again, brian williams. >> welcome back. an interesting night in tampa, florida. gentlemen, welcome back to you. senator santorum, let's begin this segment with you. since we have been nibbling around the edges of foreclosure crisis, 40% of homeowners in the state under water, 53% of the homes in tampa worth less today than before this crisis. was it too easy -- did the u.s. government make it too easy to own homes in america? >> the answer is unfortunately yes to that. there were several of us in the senate back then who saw this on the horizon, who saw the problem with freddie and fanny and tried to vote a bill out of committee to try to solve this problem, to constrain fannie and freddie. there are a lot of people fighting that, including harry reid and his minions on the other side of the aisle. i signed a letter with 24 other

senators that side we need to do something now, stop the filibustering of this bill, harry reid, barack obama, joe biden, all in the senate at this time. we said, if this does not happen, if we do not constrained these to pay amounts -- vehemence -- behomeths, we're joined have a collapse. you heard me say this before. let capitalism work to rid of these banks to realize their losses. and create an opportunity to get people who have passes to realize their losses and at least help them out. that is what i proposed in my tax plan. one would be to allow deductions from all loss of the that you of your home. you cannot deduct the loss. this is something i think is important temporarily to put in place to allow people the freedom to be able to go out and

get out from underneath these houses they are holding onto it and at least get some relief from the federal government. >> congressman paul, any role for the government? are they people the in thing for being under? >> the government owes them a free-market and a sound monetary system. but they gave them a mess, a financial system that created this problem. first the line of credit to the federal reserve was excessive. everyone now admits in washington interest rates were kept too low for too long. but in addition to that, insult to injury, they kept interest rates are low with freddie mac and freddie mae, a line of credit there there was a guarantee. i have introduced legislation to eliminate that line of credit. but in the community reinvestment act added more to it, forcing banks to make loans that were risky. ahold bubble, easily seen, the

consequences were anticipated. it was all government manufactured, but what do you do after you come upon a mess from the government and the politicians created? the best thing to do is get out of the way because you want the prices to come down so that people will start buying again, but politicians cannot allow that to happen. our policy in washington has to bid this stimulate houses and keep prices up. but this whole pane about how we get involved in this low- interest rate to stimulate the economy, almost everyone in washington in all sections of the economic sphere do not believe in wage and price controls, but they believe in controlling interest rates. that is one-half of the whole economy, and we have of a bunch of guys in a room in secret deciding what the interest rates should be, and they create this mess. we need to get out of the way in the debt has to be liquidated. a lot of people made a lot of money on that, but guess what, the federal reserve to the tunes of trillions and trillions of

dollars bail out the people that made all this money. guess what happened to the bed that that should gone bankrupt? it was dumped on to the taxpayers. as long as you maintain that debt on the books, you will not have grown. this is why japan -- we iran four now and will on till we understand who creates this and what you have to do to get out of it. >> 30 seconds on this, starting with governor romney. to help these homeowners are not? >> of course we help them. they are cracking down on people committing fraud in florida. we need to get government out of the mess that they created. we have to help people get more flexibility from their buying spree by now what dodd-frank, we have made it harder for banks to renegotiate mortgages. and finally coming you have to get the economy going again with people having jobs. florida with 9.9% unemployment, and with 18% real unemployment

in the state, you're not going to get housing recovering much less jobs. >> speaker. >> if you could repealed dodd- frank tomorrow morning, the economy would improve overnight. the fact is, dodd-frank has led the biggest banks to get bigger. it is crushing independent banks. it is an anti-housing bias. federal regulators are slowing down and making it harder to get loans for housing and it is crippling small business borrowing. all those functions of a bill passed by the democrats, if they would repeal tomorrow morning, if you have a better housing market the next day. you really think the financial system is over regulated? >> i really think -- yes it is overregulated. when you put that much power in the treasury under geithner, it is an invitation to corruption. it is a bias in the bank -- and the bill to make the banks get bigger. it is a bad bill.

when you have regulators walking into banks and say do not lend money on housing, it is a bad bill. >> it was poorly regulated. markets have to have regulation to work for you cannot just have everyone open up a bank in their garage. but it has to be up-to-date. if they did not have records -- capital requirements put in a place. they did not have regulation properly put in place for mortgage lenders. derivatives were not being regulated. you need to have regulation that is up today. they had all regulations and then they passed dodd-frank, and the speaker is absolutely right. it is almost impossible for community banks -- i was head of one of the big banks in new york, if they have hundreds of lawyers working on dodd-frank to implemented. community banks do not have hundreds of lawyers. it is killing the residential home market and it has to be replaced. >> governor romney, a lot of talk about the 3:00 a.m. phone call in the last debate.

