position as an alternative to port reform. however, if your state has medical liability reform, you are not eligible. which the republicans took as a direct attack. and the president made no effort to sit down and say, will come of tort reform can we integrate into the package? we need to do a better job at educating our kids, because that is why the income gap is growing, and we're becoming less competitive. but is money the answer? one of the districts with the highest per capita expenditures is the district of coluia a it has some of the worst outcomes. maybe we need accountability and the precipitation so that we could have better outcomes rather than focus on putting the money in. could not agree with you more about health care. the system simultaneously the best and simultaneously one of the most broken. but is the answer to turn it over to the government?

hhs says after passing the affordable care act that will spend as a country $3.1 billion more at the and then if we had done nothing. maybe what we ought to do is look at getting market forces and competition in health care to drive down costs by putting the consumer back in charge and not having it so much depend on third-party payers. >> robert gibbs? [applause] >> i would say, look, i think we raised good point about education. sometimes we talk about education is not being part of the economy. karl is exactly right. we have seen some scary statistics in the past couple weeks. median household income in the

decade that just concluded actually went down for the first time ever since we have been keeping the statistics. we started in the 1940's. it is likely this happened in the 1930's, but in the 1950's through the 1990's,edian household income went down. we have seen the end, of the upper 1%, the top 1% over the past 30 years triple, while those in the middle class over those 30 years have seen very little growth. i think we would all agree on this, there is one way to make sure we did not live in a country that is overly stratified in terms of income and there is one way for 8%, 90% of the people to get clor to 1%, and that is education.

i think the last two administrations have done more on education than, quite frankly, i would say the clinton administration did a lot as well in terms of making education more contemporary at the federal level. i think we are watching, though, a walking back of all of that. we are watching the fact that when karl first campaign that, there was a heavy emphasis on having a larger federal role in the education system. president obama and secretary arne duncan have done quite a bit as well, and the president would be the first to tell you that it is not just dollars. it is teachers a it is parents. but i will be honest today, i don't look across the aisle and

see a lot of people either running for president on the republican side or in congress that that there is a healthy role or some role for the federal government to play in education. >> 30 seconds. >> there is a coalition that does not like testing. the teacher unions do not like it and some of the right to not like it. t the administration is wering the standards of the no child left behind law. it extended the time for meeting the proficiency standards. you touched on something. you talked about the decade, the last decade of median household income. iook at the census numbers and this confuses me and disturbs me. this chart shows the change in median household income of the last decade. it shows the change from the bottom of the recession, 2001,

where it grows 3% from the work load. and here is what has happened since the end of june ,2009, household income has dropped 2%. this is the first time we have had the recession and it and t income has declined. something is fundamentally different. my explanation is we have an overhang that is causing people it iran companies to sit on their cash, afraid at about regulation and obama care, what will happen to their business, and not willing to make the kinds of investments they need to make. >> could you respond? >> the only thing i would say about that chart i don't think many people think the recession ended in june 2009. >> i agree, but the economists

say -- >> what about larry summers? >> a lot of people did not think the recession ended. >> dr. summers? >> look, we have the worst overhang crisis o excess debt, stuff that was constructed during the bubble of lack of confidence since the depression. little wonder when you have that that the growth is slower. we all agree on tha the question is, how do you make that growth to be faster? we all want to see inclusive growth as rapidly as possible over the next years. some people think that the contract your way to glory. some people think if you just

cut government, everybody will feel better and there will be some type of renaissance. herbert hoover tried that strategy. they are trying that strategy in britain right now. we have a good experiment to evaluate. i think if you look at the economic experience around the world, cutting government over time it is absolutely necessary and right, but we have to figure out right now ways of getting people into the stores. we have to figure out ways to get people to buy their houses. we have to figure out some ways to get people to buy stuff that our nation's factories are capable of producing. that is what we have to focus on as well. i will tell you one thing about debt problems, and i have studied at around the wld, and this is probably one of the few things we agree on, if we grow,

