violation. is that correct? ist is what the academic based. >> it is not just academic literature. is is the president's from this court. that is the premise behind teamsters. hazelwood makes clear that you do not want populations outside the company making comparisons. >> have a company representative of the american workforce. there were not many variations. every company had the same profile. you would say every company is in violation. >> that could be the case. if title seven holds companies responsible for the actions they take, there are industries when teamsters was decided where the entire industry might have had evidence of discrimination.

there is not a negligent standard that immunizes companies because they follow the same standards. >> if there is but a difference, it can only be treated to sex discrimination. >> i want to deal with -- in this instance, it is not just any old analysis we are using. we have statistical analysis that takes into account the factors such as performance in seniority. >> every industry in the united states may be guilty of sex discrimination.

there is inequality of promotion for men and women. >> i do not take that position. what others trying to make clear is the fact that there are other companies in the same industries with the same problems. huang marge was behind the other large retailers -- walmart was behind the other large retailers. i cannot speak for the rest of society. i have no reason to believe that the entire society is engaged in employment discrimination. >> when do you think individualize hearings are required? when is the formula approach right and when are the individual hearings approach right? >> factors could weigh in the balance and would include whether or not you have

available the kinds of information that we do here from the database, where you can more reliably constructed the kinds of decisions for discrimination. they may have had more substantial standards -- i do not think this is something -- i am not saying that you could always use a formula approach. this is an extraordinary case with evidence that they have no standards -- >> i thought because of the number we could not possibly be hearing in each case on whether a particular woman was -- >> the district court did make the comment that the sheer

number of class members would make individual hearings difficult. >> i thought he said it was more impossible. >> he may have. the district court made a specific findings about the extent to which the particular record here shows that the use of a formula would be more viable plan individualized hearings. >> i am a little confused. you are saying an individualized hearing is impossible. but that is what you are saying you are going to do, only through statistics. say through my statistical model, i can identify those women in the class that deserve pay raises. what it does not answer is whether the defendants will be given an opportunity to defend

against that finding. are you suggesting that the district court would appropriately bar a defendant with respect to not keeping records? that it was intended to stop these women from collecting money and etc.? when i they going to get a chance? >> walmart will have ample opportunity over which variables to use that will have a significant impact on whether women are showed to be underpaid or under promoted compared to men. >> that sounds like their only opportunity will be on the model and will be precluded from attempting to show evidence that a particular --

>> if walmart comes forward having done so and able to persuade the district court -- in a way that is consistent with reliable determination, who should have been paid what and promoted. >> you are not answering me. >> i am trying to. >> it is going to be too hard to have individual hearings. >> walmart has an opportunity to make the case that whatever showing it wishes to make -- it can offer evidence in certain circumstances, but it has not done so. i do not think they will be able

to do. >> to establish that it is more reliable to have a hearing with evidence on particular promotion for dismissal of the individual that is more realizable stanley using how admirable a statistical give you may make. >> we must have a pretty bad judicial system. >> it is the record keeping of the company and the standard a list of paid promotions. 10 years later, managers will come forward to speculate about what they did 10 years earlier with no records to cross-examine him on. that does not fit the model for reliable adjudication. >> we should use that in jury trials. we should put a statistical model before the jury and say this is too old.

is this really due process? >> i submit it is. in a narrow set of circumstances that we have here -- >> if it does not have standard or records, why is there a commonality? it seems to me that the answer you just gave shows a floor on your case. >> the standard of list in a record last aspect is with respect to trying to reconstruct these decisions years later. we have a common policy here that presents a common question. we have shown evidence that may show a common practice among teamsters. we satisfied three components of commonality.

>> [unintelligible] about half the class is gone. everyone is interested in money. why do you say that the injunction is the thing, out rather than the other way around? >> nobody knows that.

there are people leaving. more importantly, the advisory committee knows and makes clear that there is -- whether there is action or inaction with respect to the class, it depends on the number of people adversely affected by that action. if they would be included in the class under b2 -- who is employed and who is not? >> thanks. let me begin about this question of back pay.

they will never have an opportunity to prove that it did not discriminate against a woman who was seeking back pay. the district court did not suggest that it would be difficult. they found it would be impossible because of the nature of the claims. the problem is the records are not available. there is a proceeding where the district judge relies on the records. that is not a process known that supports due process.

>> you do not seriously contend that policy found -- they say i had a longer history at wal- mart, far superior job ratings, no criticisms of my work, and bob was promoted. would not that be enough to show that the policy influence her selection? >> i agree. >> your personal data base has all of that. >> there is a different issue here. >> would you outlined, we agree that a woman should be able to come and say that. under the plaintiff's theory, that woman would not be able to

come and testify. walmart -- it is not impossible to recreate these decisions. this woman was fired for infractions with how she kept her hours. it enough for an injunction action? >> there is no dispute about the policies at the time. if they have evidence, why can't they have this? >> the common policy affects everyone differently by definition.

many women -- or some women stereotyped in the other direction. stereotyping is supposed to prevent this. the one policy they do not want to confront is the policy against discrimination. there were very aggressive efforts by the company. >> [unintelligible]

>> he said until the company linked diversity goals to compensation of managers, it would be lips service. he was one of the advocates for diversity in the company. >> i think he is making their point. >> thank you counsel, the case is submitted. >> that was the walmart supreme court oral arguments from march. the court ruled today that more than 1 million of the current female employees cannot pursue a class-action suit against the retailer for gender discrimination. on saturday, one of the lead plaintiffs on the case spoke about what led her to join the

lawsuit. this event is 35 minutes. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] --2011] >> i want to introduce other guest who serves as the director of equal rights advocates.

his career has been devoted to providing legal representation to those that otherwise would not have access to it. as a trial lawyer, she has litigated over one dozen jury trials representing juveniles and adults accused of misdemeanors and felonies. as an appellate lawyer, she has represented people on death row , argued cases before numerous courts, including the california supreme court. she is one of the main plaintiffs in the groundbreaking anti-discrimination suit, walmart versus duke. [applause] she and her fellow plaintiffs, argued before the supreme court that walmart, the country's

largest private employer, systematically discriminated and retaliated against women in hiring, pay, and promotion. the court decision is due any day about whether they can represent 1.5 other million -- one of 5 million other women. -- 1.5 million other women. they are working to make sure that women receive justice. [applause] please join me in welcoming our guests. [applause] >> can you hear me? >> snow. >> can you hear me now?

