. >> we will bring you campaign 2000 conferences throughout the country during prime time. we had governor debates from ohio, nevada, and georgia. president obama was with the maryland governor today. we go live now to toledo as governor strickland debates

former republican gov. john kasich. this is the last scheduled debate. polls showed mr. kasich with a slight edge. our live coverage comes courtesy of wtol-tv in toledo. it is moderated by the station's news anchor. this is live coverage on c-span. >> this is a campaign 2010, the gubernatorial debate. live from the university of toledo. >> did evening and welcome to the ohio governors' debate. we think we have a dandy on tap

for you. all across this great country, tonight we welcome the two major candidates for governor of ohio, one of who will lead the state for the next four years. let's make them right now. let's say hi and welcome to ted strickland. the is the current governor of ohio. gov. strickland, welcome. >> it is good to be back. >> we want to welcome the republican candidate for governor, john kasich. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> let's introduce s.a. a thank- you to the ohio newspaper organization for putting this all together. some of its members are serving as palace tonight. we are coming to you live from the university of toledo. he writes out of the blade, -- blade's columbus bureau.

also on the panel tonight at asking questions, dennis mangan and michael douglas. thank you for being here tonight. each candidate has agreed to the rules and regulations set up for tonight's debate. let's review those just briefly and then let's get into it. we will begin with a three- minute opening statement. the order has been pre arranged by calling toss. each candidate will have 90 seconds to answer the question posed to you by the panel. the opposing candidate will similarly have 90 seconds to respond. the original candidate will be given 30 seconds for a rebuttal. the questions will alternate between gov. strickland and mr. kasich. toward the end of our hour together, we have set aside two minutes for closing statements. gov. strickland will go first. it is time to begin with our

opening statements. gov. strickland, not more than three minutes. >> good evening, everyone. i want to begin by saying gracias to the people of ohio for allowing me to be your governor. ohio and america has been hit hard by the national recession that was not of our own making. it was caused by two things -- mismanagement in washington, d.c., and misbehavior on wall street. i am here tonight to share with you what i have been trying to do as for governor, to move our state forward, to bring about recovery. this is what i have done. i have balanced to budgets while cutting taxes. we'll cut the state income tax by 17% since 2005, boasted that while i have been governor. we have given senior citizens who own homes in ohio a large property tax cut by expanding the home state exemption. as a state senator, my opponent tried to eliminate the state's

-- the homestead exemption biker sponsoring legislation that would have raised taxes on ohio seniors. i have been tried to cut taxes on seniors. he tries to raise taxes on seniors. we have done other things. we have invested in energy. we have a major energy initiative under way. we will have the largest solar farm belt east of the rocky mountains. we will be the first state to put went into lake erie. the solar industry, the biofuel industry -- jobs are being created as a result. we have frozen college tuition to make college more affordable and accessible for our young people. we have invested in k-12 education. the federal reserve out of pittsburgh says we have the sixth fastest-growing state economy in america. my opponent also has a record.

he was a congressman. i call him a "wall street congressman." he voted for nafta and its special trade status for china. he sent thousands of jobs out of ohio. he tried to privatize social security. why did he want to do that? because wall street wanted him to do that. they wanted to get our -- their hands on our social security resources. when he left congress, they awarded him with a big job on wall street -- working for lehman brothers, a company that went bankrupt and it represented the largest bankruptcy in american history. thousands of of violenc -- thousands of ohioans lost their life savings. he walked away with a bonus. this is a choice between two people, but also a choice between two values systems -- wall street value systems and

ohio values, which believes in pulling together to build the state for the common good. >> mr. kasich, tied for your opening statement. >> ladies and gentlemen, i have traveled the state. a lot of people are nervous and frustrated. some are downright scared about the economic situation we have in this state. since ted strickland has been governor, there have been 41 other states in the america that have all outperformed us. we are the 42nd best state in america. that is not acceptable. we have rising property. we have rising homelessness. we have also had rising taxes. i was in washington, ladies and gentlemen. i spent 10 years of my life trying to balance the federal budget. you know why? do not put things off tomorrow that you need to do today. do not mortgage our children's future because you're going to be selfish. if we can balance budgets and make government more efficient

and more effective, i have always believed that we could create economic prosperity. for 10 years of my life -- in 1995 i became chairman of the budget committee. i continued to build a team to balance the federal budget. d-day finally arrived in 1997, building betim and becoming the chief architect of the balanced budget proposal -- a bipartisan effort -- we were able to balance the budget for the first time a man -- since then walked on the moon. we cut taxes on investment and job creation. we also helped families. we went from chileans in the hold two trillion in the black. we were creating jobs. america's economy was never stronger. i understand why people are nervous about politicians.

fortunately, i have a record of what i was able to do to bring prosperity to the state. not to talk about it down the road, but to actually do it. i have returned to public life for this reason. i believe we can make government more efficient and more effective. we all know we need to do that. we need to make the state more competitive. if we can take a 6 foot pile of codes and regulations that hamper our small business people, we can be more successful. we absolutely can get it done. if you need to know that the small business community, the nfib has endorsed my candidacy. they said, "kasich is the man to move us to an era of prosperity, shrinking government, cutting taxes, returning power to local people, making the regulatory

environment pro-growth and not strangle small business." i need your help to be governor. >> thank you, mr. kasich. thank you, both. we now start the question portion of our debate. a coin toss determined who would receive that question. the question goes to you, mr. kasich. we are very proud that we have emerged as a leader in the solar industry. this school is a large part of that. it is a industry working hard to secure standards requiring utilities to buy a quarter of their power from renewable and advanced courses by 2025. would you preserve that standard if elected governor? >> the one thing you do not want to do in ohio today is for the government to impose mandates that can result in higher

utility costs for our beleaguered citizens. secondly, do not want to put the businesses in a position where they cannot be competitive. if you have read the "toledo blade." they said we lost 15 factories to indiana, maryland, and tennessee because we were not competitive. alternative energy is fantastic. it is one of the things we ought to do at the university of toledo deserves credit for the advances they have made. but ohio needs not just one industry and one focus on an industry that is relatively small, we need a portfolio of businesses. we need to strength in manufacturing and be a leader in america in advanced manufacturing. we need to push an permission technology. we need to push financial services. we need to be in a position to work with the university of toledo and the schools around the state to promote development in medical technology. we need to promote agriculture.

it is a portfolio of businesses because we are disbursed. we have to have a diversity economy so if we have trouble in one area, we are not in a position where it the ship gets socked we have stood still too long. diversification in all of these industries is the answer for a prosperous ohio. >> we do have a diverse economy. that is why i developed my opportunity program that identified the four strains of the major cities of our state and investing in those core strengths. energy is of course one of those core strengths. we want to make this region the seller of. my opponent did say that he would consider getting rid of the standard -- the 25 by 25 standard that is, in fact, resulting in massive investment being made in ohio. as i said in my opening statement, we announced this week that we will be building in

ohio it the largest solar farm east of the rocky mountains. it will create 600 jobs in ohio. we will be deeper state to actually deploy wind in lake erie. six turbines had been ordered from ge. it will be the beginning of a project that will lead to a massive wind farm in lake erie. in this region of ohio, we're seeing the solar industry provides jobs for our people. we must not turn back. when the congressman implied that he would consider getting rid of the standard, he obviously did not know that we have a 3% cap that will keep costs from exploding. he ought to know what he is talking about before he makes a statement about something as important as the wind and the energy, the solar policy that we have. >> mr. kasich, 30 seconds to rebut. >> you lost 397,000 jobs.

we had these 11th our promises in the middle of a political campaign. say we are the 43rd worst state to have business in. we are not competitive because you have raised taxes. you have increased government. i do not think your administration understands how to promote entrepreneurship. >> that his time. >> governor strickland, a recent poll found that most people in ohio what the specific answers on how you deal with the potential shortfall in the budget. schools, libraries, and social services want to know. specifically named two areas of the budget we would raise revenue or cut the budget.

what would be all the table when it comes to cuts? >> the truth is, we are facing a major budget crisis. it is the result of this recession. the recession, as i said in my opening statement, was not caused by us. it was caused by wall street and the shenanigans that took place there. the me tell you what i will not do. i will not make matters worse by saying i will eliminate our state income tax in the middle of a budget crisis. that tax provides about 46% of our state revenue. i had made tough choices going forward. i have balanced two budgets without raising taxes. i did that by making tough choices. some of the agencies in state government i am responsible for or operating at about 70% of what they have received in past budgets. i will set priorities as i have. education will remain a priority. the basic essentials services that our people must have will remain priorities for me.

i have demonstrated that i am willing to make cuts. we have about 5000 fewer state employees now than when i became governor. that was tough to do. that represents about 7% of our state work force. but i will make the cuts that are necessary to carry out my constitutional responsibility. that responsibility is to maintain a balanced budget. i have done it for two budgets. i will do it in the future. >> we have 90 seconds mr. kasich. we are looking for specifics. >> the governor rated the rainy day fund. he securitized with tobacco that was supposed to supply a stream of revenue. he used stimulus dollars to operate the government and he raised taxes. ted strickland voted to raise taxes in 1993 and he raised taxes in the last budget. he can say he did not raise taxes. he did. we are the seventh highest tax state.

what it gets down to is this, if you do not have a state where you can lower the cost of doing business -- the blade pointed out that in indiana, their costs are lower. you are searching for low-cost if you are a business owner. that means you cannot raise taxes if you are already a tax state. that is why businesses are leaving. if that is why we have lost 397,000 jobs. i will not. i have a history of budget cutting. i had a history of reforming. i have a history of restoring and providing tax cuts. when i was chairman of that budget committee and we got that budget committee -- we get that budget agreement done on a bipartisan basis, america was strong financially. that will work here. less government, lower taxes, common-sense regulations, train

workers -- that is the solution. >> governor? >> what we have done, congressman, is outsourced jobs. you have signed off on outsourcing a high of jobs to china. you were a board member of the company. you side often sent hundreds of jobs out of ohio to china. that is the part of your record that the people of ohio need to know about. >> the next question comes from gail beck. it will be addressed to mr. kasich. >> if gov. strickland and the general assembly agreed to put all the two years of state income taxes. with the budget problems facing this state in the next budget you just said he will not raise taxes. can you promise of high note that that task that will take effect as promised?

>> we are going to restore the tax cuts. if you have a restaurant and you do not have customers, he did not raise prices. you lower prices and at the same time you lower your overhead, change the menu. that is and you get more customers. it is the same thing with the ohio. when you are one of the highest tax states, you have to move aggressively to bring down those rates that punish small business at chase our best on tripper norse out of the state. if you want to be the governor of the state anyone to run around and bashed companies, it does not send a very good message to people that are not in the state. we have more employees working at my company after the action that we took. we are the second-largest business in lorraine county. these are the kinds of distortions i have had to listen to. i am glad we are here to debate.

we need to make this government more effective and more efficient. 22 reduce the tax rates. we need to run ohio from the bottom up, not the top down. spending in the general revenue will increase by 9.7% this year. every person and ohio could only hope and pray they get a 9.7% raise. >> governor strickland. >> i am going to ask the fact checkers to check what the congressman just said because it is not accurate. we faced an $851 million shortfall. i froze the taxes at their current level. i did not raise taxes. i kept them at their current level. what my opponent says he would $851 million out of our colleges and out of our education system. that would have been devastating

to our kids and to our schools. i was not willing to do it. apparently he was. the fact is that when we cut funding for higher education tuition will go up. that will cost parents more money to educate their sons and daughters. if we cut state levels on taxation as he wants to do by eliminating our state income tax it will drive the state -- will drive the end come down to the local level. it will result in property taxes be increased. there is no doubt about it. you cannot spend money you do not have. it cannot educate kids if you do not have state resources. folks at the local level will end up paying more. >> if you come out of the box when you were elected governor and did what he promised he said he would do which was turned ohio around, you would have created a government more effective and more efficient and he would have dealt with the tax situation.

instead you raised spending. you talk about the fact that you get rid of 5000 workers. you hire 4000 people back. he raised taxes. it is undeniable. people are paying more because he changed the law and denied them a tax cut. >> dennis mangan is here with a question for governor strickland. >> employees are seeking legislative changes. some proposed changes that would ask public employees to accept concessions. others are asking taxpayers to pay more. how would he make the system financially sound for the long term and how would you suggest the practice of some school district employees and some elected officials double dipping by retiring and then returning to the same job to get a paycheck and a penchant? >> i have great difficulty with double dipping. that is an issue that needs to be addressed. i think we need transparency.

