today. a man who is responsible for much of the activity, we have father johnson de felice, our president. [applause] many dignitaries here including rich, the governor's chief of staff. representative mcmahon, who is helpful in putting this event together today. we have former dnc member and ambassador terry shoemaker here today. former senator clark. senator foster is here today. i also want to mention our great friend, kathy sullivan, former chair of the party. a round of applause for all of them. [applause] for the purposes of introduction, i want to introduce our friend jim demur, on the board at the institute of politics.

he is of course a longstanding great new hampshirite. he is a key adviser to president obama. [applause] >> thank you. when neil introduces somebody as a longstanding new hampshire person, that means he is really starting to get old. [laughter] let me welcome you all here today. neil and the institute of politics deserves a round of applause. they play a big role this year in the primary. [applause] now, father jonathan did his part this year. he was lobbying very hard for outstanding weather for election day. he pulled that off and sent the message, you can let it go now and tomorrow we will get 10 inches of snow.

father jonathan, congratulations to you for the outstanding job they did this primary season. i am very honored to be appeared today to introduce our special guest. i did notice, though, that he is here to finally endorse a presidential candidate. last night was exciting, what you are a democrat or republican. new hampshire live up to its part as the first primary in the nation. today is the beginning of the first general election contest beginning here is only appropriate after months of republican candidates crossing the state that we have the chairman of the democratic national committee here to speak to us, talk a little bit about last night's results and what lies ahead for the election here in new hampshire as we head toward november.

debbie wasserman schultz is one of those high-energy people. she is a member of the united states congress, formerly a member of the florida legislature. she likes to tell people that this is a state she loves to visit and vacation in, and i think tomorrow when we see the weather, we will be telling her your state is one we like to vacation -- to vacation in as well. she has been a really strong advocate for the president and the policies of the democratic party, but when i introduce people i also like to tell one little personal story about them. this kind of sums up the kind of person that debbie wasserman schultz is, because a while back when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she never let that slow her down. she continued the fight, continued working for the causes that she believes in, fighting for families and

working people of this country. but she also used that experience and got legislation passed that helps educate women on issues relating to breast cancer, and also prevention. i think you can say that, based on what she has done, there are a lot of women in this country that are healthier today, and there are a lot of women living longer today. that is the kind of leadership i think we all respect. [applause] so, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the chairman of the democratic national committee, debbie wasserman schultz. >> thank you very much. jim, thank you so much for that really incredibly kind introduction. i appreciate your acknowledgments of my status as a survivor.

i know there are a lot of survivors in this room, just based on the statistics. for me, the opportunity to use my profile and a position to help raise awareness and help make sure that everyone has an opportunity to catch their cancer early like i was able to. incredibly important. that is what this is all about. that is what politics is all about, making the world a better place and making life better for other people, and that is why i am sure in no small part why you all are here in this room. it is why i do what i do every single day. thank you so much. this is an incredibly exciting opportunity for me. i'm thrilled to be here. jim definitely understated the depth of feeling that i have for the state of new hampshire. this really is a home away from home for my family. my husband has spent his entire life, especially growing up as a child, on lake soon a peak with his family, who has had a home -- on lake sunapee.

my state representative is here. the representatives that haven't fared in my community in south florida, i like to say that i and debbie wasserman schultz, in paradise. i represent four lauderdale, miami. the hospitality that the people here are just absolutely wonderful and warm, and it is really our favorite place in the entire world. to have an opportunity to speak at the politics and eggs serious, it is such a wonderful tradition, a real privilege for me. particularly because it has become such a mainstay of presidential politics

nationally, but particularly hillary -- but particularly here in new hampshire. father, congratulations on pulling off yet another wonderful primary in the state of new hampshire, being our host at the circus that the media has thrown on your campus. your students have been incredible. it has been so great to interact with them over the last few days, and the institute of politics that neil -- where did neil go? there he is. they have done a terrific job. thank you so much, and congratulations. go, hawks. so this morning the country is waking up focused on new hampshire and the important message that granite state voters delivered yesterday. yesterday tens of thousands of new hampshire voters went to the polls to vote for president obama in an uncontested primary. these voters clearly wanted to make their voices heard and send a message that they support the hard work president obama has been doing to turn our

economy around, beginning to make the progress we need to make to lift people up and make sure that every american has a fair shot at the american dream, that everyone in america has an opportunity to be successful. this is in clear contrast to the message sent by voters in the republican primary. while we saw mitt romney ultimately come out on top, he now moves on to south carolina, i think, as a wounded candidate. over the course of the last few months he has been regularly trending toward 45% support among republican voters in new hampshire. at one point he enjoyed a nearly 30% lead over the rest of the republican field. in yesterday -- yesterday's primary could not happen soon enough, because support in the state was rapidly eroding. it seemed to me the more people got to know mitt romney, the less they liked him. his margin of victory last night fell short of meeting expectations, especially when

you consider the fact that mitt romney is a part-time resident of new hampshire and that he raised a family and served as governor of massachusetts right next door. add to it that he has really been running president here for the last seven years. for anyone watching, you saw that prior to last night's primary, mitt romney had not been having a very good week here. he wounded himself in a few different episodes that left new hampshire voters wondering whether he really -- actually, left americans wondering whether he understands the needs and concerns and the worries of working in middle-class families and what they are going through in this country. just a few days ago during a campaign event, mitt romney attempted to relate to struggling granite staters by making it clear he once feared getting a pink slip. for new hampshire voters and voters across the country, not only does this statement ring untrue, but it suggested a disconnection with middle-class

americans. many hard-working americans i think were also rubbed the wrong way by his comment monday that he enjoys being able to fire people. no matter what context you listen to that remark in, when an employment relationship ends, it is never enjoyable. it is never something that is fun. it is always, or at least it should be if you have some sensitivity, uncomfortable. whether it was warranted or not. so i think that really was another example of the disconnect between mitt romney and average working folks. he has claimed he created 100,000 jobs during his time bain capital, a figure that has been discredited across the board, and even worse, republican candidates an independent fact checkers agreed that he did not create jobs as a corporate buyout specialist at bain capital. he made a profit at any cost by outsourcing jobs, closing plants, and bankrupting companies.

deliberately bankrupting companies. this shows an insensitivity on his part to the very real challenges that working and middle-class folks are facing today. i think they contributed to a drop in his support among new hampshire voters over the past few days. what has even worse repercussions for mitt romney is that he leaves new hampshire essentially a weakened candidate with central rationale for his candidacy unraveling before our eyes. while his campaign headquarters in manchester now has a "for lease" sign on the door, our campaign is staying put, firmly rooted in new hampshire. while the republican candidates have been duking it out, obama campaign staff and volunteers -- and some of them are here in this room, over there on the other side of the room -- they are focused on laying the groundwork for victory in november, making sure president obama has the resources and the

grass-roots support to win by organizing neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block. that is the kind of campaign we have always run, door to door, neighbor to neighbor. it is the kind of campaign new hampshire voters expect, appreciate, and it is a tremendous source of pride. you kick the tires, you look under the hood, and you get the opportunity to closely examine exactly who these folks are. a much different experience than, for example, my home state of florida, where we have 11 media markets. you cannot run that type of presidential campaign in florida. you have a special appreciation for just who these candidates are. we are taking the retail politics of new hampshire very serious. we have seven offices open statewide as of yesterday. we had three open until yesterday, four opened yesterday. we have had 500 meetings, 3201-

on-one meetings, tens of thousands of phone calls. we have hit the ground running leading up to the day -- leading up to today and from now until november. we are running the campaign from the ground up, door-to-door in key states around the country. our staff and volunteers are connecting with real americans every single day and talking to them about the need to preserve all the change we have been able to deliver together, under the president's leadership and with their support. we know what that change looks like. it is changed by the affordable care act to restore health care as the basic cornerstone, ensuring that insurance companies cannot drop you or deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. as someone who was diagnosed with breast cancer, living with a pre-existing condition, i cannot tell you the appreciation and the value that

that has brought to my life, knowing that on the day i was diagnosed i was one job loss away from being uninsured or uninsurable. that problem was solved for me by president obama because that cannot happen to me anymore, nor to the millions of women who face that fear every single day. that is incredibly important. that is what the role of government is for. government can make sure that the private sector can help give opportunities for health security to all american. it is following through on the president's promise, like when he promised to end the war in iraq and bring home all servicemen and women from their just a few weeks ago. it is ensuring that wall street plays by the same rules as main street, ensuring that millions of american families have a consumer protection watchdog looking out for them, fighting back against predatory behavior in the financial sector. it is wiping the discriminatory don't ask, don't tell policy of

the book. it is breaking our dependency on middle east oil, nearly doubling fuel efficiency standards under president obama, and saving americans money at the top. it is making the bold decision to rescue the american automobile industry, which saved one will -- which saved 1.4 million american jobs. if mitt romney or the republican candidates had their way, they would have simply let detroit go bankrupt. for the first time since 2004, we have all automobile manufacturers' operating at a profit. if left to the republican candidates, particularly mitt romney, we would not have had an american automobile industry to talk about or to be proud of. that is what change has looked like under president obama in the white house pretty 22 election is going to be about which candidate can get our country back on track.

it will be at an incredibly start and dramatic contrast. that is why our campaign is focused on the clear choice that the american people will face in november. whether we will continue to move forward as a nation or if we will return to the same failed policies of the past that nearly caused a second great depression. the republican candidates for president have laid out their economic vision, and it is one that looks bad. we have seen them argue among themselves on the campaign trail over which of them can repeal wall street perform fast enough, or who is the most committed to ending medicare as we know it. we see continued support by the gop field, promises that would gut social security, slash funding for education, while asking working and middle-class families to foot the bill. under president obama, we have made critical progress on the road to economic recovery. with increased job growth for

the second straight year, the most since 1997. prior to the obama administration, the last time was in 1997. the president has been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it to the middle-class since day one of his presidency. 95% of americans have received a tax break under president obama, and he has cut taxes to small businesses 17 different times. last month, as other republicans in congress threatened to let the payroll tax cut for the middle class expire and let taxes go up for 160 million hard-working americans, the president said enough with the partisan games and was trying to score a political point at the expense of working in middle-class families across the country. president obama stared down congressional republicans and the won. as a result, millions of folks struggling to make ends meet did not see their taxes go up this month. it's clear that with 22 straight months of private sector job growth we are

beginning to turn the corner. we are making slow but steady progress. as the president has been out there telling the american people, we can and we must do more. president obama's message to hard-working folks in new hampshire and across the country is that we must continue to rebuild and work toward rebuilding our economy by making sure hard work -- and everyone does their fair share, and that responsibility is rewarded. some american families can reclaim the security that they lost. that is the president of vision for keeping america moving forward and continuing on the path of growth and progress. over the past 10 months, this is the message we will be implementing across the country. the american people have a very serious choice in november. the stakes are very high. as a mom with three beautiful young children who i care about deeply, who are my number one priority, i know that i will be rolling up my sleeves and working so hard every single day from now until election day to make sure that i can do my

best to help american voters choose president obama and send him back to the white house. because, if they do not, that will reverberate on our children come on my children for decades. the result of the wrong decision will impact their lives, and as their mom, there is no one i will more fiercely protect and my kids and the kids of my constituents. i know you feel the same way, and our campaign will work tirelessly to make sure that if voters do give president obama a second term, we will stop at nothing to give every single american to go as far as their hard work and dedication will take them. that's how we will blaze our trail to victory and said the president back to the white house. thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak to you this morning, and thank you for this tradition. this is very, very important. thank you. [applause]

thank you. i would be happy to take any questions. only easy ones, though. all the softballs, jump to the front of the line. great, hey. >> from the exit poll demographics, it appears that mitt romney was particularly weak among first-time voters and young voters. how do we go about attracting those voters to president obama? >> younger voters especially are deeply concerned about making sure that they embarked on the next phase of their life. these are young people who are at the beginning of their adult life. they know that they need to be able to make sure that higher education is affordable for them, that they are not going to be drowning in the debt of their student loans for their

lifetime and that they have the opportunity to get good jobs that pays a decent wage after that educational experience. i think making sure that they know that president obama has gone to bat for them, making sure that we increase the amount of appellate grants available to them, and making them to so many more young people to make the dream of affordable higher education possible for them, making sure that they know he has gone to bat to make sure that we can create good jobs for middle- class and working families, and that our tax policy is designed to help people who are not just already doing well. i mean, there is nothing wrong with doing well. it certainly is a goal that we all aspire to, and we want in america for everybody to be able to do well. but we should not have our tax policies, we should not have our government's policy exclusively focused on helping people who are already doing

well do better. in america, we should target our tax policy, we should target policy in america toward people who want to be lifted up, who just need a little bit of assistance. we need to fight hard like president obama has been for the middle-class and working families. that is why he passed legislation that put 17 different tax cuts in place for small business owners and a 95% of americans a tax break. what the republicans have been fighting for is to extend the tax breaks that passed in 2001 and 2003 under president bush, and paid for, and it exploded the deficit for the wealthiest, most fortunate americans, millionaires and billionaires, to extend those. that is really a dramatic contrast, and i think there will be a clear choice. >> yes, all the way in the back. >> the american people, i think

because of the lack of civility, what do you think can be done to take that faith back? >> as someone who has spent 19 years as a member of a legislative body, i agree with you that we need to make sure that we tone things down, particularly in light of the tucson tragedy from a year ago, where my very good friend, gabrielle giffords, who is doing well, by the way -- i know everybody -- [applause] she is making great progress. the discourse in america, the discourse in congress, to answer your question specifically, has really changed. i will tell you, i hesitate to place blame, but i have noticed it takes a very precipitous turn toward edginess and a lack of civility with the growth of

the tea party movement. after the 2010 elections, when you had the the party elect a whole lot of their supporters to the united states house of representatives, and you had town hall meetings that they tried to take over, and you saw some of their conduct at those town hall meetings -- in the time i have been in my state legislature and in congress, i have never seen a time that was more divisive or where discourse was less civil. it is one thing -- i have always had people come to my town hall meetings and say they do not agree with me on something, and that is fine. that is what those town hall meetings is about. their civil discourse. when i hear something from a constituent who does not share my view -- and hopefully they do also because we are listening to each other and there is a back and forth. what the the party has done is they have taken it to a different level. when they come and disagree with you, you are not just

wrong, you are the enemy. that is really a place that politics in america should not go. you know, when they disagree with you on an issue, you're not just wrong, you are a liar. rather than just having differences of opinion, accusations like that get hurled, and it brings the entire discourse down to a level that i think none of us want to see remain there. so i have done my part. i will tell you that president obama, he has tried so hard to get the republicans to work with him, to bring them to the table to try to get them to compromise and find common ground. but when you have someone like mitch mcconnell, for example, the minority leader of united states senate, saying at the outset of this congress that his number one goal was not turning the economy around and create jobs, but to defeat barack obama, then how are we going to reach compromise if

that is the goal that drives them and their decisions? because we will not. if that is their goal, anything that they do to compromise gives president obama a. win, a success, and makes it less likely in their minds that they would defeat him. unfortunately, i think what has driven the republicans in congress is their interest in only one job, barack obama's. when democrats have been fighting for american jobs. that is the difference. that will be the choice that americans have to make. [applause] thank you for your question. yes? >> i have lived there all of my adult life. one of the things that a lot of people do not know is a large percentage of people who support president obama in 2008, we have suffered a lot.

my family and i are socially conservative, fiscally conservative liberals. what we have noticed is that the candidates have come up with -- looking for a handout, looking for something -- what i would like to see the president do, if he has a printed message or tone he can set. in my state, 39 counties are considered and developed. can he showed there is a difference between welfare preservation, and wealth and fame and?