thank you for being here. we are very happy to have the opportunity to speak to you about this important and impact will case for all women across the country. he did has been involved with the walmart transaction from -- edith has been involved with the walmart transaction from day one. she is an amazing moment. she has several daughters. i want to tell you how she became involved and how it is impacting herself, her daughters, and women across the country as well is your daughters. >> can you tell us about your experience at walmart and why you decided to work there? >> my reasoning for wanting to

work at wal-mart is and they told me this was a wonderful company that you could work for. if you work hard -- once you come to the company, there is no other company you need to go to, because the options are open to you. if you want to be system manager, work hard, and you can achieve that. the sky was the limit as far as where you could go in this company. they need dedication and a person to work hard, which is something that is not way out there. >> did you have prior experience in retail management before you started at walmart? >> i have always been in retail, because i love people. the best way to serve people is

to be in retail. you get to talk to them and get to know them. when i went there, i was already in retail years before that. it took a two weeks for me to become a specialist. they could see that i was determined. i probably would do better in management rather than be on the floor with the other girls, which, i would rather be there. >> how long did you work for walmart? michael here's was 6 -- years was 60 years. -- my total years at wal-mart was six years. the position i started off with, i did not apply for. i applied for a supervisor over

cashiers. when they looked through my paperwork, they said, you probably would be best suited as a personnel manager. i reluctantly took that position. i had fun with it because of the people. i did that maybe six or more months in that position. when i finished, i went on to be a test scanner, which is someone that goes through the store in the skin and everything to make sure the price is accurate. then i was a yue pc clark, which puts information -- upc clark, which puts information in. then i did invoicing. then i was a support manager. that was the buffer in between

the rank of a department manager and the salaries manager. >> you did any job they ask you to do. >> yes, whatever they ask me to do, even if i did not know how to do it, i said, if you show me how to do it, i will do it. >> and did you tell them you were interested in a management position? >> yes, i knew that to be a manager, i wanted to know everything there was to know about the store. i wanted to know what the cashiers went through. i've wanted to know what every part of the store did. but when i became an assistant manager, and i would personally know if a cashier was telling

the truth, because i had been there. a wanted to know everything in the store, so i could be effective. i did not want to just be thrown in there and someone else teach me. >> did you ask to be placed in a management trainee program. >> yes, several times. >> what happened? >> the first time i requested it, they said, -- it only comes around once or twice a year. when it comes around, you have to go through your store manager and let them know that you want to be put into the program. when it comes around, he would give your name to the district manager at that time. i had done it several times. >> was this information that you could read in your hand book?

wasn't publicized on how you could be part of the training program? >> cannot think that there was. it was not something that i remember you could actually take a paper, print it out, or look on the computer where it says assistant managers are needed in a particular store. i do not think it works like that at all. it was word of mouth. >> when did you become aware that you were not being treated fairly? >> it was a slow process, because you do not want to state that you are being treated that way by such a big company. [unintelligible] [laughter] it was repetitious. i would ask to be in the

program, and i was not. i worked hard for that. i researched what effort i could about being an assistant manager. i paid attention to the other assistant managers. >> did you have to work long hours? >> yes, that was a given. my shift was for 40 hours, but sometimes i worked 45 hours. i still have small children at home. three smaller children at that time. i knew i was spending a lot of hours, but i had something in mind. i would work hard, get this assistant manager position, and it will make up for all of the times that i was not there for homework, soccer, and stuff like

that. >> it is difficult when you are spending time at work. at some a point, your husband became very ill. what happened then? >> it was during one of the times where i was a scanner, because of inventories. one time i was away helping a store with their inventory. my husband became ill. i did not realize he was not feeling well. when i came home, i said, you look horrible. let me take you to the doctor. he said, it is ok. i kept saying, we are one to the

doctor. he was sick. i took him to the doctor. they knew my husband was sick. walmart was a family store as far as the associates. everyone knew he was sick. a new, push comes to shove, i would have to be the breadwinner in the house. he did not do good with it. he passed away exactly one month after that. you think about all these things -- you have to make up for your family. >> he became the sole breadwinner for your family. >> yes.

>> did that motivate you to speak up for yourself? >> at that point, it was just me and the children. some people may take that as a disadvantage. i did not. i was thinking, i love me. i have to speak up for me. [applause] it was always, whatever happens in the house, you keep it in the house. that kept me from saying too much. then i've was like, no, if i do not speak up for myself, how can i teach my children to speak up for themselves. you have to know when to say when. this is the net. once i got to that point, there was no turning back. >> were you seeing men promoted to positions you wanted?

>> i sought it often. -- saw it often. i had almost six years at walmart. i've would apply for these positions. you have to be a department manager before you go into the assistant manager trainee position. i kept applying for these department manager positions. of was already doing those jobs are ready, sometimes on a daily basis. sometimes the guy that would get them -- some of them would only have one year of experience in retail, but they would get the department manager job over someone that has been there and some women were temporary department managers and were in that position for six months or so. they would give the position to

the guys instead of the women, but have the women train the guys. [laughter] >> that must have made you a little bit upset. >> it did. >> eventually left walmart. you had no idea that there was a lawsuit going on at that time. >> i did not have a clue. >> one woman had already filed her claim earlier in 2001. he became involved later. how? >> i was given the equal rights advocate hot line number. i thought to myself, maybe it will get better. i waited up to one month. then i called the hotline and

explained to them what had happened to me personally and that i wanted to speak to someone to see if there was something i could do. three weeks later they called me back. they spoke to me. after a couple of meetings, they said, how did you find out about the lawsuit? i said i did not know about the lawsuit. i was really surprised. i think they were more surprised that i did not know. i said, i'm going to speak up for myself as well. [unintelligible] >> yue attended the supreme court arguments this past march. how did you feel about being

before the nation's highest court with your case? >> i felt awesome. [laughter] [applause] >> it has been 10 years since the lawsuit has been filed. are you still as committed to after 10 years as you were the first day? >> yes. what happened to me 10 years ago did not change. it still happens. i am committed. >> what do you hope to accomplish with this lawsuit? >> i want to let people know that it does not matter how big they are. if they are doing something wrong -- you may get by, but you will not get away.

