money for their services. you would basically be having minority people paying the cost of health care for a white, elderly population, and when those minority people come of age to be beneficiaries they, themselves, will be gettinghost. caller: we lost our moral compass. everybody is gaming the system. i don't believe anybody, even this professor, until i see some top executives going to jail. you talk about dodd-frank -- chris dodd got a free mortgage, friends of mario and mario goes into the sunset. and the guy from fannie mae goes off with millions. we are still bailing them out. all these attorney general's are pushing the settlement agreement letting everybody off the hook.

people pushing the judges to confirm these agreements. everybody is kicking the system. occupy wall street did not go far enough. these democrats, they talk and talk. this guy before, he is part of the system. these are the rules going forward. that was the argument in nazi germany. all of these guys have to go down. hospitals in new york, not one top executive who makes under $2 million a year. all of these guys -- they have to be walked down the street in handcuffs. guest: you don't sound like a republican. but i think your point is totally well-taken. it has been very little punishment, in a sense, for those who caused havoc in our economy. not only has there been no punishment but they basically have been subsidized out of their own problems, and now they

are back making very good money while there are literally 40 million people unemployed and 25 million people either unemployed or underemployed. the system has not been fair. i just have to say, i think you are right. host: tuscaloosa. gary, independent. caller: i would like to take the doctor to test about his social security statement here. the thing that he neglected to mention, since i am 65 and they do draw social security, i paid into the system for 50 years. there was a contract. now, i know it has been to the supreme court and they said i did not have a contract with the government. but we all know better. it is a contract. and now that it is time to pay

the bill, they spent the money. this spend it on -- congress used it as a slush fund to buy votes. and it is going to have to be paid. it was a contract. and i heard all of this. we listened to this through the mortgage -- everybody has a contract, you have to abide by your contract and do what you say you are going to do, and now you have this guy on the air saying we don't have to, it is unfair to take money from the younger generation and give it to the old. host: let's get a response from mr. edsel -- thomas edsall. guest: i said it was in fact a transfer of money from younger people to older people. the money you get, you have paid payroll tax over your lifetime, but that does not cover the average full cost of the services you are going to

receive. you are getting something of a government subsidy. so, to say -- and i don't have the figures with me -- but it is a fairly substantial government subsidies. in addition to the pay of of the money you put in. you did put money in and you deserve credit for that. the problem is, when you are faced -- and also, the federal the socials, security trust fund actually looks pretty solid and there is not much pressure to cut it back. i think you're pretty safe, and you are certainly save at your age. they are not going to cut it back from people in the older age categories. they may change the rules and make it in the future that you have to be older before you can retire. they may change the rate of growth of inflation for your payments to increase. but they are not going to take a

big hit. but when you got a crunch, people are going to get hurt. and it is not going to be done entirely on the basis of fairness. you made a strong case that you, in fairness, are owed this money. but a lot of people are going to make a lot of cases. people are going to say we need airplanes to defend the country. they are going to say we need to make sure children have decent health care. all of these things -- it is a political competition, and you are basically -- and you think you are basically out of the fray because of your age, but if you were 45, say, you would be in the middle of this fight. host: next is maine. scott, a democrat. caller: good morning. i have been sitting and listening to you guys. the other caller pretty much said it, the system is broken.

this kind of follows. i would invite your viewers to go, if they have computers, to look up cfr, council of foreign relations and the wto and just start connecting the dots basically. the corporations have literally gutted this country. we have been gutted and sold out to lowest bidder. and the last thing to get is social security. that is it. they want to privatize it and put it in wall street and they will do anything and everything to make it look bad, make it look like it is going to have problems, and all the alarmists. it is just pretty much it. they are after it. they have been cents he put it into play, roosevelt did. they screamed and her -- hollered about the back then.

