. . . .

are you hearing what i am hearing on the floor? >> i plan on working on this. there are many elements, here. >> bring it on. let's get the debt down to 40% of gdp. every economist that came here said that is essential to do over time. >> are other elements of the plan that change? are these the overall figures?

>> i would do even more. i would have had a bigger deficit reduction than is here, but this is what is required. get it down to a level that economists have said is sustainable. what is required i believe that as lving the prese leadership of congress. that is what the senator and i attempted to do. we had the secretary of the treasury as part of the a team. we got 53 votes for our plan and we got '60s -- and we got 60. the bill was stalled.

the administration came forward with this plan, which was an executive order. they are not at the table. we need the administration at the table ultimately to reach a conclusion. it was very important to have senator durbin and senator colbern courage -- senator coburn. i applaud their statements yesterday. i respect them. >> there seems to be a lot of bipartisan good feeling here. >> if you back off, we got 60% of the commissioners to vote

for something extremely controversial. 60% in the senate would have prevailed. that is a good sign. >> [inaudible] >> you got 17% of the house. you got none of the house republicans. >> it is a big problem. >> i do not agree with that. in fact, rural parts of the country have as great an interest as any other part. bidding onto a more stable long- term course -- getting onto a stable long-term course, i do not agree with that. we have done a very good job in

protecting the most vulnerable in society. if you look at the farm bill, the cuts are about 7%. other domestic discretionary cuts are 20%. they came out quite well. here is the reality. my state is in the top five in the return of our gas tax dollars. we get much more back than we send end. -- send in. the trust fund is far short of what is required. you are going to have to pay for things.

i would have chosen another method bread i do not think the gas tax is the spending mechanism going forward because of electric cars, higher mileage. gas tax i do not believe is the proper foundation going forward. the biggest beneficiary in the country are rural states. we get far more back than what we send then. -- send in. i think they did reasonably well. everybody is going to have to contribute to get the debt under control. no part of the country can be [unintelligible] >> i think there is more bipartisanship on the senate side. [inaudible] >> i do not want to go there.

i do not want to be critical of anybody. that is a problem. i do not know. you have to get everybody at the table. that includes the administration and the leadership in the house and the senate. that was not the makeup of this commissioner. that was the next logical step. you need to have a summit. the house leadership, said its, republicans and democrats and the administration did. -- and the administration. one of the proposals [inaudible]

we met with a group yesterday it would senator durbin. we had a chance to hear from a significant group and our caucus. they were overwhelmingly supportive of this effort. either last night or this morning, they should a letter saying that there is need to go further. they were applauding the efforts. they think the problem is

healthcare. i completely disagree with that and do not wish to see further burderns. i s upport this bill. i like that the defense budget was put on the table in a serious way. the fact that these tax exxpenditures will be scrutinized. it is very positive. it has been constructive. we ill see a reflection.

>> do you see any common ground from house republicans? >> it will be difficult. we are likely to see that now. we only got a couple of republican votes to extende middle class tax cuts. we are still seeing a stark divide here. >> if you use this reform -- this plan -- do you see the

redistribution that goes on with the tax reform plan? >> i think the w aay that the not diminish do this divide. i think this is something we have to address not only in the tax code, but when we look at the way we are spending money and who pays. i think it is most important. the notion of putting the whole code is important.

do we think we will eliminate all of the expenditures? my fear is that we lower the rates and then we still have these tax expenditures that are very popular and that have a constituency. >> you mentioned the quality. i wonder how the effective you think an argument on quality can be in shaping the deficit reduction toward the middle class? >> i think the american people feel they are struggling with a mortgages. i think they feel the rich have

gotten off with something. they are the ones who are really the losers in all of this. there is an anger that it is unfair. i i think it is a more powerful driver than people think. it is not just income and equality. if you say coming to you think it is fair that the wealthiest are continuing to spend at tiffany's and to see their incomes rise even as you are facing these challenges, is that really fair? i think that will help this debate. >> you have a 100% opposition

from the house republicans. >> if you talk to them, they will individually tell you that a paul rand said 85% of what we propose will be in his budget. it could not get any better than that. it is really a great idea. >> and partisan approach can wear. >> your lessons are all wrong. hugh really do. -- you really do. this is a non-partisan activity. they work together. they worked together. that is what made this unique. going forward, this trust has

been established. this is exactly what we did in 1997. we build up trust. we built the common ground. >> will they use anything? >> he is the new budget director. he said secretary geithner like to discuss it. you will have to ask him for the. i will go home. >> what the next debt is is up

to the people. he called and asked if he and secretary timothy geithner commitmencould meet as a whole. this is just the beginning of the congress and the president having to take it. we have got to >> next, parliament question time with the australian prime minister. then, remarks from the russian president mid the deaf. then lamar alexander talks about the republican agenda in the next session of congress. >> this weekend, on booktv, on afterwards, dealers said the white house diary. he is interviewed by douglas brinkley he is called for by a

round-table discussion with your questions and comments. listen to and more supreme court cases saturday on c-span rio. this week, living the commonwealth of virginia. listen to the arguments saturday and 6:00 p.m.. and nationwide on xm channel 132. now, highlights from the australian parliament final sitting of the year. julie and dillard spoke on her

recent international trips. members ask the prime minister and her cabinet questions on the country's proposed national broadband network and on australia's military operation in afghanistan. australia currently has 1550 troops there. this is about 40 minutes. >> hello, coming up, we are going to show you some highlights of the parliament in november. it was a big year in australian parliament before the first time, the first term prime minister was dumped and replace with julia gillard became the country's first female prime minister. she formed a minority government with the support of the greens and independence. after such a busy year, the government came to boast about its achievements.

first and foremost is the economy. australia avoided a recession and was able to boast about its plans and climate change including putting a price on carbon including also brought van plants. -- broadband plans. they were also attending the apec summit in asia. ♪> >> mike press, -- my question is to the prime minister. ? >> i simply say to the members,

as i said to a former colleague, if he wants to be a commentator, he can go and see it in the soundproof booth. the question was in order and the prime minister now has the call to respond to the question. >> thank you, very much mr. speaker. i am sure that members of the house, generally, are interested in the prospects of the global economy and understand that what happens in the global accounting analysts -- in the global market matters to australians. these were important events in

globally and on average for the future prospects of the australian economy and for the jobs of australians. at both meetings, the g-20 and apex -- as the global economy recovers, even though the recovery is fragile. i was very pleased to see that as the g-20 leaders indicated that they would receive protectionism in what is a difficult time in the global economy. it is a difficult time for many of economies that are experiencing high unemployment rates, sluggish growth and are going through the painful throes of fiscal consolidation. leaders were prepared to say that they would hold out. they went further and said that

it wanted to inject a level of ambition i believe this is important from the g-20. i was also pleased that they did deliver on the stronger financial systems and a stronger international financial institutions most particularly. austria played a big role in doing this. leaders of the rightist in global growth. we understood that that would require the hard work of strep rule reform for it would require the world to address the

imbalances in the current global system. i was also pleased that this spirit of progress of this. they agreed on a free-trade area. once again, it was a long, sought after goal. it was done with the trans- pacific partnership and that president obama, who will chair a pick next year in america indicated that he wanted to see real progress on the transpacific partnership by the time of that meeting. that is once again a very good development for australia. we are a great trading nation. mr. speaker, this is quintessentially multilateralism that is part of labor's heritage and labor's work as they go about our business in the world. we are proud to have been one of the founding nations of apec.

it was a great move by former prime minister bob hawke. it was a great move by former prime minister keating to lift the meeting to leader level. i was pleased to see that within our region the spirit of free trade and economic liberalism is still very alive and well. trade means jobs. >> my question is to the prime minister. i remind the prime minister that the government has lost its way. the questioning system has been ruled invalid. they avoided hard decisions and of the bank ignored the prime minister. i asked the prime minister if this government is fighting its way a bit like others. >> the prime minister --

>> thank you very much, mr. speaker. i think the leader for his question. he is obviously looking more to the christmas break. can i say to the leader of the opposition? the government is getting onto the job of delivering reform in this country because we want this nation to build to the opportunities of the future. i know that the leader of the opposition finds this hard to intellectual lines. it is hard to accept. there was a super model that said that she did not get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day. the leader of the opposition does not get out of bed without a focus group report for the

day. >> order! order! >> in the house will come to order. he can up -- is only me who wonders why the leader of the opposition always starts with start doing something for ending something. this is a man who always tells you what he is opposed to, but he never tells you what he would do or support? the government has a vision for the future we understand it requires a strong economy and being ready for the challenges of the future we understand that

means looking at things in health. that is around the country. we understand that it requires keeping australia's safe and secure in the world. we will get on with the job. >> a >> prime minister, the domestic tourism sector is under pressure right now from a combination of consumer overseas. . in light of these pressures, what is the government doing to -- >> thank you very much.

may i say to the member thank you very much for the question. he would know from his own electorate that around the country, tourism is a major employer. almost one in every 12 working australians is engaged in the tourism sector are connected to the sector and it is our largest export services industry worth $28 billion. he is also right that this is an industry under pressure at the moment. it is making it difficult for local tourism operators and we want to make sure that we're getting the message to australians that they can go and look at very beautiful parts of australia and spend their tourism dollars here.

that is why this was launched last year a program that is called no leave, no loss. i suppose it would be a number of ministers in this parliament that could understand that. we do want to see australians using their lead. the total accumulated balance has fallen from 123 million days people are starting to use their leave, which is a good thing. each morning and afternoon, people are starting to turn their mind to what we will do for christmas. they will hear about the no leave no life campaign.

