gingrich, michele bachmann, all live today on c-span. enjoy the rest of your day. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> filling in the details on our live coverage today from cairo, at 11:30 eastern, newt gingrich told a town hall meeting in mason city, iowa, one of his four bus tour stopped today. at 1:40 this afternoon, mitt romney will talk about jobs and the economy in a deli in clinton and tonight ron paul will be at 8:00 p.m. eastern with a salute to veterans at the

state fair grounds in des moines. on american history tv tonight on c-span 3, a look back at previous iowa caucuses starting at 8:00 p.m. with speeches from barack obama, hillary clinton, and mike huckabee. then from 2004, the presidential debate with many candidates and republican debate in iowa from the 2000 contest. among the candidates, george w. bush, john mccain, and steve forbes. ♪ >> with the iowa caucuses next week and new hampshire, south carolina later in the month, the cspan series "the contenders" said 14 candidates who ran for president who lost but had an impact on american politics.

this is every night at 10:00 eastern on c-span. >> < one way to the iowa caucuses to read next tuesday will be the first post- christmas polls and ron paul is standing his ground and i will according to the public policy poll released today. he has 24% and mitt romney is a close second at 20% and a tweet from emmett runyan -- from a mitt romney aide says he is ready to address the gridlock of dysfunction. we will have live coverage at 11:30.

>> our temporary studio is in des moines. >> we are a family nurturing ministry and family engagement which is why we are heavily involved in the iowa caucuses as well as other legislative matters in the state of iowa. host: you look at issues, what issues are important to your group? guest: the thing that impacts the family and many people would say that is the sanctity of human life and we believe life begins at conception.

marriage is got to-design between one man and one woman but we are also about the economy and a limited government, free enterprise, national security, energy policy and anything that impacts the family, we will be concerned about. it is strengthening families, we are for it and it doesn't, we are against it. >> why do you endorse rick santorum? >> he has really campaigned in iowa the right way. he has been in all 99 counties and 350 different communities. every time he has traveled the state, people have said how much they like him. there's always the looming question of if he can win. we have seen a lot of people rise and fall in this process. i believe rick santorum could be poised for a january 3 surprise. i think he will lead to better than most people anticipate and i think he could win this thing.

people like rick santorum and the debates well, he is very good on our pro-family values. he doesn't just speak our language, i believe he is one of us. we threw our support behind rick santorum. there is a lot of good candidates in this race and i believe what will happen potentially as that they may fragment or divide their vote and if that happens, you will see a governor romney come out of this thing in iowa. host: there is a story in " the new york times" that says that by what evangelicals are split over the caucus and osman. they say they're a number of candidates that evangelicals could naturally gravitate to. do you agree? >> there really are and right now you see about five that are dividing up the support. congressman ron paul has several

evangelicals supporting him. newt gingrich as evangelicals supporting them. rick perry and michelle bachmann and rick santorum as well. we will not talk down and a candidate. they have many assets to bring to the table. they are all people we could galvanize around as the nominate. ee. the advantage for mitt romney is that these votes will be fragmented and he should come out of the state of iowa. that is a predicament that we are in. i am trying to lead. a movement to give rick santorum a chance. he is a guy that does not have his rise yet. i think he will handle the vetting that goes with it. i think he would be our best choice against barack obama. that is why we throw our support behind rick santorum but if we will not talk down and the candidate. >> 11 involved in iowa

republican politics for a long time. -- you have been involved in iowa republican politics for a long time. how many people do you expect to participate in the caucuses and what percentage are evangelical christians? or christian conservatives? >> four years ago, i was the state chair for governor for mike huckabee. we were at the 120,000 benchmark of people who went out to a caucus. caucuses are different than primaries. people have to take two hours of their evening and go out and have to stand up and let people know who they are voting for. you have to really believe in a candidate. about 120,000 people will come out. i have seen reports that up to 60% of that amount will consider themselves to be people of faith or authentic conservatives, evangelical voters. they take this process very seriously. they have veted these condoms --

candidates any way you possibly can. they will put their name on the line when they stand up for that candidate on caucus night. >> 120,000 people, if only 120,000 people in iowa are participating, why is it so important that i would be the first state? is it significant anymore? >> i thought i believe -- i believe it is very significant. i believe the candidates know how significant it is. in iowa, we are not a red or blue states, we are more of a purple state. we send chuck grassley to washington as well as tom harkin these candidates have to do one on one and small groups and have to go through a rigorous process and they get asked every question imaginable. iowans are very good at sorting candidates out as to who will

stand up. four years ago, it was a natural for many of these caucus-goers to coalesce against -- around mike huckabee. this time, you have a lot of conservatives in the race. because of those conservatives, that is where i think a lot of this vote will be splintered. i think mitt romney is smart enough to know that the advantage goes to him when the vote is splintered. >> in your view, is mid romney pro-lifer? would you support him if he was the? nominee? >> he has been on both sides of the life issue but also both sides of the marriage issue and the health-care issue. he has not just been on both sides of an issue. he has been passionately on both sides of every issue there is a huge trust gap with mitt romney.

the reason we go to this caucus process and primary process is to determine who can be the alternative to mitt romney to beat barack obama. the poll numbers show 80% of americans are call last around seeing an alternative to mitt romney. if he becomes the? nominee, i believe the pressure is on governor romney to earn our endorsement. so far, he has bypassed us. we had a caucus where we have 3000 caucus-goers in attendance and everyone of his peers other than john huntsman were in attendance. frank luntz did the moderation. he completely scared to that event. if you're going to dis events like that, it is hard for us to rally around your campaign.

if governor permit romney becomes the nominee i think he has a lot of work to do to get the conservative who vote. >> please allow 30 days between your phone calls. host: we will be live every morning with colchis coverage on cspan 1 and 2. -- with the iowa caucus coverage on cspan 1 and 2. was there a quid pro quo for cash for the family leader? would you like to take a shot at explaining that?

guest: if a we were going to do a quid pro quo or have his endorsement be about money, we probably went with the wrong candidate. the problem is that any time we take a stand, there will be some allegations. this is politics. you will not make everybody happy. i can guarantee you from the family leader standpoint there was no quid pro quo. the family leader is not endorsing this. they believe they are a standard bearer for our pearl-family issues of they are not getting into the endorsement business. the board unanimously gave myself and my colleague the full ability to endorse and we both endorsed senator santorum. there was no quid pro quo there either. i'm not getting paid anything and my colleague is not getting paid anything. we are trying to benefit the rick santorum campaign. when we do and doors, we will do everything we can to make that

endorsement sticker which means we will mobilize our network and do whatever else we can to benefit rick santorum. absolutely not, no quid pro quo, we don't role that way. we try to be right and true. host: bob van der plotz has endorsed rep santorum and previously he was the chair of iowa for freedom which was a campaign in 2010 that ousted three i was supreme court justices. was that because of gay marriage? guest: gay marriage happens to be the issue. it was more than that. our supreme court stepped outside of its constitutional lines and authority. they legislated from the bench. if they want to void legislation that is up to them. the second sense of article 12.1

in our constitution says the legislature will be responsible to enact legislation to carry out this constitution. on april 3, 2009, the supreme court decided that not only did they avoid the defense of marriage act which was unanimously passed by a legislature and signed by governor but then they said i will be a same-sex marriage state. all 99 counties will follow suit. they are not being a court but they are being a legislator and exercising their own opinion. we said it was a separation of powers issue. if they will do this to marriage, they will do to any other freedom we hold dear. we held them accountable -- the people i was held accountable. i just happened to be the chair or spokesperson for that issue. people voted the three justices off the bench which i believe was in their right and they did

what they had to do. host: our topic is christian conservatives and the iowa caucus. mike is a republican, in virginia, you are on. caller: hello there. as a christian conservative myself, i want to caution my fellow christian conservatives in this coming election not to cut off your nose to spite your face. i have noticed a lot of times the christian conservative movement politically get so hung up on the issue of life and gay marriage that they are willing to turn their back on people that would be good solid conservative candidates who are otherwise not able to address those issues directly. you have to remember that there is no president that can al law abortion. there is no president who will

be able to outlaw gay marriage just by a stroke of the pen. those things will not happen. it is imperative to keep in mind that the primary goal is to fire barack obama. if we do not fire him, we will be in more serious hurt them are now for the next four years. guest: that is really good inside in that we don't want to cut off our nose to spite our face. the good news here is that of all the candidates in their race that have gone through the iowa process, including ms. romney, are all on record to be pro-life and on record to be pro-one man, one woman marriage as god intended it as i said at the onset of the show, not only are we concerned about life and marriage -- we just talked about the separation of powers of the constitution and that impact on

the family because i think the court is a big issue in this campaign -- anything that impact the family, we want to be concerned about. i agree, we want to fire barack obama. we want to get a pro-am the candidate in the white house. when you strengthen the family, i believe you will have a strong america. they go hand in hand. guest:-an independent line. caller: thanks for taking my call. the first thing you mentioned was that life begins at conception. that is not in balance with the christian ethic, the judeo- christian ethic. where do you get that? guest: back up your statement

with your resource. what do you mean that life does not begin at conception? caller: the literature long before christ that life begins at first breath and there are other major religions around the world that feel the same way. i want to know where do you get the idea? guest: where we stand on that is we go to psalm 139. each day was planned and ordained even before one even came to be. i believe science also believes that life begins at conception. i don't think that as a believe that i believe. i believe that is a fact that life begins at conception. host: brooklyn, new york, a

democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. it is an oxymoron to endorse senator santorum. he is one under present pro-live and defense maris, -- marriage. being pro-war is not being pro- life, thank you. guest: i'm not sure if i got all of that. greetings to brooklyn, new york. i get there once in awhile. congressman ron paul is pro- lifer. i traveled with him for a whole day. with his wife, one day we traveled together, there is no doubt that ron paul is 100% per- life.