we have a much better chance of managing these debts that if we stay stagnant. let's focus on what can get this economy growing. if we grow fast over the next half dozen years, it is hard to believe we will not be fined a matter what else happens. if we do not grow, you could cut entitlements, commissions, whenever you want, if this economy does not grow, it will not be the country that we love. [applause] >> ok, questions from the. audience to robert gibbs. why has the obama administration that focused on president clinton's example? >> i think there is no doubt in

broad agreement that we have a serious debt crisis and a serious deficit crisis. but i want to build off something larry said that. if all we are going to do is cut -- about three-quarters, correct me if i'm wrong, about threquarters of our economy is driven by consumer spending. it is not a surprise right now and a world of anxiety that there is not a lot of consumer spending. howou're only a theory on to get the economy back in order is to undertake massive cuts, i think you are exactly right, and you see what happens in britain. their growth is a fraction of the growth that was announced just a day or so ago.

you want to take some of my time? >> yes, go ahead. >> this is what i do. i am an accountant. i advised president clinton to cut the deficit fast. i advisedresident obama the country needed stimulus. the world is different. when bill clintoname president, we had interest rates that were 7.5%. we have factories that were full and we had businesses saying they cannot get the capital to invest. therefore, if you cut the deficit and you bring down interest rates coming get more investments and you grow the economy. that is what you needed to do to one block the economy. guess what, you cannot hurt yourself jumping out of the basement window. inrest rates were 2%. there was not any room to bring that interest rates by cutting the deficits in the short run. the reason peoe are not investing to not have to do with capital cost, nobody was walking

into the store and nobody was buying their product. different conditions, different solutions. >> dr. summers, what did you say to the people who say that businesses are not certain about the future because of regulations and laws from washington? >> i say a couple things. first, if you actually look at the laws and regulations that have come out of the obama administration, it has not been very different from what came out of the bush administration in the first two years. second, i look at what happened to the financial sector, between 2001 and 2008, be really think the problem was we regulate banks too hard? or did we need to make sure there were more careful? i think we needed to insure

there were more careful if we want them to be there. third, i talked to these guys. the biggest uncertainty in their lives is not about laws from the government, is about whether they will have any customers. that is the important uncertainty. has the investments collapsed in sectors that the government is involved in relative to ones they're not involved in? no, it has not. what about the famous obama- care. the truth is that obama-care lets businesses if they want to do something they were not allowed to do before, and a lot people in the president's party are upset about this, if you want to stop havingny health insurance costs, even let them go into the exchange, the public plan, that is a lot less

than the cost they pay now for workers. if anything, that is reducing the costs that businesse will have to face for health insurance. everybody wants to complain about washington, but the president is not just doing this stuff because he likes to. he is doing this stuff because, remember, what he inherited was an economy in free fall. that is what he inherited. >> you had to. just kidding. >> you said companies would be ab to dump their coverage. the business people i talk to will be dumping coverage, but they do not like it. the affordable care act as soon as 24 million people will be in the exchanges. 21 million people who are not

currently covered and 3 million people who wl be dumped. we think that 78 millionto $87 million will lose their coverage. what happens if the number of people is much larger dumped into the coverage and put on the taxpayers' tab? what happens if the number and up 100 million people or 75 million people? we will have a $3 trillion tab for this program. that is why we have to repeal obama-care, exactly what dr. summers talked about. [applause] >> herman cain's ri in the polls rose when he proposed the 9-9-9 plan.

that that is -- is that contradict that america will support a rise in taxes? >> i am not sure people fully understand. first, 9% federal sales tax on top of the local sales tax. when people find that out, support crops. it is not% flat tax. the average effective tax rate, for anybody making less than 100,000 others. year, is somewhat less than 8%. we are asking those people to pay more in federal income taxes. i may like that as a conservative, but i may not like that as a political consultant. the final thing is the most problematic. i am a consumption tax advocate, but only if we are writing our initial constitution.