they may have gotten by, but they will not get away. >> how has your life been since you left walmart? >> i am doing ok. it is different. i will not accept a full-time job. even though my girls are older, i still have that slight guilt in the back of my mind that i have spent so much time away from them -- i do not want to do that. so if they need something, i am only part-time, so i can be there. i feel good about myself and my life, because i stood up. i stood up for some of the women

that may have not had support to stand up for themselves. this is not easy. [applause] >> anything you want to tell us a? >> this is so humbling forming. -- for me. i am somebody that just wanted to justice, even if it is just for me. i love myself enough to know that if i am wrong, it needs to be made right.

all of your support -- i do not know how to put it in words. it is so humbling for me. i did not expect this. even if i did not get support, it would not change what happened to me. i wish this on no other woman or man. i thank you for all of your support, because sometimes when i am up against the wall, i say, i am not going to go backwards. sometimes i have to stand still and take time until i can move forward. you are some of the support that keeps may -- that keeps my back. i appreciate that.

i really do. [applause] >> we want to give everyone a chance to ask her any questions. we have about 10 more minutes. i do want to echo the feeling that she expressed that we really appreciate your support. it is a very difficult battle to fight. your financial support, your

support of side of the supreme court, it means so much to us and makes a difference and the hard work that we have to do on this case. >> are you still working at walmart? where are you working part time? >> she is working in the l.a. county area in a library. [applause] >> you have three daughters -- four daughters. how are they dealing with this? >> michael of girls do not have much of an opinion on it. i have some smaller girls. they are more teenage. who taught you how to talk like that?

when we were watching you, it was not like watching mom. it was like, who is that lady? [laughter] >> did walmart try to settle with you? i have heard their commentators talk about all of the improvements in the workplace. are either one of you aware of what major improvement they may have made? >> we do not comment on anything except the lawsuit itself. i would love to tell you more about that. there have been changes made

presumably, but we do not know for certain. where they started to appeal the class certification -- what we know is word of mouth. the improvements have been since this lawsuit was filed. we do not know if they are making changes, but they like to appear that they are. we are trying to get current information to find out what is happening. [unintelligible]

>> shall i go ahead. i do not think you see me back here. why does this take 10 years? [laughter] [applause] >> of that is an excellent question. you may want to ask walmart. the class was a certified many years ago. walmart has appealed that decision. they are trying to decide if discrimination even occurred. can these women proceed together as a group, as a class facts the district court said yes, they can. the trial court look at extensive information and said,

they have claims in common. they were treated the same. they can go forward as a class. walmart has appealed that for the ninth circuit. they affirmed that position several times and have now appealed it all away to the supreme court. we are waiting on an opinion from the court about that. the amount of appeals is why it has taken so long. walmart is fighting this case. >> in 1990 i was fired from a hospital in the washington, d.c. the rea owned by a large corporation. that unlawful firing went on for 5.5 years. i have some of the most wonderful young women lawyers

that won the case. it went to the supreme court, was not heard. i went back to that hospital and worked 12 years until i retired. i understand intimately the courage that it takes and the support of your whole community to sustain on that roller- coaster of appeals, good news, bad news. your personal life is interspersed in their, and how you need the support of family, friends, and organizations. i am so proud of us to be able to support you through this. [applause] >> i personally do not trade at

wal-mart because of this case. [applause] 5 wanted to know how many of us actually do -- i wanted to know how many of us actually do. [unintelligible] >> i will let you all sort that one out. we have about 3 more minutes. any questions, please let us know. we have one in the back. >> a quick follow up. i do not shop at walmart. i was a career counselor for years. i would deceive women looking at a career change or looking for a new job, and they were walmart associates. i kept hearing the same story of how they were mistreated.

we started -- we stopped shopping at walmart. you confirm it was a good decision. [laughter] [applause] >> im from poland originally, but have been living in this country for the last 20 years. i never liked walmart anyway. i think you get lost in them and are not treated in a human way. my daughter two years ago told me when she was 21 -- she showed me a movie on youtube about how

walmart functions -- how they treat women. how they work all of the time. they do not want to give them benefits. i thought, this is slavery. where is democracy in america? i think now we realize this. this makes it louder. your attorney cannot speak much about it. talking about it more to younger women is the central. essential.ntra [applause] >> i have to thank the team for and getting the word out about the issues.

we are on youtube, facebook, everywhere we can be. we are trying to get the word out. we want the young women to know what is happening and how they can advocate. we are a national organization. if you have any issue -- if you have anything that you want to get it buys on, feel free to call the hotline. >> do we have time for one more or not? not.

>> we are happy to talk to you afterwards. thanks to some much for coming this morning. thanks for sharing your story with us. [applause] [unintelligible] i want you to know the aauw has your back. through your support of the fund that we are able to support the edith and her fellow colleagues. >> thanks very much. [applause] [unintelligible] >> that was one of the

plaintiffs in the class action suit against wal-mart talking on saturday. today, the supreme court said the plaintiffs did not have enough in common to pull all of their claims into a single case. up next on c-span, some of the nation's governors talk about some of the financial challenges that states face. then we will hear from white house chief of staff. later, executives talk about changes in in the industry. >> c-span has launched a new easy to navigate website for politics in the 2012 race. we have recent events from the campaign trail, twitter feeds and facebook updates from a political candidates and reporters. this us at c-span.org/campaign

2012. >> some people who gathered earlier to discuss job creation and economic growth. they discuss the growing challenge of state budget deficits. it began with margaret spelling and the head of the u.s. chamber of commerce. >> thanks margaret. good morning ladies and gentlemen, and thanks for coming to the chamber. these governors are making strong progress.