that is why i have said that i believe the major newspapers in our state -- the records should be made public as long as individual information is protected. i believe that is possible. i urge transparency. i am to double byte double dipping. i think it is being abused. that needs to be addressed. the public pension system needs to be solvent. in order to make it solvent, you have to call all parties together. they have to come together and work in good faith, simply arguing warfighting will not solve the problem. it must be solved. it can be solved. i do not want to lower the standards of public benefits and retirement benefits for anyone, but it is absolutely necessary that we recognize the fiscal condition of our public pension systems and come together and work to find a reasonable

solution. i believe that solutions can be felt, but i repeat, not by arguing or screaming at each other. only by working together in good faith can we solve this problem. >> first of all, the double dipping has to be reviewed. secondly, we have to have a sound pension system. when i was down in the congress, they try to jump beek teacher were parma's system and the public retirement system into social security. i said if they did it i would stop the bill. we have to do it. we have to reform it. i will tell you what taxpayers are concerned about. when he went into government, you were assured of more security. your short a more benefits. that is the trade-off. you do not get paid as much. a lot of the people in the private sector say, "i have no pension. i do not get the pay that a

public employee is getting right now and i certainly do not have the job security." as we work to solve this problem, we must make sure that we do not create an equity where a person who is working every day it is supporting somebody in the public sector. there has to be some real give and take. i think people in ohio are getting concerned about the potential for the giant tab being put on them as they work in the private sector. we have to be careful. we have to protect the people who are retired and are getting close to retirement. this system must be made sound. >> orbital, governor. >> a member of lehman brothers, my opponent, what to our public pension system and try to get them to invest in women. he says he was not successful, but i can tell you this. when lehman brothers went bankrupt in 2008, our public

pension systems lost over $480 million. solvency is important. we need to work toward it. we need to make sure that the investments that are made or sound investments. >> michael douglas as a question for mr. kasich. >> u.s. said that if he were elected, and gov. strickland's new evidence based model for primary and secondary education will be gone and you will put more money into the classrooms. what specific education model would you support? how we pay for it while eliminating the deficit and what dole will local property taxes pay in that -- play in that model. >> it is not paid for. he promised he would fix education. he said if it was not they still would be a failure. there is no money in the program. why we have done is to mandate a whole lot of unfunded programs onto local schools. i just met with the superintendent a couple of days

ago who said this program was devastating and, if you check the record, you'll find that the evidence based model has not been successful wherever it has been tried. when you are 46 in americans putting dollars into the classrooms, you take power away from teachers and resources away from students. we must do everything we can to make ohio #1 in terms of dollars in the classroom. we should be at the tail end of paying administrators. if we can get dollars in the classrooms and repeal a lot of the unfunded mandates and we can get into the business of promoting shared services so that schools were with one another -- u.s. some counties where you have six school districts. if you do not need six superintendents. how many principles, administrators, curriculum coordinator is? we need to operate the schools more like a business. we need to have school choice

which gives people the opportunity to see what excites kids. that information can then be transferred into the regular public schools. if we do that we'll have a much lower toned debate. >> governors reckoned. >> my governor does not -- my opponent does not understand. if there are no unfunded mandates in the evidence based model. it is designed to drive money into the classroom. when i became governor, education week ranked ohio 27th in the nation. they now say that our schools are built in the nation and no. 1 in the midwest. our goal must be to make our schools number one in america. we competed with 46 other states for "grace to the top -- "race to the top" resources. they will be coming to ohio to enrich the education of our children. the model that i adopted will

be phased in over time. it is structurally constitutional, i believe, because we have carved out the major elements that constitute a quality education for our kids and the state of ohio is committed to funding this elements. let me say this, we must take the burden of of local property taxpayers. when i became governor, the state of ohio provided about 48% of the total cost of elementary education. when my model is phased in, the state of ohio will have a 761% of the total cost. that would give property-tax relief at the local level. >> rebuttal, mr. kasich. >> the governor's educational program is somewhere over the rainbow. there is no money in it. it is like getting in the car to go on a vacation and there is no gas in the car. it does not push dollars into the classroom. it prescribes some many

different items that a local school has to provide -- a local school has to provide. dollars in the classroom, shared services, repeal of unfunded mandates, school choice -- it will empower teachers and help our students do better. >> this question goes from mr. douglas to governor strickland. >> you recently issued an executive order barring any state from -- in the state offices from signing contracts. you criticize your opponent for supporting trade agreements that have cost ohio jobs, yet you check and exports and jobs in ohio driven by the same trade agreements. you seem to favor imports but not exports. in sourcing, but not outsourcing. is this realistic work fair

trade? >> i think it is. what i want to do is outsource products from ohio and america, not jobs from ohio and america. i am for trade. we need trade. trade is a huge part of ohio's economy. we need to support it. trade has to work in both directions, though. we have had trade deals that are patently unfair. we have had rules that were not enforced, especially during the bush years, and i think we need to put a stop to it. i opposed nafta because i felt it was constructed in such a way that it would cost ohio jobs. it has caused a high of jobs. i opposed granting most favored nation trade status to china for the same reasons. we have lost thousands and thousands of jobs. my opponent has said we have not lost any jobs to china. we know that is just not right.

i support fair trade. i support a level playing field. i am working with companies to export our ohio products and i want to be a good partner with other nations, but it must be a fair and level playing field in order for that to happen. >> thus get over to mr. kasich, now. >> ohio lost five times as many jobs to other states. the reason we are losing jobs is we are not competitive. the governor himself shipped stimulus money to texas and that money was then spent on outsourcing call centers to el salvador. he also voted twice to provide free trade to china. i do not know how you can stand there honestly and say no. when you did not raise taxes when you did, and you did not vote for free trade to china.

we will destroy agriculture in ohio. farmers do not want that to happen. my conditions on trade? fair trade, not free trade. all one ohio companies to get a 201 protection. the companies needed a breather. been needed to be able to get their act together. that is why i work with two of the major steel companies in america. we actually got the 201 status put in place. ronald wagon try to protect -- ronald reagan wanted to protect harley-davidson. the administration is not doing enough to prevent china from manipulating the currency and ceiling are jobs. i think we need to have the governor start calling the president and telling him to get on the ball on this so we have fair trade and not just being ripped off by people. >> i am sensing an orbital from the governor? >> welcome to my world,

congressman. i have been arguing about china's manipulation of the currency for years. our democratic friends in the thomas -- in the congress are vitally taking it seriously. the house is passing a bill to make that possible. if you could get your republican friends in the senate to play along, which did teach china a lesson. they have been manipulating their currency and costing us hundreds of thousands of jobs as a result. from young sam. >> to back to securing the chevrolet cobalt and try to win another chevrolet products, how would your plan to privatize economic development affect other jobs? >> that same department of development that sat on their

hands in dayton and wilmington and we have lost 397,000 jobs and did not have a permanent director of the department of development for seven months. that is like going to war and not having a general in charge. and what you have people that understand the language of the job creators. i want people who can do that the speed of light who can find markets, again connect people to people in this country and all of this globe. i also believe our universities are a tremendous opportunity to commercialize items. we are in the embassy states. if you talk to people, they will tell you that if we open up the research and development at our universities we will be doing far better. the bottom line is, if you believe this bureaucracy can move at the speed of business, then you would support jobs ohio. but if you think we need to get a group of people with the experience to go into the

toughest places in this state to begin to remove barriers and began to work with companies in the state to be stronger and expand and to ultimately search the country for other opportunities to bring jobs to the state, which cannot keep doing what we are doing. 41 other states in america have outperformed us. it is because we have been too slow, not innovative and creative. i would change that. >> over to governor strickland. >> if my opponent and his friends had had their way, there likely would have been no surviving automobile industry in america. i was over at the chevrolet when the new car came off of the line. it is a card that is almost totally made in ohio. the transmission is made year. it is a wonderful car.

4500 people work at that plant. three shifts a day. and he said the stimulus should not have been passed. the stimulus and the decision to save the of the bill industry made the automobile industry possible. $650 million is being invested in youngstown. it would not have been possible, i think, without the stimulus. i do not know what you think the president and our democratic friends should have done. the fact is that 8.5 million jobs were lost, congressman. most of those jobs were lost during the bush administration. we have taken firm actions to stabilize this economy. the free fall has been stopped and all you and your friends want to do is criticize and say no, no, no, while we have been working to create jobs, you were working on wall street to outsource our jobs. i think the people of ohio can tell the difference between the

two of us. >> you sound like a broken record. you have to get over that period was youngstown shows is the potential for manufacturing. we have performed worse than 41 other states since this guy has been the governor. our unemployment is 10.1%. poverty is rising and homelessness is rising. we need to have a job creating environment and culture in this state. we can get it done. we keep doing the same thing and we will keep shifting. >> gail beck's question will be directed at governor strickland. >> the recession ended foreclosure crisis has made life more difficult for ohio citizens that were already struggling with crime, the loss of employers, deteriorating ever structure, and decaying neighborhoods. in addition to encouraging job growth, how would you help

ohio's struggling cities? >> well, ohio cities, obviously, are vital to ohio's overall economy. we cannot have a strong state without having strong, healthy cities. that is one of the reasons we have developed our ohio hub for animation an opportunity program. each of our citizens have individual characteristics and individual strengths. the strength of toledo is affiliated with this university, the solar industry, and existing first-solar. this is what we designated this area as a solar hub in ohio. we are going around to other cities during the same thing. in cincinnati it is the marketing hub. over in cleveland where the biomedical and medical industry is so critical and so important, we are designating

that as the biomedical hub. we believe that these investments in these hub areas will result in the local economy's growing and thriving. we are doing other things as well. we are putting resources into our cities. we're doing that to our department of transportation. we are trying to build an ever structure that will create economic vitality and growth. we have done that by investing in rail. >> time. thank you very much, governor. let's take it over to mr. kasich. >> i am very privileged to receive the endorsement of the "cleveland plaindealer." they are very concerned about the state of our cities. they know that what it gets down to is creating economic growth. we have a lot of great assets in our state.

if you look at cleveland, we have university hospital. we have the cleveland clinic. we have the university of toledo. you look down in cincinnati and we have proctor and gamble. in columbus we have cardinal health. we a tremendous assets all over the state. we have not leveraged them. we have not been able to get them to talk to one another. we have not opened up our laboratories in our university systems to create exciting new 21st century jobs. the recent the "cleveland plaindealer" said the one john kasich is because they want to get moving. the ohio chamber of congress endorsed by candace is the -- endorsed my candidacy for governor. they came out in force early. everybody is saying the same thing. four more years of tax and spend and regulate will not work. what we need to do is to set

people three, set our our entrepreneurs street to create jobs. that is precisely what our program is all about. >> bottle time to governor strickland. >> what do i say about the leveland plaindealer's endorsement? they said they endorsed him with trepidation. that is my assessment. it is not important what the newspapers say about it. it is about what our ideas are, congressman, what our plans are. how much we care about ohio and what our histories or. my history has been working four jobs in ohio. >> jim province, your question will be directed to mr. kasich. >> governor strickland has tried to add slot machines at

racetracks. should ohio promote gambling to do with its budget problems? >> i am the first person to run for governor who has not said he is opposed to gambling. most of the candidates, including my opponent, said they were against it. i will not take a position on that yet because i am concerned that we are going to get ourselves into a position where we could erode our culture, which could put our kids in jeopardy. we have to be very careful about this. i am aware of the fact that people want to leave the state and go to other places to spend their money. it is something that has to be a consideration. the deals that have been struck so far are not good for ohio. we had the casinos in the state of ohio -- the state of ohio does not get its fair share. the state of ohio ought to regulate these operations. if we move forward, it has to be done in a comprehensive, well

thought out way that fundamentally protect the culture of our state. i know that the people of ohio are mixed in their feelings on that. so i am. this is an issue was spent some time thinking about and if we decide to move forward, we would design a program that will protect our families and also provide the resources for the state of ohio. but i have not yet made a determination. >> governor? >> the people voted to establish casinos in cleveland, columbus, cincinnati, and toledo. that was the will of the people. that is not something i supported. the people have spoken. our responsibility right now is to make sure that gambling is instituted in a way that protects the local communities. people of high integrity must be chosen to oversee the operations.

