♪ [applause]

>> now lets sen. you know, we had a wonderful time today, and we want to bring sanity back to america. [applause] can i hear you say, yea? >> yea! [applause] [r2d2 noises]

>> the 3 hour rally to restores sanity and/or sanity is just wrapping up on the mall in washington, d.c. as it wraps up, we want to get your reaction. was it politics or entertainment? you can see the numbers on your screen. again, we want to get your reaction to this rally here on the saturday before midterm elections, 2010. we will be covering a john boehner rally in ohio a little

later. we will also be covering the president, who is campaigning in illinois. the first call comes from new york city, n.j., a democrat. i think this should have been a little more politicized. i liked the comments at the end about having a balanced perspective, but he should have encouraged people to get out and of the on tuesday. host: independent line. good afternoon. caller: i think the political entertainment was great, but i think he said what needed to be said. i think we have been inundated by hate from both sides. if i can sound like a democrat for a minute, republicans have

been running this christian rrhetoric that makes them sound like hypocrites. host: susan, a republican, give us your reaction. caller: i think there should be balanced. i think there should be positive and negative and that through it all we can learn what the truth really is. host: what did you think of the rally? did you watch all three hours? caller: i did not what of three hours. i thought it was pretty balanced, but we need more balance. host: next caller. caller: i just watched the last half hour. i just want to say thank you. it made me sad and it also made me feel glad to see so many young people.

i am just glad he did it. i am glad the people had an opportunity to see some sort of several response to what is going on right now in our country. thank you very much. host: from the front page of the "wall street journal" this morning, a swing voters are flocking to the gop, potentially putting dozens of competitive house races beyond reach and undermining of the parties h chances.

host: our next call comes from connecticut. cuba is on the independent line. caller: it was wonderful, entertaining. it was political, but i wish they had dealt with the issue of the tea party. they are similar to the parties in italy in the 1930's, the brown shirts. what we have now is a white shirt movement. these are not within the realm of sanity. host: what do you mean by the white shirt movement? caller: what they call the tea party movement are doing the same thing as the people in

germany and those people in l.a. that call themselves black shirts -- in italy that called themselves a black shirt and brown shirts. host: another republican from los angeles. what is your reaction to the comedy central rally? caller: i am a republican, and after a watched this show, i like debt, and i changed my vote to a democrat. -- i liked it, and i change my vote to a democrat. i thought john stewart was wonderful. i am going to change my vote for that. thank you very much for this wonderful show. host: barbara, a democrat in

toledo. caller: i thought the show was very entertaining. i enjoyed the political viewpoint they were making, all the rhetoric. i am so tired of the political commercials on television, both sides, a democrat and republican, do not like them. i get my news from pbs and from magazines. and the internet. and newspapers. host: you have so much going on in ohio politically. are you being inundated with television commercials? caller: 0 gosh, yes. i voted in the primaries, and then i sort of let it slip my mind after i voted. early in the summer, we started getting hit by all these things and i thought, this is way too early. host: are you going to vote a

straight democratic ticket? caller: i never do. for senate, i like portman. host: rob portman is the republican. what about governor? caller: i am sort of leaning toward strickland, but i am not sure. i want to do a little more last- minute research on that. host: what about for congress? will you be voting for rep captor? caller: yes i will. host: what do you do? caller: i am a retired nurse. host: thank you for calling in. next caller, what is your reaction to the rally? caller: i thought it was

excellent. it was obviously a great entertainment with some political undertones. it really showed that this country needs to get together. there are just not any options anymore. republicans and democrats alike are selling us up the river. jobs are leaving the country. there are solutions plane as the noses on our face available to our leaders, but they take so much public interest money, money from corporations, that they are not doing the right thing anymore. where is the statesmanship? is there any left in this country? there is nobody left to vote for. i voted for barack obama, and frankly, i do not know if i will vote again. host: if you do vote for governor and senate on tuesday, who will you vote for? caller: i do not like either.

i am not going to vote for anybody. host: another republican from california. caller: i enjoyed the program very much. i am a republican amidst the democrats -- a republican who has turned it democrats. host: you are the second one to say that. when did you turn? caller: after the bush administration. i voted for obama and i am happy with the way he has been conducting the office. host: what about governor and senator for california? which way are you going? caller: democrat. host: we appreciate you calling in. next time, calling on the

democratic line. next caller. caller: i enjoyed the rally very much. i got that wonderful feeling of all the people getting together, the same as when obama was at his inauguration. i think that this helped bring the country together, and i am proud that obama is our president. i think he is doing a wonderful job. if the republicans would only work with them. the health care system is needed so much in this country for people that cannot get health care. host: you referred to the comedy central rally as a concert. do you think it was about politics or about entertainment? caller: it was not a concert. it was getting people together and enjoying humanity. host: another call from california, rachael, independent line, go ahead.

caller: thank you for taking my call. i really enjoyed the program. there is a lot of information there. found it entertaining, but there is a lot of information out there for people who do not know how the votes this year. if you paid attention to the skits and jokes and music, i think you can come away with positive information about which senator, which governor, which person you want to put in your district. host: you have big races out there in california. which way are you going? caller: it is hard right now because i know about jerry brown. i was young when he was in office. now i am alder. i am leaning his way because meg is a little undecided on their

positions as to what she would do for the middle class of california. as far as the senate, i am 100% barbara boxer. she is doing a great job. host: you are watching c-span. we continue our live political coverage of this last saturday before the election. boehner will bena having a larally that we will be bringing you live. we will also be bringing you president obama in ohio. caller: that was not even sophomoric. that was childish. who wrote this junk? my dog was sitting there with a bewildered look on his face. where are all of the blacks? millions of them could have of what or taken a bus their.

host: what does that have to do with anything? caller: is 125,000 people show up in a city that is primarily black and you do not have a large contingent that is black, what does that tell you? when the guy called and on the republican line and said he is going to vote democrat and you asked him why? man, that was ridiculous. why, out of the entire program, and i saw the crowd standing there as if they were frozen in time -- host: hawaii, a democrat. caller: i have to tell you, before i really listened to obama i was not going to vote for him. i am a born-again christian. just because we are christians does not mean we have to vote republican. i listen to obama and i started

speaking my heart. i voted for him, and i wish we could come together as a nation and support our president. that is a christian thing we could do. people question his christianity and his fate. one thing i was taught in church is that you will know them by their fruits. i think he behaves more christian-like than some of these people who call themselves christians and promotes such hatred and bigotry in this country. i want to urge my christian friends to vote for obama and not be afraid to vote democrat. host: you are watching live pictures from the mall here in washington, d.c., as it wraps up. the crowd is dispersing. behind us, we are getting quite a bit of crowd coming up because we are about four blocks from where the rally took place. they're all marching up the

street, heading over to the mattress station. palm springs, calif., matt, independent. caller: i have an issue with the guy who called. i found the show interesting. i happen to stumble on it and i was mesmerized by the diversity of the people and the entertainment, and the different groups of everybody being there. i consider myself a good american and i have not voted for years, but this made me want to vote, to be honest with you. host: how did it make you want to vote? caller: it showed me a new life in america. it showed me a new spirit. honestly, obama was on john stewart's show, and obviously he is in touch with the average american. i consider that pretty significant. host: you are calling on the independent line from

california. which way are you going? caller: when i was younger, i was on jerry brown's security detail in his early days, and i will probably go with jerry brown again. meg is ok, but she kind of scares me with her money and her background. i have seen jerry brown from the beginning and i would have to stick with him. host: what about the senate? caller: that is still up in the air. boxer is ok. i still have to look around right now. host: california on the republican line. caller: i am so glad you took my call. i am 100% republican. i am 100% against obama. i would love to see met in there. inhink she will -- -meg get

there. i think she will drop some of the horrible taxpaying so we can get off the welfare and but some people to work so the taxes do not have to be so high. i am a voting against boxer. she has not done anything until the was time to be elected, then she is then the camera. i am on a graduate program. i never got one single letter back from her with her helping us. i only got it through dianne feinstein. boxer is just a pretty picture. host: what did you think about the comedy central rally? caller: i like that. i like to that a broad everybody together. i think it was a good idea and i am glad bollenbach said paul thing off. -- i am glad glenn beck set the

whole thing off. i think obama is out there too much. i would like to see him in the white house. host: new york city on the democrat line. are you with us? hello? moving on to dallas, david in dallas. go ahead. caller: i like the way john stuart present his show. he entertains. i like the way he presents his program. i think he entertains. he has also got a lot of good information for us. he is really tried to say something to these young folks. i am 50. here in texas, is mainly republican, but i am not really

excited about where i see politics going. host: you made a good point. this was a young crowd. caller: is a mix. there are folks trying to get a view on the news. look forying to something that is a little bit different from fox or msnbc. host: you are you going to vote for? caller: i am going to vote for change. i am not going to vote for barry. -- perry. i was not really happy with what he did. i think it is time for a change. host: all right, florida, republican. what did you think about the rally?

caller: i thought it was real good to see people cheering and stuff, and the music and everything, and not so worried about the world falling apart all the time. that is what it meant to me. host: was a more entertainment than politics to you? caller: it was, it was. it was may be imagined it to take some pressure off of us, i do not know. that's how i felt after listening to fox and all the other news channels and everything about how terrible the united states says, and we are not so bad after all. host: you are you voting for for governor? caller: scott, i have no choice. host: you do not? caller: i am a republican, and

he is the choice. host: hood did you vote for in the primary -- who did you vote for in the primary? caller: rubio. host: from the "washington post" this morning, by the numbers. host: next call is from and that in albany, georgia. go ahead.

caller: i enjoyed the rally very much. it made some very good point and that made up my mind that i will be voting democrat. i think the republicans should not be pointing out so many negative things about their opponents, when they should be pointing out what they plan on doing. there is too much name-calling. there is too much hate. host: rodney, houston, texas, independent. caller: i thought it was both entertaining and political. more than that, i thought it was inspiring to see so many diverse groups that tend -- attend. it inspired me and reaffirms my faith in this country, because

ever since the election of obama, there has been so much hatred and so much divisiveness. it really just discouraged mineo much for my children and the future of our country. it makes no sense how we can promote all of this hatred. it was reassuring to see sanity. that was my take on it. host: you found significant inspiration in this rally. illinois, republican. caller: i watched today's rally. i found it interesting. i do not think it will make a habit of difference on what happens this tuesday. it is nice to see the likes of stephen colbert and jon stewart

out there. i watch their shows on comedy central. i do not always agree with john stuart political ideology, but he is out there. he leads the left wing, the youth left wing of the nation. i do not think he will have much effect this time around the. host: but you found it entertaining. caller: yes, i did. host: if you go to c-span.org and click on our politics tab, as regular viewers know, we have covered more than 120 debates in this election cycle. you can go to c-span.org and watch any of these debates. feedsn see the twisttter from all of the candidates. caller: thank you for taking my call. i really enjoyed the program

today. i think it was amazing to see all of those people come together on one place. there were several different types of people, it looked like. it was a breath of fresh air for me. i really enjoyed it. host: do you think it is something c-span should have covered? caller: absolutely. as i said, it was a breath of fresh air. it was bipartisan, in my opinion. there was not a lot of talk about republicans or democrats. it was americans coming together in one place to be americans, and i really enjoyed it, and i appreciate you guys covering it for us today. host: independent line, ted. last chance. we are going to move on. where are you calling from? caller: st. petersburg.

i enjoyed the program very much. i thought it was entertaining and political. i think it is great that people like them can end this earmark bearing -- this fear mongering that has been going on. all this nation needs is some levity to pull us out of this and to get steamed again. host: you are calling on the independent line. which way are you going? caller: i lean toward democrats. host: so are you voting for synch for governor? caller: yes. host: what about senate? caller: i really do not know a lot about the issues and stuff. since charlie crist has gone independent, i will probably vote for him.

