to the candidates, to our panelists, to our audience and to our viewers, thank you all for being part of the process that represents and defense the freedom of the citizens of the greatest nation of the world, the united states of america. good night. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] ♪ >> we have more campaign coverage this week on c-span. on friday, the three candidates for colorado gov. will meet for

a debate. they are in a close race. watch live coverage at 8:00 p.m. eastern. up next on c-span, a debate for the representatives of new york's 24th congressional district. after that, first lady michelle obama campaigns in washington state for senator patty murray. and later, a debate for kentucky's open senate seat. >> washington journal connects you with journalists and policy makers. watch live coverage of the u.s. house of representatives. every weekend, look for our signature programs, "the communicators," "news makers,"

and q&a. see coverage of campaign 2010 as the political parties battle for control of congress. our content available at c- span.org and searchable at the c-span video library. c-span, created by cable, created as a public service. >> now we go to new york's 24th congressional district. michael arcuri and richard hanna debated last week. this race is a rematch of the 2008 election when mr. arcuri narrowly defeated mr. hanna at three percentage points. the event is organized by the league of women voters. both the cook political report and cq polities rates this contest a tossup.

>> this is the 24th congressional district of aid between michael arcuri and richard hanna. the debate is sponsored by the league of women voters. cancer action network of the american cancer society. the american messy as it -- association of university women. national associations for the advancement of colored people. did in good evening and welcome to mohawk valley community college and the debate between michael arcuri and richard hanna. i'm tina shively, the moderator. this is sponsored by the week -- the league of women voters, a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the inform the active participation in government with

advocacy an avocation. the event is sponsored by several others, cancer action network, the american association of university women, mohawk valley community college, the national association for the advancement of colored people, and wutr. the candidates have been briefed on the rules. the audience has been asked to refrain from applauding and commenting during tonight's debate. we have the professor of social science and criminal justice at mohawk valley community college. we have the utica observer dispatch. we have the director of the project at utica college.

our candidates are congressman michael arcuri and richard hanna. [applause] [cheers and applause] >> everyone please keep europe lost to a minimum. we are on a tight schedule. we want to talk or bark can do that. congressman michael arcuri is a lifelong resident of utica. he served as a district attorney for 13 years. elected to congress in 2006, he has been rated the most centrist, moderate member by the national journal. is never one priority going forward. mr. richard hanna is a successful business that has

employed over 450 people in our community. he is given back by donating his time, leadership, and others to charitable organizations. there was a. tossed to select who went first and last. the league of women voters -- let's begin with mr. richard hanna. you have two minutes to make your opening statement. >> thank you to the league of women voters and everyone here tonight. i am glad you took time to come and participate in this important event. in that 30 years i have never seen and the year that was better than the last in terms of economic and viability of our community. i have lived and watched by constant and steady decline.

hear a couple of things tonight for mr. arcuri. one is that you can solve our employment and business problems one job, one company that time. we have systemic problems in this country and in this community that are incompatible with this type of approach. we will get into that later. the sec is, if you will hear him say that his job as one of listening. [unintelligible] the second vote -- he said that

he voted against it because it costs too much money. i love my community, family, and i deeply believe that we are at a turning point in this community. we are at the point where people who are successful, if they do not step out, we will lose what made this country dynamic over time. thank you. [applause] >> 90. congressman arcuri, you have two minutes. >> thank you to the league of women voters and our sponsors and all of you for being here tonight. i think that there are three important characteristics of a congressman. listening to your constituents, standing up for them, and fighting for them. that is what i have tried to do in my four years is your congressman.

the last time when i was on stage listening to the people. utica talk about their concerns about health care bill. i listened to and a dairy farmer said that they were having incredible problems. i started legislation to help our local dairy farmers. our biggest problem in our community is our sewer system, said another. we were able to bring back millions of dollars for a source system in the united accounting. -- unita county. when we were talking about stopping this, we were able to. these are the things -- that is the kind of leadership that goes with being a congressman, and that i bring to the table. this is the thing about a debate.

you get to hear the difference between two candidates. you will hear my friend richard talk about the impossible. i will talk about the possible. you will hear something about nancy pelosi. he is not running against nancy pelosi. he is running against michael arcuri. [applause] we need to keep this about issues. what we can do with respect to those issues. thank you. >> please keep your boss to a minimum. we will talk with our panelist questions. >> the schools -- the over representation at man of color and a variety of negative experiences in their home, and their schools. these experiences helped lead to their over representation in the criminal justice system. what would you do to dismantle this pipeline?

>> i am not sure that i agree with your characterization. i understand the problems and i know the nature of it and i agree fundamentally with what you're saying. our prisons are full of people of color. they are over representative and it is completely disproportionate. the fundamental problem in our economy is to fail to provide those jobs for young people to give them opportunity to move forward. but it starts in the educational system, and even before that, it starts with good parenting. you know that there is a severe problem with male models in those -- male role models in those homes today. it is very difficult. if we can restore our economy and provide those kinds of jobs

will will allow people to put themselves to work, and we educate them for that, that is where it starts. this will come up again. i do not have a good answer for what you're saying but i agree with the problem. but it starts there. >> mr. arcuri, same question to you. >> some of the things that i worked on the dallas district attorney. you do not let it beating people in jail as the first up. that is critically important. we have to understand one thing, there is a certain class of criminal that has to go into jail. that is the appropriate place for them. that is clearly a priority. but i will say this -- we have to treat the people addictive

drugs different from those who are selling drugs. and jobs for people, adding jobs is absolutely critical for an alternative. but when we look at this, and richard is correct, there steps beyond rehabilitation. that does not mean that we give up on rehabilitating people. but there are some that inevitably end up in jail and that is where they belong. >> the next question comes from brian ackerman. you voted in favor of the economic stimulus bill. do you think that that has been a success or failure? if you could go back, how would you vote? >> i would vote to support that bill. you have to understand what the bill did. the bill was intended to create

a safety net. it was intended to stop continuing unemployment. and it did that. if we did not do a stimulus bill, we would've ended up as an unemployment at 25% and another great depression. it created jobs like the health care center in utica. the clinic that so many people are using, we put a million dollars in debt facility, people went to work there. now it is helping our veterans so they do not have to drive. we have paved roads, we're fixing bridges -- i drove over the north utica bridge and it was in terrible condition. their people working right now on that bridge as a result of the stimulus bill. i think it did everything that it was supposed to do. out of light of seymour infrastructure work in there. but that was the bill that came to us and that is the bill that i supported.

>> mr. arcuri said it would create 390,000 new jobs in utica. unemployment is 9.6%, and york has lost over 118,000 jobs. it isn't $816 billion bill today. -- it is a $816 billion bill today. my problem is not what the stimulus portion, a less than a hundred billion dollars that went to stimulus. fine -- my problem is with a $700 billion that was the government's self stimulus agenda and our children are left with that bill. that bill will be played by our children and their children. >> i disagree. the first is that half of the bill was dedicated to tax breaks, tax rebates for all

americans, and huge amounts of small businesses tax breaks. those were very helpful. and the most important thing is that there were more than 390,000 jobs created here. but there were some lost because we are in recession. think of how bad it would have been if we have not had the stimulus bill. jean and i could not agree less. it is hard to prove a negative. " we see is an increase -- they said the unemployment rate would never go above 8%. we have 9.7%. we have 20% of underemployment in this country. we are in a deep recession. we would be looking out the door at soup lines and homeless people. i do not agree. i think there was a huge amount of money largely wasted.

>> the next question to mr. hanna. >> if we could keep the focus with jobs in the economy, can you give specific examples of action would take to create jobs here in the u.s. or initiatives support that would lead us to private-sector small business investments? >> one of the largest problems this country has right now and we do not see it is a trade war with china. they are manipulating their currency, they have tied the you to the dollar, and it is cap their currency down. it has caused as a number month -- cost us a number of

manufacturing jobs in this country. we are sacrificing our employment for theirs because they have 29 million new people coming into the work force every year. they are eager to keep those people working. we're losing manufacturing jobs in this country right and left and it is not just china, it is all the world. we need to deal with currency manipulation. they do not collect that. but that is what it does. 7% of the jobs and our economy are created by small business. -- 70% of the jobs in our economy are created by small business. we need to energize the american not to print your, shrink government. the growth of government is fundamentally incompatible with conservative policies. [applause] >> please keep your applause to the minimum. >> that may sound good but he didn't answer a question. he did not say what he would do.

[cheers and applause] some of the things that i would do we have a team work acronym. try to take resources that we already have here and build on those. its debts for transportation, education, agriculture, and manufacturing. when you look at transportation we are in the central rail hub. i support high-speed rail so that we can get from utica to syracuse, the buffalo, to new york city quicker. we were able to commit -- help utica college secure grants. that supported a program for scholarships so that an individual can go to school, get a year scholarship, or for the government. we supported jobs to -- programs

to create jobs. those of the things that you do to create jobs in your community and in your state. [applause] >> the problem with what mr. arcuri said is that every solution you will hear him say tonight has some transfer of wealth from you to the government and back to you. we need to energize the private economy. that is where people go back to work. high-speed rail -- there is no evidence in the world, especially in a low density population like ours, where it makes sense. in california it was 25 billion. now estimates are $81 billion to build the same rail. >> time is expired. >> using government money to

educate our children and create scholarship programs and make our country or security with cybersecurity programs to protect the internet and our computers come that is what government does. it is the fundamental difference between what mr. hanna stands for and what i believe in. government is not the enemy. we talk about how to build it up. that is the differences in our campaigns. [applause] >> we need to move as fast as we can. that is eating up our time. the next question -- moving on to the next one. the fourth question to congressman arcuri. >> and number of polls on the new health-care law showed that a number people that -- are opposed to it. when asked about specific provision, they say they are in favor.

given that the economy and your stated opposition, which is support efforts to repeal or to define this the bill or would you actively oppose such efforts? >> i would not support the funding to build -- defunding the bill. health care continues to be the number-one concern of all americans, whether or businessman with employees, or looking to get insurance, that is one of our top priorities. their solutions we can do to make the bill better. one of the things is to allow medicare to do negotiate the cost of prescription drugs. that would help to bring the costs down. that was my big concern with the bill. not just getting insurance to people who did not have it. at a piece of legislation that will increase the amount of home health care available. the largest cost for health

care in the country is nursing homes. if we could take an individual and keep them at home for an additional year, that would -- not only would we save an enormous amount of money, but think of how much better quality of life that individual and his family would have. i think that their solutions out there in it is necessary as representatives to work on the solutions. >> this health-care bill cuts medicare $500 million over 10 years to pay for six years of this program. people with pre-existing condition should not be turned down. that is on ethical and moral. we need to have cross-border in shirts, we need to have small business health polls, tort reform which as happened in texas saving money. [applause] >> please, applause to a

minimum. >> and we need to allow people to expand their own personal health care account. the rest of this economy was falling apart. it was a misappropriation of energy that our government could put toward creating the kind of things it wants to do, putting the country back to work. it helps pay for medicare. i do agree that we need health care reform. we have 20% of our economy that is health care. that puts a set of fundamental disadvantage for everything that we spend or export, a cost that much more and makes is that much more competitive. we live in a global economy. this was not the route to take. this was a rush and there are enormous problems with it.