margaret, thank you and your team for putting this together for an extraordinary study, which we have just put out. thanks to our cochairs from colorado and the virginia. we cannot have chosen effective governors in the nation today. in colorado, we see private development leading the way on green energy and working hand in hand with cities and localities to build a better business environment in the state. one governor has done a seemingly impossible task by turning a $2 million deficit into a $400 million surplus in a very difficult economic environment. at the same time, he has

nurtured his state's high-tech industry. we should be doing such work on a national level with private capital ready to go into certain products. we are strong supporters of trade. we want to say to all of the governors a particular aphakia for pushing the efforts you have done to get correa, colombia, and panama on done -- korea, colombia, and panama done. the 25 governors have signed on to a letter, including our cochairs pushing the congress.

i am very thankful. bringing innovation and accountability to economic growth to our country -- we appreciate their leadership. i think all of the governors, state chambers and business people for attending this event. together, they represent the three most important groups to our economic recovery and long term growth. the importance of the private sector is self evident. it is the only thing that can create the 20 million jobs we need in the next decade to make up for most of those lost during the recession and accommodate all of the young people coming into the job market. companies are creating products, innovations, and services that people across the board want to buy. that is fundamentally what drives the economy and our jobs.

they play a fundamental role in advancing economic development, to help businesses get started, they promote their growth and advance their good public policy. they can bring the private and public sectors together to formulate shared goals, cooperative action, and a soft challenges. the chamber of representatives are here today to do these things exceptionally well. the state level is where the rubber meets the road. that is where tough decisions are made. states have to balance the budget. they cannot just print more money like the federal government. some states are beginning to think they can. state of the laboratories of democracy are more likely to get common sense consolations, innovations, experimentations at the state and local level.

a robust economic recovery will come from the ground up. from the states and the cities, not the top down. but the united everyone here is the pursuit of a single goal, creating jobs. he sought a sign on the building when you came in. when it comes to job creation -- a creation, what works, and what does not? what are the economic successful states doing that others should consider? what can the federal government to learn from the innovation in our laboratories of democracy. that is what we need to talk about today. just a few questions about what is before us. it is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the most

difficult times we have experienced in recent years. we have suffered the worst recession since the great depression. we have suffered the worst recovery since the great depression. the housing market is worse than it was in the 1930's. the percentage of the workforce with jobs is at its lowest point in decades. the unemployment rate is 9.1%, which does not include the millions of people that have given up looking for jobs or that are underemployed. money printed by the fed has been pumped into the states in a form of stimulus is running dry. the federal government is beyond tapped out. the states, on their own. on top of that, the federal government has weight down the states with more taxes and regulations.

the financial reform law will restrict access to credit for mainstream businesses, discourage capital formation, and undermine our global competitors. when it comes to health care, it speaks volumes to more than half of the states involved in some sort of a lawsuit to overturn it. there are deep structural problems built up over the years on both the democrat and republican administrations and congress. massive debt and deficit, a dangerous overreliance on important energy, and a lack of common sense energy strategy, a crumbling infrastructure and education system gives us pause for concern. there are federal problems that it deeply impact the states, but

the states also have their own problems. for many states, the short-term prognosis is dire. 44 states and the district of columbia are projecting budget shortfalls from 2012 of $112 billion. the upcoming fiscal year will be one of the state's most difficult budget years on record. retiree benefits for state employees adds another strain with them facing a 1.3 trillion dollars shortfall. isn't it great to be a governor? with washington forced to the sidelines, states will have to address fundamental economic issues on their own. it means cutting spending or raising taxes, or both.

states must balance these decisions against the need to retain and attract private enterprise. the private enterprise, no jobs. states have a choice on how to tilt with these challenging times. they can spend any regulate or treat businesses as nothing more than a cash cow. they can turn to an all-powerful federal government that can make their decisions for them, or they can innovate, invest, inspire, nurtured businesses, and empire our -- empower people to make their own decisions. the other is based on free enterprise, personal responsibility. today, we are releasing a second

annual study that shows the states that pursue a cause based on a free enterprise principles fare better than those that do not. it highlights successful state strategies for job creation and economic growth. it does not seem to make a difference which parted the governor comes from. the decisions made seem to affect the results.

. .

we have got to do a better job collectively as governors, and you are working with several leaders to be sure we have a policy. if you look of the last couple hundred years at the fuel sources, we have gone from an

woodchips to where we are now. the technology has done in in the news in fuels, but right now it is nuclear common and and and natural gas, and coal and -- it is nuclear, natural gas, and coal. we need to do it cleaner, better, more cost-effective. we can do that. the same time we met with secretary salazar on offshore wind. we have tremendous opportunities in biomass and biodiesel. we are looking to turn tobacco and other things into biodiesel to drop the cost of gasoline, at least in the short run. i think it is going to take a tremendous effort to get regulations and laws out of d.c.

what is happening in washington and its impact on coal producing states has been terrible. it has been all the regulatory process these, so we have asked for help with all of these policies, comprehensive, but we have to have some policy with traditional fuels. >> one of my biggest concerns is what they are doing with regards to boeing. one of the of vintages we have in florida is we are a right to work with -- one of the advantages we have had in florida is we are right to work state, but if they allow companies to move to right to work states and not worry about individual's writes who are not a member of the union, it is going to have a devastating affect on those moving offshore, so there are a lot of issues the federal government is dealing with that are making it

difficult for our states to do business. the action with regard to boeing is going to have a major impact. >> this morning the man from boeing was on television before me, and he made that point. i suspect the congressional leaders, and the court of public opinion is going to move in a strong way to correct this matter. can it be done in weeks or months, or is it going to take a year? it is going to be done, and jim is building airplanes in the factory, so keep the heat on. >> are wanted to comment on the comments on energy. we are in agreement that what we all want is energy that is

home grown, affordable, but i did want to comment on the over reaction. that is our drinking water. there are millions of people who are going to be drinking that water, and i am sure it can be done safely, but i do not think it is an over reaction when we say we want to be sure it is done right. with respect to japan, let's take the time to figure out what went wrong, because we all thought that could never happen, and the same thing with the deep water drilling. natural gas -- it is incredible how much natural gas we have, apparently 110 years worth of supply, so there is a lot here, by including nonrenewable, some solar. we are really exciting --

excited about the technology, but i think there is a tension here, and when you are talking about these absolute natural disasters, let's remember how nobody had any idea how they were going to have thought well. nobody had any idea how bad the nuclear plant was going to get in japan, so i think with respect to the natural gas, we are right on the delaware river, and we think this is a great day d.o. -- great opportunity for economic development. i think it is great to have natural gas. it is a terrific source of energy. that is drinking water. we are talking about tens of millions of people who can drink of water. it is not an over reaction to make sure we are focused on doing all of this the right way.