let's say did president romney is that phone call to say that fidel castro has died. people in the pentagon predicts that all parts of 500,000 cubans may take that as a key to come to the united states. what do you do? >> ehud thank heaven that the bill castro has been sent to his maker. -- that fidel castro has been sent to his maker. you were progressively with the new leadership in the lead -- in cuba to make a more open than in the past. we had someone lose their life and a hunger strike working for democracy. this danger -- this government is being very dangerous with cuba, relaxing dangers. we want to stand with the people of cuba that want freedom very we want to move that effort forward, not by getting in and saying we lost by saying we will

fight for democracy. >> mr. speaker, the practical matter along the arctic coast. webfoot, drive it, what you do? >> the only thing i would suggest is that do not think that that dell is going to meet his maker. -- fidel is going to meet his maker. he is going to the other place. we need to do everything to support those cubans they want freedom. obama is infatuated with the arab spring. he is not able: 90 miles south of the united states to get cuban spring. i would put in place a very aggressive policy of reaching out to every single cuban to bring them together, reaching out to younger generation inside the dictatorship and indicating they do not have a future as a dictatorship. the gingrich presidency would not tolerate that.

overt, covert? in gauging the u.s. military? >> every asset including appropriate covert operations. what ronald reagan, john paul the second, and margaret thatcher did to the soviet empire. we need to maximize the chance for freedom in cuba. >> congressman. >> i have work to do. [laughter] how do pretty much the opposite. i do not like the isolette some of not talking to people. -- isolationism of not talking to people. i was drafted at the height of the cold war ended is over. we prop up castro for 40 years because we put on the sanctions. he could always say, anything wrong with the united states -- was the united states fall. it is time to stop the isolation business of not talking to

people. we talked to the soviets perry talked to the chinese and open up trade. we fought with the vietnamese for a long time and gave up and started talk to them and now we trade with them. i do not know why the cuban people should be -- should be so intimidated. i do not agree with the assumption that all the cubans are coming -- they are going have a lot more free them if we would only open up our doors and say we want to talk to you in trade with you in come visit. sometimes they cannot even send packages down there. i think we're living in the dark ages when we cannot even talk to the cuban people. i think it is my 1952 anymore. we do not have to use force and intimidation and the overthrow the government. i don't think that is more the work. >> senator santorum, if there was a strong lobby of chinese dissidents living in a state as politically important as florida, do you think we would have a trade policy with china

that looks more like the trade policy with cuba? >> not that there were 90 miles off our shore. this is an important doctrine of the united states, to make sure that our hemisphere and those close to us are folks that we can and should deal with. right now we have and have had for 50 years of dictatorship in cuba. at sanctions on them. they should continue. they should continue until the astros are dead and then we should make it clear that if you want aids in normal relationship, if you want to improve your economy and have the opportunity for freedom, that the united states stands ready to embrace you now that you've gotten rid of the tyrants who have controlled you for these 50 years. that is why the sanctions have to stay in place. we need to have a very solid offer to come forward and help the cuban people. it is not 1952. with the cubans and the venezuelans and the nep brought

winds, there is a growing network of folks networking with the jihadists, the iranians who are excited about the opportunity to have a platform 9 miles off our coast, just let the soviets were. they are anxious to have platforms 90 miles of farkas, or in venezuela or nicaragua or other places where they can come across the southern border. as a threat to have been talking about for six or seven years and it will not go away until we confront the threat and hopefully are able to convince a good in people -- the cuban people to change their government. >> last night a u.s. aircraft carrier and attendant navy vessels pass through the strait of hormuz. if iran was able to fill and carry out that threat to shut down the straight, would you consider that an act of war? what would you do about it? >> of course it is an act of war.