>> yes. he actually does. i think he's demonstrated that for the last three years when he became president. when president obama took office at the beginning of 2009, he inherited the largest set of problems probably since fdr at once of any president. the economy, because of republican policies that brought us to the precipices of economic disaster, was declining, dropping like a rock. we were bleeding 750,000 jobs a month when he took office. we hear that number so often, we end up glossing over it and treating it like it is something so familiar. i do not ever want to be that familiar with that statistic ever again. we no longer have to because now you fast forward three years later, and we have had, under president obama's leadership, 22 straight months of job growth in the private sector, created nearly 3 million

jobs. that is because of his policies. because he came and and passed the recovery act, which injected badly needed resources into the economy, make sure we arrested the decline. we saved more than 2 million jobs and had an opportunity to start to begin to turn things around. then he pared down, in the face of a politically unpopular tarp program, he made sure that we rescue the american automobile industry. while mitt romney and ems -- and the rest of the republicans said let's let detroit go bankrupt. let's not think about the 1.4 million jobs in the pipeline for the american automobile industry, the 20,000 jobs that are related to the automobile industry here in new hampshire, but let's just let them go bankrupt. that is mitt romney's experience. i guess you cannot blame him. he was the ceo of bain.

that is what he did. he let the chips fall where they may. president obama did not do that. we now have a profitable american automobile industry that we can all be proud of. he made sure that we passed tax cuts, they were not just tax breaks for the wealthy. he did not focus on triple-down economics pete we focused our tax-cutting policy on the middle class, on working families. the payroll tax cut extension. making sure that small business owners had those tax breaks that could give them an opportunity to make investments in their capital needs for the business and create jobs and add to the people who work with them. 22 straight months of private sector job growth, we have begun to turn things around. that is a dramatic contrast between where we where and where we are now. we know we have a choice in

november between moving in the direction president obama has been taking and having our policies focus on everybody in america, and not just the wealthy, having an opportunity to be successful. in south carolina and new hampshire, that message resonates with everyone. i represent a pretty well the district. a district that is other-middle class. i have people tell me, if my tax rate changes, i will not have to sell my second home. if my tax rate changes, i will not have to dine out at nice restaurants few times that i already do. i know what will happen, -- fewer times than i already do. i know what will happen, we will

have the best education system in the world and make sure our kids can choose the path they want in their life and compete globally. i know we are going to make sure that our business community is the most competitive. we will have people who have been able to make sure the tax policy in the united states allows them to create jobs, beef up their infrastructure, and out-compete and out-build the rest of the world. that is president obama's goal. i do not want to go back to the republican policies of the past. thanks. >> we will take one more. >> sure. yes. >> i am from new hampshire,

there is a difference in the economic climate of the two places. it seems d.c. has thrived over the last four years. the rest of the country is still struggling. there are huge sections of the country where the dollars did not seem to make it. if i and the administration -- make them aware of the federal dollars that did not make it beyond the washington area and the struggle for the rest of the country. >> i would have to defer for you. i have driven down-- differ from you. i have driven down 89 and 93 and seen the signs. the opportunity to do those renovations are the result of the recovery act that president

obama was old enough to make-- bold enough to make and take us to adding jobs. i have seen the investments and the resources that have been generated by president obama's leadership benefit in the folks in new hampshire. ask the teachers who were able to remain on the job and did not have to be laid off, or the first responders. the small-business owners who benefited from the tax breaks that president obama insisted on that should not only go to corporations and these businesses that are already doing well. i would have to differ with you that the policy decisions and the resources that president obama has said we know we need to get this country turned around have not left concord. thank you so much for the other

kennedy to be here. thank you for your commitment to our -- thank you so much for the opportunity to be here. thank you for your commitment to our message. [applause] >> of what it thank you for coming. you get a -- by want to thank you for coming. you get the mug. come back for the primary. thank you. >> thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪ ♪

>> now we will hear remarks by mitt romney at a campaign rally in south carolina. he won the new hampshire primary with 36 percent of the vote. he is introduced by the south carolina governor. the primary is scheduled for the annual rate 21. -- for jannuary 21. ["born free" playing] ♪ ♪ >> welcome. what a great turnout. i will tell you it has been an exciting night for a couple of reasons. was that a great win in new hampshire or what? [applause]

the joke was we all took wagers on how he was going to do. i said i what he's going to win by a hair and somebody said he won by eight hairs. in new hampshire, i said it's going to be a landslide and a base that you cannot say it's going to be a landslide. it was a landslide. before we start off, we have a great group of supporters here that work hard and believe in governor romney and have done some great things. i want you to make sure -- the treasurer is here. [applause] secateurs ronnie cromer has thrown his support behind gov. romney. -- senator ronnie cromer. we have agree one today, our speaker pro tem has thrown his

support behind governor romney today. [applause] i want to talk to you a little bit because everyone has asked the question, why mitt the person you decided to endorse? what i knew i was going to face as governor was unemployment problems, economy problems, balancing our budget, dealing with the spending and trying to find a way to prioritize. i knew that was going to be a problem. i had no idea the hardest part about being governor of south carolina was going to be the federal government. it all started with a great company we have and south carolina called boeing. [applause] national labor relations board saw that boeing created a thousand jobs in charleston, south carolina at a time we

needed it. at the same time, the expanded 2000 jobs in washington state. not one person was hurt. but president obama allow them to try to stop production. they have removed that lawsuit now and we are free of that one. [applause] i ask every candidate to acknowledge the nlrb, and a one can't it did not speak on it. that was president obama. the second thing, we passed illegal immigration reform and the department of justice sued us and told them we could not do that. we passed a picture id -- you should have to show a picture i.d. to the one thing that matters most, to vote. [applause]

once again, the department of justice stopped that and said we could not do it. what i knew in this thought process was we need a president that has nothing to do with the chaos that is washington d.c. we have had enough and we don't like what we see. the second thing is i'd do, it's not about what you say, it's what you do. is about results and elected officials remembering who is the work for. i looked at it and this was a man that worked in the private sector 25 years, not in the government sector. he fixed broken businesses. we have a broken washington that needs to be fixed. this is a man that -- give a round of applause. [applause] this is a man that took a failing olympics, no one can touch it because he made a

source of pride for our country. we need to be proud of our country again. [applause] this is a man that went then as governor of a very liberal state, cut taxes 19 times, balanced his budget with an 85% democrat legislature. think we could do that in washington right now? [applause] i took all that into account. i would like you to know the coolest first man ever is in the house tonight. the last thing was we are a military family. we know the sacrifices are men and women in uniform deal with every day and the sacrifices their families deal with every day. we need to make sure we have

someone that strengthens our military and does not weaken it and tell us we have to be embarrassed for it. he believes in strengthening our military. [applause] i sat down and had a conversation with the governor and said we don't want health- care mandates. we cannot afford it. he said dade number one, we will get a waiver to south carolina to every state that wanted and we will appeal -- we will repeal obamacare. [applause] i said we are trying to pass illegal immigration reform and a voter i.d. and washington is getting in the way. he said i've been a governor of the state. handle your state and i will keep the federal government out of your way. [applause] i said we had this issue with yucca mountain.

then add a problem and said they would take our nuclear waste. after years of paying a billion dollars with some other states, they pulled the rug out under arrest for political purposes. he said that i will bid it out to any other state and if we cannot do it, i will fight to get you your money back. [applause] that is why i am endorsing mitt romney. i will have a partner in the white house, not someone fighting me every step of the way. they will understand what we care about in south carolina is jobs, spending, and the economy. this is a man that will totally focused day one on jobs, spending, and the economy and making sure we have jobs in the state and not out of the state. [applause] i know who you are here to see.

but i've got to tell you this story. i come into the governor's office this morning and was shocked because congressman cliburn was outside my office. he had democrats all around him and he was sitting there saying we cannot have governor romney, we don't want a free market and he was bashing it. i felt like i was in the twilight of because i thought we'd a minute, there are still six people in this primary. why is the heading governor romney? secondly, and i say this as a warning -- i am proud of our republican candidates. i'm proud of the people who have taken the time to come campaign in south carolina. but we have a real problem when we have republicans talking like democrats against the free market. we believe in the free market. [applause]

we don't ever want people to come in and say boeing can hire or fire. we allow people to go into michelin's of people can say they can make profits for can't. we want companies to do best that they can't. during hard times commie make hard decisions it during good times come you expand. that is what he has done. he has done with every one of us has tried to do. with no further ado, i will tell you michael and i are very proud to have in colombia, the next president of the united states, governor mitt romney. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, governor. thank you very much.

you are so kind to be here tonight. it is so warm outside. it's different from new hampshire. it is going to be great campaigning in the palmetto state. what an honor to have the governor here with me and your treasurer here with me and state legislators. but you guys, how nice of you -- how many kids have you got here? they're not all hers, she says. she promises. i know you are concerned. someone is talking over here. i hear a little one -- let them up front. it has been a tough year. it has been a tough three years for people in the palm of straight -- palmettos state. remember the president made all these promises and was going to repair the come tree and repair the world and get people back to -- repair the country and get people back to work.

people were going to collaborate across the aisle. remember all of these things he said in the campaign? he has failed. [applause] we all know what has happened here domestically. there are failures internationally. the greatest threat we face for our security over the coming decade is a nuclear iran. he came into office and did not put into place crippling sanctions iran needed to face. it he did not organize and communicate be halved effective military options to take and when there were over a million people in the streets of tehran screaming for freedom, he was silent. can you imagine ronald reagan being silent? even bill clinton would have had something to say. this is unthinkable.

here at home, look at what is happening with government. this is a guy who was critical of george bush for racking up large deficits and his have been a multiple of what george bush put into place. if you look at what he is on track to do by the end of his first term and is only term, by the way -- [applause] he will have put together as much public that as all the prior presidents combined. he is leading us on a path to become like greece or italy. i'm convinced we will be there at some point if we don't get him out of office. then there is what happened with the economy and putting people back to work. 9.9% unemployed. 25 million people out of work or have stopped looking for work or are seriously under employed.

the underemployment statistic is a number of families or people getting by on very little. i think you have to say this has been a failed presidency. i don't think he tried to make it bad, he just didn't know what to do. he's in over his head. [applause] i'm going to go to work to do a couple of things. i'm going to scale back the size of the federal government. are going to cut federal spending and get the country on a balanced budget by it. [applause] -- balanced budget by at. -- diet. everybody says with a run for president or national office that they are going to cut federal spending. as the governor of my state, i did not cut spending. -- did cut spending. i came in with a few months into office, i said let's cut back. we balance the budget every one of the four years i was in office. one of the things we had to do

and like to do. the like to do things we cut back on or eliminated. we're going to have to do the same thing with the federal budget. i will take every single program and say it is this program so critical to the country its fourth borrowing money from china to pay for it? -- is it worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? to these little ones, i think it's immoral to continue to spend massively more than we take in knowing we will never be able to pay it back during my lifetime and they will have to pay for the things i voted for it -- we voted ourselves. it is not moral and i will stop it. [applause] to get our economy going again, i will make america the most attractive place for job creators, entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses foreign

and domestic, small business, big business, i will get our tax rates competitive they get regulators to make sure they're working to encourage private enterprise rather than burden it. i will make sure we open up our energy resources. why we act like an energy poor country? it makes no sense to me. [applause] i will open up markets for american goods so we can sell more things around the world. when countries like china cheat, i will hold them accountable and say you can't keep stealing our jobs. [applause] but this election is about the president's failures internationally, domestically, his failure to steal back the size of government. but also about something more. it is about the soul of

america. the question is which courts are we going to take? are we going to go on the path to put this on which is to become like it european-style welfare state? or are we going to hold true to the principles that made us the most powerful nation on earth? [applause] those principles welcome people who are willing to work hard and get what education they might and maybe have good luck and dreams and build enterprises that employ us and make us better off as a nation. i believe in those founding principles of the nation. when the founders wrote the declaration of independence, they say the creator in doubt as with certain unalienable rights. the government hasn't, the creator has. among the more life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

as a boy, i wondered what that meant. i know now, it is the right in this country to pursue our lives and dreams as we wish. government does not tell us how to live our life. government does not tell us what kind of health care we could have. government does not tell us where we can live. individuals can pursue their own dreams and by virtue of those freedoms to elect representatives in washington and state capitals and an opportunity nation where we can pursue our own path in life, this became the place on earth every pioneer and innovator and wanted to come to. and come to they did for hundreds of years. did you know the average income of an american is 50% higher than the average income of the european? why is that? it's not because we are different people. we are all human beings from all over the world. what makes us different are the principles we were found on and those principles need to be

restored. the president says he wants to transform america. i want to restore america with the principles that made us a great nation. [applause] a lot of people in south carolina are hurting tonight. they are people who a few years ago were thinking about where they might send their kid to college. now are the eight -- now they are wondering if they can put a meal on the table at the end of the week. there are people who were planning their retirement and now they're wondering if they can get another minimum-wage job to keep things together. there are people who use to plan about whether they could take their kids to the movie at the end of the week and now they wonder will they be able to have enough income to make it to the end of the week. these are tough times for americans.

it's a tragedy. it is a real tragedy in the wealthiest nation in the world. i am going to go to work to help the american people because i know that dream is still out there. the things we remember from the past is not something gone. what has happened these last three years is a detour, it is not america's destiny. america is the greatest nation on the history of the earth and we will call on the spirit to get government small and behind us. [applause] i love this country. i know we're going through tough times and we're going through tough times because of the failure of one man. that is why he has got to go. [applause] i love the songs of the country. the song "america the

beautiful." o beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. i used to joke with my friends in iowa corn counted as an amber waves of grain. i love the verse that says "a beautiful for heroes approved for more themselves their country love and mercy more than life." do we have any veterans in this room? national guard members? thank you. [applause] let me know the president just announced a plan to dramatically cut back on the military budget. the deal that was the president and congress cut back even further. i don't believe that's the right course for america. we have to have a military so strong and superior that no one in the world would never think

of testing it. i will rebuild our american military strength. [applause] there is one more verse that i might mention. "oh beautiful for patriot's dream that sees beyond the years." the idea was the patriot's dream, the founders dreamed of this country was not something temporary, but something enduring. i am convinced the principle of opportunity and freedom and protection of life were not temporary, but are permanent and if america is going through tough times, we should not stray from those principles but returned to them. i will get america strong again by restoring those principles. [applause] while we may have a president

in looking at our history and principles who is inclined to apologize for america, i will never apologize for this nation, which is the greatest nation on earth. thank you. thank you. thank you. ♪ "brorn free" playing] ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪

♪ [playing "american ride" by toby keith] ♪

♪ [playing "it's america' by

rodney atkins] ♪ "it's america" by rodney atkins] ♪

♪

♪ ♪ [playing "made in america"

by toby keith] ♪ ♪

♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪

♪

♪ time" byg "this is our kenny chesney] ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

playing "a little less conversation" by elvis] ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

"american ride" by toby keith] ♪

♪ ♪

♪

♪ ♪

america" byt's rodney atkins]

>> this is half of an hour. >> hello, chicago. thank you. thank you so much. hello. it is good to be home. it is good to be home. no place like it. it is great to see so many old friends. i do not mean in years, although some of you are getting older. i will be honest with you, i would not mind hopping over to the united center. i think the bulls are playing

tonight. they're off to a fine start. you might have heard the dallas mavericks' came to the white house to celebrate their championship. i told them to enjoy it because the chicago bulls will be here next year. that is what i said. i want to thank it jessica for sharing her extraordinary story. jessica is so representative of all of the folks who did so much for years ago and is doing so much now. the gipper a big applause. we are appreciative of her. -- give her a big applause. [applause] we had them at the state dinner. the korean president and his whole family, they were moving

around. do you remember that? they loved it. music is the universal language. her team is incredibly talented. i want to thank my dear friend, he and i went to law school together. he decided to make something of his life. you see him on tv all of the time. [applause] one of the finest public servants and one of the finest senators in the land, dick durbin is here. thank you, dick. [applause] danny davis ended jan stokowski. -- and jan stokowsky. [applause]

i also want to say a special word about a friend of ours, a man who has done an extraordinary work for me and perform extraordinary service for our country over the past year. that is bill daley. [applause] first of all, we got off of the plan and we said, is it really 45 degrees in january? we were a little confused and thought we landed in the wrong place. when bill first told me it was time for him to return to our hometown, i asked him to take a couple of days to reconsider. it is tough to reconsider the greatest city in the world. as much as i will miss him in the white house, he will be an extraordinary asset to our campaign. he will tell us when in 2012. i also want to say how much i appreciate you.