what i mean is look what happened in the gulf of mexico. we have been trickling out there for 40 or 45 years. it is 20 -- we have been drilling out there for 40 or 45 years. what happened with this is administration is they have taken off drilling for the foreseeable future. we were said to have one of the virginia coast in 2012. we have som, and what this administration has done said it is going to be after 2017. that is an over reaction. if we had done but i in the late 1980's, we would have been the by every nation in the space race. we innovate. we reregulate, and we do things the smart way.

maybe we are saying the same thing. if we take natural gas off the table, i think we have no empirical data to say that is ok. i am talking about the political overreaction. some environmental groups have put pressure to governments to do things that do not make sense to reagan that is not going to help our country. that does not make sense. that is not going to help our country. >> i want to hear from some people from the business community. >> i would like to reemphasize what governor walker said a minute ago. attitude is so critical, the attitude of the public sector to the private sector. just as ron said a few minutes

ago, investing in wisconsin was a pretty tough decision, and it had a lot to do with attitude. it had to do with regulations and taxation of more than anything it had to do with attitude, but what that has done and what this report shows, a wisconsin was right there in the bottom with you. there are 32 categories in which the states are rated, and wisconsin, michigan, illinois are dead last. that makes where i live solo performance states -- low- performance state, and we have a professional football team that is not a low-performance institution. we do not like a low- performance anything, but in order to do that, it is a major

point to simply proclaim a friendly environment is no longer adequate. a story must be backed up by actions, and that has happened recently, and it happened in the change of administration and the change in the legislature and the state house and the governor's office in the state of wisconsin, and that is an attitudinal change that is going to take wisconsin of of the low-performing category. it is all about to happen, and it is the leadership that gives them the opportunity, because it is clear to me that the future for wisconsin has now become right. i know there is anxiety of there, and i have many private

sector friends who worry, but the reason the numbers shane's from 10% -- change from 10% to 88, i was one who voted with the 90% who thought the state was going in the wrong direction, and i was one of 88 this year to change my vote. it is about attitude, and it is about legislature and a courageous stance gov. scott walker has taken in wisconsin, so we are moving ahead. >> i object to the craft commercials during good -- commercial. >> i was going to invite governor walker to talk about his success of the third annual who governors meeting. >> thanks for putting this together. you planted a seed i think we

need to work on more than once a year. i wanted to make a comment to the governors who are here. i want to encourage you to understand free enterprise is not free, and we have worked of the florida chamber very closely to move to florida in the right direction, and we have looked at what you have done, and we have looked at the leadership each of you have done. i want to put a word in the please do not think you are only a working for your state. the rest of us are watching. when you break down a barrier, the rest of us see what you are doing, so keep that up, and that leads me to the second question, which is i am sitting in my place looking at a printed report in my iphone, and i am thinking about how fast

things need to go these days. we were talking about speed and entrepreneurship, and i am thinking about zero once a year summit where we get a report. it is a good report, but is talking about the past. i am wondering with the partnership if there might not be away instead of showing up next year and talking about who did what, maybe we can start this afternoon talking about maybe competition between the states is a great strategy, but we will need to communicate in some way other than a poke. i want to encourage you to keep going -- other than a book. i want to encourage you to keep going, so keep it up. i hope you will find a way to turn this into action and results by tomorrow, as opposed to letting the years go by.

>> other comments? i do not want to miss the focus on this side of the table. >> in iowa what we have learned is we have a governor who understands business and the economy, and we began to look to cut and what was surprising to us was how shallow the understanding has become, so we are going to be a excepting the challenges, broadening the message region acc -- to be accepting those challenges to meet the needs in our states to support the governor we have, and violent death of a banner

behind us, and it is taking that message behind -- and i look at the vendor behind us, and it takes that message home, because i looked at wrangling, and some you think would get it in our legislature are not getting it, so we are at a excepting -- are accepting the challenge to support things we have talked about this morning, so that is our goal in our state. >> since we are coming to the conclusion, i wanted to mention one of the things that excited me about coming to this summit is the discussion about creating jobs. creating jobs is the mantra and you hear in the campaign, and i want to get back to the industrial revolution times two. there are a lot of companies

that are the backbone of this country. i did not care if it is the plastic bag co. making wrappings for cheese. it makes us more innovative and competitive. the reality of the situation is a lot of those innovative jobs do not create a lot of employment. they create employment on a global scale and new products, but if you look at the iphone, they created, but a lot of people involved are selling the product on every kind of channel you can imagine, and that has been probably the vegas convention and you can imagine -- the biggest convention you can imagine. when you look at small business, a lot of those small businesses employ a real people, and they do manual activity that are the things displays when

those companies fail, and there is no place to put those people except one of those college programs we are funding, and those are good, but it is hard to teach an old dog new trip. they do not like it. my taxi driver was a 20-year engineer. his skills are still valuable somewhere else in this country. we need to find a place to plug those people in until the next generation in gilts. one plus one equals two, but if you do not lose one along the way, you get four for the next inflation and set of three. good equation instead of three. >> you will find this on our web site, and i am going to ask the cochairs to have the last

word before we open the door to the press conference at 11:30. >> we appreciate this forum. we have learned a lot. thanks for doing this. the chamber is a great source. i have a lot of notes to go back and fix things in va. >> thanks to everyone who has come all over the country to put this together. in thank you for having the vision and pulling it together. i went to visit a steel plant in colorado, and they have less than half the employees they had 12 years ago.

we are in a transformation every bit as intense as the industrial revolution, and having this opportunity to bring the governor's back together, i cannot wait to kick around these ideas and try to do them better. and you are planting the ideas that are going to take this forward. >> the governors are now available. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> former utah governor john

huntsman will officially announce his running for president today. he will make the announcement in new jersey and use the statue of liberty as a backdrop. president ronald reagan spoke there in 1980 when he was running for president. live coverage at 10:00 the stand. several of president obama's ambassador nominees will testify before the senate. they include the former u.s. ambassador to pakistan was been asked to serve in egypt. we'll also hear from nominees of qatar, kuwait, and the uae. coverage gets underway at 10:00 eastern. last week, the chief of staff william davy talked about the economy, and u.s. competitiveness. nearly 400 manufacturers from across the country met to discuss trade issues.