host: have you seen a lot of campaign commercials down there in florida? caller: we are inundated with them. host: louisiana, independent line. what did you think about the rally? caller: i felt that it was more of a healing, a spiritual movement where everybody was able to come together and set aside their differences and just rally for our nation. versatility in congress. -- for civility in congress. host: thank you for calling in. conn. caller: i thought it was very interesting. it is not going to sway my vote. i am going to vote for whomever believes in small government and getting to the incumbents out. i think people need to pay more attention to their politics and

know that we have a three trillion dollar deficit. we need to buckle down. whether you vote democrat or republican, get these people out of there that are taking our country down. i think it's good that all of the people got together, and i and stephenn stewart colbert. i think people have to get serious, know what the candidates are doing, and bring this country back. host: who are you going to vote for in connecticut? caller: lynn mcmahon. host: she is down about 10-12 points. caller: i think she is going to butt out. -- call it out. -- pull it out.

host: are you getting a lot of robo-calls? caller: i cannot take it. host: what do do in connecticut? caller: i do feel service work. i fix things in the field. i get to see a lot of people and i think they feel the same way i do. they thought obama was going to take this country in the right direction, and they realize that handing him the congress and the house of representatives took as to the wrong direction. i am not for republicans, but i am for people who are going to bring this country back, get a handle on things and stop spending their kids tax money away. host: on joining us from the gallup polling organization is frank newport. i do not know if you heard the

last caller, but he was a "throw them all out" kind of guy. are you getting a lot of that in your polls? caller: we are getting a lot of that in our polls, particularly, "i am not a republican, but i am tired of what is going on in washington and i want change." if i wanted to describe this election, it would be the extraordinary lopsided enthusiasm. that is what is driving this race, a disproportionate turnout. those people are fired up and they're going to vote. we do not see evidence that democrats have anywhere near the same level of enthusiasm. host: lead story this morning in the "wall street journal," swing voters are flocking to republicans. on your website, "fewer swing voters in 2010 than in prior

midterm years." are those contradictory stories? host: it depends on what your definition of is, is. have you heard that before? host: once or twice. guest: what we mean by swing voters are, of the people do we interview now, how many of them tell us they might change their mind by the last days of the election. the data shows us that if people are more -- the data shows us that people are more fixed in their vote. there is less chance they will change their mind. the wall street journal was talking about something else. in 2006, 53% told us they would vote for democrats for congress. now it is almost a mirror image.

those same independents are going to vote for republicans. that is what we mean. people who are not ideologically fix to the writer the left, we see them and shifting towards -- to the right or the left, we see them shifting towards republicans. host: we have been told by viewers and political commentators that this is one of the nastiest elections ever. have you found that in your polling? guest: absolutely not. i hear that every election. commentators always say the negative ads are the worst they have ever seen. we have a few measures. we asked how satisfied people are with how the campaigns have been run. that is a little lower by maybe just a couple of points. it is lower than in 2002, but that was just a year out from

9/11 and everybody was pretty positive. the same thing on television commercials. we ask about them explicitly. about 3/4 of americans say the ones they see are negative, but that is the same as what we heard in 2006. i do not think american statistically see this election as being any nastier than usual. host: you reported on your website that 20% of western voters have already voted early. do you have any predictions or estimated intelligent guesses on turnout on tuesday? guest: that is a good point. by the way, the west is always off the charts with their voting. in the state of oregon, you have to vote by mail. in california, they encourage it, so that is pretty common. we luck pretty carefully let --

we look pretty carefully at some of the bootstrap indicators. we looked at how people answered the same questions previously. the turnout does not look like it is going to be substantially higher than usual. it will not be catastrophically different in terms of overall turnout. what really matters is that it will be the republicans disproportionately high and the democrats disproportionately low. who is turning out within the mass is what matters this year. host: frank newport, thank you for joining us. john boehner here is currently the republican leader in this house. he is down at a rally and we are going to show it to you. he was there on behalf of bill

johnson, the republican nominee for the house of representatives. he is running against charlie wilson, a two-term democrat from the district. this district connects to west virginia and a little bit up towards pennsylvania along the ohio river. here is a rally in ohio at the spread eagle tavern. we will be back to take your calls after we show you this. [applause] >> i am overwhelmed with this support. david, thank you so much for those kind words. where are you? thank you is so much. congressman boehner, i cannot tell you how much i appreciate you being here. thank you for being here.

folks, america is at a crossroads. the decision we make next tuesday is going to determine the path that america goes down for the next several decades, potentially. it is going to determine whether or not we've reestablished hope and prosperity in the future for our children and our grandchildren. when i leave this rally this afternoon, i am going to go to the airport and pick up my youngest granddaughter. she is barely four months old. i have not seen her yet, because we have been working this campaign. she cannot talk, but i guarantee you, if she cut, she would tell us she is pretty ticked off. [applause]

[laughter] use a, she came into this world approximately -- you see, she came into this world approximately $40,000 in debt. i am not a math major in college, but my computer works, and i think that means that the federal government is borrowing 60 two since of every dollar that it is spending, and it is further putting us in future generations in debt. we have the federal government incurring a debt that we cannot fund, creating an economy that is not competitive on a global scale. we have seen the out of control over spending, overreaching federal government. we saw it with t.a.r.p. we saw it in the stimulus bill that promised jobs but didn't,

and since that jobs bill -- and sense that stimulus bill was signed, only three states have lost more jobs than ohio has. charlie wilson attacked me because he cannot defend his own record of taxing and spending by saying that i send jobs overseas. i work for a company that has a proven track record of competing favorably in a global market, in a way that creates jobs right here in ohio. we do not send jobs overseas. we create jobs right here in ohio. you compare that with the stimulus bill that charlie wilson signed, where two $0.3 billion came in the form of manufacturing tax credits that went to companies in china, korea and spain. 80% of the green energy projects went to companies overseas. folks, that is the kind of

irresponsible leadership that says one paying about being a blue dog conservative down here in the district and then going to washington and voting with nancy pelosi and 90.1% of the time. [applause] with your help, next tuesday, we are going to stop this. we are going to stop the madness. [applause] we are going to bring america back to the principles that made us great. ladies and gentlemen, we are so polarized in this country. we are polarized culturally. we are polarized politically. we're polarized economically. we have got to have leadership that says what they mean and then do what they say. [applause]

that stick to the principles of the constitution and the declaration of independence. i give you my word, if you send me to washington on your behalf next tuesday, i am going to worry more about your businesses and your jobs and the future of your children and your grandchildren, then i am my next reelection campaign. [applause] i will do my job to restore hope and faith in the american dream for the people of the sixth district. many people that i have met all up and down the ohio river, they lost hope. to them, the american dream has

become the obama/pelosi/wilson nightmare. we are going to change that. you send me their next tuesday, i am going to do my part to change that for this district. the very first thing i am going to do after being sworn then, i am going to cast a vote for the man that will make a difference for the entire nation. i am going to vote for john boehner to be the next speaker of the house. [applause] i would like to do -- [applause] we have been doing this for over a year, and we have had a number

of rallies. i have never had one like this. if you think that i think that you came here just to hear me talk -- [laughter] no way. ladies and gentlemen, the next speaker of the house, john boehner. [applause] >> thank you for being here. i have to tell you straight up, because i am not nancy pelosi. i am not barack obama. i say what i mean and i mean when i say. i have got to tell you that this race was not on anybody start. i met fell back in august and he kept telling me that we were going to win this. i asked around, and this was not

on anybody's chart. we are here today because of bill johnson has done a whale of a job putting himself on at the map. [applause] bill, i am proud of you, i am proud of the team that you put together, the campaign you put together. i am proud of all of you who are here today in support of bill johnson, because he is going to be your next congressman. [applause] back in february, early march, the president had us all down to the blair house to talk about health care. you remember the 7 hour obama infomercial. we were supposed to be the potted plants for those events. we actually showed up with some ideas. the president said we have ideological differences and

philosophical differences. he said, "that is what elections are for." he was right. [applause] if you're tired of all the bailouts, of the stimulus spending, of the government taking over virtually everything in america, remember what the president said, "that is what elections are for. " i was doing an interview -- the president was doing an interview the other day and he said that on election day we are going to punish our enemies. those people who disagree with our policies are our enemies. i can hardly believe the president said this. when president bush, president reagan, president clinton, george w. bush used the words enemies, he was referring to a global terrorist, to dictators around the world who hate

freedom and hate america. for the president to use that word about people who oppose bigger government, people who are freedom-loving and love our constitution, i have to tell you, i find that very appalling. mr. president, i have a word for those people, those people who oppose your policies, those people who love our constitution, love freedom, and love the foundation america was built on, you know what i call those people? not enemies. they're patriots. [applause] so, patriot, i say to you, there are just three days left. three days left in which we can make a difference for our

country. i have 11 brothers and sisters and my dad owns of art. i have washed dishes and done -- my dad owns ofa bar. i have washed dishes and done every rotten job there is. i have loved every job i had, until i got the next one. [laughter] i was lucky enough to own a small business and turn it into a successful business. i got involved in my neighborhood, owners association, and somehow ended up in congress. [laughter] this could happen to you. [laughter] when you look around america, and you look at the freedom we have to invest in our cells, invest in our families, invest in our businesses, government

should not get in the way. you know that the more government takes from you, the less you have for yourself, your business, your family and your community. it is time for the government to get their hands off the dues that is laying the golden egg. if you're tired of all of the duplicity and the double talk, then you have to elect bill johnson to the united states congress. [applause] if you want to send an nancy pelosi packing her bags back to san francisco, and elect bill johnson. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, remember one thing. we live in america. you really can grow up to be anything you want to be. everyone in this crowd knows that if we do not turn this

country around, the future for our kids and grandkids is not going to be as great. we have to bring hope back to america. the way to do that is to fight for a smaller, more accountable government in washington, d.c. the way to do that is to elect bill johnson and sen charlie wilson back to wherever he's from. remember when ronald reagan was president? we had bob hope. we had johnny cash. think about where we are today. we have president obama, but we have no hope, and we have no cash. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you very much, john

boehner. the next speaker of the house. host: that was john boehner a little earlier today in ohio at a rally for bill johnson, the sixth district republican nominee for the u.s. house of representatives. well, the president is all over today campaigning. right now he is in connecticut. this is a live picture you're seeing. he just finished his speech up there. he will be on his way at some point to chicago. tonight at 10:30 p.m., we will bring you coverage of the president's visit and rally for the candidates in illinois. that is at 10:30 p.m. on c-span. the president and john boehner did their weekly radio address says that politicians do each week. here they are. >> tuesday is election day, and

here in washington, the talk is all about who will win and who will lose. around kitchen tables, i am sure you're talking about other things, your finances, maybe the state of the economy in your home town, your kids, and what the future will bring. the hope is that once the election is over, the people that you choose to represent you will put politics aside and work together to solve your problems. that is my hope too. whatever the outcome on tuesday, we need to come together to help people who are still looking for jobs get back to work. there are some practical steps we can take right away to promote growth and encourage businesses to hire and expand. these are steps we should all be able to agree on, not democratic or republican ideas, but proposals that have traditionally been supported by both parties. we ought to offer tax relief for middle-class families to have borne the brunt of the recession. we ought to allow small

businesses to write off the equipment they buy next year. we ought to make middle-class tax cut bigger and permanent to spur innovation and technology. we should work together to tackle the broader challenges that face our country so we remain competitive and prosperous in the global economy. that means ensuring that our young people have the skills and education to meet the new age, building infrastructure from high-speed trains to high-speed internet so that our economy has room to grow. that means fostering a climate of innovation and entrepreneurship that will allow american businesses and american workers to lead in growth industries like clean energy. on these issues, issues that will determine our success or failure in this new economy, i believe it is the fundamental responsibility of all the hold elected office to seek out common ground. at times we will have legitimate, philosophical differences. it may not always the best

politics, but it is the right thing to do for our country. that is why i found recent comments by the top two republicans in congress so troubling. the republican leader of the house actually said that this is not the time for compromise. the republican leader of the senate said that his main goal after this election is simply to win the next one. i know the we are in the final days of a campaign, so it is not surprising that we are seeing this heated rhetoric. but once the ballots are cast in the voting is done, we need to but the partisanship aside, win, lose or draw. we can spend the next two years arguing with one another, attractant fail debate, mired in gridlock, and unable to solve the serious problems facing our country. we can stand still while our competitors like china and others around the world pass us by, making critical decisions that will allow them to gain an edge in new industries, or we

can do what the american people are demanding that we do it. we can move forward. we can promote new jobs and businesses by harboring the talent and continuity of our people. we can take the necessary steps to help the next generation, instead of just worrying about the next election. we can live up to an allegiance are stronger than our membership to any political party, and that is the allegiance we hold to our country. thank you. >> hello, i am john boehner. before i served in congress, i ran a small business here in ohio. i saw firsthand how politicians in washington can make it harder for small business owner to create jobs. in the final days of his campaign, barack obama promised to change this country and to change the world. i do not know about the world, but here at home, americans have not experienced the change that was promised. our national debt has grown by three trillion dollars.