we made the decision but had years ago coat down the road of taxing income. take the sales, less the cost of doing business, and that the defense between the two, times 9%, and that is the tax? no, is take the sales, thus the cost of materials and other imports, excluding labor, and pay 9% on that. it is a diuretic tax that will create a lot more -- it is a value add tax that will create a lot more cash. it may take care of the revenue problem, but i think when people understand more, they will have more qualms about it. >> karl rove is not an advisor of the herman cain campaign, as we see there. >> i am not an adviser to any campaign. especially not that one. [laughter] >> patricia rights, what are the

implications and the world currency replaces the u.s. dollar? >> it is like asking the question like what is going to happen to the world that if people all of a sudden - we willot have a world currency. the united states it's a great advantage at of the fact that the dollar is a central currency of the world. it is an important asset, and is why all four of us agree that we have to do everything that we can to keep the american economy strong by ensuring that the growth of t federal debt is not excessive and we have to keep the economy strong by ensuring that it grows so that the other remains the key currency of the world. >> christine, for senator

simpson. if president obama had and that it recommendations of the national commission on fiscal responsibility reform, or with the economy be right now? >> i don't know where the economy would be, but he would have been savaged to pieces, and that is why he did not do it. but the economy would have been lifted. i know my colleagues of the other faith know that president clinton went to president obama and said, you know, you appointed these guys, you put them there, executive order, and i would have wrap my arms around it. obama did not accept that. president clinton has been a big help in this process. i think all you need to do is have a plan.

the reason they don't mess with germany and france and england, the rating agencies, is because they have a plan. we have no plan. when that happens, watch out. eventually they willonfess. >> i told you -- [applause] >> i will tell you, the tipping point will come when the money guys decide it will come. it will not come because of some government thing or something you saw in the past half and it. it will be when the money guys are protecting their money. they never lose in this game. you mentioned dick durbin who voted for this.

people said, he is a democrat. cold and voted for this to appear that is what you have an american now. stereotype being left and white -- left and right and gasping when you say their name. if we had a plan, and would have been a buoyant think for the economy of america. >> to you have any hope for the super committee? said 50/50 and my colleague said 10%. i had to reach over and say, you only thought it would be a 10% chance. he sai i changed my mind because i talked to all 12 of them and they are locked in a huge rise of entitlements and all and tax increase. you don't have to do a tax increase. it just go out and dig around

like colbern did. he takes a $6 billion out of ethanol. if that is a tax increase, the drinks are on me all day long. >> we would be really drunk right now. is there a bar near by? >> i have a slight disagreement with the senator. i think of senator obama emaced it, we would be a heck of a lot for their belongings. >> that is what i said. >> the other thing is, i wonder if we don't make a mistake in time to get the grand bargain and slam the solid to one legislation. i am reminded of the compromise of 1850 which i think he voted on. >> the compromise of 1850 is offered by a henry clay.

it goes down. let's have them go -- all five of them passed. a different group of people voted to make california a free state and to determine to the senate will always be controlled by free states that voted for the fugitive slave act. i wondered if some leadership could not take some order of these things whether -- particularly strikes me that you could get people to vote for something that saves a cp i which generates a lot of revenue. that would be a different group that might vote for reform on medicare or this or that. at the end of the day if he said that to the floor of the senate under protection, you could get different set of majorities to pass. >> to you have told about the super committee, either of you? >> i am more a optimistic, but

that is not a very strong statement. i would be marginally south of e senators -- that means that those cuts that are in the bill would go into effect if they don't which the bill. do you guess on the other cuts that are baked in the kit that don't which the deal? >> they don't happen until the beginning of 2013. what would happen if they were scheduled to happen is however the presidential election turns out november, there would be another huge flurry of political activity in the fall of 2012 with a specter of those cuts coming in 2013.