they also have a voucher t and. the second reality tv series will run on the seven networks, showing hard-working australians taking a holiday. that is another promotion venture as it gets people out and about. the last time there was such a reality tv program, it attracted 1.1 million viewers. apart from getting australia's boss australians to holiday, we want people to come to our country and that is why the excitement that is being generated around oprah winfrey coming to broadcast from australia is making a difference. the simple fact is, that we made $1.5 million in this visit and it has already generated $17

million of free advertising on television overseas. these are the promotion that we are engaged in. every member of parliament can play their part by picking up on the no leave no life campaign and talking to their constituents about the importance of the holiday and is a wonderful holidays here and australia. >> my question is to the prime minister. why is the prime minister expecting the parliament to approve the network without releasing it? >> thank you very much. i think the leader of the opposition for his question. -- i think the leader of the opposition for his question. -- in thank the leader of the

opposition for his question. parliament consider the question of separation. the government intention to build a national broadband network to transform our nation's infrastructure to make sure that we do not succumb to countries like korea. the national broadband network has transpired through the government and it is more than 400 pages long and the government, as prudent and respondent -- that is absolutely appropriate when we are dealing with the infrastructure project of this size and the significance to the nation. this will be released publicly in december as the minister for communications has indicated. what i would say to the leader of the opposition is that he really should come clean about

all of this. he should indicate that he is not at all interested in this. what ever it says, no matter how -- d the business case is, >> >> in keeping with your admonition to the opposition about questions, that question is entirely within what you ask the opposition to do. this attack on the opposition leader is on call for. >> the prime minister will relate her comments to the question directly. >> i was asked about the role of the parliament and in answering that. in respect to the parliamentarian that are members of the coalition, this is

absolutely irrelevant to the decision making because they are already determined to do this. it is -- it does not matter what the business case is, they are on a three word slocum, " demolished the nbn." we want to bring this transform the technology to the country. meanwhile, we say to the opposition that they are using old policy. on the 27th of october, a story came out [inaudible] the opposition has not bothered to for the release the policy. the members believe in

broadband. [crosstalk] >> as they go through this broadband policy, -- [crosstalk] >> can the minister discussed the benefits of rolling out broad band across the country? how will this help to grow veals trillion economy? >> the minister for finance and deregulation, >wong. >> i am pleased to answer that question. i would remind the chamber that this reform is not only a reform for the communications sector,

it is a reform for the australian economy. it is an economic reform for the that is how we should regard it. we know that between 2007, our broadband fell behind other countries and we have been linked and-ranked in the bottom half of penetration and wind- ranked in the bottom half of penetration -- ranked in the bottom half of penetration. in the communications sector, it would benefit all australian households. it will help draw long-term productivity in our economy and australians from all over the country, in all walks of life, would have access to affordable broadband. a report by the united nations, which my colleague has previously referred says that

for every 10% increase in broadband, we can expect an average 1.3% additional gdp growth. this is put at risk by the opposition. senator joyce was open about this over the weekend. he wasn't interested in discussing the benefits >> time has expired. >> i have a supplementary question for the minister >> --

for the minister. it is of particular benefit, and i would have thought the national party would have considered this. despite this, it would be for the rest of australia and the world. we know that implementing this reform will mean higher taxes and less competition. we know that this will hold back innovative improvements in the

way that austrians can do business. the opposition has only one priority. this senator reminded us that this is the reason that the independents back to them. >> time has expired. >> time has expired. >> minister? >> we all understand that this continues to have -- [inaudible] to have acceptable broad band that not -- that is not acceptable to all australians.

those on the other side seem to be quite happy to accept the status quo when it comes to broadband. that is because they only know one approach when it comes to reform. that is to rake and block. rake and blocked. -- block. he told the austrian people what the story is. it is about political game. they are not interested in policy. they are not interested in broadband for the region, he would probably -- >> time has expired. resume your seat. >> will the prime minister update the house on her recent meetings in lisbon with respect to the future strategy for the commitment to afghanistan? >> as members of the house would be aware, i travel to lisbon

over the weekend and it was a meeting of 48 countries, the 48 countries who participate in the international security assistance force in afghanistan. this was a nato summit. president karzai, president obama, prime minister cameron, the president of france, mr. sark cozy amongst others. this was to bring together partners to discuss and determine the future strategy of afghanistan. the meeting heard a report from general petraeus who is the supreme commander in these operations in afghanistan. the message he very clearly gave was that the momentum of the insurgency has been checked and that progress is being made and

that we now can move to the transition, the process of transition, where security leadership will move from our forces to local afghan forces. transition will happen in classified places, depending on conditions on the ground. district by district, province by province. it will be a rigorous method and it will only occur when afghan forces are able to take security leadership. as i have said to this house before, security leadership needs to be permanent. the transition should start in early 200011. that fits with president karzai's goal of having afghan

forces in leadership in his country in 2014. at the outcome of the summit, as general petraeus says, nothing in afghanistan is easy. no transition date has been given. the best advice to us is to say that we be engaged in training there for two to four years. president obama is words say that trading is the ticket to transition and that is what we're doing in that province. i have consistently said that we need to be realistic. we will stay engaged in afghanistan in some form and

build democracy in a generation of afghan people. at the summit, we spoke of supporting afghanistan and an enduring way and i will come the enduring partnership with afghanistan. to echo the words of president obama, the people of afghanistan need to stand up and take control of the country in a position of security, but we will be standing alongside them. >> my question is to the prime minister. refer you to february 2008 that closing the nine crew process is the term would not be good. more than 9000 illegal arrivals. how can you do a broadband network when you could not protect our forces? >> >> thank you, very much.

but think that was the connection that was on the minister's mind. can i say to the shadow minister that the government does not come in on intelligence matters. they are making big assumptions on one sentence in one document. i would advise the shadow minister that he referred to a detailed analysis. it was about operations on christmas island. let's look at the question.

i can say to the shadow minister -- >> [inaudible] >> seeking the services of smugglers to come to australia, illegal movement was caused by complex entry lenca -- sri lanka. there are always chatter about people smugglers. they misrepresented policies of australian government and that is not just our governments, in order to -- what i would say about the room -- naru, what it should have had at the entry to the detention center was a very big

sign that said "can't be tour -- ."amp and detdetour that is what they should have said. there is a lot of teeth -- a lot of talking about the people. offshore processing is al the people overwhelmingly came to australia. we are working on a regional protection framework. this will involve more nations that australia looking to deal with refugees and people who were found to be genuine

refugees so that of shell or -- offshore processing will not be a detour. the shadow minister should be very honest with the australian people, that he has moved his slogan to lay out the welcome mat to more than 3000 with his new statement on the number of asylums. should the opposition ever be elected. if the shadow minister could be honest about that, they should also be honest about the nature of the document in his hand. >> to mark the third anniversary of the election of his government, and i refer to his likud caucus speech of june 24.

does the former prime minister believe that a [inaudible] is more likely to meet the private challenge than the emissions trading scheme that he proposed and that she advised him to dump. >> the minister of foreign affairs? >> let's differentiate this government's in that we believe we believe in putting a price on emissions. we will continue our efforts in this affect. >> my question is to the treasurer. " what does this mean for future reform and how does this perform -- what is the government's response? >> the deputy prime minister. the deputy prime minister

has the call. >> i thank him for this very important question for that this government has a proud economic record. over the past three years, australia has created 650,000 jobs. as a -- there is nothing that we are more proud of. mr. speaker, the rest of the world lost 30 billion jobs. unemployment in australia is 5.4%. it is almost twice that in most other developed economies. almost alone, australia avoided

a recession. australia will be at 6.4% of gdp. in other major advanced economies, it is close to 90%. we will come back to a surplus in just three years while other developed economies are struggling. their financial institutions are in good shape. in black and white, this is a proud record of an elected government in the face of a global financial crisis and a global recession. we are proud of the fact that breadwinners were keeping jobs. school businesses around this country were able to keep their doors open because we put in place stimulus and confidence in the community. as a country, and we stand tall. australians working together,

implore years, employees and the government, mr. speaker, working together to produce this outstanding result for australia. of course, there is more work to be done. that is why we have a big reform program. tax assistance for pro-business. also economic reform that the prime minister was talking about before. to propel us into more prosperity in the future by making big companies more productive. every step of the way on this journey, we were opposed by those that if they had had their way, australia would have gone into recession. business closures would have been far higher. they stood up and said the

stimulus would never create a single job. they opposed the bank guarantee but gave security to our country. now, we have the leader of the opposition opposing this. those opposite would rather see the government file -- succeed. they are defined purely for that. on their lack of credibility, this is what he had to say about the current leader of the opposition. >> a point of order. >> i simply say that as he has

time and time again corrected the record after question time about the same lie being told by the treasury, how could it possibly be orderly for the treasurer to refuse to accept that? >> order. >> the member for mcewen? >> what is happening on this occasion is consistent with what has happened over a member of parliament's. it is something that the house, through its procedures committee, has not dealt with in the past. it then leads to the situation where a member who feels that is forced to use the house to put in place a correction.

the member knows full well that this regrettably has happened throughout the number of parliament's if he has an interest in this, he might want to take it up and correct this anomaly. the treasurer has related his answer directly to the question. >> i asked about economic reform. he would tell me that he learned all of these economics [inaudible] i was horrified, he said. >> order. the treasurer's time has expired. >> join us next year when the

parliament returns. >> >> next, remarks by the russian president and then lamar alexander talks about the republican agenda in the next session of congress. then, president obama meets with troops in afghanistan. salman rushdie is on booktv and death. he will discuss his lesser-known of nonfiction works. join our 3 our conversation sunday at noon eastern on c- span2. watch previous programs are not bookedtv.org.

>> find great holiday gifts for the c-span fan in your life. from books and the bidis to boggs, umbrellas and more. it is available on-line. >> at his annual state of the nation address in moscow, russian president in the treatment of -- russian-russian president meant the death -- ussian president met that tedvv begins with a review of the russian economy and outlines his domestic and foreign agenda. >> the president of the russian , president medvedev.