i love you. i love you, too. [applause] i love you back, man. you know, i am here not just because i need your help. i am also here because the country need your help. there was a reason why so many people like jessica worked their hearts out in our 2008 campaign. it was not because you thought it would be easy. when you support a guy named barack hussain obama for president of the united states you have to assume that the -- the odds might not be in your favor. you did not need a poll to tell you it was not a sure thing. you understood the campaign was not about me. it was about our common vision

for america. it was not a narrow vision and america where everybody is left to fend for themselves. the most powerful are able to play by their own rules. it was a pig and a passionate and gold america where everybody has a chance to get a head. -- it was a big and a passionate america where everybody has a chance to get ahead. we are greater together than we are on our own. a vision where everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share. there is a sense of fair play were the rules apply to everybody. that is the vision we share. that is the change we believe in. we knew it would not come easily or quickly. i am here to tell you that three years later because of what you did in 2008 we have begun to see

what change looks like. sometimes because things are moving so fast and the mood -- the medium is from thing to thing to think, we sometimes do not take a step back and say what happened because of the work you did in 2008? change was the first bill by signed into law. [applause] change is the decision we make that was unpopular at the time to go and and help the auto industry to retool and prevent its collapse. even when you had a lot of folks say we should let detroit go bankrupt. as a consequence we saved 1

million jobs and businesses are picking up again and fuel- efficient cars are rolling off the assembly line. the auto makers are back and that folks are working. that is because of you. [applause] change is the decision we make to stop waiting for congress to do something about our oil addiction and raise fuel efficiency of cars. by the next decade we will be driving cars that get 55 miles to a gallon. that is one change is. it will save us billions of barrels of oil. it was a consumers billions of dollars from their pocketbooks. it means we have a better chance we leave the planet a little bit cleaner and better off for our kids. the fight to stop handing out

$65 billion in taxpayer subsidies to banks that issue stood at lunch and give that money directly to students so that millions of more young people are able to get the kind of education that they need in this 21st century economy. that is what changes. [applause] change is finally after a century of talking about passing health care reform, to ensure that in the united states of america nobody goes bankrupt because they get sick. 2.5 million in people already have health insurance because they can stay on their parents' plan. nobody is dropped from their insurance company when they needed it most. that is what change is. changes for the first time in our history, you do not have to hide who you love in order to serve the country love. don't ask don't tell is over.

change is keeping one of the first promises i made in 2008, that is ending the war in iraq and bring our troops home so we can focus our attention on rebuilding america. [applause] focus our attention on rebuilding america but also on our efforts on the terrorist who actually attacked us on september 11. thanks to the brave men and women in uniform al qaeda is weaker than it has ever been and osama bin laden will never walk this earth again. [applause] these changes were not easy. some were risky. almost all of them came in the face of fierce opposition, powerful lobbyists and special interests who spent millions trying to maintain the status

quo. not all of these steps we took were politically popular at the time. certainly not politically popular with the crowd in washington. you know what kept me going is you. i remember all the work you put in. i remember your hopes and your dreams. i knew that on every one of these fights to guys were out there making your voices heard and knocking on doors, making the phone calls, keeping up the fight for change long after the election was over. that should make you proud. it should make you hopeful. it should not make too complacent. everything that we fought for is now at stake in this election. the very core of what this country stands for is on the line. the basic promise that no matter who you are where you come from there is a place that you can make it if you try, that is at stake in this election.

the crisis that struck in the months before i took office put more americans out of work than at any time since the great depression. it was also a combination of a decade of neglect. it was a decade were the middle class fall further behind. more jobs in manufacturing left our shores and our prosperity was built on risky financial deals, homes that we cannot afford it. we wrapped up greater debt. even as incomes fell and which is flat land, the cost of everything from college and health care went through the roof. those problems built up over a decade. they did not happen overnight. we knew we could not solve them overnight. it will take more than a few years to meet the challenges that have been decades in the making. the american people understand that. what they do not understand is leaders to refuse to take

action. they are sick and tired of watching people who are supposed to represent them put their party ahead of the country. put the next election ahead of the next generation. that is what they do not understand [applause] president kennedy used to say after he took office, was surprised and the boast about washington is it was just as bad as he said it was. [laughter] i can relate to that. when you have the top republican saying his number one priority is not solving the health-care problems, is not creating jobs, is not making sure that we are competitive in the 21st century but it is to beat me, you know things are not on the level. that is how you end up with republicans in congress voting against all kinds of proposals -- even proposals that have

supported in the past. tax cuts for workers, tax cuts for small businesses, rebuilding words and bridges, paying cops and teachers. suddenly, they are opposed. they will fight to protect tax cuts before the most fortunate of americans but they will play political games with tax cuts for the middle class. i guess they thought it was a smart political strategy, but is not a strategy to create jobs. it is not a strategy to help people trying to get into the middle class to get there. it is not a strategy to help america succeed. we have a clear choice this year. the question is not whether people are still hurting, the economy is still recovering. of course folks are still hurting. we have a long way to go. the question is, what direction will this country move towards. republicans in congress,

presidential candidates who are running, they have a very specific idea of where they want to take this country. they have said it. they said they want to reduce the deficit by gutting our investments and education and gutting our investments in research and technology. letting our infrastructure further deteriorates. my attitude is, i have already signed one trillion dollars worth of spending cuts. i proposed even more. it is time when we are talking about reducing the deficit to ask people like me to pay our fair share in taxes. we can do that. we can have a system in which folks who have been incredibly blessed by this nation do a little bit more so that the next generation is able to get on the ladder of success. the republicans in congress and on the campaign trail, they want to make medicare a form of

private insurance where seniors have to shop with a voucher and it may not cover all of their costs. i think we can lower the cost of medicare and still guarantee the dignified retirement that our seniors have turned. he had earned it. [applause] when i hear some of them talk about, this is an entitlement. these folks have arctic. it paid into it. -- these folks have earned it. they think the best way to compete for new businesses is to follow other countries for a race to the bottom. since china pays really low wages, let's roll back the minimum wage here and bust unions. some of these other countries can't live as much as they want, let's get rid of protection that makes sure our water is safe.

i do not think we should have any more regulations than what is necessary for our health and safety. we have made reforms that will make sure that businesses and save billions of dollars. we want government that is that smart and the efficient and a lean. we have issued fewer regulations than the bush administration. they have been better regulations. i do not believe in a race to the bottom. i think we should be in a race to the top. we should be competing to make sure we have the best schools. we should be competing to make sure we have the most highly trained workers. we should make sure that a college education is within reach for everybody. we should be in a race to make sure that our businesses have the best access to the fastest internet. the fastest railroads, the best airports, i want a race where we

continue to have the best scientists and researchers making the next breakthroughs in medicine and clean energy. i want to make sure that happens right here in america. that is a risk we can win. we should be in a race to make sure that the next great manufacturing takes place right here in chicago, in detroit, in pittsburgh, and cleveland, in charlotte, in national. -- nashville. i do not what this nation to be known for what we consume, i want us to be known for building and selling products all around the world. i had a meeting with ceos from some very big companies like intel, some of them small manufacturers. they are starting to bring jobs back to the united states. they have started to figure out

that some of these countries may have lower wages. when you factor in all of the costs and quality and the productivity of american workers, that it actually makes sense to build a plant here. they are moving plants back from china and plants back from mexico because they know business is to succeed here will succeed anywhere. what they also said was we can only come here if we know that we have the best workers. that means the education system has to work. we cannot come here if we do not think that the internet and our roads and transportation infrastructure is the best in the world. the competition for new jobs and for businesses and middle-class security, that is the reason i know we can win. america is not going to win if we given to those who think that we can only respond to our

challenges with the same tired old tune. and out more tax cuts tooth -- to folks who do not need them and were not asking for them. hope prosperity trickles down on everybody else's heads. it does not work. it did not work when it was tried in the decade before the great depression. it was not what led to the incredible postwar boom in the 1950's and 1960's. it did not work when we tried it under the previous president. it will not work now. we cannot go back to this brand of"you are on your own" economics. we believe everybody has a stake in each other. if we can attract a teacher by giving her the pay and training and support that she needs, she will go out and educate the next steve jobs. suddenly a whole new industry will blossom.

we believe if you provide a faster internet to some little town out and rural america, that now has the whole world marketplace. if we build a new bridge that saves a shipping company time and money, that workers and customers all over the country will do better. if we invest in basic science and research that the next new thing will be invented. instead of listening to canal on the ipod, who does what the next big thing is. because we have invested in the innovation that mixes the greatest nation on earth. this has never been a democratic or republican idea. this is not a partisan idea. it was a republican president from illinois named abraham

lincoln who launched the transcontinental railroad and the national academy of sciences and the first land grant colleges. teddy roosevelt called for a progressive income tax. he was a republican. dwight eisenhower built the interstate highway system and invested in boosting our science and math and engineering education here in this country. it was with the help of republicans that fdr helped millions of people. returning to better reflect my grandfather had a chance to go to college on the gi bill. that same purpose still exists today. it may not exist in washington, but out in america when you talk to people on main street and in town halls they will tell you they still believe in those bellies.

our political parties may be divided but most americans understand we rise and fall together as one nation. -- we still believe in those values. that is what is at stake right now. that is what this election is about. so chicago, yes it has been three tough years. there are times when the changes we wanted did not come as fast as we want. after all of the noise and washington, i know it is tempting to believe that maybe change is not possible. remember what we said during the last campaign. yes, we can. a real change and big changes not easy.

i warn you it would take time. i said it was going to take more than a year and maybe more than one term. it might take more than one president. it takes ordinary citizen to keep fighting and keep pushing, keep inching this country closer and closer to our ideals. that is how the greatest generation overcame a decade of depression and ended up building the largest middle-class in the history of the world. that is how young people be back billy clubs and fire hoses and ensured their kids to grow up in a country where you could be anything including the president of the united states. [applause] change is hard, but it is possible. i have seen that. we have lived it. if you want to end of the cynicism and stop the game playing that passes for politics

these days and you want to send a message about what is possible, you cannot back down. not now. we will not give all, not now. you have to send a message we will keep pushing and fighting for the change that we believe in. i said before, i am not a perfect man. i am not a perfect president. i promise you this, and i have kept this promise, i will always tell you what i believe. i will always tell you where i stand. i will pick up every single day thinking about how i can make this country better. i will spend every ounce of energy i have fighting for you. [applause] so if you still have that energy, if you are still fired up, if you are not wary, if you

are ready to put on your walking shoes and get to work and knock on some doors and but some phone calls and talk to your friends and neighbors and push through all of the obstacles and keep reaching for that mission that you hold in your hearts, i promise that change will come. if you are willing to work even harder in this election that you did in the last election, i promise you that change will come. if you stick with me we will finish what was started in 2008. we will remind what this -- we will reminded this country and the world why we are the greatest nation on earth. god bless you, chicago. i love you. god bless the united states of america. thank you. [applause]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪

♪ >> you can to the latest video of the gop presidential candidates and president obama

from the campaign trail off and put on links to c-span media partners, all and more at c- span.org/campaign2012. the road to the white house continues with south carolina's primaries on the 21st, and on the 31st with the primary in florida. do join the conversation, click on our links on facebook and water. in a few moments, a look at the similarities and differences between president obama's health care plan and a plan implemented in massachusetts. in a little more than an hour, more about the 2012 campaign from talk-show host tavis smiley and professor cornell west. after that, it represented getty wasserman schultze from the democratic national committee, followed by mitt romney campaigning in south carolina. a couple of live events coming up tomorrow morning to tell you about.

tom donahue, the president for the u.s. chamber of commerce speaks on the state of u.s. business on c-span2 at 9:00 a.m. eastern. then the center for american progress host the white house council for economic advisers president, alan krueger. >> this week, we look at the light and legacy of dr. martin luther king jr.. the congressman and civil rights activist john lewis on "walking with the wind" in memoir of the movement. jonathon writer examines the many speaking styles of rev. king, and a discussion on the international manhunt for james earl ray. york times and washington -- and washington times correspondent looks at the accounting of public life with private life.

>> economist jonathan gruber has been an adviser for both the massachusetts and national health care reform plans. during a recent town hall in seattle, he compared president obama health care plan with a plan implemented in massachusetts. this is a little more than an hour. hong >> i really appreciate you being here at the town hall tonight. we have jonathan gruber here to speak, and award winning mit health economist and director of the program of the national bureau of economic research. he was a key architect -- i heard of him alive when he was working in massachusetts helping the massachusetts people put together their reform. he has also worked with the administration and congress when they developed the health care reform legislation that was passed about two years ago. he is also the co editor of the

journal of public economics, associate editor of the journal of health economics. he has published more than 125 articles, has edited six research volumes, is author of public finance and public policy, which is a leading undergraduate text. which is why he probably speaks with great authority about the law. he has written a book called " health care reform: what is, why it is necessary, and how it works." i think it is a very fast and very informative read. please give a warm town hall will come to jonathan gruber. [applause] >> thank you very much, and thanks, bob, for the kind

introduction. i have about 10 minutes to start and there's a lot to talk about with healthcare reform. i will start with a little story. my lunch -- your sister lives here in seattle and this story involves her and she came -- the story involves her coming into the house and said, dad, dad, i need help, where islam? and my father said, i don't know where she is. where can i -- but can i help? she said, no. he said, what you need help with. she said math. he said, why can't i help you with it and she said, i don't want to know that much about it. [laughter] in that spirit, i will try to tell you not more than what you want to know. i am eager to hear your questions. i want to start by setting a little bit of background, which is understanding the importance of where we are historically and

in terms of the numbers. we have been trying to do, the mental health care reform for about 100 years on an average of every 17 years. and we have always failed until 2010. and as we have failed, the problems have gotten worse. the number of uninsured in america continue to grow. we now have 15 million individuals. and the cost of health care continues to grow. health-care spending continued more slowly last year, but more slowly still means increasing health care to about 18% of our gross domestic product. if nothing is done, by 2018, will spend four out of every $10 on health care. that may be good for the doctors in the crowd, but not really for the rest of us. and that is not feasible. we have these twin crises. in my book i represent them as a twin headed alligator up we are trying to deal with, and yet we

have been mvet -- unable to decide how to deal with them. the real breakthrough came with governor mitt romney in massachusetts in 2006 when he signed into law a massachusetts health care reform, which took a new reproached -- a new approach that has not been tried before the i like to call incrementalism. meaning, leave people alone if they like what they have, but help them if the system does not work. the universalists are from the left, meaning getting to universal coverage. this was not a bit up and start over occuapproach. it was recognizing that we need to keep the things that people like, but that we can get to universal coverage. he set up a system that i like to say is a three-legged stool. the first leg was ending discrimination in insurance markets. to end discrimination we have a

flawed system in america where people are just one bad gene away from bankruptcy. the second was to get away from mandate so that insurance companies could price fairly. and a third step was subsidies, so health insurance could be affordable for individuals under this mandate. this system was put in place in 2006 in massachusetts and has been enormously successful. we have covered about two-thirds of the uninsured in the state and have lower the cost by about 50%. and this is the basis for the fouaffordable care act. the same basic structure as the affordable care act, but the affordable care act is more ambitious in two fundamental ways. the first is, and candidate mitt romney may not tell you this, but his bill was paid for by the federal government. we get reform in massachusetts and we did not have to raise

taxes, as he will tell you. but what he will not tell you is that we did not have to raise taxes because the federal government paid for it. the federal government does not have that luxury. if we have to raise revenues. but that is one place we had to be more ambitious. the second is the bill in massachusetts is not really the second head of my two-headed alligator. it was not about cost control. it was not about dealing with this probably more important problem in the long run, honestly, which is controlling health care costs. and i'm here to tell you that is okay. that is a lot harder problem. ultimately more important problem, but a lot harder problem, but a problem we are moving forward toward solving. we are not there yet the affordable care act moves forward in a number of ways to try to control health-care costs. it will not be the last word on cost control, but it will move us toward ultimately controlling

health-care costs and not ending of spending 40% of our income on health care. -- 40% of our gdp on health care. i hope we will go through those details and answering questions that you have tonight. that is an overview for now. i would love to talk with bob and hear his questions and hear your questions. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, jonathan. i think this is an interesting topic you brought up. obviously, a lot of us here care about our health care system, what looks like and feels like. you mentioned one thing in the beginning that has to do with incrementalism verses a broader sweep. could you speak a little more about why incremental this time, why not a broader sweep?

