first of all, our secretary of

education is here, arne duncan. our secretary of labor, killed us all leahilda solis. someone cares deeply about the veterans and the education that they receive, admiral mike mullen and his wife are here. rep. dwight guthrie is in the house and has been doing great work on this. obviously i am thrilled not only to see joe biden here, but also albert oheda, because i think that the story that he tells is representative of so many incredible stories across the country. i am so grateful for jill being willing to leave at today's

summit. first of all, because she has to spend time putting up with joe. that is a big enough task. to take this one on on behalf of the administration is extraordinarily significant. but i do not think she's doing it for the administration, she is doing it for the passion that she has four community colleges. as she says, she has been a teacher for nearly three decades, although you cannot tell by looking at her. a community college professor for 17 years. i want it on the record that she is not playing hooky today. the only reason she is here is that her college president gave her permission to miss class. this morning between appearing on the today show, receiving briefings from her staff, hosting the summit, she was actually grading papers in her office. [applause]

-- [laughter] i think it is clear why i asked her to travel to these colleges. she knows, personally, that these colleges are about the unsung heroes of the american education system. they may not get the credit or the same resources as other schools, but they provide a gateway to millions of americans with good jobs and a better life. these are places where young people can continue their education without taking on a lot of debt, where workers can gain new skills to move up in their careers. places where anyone with a desire to learn and grow can take a chance on a brighter future for themselves and their families. whether that is a single mom or a returning soldier, or an aspiring and entrepreneur. they are not just the key to the future of the students, they're also one of the keys to the future of our country. we are in a global competition

to lead in the growth industries of the 21st century. that leadership depends on a well-educated, highly skilled mucus -- work force. we know that jobs requiring at least an associate's degree are going to grow twice as fast as jobs that do not require college. we will not fill those jobs or keep them on our shores without community colleges. it was no surprise when one of the main recommendations of my economic advisor board, it was to expand education and job training. these are executives from some of america's top companies. businesses need a steady supply of people that can step into jobs involving a lot of technical knowledge and skills. they understand the importance of preparing folks for the jobs of the future.

throughout our history when we have faced economic challenges we have responded by thinking of new ways to harness the power of our people. one of the primary reasons we are prosperous. in the 19th century we build public schools and land grant colleges, transforming the entire economy. in the 20th-century be passed the gi bill, helping to unleash a wave of innovation that has helped to afford the great american middle class. in recent years we have failed to live up to this legacy. especially in higher education. in one decade we have fallen from first to ninth in the proportion of young people with college degrees. that not only represents a huge waste of potential, but in the global marketplace is a threat to our position as the leading economy. as far as i am concerned we do

not play for second place, and we certainly do not play for ninth. so, i set a goal. by 2020 we will again lead the world in producing college graduates. i believe that community colleges will play a huge part in this goal. that is why last year i launched the american graduation initiative. i promise that we would end wasteful subsidies to big banks for student loans, using that money to make college more affordable, making historic investments in community colleges. after a tough fight be passed those reforms and today we are using that money towards the interest of higher education in america. this is helping us to modernize college at a critical time. many of these schools are under pressure to cut costs as the man has soared.

making it possible for colleges to harness technology in the classroom and beyond, as colleges compete for funding by improving graduation rates, matching courses to the needs of local businesses, making sure the graduates, when handed a diploma, that he or she will be ready for a career. we are helping students succeed by making college more affordable. we have increased student aid by thousands of dollars, simplifying the loan application process, limiting payments to 10% of their income. reaching the 20-20 goal that i have set is not going to depend on government. it depends on educators and students doing their part, businesses and not-for-profit organizations working with colleges to connect students with jobs. that is why we are holding this

summit, why i am asking my economic advisory board to come up with new ways for businesses and community colleges to work together. based on this call to action, yesterday we announced a new partnership called skills for american future. the idea is simple, working together to match work in the classroom with the needs of the board room. businesses have already announced their support, as have business leaders, such as the aspen institute of walter isaacson. and i hope that all of you will come to take part. today we can announce the gates foundation, starting the new five-year initiative to raise community college graduation rates. this is critically important. more than half of those who enter community college failed

to earn a two year degree or transferred to earn a four year degree. we would like to thank melinda gates for that terrific contribution. the aspen institute and several leading foundations have launched a competitive prize for community college excellence that will shine a spotlight on community colleges delivering truly exceptional results. places that often do not get a lot of attention but make a huge difference in their students' lives. making college more affordable, bringing together businesses, nonprofits, and schools to train these folks for the jobs of a new century. this will all help to make sure that we continue to lead the global economy, but only if we maintain this commitment to education that has always been central to our success. which is why i strongly disagree with the plan released last week by congress that would cut

education by 20%, reducing or eliminating financial aid for 8 million college students, leaving community colleges without the resources that they need to meet the goals we talked about today. in the money would help to pay for tax cuts, but only 2% of the wealthiest americans would see them. $100,000 for every billionaire in the country. that does not make sense. not for students, not for the economy. think about it, china is not slashing education by 20% right now. india is not slashing education by 20%. we are in a fight for the future, for education. scaling back our commitment to community colleges, that is why unilaterally disarming our troops before they had to the frontlines, we obviously have to