trust in government has fallen to an all-time low. these problems did not start under president obama, but instead of fixing them, his policies have made them worse. a stimulus spending spree that created jobs in all salvador while millions of americans lost their jobs here. job killing energy tax, a government takeover of health care, all of these things have created uncertainty for small businesses, the engine of job creation in america, while our children are being saddled with our debt. changes start with cutting spending instead of increasing it. helping small businesses get back to creating jobs again. that's what republicans are offering with our pledge to america, an agenda built by listening to the people. a generation of fiscal recklessness from washington has pushed us to the brink. we are now borrowing $0.49 of every dollar we spend from our

kids and grandkids. threatensing stripper spree our future. it is also hurting our economy. we have a plan to cut spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving taxpayers $100 billion almost immediately. we are ready to put in place strict budget gaps that limits spending from here on out to ensure that washington no longer goes on spending binges. we cannot balance the budget without cutting spending and achieving real economic growth. we will not have real economic growth if we raise taxes on small businesses and families. there is a third thing we need to do to help our economy, and that is change congress itself. the american people are in charge of this country, and they deserved a congress that acts like it. americans should have three days to read bills before congress votes on them, something they

did not get before the stimulus was rushed into law. we should have comprehensive bills, not make it easy to hide wasteful spending and job killing policies. job -- bills to be created in plain view, not in the speaker's office behind closed doors. americans are asking, where are the jobs? to get our economy back on track, we have to stop all of the coming tax hikes, and cut spending. this is a new way forward that has not been tried in washington yet. it is a break from the direction obama has taken this country. it is also a break from the direction the republicans took us when they were last in charge. americans are in charge, and they deserve nothing less. we can begin the drive for a smaller, less costly government

that honors our constitution and respects the will of the american people. these ideas are at the core of our pledge to america. we have tried it obama way. we tried to washington's way. it has not worked. it is time to put the people back in charge. thank you for your time, and may god bless the united states of america. host: as we continue our live coverage, the weekend before the 2010 midterm election, we want to hear from you now for the next 15-20 minutes or so, what is motivating you to vote? what is getting you out to the polls? the numbers are on your screen. again, you will see president obama on this network at 10:30 p.m. eastern time. we saw john boehner a little bit

earlier. we also saw the rally to restore sanity and/or fear. and if you go to c- span.org/politics, we have covered over 120 debate. you can watch all of them and read twitter feeds from the candidates. c- what is motivating you to vote this 2010 election? we will begin with crawford, tenn. guest: it has been an absolute disaster. president obama has taken the anti-were left out of any motivation to do with that

issue. despite any issues about spending that you hear from the right, the tea party, and the sort of thing, there is a 0 discussion on the sacred cow when it comes to defense budgeting. when we look to stall actions in march, it is a mess. it is not part of the media or the dialogue. this is a large component of our economy and what we are seeing around the world. >> we asked this question before we talk a lot of politics on our morning show, especially. but you're one of the few to bring up the war issue. >> that is the problem. that is what is motivating me. >> you will go to the polls and which we will you vote? >> i will vote the way i usually do. i am in independent. i vote for those who closely resemble my issues. we sometimes have to make

compromises and there will be people i do not always agree with. with my primary issue, i have to focus their and worry about meeting and building bridges elsewhere. host: what position would you like to see the u.s. take on the war in afghanistan. guest: i would like to see what ron paul had back in the primaries. a lot of people may think about that as isolation. i disagree with that notion. a less interventionist, but a less interventionist foreign policy. maybe a little more sense and not driven by nsc68, for example, and advisers and ideologues. we noticed a lot of people -- in the pentagon, it does not matter

who is president. they always present, regardless of political power. host: thank you. mary, what is motivating you to get to the polls on tuesday? caller: if i ever had a reason not to go, the two men who spoke against obama today would force me to make sure i went there. host: are you referring to john stuart and steven colbert? boehner. no johnson and owne they talk about the deficit. the deficit came from george bush. the deficit was fantastic when

clinton got through. on top of that, george bush brought the war. i can hardly speak. i am so furious. host: thank you. orlando james, what is getting it to the polls? caller: i am agree with your caller just now. i am a strong republican. i vote republican. but i agree with her because it is so frustrating to me that my republicans are having such an musette as to what caused -- such amnesia as to what causes situation.his situation host: host: so when you get to the polls, who will you vote for? caller: i am an angry republican

voting democrat. host: democrat in jacksonville, florida. what is getting into the polls? caller: i am an absentee voter. i am hand-carrying it to the polls. i m and and i will look like hell. i am a registered republican, but i am voting democrat, except for the representative in congress district 4. host: why are you mad? caller: i'm 52 years old. i do not think we should be in afghanistan. we should not have ever gone into iraq. it is just ridiculous. but excuse is nothing more than that. if you do not look, you cannot complain.

we need to get to basics. if the republicans get in, god bless them. but we will be back in the same. if the republicans get in, the democrats will be able to fight harder. host: lawrence, alabama, republican line. what is motivating you to vote this election season? caller: i'm concerned about the way our government is going. i know what this country was founded on, the will of the people. it seems that we fell away from that. host: is there any issue in particular that you concentrate

on? caller: there are several issues. basically, as far as republican, democrat, or independent or whatever they call their self, the ones i think need to be and there are the ones who truly believe in the american dream and want to restore america. look at rome. they felt under their own weight. that is what is going to happen to this country. i am sorry to say that. i am not trying to be negative. host: ttheresa, what is getting a lot to the polls on tuesday? what is motivating you? caller: my main motivation is

the mood of the country. especially with the tea party movement, they have basically renamed the republican party. they have turned them into a large group of hecklers. as much as i have tried to listen, to hear where their direction is, what they would like to specifically change or how they intend to improve the state of this economy and basically the state of the country, i get more heckling than facts. and there is a contradictory mood about the party. this time, rather than me having a choice of democrat or republican, i will be voting mostly democrat. i am tired of waiting and trying

to figure out which republican candidate would be a good choice for me. >> where is illyria? >> it is west of cleveland. host: what you do there? caller: i work for myself. i know a little bit about finance and economics. these situations that allow people are concerned about with the economy, they are not being clearly -- the politicians, some of the politicians, some of the candidates are not being fair to and the other candidates and they're not telling the truth. host: are you tired of the campaign as the television? caller: i do know what a lot of television. i do not see the campaign

commercials. i do a lot of reading. i do not watch a lot of the mudslinging. but when i do have an opportunity, i am not getting a really clear -- i normally vote for republicans and democrats when i do vote. i have a trust because i have voted independent for a while and i do not have a choice this time and i'm very frustrated this time. i personally think that there are positions for conservatives and positions for liberals and i think there is time for conservatism and time for liberalism or progressive, whenever people want to label itself. this time, i cannot give a clear picture. as far as republicans are concerned, the tea party movement has inundated the party and it is nothing but hate and a lot of anger and a lot of heckling.

host: teresa, thank you for your time. we have another one from ohio, northwestern ohio. democrat. caller: what is motivating me to vote is health care reform. a lot of the candidates running today for congress or even for governor are saying war are making out ads about how he voted for health care reform. i am a full-time college student. my main platform would be health care reform and a lot of other stuff that i do not want to name .ffer now appeared host host: you are in favor of the health care reform passed this year? caller: absolutely. host: scott on the independent

mind, what is getting you to the polls? caller: honestly, it is a whole lot of disingenuousness. i have been watching c-span most of the day. thank you for covering the rally earlier. that was a nice fresh peas for the day. i just saw john boehner stepped up on the tv and what struck me is that we have tried the obama way the last few years. i definitely did not see anything from the right try a whole lot. granted, there has been a lot going on in government this year. agenda-wise, a lot had to be pushed back so that we could move the economy forward again. the dow is up over 11,000. i think it is going the right way. unfortunate, in the election cycle, that is not enough to motivate people to come out for that side of the base.

but here, in indiana, is thick with mudslinging. if is a lot of -- it is a lot of disingenuousness. host: brad ellsworth is there. caller: yes. we also have a strong libertarian candidate. i think dan coats will probably take it. host: who will you vote for? caller: i will probably lean towards ellsworth, to be quite honest with you. host: why? caller: i respect it has done in the past, being sheriff. there is a lot of negative news that ties codes into his past. but if i felt a stronger surge in indiana for the libertarian candidate, i would probably lean

that way. but saying the numbers as of this morning, it would be a waste of a vote. host: water the numbers? -- what are the numbers? caller: coates had 20 points on ellsworth. i have a disdain for the ads on tv, but you never seen the ads on tv for the libertarian candidate. there is no money there. i will probably put my vote towards ellsworth so that i will not have one canceled out for coates. .ost: diana's in vermont caller: thank you, c-span, the best reality show on television. so much has happened since i got on the line. i am 80 party movement member.

in the state of vermont, there -- i am a tea party movement member. in the state of vermont, there are several members here. the collar that was just on talk about libertarian, which is what i really am. i think the chances of infiltrating a party to get ourselves up there on the ticket even higher, our chances are better with republicans. they are not as corrupted as the democrats. they are hard nuts to crack. their ideology is so strong that they will take centuries to get there. i am worried about stopping that agenda. in my state, we have somebody finally running who can win against adlai e. after 30 years of him -- against pat leahy after 30 years.

many probably do not know the freedom they are missing because they have been deprived of it most of their lives. host: we have a time for a couple more calls. denny's from jacksonville, florida. -- denise from jacksonville, florida. caller: the fact that the tea party is so negative and racist and the majority of the republicans are-and all of that line, i am definitely voting for democrats all the way. host: we have time for one more call. this is from betty in greensboro, north carolina. caller: hi there.