guest: there certainly is a drive on the conservative side of the aisle to privatize social security, which would put it, in a sense, in the hands of wall street who would like to privatize your funds so you would invest and wall street would invest it for you and collect a fee. i am not sure if the larger theory of the council on foreign relations and so forth, that a large conspiracy is taking place. but people are fighting for their own self interests, and wall street sees its self interest as being benefited from this huge resource which could be transferred into private pension plans, which would be a great source of money for wall street and for the whole financial system. so, in a sense, you are right. host: the papers this morning

are full of stories about immigration. let me show you a quick clip from last night that a candidate debates where immigration was discussed and we will come back and talk about your chapter on immigration. [video clip] mr. speaker, i am not anti- immigrant. my father was born in mexico. it is repulsive. it cannot use a term like that. host: the heat around the immigration discussion. how does the debate over immigration -- new polls suggest say it is listen in -- listed as their third issue of concern this year, how does it play into your politics of austerity? guest: what happens when you have austere circumstances -- scarcity and rural resources -- is people tend to become much more adverse and hostile toward outside groups, and immigrants are clearly an outside group,

and more and more people seek immigrants -- see immigrants as taking tax dollars, but the resources we have, and spending them on people who are in this country illegally. this has become a much bigger issue than it was before -- george w. bush was very much in favor of some form basically of amnesty for -- and he could run that way in 2004. you cannot run in the republican presidential primary being for any form of amnesty or path to citizenship for the people who are in this key chip -- country without documents. the whole ball game has changed. ronald reagan passed a law granting amnesty to, i guess, 3 million undocumented immigrants in this country. of these were conservative

republicans. -- these were conservative republicans. this whole issue, when you have so little to hand out, becomes an intensely emotional issue for many people will feel their resources are being attacked and they just cannot afford them anymore. host: that was 1986, and my right? guest: yes. host: back on social security, a viewer on twitter -- guest: you know, that is probably true. it may not be complicated, but tried to get it through congress. you have one party absolutely opposed to any tax increases, and you have the other party, the democrats, very ambivalent about increase in the taxes. secondly, even for democrats, raising the payroll tax, unless what you'd do is raise the

income of covered so that a very rich people would have to pay on all of their income, that would be what democrats would like. republicans would not like that at all. so, it is true, you could solve these problems with the snap of the thing there but you can't snap the finger of congress. host: reading, pennsylvania. caller: he just basically took the question out of my mouth. good morning, thomas. basically my question is, when are we going to hear a politician say that we are going to have to stop the bush tax cut, which we have suffered through for almost a decade, and we are going to have to tax the top 1% and we are going to have to cut back on some of our spending, some of our military spending, so that we don't step in to every bag of poop that

other countries put in front of so we can don't -- save military lives by not going into every combat zone, so that we can save some money and put it into jobs and the deal with our $15.50 trillion worth of debt t. obama spent time and energy on the simpson-bowles and then did nothing about it. when are we going to hear a politician deal with the problems of our future instead of putting out fires every second of the day? host: thank you. the last question gets to your topic. guest: i don't want to be a -- for obama, but he has called for raising the tax on of the

wealthiest and he does have a proposal, mentioned in a sense already, on defense budget cuts, which is part of what you say needs to be said. but in terms of a larger, really, forthright discussion, i think you are correct that it has not emerged and basically people are chicken to go that way. host: in your many years of watching the political process -- for last question was a interesting to me -- when will politicians look at the problems of the future rather than dealing with today's fires? have you ever known, the way this system is structured, for the political process to respond to 4-looking issues as opposed to the day's big fires? guest: to be honest, not really. i have covered congress since

1974. if you had a real crisis, another crisis -- europe falls apart and things go south of badly in this country -- it might be actually the present crisis would force people to think how we are going to get out of this more in the future. but i don't think you are going to get action until you have a severe situation. people have to be forced to act. the american system does not voluntarily engage the future it in any reasonable sense. host: is that a lack of leadership? guest: yes, you could say that. but it is also that the constituencies in the past are much stronger than the constituencies of the future. it is interesting -- but the stop online piracy fight was, it in a sense, the companies of

the past -- the content providers and so forth were trying to protect their product, and the people of the future, the silicon valley, internet users, young people, that is the one case where the young people and the future and seemed to have won. but they were not going to win in congress but they won because they rose up in a protest and fought very effectively and basically stopped this "stop online peiris see" act. host: and the public reaction to the banking fees. guest: again, it was something outside of congress where suddenly people just got angry. host: and now have the tools through social media. guest: and there are much better tools for people to mobilize and to communicate with their members. these members during the sopa the date were terrified. they were running away from the bill like crazy.