we must make sure that crime and other elements that sometime are associated with gambling activity are prevented from coming to our cities. the fact is that ohio does have budget problems, although i have always been a opponents of gambling -- i do not think it is a good economic policy, quite frankly -- but i felt that slot machines at race tracks were the least artful approach. wheat -- least harmful approach. my responsibility as governor, or whoever the next governor is, will have the responsibility of making sure that the commission that oversees the operations at these casinos is made up of people of high- quality to do a good job. >> i would agree with the governor on that. i think we have to get people of the highest character to deal with what the people voted for.

but before we do any further to expand this program and to expanded to do with our budget problems, i do not think it is a very smart way to go. i want to say one more time, i have not made up my mind. if we go forward, we will get our share as the state of ohio. the jury is still out in my mind. >> so is the time. this question is for governor strickland. >> the people of ohio do not directly vote for lieutenant governor. tell us what they would be in better hands with your choice for lieutenant governor than your opponent's choice. >> my running mate is with me tonight, mr. brown from columbus, ohio. she was born to a single teenage mother.

she worked hard. she went to college at ohio university. she attended the ohio state law school. at a very young age she decided to run for judge. she ran in franklin county. she defeated a sitting republican judge when she was 32-years of age. she served on that court for nine years and developed an amazing reputation throughout central ohio as a judge who was wise, effective, compassionate, and caring. she was recruited away from that position to go to a nationwide children's hospital in columbus to start a grass-roots organization to be an advocacy for children and their families, primarily abused children and troubled families. she built that into a 400-person operation with a $30 million a

year budget. she is usually qualified. she is usually respected. she will make a great governor if it is ever necessary for me to vacate the office. >> we are talking running mates. mr. kasich? >> i am very thrilled that my running mate is here tonight. she is a mother. she is the wife of a small business person so she understands these travails of that small business people have to go through. she was also a cpa. what we need in politics or people who have been in business and understand how to create jobs. that is the formula, to me, that really makes sense for driving ohio and driving our united states government that has been out of control lately in a better direction. mary was also a state rep.

the boys down there try to put a lot of pressure on mary. it was republicans doing it. she said, "in no way, no help." she did not bat an eye. that same kind of pressure applied to me. she stood up and she was strong. she turned around and ran for state auditor. she was the only republican elected. she has done a fantastic job of auditing the problems of the state. in fact, if she had been listened to a little bit more by a lot of people, it would have paid off. i am proud that she is my running mate. she is qualified to do anything that she sets her mind to. thank you for asking, jim. i do not have a single negative thing to say about that. >> i guess we are both fortunate to have talented women as are running mates, but i think my opponent's running mate, with

all due respect, stood beside mr. kasich and boasted that as a cpa she had actually encourage people to go -- to leave ohio and go to florida or some other state to avoid paying a higher taxes. >> thank you, governor. you're watching the ohio gubernatorial debate. we are glad you're watching wherever you are watching around the state of ohio. time flies when you are having fun. we do not have time for a full round of questioning. our two candidates, one who will be elected 26 days from now to lead this state for the next four years, fed each been given two minutes to reach out to you, the voters of ohio, to tell you why they are the person to lead this state. gov. strickland, he will lead us all for two minutes. >> i want to thank the people of this great state for giving me the privilege of serving in the

governor's operas for the last four years. before that i served in the congress. before i went to congress, i went to a senior citizen's center in pike county ohio and bought a plant that had a saying on that run the book of mica. >> what is required of us? to walk humbly with our god. i kept that plaque in the washington office and now it is in my office in columbus -- in the governor's office. i think that sort of plays out how a person and someone in person -- in public office should lead their lives. to do justice, to try to do the right thing, to love kindness, to care about other people, and to walk humbly knowing that none of us get to this live on our own. we are all interdependent and we all need each other. that is the spirit i try to have

as a congressman and as governor. that disease. i will keep with me and in the governor's office if you give me the privilege of reading this great state of the next four years. thank you for watching this debate. i ask you for your support for this election season. i promise you that i will serve you to the best of my abilities. thank you very much. >> governor strickland, thank you for being here tonight. mr. kasich. >> you have to ask yourself the question, are we better off today than we were four years ago when ted strickland took office? i like ted strickland. i am not even running against ted strickland. i am running to create jobs, straighten out ohio, and restore a great legacy. we want our kids to go to college here. we want our kids to graduate and stay here. we want them to have exciting opportunities so they can buy their god-given destinies.

we want them -- we do not want them getting on an airplane and traveling all over the country to see their grandkids. that is not what we want. it dazzles meet the massive unemployment with the rising poverty and the rising homelessness. ohio is going to be great again. all we have to do is shine it up and use that great formula, setting people free to engage in economic activity. we need to create jobs. we need to pull people together. over the course of my lifetime, my mother always said, "johnny, raised the bar. bring people together." i have been able to do some amazing things by building a team and even working with people on the other side of the aisle. with the assets we have in this state, most notably the state -- most notably the people, with the brain trust that we have a in ohio, if we can just write

the conditions. if we can improve the atmosphere, ohio will be the greatest day in america. my goal is to make ohio in the top 10 of places where businesses and people want to come. you know what? it can happen. it is out there ladies and gentlemen. i want to climb this mountain to make a high of great again. i would like you to climb it with me. i would appreciate your support and so we can get your vote. good night. >> thank you for joining us on stage tonight. we thank you for being here. i would like to quickly thank our panel tonight in the ohio newspaper organization. thank you for your work. dennis mangan and michael douglas. gentlemen, to both of you -- the idea of public service is a high calling. sometimes we have to -- sometimes what we have to walther and steptoe is less attractive.

by i also add that i know a lot of your supporters are here -- this may be the met -- maybe the best behave debate audience i have ever seen in my life. not a short time audience to say thank you. [applause] [applause] thank you, gentlemen. thank you. a reminder to all of you who are watching at home, whether it is

early voting or absentee voting or 13 hours on election day, november 2 is the first tuesday in november. there is not a hand they will not shake in the next few days. they are out there working it for you. it is up to you to get involved. make sure you get help and a vote. thank you for joining us. >> [crowd chanting "four more years"] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]

>> gov. ted strickland and republican john kasich debating in toledo. you can learn more about the ohio governors rate -- the governor's race. we are taking to las vegas for a another governor's debate. after that, a georgia gov.'s debate. then, president obama is campaigning in maryland for democrats.

this weekend at through december, listen to landmark supreme court cases on c-span radio. >> while we are arguing is that you may not publicly desecrate a flag regardless of the motivation for your action. >> flag-burning and freedom of speech -- texas v. johnson, saturday on c-span radio. nationwide on xm-satellite radio. >> the u.s. chamber of commerce is airing more than $10 million of advertising in some of the most competitive house and senate races. the associated press reports that this amount is the single largest one week expenditure by a group outside of the national political party. the chamber has set a goal of spending $75 million in this year's midterm elections.

a television station in montgomery, alabama, says an incumbent will not vote to reelect nazi policy if the democrat's maintain control of the house. the national journal's potline reduced -- released its forecast for the house and senate and the elections. the outline predicts help -- house republicans will take up 31 seats. the hot line forecast that republicans will capture control of the senate with 58 seats. democrats would control 49 seats, including independence. you can see all of our campaign programming at c- span.org/politics.

>> the nevada gov.'s debate is next. brian sandoval is a former district judge. the hour-long debate is opposed by the nevada broadcasters' association. . .

>> it is the mission of the nevada broadcaster's association to be the eyes and ears of nevada's television and radio stations. tonight, our goal is to get specific positions from the candidate so that voters will know how each individual will guide nevada through a critical time in our state history. i'm mitch fox from vegas pbs and will serve as your moderator for this important political event. joining me this evening is the republican candidate for governor, judge brian sandoval. standing next to judge sandoval is the democratic candidate for governor, clark county commissioner, rory reid. welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> we want to thank each and every one of the participating

nevada television and radio stations who are providing this important one-hour block of time as a public service to our communities. the format we'll follow has been accepted and agreed to by both campaigns. each candidate will give a two-minute opening statement. the candidates will then be asked a series of questions, some of which have been submitted by nevadans, the nevada television and radio stations throughout the state. each candidate will be given one minute to respond to the question followed by a 30-second rebuttal from the first candidate. if i believe a policyup question is necessary, the candidate will have a minute to respond. the program concludes with one-minute closing statements from each candidate. it was determined by a coin toss that the first opening sfamente will be offered by commissioner rory reid. commissioner reid? >> thanks, mitch. good evening. this election is about two things. , what are we going to do to move nevada forward and which

of us is more qualified to do it? we can have a bright future in our state but we need a strong and experienced leader with a plan of action to get it done. this election is about two things, as i said, and those two things will be determined tonight. being governor is a job. i think tonight you have an opportunity to conduct a job interview between brian and me. the three things i think you should know are that only one of us has managed a large organization, created jobs, and balanced a budget the size of the state. only one of us has stood up to special interests and done what's in the interest of all nevadans, and only one of us has offered a detailed plan to create jobs, diversify our economy and strengthen education. no one knows how brian sandoval would do this job because he's never done anything like it

before. and he doesn't have a plan to do it now. brian seems like a nice person but i'm concerned about whether he's his own person. the people behind him, the lobbyists that recruited him, the ones that write the bills and budget he proposes, they're the ones i'm concerned about. because if he doesn't have the strength to stand up to them, how will he ever stand up for you. one of us has the strength and experience to do the job of governor. and one of us has offered a detailed plan to create jobs, diversify our economy and strengthen our education system. that is what i intend to talk about tonight. i'm grateful to the sponsors of the debate, i'm grateful for brian's attendance here, and i look forward to the conversation that we're going to have. >> thank you very much. now mr. sandoval. >> thank you, mitch, and thank you very much for the opportunity to be here tonight. i'd like to personally thank the nevada broadcaster's association, pbs, you, mr. fox,

for moderating this event and my opponent, mr. reid. it's truly an honor and privilege to be here this evening. nevada, you have a decision to make. we have challenges, as mr. fox described in his opening, we have historical challenges this state has never faced. this is not a time for sound bites or political gimmicks, this is a time for straight talk. this is a time for governor who will level with you. you have before you two candidates standing here to serve as your next governor. i think mr. reid and i agree on one thing, there's a big choice to make, but there are three very basic differences between the two of us. first, is experience. i had the privilege of serving this state as the legislator, an attorney general, as chairman of the nevada gaming commission, and as a federal judge. my opponent has spent $3 million lying about my record and hasn't spent a single dollar talking about his own.

second, which leads me to the second point, integrity. we need a governor who is going to speak straight with the people of the state of nevada. it's very easy to stand in front of a group and tell them i'm not going to raise your taxes and stand in front of another group of educators and say i'm not going to cut the university funding, i'm not going to cut k-12 spending. i'll tell you, if you're telling everybody what they want to hear, you're lying to someone. tonight we're going to get to the bottom of it. and finally, taxes. there is no bigger difference between my opponent and me with regard to taxes. my opponent will raise your taxes, i will not. so with that, experience, fiscal responsibility, if integrity matters to you, i would be very proud to serve as your next governor. thank you very much. >> thank you very much.