i have already voted. by early voted. yesterday, in fact. host: who do the four? caller: i would have voted for st. republicans, but i did vote for -- voted for st. republicans, but i did vote for my husband's nephew -- truckfor straight republicans, but i did vote for sam turner, my husband's nephew. host: why are you a republican? caller: i am an 80-year-old christian. i am very much a conservative. i believe in the way this country was founded. i have so many deep convictions that this country is not going

in the right direction, not what our founding fathers were for. in all good conscience, that is the only way i could vote. host: if you are 80 years old, you are on medicare, correct? caller: yes, i am a widow. my husband has a government pension and i get part of that. i am also a retired nurse and i get retirement from that from social security. host: what do you think about health care reform? caller: from what i have heard, i do not think much of it. a lot of people will be penalized. i could not possibly vote for that. host: what you think about the tea party movement? caller: i do not know an awful

lot about it. i have never been to any of the meetings or anything like that, although i would have liked to. but the previous caller was so articulate. i just feel that so many people who speak so negatively against them do not really know what they're talking about from what i have read. i think it is a good thing. host: did you watch the rally that we have gone earlier with john stuart? caller: i saw of it early this morning. it was pretty noisy for me. [laughter] i guess it is the under ejaculation. i am sure that some of my grandchildren will love it. -- i guess it is the younger generation. i am sure that some of my grandchildren will love it. one of your callers called in and said that there were hardly any blacks there. i do not know what the issue was

there. but i saw a lot of black people. i just think he did not turn it on when the rest of us did. host: do you use the internet? caller: yes. host: i have an 80-year-old mother named betty also. [laughter] caller: i was 80 in march. host: congratulation. caller: my husband passed away in march. thank you for c-span. host: thank you. that was not my mother, by the way. we want to show you something that happened on wednesday. this is one of the 120 or so debates that we have covered. this is the illinois senate debate. they are within two points of each other. president obama will go to a rally in chicago this evening. we will bring it to attend 30

p.m. first, we want to show you -- we will bring it to you at 10:30 p.m. first, we want to show you the date from wednesday. on the obama presidency, the midterm elections and politics in america. >> now the final debate among the senate candidates in there. govern charlie crist who is running as an independent, democratic congressman kendrick meek and republican marco rubio. sarah palin campaigned with mr. rubio last saturday. president obama and former president bill clinton have campaigned for representative meek. and govern crist has been endorsed by -- governor crist has been endorsed by california governor around solid schwartz. this is an -- arnold schwartz. this is an hour.

>> i am david gregory moderator of nbc's meet the press and we are live tonight from orlando for the final face-off, one week from election day, it all comes down to this and the fight for florida's u.s. open seat is one that continues to garner national attention. this is the last time that the top candidates for the senate will publicly debate each other. joining us former florida house speaker, marco rubio, the republican candidate, governor charlie crist, the independent candidate, and congressman kendrick meek from the 17th district, the democratic candidate. a quick review of the rules tonight. you all have a one-minute opening statement and then we're going to questioning, "meet the press" style. you have two minutes to respond, but i'll be able to follow up as i like to do. i kind of think of this and you should be all be given credit for how many debates you have done. floridians have benefited from this and i want to approach

this not to rehash what you have done but to follow up on some of the important questions and pin you down on some answers to floridians have an idea of what they're voting on as they go to the polls next week. mr. rubio, you are chosen to go first. >> thank you for tuning in tonight. we are on the verge of one of the most important elections in american history. literally a week from tonight, we're going to be voting to send someone to washington, d.c. to speak for us at a time when america is confronting challenges as great as it has at any point in our modern history. for too long, washington has had us on the wrong road. both parties are to the blame for that the result is that washington is a mess. if we stay on this rode that we are on right -- road that we are on right now that makes us unique could be lost. it's important we send people to washington, d.c. people that will stand up for us and give an alternative. throughout the campaign, the 80

some odd ideas we have on our website, our travel and speeches throughout the state or over the last five debates, we have focused on the issues and given people clear ideas of where we would like to take our country and our state. i look forward to taking the opportunity to do that tonight on an important debate on the eve of an important election. i would like to thank all of you for tuning in. >> governor crist, opening statement. >> david, thank you for coming here and be a part of this debate. it's important for the people of florida to see what this is all about. this is an important election. it will decide who is our next united states senator to represent our beautiful state of florida. there are choices in this race and it's important that you understand what your choices are. one choice will give us an attorney to have an president miss particular point of view, have -- an optimistic point of view. my friend marco rubio talks about raising the

we see all this money from unknown sources, sigrid dollars destroying the process. the secret to dollars destroying the process. >> neither one of us can courted with these outside groups. it would be illegal to do so. >> in the end, we need more disclosure. the disclosed act was a very unbalanced bill. in the and, if you have bounced legislation which forces everything to come out in the open and to be disclosed, number one, the supreme court will not strike that down. it will actually pull that. no. 2, voters will have more information. voters having been much information as possible is a good thing. >> you have that knowledge that

you knew something about the criminal background of certain men for whom your family made contributions to. >> throughout this campaign, congressman curt and karl rove and these outside groups have said things that are wrong, inaccurate, and i am very proud of the business that my father's started 30 years ago. no one has ever accused my father's business of doing anything illegal, illicit, or improper. he came to this country with nothing. he started a community bank and helped thousands of people achieve the american dream. he helped them buy their first thomas start their first business. 2. -- to cherry pick a few individuals out of thousands,

fortune, there are people you wish you'd never have done business with. but that does not represent the thousands of customers who have achieved the american dream because of my father. >> you said you did discuss his criminal background with mr. during go. is that correct? >> nothing i have said has been inconsistent at all. if we knew then what we know now, these are the kinds of people that -- these are not the kinds of people that they want to do business with. that is not my father's legacy. they look at whether that individual can pay alone on a timely manner. bolo's had nothing to do with the criminal activity of these -- the loans had nothing to do with the criminal activities of these individuals. >> we are really talking about how you perform as a senior loan officer. did you know that the two men were facing prison sentences at

the time? >> if we knew then what we know now, we would not do business with these people. when you make a credit decision, you look at the credit worthiness of the borrower, whether they can pay the loan, and you will not find two or three individuals, but hundreds. that is the reality of how business works. >> are you saying that if you go to a larger bank, they would have done business with hundreds of criminals? >> absolutely. they got loans from other banks in chicago and elsewhere. >> this is a list of all the loans made by broadway bank to convicted mobsters and villains. the is were to -- you do not have to pull their rap sheet. you can read about them in the

"chicago tribune." after our appearance on "meet the press," the reporter said that they had not seen someone running for nationally politically important office saying, "i did not know the extent of the criminal activity of the people i was lending money to." this was a federally insured institution that then collapsed, throwing the bill on to the fdic. >> i am thrilled. the congressman continues to carry this list around and tries to run guilt by association. he went on national tv and read the list. fibromyalgia list. he took thousands of dollars -- if he wants to read from this list, i have one, too. he took thousands of dollars.

these guilt-by-association attacks, people are not buying them. i would love to talk about the issues and move this campaign for it and talk about the fundamental economic differences. you will see that he decided to go straight-throughout this campaign because he has indefensible record in congress. i have decided to go positive. >> it is ironic that he has pulled all of his positive ads and is going straight- negative. >> id is like a paul harvey episode. what he doesn't -- it is like a paul harvey episode. what he does not say is that we return that money as soon as we found out.

all of those contributions were returned a decade ago. when we look at this, i did not lend hundreds of thousands of dollars to tony rezko. >> but you received a kang camcn contribution to him. >> we refunded this money. when you run big campaigns, you will accept a lot of money from a lot of people. but when you hear about criminal problems, you refunded. but what i did not do is lend money to him. i did not work with the company that had some new relationships with mobsters. i did not have risky real estate loans.

$390 million were paid by the fdic. that was his first job. the second job was treasurer for the state of illinois where he presided over a city collapse of the state's credit rating and a loss of palate savings under the state program. >> the bigger picture is that i have my list and he has his list. heat goes on tv address to malign my father's business. -- he goes on tv and tries to malign my father's business. we're not talking about putting people back to work. he goes around and says that i am involved in these activities. he talks about everything else because he has an indefensible record in congress. this is why i am going positive all the way through and the congressman is going the opposite.

there is a fundamental difference in how we address the problems these country faced -- this country faces. >> you have taken responsibility and apologize for mistakes, but can you give the voters some self analysis on why, with a record like yours, you felt the need to exaggerate in the first place? >> i was careless. i misstated parts of my military record. i learned a painful lesson. as a naval officer, you are trained to take responsibility for your people, for your unit, and for your mission. and i am accountable. which is why i apologize to the people of illinois. >> over the course of your career, there are these questions about exaggerations', the boating accident that you claim to have been a lot changer for you, the award to have

received, whether you were actually subject to ground fire why're you -- while you were in the air -- there is a pattern. >> you go through an intense amount of scrutiny. that is very appropriate for a high office like united states senator. each detail is available. but one of the problems i have is that i do have a military record. i was in the united states military reserve for 22 years. my military record -- he has not served a day in uniform in his life. i very much believe in this country. i wear the uniform of this country and i would die for it. did i make mistakes and learned very painful lesson? i did. but one of the differences in this race is i took responsibility and vendors to the mistakes i made. when you look at my opponent, the collapse of the broadway bank, the loans, the mobsters, the collapse of the college savings program, he always says

that it is someone else's fault. i have taken responsibility for my problems and i will make sure that it will never happen again. that is why i released follow my navy confidential fitness reports. >> cents a bright start has come up a couple times -- >> can i respond? >> sure. >> the military record and a phantom teaching career, my question is why you have lied about it. but what is more a egregious yeahere is that you may not alws agree with me, but you will know where i stand on the issues. they say about you, they do not know what he stands for.

cap and trade, he voted for it and then changed his mind and said he will never vote that way again. we want more big picture than his military and truths. where do you stand on the issues? the reason why -- his military untruths. where do you stand on the issues? >> you raise a bunch of points that i would like to have a chance to respond to. but since bright star is on the table, what is your position? some people say you lost $150 million on this key fund where people were using it to pay for their kids in education. on your watch, you lost all this

money. >> we have taken it to one of the top five programs in the country. even congressman curt said that it was not the state troopers fault -- the state treasurer's post. that being said, i am charge. i take -- even congressman kirk said that it was not the state treasurer's fault. that being said, i am in charge. i take responsibility. in 2008, the market took some enormous losses. there were losses of over 40%. this is the only one where families actually got money back. what is more important is that there is a bill in congress to get the corporate middleman out of the student lending business, something that would provide $60

billion to make college more affordable by increasing funding to community colleges, by increasing the size of pell grants, by giving money to early education. he voted against it because he is bought and paid for by the corporate special interests. we want to make college more affordable. he has made it the exact opposite. >> he cited the only four newspaper endorsements he has. "in the chicago tribune" said that he was to reckless and too immature to be in the senate seat. we look at the bright start program. we know from the freedom of information act that he was told in september that there was an increasing risk to the bright start program. only a few weeks later, in

september 2008, he sent a letter to bright start families saying that funds were strong and that this was a good investment to make, misleading those families. they lost $70 million. then he had the chutzpah to send out a letter saying that you may get a 50 cents on the dollar refund as long as you promise never to sue me. that was his second job after the collapse of the bank. >> did not personally blame oppenheimer for it? >> we did not know what the time. then we got the freedom of information act request and saw that he was told about the increasing risk. they were told that oppenheimer, in its college plus program, had risked real estate losses. families lost $70 million. >> again, we took a from one of the worst programs to one of the top five.

he is completely changing his tune. we have made college more affordable. on issues that are more important for the u.s. senate, he has made it more difficult for students to go to college. he has is talking points. negative.g >> your opponent cited several areas where he has parted company with his party. can you give examples where you have? >> i would have voted against the omnibus spending bill that had tons of earmarks. i think the president should have vetoed that bill. it was a mistake. i have also said that the focus on health care reform, which is something that i am in favor of, we should have had a laser-like focus in washington, d.c.