it is appropriate and essential for our navy to maintain open seas. we have control of the space and carnegie has the capacity to do that or did in the past. under this president and the prior presidents we keep on shrinking our navy. our navy is now smaller than any time since 1917. and the president is building roughly nine ships in guilford we need to raise that the 15 ships a year, not because we want to go to war with anyone if of because we do not want anyone to take the hazard of going against us. if we want them to see that we are so strong they could not the fetus. we need an aircraft carrier in the gulf and the task force with that in the mediterranean, we want to show iraq any action of that nature would be an act of war. an act of terror would still keep those sea lanes open. >> you would keep that bedrock definition. how'd you gauge the appetite on

the part of the american people after a better part of warfare, fighting two wars overseas, for something like that? in the american people have no interest in going to war anywhere. we have no interest in going to war with the japanese when they bombed pearl lot -- pearl harbor. no interest in going into afghanistan when the jihadists destroyed the world trade center. the fact is that we have historically been a country that was like peas, stability, but also had historic commitment to freedom at sea. and the most dangerous possibility, with barack obama just did, the iranians are practicing close to the straits of hormuz. actively taunting us, so he cancels a military exercise with the israelis so as not to be propped -- provocative? dictators respond to strength. they do not respond to weakness. there is a grave danger that the iranians think that this

president is so weak they could close the street or from use and not offer a substantial consequence. -- the strait of hormuz and not offer a substantial consequence. >> how would you deal with the taliban? >> by beating them. by making sure that we can have a transition to the afghan military, a capacity for them to be successful in holding off the taliban. our mission is to turn afghanistan and its sovereignty over to a military and an afghan people that can defend their sovereignty. that is something we can accomplish in the next couple of years. this president, however, has made it difficult for our troops to be successful in that mission by announcing another -- of what role they tortured, number two, drawing down our surged troops faster than the commanders on the ground thought was necessary. you do not draw them down during the middle of the fighting season. and by not overseeing elections in an afghanistan to make sure that the selection of the

president was seen as legitimate. he has failed in executing a policy in afghanistan that what optimize our prospects of success. >> any appetite on the stage to negotiate with the taliban? >> i wanted to get involved in the discussion. the question was, would you go to war question -- go to war? met said that he would but you have to think about the preliminary act that might cause them to want to close the strait of hormuz, and that is the blockade. we are blockading them. imagine what we would do if someone blockaded the gulf of mexico. that would be an act of war. the act of war has already been committed in this is a retaliation. but there is no interest to close the strait of hormuz. they needed as much as we do. you have to put that into perspective. but this whole idea that we have to go to war because we, we have

committed the act by blocking the country. i think newt is right. i think he is wrong about world war ii. the people were ready because we declared it and we want it quickly. but the people are not ready. we do not have any money. we have too many wars. they want people to come home and they do not want a hot war in iran right now. that would be the first thing -- they would be the worst thing to do in the war. >> i want to welcome two colleagues when we continue in tampa after this. [applause] >> welcome back to tampa. i welcome two fellow journalists to the states. joined by our partners in this debate, the tampa bay times and

the national journal. adams met a longtime political editor of the tampa bay times. -- adam smith a longtime political editor of the tampa bay times. many people at a gop debate think adam smith should be present. [laughter] off florida native, a political reporter at the miami herald for many years. but senator santorum, i did not get you in on the iran round. you have talked about this a lot. you have said, taking out iran's nuclear program. the problem is that so many in the military telesis the target list. where do you limit it? the air strikes that some estimates would begin at 30-60 days sustain, taking out air defenses, all of that familiar language that the american people have just been through for a decade. >> the contrast is what happens

if iran gets a nuclear weapon and the entire world changes. iran is not just another country or a little small country as president obama classically said during the campaign. iran -- obama's iran policy has been a classic the year. he is not been true to the american people about the threat iran poses to the world, not just israel, but the world and the united states. the theocracy their runs iran is the equivalent of having al qaeda in charge of the country with huge oil reserves, gas reserves, and a nuclear weapon. that is something that no president could allow have happened under any circumstances. u.s. the question, is this an act of war? let's look at the tax of four by rendered their holding hostages. they are attacking our troops, the improvised explosive device that they have killed our soldiers in afghanistan and iraq, the people were trained in funded in iran, specifically to

kill american troops. the ships that have been attacked by iran, embassies attack by iran, iran has plotted to kill the saudi ambassador in this country. it is a long list of attacks, of warlike behavior on the part of this regime. and to believe that if they had a nuclear weapon that would somehow, into the community of nations, it is a reckless act on a part of the president. it would be reckless not to do something to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon. >> thank you, and in the interest of the local state politics, beth reinhard. >> senator santorum, there are proposals to expand offshore oil drilling. optimistic estimates say that it would create a 5000 jobs.

