tv U.S. House of Representatives CSPAN October 8, 2010 1:00pm-4:14pm EDT
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tea party were running for office this year. and then he went on to say the isnedy -- that canken lay alive and hiding somewhere. host: i'm glad we amuse you so much. do you want to tell us about yourself? caller: i was a truck driver until 1997. i got rheumatoid arthritis a in 2005 was no longer able to pass the physical. five was forced to retire. i was channel surfing one morning -- by was forced to retire. i was channel surfing one morning and i discovered washington journal. host: i'm glad we make your blood boil enough to come back often. next up is of lydia, independent. good morning.
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caller: i have been watching since 1996. i am 55. i live at, lake martin, alabama. i was the emotional mother a soldier and i would try to call every 30 days during the iraq war. you give americans a voice and in vermont -- and information. i watched for years and did not have the courage and i know my voice always trembles, but it was the iraq war and they gave me the courage to call in. i am a progressive liberal. i am 55. in the state of alabama ordaz -- it is a red states. -- in the state of alabama -- it is a red state. my son has been in the army since 1999. he has had several deployments to iraq. i would get the coura to call
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in about award. host: thank you, lydia. overall, we have the statistics on the number of males to females that call in. libya says she gothe courage to call and we would encourage -- lydia said she got the courage to call and we would encourage more females to call in. you can see the average caller is 70 dozen mailed to 16,000 females. -- 70,000 male callers to 16,000 females. here is another tweet. let's turn to the newspaper >> we are going to leave this now and go live to the national press club. brian moynihan is expected this afternoon to talk about the state of the global economy, and
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the news today that the company is halting foreclosures in many states. >> tarp allow the federal government to take stakes. it was regarded and heralded as "the end of wall street as we know it." in many ways, the banking sector and wall street are continuing along today. bank of america provides a case in point. despite the turmoil, it has a balance sheet of $2.40 trillion even with plans to shed $150 billion in assets. on october 1, it became the third major lender in two weeks to freeze foreclosure cases. the mortgage crisis continues to exact a painful toll on many individuals.
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our speaker today took the helm in january. he is here today to discuss the outlook for the u.s. and global financial markets, recent regulatory reforms, and the role of financial-services firms in promoting economic recovery. please welcome the chief executive officer and president of bank of america, mr. brian moynihan. [applause] >> thank you for the introduction. welcome, everyone. it is great to be here in washington. i welcome the opportunity to talk to you and those of you who are journalists at especially about bank of america and the financial services industry. i want to recognize that bill cooper and some of my other teammates from bank of america
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who support the millions of clients that we have. we are, in our industry, at the tail end of a very volatile time, the worst time since the great depression. setting a path forward for stability continues to occupy the energies of the private sector, banks like us, policymakers, and regulators. many are gathered here in washington for the various meetings this week. we have made a great deal of progress in the last couple of years. two years ago, i was here in washington in 2008. that was a long weekend. the environment was very different. at these meetings, i met with many foreign financial institutions as i sat in meetings, we would be getting
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interrupted from time to time with people being pulled out of meetings. they were being called by policymakers and central bankers in the country. on monday of that week two years ago, the tarp investments were made. i had gone home and remember that, because the red sox were in the playoffs. [laughter] we continue to seek ways to keep the financial system going forward. we were seeking ways at that time to keep the financial system going forward and to provide a solid footing for the economy. the good news today, that crisis is mostly behind us. the broader economy has also recovered. there is more important work ahead of us if we are to create
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conditions that will support long-term stability and reasonable growth. i am going to talk about a number of topics, including the economic climate, the reform that was just passed a few short weeks ago, the important role of financial institutions, and global economies. let me start by providing a quick overview of the conditions in our industry as well as the u.s. economy. during the recession that occurred, our economy and the united states lost 7.3 million jobs. we experienced a 4.1% decline in economic output. the net worth of u.s. households dropped by 21% in part due to the housing decline. given the intensity of that recession, there is good news to report.
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first, our experts believe that we remain in a recovery, and that recovery will continue as we move forward. worldwide growth is expected to top 4.6%. it in the u.s., our experts say we will grow 1.5% in 2011. while that growth will not be spread as smoothly that we would like, the key message is this. we still continue to grow. there are continuing signs of life in the u.s. every day. manufacturing continues to expand. the final demand for manufacturers remains relatively weak. we see spending by consumers continuing to grow. the money they spend on plastic
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this year is up 7% from last year. our client companies continue to remain profitable and very efficient. they have built cash to almost unprecedented levels. we continue to face headwinds here in the united states and around the world. we have a high unemployment rate here in the u.s. it is hovering around 9.6%. as a visit our clients are on the country, i ask them what they think is going to happen next year, who they are going to hire, what their opportunities are. they keep talking about one issue that holds them back. that is the issue of uncertainty. they are not confident with the landscape ahead, in the economy,
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where the regulatory environment that they face in the industry. the unemployment rate will be stubborn. the second thing we face is the the leveraging that went on for both consumers and companies. consumers that made it to the last couple of years are continuing to deleverage, which is not a bad thing. they continue to hold it there because they are uncertain of the future. we need to push that forward. another challenge headwind it is the home ownership issue. we modified 700,000 mortgages at bank of america. we are working too many more troubled mortgage loans. this is a very, very difficult process that consumers are going through. we built 20,000 people who work
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with consumers to help them through the process,. it is difficult for the homeowner and the servicer to handle this and handle this well. it is unprecedented in our country's history. the next head wind is government debt. the rapid rise reflecting the recent recession and the financial crisis reaching levels not seen since world war two. this constrains our flexibility going forward. on the household side, even as debt service declines to about 12.5%, it is still only halfway back to the levels it was back in the 1980's or the 1990's.
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we need americans long term to save teh way people do in other countries all around the world. the point is, we don't need it right now. we need people to keep spending, but we need to keep saving for the long term good. that is a challenge we face. businesses have recovered quickly, taking in advantage of growth around the world and in the u.s. consumers continue to move ahead, making it through a difficult time for many of them. it in the end, it is going to be a long and slow recovery. let's switch to talk a little bit about financial reform and what has been passed. it is without a doubt that the u.s. financial-services industry needs to change.
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institutions like ours and other private sector institutions have changed how they operated, and policymakers are around the world have been working on reforms to help push that change forward. we are in a period of unprecedented world making -- rule making. the there is much work ahead to get it right, and there is a lot of work for the financial industry. the one thing i will tell you, though, there is no substitute for good management. it is our responsibility to run our company well for our customers and their shareholders. the regulatory reform can help push us forward to the right place.
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new policies have been the subject of great discussion in recent weeks. standard agreed to in principle by the world wide regulatory framework to be approved in november have been set. the principal change to think about is that the tier one equity level has gone from 4.5%, plus a buffered of 2.5%, for a total of 7%. institutions will have twice as much capital as they did. most of us have raised substantial capital in the last couple of years. given the experience i had working for an institution that entered the financial crisis and stretched its capital to
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acquire companies, and was dependent upon the economy, we are a strong, strong supporter of robust capital standards. i believe the 7% level that came out is a reasonable balance for the stability we need and the confidence, at the same time not to stifle growth in the near future. other reforms will help to prevent the crisis. the new consumer bureau will reduce subprime lending if done right. it will help us avoid repeating the mistakes of our parent company. regarding derivatives, it ought to provide greater transparency, lower counterparty risk, and preserve the ability to help our clients at the same time. there is a lot of work ahead of us to get this right.
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we have the economy, regulatory reform, and the last point i would like to talk about is large financial institutions. we needed regulatory reform, but the question i get asked, we need to rethink the kind of financial institutions we have or we want to have in our system. our answer to that is obviously yes, and we will talk about it. there was a move afoot to put back the standards of glass- steagall and other laws to try to breakup interconnected financial institutions, but there are great reasons that we have banks of this size to support an economy of our size. we have to support companies with large international reaches come up companies in the united states that do business around the world. take iconic names like coca-
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cola. gm, chris r., john deere -- you name the company. all companies of that size are global today. large banks like ourselves can help finance those companies are around the world where capital markets are not as mature in the united states. this helps them achieve their growth goals and provides advantages to the u.s. economy and helps develop capital markets in those countries to help support growth in those countries. what is different as the economy's changed dramatically? middle-market companies across the world are now global. i am talking about companies with tens or hundreds or thousands of employees that
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have $2 million or $5 million or $10 million in annual revenue. the source their resources they need to produce goods for the global economy. they are just as demanding as the brand name companies to service them around the world. in addition, our u.s. and worldwide markets require that large pools of capital be available to help all of the companies expand. one of the core roles we play is an intermediary. smaller institutions could not support a $20 billion equity opportunity as we did for ourselves in 2009. to help keep the economy growing and the unit states and around the world, we need to be there for our client companies with large pools of capital. if you want to think what it would be like not to have large
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penetrance institutions in this country, go look at the countries that do not have them and see what they say. oddly enough, i am always sitting with central bankers who want us to develop their capital. the third point i would like to make about large institutions is the primary source of credit to consumers and small businesses. our ability to provide credit has brought great pricing and advantages to our customers. it allows us to land in very tough market. we will do 10% more this year than last year, $90 billion plus. the larger institutions also driving innovation. this includes online banking
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work bill payment. -- this include on-line banking or bill payment. free overdraft protection to help avoid fees, fraud protection to make sure if you purchase goods -- automatic data savings to help you save day to day. that is just on the consumer side it. -- that is just on the consumer side. responsible innovation whether on a consumer side or commercial side, undertaking firms of resources can unleash important efficiencies and effectiveness inflexibility. funny joke institutions maintain the infrastructure that is the backbone of the system. the infrastructure is really
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something to marvel at. it enables capital flow in capital markets and enables you to cash a check down the street, and everything in between. larger financial institutions are uniquely qualified to improve it. what is a simple example of that infrastructure? everyone of you has a piece of plastic in your pocket. it is ubiquitous. you can go anywhere and spend it. that takes a lot of infrastructure behind it. you do not have to carry as much cash. there is greater transparency and all of those things, and those things are supported by large financial institutions. large financial institutions play a role in maintaining global leadership. it has long-term success, efficient in allocating capital, has helped fuel economic growth for many decades, and it continues to be a world leader as we see it around the world.
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people sometimes questioned the value of large financial institutions. companies across our industry and my own company included did make or business judgments at times which cost our country and customers' money. however, they remained vital to the excess test of our customers -- they remain vital to the success of our customers. we help people live their lives, whether as an individual opening the first bank account, an entrepreneur, or a large company expanding and raising capital around the world. we help people realize the opportunity that life presents them, and we do it very well. there will always be a place for banks of all sizes, and we believe no institution should be too big to fail.
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i am proud that large financial service providers help people see the opportunities in their lives. i would state the old adage, "be careful what you wish for." the desire to bring back the boring, small banking industry of the 1950's is understandable. unfortunately, the only way to do that is to bring back an economy of the 1950's, too. the change has been a alike. been surprise has the and to consumers and businesses alike. we have been a big part of the
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change on the consumer side. we are fortunate to hold leading positions in every financial sector in our industry. we are a global economy operating across all major economies. we believe there is a new customer proposition value emerging. that is what we tried to provide to them. we moved that through all of our products. customers show that they appreciate that approach. it helps them keep their affairs in order. our business model and its from the idea that transparency would translate into more loyalty from our customers and in return generate more value to our shareholders. i hope that will continue to restore the she melody and
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sustainable prosperity. i am excited about the opportunity ahead of us, opportunities for bank of america, our financial industry, and our country. our industry and our company can help create opportunity and financial prosperity for all of our customers and generate returns for our shareholders. our job is to push our economy forward and continue the growth, and we will do that. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much for your time, mr. moynihan. we will now begin our question and answer portion. with interest rates already very low and firms are reluctant to hire, would it do any good for the fed to change rates?