creating jobs. i do not think that there should have been the use of all of that political capital early on. we should have turned around this economy. i would have voted for it. >> you are quoted in the tribune as saying that the stimulus package as "largely failed." does that mean that you think it has somewhat succeeded? >> when you are $1 trillion and try to spend it on something, you will get something back. >> what did the president get back on that? >> most of the stimulus money went on spending programs. the laughing legacy will be a nearly dollar trillion debt to our kids. did we reasfault some roads?

yes. but it limited the structure to shovel-ready projects. that means the other projects did not get that. we did not do a new lock-and dam system for the mississippi. when all of this social spending programs from abroad and, it is a tremendous risk to our kids. >> this is remarkable to hear from the congressmen. this is not a personal attack. this is a fundamental difference. he voted for every single one of the bush budgets that drove us to record budget surplusedefici. he voted for every single one of those budgets than doubled our national debt. what was done to our national

debt in those eight years than all of the head ministrations in the history of the united states combined. overspending, over borrowing, over-taxing. now that barack obama gets into office, he says that he is spending too much. he took these measures -- he stands against these measures not because he does not believe in them, but because he is simply siding with the republican party. a third of the decisions were measures to emergency for municipalities. he did not think it was important for middle-class families to have tax cuts. another third was for infrastructure. $700 billion that we do not have, $700 billion where he has

not identified where it will come from or what country you will borrow it from. >> congressman -- >> this is a chart showing the deficit for the last 10 years, as we move from the dot com recession. then we have 9/11. right here, you have a democratic congress and a republican president, showing the genius of the founding fathers that a check and balance having one party looking over the other parties shoulder is a good thing. then you have this explosion of spending right here. that is what a growing bipartisan majority is worried about. we should listen to chairman bernanke and what he says. can we really bar over $1 trillion a year in the coming days, most of it from abroad? i think we cannot. i think there is a growing independent voice for more

fiscally responsible policy. >> but if you look at his record, i feel look at the votes that he sold us on, if you provide tax cuts to the wealthiest, it will make as a global economic leader and create jobs. it did the exact opposite. it destroyed middle-class families. it destroyed our economy. not only did it destroy art economy and not make as a global competitor and not increase business investment, which was the goal, even though 2007 was the worst decade in post-war in u.s. history for non-residential investment, but it double the national debt. and now he says, look at all of the debt that has been built here when the president inherited a dire emergency. >> republicans said that the promise was that it would get down to 7%. >> the news media has been full

of stories about how claims were completely overstated. >> is it not correct that 95% of economists claim that the stimulus package didn't divert a depression? >> most people would credit the tarp legislation with that. my opponent, after a painful-to- watch session in front of "to the chicago tribune", said he would have supported part as well. -- supported tarp as well. >> i would have liked to see some oversight and accountability, not the way you did, where you voted twice for a bailout for the biggest banks in the world and then come up when it came down for wall street reform to put shares on the

street on wall street, because he is bought and paid for by the corporate special interests, he voted against it. that is the fundamental difference. >> so are you for or against tarp? >> for it. >> so we agree on it. >> i would have done it any better way. >> this is the sort of amateur give my opponent where, in the end, a member of congress is presented with a yes or no vote for an imperfect package. he wants to have it both ways. it was difficult to get an answer at out of him now. but you have to make the tough vote and it does not take 30 seconds to figure it out. >> if the congressmen is accusing me of flip-floping, that would be the greatest irony. >> i am accusing you of flip- floping. he has done so on nafta.

you said that you wanted to start a trade war with our best export markets for illinois, canada. >> do you want to moderate this? i do not want to smothered two bright people. >> you flip-flop on tarp. >> you can keep making things up, but that is not what this conversation is about. >> let's get to the yes-or-no questions quickly. support for gay marriage? >> no. >> yes. >> civil unions? >> yes. >> yes. >> supreme court experts say that there has probably never been a supreme court's spouse that is as politically active as the wife of justice thomas.

she has referred to the administration and democrats using your "tierney." should the justice -- "tyranny." should the justice excuse himself from cases that she is politically active index you percent -- acted in? not that this is necessarily a flip-flop, congressman, the u.s. house passed legislation to repeal don't ask/don't tell. you voted against it, why? >> this was the recommendation of secretary gates and the president. but speaker pelosi wanted to move forward anyway. when you remove a policy, you

have to have a new policy. i look at this from the perspective of a first sergeant running a platoon or a chief running a department on a ship. when you have a new policy, the first question is, when i have problems, what am i supposed to do? >> so if they say yes with the studies, you will say -- >> i will read every word of that. the united states military's one of the largest and most complicated institutions on the planet, operating in all 24 time zones. it's fundamental mission is the defense of the united states. if we are to change the policy, from the deck of the ship, or from an infantry platoon, you have to escort the the new policy is. >> how long have you been in the military? >> 21 years. >> do you know any gay people in the military? >> i do not, not openly. >> many in the military say they do know gay people.

they would have no problem serving with gay men and women come in terms of effectiveness, in terms of how they do their duties, not a problem. >> i think we should do it in a very deliberate and detailed way. the joint chiefs of staff said it will report on it. the administration right now, first it says that it wants it repealed right away. then a court says to repeal it now. then the administration brings suit to block it. i am not sure where the administration is. better to have the joint chiefs of staff reporter on it. >> i am for the repeal of don't ask/don't tell. it is egregious that, over the years, they have kicked 14,000 americans out of the military. these are men and women who are willing to die for this country and we say they are not good enough, the only industrialized country to do so. it is a wrong-headed policy to do so. i think it goes against the

spirit of what this country what has been built on. when we need the best and the brightest in the military and when we are giving exceptions to felons to serve in the military, we're telling americans that, because of their sexual orientation, they cannot serve their country. >> -- >> my biggest concern with what has taken place in afghanistan is that a strictly military approach in the region has not worked. there are certain steps we need to take. we should be encouraged economic development to build roads, bridges, schools, and better trained police, a judicial system. i think we need to engage local international stakeholders. we need to focus our efforts in domestic security. we need to downsize our troops as quickly as possible.

the strategy is not working. >> you are against a timetable. why? >> i served in afghanistan twice. >> the withdrawal is supposed to start july 2011. >> i was in west point when he delivered the speech. i think that general petraeus has led out the right plan. when you look at afghanistan, you have to decide what are our objectives. if it is to create a democracy, it will not happen. but if it is to return it to its political state before the soviet invasion, a high degree of autonomy to trouble and linguistic groups, you have just align your most to the major power brokers of afghanistan. then general petraeus device the taliban took two groups. the $10 taliban is the large section that doing it for the money, especially drug money. that is one negotiation is very important. this is a community you can work with. then there are the hard to

hottest -- the hard jihadists. how do we solve this problem long term? by expanding the size of the afghan police and army. it will take longer than the present as planned. i think general petraeus will come to the president in december recommending an extension. >> despite the fact that you were an intelligence officer in the military, you said fought with "moral certitude that some bassein had weapons of mass destruction." >> we were shown tubes milled to a very close tolerance that were sanitize on the inside. they are only useful in refining uranium. we were told that there were

unmanned aerial vehicles that had gone through flight testing for spraying chemical weapons. with the maps of u.s. cities loaded into those uav's. >> were those actual or were you lied to? >> we were lied to. >> by the administration? >> by the deputy director of central intelligence, absolutely. secretary clinton, when she was a senator, the democratic leadership, the majority in the congress and then voted based on that information. it shows what happens when you get intelligence wrong. we have had two big intelligence failures lately. >> you say that you relied too. >> let me finish. there is a big error in intelligence when you understate a threat as well, like missing the 9/11 attacks. that is why we should remove all political appointees from central intelligence and make sure that it is all career. then you can have someone stand up and speak truth to power and

tell the president that "you have overstated a threat" or "you are underestimating its red." >> -- "you are underestimating a threat." >> natalie did he vote the wrong way, he convinced the other -- not only did he vote the wrong way, he convinced other members of congress with "moral certitude" that it was so. it took our eye off the prize, the individuals and terrorists who were actually responsible for 9/11. a decade later, we are discussing afghan policy that many foreign policy experts and many military personnel would say there is a strong chance we would not be there if we had gotten it right in iraq.

then there was a decision on the surge, which president bush got right. but how many times are you going to vote the wrong way? >> there were efforts in the congress to block the surge. once americans are committed to battle, i am for americans winning. they delivered a very hard fought victory. the key issue now is how we handle intelligence with regards to afghanistan and implement the petraeus plan? and how do we handle intelligence in regard to iran who may have nuclear weapons as early as next year? on the u.n. international atomic energy agency, which has been alarmist on this point, on the point of iran, because they were largely correct on iraq. because of their record on iraq, i think we should listen to them

on iran. iran announced they are refilling the bushire reactor, that they have reached high levels of uranium. this may be the issue next year that the united states senator has to work on. >> israeli settlements have been described this way. but two of you will show repeats and you will describe how you will split it up. in the meantime, some of it is eating a pizza. -- in the meantime, somebody is eating the pizza. >> i do not think it is the role of the united states to be the zoning administrator. i think we should facilitate the conversation between the two parties. i am in favor of the two-state solution. i think they have a right to defend themselves. they are a strong ally in the region. they deserve our support. i want to talk about iran

briefly. a nuclear-arms iran is unacceptable. i give the administration credit for trying to begin dialogue with a leader who has proven to be almost maniacal, untruthful, and unwilling to negotiate. >> how do you do with somebody like that? >> as i said, all options are on the table. >> what does that mean? >> i think we need crippling sanctions and do everything we can to not disrupt what is happening on the ground, but, with ahmadinejad and's --, that is important. >> most of portly, the best option, when you look at how the bush administration and the obama administration looked at it, they had two options. the first option was let the u.n. handle it. the second option was let the israeli air force analyst. while they have capably removed the nuclear programs of iran and syria, pit our great strength

against their greatest weakness. iran is totally dependent on foreign gasoline. 512 republicans and democrats that legislation for it. >> as their economy collapses, they have to choose to between a rapidly shrinking economy and their nuclear program. >> as far as the settlements in israel, your thoughts on that. >> so many people see the expansion of settlements in israel as a real impediment to peace in that region.

>> here is where my, and i would agree. i think that have been less concerned about whether the iranians are building a nuclear bomb. the key threat in the middle east is the nuclear program of iran. israel has been a stable partner of peace with neighbors who are willing to really deliver peace. for example, when the egyptians were finally ready to have peace, the israelis gave up the sinai, and there is a true peace between egypt and israel. as well with the jordanians. the palestinians are divided between president of boss and the prime minister -- president abbas and the prime minister. >> let's talk about your individual accomplishments. what have you done that you are most proud of? >> we stood up and saved over 600 jobs. this goes to what it means to be

an elected official. here was a bank that received $25 billion in tax money and they were going to close down the company. we stood up and offer their jobs and told wells fargo would not do business with the state treasurer's office anymore. >> in my district, and helping save up -- was first just commissioned the first joint navy va hospital. joining together with others and being british petroleum and their 2007 lake michigan pollution plan, getting the state of israel, the eyes in the sky early-warning radar to defend against this growing threat, to make sure that our key allies in the middle east survive to the 21st century, and being all full, independent moderate in the house of representatives. >> you have never been a measure

of a bill that landed on the president's desk. >> one thing it members of congress seek to do is get on an eight-list committee, which includes the ways and means committee and the appropriations committee. appropriations committee members ossie to make sure that their impact is on the appropriation bills coming before their committee. it is a great committed to be gone because the appropriation bills must pass. you tend to be more effective in your job that other members. remember, we have 11 appropriations bills and the actual name on the appropriations bill is of the chairman of the subcommittee that produces the bill. >> so except for that your name would have been on a bill that was passed and sent to the president. >> you can go on our website and wasdozens of ottomanitems wheri a key mover. when you are serving in the congress, do you give a fiery

speech and drop of bill, are you just pandering to one side, or are you someone who is making it happen? when you look at those who got on the committee and made it happen, there is a very impressive record. >> i would look at your resume -- solid look at your resume and say it was kind of then. your response to that concern. >> eikenberry propofol we have done in the state treasurer's office. -- i am very proud of what we have done. we travel the state and teach financial literacy to boys and girls and single mothers. we have outperformed our benchmarks every single month that i have been in office. we put the state's unclaimed

property on ebay. >> you have held no legislative positions. >> we have added programs that help the environment because it is relevant to what we need to do towards moving toward a clean energy future. not being from washington d.c., not being there for 20 years is actually a plus. we need some new ideas. we have to invest in infrastructure and create jobs. this is the biggest difference, who we are fighting for. i want to fight for middle-class families that have been devastated by this recession. congressman kirk roden 13 times against the extension of unemployment -- voted 13 times against the extension of unemployment benefits.