how can we meet our goals if we do not -- ? >> the pattern is interesting. in every round of health care reform the approach has moved to the right. we have moved from a single pair to a somewhat less single payer to the clinton, which had these regionally cooperative, but would still configure the health care system precautio. this time around there are two fundamental problems that would reconfigure the health care system. the first is, most americans are happy with what they have. they wish it was cheaper, but they have a variety of choices. there are employer picks up most of the cost and they are happy. in american politics you do not get far by ripping up what makes to under 50 million people happy to make -- 250 million people happy to make 50 million people happy. we have bailed out industries

much smaller than that. we are not going to wipe a $300 billion insurance industry. we had to bring them along to make this feasible. it led to a realization by many of a single payer system that was not happening in the in the near term, but that we could move to a system that is feasible and get us to the goal of universal health care, george. -- a universal health-care coverage. >> that is very good. on a lot of us care about that. one of the issues i you brought up that is really important -- you said it was a two-headed alligator. you mentioned you were working on the access issues, but really, there's also the cost control. in massachusetts, you did not bite on that bullet, but you did in the national spirit o. what has to be done to make that successful? >> health control is really

hard. i think the book is that it was like having to go over two hills. the first hill is scientific, which are frankly, there are a lot of good ideas out there. we do not know how to bend the so-called cost curve in a way that would not put u.s. health at risk. if we just that we are not spending more than 18% of gdp on health care, that would do it, but that would not be the solution. how you distinguish what does it and what does not? the second is the politics. this is a very hard problem to solve. anytime you pose something that can help control costs, it is easy for the opponents to attack it. our political system is not prepared to deal with this. my favorite example is -- many of you may remember in november of 2009, an independent set of

doctors who recommend when your kid is immunized recommended that mammograms no longer be recommended for women in their forests -- in their 40's. this was an economically based decision, but based on -- this was not an economically this decision, but based on the false positives we were given early. the political system went haywire. the government wants to take away your mammograms was the headline. this is not a government agency and they are not taking away anyone's mammograms. it is bad enough if you read the affordable care act, which i recommend that you do not, but in their it actually says that preventive screening is not covered for free. every american with health insurance now has the right to get preventive done for free. they literally could not bite the bullet and they are agreeing with that because of the

political blow back. it is a long winded way of saying, we have got a long way to go before we're going to get to fundamental cost control. what this bill does is take a spaghetti approach to cost control. it throws a bunch of stuff against the wall to see what sticks. there are a number of different approaches, each of which is the best from experts. we're going to try them and see what works. >> how are we going to make sure we get there? >> there is a famous statement from a nobel prize-winning economist, herb stein, who said, if something must end, it will eventually, we will not spend 100% of gdp on health care. i do not know how we are going to get there. i can tell you that it is unlikely we are going to get there in the way that england did, for example, where they said that no one over 75 gets transplants. that is not the american solution. i see it moving to an explosive

two-tier health care system. -- explicit two-tier health care system. right now we have an implicit 2- tier health care system. all the bad statistics are driven by the people who are out of the health-care system. and right now, it is implicit. we need to move to an explicit 2-tier health care system where everyone is guaranteed good, basic health care. we have to recognize that it is america and some people want to buy better health care, we need to let them in most european countries you can buy with your own dollars -- we need to let them. in most european countries you can buy with your own dollars better health care. >> you change topics quite a bit. you mentioned revenue, and how massachusetts was lucky. it had $350 million coming down the pike. the national bill does not have that. the national bill also raised a

lot of revenue. and i think it is -- our deficit is decrease because of it. can you tell us about that? who gets taxed? who pays for it? >> president obama plaze -- laid out the number one principle in this bill, that there should not increase the deficit. tomake this wawork, we had spend about $1 trillion. we had to raise revenue to reduce spending. first, it cuts private health insurance that injured the medicare population -- that insured the medicare population. but we were paying $1.17 for medicare insurance. we raise about $300 billion by reducing reimbursement to hospitals that treat medicare

patients. about half of it was costs and spending, but half of it was also increasing revenues. those come from two sources. one is the sectors that operate on this bill. there's the pharmaceutical sector, the medical device sector, the insurance sector, they will all pay new excise tax. the second is the new tax on the wealthiest americans, an increase in the medicare payroll tax for families above $250,000. >> he mentioned the pharmaceutical industry, health insurance -- you mentioned the health insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, does this help them become better citizens? >> i think it does. the trade off with the political feasibility argument is that we had to bring private insurers along. i know that upsets a lot of people. the bill tries to keep them as good citizens in two important

ways. the first is the so-called health insurance exchanges. right now, if you want to buy health insurance in the so- called non-employer market, it is hard to shop effectively. it is confusing, prices are high. this sets up an exchange for all non-employer in jurors will come to one place that will be competitive -- insurers will come to one place that will be competitive and easy to shop. we have done it in massachusetts. i think it beats the pants off orbits. it is a terrific shopping experience. that is when competition can work its best. there will be new competitive pressure on insurers. blue cross and charges more than other insurers because they are blue cross. that is because people know them. and when they are on the shelf, they will say, why am i paying more? those benefits are the same. the second is the medical law

regulation, which regulates and limits the amount of money they can have in profits and overhead. >> a want to get to a couple of parts of the bill but i think are important. one of them is the protections. many people do not trust the insurance companies and that is not just because of transparency, but how do we know that people do not have limits to keep them from getting pushed into bankruptcy or something else? can you talk about the protections that are there? >> it is a great question. i think this is the most important part of the bill, and the least appreciated. most people in this room will have insurance on they -- from their employers or the government. we have to recognize that with 50 million uninsured americans, and in many individuals better in the non-employer market, they are facing enormous risk to

their financial security. we are in a system in america in most states, such as this one, where you can buy insurance and the minute you get sick, you can be dropped. or in some states they cannot do that, but they will say, up to $1 million per month. it is totally illegal. we do not have real interest. that is a fundamental failure of an economy as wealthy as ours. it is greece -- crazy to put that much uncertainty ahman the public -- is crazy to put that much uncertainty on the public. blogger will you be kicked off because you are sick and blogger will be charged -- and no longer will you be dropped if you're healthy. >> we have community-based intervention, which i think are really important. if you look at the health of the committee, it is often times driven much more by what we do in our community as opposed to

political intervention. what does the bill do to make a difference in those areas? >> the bill is trying to make a difference in those areas. it puts a lot of money and resources into community health centers to try to improve those centers to meet the needs of their communities. as i said, a lot of money for individual-based prevention. there is a lot of money for wellness and initiatives. what the bill tries to do is not just to ensure people, but to built on the resources to improve people's health beyond medical care. >> i have spoken to a lot of people who are very upset about people getting a entitlements or a gift given to them. the issue of personal responsibility rises with the population of the time. how does this bill address personal responsibility? >> it is fascinating, because what is more personal about

personal responsibility than an individual mandate? the genesis was in a conservative think tank. when mitt romney signed the bill in 2006 from on the podium with him was a spokesman for the heritage foundation saying how wonderful the bill was. because that is about personal responsibility. it is about ending the free ride for individuals when they are sick and to jump back out when they are healthy. this bill is trying to thread the needle of using the individual responsibility, but not putting such a burden on people or for the affordable for example, an individual mandate, but we offer low tax credit. and we have an affordability extension so no one has to pay more than 8% of their income for insurance. if it costs more than 8%, you are no longer subject to the mandate. as you said to me in the greenroom, is as if you shot a bullet with are hitting

somebody. we are trying to do this amazing bouncing ask that -- balancing act. >> you wrote a book that is a graphic novel. why? >> it couple of reasons. the publisher approached me and said it would be a great way to learn about the health care bill. i was very eager for people to learn about the health care bill you read the polls and you ask people what they think about the affordable care act and they would say they like it. you ask them what they think about ending discrimination in the insurance market and 70% like that. what you make about making it more affordable to get insurance. 70 percent time liked it. they just did not understand it. -- 70% like it. they just did not understand.

i thought a comic book was a great way to learn. my son was a great reader of this novel -- a graphic novel format. he convinced me to do it. >> but you did not have batman. >> i did not. >> i read it and i really enjoyed it. the next up, who is the audience for this book? who you think is more to read it? what difference does it make? >> i have in mind the audience being anyone who has an open mind about this bill. i do not think is going to change anyone's mind if their mind is made up. but this is a really radical transformation of our system. it is complicated. and i think there's a lot of misinformation and disinformation about this bill. i think this is appealing to two groups. one is the cautiously skeptical too cautiously supportive, but just unsure.

they want to read it and learn and decide for themselves. i also have a particular audience in mind, which is the people who are inclined to like universal coverage, to like what a democratic president does, but feel like this bill did not get there. it did not meet their needs. they are just not satisfied. i am stunned with the number of self-described liberals who do not support the bill. i think a lot of that is the people not understanding what the bill does and what is in it. that is another audience i would like to reach with this book. >> i will do one more question, but i'd like -- would like to open this up to the general audience. we have to devote microphones, one there and when there. if people want to start asking questions, feel free to line up. i want to go back to your area of rationing. and i will not call it rationing, but that is what the opponents of this bill call it.

they are comparing what we're doing, whether it works or not. and you mentioned the two-tiered system. how are we going to approach health care in the long run in this country? there are limits to what you are going to do. as the different mechanisms are built in, are they going to take care of that? how are we going to make those hard decisions and how will we inform ourselves of the best way to do it? >> basically, if we think about the coverage problem and the cost problem, the coverage problem, we sort of knew what to do. it was a matter of crafting it in a way that it would get through tough politically. the cost problem is much harder. it's because we just do not know. we do not know what will work scientifically and what will pass politically. health care is the single

largest and single fastest- growing sector of the economy and we have no idea what works. it is crazy, right? what do you do in that situation? if you need to learn and research on what makes health care work. however, once you mention this bill, then that -- then people say, that means the government is going to ration my care. there is $1 billion to be prepared this institute to study what works and what does not. but the results of that are not allowed to be setting insurance decisions. that is crazy. but that was the political compromise. the bill has in its dozens of pilots of alternative ways of organizing care. we have the so-called fee-for- service medical system where doctors essentially get paid more than they do. there is a famous quote about having a doctor decide how much

medicine you take is like having a butcher decide how much red meat. we assistant where doctors are paid based on how healthy you are, not -- we need a system where doctors are paid based on how healthy work, not on how they treat you. but that is hard to do. to control're going health-care costs you will be cutting someone's income. that is hard to do. what the bill does is to set up dozens of pilots to get us to around two. now we deal with the cost. >> here is the first question. >> i am definitely one of the liberals who does not understand the bill, so i am delighted about your graphic novel format. ipad out of pocket for my own hundred because i am so often -- i pay out of pocket for my own

health insurance because i am a self-employed. i recently became pregnant and i was delighted with group health until i became pregnant. once there was a series of tests that became recommended, i became mired in the quagmire of as to make cost up front of what i would be paying out of pocket from -- toward the deductible. why is it legal for the health- care industry, for health care providers to not actually tell you up front exactly what you will be paying for a given service prior to getting the service? what ended up happening is that i pay double for what i was quoted initially. now i am fighting it. it is a quagmire. i would love your answer. >> that is a great question and this is a great example of the -- first, congratulations. it is a great example of the type of problem we will be solving with health care reform. i mentioned these exchanges. i urge you to go to health care

connector.org, not to make you jealous of massachusetts. we show you exactly what you will pay under each plan. not just deductibles, but service cross. -- service cost. what we need is an explicit description. you need to be able to go on to the website and say, i want these services, what will each insurer charge me for them? there is a great model for that. if you have got medicare part b coverage, on the medicare website, you can enter -- medicare part d coverage, you can go on the web site and enter the medicine you would be taking. that will help consumers become more informed and shot more effectively. more effective shopping will bring prices down >> how is it

legal, though? the up-front costs are not stated overtly? >> i am not an expert on health care law. it would be illegal to state them incorrectly. >> well, they get around them by saying it is an estimate. >> i do not know how to answer that. >> nobody knows. really, how much it is going to cost until they see the experience. i was on the public employees' plan. we had about 10 plans. i did not know how to compare one versus the other. until you have some way, is -- some way to compare apple to apple, you are stopped. >> professor gruber, i think the substance of this conversation is a trade -- is way more interesting than the politics. but i will wallow in the politics for a moment. as someone who was behind closed

doors with mitt romney on this, i am very interested to understand if he was engaged ceo participating in these conversations in a thoughtful way? or did he do this kicking and screaming and over his life body? accordin[laughter] >> low was actually writing speeches for our previous commander-in-chief, president clinton. he knows about this well. basically, mitt romney was a real believer in this. meetingy only had one media with the team. and in that meeting, it was basically mitt romney defending this against his political advisers. they said, this is a terrible idea for you. and he said, no, this is really cool and we can do this. because in his heart he is a

management consultant. he is an engineer. and massachusetts was getting money from the federal government. we can put this together without raising taxes. as a republican, he thought this was pretty neat. we will have personal responsibility for the mandate and we will cover it without raising taxes. he was excited to put the puzzle together. he was a human shield in the spirit of -- shield in this. i'm not saying that because o a democrat. he was really for this. it is really true. i am as disappointed as anyone that he has walked away from it the way he has. >> thank you very much for your clear presentation. your answers are terrific. my question is about the public option, which died a sad death.

and whether genuine cost control is even possible without a public option to drive it. you discussed these various experiments that we will be doing, but meanwhile my understanding is that in massachusetts, the costs, particularly for employers, are skyrocketing at an unsustainable rate. it has to be sustainable for it to work. can you have cost control without a public option? >> a great question first, mass. -- a great question. at first, in massachusetts, it has risen fast, but no more than in the regular market. the public option is a great issue. i am a big fan of public option, partly because it is the brainchild of an academic like myself. he had a great idea. the left wants a single payer, the right wants a competitive exchange.

let's put them together. both sides hated it and basically, both sides hated it because the left did not want it unless there was a huge advantage for the single payer in the exchange. the right did not want that if it was there at all because they were worried a a it would be too successful. do not get too upset about that. here is why. the public option was never as big a deal as it was made out to be. let's say, there are three sellers of the apples, and they are each 20 minutes away from each other. each of those sellers of apples do not have to worry about competition because there is no way to compare practice -- prices effectively. now you set up a fourth apple that is 20 minutes away and it is cheaper. that will help some, but a lot people will not know about it. it will not help much.