>> the people who plays such an important part in the economy of our country, but as an individual who is respected across political divides, democrat or republican, but at both ends of the street. the street being pennsylvania avenue and down at the executive branch. those agencies of the executive branch that deal with me and him. i appreciate your leadership and

the encouragement which you have given the administration and the direction and advice. i appreciate it very much. i would like to acknowledge her presence here today and her leadership but also her presence on the council and the leadership she provides. i appreciate that. i had the pleasure to deal with them a while back. the economy was better. we're feeling much better about things. maybe because we had a different commerce secretary. [laughter] maybe that is the reason. let me make a few comments. i have had the pleasure of being chief of staff to president obama for a little over 150 days. about six hours and 12 minutes or something like that.

i called jim baker who is kind of the best chief of staff everybody looks to. he has been secretary of state and had a successful career. i called him for advice as i called other people for advice. he was the chief of staff to ronald reagan a while ago. he answered the phone and said, congratulation, you have the worst blanking job in america. [laughter] he said times are different and all that. just remember the most important part of your title is staff, not chief. there is only one chief. i have remembered that for all these days. but it is a great job. it is great to work for this

president and served in government. it is an honor to be part of an administration that is fighting every day for the american dream. at the same time, we have men and women fighting around the world on behalf of our values. it is truly an honor. these are historic times and i'm glad to meet real people who do not live in washington. i call you normal people. let me make one simple statement. our president believes in american manufacturing. he believes manufacturing has helped build our middle-class and has kept us a strong and able to defend ourselves economically and defend our

selves in real terms in battles around the world. jobs have helped make the american dream a reality for millions of families around our country. we know when gino probably better than anyone how the world has changed. some have said that america does not need to make things any more. but our president subscribes to the opposite view. american manufacturing is vital and essential. if we build products, we create jobs. innovation will continue to happen. that is how we keep our economy strong in the 21st century. we have faced unprecedented challenges. the financial crisis of 2008 was unlike anything most of us have ever experienced. we heard about it from our. -- parents and grandparents. i'm sure you remember our

economy and what it was like. many of our american companies common names that had been around for years were on the verge of collapse or did collapse. president obama worked with manufacturers to help you weather the storm and put our economy back on track. gdp has grown for seven consecutive quarters. the private sector has created 2 million jobs. obviously these are difficult times. there is some confidence that we're coming out of this terrible time. much slower obviously. but we are moving in the right direction. there are serious questions about how fast we are moving. are there ways to get us to move faster? these questions are being asked with urgency by you as business people, by leaders, and people around the world. every day the president hears

from citizens who want to know they can find a good job with security. that they will be able to give their kids' education which they need and the opportunities they dream up. he hears from businesses who want to know we will be able to stay competitive. the challenges we face did not develop overnight. a full recovery will not happen overnight. there are steps we can take to speed the recovery and put people back to work and see that america remains the best place to do business. i am happy to say you have been a powerful advocate in taking the steps. yet supported trade agreements. yet supported assistance. thanks to your leadership, we have finalized many of these agreements. we will have opportunities to

cross a bridge in job growth at home. for example, with your support reenacted expense and for all businesses for this year. that will provide $150 million in tax relief to 2 million businesses this year and next. the of called attention to fixing the tax code to promote growth. during this year's state of the union, the president said that by reforming the corporate tax code we could help our companies compete. he called on congress to get rid of the loopholes and level the playing field and use the savings to lower the corporate tax rate without adding to the deficit. yet pointed out other ways to remove barriers to success. they suggestions from the business community, president obama directed his staff to go through the regulations and find the ones that are out of date, unnecessary, or in conflict with

other rules. he directed the agency to come up with a planned to make sure regulations are doing what they're supposed to do with the lowest cost to states and citizens. this review will remove some obstacles which face manufacturers. every year americans spent almost 1.9 million hours filing redundant requirements for osha. from an employer's perspective, and that is like giving to wondered thousand extra days off each year. something no one would find attractive. we're going to eliminate those redundancies so there is less paperwork and more productivity on behalf of you. these are just a few of the steps we've taken to strengthen the economy. president obama supports investing in 21st century infrastructure. reauthorize in the clean energy

tax credit. as well as expanding the tax credit and making it permanent. companies like yours have said these are the tools you need to compete in a global marketplace. i would like to take a moment to recognize that all these programs require the support of congress. we hope congress acts quickly. we do not have time for more political games or for what we see as business as usual in washington. we cannot afford to miss the opportunities before us. you understand this better than anyone. when your industries and companies faced challenges, you did not accept the status quo or resign yourselves to failure. instead, you laid out and implemented plans from success. that is exactly what the

president said. when it comes to the economy, the answer is to place our bets on workers. in the beginning of june, president obama went to ohio to tour a factory that builds the jeep wranglers. he reminded us that some felt detroit should have been allowed to fail. instead they helped rescue the car company and today the auto industry is supporting jobs all along the supply chain. last week he went to alexandria where i know many of you joined him. he announced a partnership with community colleges to make it possible for 500,000 americans to get credentials for manufacturing jobs. that program is going to help meet your hiring needs and prepare our work force for the 21st century. all the leaders here today deserve a round of applause for making that happen.