>> there is a fundamental difference. my opponent said he wants to go to the u.s. senate and start a progressive caucus. he led off with an attack on members of the senate. members of his own party. i have served in the congress very much as a moderate. when you walk into the house of representatives, there are two unwritten pass. one is the path of partisanship, and the other path is the path of bipartisanship, were you make it happen. i chose that path. you always have a member of the other party with you, and you are more careful and looked results.

>> we see extreme people on the left and right. the question is, who represents us? i have been one of the most centrist members, making things happen. don't want to go to washington and make sure we stop spending money that we don't have? yes. the want to ignite class warfare, as my opponent does? it wants to raise taxes on the american people. he wants to hit the u.s. economy on december 1. >> what are you talking about? >> he wants to exempt people over $250,000.

>> congressman kirk says he wants to make sure we extend those tax cuts to the wealthiest americans. that will cost this country $700 billion. he refuses to say where he will get that $700 billion from. he refuses to answer which country is going to borrow $700 billion from. no one is trying to engage in class warfare. all economists have said the best way to stimulate the economy is to give to people who are more likely to spend it, knox -- not giving tax credits to those who are not as likely to spend it. they are not asking for it. >> he is for increasing the state income tax. he is for new energy taxes.

he is for $900 billion tax increase to hit the u.s. economy. i think what we should focus on is how to cut spending. $600 million in the first year. join forces command, which we do not need. there are reports that president obama may come forward with a line-item veto proposal. i think republicans should support that. any measure that leads to cutting spending will help out of a long-term economic future of the country. >> there was an incident where there was a man who went up at a state fair to the democratic booth and he was wearing a t- shirt that said either he dies

or the country dies. there is anecdotal evidence that the sheer hatred toward the present at is on the rise. why the overt personal hatred of the president? >> there should not be. the president is the commander- in-chief. he is our leader for four years, and you have to respect that and respect the office. >> one you think this personal hatred of the president seems so prevalent in some quarters? >> all i know it is disgusting, offensive, and goes against the spirit of what the country was founded on. we believe in public service. i am proud to announce that i am so sick of the negative tone that i am going positive rest of the campaign. let's start talking about ideas, how were going to help small business.

banks are not lending. it is tough to start a business, expand a business, at a place to the payroll. let's talk about moving towards a clean energy future, which we have to do for national- security risk -- reasons. not these negative commercials. let's talk about leaving the country forward. let's have a serious debate about the issues. >> all ideas happen in a political climate that can be highly charged. >> certainly there are people who say irresponsible things on both sides. after 10 years of service in congress, i have tried to be very moderate, very centrist, very coalition building. this and all of my amendments have a democratic co-sponsor. if you look at my voting record

in 2009 -- the reason we are headed in the polls as we have growing support from growing budget from independents, democrats, and republicans who are worried that this country is borrowing too much money. we may be an economic decline. how or going to have our kids payoff trillions of dollars of debt wearability of just in the last few years? >> summerlin said the democratic party has been taken over by the government wants to take the country on the path to socialism. >> people are scared and concerned. we agree that the country as an economic decline. it is because of decisions that congressman kirk was an architect of. he talks about being a centrist. i do not give him that mantle. whether saying he is pro-choice

and then voting for the stupak amendment, saying he is in favor of men and women being paid equally and then voting against lilly ledbetter act, which is a common-sense approach for equal pay for equal women. these are fundamental differences in this race that he shifts to the right when he runs for senate. >> i am a pro-choice republican, very much in the center. members of the house of representatives were rated from the greatest opponent of the president to the greatest supporters, and i was exactly in the middle. when you look at the lilly ledbetter act, i actually read the bill. it allows trial lawyers to take control of women's rights without even checking with them. it allows them to certify a whole class of women and take control of their legal rights in a case. in the end, that could be one of

the altman ways to denigrate women, because they did not even realize that some trial lawyer that set the limit and says if you don't respond to meet on this time on this form, i get control of your rights. it was a terrible piece of legislation. >> we are out of time. let's give them a round of applause, please. [applause] that is our show for this wednesday night. our thanks for the city of chicago. join us tomorrow for a live debate for governor.

>> the chicago dreams as one out of five voters in the state do not trust either one of view -- the chicago tribune says one out of five voters in the state do not trust either one of you. >> i love this country. i have served in uniform and in congress. we are the most unique force for human dignity and liberty on the planet. we are back live as we continue our political coverage the week before the 2010 midterm elections. what is motivating you to vote? we want to hear from you. you can see the numbers they are on the screen/political affiliation.

go ahead and call in, and we will begin taking those calls in a few minutes. we have a whole evening of politics and rallies ahead. we will be during the, is central rally to restore sanity and/or fear. following that you will see john painter campaigning for bill johnson -- john boehner campaign in southeastern ohio. that will be at about 10:00 p.m. or so. then at 10:15 p.m. eastern time, president obama at rally in chicago. that is some of the politics that we have planned for this evening. for right now, we want to talk to you. what is motivating you to vote on tuesday? is there an issue out there, etc.?

we were just watching the illinois senate debate from wednesday. joining us on the phone is carry lester of the daily herald newspaper in chicago. how much money has been spent on the senate campaign? >> it has been a very expensive campaign. >> we are gone to move on to taking your calls and to takingkerry lester can join us -- we will hope that kerry lester can join us shortly. >> proposition 19, legalization of marijuana. i am tired of watching my neighbors and friends and six people -- 6 people being thrown

into metal cages for using a substance less dangerous than alcohol. all this rhetoric about having more stoned drivers, that is just not true. >> have you seen any polls on prop. 19, the legalization of marijuana? >> the polls are going back and forth. what we have now is all the media, because the media is funded by the pharmaceutical industry, the alcohol industry. you see beer commercials and alcohol commercials, all these commercials for oil and things that are threatened by the legalization of this plant. now the media has picked up on all this fear mongering. i am tired of living in a country full of people, full of tobacco and alcohol users who

say as marijuana smokers are such a danger to society, when they are killing half a million people a year in this nation. >> david, a republican in florida. >> i am more motivated to vote to get rid of tarp. we did not needed when reagan or clinton was in office. in the 1980's when chrysler was down, they got out of it on their own. the reorganized. they went up to $34 a share. i am tired of unions putting their foot in everything in visiting the white house all the time. i am tired of people like george soros. he helped take his own people to the concentration camps because he was adopted by a german officer. >> as i mentioned, we just

showed you the illinois senate debate. kerry lester from chicago is joining us. how much money has been spent on the senate race? >> it has been a very expensive race on both sides. kirk has about four $0.4 million in cash on hand. his opponent has about $1.2 million. he is getting a lot of money from outside groups. >> where is that money going? is it going to television commercials? >> absolutely. >> or the airwaves saturated out there? >> yes. >> what are the polls saying? >> it is close. there is a three-point margin of error. kirk is up about three points, so we are right at that margin of error. >> the president is going to

speak at a rally in chicago. are you going to be at the rally? >> we will have another reporter there. the turnout is expected to be huge. the president will not only be campaigning -- >> how is the gubernatorial race going? >> it is also very close, within that margin of error. >> the republicans are leading in both races currently? >> yes. >> what about turnout? have you heard about early voting yet? >> in our area, suburban chicago, we are seeing a pretty good turnout in terms of the early voting. county clerks are saying that the turnout is of compared to the 2006 gubernatorial

elections. they are predicting that the percentage of registered voters on election day will be about 50%. >> given that you are with the suburban chicago newspaper, have you had good access to the candidates or not? >> we have. with the suburbs being filled with thousands of independent swing voters, the candidates have been out here. >> can you tell us anything about the state congressional races? how many congressmen and women may be in danger of losing their seats or how many may flip? >> there are a few races that are too close to call at this point. the 10th district race that mark kirk has held for five terms, a very close race between two so- called social moderates.

another close one is the 14th district, between bill foster, a first term democrat and the republican. they are saying that first term democrats are among the most vulnerable seats in the midterm elections. >> how-have the gubernatorial and senate campaigns ben or hal negative have they not been? >> you have credibility issues with both campaigns coming out early. the have really been hammering hard at this portrayal of their opponents. the governor's race has been equally nasty. you have seen some wild things there. quinn has capitalized on

legislation that brady sponsored that would have euthanize dogs and cats. -- euthanize dogs and cats in bigger numbers. brady is telling voters that .hey cannot trust whequinn >> as a reporter bring these illinois races, the state where politics is quite interesting, what has been the most fascinating part for you? >> that is a tough question, peter. i would say that covering these races for months, the senate and the governor's race, we cannot predict at this point. they will go down to the wire. it may be too close to call even at midnight on election day. >> what about the fact that president obama is from

illinois? >> his numbers are down at this point -- down at this point. it is a very historic see for democrats to hold onto. >> good luck over the next couple of days. back to your calls on what is motivating you to vote this election season. -- >> and minnesota. >> -- charles in minnesota. >> this is my first time voting. i am very excited. i am a truck driver traveling out of state every few weeks.

i voted democrat all the way from top to bottom except for their ride in candidate -- except for a write-in candidate. i want obama to have a chance to do what he said he was going to do. we gave president bush eight years to get us where we are. it is just crazy to think two years are going to change things. let's give somebody a chance. eight years in the white house for its republicans, let's give the democrats for years.

i waited for my citizenship. i cannot wait to vote. >> where are you from originally? >> i am from sudan, and i came to this country in 1994. i messed up my selective service. i did not qualify for student loans and was told i could not get my citizenship. i tried last year and i got through. >> congratulations, and i am glad you are enjoying your first election. what is getting you to the polls on tuesday? >> deficit spending and taxes. >> allen on the democrats' line. you are on the air. >> i am motivated to vote this election by the irrationality

and lack of common sense that i am seeing in politics, and also the amount of corruption. i watched the rally today from beginning to end. that was a very uplifting thing to see, but it is also hard -- i have been trying to call in for a couple of hours now. colistin to people like the previous phone call that just came in -- listening to people. there is still so much ignorance, blatant and obvious racism in politics these days and in society in general that we are hearing about. a lot of it is magnified by the media. it is hard to separate republicans and tea partiers from the ignorance and racism that you see.