look at that 1099 part of it which michael did not respond to. >> he says that we need health care to be competitive with the rest of the war. but you -- but you cannot vote may be in congress. you have to vote yes and no. the problem is that we need to work to make this bill affordable, practical, not just for the individual but for businesses as well. >> michael, with all due respect, you are on the rules committee. why did you cut the least -- does the leadership? i did and i have. >> moving on to the next question. >> mr. hanna, describe your

position on women's reproductive health? >> i am pro-choice. personally i am against abortion but i am pro-choice. something else? [applause] >> i like to answer. i am pro-choice. i think it is about quality, and i am a former da. i saw many situations where young girls were the victims of incest and rape. it gives you a different perspective. effort outot of

there that tends to take the quality away and make it -- i think of belleek ledbetter -- lilly ledbetter bill. being able to sue your employer because you didn't get an equal rage, that is critical. if you cannot allow person to assume because they're not getting the fair wage that they deserve because of their gender, look what are we about as a nation? -- what are we about as a nation? >> you get 30 seconds. ok, we're moving along. >> the advertisements for this race -- what your thoughts about the tone, and what was your strategy this year? >> one of the things that we have seen in this election cycle is unprecedented.

it is not the fault of mr. hanna, but certainly people that support him, the 527's, they have spent millions of dollars on commercials, that are wall street-backed. i supported wall street reform. they came in with huge amounts of money to run commercials against me. that is the unfortunate results of the decision in citizens united. my position and legislation to make it harder for oil companies to drill and less regulated. i was told that i should be careful because the oil companies would come after me. and we're seeing it in the kind of commercials that they are running. i think something needs to be done about that. why should groups from outside the area come into a local election? that is not what it should be about. that is not about real freedom

and responsibility. -- democracy. >> ira but believe in freedom and the first amendment. -- i believe in freedom and the first amendment. i have -- i believe that people have the right to do these ads. there's a problem with the amount of money they go into them and you do not know who they are. but you talk about corporations. your supported by the unions. [applause] >> the idea that there is not a counterpoint is absurd. they have created parity in terms of the disclosure. there is a lot about it to dislike. i for one and dismayed about it especially when i'm but trade in such a lovely light by the ones that mr. are curious campaign is paying for.

richard arcuri -- that mr. arcuri's campaign is paying for. >> it is both candidates and it is unfortunate. i hear mr. hanna constantly complaining about the commercials. i am getting them as well. that is part of running for office. you cannot handle the pressure running for congress, you cannot handle what it is like to be in office. [booing] >> you must be wrong about that. >> we have to take a break here. stay with us and we will be right back. ♪ >> the 24th congressional district debate will be right back.

watching the 24th congressional district debate between michael arcuri and richard hanna. it is sponsored by the league of women voters, resources for independent living, the cancer action network, the american association of university women, mohawk valley community college, the national association for the advancement of colored people, and wutr tv. >> welcome back to the 24th congressional to pay. mohawk valley community college. we will continue with our next question from jeff massey. it is to mr. hanna. >> the goal of capping trade is to limit greenhouse gases by making businesses pay for the emissions that they send into the air. republicans means -- say that this means a new tax on businesses. driving up the price of everything we buy and use.

does it help or hurt our economy and do you support it? >> i do not. and here's why. if you live in new york state, this will cost you as a round number, the average family, about $2,000. in this country, we create more than china, which has 70 -- 17 of the 21st polluting places. to unilaterally engage in something like happen trade, it puts us at a severe economic disadvantage at this time especially. it also -- you drive to work, you do not have bustlines to help us. 80% of our economy is built around that. it is particularly egregious to farmers.

the bill had a lot of exceptions. it is that the erratic idea. -- it is that the radical idea. there better ways. >> i agree with mr. hanna. i did not supported because it was bad for new york. we do a lot of hydropower in new york. under the cap and trade bill, new york would not get any credit for the hydro that it does. or the nuclear that we do here in new york. those are clean ways that we produce fuel. our power is higher but there is an alternative. nuclear power, i think we should expand nuclear power in this country. i'm a co-sponsor of a bill that allows for nuclear power plants. rather than the plants they use

seat, smaller plants that would be safe for one community like rome or utica. they would be locally and central. we do not have to worry about transport lines transporting power across our area. it is created locally, the waste is stored locally, and it is transmitted locally. that is my alternative to the cap and trade. >> [unintelligible] the estimate the cost as 58% of the cap control bill -- capping trade bill. we are all taxed to death in this country. we simply cannot afford it. the gerber ways to go about it. -- there are better ways to go about it. >> this of the classic difference between mr. hanna and nasa. i talked about possible solutions, and all he talks

about is the problems. he doesn't know what solutions there possibly are. he does not propose solutions. his campaign has been devoid of creativity. we need ideas and creativity. needs much more of. new ideas and new creativity. [applause] >> next question to congress -- congressman arcuri. >> across the country this campaign season is full of talk of too much government, too much power in the hands of the federal government. at the end of the bush administration, the federal government has been actively involved in the housing market, the banks, wall street, even the automobile industry. what is the proper role of the federal government in the economy? shouldn't the federal government does not create jobs.

it creates the conditions for the private sector to create jobs. we improve rail, we improve airports, we build sewer systems. in the federal government, it has been helping for the localities that do not have the money to do that. recovering money they came to new york state came in of funding assistance for the projects. they were going to have to lay off 1200 teachers in our congressional district. recovery money helped to keep that from happening. policeman and firefighters were hired. the federal government cannot be the panacea, but sometimes it has to be there to help localities. taxes would of gone up and we have heard that from the counties.

property taxes would have dramatically increased. those are some of the things that that government has done to help localities. >> so apparently has forgotten the banking business, a health care business, and the student loan business. [applause] i think that government is to pervasive. it has a great deal of hubris about it today, to think that they can do all that much better than the rest of it. >> one of the things that richard does not want to talk about is that cash for clunkers word. [unintelligible] [booing] >> it save the american automobile industry, and that

helped the american manufacturers. you do not like this but it works. [cheers and applause] >> please keep order. >> 70% of the automobiles that were traded in or american cars traded for toyota. >> that is not true. >> mr. hanna, the thing delinquency prevention act is designed to ride funding and other benefits to a very troubled system. what is your view of some of the issues facing the juvenile system? today i am not familiar with that. i do have an opinion about it, but clearly they have a problem

with juvenile delinquency. we have homelessness, single- parent households over 50% in some minority groups. i think that this problem is that fundamental problem when have i wish you when we have a failed economy. when we have all those things breaking up the family that you see today, it is difficult in these times for a man or woman to take care of their family by themselves when they are unemployed. these difficulties trickle through to the kids first. i read a live but i do not know everything. >> the important moral question. we would hope that the families would be doing the kinds of things that are necessary to help you will stay out of the criminal-justice system. but that sometimes does not happen. people look to our schools, they look to government, they looked

to programs like head start to try to help the young people get the head start, the advantage that they did not get in a program at school, after school learning programs. what you hire us to be your representative to do, if we take juvenal's off the street, it will keep our crime rate down, and so it is incumbent upon us to find solutions to try different solution. that is why i like race to the top. it gave local school districts the ability to experiment. that is the only way we're going to find new solutions to problems that have been plaguing us for many decades. >> i agree, i agree. >> the congressman to congressman -- a question to

congressman accurate. -- a curious. >> how important you think it is to be a moderate thinker, and which he was more qualified to do that? >> i think you've heard from both of us our disagreement with our own parties, our disagreement with each other. this is a moderate district. and i say this often to people in the southern part of the district. they do not understand what utica and romans liked. very often you do not understand in other areas. but it is a very moderate district. i'm proud of the fact that i have the most centrist voting record in the house of representatives. i let it bills on how they'd benefit the district in new york.

and also how well they will work. either of those can fairly claim to be a moderate to represent the district. this is a very moderate district. i tell people what washington, it is a moderate district, full rockefeller republicans and reagan democrats. that is the mantra of this district. >> he took a mad dash to the center. it is inappropriate to declare himself of a moderate after his record has been so very partisan. he took a reliable vote for his party.

i agree that being in depended is exactly what i am. i'm 59 years old, i have more in my life than i ever dreamed of in terms of my wife, my kids, and i am doing this because i love my country, my community, and do something important in that time that have led. if that means that i voted against my party or vote with the democratic party or whatever, i will do what i believe is right. i have nothing else to gain in light. he has been in government his entire career, over 20 years. there's nothing wrong with people that do that. but to declare yourself independent, i am the guy that is independent. there is a reason why he does not have it. >> i was district attorney for 13 years. that is not political career. but they keep very much for what you said.

if what mr. hanna says is true, that is true. that means i am listening to my constituency and that is what representative is supposed to do. my title was not congressman, it is representative. that is what matters. i did exactly what a congressman should do, i represented my district. [applause] >> your vote on the house bill which is not what anyone wanted until the polls came out and then you voted against it. >> that is so not true. [cheers and applause] >> our time is expired. moving along. next question to mr. hanna. >> the federal debt tops $13.60

trillion. what would you do to bring down the national debt? >> mr. hanna. >> this is the first year in history it is equal to our gdp. our unemployment and future debt is over $50 trillion. as i said earlier, the growth of the government is fundamentally incompatible with our stimulus -- with our success. we traded future prosperity for current prosperity, which is wrong. we borrowed money from our children that have not earned it yet. we need to cut back the cost of government. we stopped -- we need to stop starting wars of choice, frankly. i think that afghanistan is

beyond what it should be. we are doing a lot of things in this country. the stimulus package was $700 billion. we need to look everything that we do to cut back to put some limits on government programs. we need to look at how we deploy these. the average public employee to day, and i do not begrudge what people make, but they make 80% more than the average private employed. we have the government negotiating with itself. >> you did not like the tax breaks and the stimulus, but you like the push tax cuts, the largest surplus into the biggest deficit, that does not make sense.

let me tell you what i'm going to do. i co-sponsored a bill to take a cut across the board in federal spending. i have not just talked about it, i have done it myself. i went to my chief of staff last year and said we need to do this and we did it. we turned back $120,000 to the federal government. we need to cut our salaries by 5%, and next year i will return $180,000 back to the government. >> in the first 50 days, you voted for the omnibus bill, hundreds of earmarks. in the first 50 days, you approved $1.2 trillion.

and you're here talking about $120,000? [laughter] i understand it you ought to take a 5% pay cut. that is common. you offered it last year and it never came in. >> you need to tell the truth. it is very difficult what you need to tell the truth. [booing] >> please keep quiet. please hold your comments. >> the bill that we talked about, that was something that i put in because you lead by example. it is not talking the tall, you need to walk the walk in that is what i did in the bill. if we are not doing yourself, how are we going to say to america that you need to do it as well? we need to lead by example.