he would said if you get the sanctity of human life right, you'll get other things right but you get the wrong, you'll get other things wrong. i also believe he is about one man, one woman marriage. as i believe rick santorum is. you are getting into foreign policy issues. i happen to believe that rick santorum probably stands above on those issues. i think newt gingrich is very solid on foreign-policy issues. as much as i like ron paul, on a lot of his conservative values and issues, i am a little bit concerned when it comes to iran and mahmoud ahmadinejad and their capability to have a nuclear weapon and the threat to israel. i agree with much of ron paul says. i would be enthusiastic behind him if he becomes the nominee but also because of his economic issues. he has almost been prophetic as he talked about the economy in

this process. : if the is not who you would like to be, can you see christian conservatives supported a third party? guest: i don't see the third party as being an option. i see the third party electing barack obama. when i hear third-party rumors, different people that might consider a third-party run, i just hope that is not the case. i believe we will get a good candidate out of this republican primary. i happen to believe there is a lot of time left. i think there could still be a surprise out of iowa. there could be a surprise with rick santorum. there will be a long nomination process that takes place. i think we'll get the right candidate that we can enthusiastically get behind but i don't think the third party is the option. host: we have shown do some advertisements by some of the candidates. i'm sure i was being inundated

with television ads and here's one for rick santorum >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i'm rick santorum, and i

approve this passage. host: bob van der plotz, that was one of his pop-up ads he has been using. our next call comes from a republican in amber's, ohio caller: good morning, gentlemen. i am a christian and a conservative and religious but i feel we republicans are being extremely hypocritical here. how can we possibly support someone like newt gingrich who has been married three times, divorced, times? how can we support somebody like mitt romney who has said in the past that he is pro-choice and said he is pro-gay rights? that really bothers me that we don't have a candidate out there, a republican candidate that reflects religious conservative values, thank you. guest: that is a good point.

i want to go back to the advertisement which it thought was good. one of the reasons oryx santorum is running a positive campaign, we may have a january surprise. we are being inundated with negative surprise credit tears down one candidate but the candidate doing but attack -- doing the attack, it usually hurts that candidate as well. i don't think there is any room for anybody to be president when the best they have to offer is to tear someone else down to build themselves up. to get to that last question on newt gingrich and governor romney, that is one of the reasons why you do a vetting process in the state of iowa. i believe newt gingrich had an authentic life change and i believe this happened several years ago. i think he would be the first one to say he has made a lot of mistakes, some of which he could do over. this was not a road to des

moines conversion. i believe this took place several years ago. for us as christians, when there is a life change, the heavens rejoice. maybe you and i honor should rejoice as well. that does not mean he is a perfect person. he said if you want a perfect candidate, is not him body has been open and honest about his mistakes and has apologized and he is concerned about the future of this country. i believe that is a good thing. with government romney, not only has he been passionate on both sides of many issues, it seems like he has selective memory in determining where he has been on which side of the issues. he has never said he was wrong or that he apologizes or that the romney-care in massachusetts is not a good plan. he keeps saying that is the right policy for mass. but he will still repeal obama care. there are a lot things that don't add up.

on glad you did not mention rick santorum and that question very host: next call is in teh's moines. -- this is from tampa, fla., independent line. caller: good morning. [inaudible] host: we simply cannot hear you. with your phone connection. moving onto a democrat in pennsylvania. caller: hello, i am really surprised that people call themselves christian. in the 2000 election, you saw the republican-controlled supreme court stop the vote in florida, put george bush, a republican into office, and for the next six years after that,

he had republicans control both houses of congress. the only thing they gave us -- they did not stop abortion. i don't know what you so-called christian people are talking about. they voted for people who took us to iraq that killed innocent people and made 5 million innocent orphans and widows over there and they will worry about a few people having abortions over here? i think you are confused. that is not christian to me. guest: maybe i missed the question in there. i felt like i just got scolded a little bit. i don't think this will be an election -- i don't think obama can win this election based on what george bush did between 2000-2008. these things are now on president obama's hands. we know under president obama, unemployment has skyrocketed,

the economy is not doing what it should be doing, we have a foreign-policy issue all over the place, he will not defend the defense of marriage act. i think this will be a referendum on president obama and they will say that a community organizer does not make a president. i would be the first christian to say we are not perfect. our fate is built on understanding that we are not perfect and that is why we need a savior. we believe there is only one that was perfect and they mailed into a cross. if you're looking for a perfect candidate or a perfect spokesperson for the christian faith, i probably would not be in either. host: here is a tweet -- guest: there is no doubt that we are free to implement our teaching is regardless of who

was elected. our belief and i forget the name of the person who sent the text, is that god has three institutions -- his first institution was the family. he also instituted the church but he also instituted government. if he has three institutions, we believe they are near and dear to his heart. our goal is to say let's get things that would promote godly virtues and godly values and i think everybody would agree that we would be better off not only in this country but all over the place. host: here is another tweet -- guest: you're not going to get an argument from me in regards to saying that we will discriminate against anybody but

what we will do is not talk about what we are against. we will talk about what we are for an ee god's design is clear for the institution of the family. that is a one-man, one woman marriage. i believe when you start messing around with marriage, you remove the parameters and the boundaries and all of a sudden anything but comes up for grabs whether you want to have polygamy again. if i wanted to marry my son or another guy wants to marry his daughter, or want to marry a business partner for tax purposes -- i believe marriage is simple and overwhelmingly supported in 31 states for a vote has been taken on it. we are 31-0. when judges in i would declared i was a same-sex our state, we

removed the judges. i'm not saying that gay people are not for marriage. we are saying marriage as it is designed is one man and one woman as the design was for procreation and attorney for a replacement to develop a civilized society host: here is another twist. tweet. guest: we have different things. we have a five zero one c three which is primarily -- we have a 501c3 which is the iowa family policy center. our manage -- our marriage matters ministry is 8501c3 as well. the family leader is a 501c4 which is an advocacy arm and we have a political action committee which allows for campaign intervention to either

promotes a candidate or to promote an issue. under our umbrella, we have several things because of the irs standards and the tax laws. we tried the best we can to dot every i and cross every t and be as good stewards as possible. host: brian is a republican in logan, west virginia, good morning. good morning caller:, an earlier caller had a question about our view that life begins at conception. i did enjoy the answer that your guest gave the caller. i also have a suggestion that in the new testament, elizabeth, the mother of john the baptist, said when married mother of

jesus was pregnant, she spoke to the angel gabriel and realized she was pregnant with jesus. when elizabeth comes into the room with mary, john quite literally leaped in his mother's womb. the very moment, basically, that mary finds out she is with child, that baby, john the baptist in his mother's womb detected the presence of the holy spirit. host: what is your point? caller: that is my point. people want to know what our evidence is. host: any comment? guest: i think that is a good insight and not one that i choose to use. you are right according to the scriptures. john did leap in his mother's womb when american men and found out she was with child.

host: green bay, wisconsin, independent line. caller: mr. van der platz, i'm 100% in agreement with you. rick santorum would make the best president we have had in a long time and that's all i want to say. guest: you don't know how refreshing your call is. i think what is happening for people across the country is they found out that people are saying they might be for one candidate but they always say i like rick santorum. he always seems to be in the top 12. i think he is catching on at the right time. another news network talk about the stealth-santorum campaign, that this could be a surge. i believe the conservatives will coalesce around rick santorum. they would have the opportunity

to lift him to victory in the state of ohio and he becomes our alternative to mid romney and if that is the case, rick santorum will win that battle and he will become the next president of united states. he has defeated three incumbent democrats when he ran for the u.s. house and senate. even people who disagree with them will say that even though they don't agree on the issues, he does not come across as disagreeable. he comes across as someone thoughtful, intellectual, and logical as he reaches his conclusions. host: deadbeat in italy -- in gainesville, florida rock -- guest: first of all, what she pointed out with president obama is that both he and michaud have been a model for their own

personal family as a husband and wife and being committed and married to one another. they have been a model at raising their two daughters in front of the country and the whole world to see what a family looks like. my concern with president obama and his marriage and that he and michelle raising their daughters is that a lot of the policies i don't believe are pro-family. i want my children to have an america that is better than what i inherited. i want them to have the opportunity of free enterprise and have an ultimate freedom of living in a world where there are some basic core values and core principles to elevate the family such as marriage, such as respect for life, such as for judicial restraint and separation of powers. those are all things that i don't believe his policies would reflect. you are right, as far as

michelle raising their two children, i admire them for that but when it comes to actual policies to benefit the family, that is where we will reach our disagreements. host: here is another campaign ad this morning from rick perry. ♪ >> i am not ashamed to admit that i am a christian. you know there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military and our kids cannot pray in school. as president, i will and obama's war on religion and i will fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. faith in america strong. it can make her strong again. i'm rick perry and i approve this message. host: what is your reaction to that advertisement? guest: the first time i saw that was a few weeks ago. i thought it was a pretty bold ad. i would be one to say i liked

that ad and the response i got for many people and i will was the same period -- in iowa was the same. he is a person of faith and not ashamed to stand for his fate. he says he will not leave his faith at the white house steps. that is to he is end they would have given him a few more passes when it came to some of his debate performance as. they saw that as almost being behind the curve instead of ahead of the curve. what rick perry points out is that it seems like we're being driven by a lot of agendas right now verses what is right. and what is right rick perry has served in the military and served our country so well and is another candidate we would enthusiastically get behind it he was the nominee of our party -- he points out that even the military, he sees that as being used as an agenda and

many people in iowa would probably agree with him very of host: this is live pictures of dust moines. we will be live every morning between now and january 3 when the caucus in iowa happen. we have a democrat in north carolina, thanks for holding. caller: good morning. all these people that are out of work, people need jobs and every time mr. obama gets something going, the republicans obstruct it. if their main goal was to make sure that he is a onetime president, people are not worried about marriage. speaking of christian values, the churches don't call god by his name in psalm 83.