>> look, we all ought to be able to agree that the country would be much better served by compromising on some theory of what the cuts are. then on having some automatic mechanism kick into place without anyeflection of human being on the specifics which items are going to be cut where. that is true -- let me say something else that people on our side don't usually say. the idea that somehow we are going to go slashing our national security budget because we can't agree on how to reduce the deficit. it is just irresponsible.

we ought to spend on our national defense, we ought to spend our national defense. we surely should not be cutting the forces to protect america at a time when troops are in danger because we cannot resolve the budget battle. that ought to be something that everyone can agree on. >> i want to get to as many as we can. given the bad chip of the economy, is that mitt romney the strongest candidas because of his mix of experience? >> we will start to find out in 67 days when they stumble after the years and the iowa caucus on the third of january. what's the figure that would be a short answer. doesn't the minimum-wage and to be too high employment, legal

migration, and outsourcing to china? >> there may be some small- i think it is relatively small on the evidence adverse effect of employment in some groups. it also means there are higher incomes for a lot of people whose wages are protected by the minimum wage who would otherwise be very poor. >> i think that is the trade- off. i would not advocate right now for raising the minimum wage, but at a time when the poor are getting poorer and at a time that the working poor are suffering more than they ever have before, i don't think that is the time to go cutting the minimum wage at all. but the question points to very real trade offs. >> the republicans are losing the public relations war on

taxing millionaires. why are they so reluctant to raise taxes on such a limited number of people? >> i have not any idea. i think they are caught in a trap there. that is one thing again. yogo to the dot. let's say you confiscated everything that anybody who has a net worth over $1 million -- take all the dots, the jets, the offshore -- that will run the country for nine months. let's get serious. we are in t whole 16 trillion dollars. that is an and comprehensible figure. yocan't possiblyet their with little things. the essence of the question was -- >> republicans are losing the pr work. >> they wi lose it.

the sad part is, how did they get to this position? what do they all people like that to face this onslaught? this is huge dollars to them. it is in the full scheme on how we need to dig ourselves out of here. it is an unfortunate thing they are and. and now grover is saying that if you do happen to let that expire and to go to taxing, that will not be called a tax increase. he knows where he is getting the ground right now. he has to figure out -- it might be ok to do that because i think it is a disaster. >> you need help on the obsession with grover. [laughter] >> i do. >> 16 trillion dollars is like to be the bar tab at the end of the night.

[laughter] >> buying all of the drinks. >> de pport occupy wall stree and why or why not? >> i don't know -- i think many people have said they don't know exactly what he wants or what their demands are. i will say this. i am not at all surprised that there are people either sleeping in a part in the new york were living throughout the midwest that are frustrated where we are in this country and in this economy. we have watched the economic collapse -- it did not start in september of 2008. for people in middle america, the median household income. you have people in this country who are paying their -- you have

some parents are paying for undergrads just at the school who are paying their 2011 tuition bill using their 1999 incomes. that generates frustration. there is also a huge frustration in this country. i think this is on both sides of the political aisle. we have watched for the last few years a different set of rules for people on wall street and people in banks and for everybody else. if they can gamble with that money anif they lose it, somebody will pick up the tab. if they lose your money, they re just taking a risk and so were you. i think people cannot understand that. i can understand exactly why they cannot understand that. we had a different set of rules. we cannot exist as a country if

we decide there are two sets of rules for bankers and wall street- one set of rules for bankers and wall street and another set for everyone who lives on main street. >> a quick lightning round before opening statements. gdp has increased for the last three quarters in the u.s.. europe has som significant debt agreement. perhaps we are on the road to recovery already. the you agree or disagree? >> it is a very slow road. we need to turn it into a highway and then it is right now if we want to be the kind of country we are. yes, the economy is growing but not nearly fast enough. >> what role if any does our policy play in either worsening or improving our economy? >> i am a pro immigration. i think we are benefited by having by having people come to

the united states and having an orderly way in which people who want to come here to work for jobs -- we ought to have the system in place. we have an immigration system that says our number-one priority is to are you related to. family unification. i think we need to change our immigration system so it is easier for people to come and study and stay in the united states and put skills to benefit here. i think we need to find a way to let people who want to turn hospital beds in albuquerque or pickford and come here if those jobs go begging. we don't have a system that allows us to do that today. >> medicare will recrt -- reduce hospital payments by 30% in november. how will patients get to his future excellent treatment? >> this is a fundamentally

important question. the question th hangs over our defense hangs over the medicare providers of the other end. we are going to decide how much we'd all you care for those over 65 in such an arbitrary way that we just are going to cut it in a huge and massive weight. my guess is we will have some of it in 2012. what type of services do we want and what are we willing to pay for it? in all honesty, for the past 10 or 20 years, we have not actually had that debate. we have hadlections in debates about what we want your we have not had a debate onow to pay for it.