>> the next question is to congressman arcuri. >> i would like to stay on the same topic. everyone agrees that the budget -- that deficit is too large. about 67% of the budget is mandatory spending. only 33% includes defense. let's get specific. if you're going to work to reduce spending, what specifically would you cut and will that include the defense budget? >> it is very difficult to cut these programs. a 3% cut across the board is the wisest way to do it. i think that the military, homeland security, and veterans are a critical part -- we do not

do enough to support our veterans now as it is. [applause] but i think we need to do that kind of cut. it's difficult to say to cut this program by 4%. but by cutting my own budget and salary, i say, you cannot give as an increase because we need to keep the line on spending. i'm cutting my own office budget in my own salary. you lead by example and that is the best way to do it. >> you talk about veterans, michael. you voted at against giving them one day off every month that they were employed. >> i do not think so. >> you voted against giving veterans care for non-va facilities. we are in crisis in this

country. we are to be the first generation that passes to our children less than we got. whether we like it or not, everything will be on the table. that is the ugly truth. with the exception of social security, and we know that what -- what they want to cut, i fought against privatizing social security. apparently that is the commonly accepted way to destroy a person. if we do not stand up to the plate realize that we have spent our prosperity in this country, we have borrowed more than we can pay back, we import more than we export, and we spend more than we make, how hard is that to figure out?

those days are over, ladies and gentleman. [applause] up by of alling time with this applause. -- valuable time with his applause. >> i think that certain things cannot be on the table. social security, defense, veterans' benefits -- those are commitments that we have, and with respect to defense and homeland security, they are part of our security. you do not see mr. hanna talking about possible solutions. a free% cut across the board is agree with the start. >> we have 9.5% unemployment. put these people back to work and they will pay into the system. [booing]

>> thank you so much for moving along. beverly with a question for mr. hanna. >> we are a nation that wages of lot of wars, the war on crime, the war on drugs, the war on poverty. what would be your position on creating a u.s. department of peace at a cabinet level? >> i think we know where we're coming from today. that would be everyone's department. why would you need a special department? isn't where -- that where we should start from? [applause] >> please hold your applause. >> that is why i thought the iraq war was a mistake. the more we realize that. afghanistan is a war that we wanted to pursue al qaeda and the taliban, and pakistan

because they have nuclear weapons, and now over a thousand years from the kurds to the russians -- it is the graveyard of empires. we do not have to be there at the level the we're there. you want to talk about cutting back, that is one place that i would do it. >> thank you, beverly. know that in practice i would be able to support it, but being able to talk about it is absolutely critical. the days of america being the policemen of the world pass to ken. do we need to be engaged? absolutely. do we need to be the policeman in the world? absolutely not. the war in afghanistan, the

president with general petreaus to finish the job. i saw the incredible work that our soldiers are doing there. they're protecting us. i think that is a very important part of this. we have to recognize one thing -- we are not the policemen of the world. we need to bring our national card home, to be used in the states, like on the southern border. we need to keep them in the united states for national emergency. that is important for our national security and our domestic security. >> it is time for us to take a break right now. we will be right back. ♪ the 24th congressional district debate will be right back.

watching the 24th congressional district debate between the michael arcuri and richard hanna. it is supported by the league of women voters, resources for independent living, the cancer action network, american association of university women, mohawk valley community college, the national association for the advancement of colored people, and wutr tv. >> now was the part of the debate when we ask questions that the audience have submitted. the first question -- a cancer survivor, when you increase federal funding for cancer research? it has remained flat. >> yes. my wife is an oncology nurse. yes.

>> that you. [unintelligible] >> when the people from the cancer society came to my office, i talked about my speech about cutting my salary. and then i said i would make one exception for the cancer society. i signed on to increasing funding for the national health association and cancer research, because it is critical. it touches so many lives in our country, men and women. i have been supportive of it. >> moving on to the next question. agriculture is a non-partisan issue. how can your experience and leadership keep the 24th district's industry strong and

viable? >> i introduce a piece of legislation that would transfer the cost of shipping milk from the dairy farms to the pastures. a dairy farmer produces the milk and then has to pay the cost of putting an end to the truck and shipping it to the processor. that could be as much as $1.50, a huge amount of money for dairy farmers. that would shift the expense to the processor. that would save dairy farmers an enormous amount money. we need to get that into the 2012 farm bill. we need to set ceilings on how much milk the farmers supplied. think about this for one minute. what farmers get for their milk is exactly what they were

getting 30 years ago. the cost of fertilizer and fees has dramatically risen. we need to do everything we can to help dairy farmers get ahead. i worked closely with them on this issue. it's critically important in our area. >> the impact of agriculture on this district cannot be underestimated. it's close to $700 million a year. i would want to be on the agricultural commission -- committee and participate in the 2012 agricultural bill. we need to prevent price wind -- manipulation, and we need discovery in terry. i think it should be daily. we should find ways to support our families forest.

it is about a way of life and producing our own food in this country. some of the best summers of my life were on a dairy farm, my grandmother's family >> we need to do everything we possibly can to support our farming industry and help them get into alternative things to produce. i think that we both agree that that is an asset that cannot be done enough. >> the third question, we will start with mr. kantor did we have gotten into this -- >> two parties are at war with themselves and we are caught in the middle. i have said many times that i do not agree with the democrats or

republicans. the democrats want larger and more visible programs and the republican party wants to cut. we need to get back to the bush tax cuts because no one talks about cutting spending. our deficits are a function of our spending disease. nobody mentions that. it is easy to borrow money from the chinese, but we are not that far away from looking like greece. we're just larger. maybe it will happen later. if we do not stand up and act like adults and cut the spending in this country and start to work and a by patterson matter -- bipartisan manner, all bets are off. if the republican party wins back the house, if they don't do something with that and cut back on expenses, they will marginalize themselves again.

i bring to the table a truly independent, thoughtful and deliver to -- the leveraged -- delivered to -- deliberate issue. i object to that. i object to it in my own party and i object to it in every case. >> that is obviously the objective, but when i hear richard say those things, i think that he is very sincere. when i listen to some of the speeches, criticizing the democrats and the president, i think that is exactly the kind of problem that we have. everybody is always pointing the finger and criticizing and not looking for a way to reach across the aisle. let me tell you what i have done. i am on the transportation and infrastructure committee. we recently did a bill.

wheat overseas economic development agency and we did the economic bill. i put in an amendment that would allow money being used for localities to be used by those who want to use consolidation. it, federal governments should help their the ranking member on the other side said that they object to it, but would you be willing to discuss it? we said we could work on it together and we could make it work. that amendment passed and it is now part of the bill that will be taken up by the entire congress. that is the kind of reaching across the aisle that i have brought. that is what i think we need more of. >> thank you. mr. hanna, do you have a rebuttal? >> i take great exception to that.

i do not regret talking bad about president obama. i know that comments about his alignment with nancy pelosi is there. that is not necessarily a criticism, that is just an observation. [inaudible] [laughter] >> i know that president obama and nancy pelosi want everybody to have health care and a roof over their head and a good job where everyone can take care of themselves. i want that to, the difference is, how do we get there. it is the private sector. i have made my good fortune and lived my life in the private sector. in 200 or more years, we have provided the higher its -- the highest standard of living. we are killing the goose in this

country. my objection is not with president obama. philosophically, i understand him. it is a matter of direction and approach. you have never heard me, and i defy you to find it on tape, -- >> your pretty much aligned with the 527's. is my time, if i may proceed. -- it is my time, if i'm a percy. you do not give specifics on how you will go about doing this. there needs to be real effort. there needs to be a real attempt. the needs to be suggested legislation. maybe a democrat would have signed on to that. maybe you would propose to work both sides of the aisle. those are the real substantive

ways to reach across the aisle. we all want to do that and it is another thing to make that happen. >> your time has expired. question. >> i have to get the job, first. >> moving along. next question from our audience, what do you think is the proper role of corporations in american elections? >> i think that we are seeing what they are doing and what they can do and it is frightening the potential the corporations have. we are seeing the money pouring into the local elections and what is worse is that you do not know what corporations are doing it. you do not know what corporations are putting money in. these could be ads by companies that are overseas. that is absolutely contrary to

the democratic process, to say nothing about the fact that these are people are trying to affect an election in upstate new york that has nothing to do with upstate new york. they do not like, perhaps, my vote, with respect to regulate oil companies, so they will come in with money to run ads against me. that is just wrong. it is un-american and undemocratic. i supported the disclose act because that would require people who contribute and contribute touche -- and corporations that contribute. >> mr. hanna? >> it is undemocratic. it also begs the question of the unions. i am a union member. i have nothing against unions whatsoever. there is an equal amount of money eluding the electoral system. i give you that.

in the 2000 election, -- in the 2008 election, there was $100 million that affected elections throughout the congressional seat. if you're going to object to come up object to it across the board. >> the question was about corporations and i was responding to corporations. i think that everyone should have their name, whether it is a union or a corporation, associated with it. associations will try to affect elections even more. i think that we are deluding ourselves. if we do not require the corporations to at least list their names, then i think that we are opening the floodgates to foreign corporations and other corporations trying to influence

local elections. >> i know that that is an accusation that has been floating around. there is no evidence to support your conjunction that there are foreign corporations. fundamentally, i know what you mean. >> you just have to turn on the tv and you see it. they are all over. >> our time house expired -- has expired. >> mr. hanna, if you are reelected, what would you do to reduce the party level? >> party is the function of a couple of things. -- poverty is the function of a couple of things. we are 13th among 36 developed countries in college graduation. less than 7 percent of our students graduate from high school. we are 47 our country in k. 312.