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>> that is a policy decision, and my job is to react. [laughter] i think the interest rate structure is the lowest it has ever been. i had somebody check this the other day. they looked at the 10 year bond. 10% of the time it has been below 4%. the rate structure is very low and supportive of people making commitments. i would say, it is not the cost of money. there is not an in availability of money or cash out there. that comes down to, will i get
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the demand for my products? and i certainly enough that i can take the risk for my shareholders? that is as important as getting the interest rate environment very low and supportive of growth. >> banks are being asked to stop hoarding money and increase lending, but at the same time, they are being asked to increase capital. how do you square that circle? >> we have tremendous capacity in our balance sheet to fund loans. the idea that capital requirements will not impact our ability -- if they raise them again substantially, i think the industry would have to start shrinking. i think policy-makers ended up with a good balance there. as i said earlier, on the commercial side, small business side, we get asked about this a
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lot. the reality is, companies that have a track record and went to bar loans of $100,000 or hundred thousand 000and up, -- or $200,000 and up, the requirements are tough. those markets are still in pretty tough disarray. think about what i said earlier. commercial customers are borrowing at the lowest level ever on lines of credit. they don't have to do anything to borrow that money. >> your announcement to freeze of foreclosures nationwide -- first, why? how many foreclosures would this affect? >> when you think about the
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foreclosure and firemen, i think you have to start from a higher level and think about what is going on. delinquencies rose three or four years ago. housing prices stopped going up in 2006, so delinquencies started moving. this has been around a long time. we are deep in the process. so, delicacy's started going up. we bought a country -- a company called countrywide. we make sure that the company worked for its customers. we are cleaning up what was left from it. we saw delinquencies start to rise, and now we are in the process of working those delinquencies through the system. we went through modifications and did 700,000 of them. this is a fair number of people we went through. the percentage -- the percentage
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is still relatively small. we went from 5000 people to 25,000 people that we are working with. it is a very difficult process for these homeowners. when you read the letters and cards that i get, it is always the situation where the person has lost their job, had difficulty in their marriage, had gotten sick. these are very difficult situations. what we have gotten into with foreclosures, we have to clear the air. what we are trying to do is clear the air. we will go back and checkerwork one more time. we have not found any errors, we are making sure we got it right, and as soon as we do, we will continue the process.
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how do you get people could places to live who are in difficult times? we are working hard to do that, and i think that is where the focus, in my mind, should really be pretty >> what kind of impact will the foreclosure freeze have? >> the amount of work required is in a matter of a few weeks. i don't think this will have a substantial impact. in a few weeks, we will be through the process. the broader issues are backed up. you hear about the overhang in the housing market. there is a number of homes that are going through this process. >> what happens if court's question the issue of who owns
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mortgages? >> that one eye and not as familiar with -- that one i am not as familiar with. >> you talked a little bit earlier about the need for consumption to get through the economic recovery but at the same time it needs for savings rates to increase for americans. what incentives are there when interest rates are so low? >> well, the policymakers decisions to lower interest rates will force us as consumers to have this discussion with ourselves, which is why am i not putting money somewhere else. i think it is having the
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intended affected people are questioning why we are doing this, because that is what it is supposed to do. as i look at it, the rate structures and such, people are first looking at to replace the yields that they lost. the quality of the companies that are going to market, they have made it to a crisis that has never been seen before and have come out with a very strong balance sheet, strong earnings prospects. of course, that debt is well received by the market. as you look at it, the interest rate environment is opposing the right question, which is why are americans not taking their money out of a low interest rate savings account to buy a home or a car, are more importantly, invest in the market. the issue is uncertainty.
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that is what happens in cycles. it is going to take a while for people to get back on their feet. we see that. of my colleagues are here. -- some of my colleagues are here. it is just going to take time. i am not going to get into the bubble aspects. >> the financial-services roundtable launched a campaign to encourage americans to save, noting that more than half of american families do not have enough to cover a minor financial emergency. >> i am speaking to people who have more discretionary income, obviously. if you look at the american public in terms of earnings, i
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think the attributes of the people who earn $100,000 or above, in terms of carrying their day-to-day living costs, they have it. we need people to save, but the people with discretionary income -- i want them to save. if they cut back their consumption too much, it really hurts the economy. so, i would not discourage anyone from saving or discourage anyone from investing in merrill lynch. [laughter] i would say to them, the reality is, if you sum it all of, the mass of americans that earn good wages above their cost of living, take all that money and
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stick it in the bank with a low interest rate, which brings us back to the same question. >> from saving to spending, how can bank of america motivate fortune 500 companies to start spending so small businesses can grow their business? >> i think one of the things i called for a truce is an argument between big and small. we depend on small businesses and companies to drive our customer growth. what we decided to do is look at purchasing decisions. let's take 10 percent and more in the next few years and dedicated to small businesses. we already had an industry- leading minority. we decided to do another 10%,
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which does not sound like a lot. it is large. i think what you are bringing up is the exact issue that gets lost in time, issued this connectivity between larger companies is actually what feels smaller companies. with the company of 10 employees, to be independent of any medium-size company, it may be a restaurant or a couple of other things i could think about, but generally, it is going to be somehow involved in the economic flows. we need to get the economy growing. i don't think this debate helps. when we look at this issue, our job was to make more loans. secondly, let's create revenue for the company. if you work for a large company, if you could do that, that would help smaller companies growth faster. >> many small businesses continue to cite difficulty in
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obtaining credit. why does this remained a problem and is it likely to change anytime soon? >> as i said earlier, i think the problem with small business credit has become much more localized in certain industries. it industries that have always had a tough prospects to obtain credit -- we charged off 2009 at the peak of 70% or 18% of small- business loans. a lot of us pulled back. if you look at where those losses were coming from, it was coming from small loans in areas which were hit hardest by the recession. small residential construction companies, small restaurants, and things like that, those areas i think will be more difficult to get restarted.
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when you move away from that into all of the other types of industries, credit, i think -- we are approving rates we have never approved before because credit is strong and the companies are in good shape. but i think the impact on small and medium-size businesses on the construction, residential, and things like that, it is more heavily suited because a small business is under 500 employees by definition. it every engineering firm i met or architecture firm i met that were involved in those types of processes were hit harder because they were tied into that chain. so i think that construction issue is going to take awhile to work through. it is localized by industry.
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we have done 10% more this year and will continue to look at ways to support the purchasing power. i would ask you to listen to whether they are asking for equity or debt. >> according to statistics from the bureau of economic analysis, real corporate profits in the financial sector on the eve of the financial crisis were roughly three times over the non-financial sector. during the crisis, profits dropped below those of non- financials, but they have since risen to the earlier ratio of 3: 1. what best explains this cat that you see between financial and non-financial sector profits and is it justified? >> i may need to call a friend on this one. [laughter]
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i think financial-services have got to be, from a broad context, maybe 20% of the economy? i think that was probably more. i think we engineered our profits. we learned our lesson. we have a lot of room to grow. we are earning money the hard way right now. i would expect us and our industry appears to earn more money. but we reflect the economy. as much as you might say we earn an aggregate of money, it is a reflection of the 50 million customers and consumers, small businesses cannot market companies, so it reflects the economy. we reflect the profits that are going on in america. whether we will stay in that ratio, i will let an expert decided.
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-- an expert decide. it is still not where it should be. >> how is the financial crisis affected you in the financial community about what level or forms of government regulation are necessary for the industry to function properly? >> i think one of the principles that i hope we don't lose sight of -- there have been a lot of things done. i think we could spend the rest of the afternoon and perhaps before you to tears talking about the ins and outs of all the pieces of legislation. i think you should take comfort in three things. more capital. less leverage. everybody is under that tent -- the tent.
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that was the cause of a lot of things. and much better understanding of the into connectivity between those under the tent and not under the tent. and mortgage loan is a mortgage loan. i don't care which entity it is done by. it has to be a fully regulated it. -- it has to be fully regulated. this is not the first time this has happened. if we have a principle that says everybody is under that tent -- national banks would not have been involved in subprime mortgages. i don't think we will have the issues that we have with mortgage lending. it will not be as severe if we have a down payment to buy a house and those types of things and can't have an adjustable
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rates that people cannot figure out. i think the principles of less leverage, more capital, everybody is under the tent are really the key principles. the reality is, if we keep everybody involved, i think we will do a better job through the next crisis. >> have credit rating agencies been sufficiently regulated? >> i think that goes to the everybody under the tent. everybody needs to look back and -- did we think about people who were given a special role during the process? did we think about how to think about them in the forms that they got into in terms of public companies and things like that? the key is to keep everybody under that tent and working on
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that goal. they all have to be regulated and regulated well, with a purpose to provide for a stable, long-term growing economy. i think the provisions of the regulation will allow that to happen. we have to be careful what we wish for, because as you know, they changed the rules and that makes the world more difficult to. that might not be a great idea. i would not want to blame anyone. i think the holistic thing is to get everybody under the tent. >> some countries avoided a real-estate meltdown. what lessons should we draw from their experience? >> the structure of the mortgage market in canada had attributes which were different from the u.s. in other words, you cannot get a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as
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easy. honestly, they had a more modest growth said they did not have the access in housing, which is fueled by the mortgage market. i think we have got a lot to learn about our mortgage market. secretary tim geithner plans to have the outlines of the reforms early next year, as he said publicly. i think all of us have thought how we could do this better in hindsight. be careful what you wish for. many of you probably on a home and have a 30-year mortgage. if we go to floating-rate mortgages, it could be more costly. if we say is fair to have everybody pay more cost to avoid this issue, then everybody it has to be willing to make that transition. i think what can a dead date is make a set of decisions about
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portability and other things that were geared toward discouraging that. we encourage homeownership. we have to change its across the board, and that will be difficult for american consumers if some of the ideas here that gets thrown out take hold. this was changed dramatically the benefits that we have gone from a very robust, in addition, and very able to borrow mortgage market, which is very difficult to manage. we have a bank of computers as big as this room that manages it all. you all have an option everyday to decide if you want to keep that market. be careful what you wish for here. we have to have a level-headed discussion about it. >> what changes to federal programs such as elimination of home buyer tax credits or the
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interest loan tax credit could possibly be helpful? >> there are those that advocate that it would be helpful. i am not sure i feel that strongly either way. in a sense, i think that is trying to solve the problem with a narrow question. if you think the volatility is created by the valuation, that is a set of decisions how we want to [unintelligible] if it is the valuation, i think responsible down payment requirements that stick with you no matter what, no matter whether house prices are rising or not, i think our key. -- are key. today, when you hear about underwater mortgages, only 20% are under water total. if you start to look at those, they are very localized in
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certain areas. only 14% -- actually, i think it is less than that predicted you think about the issues, having the down payments of, i think it is much more valuable to talk about. it will slow down the ability for our children to buy a home. that i think is a better discussion to have. >> have americans then to hong up on home ownership? -- have americans been too hung up on home ownership? >> it is not that cracked up to be for everybody. i think people need to great places to live. i think people need to decide if
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they want to put the capital in a home or not. how do you want your family and yourself to live? do you want to borrow enough? i think those are individual decisions. as a country, we benefited tremendously by the homeownership construction era from world war ii. the issue is, we have to be careful about the concept of home ownership as it matures. what does that all mean and the locality of homeownership. i think the housing policy of pure homeownership, we all look back and say we should not have
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done it. don't confuse that necessarily with a series of individual decisions that every individual has the right to make. this whole foreclosure thing is actually an issue about providing good places to live. >> this person writes bank of america holds mortgage debt. how much of that is nonperforming? >> it is a small portion. we will release our earnings next week. let me give you it the other way around. i don't know the number of the top of my head to be honest with you. what i will tell you, we are seeing delinquencies -- our consumer products continue to go
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down, and that is good news, because that means the american consumer is healing. we have to remember that 95% and more of the mortgages pay us every day. >> another person writes, "brian, what would bank of america apply their financial advisers millions of dollars and pension packages to simply sit still at their desk and perform their jobs? why can't we help the millions of americans who have no jobs?" >> we employ 280,000 people. we are in the market employing people every day. when we bought merrill lynch, we gave the advisers a chance. $230 billion in capital, a worldwide presence. we need to make sure we give
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them a chance to understand what that means. we made a decision to do what we did. so, we are doing our best to employ the people that we have. as you look at that, i think it is all of our jobs to make sure we are employing the right amount of people as a society and for our shareholders. >> you mentioned earlier in your speech that if the united states wanted to go back to a 1950's banking system, they should expect a 1950's economy. looking at the 1950's, there are certainly some things that people do not want to go back to. but at the same time, in the 1950's, the united states had a strong manufacturing economy, a pretty stable unemployment rates, and certainly not a
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financial crisis based on an exotic banking instruments. what is so bad about the 1950's? >> let me ask a question. what was the size of the economy and the 1950's? does anybody know that? i'm guessing it was a third of what it is today. if you don't have the financial system -- financial service companies hold up $40 trillion out there in assets. this is a big integrated system. it supports a $15 trillion annual gdp. i think tracking that to what it was back in the 1950's is a pretty scary proposition. >> looking at the foreclosure crisis and having a chance to reflect on it, it is a real lesson for those who got
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mortgages who could not afford them. do they need to be cycled out of the market to market? >> i have said on many occasions, i think the industry makes you reflect on that every day. borrowers over-borrowed. that gets back to the housing debate and the structure of financing at the consumer level. how much income can i use to support my house? as i look at that, i think i would reflect on it over the last couple of years and think about what i have seen, i think there is responsibility. it is hard to organize the 60 million mortgage holders to get their situation done right, so we have to be a leader to build products and services. we also have to make sure that
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people do not over-borrow. we have to hopefully teach responsibility. as we study demographics, which have been studying generational issues and diversity because it is the first time we have four different distinct generations of workforce. i think even with the amount they have lived in life so far, it has been lived in the times that may shape their views about borrowing more similar to the people that lived through the depression, like my parents did, than us. i think it is sobering but i think there are equal parts of responsibility. as an industry, we need to lead the responsibility for word.