what democrats are not perfect, it is a lot easier to weed out the ignorance and racism on the democratic side. >> thank you for taking my call. motivated me to vote here in texas, i voted pretty much democrat with the exception of one republican, that was susan king. i just feel like this country has gone south. we voted president into office, and we need to support that president. just because we live in a computer age does not mean we will get absolute results overnight. it takes time. >> jeff on the republican line in north carolina. what is getting you to the polls

on tuesday? >> i have always been a republican. i am going to vote against mr. obama. he thinks i am his enemy, and i have never in 56 years heard a president, his enemy. that is beyond the pale as far as i am concerned. he is not fit to be our president. >> on the journal tomorrow morning, our roundtable with a syndicated columnist and connie shultz with the cleveland braipn dealer. they will talk about politics and the mood of the country. then the chief congressional correspondent for the congressional examiner. -- the national examiner. then with the secretaries of

state -- "newsmakers." >> thank you for c-span. >> you have to turn down the volume on your tv and just listen on your phone. go ahead and make your comment. >> the caller before me, that is shows where our country is right now. we have to heal our wounds and do whatever it takes for us to be a country. glaxo this election to you is about the president? >> it is not about the president. it is about the country as a whole. it is about getting jobs back here again. stop paying corporate america to send our jobs out of this country. >> sacramento, tammy, you are on

the line. >> i am voting primarily democratic. i would like to see the democrats make this a better country for all of us. i feel a lot of the issues we are facing right now are due to the fact that big businesses are primarily pushing the unemployment rate up. they are also pushing for foreclosures, which is driving the housing market down. i agree with the gentleman earlier that we need to give the president a chance to turn things around. he is not the great messiah that can come in and fix things overnight. we have to be patient and work day-by-day together as a country to look for resolution to the problems that we face and head, to make this country a better place for all of us. >> thanks for calling in. thanks to everybody who called in.

politics continues here on c- span. i want to let you know what is going to be on tonight. at 8:00 p.m., we will reshow the rally to restore in sent -- to restore sanity and/or fear. after that, house minority leader john boehner campaigned in ohio for republican bill johnson, who is the republican candidate for the sixth congressional district in ohio. then, president obama at a chicago rally for the illinois democrats. that will be at about 10:15 p.m. this evening. now we want to show you a florida governor debate that took place on october 20. this is where democrat alex sink and republican rick scott. it took place in fort lauderdale. >> decision 2010, before you

vote, presents the candidate for the office of governor of florida. >> welcome to your gubernatorial debate. the two candidates running for governor of florida are democrat alex sink and republican rick scott. the candidates will each have a minute and 15 seconds to respond to questions and that will be signaled by a clock that is located on the stage. we have asked the audience to hold its applause. our time is limited, so let's

get started. the coin toss went to alex sink. we will begin with jobs, the question most important to florida voters. you have supported a series of tax cuts and tax credits and you are talking about some spending cuts. your opponent is talking about cutting $6 billion and bring government back to the size it was in 2004. where are you going to cut spending, and how many jobs are you expecting to create? >> i want to thank the viewers and the people in the audience and the sponsors of this very important debate so that people can hear directly from their gubernatorial candidates. this is a very important election for our state. i am running for governor because i am bringing my 26 years of business experience right here in the state of florida to address a critical economic challenges we have in our state today.

two percentage points higher than the national average unemployment rate. i put together a specific plan on this 10 months ago. my plan for -- calls for reviving our economy in the short term. it is built around small businesses. our state was built on all entrepreneurs and people who started up small businesses. that is what i spent my career doing. i am providing for tax cuts for businesses who agree to hire more floridians. i am providing a plan for diversifying our economy by bringing in new industries into the state. i will be a very aggressive economic embassador for our state. is thes get to work basis of your model.

some state economists have said that if there is not an economic recovery, the economy will generate more jobs in just four years. how do you respond to that? >> i want to thank my family, my wife, my mom, maybe you have seen a few ads from her. our plan is seven steps to 700,000 jobs. our plan says we are going to get this date back to work by running the state like a business. watch how you spend every penny. i will be the job as governor. i will go out and figure out how to get people to build their business. i will cut property taxes by 19% and phase out the business tax.

i want to complement alex on one thing. we are not going to take any state taxpayer funding for our campaigns, which i think is a great thing. >> we are going to grow the state. my goal is to grow the whole state. this should be the number-one state for job creation. we have beaches, weather, look at the expansion of the panama canal. this should be the no. 1 state for job creation. >> i might add that in looking

at rick scott plan, that jeb bush's on economic adviser said it is flawed and it cannot work. to take the budget back to 1994 would mean cutting $18 billion out of the budget. we would all be interested in hearing how to do that. it is important to recognize that rick scott talks about creating 285,000 jobs, but the way he did it, he was a corporate raider. he went and bought hospitals around the country and shut many of them down. that is how he built his business. >> is this the right time to put 6000 koreans on the unemployment line? >> -- to put 6000 floridians on

the unemployment line? >> if you look at every year, if we reduce the work force 5%, every year we have somewhere between 12% and 16% attrition in our work force in the government. we will be able to do it just your normal change. we will do everything we can to keep everyone employed, but we have to get this money back into the hands of the taxpayers. people are worried about making sure they can make ends meet. this state is built on people that want to build their businesses. my opponent is going to start attacking. we built a wonderful company. we took care of 100,000 patients

a day. we had unbelievable -- i am very proud of what we accomplished. >> what concrete steps would you have taken to ensure that our economy is in better shape than it is right now? >> i would have taken several different and more specific steps. we have been in this reception -- recession for three years now. this is what i would have done in the last three or four years as governor. i would have expedited transportation projects.

these projects we have that a party been funded, it takes too long, 18, 24, 36 months to put those jobs on the ground. i would have streamlined regulation so we could have expedited work transportation projects. i also would have been more aggressive as an economic ambassador. when i am governor, i will let the everyday and ask for a list of names of companies for me to call to recruit to come to florida, or also for companies who are here right now who want to grow and expand, and offer them a helping hand to assist them so that the barriers are removed and we have the right policies in place. another thing that has happened is that we are in a critical situation on the space coast 3 we knew three or four years ago it was possible the federal government would be reducing funding of nasa. i would have gotten on top of that right away. >> the next governor will be in crisis mode almost immediately upon taking office, facing a budget shortfall, with no stimulus money in sight. where is that money going to come from? >> the estimates of the economists are that the deficit could be between

800 million and $2 billion. through other efficiencies liked the way the state uses its real estate, and they are all outlined in my plan. additionally, we have between $2 billion and $3 billion in medicaid fraud embedded in our system, as our own accounts have told us. we have to go after that fraud and reduce it. that is the way i will work with our legislature to close that $2 billion gap so that we don't hurt services to floridians. >> mr. scott, how would you come up with this shortfall? >> step one of my plan is called accountability budget. you go back and do exactly what you do in a business.

you look at every agency and say, can i do that less expensively? there are significant savings if you do that. in business, you benchmark. you do other states and and say, can they do it less expensively and get better outcomes? as you do that, you can save significant amounts of money. we have been smart to other states and we can show there is significant savings. -- -- we have benchmarked other states. how are you going to pay for the $12.5 billion spending? promises are going to cost us. she has already backed taxes and payroll and sales and cable and water. is she going to have to propose an income tax? >> the first thing i have to

respond to is that those charges of those billions of dollars are absolutely a outlandish. rick, we cannot trust anything you say. you have been now they are throwing mud began out there throwing mud and negative advertisements ever since the republican primary, and your charges have been outlandish. there is not a single provision for any kind of tax increase in any of my plans. by transportation plan, my energy plan, my economic development plan. it is just not there. this is just very tell fabrication. >> you received a letter from the senate president, and you did not respond. what is the number you are proposing? we are walking into a $2 billion deficit. we know we have to save money. obama math does not work here.

what is the number, and what tax will increase? >> i have to respond to that. i don't know what obama math is. what i know is that i was of 4.0 math major, and i know how to -- >> [laughter] >> let's talk about education. starting with mr. scott, earlier this year, governor chris vetoed legislation that would have directly tied teacher salaries to student performance. if you are elected governor, would you sign that measure if it came back next year, or would you change it? >> i put out a specific education plan. it starts like this. our education has to be -- this is exciting. it will benefit our kids. every child in this state has the same opportunity i had.

i started in public housing. i have lived the american dream. every job in the state has the same opportunity. we have to look at every child as an individual. each teacher has to be measured on their effectiveness of living that job from this level to this level. we have to make sure retrain our teachers the best we can. next, we need to make sure that our parents have all the choice is possible. just because you live on this block does not mean you need to go to this public school. he should have the choice of a charter school, home schooling, virtual schools. we have to make sure there is more choice. my opponent in her education plan does not use the word choice one time. we have to make sure we do this for the benefit of kids. we measure our teachers, and we have to pay the ones who are most effective and give as much choice to or parents as possible. >> let me just clarify.

rick did not really answer the question, because you ask a question about whether or not he would sign the same legislation that went through the legislature last year. i have been very clear that i would not sign a bill like senate bill 6. this is the reason why. it is because while parts of the bill provided for performance pay and merit pay for teachers, something i strongly agree with, all the school boards, superintendents, parents, the teachers around the state recognize that legislation for what it was, which was nothing more than at tallahassee bureaucrats and politicians taking control of our local school. i would never sign a bill like that. my plan is comprehensive. i put together a 27-page education plan. >> how would you call for accountability?

>> i do call for accountability. the way to put together a performance pay plan is to get all the stakeholders around a table, and you build out what you think are the most important factors. it cannot be just one thing like a test given on one day. i would build out a number of factors, and i would test it out. in my company, i never would have rolled out an incentive compensation plan statewide without knowing whether it really work and results in the right behaviors. i would have tested it out to be sure it was working correctly with the result which we want which is better performance from our students. >> one of the things mr. scott has brought up is whether you are willing to take responsibility. let's go over a few controversies in your past. recently, licensing excellence to sell insurance, nationsbank employees selling questionable securities from the lobby of

nationsbank all you were florida president, audit problems at sites enterprise is what you were on the audit committee. do you take responsibility for any of those? >> i take responsibility for all of them. let me just go through what i do take responsibility for. in the licensing issues, we have a division of insurance agent licensing. i went back to check the charges that were made, and in every case, our lawyers and our agency licensing people have assured me they are doing what i expect, which is to follow the laws that have been on the books for four years and follow the guidelines and rules that were passed in 2002 and signed by jeb bush. we play by the rules, and we follow the law. when it comes to the state pension fund, rick scott is trying to blame me for the global collapse of the stock- market. that is not going to carry

water. the fact is that our state pension fund is one of the fourth strongest bonds in the country, and all he did was play all these ads to scare seniors. they are afraid they are not going to get their pensions. that is irresponsible. >> there was a drop in a third of the value of pensions at a time when the economy was tanking, but you had warnings that some of the investments were in risky securities. why was nothing done about that? >> well, the problem there was that the executive director of the pension fund it did not do his job and did not inform his board members that he had a problem with some investments. i held them accountable and ask for his resignation. we have hired a new director who has the qualified experience to run a pension fund. so yes, i hold people accountable to do the job they are expected to do. this whole pension fund issue,

isn't it something that rick scott would accuse me of being responsible for the global financial collapse, when our own state, our state of florida sued it wrecks got personally for insider-trading -- said rick scott for defrauding the shareholders. >> the company paid a $1.7 billion fine -- fine for medicaid fraud. either you knew about the major problems in the country -- in the company or you were ignorant. how do either of those alternatives make a qualified to be governor of this day? >> first, on the guidelines of the convicted felon. she did not follow guidelines.