-- in k through 12. this is harsh, but i need it. we need to start blaming the parents again. my wife reads to our children every night whether she is away or not. -- awake or not [laughter] if you do not teach your children to love to learn, you will fail. so goes your country. [applause] >> i agree. i think the education system is critical. we had a forum with the local board of education and superintendents and i attended and we talked about that and we talked about how important education is and more importantly what we can do to improve the education system. things like the race to the top. then give our local agitators

the ability to innovate. we have to be very careful on the federal level when we pass bills like no child left behind. it creates mandates on localities on how they educate. we need to incentivize teachers to be able to be created. that is what it is all about. that is how we make learning fun. that is how we raise people out of poverty. we also have to do one other thing. we have to make sure that people that are in poverty have that safety net. keeps them going. make sure that medicare is available for the poor and the heavily -- elderly. it is critical to improve our education and make sure that the people that are in need, we are therefore. >> you have a response for that, sir? >> we are losing industrial jobs in this country right now. we are shipping our employment

overseas. we see that every day. part of that is currency manipulation and part of it has to do with education. we need to give back to science, technology, engineering, and math. i agree with president obama in that. those are where the value added products come from. this is a horrible fact. for the first time in 70 years, new yorker's incomes have gone down. >> your time has expired. >> in our education system, we need to make sure that the education system works for everyone, not just the wealthy. lunch programs at school, after- school programs. those are critical programs. keep children interested in school and when to stay there. that is how you motivate. that is the kind of innovation

that we need to continue to promote in our educational system. >> do you support requiring full disclosure of all political disclosures -- expenses and why? >> it is required to be done right now. both sides to it. it is not the kind of transparency that it should be. people need to know what is being spent and why it is being spent. that is my problem with the legislation with the 5.7. there is a cloak over this. if you contribute to mr. hanna's campaign or my campaign, that is public record. that is a good thing. we need to make sure that works as well with outside groups. >> mr. hanna? >> yes. >> would like to elaborate? >> i am with you. >> what would you do about the influx of illegal immigrants if

your elected? >> let's back up a minute. there is not a person in this person -- in this room unless you are an american indian that immigration. immigration has made us who and what we are. but we have a right to know who is here, why they are here, how they contribute, what they cost. i think that our borders have become sieves. i am in favor of electronic checks which means that if you come here to get a job, your employer is required to find out who you are and you will have a card. otherwise, you are on hirable. i think that we should finish the border.

i think we should hire the 8000 people. maybe you want to get into that. i just think that we have to the owner ofke sarah d googole. there are people that want to be here and have what we have that we should welcome but we should know that they add value to our system because we are stretched to the limit in terms of our ability to pay for people who don't add value to the system in terms of economics. >> your time has expired. >> we have a huge vantage in that we have a great influx and so much diversity. if you drive along the street, you see so many different restaurants. it is absolutely wonderful. that is the kind of diversity that i think is important. that is what we all cherish.

but we need to make sure that we are doing the kind of things that are necessary to keep the border say. one of the things that richard pointed out is the save act. it requires us to do a couple of things. one is to hire additional border security guards. invest more money in high-tech information technology. i led a delegation to the southern port of entry and we stayed with the border patrol and the gut to see what their equipment does and what the high tech powers can to. that is the kind of thing that we need to invest them. i think that president bush and president obama have an idea of using the national guard as a supportive role and that is a good idea. i think that that is the kind of use that our national guard could be put to. those are some of the things that i would do to approach

that. >> one of the things that people who miss about mexico is that it has the potential to be the biggest problem that we have. maybe even more than iran. we're being invaded. 28,000 people are killed on the borders. hillary clinton said that we are beginning to fight a drug war in mexico. it feels like that we may have to do that. we need to control our borders. i am not in favor of racial profiling at all. you cannot look at arizona and be angry with them about looking at the united states government and saying the same bank. >> your time has expired. >> we are going to move on to our eighth question. i am concerned about the future of our postal service, do you

support a six day delivery? >> i do support 6 day delivery. it is critical that rural areas like we live in, saturday delivery is critical. seniors get the medication in the mail. it is critical that we have six day delivery. that is one of the things that the constitution in numerates as a responsibility, and that is postal service. we can fix the problem in the post office by simply changing the way that their pensions are paid. without doing anything but legislation, that would make the post office strong and stable. a six day delivery is critical. >> mr. hanna? [applause] >> i am not in favor of bills

coming six days a week. [laughter] >> here we are, we talk about the enormous deficit and we refuse to knowledge the fact -- i don't think the constitution mentions six days service, but it may be one of those things that you have to look at. where do we start? are we that foolish that we continue to spend it like there's no tomorrow? if this is one of those things that the post office looks at and they are willing to do it, then i think that they should be allowed to do it. we're spending our kids money. i think that is wrong. i think the responsible adults would look at everything including six they service. i cannot be a dishonest and say

but i would keep it as it is. every dollar that you keep in your pocket and you do not spend in the government, it creates value in your community. it is not always just a zero sum game. >> ok. >> that is why we need to look at alternatives. that is why the pension alternative could function. we can save enough money and make the post office function and we could have our 6 day delivery. those of the kind of things we have to look at. it is easy to say that we need to cut, no doubt about it, but we need to look at alternatives that are out there and we need to make sure that we push hard. this is one of those five alternatives. >> i am familiar with what he is talking about. if we can create a solution

without cutting back, then fine. >> let's go ahead and in our audience questions. is time for closing questions. mr. hanna, you have two minutes. >> what happened to the social security question? >> i am not in favor of cutting it. >> i have been running for office and i turned into a pretty good loser last time. i have travelled this district and i am more connected to it than -- in ways that i never imagined. there are people that feel abused and put upon and discouraged. people have begun to believe that our problems are unsolvable. i have a government that doesn't work and when it doesn't work, it does not work for us.

no matter how bad things are, congress can always make it worse. i do not know that i disagree with that. we need a different kind of leadership. people who are not invested in the system but are invested in jobs and the people that they serve, that is what i intend to do. i have two little kids. i look at the fact that new york state is suffering from a drain. we lost 1.5 million people. we have the largest number of universities and colleges in the country in this district. yet, every one of those young people has to leave because there is no opportunity, here. we need to harness their energy. we need to find a way to do that. we have forgotten how we do that. new york state was once the empire state because we understood the value of the private sector and the value of the entrepreneur. we have gotten away from letting people keep what they make. it is all about government.

government growth is fundamentally incompatible with our success. not that i don't think that government has a role, but it has gotten out of control. we to take back a piece of our government and send someone to for to washington. i promise i will work for you. i will work hard and i will do what has created value for me. [applause] >> mr. arcuri? >> thank you. if you all for being here. i think that this campaign is about vision. it is about ideas. we had a debate this morning and he said that things were really bad and things will be tough for young people. i see it the other way. i think that our greatest days are ahead of us. when i hear mr. hanna speak, i

think of the urban renewal programs that were knocking down old buildings. the problem with urban renewal is that there was nothing to put in its place. you can't just not down, you have to have a vision of what to put their. that is what our campaign is about. we talk about the things that we have done. we have created jobs. we have helped companies. we have created a scholarship programs. these are the kinds of things that create jobs and keep our young people here. that is what it is all about. stopping bad programs and fighting to keep jobs here. you cannot just not down. you need to have a vision to build. that is what our campaign is about. i want you to think about this going forward. who has the ideas and who has the vision and who has the ideas for what to do in the future and

how to do it? that is what this campaign is about and that is what i will bring to you. i will work hard for you and i would like to continue to work for you. thank you all very much for being here this evening. [applause] >> thank you so much ladies and gentleman for participating in our debate tonight. but like to thank our panel. we would also like to thank the sponsors, the league of women voters, the cancer action network, the american association of university women, the national association for the advancement of colored people and thank you for our candidates. from the league of women voters, have some good evening. [applause] [cheering] >> thank you for watching the

24th congressional district debate. >> some campaign news. the head of the democratic governors' association said that president obama's decision not to endorse a governor for violence is a bad message for those are working to give democrats elected this year. the statement follows the white

house decision that the president will stay out of the race. before and it crossed party lines in 2008. for more political information, go to c-span.org/politics. " first lady michelle obama is on a two week campaign tour for democratic u.s. and -- house and senate candidates. she endorsed patty murray in bellevue, washington. she was also joined by jill biden, the wife of the vice president. this is about 30 minutes. [applause] [cheering] >> thank-you. thank you all so much.

!ow this is great. this is amazing. we are going to get this done, right? thank you all so much. please rest yourselves. i want you to save all that energy for getting votes out. i cannot tell you how thrilled i am to be with all of you today. i want to thank patty for that very kind introduction and i want to thank her for inviting me here today. as you all know, patty did not get involved in public service because she wanted the title or because she wanted the power. she came to this work as a mom in tennis shoes because she wanted to help people. she came to this work because

she wanted to solve problems. as she said, as jill knows, that is what we do as moms. that is what patty has been doing every day for the people of this state. she has fought to keep those boeing jobs here in washington and to create new energy and infrastructure jobs as well. that has been amazing work. she has worked tirelessly to help small businesses get the loans that they need to expand and start hiring again. as the daughter of a disabled world war two veteran, she has been a passionate champion for our veterans and military families to ensure that they get the housing and the health care and education that they have earned. [applause] just about every week, patti gets on a plane into flies all the way across the country to come back home because she wants

to be here to listen to the needs and the concerns of the people that she serves. that is the kind of woman, the kind of senator she is. that is the kind of person that we need in washington. i am so proud to be here supporting her. let's give her another big round of applause. [applause] >> also, her husband, bob, is her today. i am not sure where you are. i know you do not get to see patty as much as you would like. i understand that jill and i understand. i want you to know how grateful we all are for sharing her with all of us. rob, woohoo! way to go, rob.

[applause] also want to thank my dear friend jill. i cannot ask for the more amazing partner on this journey. i am pleased that we could travel together. we like traveling together because we get a little silly. today, we slept. [applause] it is great to have her as a partner. also, thanks to the governor and congressman jim mcdermott who are both doing outstanding jobs for the people of this state. i want to thank ellen malcolm for joining us and for all that she has done to help women take elective office all across this country. finally, i want to recognize our terrific candidate for congress, suzanne delbany as well as our

terrific organizer. thanks to both of you for the work that you were doing every day. if you for being here. -- thank you for being here. [applause] so, i have to tell you the truth. this is not something that i have been doing very often, this campaigning thing. in fact, i have not done a sense a little campaign that you might remember from a couple of years ago. [cheering] [applause] that is because as a self- described mom in chief, my first priority is making sure that my girls are happy and healthy and adjusting to the very interesting life and the white house. [applause] that has been my focus, but i

think i am like every parent that i know. my children are the center of my world. my hopes for their future is at the heart of every single thing that i do. that is why i knew that i had to be here today. that is why i left them at home to be today. because more than anything else, i come to this as a mom. no matter what i do, i focus on these issues as a mother. when i think about the issues facing our nation, i think about what it means for my girls and i think about what it means for the world that we are leaving for them. and for all of our children, quite frankly. as i travel around the world and this great country, one of the best things that i get to do is to spend time with children. anybody who knows me, if there

is a kid in the room, give it up, as i am not paying attention to anybody else. it is true. [laughter] when i look into the eyes of the children that i need, i see what is at stake. i see it in the eyes of a child whose mom has just lost her job and that will girl is worrying about how her family is going to pay the bills. i see it in the eyes of a child whose father has just been deployed and that old board is trying so hard to be brave for his younger brothers and sisters. i see it in the eyes of children stuck in a crumbling schools and they know it and a look around and wonder what on earth this means for the future.