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>> given all of the challenges facing global banking, as bank of america planned to consolidate or expand its global footprint? if so, which markets? >> we look at their businesses serving consumers, businesses, and institutional investors. we look at them in the u.s. we serve the high-net worth markets. we have been repositioning resources as the u.s. economy has stayed slower in the grand scheme of things to serve capital markets and companies outside the u.s. we will do that. we have a credit card business in the u.k. and in canada. we will continue to expand it and continue to get opportunities for growth. our clients come to us and say we need to open up in a country
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a, b, or c because they built a plant and they need to consolidate their cash. we are continuing to expand outside of the united states and are continuing to expand inside of the united states. we continue to grow because americans need good financial advice. our teams are expanding banks' domestically. we are helping to bring the bank products and. outside of the united states, we are a much more narrow company. >> we are almost out of time, but a couple of important matters to take care of. first, to remind our guests of future speakers. on october 12, the chief of staff of the u.s. air force will
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be discussing services ongoing efforts to organize, train, and equip itself among two wars in iraq and afghanistan on friday, october 15, we have condoleezza rice. on october 25, the author is going to be discussing is islam a religion of tolerance. next, we are going to present you with the national press club mug. [applause] the final question is, in your address, you talk about the new financial bureau making a positive contribution if done right. how do you define "done right" in financial regulation? >> i think we need to balance tehr zeal we hamay have to
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curtail markets. let's not deal with -- let's not say let's not deal with the people that are not involved with financial institutions. so, like i said, make sure everybody is under the tent. everybody has to be exchanged traded. the last thing those clients want to do is put that valuable information out on the market. people will be -- have said, do not make that to us -- that supplied to us, because it is a bilateral contract. there is no transparency because of the one-off trades. we can push this to where it can
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impact commerce as opposed to interest-rate derivatives to as being one thing or the other. people will be able to see the counterparty risk. that is how i think it is done right, not the other way. frankly, you should avoid people -- pushing people past where we can get this done right. >> thank you for coming today. [applause] thank you to all of you to come into the national press club today. today's meeting is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]
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whether it is the most-you'd even today, the past week, or the past month, click on most watched to see our most popular events since 1987. watch what you want when you want. >> this weekend on c-span3, american history tv takes a trip to richmond, virginia for a civil war antiques show. also, from the national archives -- songs that uplifted the soldiers' spirits during the times of abraham lincoln. and how carry truman's policy were listed -- resulted in tension between tthe united states and the soviet union. >> our campaign coverage continues at 8:00 p.m. eastern with the second debate between connecticut's u.s. senate candidates. that is followed by live coverage between the first --
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live coverage of the first debate between ross fine gold -- russ feingold and his opponent. after that, earl pomeroy and his opponent. then president obama will be at an illinois fund-raiser. some political news for you on the midterm election. , there's governor race is a report that a new poll released yesterday finds that former congressman john kasich is head of the incumbent democratic governor ted strickland, 42%. 8% say they have already voted. another 17% are planning to vote before election day. you can see all of our political prominence at -- programming at c-span.org. we'll show you that second and final televised debate in ohio's
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governor race next. democratic gov. ted strickland faces former republican congressman john kasich. this is rated a toss up. this is one hour. >> a special presentation of camping 2010 -- a gubernatorial debate, sponsored by the ohio newspaper organization, the coalition of the largest eight newspapers in the state of ohio, live from the toledo main campus. here is your moderator. >> good evening and welcome to the ohio gubernatorial debate. we're so glad you are with us. we think we have a dandy on tap. wherever you are watching from the buckeye state or all across the country. we welcome in the two major candidates for governor. one of them will lead the state government for the next four
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years. let's meet them and say welcome to ted strickland, the current governor of ohio and former member of the u.s. house of representatives. we also want to welcome the republican candidate for governor, a former member of the u.s. house of representatives, john kasich. thank you for being here. before we get started, let's introduce our panelists who say a sincere thank you for this being put together. from theing to live university of toledo. we are very familiar of the work of this man from the toledo blade. we have gaile here as well.
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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 to share with you what i have been trying to do as your governor to move our state forward and bring about recovery. this is what i have done. i have balanced two budgets while cutting taxes. we have cut the state income tax 17% since 2005, most of that sense i have been governor. we have given senior citizens who own homes in ohio a large property cut -- property-tax cut. as a state senator, my opponent tried to eliminate the state income tax -- the home state exemption by cosponsoring legislation that would have actually raised taxes on our seniors. i have been trying to cut taxes on seniors. he tried to raise them. we have done other things.
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we have invested in energy. we have a major energy initiative underway. we will have the largest solar farm built east of the rocky mountains built here in ohio. we will be the first state to put peninsula -- wind out in lake erie. these energy jobs are exploding. we have frozen college tuition to make it more affordable for young people. we have invested in k through 12 education, moving up to fifth in the nation and best in the midwest. the federal reserve out of pittsburgh says we have the sixth-fastest growing state economy in america. my point was a congressman -- i call him -- my opponent was a congressman. i call him all what -- a wall street congressman. he sent thousands and thousands of jobs out of ohio. he tried to privatize social
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security because wall street wanted him to do that. they want to get their hands on our social security resources. when he left congress, they rewarded him with a big drop on wall street working for lehman brothers, a company that went bankrupt on september 15, 2008, representing the largest bankruptcy in american history. thousands of ohioans lost their life savings as a result of that bankruptcy. my opponent walked away with a $400,000 bonus. this is the choice in this election -- the choice between two people and the choice between two value systems. wall street on your systems which believe in outsourcing our jobs or ohio value systems which want to build the state for the common good. >> mr. kasich. >> i have traveled the state and talk to a lot of people.
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some of the mourners, some frustrated, and some just downright scared about the economic state of ohio. we're the 42nd best state in america. that is not acceptable in ohio. we have rising poverty and rising homelessness. in the term that the governor has been here, we have also had rising taxes. i was in washington and i spent 10 years of my life fighting to balance the federer budget. you know why? don't put things off till tomorrow that you need to do today. do not mortgage our children's future. if we can balance the budget and make the government more effective and efficient, we can return power to the states. we can then create economic prosperity. in the 10 long years of my life from 1995 when i became the chairman of the budget committee, i have built a team
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to balance the federal budget. the day finally arrived in 1997, building that team and becoming the chief architect of the balanced budget proposal -- a bipartisan effort -- we were able to balance the budget for the first time since men walked on the moon. we pay down $500 billion of the national federal debt. we helped families. we went from trillions in the holes to trillions in the black. we were creating jobs. the american economy was never stronger. by then left 0-- i then left. i have a record of what i was able to do to bring prosperity to the state. not to talk about it, but to actually do it. i returned to public life because i believe that we can make government more efficient and effective. we all know there is plenty of
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room for that. if we can reduce taxes, we can make the state more competitive. if we can take the six-foot pile of codes and regulations that strangle our small business people, i know we can be more successful. if we can train of high winds for 21st century jobs, we can actually get it done. the small business community -- the nfib as endorsed my candidacy. the ohio chamber of commerce, for the first time in 117 years, said, "kasich is the man we need to move us to an era of prosperity." making the environment pro- growth and not restraint of business. i need your help to be governor and to join my team to restore the greatness of our state. >> thank you to you both. we now begin the question portion of our debate.
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as moderator, i have the honor of asking our first question. the coin toss also determined to would receive this question. the question goes to mr. kasich. were also very proud that have emerged as the leader in the solar industry. is aschool that we're at large part of that. it is an industry working hard. they should be finding 25% of their energy and renewable spy 2025. what standards would you preserve? >> the one thing you do not want to do in the state is for the government to impose mandates that could result in higher energy costs for our beleaguered citizens. you not want them to be not competitive. i think you'll have seen that we have lost 15 factories to indiana, maryland, and
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tennessee, because we were not competitive. alternative energy is fantastic. it is one of the things we ought to do. the university of toledo deserves credit for the things they have done. we are thrilled about first solar. we need not just one industry and a focus on an industry that is relatively small, we need a portfolio of businesses. we need to be the leader in manufacturing. we need to push information technology. we need to push financial- services. we need to be in a position to work with the university of toledo and the other fine schools around the state to promote development in medical technology. we need to promote agriculture. it is a portfolio of businesses. we are diverse. we need averse economy. if we have trouble in one area, -- need a diverse economy. if we have trouble in one area,
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we will not be sunk. we need diverse economy. >> governor, 90 seconds. >> we do have a diverse economy. that is why i developed the innovation program, identifying the core strengths of the major cities in our state, and investing in those. energy is one of those or strengths. we were happy to make this region the solar hub. my opponent did said that he would consider getting rid of the standard -- the 25% by 2025 standard, which is resulting in massive investments being made in ohio. as i said, we announced this week that we will be building in ohio the largest solar farm east of the rocky mountains. it will create 600 jobs in ohio. six turbines have been ordered.