get serious about it. my administration report, pay- as-you-go rules, proposing a freeze on non-security spending, this is why we formed a bipartisan deficit reduction commission. what we can do is fund tax cuts for those that do not need it by supporting those that do. i want to work together with everyone concerned. to use an expression familiar to those of you from the midwest, you do not eat your seed corn. we cannot accept less investment in our young people if our country is going to move forward. it would mean giving up on the promise of so many people that might not be able to pursue an education, like the students at community colleges across this country. as an example, derrick blumkey,

who is here today. he spent six years in the air force. three deployments in afghanistan. putting his life at risk to keep this country safe. when he returned, he started classes that his local community college in northern michigan. from what i am told, he was not sure that he was smart not to do the work. he was also concerned he would not get the support that he needed. he was wrong on both fronts. his professor is not only helped him to transition from the military, even as he continued to serve in the national guard, but they held him to earn his associate's degree with honors. he then transferred to the university of mystery and -- go blue -- [laughter] where he graduated just a few weeks ago. returning to the veterans like

himself, that had done so much. [applause] or we can look to the example set by albert, who just spoke to you. he had no advantages in life. lost his father to violence, his mother to prison. this did not stop him from pursuing an education, from attending community college to become an honors student, to become the first member of his family to graduate from college. there are so many folks out there like derek. i think about the many community college students that have written letters or e-mails to me about how important community college has been to them. one person said that he had been laid off and decided to return to school after 17 years and

that attending community college helped to save his life. "i can not only see an associate's degree next year, but a new future filled with possibilities for the first time. a new future filled with possibilities." that is the promise of an education. not just for one student, but for the entire country. that is why it is important that we work together on behalf of community colleges with an education system that harnesses the talent and hard work of every single american. so, thank you for the incredible work that each and every one of you do out there. in schools, business folks that are supporting these community college students who are doing so much to contribute to our country. let's get busy. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank-you, mr. president, for your steadfast commitment to community college into the millions of students they educate every day. i would like to acknowledge and thank the individuals in schools who have contacted us, watching this broadcast live on whitehouse.ogv. we appreciate your participation and we will continue to incorporate your comments and feedback. i would also like to thank the members of the media for joining us here today. you have the power to engage americans in these critical discussions. thank you for making education a bogus of your reporting. we have so many outstanding

participants here today, like albert, who honors me with his wonderful introduction. a great example of a student who has seized the opportunities offered by community college. i would now like to introduce an extraordinary woman, along with her husband she is committed to ensuring that each individual has the opportunity to live up to his or her potential. the gates foundation recognizes that education is the great equalizer. they are putting their substantial resources and ingenuity behind efforts to prepare students all along the education spectrum. i would like to introduce a woman that i really enjoy getting to know, melinda gates. melinda? [applause]

>> thank you, doctor. you not only stand up in front of your class, but to stand up for students at an event like this, which i think is incredible. for me it is a great honor to be here today. we have been at work in the k-12 part of the education system for years. as we travel around and try to learn about the issues for students, we keep hearing about this difficult transition to college. we started visiting colleges, community colleges, and they were hidden gems of our society. yet every time there is college conversation in the united states, we seem to be talking about the four year institutions. i am thrilled to have this focus on community college. i think that the president and

dr. biden understand that community colleges create opportunities for minorities in our country. they understand that our society has changed. the so-called traditional students are not the basis of society now, it is the non- traditional students off. students that are 26, holding down to jobs with a child home, they are making up the majority of our educational system today. i am thrilled that that is what we are focusing on. i would also like to congratulate the community college presidents. you have been at this work for a long time and you have spent your careers fighting for students. the fact of this summit prove is that you are starting to win that fight. most importantly, i would like to express my admiration for albert and his family. i would like to ask his aunt and uncle to stand up, i believe that they are here.

[applause] thank you for believing in albert and the american college system. his tenacity to get through what he has through is so often the story i hear from other students. what they're doing to drive themselves the campus, to raise their young child, it is really something. when i was growing up, the u.s. lead the world in the number of college degrees are awarded. now we are 12th. times have changed and we have to change as well. almost half of american college students attend community colleges. but a relatively small percentage actually graduate with a certificate or degree that helps them to get a good job. so, our task as a society is to

get that number up. we have to have a conversation is about college completion, making sure that the incentives are in place so the students that walk in the door of community college complete the degree that they set out to get. let's talk about completion. to that end i would like to announce that we are launching a $35 million grant program called the completion by design, helping community colleges redesign every aspect of the student experience, a degree or certificate that matters in the job market. there are over 1000 community colleges in the u.s., most of them are doing incredibly innovative things around students and jobs. making a much simpler for students to enroll in get the

financial aid that they need. others have sped up their remediation process. other schools have simplified the transfer process. the next step for community colleges is to put all of these pieces of the puzzle together. and wellman, guidance, remediation if it is needed, linking technology. if we have hybrid learning, students will not always have to drive to the campus to get the class is that they need. some of the work can be done away from the community college. i think it we can develop programs so that students can make progress towards their credentials while they hold down a job. as a foundation we are committed to collaborating with community colleges as they do this hard work. so that they can significantly increase their graduation rates,