now we'll start the q&a. mr. reid, you have the first question. it has to do with the budget, and that is andrew clinger, republican governor, jim gibbons, state budget director said in order to balance the budget without raising taxes you'd have to eliminate all funding of state government except k-12 and higher education. that means eliminating health and human services, taxation, gaming enforcement, even the legislature and the supreme court. he says he doesn't know how to balance nevada's budget without raising taxes. both of you have said raising taxes isn't necessary. do you know something the state budget director doesn't know? >> yes, i do. and i'm the only candidate standing here tonight, mitch, that has offered a detailed plan of how i would balance the budget. and brian opened speaking of integrity and then he immediately misrepresented the facts. my budget which is available to every nevadan on my website, it shows how we can balance the

budget without new taxes and that's what i propose to do. notwithstanding what brian claims. and we can do this by re-creating nevada's government. there are 26 departments in the state's government. i believe we only need 16 and that's how we're going to balance the budget without taxes. >> mr. sandoval? >> well, i'll say this. my opponent doesn't have a plan. if you took the time to review his plan, it includes $615 million of fantasy money that we don't have. it has another $400 million of money that's going to come from modernization and efficiencies that isn't there. those are things that, again, you've got to be straight with the people of the state of nevada. it doesn't add up. my opponent has also said that he will balance the budget without raising taxes, yet he will not cut education, he won't cut higher education. that's 55% of our state's budget. and if you add it all up, that would mean you would have to cut the rest of state government. you have to be straight with

the people of the state of nevada. i will be happy to talk about my plan to balance the budget, but rory reid, i assure you, will raise taxes to balance our budget in the state of nevada. >> mr. reid? >> i have the experience and a plan, brian has neither. i've been chairman of the clark county commission for nearly six years. i've been on the commission for eight. i've balanced that budget every year without new taxes and i propose to balance the state budget without new taxes. i can do it. i have experience with large budgets and brian can't talk about his plan tonight because he doesn't have one. it's hard for me to point out the problems in his plan because he hasn't released it. he said in june he would deliver a plan to the people of nevada. it's october 7, he still hasn't. where's your plan, brian? >> ok. i'm going to ask a follow-up that has to do with and mr. reid you'll get the first crack at it. would you consider taking additional revenue from clark county in order to balance the budget? >> no. i've been a subject of that kind of diversion. we at clark county balanced our

budget and in the state legislature took $200 million from us, a diversion is not a solution. it is a shell game that i will never play again as governor. as i said, i know how to balance budgets. i've done it for years now. and my plan will balance the budget without those kinds of gimmicks or games. nevada's government was created in the 19th and 20th centuries. if we're going to have a 21st century economy, we need a 21st century government. that's why it takes the 26 state departments, i consolidate some, eliminate others, and create a leaner, more efficient government that can provide services to you and still balance the budget without taxes. >> mr. sandoval? >> i'd like to address mr. reid's discussion about his experience on the clark county commission and balancing the budget. let's be honest. you're required to balance the budget by law. let's be honest that it's a

city manager form of government and it's the city manager. let's be honest, that there are six other commissioners on that clark county commission that are also working on this. and most recently, if the budget was balanced so well, why is clark county now going to go back to its employees and asking for refunds on their salaries? you can't present a budget like that. you can't present a budget that was presented by you. you would be laughed out of the legislature if you presented a budget with $615 million of fantasy money and another half billion dollars that contains essentially no specifics. >> mr. sandoval, your deficit reduction plan includes a 4% salary reduction for state workers and public school teachers, teacher salaries are locked in place because of collective bargaining agreements. if the teachers don't agree to a salary reduction, would you fire them to balance the budget and how many of them would be let go under your plan? >> that's something that's been

discussed earlier in this campaign. and again, i'm going to be straight with the people of the state of nevada. we have a budget crisis. we only have $5.2 billion to spend. our budget is comprised of five things, prisonings -- prisons, universities, k-12, payroll and health and human services. to balance this budget there are going to be reductions. we're going to have to go back to 2007 levels. that's the expenditures we're going to have to have. if we make these tough decisions we'll be able to balance the budget and i'm very optimistic about the future of our state. our state government needs to do what they've done across the state and that's cut back. i firmly believe if we have the discipline to that now our future will be bright and our economy will grow. the most important thing we can do is have a strong economy that creates jobs and attracts new businesses to the state of

nevada. mr. reid? >> again, experience and a plan. i have experience and i have a plan. brian has neither. the last minute you heard brian talk about the state budget more than he has throughout this entire campaign. nobody knows what brian would do because he hasn't told us. he talks about cuts. he hasn't described what he will cut. he hasn't described what he will do with our government. i have. again, it's available on my website. we can balance the budget and protect education. i know these things because i've had experience doing these things. and my balanced budget proposal would allow our state to progress. it uses smarter technology to do things more efficiently. it recognizes the importance of our university system. universities are not just an expense on a budget. they can create revenue for our state. we need to unleash the power of the great minds in the state of nevada and grow again. that's what my budget will allow us to do.

brian's budget simply does not exist. >> mr. sandoval? >> let's talk about the experience with the state budget. i served two terms in the legislature and had experience with our state budget without raising taxes. i've handled an executive branch budget as attorney general and in fact after that with my budget, i returned over $1 million back to the general fund. that's fiscal responsibility. whereas the budget that's been submitted -- or the proposed budget of the so-called plan for a budget that's been submitted by my opponent contains $615 million of fantasy money and another $500 million of money that doesn't exist. >> i'm going to actually get back to my original question and maybe this is just a yes and no. under either one of your plans, could teachers lose their jobs? mr. sandoval? >> well, first and foremost, again, i'm being very honest with the people of the state of nevada. there are going to be reductions. my plan does not call for any

teacher layoffs. again, we've got to be honest about had this. my opponent's plan contains a continuation of the furloughs which in turn mean $200 million in reductions to education. so which is it, are you going to hold education harmless, are you going to hold the universities harmless or remove $200 million from the education budget? i've already conceded. we have tough decisions to make. we'll have to reduce funding. i think my opponent needs to be honest with the people of our state. >> i take that as a maybe. mr. reid? >> absolutely not. brian took a minute there. i'm not exactly sure what he said but let me try to describe for you his proposal with respect to education. i've read it. my plan would not spend any less money that was spent in the last fiscal year on education. brian's proposal would call for teacher salary reductions of up to 20%. i don't know how he can do that without firing a teacher.

it would take class size money and divert it and call for vouchers and would eliminate at least $100 million from public education. >> mr. reid, you have the next question. you balance the budget by taking $100 million from the state transportation fund, something the nevada constitution prohibits. your plan is also based on receiving $615 million more in tax revenue, a figure most economists say is wildly optimistic and will never happen. that means you're more than $700 million off your target. explain how you came up with those figures. >> all right. let's talk about this, mitch. brian wants straight talk. here it is. there are $5 billion of energy projects in the state of nevada that has either been approved or are about to be. the western governor's association can a study, if nevada had developed 2,000 megawatts of solar energy in the last couple of years it would have led to $13 billion in new revenue for the state and $1.3 million in new revenue

directly to the state coffers, so i took that $5 billion in energy production that will come online soon and that's where i come up with the money that i call new revenue in the state budget. it's not fantasy money. what's a fantasy here is brian's budget. he is standing in front of the people of nevada asking to be their governor, criticizing my plan, calling into question my integrity, and in june, right after the primary election, he promised to give you a state budget proposal and he still hasn't done it. it's october 7, it's hard for me to talk about a plan that brian has because it doesn't exist. >> thank you, mr. sandoval? >> thank you. and again, no clarity whatsoever. we still have a $600 million hole along with another half billion dollars. there's another $150 million in there with regard to reduction of expenses for prisons. if you reduced $150 million from the state prison budget you would have to release 2,000

to 3,000 inmates into our communities. that is no way to balance the budget. would you like a rebuttal? >> absolutely. brian misrepresents my plan. what i say about prisons is that we need to do them smarter and better rather than just warehousing prisoners. we need to divert those nonviolent into drug programs so they can beat their addiction and become productive citizens. they've done that in hawaii and other states. it will work here. again, i think the problem with this debate is that it's so one-sided because brian has no plan. i can't criticize brian's budget because he simply doesn't have one. the only thing he's made clear to nevadans is he will cut half a billion from education and fire teachers. >> thank you. mr. sandoval, you have the next question. this comes from ron who lives in sparks, and he says this, i'm a nevada retiree and concerned about protecting our purse system and benefits. should those funds be used only for the purpose of providing

retirement benefits and do you support nevada's pers to find benefit retirement systems to public employees know how much their monthly retirement benefit will be? >> there's two things in that question. first i appreciate the question from ron for sparks, at first i thought it was my brother, he lives in sparks. but our pers system needs to change and we need to go from a defined benefits program to a confineded contribution program. currently our system is $8 billion under water. it's unsustainable with the way it's working now and i think it's very important we go to a 401-k style plan for new hires in the state of nevada. i think that's a prudent approach and what i would work towards if elected govern >>. >> mr. reid? >> there's no question we need reform. many months ago i think i was one of the first people to stand up and say that our system was unsustainable, that

personnel costs were unsustainable. and that's why i called every labor organization in clark county to the table and demanded concessions and the result of that hard work was that the county taxpayers saved tens of millions of dollars. it's easy to stand here and talk about the reforms that are necessary. again, i offer experience solving these difficult problems and the plans to do so. i think that's the difference you're seeing here tonight. >> mr. sandoval, a chance to rebutt? >> this is not a new issue and was stg studied by the sage commission. i think everybody agrees we need to have some reforms to our public employee retirement system. it has to be a priority for the next governor. and again, i think we should go to that defined contribution program, it's a prudent approach and something that will help carry it forward into the future for the people of the state of nevada. >> ok. mr. reid, you'll get the next question and this is from james who lives in reno.

>> i have no brothers named james in reno. >> i have a son named james in reno. >> lots of family in the area. >> this isn't fair, we have two members of his family and none of mine. >> i don't know what to say. >> work on that, mitch. >> for the next one, retirees have seen almost a 400% increase in their health insurance premiums and deductibles could go to almosted 1,000 per year, do the candidates plan on continuing the degradation of our once excellent health insurance program by placing more of the costs on the back of retirees? >> absolutely not. and my budget proposal talks about what we must do with medicaid. over $1 billion is spent in nevada every year on medicaid. and we just don't do it as smart as we could. and that leads to reimbursements being reduced and burdens being increased particularly for senior citizens. my budget proposal talks about what we must do to change that.

we need to eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse. we need more managed care and we need to focus on things that will make people's lives better but be less expensive. for example, nevada has more long-term care per capita than any state in the country, we have more people in nursing homes than anywhere in the country. if we move to adult daycare as my plan proposes, we could save money and have greater quality of life for our people. that kind of smart solution my budget is full of. it's not a fantasy, brian, it's there in black and white on my website for everybody to read. >> mr. sandoval? >> i think first you have to respond to the question. the question has to do with the public employees benefit system and health care for state employees. our public employees benefits board recently made a decision that will save our state $120 million. it was a tough decision because again, it does the things mentioned that you talked about. it's going to increase the co-pays, it's going to make it a little bit more challenging. but our state is in a tough

time and that's what we have to come back to. we are in a budget situation and a budget crisis we've never seen in the history of the state of nevada. as i've visited businesses across the state, people have lost their jobs. they've lost their benefits. they've lost their retirement. and i think the government needs to do the same so this is an example of what government needs to do to reduce spending so that we can balance that budget because the goal going forward is a stronger economy, is to have surpluses so we can increase spending with regard to education and other services for the people of the state of nevada. >> mr. reid? >> i think this is a good example of what's going on in the campaign, mitch. i agree with what brian said, it sounded real nice. but what we need are specific solutions to real problems. many of our retirees rely on medicaid, reimbursements have gone down causing costs to go up and puts pressure on more and more of our retired citizens. the only way we're going to solve that problem isn't to just talk about it, we need

specific solutions to real problems. and that's why i've talked about what i would do with medicaid to take the pressure off our senior citizens. >> ok. we'll go to the next question and mr. sandoval, you're up, and this question, does it come from any anybody's relative, it comes from mitch in las vegas. >> a conservative think tank has proposed a revenue neutral tax restructuring plan that does not fix the current budget crisis but does include broadening the sales tax to include food services and utilities, also reduces the rate to 3.5%. i'm going to give you a chance in just a moment to outline your plans to restructure nevada's tax system but right now i'm just asking you for a straightup yes or a straightup no, or straightdown know to these questions. first, at any time during the four years of your administration, would you consider a sales tax on services, yes or no, mr. sandoval? >> no. >> mr. reid? >> no.