host: new port richey, florida. you will be the last caller. republican. caller: good morning. can you hear me? yes. professor, i wanted to point out something. you know, we can talk all day long about why we are in at this problem we are in and how much in that we are, and i can cite some figures, the most recent that i had was backed in 2008 where today chairman richard fisher wrote a letter called "storms on the horizon" that said our entitlement programs had unfunded liabilities and obligations to the tune of almost $100 trillion. that was back in 2008. if we know what happened since then. an enormous amount of spending that has taken place. our national debt is over $16 trillion with the additional debt ceiling increase that i think the senate passed yesterday or the day before. so, anyway, where i am going

with this is the problem that we have is we have been in an upward trajectory of spending the country into a fiscal oblivion. ever since the gold standard was removed. we have a fiat money system, central bankers controlling the economy essentially. and this allows congress, past and present, to grow, to feed itself by taxing the people to grow the federal government because it creates an enormous amount of basically fiat money, from natural reserve banking, all that stuff, where basically the dollar is becoming devalued every single year. host: can you work which she is giving us? guest: i did not know the larger

theory she is presenting, but the immediate points congress does prefer to spend than to cut. and they probably do prefer to cut taxes -- they like to cut taxes and raise spending. that is inherent in a politician's mind-set. host: both parties? guest: both parties. if they could do that forever they would be very happy and would think they would get reelected over and over again. host: in fact, incumbents keep getting send back. guest: they do get reelected over again. host: the message to the public is sending? guest: you guys are doing a great job. even though approval of congress is down, about 9%, the actual vote is about 94%. it is really a dichotomy -- it is clearly a dysfunctional kind of political system. host: all this and more yen "the

age of austerity: how scarcity will remake american politcs." thank you, thomas edsall, for being here. we will be right back. we will talk about the economy and our final segment is america by the numbers. we will be looking at manufacturing in the united states. the president made some remarks about manufacturing, what state it is in and how he thinks it should be brought back to greater levels. we will be looking at the real state of american manufacturing with government statisticians and also the national association of manufacturers. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> c-span's "road to the white house" coverage takes you live to candidate events in florida, leading up to the primary. >> by the end of my second term -- [laughter] [laughter] [applause] we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be american.

by the end of 20 -- 2020, we will have the first propulsion system in space capable of getting to mars in a short time because i am being sick of being told whip beaten and sick of being told we have to be limited to technology that is 50 years old. >> when the founders said the create certification endowed us with certain inalienable rights -- among them life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- they laid out a pursuit of happiness that was not temporary but enduring. a path that says in america we can pursue happiness as we choose. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of car to get. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of light bulb to have. we do not need a government to tell us what kind of health care to have. >> see what they are posting on social media, along with political reporters and viewers like you, at c-span.org /campaign2012. >> i do believe that the west,

for all of its historical shortcomings, and i am stating in my book in discussing these shortcomings because they have to be admitted, for all of the shortcomings, the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable, universally workable, political culture. >> in 1991, the united states was the only global superpower. today, how to restore its status in the world, from former national security adviser brzezinski on his strategic vision. a saturday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern on "after words." also this weekend, did fdr used world war ii as a cover to create a more powerful executive branch? saturday at 11:00 p.m. sunday night at 10:00 p.m., the new privacy is no privacy -- how your rights are being eroded by social networks.