so that they can disseminate the best ideas of what is actually working for them in their communities. in this country, hard work is supposed to pay off and i am excited to see that a dynamic group of people have come here today to guarantee that it pays off for young adults that attend community colleges, who worked so hard, like albert, to make their dreams come true. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, linda, for the important work that you are doing and for joining us here today. i would now like to welcome to the stage another amazing woman that has worked tirelessly on behalf of the president to bring together businesses and community colleges, dramatically improving partnerships between them. skills for america is a national

initiative to encourage employers and labor unions to work in partnership with community colleges, to maximize workforce development strategies, fraud training programs -- job training programs, and enforcement. please welcome a member of the president's economic advisory board, boardfrsicer. -- kenny friscer . [applause] >> thank you, dr. biden. it is a thrill to be here today. our community colleges are wonderful assets. yesterday the economic recovery advisory board proposed, and the president endorsed the initiative to make our community colleges even more effective. the initiative is skills for

america's future. a collaboration of business, labour, federal government agencies, and community colleges, the goal being to better educate workers so that they can earn a credential or degree with real economic value that can lead to a job and solid career pathway. during this past year the president's economic recovery board convened meetings and heard leaders in many different industries. health care, financial services, small business, energy and utilities, service and retail, technology, manufacturing, and construction. the committee on education and training identified public- private partnerships as one of the best ways to improve the skills of america's workers. we also learned that the private sector is eager and willing to help. five major corporations have already joined the effort.

accenture, cap, mcdonald's, pacific gas and electric, and united technologies. and we are just starting. skills for america's future will be part of the economic opportunities to work closely with the president's new injured-agency task force. some of the goals are to recruit additional private-sector labor leaders to build a national network of high impact partnerships at community colleges, basically bringing the program to scale. the second is creating a certification. we would also like to provide a national voice for the effectiveness of those partnerships. working with the task force to line up programs funded by the apartment of labour and the department of education with

market forces. working with the task force to develop credentials that can be stacked, as well as a better use of technology. our last initial goal is to make sure that every state has at least one high impact partnership between industry and community college. the real goal is that every state has multiple partnerships. we cannot begin soon enough. we hope to spark a movement nationwide to strengthen america's resources, putting resources into the scale and development of workers is one of the best investments our nation can make. thank you, doctor, for inviting me to be here. [applause] >> thank you, penny. i am so grateful to see leaders from so many segments of our

society coming together to express confidence in the ability of community colleges to lead the way into the next century. our work here is so important into identifying what is working and what areas need additional attention. we are going to break into smaller groups so that a robust exchange of ideas will be easier. we are looking at six specific areas today. industry partnerships, college completion, pathways' the baccalaureate degrees, financial aid, military and veterans' programs, and community colleges of the future. at the conclusion of these breakouts, we will reconvene to share our work and consider our necks steps. please follow members of our staff, who will direct you to our break out. i am planning to stop by each one of them to listen in, i look forward to seeing you again at

the wrap up. since i am a teacher, do not think you are going to leave without homework. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]

>> the start of the white house summit on community colleges, with remarks from president obama and bill biden. later this afternoon we will have more on this first half -- his first ever summit, there will be a focus on the role of community colleges in developing the american work force. live coverage resumes at 3:00 p.m.. at the top of the hour, a pentagon briefing set for 1:00, we plan to have that live for you here on c-span. the c-span local content vehicle travels the country, looking at some of the most closely contested house races leading up

to the midterm election. >> how are you today? >> fine. >> [unintelligible] >> you are not going? >> next time around. >> ok. >> thank you for your services. >> thank you for our civil servants, military, all of those that have brought another fight for us in washington. >> we must stop spending. that is one of the first things that we need to do. >> this district was created after the 2000 census, including a lot of alucha county.

it is one of the most government abandoned districts in the united states, that is because of the space program. with that program winding down, there is a lot of unemployment right now. carve out by the first person to win the race at the time the district was created, he was a speaker at the state house. and yet this is only barely a republican district. about 20% of the voters are independent. susan was able to win this district largely because of ethical problems that he had. his association with jack abramoff hurt him in the election. running as a moderate democrat, pushing the ethics charges, she

was able to win the race. as a member of congress, she has taken a moderate stance. she voted against the house version of the obama health care plan. she voted in favor of the tenants, there for being responsible, i suppose, for its victory. cagey in the way that she campaigns on that, not defending the plan as a whole, rather selectively defending aspects so as not to be associated with everything that has happened in the administration. adams is a longtime state rep who won a highly contested republican party race where there was only a small difference between the candidates running.

herself somewhat moderate as well, coming from law enforcement. so, she has used that background to present herself as tough on crime. someone who is pro-military and has sort of a strong self- presentation as a candidate. >> we all have the same concerns. the debt of our nation, and the deficit. they want someone to take control of that. they do not feel that their current representative is listening to them. >> strong local issues held closed by voters, what about all of the displaced workers who are mostly skilled workers? retraining, new employment opportunities, and what national legislation will be supported? of