he rightly points out what our bar tab is. we are going to have to have that debate because we cannot have a country where we decide every person gets their taxes cut, and we are going to invade this country. we are or to invade the country. we are quite at entitlements. we are or to add benefits to entitlements and not pay for any of it. those days are just gone. i hope that our campaign is a robust debate. i hope this. i hope it is a conclusion of that campaign. anothere don't have national campaign for four years. let's take that. to come together and try to solve the problem.

>> last question. it seems self-evident that's spending cuts over a decade will be pushed to the last few years of the decade. these cuts will occur over two or three electrons away. when bonds future congresses to these cuts? >> nothing. the other part of it is, the oup of 12 will grapple to the point of press the press and the sit down and congress and it changes the law that put this package together. don't leave that out as a possibility. you get the house and senate together and say, man. we can't do this. let's just get in here and change this to 2015 and a mess around and doing anotheriece of legislation. don't forget, they have to have legislative language presented

by november 23. that is hard. it will be very difficult. then 2013. after a year of sitting there and watching the crash and listening to the pain, can you imagine the voting against oil and gas depletion allowances? can you imagine me voting against the abandoned land -- i come from a state if we were a country would be the largest coal producing company in the world. nobody at home complaints to me about not doing my share. but if everybody -- the great escapes hatch is i am ready to do my share if everyone else will. that is a glorious escape hatch for everyone

>> and now for the closing statements from each one of the debaters. we begin with robert gibbs. >> let me begin again by thanking you all for coming and having us debate. maybe in some ways you were disappointed. in a lot of ways we actually agreed. maybe that is the problem with some of our potics. we are scheduling debate and we are not giving ourselves the ability to stop and agree. >> we are right to come to the several states that are coming up. november 18 as when it expires. november 23 is what the committee has to have its language. if we don't do something by december 23, we have automatic

cuts tt will take place in january 2013. we are like to have to have a debate in this country as i said a minute ago on what we want and what we are willing to pay for. i hope we have the robust debate. as i said, i hope we decide we are going to use the intervening time to put it with the campaign commercialand put away lining up in boxes on cable tv and yelling at each other and listen to each other. try to come to some understanding and agreement with about the fact that carl and i could probably walk out on a clear day and argued about the color of the sky. but the truth is, we agree on probably more than most people walked in here thinking we might agree on. the truth is, that can be the case in washington d.c. it is the case in almost every

other place in this country. i have the great honor of traveling it around th country with theresident he helped elect. we come and we meet with group of people like you. i know there is another thing we can all agree on. that is that there is not any problem that this country will face this year or next year or in the next 50 years. it cannot and will not be solved. at every single attraction in our nation to talk history, efface the inflection point on what kind of country we are going to live and what we are born to pass to our children. we have made it hard decisions, we have had a tough debates, we

have made compromises, and we have strengthened our country. that is the only way we are going to pass a stronger country that continues to be the envy of the world on to our children and grandchildren. i think in 50 years, we are still going to be the envy of the world. we're still going to be the envy of the world not because it does not require us to do hard things, but exactly because it does. because we have great people that can get together even in the most political debate and agree to ensure our country continues to be the envy of the entire world. thank you for having me. [applause]