now let's say you have introduced a website to compare all of them. i will help a lot. -- that will help a lot. the website puts them on a level playing field. that is the big difference. it is putting their feet to the fires and, lo, show us what you've got an show was on a level playing field. if that does not work, then we will have to revisit single pair. in the meantime, states have the ability to have the public option. which is great, because then we will experiment and see if it is good and useful, as some like to think. the message is not nearly as big a deal as it got made out to be. we have done it in a way to make

them competitive and make it easy to do comparative shopping. if that does not work, then we will have to do some kind of single payer system. this is the last effort for private insurance. if we cannot control costs under the structure, then we have to rip it up and start over. >> is there anything in this that addresses preventive care of? and not just things like mammograms and screenings, but as far as nutrition, chemicals in food, sugar, incentives to dissolve these things by companies? it seems like you will have good incentives on one side, but on the other you will always have somebody pulling, and you've already got subsidies in place. without getting rid of these, how do you later more on top? >> it is difficult. with a bill like this, in

principle, it will address all of that. but it would never get past. my biggest frustration is for not going far enough with the spirit -- the biggest frustration from the critics is that they say it did not go far enough. it went as far as it could go. insurance will depend on the efforts people will make to take care of themselves. if you take care of yourself, you can pay a lower price. on the other hand, it could become discrimination on health. the bill tries to strike a balance between the two. what it does not take on is things like food systems and other kinds of production problems in the food systems. other issues of sugary soda available in our schools and nutrition, these are larger, systemic issues that we need to deal with in additional

legislation. the bill does not get into them. >> my question is, why does health care spending -- why is health care spending in the united states to war three times that of other countries -- two or three times that of other countries with no better results? [applause] >> that is a great question. our health care spending is about twice the developed country average. part of that is because we are richer and bigger, but even if you control those factors, our health care spending is on an order of one-third higher than it needs to be. we do not exactly know why. it is partly prices. we pay a lot more for things like prescription drugs. we pay a lot more for our cat scans and mri is. we pay our doctors more. not our primary care doctors, but our specialists. they make a lot more. part of it is utilization, but that is not all of it.

in many european countries they go to the doctor more than we do. in japan, the use twice as many prescription drugs as we do. --t isn't unique about the what is unique about the mess up system in the u.s. is that it gets all of you and does not let you go. it's a test you, keeps you in the hospital longer end does more procedures. it is about the intensity of the treatment once you are in the system. that is hard to know what to do with. many of you have seen the 2009 new yorker article written about health care. it was written about maccallum taxes and a passive, texas. they are very different demographic -- and el paso texas. they're very different demographic regions, and very different outcomes.

in mcallen, texas, all of the extra stuff they do, the problem is, if you go to those doctors they will say to you in case by case, this person showed this symptom. they make a compelling case forge each example. are we going to tell the doctor they cannot do that? that is the problem going forward. in european countries, part of it is because they control to regulation and part of it is because they do not have the history of excessive treatment that we do. they have not run into this problem. >> it seems to be one of the big benefits of these changes is the ability to change jobs, that they will not get shut out either from employer to employer, or even the ability to go off and start a business of the rhone and move away from -- of their own and move away from an employer-based health care to

an exchange base. does the bill put anything toward that? >> a question after my own heart. that is what much of my academic research was on when i was getting started, the so-called job lock. the notion that people will be afraid to change jobs. but among people who have health insurance, there is about a 25% reduction in changing a job because they are afraid of losing health insurance. that is an enormous problem. a positive of u.s. exceptional as some is how fluid our labour market is. health insurance tied to employers blocked about. this will end that. i think it will be a major boon to our economy. to answer a question, no, we do not have a great estimate. we do know it will greatly

improve mobility. >> t.r. reid noted in his book that we are the only country in the world that house at 4-profit insurance companies. -- the house for-profit insurance companies. is the relevant here? >> in massachusetts, aren't health care is as high as anywhere else -- our health care costs is as high as anywhere else. we have no for-profit insurance companies. the problem is mostly not even insurers. not all, there are some bad actors. some of those bad actors will go away because we will get rid of the kind of insurance they sell. that is the insurance that says they will pay $500 a day for a stay in hospital. the people the insurer, do not realize it costs $3,000 a day.

with the regulations in place, there is not really evidence that for-profit vs not-for- profit insurers behave very differently on the key elements of health care costs. it is about products and excess of margins, and that will go away -- it is bad products and excessive margins, and that will go away. >> he is right. >> when this was set up, we were looking at a static system, but health care is not a static system. there is convertible -- comparable effectiveness, but again, that is a static system. health care is also driving forward because we have not cured most diseases.

very few. there is also an industry, if you will, be it at the university or private industry. how will the bill address the ability to go forward, and how will it be flexible enough to allow the appropriate changes to occur? >> that is a great question. there are two facts that combined to explain the difficulty in controlling health care prospered from 1950 to today, health care costs have almost quadrupled to gdp. and yet, it has been worth it. there's a great article written by my colleagues at harvard university where he documents health care. in the 1950's, you were twice as likely to die of a heart attack.

babies were likelier to die. if you had a ski accident, you have arthritis rest of your life. if you look up the way people are treated in hospital and you look at what is necessary and what was not, we waste. how can the health care spending be worth it? and yet, we waste 1/3. the other two-thirds are awesome. [laughter] basically, the other two-thirds have carried the other waisted one-third along. so the answer is not to say we will no longer spend 18% -- no of gdp on health gd care. some great innovation has come along since the 1950's, and new ones will come along in the future years. how do we separate the fat from the muscle? how do we keep what is good and get rid of the copycat drugs that cost a lot to develop and are not doing any good?

the key will be effective research and more competitive market. but that is why costs are so hard to control. >> one of the economic arguments i have heard against the affordable care act is that healthy people will simply pay the penalty until they become catastrophically ill, at which point they will jump back into the system and cannot be denied coverage and they will drive up costs for everyone. is that a valid objection in your mind? >> there is a balance on the mandate. on the one hand, if you have a mandate that says if you do not have health insurance, we will kill you. it would be effective. if you have health insurance because it is a good idea, that will not work so well. you have a mandate that it is the larger of 2.5% of your income. there is a balancing act there.

in massachusetts, it is comparable to our polland -- r penalty in massachusetts. and in massachusetts, almost everybody works with the mandate. people.etty law-abiding we massively under cheat on our taxes. [laughter] if you have a mandate in place with a penalty that is real, which this does, by and large, people will comply. this bill will cover 60% of the uninsured in america. there are three groups that are left out. unfortunately, undocumented immigrants are left out. that was a political decision and there's nothing to be done about it. second, there will be people exempt from the mandate. if you have to pay more than 8% of your income, you are exempt. and there will be those who do not comply.

if you get enough people in the system where we are healthy and can keep costs down, then that will work. this will be a constantly evolving scenario. the biggest change ever made to the medicare program was the prescription drugs act added 40 years after the program was introduced. we are far from done with health care reform. but this is our best estimate that will work to balance and have a mandate that is humane, but will really work. >> i have a question regarding the ending of reimbursement for readmission in hospitals. i will start by saying i am very much -- i do support universal health care. i'm very liberal in that aspect. but i am a cardiac nurse and congestive heart failure is one of the top reasons for readmission into hospitals. and knowing that is a

degenerative disease, and especially in these economic times it is very hard to prevent readmission, just due to lack of insurance, lack of being able to afford the medications needed to control congestive heart failure, and at a certain point, you cannot. you need to be readmitted, and eventually, you end up not getting out. i have seen this bill do in that aspect, the course -- the closest thing i can correlate it to with teachers in the passing of no child left behind. it has put tons of pressure on nurses, the amount of charting, the discharge instructions and the people work and we have to do. that is where the hospital has put the pressure, and we are already spread so thin qarizad. i wanted to get your opinion and

if you could expand on the decision behind that and the logic behind that. >> economics is called the dismal science and, and the reason is because a lot of times we just point out problems without solving them. you are pointing out a problem. it is a balancing act. on the one hand, the key cost of high health care costs is excessive hospital readmission. hospitals rush you out when you are not ready to and leave and you have to be readmitted. on the other hand, there are genuinely people who have to be readmitted. how you balance those? you get health care that lowers the hospital we admissions to try to penalize hospital readmission, but not get rid of them completely so that hospitals are not left without any reimbursement for readmission spirit of the bill may go too far. it may be that cutting -- for readmission. the bill may go too far.

it may be that cutting readmission is difficult to measure. but what we have now is too much readmission. in 1983, medicare went to a brand new payment system called the de rg. we used to pay fee-for-service. it went to a new system where it was a fixed amount regardless of what was done to the patient. there was an enormous reduction in how the elderly was treated in hospital. enormous reduction with no reduction in older health. there were no less healthy as a result. we were just reading them to excessively. we have to try these things and see if they're going to work. we hope we will get the same kind of outcome. >> stage left. >> there was a piece in the new england journal today or recently about one of the challenges in the supreme court, not in the individual mandate,

but that the federal government could not force the states to raise the number of people who were covered by medicaid. it was rejected at the lower level, but the supreme court reached out and decided they wanted to hear it again. what are the chances that none of this matters, that the supreme court is just going to pull a citizens united and get rid of the lot? >> the supreme court decision has four elements. one of them is the mandate. another one is this, quite frankly, much scarier one, which is the question of whether the federal government can compel states to offer medicaid coverage that the federal government is paying for. the federal government reimburses 100% for the first several years and 90% after several years. the state barely have to pay anything. that is a hugely broad

implications for many programs for a large part of how we do our social insurance in the u.s. i was very distressed to see this. only one decision support of this. it was the most radical decision of all. this was a judge who went out of his way to cite the boston tea party. i'm very confident they will not sign is as unconstitutional. it will cause a radical rethinking of our entire social service -- social insurance system. >> stage right. >> you spoke a bit about the question from a woman who was trying to compare the cost. you spoke about how massachusetts was trying for greater transparency in insurance. i am a practicing physician and the one the istore what is the lack of transparency i have in terms of understanding the things i do that will cost patients, and for that matter, what the outcomes of my choices are.

i'm still unclear how this bill, if it does, short of the acl model and other things, however increases the feedback of providers to health care so they understand the consequences of their requisitions and can make better decisions for patients. >> the bill does not do enough to explicitly on that. it does basically implicitly, through the notion of setting up structures for insurers to provide feedback to physicians. once again, it hit a political barrier. there were discussions about end of life care. we know what sarah palin did about that and it got pulled from the bill. physician support of abled as rationing and got pulled from the bill. -- got labeled as rationing and got pulled from the bill.

we hope that this will bring physician interest in having that information and using it more effectively. we are seeing it in some of these organizations that are being set up. i work with one in maryland that a setting up a very cool model where primary care physicians will see the cost of all of the things that specialists are recommending and bear some of the risk of those costs. they will say, you should care about that because we will take some from your pocket if you send people to expensive specialists. we will give you some if you send them to more effective and less expensive specialists. the government is politically unable to set these things up itself. it is up to insurers to set this up. >> there are a fair amount of us who are residents and i think in training we hear a lot about ordering this test to cover yourself, make sure you document is to cover yourself.

is there anything in the bill that will have changes in medical legal, so you change your reasoning of a bit about what you are ordering so that it is not always about covering yourself, which inevitably raises the cost of health care? >> thank god, because i have never talked to prouts -- to crowds were there are doctors and we have not talked about malpractice. i was getting worried. [laughter] in all seriousness, it is a tough problem. you add up all of the costs of malpractice and is a 0.3% of health-care spending. the best evidence comes from the kennedy school. one leader their estimates is

about 3% of health-care spending but the truth is, he just pulled out of a hat. we just do not know how much is defensive medicine. that is why the bill includes the ability of states to set up pilot for alternative ways to , legalate malpractice promot panels and other things. if you have a it is not clear if that is the right answer. we need to move to a more rational system. cases are handled in a way where compensation is appropriate to the damages. we do not know how to get there yet. my instinct is that they still worry about doing the right thing.

>> there have been some editorials in the medical community about the success of medicine is that more people are living into old age and then we will actually have more dementia. is that with managing those costs? >> is an important issue that is dealt with partially in the bill. one major feature was insurance. they decided it was not written appropriately. there are other features of the

bill which tried to improve community-based care. it is cheaper and makes it happier than being in a nursing home. to be honest, it is not a major focus of the bill. that is something we need to keep working on. and the hard decisions have to make. it will be a challenge. >> the want to talk about and access issues. -- i want to talk about the access issue. and hear about the shortages of primary care physicians. if we're going to have 50 new people coming in, is there anything in the bill to address that? >> that is a concern of a lot of people.

you cannot add that many people of putting some strain on the system. that is why it has a number of features to try to improve try many care doctors and access to it. it is not enough. you go to med school right now. here is your choice. it can be a community doctor and make $120,000 a year, a good living, work 60 hours a week. or did they a dermatologist and work 35 hours a week. -- or you can be a dermatologist and work 35 hours a week. there is a fundamental reimbursement that we're putting in place for different types of doctors. until we get that in place, we're not really going to do with the shortest of america.

>> i want to ask a question about basic help. i know you have written something about how it moves from 138% of poverty to higher. it is not helping it that much. it is going to be really hard to talk about the premium. it is a little too high. it is also a problem for reconciliation. the members are going to be mad when they find out there buying health care. i think you could make the case better. can argue that we should have a basic health plan? >> someone has run my work. thank you. the question was about the basic health plan. flexibility in this bill, the way it works is to extend public insurance coverage of to 103% of the poverty line. that is about $33,000 per

family. above that level, there are tax credits. he pay certain percentage of your income on a sliding scale. the government picks up the rest. one option is from $30,000 to $40,000 a year. states and say they will continue to put people on public insurance. we will all for that because we take after the public insurance program. we will have people pay less. you can imagine doctors are not a huge fan. there are arguments for and against it. the argument against it is that it does increase insurance turning. we just had the question of

primary care doctors. they are already strained to see our population. it puts more strain on that. it is a state-by-state decision. each state needs to look. some states that washington will want to keep it. it fits well with the insurance system. some states will have to consider it. i do not think it is there a. >> will just a two more questions. >> some of the ways it mitt romney tried to disavow what he did in massachusetts, and that it would not be the right thing for the nation, from an economic perspective, is there any reason why the massachusetts approach would not scale nationwide? >> no. [laughter] [applause] basically, mr. romney had a

choice of three things could have done. he could have done what newt gingrich did. the second is the cadet said it was the right thing to do and it was a great idea. he try to do it. to do so, he told a couple of disingenuous things. we do not have to raise taxes. the feds pay for our bill. it is pretty cheap to try to argue that. then he said it is not right for the rest of the country. he never said why. he just said a man or for the rest of the country. that is not a reason. it does work for the rest of the country except for the fact you have to agree with that. i was just being disingenuous. >> in seattle, we estimate that

there are probably 8000 people who are homeless. some of them are used to apply for medicaid. what will happen to these people who refuse to get access to help concerned? >> i am glad for all the things it did. it does not do everything. in remaining problem is low people on the margin. the to discern that are uninsured are people that give free insurance. they did not take a. they do not understand our comprehend. they may have language barriers. it is a huge role for community average. they explained that the system is there for them.

just as we talked, this is not follow all the problems. we still need help from organizations to make sure people get into it. >> i would like to thank the audience. you were enjoyable. great questions. we actually got public education about 120 years ago. we have been fighting about it ever since. a lot of the questions, the coals and the system, it is a structure. i like to see s making more.