that is how i see the world. i think of that is how most of us see the world. that is something that we all share and we can never forget that. that is the thing that we share. regardless of where we're from or what we look like or how much money we make we all want something better for our kids. we all do. [applause] and that, we can never forget. i knew that was true in my family growing up. that is why, even after my dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he hardly ever missed a day of work at the city water plant, no matter how sick he was or how tired he felt because he desperately wanted something better for me and my brother. it was also true in barack's

family. his mother will before dawn every morning to catch the bus to her job at the bank and when she was passed over for promotions year after year because she was a woman, she did not complain. she knew that she was doing it to give something more to barack and his sisters. that is the american dream. that is what it is all about. that fundamental belief that even if you do not have much, if you work hard, if you do what you were supposed to do, you can build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your children. but for too many people, that dream feels like it is slipping away. even before this recession hit, all that hard work was not adding up like he used to. for years now, middle-class

families have seen their income falling while the cost of things like health care and college tuition have gone through the roof. this is something of iraq and i heard in every corner of the country during the campaign. folks asking themselves if they're going to go broke if they get sick. what if we can't pay the mortgage? what do we do then? how can i ever afford to send my kids to college if i am not rich? where can i find a good public school for my kids? how will i give my kids the same chances that i had? people all over the country are worrying that may be the fundamental american promise was being broken. and worse yet, no one in washington was listening. let me tell you something.

that is why my husband ran for president in the first place. [cheering] [applause] because what he knows is that his life, like mine, is only possible because of the american dream. keeping that dream alive and within reach for all americans is what drives him every day. every single day. that is why people like all of you across this country joined our campaign. that is why you made all those phone calls and knock on those doors in the freezing snow and the blazing sun. you remember all that? i believe that that is why you and i are here today. we are not here just because of an election. we are not here just because we

support patty and we definitely do support patty, don't we? [cheering] [applause] we are here to read -- to renew that promise. we are here to restore that dream. we are here because we believe that no child's future should be limited because of the neighborhood that they are born in. we believe that every child should have access to outstanding public schools just like i had. we believe that every child should have a chance to go to college even if their parents are not wealthy, just like barack and i did. [applause] we believe in simple things, like if you get sick, you should be able to see a doctor. [cheering] [applause] if you work hard, you should make a decent wage and have retirement. a simple things.

we believe that if you fulfill your responsibility every day, you should be able to provide for your family just like my folks did. have opportunities to pursue your dreams and leave something more behind for your kids, just like all of us are trying to do today. so, remember, that is the vision that we all share. that is the vision. it is the same vision that my husband bought for as a young community organizer all of those years ago, trying to bring jobs and hope to struggling neighborhoods on the south side of chicago. it is what he fought for in the illinois state senate in the u.s. senate and is the same vision he talked about on the campaign trail and it is the same vision that has guided him. the change that he has been fighting for every day and the

white house. -- in the white house. [cheering] [applause] barack knows that too many folks are out of work right now. he knows that too many paychecks just do not stretch to cover the bills. that is why, with patti's help, he cut taxes for middle-class families. that is why he cut taxes for small businesses as well. not just once or twice, but 16 times. so that these businesses could start creating jobs again. [applause] he stopped credit card companies from jacking up their rates and charging hidden fees. if you remember, the very first bill that he passed into law as president of united states was

beat lee ledbetter fair pay act -- the lead -- lilly ledbetter fair pay act. he is reforming our schools from top to bottom. he has made historic investment in community college, something jill has been a tremendous advocate for as a proud community college professor herself. he has increased student aid and tuition tax credits. he has eliminated tens of billions of dollars of wasteful subsidies to big banks that provide student loans and he is putting that money where it belongs. he is attending as to the students-he is sending it to the students. that is an investment in our country's future.

[applause] barack believes that it is our solemn obligation to serve our men and women in uniform as well as they have served us. again, he has made one of the largest investments in our veterans in decades. he is helping them get the education that they have earned and the good jobs that they deserve and he is making sure that they get the health care that they need, including treatment for the wounds of today's wars such as posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. [applause] as many of you know, i have also made supporting military families one of my top priorities as first lady. this is something that jill and i have been working on together because as a blue star mom and a champion of our national guard and reserve families, jill knows a thing or two about the challenges that military

families chase -- face. she has been a tremendous partner in our efforts to make sure that these hard-working families get the respect and the appreciation and support that they deserve. thank you, jill. [applause] barack has also invested in clean energy and scientific research, including stem cell research that will transform our children's lives long after we're gone. [applause] with the two brilliant accomplished supreme court justices he has appointed, for the first time in history, our daughters and our sons saw three women take their seats on our nation's highest court. [applause] finally, barack knows all too

well the heartbreak and frustration that our health insurance system has created for too many families. that is why he refused to take the easy route and walk away from health insurance reform because he will never forget how his own mother, in the final months of her life, not fighting to connect with her family, not fighting to reflect on her life, she spent that time fighting with her insurance company because they said that her cancer was a pre-existing condition and barack does not want any family to ever go through something like that again. thanks to the reform that patty and so many of you have passed, they will not have to. not now. not ever. [applause] thanks to this reform, insurance companies can no longer drop your coverage because you get sick.

they can no longer deny coverage to our children with pre- existing conditions. kids can stay on their parents plans until they are 26 years old and insurance plans have to provide preventive care for things like breast cancer screenings, and prenatal care at no extra cost, no extra charges, no extra fees, and that is not just going to save money, that is one to save lives in this country. -- going to save lives in this country. [applause] these are just some examples, just a few of the kinds of change that we are already making. it is because of all of you. it is because of leaders like patty that so much has been accomplished in such a short period of time.

it has been a year and a half. [cheering] [inaudible] but, i know that for a lot of folks, change hasn't come fast enough. it has not come fast enough for barack or for patty, either. not when so many people are looking for work and struggling to pay the bills and worrying about providing for their kids. no, change has not come fast enough. but, i think that many of us can into this expecting to see all of the change we talked about happen all at once brought away. the minute barack walked through the oval office door. [laughter] but the truth is, is for to take a lot longer to dig ourselves

out of this whole than any of us would like. the truth is, this is the hard part of change. but remember, that is exactly what barack told us. that is exactly what we told each other during almost months on the campaign trail. he told us that change is hard. i heard him. [laughter] he said that changes slow. he said that it does not just happen on its own. we all understood that change takes trouble -- struggle. from our first days as a nation, every time people have tried to make change, they faced fear and doubt. they have faced setbacks and disappointments.

as americans, we have always pushed past the sinicize some -- of the cynicism and that is what we must do again today. that is our charge. because there is too much at stake right now. there is too much at stake. for our future and for our children's future. we have come much too far to turn back now. we have come too far to stop giving our chances -- our children the chances in life they deserve. we have come too far. we have come to for to stop rebuilding that middle-class security for our families. we have come too far. we cannot stop now. we have come too far to stop putting the american dream that

i know, that my husband knows, that patty knows, that all of us know that can reach for all of us. no, we have come too far. we cannot go back now. but, again, it will not be easy. because real change never is. but let me share something with you. something that i do when chain in -- when changed since the hardest. i think about my dad. i think about how matter how tired he got, as he struggled to what, i think about how he would sit on the side of his bed, frustrated, trying to button his shirt to get himself going in the morning. regardless of how tired he felt, he just kept going every day. that keeps me going. i think about'

s grandmother and no matter how discouraged she felt, she just kept going and giving her best. i think about all those folks, the folks that keeps getting up and work that extra shift and take that extra class and those that work and get up every morning without regret and a everything in the can for the people of the law. those are the folks that inspire me every single day. else i do? i think about how we all felt on election night. [cheering] [applause] i think about how we felt on inauguration day. we were excited.

we were energized. we were fired up. we were hopeful. because we knew that we had a chance to change the country we love for the better. the truth is, we have that same chance. we have that same responsibility today. the chance to continue the progress that we have made. the chance to finish what we started. because this election is not just about all that we have accomplished these past couple of years, this election is about all that we have left to do in the months and years ahead. [applause] but, washington, let me just say this. my husband cannot do this alone. you see, the one thing that i asked all of you over the course of the campaign, i said that if i am giving you my husband, then you have to have his back right?

[applause] [cheering] well, he needs leaders like patty to have his back and patty needs folks like all of you to make that happen. so, we need you to be fired up. we do not have a lot of time. we need you to make those phone calls for patty. we need you to lace up your tennis shoes and knock on doors for patty. we need you to get everyone you know to vote. if you have to get fired up. we have to give people voting early for patty. we need to get those ballots in. if you think someone is sitting out, you have to shake them and tell them that they cannot sit this one out. we have come too far for them to sit this one out. we need all of you to find those folks and we need to to tell them that they cannot vote just

once and then wait for chase to happen. they have to vote every time. they have to vote for their mayor, for their governor, for their congressmembers', and in the end, our campaign was never about putting just one man in washington. was never about that. it was about building a movement for change. a movement that lasts beyond one year and one campaign. if you keep standing with patty and bringing folks together, if you are as fired up and ready to go as you were two years ago, then i know that we can keep that movement going. i know that we can keep that american dream alive and more importantly, years from today, our children and grandchildren will be able to look back and say that we kept the faith with values that we were raised with,

that we gave them that better life that they deserved and that we met our obligations to leave for them and america were the of their dreams. we need to, washington. let's get it done. thank you all, so much. yes we can! >> yes we can! >> yes we can! yes we must! yes we will! the fuel so much. -- thank you so much.