♪ >> please be seated. dear citizens of russia, esteemed deputies and members of the council on the federation, it was a year ago in this very room that i presented my political strategy. the idea was to rely on the values of democracy and to modernize the economy and create incentives for progress in all areas to create a generation of individuals who would be freely educated. it was also to raise the standard of living for the people in this country to a new

level. and to establish russia as a modern world power that has achieved success is based on innovation. . . processes and modernization in this country began amidst a difficult period of time for the whole world. it was a time when the world was struck by a global crisis, and also last year, who were in the middle of an unprecedented heat wave and forest fire, and yet despite all the difficulties, we on the whole have been able to do quite a lot, and i'm here to thank everybody who made a contribution to the rejuve nation of our society. we were able to stabilize our economy following a significant decline, and this year, the economic growth will amount to 4%, although the prices are food, unfortunately, the world

over, the prize of food has risen and prevented inflation from increasing rapidly, the three year goal is to reduce up flags to -- inflation to 4% a year in order to mitigate the consequences, almost 150 million riewg les were allowed and to establish this important area in the rural areas and improve the living in the regions from falling, and i will keep an eye permly how -- personally on how that is going. we have unemployed individuals, 2 million fewer than at the crisis which in itself is a significant achievement. the sovereign debt is minimal. the current level of russia's international reserves, and that

is almost $500 billion is considerably higher than in late 2008. following anticrisis measures that were unprecedented, we are now transitioning to what is now a more balanced budget policy. regrettably, the budget deficit still remains high. we will reduce it. all the leading world nations have taken on identical commitments and obligations. of course, the economy remains complicated, and some of the consequences of the crisis have not been overcome yet, and this has to be said directly for what it is. however, we will comply with our social obligations in an unconditionble manner. the real population income over the last few months have grown

by roughly 5%. for the next year, the wages of individuals employed in budget funded areas will be increased and targeted programs to provide housing to veterans and the military are being executed. we're finding opportunities to annually increase pensions, and the stated goal, goals that was stated by me to make sure that all pension is receiving titles that are at least as high as the assessment that is civil. that goal has been accomplished. ..

> translator: for a small business in the production or social area, two year transitional period will be provided for where the contributions to the health system will be effected at a lower rate. that of 26%. [applause] >> reporter: during this year, we have been purposefully working to implement projects in what are the main areas of technological modernization. our goal is to increase the energy efficiency of the economy by 2020. this goal is feasible and realistic. i have no doubt about that. what it will do, it will reduce the industry expenses and save the personal funds of the individuals in the first place

which could be the most important thing in terms of paying for housing and utility bills. and we have discussed this issue and reached the main conclusion. in order to prevent continued deterioration of the utilities and at the same time to more effectively use energy, private capital needs to be engaged more actively in the housing and utility sector. i have issued appropriate sections. i would like to say we have scored certain successes in the high-tech area. the nuclear power industry is now once again building on a regular basis and annually putting into operation facilities. currently nine energy units are being built in the country. and russia is implementing projects in india, iran, china, and other countries. over the last three years, the contracts with the nuclear power

industry with the machine building industry have increased by a factor of 10, and compared to 2005, a factor of 25. that is a very nice number. [applause] > translator: that of course also means budget director and employees for the industry. another subject. as far as the world rating, the so-called top 500 of the super computers, currently comprises 11 russian systems. next year, the productivity of the domestic super computer will increase by over 150%, making it one of the most powerful computers in the world. before the end of this year, the group will be completely formed and over the next two years, the construction of the principal digital navigation maps will be completed and the systems --

systems satellite navigators will be applying and available. over the next year, digital access to the mandatory tv networks will be made available in most borderline areas. we have the broadcast network. this year we have taught the worldwide web to speak the russian language. it's important for the country, the rf domain is open and increasingly popular. quickly so. also we have started implementing a new strategy in the russian pharmaceutical industry. during the next few years, the share of domestically manufactured pharmaceuticals are -- is to be increased from 20 to

50%. whereas innovation medication -- innovation-based medication will increase to 60%. it will make medications more accessible to the public. i hope that the exports of pharmaceuticals will become an important revenue item for the country. the most well known innovation project is the caucasus center. the project is already becoming reality. there's a -- there's a management team. there's also a special note that has been passed which is unique preferences for those that are part of the project. there are proposals from private and government companies who are ready to start working at early as today. i'd like to emphasize the text benefits and breaks and the government funding for research should be made available to any and all who have ideas and who meet the established criteria. in addition, over the next three years, we are planning to spend

about 30 billion right els along with industrial companies. it is not small potatoes. in the event of success, we will need to increase the funding for the program. another project that's important, is the project that involves turning moscow into a major international financial center. responsibility for! -- for implementing this project sits with the federal entities, and the new mayor of moscow. the work is already being contributed to by the major russian and foreign financial institutes. i am positive here too we stand a good chance of success. also, the benefits of having an effective financial market will

be obvious for both the public and the companies who will be able to take advantage of the entire spectrum of modern financial services. obviously for the whole country of russia due to the flow of capital in taxes received as a result of expanded economic activities. indeed, a great deal has been done. if, of course, we look at it from the perspective of just one year. i hope that everybody understands that we are still at the very beginning of the road. the resources that we have available to us have to be used not to patch up but to modernize the economy, to create new, competitive goods and services, to create millions of new jobs, to create a demand for innovation to promote, to expand professional and social prospect of our people. i'm instructing the government

to spend at least half of the saved expenses, as well as part of the additional revenue in the federal budget to support modernization priorities. [applause] >> translator: what i'm referring to are the well known increase in the energy efficiency of this economy, the development of new energy information telecommunications, and medical knowledges. it is on the success of all of these projects that the quality of life of our people depend on. dear colleagues, everything that i have just been talking about, modernization, it is by no means an end in itself. it is nothing but a tool. a tool using which we will be able to solve long standing problems in our economy and in the social area and to support those who need that support more than anyone else. and to create an environment in which the talents of those who

we are pinning high hopes on, that is our children. our young people. afterall, modernization is being pursued for them before anybody else or anything else. and we should not be ashamed for what country we'll turn over to our children and grandchildren. however, it is just as important in who's hands the future of russia will end up. 26 million children and teenagers who currently living in russia must be able to grow healthy, happy, and as full fledged individuals and to become decent and worthy citizens. this is priority number one for all of us. [applause] >> translator: thank you. taking care of the future generations is something that represents and has the most reliable, smart, and noble investments. a society where in real fact the

rights of children are protected, and his or her personal dignity is respected. the society is more kind and humane, but also society can develop faster has a favorable and more predictable future ahead of it. i believe that what we need dramatically is an effective government policy in the area of childhood. a policy that would be modern, a policy that would meet the interest of national development. and that is exactly why in this address i will give the largest amount of attention to this subject. and i will dwell on what, in my view, requires new solutions and new approaches. first on how to improve the demographics. compared to 2005, russia has increased by 21%. this is among the best such indicators worldwide.

infant fatality has dropped by a quarter. last year for the first time in 15 years, we were able to actually see an increase in the russian population. largely, this, of course, is the result of the workings of the so-called maternity capital, or payments to the new mothers of the national project health and other measures of social support for families. we have sunk our teeth in the demographics problem in the most earnest way. we have to understand though, over the next 15 years, we'll still be living through the consequences of the democratic define in the 1990s. however, the number of woman who can still bear children will significantly reduce over the next 15 years. this is a serious threat, this is a challenge entire nation. what must be done? we have to make more accessible and of better quality both medical and social assistance

for mothers and children and to develop the birth certificate program and treatment for children under three years of age for newly borns with small body weight. we also have to increase support for treating childlessness, including using invitro semination techniques. we need to modernize children's outpatient and inpatient clinics to improve the training of the personnel. as soon as next year, significant sources will have to be channeled. at least 25% of the funds collectively allocated for modernization of the public health system will have to be used to build up the children's public health system. this is a great amount of money. in practical terms, it may amount to 100 billion rubles in the course of two years. today, almost 1/3 first graders

have identifiable health issues. even worse is the stats when it comes to teenagers. 2/3 of teenagers have health issues. starting in 2011, i'm issues an instruction to conduct an in depth health checkups for teenagers. especially importance needs to be given to vaccination, to accessibility for children and teenagers of high quality medical preparations and early diagnostics in them of tb, and other dangerous ailments. these purposes -- these programs also need to be adequately funded. the third and highly important question is that of support for new and large families. one of the most acute problems and it remains that way is housing. starting in 2008, the law has allowed to use the use of maternity capital to repay

mortgages which has been signed up until december 31st, 2010. that is before -- that is without having to wait until the child turns three. this has been taken advantage of by almost 1/4 million of our citizens, whereas the housing market has been given an incentive, has been given a boost. which is important in the postcrisis period. i believe that starting next year, this regulation has to become permanent. number four, in expert opinion, the main path of overcoming the crisis is to increase the number of families that have three or more children. recently, i saw an interesting bit of information on the internet that concerned the all high territory where they were holds was an interesting social advertising campaign. it's a simple idea. but one that i think is very attractive. that is to tell the public which of our famous russians happened

to be born as child number three. among them are antoine, nicholas, and without the great individuals, without their creativity, and without their achievements, this world would be a different place. humanities would be poor both morally and in a culture -- and from the perspective of culture. therefore, i believe that large families the most favorite nation regime has set up in certain regions when a family has a third child. the decision has been made to provide to them free of charge a plot of land so that they can build a country house or primary residence. this is, i believe, is an appropriate measure and also example for other parts of the country to follow. i believe this practice should be rolled out nationwide. [applause] >> translator: i'm also

instructing the government jointly with the regions to work through the procedure of providing free plots of land for the construction of the first residence for a second home when a family has a third or a next child. of course, this rule could be phased in on the gradual basis given the specifics of the territories. in the region other forms of support for large family that can be taken advantage of. in the liana region, a 1,000 google certificate is issued to new families when they have a third or fourth or separate child. i suggest all of the parts think the regional maternity capital. this measure, obviously will cost money. it depends on how the things are in specific parts of the restoration. but the results are worth it. number five, there should be additional tax references.