book tv, every weekend on c- span2. >> [unintelligible] "washington journal" continues. host: there has been a lot of discussion about job creation in this country and where it will come from in the future. and the lot of discussion about the state of manufacturing, how many jobs were shifted overseas. we thought it would be good to look at it with the real statistics and we invited two people who crushed numbers -- one from the association of manufacturers, chad moutray, and chris had to duck the same for the government -- and chris savage who does the same for the government, with the census. one clip to set the stage, where the president talks about the state of american manufacturing. [video clip]

all right, we don't have it ready. so, we will go to your statistics. we are told by the numbers of the census department that the u.s. is the world's largest manufacturing country. what does that mean? guest: there is a perception we are losing ground in the world market but i think it is important to reiterate we are still number one in the world, with 21% of all of the manufactured products being produced here in the united states. host: i have a chart from your organization that compares that with how the rest of the world is doing. at the 21%, how we compare with our biggest competitors? guest: certainly china is gaining. one of the misperceptions is the u.s. actually is -- when you look at the total amount of

manufactured goods in the world, the u.s. is number one. we have 21% of all the manufactured goods in the world are produced in the united states. in addition, $1.70 trillion of the value added from manufacturing. even despite all the talk about manufacturing and its decline, the evaluation -- value-added continues to grow. host: when you look at manufacturing, how the demise of the numbers? what comprises manufacturing? guest: for the survey area i work on, we measure the value of the shipments, we measure the value of the new waters, and we also look at the backlog of orders for products -- host: supply and demand. guest: supply and demand, and also the inventories. host: what sectors? there different kinds. guest: well, our particular survey -- i worked for the

manufacture shipment inventories and orders survey. it tracks the entire manufacturing sector. and the sector is broken up into a variety of product areas. you've got the transportation equipment category, which is 23.3% of federer manufacturing. and the next largest computer and electronic, 15.1% of the manufactured goods. and fabricated metal products, which is 12.5%. and primary metals, 13.1. and then 21% for all other. host: that is what it looked like in november of 2011. let me look at how shipments and new orders of durable goods have changed from the 1950's forward. it looks like growth, except for the big dip in the early part of this decade. what have we learned from

looking at this historical chart? guest: exactly. this trend shows that the most recent recession really has taken a large hit on manufacturing. where you got the pen, the big drop off, and bottoming off are around $160 billion. the good news is we are actually starting to pull up on the durable-goods products. so, things are starting to move up. and we continue to track that forward momentum. host: can you comment on this particular set of statistics as well about the growth over the years? there was a dip back in the early part of 2000, when up real high and came back down. what was going on when you see trend lines like this? guest: you are seeing the

business cycle playing out. we had a fairly mild recession in 2001, much deeper in 2007- 2009. manufacturing overall was pretty badly hit. when you look at the sectors hit the hardest, manufacturing and construction saw the deepest cuts. i think the bigger story and part of what you heard the president talked about in the clip that we did not get the sea -- when you look over the past couple of years, manufacturing has been leading a lot of the growth and a lot has been coming from the durable-goods sector. strong growth among motor vehicles, machinery, metals. even though we are not where we should be, there is an awful lot of progress. certainly a lot of what the president is talking about. host: let us listen to several statements the president made. [video clip] gotet's remember how we here. long before the recession, jobs in manufacturing began leaving our shores. technology may businesses more

efficient, but also made some jobs obsolete. host: he talked about jobs moving offshore. what would your reaction be to that statement? is it true? guest: i think what we need to look at is we need to make sure we, with policies that will enable manufacturing to flourish. there are many areas where, quite frankly, we need to work on the tax policy with corporate tax reform. we need to work on regulatory policy. but the other element that is there that we need to focus on its productivity gains in manufacturing has been pretty large in the past decade. in the past quarter, 5% increase productivity. as a result, manufacturing and the u.s. is much more competitive, and hopefully, as a result -- in no, the u.s. is being looked at much more as an ideal location for manufacturing. host: this is from a different government agency, bureau of labor statistics. you talk about labor

productivity. does this demonstrate it? and what we looking at? guest: looking at overall productivity. from that chart, you can see manufacturing productivity is growing at a much faster rate than the rest of the economy. the next chart, you can see the contribution, the overall productivity gains, even in more recent years, has been even stronger. more or less what i was suggesting. over the last decade, 4% growth and productivity on average in manufacturing vs 2.5% for the rest of the economy. host: you think that would lead to a decrease in raises -- wages. this particular chart suggests the average compensation for manufacturing compared to all private sector workers has been going up. what is behind these numbers? guest: what you are seeing is manufacturers are getting a lot more out of their work force. the work force that is there is still being highly paid. the average compensation in 2010