>> would you consider increased in the mining tax, mr. sandoval? >> no. >> from reid? >> no. >> remember, this is consider. would you consider cigarette or alcohol tax, mr. sandoval? >> no. >> mr. reid? >> no. >> fuel tax, mr. sandoval? >> no. >> mr. reid? >> no. >> room tax? >> no. >> mitch? this is going to get old real quick. >> no. >> how about a state lottery? >> no. >> i would consider a state lottery. i think that if we directed to be used only for the benefit of education, that would be a good idea. i realize it's unconstitutional in nevada to have a lottery so it would take some time to change the constitution to do this but i see no reason why we shouldn't have a lottery if it can help our children and improve our schools. >> ok. mr. sandoval, you'll have the first crack at it you believe nevada's tax system needs

restructuring, what would that plan entail? >> well, first i think it's important to point out that tonight my opponent says no to all these tax increases, yet when he was presented with the question that said if you were presented with a budget that includes a tax increase, would you sign it? and his response was, i would. so the answers have changed tonight compared to the answer given previously. with regard to restructuring our tax system, i don't believe we need to do that. i think, again, the focus has to be on diversifying our economy, keeping no business taxes, no corporate income tax, no broad-based business tax. we have to help the businesses that exist here in the state of nevada, we have to keep our state attractive for businesses that are considering coming here. i recently visited with the nevada development authority here in las vegas. there are 400 to 500 companies looking at the state of nevada to come here to do business. they're very concerned about the fact there has been some

statements by my opponent with regard to the fact if he were presented with a tax increase that he would sign it. >> thank you. mr. reid? >> brian completely misrepresented what i said, mitch. i think nevadans need to understand that we don't have a fiscal problem, we have an economic problem. the real problem is that our economy is too narrow. we've relied on tourism for too long. the day i announced my candidacy, i put forward my economic plan and it describes in detail how we need a new economy in nevada and what we can do to achieve that. we have hard-working people. we have high computer literacy. we have every renewable resource known to man, we have country -- sun, wind and more geoproduction in nevada in every state in the country except for california. we have nine acres of pinion and union upper forests we can use for biomass. those are all the ingredients for a vibrant economy.

our people need jobs and they need to work and need a new economy and my plan would provide both. >> mr. sandoval, you have the last word if you want it. >> i think it's important to emphasize that the most important thing to the people of this state at a time when we have over 15% unemployment is a job. and the worst thing that we could do in this economy is raise taxes. that is why no tax ever created a job. that's why my focus is going to be as governor, to be personally involved in recruiting new businesses to the state of nevada. every day making the phone calls that need to be made to those c.e.o.'s in detail and oregon and across the country to bring business to the state of nevada because this is a great place to live and a great place to be educated. >> thank you very much. mr. reid, you'll have the first crack at the next one, many lawmakers believe clark county plays a disproportionate share of taxes relative to what it receives in state funding. if this is a problem, how would you address it? >> well, i think the first

thing we need to recognize, we have different regions, urban areas, rural areas, we have the north, we have the south. as i've traveled the state, the problems, wherever you live, are the same. primary, one being unemployment. you can't have a quality life if you don't have a job. we have way too many foreclosures and problems with our health care delivery system and our education system is woefully inadequate and we can't address those problems on a regional basis. every nevadan shares those problems. nevada is a community. the word "community" comes from a latin word that means shared by all. we have to share those problems, so rather than pick a region and talk about how that region might be presentlied as to another, i think we need to focus on solving problems which is why i put forward plans that are the size of a small marble on the economy, on jobs, on education, and those plans will make our state better for anyone wherever they live.

>> so real quickly, you don't believe that clark county pay as disproportionate share of taxes? >> i think that the thing we need to focus on, mitch, is solutions to problem. and one of the things we need to consider is fairness and we'll look at that. >> mr. sandoval? >> if there's a disproportionate funding that is paid by clark county, then yes, that's something we have to look at. we have to be fair. we have a great state and i've had an opportunity to visit communities throughout nevada. win macha, eli, eureka, sparks, reno, smith valley, very to do something -- lion county. it's a place that concerns me. they lead the united states in unemployment. the next governor has to focus on helping each nevada citizen to get a job and diversify our economy, bring renewable projects to the state of nevada, to bring technology to the state of nevada like manufacturing. we have great opportunities and i'll continue as governor to work every day to bring those jobs to the state. >> mr. reid? >> it is interesting, mitch,

we've talked about the different regions in the state, north, south, urban, requiral, and one thing i've noticed as well as i've traveled the state is no matter where i go, i hear the same question, brian sandoval promised a budget in june, when is he going to provide it? i still don't know the answer to that question. maybe you can help me answer it, brian. >> let's go on to the next question, and mr. sandoval, you're first up, it has to do with unemployment and we'll look at it from a different perspective. nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country and the state of nevada owes the federal government more than $500 million because it borrowed that much to maintain the state unemployment trust fund. as you know, nevada's 56,000 companies will be paying a higher tax next year to replenish that unemployment trust fund. both of you are against raising taxes but what do you say to those businesses let's replenish that fund with higher taxes? do you have an alternative solution? >> well, first, again, i think there's an assumption that my

opponent talks about that he has a plan. he has no plan. the plan has a billion-plus hole in it in terms of balancing this budget. mitch, you hit it right on the head, that's why i think it's absolutely critical we don't raise taxes. our employers in the state of nevada are going to have to pay double their unemployment tax, their health premiums are going up right now. and if you were to impose a business tax or some type of broad-based corporate income tax on that, that's going to put them out of business. as i've visited these hundred businesses throughout the state of nevada, that is the one consistent theme throughout that i've listened to is that brian, please, don't impose any new taxes. if you impose the new tax, it would put people out of work. it may require us to shut our doors. that's why they were concerned when my opponent said when asked the question if he would presented with a budget that includes tax increases, would he sign it? he said he would. i would veto it. >> how do you replenish the

money in the state of nevada and how do you pay off the federal government because we owe them $500 million, how do you do that? >> that's my point. it can only come from two places, the unemployment tax or the general fund. as i mentioned before, we only have $5.2 billion to spend and to ask any businessman, any person that runs a business to pay increased taxes at this time would be devastating. >> mr. reid? >> mitch, i've been saying brian sandoval and jim gibbons is in a more expensive suit. tonight you can see why i say that. this may seen eerily familiar, brian sandoval on every answer is saying no new taxes. we agree on that. let's talk about what we would do. the question was, what are we going to do to replenish the unemployment benefits that have been paid? what we need to do is create more jobs. my proposals would do that. we need to prioritize capital spending. every local government budget has capital money, 85,000

nevadans used to work construction. they're out of work. that's a way to put them to work. my nevada energy independence fund would take those $5 billion in energy projects and prioritize them and put nevadans back to work. we need to do what georgia did. in the state of georgia, they take unemployment benefits and they give them to their citizens, but they allow their citizens to work and be trained during that period and the georgia plan would work here and 10% of our unemployed would benefit from that. >> thank you. mr. sandoval? >> one of the problems with my opponent's plan is the fact that it's unconstitutional. the state of nevada cannot lend money to employers to create jobs. it's unconstitutional. i agree, that we need to diversify our economy and bring new business to the state of nevada as the next governor if i'm privileged to serve as the next governor, that would be my number one priority. >> let's move on to education. mr. reid, you'll have the first opportunity to answer, both you

and your opponent want to make it easier to fire teachers if students don't perform well on tests. what do you say to that out of state teacher who is considering a move to las vegas and will be earning $35,000 a year, what do you say to that teacher if they could lose their job for a situation that may be beyond their control? >> i would tell that teacher that there's more to the story than just that. i would tell that teacher the next governor of nevada has a plan to totally transform our schools. we can take the power away from bureaucrats in carson city and washington, d.c. and give it to principals, teachers, and parents at the community level. we can provide open rolement so every parent can choose which school is best for their child. we can provide teachers with more resources so they can have better training. we can provide them with incentive, market incentives so that if they do their job well, they can be paid more and that

they don't need to leave the teaching profession to make more money. that's what i'd tell that teacher. i'd tell that teacher that i have a plan to transform nevada schools and allow them to be creative and do whatever is in the interest of the child sitting in fron of them. they're going to have more responsibility when i give them that freedom and they may lose their job if they don't do it well but nevada will be a place where children can be educated well in my administration. >> mr. sandoval? >> thank you for the question. education is another priority for them. i've been visiting 100 schools, this is what i would tell this teacher is i've taken the time to visit almost 100 schools in and throughout the state of nevada and i've met with principals, i've met with teachers, i've met with parents and i would tell that teacher we're going to hold you accountable, but if you show growth in your students that you're going to be rewarded for that, you're going to receive merit pay. we're going to reward you for doing the hard work. we're going to reward you for paying attention to those students and getting them where they need to go. our education system needs

help. we have to change the status quo. that's why i came up with a very, very bold education plan that will change the status quo that will call for the end of teacher tenure and call for vouchers and giving every parent in the state of nevada the choice where to send their children. that was an issue in our last debate with regard to education, vouchers are for everybody, not just the elite. it's to give every man and woman and child the ability to choose their school and where to best educate their children. >> thank you. mr. reid? >> i agree with brian. we need to change the status quo but the status quo in nevada is to not recognize the importance of education. we will never have a first rate economy in nevada if we continue to accept second-rate schools, education is a priority. if jim gibbons cut it by $300 million, he didn't recognize that. that's the status quo. brian would cut education by half a billion. we need to change the status quo. we need a governor that

believes in education. >> thank you very much. let's move on to the next question, mr. sandoval. you're up next. what component of the arizona anti-illegal immigration law would you like to see enacted here in the state, if any? >> "support the arizona law. i think it was a valid response by the state of arizona to a public safety issue there. it was also a valid exercise of their state's rights. whether it could be done in the state of nevada, i've taken the time to meet with law enforcement throughout the state of nevada. i've met with the sheriff of clark county. i've spoken with the sheriff of washo county and spoke with sheriffs throughout rural nevada. their opinion is this we don't need an arizona style law in the state of nevada. however, if the time came, if there was a bill presented in the state of nevada, i would talk to all the interested constituencies and speak with law enforcement, i would speak with the hispanic community and i would speak with the business

community to see if such a law would work in the state of nevada. >> mr. reid? >> what we need is comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level. immigration is a very complex issue and the only way i believe to solve it ultimately is to have a federal approach purchase -- federal approach. if different states do different things then the problem will move around the country and never be resolved. that immigration law needs to be tough but fair. we need to have undocumented workers pay whatever taxes and fines they owe. we need them to learn english. we need them to get in the back of the line and go through a process to become citizens. we need to have a tough but fair approach on the national level to this problem or otherwise we'll never solve it. >> mr. sandoval? >> again, my opponent has not responded to the question. and i do support the arizona law because it was a valid response to a public safety issue. the federal government had not been doing its job in the state

of arizona made the decision to take it into its own hands to do what it had to do and incorporate the federal law. that law has been working in the state of arizona. i don't support amnesty. it sounds like my opponent does. but i do believe it's very, very important to keep an eye on what's going on in the state of nevada and if it's necessary to adopt similar laws and that's something that should be considered. >> thank you. mr. reid, you'll have the next question and it's on water. despite a fair of unfavorable rulings by the state supreme court, the southern nevada water company still has a $3.5 billion plan to pump water from eastern nevada and send it to 300 miles of pipeline to support growth in southern nevada. do you support this rural water importation plan when the majority of people in rural nevada oppose it? >> as you know, mitch, there is litigation that stopped that project and we have to wait to see what happens. but what i think we need to do

is recognize there's no more important a resource in nevada than water. mark twain, i think when he was in virginia city said whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting. as i've traveled around nevada, there's nothing more passionate than the water issue. and again, i have experience and a plan. as clark county commissioner, we used to be in a bitter battle with lincoln county over water. some of you may remember that. and we brought people together, we collaborated to protect the rural interests and the economic interests of lincoln county and the more urban interests of clark county. and there's no longer a water war between lincoln and clark county. we need that same kind of collaboration between clark county and the northeastern part of the state. >> if some of the confusion of these court rulings was cleared up, would you favor this water importation plan? >> the only way i would favor the water importation plan is it we went through a process i

just described, it will take negotiation and we'll have to roll up our sleeves and if we ensured we protected the rural interest and economic interest in that part of the state and that lifestyle and protected the economic interest of southern nevada, i would support it just like i did in the lincoln-clark battle of days gone by. >> mr. sandoval? >> thank you. this is an important issue and affects the people of wipine county and lincoln county and obviously clark county. the state of nevada is very fortunate to have some of the most sophisticated water laws in the united states and are the envies of many other states and many other states copy them. there's been a process, this state has gone through the state water engineer, it's gone to the nevada supreme court, it's been through the district court and referred back to the state water engineer and that's where the process should be, the state water engineer is going to consider the objections of the folks in rural nevada that have some concerns about what's going to happen if the importation project were to occur and is

going to weigh all those interests and make an informed decision. i support the process and would support the decision. >> based on what you know, would you favor that importation plan? >> again, it's important to understand, or get -- let the state water engineer do the job that's been appointed. they're the ones that are going to have the opportunity to sit through the hearings, listen to the folks that are concerned about their water interests in rural nevada and balance and come up with a informed decision. so as governor, i would continue to support that process. >> mr. reid, you have 30 seconds. >> i agree with brian up to a point. the state water engineer will go through a process but as governor, i wouldn't leave this matter that's so important in the hand of a bureaucrat. i would become involved personally. i would try to solve the problem through negotiation, through collaboration and through consensus. that's what happened between lincoln county and clark county. i think brian shouldn't just pass the buck to a bureaucrat. he should become involved as i did and try to solve the problem.