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it will be the big inning -- a demonstration project at will lead to a wind farm out in lake erie. we are seeing the solar industry provide jobs for our people. we must not turn back. when the congressmen implied that he would consider getting rid of the standard, he obviously did not know that we had a cap -- 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. >> that is your time. >> you have lost almost four under thousand jobs since you've been governor. you promised to turn ohio around. we have a love and our promises in the middle of a political campaign. -- we have an 11th hour promise in the middle of a political campaign.
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the tax foundation says we're 48 in the nation. we're not competitive because of raised taxes and increased government. the bottom line is i do not think york government understands how to promote -- >> that is your time. now a question for governor strickland. >> a recent poll found that most ohioans one specific answers on how you would deal with the potential billions in the shortfall. schools and universities that could be under the knife want to know. name two areas where you would cut the budget or raise revenues. what would be off the table, if anything? >> 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 ohioans, but by wall street and the shenanigans that
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took place there. let me tell you what i will not do -- i will not make matters worse by saying that i am going to begin eliminating our state income tax during a budget crisis, a tax that provide about 46% of our raw state revenue. i have made tough choices and balance two budgets without raising taxes. some of the agencies and state government that i am responsible for are operating with 70% of what they had received in past budgets. i will set priorities, as i have. education will remain a priority. the basic and essential services that our people must have will remain priorities. 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. it represents about 7% of our state work force. i will make the cuts that are
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necessary to carry out my constitutional responsibility. that responsibility is -- is to maintain a balanced budget. >> we have 90 seconds, mr. kasich. we're looking for specifics. >> i understand. he securitized tobacco and it was supposed provide a stream of revenue for 44 years and he spent it all in four. he used stimulus dollars to operate the government and he raised taxes. he voted to raise taxes in 1993 and he raised taxes and the last budget. he raised taxes. you're the seventh-highest taxed state. what it gets down to, ladies and gentlemen, is if you do not have a state where you can lower the cost of doing business -- there was a fine article that pointed out that indiana has lower costs. if you are a small business person, you are searching for
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low cost. you cannot be raising taxes when you are already one of the highest-tax states. that is why businesses are leaving. that is why we have lost 397,000 jobs. ted strickland will raise taxes -- i will not. i have a history of budget- cutting, reforming, restoring and providing tax cuts, and simplifying the operation of government. when i was chairman of the budget committee and we got that budget agreement done on a bipartisan basis, a mirror was strong financially. that experience will work right here. less government, lower taxes, common-sense regulations, trained workers -- that is the answer. i will not raise taxes. he absolutely will. >> rebuttal? >> what you have done is outsource jobs, congressman. you have signed off on outsourcing ohio's jobs to china.
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you were a board member of the company where you signed off to send hundreds of jobs out of ohio to china. that is part of your record. the people of all-need to know. -- of ohio need to know. >> next question, mr. kasich. >> in the current budget, the governor and the state assembly have planned to put off a tax cut to individuals and small businesses. with the budget problems, you have said he will not face -- raise taxes. can you promise that tax cut will take effect as promised? >> we're going to restore tax cuts. if you are a restaurant and you do not have enough customers, you do not raise the prices. you lower prices and you lower your overhead, changed them menu and that is how you get more
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customers. same with ohio. you have to move aggressively to bring down the rates that are chasing our best on japan yours -- enter and yours -- entrepeneurs out of our state. let me make a statement about that company. we have more employees working there after that action. it is the second-largest business in the county. these are the distortions that i have had to listen to for almost a year. i'm here we -- i'm glad you're here to debate. we absolutely need to make this government more effective, more efficient. we need to reduce the tax base. we need to run the state from the bottom up, not the top down. spending in the general revenue fund is going to increase by 9.7%.
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every ohioan could only hope and pray they could get that kind of rate. we will run the government more efficiently and more effectively. >> governor strickland. >> i will ask the fact checkers to check that because it was not accurate. we did face a large budget shortfall. i froze the taxes at their current level. i did not raise taxes, but kept them at their current level. what my opponent says he would have done would have cut $851 million out of our colleges and out of our k through 12 education system. that would have been devastating to our kids and to our schools. i was not willing to do that, but apparently he was. when we cut spending to our higher education, tuition will go up. that will cost moms and dads more money to educate their sons and daughters.
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if we cut state-level taxation, as he wants to do by eliminating our state income tax, it is going to drive the tax system down to the local level. what he is suggesting will result in property tax is being increased. there is no doubt about it. you cannot spend money you do not have. you cannot educate kids if you do not have resources. if we eliminate our state resources, folks at the local level will end up paying more. >> you have been asleep at the wheel. if you had come out of the box when you were elected governor and did what you promised to do -- turn ohio around -- you would have created a government more effective and more efficient and you would have dealt with the tax situation. instead, you raised spending. you hired 4000 people back after you got rid of that 5000 people. you raise taxes. people are paying more because you change the law and denied them a tax cut. >> that is time.
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next question for governor strickland. >> ohio's public employee pension systems are seeking legislative systems -- legislative changes to shore up their funds. some would ask their employees to accept concessions and others would ask taxpayers to pay more. how would you make the system is financially sound for the long- term? how would you address the practice of some school district employees and even some officials by retiring in returning to the same job to reserve -- receive both project and pension? >> i have great concern with double dipping. i think that needs to be addressed. i think many transparent. that is why i have said that the records that the major newspapers have called for should be made public, as long as individual information is protected. i am led to believe that is possible.
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i urge transparency. i am troubled by double dipping. i think it is being abused. it needs to be addressed. this public pension system need to be solvent. in order to make it solvent, we have to call people together -- all parties together and they have to come together and work in good faith. simply arguing or fighting 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 to find a reasonable solution. i believe those solutions can be found, but i repeat -- not by arguing or screaming at each other, only by working together in good faith will we solve that problem. >> mr. k six -- mr. kasich?
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>> i do believe these need to be reformed. you have to have an actuarially sound system. they try to dump this into social security. i told them that i would stop that bill from passing. we have to do this. we have to reform it, but you do not do it on the back of an envelope. when you went into government, were assured of more security, more benefits. the trade-off was, you did not get paid as much. what people in the private sector say to me as i traveled the state is, i have no pension, i have 41 k -- 401k, and i do not get the pay or job security that public employees have. we must make sure that we do not create more inequity when we solve this problem, where a person who is working every gate
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is supporting someone in the public sector. there have to be some real give- and-take. ohioans are very concerned about receiving a giant have as they worked in the private sector. we have to protect the people who are retired and getting close to retirement. the system must be made sound. >> i think it is relevant to know that, as a member of lehman brothers -- a managing director of lehman brothers, my opponent went to our public pension systems and try to get them to invest with lehman brothers. he says he was not successful, but i can tell you that when lehman brothers once -- went bankrupt, our public pension systems lost over $480 million. solvency is important and we need to work toward it, but we need to make sure we are making a sound investment. >> michael douglas has a question for mr. kasich.
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>> you have said that if you are elected, governor strickland's new evidence-based for primary and secondary education will be "don." you have said he will put more money into the classroom. what specific education model will you support and how will you pay for it while eliminating the deficit? what role will local property- tax play in that model? s thee problem i governors' model is not paid for. the program has not been fixed. there is no money in the program. we amended it a lot of unfunded programs on to local schools -- have mandated a lot of unfunded programs to local schools. if you check the record comedic and find that the evidence-based model has not been very successful -- check the record, you can find that the evidence- based model has not been very successful. we have taken power away from
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teachers and resources away from students. we must do everything we can to make a higher number one in terms of dollars in the classroom. we're night in overhead red tape and administrators. we should be at the tail end of that. if it can get dollars in the classroom and repeal a lot of the unfunded mandates that schools say hamper them and get in the business of promoting shared services so that schools work with the others -- you do not need six superintendents, principles, administrators, coordinators. we need to operate schools more like businesses. set them free. it dollars in the classroom. have a school choice and give people the opportunity to see what excites kids. that information can be transferred into public school. if we do that, you have a much lower-toned debate. >> my opponent does not understand there are no unfunded
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mandate 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. now say that our schools are fifth in the nation and no. 1 in the midwest. our goals must be to make our school number one in america. we competed with 46 other states for race to the top resources. we were one of 12 states that won $400 million -- that won. $400 million will be coming to ohio to enrich our schools. the model i adopted will be phased in over time, but it is structurally constitutional, i believe, because we have carved out the major elements that constitute a quality education for our kids and at the state of ohio is committed to funding.
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we must take the burden off the loper -- off the local property tax payer. when i became governor, the state provided about 40% of the total cost of elementary and secondary education. our current budget has it at 52%. when my model is phased in, the state will have assumed 61% of the total cost, which will give property tax relief at the local level. >> the governor's education program is somewhere over the rainbow, frankly. there is no money in it. it is like getting in the car to take a family vacation, but there is no gas in the car. that is the situation. it does not put dollars into the classroom. it prescribes so many different items that a local school have to comply with and they do not have the money that superintendents and smaller districts are saying uncle. repeal unfunded mandate. school choice. it will empower teachers and help our students do better.
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>> we're going to change targets here. >> you recently issued an executive order barring any state government office from signing a contract that leads to purchasing services outsourced to other countries. you touted the in sourcing of jobs to harness. you criticize your opponent for supporting trade agreements that have cost ohio jobs, get you a champion exports and jobs in ohio driven by those same agreements. you appear to favor export but not import, in-sourcing but not outsourcing. is this realistic or fair trade? >> i think it is. i want to outsource products from ohio and america, not jobs from ohio and america. listen, i think we need to trade. trade is a huge part of ohio's economy. we need to support it.
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trade must work in both directions. we have had great deals that were patently unfair to our country, our workers, and our domestic companies. we have had rules that were not enforced, especially during the bush years. i think we need to put a stop to it. i opposed nafta because i feel that it was constructed in such a way that it was going to cost ohio jobs. it has cost ohio jobs i opposed granting most favored nation trade status to china for the same reason. we have lost thousands of jobs. my opponent has said that we have not lost any jobs to china. we know that is just not right. i support fair credit. -- have fair trade. i support a level playing field. i'm working with companies to export our ohio products. i want to be a good partner with
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other nations, but it must be fair and a level playing field for that that happened. >> mr. kasich. >> ohio has lost five times as many jobs to other states than other countries. we're losing jobs because we are not competitive. the governor himself stripped cinema's money to texas and that money was then outsourced to a call center in el salvador. he voted twice to provide three -- to provide free trade to china. i don't know how you can stand and say you did not raise taxes when you did and you did not vote for a trade deal when you did. if we wanted to develop a trade war, it will develop -- destroy agriculture in a while -- in ohio. fair trade, not free trade. i helped the steel companies get
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protection when they needed a breather. they needed to get their act together. i worked with steve -- two o fthe -- of the major steel companies to get that protection put in place. ronald reagan worked with harley-davidson. it is fair trade, not free trade. this administration is not doing enough to prevent china from manipulating their currency and stealing our jobs. we need to have the end telling -- we need to tell the administration -- >> that is time. >> welcome to my world. i have been arguing about china's manipulation of their currency for years. our democratic friends in congress are finally taking the house is passing a bill that makes that possible. if we can get your republican
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friends in the senate to go along, we will have dealt china the kind of lesson they have needed to learn from us. they have been manipulating their currencies, costing us hundreds of thousands of job as a result. >> thank you. the next question is for mr. kasich. >> we have seen the ohio department of development's worked in action, going back to the production of the chevrolet kobold -- cobalt and a more product as well. how would your plan to privatize economic development have done better? >> that same department of development sat on their hands when we lost that co. in dayton -- those other companies, including in dayton. we did not even have a permanent director for seven months. it is like going to war without having a general in charge.