they teach about the immortal soul. that is false speaking. i am sure he read his bible. guest: first of all, i agree that this country does need jobs and that is a very pro-family issue. from someone like myself who has not always studied economics but has taught economics and been in private business and industry, we need an environment where jobs can be created. the government should not create jobs. we need business and industry to create jobs. you need an environment that has a fair taxation and fair regulation so that businesses and industry can develop and grow and prosper so they can

have jobs. i think that is a very pro- family issues. when we get to life and marriage, sometimes we make that a focus in iowa to start with. any time we are hiring somebody and that is what we are doing for the presidency of the united states, you want to find out what their core values are. you are trying to determine if you can trust them. what is their level of integrity? if he couldn't trust that on issues like life and marriage, you believe you might be able to trust them leading the economy or national security or energy policy and that is why governor mitt romney is such an issue in this state and across the country. people still have a trust gap with him on life and marriage issues, a core value issues and i wonder if he will do right when it comes to the economy and other core family issues. t --: here is a twee guest: without question, just

take a look at senator santorum's history. he won in a democratic state of pennsylvania. he did not all in went the u.s. house race that he should not of run by defeating a dick and incumbent democrat, he won it again and went on to win a u.s. senate race. he was very effective. he had to have a lot of independence and conservative democrats voting for him. what they like about him is that when he went to washington, he was basically tea party before tea party was cool. he was part of a gang of seven. he took on the establishment of washington. he went forward with welfare reform that gave people the dignity of work. use of poverty rates to drop to the lowest level probably in our recent history. i think rick santorum would be able to win way outside the bible belt and across this country because he is a true

american that happens to love america. host: last call live from des moines, comes from scottsdale, ariz., republican line. caller: 1 it to say because me run a is a mormon, he is not a christian? you talk about what a good man newt gingrich is. newt gingrich wanted little kids to go to work. people like newt gingrich and all these men that leave their wives and have affairs and the little kids are on welfare stance and everything else, but newt gingrich's find? is fine? guest: in my comments about

governor romney, i never mentioned him being a mormon. many people in iowa don't talk to me about his mormon as an. they talk to me about his stances on issues and his passionate status on issues and how they seem to differ depending on the audience he is addressing for the campaign he is trying to win. the 1994 campaign against senator kennedy when he was very pro-choice and pro-same-sex marriage is way different than the campaign he is waging in 2011-2012 to get the republican nomination. there is a trust factor and it has nothing to do with his mormon faith or religion. if i thought that was the key issue, i would have brought that up. that is not the key issue to me. as far as newt gingrich, as a christian and a person of faith, the hallmark of our fate

is forgiveness. christ is very clear in saying that week -- if we are willing to -- if we are not willing to forgive others, how can he forgive us? newt gingrich says he has made mistakes and the has repented. i could induce the as we get behind him. host: bob van der platz has been our guest and thank you for being on "the washington journal." guest: i appreciate it and hope you guys enjoyed as moines, iowa is a great place to kick off his presidential caucus. host: every four years, iowans help us feel welcome. >> our guest this morning was a wreck santorum supporter. the santorum campaign as momentum going. the former senator elizabeth

dole of north carolina is endorsing mitt romney. we will look back at the iowa caucus in years back tonight on c-span parade. starting at 8:00 eastern, we will have speeches from barack obama, hillary clinton, and mike huckabee. then a 2004 presidential debate with john kerry, john edwards, howard dean and other candidates and a republican debate in iowa from 2000 including george bush, john mccain, and steve forbes. the des moines register's iowa caucuses special website is reporting about the occupy des moines movement. they write that about 250 protesters from at least 11 states turned out on tuesday night for the first event of occupy iowa to influence the presidential campaign.

coming up in about 45 minutes or so, we will be live with newt gingrich in one of his four bus tour events today in mason city, iowa. at 1:40, amid romney talking about jobs in the economy in clinton, iowa and at 8:00 tonight, ron paul's salute to veterans at the state fair grounds in des moines. here are comments from "washington journal" your son who is the most conservative candidate.

>> why should to settle for a candidate? that is from cbs news. this is from "the hill newspaper this morning

this is from "the national journal" -- republicans only for this first segment of "the washington journal." who is the most conservative candidate in the race? will begin with a republican in

palm beach, florida. caller: good morning, i think it's gotta be rick santorum. as you know, he was in the senate in the 1990's and was put out by the liberals and the democrats because of his views on abortion and homosexuality. he is against homosexual marriage. he is the true conservative christian. i believe that christian america will vote for him especially ioans next week. host: would you vote for him if you were there? guest: absolutely and my second choice would be rick perry. host: we've set aside our third line for iowa residents who are members of the republican party. we want to get your views on who was the most conservative and get your experience with the candidates traveling around the state. here are the most recent polls --

what if one of these three gets the nomination? would you vote for them? gucaller: i could not vote for any of those three. mitt romney is looking like something that walt disney created. most christians in america are well aware that they will not support him on his abortion issues. our country does not need to worry about economics. our country needs to return to god to return to jesus christ. that is why we are in the trouble we are in. we have forbid children from praying in school. we should never hate homosexuals but we should not be marrying homosexuals. we cannot allow them to serve openly in the military. we have a moral problem in america and we need a christian

back in the white house. obama is a phony christian. the bible says he will know a true question by his fruits and obama is not a trick question. host: a gift for your time this morning. from the new york times.

jeffrey is a republican in falls church, va., who is the most conservative? caller: probably john huntsman

or mid romney would come closest but we don't have in this country conservatism as it is historic and understood which is a respect for institutions and a stable social order and a reverence for tradition. we have elements of that but if you look at the republican party, it is classical liberalism. it governs least. it is adams met with free-market capitalism. on the democratic side, you have radical liberalism which was not radical in the sense we think of today as bomb from but in the sense of the way the ancient greece understood it which is getting the root of their idea where you can talk about rights and freedom but you cannot do that unless you have the economic means. there is tensions between both camps and with in both camps. mitt romney and jon huntsman show more deference to tradition, more deference toward

established institutions. you're not getting conservatism with this government bashing. that is why we keep having this ridiculous argument about government because they are approaching the problem of individual freedom as opposed to the problem of governing institutions. if you are a classical conservative in the tory tradition, you are left looking at mitt romney or john stutzman as your best choice. host: 90 for your call. -- thank you for your call. here are some comments from our facebook page --

next call comes from louise in pennsylvania. caller: morning. i am going for newt gingrich and i will tell you why. he seems to know everything that is going on. the other ones taken gases. the second one would be mitt romney. i believe they should stop picking at each other. it is obama that is making all these mistakes and doing all these 1 things. everything is being covered up. we know nothing about what is going on in iran and we knew nothing about two months ago

when ever the american was taken and we hear nothing. we hear the store once on tv and then no more bread we have to find out what is going on. we are being kept in the dark. host: 90 for calling in. this is from "the washington times"--

state republican party officials have instructed precinct leaders to report any disruption to police and the party. that is in "the washington times." we will have ed fallon on later who is one of the occupy

organizers in the state of iowa. next call is hagerstown maryland, , on a republican line. we will move on and show you " the new york times" --

host:ok, teddy in hagerstown, maryland, on the republican line. go ahead. caller: first, i would like to say it depends on an individual's definition of conservatism. a lot of people associate that with religious conservatism. i believe ron paul is the most conservative candidate -- and he is a religious person and his brother is a pastor, but he does not believe in forcing his will or the lease and other people in -- or his beliefs the way that rick santorum or pretty much any of the other was -- of the ones. basically in layman's terms, sticking their nose and people's lives. i did not believe it is a

conservative position. conservatives minder own -- mind their own business and they did not bother their neighbors. the religious conservatives, they are just too -- they want to force their views on people and this is much too diverse of a nation to do that anymore. and i believe as the feature -- future goes on, their vote is going to mean less and less in this country. host: that was teddy in hagerstown, maryland. a couple of events coming from iowa live on c-span today. newt gingrich old town halls and i would -- he will be in mason city. -- in iowa. alive at 11:30 a.m. this morning. -- live. and mitt romney is also going to be live on c-span. he will be in clinton, iowa, at home where's deli and bakery. .- homer's