>> two-thirds of the so-called millionaire's are small businesses reporting on the tax law. secondly, there should be a limit on what the government can take from anyone, regardless of how much they make. 35% -- [applause] -- 35% is a big shock. there ought to be a limit on how big the government is. the bigger the government, the smaller the people. [applause] bankers were regulated, but two biggest financial institutions

were not regulated. fannie and freddie. when we in the bush administration attempted to regulate them, it took them 62 years -- we set out to regulate them between 2001 and 2005 but we gothe bills to the senat banking committee to regulate them, they bought another two trillion dollars worth of rtgage-backed paper. that bill went down because of a filibuster in the senate. in the next ree years between july of 2005 and when it went belly up in august, they bought another 1.5 trillion dollars worth of mortgage-backed paper. they sold it to the banks. they nearly brought down the world economy because of it. finally, there was a brief message about the iraq and afghan war. they cost $806 billion according to the latest estimate i saw from the congressional budget office. that was money better spent and the world is a better place in the $862 billion spent on the

failed stimulus bill in all respects. there will be a big robust debate next year i hope betwn if we need more government taxation and spending. we can i was to agree on this platform, but let's be honest. this is what the elections are all going to be about. this big robust debate. it will be a choice between two different philosophies. when that says, let's make the government bigger. let to grow it to 25%. we want a bigger government. others may have a diffent view. one of limited government, of limited taxation, and a reliance upon the enterprise and energy of the free people of the united states of america. robert, i agree with him. the country is fundamentally sound because our people are fundamentally sound. at the end of the day, we are

going to be all right. you know these guys when they are always and tolert of people from utah, colorado, and nevada. i lived in all three states. all of those people in wyoming who moved to utah to become sheepherders. we all new people. is this heating up my time or can i take more? anyway. thank you for having us here today. i really appreciate the opportunity to be invited back to regent. the most important thing i heard today was 480 teachers a year

graduate from this university. that is an impressive sight of what a chrtian based education can do to change lives of people all across the country and a fundamental way. thank you for having us. [applause] >> i am glad to have been here. i learned a lot. i learned a lot from questions and from colleagues in this debate. you know, the strength of our country is actually that there are many different perspectives. i knew when i accepted this invitation that it was notoing to be a hometown crowd. [laughter]

i have not been surprised by that. there is a lot in the perspective that is brought here that was brought to in america. withoutt, we would go badly wrong. there are not employees without employers. great strength of our economy is the private sector. it is private initiative. it is private entrepreneur said. the strength of america has a great deal to do with its religious traditions. utopian top down schemes can often do enormous damage. you are right, i think, in the

kinds of concerns that you have. if we were not a country with a robust political debate, i am sure that someone in the progressive side take us to places that would not be where we'd want to be. nobody wants or should want a big government. -- r the sake of having a big government. what i would like you to think about. i am under no illusions under which political party is going to win a regent university in the next election. here is what i want you to keep in mind. nobody wants government for its own sake. but there are some things tha

we all do want that are going to have a hard time happening without government. we all agree easily that we are not 20 stay strong as it entry into force of freedom in the world without a strong military. only government can provide that. we are leaders because we are the best in the world in science and technogy. that comes in large part of the supports the government is able to give. god knows i am an educator. i know, our education is vastly run too much for the benefit of the providers of the education. is room for the administrators and not for the benefit of the kids. but, you know, without a federal government, there is not going

to be anybody to hold school districts accountable. i visited schools across the country what i was treasury secretary. i will never forget the teacher who said, you gave a great speech about the education is the most important thing in our country. the paint is chipping off of the walls and this school. why should the kids believe you? it takes government to make public schools work. so push the things you believe, i know you will. but remember, it is very hard to love a country and hate its government. the government has a role as well. remember one other thing. we have terrible problems. i have spent much of the last year traveling the world.

i would rather face the challenges that the united states of america faces and then the challenges facing any other country in this world. i would rather have the citizens of the united states addressing the challenges they face then the citizens of any other country in the world facing their challenges. thank you very much. [applause] >> i happen to had been at harvard teaching when larry was president. i could not have gone into i could not have gone into harvard if i picked the locks. but i was there. i will tell you what he is. he is a leader. has a lot of guts. that is what leaders today do not have the scots. he had guts.