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i want people that can moved at the speed of light, but pentland financing, markets, connect people all over this country. i also believe that our universities are a tremendous opportunity to commercialize. we have started to do a little bit, but we're in the infancy stages. if we could open up the research and development at our universities, we would be doing far better. the bottom line is, if you believe that bureaucracy can move at the speed of business, then you would not support jobs ohio. if you think we need to get a group of people who have been experienced and can going to the toughest places in the state and removed to -- and began to remove barriers and work with companies to be stronger and to expand and to alternately searched the country for other opportunities -- which cannot keep doing what we're doing. -- we cannot keep doing what
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we're doing. 46 other states have outperformed us because we have been too slow, not innovative, and i would change that. regret that this time. governor strickland. >> -- >> that is time. governor strickland. >> if he had his way, there would likely be no auto industry. i was there when the car came off the line. it was almost totally made in ohio. it is a wonderful,. 4500 people working at the plant. three shifts per day. you say the stimulus should not have passed. the stimulus and the decision to save the automobile industry made the automobile industry possible.
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$650 million is being invested in youngstown and not would not have been possible without the stimulus. i do not know why you think the president and our democratic -- what you think our president and democratic friends should have done. 8.5 million jobs were lost, most during the bush administration. we have taken firm action to stabilize this economy. the free fall has been stopped. all you and your friends want to do is criticize and say no, no, no. we have been working in ohio to create jobs. you were working on wall street outsourced our jobs. i think the people of ohio can tell the difference between us. >> you are a broken record. you have to get over that. we will talk about that in greater deal. youngstown shows us the potential for manufacturing. we have performed worse than 41 other states since the sky has been the governor.
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our unemployment was 10.1%. homelessness was rising. the bottom line is we need to have a job-creating an environment and culture. >> thank you, mr. kasich. gayle. >> governor strickland, the recession and the foreclosure crisis have only made life more difficult for ohio cities that were already struggling with crime, the loss of the employers, deteriorating infrastructure, and decaying neighborhoods. in addition to encouraging job growth, how would you help struggling ohio cities? >> ohio cities are vital to ohio's overall economy. we cannot have a strong state without having strong, healthy cities. it is one of the reasons we have
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developed our ohio's of the innovation and opportunity program. each of our cities have individual characteristics and strengths. the toledo area's strengths are the university and the solar industries. we have designated this area as a solar hub. we're doing this in cincinnati with the marketing hub. over in cleveland, where the biomedical and medical industry is so critical and important, we are designating that as the biomedical hub. and we believe these investments in these hub areas will result economies growing and thriving. we are doing other things as well.
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we are putting resources into our cities. we're doing that through our department of transportation. we're trying to build an infrastructure that will create economic vitality and growth. we have done that by investing in rail. the north baltimore facility is just one local example -- >> that is time. mr. kasich, not more than 90 seconds. >> i was very privileged to receive the endorsement of the cleveland plain dealer, who is very concerned about the state of our cities. they know that when it gets down to is creating economic growth. we have a lot of great assets in our state. cleveland has the university hospital, the cleveland clinic. we have the university of toledo. in cincinnati, we have proctor and gamble. in columbus, we have cardinal health. we have tremendous assets all
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over the state, but we have not leverage to them. we have not been able to get them to talk to one another and to open our laboratories and universities to create exciting and new 21st century jobs. entrepreneurship is key. the reason why the cleveland plain dealer said they want john case it is because they have the sense that we will get moving. the ohio chamber of court -- chamber of commerce endorsed my candidacy for governor. that is the first time they have endorsed in 117 years. the small business community came out in force early. everybody is saying the same thing -- four more years of tax, spend, and regulate will not work. we need to set people free, said are e -- set our entrepeneurs free to create jobs. >> brief rebuttal. >> what do i say about that
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endorsement? they said they were endorsing him with trepidation. that was their assessment. quite frankly, it is not as important what the newspapers say, but what our ideas and plans are, how much we care histories. and our >> time. rebuttals are quick. next question for mr. kasich. >> last years that a dramatic change for casino prom -- casino gambling. governor strickland has tried to add slot machines at our race tracks. where would you draw the line? >> i'm the first person who has run for governor who has said he is not opposed to gambling. most say they are against it
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only to flip flop. i will not take a position on that yet. i'm concerned that we're going to get ourselves in a position where we could erode our culture. we could put our kids in jeopardy. we have to be very careful about this. i am well aware of the fact that people want to leave this state and go to other places to spend their money. it passed a be a consideration. i will tell you that the deals that have been struck so far are not good for ohio. we have the casinos and the state does not get its fair share. the state ought to get its fair share and ought to regulate these operations. if we move forward as we should -- and i stress if we move forward, it has to be done in a comprehensive and well thought out way that fundamentally protect the culture of our great state. i know that ohio is next on its feelings on this. we will spend some time thinking about this issue. if we decide to move forward and
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design a program, we will protect our families and provide the resources to the state of ohio. i have not yet made a determination. >> where do you draw the line, governor? >> the people voted to establish casinos in cleveland, columbus, cincinnati, and toledo. that was the will of the people. it was not something i supported. the people have spoken. our responsibility is to make sure that, as gambling is instituted in the cities, it is done in a way that protects the local communities, where people of high-integrity of our chosen to oversee the operations and it to make sure that crime and other sordid elements that sometimes are associated with gambling activities are prevented from coming to our cities. the fact is that ohio does have budget problems. although i have always been an
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opponent of gambling, i do not think it is a good economic policy, quite frankly, i felt that the race tracks were the least harmful approach. these were isolated areas, adult-appropriate venues and so on. my responsibility as governor, or whoever the next governor is will have the responsibility of making sure that the commission that oversees the operation of these casinos is made up of people of high quality will do a good job. >> i would agree with the governor on that. i think we have to have the highest -- the people with the highest character to deal with the people voted for. before we go for the to expand this program, especially to try to solve to solvehole -- before we go forward to expand this
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program, especially to try to solve the budget hole -- let me reiterate, the jury is still out in my mind. >> another question, this time directed to governor strickland. >> we do not directly vote for the lieutenant governor. you're running mates would be a heartbeat away from leading the seventh-largest state in the nation. tell ohioans why there would be in better hands with your choice than your opponent's choice. >> my wonderful running mate is here with me tonight. let me tell you something about her background. she was going to a -- born to a single teenaged mother. she worked hard. she went to college at ohio university. she then attended the ohio state law school. at a very young age, she decided to run for judge. she ran for the common police court in franklin county. she defeated a sitting,
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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, caring, and she was recruited away from that position to go to nationwide children's hospital in columbus to start a grass- roots organization to be in the advocacy for their children and family -- four children who were abused or for troubled families. she built that into a 400-person operation with a $30 million-per year budget. she is hugely qualified. she is hugely respected. and she will make a great governor it is ever necessary for me to vacate the office. >> we're talking running mates, lieutenant governors.
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>> i am thrilled that she agreed to be my running mate. may is a -- mary is a mom, the wife of a small business person. she understands the travails that small business people have to go through. she was also a cpa. what we really need in politics are people who have been in business and understand how to create jobs and people who have had political experience. to me, that is the formula that makes sense for driving our united states government that has been out of control in in a better direction. she was also a state representative. the boys down there tried to put a lot of pressure on mary to vote for their tax increase. she said, no way, no how. they stripped her from her committee assignment and she did not bat an eye.
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that same kind of pressure applied to me. she was strong. she turned around and ran for state auditor -- the only republican who was elected. she has done a fantastic job of spotting the problems of this state. if she had been listened to more by a lot of people, it would have paid off. i really proud that she is my running mate. she is terrific and she is as qualified to do anything she sets her mind it too. thank you for asking. i do not have anything negative to say. >> governor perry >> i guess fortunate to have talented women as their running mates. i think my opponents running mate, with all due respect, shares his ideas regarding outsourcing of jobs. she stood beside mr. kasich and boasted that, as a cpa, she had actually encourage people to leave ohio and go to florida or some other state in order to
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abide -- to avoid paying of higher taxes. >> you are watching the ohio gubernatorial debate. we're glad you are watching. boy this time fly when you're having fun. we do not have time for another round of questioning. one of these candidates will be elected 26 days from now to lead this state for the next four years. they have to come minutes to reach out to the voters of ohio to tell you why they are the person that should lead this state. the order was approved earlier. governor strickland, two minutes for your summary statement. >> i want to thank the people of this great state for giving me the privilege of serving in the governor's office for the last four years and, before that, in the congress. before went to congress, i went to a senior citizens' center in pike county. i bought a plaque that had a saying from the hebrew
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scriptures and the book of mica h. "and then what is required of us? but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with thy god." i took that with me to the governor's office. i think those admonitions laid out how someone in public office should try to live out their life. to do justice -- to try to do the right thing. to love kindness -- to care about other people. and to walk calmly, knowing that none of us get through this life on our own. we are all interdependent and we all need each other. that is the spirit i have tried to have. it is the spirit i will keep with me and in the governor's office in you give me the privilege of continuing to lead this great state. thank you for watching this debate. i ask for your support for this
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election season and i promise you that i will serve you to the best of my ability. thank you very much. >> governor strickland, thank you for being here tonight. and now you're closing statement -- your closing statement, john kasich. >> are we better off than we were when ted strickland took office? i like ted strickland. i'm not running against him. i am trying to straighten out ohio and restore our great legacy. we want our kids to go to college here. we want our kids to graduate and stay here. we wanted to have a great and exciting opportunities so they can find their god-given destiny. we do not want to have to get on airplanes and travel all over the country to see our grandkids. we want to restore ohio. when i look at ohio today, it saddens me -- the massive unemployment, rising party, rising homelessness.
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ohio is going to be great again. we have to shine it up and use that great formula -- setting people free to engage in the economic opportunity. we need to create jobs and pull people together. over the course of my lifetime, my mother said, raise the bar. bring people together. over my career, i was able to do some amazing hearings by building a team and by working with people on the other side of the aisle. we have these assets in the state, the people, the physical assets, the brain trust -- if we can just improve the conditions and the atmosphere, ohio will be the greatest state in america. my goal -- to make ohio in the top 10 places where businesses and people want to come. it can happen. it is all out there.
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shoulder to the wheel -- i want to climb this mountain to make ohio great again. i would like you to climb it with me. i appreciate your support and hope we can get your vote. >> thank you for joining us for this face to face, man-to-man, toto -- toe-to-toe debate. i wanted think our panelists -- thank our panelists for being here as well. gentlemen, the idea of public service is a high calling. sometimes what we have to do to get there is not attractive. we thank you for your willingness to serve our state. may i also add it, and i think matt also adds ---- that this may be the best audience we have had. now is the time to say thank
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you. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, gentlemen. [applause] a reminder to all of you who are still watching at home, whether it is early voting, absentee voting, or 13 hours on election day, november 2, the first tuesday of november, these gentlemen, there is no hand that they will not shake. they are out there working for you.