[applause] >> thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you for having me. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> in a few moments, more about the 2012 campaign from chavis smiley -- tavis smiley. then daddy what sermon schulz -- then followed by debbie chultz.an s then later president obama fundraiser in chicago. >> ion "washington journal" tomorrow we will discuss david chavern. we will be joined by a wall street journal reporter to

discuss this week's supreme court argument in a case involving roles on indecent language on broadcast, radio, and television. "washington journal" is like every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> chris matthews on the political maneuverings in the second debate. >> the second debate, and extend its control of it. he brings a level of timber shirt of the room down to 40 degrees. it is a meat locker. wilson goes racing down to the basement. he finds the guy. there is a nixon down their standing guard. he said if you do not get out of this, let me turn it up. they had another stand up there. the whole idea was they did not want him to sweat. the nixon people had seen him

sweat profusely. they said we will not let this happen again. this is about who will rule america. >> abc news interviews chris matthews on his new book "jack kennedy, elusive hero" saturday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern. >> more now on the presidential .ampaign from tavis smiley and this is 40 minutes. >> our guests are co-host's of the radio show. thank you for being here >> he is an african-american. -- he does african-american studies. we want to talk about your symposium coming up called remaking america. you talked about how the words

pour or poverty is not a word that comes up a lot during campaigns are in the aftermath. tell us more. >> guest: the word does not come up one time. the word "poverty" does not come up one time. there is an arrangement for "poverty" not to be discussed. that was four years ago. the number of poor in this country are abysmal. they keep climbing. the new poor of the former middle class. i do not know who they are going to speak to. we cannot go through this campaign not addressing the concern of the poor. it is the telling of truth that allow the suffering to speak. we have to address the angst of the poor.

host: reflect on the new hampshire primary and what you heard talked about and debated and we took away from the results. debated and we took away from the results. guest: i think we see concerned about fears and anxiety as it relates to social anxiety and a little concerned about poor people. we see the big money and little concern -- 50% of americans live in or near poverty. we believe poor people are is precious and prices as investment bankers and pharmacists and professors.

guest: you said there is a complicit agreement not to talk about the issue of poverty. is it as simple as poor people may not vote as much? guest: if the new poor of the middle class, that is why politicians want to speak to the angst of middle class. it is that poor ople do not matter. there is what seems to be a bipartisan agreement -- a part partisan consensus that the poor do not matter. two-minute spineless and milquetoast -- too many spineless and milquetoast

candidates. whether it is mitt romney or newt gingrich, this verbal assault of words being waged on the poor -- that is not the answer to the prayer. there's a consensus in this town that the poor do not matter. host: let's look at the numbers. guest: those numbers do not count th many citizens who have given up looking for jobs or part-time workers. it is much higher than that. the issue of poverty is a matter same waynal security, semi ir

that iraq and afghanistan is. it is sad we cannot shift away from the parcrafts at the top with their big money -- away from the poor credits -- plurocrats. poor people are losing their homes and their jobs. children can hardly get it limelight in a democratic society. host: here are the numbers to call if you want to join the conversation. democrats, 202-737-0001. republicans, 202-737-0002. independents, 202-628-0205.

what brings people together? guest: we're pushing the issue of poverty higher up on the american agenda. i did not want to do a campaign for the white house when we do not get tracon on this issue. we got on the bus and traveled around the country and trying to put a spot on the port in this country -- on the poor in this country. this is the next step, to bring these poverty expert together and talk about how we can not

just reduce poverty but to eradicate poverty. when we bring these voices together, the drumbeat gets louder. this drum beat musket ever louder between now and november. i hope we can advance the conversation tomorrow night. in april, we're working on it new book, a party manifesto that will be out in april. we're trying to use the platform to get this issue discussed. host: janet from baltimore, maryland. caller: i like to ask the question to tavis smiley and cornel west. what do they think president obama is doing? he is doing all he can to get jobs created. i don't understand the concept.

host: do not see that is happening, that the president is trying to work towards helping the poor? guest: you begin your campaign and give nearly $1 trillion to investment bankers. that's not a good start in terms of fighting for the poor. in the last few months, he has given some good speeches about jobs. we applausd that. he has been fighting for the payroll tax cut. we applaud that. that is not a substitute for a massive job creation and housing and jobs with a living wage. we applaud the president when the president does the right thing.

the president -- you have tim geithner running things. tim geithner is not a fighter for the poor. i hear people saying obama is better than the republicans, but he is more work to do to fight against poverty. guest: people act in this eltion like there are two choices. either obama or mr. romney. there's a third choice and that's a better president obama. just because somebody is trying are doing x, y, or z, that they cannot be pushed to do better. offer them ideas or suggestions but to push them to be better at what they do. this is not demonizing the

president. this is pushing him to have more spine and more backbone. this is not just a critique of president obama. there is a bipartisan consensus that the poor do not matter. everybody in this town has to do better about making poverty a priority. poverty is not a priority. host: president obama is hosting a white house jobs forum today. he is calling a in forcing -- in-sourcing american jobs. is that touching on your message and helping out? guest: he has been giving a lot of great speeches and making the kind of moves that you would

expect from a politician that wants to get elected. this is what house has capitulated and caved on too many things. it does not extend the unemployment benefits or close a single loophole. you get these kinds of -- the president can be a bit schizophrenic. respectfully, i want to push the president to make poor people a priority. this issue gets sustained on the american agenda. those in the media used the platforms to challenge folks out how we will eradicate poverty. keeping the issue front and center. host: david in lincoln,

virginia. caller: arlington, virginia. i thank the gentleman for bringing this to the forefront. there will always be some people that do not want to change their situation. some people will not put forth the effort. if we want real poverty, i spent time in afghanistan. there e some people with real poverty. people of a warped sense of what it means to not have anything. i hear you saying that we need the government to stepped up. the government has been fighting this since the great society and it continues to get worse. i did not trust them.

the dissolution of the family unit is what it is. we have to start with the building block of a society. people are less les- 's just repeats itself. guest: i think mike republican brother makes a good point in terms of the central role of the family. it is difficult to keep your family together when you don't have a job or use of bullets flying for your housing project. it has to do with structures and institutions workers are pushed out like these private equity companies in relation to brother romney. push out the workers. the workers are dealing with

foreclosure and unemployment. individual responsibility is very important. we have to do with a massive transfer of wealth. policies tied to washington. rich citizens getting even richer. host: whave a comment on twitter. guest: good question. there are the perennial poor in this country and the new poor and the near poor. we're talking about poverty now because the middle class is falling into the ranks of the poor.

-- we'reking on the laying out specific ideas of what can be done to help the perennially poor. a quick comment about the last caller. he mentioned afghanistan. we're spending countless millions rebuilding afghanistan, reilding iraq. we spend billions destroying these countries and then we come behind it with diplomacy, which includes spending billions more to rebuild these countries. if we could spend that kind of money on rebuilding americans cities, we could have a marshall plan where american cities --

sothing would be done with the poverty in this country. guest: we spent three under billion dollars since 1980 on jails -- we spent $300 billion. when it comes to spending for the poor, we pull back. we have caramelized poverty. -- we have caramelized poverty -- criminalized poverty. caller: i have a comment. i am an educator. the amount of people that participate, a 85% unemployed and they were unable to get a job because of criminal

backgrounds and credit history. many places where to go to apply for a job, they want a credit report done. i don't think president obama should be held accountable for the low unemployment rate when employers are crucifying people for having passed criminal background and it could be something like a misdemeanor. if you're in the court system and considered guilty, tt remains on your record for the rest of yourthey are beinghastir paying their debt to society in spending five months to five years in society. you have paid your debt to society. when you come out and look for a job you are turned away because of your cabicredit history and

past. guest: let me say very quickly that we agree with your assessment. too often the poor are demonized and penalized. the poor are treated in four ways by our body politics. number two, this is why we have to he a robust and creative conversation aboutow to help the poor. the white house and other leaders want to beat up on the president, but the white house and other leaders can use the bully pulpit they have to talk about these issues. we were in a conversation last night about the fact that there are too many american employers like the ones you referenced will direct you on line these days to allow your application. once you get online they tell you if you are presently unemployed, do not apply. getre are people that go

is not right. ar again, it is not about demonizing or belittling the burden on president obama. it is about saying again that the republicans and democrats in this town, and on this campaign for the white house, the republican nominee and the democratic nominee have got to be resctfully and lovingly push to address the issues of the poor in this country. that is all we are san. is a veryis important point in which the criminal justice system imposes such major constraints on poor people gaining access to jobs and housing and other opportunities. what is upsetting also is the degree to which criminal behavior is not investigated and

prosecuted, market manipulation, predatory lending. what do they do? they get jobs in washington in the white house an other places. they go back and forth, back and forth. there has been criminal behavior on wall street that at this moment that has not been in any way as counted. host: wanted to show this aphic,he number of children in poverty by race and ethnicity. you can see here different paths charted. you can see the numbers relatively low for whites in comparison. peing up and going back down. now they are back up. 6.1 percent signed among latinos. 5.0% among whites. 4.4% among blacks.

that is in terms of millions. est: 40% of all black children. we need red. we will never forget our precious indigenous babies. american indian party among young people is obscene. guest: we want to add to that chart, indiana university school of public and environmental affairs has a white paper that we commission that is out literally today, so we're happy to be on c-span talking aut the new data and the most recent imports about party in america and what the great recession has done to the american people. there ar couple points i want to highlight about this new report. we now know the younger you are in this country, the more likely you are to be in poverty. that is unacceptable. the younger you are, the more lily you are to be in poverty. number two, we know we have the

largest ever, the most significant number ofmericans who have been long-term unemployed than at any point in this nation's history. we did not collect the data since 1948. perhaps most damning about this report is the fact that even as the economy starts to experience some sort of an uptick -- there has been debate lately about what the december jobs numbers mean, or is this a trend to something better -- i know all of us are hoping towards a trend. the point is even when this economy starts to uptick, the are goingthe poroor to grow. because of the pace of the recory. because of a long-term

unemployment, and because of the high rates of unemployment. even when the economy starts to uptick, the numbers indicate the poor will still grow. guest: we have what we called jobless recovery. what is the criteria of a recovery? what are we talking about? just the languag itself needs to be reexamined in the constructed. host: let's look at details from the new white paper ou among the bullet points, the findings of this paper by india university -- you just mentioned a hard time

young people are having here yen ge. guest: that is why so many young people joined occupied movement. they understand their future is not so bright. we say all the time that something is wrong with a country that forces their children to surrender their life chances before they ever know their life choices. that is where america is right now. host: democratic calller from maryland joining us. caller: good morning. mr. west, you are my hero. i look at things like this -- they say they blame things on the president because of the job situation and certain things. one thing you have to realize is no one is holding a gun to your head to not hire people. if you have the money and there ain't no problems hiring people,

you have made money. that is obvious. the richer even richer and the poor are even poorer. look at the situation. if ewing got money, you ain't got nothing in this country. this was by design. i have never win -- been one to hand out. i want to hand up. am't keep telling me i brainwashed by the democratic party. and i am not brainwashed by no one. i am a man that stand on my own 2 feet. that is why i choose to i want as the president. -- who i want as president.

you have to keep the president's speech to the fire. you have to push him. he has to have the extra hand up with a stronger backbone. people think because he is fair skinned then he is not that bad. you know how things go when they talk abo it your skin is fair, you are not such a threat. people have to understand, and all you have to look it is -- how urban places that use to be dominated by blacks where the crime rate was so high. now you go down there and see how it as changed in the crime rate is down, because that is a part they wanted to go through. look at the differencfor blocks of the street where they are still selling drugs.

do not tell me you cannot control drugs in this country. host: that is a lot of points. guest: when he talks about the fact that too many american employers are not hiring people -- he is right about that. wenow companies can do better. we know more jobs are being shipped abroad by these companies to make more profits here at home. we know that these companies nowadays, and some could argue and we are debating in this new book, we are debating whether the economy wl ever recover in the way we think it should. primarily because these most rigid national companies understand they can do just as much with us. -- primarily because these multinational companies understand they can do just as much with less. the demand for the product is so great, they have to put more

people on thline to make it happen is the only reason. other than that, they want to squeeze out more profits for shareholders. there is no competitive reasons for folks to hire people. here is what we're talking about. we bailed out wall street, and the very people we bailed out are now sitting on a trillion dollars it will not turn arnd and invest into the economy t hire people. if the media and those of us that have platforms do not raise these issues, how did these issues get addressed? host: that is why i think those that have the courage to raise these issues. -- guest: that is why i think those that have the courage to raise these issues. do not let anybody convince you you are only a collection of interests. we have principles. there are certain things called andintegrity, a memory.

a person is not a nobody because they have no money. they may have more love and joy and integrity and spiritual mobility san a rich person who is empty in his soul. this is very important. we talk about martin luther king jr. next week. we talk about dorothy day. they taught us there are certain things about human life better not reducible to market lculation. there are human values that are not reducible to market price. all we talk about is money, money and power and power. that is the road to spiritual emptiness. there has to be more than that. i know the brother understand. when you look at barack obama, we vote for interest and principal. the reason why barack obama is better than republicans is because we have principles. the reason why we criticize him

is because we of principles. if all we have is interest in not principles, we are reduced to a animalistic calculation about interest on interest, interest. is that all life is about? how empty to go to the grave about. host: when you talked about holding the president speak to the fire. twitter --iwrites in on the centralis question. they are scared. and they do not want to be unpopular. we are not committed dee enough to our long-term principles. it is our short-term consideration. i think this white house is -- does not like being critiqued.

they are very temperamental about that. what happens is, and this last calller was right, there is no doubt about the fact that the president has a vicious head when he is running up against every day. what he needs is a tail wind. he needs us to get behind him and push him. group presidents are not born, they are made. they need a tail wind to push them into greatness. there is no abraham lincoln without douglas pushing him. great presidents have got to be pushed into their greatness. we know obama has a head wind, and ugly, nasty strong gale force headwind. he needs a tail wind. the white house needs to understand this tail wind is not to disrupt your flow, it is to help you get to give you some

velocity. host: the last time you appeared, you said before the 2008 election, senator obama appeared on your show record week came on to talk, but since then you have not been invited to the white house, nor has the president agreed to appear on your program. guest: i am afraid to even answer that question. the last time i sat at this table -- i did not say anything. i was asked a question by c- span, have you interviewed the president? the next a headline -- "smiley whines about the fact he was not in the white house." i know full well whether or not i had been invited to the white house. nothing has changed.

with regard to be invited to the white house, with regards to the interview request. he continues to talk to everybody else but us. someone will take this comment out of context again pure yen . host: recently you said this in "washington post" -- he is long interviews with brother bill o'reilly. i think from the left of there is a reluctance. in general this administration has been reluctant to engage the joph stieglitz. let me tell you this, brother tavis smiley in michelle obama were selected among the top 100 people in the world. we saw her in new york.

she was lovely, kind, sweet. we know she was brilliant. that was not obama verses others in that sense. the show reaches out and will hug. she has always been kind in that regard. she has criticism of us, and that is fine, but she does reach out inhat sense. if she is reaching out on behalf of the president, then there's been some connection of the obama family. but the president himself -- you start hanging around with rahm emanuel -- these folks push you in some certain direction. you are affected by who you spend time with. int: let's hear from john new york. turn down your tv. caller: how are you doing? brothers.your all

the only way we will get the economy back together is a we get back the industry. we have to bring back manufacturing companies. when we were doing the manufacturing thing, we had a lot of jobs. all the manufacturing plants were going north. because our manufacturing jobs, we have these jobs available. the people's standard of living was a lot higher. we notice all the schemes behind-the-scenes that manipulate the legitimate government of the people. we have to really take a look at that. nobody italking about that. but obama we have a lot of h ope in him.

i hate and distrust in government somewhat because of the secret associations that these pollutantfigures have. host: and next year went to talk about an article in the atlantic called making it in america. it is about keeping jobs here and why they're here versus going overseas. guest: he is right. this country has lost its place as the leading manufacturer. it is a couple of things. as i have said the the issue, it is the greedy american corporations to find it cheaper to dit and other places around the world. look at the epicenter of so much of what is wrong with this company -- country. number two, it comes back to poverty and why we're doing what we're doing and why the conversation tomorrow night is so important. we have to push our leaders.