specifically, the tax should be 3,000 rubles a month for every family starting with child number three. i'm instructing the government to prepare the appropriate proposals and increase the tax deductions for all families with children while reducing the so-called standard deductions which for the majority of the citizens of this country have simply acquired a symbolic nature. number six, many foundations, the mass media are organizing direct collection of funds for children suffering from grave diseases. they are also individual businessman who without advertising themselves, which is especially important, or supporting orphanaging, and investing in childrens recreation and sports. we have been improving legislation on charity. however, the problems remain. for instance, a repeat charity action with respect to the child, even a child who's

suffering from a grave disease is nevertheless includes in his or her parents taxable base. this is unfair. funds received to support children sent by charity organizations must be completely eliminated, removed from the taxable income. i am counting on this state to pass an appropriate piece of legislation a.s.a.p. according to the applause, this is what is going to happen. number seven, an issue that is extremely sensitive for new families that which concerns preschool establishments and kindergartens. wherever i go in this country, i'm almost always in meeting with local residents and asked this question. as of years beginning, a 1,0 --

1,674,000 are signed up for kindergarten. often the parents put their list before the child is born. it's because there's not enough vacancies that young families delay having children or limit themselves just to one child. here's what i suggest needs to be done. a program, a nationwide program, programs in every region should be established to rebuild the old kindergartens or build new ones that would meet the modern requirements or provide appropriate premises for them. and such requirements must be both well grounded and feasible. i already said they should not be gratuitous. second, alternative force of preschool education to be given support. in particular, a system of nongovernment children establishments and family kindergartens and to consider reducing rent and establishing tax benefits on property tax for

children who do not go to kindergartens, preschool groups in general education schools need to be established. dear colleagues, for two years now, we have been awarding the order parental glory. it's an order that was established my initiative among those rewarded are fathers and mothers of biological and adoptive children. we take -- we chose to take pride in such families. i have to tell you that frankly even just talking to them makes me extremely happy. when they come here to the kremlin to be given their state awards. unfortunately, in this country, to this day, 130,000 children are parentless. they don't have parents, they don't have guardians, they don't have families. they are deprived of what is the main thing for them.

family. and a great deal has to be done with the very notion of quote abandoned children unquote to become an an acronym. we must find foster families for children. there must not be quote nobodies children unquote in the country. [applause] >> translator: a serious problem is the correctional orphanages. they work to isolate rather than to create them and make them part of society. that's why what is happening there is something that both the government authorities and civil society must keep an eye on. custodial awards need to be established at every orphanage at every correctional facility and those custodial must work in

an open manner. also we need programs and social adoptation to company those who go to orphanages and then graduated. it's not enough to educate and feed children. we have to bring them into the new adult life and prepare and have self-confidence. this is not just something that teachers need to do and the local authorities. the local authorities, for instance, could pay for those who just left orphanages to undergo training within the system of secondary and higher professional education. our childhood policy is based on universal international standards, the declaration of the rights of children adopted by the u.n. assembly declares that the humanity must -- that humankind must give the children the best of what it has. whereas the childrens right convention has established the priority of the interest of children before the interest of society and the government.

in 2009, under the president, the institute of the commissioner for the childrens rights was established. and his work is cut out for him. last year, there were flagrant violations of safety norms in children's summertime facilities which resulted in children getting sick and sometimes dying. it's necessary to prevent the repetition of this. both local administration and supervisory authorities must in advance, now, start preparing for the next summer season. these are matters that have been to be the responsible for both the issues of children's rights, and there are those in already 58 regions of this country. by the way, i believe this institution could be established in virtually any constituent part of this country. about federation.

horrendous problem is violence against children. according to the official data of the minister of interior, in 2009, over 100,000 childrens and teenagers were victims of crimes. just think about this real hard. many facts turned inside out. children, mostly orphans, children from families that are not doing well are being dragged into substance abuse, drug use, prostitution, and other criminal endeavors. and the jerks that are doing that must be punished in the harshest of manners. [applause] >> translator: last year we provided for harsher punishment for sex crimes against pre-age people. however, preventing such crime is just as important. i believe that once and for all,

access must be closed to educational establishments to those who have ever been found guilty of any violent crime or dragged children or teenagers into criminal endeavors. such individuals should not be allowed to be close to children under any circumstances. [applause] >> translator: an appropriate craft with editions to the labor code has been submitted to the state, and i hope will be passed before the years end. members of the council have took into consideration to take care of the life and child is the direct responsibility of his or her family. it's more heinous when violence occurs in the family. it is known that cruelty generates reciprocal.

then they use it in their own lives, schools with armed forces, and in their own families. it's the duty of the entire society to create an atmosphere of intolerance towards any cruelty against children, to identify and cut short such occurrences. i note that in our region, crisis center have been set up to provide assistance in case of family violence and such experience has been amassed in st. petersburg, and in the direct, and must be rolled out elsewhere in this country of ours. there's another problem that i cannot be silent about. we virtually don't have any infrastructure to support the lives of people with disabilities or grave diseases. there's no way to say how hard it is for school. it's torture to find a bus that's equipped to carry

wheelchairs for children with muscular skeletal symptom disorders is a problem. and navigating around buildings or offices in wheelchairs is often just impossible. although i have to say that new houses that are being built, already built to new standards. and yet i have to say that people with health problems and restrictions nevertheless achieve very high results in sports. of course, what our pair -- para lympics have achieved, creating full fledged environment for disabled children must become a priority in implementing a new government

program called an enabling environment. [applause] ! >> translator: raising the future generations is linked with the assistance of modernizing the education system. as part of our initiative, the standard of early school has been renewed and centers for the high school has been changed as well. it's important that now in the middle of what is known as the teachers year, that new qualification requirements for teachers have been published. in addition, teachers must be given opportunities to undergo advance training in the best schools and in the best educational establishments. in 2011, 2,000 rubles were dedicated. however, authorities must provide finance towards these purposes to school teachers have power that prime ministers can only dream of.

that is what winston churchill said once. said this power must be targeted in a way as to open up the talents and capabilities of every individual child and to prepare him or her to choose the profession. that he or she will have. and for this purpose, first and foremost during 2011 for every school, a project of the school of the future must be prepared. the vision of how school can develop. developing this project is, of course, something that teaches me to do both current and former pupils and the parents. but i believe the regional authorities could develop a mechanism for their implementation by engaging business entities if and when necessary, second. it is necessary to complete creating the national system for identifying and supporting talented children. it is important to be able to develop ones talent at an early

age and everybody must have the opportunity, irrespective of where the children live. i'm instructing the government to take it into account as it produced new educational standards and to develop a rule for per capita financing for paragoge call and gifted children. :

teachers must know about th. raising children is something that needs to be done by both the educational system and culture and the society at large. we must create new qualitative -- qualitatively new and high quality films, movies, that will be of interest to modern children. let us remember what impact was made on entire generations by fascinating science fiction. we all read it that inspire children and urge them to fix their own discoveries an entire generation grew on those sci-fi books. more attention has to be given to the patriotic education of the young people. yes, it is necessary after rejuvenate this effort by

serious efforts by patriotic games, smart demand. they helped inculcate with strong character and teach skills that acquired the most complex conditions, and i would like to note the importance of the operations and that identify the names of those who died during the war and in such expeditions young people in the or acquiring the skills and patriotism not patriotism for short, but genuine patriotism. i spoke to the government to deliberate the observations and to update the monuments and everything is great in the area but i believe all levels of government must be doing it, not just on the anniversary year like this one. number six, the strategic

priority for the policy is to create and promote healthy lifestyle values. naturally this is not just concerned children. we must lead by example. elbridge entire society must get over infantile approaches when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. without educating oneself, it is difficult to educate one's children. that is what was once said, in the meantime, 80% of the russians do not engage in any kind of a fitness or sport. we are talking about for a five people. also, this country suffers from one of the highest levels of tobacco smoking in the world, and people are taking a both tobacco and alcohol at an increasingly young age and those alcoholic beverages to those that come of age must remember

that they will be sanctioned, including the go to jail for committing a crime. [applause] i hope the support you just shown me that provides for the responsibility for such sales which is currently will soon become law. the elimination to him on -- dependent what national legacy's we need despite the unique features and the nature. today it is not in the best of shape and the problem can only be solved by setting up a modern and effective environmental conservation and management system. the following has to be done in the short term. the tradition of the territories must be delegated and this level must be seen as a benchmark, as a baseline in order to implement

programs to minimize the negative impact on the environment and the previous environmental damage. certain experts also believe that is necessary to conduct the so-called environmental amnesty provided that a company undertakes very harsh obligations as far as environmental rehabilitation of production and the territory which it is based on and affect spirit i believe this is a reasonable and some idea, not just to repair those programs with those that actually implementing such programs and investing money in such programs. they should not be harassed with fines which will make it difficult for them and the mechanisms should be taken full advantage of private estate partnership. also, the government must work out norms for the call the environment that might be specific attributes of the territories.