but spills could affect more than 1 million people. is it worth the risk? >> florida is seeing a very bad economy that became one because of the huge spike in oil prices in the summer of 2008. energy is absolutely key to keep all of our country help, specifically florida. it is a destination place. this is a place that relies upon people being able to travel and afford to be able to travel to come down. it relies upon the economy being strong, manufacturing in sarasota county today, talking about a manufacturer and the importance of manufacturing jobs. and the price of energy for them to be able to be competitive. it is absolutely essential that we have as much domestic supply of oil, that we build the keystone pipeline, create the jobs that that would create an provide oil from domestic sources. the pipelines that run on the

floor of the sea are the safest way to transport oil. it is tankers that cause much more problems. pipelines of the safeway. building those rigs, piping that oil into the shore is the best way to create a good economy for the state of florida. >> many think that english should be the official language of united states, meaning many official documents would not be available in spanish. governor brown, you are advertising and spanish. why is it not ok for the government's to serve them in spanish? >> it comes down to an important language but the challenges of a pit there are 86 languages in miami dade county. 86. the art 200 languages spoken chicago. how to unify the country?

what is the common bond that enables people to be both citizens and to rise commercially and have a better life? campaigning historically, you've always been willing to go to people on their terms in their culture, whether it is greek independence day or something you did for the irish on st. patrick's day. i am perfectly happy to have a lot of support in the hispanic community. but as a country, to unify ourselves in the future, in which there may be up to 400 languages spoken in the united states, it is essential to have a central language that we expect people to learn and to be able to communicate with each other in. >> said you would only have balance in english. >> you get have programs where people could read the ballots. jim i think speaker gingrich is right with regard to what he is described. in my state, we had a tradition of teaching people in the language of their birth.

we had in our school systems people being taught and a whole range of languages. we had had teachers they could speak in cambodian and vietnamese and our kids will be taught in foreign languages in all school. and at the end of their education and experience, they cannot speak english well. so we campaign for english immersion in our schools and said that kids will have a transition period and we teach them english. english is the language of this nation. people need to learn english to be held to be successful, the great jobs. we do not want to have people limited in their capacity to achieve the american dream because they do not speak english. encouraging the people to learn the language of america is a good idea. recognize that the same time that we want people coming here from other cultures to speak other languages. that strengthens america. it is a great thing, but having them learn english as a great thing also for their project for them and their kids.

>> congressman paul. >> my answer is similar but a little bit different because of the national level we have to have one language. we cannot have multiple languages. haveegal reasons awe would one language. but the system gives us a way to be more generous. how cannot support of federal law preventing florida from accommodating in a state election. that is the magnificence of our system here you can solve some of these problems without dictating one answer for all states. but nationally we should have one language. >> of the dream act would provide amnesty for children brought here legally if they attend college or join the military. governor romney and senator santorum said it would veto this legislation. would you do this and?

>> i would work to get assignable version with a military component. in the young person brought here by their parents when they were very young to have the same opportunity to join the american military and earned citizenship which they would add back york -- back home. you can in fact earn the right to citizenship by taking real risks on behalf united states. how have that part of the dream act to support. i would not support the park this simply says everyone who goes to college is automatically way you for having broken the law. >> i filled at this the same position that would have. i would not sign the dream act as it currently exists, but if it were focused on the military service. >> adam smith. >> you say you do not want to go and round up people and deport them but you also said it would have to go back to their home country and then apply for

citizenship. if you do not deport them, how use in hong? >> cell deportation. people can decide to go home because they cannot find work here because they do not have legal documentation to allow them to work it. we're now going around people of. we say, you have come here illegally. under my plan, you get a transition period and the opportunity to to work here, but one that transition period is over, they would no longer have the documentation to allow them to work in this country. at that point, they could decide whether to remain or return home and to apply for legal residency in the united states, get in line with everybody else. i know people think that is not fair who have come here illegally. >> if someone does not feel like they have opportunity in america, they can already do become. >> and the people are not able to have a card and have that e- verify system to determine that they are here illegally, they

like it worked here. they will sell off the port -- socks support -- self-deport. i just don not think is fair to the people who have loved ones waiting in line legally to come to america and say we're going to encourage illegal immigration by giving amnesty to people will come here illegally. >> self-deportation, is that a valid concept? >> it is happening now because of lack of job opportunities. if you enforce a law and say that people who are here illegally, working, which are not allowed to do, you'll probably stolen someone's social security number which is another law that is broken. that we should enforce the law. it is not the case that someone

just breaks the law when they come here illegally. they continually break the law. my father came to this country, my grandfather came to this country, he left my dad behind for five years. my dad was without at that war was the first five years of his life. -- without a dad for the first five years of his life. you come to this country in the first thing you do is to respect our laws, if you want to be an american, you respect a loss of of america and you do so continually what you're here. we do not reward behavior when you do not respect our laws in your initial act and you continually break the laws in order to stay. >> speaker gingrich, and i'll let you are a big supporter of ethanol subsidy. here in florida, sugar is a big commodity. should conservatives do away with these programs? critics say it as billions of dollars to consumer grocery bills every year.