if they're going to get away with all of this, at the very least the government has got to have an aggressive robust job training -- job retraining program. you have to retrain the american workers to have more jobs. something is wrong with this country when military veterans are more likely to be unemployed. i want to get that out there, because if we cannot do right by them and find ways to retrain them and put them into the work force, there is no hope for the rest of us. we heard from so many veterans that are down and out. we heard from them that they uphold their indivisibility, but

have not given up. that is what is a wonderful about it. so many say they still have a sense of humanity, resiliency. you may see them on the streets down and out, but they are clever in terms of how they survive. most are not involved in criminal activity. all they want is just a chance. that actually was inspiring. host: our guests are dr. cornell west, and tavis smiley the co- host together the radio show. they're having an event tomorrow, remaking america. that will be a george washington university and broadcast live here on c-span. it will be rebroadcast on pbs for three nights starting on january 16. guests. ests include

that >> tavis smiley close a forum tomorrow. the tune in that is at 6:00 we did 6:30 p.m. eastern. >> debbie wasserman schulz on the 2012 campaign. then mitt romney campaigned in south carolina. after that, a fund-raising event with president obama at the university of illinois. >> a couple of live events to tell you about.

he speaks on the state of u.s. business. here on c-span, the center for american progress host the head of the white house council of economic advisers. >> we are going to take a look of a perry's surprising comments on climate change. >> there are a substantial number of scientists to have manipulated data. >> i re different comments by politicians on 81 and 4 scale. a say something outrageous, you will get four pinocchio's. if you say something slightly misleading he may get one. >> glenn kessler evaluates the truth and as a political figures and others. >> i do think if a politician

says the same thing over and over again, even when it has been pointed out it is untrue, they know that they're saying something untrue. they're just going to say it anyway. >> sunday night it 8:00. >> now deadbeat wasserman schulz -- debbie wasserman schulzt. she was in new hampshire for about 40 minutes. >> welcome, everyone. i want to welcome you all. i and the executive director. i want to welcome you all to the kickoff to the 2016 new

hampshire presidential primary. as good to deliver a better line than that. some people thought i might be too exhausted. the new england council and the new hampshire institute of politics has become the must stop location for all the candidates, reporters. we're very excited about that. jim is a way and larry is in place from the newfoundland council today. i want to thank our sponsors. there are betters in the back. they are responsible for making these breakfasts happen, he and they are our partners through this process. great companies, particularly here in new hampshire and new england.

we have a few dignitaries today. we have the man responsible for much of the activity in san and some college in the past week. we have our presidents cup, many dignitaries here including the governor's chief of staff, representative mcmahon who was helpful in bringing this event together today. terry shoemaker is here today, endeavour, senator foster, all here today. i want to mention our great friend, kathy sullivan, former chair of the party. around applause for all of them. [applause] >> for purposes of introduction, i want to introduce our friend, jim.

he is on the board at the institute of politics. he is a longstanding, great new hampshire right and an adviser to president obama. [applause] >> thank you, neal. when neil introduces someone has a longstanding new hampshire person, that means he is really starting to get old. let me welcome you all here today. they deserve a round of applause. they played a big role this year in the primary. [applause] bother jonathan did his part this year. he was lobbying very hard for outstanding weather for election day.

he pulled that off and then send the message, you can let it go now and tomorrow we will get 10 inches of snow. father jonathan, congratulations to you or the outstanding job this primary season. i am very honored to be here today to introduce our special guest. i did notice that ovid is here now to finally endorse a presidential candidate. last night was exciting, whether you or a democrat or republican. new hampshire lived up to its part as the first in the nation primary. as neil said, today is the first day of the general election contest beginning here. it is only appropriate after months of republican candidate crossing the state that we have the chairman of the democratic national committee here to speak to us, talk a little bit about last night's results, and what lies ahead for the election

here in new hampshire as we head toward november. debbie wasserman schultz is one of those high-energy people. she is a member of the u.s. congress, formerly a member of the florida legislature. she likes to tell people this is a state she loves to visit and vacation in, and i think tomorrow when we see the weather, we will be telling her, your state is one we like to visit and vacation in as well. she has been a strong advocate for the president and the policies of the democratic party. when i introduce people, i like to tell one little personal story about them. this kind of sums up the kind of person that debbie wasserman schultz is. a while back when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she never let that slow her down.

she continued the fight, continue working for the causes excessive believe then, fighting for families and working people in this country. she also used that experience and got legislation passed that helps educate women on issues relating to breast cancer and also prevention. and i think you can say that based on what she has done, there are a lot of women in this country that are healthier today and a lot of women living longer to that. that is the kind of leadership we all respect. think we all respect. [applause] so, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the chairman of the democratic national committee, debbie wasserman schultz. >> thank you very much.

jim, thank you so much for that really incredibly kind introduction. i appreciate your acknowledgments of my status as a survivor. i know there are a lot of survivors in this room, just based on the statistics. for me, the opportunity to use my profile and a position to help raise awareness and help make sure that everyone has an opportunity to catch their cancer early like i was able to. incredibly important. that is what this is all about. that is what politics is all about, making the world a better place and making life better for other people, and that is why i am sure in no small part why you all are here in this room. it is why i do what i do every single day. thank you so much. this is an incredibly exciting opportunity for me. i'm thrilled to be here. jim definitely understated the depth of feeling that i have for the state of new hampshire. this really is a home away from home for my family. my husband has spent his entire life, especially growing up as a child, on lake soon a peak with his family, who has had a home -- on lake sunapee.

my state representative is here. the representatives that haven't fared in my community in south florida, i like to say that i and debbie wasserman schultz, in paradise. i represent four lauderdale, miami. the hospitality that the people here are just absolutely wonderful and warm, and it is really our favorite place in the entire world. to have an opportunity to speak at the politics and eggs serious, it is such a wonderful tradition, a real privilege for me. particularly because it has become such a mainstay of presidential politics nationally, but particularly

hillary -- but particularly here in new hampshire. father, congratulations on pulling off yet another wonderful primary in the state of new hampshire, being our host at the circus that the media has thrown on your campus. your students have been incredible. it has been so great to interact with them over the last few days, and the institute of politics that neil -- where did neil go? there he is. they have done a terrific job. thank you so much, and congratulations. go, hawks. so this morning the country is waking up focused on new hampshire and the important message that granite state voters delivered yesterday. yesterday tens of thousands of new hampshire voters went to the polls to vote for president obama in an uncontested primary. these voters clearly wanted to make their voices heard and send a message that they support the hard work president obama has been doing to turn our

economy around, beginning to make the progress we need to make to lift people up and make sure that every american has a fair shot at the american dream, that everyone in america has an opportunity to be successful. this is in clear contrast to the message sent by voters in the republican primary. while we saw mitt romney ultimately come out on top, he now moves on to south carolina, i think, as a wounded candidate. over the course of the last few months he has been regularly trending toward 45% support among republican voters in new hampshire. at one point he enjoyed a nearly 30% lead over the rest of the republican field. in yesterday -- yesterday's primary could not happen soon enough, because support in the state was rapidly eroding. it seemed to me the more people got to know mitt romney, the less they liked him. his margin of victory last night fell short of meeting expectations, especially when

you consider the fact that mitt romney is a part-time resident of new hampshire and that he raised a family and served as governor of massachusetts right next door. add to it that he has really been running president here for the last seven years. for anyone watching, you saw that prior to last night's primary, mitt romney had not been having a very good week here. he wounded himself in a few different episodes that left new hampshire voters wondering whether he really -- actually, left americans wondering whether he understands the needs and concerns and the worries of working in middle-class families and what they are going through in this country. just a few days ago during a campaign event, mitt romney attempted to relate to struggling granite staters by making it clear he once feared getting a pink slip. for new hampshire voters and voters across the country, not only does this statement ring

untrue, but it suggested a disconnection with middle-class americans. many hard-working americans i think were also rubbed the wrong way by his comment monday that he enjoys being able to fire people. no matter what context you listen to that remark in, when an employment relationship ends, it is never enjoyable. it is never something that is fun. it is always, or at least it should be if you have some sensitivity, uncomfortable. whether it was warranted or not. so i think that really was another example of the disconnect between mitt romney and average working folks. he has claimed he created 100,000 jobs during his time bain capital, a figure that has been discredited across the board, and even worse, republican candidates an independent fact checkers agreed that he did not create jobs as a corporate buyout specialist at bain capital. he made a profit at any cost by outsourcing jobs, closing

plants, and bankrupting companies. deliberately bankrupting companies. this shows an insensitivity on his part to the very real challenges that working and middle-class folks are facing today. i think they contributed to a drop in his support among new hampshire voters over the past few days. what has even worse repercussions for mitt romney is that he leaves new hampshire essentially a weakened candidate with central rationale for his candidacy unraveling before our eyes. while his campaign headquarters in manchester now has a "for lease" sign on the door, our campaign is staying put, firmly rooted in new hampshire. while the republican candidates have been duking it out, obama campaign staff and volunteers -- and some of them are here in this room, over there on the other side of the room -- they are focused on laying the groundwork for victory in november, making sure president obama has the resources and the grass-roots support to win by

organizing neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block. that is the kind of campaign we have always run, door to door, neighbor to neighbor. it is the kind of campaign new hampshire voters expect, appreciate, and it is a tremendous source of pride. you kick the tires, you look under the hood, and you get the opportunity to closely examine exactly who these folks are. a much different experience than, for example, my home state of florida, where we have 11 media markets. you cannot run that type of presidential campaign in florida. you have a special appreciation for just who these candidates are. we are taking the retail politics of new hampshire very serious. we have seven offices open statewide as of yesterday. we had three open until yesterday, four opened yesterday. we have had 500 meetings, 3201- on-one meetings, tens of

thousands of phone calls. we have hit the ground running leading up to the day -- leading up to today and from now until november. we are running the campaign from the ground up, door-to-door in key states around the country. our staff and volunteers are connecting with real americans every single day and talking to them about the need to preserve all the change we have been able to deliver together, under the president's leadership and with their support. we know what that change looks like. it is changed by the affordable care act to restore health care as the basic cornerstone, ensuring that insurance companies cannot drop you or deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. as someone who was diagnosed with breast cancer, living with a pre-existing condition, i cannot tell you the appreciation and the value that that has brought to my life,

knowing that on the day i was diagnosed i was one job loss away from being uninsured or uninsurable. that problem was solved for me by president obama because that cannot happen to me anymore, nor to the millions of women who face that fear every single day. that is incredibly important. that is what the role of government is for. government can make sure that the private sector can help give opportunities for health security to all american. it is following through on the president's promise, like when he promised to end the war in iraq and bring home all servicemen and women from their just a few weeks ago. it is ensuring that wall street plays by the same rules as main street, ensuring that millions of american families have a consumer protection watchdog looking out for them, fighting back against predatory behavior

in the financial sector. it is wiping the discriminatory don't ask, don't tell policy of the book. it is breaking our dependency on middle east oil, nearly doubling fuel efficiency standards under president obama, and saving americans money at the top. it is making the bold decision to rescue the american automobile industry, which saved one will -- which saved 1.4 million american jobs. if mitt romney or the republican candidates had their way, they would have simply let detroit go bankrupt. for the first time since 2004, we have all automobile manufacturers' operating at a profit. if left to the republican candidates, particularly mitt romney, we would not have had an american automobile industry to talk about or to be proud of. that is what change has looked like under president obama in the white house pretty 22 election is going to be about which candidate can get our country back on track.

it will be at an incredibly start and dramatic contrast. that is why our campaign is focused on the clear choice that the american people will face in november. whether we will continue to move forward as a nation or if we will return to the same failed policies of the past that nearly caused a second great depression. the republican candidates for president have laid out their economic vision, and it is one that looks bad. we have seen them argue among themselves on the campaign trail over which of them can repeal wall street perform fast enough, or who is the most committed to ending medicare as we know it. we see continued support by the gop field, promises that would gut social security, slash funding for education, while asking working and middle-class families to foot the bill. under president obama, we have made critical progress on the road to economic recovery. with increased job growth for

the second straight year, the most since 1997. prior to the obama administration, the last time was in 1997. the president has been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it to the middle-class since day one of his presidency. 95% of americans have received a tax break under president obama, and he has cut taxes to small businesses 17 different times. last month, as other republicans in congress threatened to let the payroll tax cut for the middle class expire and let taxes go up for 160 million hard-working americans, the president said enough with the partisan games and was trying to score a political point at the expense of working in middle- class families across the country. president obama stared down congressional republicans and the won. as a result, millions of folks struggling to make ends meet did not see their taxes go up this month.

it's clear that with 22 straight months of private sector job growth we are beginning to turn the corner. we are making slow but steady progress. as the president has been out there telling the american people, we can and we must do more. president obama's message to hard-working folks in new hampshire and across the country is that we must continue to rebuild and work toward rebuilding our economy by making sure hard work -- and everyone does their fair share, and that responsibility is rewarded. some american families can reclaim the security that they lost. that is the president of vision for keeping america moving forward and continuing on the path of growth and progress. over the past 10 months, this is the message we will be implementing across the country. the american people have a very serious choice in november. the stakes are very high. as a mom with three beautiful young children who i care about deeply, who are my number one priority, i know that i will be rolling up my sleeves and working so hard every single day from now until election day to make sure that i can do my best to help american voters

choose president obama and send him back to the white house. because, if they do not, that will reverberate on our children come on my children for decades. the result of the wrong decision will impact their lives, and as their mom, there is no one i will more fiercely protect and my kids and the kids of my constituents. i know you feel the same way, and our campaign will work tirelessly to make sure that if voters do give president obama a second term, we will stop at nothing to give every single american to go as far as their hard work and dedication will take them. that's how we will blaze our trail to victory and said the president back to the white house. thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak to you this morning, and thank you for this tradition. this is very, very important. thank you.

[applause] thank you. i would be happy to take any questions. only easy ones, though. all the softballs, jump to the front of the line. great, hey. >> from the exit poll demographics, it appears that mitt romney was particularly weak among first-time voters and young voters. how do we go about attracting those voters to president obama? >> younger voters especially are deeply concerned about making sure that they embarked on the next phase of their life. these are young people who are at the beginning of their adult life. they know that they need to be able to make sure that higher education is affordable for them, that they are not going to be drowning in the debt of their student loans for their

lifetime and that they have the opportunity to get good jobs that pays a decent wage after that educational experience. i think making sure that they know that president obama has gone to bat for them, making sure that we increase the amount of appellate grants available to them, and making them to so many more young people to make the dream of affordable higher education possible for them, making sure that they know he has gone to bat to make sure that we can create good jobs for middle- class and working families, and that our tax policy is designed to help people who are not just already doing well. i mean, there is nothing wrong with doing well. it certainly is a goal that we all aspire to, and we want in america for everybody to be able to do well. but we should not have our tax

policies, we should not have our government's policy exclusively focused on helping people who are already doing well do better. in america, we should target our tax policy, we should target policy in america toward people who want to be lifted up, who just need a little bit of assistance. we need to fight hard like president obama has been for the middle-class and working families. that is why he passed legislation that put 17 different tax cuts in place for small business owners and a 95% of americans a tax break. what the republicans have been fighting for is to extend the tax breaks that passed in 2001 and 2003 under president bush, and paid for, and it exploded the deficit for the wealthiest, most fortunate americans, millionaires and billionaires, to extend those. that is really a dramatic contrast, and i think there will be a clear choice. >> yes, all the way in the back. >> the american people, i think

because of the lack of civility, what do you think can be done to take that faith back? >> as someone who has spent 19 years as a member of a legislative body, i agree with you that we need to make sure that we tone things down, particularly in light of the tucson tragedy from a year ago, where my very good friend, gabrielle giffords, who is doing well, by the way -- i know everybody -- [applause] she is making great progress. the discourse in america, the discourse in congress, to answer your question specifically, has really changed. i will tell you, i hesitate to place blame, but i have noticed it takes a very precipitous turn toward edginess and a lack of civility with the growth of the tea party movement.

after the 2010 elections, when you had the the party elect a whole lot of their supporters to the united states house of representatives, and you had town hall meetings that they tried to take over, and you saw some of their conduct at those town hall meetings -- in the time i have been in my state legislature and in congress, i have never seen a time that was more divisive or where discourse was less civil. it is one thing -- i have always had people come to my town hall meetings and say they do not agree with me on something, and that is fine. that is what those town hall meetings is about. their civil discourse. when i hear something from a constituent who does not share my view -- and hopefully they do also because we are listening to each other and there is a back and forth. what the the party has done is they have taken it to a different level.

when they come and disagree with you, you are not just wrong, you are the enemy. that is really a place that politics in america should not go. you know, when they disagree with you on an issue, you're not just wrong, you are a liar. rather than just having differences of opinion, accusations like that get hurled, and it brings the entire discourse down to a level that i think none of us want to see remain there. so i have done my part. i will tell you that president obama, he has tried so hard to get the republicans to work with him, to bring them to the table to try to get them to compromise and find common ground. but when you have someone like mitch mcconnell, for example, the minority leader of united states senate, saying at the outset of this congress that his number one goal was not turning the economy around and create jobs, but to defeat barack

obama, then how are we going to reach compromise if that is the goal that drives them and their decisions? because we will not. if that is their goal, anything that they do to compromise gives president obama a. win, a success, and makes it less likely in their minds that they would defeat him. unfortunately, i think what has driven the republicans in congress is their interest in only one job, barack obama's. when democrats have been fighting for american jobs. that is the difference. that will be the choice that americans have to make. [applause] thank you for your question. yes? >> i have lived there all of my adult life. one of the things that a lot of

people do not know is a large percentage of people who support president obama in 2008, we have suffered a lot. my family and i are socially conservative, fiscally conservative liberals. what we have noticed is that the candidates have come up with -- looking for a handout, looking for something -- what i would like to see the president do, if he has a printed message or tone he can set. in my state, 39 counties are considered and developed. can he showed there is a difference between welfare preservation, and wealth and fame and?