[applause] just this past monday, president obama went to north carolina where he spoke at a company that produces some of the most energy in the world.d.'s boeing, du pont, proctor and gamble. they discussed ways to streamline regulations and programs. it will support companies that manufacture energy-efficient products. as you know, every moment is precious. i think it says something that this president is visiting manufacturers all over our country to speak to them and to listen to them. he wants to highlight the success stories that are happening at companies like yours. manufacturing is leading the

recovery. he wants to hear what we can do to make it easier for you to succeed. you're the ones who made it through this financial crisis. you're the ones who made it through this. you are the ones growing your company. you are building product in creating jobs here in america. as the president said, americans do not quit. whether it is an out of work parent or a ceo finding new ways to keep building products, americans are doing everything they can to tackle the challenges before us. that is why the president believes our future is bright. that is why he has worked to bring the economy back from the brink and rescue industries like the auto industry. he promotes exports. it is why he's committed to cutting taxes and helping

businesses find access to capital and removing the burdens that stand in your way of growth. i would like to close by asking each of you to continue to be an ambassador to those in washington. it is an important even because the people here in washington here from normal americans when you come to town and talk about the things in your life that are not being done are are may be being done to you. we need you to be an ambassador back to your communities. we have created a variety of tools that will help manufacturers succeed. we rely and you to spread the words of the companies can take advantage. as this recovery continues, we are going to have good days and some setbacks and bad days. i believe that if we work together, we will emerge from

this experience stronger and more competitive. we will then the future. we will keep manufacturing strong today, tomorrow, and decades to come. with that in mind, i thank you for inviting me. thank you for what you have done for our country. thank you for the outreach to i s and two other agency within the federal government. i would like to open up to take some questions and hear some comments. not too many criticisms. i will take them. i appreciate what you do to strengthen this economy. thank you very much. [laughter] [applause] questions? yes, sir. in the back. maybe you can identify where you're from.

with bloomberg news. >> that is a company. >> we're going to take questions from manufacturers. good try. >> that's why ask people to identify themselves. >> thank you for being here. i am a paper manufacturer. we represent various states. i am headquartered near dayton, ohio. one of the reasons we're talking regulations, they're going to affect some of the things we do. we are a close 3. >> is there a specific regulation? to give you an example, in 2007

we spent about a million dollars to upgrade that to meet the current levels at that time. there could potentially be another few million dollars investment. that could harm our business. those are the kinds of things we're talking about, about how to physically to the facility. >> i appreciate it. as i said, since i got here it seems as though the number of regulations and rules that come out of agencies is overwhelming. i'm saying something you know. to be frank, a number of the epa rules are a result of a lot of litigation. in some people's minds, there

was very little action on the epa implementing legislation passed by congress. during the previous eight years, there were numerous lawsuits on certain regulations. a lot of what is being implemented right now is the result of a backlog of judicial cases better now requiring the epa to do certain things. i'm not saying that is a good excuse. that is a fact of life. a lot of the issues, there is scientific evidence that was ignored. we can debate scientific evidence but a lot of the may have been ignored. that is at the heart of a lot of these. i hear the message. as i mentioned, the president has been strong. we're required each of the is debate's, there

whether we have the authority to do the sort of review we of ordered the cabinet agency to do. they presented plans to do the sort of review that i mentioned. the one we saw with osha. to try and get through the redundancy and overlap. there is an enormous number of rules and regulations in the pipeline that come out. we're trying to bring rationality to them, especially at a time of crisis and the impact they could have on this. we have been very strong. the group reviews all of these, we looked at the cost benefit of them. we analyzed that heavily. we put a great priority on that. there are some rosa cannot be looked at by legislation but as far as our attempt to get control of this, try to make

sure that each of these rules, there is a cost-benefit analysis that is real and rigorous. we are doing that. i appreciate your comment. >> i'm from wisconsin. we were producing naval ships and crane lifting. now we do construction all around the world. one of the issues we're having, the president said many months ago that he wants to see and to double exports in the next few years. the with all these barriers, we

cannot do that. there's a lot of finger- pointing as a businessman, many somebody who is going to get the job done. we have competitors that are establishing trade agreements around the world, especially some of the emerging markets. we are being left in the dust. our employees are beginning to see that as well like we are intensely preventing ourselves from doing business. in your opinion, will the finger-pointing stop anytime soon? are we going to be able to move forward? >> finger-pointing will never stop in the stand. the trade agreements will get done. as was mentioned, i came into

the white house to help pass the north american free trade agreement. trade for tri was approved. i believe that those things were probably the most important that happened in those eight years in the administration. there is controversy around trade. tremendous controversy. as you have a difficult times around the world, the support for free trade and fair trade, it diminishes. we of sinbad around the world. action by countries during difficult times increases exponentially with a crisis. we have seen a lot of that. we have been very aggressive in enforcing our trade laws. building a consensus for trade.

the difficulty is, your comment about your workers beginning to grow and understand, let me take a couple minutes. i do not want to sound like that washington person but feel serious about this because of past involvements. we have lost the coalition. no politician loses an election because they voted against trade. most people do the easy thing. it is a vote that is a no- brainer if you're looking at raw politics. people who do vote for trade negativeere's often a result of that. the wall street journal said people have a negative attitude about trade.

that as a result of the tough times. but we have to broaden support. it is not a win-win situation. there are people who lose. companies are challenged. those of us who believed in free trade, one of the things we're fighting for in these deals, panama, korea, and columbia, is assistance passage. we think it is important. whether it is effective or not, we think it is important to say the american people, when there is an impasse, we have to be there to help people. in courage than to be retrained. in trying to build a consensus, we appreciate the fact that he is supportive of this, that has

to build this coalition. it is not just trying to figure out the minimum number of politicians. companies have to say and their employees, workers have to understand that there is a challenge. we have to do a better job in enforcing the trade laws that are on the books. highlighting the fact that other countries are protected. people complain about the u.s. being protectionist. we have been the most open ended. over the 60 years since the war. we have been helped by that. but it is a very controversial thing. i am confident these trade deals will pass as well taa.