>> i found out one of the fascinating things about america, the cane sugar hide behind beet sugar. they're too many beet sugar districts in the united states. an amazing sight story about how such -- interest rates operate. in an ideal world coming to have an open market. that would be a better future and frankly one where cane sugar could still make a lot of money. but it's very hard to imagine how you get there. i spent all lot of time reforming agriculture when i was speaker. it was one of the two or 3 hardest things to do because of the power of agriculture groups to defend themselves is amazing. >> governor running, you erred getting all lot of help from the sugar industry. >> we need to get rid of subsidies and let markets were properly. let's talk about what is going on in florida. you both know what is going on here. i spent time this morning with

eight different individuals talking about their circumstances. there are people in florida that are hurting. a lot of homes underwater for this president came into office saying he would turn this economy around and everything he has done has made it harder for the people of florida. we have 25 million americans out of work. we have in florida 9.9% unemployment. we have 80% of our people in this state that are underemployed. this president has failed miserably the people of florida. he has no plans for nasa. the space coast is struggling. this president has failed the people of florida and we need a president who understands how to get an economy going again. he plays 90 rounds of golf with 20 million people out of work. he said that gasoline -- he saw gasoline prices double under his presidency and he said do not bill the keystone pipeline.

he added another trillion dollars on top of the budget for his obamacare and his stimulus. >> florida's everglades provide drinking water and affect thousands of drops. would you commit to continuing federal financing of the everglades preservation? >> i did not see any reason to go after that. i will look into the details on whether they could be a state issue or not. both all wars going on and the economy in shambles as it is, and the unemployment, to worry about dealing with that program, we could do it in the theoretical sense but no reason to, but contains. -- to complicate things. >> we will take another break. we will return from tampa. [applause]

>> the nbc news debate continues. in partnership with the floor at council of 100. once again, brian williams. [applause] >> we are back from tampa. once again the question continues. adam smith. >> senator santorum, in 2005 and florida was in the middle of a huge national debate about terry shivavo, after being in a vegetative state for years. you are at the front and center of advocating congressional intervention. you evening came down here. -- you even came down here. why should the government have more say in medical decisions like that is that of the spouse? >> i did come down to tampa. our schedule to come down for that event and it so happened

that situation was going on. i did not call for congressional intervention. i called for a judicial hearing by an impartial judge allowed the federal level to review her case in which you have parents and a spouse on different sides of the issue. and these were constituents of mine, the parents, live in pennsylvania. they came to me and made a very strong case that they would like to see some other para buys look at it. and i agreed to advocate for that. i believe that we should give respect and dignity for all human life, the respect of -- their respective of their condition. if there is someone they wanted to provided take care of them, i wanted to make sure that the judicial proceedings were properly. i would do it again. >> do not resuscitate directives. are they morrill? >> i do not believe that they

are immoral. people should make that decision and i have supported legislation for them to make it. >> how does that square with the action with your understanding of the constitution and the separation of power? >> we go to extraordinary lengths for people who are on murderers' row. they have extraordinary rights of appeal. we have here is someone who was in a coma, who had on one hand her husband saying let her die, and your parents saying let her live. having a bias in favor of light and at least going to a federal hearing would be automatic if it was a criminal on death row. it is not too much to say in some circumstances your rights as american citizen of the respected and ought to be at least to judicial review of where third not in that circumstance you should be allowed to die. it has nothing to do with whether an all-night you as a citizen have the right to have your own end of life

prescription, totally appropriate for you to do is a matter of your values in consultation with your doctor. >> congressman paul, if you're a doctor. what was your view of this case? >> it was so unfortunate. so unusual in that case does not, but very often. it should seek to assault to have a living wills or a good conversation with a -- teach us all to have living wills are a good conversation with a spouse. it is better have a living will. but i do not going up the ladder. because of the federal courts and the congress and on all. yes, will it be perfect for everybody? i would prefer to see the decision made at the state level. but i have been involved in madison with thing similar but not quite as difficult as this. but usually we defer to the family. it was not made a big issue like this was a very this was way out of proportion to what happened