this is the foundation for the activities of the national authority and the would be a very clear benchmark for the citizens and partners from other countries. number three, crucial principle role in the protection of the environment must be played by the civil society. i have heard more than once that environmental thinking does not take on, does not stick in this country because our society's aren't prepared for it. well, i guess perhaps that is partially true. that is why as mentioned before how great importance is the role of environmental the education and upbringing and that too must be taken into account and to do educational standards. the environment must be one of the key indicators of the quality-of-life and one of the key indicators of the socio-economic of a limit of the territories and appropriately and must be seen as a criterium against which to judge the

effectiveness of the work of local bodies of government and the heads of the editors of the federation are thereby instructed to annually report on the status of the environment and their regions and of the population of those regions must be fully and completely reliable informed as far as the non-governmental entities. those who are in real terms working to maintain the natural environment given the production and infrastructure must be engaged in a dialogue and acceptable solutions must be found by summing up this particular subject i would like to empathize childhood and the ten years the period of time when his or her future is defined. , people open things for themselves, when they are not of it for anything, the immigration, the design to something new, the audacity of

thoughts. these are all things this country desperately needs right now and we are counting heavily on the energy and ambition of the young and on their wish to work jointly to gather for the goals stated. members of council and federation, modernization creates a smart economy, but modernization requires a smart policy, one that ensures condition for comprehensive rejuvenation of the life of society. what we need is new standards in the operation of the government and the provision of public services, high quality of the work of the traditional and the law enforcement system and more interaction between the citizens in the developing of their communities and the greater impact on the activities of municipalities. for this i am proposing the following steps. first, we have to achieve

transparency and simplicity in the every day relationship between the state and the citizen. and i repeat, every day relationship. understanding of the fact that bureaucrats serve the people, rather than determine the people's states is the foundation of the space system. to the citizen, steve is a bureaucrat, a specific bureaucrat who has come to see, a judge who has passed a ruling and this is a case, a tax inspector or local policemen. anybody come any bureaucrat who is empowered to solve his problems, all as present in this room. the activity of -- activities of all officials such that must not disavow the state. their job is to improve the quality-of-life of people. the standard of living. we are optimizing the system of providing states. even today, many regions of the

country without the fee leaving your house you can electronically file for new passport [inaudible] amount that has already been accumulated conduct, to obtain a driver's license. so part of the news is already in effect. although -- and i will not hide it because people are writing to be -- the way the system works is that something people still have a lot of problems with. it has to be made to work better. the remainder of the rules will be effective this year. the most important of them is the principal of the one-stop window. people don't have to run around all kind of establishment and get the pieces of paper. as parents have to do, who have to take advantage of measures of support for their children that are provided for the law. it is necessary to legislatively and make individuals who are

officials responsible for violating the periods of time during which they are expected to provide government services, and i have instructed the government to provide such proposals within four weeks. second, modernizing the system of government of public service must be given to the public. i believe that we should more accurately involved in the provision of such services, non-profit organizations often in the field are better than even the coeditors and experience and they are helping people who find themselves in difficult situations. i believe the involvement of the nonprofit organizations can make social services more specific and more targeted and what is more important, it will reduce the level of corruption in the big government. the federal agencies must come up with a clear and transparent system of selecting nonprofits for reforming such functions and selections should be made of organizations that have already

-- that already have a good record and that enjoy -- that want trust among the public have been working for a number of years and who are based on organizations that have relevant experience. i am telling the government to finalize the legal framework for the involvement of the noncommercial organizations in the system of providing government social services and to use tenders to a greater extent in financing them. in every region, they're must be coherent program adopted to improve the climate and to create new highly productive jobs on the basis of the so-called best regional office. such include the reduction of the period of time, which is taken up by the issues of crime is required to start a business to create preparing industrial sites and other measures. on the whole, we must encourage rather than discourage and support the regions that have

been able to increase their own revenues. and to take this into account, as we distribute federal subsidies. however, even this is not enough. the government must prepare proposals to change the current proportion of the distributional revenue between the different levels as the result of such measures the role of the regions and municipalities in solving ki socio-economic tasks must increase. the bulk of the responsibility for the future or a region that fits with the governor. how successful his or her work is will be based on how much investment he has been able to correct and how many new jobs especially in the commodities have been created. and the personnel decisions have to be related to that. number four, the bodies of

government must get rid of property that is not directly linked to their direct conferences. always seems that there is no such thing as unnecessary or excessive property. in fact, managing excess of property requires a lot of strength, come investment, and everybody's here to know about that, a lot of funds which is the worst part. at because it often generates corruption. this year i have signed a decree to reduce by 80% of the strategic companies. my instruction to government has come up with a large plan to privatize large companies. the main goal of the privatization is to increase the efficiency of the companies and to bring to the economy additional investments and serious investments, whereas the privatization proceeds will be used primarily to modernize this economy. appropriate decisions must be

made the what the regional and local levels. the law on the general principles of organizing the bodies of of doherty of the constituent of the federation defines that property of the regional authorities can comprise property that is necessary for them to perform their functions and powers, therefore, other facilities and other pieces of property must be privatized. bodies of government must not own plants, newspapers and ships. everybody must do what he or she decide to do. [applause] five, modernization will only provide the expected effect when the society has fair laws, and ferre laws they're actually working when the independent and respected courts and law enforcement agencies are functioning. those that in july true respect

on the part of the citizens. all these links undoubtedly, of course all are linked among ourselves closely and the entire system of the reform of just individual institutions. that is why, along with developing the legislation of the judicial reform, which is something that we have been doing and are doing, we are reforming the minister of the interior and the legislative level creating an environment in which to improve the quality of the work of the investigative authorities and the prosecutor's office. to this progress, i have submitted to the state, to the draft legislation on the police and on the investigative committee of the federal and the regional and municipal leaders must prepare to effectively implement these new acts. indeed, they have a lot of new things, and not to hide in their offices and watch criminal

operators increase their activities and feel like they can get away with anything in their territory. they must do everything to make sure that people who live in their territories are not worried about their own lives and the lives of their families are not afraid to lose their health, property and human dignity. recently unfortunately a number of tragic events have taken result as which our citizens have come have been murdered. the of the reasons among others are the sloppiness of law enforcement authorities and the other bodies of government, and oftentimes, they're direct merger with criminal entities with regard to one such episode i have a decision to relief from his position the head of the department of the interior of the territory, whereas if the general for the office, the efforts of the investigative

committee have been instructed to make proposals regarding holding why of all individuals who worked in those individually areas of responsibility that were supposed to ensure enforcement. number six, in my previous address, i talked about the need to improve the criminal legislation, and that this legislation must be tough but at the same time modern and humane in the reasonable sense of the word, whereas restoring justice by way of the courtroom and for justice and the protection of the rights of the victims must not result in building up the criminal world with new blood. i will emphasize one more time, punishment for significant crimes to the extent this possible must not involve the provision of freedom. this is relevant in the

situation when we talk about young people, teenagers, first offenders. today i will submit to the state which will enable the court to apply a differentiated approach in assigning punishment in a number of different trends the lower limits of the sections will be eliminated and courts will have an opportunity to more broadly use such alternative measures of punishment as fines and community work. the main thing is the insistence of the lower limit of criminal sanctions of court should not see the upper limit as the only benchmark as the same punishment. the strength of the court is not as in the toughness of the punishment, but in the fact that punishment is irreversible and inevitable. whereas the mission of the justice is not just to punish, but also to rehabilitate.

number seven, our crucial goal is to continue to fight corruption. i believe the decisions have already been made are being executed and to keep moving ahead. experience indicates that even 12 years, 12 years behind does not seem to be enough to prevent people from giving bribes. on a number of occasions economic measures can be more productive, therefore the commercial bribery, the giving and the receipt of a lot can be punished with fines in the amount of up to 100 times the amount. in fact, the kind of criminal behavior has occurred as mediation and bribery of other courts and other government bodies and the revenues it perfectly well there are a lot of scumbags who assure that they

know how to take care of any particular court case and who and how much needs to be given to take care of that business. i believe that bribery mediation as well as many fines are to be made part of the criminal law. number eight, another subject that i would like to raise, i will not not demonize number 94 that everybody knows about. it has been criticized in a blanket ways to save the situation has reached the work of what is reasonable, and the goal stated in the mall unfortunately to what extent have never gotten off paper. nontarget expenses including the direct effect kickbacks and misuse of funds amount to at least a thousand billion unfortunately, therefore we have

to start working on a new edition of the law of government procurement. one that will be better fought through. [applause] i also believe that the plan there must be a special internet web site that will preliminarily publish information that will have feedback opportunity for companies regarding their enforcement in the tenders and expert opinion about the extent to which such plans meet this requirement and are in sync with the current crisis situations, so the next three years the forecast plans for the procurement of the state of that equipment and medication and high-tech products on behalf of the government and large state-owned companies and subsequently and forecasting should be extended five to seven

years in which case both investors and researchers will know exactly the product of the work will be in demand. for increasing demand of the year if technology can be accomplished for the modernization of the forces would you like it or not but in different periods of history science and technology were pushed ahead specifically by the defense means and the government in the new technical solution in the area of defense. the recurrence is facing the fundamental goal of creating the new high-tech and what we are going to do is to spend over 20 trillion rubles towards those services. this is a lot of money and such investments will pay for themselves and be twice effective is that the end of the day to give us the use of the technologies, thus helping us to modernize production and develop

the fundamental and applied research and university research. that is why we are setting up a special entity whose job will be to identify and develop breaks of technologies for the defense industry. such entities are in other countries where many of them will find a use in everyday life and most indicate to call the of life is the quality of the political system to improve it as the federal and the regional level in number of decisions have been made. as i stood up this very place back in 2008, i formulated to in positions and in 2009i formulated yet another ten positions which are involved in and purpose in the political system a democracy once again i would like to thank everybody who was involved in this discussing those initiatives and the members of the council of the federal. at the self-government we need

additional steps to be made local, self-government, an important element and the majority is virtually nonexistent as the local level of all the parties are functioning on the little old organizations and my proposals to make it mandatory to use proportionate to the electoral system after the elections of representatives bodies and in the municipal municipalities for the number of deputies at least 20. we set out to deeply modernize the forces. we have already updated the forces and the system of combat readiness and we also started conducting my regular basis war games. next year the special focus has to be given to boosting this aerospace defense of this