also live at 1:40 p.m. on c- span2. michele bachmann will be in bed ford asserted, live at 1:00 p.m. today. and finally tonight at 8:00 p.m., ron paul host a salute to veterans in iowa. and you can find the full schedule of events that c- span.org. nick in tampa bay. how were you? -- how are you? we lost nick. we will move on to the needs of -- anita in mississippi. hi. caller: thank god for c-span. i love your show and i catch it every morning. i am so sick and tired of this award conservative. every time it is applied to a republican candidate or any candidate that speaks ill against blacks and women. and what is going on in the united states, they use key words to say i am most

conservative. i looked up the word conservative and i did not see racism anywhere near that word. but i watch c-span and cnn and i even watched fox to see what's lies they are telling -- host: are you a republican? caller: i am an independent. host: if you were to vote who would you vote for? caller: it would be jon huntsman because he is not playing that i am a racist kind of guy. he is putting out the issues. a if i am a republican -- he is putting out the issues, but i am an independent and i will wait until everybody put out what -- puts out what they have to say. if a bank he starts playing i am the most conservative -- is a bank he starts playing i am the most conservative or he has letters from the 1960's like ron paul says he is against blacks, newt gingrich is against blacks, michele bachmann is

against blacks, she is against gays, and she is married to a man who wants to convert people from being gay into being straight, and he is gay himself, that is why they do not show him on the news anymore. he says a couple words and raises his hand and everybody -- waved his hand and everybody jumped all over and everybody knew she was married to a gay man. she is not going to win. let me tell you. i am a woman. i love women and their progress is, but america is not ready for -- progresses. a woman president. host: all right, anita, we will leave it there. here is the front-page of the link nebraska "journal star." he is not running for reelection. the front page is taken up with his photo and a story about him. here is ben nelson talking about his retirement yesterday. >> there is much more that

needs to be done to keep america strong. and while i relish the opportunity to undertake the work that lies ahead, i also feel it is time for me to step away from elective office. spend more time with my family, and look for new ways to serve our state and nation. therefore i am announcing today i will not seek reelection. is simply put, it is time to move on. i encourage those who will follow in my footsteps to look for common ground and to work together in bipartisan ways to do what is best for the country, not just one political party. host: that was ben nelson yesterday talking about why he is not going to run for reelection. republicans only for this first segment of "washington journal." if you live in the east and central time zones, we want to know from you, if you are republican, would you think is the most conservative --

a third line for iowa gop-ers. from "the wall street journal" this morning --

host:right below that story is another political story, and this is laura meckler's story. they have a chart over here. this is the portion of newly registered voters nationwide who lean democratic. they say it has fallen significantly since 2008. in 2008, newly registered voters -- 49% democrat, 26%

independent, 25% republican. in 2011, this year so far, 32% democratic, 33% independent, 34% as republicans. the next caller is from -- chris from browning, new jersey. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: who is the most conservative? caller: by far if you look at the record, ron paul. as far as the newsletters go, the woman stated before that she watches cnn and fox and msnbc -- people overlook something as far as the media goes. this liberal media and it is conservative -- conservative media but when you break it down the are all owned by a handful of corporations. one thing that sets ron paul apart from other candidates include in barack obama is he does not believe that corporations should be people. somebody needs to ask

themselves, if you believe corporations are not people, why would the corporate media get behind the metal? -- them at all? instead, they will run a smear campaign. when you trust television, what you get is what you got. host: from our facebook page, where you can continue the conversation or just make a comment, michael says -- host:that is from our facebook page this morning.

mark in louisville, ky. who do you think is the most conservative candidate in the race so far? caller: the only conservative candidates is ron paul. i believe that because i have been following presidential races four years. -- for years. i voted for ronald reagan back in the 1980's. reagan, who is the example of what a conservative is and reagan was not conservative. he overspent and did not do things of the definition of a conservative is. the only true conservative is ron paul. i believe the smear campaign going on right now is just because he is against corporations,, and if you were elected the military industrial complex would suffer because he would pull troops away from the

world. we have a $16 trillion debt. our dollar is being devalued constantly. and the only one who knows anything about economics out there, democrat or republican, is ron paul. host: thank you for your call. a couple of e-mails on who is the most conservative candidate.

host: this morning in "the washington post" is a column --

host: that is just a little taste of what dan balz writes in "the washington post." and this op-ed. this is from "the new york post ." host: he is more swing state appeal.

it did help that his outspokenness on social issues made him a figure of hatred and mockery on the left. host: santorum has seen a slight bump in the iowa polls -- host: back to your calls on who you think is the most conservative in the race. bob in the columbia, south carolina. what do you think? caller: i think rick perry should get the nomination to fight obama. i lived in texas and i know

what he is about. host: what is he about? caller: i think he makes a good point -- but the only thing that hurts him is the immigration thing, illegal kids. host: thank you for calling this morning. bill in doylestown, pennsylvania. good morning. i am not sure who was on the line. jane in cincinnati? how are you? caller: fine, thank you. how are you? host: good. who do you think is the most conservative? caller: ron paul, all the way. everything about him. i trust him, i believe in him. i do not think he is prejudiced. no, i don't. i think he is a very good guy. and i think he could help our country.

yes, i do. host: what positions of his do you like? caller: oh, my gosh, just so many of them. he believes and everybody making their own way. -- in. he believes in bringing everybody home strewn all over the world. i like that. host: thank you for calling in this morning. a reminder about the january 3 iowa caucuses, c-span will be live on c-span and c-span2 that evening covering two separate caucuses. they start at 7:00 p.m. eastern time, which is 8:00 p.m. on the east coast. 1774 precincts in iowa and all 1774 precincts will be holding a caucus. it is a secret ballot and you must be registered with the

republican party to participate. no independents allowed. some of the past winners. on the republican side, in 2008, mike huckabee won the caucuses. george w. bush ran unopposed in to thousand four and he also won -- 2004 -- the 2000 iowa caucuses. bob dole won them in 1996 and was the eventual nominee. george h. w. bush ran unopposed in 1992 but bob dole again in 1988 won the caucuses even though he did not get the nomination get ronald reagan unopposed in 1984, george h. w. bush won in 1980 -- that, of course, eventually went to ronald reagan. gerald ford was the nominee and sitting president won in 1976. on the democratic side, barack obama won in 2008, john carey -- kerry won in 2004 -- howard dean, quite a bit in the news, john kerry in 2004.

tom harkin, favorite son, won in 1992 but the eventual nominee, bill clinton, came in fourth. 1988, richard gephardt took the caucuses and michael dukakis, who became the nominee, came in third for walter mondale the nominee, also won. 1984. jimmy carter beat kennedy. uncommitted one in 1976 but -- won -- jimmy carter came in second when he got the nomination. 1976, and committed one again -- won again and ed muskie came in second and the eventual nominee, george mcgovern, came in third -- back to your calls. who is the most conservative gop candidate in the race and is that important? caller: yes, i believe santorum is. but the conservative part is

not important, but it is the person who is running. you've got a very different batch of candidates running. gingrich, i consider him like a hypocrite. you have ron paul, and this guy is very, very scary. i am 71, so i know what he was like when he first got started and he is a racist. he is more of a neo-nazi type guy. very scary if he got in. gingrich, he likes to throw stones -- i mean, when he helped to stop clinton he was running -- start clinton -- around his desk with his secretary. then you've got romney. he does not like unions and he is not for labor. ok? bachmann -- she is not really -- i mean, i am not as much afraid of her but the thing is she is really not that much of

to date. -- up to date. sometimes she really does not know everything going on. host: if you were living in iowa right now, who would you call this for? -- caucus. caller: i would caucus for santorum. i voted for huckabee, the last one, and you guys did not give him very much of the jets and -- of a chance. you are doing the same thing with santorum. you've got huntsman -- he is a spoiler. it is set up right now for obama to win, the way you guys got things going, because the people who want to vote for a certain person, you are trying to do a popularity vote instead of the person who is right for the job. and that is what is scary about this country. we are going to lose our freedom -- no, as a woman, i have to worry more. you get somebody like ron paul in, he wants to get rid of the

military, he was to get rid of the taxes, this and that -- well, then you did not have nothing for defense for your country, you know longer have a -- you no longer have a democratic country, all you've got is other countries coming in and taking over. host: thank you for calling in this morning. here is the front page of "the des moines register." it is a big picture of the occupy caucus meeting last night. we will have one of the organizers of occupy des moines a little later this morning, ed fallon. we are live from des moines every morning between now and january 3 when the caucus is happening. a front-page out of the "richmond times dispatch." richmond, virginia.

host: that was the front page of the "richmond times-dispatch." and "the l.a. times" this morning. a couple of campaign pictures. a lead story -- of our with romney in iowa voting, is how they see it. -- odds are with romney. the next call comes from sally from wisconsin. who is the most conservative candidate in the race?

caller: definitely michele bachmann. i am very sorry to ruth, but rick santorum is not. he is pretty much a phony. he has voted for a lot of big spending bills and he endorsed mitt romney the last time, and i did not say a difference between mitt romney, newt gingrich, and obama. there is no real difference there. and rick santorum has pushed muslim curriculum in the schools, and he has taken a lot of money from wall street, and ron paul is not as conservative as people think he is. he is a little bit deceitful. but michele bachmann is the best debater we have in our party. she took down newt gingrich, which, to make, shows -- -- which to me shows she's the best debater. host: what is an issue that is important to you? caller: well, life, abortion, gay marriage, all the moral

issues are very important, but to get the economy that is important as well and i believe she is the only one with a good tax plan to do that. host: if where the nominee were mitt romney or newt gingrich, would you vote for them? caller: no, i would not vote for them. i would not vote for obama so why should i vote for mitt romney or newt gingrich? host: where is lanham, wisconsin? caller: near milwaukee. host: in other news, a tax bill set for increasingly rare tax committee.