more routinely. but it should urges all to plan for this and make sure that one " -- of one individual close to makes the decision or sign a living will and this would solve the whole problem. >> governor romney, this was the state to put the first man on the mend. america right now has no way to put people in the space except a hitch a ride with the russians. meanwhile the chinese are ramping up their space program. add a time when we want to cut federal spending, should space exploration be a priority? >> it should be a priority. we have a president right now who does not have a vision or a mission for nasa and. as a risk -- people on the space coast are suffering and people in florida. i happen to believe our space program is important not only for science but also for commercial development and for military development. it is the right mission for nasa, determined as the president, with a collection of

people from those different eras prefer an acid, from the air force, the state programs, from our leading universities, and from commercial enterprises. bring them together, discuss a wide range of options for nasa, and then have nasa not just funded by the federal government but also by commercial enterprises, have some research done in our universities -- let's have a collaborative effort with business and government and our military as well as with our educational institutions, have a mission, exciter young people about the potential of space, and the commercial potential, it would pay for itself down the road. this is a great opportunity. clark has technology for people here on the space coast have technology and vision and passion that american needs. and with the president actually willing to create a mission for nasa and for space, we can continue to lead the world. >> would you put more tax dollars into the space race in commit to putting americans on mars instead of relying on the private sector?

>> the two are not incompatible. most of the breakthroughs in aviation in the 1920's and 1930's were private. lindbergh flew to paris for $25,000. i like to see more of the money spent encouraging the private sector into aggressive experimentation. a lot like to see all leaner nasa and a bigger bureaucracy and more people sitting in rooms talking will get you there. but we have a series of goals that we can offer prizes for. put up people that will an amazing amount of money and make the space coast home with activity because of all this. getting to mars is rapidly as possible. building a series of space stations and developing commercial space. a whole series of things that you could do that would be dynamic that would be more than better government bureaucracy,

but plugging into a world we you incentivize people who are visionaries and in the private sector to invest very large amounts of money in romanic and exciting futures. >> another question for you on another topic. you have talked about the millions of jobs created by the rate of tax cuts. if tax cuts create jobs, why did the bush tax cuts not work? >> there was a difficulty with the attack of 9/11. what had been in much worse shape than most economists agree that in 2002 and 2004, we would of been in worse shape without the bush tax cuts. look at the regulatory burden. the reason i called for repealing dodd-frank and obamacare and sarbanes-oxley, you have these huge layers of bureaucratic micromanagement that are crippling the american system. they're making it much harder for us to create the kind of jobs we would like. wenorth dakota today,

have a boom in oil development. unemployment is down to 3%. that tax cuts to the state level because the oil was on private land. if it had been on public land, the environmentalist and barack obama would have stop this developing and north dakota would be mired in a 9% unemployment. get the tax incentives right in you can create an amazing number of jobs very fast. >> my thanks to my panelists. so is the section of our conversation. the final abbottabad from tampa tonight coming up after this last break. -- final part of our debate from tampa tonight coming up after this plast breath. [applause] >> welcome back to tampa. our final section of our conversation tonight. we're back identify the zero states.

i thought we would talk about the big picture. this has been called, in addition to this unprecedented primary contest, a battle for the soul of the republican party. governor running, the question is about that seoul, what have you done to further the cause of conservatism as a republican leader? >> number one, i've raised a family. with my wife we erased five wonderful sons and we had 16 wonderful rink is. number two, i worked in the private sector. the idea that everything import for conservatism for america happens in government is simply wrong. i've been in the private sector. i worked in one business in trouble and turned it around. another i started. we were able to create thousands and thousands of jobs. i took an opportunity to become governor of a state that was slightly democrat, about 80%.

we work to implement the conservative agenda. we balance the budget every year pre we put in place a rainy day fund of over 2 billion -- $2 million. we were successful in having english immersion in our schools, being number one in the nation. that type of a conservative model and a state like massachusetts was a model in many respects that other states could see that conservative principles worked. we are able or reach across the aisle the fight for conservative principles and now i'm taken that to a presidential campaign. i wrote a book about those principles about why they are right for america. >> mr. speaker, you've talked a lot about conservative principles. was that good enough? >> i do not want to spend my time talking about him. i went to a goldwater organizing session in 1962 and met with ronald reagan in 1974. i worked with jack kemp to develop supply side economics and the late 1970's. i held governor reagan become president reagan. i helped pass the reagan economic program and worked

with the national security council on the collapse of the soviet empire. a organize of a group to build a majority in the house for the first time since 1954. the first reelected majority since 1928. and develop the conservative opportunity society, talked about big ideas come of it solutions. most of my life has been spent developing a conservative movement across this country. that it relates to elected to what we have to do. only a genuine conservative in a position to debate obama and to show how wide the gap is between obama's policies and conservatism can in fact when, because he is going to spend $1 billion smearing whoever the nominee is. we better be prepared to beat him in the debate improve exactly how wrong is they use are and how wrong his practices are. synergen soar -- senator santorum, this this is back to electability. some of the newspaper headlines