was $77,000. still a very good paying job. we see a lot fewer workers in manufacturing unfortunately, and that is partially due to productivity gains and other factors. but manufacturers are still well paid and certainly they are benefiting from the productivity changes. and quite frankly, it is not what it used to be. it is much more advanced, and skilled. host: these numbers are again from the bureau of labor statistics. this is really interesting. in 2009, right after the big financial crisis, the separation between the hires and separations at its peak, the fewest hires and most separations. these two numbers, although lower, are at least coming together. the replacement factor is beginning to build? guest: i think the issue with this particular chart is separations, while you will

continue to hear about layoffs in manufacturing and elsewhere, the real issue -- and this is one reason job creation is such a focus -- is the hires have not picked up. ranging in the 250,000 every single month, and we would like to see the number get higher. until it does, you will continue to see unemployment issues. host: we were at 400,000 at the peak, and now down in the 200,000 in terms of overall jobs. even though the lines are coming together of the numbers over all of people employed is significantly half of what it was in 2007. guest: the hiring rate. host: we want to open the fire -- the phone lines. the president, by the way, did make several suggestions, proposals he would like to see to spur manufacturing. they include the following -- and these are in broad scope --

and number of tax policy changes, which he detailed in the address. he also talked about increase of trade, also trade enforcement, particularly with china. and also skills training, so the skills of the work force made the modern needs of manufacturers. does your organization to agree with most of these or is the devil and the details? guest: a lot of the devil is in the details. we agree manufacturing will play an important role. i think where there are some differences is in terms of tax policy. we would like to see a much more competitive tax policy around the world in terms of the corporate tax rate, including individual tax reform. and, of course, we support the "all of the above" approach to energy, but we would support the keystone xl pipeline. host: mr. savage is here to talk

about numbers and mr. moutray can talk about numbers and policy. we will welcome your comments and questions about the state of manufacturing. louisiana. jane is on the line. caller: good morning. i would just like to read one paragraph which ayn rand wrote. when you see training is not done by consent by compulsion, when you see in order to produce you have to obtain permission, foremen who produce nothing, when you see money to those who gave money through deals and favors, and the laws does not protect you but protects them against you, when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty being a self sacrifice, you know your society is doomed. i certainly think ours is. thank you. host: comment, not a question. we will move onto a call from jim in texas. caller: good morning.

two areas. on the tax policy, if we were to allow repatriation and incentives for companies to offer skilled education for their employees, and then on the topic of energy and regulations, if we could just have an absolute moratorium on regulations that interferes with manufacturing. and since energy seems to be a large component, if we could do everything we could to lower energy costs, how much of an impact could it have, and can manufacturing alone bring america out of a slump? guest: ok. the terms of repatriation, this is one of the -- when i mention corporate tax reform before, the u.s. has the second highest corporate tax rate in the world did one element we certainly want to try to bring the

corporate tax rate down, and talk of a broader tax reform as part of it. repatriation issue -- in the u.s., we are one of the few nations in the world that does not have a territorial tax system, so as a result, a lot of corporations are sitting on cash outside of our shores and we would like them to bring it in and invest in new plant and equipment. in terms of energy, we agree. we need to end the moratorium. we need to have more of everything. in the case of the keystone pipeline i mentioned earlier, that would generate 20,000 jobs in the u.s. not only would it cut -- bring down and its costs but bring manufacturing jobs and would be a win-win for both canada and the u.s. host: a viewer looking at numbers and sending it back to us with --

decode the key thing to remember, in any given month there will be turnover -- de guest: the key thing to remember, in any given month there will be turned over. you can see from the chart earlier there are definitely people being separated but hired, but overall net was 23,000 jobs in manufacturing created. that is obviously a positive. over the last couple of years, 334,000 jobs were created in manufacturing. definitely we are moving in the right direction. we would like to see fewer layoffs but the reality is hiring has been positive. guest: i would add -- and you mentioned this earlier -- in the industry is redefining itself as well. so, as we see these turnovers, it means there are other positions being created that generally are hired tech in nature, that may require different skill sets and education levels. so, it is unfortunate that these