host: that is "the washington times" this morning. pennsylvania. bill, good morning. caller: good morning. i love c-span, and you are doing a great job with this segment this morning.

the only conservative in the bunch is ron paul. yes, you have rick santorum and bachmann, they have some good ideas. but they are neocons who want more in iran. -- who want to see us at war in iran. you talk about scary, when i hear them talk about how we have to have sanctions in iran and all of this other stuff -- the world is not supporting that. we are the only ones only oneswar in iran. -- yelling about war in iran. the other thing i think a conservative is, is someone who does not spend money they do not have. when i think of the word conservative, there is the word conserve their. -- there. if i am spending more than i have, which is what our big government democrat and are big government republicans have been doing, then how can i be

called a conservative? romney is a big spender, gingrich's a big spender. who are you left with? let's face it. va has a right -- down to two men. -- virginia has it right. ron paul at the top against romney. host: gary post on our facebook page that he likes newt 2.0. host: jonesville, virginia bank -. sorry, this is john from ohio. caller: i am thinking about ron paul. i think why i want to pick ron paul is i have been unemployed since 2007 -- or, 2005.

i got wrongly fired in ohio, john boehner's territory -- it was unjustified. i were to that they before that and i just got injured on the job. i'm waiting for john boehner to get my job back. i am still waiting. as far as to next president, that will be paul. host: this is from "the hill" newspaper.

host: and also from "the hill" newspaper in -- host: last call on who is the most conservative comes from floyd in the jones bill, virginia. -- jonesville. caller: i think rick perry is the best one -- he is

conservative. i think if we miss out we would miss out on a great president. he created millions of jobs in texas. the only reason he isn't at the top is the debates -- but if you compare him to what obama said, was said there were 57 states, and it confused about holidays, memorial day, mixing it up -- everybody makes mistakes. a simple mistake and people hold it against you. everybody makes mistakes. everybody does. but he would make the best present. -- president. the other thing is, we need to be praying for who god wants to be president and not what we want -- let us pray that god will be done. host: that was floyd from virginia. host: "usa today" --

host: that is just a little bit of the story from the money section of "usa today." >> it is just pass 10:30 central time. this is mason city, iowa, for a town hall meeting with newt gingrich. this is about two hours north of des moines, one of four bus stops for newt gingrich. he is expected here shortly. we have a tweet saying the

campaign has announced they have received the endorsement the father of the supply-side economics and architect of the ronald reagan economic plan. he will appear with gingrich later today in iowa to campaign. not sure if he is going to appear at this event in mason city. we will keep you posted. other candidates coming up. we will be live in clinton, iowa. mitt romney will be there talking about jobs and the economy. ron paul at the state fairgrounds.

>> we are hearing from our producers in mason city that the candidate will be about 10 minutes late or so getting to this event. while we wait, we'll take you to an event that happened yesterday in des moines, about to enter 50 protesters -- 250 protesters. this is a member of the occupied des moines activities. ed fallon was on this morning

talking about the movement and we'll show you as much of that as we can while we wait to hear from newt gingrich. host: on your screen is the occupy des moines sign at the occupy iow a headquarters. this is the occupy site. maybe a mile or so away is ed fallon in downtown des moines. he is one of the organizers of occupy des moines. held quite a caucus meeting -- you held quite a caucus meeting.

guest: we think it is time for the people's voices to be heard. this was our chance to jump ahead of the official iowa caucus and get our message out about the importance of the issues being raised by the occupy wall street movement, and to empower people to begin the process of going to campaign headquarters and bringing our message directly to the candidates. host: you decided to visit campaign headquarters. guest: much like a regular caucus. people cannot and aired -- people came out and aired their grievances. we broke into preference groups. some like to call on this

preference groups for candidates we feel are most off base and whose headquarters we want to occupy over the next three days. host: who won? guest: rick santorum was the most disliked by one measurement. about 30% of the people plan to go to obama's headquarters. 10% indicated they were uncommitted. host: ed fallon, quite a few tweets along this line and i want to start with one from a regular viewer of the "washington journal." host: we have gone a couple of comments along that line. what is your goal with the occupy des moines movement?

guest: we're saying is it as loud and as clear as we can. we're tired of the corporate corruption on wall street and we are tired of the political corruption that is part of that problem in washington, d.c. i am a recovering politician. i have seen the stuff from the inside. what you can see from the outside indicate there is a clear problem. we need to reform some money different laws. where do you start? reinstalling glass-steagall? having the banks being held accountable. our list of grievances is pretty long. if people want to dismiss that notf they want to say we're

being clear, i don't think they are paying attention. will your group be doing? guest: would become affinity groups and each affinity determines what kind of action they want to engage the particular candidate with. maybe going to their headquarters and showing up and trying to dialogue a bid and getting more -- a bit, we might see people staging a sit-in. maybe they will gather outside the headquarters are pitching tents. and making that corporate- political commitment. groups may go to wells fargo or bank of america or some of the institutions that are the corporate poster child --

children of the occupy movement. host: several articles talk about that your group may look for disruption and that the police will have to be called. is that part of your goal? guest: we have a good report with the des moines police department. the mayor has been several allied and has been willing to find a park for the movement to operate out of. we have a good rapport. we know it makes sense to do so in a way that doesn't put them in physical harm. this movement in des moines is very strongly committed to non- violence. the last thing we did was we

read in unison the pledge that we have made to maintain it nonviolence in this movement. there may be arrests. it will not be disruptive in the sense of violence or activity that would cause the police unnecessary concern. we're not going to disrupt the iowa caucuses on january 3. i will be participating in those my cells. they are decent event -- i'll be participating in those myself. host: when you served in the state legislature, was that as a democrat or republican? guest: as a democrat, but i will go to the republican caucus. i'm disappointed. the democratic party has left me. it is a huge disappointment.

president obama is a huge disappointment. and so i feel homeless when it comes to major party affiliation. the system is pretty open. you can register as a democrat or republican and go to the party's caucus. host: can register that day? guest: yes. i feel i can make a bigger impact on the republican caucus. i know some people will vote uncommitted. that sends a message to president obama that a lot of this base is on happy on things like environmental concerns, oil-drilling, the keystone pipeline, along with things that people are concerned about. we have some candidates and some will go on committed as well. i will be looking at the candidates that i think do the

best job in a field that is dissatisfying of trying to articulate some of the primary concerns that this movement is raising. host: let's get to the phone calls. >> we will show you all this conversation later in our program scheduled. we'll take you live back to mason city. newt gingrich making his way into the shopping mall for a town hall meeting. the first of 3 live events for the candidates today here on c- span. >> thank you for your help. >> you know josh. >> great to see you this morning.

>> why do we have someone -- here. ed will do it. ok. here we go. good. thank you. >> thanks. >> joe and robin. >> r-o-b-i-n? >> first edition. >> get them early. 16 years. thank you so much.

we need your help. >> ready? >> there you go. good to see you guys. >> california convention. >> good morning. >> hello. >> how are you? >> good morning. if you have a few minutes. to --'s do it when we get >> perfect.

>> thank you, sir. how are you, sir? >> this way, ma'am. >> my wife, elizabeth. thank you. thank you. >> good morning. good morning. how are you? good morning. >> how are you? very good. how are you? how are you? >> a great idea. >> here we go. allri right. here we go.

how are you? good to see you? we need your help in the caucus . >> thank you. >> thank you for being here. >> hi. how are you doing? >> good morning. nice to see you. good morning. >> good to see you. [applause] >> good morning.

good morning. this is a great turnout this morning. it is wonderful to have a wonderful day to of this kind of event. it is my honor and my pleasure this morning to be able to introduce the former speaker of the house, newt gingrich. i know that the 2012 election is going to be about ideas and solutions, helping us get back on track to rebuild the american we love. there's no better person to get that job done then speaker of the house newt gingrich. [applause] [cheers] >> thank you for coming out today. i want to thank linda. she has been the heart of our campaign here in iowa.

she did a great job. look at the budget they worked out without tax increases. washington could learn a lot of lessons from linda and the republicans in the legislature and the governor in how to get things done that would make washington that much better. i want to educate washington to be more like iowa rather than have by what become more like washington -- rather than have iowa. we're glad to be here in the closing days of the campaign in iowa. how many of you have received more than enough negative ads and mailers and what have you? i want to make two commitments to you. from us in the

next six days and they are going to be positive. i think that we have enough trouble in this country that we should have a campaign of positive ideas and positive solutions. the only person helped by negative ads is barack obama and our business is to defeat him. [applause] i am going to talk briefly and take questions. i will be glad to answer questions about the negative ads. we have been doing a telephone town hall meetings. josh burns is over here. he got a call as part of a town hall meeting so he and his daughter to dissipated in the call. we had 9700 people. i am happy to answer any questions about these

exaggerations. i want to focus on jobs and the economy. you have a relatively good economy here in iowa. the united states is the economic engine which pulls the world economy. there are troubling signs out there in europe, asia, the middle east. there is a real danger that the world economy could take another step downward in 2012. having a healthy economy is a key part of us getting ahead. i think the disaster of the president and the congress passing a two-month extension is really embarrassing. i do not think i have ever seen washington more dysfunctional on a bipartisan basis than it is right now.