>> on tomorrow's washington journal, a look at next week's elections and efforts by the tea party. sal russo joins us. been a perspective on the hispanic votes. britt wilkes is our guest. after that, ben miller talks about rising college debt among recent graduates. washington journal, each morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. later, a forum on green energy policy and what it could mean for businesses and the economy. live coverage begins at 8:30 a.m. eastern. that is on c-span2 >> one of the great features of the c-span video library is the ability to clip and share our programs with your friends. during this campaign season, that includes over 100 debates that we have erred on c-span.

if you are new to it all, look on our web site. >> every weekend on c-span3, experience american history tv starting saturday at 8:00 a.m. eastern. 48 hours of telling america's story. visit museums, historical sites and college campuses as top history professors and leading historians delve into america's past. american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, on c- span3. >> up next on c-span, republican when paul and democrat jack conway debate for an open senate seat in kentucky. after that, through canada's for governor faced each other in their latest televised debate.

then colorado's fourth congressional district seat. later, new york's 24th congressional district which is much of albany. now, to lexington. >> welcome to kentucky tonight. good evening, i am bill goodman. we will focus on kentucky's u.s. senate race. our guests are jack conway of the democratic party and ran a poll of the republican party. thank you for joining us on kentucky tonight. this race and many across the nation has painted this election as the most expensive, nasty and we're campaign seasons in recent history. there are more charges and countercharges and you can shake a stick at. the herald leader says that the commercials have been dominated by broadsides against the

candidates, not information about their proposals. raymond light of frankfurt e- mail me today and said that after months of listening to the negative ads informing me of all the reasons why i should not vote for the other guy, i would suggest both candidates spend this time telling me why i should vote for them. tonight, i would like for you to concentrate on your positions on these issues and i promise we will get to as many of those issues as possible. before we start the discussion, i want you to tell me a little bit about yourself. the very nature of the campaign paints a portrait of you that your opponent once the public to see, not who you really are. after all, not everyone reads every newspaper article or reads every magazine piece. so, what you live in a city or a form or a small town in kentucky, we are a state that is

characterized by importance of family and neighbors. i want you to describe your community the surrounded you as a child and how your personal biography might shake the hopes and aspirations for all >> thank you very much. i appreciate that insightful question. my background and my parents shape everything about me. my dad grow on a family farm in union county, ky. my great uncle ran a business. my father put himself through law school at night. all along the way, and he made -- he met my mother, who was the daughter of a union blacksmith. on my mom's side of the family, i am the first to go to college.

i am the oldest of four children. they instilled in me an ethic of hard work. when you are knocked down, pick yourself up. study hard and work hard and to appreciate the commonwealth of kentucky. my father put himself through law school at night and taught at high school for the day. very much a self-made family. i love them very much. my wife and i want to raise our daughter to have the kentucky that i knew. >> dr. paul? >> i am a physician. i'd been married 20 years to my wife. our average tree was last -- anniversary was last wednesday,

celebrated on the campaign trail. i have three teenage boys. they are 17, 14, and 11. i grew up in a small town and always wanted to live in a small town. i could've gone anywhere, but i chose to come here. my wife grew up in a rusted bolt -- rested -- russellville. they are related to the original survey years with a land grant from george washington. you like to get that land back. -- we would like to get the land back. [laughter] they have been in kentucky for a long time. i chose to come here because i liked living in a small town as a kid. i wrote my bike -- i rode my bike everywhere. everywhere in my town. i think it has been great for my kids to live in a small town. i coached little league, i coached soccer, i coached basketball. the one thing that won't reveal is my win-loss record. [laughter] i like being part of a small

town and the community. bowling green is a thriving community with a university that is it that energy and vibrancy. >> education is so important and we know that teachers are such a key determinant about the quality of education. i want you to tell me about your favorite teacher and why that person has proven to be important to your life and to your success. >> my first grade teacher was mrs. ducek. she lived on the road from us. first grade is a fascinating time for kids. sometimes we really did not appreciate it as much as we should, and the ability -- be learning to read aspect. it is an explosion of learning. the book's chapter books after books. having a teacher that recognized that you liked that and promoted that for you.

i think it is something i will not forget. >> if we all look back into our past, we all have the teacher that brought us to where we are. we all stand on the shoulders of others. two people really come to mind. in terms of a teacher, when i went to high school, i thought i was going to be an orthopedic surgeon or an architect. i had a teacher for three or four years by the name of john price. he taught me about geography, civics, history, how history can inform the decisions we make in present day. he was more than an instructor. he was someone to help to fulfill your potential. i certainly would not have gotten -- would not have got to get a public policy degree if it were not for john price.

i worked with her for six years. she taught me organizations. she taught me how to find the cancer spread those are two -- how to find the answers. those are the two people. >> pickup -- boat she taught me how to find the answers. those are two people. >> there is that great a vista overlooking lake barkley. >> bear river lake. >> fiction or nonfiction? what is the latest piece of fiction that you read? >> employees and would -- poinsonwood bible. >> i am almost exclusively non- fiction. the last piece of fiction was probably "the dingy -- the da

vinci code." >> let's talk about some issues in this campaign. i would like 40 to give me your thoughts on the issues without stating your opponents viewpoints. if there are differences, we will have a discussion. what important issue facing the country and what will be job one for you addressing that issue? >> i think jobs and the recession, but also how government interacts with that. government compete for precious funds and we need to be sending less money to washington and keeping more money here in kentucky. i recession numbers just went up. we are up over 10% in kentucky. i think president obama is making a mistake. he thinks government is the answer to everything. we do have more respect for how individual businesses create jobs. we need to be more conscious of that.

the president is laying down a more regulatory burdens. president obama has added a 2500-page health care takeover bill which will create more unemployment. it will add more regulations to your community bank. when you talk to local businesses, they are very concerned about the ability to get a loan, even those with good credit records. my biggest fear is that the president is going to keep us from getting out of this recession. >> i think the job number one is jobs. i have a jobs plan. if people go to my web site, -- jackconway.org, i am a different kind of democrat. i think we need to provide benefits to the private sector.

we would tap it about $30 billion. we would shut down offshore tax loopholes. if you want to create a new job, you can take 20% of the cost of the new job as a tax credit. we would create 750,000 jobs nationwide. i also think that we have to get the small community banks lending once again. george w. bush bailed out a bunch of big banks on wall street. the regulators have, really hard on small community banks. -- the regulators have come down really hard on small community banks. we have to get some regulatory clarity. we need to get capital flowing again. they can mean expansion or re jobs lifeline. >> do you believe in more regulation or less regulation? obama care adds thousands of pages of new regulation.

president obama is for that, so is my opponent. these regulations are making it harder for local banks. no banks and kentucky failed and yet all these new regulations are heaped on our community banks. i've not met a banker in kentucky that is in favor of the president's regulatory plan. it is going to stifle jobs. these are real issues. we have starkly different positions. the president's take care of help -- takeover of health care was wrong. billresident's regulatory would add thousands of pages of regulations to our local banks. it is exactly wrong and very dangerous for our economy. >> 1 kentucky bake it did fail. -- one kentucky bank did fail. it got dark bailout funds. i hope we learn our lessons after the meltdown. i think we needed prudent

financial regulatory reform because the banks who were too big to fail got a bunch of bailout money. they acquired smaller firms. the banks that are too big to fail or not even bigger. i am worried that we have not learned the moral hazards. we need prudent regulations in place to make sure that they are not gambling with our money. these wall street banks were looking for commercial banks to take over. we need to make sure that we learn our lessons and that wall street is not gambling with deposits from places like kentucky. i think it is very important. leaving them alone in the first place got us into this mess. this is about prudent regulation and about prevent oversight. >> it is also about to do you believe in? do you believe the government's answer? or individual entrepreneur dos? the stimulus package, this stimulus package is money borrowed from china to try to

promote job stimulation. i think job creation comes from the businessman or businesswoman in kentucky. we need to send less money there. it is a real clear distinction. this election is about which agenda do you want. do you want president obama's agenda? is it a good idea for a country to run 8 $2 trillion deficit annually? the interest payments are in the hundreds of billions of dollars. if interest rates rise again, interest alone will consume 25% of the budget. >> something the stimulus was not large enough, that it needed to be larger. this one has created some jobs. you can see this as witnessed in lexington would give road work that was done. >> bp divided trillion dollars out by jobs created, leave off the -- you talk about jobs created, $400,000 per job.

>> you do not think the recession would have been worse? >> the people who are saying that were wrong about this. they did not predict it coming. tim geithner did not predict it coming. ben bernanke did not predict it coming. you have to ask an important question. where did the trillion dollars come from? it is being borrowed. we do not have it. not like we had a lot of savings in washington. that would be different. this money is borrowed from china. it is a disaster for our economy. i fear that it will make things much worse. >> if tax cuts had worked for many years, why hasn't -- how would a home town tax credit, how would that work effectively? has it been looked at? >> it has been looked at by moodys.com.

they of the estimated seven under 50,000 jobs across the country. -- they had estimated $700,050 -- 750,000 jobs across the country. they passed a holiday from social security taxation for hiring an unemployed person. we need to go further than that. we need to provide incentives to the private sector. just saying that people should take lesser wages, that is not a jobs plan. >> there are clear choices. >> there are clear choices for seniors, students, veterans. >> the stimulus package -- a trillion dollars, recently we found out that 77,000 checks were sent to dead people. 17,000 checks were sent to inmates. this is an example of government run amok. this is precisely why we do not want to send more money to washington. >> we will take a break here. we do invite questions tonight from viewers.

we would like to thank everyone who sent questions in the head of the program. ridgy in ahead of the program. sure appreciate your participation. you can send an e-mail tonight. please include first and last name and town or county in your message. you may call us. we will take as many of those calls as we can. among the general public, and, of tarp remains one of the most vilified programs that was ever enacted by congress. officials in the current administration, though, insist that tarp was a success and that it alleviated the severity of the financial crisis. was tarp a success, mr. conway? >> i do not think so. there are lessons to be learned.

the people on wall street that created this mess came in the dark of the night and said, you've got to bail us out. the government started handing out money. the bigger banks started acquiring the sicker firms. executives started taking bonuses and there was no accountability. i am all about accountability. i believe you have to have some accountability. to come in the dark of the night and say, give us money, i do not think it worked. >> that money is being repaid, dr. paul. was it is success? >> absolutely a failure. wrong idea to do. the number one issue in my primary was that i stood up, even when republicans were for this bank ballot, and said no more. i did not hear much from the other side. i am glad that they are coming our way and talk about some of

the problems. tarp was a mistake. most of the people say it was in assets are all people who did not predict the housing crisis. they did not know anything about what was coming. they were surprised by this. in some ways, organized bankruptcy for aig might have been a better way to go. aig bank erupted -- bankruptcy, it became a pastor for goldman sachs executives. -- a passed through it for goldman sachs executives. >> the treasury is still authorized to spend $50 billion. it pays services and borrowers to modified mortgages in an effort to keep their homes. should the government be spending tax dollars in an effort to keep borrowers in their homes? >> i think that the tarp funds that are left should go to restoring the deficit and trying to pay off debts.