, promising still linked to gingrich to foreclosure crisis. a second one, the verdict is in very mitt romney's bain capital problem is real. what is the affected your candidacy? >> there are more fundamental issues than that. there is a capito problem of two of the german appear with meager one is on the biggest issue that we have to deal with that is crushing the economy and will crush freedom, obamacare. governor running's plant in massachusetts was the basis of obamacare. speaker gingrich for 20 years supported up federal individual mandate which is going to the supreme court say that it is unconstitutional. he spent 20 years up to last year's supporting an individual mandate, at the core of obamacare . if if you look at cap and trade, he was very happy

to say that he was part of a state to be the first put a cap on believing on global warming in criticizing republicans for not believing in it. speaker gingrich was for cap and trade program with incentives. he was for the rubric of cap and trade. again, huge differences between my position and where president obama is, but not so on two major issues. go down and look at wall street. you preach conservatism and private sector, but when push came to shove, they got pushed. they did not stand tall for the conservative principles that they argued that there were four. and we ended up with this bailout that injected government into business like it has never been done before. they rejected conservatism when it was hard to stand. it will be hard to stand, it is going to be tough.

there will be a mountain of problems. it would be easy to bailout and compromise your principles. on the three issues that got that tea party started, the pace of the conservative movement, the republican party, and there is no distance between president obama and these two gentleman. that is why this election in florida is of critical. we need someone that can create the contrast between the president and the conservative point of view. >> congressman paul, these two mena in the middle, are the insufficiently conservative for you? >> we need to define what conservative means. that is our problem. conservative means smaller government and more liberty. and yet you ask, what have we done? we lost our way completely. our rhetoric is still pretty good but when we get and authority, you talk about dodd- frank, we gave them sarbanes- oxley. when we are in charge.

what should the role of government be? the founders had a revolution in wrote the constitution. they said the role of government ought to be to protect liberty. it is not to run a welfare state or be policeman of the world. how can you be conservative and cut food stamps but you will not cut spending overseas? there is not an nickell, a penny that anyone will cut on the conservative side on overseas spending. they're willing to start more wars. if you want small government across the board, especially in personal liberty, what is wrong with having the government out of our personal lives? we have to decide what conservative means and limited government. i have a simple suggestion dared we have a good guide called the constitution. government would be very small and we would be all devoted conservatives. >> so-called romney-care and obamacare has been sat side-by- side by your opponents.

you've been called insufficiently conservative. >> i have a record. you can look at it. i describe what i accomplished in massachusetts. also going up against ted kennedy, what a great thrill that was. he had take a mortgage at on this house to make sure he could defeat me. i think the policies he took in place -- put in place hurt america. my health care plan is one that under our constitution we are allowed have. the people and our state chose a plan that is working for our state. i was asked time and again, is this something you have the federal government do? i said absolutely not. i do not support a federal mandate. i did not support of federal one-size-fits-all plan. i believed in the constitution. you cannot impose obamacare on the states. what i will do if i am president is repeal obamacare and return to the states the authority and are right that states have to craft their own programs.

>> none of you believe in polls, but as we came in, the numbers in the known world, your numbers were on the rise. what scares you about the presidency if you made it to the job you want? >> they agree with rick santorum. i believe whoever the next president is, if we're getting america back on the right track, he will face an enormous difficulty, some of which has been accurately diagnosed by dr. paul. the fact is that we have tremendous institutional bias against doing the right thing. and again skinning things done. we have huge interest groups they would rather preside over the wreckage then lose their favorite position by helping the country. i never ask anyone to be for me. then they would vote for me and go home. i ask people to be with me

because this will be a very hard, very difficult journey. i find it homeland and sobering that one would have to try to get america back on the right track, despite all of our elite and entrenched bureaucracy. >> governor romney, you talk about restoring america's greatness. given that, in your view, when was america last great? >> america still is great. but we have a lot of people suffering. we have people underemployed that should not be buried unemployed that should not be carried home the these continue to go down. we have the median income that has declined to% in this country. we're still a great nation but we do not have so many suffering. i am running in part because i have the experience and how the economy works and i want to use that experience to get people working again, to get our economy working again, and the idea to get our economy working is not to have the government play a more intrusive role in our economy works, but instead