country and of modern russia definitely and it also needs to shed goals and functions that should not be performing. also, we are not just building of our armed forces but to some of the national cooperation in the security area. russia is prepared with the country to work on enhancing mechanisms of current directing recently at a russian major summit in lisbon i shared my consideration regarding the possible architecture of about a european abn system which would make use of the potentials of the north atlantic alliance and what put you up against missile strikes. our alternative is either we agree on an anti-missile defense and create a joint mechanism for the cooperation were a spiral of the arms race will begin and we

will have to make a decision on deploying new strike capabilities. it is completely obvious that this latter scenario would be very brief. in lisbon the decisions were made to build a modern partnership, a partnership based on the principles of indivisibility of security and mutual trust country's currency and predictability. we have determined how we will work and how we will work on the creation of a single space of peace and security in the region. this gives of some cautious optimism if you will in the prospects of working on the russian initiative concerning a treaty. we have to build up economic diplomacy correlating its results with practical outcomes for modernization and the

foreign policy must be expressed not only in missiles but also in specific and clearly understood achievements by citizens in the creation of russia are joint ventures and mentions of high-quality inexpensive goods and the increase of number of jobs and i should say that this approach has understanding and our partners and i believe that we should work of a targeted manner with countries and companies that are prepared for that thinks to the professional interest we already are she made up modernization partnerships with germany and france, great potential in the building of inhibition component of the cooperation with china, india, brazil, republic of korea, singapore, italy, and several

other countries in such partnerships will seek to accomplish the release of russia's technological modernization. the substantial reserve for reaching those goals i see an expanding the cooperation with the union and the united states of america and the mechanisms of the russia u.s. partnership must be used to establish full still economic consolation and improve the investment climate and ensure interaction in the high-tech area. the agreement between russia and the european union partnership for the modernization and that is an idea that we formulated its ackley a year ago must work on. first, it involves the natural extension technology, harmonization of technical norms and regulations, practical assistance of the european union

as far as russia's exception to the wto. second is a simplification of the visa regime with its complete elimination in the short term and third, considerable expansion of professional and academic changes. it is in this regard next week i will engage our partners in brussels that of russia european union. extremely relevant is the task of the regional integration and economic space of the asia-pacific. active use not being made of the potential participation in the forum and other forms which takes place expanding the relationships between the countries in the region requiring the strategic character and that is something that is borne out by the example of the relationship with china and unprecedented level of cooperation projects partnership

internationally and in turn is also helping increase the prestige and influence of such entities. serious reserve is available in terms of developing a long-term mutual beneficial cooperation with latin american and african nations of special priority importance with what his course and our foreign policy the cis and thus es keogh entities that are operating. we have set up a customs union and are creating the only single economic space within the year of sector framework. we are flying out new integration schemes and at the end of the day we should work towards building a single economic space stretching from the arctic to the pacific that will take up the entire territory of eurasia. [applause]

number eight, as it relies on the experience, technical and resources, russia can become the initiator of a global system of fighting merchants. effigy 20 summit i launched the initiative concerning the modernization efforts to preserve the marine environment from oil spills. now we have to tackle our main goal, the change of the best practicing in this area and prevention or liquidation of consequences of the oil spills. international flight to piracy must be made more energetic. we have lost initiative to the mechanism to try pilot. we believe it will help bring pilots to create responsibility. after all it is the fact that they can get away with it that

remains as an incentive for them. i am expecting the foreign policy agency to come up with specific results of work in all these areas. defense. together we have to implement the plans that have no point today. i have not the slightest doubt the world of great job at that. i would just add a few more words now, words that are normally not in official documents, but they could be the most important. we are rejuvenating this country. we are rejuvenating were society. we are changing our life, and we ourselves are changing. and everything we are doing we are doing for those who are left more than anyone or anything

else by our children. because we wanted them to live better than us. we want them to be better than us. we wanted them to be able to do things that perhaps we won't have time to do. so that out of their successes, a successful future of our great russia will come together. i am positive that this, indeed, will be the case. [applause] ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ [applause]

it has the advantage of going right to the heart of the problems of the autonomous regulatory state. for all of its audacity, it is difficult to propose in principle. the congressman will say no, we should not invite the audience to stand up and be counted. i like the institutional reform ideas. i also like practical step-by- step approach is -- approaches. ronald reagan was first -- was focused on big issues with the soviet union, taxation, issues

with spending. he always calls -- he always and would make great find a bit. he was knowledgeable about these matters. i would like to see the new congress do a couple of step-by- step things. my proposal, for starters, is to pass a simple plot repealing the law passed by in the bush a administration that is now being implemented to ban the incandescent light bulb. individual cases like this can have a great effect on the direction of policy. there are a huge number of them to be addressed. thank you, very much. -- thank you very much. >> thank you for calling us together and for the honor of being mentioned in the same speech with irving kristol from whom i learned that whenever i

know about public policy. when the hudson institute undertook the new promise of american life, it was my privilege to be working alongside others for the project was the financial banker -- financial backer. it was a particular honor to work for the late mike joyce. our enthusiasm for the project came not from some ideological doctrine, but from our work on the ground in the low-income neighborhood of milwaukee. for decades those neighborhoods have been supervised by cadres of social service professionals who claimed to know better than everyday citizens about how their affairs should be managed. the results there and elsewhere across america have been disastrous.

became families, dysfunctional schools, rising crime rates. in milwaukee we saw the first indication of a populist rebellion against the regime of experts, namely parental choice in education. low income parents were able to make one of the most critical life choices on their own -- selecting the school their children would attend with public support. the notion that exports no more than parents on the matters was anathema. surely that certificate of expertise merited willing and even grateful acquiescence from ordinary americans who had badly mismanaged their own affairs without professional supervision. as that great battle raged in milwaukee, lamar alexander

managed to overcome his own handsome credentials in order to side with the parents. they began to explore the electoral underpinnings. that led us all to the progressive movement of the early 20th century. he is best known as a proponent of decentralization of public policy. he is also -- he also argued for professional is agent for the turning over of public policy to the credentialed experts as well. the reason for that was that in the complex of interconnected circumstances in the 20th- century, the promise of american life could no longer be fulfilled by the idiosyncratic and amateurs workings of democratic individualism.

the problem demanded that our life be turned over to knowledgeable experts, immersed in the new sciences of nature and society which enabled us to manage be growing webs of interdependence. those public spirited social engineers would be devoted heart and soul to a grand vision of national service, national community -- a vision that was all too likely to elude ordinary sears since -- ordinary citizens. by the early '90s, we have seen the result of the vision. citizens were being turned into a passive, helpless clients increasingly dependent on social services lavishly funded, but poorly designed and in effectively delivered. how much more is it true in the

congressional elections of 2010? once again we see being fiercely proud "i do not tread on me" populist spirit. the credentials is allegedly qualified them to remake our health, energy, and financial system. the elite's dismissed resistance to those sweeping plans as remnants of retrograde religious doctrines providing some sort of pathetic comfort against complexities of global interconnectedness. the response only feeds the buyers. if we declared war against herbert pauley in 1995, it seems that he whined and beat that rep. [laughter] how will things be different this time? the professional service state was becoming too expensive in

the mid-90s, it most certainly is too expensive in 2010. cutbacks that were unimaginable then are going to be unavoidable today. school choice and charter seemed like an exotic challenge to the education bureaucracy in the '90s. consider how far we have done. major movies like "waiting for superman" blame charters for the problem of public education. the new promise was one of the first conservative projects to say that herbert paul e.'s vision could be more a source of our problems than fdr's new deal. it has become clear to us how much of our daily politics stands out the tensions between progressive nationalist vision

and the democratic the sensualist vision the framers of the american constitution. they were once only of ventures to intellectuals. they have found their way onto the white boards of the news networks. copies of the constitution protrude from pockets of the nation's tea party movement. in the summer of 1994, and lamar alexander traveled across the country spending time with dozens of neighborhood leaders who were addressing our social guests. their approach is reflected the everyday common sense and traditional moral and spiritual principles of the american people rather than be elitist doctrines. in his book "we know what to do" mr. alexander described his

visits to a school in savannah for low-income children, a shelter in dallas, and a job- training program and learning center in east los angeles. this notion that we must look at street level problem solvers for wisdom rather than credentialed elites was part of the tea party before the deportee was cool. [laughter] our new congressional conservatives will have to follow the alexander principal and turned once again to the wisdom and experience of our grassroots leaders. this time they will have to show a steadiness of purpose that failed them in 1994 once they had their own hands on the levers of national power. as we seek ways to roll back government, the problems are not

going away. alternatives will have to be found. we'll have to look at the more effective, less expensive, decentralized solutions that appeared in glorious protrusion across america's neighborhoods. this is another step-by-step approach. the next successful journey to the white house for conservatives will begin with lamar. we will explore ways to sweep aside failed solutions of progressivism's arrogant empire so that local wisdom can flourish. >> gracias, bill. -- thank you, bill. >> thank you, kate. it is good to be on a fair and unbalanced panel. [laughter] theked lamar's story about

young lady in texas. i thought that would mean you were named after an earmarked. [laughter] i am sure the lamar alexander highway was not an earmarked. it and it was not an earmarked, it came out of a pool of money. [laughter] i am sure the governor is not an earmark/ . i think it is stimulating. i very much agree with the appeal of the bush era regulation banning the incandescent light bulb. i think that should be second on the republican agenda after the

defunding of npr, which i have a personal interest in. that will fail in the house. then you can do the light bulb. and let me say something about the whole step-by-step question. let me offer a qualification. this is on the question that was asked of lamar that he deflected to the panel. conservatives can do both the step-by-step and can't -- and comprehensive reform. conservative comprehensiveness is a different from a liberal or progressive comprehensiveness. it is an abstract formulation. it will have to be worked out.