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now it is up to you to get involved make sure you get out there to vote. thank you for joining us. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] ♪ ♪ >> our campaign coverage continues at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight, followed by at live coverage of the first debate of candidates in wisconsin. it at 10:00 a.m. -- at 10:00
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p.m. eastern, north dakota. then president obama at an illinois fundraiser. from politico today, a top democratic strategist talks about the 2010 and 2012 elections. he thinks tea party candidates are energizing democrats and could wreak havoc with the gop. meg whitman gave her campaign another $2.5 million, bringing her total to $121.5 million, a record for individual spending on a single campaign. she is battling jerry brown for the state's governorship. a reminder, we have dozens of debate, political advertisements, and campaign rallies for you available to watch any time online. good to a website for that and links to other related web pages. >> democrat rory reid and
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>> good evening and welcome. tonight's debate is being carried by 40 nevada television and radio stations, reaching out to every corner and every community throughout the state. it is the mission of the nevada of broadcasters association to be the eyes and ears of nevada's radio stations and television stations. i am mitch fox and i 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 him, the
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democratic candidate for governor for rory reid. welcome to both of you. we want to thank the radio stations and television stations for providing this coverage. the format we will follow has been accepted and agreed to by both campaigns. each candidate will give a two- minute opening statement. they will be asked a series of questions, some of which have been submitted by nevadans throughout the state. each candidate will be given one minute to respond to the question, followed by a 30- second rebuttal. if i believe a follow-up 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 statement will be offered by commissioner rory reid.
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>> thank you. good evening. this election is about two things. what we going to do to move nevada forward and which of us is most qualified to do it? we can have a bright future but we gave 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 our that only one of us has managed a large organization, created jobs, and balanced the budget. only one of us have stood up to special interests. only one of us has offered a
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detailed plan to create jobs, diversify our economy, and strengthen education. no one knows how brian sandoval would do this job because he has never done anything like it before, and he doesn't have a plan to do it now. brian it seems to be a nice person, but i am concerned he is his own person. if he does not have the strength to stand out for them, how will he 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, to diversify our economy, and strengthen our education system. that is what i intend to talk about tonight. i am grateful for the sponsors of the debate, grateful for brian being here, and then look
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forward to the conversation we will have. >> figure for the opportunity to be here tonight. i would like to say thanks to nevada broadcaster association. it is truly an honor and privilege to be here this evening. nevada, you have a decision to make. we have historical challenges in this state. this is not a time for the sound bites or political gimmicks. this is a time for straight talk. this is a time for a governor who will level with you. you have two candidates standing here to service your next governor. i think we agree on one thing. there is a big choice to make, but there are three major differences between the two of us. first, experience. i have had the privilege to serve as a legislator, attorney general, chairman of that the
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vatican in commission, and if federal judge. my opponent has spent $3 million lying about my record and has not spent a single dollar talking about his own. second, integrity. we need a governor who is going to speak straight with the people of the state of nevada. it is very easy to stand in front of a group and tell them i am not going to raise your taxes, and stand in front of another group of educators and say i am not going to cut university funding. i will tell you, telling everybody what they want to hear, you are lying to someone. tonight, we are going to get to the bottom of it. finally, taxes. there is no bigger difference between my opponent and meet with regard to taxes. my opponent will raise your taxes, i will not. with that, experience, fiscal
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responsibility, and integrity -- if it matters to you, i would be very proud to serve as your next governor. >> thank you very much. now we will start the question and answers. after the budget, republican gov. jim gibbons state budget director said in order to balance the budget without raising taxes, he would have to eliminate all funding of state governments except for k-12 and higher education. even the legislature and the supreme court. he says he does not know how to balance the budget without raising taxes. both of you have said raising taxes is not necessary. >> i am the only candidate standing here, and i admit, has offered a detailed plan of how i would balance the budget. brian opened about speaking of
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integrity. my budget, which is available on my website, it shows how we can balance the budget without new taxes. that is what i propose to do, notwithstanding what brian claims. we can do this by retreating nevada's government. >> i will say this. my opponent does not have a plan. if you took the time to review his plan, includes $615 million of fantasy money that we don't have. it has another $400 million supposedly to come from modernization and efficiencies that are not there. you have to be straight with the people of nevada. it does not add up. my opponent said he will balance the budget without raising taxes, yet he will not cut
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education. that is 55% of the state's budget. if you added up, he would have to cut the rest of the state government. i will be happy to talk about my plan to balance the budget. rory reid will raise taxes to balance the budget. >> i have been chairman of the clark county commission for nearly six years. i balance that budget every year without new taxes, and i propose to balance the state budget without new taxes. i have experience with large budgets. bryan can't talk about his plan to make because he does not have one. it is hard for me to point out the problems because he has not released his plan get. where is your plan, brian? >> i am going to ask a follow-up question.
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would you consider taking additional revenue from clark county in order to balance the budget? >> no. i have been the subject of that kind of diversion. we took $200 million. a diversion is not a solution. it is a game i will never play again as governor. as i said, i know how to balance budgets. i have done it for years. my plan will balance the budget without those gimmicks or games. if we are going to have a 21st century economy, we need a 24 century government. that is why i take 26 state departments cannot consolidate some cannot eliminate others, and create a leaner, more efficient government that will balance the budget without new taxes. >> i would like to address the
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discussion about his experience on the clark county commission. let's be honest. you are required to balance the budget by law. let's be honest. it is the city manager form of government. let's be honest. there are six other commissioners on that commission working on this. if the budget was balanced so well, why is clark county going to go back to its employees and ask for refunds on it salaries? you can't present a budget like that. you would be laughed out of the legislature if you presented a budget with fantasy money and no specifics. >> let's move on to the next question. your deficit reduction plan includes a 4% reduction in salary for state workers and teachers.
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if the teachers do not agree to accelerate production, will you fire them to fire the budget, at how many of them would be let go? >> that is something that was discussed earlier in this campaign. i am going to be straight with the people of nevada. we have a budget crisis. we only have $5.2 billion to spend. our budget is comprised of five things. prisons and universities, k-12, payroll, and health and human services. there will be reductions. we will have to go back to the 2007 levels. those are the expenditures will have to have. we are going to have to continue furloughs. if we make these tough decisions, we will be able to balance the budget. our state government needs to do what all of you have done across the state, which is to cut back. if we had the discipline to do that now, our future will be
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right, our economy will grow. >> mr. reid? >> again, experience and a plan. i have experience and a plan. brian has neither. the last minute, you just heard brian talk about the state budget more than he has during this entire campaign. nobody knows what brian would do because he has not told us. he talks about cuts but he does not describe what he will cut. we can balance the budget and protect education. i knew these things because i have had experience doing them. my balance the budget proposal would allow our state to progress. it uses smarter technology to do things more efficiently and recognizes the importance of our university system.
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our university system can create revenue for our state. that is what my budget will allow us to do. bryan's budget simply does not exist. >> let's talk about experience with the state budget. i served two terms with the legislature without raising taxes. i have handled an executive branch budget as attorney general. after that with my budget, i returned over $1 million back to the general fund. that is the school's responsibility. the proposed budget of the so- called plan that has been submitted by my opponent contains $615 million of fantasy money and another $500 million of money that does not exist. >> i am going to go back to my original question. under either one of your plans, could teachers lose their jobs?
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>> first and foremost, again, i am being very honest with the people of the state of nevada. there will be productions. my plan does not call for any teacher layoffs. we have to be honest with this. my opponent's plan contains a continuation of furloughs, $200 million in reduction in education. so, which is it? are you going to remove $200 million from the education budget question mi? i think my opponent need to be honest with the people of this state. >> absolutely not. brian took a minute there, i am not exactly sure what he said, but let me try to describe to you his proposal. my plan would not spend it any less money that was spent in the last fiscal year on education.
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brian's proposal would call for teachers' salary reductions for up to 20%. it would take class size reduction money and converted and call for the vouchers. >> thank you. you balanced the budget by taking $100 million from the state transportation fund, something the constitution prohibits. your plan is based on receiving $615 million in tax revenue, a figure that many economists say is wildly optimistic and will never happen. that means you are more than $700 million of your target. >> brian wants straight talk? here it is. there is a $5 billion worth of energy products in the state of nevada. the western governors association did a study.
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i took that $5 billion in energy production that would come on line soon, and that is where i come up with the money that i call it revenue in the state budget. it is not fantasy money. what is a fantasy is brian's budget. he is criticizing my plan, calling into question my integrity, and it in june, he promised to give you a state budget proposal and he still has not done it. it is october 7. it is hard for me to talk about a plan that brian has because it does not exist. >> thank you. no clarity whatsoever. you still have a $600 million hole.
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if you reduced $150 million from the state prison budget, he would have to release 2000 to 3000 inmates into our community. >> would you like a bottle? >> brian misrepresent my plan we need to do prisons smarter and better. we need to cover those that are non-violent into drug programs says they can be their addiction and become productive citizens. they have done that in hawaii and other states. the problem with this debate is because it is so one-sided, brian does not have a plan. he will cut half a billion dollars from education and fire teachers. >> you have the next question.
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i am concerned about protecting our system and retirement benefits. the huge support -- do you support this system? >> i think there are two things and that question. i appreciate the question. i think it needs to change. we need to go from a defined benefit program to a defined contribution program. our system right now is $8 million. it is unsustainable. i think we need to go to a 401k- inspired plan it. that is what i would work toward if i was elected governor. >> i think there is no question
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that we need reform. many months ago, i think i was one of the first people to stand up and say our system was unsustainable, that personnel costs were unsustainable. that is why i called every labor organization to the table and i demanded concessions. the result of that hard work was that the county taxpayers saved tens of millions of dollars. it is easy to stand here and talk about the reforms that are necessary. again, i offer experience solving these difficult problems and a plan to do so. i think that is the difference you are seeing here tonight. >> this is not a new issue. i think everybody agrees that we need to have some reforms with our public employees retirement system. it has to be a priority for the next governor.
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i think the defined contribution program is a prudent approach. >> this is from james who lives in reno. >> i have no brothers named james in reno. [laughter] >> retirees have seen almost 400% increase in their health insurance premiums, and deductibles could go to almost $1,000 a year. do the can it planned to continue this by placing more of the cost on the backs of retirees? >> absolutely not. in my budget proposal, we talk about what we must do with medicaid. over $1 billion is spent in nevada every year on medicaid. we just don't do it as smart as
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we could. that leads to reimbursements being reduced particularly for senior citizens. my budget proposal talks about what we need to do to change that. we need to eliminate the waste, fraud, and abuse. we need to focus on things that will make people's lives better but less expensive. that has more long-term care per capita than any state in the country. we have more people in nursing homes than any state in the country. we could save money and have greater quality of life for our people. that is a smart solution that my budget is full of. it is not a fantasy. it is in black and white on my website for everybody to read. >> the question has to do with the public employees benefit system employees. we recently made a decision that will save our state $120
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million. it was a tough decision. it is going to increase the copiague, it is going to make it into the more challenging. but our state is in a tough time. we are in a budget crisis that we have never seen in the history of the state of nevada as a visit businesses across the state, people have lost their jobs, their benefits, at their retirement. i think the government needs to do the same. this is an example of what the government needs to do to reduce spending so we can balance the budget, because the goal going forward is a stronger economy, it is to have surpluses so we can reduce spending. >> i think this is a good example of what is going on in the campaign. i agree with what bryan said, but we need specific solutions to real problems. many of ourirees rely on
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medicaid. reimbursements have gone down. it puts pressure on our retired citizens. the only way to solve the problem are specific solutions to this specific problem. >> ok, we will go to the next question. this question comes from mitch in las vegas. a conservative think tank has proposed a tax restructuring plan that does not fit the current budget crisis but does include broadening the sales tax to include food services and utilities. i am going to give you a chance in just a moment to outline your plan to restructure the tax system. right now, i am asking for it a straight up yes or no to these questions.