then we have trans-pacific alliance to try to do. doha is a pretty heavy lift for the world right now. but i am confident it will pass. i think it is important that you talk to the politicians but also to your workers. there are negatives, no doubt about that. but the positives outweigh the economy. >> we have time for one more. >> we can do a couple more. i will probably regrets saying that. [laughter] >> good afternoon. [unintelligible] my question relates to taxation. last fall, presidents have been courageous to extending the tax credit -- credits.

that was welcomed by the community. our tax structure has to be addressed. >> as i mentioned, we have done a deep dive to try to come up with a corporate tax reform package. there are winners and losers in that. there are some businesses that may have their taxes coopted by virtue of that. whenever you do one of these, there are winners and losers. it is a balance to try to get to ride to and be deficit neutral. i am confident that out of this budget, this deal i think it's coming, in order to extend the debt ceiling. i know there are some people who

think that will be a big deal that will default. bankers think it is a big deal. so out of that deal will come a serious attempt in tax reform. the president believes we need, despite extending tax cuts that were enacted in 2001, extending those, believing that was better for the middle-class and the business incentive, that at some point those of us who have done well over the last few years have got more for the expense of this country. it is simple when you look at why we went from a budget surplus to deficit. at some point we have to face up to the fact that we have to cut

expenditures. we have been doing that to the point where it is unprecedented in some of the spending. non-defense discretionary is only 12% of the budget. that has been cut substantially. there are people who will feel the impact. we have been solid in that need to do that and to do it in a wise way. that is about cutting. no business the gets in trouble can cut its way to help. yet to take some of that money and invested in things, people or technologies that are going to bring a return. so it is a difficult balance. but out of this budget and

resolution, both corporate and individual tax reform has got to be looked at. >> thank you for coming. i am the president and ceo of my company. we have manufacturing facilities in the u.s. and overseas. with all due respect, actions speak louder than words. it is easy to get up and talk. i am giving you a small vignettes that i think has played out around the country and thousands of businesses and towns. i have been trying to install and upgrade. this reduces the carbon footprint. it reduces our cost. it is good for the community. in massachusetts.

been generating power since the turn of the century. [unintelligible] we had the project ready to go. it has been on hold because of issues. the u.s. fish and wildlife, we started to make inroads. they put a letter out and made a ruling in october, 2010, to take jurisdiction. we just a pill that. -- appealed that. i went to court on january 3. last night, i got the ruling from the court. let me -- best -- me read you

to affirmre required the jurisdiction over the dam in question. we do so without much enthusiasm. " to have something held up for this long that is good for the country, good for my business, you have to be president and tout renewable energy. on the one hand, the government is telling you to invest. and you have a government agency dragging you down. they're going to be thousands of these around the country. things that happened.

the government continues to into the gears of progress. [applause] >> i cannot comment on your individual case. there's not much i can say to be frank with you. it is your typical bureaucratic stuff that is hard to defend. sometimes it cannot defend the indefensible. all i can say to you is, we will look into it. we will see if there is any way to bring some reasoning to what happened at this point and what the logic of the delay is, the logic of the impact it is having on your decision making and see what i can do.

>> i talked to him yesterday. the fact of the matter is, based on what i read, i have spent well over $100,000 fighting this. the supreme court is not going to hear this. the five the chance to go to the supreme court's, [unintelligible] we have to look at other ideas we can do. i am not going to lay down. as an example, migration is the problem. they had one that recorded fish come back to the river over the last 20 years. one.

how long is it going to be in business? you cannot continue to find central agencies that are not spending taxpayer money wisely. [applause] > cracks in this room i will call you mr. chief. i would say that it is encouraging over the last hundred 30 days the administration has done things. i have to say that. i have to compliment you for that. here is the thing. there has been a lot of talk

uncertainty in business. i think it is this, there has been a feeling between business and the administration. i think the administration may feel differently but people would say that. it would help us of the president would say, i put manufacturing and jobs is my highest priority. i will do nothing in terms of policy that will make a harder to do manufacturing in the united states. i think that will make things more certain and bring more cash out of the pipeline. i wonder what we can do to help? >> i appreciate that. a version of that, and he has said.

when you have a system and a government, to get control of the government it is difficult. things the result as a lawsuit, legislation that may have been past five years ago that called for a million fish to be put in a river, the effects of that is very hard. there is a balance right now of, either one a try to sound like pollyanna. i am an optimist. i believe the economy is better than the perception. we did have three good months of job creation. we had one really bad one. we seem to react to negative news much quicker than positive

news. we do not want to believe the good. but i think your observation, there is no doubt that during that difficult -- the president did not go to here to take over and become part of the tarp program, to basically have the involvement in banks that he had. it was by virtue of the financial crisis that the american taxpayer stepped up and are still paying the price for a financially driven recession, deeper than anything but the great depression. was not the result of manufacturing getting into trouble. i have been in the financial

service sector. there was much acts -- excess in that industry and a lack of regulation. the pendulum swings too far. you probably fell to regulators did not do a good job in overseeing that situation. in the financial world, many people believe that the ability of regulators to understand this complex and difficult built -- it got out of hand. how to get that balance right between sound regulation and overbearing regulation, which you have right now is a situation where everybody covers they're behind. it is easier to say no if you are a regulator.

you want to cover your butt so you don't end up on the cover of bloomberg. that is bad because risk-taking by you, by others, is what drives this economy. those in government have to be able to respond to that and give you more wiggle room and not do some stupid things like that i've heard today. i do have to run. let me thank you as an organization for your being here. it is important that you come and we hear and people on the hill. thank you for the support he have given us and your questions day. thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> a discussion on the changing landscape with the media and

telecommunications industry. topics on washington journal include the supreme court's wal- mart decision. later, jon huntsman makes his announcement in new jersey. live coverage at 10:00 eastern. >> c-span has launched a new web site for politics in the 2012 race. with information on the candidates, a twitter feeds and facebook updates. and links to c-span's media partners. visit us at c-span.org. >> next, a talk about how they are adapting to competition as new forms of media. you will hear from representatives of time warner, comcast,