progressive is central planning, basically. there is no thinking about the arrangement of institutions or the arrangement of incentives. to have sensible public policies and a free and well-functioning society -- it is thinking about the constitutional liberty. conservative comprehensiveness things much more about how to arrange institutions, how to arrange a consensus, how to arrange structures so as to allow people to freely pursue happiness and be entrepreneurialism and allow states and localities to experiment. to do all the things to avoid what the federal list what.

it is a very different kind of comprehensive thinking and then the its debt -- then the attempt to plan everything in washington. we need a rebirth of a kind of serious thinking about institutions, structures in the spirit of the federalist. many people at all about this over the last couple of centuries. we want a well-functioning, free, spirited, and successful free society. the tea party is actually onto that when they talk about the constitution. what is the constitution? a comprehensive account of how something should work. the notion of constitutionalism is the right kind of comprehensiveness in terms of the agenda as opposed to the

more familiar liberal, progressive welfare state comprehensiveness. it ends up being sequential. if you are in opposition were trying to stop something from happening, it is perfectly reasonable to put up an alternative, step-by-step change. situations could go on for a year or two with small modifications. conservatives have to have some influence in the other half of the government. we are struggling with the president. there is no purpose for conservatives to spend a huge amount of effort.

it is very important to be articulating them. that would be extending the current tax rate 40 did zero years. that is a better solution than raising taxes or repealing various bad regulations. it is a reasonable, practical thing to do for the economy as opposed to reforming our regulatory framework were getting rid of the sec. not creating new entitlements and chipping away at some car once is a good thing to do for the next two years rather than reforming the entitlement structure. not printing more money would be a good thing to push the fed to do. i believe there needs to be a real rethinking of a fundamental monetary policy.

the current system, i think, is fundamentally flawed. we can gain a comprehensive of policies and structures -- monetary policy, entitlements, taxes. i think this is happening. i am not saying anything fancy or speculative. we will spend the next few weeks insisting on current tax rates. they may do some minor things in congress to improve job creation and growth. fundamentally they will run on a pretty big comprehensive conservative tax reform. there has to be a tax code. you do have to think comprehensively, if that is the right word.

you have to think about what it encourages, how it compares with the task those of other nations, what is the relationship of federal and state. it is all these big questions that come at this regime level or the big policy level as opposed to the step-by-step improvement in the current situation level. one should never minimize the importance of step-by-step. most things are not crises. one should be aware of lots of big changes. it is generally very disruptive to the political order. we should not be doing huge reforms every three years. all the other hand, we have a

certain watershed moments. i think we are seeing them in a lot of areas. the structure of the regulatory system, the financial structure -- one does need to have a bigger framework. if one thinks about that as reforming the rules of the road were structural reform, that is the kind of reforms conservatives should favor. they are reforms that are at their best and lay the groundwork for step-by-step changes in the future. they create stable structures that are friendly to people exercising their liberties. i do not think there is any contradiction with foreign policy. we get lots of step-by-step

things after 9/11. you cannot do everything at once. we did some longer-term things. the problem with the war on terror is not that we've done too much big thinking. we have been under incredible pressure. we have done a lot of concrete things. the intelligence agency is properly arranged. does the diplomacy in military really make sense? it is understandable to put that off. the main principle that one can combine step-by-step sensible reforms even when one cannot do more or one is under such pressure that one does not have

the time to do more with longer- term constitutional level more comprehensive reforms. that is a manageable task. i think that is what room -- i think that is what conservatives the to do the next two years. bt party is concerned about particular things. they want a volunteer stopped. they also understand that over the medium-term we need to have more fundamental return -- fundamental reforms. the problems, disabilities, and efficiencies of the welfare state have come to a head in the last few years. >> thank you, bill.

>> let's talk about education. 15 years ago when we were editing this book, "the 103rd congress had just passed and president clinton had signed the goals 2000 act and the american schools act which was the umpteenth renewal of lbj's education act. it was the outcome of a largely bipartisan effort dating back to 1983. at the 1989 education summit, all of the governor's set on educational goals. the 1994 summit of a lot to lamar alexander's plan. it all seemed to make sense at the time.

or so i thought. i noticed at the time and wrote in the book that these developments further at what we call the "cult of governmental as and." they definitely attend to give washington school reform. the responsibility should have been invested in the states. it may seem like ancient history today, but it was not that long ago that governors such as lamar alexander, bill clinton, tommy thompson rescinding education reform waves crashing onto the beaches of their own states. two changes occurred on this front. neither of them turned out well. from the right, mostly from republicans, there was a clamor to stop the world. that was the push to abolish the

department of education. the intent was to roll back washington's involvement in education. it was understandable, but the specific proposal was symbolic and a little hollow. what matters is what goes on inside the federal agency. abolishing the education department then or now would in effect restart an old apartment. it would not give local control to education. the other more consequential development was the move by democrats and resisted by republicans to tighten the screws of the new regulation. it was evident that many states were not doing a good job of setting academic standards, developing good test, are holding their schools

accountable -- were holding their schools accountable. that set the stage for the federal government to monitor and evaluate. if any states flag on these fronts -- if any states lagged on these fronts, eyes turn to washington to exert more leverage. this impulse became bipartisan during the 2000 election. george w. bush, ted kennedy, and other leaders gave us "no job left behind." president bush believe what worked in texas would work in the country and enough leverage from washington would cause this to happen. some felt obligated to let him try. this did not work out very well. nine years later, with the big challenges will be to try it once again to set matters right.

this has done us a bit of good by making the performance of every school in the country more transparent, whitening the achievement gaps, try to boost every one's achievement, and giving kids alternatives to their schools. there were also some minor achievement gains, mainly in math. nothing has changed by way of high-school education or 12th grade education. nothing has changed in history -- nothing has changed in reading. american kids are not learning enough. they are going to underscore this. we are falling behind the rest of the world, not because we are getting worse. we are essentially flat and other places are getting better. the problem remains unsolved in 2010. no child left behind has not

solved this. neither will tightening the screws further. it has mainly taking control of the schools farther from those who run them. it has neglected kids that were already proficient in their subject. it has failed to deliver decent alternatives. it does encourage states to settlers standards and more kids would appear to be efficient. to give credit where it is due, i think barack obama has tried to meet this problem using the estimates available to them, namely federal funding. their race to the top was in earnest. it was a successful attempt to induce states to make changes without forcing them to do so. congress is avoiding grappling itself. everything i have heard, the

more probably knows more. there is no agreement about how to fix it. one problem, this comes to the question of comprehensive, it ran about 1000 pages. there were dozens and dozens of programs you have never heard of, most of which have nothing to do with education reform, but need to be agreed about the fort comprehensive education can move forward. meanwhile, a movement is evidenced between those who would tighten the regulatory screws tighter and those who warned uncle sam to but alex. i think that the those views are crazy. tightening the screws clearly does not work. uncle sam abandoning the field

is a formula to let state education departments take charge again. neither boost educational achievement in the united states. is there a middle ground? there is a step-by-step approach. it tries to identify the major problems that we face and see if we can solve just them. i think this could be done in the program where most of the money is and most of the problems arise. i think it involves five things. first, largely embraced the administration's blueprint to abandon federal oversight and accountability for the vast majority of american schools. had the ball back to states.

two, at the same time have greater transparency of school results. set high standards and rigorous assessments. it is a worthy organic process under way that is being embraced by 45 states to share common standards and develop a common assessments without any federal involvement. that has never been done before in this country. this has great promise towards the direction of transparency. the states will make the performance other schools transparent. maybe a national assessment is a benchmark for that. third, choose incentives over mandates. rather than requiring states to have up teacher evaluation systems, create a competitive grants program. fourth, consolidate dollars from as many programs as possible.

the title one formula is the best way to get money to the classrooms. it would do some good to help cash-strapped states and districts at a time where we think we will not have any more belts. fifth, states could negotiate broad waivers with the department of education to do things different. that is all. that is all we need to do to start, but that is plenty. it repudiates the call for government allows them in part. it escapes the political pincher. it might do some goods in international competitiveness. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. thank you all. let me kick off this discussion beginning with center alexander's remarks.

you have accrued an extremely promising agenda. when you raise the question comparing the small but based on the election results last month with what happened 15 years ago, you remind us -- bill kristol reminded us that the tea party activists have provided that. they are extremely serious about turning washington towards constitutional limits. i think that is extremely promising. it is certainly more of a battle-cry -- rallying-cry.