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at any time in the four years of your administration, would you consider a sales tax on services, yes or no? >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> would you consider a cigarette or alcohol taxes? >> no. >> no. >> fuel tax? >> no. >> no. >> how about a state lottery? >> no. >> i would consider a state lottery. if we directed it to be only used for the benefit of education, i think that is a good idea. i understand it is unconstitutional to have a lottery in nevada, but i see no reason why we should not have a
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lottery if it can help our children and improve our schools. >> first, i think it is important to point out that tonight, my opponent says no to all of these tax increases, yet when he was presented with the question. his response was, "i would." his answers have changed tonight. with regard to restructuring our tax system, i don't believe we have to do that. the focus has to be on diversifying our economy, 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 coming here.
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there are 400 to 500 companies looking at the state of nevada to come here to do business. there have been some statements from my opponent regarding tax increases. >> brian complete misrepresents what i have said. i think people need to understand that we don't have a fiscal problem. we haven't economic problem. our economy is too narrow. we have relied on tourism for too long. i put forward my economic plan, describing in detail how we need a new economy in nevada and what we can do to achieve that. we have hardworking people, high computer literacy, every renewable resource known to man. we have 9 million acres of the
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juniper forest that we could use for biomass. that is what i am focused on. our people need jobs. they need to work, and they need a new economy. my plan would provide both. >> i think it is 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. the worst thing we could do in this economy is raise taxes. no tax ever created a job. my focus is going to be personally involved in recruiting new businesses to the state of nevada, every day, making the phone calls that need to be made across the country to bring business to the state of nevada. this is a great place to live in a great place to be educated. >> thank you very much. many lawmakers believe clark county pays a disproportionate
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figure of taxes relative to what it receives in state funding. if this is a problem, how would you address it? >> the first thing we need to recognize, nevada has different regions. we have the north, we have the south, urban and rural. the problems are the same. you can't have a quality life if you don't have a job. there are way too many foreclosures. our education system is woefully inadequate. we can't address those problems on a regional basis. now that it is a community. that word comes from a latin word that means "shared by all." rather than pick a region and talk about how that region may be prejudiced to another, i think we need to focus on solving problems, which is why i put forward plans that are the
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size of a small novel on the economy, jobs, education, and those plants will make our state better for anyone wherever they live. >> you don't believe clark county pays a disproportionate amount of taxes? >> i think the thing we need to focus on is a solution to the problem. >> if there is a disproportionate funding paid by clark county, then yes, that is something we have to look at. we have to be fair. i have had the opportunity to look at many places in nevada. the next governor has to focus on helping each and every nevada citizen to get a job and to diversify our economy, to bring renewable projects to the state of nevada, to bring technology
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to the state of nevada, like manufacturing. we have great opportunities. >> it is interesting. we talk about the different regions in the state, north, south. one thing i noticed, no matter where i go, i hear the same question. brian sandoval promised a budget in june. where is it? >> let's go on to the next question. it has to do with unemployment, but we are going to look at it from a different perspective the state of nevada at was the federal government more than $500 billion because it are that much to maintain the state's benefit trust fund. the both of you are against raising taxes but what do you
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say to those businesses that want to replenish that fund with higher taxes? >> i think there is an assumption that my opponent talks about that he has a plan. he has no plan. mitch, you hit it right on the head. i think it is critical that we don't raise taxes. our employers are going to have to pay double for unemployment tax. their health premiums are going up right now. if you were to propose a business tax or some kind of income tax, it is going to put them out of business. as a visit these businesses, that is the one consistent theme throughout that i have listened to. anyan, please don't propose new taxes because it would put people out of work." that is why they are concerned.
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when my opponent ask the question, included tax increases, he said he would sign it. i would veto it could >> how do you replenish the money? how do you pay off the federal government? >> that is my point. it can only come from two places. it comes from the unemployment tax with the general fund. we only have 5.2 billion -- we only have $5.2 billion to spend. to increase taxes at this time would be devastating. think you can see -- this may seem eerily familiar. brian on every answer is saying no new taxes. let's talk about what we would do. the question was, what would we do to replenish the unemployment
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benefits? what we need to do is create more jobs. my proposals would do that. we need to prioritize capital spending. every local budget has capital money. my nevada energy independence fund would take those $5 billion in energy projects and prioritize them and put people back to work. we need to do what georgia did. they take on the plum of benefits and give them to their citizens, but they allow their citizens to work and be trained during that period -- they take on an, a benefits and give them to their citizens. >> one of the problems with my opponent's plan is the fact that it is unconstitutional. the state of nevada cannot lend money to employers to create jobs. it is unconstitutional. i agree that we need to diversify our economy and bring new business to the state of
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nevada. if i next governor, that would be my number one priority. >> let's move on to education. both you and your opponent want to make it easier to fire teachers if students do not perform well on tests. what do you say to that part of state teacher that is considering a move to las vegas and will be a earning $35,000 a year? what would you say to that teacher if they could lose their job in a situation that could be beyond their control? >> i would tell that teacher that the next governor of nevada has a plan to totally transform our schools. we can take that power away from bureaucrats and give it to principle spent, teachers, and parents at the community level. we can provide open enrollment so every parent can choose which school is best for their child.
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we can provide teachers with more resources so they can have better training. we can provide them with incentives so if they do their job well, they can be paid for. that is what i could tell that teacher. i would tell that teacher that i have a plan to transform nevadas schools and do whatever is in the interest of the child sitting in front of them. they are going to have more responsibility with that freedom, but that will be in place where children can be educated well. >> education is another priority for me. i have been visiting 100 schools. i have taken the time to visit almost 100 schools throughout the state of nevada. i have met with principals, teachers, and parents, and i would tell that teacher that we will hold you accountable. if you show growth with your students, he will be rewarded
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for that. we are going to reward you for doing hard work. we are going to reward you for paying attention to the students. our education system needs help. we need to change the status quo. that is why i have come up with a very bold education plan that will call for vouchers and giving every parent in the state a choice where to send their children. that was an issue regarding education. vouchers are for everybody, not just the elite. >> thank you. >> i agree with brian. we need to change the status quo, but the status quo is to not recognize the importance of education. we will never have a first grade economy in the that if we continue to except second-rate schools. give jim gibbons credit by three
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hutton million dollars. he did not recognize that. that is the status quo. the prime would cut education by half a billion $9 -- brian would cut education by half a billion dollars. >> what component of the illegal immigration law would you like to see enacted here in the state, if any? >> i support the arizona law. i think it was a that the response by the state of arizona for a public safety issue of their. it was a valid exercise of state rights. whether it could be done in the state of nevada, i have taken the time to meet with law enforcement throughout the state of nevada. we don't need an arizona-style law in the state of nevada. however, if there was a bill
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presented in the state of nevada, i would talk to all the interested constituencies cannot speak to law enforcement cannot speak with the hispanic community, in the business community to see if such a law could work in the state of nevada. >> what we need is a comprehensive immigration reform on the federal level. immigration is a complex issue. the only way i believe to solve it is have a federal approach. that immigration lot needs to be tough but fair. we need to have the undocumented workers pay whatever taxes and fines the day of. we need them to learn english and get at the back of the line to go through that process to become citizens. >> my opponent has not responded to the question.
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i do support the arizona law because it was a valid response to public safety issues. the federal government had not been doing its job, and the state of arizona made the decision to do what it had to do to incorporate the federal law. that federal law has been working in the state of arizona. i do not support amnesty. i believe is very important that we keep an eye on what is going on in the state of nevada, and if necessary, that is something that should be considered. >> despite a pair of the unfavorable rulings, the southern nevada water authority still has a $3.5 billion plan to pump water from eastern nevada and send it through 300 miles of pipeline to support growth in southern nevada. do you support this plan when the majority of people in rural
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nevada oppose it? >> as you know, there is litigation that stops that project. we have to wait and see what happens. what we have to do is recognize there is no more important a resource in nevada than water. mark twain said, "whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting." there is nothing more passionate than the water issue. again, i have experience and a plan. as part -- we used to be in a bitter battle with lincoln county over water. 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. there is no longer a war between the two counties. we need the same kind of collaboration between clark county and the northeastern part
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of the state. >> would you favor this water importation planet? >> the only way is if we went through a process that i just described. we would have to roll up our sleeves. >> thank you. this is an important issue and it affects many people. the state of nevada has some of the most sophisticated water laws in the united states. there has been a process. it has gone to the nevada supreme court. it has been referred back to the state water engineer, and that is when the process should
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be. the engineer is going to consider the objections from the people that have concerns about the project. i would support the process and the decision. i think it is important to understand and let the engineered do the job that has been appointed. dave are going to have the opportunity to sit to the hearings and listen to the folks who are concerned about their water interest in the state of nevada. as governor, i would continue to support that process. >> i agree with brian up to a point. the state engineer will go to the process, but i would not leave this matter in the hands of a bureaucrat. i would become involved, personally. i will try to solve the problem through collaboration and
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through consensus. that is what happened between lincoln county and clark county. i don't think brian should pass the buck off to a bureaucrat. >> the next question deals with health care. nevada has a high percentage of the uninsured residents which costs all taxpayers' money. do you favor the effort to repeal the national health-care law? if so, what solutions do you have for the injured, working people making too much for medicaid but not enough to afford health care insurance? how would you propose that we pay for the increase costs for that? >> first, i would like to comment on the last response of my opponent. we have laws for a reason. we have lost for certainty. we need to have a state water engineer that has the ability, the background, and the experience these are some of the most difficult decisions that
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people face. i trust the process. i do support the health care -- i don't support the health care bill. i do support the litigation that is occurring in the state of florida. recently, a judge denied the motion by the state government -- by the federal government, so that suit will move forward. what that health care bill is driving premiums up, and that is why i think that what needs to go away. >> i agree, brian. there are laws, but we also need a leaders in nevada. leaders will up their sleeves and try to solve problems. as for health care, i do not support the litigation. i do not believe it will lead to a resolution of the problem that we have been our state. i don't deny, however, that the that it needs to be vigilant on
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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 pressure on states because medicaid rate could go up significantly. that is why i think it is so important that we pursue the reforms i described because if we do things smarter and eliminate the waste, fraud, and abuse, i think we would be in a better position. >> i am glad it is clear that this is one position that my opponent and i disagree. i think this law would have a devastating affect on the people in the state of nevada. i think it violates the constitutional rights of individuals by requiring them to purchase insurance and requiring individual employers to purchase insurance. >> this debate is originating
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from cbs, one of the television stations in nevada whose solar panel is one of the largest in the state of nevada. what would you do to aggressively push this state and find the money so it not only embraces renewable energy but serves as a model for the rest of the nation, if not the world? >> nevada can become energy independent. we don't need to truck or train in tons of coal or oil. we have a renewable energy. we should use our resources to create jobs for our people. california requires that 33% of the energy purchased their comes from renewable resources. that is a huge market that we need to take advantage of. we need to be exporters of
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energy. it would change our economy forever. my plan would put into place the policies to make all of that possible. further, you mentioned this beautiful building. 50% of the energy used in nevada is used within built nevada. it would lead to more buildings that are efficient as this one. >> renewable energy is an important component of the future of the state of nevada at. i have had an opportunity to visit a geothermal center and a solar plant. the vatican be a leader in the country in renewable energy, -- now that fact can be a leader in the country in renewable energy -- nevada can be a leader in the country in renewable energy.