she could change the guidelines, and she did not. on the pension fund, she was told multiple times, she was warned that the were intoo risky investments, and she did not do anything about it. she waited until after the fact. third, she talks about insider- trading. that lawsuit was dismissed completely. in contrast, when she was at nationsbank, when her tellers were paid kickbacks for referring elderly citizens from safe bank deposits to risky ones, they were fined and sued by the state. she was one of to audit members of sikes, and they were sued by the state pension fund, and they did pay fines. in the insider-trading case, was completely dismissed. >> rick scott holt -- sold

millions of dollars worth of stock in his company just days before the company was raided by the fbi and eventually charged with 14 felony charges. these charges that he is telling the people of florida about meat, a lawyer that brought the suit against nations security has said publicly that i had absolutely nothing to do with this. that was not a company that i was associated with. the people of florida have been hearing your charges and near-, outlandish attack ads over and over again, when you have a lot of explaining to do yourself. >> the columbia question, $1.7 billion of fines. either you knew, or you were too distant as a manager. >> we build a great company. i started with my life savings

of $125,000. >> you have said that already. >> what i focused on was making sure patients were taken care of. i reduce the cost of health care. i clearly could have done a better job of hiring more internal and an external auditors to have done a better job in making sure the company completely complied with the medicare rates. the lesson i learned is you have to broaden your focus and do what ronald reagan said, trust but verify. that is what i bring to the table. in business, what happens is you get better. something goes wrong, you focus on it and you get better. that is what i have done. >> you have talked about openness in government and you created another successful company. you had a position relating to lawsuits involving the company just days before you file to be a gubernatorial candidate. why not, as part of that

openness, allow people to see that deposition? >> there are over 20 million lawsuits filed every year in this country. there are frivolous lawsuits, just fishing expeditions all the time by trial lawyers. that case has nothing to do with my run for governor. i have elected not to release it. >> mr. scott, some parents and teachers criticizes fcat, saying teachers are teaching to the test. do you believe these tests are the best way to hold public schools accountable, and are they best for the students of florida? >> we have to have a way that we can measure the effectiveness of teachers from when the child starts with them to when they finish. we have to make sure if they are in that class for nine months,

and we measure it on a per student basisf. cat should not be the only measurement. i second daughter teaches special needs kids. what i have done in business is, you start out with a measurement program and you constantly upgrade and improve it. fcat is one way to do it. you go from how well that teacher was in giving that individual student. >> overall, do you like the fcat or would you change it? >> it is one way to do it now, but i am sure we can figure out better ways of doing it. >> it talk about your plan for teacher accountability. the think the fcat does it for florida? >> as a parent, testing was always really important to me.

my son is in the audience tonight, and he will bear this out. every year i was waiting for the test results to be sure that my children were performing again is a nationally norm to reference test. i believe the fcat has gotten away from that. our children need to be held to national standards. testing is just one way to the evaluate a student. it should not be done on just one day. we should have ways to evaluate and measure student performance all during the year. if you get to november and a child is falling behind in reading or math, you don't have to wait until the end of the year to say what we need some remedial help here. we have to turn the system around. i am going to ask our teachers and superintendents and principals to and professionals what is really important and how they think we ought to evaluate our students. most people in florida are sick and tired of the fcat. >> we are going to take a

quick, two-minute break before we start another round of questions for the candidates. we will be right back. >> welcome back to the florida gubernatorial debate. this event is being seen by voters across the state. we will get right back to the questions and our panel with the next question. >> on emigration, the next governor is likely to face legislation that could require police and law enforcement in florida to check the immigration status of people they suspect are here illegally. is this a good idea, or a bad idea? >> all of us are frustrated by the idea of the federal

government failing to put together immigration reform. as governor, this is the plan that i would offer that i think is appropriate for florida. we should increase penalties for employers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. when it comes to law enforcement, i have the support and the and for -- and the enforcement of two organizations in the state come in addition to democratic and republican sheriff's and democratic and republican state attorneys. i have spoken with them about the appropriate way to enforce our immigration laws. we have to enforce the current immigration laws. but our law enforcement officers have been subject to tremendous budget cuts and a day are concerned about the future. they need to be able to protect floridians from serious crime. >> so you do not support an arizona-style policy?

>> i would support the alex sink plan. [laughter] >> we are a country of legal immigration. my running mate is jennifer carolyn she is a legal immigrant. her family came here when she was 8 years old from trinidad. after high school, she joined the u.s. navy and retired as lt. cmdr. we have to come up with the way that people can come here illegally and everybody knows what the rules are. the federal government needs to secure our borders. we need to come up with a work- visa program that works for employers. employers should not be an economic disadvantage to hire workers. third, in contrast to my opponent wants to beat up on employers, we need to come up with a way that employers now had to comply with the law, coming up with something that they know that they can comply with the law.

if you are in our country illegally, you should be able to be asked if your legal or not. one of the sheriff's is here tonight. thank you very much for supporting me.

>> for weeks we have been treated to enlist negative ads with you to attack each other. to switch gears, take a moment and tell us what you admire about your opponent. >> [laughter] >> the one thing i'd mayor about her is our commitment to work-family. -- i admire about her. she is clearly committed to her children and two per husband and being a great family person, which i admire. >> you can take more time if you like. [laughter] >> i admire that rick has been married to his high-school sweetheart for 38 years, and likewise, two lovely and very successful daughters. >> that was a little too easy to talk about each other's families. you have been a tremendously successful businesswoman and he has been a tremendously successful businessmen. both of you, in many ways, in your purchase to creating jobs and tax cuts and spending cuts, there are a lot of similarities in your platforms. with all those similarities and background and policies, do you think he would make a bad governor?

>> i agree with many of the newspapers who have endorsed me in the state. i have 10 newspaper endorsements. a double leverage has gotten a single one yet. thatgree with them basically, rick scott is unprepared to be the governor of our state. >> despite that he has had multiple successes in business? >> i don't think that leading a large hospital corporation that was charged with the largest medicare fraud in the history of this country would rate him as being in a highly successful ceo, when his board had to ask him to leave the company. i think there is an issue of trust here and character and integrity. but the just say, more importantly, the thing that is even more worrisome to the people of florida is that he has not made himself available to a single newspaper editorial board. when you go into those boards, you cannot talk in sound bites anymore. you have to sit there and talk in detail about your policies,

and about all we have heard from riggs got up to now is a bunch of sound bites. -- what we have heard from rick scott. >> with regards to editorial boards, i am going right to the voters. i have traveled the state for 6.5 months, doing events everyday and talking to voters. that is how i am going to spend my time. i think the best way to compare my opponent and the is this. she clearly it is a tallahassee insider. she has been there for years. she has had her shot in her time there. the state has lost over 800,000 jobs. the pension fund has gone to 13% underfunded. she has had a lot of issues with regard to every company she has been involved in. she is basically a failed fiscal watchdog.

if you look at nationsbank, pensions, and sikes. on top of that, she supports everything obama support. if you believe obama's plan is the right plan for the country, then you should go for my opponent. i don't believe it is. obamacare is a disaster. his stimulus is a disaster. on top of that, she believes his economic policies or the right solutions. they clearly are not. >> rick scott just mentioned he has been supposedly talking to voters for the last six months. i have been talking to the people of florida for 26 years. i had 9000 people work for me and my banking career. no newspaper ever wrote anything negative about my character and my integrity and my career. more importantly, i have been talking to the voters of florida for five years. i have been a public servant.

i have handled my job very well, according to many newspaper endorsements to have lauded might services to this day. >> you won't answer the question about what you would have done differently on the job. but i was a senior right now, i would be scared to death of having you spend another four years in office when you took the pension fund to 13% underfunded. you look at what you did by paying kickbacks to tellers. look at the money that was loss s sikes and the fines that were paid. if you want to attack my background, that is great. i have had a very successful company. in every case, you have been a failed fiscal watchdog. >> let's move on. >> i received a call from a viewer in palm beach county to found out i was going to be a panelist for this debate. he wanted me to ask about your opponents idea to drug test welfare recipients and equated it to keep someone when they are down. you have said that you would

not oppose this. why? >> what i said is that i don't think the state of florida should be using taxpayer money to fund somebody's drug habit. there has to be away to be sure that our taxpayer dollars are not used -- enabling someone to continue to be a drug abuser. before we implement an across- the-board plan, i am a fiscally responsible person, and i would like to know what the cost to the taxpayers would before implementing a plan like that. >> mr. scott, is this the right thing to do in an economy and people are losing their job and they might be on government help for the first time in their lives? we cannot insinuate that everyone on welfare is doing drugs. >> we have to think about the children of those families.

when there is drug abuse in those households, those kids are having problems. on top of the fact that we will save money, we will make sure that these recipients don't use drugs. my experience is if you test people, they were generally do the right thing. if you define a problem, those children will be taken care of. i think it is the right thing to do. >> this coming sunday is the fed anniversary of hurricane wilma. the state has been recently lucky since then when it comes to storms. starting with mr. scott, how do you make citizens less of a liability without soaking homeowners with extra, higher premium costs? >> i have put out a specific plan for how to deal with business insurance. we have to take it from what

has happened in the last four years while my opponent has been in office. what has happened is, we have 1.2 million policyholders with over $500 billion worth of risk. first you have to make sure you understand why insurance companies don't want to do business in our state and why they have been pushed out of our state. they can quantify hurricane risk. they cannot qualify other things such as sinkhole risk. we are not going out and talking to these insurance companies and finding out other problems are. the ceo of state farm came to town and nobody would even meet with him. we have to talk to these

companies and find out what their problems are, but clearly deal with issues that caused the not to want to do business in our state. >> the ceo of state farm did come to tallahassee and i did agree to meet with him. the reason i did was because they are returning to pull out of our state entirely. i worked with the state farm agents in the state to beg them not to leave our state. unfortunately, rick, you need to understand that for so many people here in the state of florida, citizens' property insurance is the only choice they have. it is not the insurer of last resort, it is the only ensure they have. so the only way for us to get ourselves out of such a heavy reliance on citizens' property insurance company is to be sure that we have the policies in place, as i will do as governor, to attract global capital and come back in our

state and compete for our business. i know i can do it. >> you have had for years. in four years, this is what has happened. insurance companies have left the state. you have not solve the problem in the last four years. why would you think you could even saw that in the next four years? you have not proposed anything to deal with a sinkhole risk. nothing happened with regard to that. more insurance companies are leaving all the time. state farm is not excited about being in the state. nothing yet done so far has worked. >> i want to bring up something about rigs got a plan for insurance that he rolled out a few weeks ago. rick scott is calling for the regulation of insurance rates in this state. that is something i would totally opposed. there has to be away for insurance companies to stay honest. otherwise they will charge whatever rate they want. deregulation of the insurance markets is not the answer for

floridians. >> that is not accurate. we have to make sure that insurance companies treat policy holders fairly. we have to make sure that we treat insurance companies fairly, that they can make a profit so they stay in business. as taxpayers and policyholders in this state, we are taking over $500 billion worth of risk. you have not solve this problem in the last four years. what are you going to do to solve it in the next four years? >> he met a comment about we have to be sure that insurance companies treat policy owners fairly. i am sorry, but they try to get away with things all the time in terms of slowing down claims payments. my office hears the complaint frequently. rick scott has made a proposal that we just totally eliminate something called a bad faith

loss in this state. that would be an absolute disaster. if we did that, the insurance companies would just be able to delay paying claims for however long they wanted to. they have deep pockets, and it would really hurt our homeowners. >> mr. scott, do you believe homosexuality is immoral? >> i believe marriages between a man and woman. i have been married for 38 years. i believe that children are raised in a more healthy environment if they are raised by a married couple. >> so as governor, you want to see that band kept in place? >> yes. >> is homosexuality immoral? >> no, it's not. >> no, it's not.