[applause] i think this is very serious for the country. it is a mess. no family knows how to plan. you know there'll be another crisis in february and another one back in may. this is an absurd way to govern. i was a junior member when ronald reagan was elected. tip o'neill was speaker of the house. we needed 1/3 of the democrats to pass anything, and we did. we worked and we got bill clinton to sign a welfare reform, the first tax cut in 16 years, the largest capital gains tax cut in history. we passed welfare reform.

child poverty declined because parents were working. the democrats split. we passed the tax cuts in the largest tax cut, unemployment dropped to 4.2%. we were able to balance the budget for four straight years. i have twice participated in serious bipartisan reform work you have to reach the american people with the idea to get the american people to reach their senators and congressmen to get things done. this is the cost of amateurism. barack obama has no idea how to negotiate. the leader of the democrats in the senate is partisan. you have a log jam. i was fortunate in the reagan

years and the clinton years to have somebody rational to work with. we fought pretty hard but with an understanding that the country is bigger than our ideology and we have to find a way to get the country to work. america only works when americans are working. that's a key principle of this campaign. we're focusing on jobs, the economy. i first worked back in the 1970's when richard when kemp were working on a supply side economics. you solve problems by having more things -- more oil, more

corn production, mor. it was a fundamental argument that focused on the demand side. many people thought we had won the argument. there was a fascinating book in which it would describe how economists had won and the demand guys had lost. it was untrue. it puts control with the politicians. they don't like the ron reagan supply-side approach because it puts power in the hands of the people. if you believe in markets, that means you have to make decisions and you have to be in charge. you have to be in charge -- the

president does not create jobs. they can create conditions that favor or hurt jobs. the american people create jobs. the hard work of americans create jobs. we're back in the same competition between a supply- side approach that we popularize 30 years ago and the much more timid, washington-centered approach which will not create jobs. obama represents the extreme version, which kills jobs. consider the reagan model. cut taxes, cut regulations, strengthen energy production, and appraise the people who create jobs. to the important to shop for work on monday and to save and to invest.

look at the obama model. fare r taxes and class war fo that attacks people who create jobs. i don't think the white house has a clue. take the xl keystone pipeline. 20,000 jobs immediately. a generation of money coming to the u.s. from canadian oil on the way to worldwide distribution. the president postpones it. the alarm of the extremists are against building the pipeline. we built pipelines all the time. they do not want canadian oil on

the world market. they are trying to find a way to keep canadian oil in canada. it is one thing to route administration that cannot play chess -- it is one thing to have an administration that cannot play chess. it is another thing to have an administration that cannot play checkers. the want to build the pipeline and not a penny will come to the united states and not a job will be created in the united states. the oil will be used by the chinese. that's what the president is faced with. so he goes to brazil and says, "i want to be your best customer." he praises the brazilians for drilling offshore.

he says we can guarantee to billion dollars in equipment for it george soros-invested company. this is backwards. we do not want the president of the united states to be purchasing agent for foreign countries. we want him to be a salesman for american products. we need a president that opens up markets for american agricultural products because we produce more than we can absorb hero home. i think obama has it exactly backwards. we have an economic plan. it is straightforward. cut taxes. favre people who create jobs -- favor people who create jobs. we have zero capital gains.

we go to a 12.5% tax rate. it means that companies will compete worldwide. this will give us a lower corporate tax rate with canada. it means general electric will actually pay taxes. we have 100% expenses. all new equipment gets written off in one year. if we are going to compete with china and india, we have to have the most modern equipment in the world. we need productivity. i favor changing the unemployment compensation. you have to sign up for training

program by a business so we are creating better skills and a better work force and not paying people for 99 weeks for doing nothing. [applause] so the new equipment would be better trained work force means we will be the most -- the best country in the world. some politician can take half from your family when you die. we abolished the death tax. finally, we provide a 15% flat tax option. you can keep the current code or fill out a single page, list, it you earn, how much dependence

you have and pay 15%. people can either keep records are not keep records, but you have the choice, not politicians. part two, regulations. i will ask the new congress on january 3rd, before i am sworn in, to stay in office and repeal obama care, repeal dodd-frank -- [applause] they should repeal a because it is killing banks, crippling small business and dropping -- driving down the hype -- driving down the price of housing. middle-class homes lost value yesterday. if the repeal dodd-frank, you help independent small banks being crushed by red tape. i would also ask and to repeal sarbanes oxley which has

produced no information of any value over the last three years. those will start to liberate american business. i would like those three done before i am sworn in, so the day after i am sworn in, i can sign them and we have that are done in january and we can go about passing good reforms to replace the bad ones we have repealed. on the day i am inaugurated, we will have a day one plan that we will publish by october 1st of next year that i will sign two hours after i am sworn in. i will sign between 102 hundred executive orders. the first will abolish all of as of thatouse czars moment. [applause] in addition to repealing those three bills, i would ask the congress to replace the environmental protection agency with a brand new environmental solutions agency, and i mean

replaced. i believe the current bureaucracy at the epa is so radical, so anti-community and so lacking in common sense you can our format. everywhere i go, small towns tell me they are being crushed by epa bureaucrats in washington who never visited their town and have no idea what they're demanding. the economic cost to small towns of america is extraordinary. if you go out and talk to businesses, they have a proposal on electricity which will almost certainly lead to brownouts at a time we're trying to compete in the world market, we will dramatically raise the cost of electricity. senator grassley spent a year fighting dust provisions. an agency that takes the general ability to look at particulate matter and creek -- and clean air, and turns it into a bureaucratic study of whether or not or when you plow the dirt from your field will drift into

the neighboring field and of the wind is high enough, the dust from your plowing will go into the neighboring field, you should not plow that day. do you know how hard you have to work to be this stupid? [laughter] this is a guy in the washington area that lives in high-rise apartment with air conditioning and it's on the metro with air- conditioning to ride to his high-rise office where he has no windows where he sits and contemplates dust. it makes no sense at all. i was in arizona. it is worse in arizona. arizona is a desert and we get natural dust storms. we have someone from epa that says to us what you should do is water down the dirt so you don't get dust storms. he said we are trying to explain to them the reason it is called a desert is because we don't have any water. [laughter] i would like to replace the epa

with an environmental solutions agency based on common sense and practicality. i would like to modernize the food and drug administration board's job will be understanding science and getting it to the patient so we can be the leading developer of new medicine and technology. health is going to be the best producer of high-value jobs and we wanted fda that helps us be at the top and does not hurt us. on energy, let me say unequivocally, with ronald reagan in 1984, some of you are old enough to remember this. i voted for a thing called gasohol and he signed it because i was part of getting away from iran, saudi arabia and the middle east. in 1986, we became -- we renewed what became known as ethanol. when big oil tried to kill at all, senator grassley said i was a person who saved it. there's a practical reason. if i could choose between a billion dollars going to iran

or billion dollars going to iowa, i prefer iowa. if i had to choose a billion dollars going to saudi arabia or south dakota, i prefer south dakota. when you watch the iranians, the news this morning, there are practicing how to close the streets of the virtues. -- the straits of mirmuz. the secretary of schulz -- secretary of state, george shultz, said to me, how often do we have to get a vote -- get hit over the head with a to buy ford realize we need an energy policy that maximizes american energy production? if the straits of hormuz are closed, you will see a catastrophe in the world market and a depression in the world. we have had 30 years to prepare for this. we exactly what the danger is and what the requirement is. if you look at north dakota where the federal government could not stop because on private land, the field in north

dakota has 25 times, 2500% more oil and gas than the geological survey bought five or six years ago and we are developing it because of on private land. if we had a president that was pro-american energy, we would develop ethanol and next generation biofuel, we would develop wind, only denmark produces more wind energy and iowa. we would develop coal, nuclear -- coal, nuclear power and solar. but our goal would be to produce a surplus of american energy so in a crisis you could wave at the middle east. my goal would be to be able as president and never about to a saudi king or walk arm in arm. i want to explain to the saudis we don't need your oil and we're not going to tolerate your support of terrorism. [applause] let me say one last thing and

then i will throw it open to questions. i am not here to ask you to be for me. if you are for me, you'll vote and go home and say you hope i will fix it. i don't think even the president of the united states can get this country back on the right track by themselves. i'm here to ask you to be with me. we need you to be with us for the next eight years to stand side-by-side. we need you to remind congress what we're trying to get done and reminded governor and state legislature, the city council and county commission and the school board. in addition, we need your help. if we do all the things we need to do to get america back on track, we are going to make mistakes. when we make mistakes, we need social media so you can say it is not working. the world has changed and here is a better idea. i don't think 537 elected officials can fix it. but i think millions of americans can fix it easily.