the entire $800 billion should never have been spent. president obama stimulus package should never have been spent. i would vote for any unused funds to go back to try to offset the deficit. >> on this tarp plan, the $50 billion, will that create a number of housing problems across the nation? >> the housing problem was created by bad government policy. it was created by government policy that kept the interest rate at 0%. it also stimulated by the community reinvestment act that said to people, it is a good idea to buy a house without a down payment. many of these mortgages are so far under water -- they are not getting any better. >> what will happen to those people? >> nothing dud. it is really a tragedy. the tragedy is the bad policy

by barney frank and others who really got beat community reinvestment act going. in 2003, fannie mae and freddie mac came to the banking committee and said, we are a billion dollars short. the conservatives said, are you going to make better decisions? their credit line is unlimited. we made a grave mistake. >> what about the $50 billion? you would not support the treasuries authorization? >> i do not think it is ok to sit back and say that there are all these people were going to lose their homes. i do not think it is ok to say that is a tragedy. as attorney general, i have tried to work to make sure that we did that people of some sort

of recourse. a lot of people in kentucky and have had recourse because of the actions we have taken. we need to slow that process down and make sure that people are not being kicked out of their homes to quickly. we need to look at ways to keep people in their homes. in places like kentucky, people poured everything into their homes. we have to get back to sound lending practices. when i bought my first home, i put about a quarter down. these are sound practices. we got away from that. >> the real question to voters is, if there is $200 billion left in tarp, are you going to spend it? put it back in the treasury. i am not sure i heard what his position is on this. >> let me move to foreign

policy. if elected, you will have some tough decisions to make on many different issues, including trade policy, nuclear negotiations with russia, the middle east. give me a couple of spots on your foreign policy platform and your experience to deal with these areas. >> the united states needs to be engaged in the world. the united states is to be a symbol of good will. we ought to be centaur partners, -- saying to our partners, a step up and help us to bear some of these costs. in the interest of afghanistan, i saw the president wanting to surge in afghanistan and i did not hear enough about pakistan and regional partners. the best we can hope for is to lead the nation a more stable than we found it. in order to achieve that final political solution, we have to give regional partners involved. we have to recognize how big a problem nuclear proliferation

is. it would be a threat to the entire middle eastern region. it would be a threat to the entire world. we need to be focused on this issue of nuclear proliferation. >> what should be the united states proper response to iran? >> the most important vote that i would ever take if i'm elected and a boat that i will treat very seriously is the vote on whether or not to go to war. the vote on declaring war is probably the most important vote that a senator would ever take. i would only vote for going to war if i were going to war. that think that we go to war reluctantly. if you talk to our soldiers to been to war, they will tell you that we should go to war reluctantly. but 9/11 happened, there was without question, we cannot let

people organize and attack us. i was in favor of going into afghanistan. 10 years later, some questions have to be passed. -- have to be asked. d think we're doing enough? reducing the afghans are doing enough to step up and began to control their own streets -- andy cinko the afghans are doing enough to step up and begin to control their own streets? they would like to see the afghan step up quicker. >> what should our strategy in iran be? especially as it relates to their hands of developing nuclear weapons? >> we do not want iran to have nuclear weapons. we should do everything possible to keep them from having nuclear weapons. one of the things we tried doing is having sanctions. there has not been a great deal of success with that. we should not subsidize companies that do business with iran. that is a mistake. >> our first phone call tonight

from bill atkins. welcome to kentucky tonight. >> thank you. you've taken several positions in this campaign from social security. you called it a ponzi scheme, i believe. you think it would be up to the lunch counter owners to determine who might be served. when challenged, he refers to opposition for political expediency. do you have a rough count as to how many times -- and how and why should we find a credible? >> i do not think this was an undecided voter. i think i have read some of his blog posts before. he is famous. the reason people in kentucky

dwelled choose me next tuesday is because they're tired of career politicians. they're tired of politicians who will say or do anything. but things i talk about are very mainstream. i talk about a balanced budget. i think both ciardi's -- i think both parties are untrustworthy. the problem in washington is a spending problem, not a revenue problem. i think term limits are a good idea. we think people go and stay too long. i think they should read the bills. for goodness sakes, and they read the bills before the vote on them? the public will decide next tuesday it could takes consistent positions. >> do you want to clarify any of the questions he had about the civil-rights act? >> they have all been mischaracterized. many of them have been shot down. the civil-rights act discussion was shot down by mississippi nbc -- msnbc. he was found to not be telling the truth on that. it is hard argue against a strong man of my position.

-- straw man of my position. >> i'm flabbergasted. i've watched 20 of the most painful and embarrassing moment i've ever seen on national cable tv. his words were to have you been in the senate and then, that he would of been seeking to modify the lunch counter provision. we all know what the lunch counter provision is spread that is on the record. he is running from his own words. seniors have an important choice to make. the voters have a tough choice to make tuesday. in the world in which i live, the kentucky seniors i see, they are on fixed incomes. they cannot afford a 23% sales tax. they cannot afford a $2,000 deductible. the students in kentucky cannot afford college.

the veterans need the americans with disabilities act. i campaigned last week. max cleland, he came here because he was concerned about preserving veterans benefits. >> dr. paul, let me give you a chance to respond. do you think that social security is a ponzi scheme? >> the 20 most painful minutes were chris matthews. when jack decided he wanted to attack my religion. we have a bit of a disagreement there. social security is having difficulty finding itself. it is funded by people paying taxes. in 1937, there were 42 workers and one retiree. it ran surpluses for many decades. we get to the 1970's and 1980's, it was seven workers to one

retiree. it still ran surpluses, but guess what? the career politicians were squandering this. right now, we're down to less 3 workers per one retiree. we are heading toward having one worker for one retiree. what does all this mean? it means the baby boomers retiring, we have to figure out how to pay for it. right now, social security is paying out more than an brings in. there is a problem with finding it. -- funding it. i am willing to step up and say, let's have an adult discussion about how we fix these programs. >> i want to return to the discussion about social security and medicare and how will reduce the deficit. and give you a chance to clarify some of the comments about the civil rights act. do you deny that you said that? is there any clarification? >> i never said that i believe in anything remotely about segregated lunch counter. chris matthews came on the next day and said, jack conway was

lying. it was faulty was saying. he had some success. but he was being dishonest. this has been a recurrent theme. he has been trying to represent something and run against it because he does not want to run against someone who was talking about the balanced budget and term limits. the tea party movement is amazingly big and strong. we had 1000 people in paducah yesterday. people are tired of career politicians. they want an outsider. they want someone new. >> anyone can go to the videotape. what's what he said on rachael maddow. it is on tape. he would be seeking to modify the lunch counter provision. we settled those issues half a century ago. >> we need to go forward, not backward. >> this comes from a piece that

tom brokaw road just last week. in afghanistan and iraq, we have lost 5000 of our men and women. 30,000 have been wounded. we spend a trillion dollars on combat operations. he asks this question. why aren't the wars and the human and economic consequences front and center and a selection? -- in this election? we talked a lot about jobs in the economy. how do you answered the question that we need to spend more time thinking about those men and women and the 30,000 that will come back here to the united states named? >> i think we ought to be talking about it. my father served in the military. i did not. he served in germany for two years guarding missile silos during the cuban missile crisis. i talked to him a lot about being in the military and how brave men and women making extreme sacrifice. we're in a state that has fort knox and fort campbell.

i'm going to ask to be on the armed services committee because it is important to the state. one thing tatarstan, there are 300,000 veterans in this state. we have 50,000 wounded disabled veteran spread the have 12,000 newly disabled veterans sent 9/11. we will have to look at -- he has spoken out against the 88. -- the american with disabilities act. i do not think we should be telling soldiers -- we need to be talking about these wars. we need to be talking about the cost. we have had civilians can -- killed in these countries, too. >> once again, he is dishonest. he is misrepresenting my position. lexington herald corrected him on this. he has no shame. >> what is your position? >> i am not opposed to the ada. never said anything about being

opposed to it. the war is an enormous hardship. we have the greatest nation ever known. we have the most money defense -- mighty defense and the military around the world. i think we can win any war. i do not think we are -- some nations defied that. afghanistan may well be a nation that defies nation-building. there comes a time when this discussion does need to happen. i want to be part of that national debate about saying, how long is long enough? i think we really do need to have a real discussion in this country about comet is 10 years -- is at 10 years long enough? should the afghans be stepping up? >> the united states military is very good at winning battles. we are very good it when in the military ground game. when we get to these political questions, what is the exit strategy?

how do we leave behind countries that are better off when we found them? we need to make certain we're talking about that. >> do you agree with him on that point? >> he said that we are not all bad nation-building. before you ever commit troops to war, you need to think, how are we bringing them home? what is the end goal? what is realistic? rather than pounding the table, we need to make certain that we understand the human toll of deaths. i thought i heard him say that and i would agree with him on that. >> quickly on health care, an e- mail. why do you support the health care system known as obama-care? dr. paul, why do you oppose it? >> i would like to fix the health care bill. it is not a perfect bill. he wants to repeal it. i am not for a $2,000 deductible. that seems to be his plan for

medicare. i have a friend -- i was in his wedding. he had a kidney transplant. on numerous occasions, he told the hardest to get a health care coverage because of his pre-existing condition. now under the law, he can get health care coverage. we have 19,000 kids direct we have women who are going to get a mammogram screenings and additional protections for them. breast cancer research ought to be brought down to the local level, but it is an issue -- it is an issue to get funding for breast cancer research. it is not a perfect bill. >> what parts with to keep? >> this gets back your earlier question. it made sense to me that a -- it

made no sense to me that a sweetheart deal was cut with the pharmaceutical companies that did not allow medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. we monitor the medicaid system. medicate negotiates and of the a system negotiates for lower prescription drug prices. if medicare were allowed to do that, it would be 200 billion in savings. that is some real money. we were able to stay close and understand what is going on. the problem with medicare is that it is done from a big bureaucracy. put it in the ag office or somebody's office. just have someone on the ground. there are ways that they could shore up medicare without taking pharmaceutical companies off the table. >> mr. paul, are there no positive elements of the health-care bill that you would reinstitute? >> one of the great ironies of this whole debate about

deductibles is that when i spoke of deductibles, i spoke of ways to the interesting irony it under obama-care, deductibles are already going up. at medicare advantage payments, 11 million of them will have higher deductibles. >> when does that go into effect? >> the lot of them go into effect gradually. out-of-pocket costs for medicare advantage, not only is it hurting the people on the receiving end, but it is hurting him manner. -- humana. it is a big presence in louisville. there is a lot of shuffling going around. medicare is short of money now because of the demographics, because of the baby boomers retiring. they took $500 billion out of medicare in putting into obama-

care. we have a brand new entitlement program and we've already having trouble finding the current one. it is going to be worse than we can even imagine. >> are you opposed to all of them? >> i would like to see a more market-oriented approach. some things can sound really good, but right now, i'd buy insurance and i'm healthy. i'd buy it in case i get sick. if you tell me i can give for the same price after i am sick, why do i buy it? if you get reverse incentives to -- perverse incentives to customers, what happens is that helping people drop out. the system becomes more burden with sick people. it is destroying the market place. president obama really is probably the most anti business press and we have ever had.

-- anti-business president we have ever had. he does not understand business. he is going to have a 400,000 fine. do we want everyone to have insurance? >> he is being fined for not offering insurance? >> the problem with tim workers -- temp workers, is that you add them all up, and he said they are equivalent for full- time workers. >> i do not want to penalize employers. my opponent says that we need to go back to the health care system we had this country pre- world war ii. the average person spent about $5 a year on health care. he could the readily get penicillin.