>> next question deals with health care and it's to you, mr. sandoval. nevada has a high percentage of uninsured residents which costs all taxpayers money. do you favor the continuing effort to repeal the national health care law? if so, what solutions do you have for the insured who are working people making too much for medicaid but not enough to afford health care insurance? if you support health care reform, how will you propose we pay for the increased costs for nevada? >> first i'd like to comment on the last response to my opponent with regard to giving things to bureaucrats. we have laws for a reason. we have laws for certainty. we need to have a state water engineer who has the ability who has the background, who has the experience to consider some of these -- the most difficult decisions that will face the people of the state of nevada and something as sensitive as water. so i trust the process. with regard to your question, i do support the health care law -- or i don't support the

health care bill. i do support the litigation that is occurring in the state of florida. recently the federal judge there struck down -- or basically denied the motion to dismiss by the state government so that suit -- or by the federal government. that suit is going to move forward. make is -- what is happening or what the bill is doing to the state of nevada is driving premiums up and why that law needs to go away. >> mr. reid? >> i agree, brian, there are laws but we also need leaders in nevada and leaders roll up their sleeves and try to become involved and solve problems. as the health care, i don't support the litigation. i think it was politically motivated and don't think it will lead to a resolution to the problem we have in our state. i don't deny, however, that nevada needs to be vigilant on this in. -- on this issue. the law that was passed gives time for the new system to go into effect but there is potential for it to put significant pressure on states

because medicaid rates could go up significantly. and i think that's why it's so important that we pursue the medicaid reforms that i described because if we have more managed care, we do things smarter and we eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse, i think we'll be in a better position to deal with the new system when it becomes enacted? >> mr. sandoval? >> i'm glad it's clear that this is one position that my opponent and i disagree. i think that this law will have a devastating affect on the people of the state of nevada. it will cause you to approximate half a billion over 10 years in increased medicaid costs because of the growing enrollments. i think it violates the constitutional rights of individuals by requiring them to purchase insurance and requiring our individual employers to purchase insurance. >> mr. reid, you'll have the first answer. this debate is originating from vegas pbs, a television station in line to become the first television building in the country to receive lead gold certification. the solar panel alone is the

largest commercial rooftop installation in the state of nevada. what will you do to aggressively push this state and find the money so it not only embraces renewable energy, it serves as a model for the rest of the nation if not the world. >> nevada can become energy independent. bedon't -- we don't need to truck or train tons of coal from montana or wyoming. we have our own resources. we have sun and wind and geothermal and biomass. we should use our resources to create jobs for our people. california requires that 33% of the energy purchased there come from renewable resources. that is a huge market we need to take advantage of it. we need to become exporters of energy. if we do that just one thing it will change our economy forever. my plan would put into place the policies to make all that possible. further, you mentioned this

beautiful building and its lead certification. 50% of the energy used in nevada is used within the built environment. my 15-point energy plan would allow people in nevada to finance the retrofits of their own homes through their energy bills and lead to more buildings that are as efficient as this one. >> thank you. mr. sandoval? >> renewable energy is an important component in the future of the state of nevada. i've had an opportunity to visit a geothermal energy center. i've had an opportunity to visit a solar plan. nevada can be a leader in the country in renewable energy but we have two obstacles as i've medical with the leader of these companies. one is transmission. we may have an opportunity for renewable energy but that is that is stranded and have to get it on the grid through additional transmission line through the state. we have a transmission line being constructed in the city of eli in las vegas which will allow many of these renewable

projects to come online. i think that is a very good thing. we do have an aggressive portfolio standard with regard to renewable energy that needs to be filled and we can export these things but one of the obstacle is permitting. the state of nevada needs to do better with regard to permitting these projects and if i'm fortunate to be elected that will be a priority for me. >> mr. reid, last word? >> the last piece is i think this is another example where education is key to almost anything we're going to do. our community colleges need to be partners with business to train the people that are going to retrofit all these buildings we need to retrofit and if we partner with our universities we can create jobs and put our people back to work and move forward in this energy endeavor. that's what my 15-point plan will allow and unfortunately, brian continues to give his tradition and wants to cut higher ed by 10% and would make everything he said very difficult. >> thank you very much. mr. sandoval, you'll have the

first answer which has to do with transportation. population growth has come to a virtual stand still in nevada. and unfortunately so has traffic gridlock in clark and washo county streets. tell me about your transportation plan in nevada. in four years what will our state's transportation infrastructure look like under your management and how will you fund it? >> first i'd like to respond to my last statement of my opponent with regard to cutting higher ed, and again it goes back to what i calked about earlier in this debate. it's easy to stand in front of a group of university students and tell them i'm not going to cut education but yet the very budget you presented calls for cuts in education. the university system, k-12 comprises r50% of our state budget and if you also try to make a promise you won't raise taxes you'll have to eliminate the remainder of state government in order to balance the budget. it's not realistic and it's not the truth.

>> with regard to transportation i had an opportunity to meet with the head of the transportation division for the state of nevada. the state of nevada is in line to receive a lot of additional federal moneys and state moneys in order to do transportation projects. it's very important that we stop the gridlock here in clark county, that we stop the gridlock in washau county. as attorney general i sat on the state board of transportation along with the governor and with that experience will work hard to ease the gridlock in the state of nevada. >> mr. reid, your response? >> it's not that hard to protect the education if you make it a priority. get online later tonight if you'd like and read my budget proposal and you'll see how it's done. i did it. as the transportation, we need to take the politics out of transportation and build transportation projects where they're most needed. it needs to be based on need, not politics. we also need to realize that there are hundred of millions of dollars in washington, d.c., whatever you thought of the

stimulus package, that money's there and this is a good old-fashioned american competition. we need to roll up our sleeves and fight. as governor would i would fight for that money just as i have in clark county as a leader of that government because that money will allow us to build the projects that we need, put our people back to work and ease the transportation burden that you described, mitch. >> and mr. sandoval? >> educate -- excuse me, transportation is very, very important to the people of this state. as i travel the freeways here in southern and northern nevada, it's very important that we get those federal funds that we're eligible for, the matching funds, the department of transportation is something very important to me. again, i've taken the time to meet with the head of the department of transportation, she's briefed me on what the priorities are going to be. one of those priorities is going to be to ease the gridlock here in clark county as well as washau county as well as anywhere else in the state of nevada. >> next question has to do with higher education, something

that hasn't been discussed much and mr. reid, you'll get the first answer. colleges and ooferts could lose whole departments and even close their doors together. how would you propose we not just maintain a system of higher education in the state but actually improve it? and secondly, do you think the millennium scholarship should be funded out of the general state budget when the fund is depleted next year? >> higher education is not just an expense, it's not an expense on our budget. it is an economic engine we haven't utilized in nevada. in massachusetts, the massachusetts institute of technology is responsible for creating 1.2 million jobs that have led to $232 billion in sales because they recognize the importance of technology transfer. you take the bright ideas in a university and you transfer them into the private sector, you leverage investment, you create jobs. we can do that here in nevada and my higher education plan

would make that possible because we would connect the private sector with the bright ideas of academics, and we would grow and we need to think of higher education as a revenue center, not an expense. it's an investment we make to create jobs and grow our economy. that's what higher education can do. and the millennium scholarship should be endowed it. it should be subject -- shouldn't be subject to the whims of the general fund. >> mr. sandoval? >> thank pufment i'm a proud graduate of our university system and graduated from the university of nevada-reno. i've taken the time to meet with the chancellor of the university, the presidents of each of the universities, north and south at u&r and unlv, the president of c.s.n. and truckee community college. the time has come to give the university systems ue ton my and give -- autonomy and let them break away from the state so they can do what they need

to to compete with the other universities. i think it's important to have these public-private partnerships and they're occurring in northern nevada, microsoft licensing in reno is partnering and working with the business school and i want to continue to foster that. at unlv they have a renewable energy program to work with some of the companies here in the state of nevada that will have renewable energy prouk and we have to continue with that. with regard to the millennium scholarship, i fully support the millennium scholarship and think it's one of the strong legacies of governor quinn. >> we're running short so i might cut you short on your closing statement but it's come to that time of the debate where both of you will have that opportunity. mr. sandoval, you're up first. >> again, i'd like to thank the people of the state of nevada, the viewers, pbs, the nevada broadcasters association and my opponent, mr. reid, for having this debate. i'm going to finish where i started. i think there are three important differences in this

decision for your next governor, experience, integrity, and our fiscal responsibility. i believe i have the right experience and will be straight with the people of the state of nevada and i won't raise your taxes like my opponent by. -- opponent will. i think our future is bright. i'm excited about the state of nevada. we're going to diversify our economy and bring new businesses here. we're going to improve education. we're going to be disciplined. we have to make tough decisions just like all of you have done throughout the state of nevada. it would be a privilege to serve as your next governor. i respectfully ask for your vote. god bless you. god bless the great state of nevada. >> thank you. mr. reid? >> i've really enjoyed this evening, this conversation. i want to end where i started. we need to pick a governor that has experience and a plan. i've led a large government. i balanced that budget every year for eight years without new taxes. and i've provided a budget proposal. it's in black and white. you can read it, that balances

the budget without new taxes. i have provided a plan to transform our schools, to diversify our economy, to create jobs. that's the kind of governor that nevada needs, one with experience managing large organization with fiscal responsibility and a plan for our future. brian talked tonight about the meetings he had with educators and leaders across the state. unfortunately, he hasn't provided a plan. nobody has any idea what brian would do. you know what i would do. and i would appreciate your vote very much. i'm asking for you are to help me move nevada forward. thank you very much. >> thank you to both of you. we've come to the conclusion of the debate. there are five additional candidates for governor who will also appear on the general election ballot. those these individuals do not meet the criteria established for participation in this debate you can learn more by visiting their website at curtisfor govern cor.com, at gino for governor.com or floyd

fit simmons and eric wayne honnig. robert force-lamet jr. thank for you commissioner reid and thank you to our broadcasters. early voting begins a week from saturday and election day is november 2. don't forget to vote. next thursday we will have another debate at 6:00 p.m. thank you for joining us. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp.2010]

>> we'll bring you campaign 2010 coverage around the country during primetime. tomorrow night senate debates from connecticut and wisconsin and a north dakota house debate. and to learn more about the elections on tomorrow morning's "washington journal" when we'll talk about the tea party and get an update on the ohio governor's race, you can see "washington journal" at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. and always find our campaign coverage of the candidates of your state online here at our website at cspan.org/politics. still to come, president obama campaigns in maryland with governor o'malley and other democrats. after that someone from the group moveon.org talks about the november elections. up next we'll hear from the three candidates running for governor in georgia, former governor democrat roy burns,

former republican congressman nathan deal and john mons. student governor students from each university organized the debate and it's courtesy of georgia broadcasting. >> live from the studios of georgia public broadcasting, the 2010 georgia gubernatorial debate organized by the students at georgia's leading colleges and universities. . .

from the studentis the government organization. welcome to all of you. let's get started. in the first round, a panelist or student will pose a question to all three of the candidates. these questions have been submitted by students throughout the state. each candidate will have 60 seconds to answer each question. i will determine if ever bottle is necessary. the first question comes from tyler bell.