to the seven things that is an economy going through it taxes competitive, regulation is models also, get ourselves energy independent, open up trade with other nations, crack down on cheaters, and sure we do not have crony capitalism -- which is going on right now, human capital through education, and balance the budget. people will not invest in the economy and create new jobs if they think we're going to hit a grease-like wall. i would get america working again. >> i want to thank all of our candidates in our host here at the university of south florida. we're obligated to say, goebbels. [applause] -- go bulls. [applause] >> for more resources in the race, color campaign 2012 website. see what the candidates have said on issues important u.n. read the latest from candidates,

political reporters, and people like you from social media sites. >> today on washington journal, a look ahead at the president's state of the union address and the president's fiscal 2013 budget. with democratic congressman brad miller of north carolina. in congressman steve southerland, republican of florida, talks about the republican primary in his state next tuesday. later, a discussion on a peace in washington monthly titled american productivity. we will hear from michael mandel chief economic strategist the economic policy institute. washington journal every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> mr. speaker, the president of united states. >> tonight president obama delivers his state of the union address.

live coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern, including the president's speech, the republican response by indiana gov. mitch daniels, and your phone calls live on c-span2 and he's been greater. on, watch the speech along with tweets from members of congress. after the address, more reaction from house members and senators per throughout the night, go online for live video and lead your comments using facebook and twitter. c-span.org. >> falling all of this, the senate watch editor clive and capitol hill. thank you for being with us. what can we expect from the president tomorrow? guest: from the indications that we received from what jay carney was saying today and what was posted over the weekend in a message on a youtube for campaign supporters, it sounds like there could be some fiery election-year themes.

the white house has been indicating that they are going to continue to push forward on some of the initiatives designed to improve the economy going forward. which may not be the -- what the republicans necessarily want to hear. host: let me follow on a couple of points including from your colleague, available on-line at the roll call website. the president is trying to steal republican rhetoric. we're seeing some of that last month with a speech in kansas and more recently as he talks about trying to streamline government operations, reduced regulation, placing an emphasis on manufacturing and jobs, all issues we have been hearing from the republicans especially if gingrich and mitt romney. guest: right, and that is the way that the white house is looking to frame issues in the weeks ahead. steve broke the roll call story

and part of our cover story in cq weekly where we're taking a look at tora -- a look at a variety of issues that could come up this year, including a number of issues about regulations. the republicans have been talking about it repeatedly. as you talk to the house republicans, they say they have passed on the order of 30 jobs- related bills that they are claiming are stuck in the senate, and there is some truth said. some of those measures will have no chance of passing on the other side of the capital. audience,president's the american voter and the american people and democrats in congress, specifically to democrats, what is his message? guest: the message for democrats this year will likely be to keep pushing forward.

you hear from the democratic campaign committee in the house that they want to take back the house and give nancy pelosi the speaker's gavel back for the next congress. they are in campaign mode and i expect the president will be as well. host: what are you seeing as far as preparations? guest: particularly tomorrow, the house will go out of session relatively early in the day, by 5:00. that would have to be vacating the chamber to allow for security sweeps. as a practical matter, there is a law of suspension -- they suspended tours, and a lot of people get ready for, and circumstance. the senate always gathers as a body, with the senators in the

chamber about half an hour before the speech. and then they proceed through statuary hall and through the rotunda and into the house chamber altogether. host: joining us live on capitol hill, thank you for being with us here on c-span radio. >> mr. speaker, the president of the united states. [applause] >> tonight, president obama delivers his state of the union address grid live coverage at 8:00 p.m. eastern, including the president's speech, republican response by mitch daniels, and your phone calls live on c-span and c-span radio. on c-span2, watch the speech along with proceeds from members of congress. after the speech, more reaction from house members and senators. go online for wide video and add your comments at facebook and twitter at c-span.org.

>> coming up this morning, presidential speech writers talk about the writing of the state of the union address. see it live starting at 8:30 a.m. eastern on c-span2. live on c-span3, a house oversight subcommittee overlooks a permit decision for mcpherson square. coming up next, "washington journal." at noon, the u.s. house starts his legislative day with the faa extension act and motions to instruct conferees on a tax payer bill. live at 9:00 p.m. eastern, the house and senate meet in a joint session of congress to get the president's state of the union speech. in 45 minutes, look ahead at the state of the union and the fiscal 2013 budget. our guest is congressman brad miller, aem