>> yes. he actually does. i think he's demonstrated that for the last three years when he became president. when president obama took office at the beginning of 2009, he inherited the largest set of problems probably since fdr at once of any president. the economy, because of republican policies that brought us to the precipices of economic disaster, was declining, dropping like a rock. we were bleeding 750,000 jobs a month when he took office. we hear that number so often, we end up glossing over it and treating it like it is something so familiar. i do not ever want to be that familiar with that statistic ever again. we no longer have to because now you fast forward three years later, and we have had, under president obama's leadership, 22 straight months of job growth in the private sector, created nearly 3 million jobs.

that is because of his policies. because he came and and passed the recovery act, which injected badly needed resources into the economy, make sure we arrested the decline. we saved more than 2 million jobs and had an opportunity to start to begin to turn things around. then he pared down, in the face of a politically unpopular tarp program, he made sure that we rescue the american automobile industry. while mitt romney and ems -- and the rest of the republicans said let's let detroit go bankrupt. let's not think about the 1.4 million jobs in the pipeline for the american automobile industry, the 20,000 jobs that are related to the automobile industry here in new hampshire, but let's just let them go bankrupt. that is mitt romney's experience. i guess you cannot blame him. he was the ceo of bain. that is what he did. he let the chips fall where they may.

president obama did not do that. we now have a profitable american automobile industry that we can all be proud of. he made sure that we passed tax cuts, they were not just tax breaks for the wealthy. he did not focus on triple-down economics pete we focused our tax-cutting policy on the middle class, on working families. the payroll tax cut extension. making sure that small business owners had those tax breaks that could give them an opportunity to make investments in their capital needs for the business and create jobs and add to the people who work with them. 22 straight months of private sector job growth, we have begun to turn things around. that is a dramatic contrast between where we where and where we are now.

we know we have a choice in november between moving in the direction president obama has been taking and having our policies focus on everybody in america, and not just the wealthy, having an opportunity to be successful. in south carolina and new hampshire, that message resonates with everyone. i represent a pretty well the district. a district that is other-middle class. i have people tell me, if my tax rate changes, i will not have to sell my second home. if my tax rate changes, i will not have to dine out at nice restaurants few times that i already do. i know what will happen, -- fewer times than i already do. i know what will happen, we will have the best education system in the world and make sure our kids can choose the path they

want in their life and compete globally. i know we are going to make sure that our business community is the most competitive. we will have people who have been able to make sure the tax policy in the united states allows them to create jobs, beef up their infrastructure, and out-compete and out-build the rest of the world. that is president obama's goal. i do not want to go back to the republican policies of the past. thanks. >> we will take one more. >> sure. yes. >> i am from new hampshire, there is a difference in the economic climate of the two places.

it seems d.c. has thrived over the last four years. the rest of the country is still struggling. there are huge sections of the country where the dollars did not seem to make it. if i and the administration -- make them aware of the federal dollars that did not make it beyond the washington area and the struggle for the rest of the country. >> i would have to defer for you. i have driven down-- differ from you. i have driven down 89 and 93 and seen the signs. the opportunity to do those renovations are the result of the recovery act that president obama was old enough to make-- bold enough to make and take us

to adding jobs. i have seen the investments and the resources that have been generated by president obama's leadership benefit in the folks in new hampshire. ask the teachers who were able to remain on the job and did not have to be laid off, or the first responders. the small-business owners who benefited from the tax breaks that president obama insisted on that should not only go to corporations and these businesses that are already doing well. i would have to differ with you that the policy decisions and the resources that president obama has said we know we need to get this country turned around have not left concord. thank you so much for the other kennedy to be here. thank you for your commitment to

our -- thank you so much for the opportunity to be here. thank you for your commitment to our message. [applause] >> of what it thank you for coming. you get a -- by want to thank you for coming. you get the mug. come back for the primary. thank you. >> thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> met romney campaigned in colombia, south carolina for the state primary on the 23rd. the former massachusetts governor has been endorsed by the south carolina governor. this is about 45 minutes. ♪ >> welcome. what a great turnout. i will tell you it has been an exciting night for a couple of reasons. was that a great win in new hampshire or what? [applause]

the joke was we all took wagers on how he was going to do. i said i what he's going to win by a hair and somebody said he won by eight hairs. in new hampshire, i said it's going to be a landslide and a base that you cannot say it's going to be a landslide. it was a landslide. before we start off, we have a great group of supporters here that work hard and believe in governor romney and have done some great things. i want you to make sure -- the treasurer is here. [applause] secateurs ronnie cromer has thrown his support behind gov. romney. -- senator ronnie cromer.

we have agree one today, our speaker pro tem has thrown his support behind governor romney today. [applause] i want to talk to you a little bit because everyone has asked the question, why mitt the person you decided to endorse? what i knew i was going to face as governor was unemployment problems, economy problems, balancing our budget, dealing with the spending and trying to find a way to prioritize. i knew that was going to be a problem. i had no idea the hardest part about being governor of south carolina was going to be the federal government. it all started with a great company we have and south carolina called boeing. [applause]

national labor relations board saw that boeing created a thousand jobs in charleston, south carolina at a time we needed it. at the same time, the expanded 2000 jobs in washington state. not one person was hurt. but president obama allow them to try to stop production. they have removed that lawsuit now and we are free of that one. [applause] i ask every candidate to acknowledge the nlrb, and a one can't it did not speak on it. that was president obama. the second thing, we passed illegal immigration reform and the department of justice sued us and told them we could not do that. we passed a picture id -- you should have to show a picture i.d. to the one thing that matters most, to vote. [applause]

once again, the department of justice stopped that and said we could not do it. what i knew in this thought process was we need a president that has nothing to do with the chaos that is washington d.c. we have had enough and we don't like what we see. the second thing is i'd do, it's not about what you say, it's what you do. is about results and elected officials remembering who is the work for. i looked at it and this was a man that worked in the private sector 25 years, not in the government sector. he fixed broken businesses. we have a broken washington that needs to be fixed. this is a man that -- give a round of applause. [applause]

this is a man that took a failing olympics, no one can touch it because he made a source of pride for our country. we need to be proud of our country again. [applause] this is a man that went then as governor of a very liberal state, cut taxes 19 times, balanced his budget with an 85% democrat legislature. think we could do that in washington right now? [applause] i took all that into account. i would like you to know the coolest first man ever is in the house tonight. the last thing was we are a military family. we know the sacrifices are men and women in uniform deal with every day and the sacrifices their families deal with every

day. we need to make sure we have someone that strengthens our military and does not weaken it and tell us we have to be embarrassed for it. he believes in strengthening our military. [applause] i sat down and had a conversation with the governor and said we don't want health- care mandates. we cannot afford it. he said dade number one, we will get a waiver to south carolina to every state that wanted and we will appeal -- we will repeal obamacare. [applause] i said we are trying to pass illegal immigration reform and a voter i.d. and washington is getting in the way. he said i've been a governor of the state. handle your state and i will keep the federal government out of your way.

[applause] i said we had this issue with yucca mountain. then add a problem and said they would take our nuclear waste. after years of paying a billion dollars with some other states, they pulled the rug out under arrest for political purposes. he said that i will bid it out to any other state and if we cannot do it, i will fight to get you your money back. [applause] that is why i am endorsing mitt romney. i will have a partner in the white house, not someone fighting me every step of the way. they will understand what we care about in south carolina is jobs, spending, and the economy. this is a man that will totally focused day one on jobs, spending, and the economy and making sure we have jobs in the state and not out of the state. [applause]

i know who you are here to see. but i've got to tell you this story. i come into the governor's office this morning and was shocked because congressman cliburn was outside my office. he had democrats all around him and he was sitting there saying we cannot have governor romney, we don't want a free market and he was bashing it. i felt like i was in the twilight of because i thought we'd a minute, there are still six people in this primary. why is the heading governor romney? secondly, and i say this as a warning -- i am proud of our republican candidates. i'm proud of the people who have taken the time to come campaign in south carolina. but we have a real problem when we have republicans talking like democrats against the free

market. we believe in the free market. [applause] we don't ever want people to come in and say boeing can hire or fire. we allow people to go into michelin's of people can say they can make profits for can't. we want companies to do best that they can't. during hard times commie make hard decisions it during good times come you expand. that is what he has done. he has done with every one of us has tried to do. with no further ado, i will tell you michael and i are very proud to have in colombia, the next president of the united states, governor mitt romney. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, governor. thank you very much.

you are so kind to be here tonight. it is so warm outside. it's different from new hampshire. it is going to be great campaigning in the palmetto state. what an honor to have the governor here with me and your treasurer here with me and state legislators. but you guys, how nice of you -- how many kids have you got here? they're not all hers, she says. she promises. i know you are concerned. someone is talking over here. i hear a little one -- let them up front. it has been a tough year. it has been a tough three years for people in the palm of straight -- palmettos state. remember the president made all these promises and was going to

repair the come tree and repair the world and get people back to -- repair the country and get people back to work. people were going to collaborate across the aisle. remember all of these things he said in the campaign? he has failed. [applause] we all know what has happened here domestically. there are failures internationally. the greatest threat we face for our security over the coming decade is a nuclear iran. he came into office and did not put into place crippling sanctions iran needed to face. it he did not organize and communicate be halved effective military options to take and when there were over a million people in the streets of tehran screaming for freedom, he was silent. can you imagine ronald reagan being silent?

even bill clinton would have had something to say. this is unthinkable. here at home, look at what is happening with government. this is a guy who was critical of george bush for racking up large deficits and his have been a multiple of what george bush put into place. if you look at what he is on track to do by the end of his first term and is only term, by the way -- [applause] he will have put together as much public that as all the prior presidents combined. he is leading us on a path to become like greece or italy. i'm convinced we will be there at some point if we don't get him out of office. then there is what happened with the economy and putting people back to work. 9.9% unemployed.

25 million people out of work or have stopped looking for work or are seriously under employed. the underemployment statistic is a number of families or people getting by on very little. i think you have to say this has been a failed presidency. i don't think he tried to make it bad, he just didn't know what to do. he's in over his head. [applause] i'm going to go to work to do a couple of things. i'm going to scale back the size of the federal government. are going to cut federal spending and get the country on a balanced budget by it. [applause] -- balanced budget by at. everybody says with a run for president or national office that they are going to cut federal spending. as the governor of my state, i did not cut spending. i came in with a few months into office, i said let's cut back.

we balance the budget every one of the four years i was in office. one of the things we had to do and like to do. the like to do things we cut back on or eliminated. we're going to have to do the same thing with the federal budget. i will take every single program and say it is this program so critical to the country its fourth borrowing money from china to pay for it? -- is it worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? to these little ones, i think it's immoral to continue to spend massively more than we take in knowing we will never be able to pay it back during my lifetime and they will have to pay for the things i voted for it -- we voted ourselves. it is not moral and i will stop it. [applause] to get our economy going again,

i will make america the most attractive place for job creators, entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses foreign and domestic, small business, big business, i will get our tax rates competitive they get regulators to make sure they're working to encourage private enterprise rather than burden it. i will make sure we open up our energy resources. why we act like an energy poor country? it makes no sense to me. [applause] i will open up markets for american goods so we can sell more things around the world. when countries like china cheat, i will hold them accountable and say you can't keep stealing our jobs. [applause] but this election is about the president's failures internationally, domestically, his failure to steal back the

size of government. but also about something more. it is about the soul of america. the question is which courts are we going to take? are we going to go on the path to put this on which is to become like it european-style welfare state? or are we going to hold true to the principles that made us the most powerful nation on earth? [applause] those principles welcome people who are willing to work hard and get what education they might and maybe have good luck and dreams and build enterprises that employ us and make us better off as a nation. i believe in those founding principles of the nation. when the founders wrote the declaration of independence, they say the creator in doubt as with certain unalienable rights. the government hasn't, the creator has.

among the more life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. as a boy, i wondered what that meant. i know now, it is the right in this country to pursue our lives and dreams as we wish. government does not tell us how to live our life. government does not tell us what kind of health care we could have. government does not tell us where we can live. individuals can pursue their own dreams and by virtue of those freedoms to elect representatives in washington and state capitals and an opportunity nation where we can pursue our own path in life, this became the place on earth every pioneer and innovator and wanted to come to. and come to they did for hundreds of years. did you know the average income of an american is 50% higher than the average income of the european? why is that? it's not because we are different people. we are all human beings from all over the world.

what makes us different are the principles we were found on and those principles need to be restored. the president says he wants to transform america. i want to restore america with the principles that made us a great nation. [applause] a lot of people in south carolina are hurting tonight. they are people who a few years ago were thinking about where they might send their kid to college. now are the eight -- now they are wondering if they can put a meal on the table at the end of the week. there are people who were planning their retirement and now they're wondering if they can get another minimum-wage job to keep things together. there are people who use to plan about whether they could take their kids to the movie at

the end of the week and now they wonder will they be able to have enough income to make it to the end of the week. these are tough times for americans. it's a tragedy. it is a real tragedy in the wealthiest nation in the world. i am going to go to work to help the american people because i know that dream is still out there. the things we remember from the past is not something gone. what has happened these last three years is a detour, it is not america's destiny. america is the greatest nation on the history of the earth and we will call on the spirit to get government small and behind us. [applause] i love this country. i know we're going through tough times and we're going through tough times because of the failure of one man. that is why he has got to go. [applause]

i love the songs of the country. the song "america the beautiful." o beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. i used to joke with my friends in iowa corn counted as an amber waves of grain. i love the verse that says "a beautiful for heroes approved for more themselves their country love and mercy more than life." do we have any veterans in this room? national guard members? thank you. [applause] let me know the president just announced a plan to dramatically cut back on the military budget. the deal that was the president and congress cut back even further. i don't believe that's the right

course for america. we have to have a military so strong and superior that no one in the world would never think of testing it. i will rebuild our american military strength. [applause] there is one more verse that i might mention. "oh beautiful for patriot's dream that sees beyond the years." the idea was the patriot's dream, the founders dreamed of this country was not something temporary, but something enduring. i am convinced the principle of opportunity and freedom and protection of life were not temporary, but are permanent and if america is going through tough times, we should not stray from those principles but returned to them. i will get america strong again by restoring those principles. [applause]

while we may have a president in looking at our history and principles who is inclined to apologize for america, i will never apologize for this nation, which is the greatest nation on earth. thank you. thank you. thank you. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪

♪