-- he could not readily get penicillin. my opponent is running from the fact that he said that he supports a $2,000 medicare deductible. a lot of medicare advantage plans were being over reimbursed. now he is trying to conjure up this argument that deductibles are going up. he has to run from his own words. sanders and kentucky can not -- seniors in kentucky cannot afford a 23% sales tax. they cannot afford a $2,000 deductible. they just cannot afford what brand paul is putting out there. >> -- rand paul is putting out there. >> the leader of the party, you wanted president obama, it is a disaster for our country. he is bankrupting us and do sit blindly and support his -- and you said blithely over there and support his policies. it is a disaster. >> did you call for a $2,000 deductible? >> he has shown snippets of this speech, which is intellectually dishonest.

a higher deductible would help fix the problem, what -- but would be politically unpalatable. it would not be feasible. there would be ways that in the future, younger people might have to pay higher deductibles. you might have to have people -- that may be coming. you have to figure out how demographically we're going to pay for this. >> in kentucky, he did not attack a man's horse or a man's job. he said to a thousand dollar deductible. -- he said $2,000 deductible. he said he did not say it until we produced video. he did the same thing with the fair tax.

his campaign manager send out an e-mail on it. now he has to run from his own words. >> you have a simplistic world view. you oversimplify things. he did not want to present the whole facts. you say that we're going to keep -- heap on some new sales tax. we're talking about eliminating the income tax. you leave that out. >> the seniors cannot afford that. >> you did not listen. it has an exemption. you oversimplify things into sound bites because all you care about is winning. what i've said from the very beginning is that our problem is a spending problem, not a revenue problem. our problem is the deficit. i have said that when we can get that under control, i want to simplify the tax code. the tax code is 16,000 pages long.

we spend $239 billion to comply with the tax code. that is equal to walmart to gross receipts in a year. another way of making it simpler would be a flat income tax. to lower all marginal tax rates. the one thing that was the best government stimulus that we ever had, contrary to borrowing money from china, is cutting tax rates. i have been honest with the people of kentucky. you can only taxed -- cut taxes if you are willing to cut spending. >> let's take our second phone call. mary hatfield from harrison county. >> i saw a commercial on television today, rand paul against jack conway ended -- and

yet insinuated that he was against>> i am one under percen- life. -- 100% pro-life. i believe that life begins at conception. i would support an amendment to the constitution. >> i am a christian. i think abortion ought to be as rare as they can make it. i would support parental identification, restrictions. it should be as rare as we can make it, but safe and legal. i would come down on the libertarian view on this. >> anything else on that that you want to clarify? >> sounds like a distinct difference. >> education, and gentlemen, the world is becoming increasingly well-educated. china and india are now gaining momentum. they have more graduates with bachelor's degrees than the united states. what is the role of the u.s. department of education in ensuring that americans have

the highest quality of education? >> a supportive role. i worked for an education governor for about six years. i helped write the higher educational reform act of 1997. kentucky has to get more educated if we're going to compete with that indiana and tennessee and ohio and virginia, much less china and india. i am very concerned about a couple of things. we tried to have rewards and accountability. we tried to reform higher education. i think we need to be committed as a state to making certain that we have early childhood education. the child to cannot read at 7 is a likely drop out at 16. depending on the year between 6 and 10% comes from federal sources. those are important money is. -- those are important monies.

if you take that of the state board of education, they would really be hurting. there is a role for the federal government. we are really good at getting kids into college. card retention and graduating is dropping off. we are now number 9 in the entire world in terms of graduates. i am glad the federal government says they will have a longer period of time to pay off their loans. we have to make certain that we continue with stafford lunt and telegrams to make it easier for young people to afford education. do away with the department of education would really hurt young people. >> you would not cut federal money to support grants? >> gasoline not. >> -- absolutely not. >> the department of education has doubled in size. no child left behind is a mistake. if you talk to teachers around

kentucky, most teachers agree with me. i would say that 90% of teachers agree with me. it is a mandate from the federal government that interferes with the local education of our kids. you hear an extreme dislike for the idea of unfunded mandates. you hear throughout -- you hear this bill out county and city and state government. the federal government tells you where your money can be spent. in the end, money is being spent in one area and the kids do not have computers. you really need to allow superintendents for more local control. teachers, parents, family, the local community needs to be more involved. >> on higher education, which suggest that grants and student loans because it?

-- would you suggest that pell grants and student loans be cut? >> i would make them -- get rid of the department of education. for the most part, i think we have gone too far towards a federal involvement. for most of our history, until 1979, ronald reagan ran on a platform of eliminating the newly formed department of education because we as republicans and believe in a more local control of state -- of schools. we think we can figure out things better on a local level rather than transmitting those powers and sending them money to washington. i would rather keep that money here in kentucky. >> there are people watching this program that have gone and gotten higher education. to say that you want to do away with the department of education, just shift the money elsewhere, and he was talking about how i am too simple.

simplifying stuff. that sounds simple. you are eliminating assistance to young people who just want to further their education. >> that does not sound like what i said. i said i would transfer that to other departments. >> what energy bill would support? it would include measures to -- related to kentucky coal? >> cap-and-trade would be a disaster for our economy. hundreds of thousands of jobs could be lost in our state. coppin henderson, we have to aluminum plant that employs 1500 people. this is a clear distinction. early on, jack has been for cap-and-trade. even the progress of blocker -- progressive blogger said that he has had personal conversations with jack.

jackass' expressed his interest for capt. trade. -- jack has expressed his interest for capwe're now seeing the other side of things. cap-and-trade, kentucky will not tolerate ambivalence on this. we are seeing ambivalence. that would be a charitable description of his position. i will oppose cap-and-trade. >> there is nothing to clarify. i am against cap-and-trade. i will stand up for the kentucky coal industry. my plan and says that coal is one of the least favorable forms of energy. i think we can stand up for kentucky coal. i understand how important it is. i've worked for a cold governor. -- coal governor. i understand how important it

is. you can talk about all -- my position all he wants. i am against cap-and-trade. i filed an action to say that kentucky does not think that the epa could do this. he can characterize my position all the bonds. the ad that they are running now is faults. i'm against cap-and-trade. i stepped up for the people of kentucky. >> did you have an opportunity to join the lawsuit? >> it was just filed a week ago. the governor went ahead and directed his cabinet to do it. at that right now. >> on medicare and social security, we do not have time to go into a full debate. clarify your position on both of those. hallwood suggesting that reduce the deficit? >> -- hollywood breeds -- how would that reduce the deficit?

>> we are getting a time or we have one worker to one retiree. everyone has heard the term baby boomer. they are getting ready to retire. we have to figure out how to pay for them. you will have to make some difficult decisions. not on current retirees. i do not support raising the deductible. i do not support changing anything for current seniors. but for younger people, and there may have to be changes. on the younger folk, it probably should be directed more toward a means and still with consideration -- 20% it is picked nap -- is picked up now. >> something will have to be done. would you agree with any of this?

>> seniors cannot afford a 23% national sales tax. they cannot afford a u.s. senator that says social security is a ponzi scheme that should be privatized. imagine if we had privatize did six or seven years ago and the stock market tanked? here is what we need to do. we need to make sure that medicare can engage, negotiate for lower prescription rates. doing that would save $200 billion. we need to stand by social security. social security is not an investment. it is a social insurance program that is designed to keep people from starving to death. i'm sick and tired of people wanting to come along and privatize social security. i will never do that. >> as we wrap up, a final

question. kentucky is the home to many admired statesmen and political leaders, from abraham lincoln to mcconnell. would kentucky politician most inspired you and influenced your public life? >> i have known some great kentucky politicians. the experience i had 18 years of age, when i first went in to meet with linda for, he gave me all this time. -- wendall ford. i had a remarkable experience with him a couple of months ago. everyone came out and said -- this is the nicest man to ever grace the halls of the u.s. senate. what an enduring legacy. i would love to be just like that. >> when ipad started in this race, -- when i got started in

this race, the one thing i really admired about him is that he was not afraid to stand on principle. when congress and sent said, let's not add to the debts. let's pay off things as we go. when nobody else would stand up, he stood up and said, enough is enough. he also stood up and said that the bank bailout was wrong. he stood up and on principle, of voted the way he believed was right for ky. i am proud of him for that. >> thank you for being here. good luck next week. next week, steve robertson. our election night will be again reporting returns during the newshour. join us for a full evening of

live coverage. thank you for watching. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] look at tomorrow's lineup. we will be live in south carolina for a governor's debate. after that, and indiana senate debate. later, we will hear from sal russo of the tea party. after that, new hampshire is first congressional district and pennsylvania's third. up next, minnesota's 3 candidates for governor in a debate. after that, a debate for the

colorado fourth congressional district seat. there are four candidates. later, it is new york's 24th congressional district. >> one of the great features of the c-span video library is the ability to clap and cheer programs with your friends. during this campaign season, that includes more than 100 debates that we have erred. watch the tutorial on how to clip than share with the c-span video library. >> now the race for minnesota's new governor. temple linty is retiring. -- tim pawlenty is retiring.

the cook political report rates this race a tossup. ♪ >> three candidate's name to convince you give the best solution to the critical problems facing minnesota -- balancing the budget, whether to raise taxes, how to educate your children and how to fund health care. they are running for governor and they want your vote. and welcome to this prime-time debate in minnesota's and governor's race, brought to you by 5 eyewitness news and broadcast across the state in conjunction with the league of women voters. we are coming to live from metro state university at the beautiful new main hall.

we have a live audience on hand. for the next hour, we are hoping for our free-wheeling discussion of the important issues. the candidates have agreed to a format that will allow us to have a free-wheeling discussion that will focus on several subject areas that will not require timed responses of 30 seconds or a minute. we will give them a little more time if they needed, and will also allow the candidates to address one another if they choose to give specific answers. and of the quarter, let's meet the candidates. mark dayton served as a u.s. senator and commissioner of the minnesota department of economic development and energy. he graduated from yale university where he was a goalie for the hockey team. he also taught science for two years in new york city. he was born in minneapolis and raised in long lake. he has two sons. republican tom emmer represents

-- in the minnesota state senate. -- minnesota house of representatives. he served on two city councils. he graduated from the university of alaska where he also played hockey. he earned his law degree at william mitchell. he and his wife has seven children. independent party candidate tom horner owned a public relations firm and was managing editor of "the son of," newspapers. he graduated from st. thomas, where he teaches. this is his first run for elected office. he is from minneapolis. he and his wife have three children. >> you have not a chance to meet the candidates. let's get right down to the issues and we will begin with the biggest issue -- balancing the budget. we face a projected nearly $6 billion budget deficit.

i will not ask each of you what you plan to do to balance the budget. mr. emmer you plan to balance the budget to spending cuts. mr. dayton you plan to tax snowbirds. tom horner has talked about lowering the sales tax. what i want to know is, where were you compromise? where are you willing to go to the state capital and sit d