>> the first question for the evening is from a student in albany, george. one in five school was faced with accusations of tampering tests.standardized there has been an increased emphasis on standardized test performance which may be a driving factor in this unethical behavior. what are your plans to decrease the drop out rate while maintaining the standard of ethics and accountability within our school system. >> first, education week computes our drop out rate at over 40%. i do not understand how the current administration gets 80. one of the things we have to do is make sure you get a good start. children that should be rated on

grade level by the end of grade three and we should take whatever effort there is, whatever needs to be to make sure they are reading on grade level. we need to make sure that kids, children take algebra and creatcomplete that. we need to have an alternative way that students can make sure that they can finish their education. we did this in a pilot program. you get credit if you go to a technical college for high- school graduation and -- >> time. >> i believe being sure that every child can read at grade level by the time they reach eight years of age is essential. i believe -- we have to be innovative in the way we keep

children stimulated in school. one of the concepts we have put in our education proposal is that of move on one ready. instead of keeping a child waiting until the end of the year to take the exam, we should allow teachers to say i have a group of students who can take the exam earlier. if they can pass it to move on to things that are more important and we will keep them stimulated. we know boredom and irrelevancy of education are two of the primary factors that cause students to drop out of school. i believe we need to integrate the vocational training at a very early age. not wait until they are at high school-age but began in the middle school to be sure they know their training center available and they can get good jobs if they go to the technical college. >> one of the best things we could do is to empower parents, to give them choices so children

can learn in an environment they can grow in. if we get government out of the way, why would anyone have pressure to do so -- pressure to cheat? we need to return to local control to local school boards and parents. that is the better way to go. we need to look at increasing the availability of home schooling and private education so we give parents options, those options they're encouraged to take their in favor of instead of always being forced down from atlanta and d.c. on how they want to guide their child's education. >> our first video question, submitted by the university of georgia. take a listen. >> i am a senior majoring

political science. shortfalls, thent fund has become insolvent. what solutions would you propose? >> all of us are concerned about keeping the hope scholarship on track. for pre-k as well as tuition for those were going to college. but we have to do is what the assembly has done. making it a merit based scholarship program. they have put in three trigger mechanisms. the first has been crossed and will be in effect at the beginning or earlier next year, cutting the costs for books in half. all those are the kinds of reforms we have to do simply because of the downturn in the economy. i will work cooperatively with

those working on the scholarship program to make sure we keep it with its original purposes. that is to prepare those as they enter our school system at pre-k and make sure it is a merit based scholarships for those who are worthy and eligible and make sure their college is going to be paid for. >> to address shortfalls, we need to get the economy back on track. that is where government gets its funding. if we can turn the economy around, we have more revenue dollars available for education. we also need to look at the funding of the scholarship. we have a system put in place in which those who choose particular schools may not get as much money as those who choose other schools. we need to look at leveling the amount of hope scholarship money hopefully to an equal level regardless of the school you attend.

if we turn the economy around, get government out of the way, this in itself will help fund not only the hopes scholarship, education, but other aspects of government that are essential. >> very good. >> the first thing needs to happen is the general assembly and the governor needs to fund higher education. last year, only 147 days was funded of our public school system and our university system was funded at 1998 levels. how does that affect hope? what happens is the region's raise the tuition. when they do not have sufficient funds from the general assembly and the increased tuition comes out of hope. most of the students are on hope. they are -- what is really happening is the politicians are

reading hope because they refuse to make the priorities that will establish the success and the solvency of the scholarship fund. that is the first priority we should undertake, and it is one that should keep hope in effect for many years. >> john monds will answer first. >> this is from a civil engineering student. the [unintelligible] because cobb and gwinett counties opted out, a [unintelligible] atlanta is ranked in the top five cities offor traffic

congestion. as governor, are you in support of a comprehensive statewide and regional transportation system and if so, how do you plan to implement the system? >> excellent question. you look at congestion problems around metro alleges. what is the best way to address that? we have had centrally planned government options. what we need is more private- public joint ventures. i proposed hot lines and they have been proven to work in other parts of the country in which people are willing to pay an extra fee in order to relieve some congestion. also, when you look at marda and the funds it has are restricted in its various uses. we need to give them more control of the funding they already have and once again, we'll get transportation costs, we need to get the economy back

on track and put people back to work. private options and transportation would be viable if those who would use it had the money to be able to afford it. we do not have to have government involved in transportation. we need to get government out of people's lives and out of pocket books. >> i am in favor of a comprehensive transportation system, particularly in the lead to a region and the state. mass transit must be a part of it and the system must be integrated into an existing or greta. i favor a light rail elevated over the interstates and it is important to do so. as to funding, i believe the sales tax that is proposed next

year should be approved especially in the atlanta region. the governor has to lead that. if they are not willing to be active, it will fail and i will tell you it will hurt economic development over the long term. >> our second video question comes from -- my apologies. >> i do support the statewide and regional transportation plan. other agencies have been working to put that together. we do have an integrated system. i do believe that public-private partnerships will be an important part of that. i believe that things like hot lanes will relieve congestion. a rail system is something we should integrate into the

proposal and do it in the long term. we do not have the funds available to do it. we also have to recognize transportation is a problem not just in metro atlanta. we are going to have more cargo and container is coming off a large vessels. we need to make sure our transportation routes will be appropriate so we cannot continue to funnel more trucks on to 285 which has 100,000 transport trucks a day on the interstate. >> my apologies. it is time for a second video question. take a listen. >> i am stephen aaron. on behalf of our student government association, the following question. how will you work to correct the issues of no child left behind,

causing students [unintelligible] upon entry to college? >> the women began is to make sure as i stated earlier that all children are reading on grade level. to be able to do that, you have to make sure they come to school prepared. that means a learning experience and is not on the lottery system. we also need instead of 147 days of funded school and 162 -- 62 days has become common. we need lager school days and i will tell you at least 188 school year. you cannot expect these children to become high performers when we're cutting and have cut as

the general assembly has done $4 billion out of education over just the last four years. >> i think the challenges in education continue to be great. i believe we need to make better use of the dollar's we're putting in education. we know something works and that is flexibility. whether it is the ie2 approach or the school approach. i believe we ought to embrace that in the broader scope. we have areas of categorical grants. money that can be said for staff development. we need to avoid furloughs. flexibility will produce better

results. we need to make sure the testing is not the primary focus. we need to adjust education so that children are engaged, they become interested in things that will take down a route that may not lead to college but may lead to a technical education that will get them employable. >> how do we address federal mandates such as no child left behind? the best way to do that is what the federal government back in its place. we need to recognize the 10th amendment and say that states have rights and they should be respected. the best way to improve schooling and young people's education is more local control. that is what i advocate for. not only more choices for parents but also control over funding. when you send money to washington, d.c. and atlantic, the local communities have to beg for those funds. they always come with strings attached. what we need is more revenue

sharing in which local control of revenues is on the school board level, on the community level. they have the flexibility to use the dollars with a note they are needed the most. we do not need money for buses when it should be used for improving teachers. local control is the way to go. that gives us the flexibility that we need. >> the final question comes from josh delaney. >> this question is from a fellow student. 11 states have a student seat on the board of regents. given that the board of regents makes decisions for over 300,000 graduates and undergraduates, how do you feel about having a student representative on the border regions -- board of regents? respect college

students, i think you ought to continue to have an advisory role and presentation. i think the board of regents is a very important board. when the controls the funding for the universities and colleges. it is a tremendous responsibility. we will welcome input from many of the students. i have an open door and open mind. at this point, i do not think we should make that major adjustment to the makeup of our board of regents. >> it is an excellent question. i would not be opposed to it. we need to treat young people as adults. we do not need to treat them as children. they need to have as much voice as they can. i do not know all the mechanics that are involved in making the

changes. when you look at someone who has finished high school and is matriculating on the college level like most of you are, i say you are mature and intelligent young people. that is what we need. we do not need people shut out of government. we need people involved and engaged. i would not be opposed to that. >> i have never had that question asked, but i am not opposed. i would be frank with you. some of the best ideas that i have seen in every campaign and while i served in public life have come from college campuses. it might stir things up a little bit. favor of that. in >> that concludes round one. the candidates have the opportunity to ask a question to their opponents. you have 30 seconds to ask a

question. you have 60 seconds to respond. 30 seconds for a bottle. each candidate will have the opportunity to ask one question in both opposing candidates may respond. the rebuttal goes after the second cat it has answered the question. -- kendig has answered the question. -- candidate has answered the question. >> i assume you supported the nominee of your party for president in the last election. if the election were held this year, would you still support your nominee for president if the election were held this year? >> how i approach boating is this. -- voting is this. i vote for the candidate who

exemplifies the principles of individual freedom and rights. that determines to a vote for. my vote would not change as i did in 2008 and it would remain the same. >> mr. barnes? >> i supported the nominee for the democratic party. i did support him when he was nominated. i do not know. i would have to see who else was running. i always believe that you choose between the best qualified candidates. i do not know who might be running against him. i do not know how i could answer that. >> opportunity for bottle. >> if you are -- your nominee or on the ballot, would you support them? there is a clear distinction

that is being drawn and this election cycle demonstrates that distinction. one of mr. king the power of the federal government by making sure we limit the power of the federal government over our lives. that agenda prevails. we have a balanced budget requirement and it is important we maintain that same discipline. >> you paid 1% in one year and a% in another year. you said the salvage business has always been profitable. you said you're only -- [unintelligible] where can we get that same deal?

[laughter] >> i have paid the taxes the law requires. we did have substantial losses because we decided to do what these college students will have their families do. help your [unintelligible] it was a downturn economy and that business was not successful. the losses that affect everyone, it affects me in my wife. we're living up to those responsibilities. we are paying the taxes we are expected to pay. the truth is, i have not been sewing georgia citizens and corporations and making millions of dollars during that and the strain of my family is like the strain on many people's families. we are making our obligations and we will meet those obligations and we will pay the taxes we're required to pay as the lawsuits and forth.

>> i would ask you how important do you think serving 17 years in the congress is to being governor? >> you should ask mr. deal. i will answer. my answer would be that i think it is a referendum on the problem. that is pure grubbs. we do not need more government. we need a new direction. we need new faces, new ideas. 17 years in congress and we're facing the current battles we have and also doing such bad in education and the economy, what we need is a new direction. one gets government out of our lives, one that returns the strength back to the individual.

that is how we're set up to be. i do not think it is very important that you have 17 years in government to be governor. >> opportunity for rebuttal, 30 seconds. >> you cannot be an investor and offset income or losses that come from a business that you are not an active participant in. that is the reason i have demanded that you disclose your financial statement and all of the schedules on your income tax so we could no. you have amended them and repeatedly said there are things left off. the people of georgia have the right to know about the person who was going to be the chief executive. >> the last question comes from john monds. address to roy barnes and nathan deal.

>> everyone knows your track record. why should they continue or give you support at another shot when your accomplishments in the first round the not seem to have very many lasting effect? >> i do not know what you consider those accomplishments. 235,000 new jobs created. th the first bringing about of a comprehensive transportation plan. i was defeated because i took the confederate battle emblem of the georgia flag. it should have been done a long time ago. i consider those achievements to be one i'm proud of. the reason they should vote for me is i've balance the budget every year and never furloughed

a teacher. i made sure our children went to school and made sure the classroom sizes were decreasing and we were turning around the state. it was a time of optimism. not like it is right now in our state where we do not have jobs being created. we're losing those jobs. >> what is your understanding of the rights of individuals as articulated in the declaration of independence and how did you connect that with your government style? >> i think it is important for us to recognize that people across this country are realizing our founding fathers had it right when they said the federal government should be limited and the states and individuals are the repository of most of that power. as governor, i will reassert

those positions of responsibility. you are going to see that happening across this country as a result of this next election cycle. it is true that i served for 12 years in the state senate and i was elected six times. i was elected in nine cycles. the people i represented never fired me. that shows i understand the connection of the responsibility of elected officials to deal with and represent the interests of the people who send them the positions. i think in terms of your question that the state of georgia began to assume more responsibility over the things the state can do. like projecting the federal health-care legislation that would put a tremendous burden on the state of georgia as well as individuals and businesses across this country. >> the opportunity for a 30- second rebuttals. >> when we look at your legacy,

just having children going to school obviously did not pan out as far as the test scores in georgia. we have been at or near the bottom of most records. when we compare this to other states. that legacy especially in education, which we spend over 50% of the budget currently has not had any lasting effects. >> that concludes the second round of questioning. our program is the 2010 georgia gubernatorial debate. informing the student vote. this debate is organized by the student government's of georgia tech and four partner universities. we return to our panel of students who will ask questions of the candidate of their choice. candidates will be allowed 90 seconds to respond. i will determine if an opposing