if we apply the 10th amendment and shrink government in washington, we have to growth citizenship in mason city. we have to be in a position where everybody understands that citizenship has to rise as bureaucracy shrinks. i will ask you to be with me. i would love to have your help next week. i believe we can win the general election decisively and i will challenge the president to seven free hours of debate in the lincoln-douglas style and i will concede in advance he can use a teleprompter. after all, if you had to defend obama care, wouldn't you want to use a teleprompter? i would love to have your help and i would love to toss it open to questions of that is all right. >> given the recent instability got potential for instability in

the north korean plant -- north korean plan -- north korean peninsula, how would your administration be different from obama's? >> you have to develop a ballistic missile defense because cannot have the risk of a north korean missile reaching the united states. we need to actively defend ourselves. we need to rebuild our intelligence capabilities. i met recently in los angeles with korean-americans -- there are 600,000 korean-americans in los angeles but our ability to understand north korea is very difficult. you want to avoid getting into a fight -- this regime is going to be very shaky because the son who is taking over is very young and it is a regime which values age. all of the old generals are going to be very suspicious of this very young new leader and i think we should be careful about what we do because what you don't want to do is cause them

to react out of fear. but we should constantly pressure them. our goal is to replace the dictatorship, but even the south koreans frankly waver between whether they are more frightened of a north korean military or more frightened of north korea collapsing. the south korea looked at how expensive it was for germany to absorb east germany and a no north korea would be vastly more expensive. it's a balancing act in the region, but we have to have a strong national defense and we need a balloon -- need a ballistic missile defense that would make it impossible for the north koreans to attack us directly. [applause] >> what you perceive to be the role of the national government as we seek to improve the education system in the country? >> that's a very good question. we should dramatically shrink the department of education and limit the federal government ability to oversee education and eliminate the testing model which has everyone being taught to the test. i would return power to the

states but i think we should have less power in the state department of education. i would like to see as get back to where parents are the primary and blenders of educators and where they talk to the local school board and parents in the local school board talk to them about education. i can say things that are about america that we're not going to do out of washington. every state should adopt the idea that you need discipline in the classroom and when i was young, if you got in trouble with the teacher, you got in trouble at home for having gotten in trouble with the teacher. then we got in the cycle where parents say how could you say that, i'm going to sue you. we have to get serious. the reason they're called teachers is because they're supposed to be in charge and your the student because you are supposed to learn from them. we need to reassert discipline and a classroom of we have any opportunity to have the kind of education we need in this country.

[applause] >> welcome to iowa. maybe expected this question, maybe not. i know i represent a good amount of americans that believe in god and country and our founding and our principles. as president, i want to know what you do to be able to support got in america and promote our heritage? >> that it's a very good question. i have written a book called rediscovering got in america and made a movie about the topic. there is a paper that is controversial called rebalancing big dish jury -- the judiciary. this has come from judges who are secular and i was drawn into this in 2002 when the ninth circuit court ruled one nation under god was unconstitutional.

i thought that was such a radically anti-american position that i got intrigued with how had the court becomes the radical? if you go to newt.org, you will see a very complicated paper that we spent nine years working on. if you look at the constitution, this is one of the great examples of how big a change has to be. the constitution says there is a balance of power between the three co-equal branches. you have the judicial, executive and legislative. the way they wrote it, the legislative comes first, executive is second and judicial is third. the federalist papers explain in the judicial branch and alexander hamilton rights -- it will always be the weakest of the three branches and would never pick a fight with the president and congress because it would inevitably lose the fight. in 1958, earl warren court

totally subverted the american constitution and said the supreme court is the final diviner of the constitution. by definition, that sets the supreme court above the legislative and executive branches and politicians have tolerated it. what that has done is that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. you have judges today who are drunk on power. judge barry in san antonio on june 1st said not only could high-school students not pray at their graduations, they could not use the word invocation, they could not use the word benediction, they could not ask for silence, they could not ask the audience to stand and could not mention got. he went on to say if any of these five were violated, i would put the superintendent in jail. -- mention god. i believe that's a bigoted anti- religious dictates by speech

dictator which is not appropriate for the federal bench and i think he should be taken off the bench. [applause] the first that this to pass the congress to consider impeachment which would require an to come to congress under the constitution and defend his position. explain why he would issue such a radical statement. i think just the act of getting into defendant would be very helpful in resetting it. you cannot explain america without the declaration of independence, which is a political document. you cannot explain the declaration of independence without understanding it says we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights. we are the only country that says power comes from god to each will be personally and we have to have a position that says we're going to defend in the public square and rebalance

the courts so they understand they are one of three branches and they are not the dictator to the other two branches. [applause] >> mr. speaker, considering we have a fairly dysfunctional congress, what is your stand on amendment to the constitution to limit congressional terms? >> i'm actually less favorable to term limits that i was in the 1990's. the reason is the experience of states like california where term limited state legislators never figure out what's going on and so the lobbyists and bureaucrats now run the states. i am in favor of dramatic election law reform. i would make it illegal for anybody to give any amount of after-tax personal income if they reported it every night on the internet so you know who is backing who. overnight, you have challengers spring up against incumbents all

of the country and would have a much more competitive environment. as late as 1890, half of every congress was brand new. does because the elections were straightforward. what we have done now is build incumbency castle for the first thing an incumbent does is raise money to be so invulnerable that no one can run against them. now we're getting millionaires to buy seats and i think that's very dangerous to the future of american democracy. my dad served in army for 27 years. i was a college teacher, i was a middle-class person. we don't come out of a background where we can buy a seat as mayor bloomberg did, by the mayorship of new york. if you look at how he did that, he just wrote a check and bought it. it makes it money government. finding a way for a middle-class candidates to make the money to challenge incumbents, you will be these guys every two or six years in the senate if they have to face real challenges and real organizations.

>> mr. speaker, given the reaction you have drawn, would you revisit your comment about poor kids working in public schools and please do not skip over child labor laws and the work ethic. >> my newsletter today, you happen to touch on a good topic, my newsletter is about new york city janitors. they're paid more than new york city teachers. it's about the fact that you can make well over $100,000 a year as a janitor with a contract that doesn't require you to mop the floor more than once a week. i suggested that he took half the janitors for $100,000, you could hire 30 kids at $3,000 a year to work part-time in the

school. they could do everything from working in the library to working in the cafeteria to working the front office. i will be bold, they can mop the floor. i have had liberals jumping up in horror and suggest an trapping them into being janitors. my younger daughter who has written two books reminded me her first paying job with the first baptist church where she was cleaning the toilets and being a janitor. i mentioned this the other day to an editorial board who were in a state of shock and said you would have children actually deal with things like that? i said he talked to most iowa farm families, they will explain to you what they have their kids do and it turns out they encounter real work, some of them actually get dirty, they sometimes encountered dealing with things with animals. it's amazing on farms were you encounter. nobody seems to be horrified except the epa is proposing a

rule that you can't allow children to work on the farm unless they are an immediate part of the family say you can have your cousin or niece or nephew come in. this is the kind of mindless left-wing thinking and let me tell you where it started. liberals used to say you don't want to get a hamburger flipping job. i was working with the mcdonald's people and studying mcdonald's, the most successful franchise system in the world. they have an entire training program -- they are the largest trainer of new workers in the world. guess what the first thing they have to train people -- show up. [laughter] the second thing they have to train people, you can't leave. [laughter] to people who grow up in middle- class families, this all makes sense. but if you grow up in a very poor neighborhood, two out of three children in the poorest neighborhoods have nobody in their family working, you are not acquiring the most basic habits. the goal is not to get into the

trap that a job like that, the goal is to have them start rising by learning habits of work. i'm in the middle of this and i don't know if this is responsive to you or not, but i find it fascinating because the left went crazy. we were in new hampshire last week in manchester. a young man walks up to me who is 16 years old. he owns his own bill that company which he started at 11 because his father who is an investment adviser was trying to get him to understand free enterprise. so his father is thrilled because for the first time, he can deliver his own donuts without dad having to drive the car. but he has two restaurants that serve his doughnuts every morning. and he is out there making 40 doughnuts that time and packaging them. he has been in business for five years. i think this is wonderful.

gallup reports that 50% of the kids in the united states would like to own their own business. i would like to say that in the poorest neighborhoods, if we had one less janitor and 30 kids working which would lower the dropout rates because it would have a reason to go to school, you'd have better kids with their pride with a better work ethic and they would rise in life from having learned that an early age that you can earn money, you can budget money, it is your money, it's not the government money and no politician can tell you what to do with it. i'm going to defend my belief that if we had more work we would have actually earned self- esteem, you cannot give self- esteem, you have to earn it. that's why the left is profoundly wrong about how america works. [applause] these two guys are the last to because i'm not going to pick between you.

>> i have to issues. the light one would be that i think i would like to see a very, very classy lady be the first lady. [applause] >> i agree with you. i think she is somewhat homegrown here and will definitely add some flavor to washington. my second issue is i believe, it appears to me that arabs spring is going to turn into a muslim brotherhood summer. where can the united states position itself and the lead or if this does happen -- just a fear or a concern of mine.