it is an organizing principle. i wholly agree with demuth. i proposed another revolution betrayed if the ban on into the light bulbs is not repealed. [laughter] modifying the student loan programs, a very generous loan is extended to graduates going into public service. we ought to give a general loan to graduate to do not go into public service. [laughter] i think we have to reorient and how we feel about things. what is with the glorification of the public sector? that would be one of my test. just yesterday the child

nutrition bill passed the house. of $4.50 billion a year. this is washington, d.c., dictating what vending machines in grammar school can't sell. the same people who talk about the importance of returning washington to the constitutional limits think they are fixating on what vending machines carry. if you are preoccupied with what a fourth grader is cuba it -- is having for lunch, do not run for federal office. stay home and preoccupied yourself with what is being served in large rooms at home. it is not washington's concern. is the argument going to be these are extremely worthy

programs and all the legitimate for washington to be running, but we do not have the money to pay for it? or are we going to gradually add incrementally articulate the new proposition? we are not spending money on this because it is not washington's concern. we would be rebuilding trust in the federal government if they restrain themselves to their fundamental responsibilities. would they do a better job if they were not trying to do way too much? the question i want to propose to our panel, and maybe they have an example, i totally agree that when there is a problem to solve, the incremental steps make more sense. obviously the government is not good. there is an instinctive conservatism on the part of the public. i think there is a natural

resistance to this. there are national problems with no appropriate federal solutions. that is something the new congress ought to grapple with. they will begin returning washington to its popular -- returning to washington to its proper limits. >> safe schools. insuring children's safety in school cannot be mandated or managed from washington. the only useful thing washington might do is require honest reporting of unsafe schools, but they cannot be made safer unless you want to start deploying troops to them. >> is that because washington it would not do it very well or it

is not the responsibility of washington? >> both. i am sure you could generalize it under the general welfare clause, but it is no appropriate responsibility for washington. >> the title of our overall gathering is so clue -- is so crucial -- less of washington, more of ourselves. i guess i in washington, d.c., food programs are close to being sacred cows. if we are going to ask more of ourselves, my question is what poor parent cannot rustle up a bowl of cereal? i do not get white millions of school children qualified for school benefits unless we have eight major widespread problem with child neglect. in so many parents are in capable of pulling together a bowl of cereal and a banana, we

have problems await bigger than those that cannot be solved with the school breakfast. yet that is the kind of program that has a huge bipartisan support, but very little thought about why we are feeding children. talk about a fundamental par ental responsibility. >> a twist on your various comments on regulating food consumption is obesity. what would say that obesity is a substantial national problem. the federal government should have nothing to do with it. i can and as in various local initiatives that i would not object to it if i were on a town

council. but it is largely cultural. >> there is a lot of talk about some sort of federal response to the very real problem of obesity. >> i think that is where it comes from. there are any number of small groups in america who are dealing with these problems in an adequate fashion. part of the debate is so skewed in part because there are only two sides. either you or for fighting these problems or against fighting these problems. we need to articulate a solution, which is along these lines -- these are problems were fighting. here are when does a terrific examples of folks who are fighting these problems in a

successful fashion without massive government legislation and without massive government regulation. this is what lamar -- lamar was looking at homeless shelters, training centers in east los angeles for people who were not english-speaking and yet were being trained and getting jobs. the whole point of senator alexander's "we know what to do" is that we do have these answers. they are nine federal answers, but we need to become much more adept at the national level of diverting the conversation into those alternatives. let's talk about some of those local answers to the problems which come in on this diversity. they are not legislated in one comprehensive bill. they take an infinite variety of forms, but they all address the problem in a successful way.

one of the waste that those of us who are enthused about -- this isxander's where he started. this is where his politics is grounded. it is grant -- it is grounded in declaration.e it pointed to local wisdom as a solution. i do not hear a lot from today's national politicians. i hope we see more of that. >> conservatives should not just say that they cannot afford to do certain good things. there are some things the federal government should not do. some of them are a moral hazard of the federal government stepping in. you do new not know what would happen at the state level until it gets out.

i do not think that should be a precondition for moving against some of the things the federal government should do. i would not reject your economic and fiscal arguments. it is a practical matter. it is hard to make a case against certain programs until they start bankrupting the country or until they are manifestly inefficient are counterproductive in their effect. people are more practical than at the levels would like to be. they want to see that something is or is not working. we have trillions of dollars of debt and a trillion dollar deficit.

this is a prima facie evidence. there are all kinds of other distortions in terms of the federal government taking away the citizen's actions. what was the key party? the tea party was ultimately resulted in a declaration of principle. the constitution embodies a whole new structure of government. the reason beat the party through the tea in the water was a part of self-government. it was an oppressive tax. it was part of a series of oppressive taxes.

i think the trick is turning the fiscal complaint into a constitutional complaint. i think some of that is happening. lots of new candidates for office or heartened by the sense that we cannot have such a big deficit. that is an indicator that something else went wrong. you start to think about what went wrong, you go backwards historic fleet and upwards intellectually. you think more structurally about what is wrong with the whole modern welfare state. we're talking about this before the panel.

the perverse kind of federalism we now have creates all kinds of perverse incentives. it creates more big government than checking big government. it is really somewhat pernicious i think. people talked about the early reagan administration of sorting out dysfunctions and giving functions to the state. medicaid is a case where this could be done. i think it would be a healthy

development. it is fiscally kind of necessary today. the federal government would have a clear sense of what its responsibilities are. we could learn much more from the state competitions. it would be a much better solution. it would lead to a sorting out the responsibilities in a way that is structurally healthier for our economy and our politics. that is what conservatives have to think through. >> i do not disagree at all. the fiscal crisis does provide that opportunity. but when it becomes an obligation or opportunity of the next two years for the majority of the house to articulate rather than implement, i think it is really important that they be articulating this return to

constitutional limit argument that i think the most active parts of the republican base. i think it resonates with others, too. this self-governing people should not have their lightbulbs taken away from them. the government is supposedly is subservient to us. it certainly feels that way. first it was toilets. now light bulbs. they are going for a shower heads. [laughter] as a good conservative, i say get them back in the bedroom where they belong. [laughter] we are ready to take questions

from the audience. we have time for a few. please let me know who you want to direct them to. at the very end? excuse me. hold the microphone as close as you can, please. >> i would like to ask a question about the mad hatter's tea party that you are describing that takes place in the high levels of leadership in washington. i would like to ask you, wine, the you think the entire culture in america has radically changed within the last 10 years that would support the concept of the federal government giving breakfast to

children, the topic you're starting? does it reflect a complete transformation of traditional american values in the era of ralph waldo emerson to taught people to be self-reliant? >> if i understand the question correctly, i do not think there has been in a bundle -- any fundamental shift in the public's typical relief in self- reliance and individual responsibility. we have some taking charge of more and more aspects of our lives. in a very constructive way, i think, substituting government for what really belongs to parents -- a responsibility of parents. government is taking over more and more practice and

responsibilities from where it should rest with respect to children. i do not think that reflects a major change on the part of the american public, though, just the kind of creeping big government we have. >> this seems to me there is some epistemological confusion against creating programs and dismantling programs. when you dismantle a program you are going back to status quo. i think there is some danger in doing a lot of things -- people are looking for significant change. if it is not delivered in a couple of years, it seems nothing has been done. >> i take the point to a degree.

big government programs have been going for 30 to 70 years. when i came here to work for bill bennett in 1985 i was sort of continuous with people who resisted school choice, especially middle-class families. breaking up the power of the unions, breaking up the power of the administrators, introducing competition for the poor students are getting such a bad deal. you start to think a little bit more intelligently. a lot of people were very hard and by a house where there is a good public school system. it is not fair to have contempt

for them. the situation was set up for an awful long time. i went to a lot of effort to give my kids a good education. you guys to resist the white school choice -- you guys who resist school wide -- a one likes them as somehow selfish or a parasite of the state. people had made investments and have lived lives and have certain expectations. dismantling them is sometimes complicated. it is not like the dismantling of the incandescent light bulb situation or the dismantling of npr. i could make some jokes about that, but i will not. major programs do require thinking through them.

some are trying to think through how to reform health care. they take things seriously. longevity is up. a lot of diseases are cured. how do we get from here to there without reform without attending one could roll back the clocks and do away with things? >> that is widely obama care thing is so critical. it's deployment is a 10-year program. once it is deployed, people's expectations will be fundamentally changed. the possibility of getting to a much better system is going to

be severely compromised. i think that is why people are focusing on obamacare. it is one thing to think comprehensively as lamar alexander noted himself. >> you point to certain programs like social security and medicare that conservatives spent a lot of time and ammunition attacking over the years. the american people have come to think of those as programs in which they had personal accounts. we all understand it is a myth, but that does not change the fact that the man on the street thinks is his money or her money in social security, medicare, and so forth. i think that is what the interesting developments that began in 1994 with this focus

on a new promise of american life. the president of hudson at the time said this would be a good target. it is that comprehensive, intellectual vision that we know what you do. this is a program that can be imposed on people who are otherwise foolish and benign. that suddenly became the target of wrath from the 90s on and certainly the target of wrath in 2010. not so much the new deal or the popular programs -- programs that people have come to have tangible, personal stakes. i think we have learned a lot about who the real bad guy is since 1994. it is this progressive vision going back to the beginning of the 20th century much more so

than fdr's new deal. >> i want to thank senator alexander for his closing remarks. -- i want to bring it up senator alexander for his closing remarks. >> i want to ask you to give the panel a hand for coming today and for their remarks. [applause] you do not know how much a big treat this is for me. i admire them and their thoughts ended attitudes. i had known them for ever. we were on the nixon white house staff in 1969. we were all in our 20s. bill and dinette in the '80s. kate is a much younger, but we had known each other for a good long time. it has been a treat to hear what

they have said. in a careful notes about what has been said. i have these thoughts on kate's point. i went to see president reagan when i was governor in 1981. i proposed to him something that was mentioned. i asked them to swap medicaid for secondary education. take medicaid and get out of my hair. i will take all of elementary and secondary education. the reason for that was not much money, although it should have been for medicaid. it seemed to me that having that much responsibility for what children learn in class in washington shifted the spotlight from where the spotlight ought to be. that was an example. a smaller example would be gun- free schools on act of 1995

which i campaigned against. if there was ever an example of washington sticking its nose into something it could not do, which was made the area around schools safer. someone said wal-mart was the party before tea party was cool. it reminded me of the phrase " arrogant empire." i thank you for reminding us how much it really goes on in communities. we do not do much of what goes on in the united states here. if it goes on in the community. it is not on the homeless shelter in dallas, it is not on savannah, it is on something else. we watch this and we forget about them.

we know they are the places where things could be pointed exactly right about regulation. we talk about too much of this and too much of that. i voted against the higher education act because i sat on the senate for all of the regulations that had been promulgated and it made a stacked taller than i am. the new reauthorization is for the higher education act would make it twice as tall. just that caused me to vote against it. i think a two-year budget is a good antidote to it. it means that every other year congress could vote to repeal oversight, deregulation, all of those things instead of appropriations. all like to conclude by commending on the example of what you do about education. do you eliminate the department of education? i think both of us have at