candidate will be given 30 seconds for a bottle. there will be to video questions in this round submitted by students across georgia. we began with a question from zach mullen. >> in light of your personal financial situation, would you address the perception that you are ill-equipped to handle the finances of this date? >> we are going to be able to meet our financial obligations. i have an interest in a successful business i started over 20 years ago which is a performing business and it is doing exceptionally well. if you want to know whether or not i can balance the state budget, you ought to look at the fact that as a member of congress i returned 10% every year of the allocated amount to my office back to the taxpayers. that is the kind of fiscal responsibility i think people

expect government to do. our constitution does require us to balance the state budget. if you look in my campaign, i am not making irresponsible promises to be able to get any segment of votes in the state. the fact that we see a canada promising over $2 billion of additional spending is not responsible in light of the financial crisis are state faces. we need to make do with the money we had and make a go the furthest we can and be able to get the results. that is what i promise and that is what people expect. if we believe in smaller government, if we believe in less government spending, now is the appropriate time to take advantage of that opportunity. we do not have the money. there is going to be less spending and that translates into smaller government. the challenge is to do it and the right. >> you voted 17 or 19 times to

raise the national debt. i do not consider that to be fiscally responsible. i do not know where you're getting $2 billion. i do not trust or adding on financial matters right now. i know what -- where i would get the money to do the things that are necessary. we will take on the special interests and make sure they pay what they're required to pay and and i get a free ride. >> you will get 30 seconds should ever bottle be necessary. rebuttal be

necessary. i will not tell you how to do your job. we will continue to go back and forth otherwise. our next question. >> this question comes from cody randall. schoolshas two ranking in the top 20. mission tosg's create a more educated georgia, how do you feel about increasing the number of engineering programs offered in the state? >> i agree about georgia southern. that is the reason that we created the college of information technology to be a precursor to a letter

engineering program. it is appropriate that we look at another location for an engineering school. gtra was -- it was thought that georgia southern would be next in line for an engineering school. >> the next question directed at roy barnes. >> with immigration on the forefront, how'd you feel immigration has affected our state? -- is there an opportunity to roll the

question? >> i am a student involved with the latina association. with immigration being on the forefront, how'd you feel immigration has affected our state with the focus on illegal immigrants seeking in-state tuition? >> immigration is a problem that will have to be solved on a national basis. it is a shame it has not. i think that as long as -- until that solution comes, if you are here illegally, you have to be held accountable to the law. that includes whether it is in- state tuition or attendance at the university system. >> we will can -- return to our studio panelist. >> this next question is for

john monds. a number of colleges have seen an influx of crime. many universities have had to devote a significant amount of funding towards increasing the safety of their students. despite these efforts, concerns about personal safety continue to detract from developing healthy learning interments -- environments. what are you plans to decrease crime on and around campuses? >> we will allow a legal carry of firearms. the reports of assaults and tech ands at georgia georgia state. yolo criminals owns by not

allowing faculty and students to bear arms and protect themselves. police and security cannot be everywhere. the protection of our lives depend on us. we need to do is allow people the ability to protect themselves and allow -- make sure that incidents that happened at virginia tech and other parts of the nation, they will not happen in georgia. the right to bear arms is fundamental. where we putting these restrictions in place? that is one area that we need to focus on and start at. let's let students protect themselves. >> the next question. >> in the past month, for young gay people have committed suicide in connection with being bullied regarding their sexual orientation. there have been similar instances in the state of

georgia. do you believe discrimination against gay persons living in georgia is alive, and if so, in what form? how do you plan on addressing this issue? >> i think all of us would agree that people should not be either blade, picked on, or the victims of crime based on their sexual orientation. i do not agree with those who would use those as victims for whatever their perverse motives might be. we all have to be sensitive to that and be sensitive to the fact that we cannot allow an environment to be created where bullying exists for whatever reason. we know that in the lower grades that is a problem sometimes. it is important we have those individuals in the classrooms that can exist -- assist in making sure it does not happen. whether it is a school resources officer or someone who was

assisting the teacher. the teacher does not have the time to make that their primary focus. i am one of those who understand we cannot be a society in which we allow anyone to be picked on and be discriminated against. i have not voted for his crimes bill. the reason is as a former prosecutor, i believe the crime is to find by the nature of the offense itself and not try to perceive what the motive might have been for the crime. it is the fact the law was violated and that is what should be punished. when you get into a sociological discussion of motivation, in the criminal justice arena, that becomes problematic. >> our final video question comes from georgia tech. >> i am a third year student. this year, the wreck begins its

50th season. what makes you the most qualified candidate to beat georgia's next governor? georgia's next governor? >> i have a fundamental understanding of people's rights. we have developed into a country and state that has the government in control of just about every aspect of what you do. what we are reaping is an environment that is destructive on our prosperity, our families, our individual lives. debris leadership that i have had on a local community -- i bring leadership that i have had on a local community by respecting voluntary relationships instead of using government to be coercive. those are the principles that

this country was founded on and that is what we need to get back to. that is where the answers to the problems we face are. giving and allowing the empowerment of individuals to be responsible for their lives and not have government running those lives. that is the type of governing you get with john monds. i am here to get government out of your way and let you be responsible for live and let you keep the money you earned and that is the way back to prosperity. >> our next question. >> there is a plan to redevelop atlanta. scholarship revenue. if the funds to run low, would you approve a plan to build a casino in downtown atlanta?

>> i do not think so. i would be wary. casino gambling brings in a lot of folks would have avoided -- we have avoided. i think there are ways we might expand the lottery. there has been some talk about blowing of the lottery to have many other games. i do not think casino gambling is the way to go. >> my next question is for mr. deal. [unintelligible] what is your opinion of technical schools offering associate's degrees? >> i think we have to make sure

our technical colleges were cooperative way. as well as -- as long as the criteria [unintelligible] there is an important factor. many people who'd began in our technical colleges want to transition into a regular college or university. allowing them to have credit is based on quality of courses and quality of instructors. i do not think that does any harmful effect to our overall system. >> with the current state of the economy and each day competing for companies for sales, what

would you do to bring more biotechnology jumps to georgia? >> we need to get government out of the way. we have industries that are adding to get your butt the state assembly has held them up. casino gambling was mentioned. they have thousands of dollars -- millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. i will also mention industrial him. seven states have already a kid to be able to grow. it is a $50 billion industry, so that would fit well in agricultural economy. it is a plant that you can buy every part of it but we cannot grow. that is ridiculous. when we look at expanding the economy, biotech or whether it is alternative fuels,

alternative textiles, that is the way you grow the economy. get government out of the way and let other industries come in whether it is parimutuel betting or other industries like sunday sales of alcohol. why do we have to have industries that the government when the free market works. when we had free-market for hundreds of years, we were the most prosperous nation in the world. now that we have these regulations and a top down central planned economy, we are reaping the effects. those are a few industries that would like to be here. there are thousands that are blocked by different barriers. >> this question as to any candidate who would like to answer. what advice would you give to a student who is graduating and entering the workforce?

>> i would advise them to make skills that are necessary. we have more unfilled jobs right now than we have ever had in our history. even though we have one of the highest unemployment and it is because the matching of the skills with the jobs. i think that for long-term employment and long-term satisfaction, we have to make sure that we match those skills. we have to do that by improving education both in the common schools or k-12 and our university system and making sure it is skills based and the jobs that are there will be the ones that will be filled with those with the highest skills. >> i would like to give you the opportunity.

i do not believe you have the full 90 seconds. >> i do think that is the important question. we need to make sure that we're trying to build a job opportunity base in our state. that means attracting the kind of companies, industries, and manufacturers that will employ the individuals that are now graduating. one of the parts of my education platform is to dedicate money to stem education. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. college students who would agree to get degrees in those areas and agreed to stay in the state of georgia and work in the space. that will create job opportunities. advice ist advoic advice is vote john monds.

i would tell you that the world does not owe you anything. you need to go out there and get it, work hard and elect a candidate that will let you keep your turn. >> in your plan, you claim you could create jobs by retrofitting buildings. given the capital investment needed, how do you intend on paying for that portion of this program? >> we know that becoming more energy-efficient pays for itself in five years. there is a constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot, it is no. 4 that will allow revenue bonds to be issued to retrofit the

buildings and make sure that the savings are set aside. to retire the debt. several states have done this and they have a long-term effect of being able to continue to receive the benefit of the retrofitting and additional funds and it pays for itself. >> very good. if i have my timing correct, this is the last question. keep in mind you should direct it to one person in particular. >> ok. my question is for you, mr. deal. what experiences as an undergraduate should do is a leader? >> i was fortunate to do a lot of things that helped shape my future. i was a member of my college

debate team and that was a great experience. if you're going into politics, that is preparation for events such as tonight. i was also the cadet commander of our rotc unit and was commissioned in the u.s. army. the years i served gave me the kind of preparation to understand the importance of securing our country and serving our country in every capacity that is possible and available. the great opportunity of being an undergraduate is to explore the areas of your interest, but also keep in mind you need to be focused on what am i going to do when i get that degree? that is one of those things that as governor, i want to help you with. i want to make sure that you can stay in the state of georgia and get a good job and not have to leave. those who graduate from our institutions are going to stay in our state. if we provide a suitable environment. that is one of the challenges the governor has is to take

those experiences from undergraduate and from graduate school as a lawyer and law school and translate those into things that will make a difference in the lives of people. that is the reason i have been a public servant is i believe it is honorable service and i believe it is the kind of thing that will make your life and the lives of our children and grandchildren better in the future. >> we have to close down this route. -- round. we have no more time for questions. each candidate will have 30 seconds for closing statement. john monds was randomly selected to make the first state. >> this election is a referendum on whether we want the old or new guard. what we want more government or less. what i represent is turning the power back to the people. that is what has worked on any

issue, every issue we face today. i would love to have your support and boats on november 2. i would like to have you go to my website, votemonds.com. this is about individuals being empowered to direct their own lives and not having the state do that for them. >> our next statement from roy barnes. >> this is roy barnes roy barnes roy barnes or nathan deal. i pose this question. if you have a business, who would you choose at this time to run the business? to create the jobs and vision and financial responsibility to run the business? when you put that in context, i

am the best qualified and i would be honored to be your governor. >> our final statement from nathan deal. >> thank you for being here and allowing us to participate. i believe it is about the future. i believe it is about someone who will not leave the state with a $640 million deficit after the end of four years in the governor's office. about someone who will not insult the public educators and tell them he will not accept the excuse that the dog ate their homework, that is not the way to talk to teachers. i am someone who believes in fiscal responsibility and has a demonstrated record. it is a clear distinction between conservatives and liberalism and someone who can get the job done. i would be honored to be your governor. >> congratulations to all of you. i would like to extend the 15 minutes of fame for our panelists. it is a pleasure to have all of

you. tyler bell, corey boone, josh delaney, a pleasure. zach mullins. a pleasure to have all of you. i would like to give you one last look at your candid iates. nathan deal, roy barnes, and john monds. goodluck over the next month. that concludes our debate. the general election will be held tuesday, november 2. our thanks to the candidates and panel. we would like to thank the student government of georgia state and university. the university of georgia and georgia tech for arranging tonight's debate. for more information, you may

visit georgiastudentvote.com. the broadcast will be available live on gpb.org. october 4 is the final date to register. thank you for joining us. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> the first general election

between the u.s. senate candidates. russ feingold and ron johnson. the debate is hosted by the broadcasters association and takes place in milwaukee. we will have live coverage on c- span. president obama spoke earlier at a campaign rally for martin o'malley who is running for reelection against former republican gov. robert ehrlich. they are joined by anthony brown and senator barbara mikulski. [applause]

>> how are you doing? bsu? how are you doing, maryland? you fired up? good. the president is in the house. president obama will be out soon so let me get to the point. this election, like every election is so important to our future and the choice could not be simpler. the question we have to ask ourselves, do we want to move maryland forward? what a governor and a senator who was fighting for us? we want to build on the progress we have made together? we're moving maryland forward. i think the tories is clear with martin o'malley and barbara mikulski, they're on their side,

they get it. they want to move maryland forward. we have made higher education more affordable and held tuition flat for four years. in partnership with barbara mikulski, we have invested in our public schools and maryland has the number one public school in america. under martin o'malley's leadership and in partnership with barbara mikulski, we have worked with communities around the state to drive down violent crime to levels we have not seen since 1975. are you ready? are you ready to move? gov. o'malley is president obama's change partner. obama's change partner.