>> under first positive comment, let me mention about being home ground. we're at a pizza place which some of you remember. the room we met in was the room she had her graduation party in. her senior year, she spent her senior year of living above the pizza place showed that -- so she had pizza small 20 hours a day. she was really happy and the pizza was pretty darn good. there is every reason to worry if you watch what's happening in iraq, pakistan, egypt, tunisia, and libya. i will give you two quick examples. we have to liberate our intelligence community from all the restrictions congress has put on it for the last 36 years. wetoday don't know enough --

don't have real spies. we rely on local governments to tell us this. it's enormously dangerous because we literally don't know, the libyans -- this was a primary supplier of anti- american fighters for iraq. are these anti-americans -- anti-american libyans who have taken over in libya? you can extend this to nigeria where there's a war against christians. in iraq, there were 1,200,000 christians when the americans arrived. there are 500,000 today. 700,000 christians have left because of the failure of americans. look at the things going on. we do not have a strategy large enough and comprehensive enough to deal with the scale of the problem. this is not a military problem. it is a strategic thinking problem first. the general who used to be the head of central command said to me on -- our strategic deficit

is bigger than our fiscal deficit. in 1947, we intervened covertly and saved france and italy from going communist by pouring money into help the anti-communist side. we have no understanding today, no mechanisms and no capacity to help those who would like to be modern and moderate muslims and as a result, there's a great danger they will be drowned by the forces of radicalism and that is a danger in every single country where this is going on and we are simply unprepared. you get to be the last question. >> what is your stand on the un stand on wanting our guns? >> i believe the second amendment, which is worded very carefully, the second amendment does not give you the right to bear arms. the second amendment says of the right to bear arms shall not be

abridged. that's very important. the founding father -- i am wearing george washington's command flag. they believe the right to bear arms was endowed by our creator as an ability to defend your political rights. the founding fathers knew if they had not had the right to bear arms, the british army would have crushed them. i believe the united states should actually go on offense worldwide. we should be explaining why the right to bear arms would lead to a better world. we should be actively fighting the united nations efforts. this goes back to who controls. the elites would like to take away our guns because the elites would like to control as with no recourse. having a free america made up of free people drives deletes crazy because we don't fit their model. they would like us to be subject to government. we are citizens and government should be subject to us and as a fundamental fight with elites all around the world and which have the courage to go out and

take the second amendment everywhere in the world. [applause] thank you for coming out and spending this much time with us. look forward to getting pictures and seeing each of you, but let me ask each of you when you go to the caucus and as you talk to your friends across the state, this is still wide open. iowa has an opportunity to say to the rest the country the air of the-consultant running false ads is over. when you go to the caucus, remind your friends and neighbors do you want to reward somebody has done nothing but run negative ads or do you want to elect somebody who has big, positive solutions, runs positive ads, and at the track records of actually getting it done? i would love to have your support and we would love to work with you. thank you very much. [applause]

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>> can you sign this, please? >> what your name? >> donna. >> good questions.

in >> what to name? >> great.

-- >> what is her name? >> how were you, sir? >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> this is a beautiful area. >> i love it.

>> our you, sir? >> could you sign this for me? >> the hour you doing? >> thank you very much. -- how're you doing? >> how are you doing? how are you guys? >> nice to meet you.

>> how are you, sir? >> you went to luther, right? >> yes, sir. >> i am the choir director. >> can you sign that? >> thank you very much. >> i don't like government- centered solutions.

>> thank you. >> mr. speaker. >> thank you. >> thank you. good luck, mr. speaker. >> how are you? >> we need your help. >> ok. >> thank you. >> we need your help. >> thank you. >> do you want me to take yours? >> will you say hello to my wife? >> how are you? i am new to gingrich. we need your help in the caucus. -- i am newt gingrich.

>> will you be able to stand up against obama? you gotta, you gotta. >> nice to meet you. >> how are you? >> i met you on the stage. >> do you want to do this stage with me?

>> thanks. >> good luck. the >> is everyone semi-ready? >> sort of. >> we're very excited to continue our focus on jobs and economic growth. i had to remind people of the fundamental choice between a supply-side approach that encourages economic growth and a

more establishment-based model that actually limits the likelihood of jobs and economic growth. art will be a big asset. our focus will be for the whole closing days of this caucus to focus on the economy, jobs, economic growth, and the fact that i helped build twice, once with reagan and once with bill clinton in the 90's. we have the principles that get this country growing again and it will create the economic dynamic that we need if we are going to put the world past the danger of an even deeper recession. >> mitt romney has been called

the second most gingers man in america. isn't that a negative ad? -- mitt romney has been called the second most dangerous man in america. isn't that a negative advertisement? >> i think that is wrong. i discourage this kind of negative advertising. >> aren't you trying to have it both ways? >> the question is a very direct question. do you feel comfortable in terms of my two grandchildren and everyone in the city who believes that an iranian nuclear weapons development is irrelevant. it is one thing to stick to a policy position that he has said in debates. it is another thing to say things that are dishonest and misleading. i was asked a direct question and i'm very a couple with the idea that the commander in chief would think that it is irrelevant to have an iranian nuclear weapon. i regard this as very dangerous.

>> are you fighting for this nomination? >> you can fight in a positive way. you can talk about positive ideas. this is ok. you don't have to have a nasty campaign and i refuse to engage in that type of politics and i think it is good for america to see someone fight in a positive way and not degenerate to the type of junk you have seen. "will you file a lawsuit about the ballot in virginia? >> everyone thought it was my problem and now you have gov. terry pointing out that virginia is a very difficult ballot to get on. five of the seven candidates were blocked from getting on. we would like to have the ability to have a right in campaign. every poll has me beating romney

in virginia. it is the people who lose when you are restricted in the ballot. >> a piece about you today talks about how you said that you intentionally -- you went to greece last spring to provoke a confrontation with your staff. it worked because they all left. >> i was very struck when we did the film on ronald reagan. here was an effective president who spent one year out of 8 at the ranch. i tried to understand what he was accomplishing. he was achieving a sense of balance and a sense of distance. we had planned for a long time. we had been campaigning very hard. we had been planning to stop 10

days to think. it is does not fit the normal media model. >> it was the first week of the rollout of your official campaign. >> we have been working very hard to. it would not have mattered if we did the first week or the first week in july. you need to pace yourself and get a sense of distance. being in greece during the crisis gave me a perspective of how hard this is going to be. i am a different kind of candidate. i am determined to be positive. i write books, i have made movies. ideas matter. either they would like to be the advisers or they needed to leave because i could not be the candidate for their campaign and i think that it works pretty well. within two hours of their

leaving, we are back on track. we are ahead of where we thought we would be. >> one more question. "there is a report that quotes two congressmen and said that you help them to passed the medicare expansion. they feel that this is lobbying. >> citizens are like to say publicly, of like to see this past. i've is not paid by anyone. it was a public position i had taken. we had a medicare program that said we will not pay for you to have lipitor but we will be glad for you to have open heart surgery. i have been saying this for months. when members of congress say, which i do, i said, frankly, this is a lot better health system if you help people with

preventive care. that was a public position taken publicly and that is literally by definition not lobbying. >> thank you, everyone. >> thank you. >> how are you? >> great to see you. >> thank you. >> good luck.

>> hello, how are you? >> i always worry about speaking pigin spanish. >> nice to me. >> nice to meet you. >> hello, sir. >> hello. >> we need your help in california. >> hello. how are you? you have a nice family.

>> what is your name? >> monica. >> have a great day. >> i told my dad and my brother that i would get a couple of books signed. >> who is this one to? >> you can make this out to ed. >> do you want to sign it? >> sure. >> thank you.

>> she has really made quite an impact. many't think you have as 14-year-old's in the country that have as much support for you print a -- that have as much support for you. >> thank you. i told that i was coming to see you. >> here we go.

>> ok. >> nice to meet you. >> how are you? >> i am having a ball. >> nice to see you. >> did to see you. -- a good to see you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, happy new year.

>> she was taking pictures. we are going to take a nice one. >> thank you. >> that is a pretty jacket. >> thank you. >> not with this attorney- general. he can tell you. we will fight him on it. thank you very much. >> i need your help at the caucus.

>> 79. he was there. >> i bet you will. thank you. >> here we go. >> that's great. >> hello. >> very nice to see you. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. thanks for stopping. >> what is your name?

>> do you want me to sign that? >> here we go. >> good one. >> thank you. >> thank you. nice to meet you. >> and you. >> here we go. >> you get my vote. >> i'm not sure that have an answer. not exactly a strong group.

>> do you need any hair-care products? >> thank you for coming and good luck. >> six days until the iowa caucuses and the newt gingrich wrapping up. a poll out today, the first post christmas out from the public policy poll showing ron paul in the lead in iowa with 24%, mitt romney closed at 20%. rounding out the field would be deemed rich at 13%, michele

bachmann at 11%, rick perry and rick santorum and 10% cent of the live coverage just getting started for today. coming up, we will take you live and hear from mitt romney. later today, ron paul's salute to veterans campaign. a rally at the state fair grounds. last night, the occupied the morning group gathered at the -- ines group des mo gathered. we did want to bring you the conversation from this morning's "washington journal" with one of the organizers of the event.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> we are back live in iowa. on your screen is the welcome to occupy iowa sign. this is the occupy site. on our set is one of the occupy des moines.

>> this was our chance to get our message out about the importance of the issues that are being raised by the occupy wall street movement and to empower people to began the process of going to candidate campaign headquarters and bringing our message directly to them. >> you decided last night to visit the campaign headquarters, is that correct? >> yes, we had a regular caucus. people came up and air their concerns, grievances, priorities. we broke into preference groups. these were preference groups or

as someone like to call them, dis-new space preference groups. >> who won your dislike poll? >> santorum was the most disliked by one measurement. about 30% of the people plan to go to obama's headquarters. 60% or more chose one or more republican candidates. 10% were uncommitted. >> there are quite a few weeds along this line and i want to start with this one for you. this is from a regular viewer of "the washington journal.' he says -- he says -- what is your