he took on establishments. he took on t worst political system of all, the faculty senate. [laughter] i in admire him. let me just say that education has been floated through. if i recall only 7% of the entire education budget in the united states comes from the federal government. it comes from the local school districts. those are called governments. they are called school boards. if you don't like what is going on in education, don't in being onere 7% of the dollars are. go back to your district and say, what are you doing witthe money? make that very important. i would just add that you can't hate politicians and love democracy. it does not work that way. let me just add -- what we were

sayingnd our commission. if you want it, pay for it. if you want infrastructure, bulk of the trust fund. we suggested a gas tax. is it hot? we did. if you are going to have a fund, funded it. that is what we describe it. i hope you read it to. i just need to talk about social security. this is the greatest myth of all time. the beth that we are balancing the budget on the backs of poor old senior citizens is a myth. it is a total myth. we are trying to do something with the solvency of social security so it will remain solvent for 75 years. it was put in in 1937 and 1938 when the lifexpectanc was 63. that is what the set the retirement age at 65. it was never intended as a

retirement system. has nothing to do with retirement. it is and in, supplement for guys wiped out. guys who did not have anything because of the depression. so what did we suggest? nobody will argue this. life expectancy today is a 78.1 years. we have suggested that you raise the retiremt age to 68 by the year 2015. the aarp said, how will people ever be able to figure that out. i said, i think they will. i really believe that today will. i know that they will. what elsdid we do? we said the lowest 20% of the people in that system, we will give them a hundred 25% of poverty. it takes money to do that. the bridge pay little more. the little guy is a little less.

we raise the wages subject to the tax 190,000. we change the cost of living index. we take care of the guy who is exhausted. we don't change the retirement age for that person. we h an older -- we said, there is a package for it. we tell people what they are because i will tell you what will happen. by doing nothing, which is so for the recommendation of the wizards at the aarp. by doing nothing, and the year 2036, you will wonder and bobble up to the window to get a check for 23% less. we also suggested that you reduce the payment into the social security payroll tax.

everything i dealt with in my whole public life. you have to go behind those people like the fourth of july and be able to shovel. [applause] thank you. thank you all. this has been fascinating for my point of view. let me give a brief summary. hubert humphrey once said, freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, descent, and the debate. we clearly have that tonight. restarted at the beginning. dr. summers has been out the dire consequences of the obama

administration. he said,he us cannot shrink its way to prosperity. the u.s. need spending in both the public and private sector. nobody wants government for government said on at all. simpson said, yes he did slip in the suit he i wearing. he also said you have to walk a mall. everything needs to be on the table. whatever you call it, it is a mess. he is not having norquist over for thanksgiving. robert gibbs said the economic collapse has been going on for a long time. he wishes washington would go back to a time of senator simpson and between the elections to get things done. we can solve the toughest problems despite our parties. karl rove said spending our way to prosperity has not worked. removing regulations and giving certainty to businesses would be key. one point he called senator

simpson centered sourpuss. something about wyoming and sheep. i cannot follow it. he is a two-time tighten. here's a quote from henry ford, coming together is the meeting, keeping together is progres working together is success. i think tonight we have seen some items that both sides can truly agree on. one last thing, in the media we do not do a good job of showi what all these numbers flying around really are. to get a perspective of how big the situation is. 1 billion seconds is 31 years ago. one trillion seconds is 31,688 years ago. one trillion dollar bills

stacked on top of each other would go 68,000 miles in the sky. one that trillion dollars -- there has been a lot of talk tonight about education, to -- could pay the salaries of 18.2 million teachers for the year. the u.s. census bureau says there are 6.2 million teachers in the country. we don't have a perspective of what one chilling as let alone 62 lange, that does. it is a real honor. thk you very much. here is to class of the titans no. 10 next year. thank you. [applause]

>> the joint deficit reduction committee is meeting today to review previous step proposals. this includes the code-chairs of the president's commission on fiscal responsibility. that is on c-span 3 at 1:30 eastern. in a few moments, today's headlines in your calls live on "washington journal." the senate judiciary subcommittee hearing on organized crime at 10:00. witnesses include department of justice and treasury. in about 45 minutes, we will look at the work of the joint deficit reduction committee. you can call in with your questions about the solvency of social security to joseph