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many of these renewable projects will be able to come online. we have an aggressive portfolio standard in regard to renewable energy critic weaken export things. one of the obstacles that is permits. that would be a priority for me if elected. >> the last piece of this, i think, this is another example where education is key. our community colleges need to be partners with business to train the people that are going to retrofit all of these buildings. if we partner with our community colleges and universities, we can create jobs and put our people back to work and move forward in this energy endeavour. that is what my 15-point plan would allow.
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unfortunately, brian wants to cut higher education by 12%, which would make everything he just said very difficult. >> this has to do with transportation. unfortunately, traffic gridlock has increased. tell me about your transportation plan for the state of nevada. in four years, what will our transportation infrastructure look like under your management and how will you find it? >> i would like to respond to the last day end of my opponent with regard to cutting higher education. it goes back to what i talked about earlier. it is easy to stand in front of a group of university students and tell them i am not going to cut education. the very budget that you presented calls for cuts in education. if you also try to make a
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promise that you are not going to raise taxes, you would have to eliminate the remainder of state government in order to balance the budget. it is not realistic and it is not the truth. i had an opportunity to meet with the head of the transportation division for the state of nevada. the state is in line to receive a lot of additional federal monies and state monies in order to do transportation projects. it is very important that we stop the gridlock here in clark county. i sat on the state board of transportation along with the governor. i will work hard to ease the gridlock in the state of nevada. >> it is really not that hard to protect education if you make it a priority. get online later tonight and read my budget proposal and you will see how it is done. i did it. as for transportation, we need to take the policies and build projects where they are most
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needed. in needs to be based on need, not policy. we also need to realize that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in washington, d.c. the stimulus package money is there. this is a competition. we need to roll up our sleeves and fight. as governor, i would fight for that money. that money would allow us to build the projects that we need, put our people back to work, and ease the transportation burden described. >> transportation is a very, very important to the people of this state. it is very important that we get those federal funds. the department of transportation is something that is very important to me. i've taken the time to meet with the head of the department of transportation. one of the priorities is going
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to be easing the gridlock in the state of nevada at. >> next question has to do with higher education. colleges and universities could close their doors. how would you propose that we not just maintain a system but actually improved and it? secondly, do you think and millennium scholarship should be funded out of the general state budget when the funds are depleted next year? >> higher education is not just an expense. it is not an expense on our budget. it is an economic engine that we have not utilized in nevada. in massachusetts, the 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 t
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ransfer. you take the bright ideas of the university, transfer them, and create jobs. we can do that here in nevada. my plan would make that possible because we would connect the private sector with a bright ideas of academics. we would grow. we need to think of higher education as a revenue center, not an expense. it is an investment that we make to create jobs and grow our economy. the millennium scholarship should be in doubt. it should not be subject to the winds of the general fund. quick i am a proud graduate of our university system. i have taken the time to meet with the chancellor of the university, the president of each of the universities, north and south. the president of csn. i think the time has come to give the university system
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autonomy, the ability to break away from the state and maintain their tuition said they had independent and can do what they need to do to compete throughout the country with the other universities. i think it is important to have these public-private partnerships, and they are already occurring in northern nevada. i want to continue to foster that. we have to continue that. with regard to the scholarship, i fully support the millennium scholarship. i think it is one of the strong legacies of the governor. >> we are running a little short. it does come to that time of the debate where both of you will have the opportunity for closing statements. >> again, i would like to think the people of the state of nevada, the viewers, pbs, the
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broadcasters' association, and my opponent, rory reid, for having this debate. i will finish where i started. i think there are three important differences in this decision. experience, integrity, and our fiscal responsibility. i believe i have the right experience. i will be straight with the people of the state of nevada. i will not raise taxes like my opponent will. i am very excited about the state of nevada. we are going to diversify our economy. we are going to improve education. we are going to be disciplined. we have to make tough decisions just like all of you have done in the state of nevada. it will be a privilege to serve as your next governor. i ask for your vote. god bless you and god bless the great state of nevada. >> i have really enjoyed this evening in this conversation. we need to pick a governor that has experience and a plan.
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i have led a large government and i have balanced the budget every year for eight years without new taxes. i have provided a budget proposal. you can read it. it balances the budget without new taxes. i have provided a plan to transform our schools, to diversify our economy, to create jobs. that is the kind of governor that the that needs -- that is the kind of governor ryan talked tonight about the means he has with educators across the state. unfortunately, he has not provided a plan. nobody has any idea what he would do. you know what i would do. i would appreciate your vote very much to help me move nevada forward. >> thank you both very much. there are five additional
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candidates are participating on the ballot. you can learn more about them at rsi -- at their website. once again, thank you for -- to commissioner reed and judge cent of all. thank you for being a part of this voting. early voting begins wednesday. thanks for joining us. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> towercam kaine coverage continues at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight with a second debate between connecticut's u.s. senate candidates. followed by live coverage between the senate candidates in
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wisconsin, russ feingold and ron johnson at 10:00 p.m., the debate between north dakota opposing congressman roy and pomeroy and -- earl pomeroy and his opponent. then a fundraiser. and speaking of fund-raising, cnn reports that the democratic governors' association announced today that it has raised $10 million in the last three months. the $10 million is a record- breaking amount for a three- month period and raises the coffers to $13 million with less than a month ago before the gubernatorial lections being held november 2. and a reminder that we have dozens of debates, political ads, stump speeches and campaign rallies available for you to watch online. visit our web site at c- span.org/politics for that and links to other politics related
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web sites. >> what are people watching on the c-span video library? you might be surprised. whether it is the most viewed events today, the past week or the past month, click on the most watched to see the most popular we have covered, every program since 1987. watch where you want, when you want. >> nearly three-quarters of parents believe that social media networks do not do enough to protect their children's privacy and over 90% were concerned that children shared too much on line. this morning, the federal trade commission and the dippy of trade -- deputy of trade communication held a conference. this is just under an hour. >> thank you very much for coming today. it is a great honor to be here where with chairman jon leibowitz, and chairman julius genachowski if to talk about the initiatives we all feel is one of the most important issues
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facing kids and families in the united states -- how to protect their privacy in this incredibly rapidly-evolving and changing digital media landscape that we are living in today. privacy is a cornerstone right in our society. it is something that all of us who have grown up, gone to school, and have gone to -- at become parents, we know it is important to our kids. with the evolution over the past 10, or 15 years, at issue is about privacy have come to the fore in ways that have not been true before. we want to address those of today, and talk about what this means for parents, kids, the industry, and schools across the country. at the end of the day, at common sense media, we have one very
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fundamental responsibility which is to speak out in an independent, non-partisan way on behalf of the best interest of kids around this country. all you will hear will be through that lens. we hear type -- we feel privacy is no important issue in their lives, and in all of our lives across the country. common sense media commissioned a poll, we believe the first of its kind, to try to gauge the feelings of both parents and teenagers about privacy in this rapidly changing digital media landscape. we wanted to give voice to their thoughts and concerns. i want to give you a brief summary. first of all -- seven or eight major findings -- the first one that we saw was that there was a disconnect between the way the technology industry in -- view
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privacy, and how parents and kids and you privacy. parents, in general, do not trust that the technology industry will protect their kids' privacy. there were about 2100 adults polled by zogby international a little more than a month ago. parents, by 3-to-one say they would rate the job but social networks are doing as negative, and 68% said they are not at all confident in search engines keeping private information safe and secure. this is a very fundamental thing that we at common sense media sea. it is not a surprise to us. it underscores the concerns that parents have. the second thing that parents said is that 88 percent of them
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would support a law that would require on-line search engines and social networking services to get user permission before they use personal and permission to market products. currently, the state of the market is opt-out, and it is called opt-in, and 88% say they would support opt-in. 85% of teenagers that were polled by zogby international during the survey said that online search engines and social networking services should be required to get their permission before using information to market products to them. the third point we saw was that both parents and teenagers feel their information is not secure and private. two-thirds of parents felt that
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way, and the majority of teenagers felt that way. that is a great concern to kids, teachers, and parents all across the country, and i hope we address that today. the fourth point we saw in the poll was that people, and parents in particular want clear, simple, terms and conditions regarding privacy. nearly all of the parents polled -- 91%, said they would take more time to read terms and conditions if there were -- if they were shorter and written in more clear language. for all of those who have gone through the complex privacy policies have been sent to us, and often change, the simplicity and clarity message comes across loud and clear in this poll. the fifth point that we saw, that we think is important is that parents and teenagers are concerned about geo-location
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services -- places that can track your behavior, we found that 91% of parents found that search engines and online social networking sites should not be able to share their physical location with other companies before they have been given the specific authorization to do so. a strong majority of teenagers, 81%, said the same thing. geode-location services have popped up -- geo-location services have popped up recently, and on the radar as a serious concern. the sixth point is that approximately 70% of parents think schools need to educate kids about privacy -- it needs to be part of the basic curriculum in school as social
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media and digital media, more broadly, have revolutionized the lives of students across the country. the seven. we found is that parents want updated privacy laws. we will speak to that with sharon genachowski, jon leibowitz, and deputy secretary miller. the majority of parents think that congress should update laws relating to security. i will read a statement from congressman ed markey who was the original author of the top, though, which was offered -- coppa bill, which was authored in 1998. the last point we found about pole was simple. concern is growing dramatically. 85% are more concerned now than five years ago. it comes as no surprise to us,
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or everyone in the room, probably, but it is a fundamental change. let's talk about what this means to common sense media. we look at it in several ways. we look through the lens of parents and kids. that is our primary audience. we also look through the lens of schools and teachers, and how they feel about it. we also feel, since we are here, in washington, d.c., there needs to be a new policy framework that addresses some of these issues. we have laid out today -- on the board over here, and also the chant -- the centerpiece of how we view the policy, we have six basic things we feel strongly about in terms of protecting our kids privacy. we believe there should be new laws and regulations that say do not track kids. by that we mean no behavioral
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marketing, no transfer of information to third parties and advertisers. the second policy plank that we believe should be adopted in the coming months is that the industry standard for all kids privacy should be out be -- out- in, not opt-out, so, for example, no geo-location services without formal permission. the third basic policy framework that we would like to enunciate today is that privacy statements should be clear and simple, and easy to be understood for someone like me, as well as my much more technologically- sophisticated children to understand. clear and simple privacy statements should be the role. the company should be required to develop easy to understand
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policies, and a third party should form a rating so an average citizen cannot look at the privacy requirements for an independent rating. the fourth part of our framework is that we think parents, teachers, and kids need to be educated on an ongoing basis about protecting privacy. we believe there should be a massive public education efforts funded by the industry, because it is the industry whose growth and technological advancement has brought on so many of these issues, and second, that schools should teach privacy as a part of digital literacy education. we believe there should be a digital literacy curriculum in every school in the united states with privacy as a major component. we believe that the industry needs to innovate to protect
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