job losses occur, but we are looking down the line and some of the numbers again show forward progressive -- progression that will mean labor force growth in the future. host: to me, when i look at this it seems to tell the story in numbers. this is a historical percentage of shipments of durable goods. define those? guest: they are basically your hard goods, products that have a shelf life of three years or more. examples of that would be, aircraft, a refrigerator, an automobile. host: for folks at home looking at this, the blue bar is 1958, the green, 1975 and then 2011. the economy redefining itself. guest: more of a high technology. if you look at 1958 numbers,

10.7% of the durable-goods. and the current number for 2011, november of 2011, approximately 15.1%. host: comments on this, please, primary metals, including steel industry -- down to 13%. guest: it shows redefining the industry. as a lot of the iron and steel industry has gone from the large mills of the post world war ii era to much smaller mills, you are seeing that it is on the decline. but then the labor force is shifting to these other areas as well. host: our two guests, economist, we have new york, rick, on the line. caller: good morning. i believe i read that now the government considers putting a hamburger in a bun manufacturing.

the biggest problem is not the cheap slave labor from china. it is us giving tax credits for our companies that make products, that lead this country and get the manufacturing jobs in china. i watched where one of the only good guitar companies, making products in america was paralyzed, and the fbi came in and rated it because -- and they put the employees in handcuffs because they were using indian wood, and they were not able to treat it in america. they could buy it finished in india, but they cannot treat it and handle live here. it was not the indian government that complaint, but our government. i did not think anything will change until we get president paul in there. we would have a lot better chance to save america. guest: trade is a complex issue.

one of the things i mentioned is what i said earlier, we have seen tremendous productivity gains, gains in quality in the u.s. as a result, we have seen an little bit of a sea change in recent months and years where many people are looking at the u.s. as an attractive place to do business. certainly, labor costs. the caller mentioned regulatory barriers, something that stands in the way of many manufacturers. but we want to make sure the u.s. is seen as an attractive place to do business and hopefully reverse some of the trends. host: ohio. martin, you are on the air. caller: i worked at a manufacturing job for more than 38 years. host: what kind? caller: we were automotive, refrigeration, stamping, at anything like that. my company filed bankruptcy, which cost me my job.

then my -- went out. and you can see row after row of empty buildings. host: where did the jobs go? caller: 2002. host: where did they go? democrat china, of course. why can't we figure out a way to force manufacturing back in this land? host: thank you for your call. guest: the president mentioned the other day cracking down on unfair practices. we want to make sure we have fair trade with china. definitely a priority. but at the end of the day, you cannot force a company to locate anywhere. the key thing we want to make sure people focus on is the policies we have in the u.s. are enabling manufacturers to stay here, locate here, and continue to employ and grow. host: are next set of numbers looks at core capital goods. how are they defined?

guest: i guess we should begin with capital goods. basically the production of goods that will actually produce in value in the economy. they lead to other products being manufactured in its -- manufactured. the core capital goods is a definition of the non-defense portion of capital goods, excluding the aircraft as well. why it is important to four economists is it gives a more pure look at where in the economy is going because there is a lot of volatility in aircraft, those orders, primarily on orders but also shipments. and then there is volatility due to the defense portion as well. host: looking at this particular set of numbers -- 1996 -- host: to the current date. does it show began of the

decline in 2008 and in 2009. we are actually starting to pull back up. $67 billion in net new orders and $65.2 billion in shipments. achieving close to pre-recessionary levels. we are on a rebound in the core capital. host: it seems to be a note of optimism. and when we look at this pie chart? guest: this just gives you an idea of the different products that are included in core capital goods. ifyou see -- you see medical equipment, 11.8% of it, electro- medical, measuring and control, 10.9%. a construction machinery, 6.7%. electronics, computers -- so, a

lot of this is high-value products that the u.s. has an advantage in. host: here is a tough comment from a regular viewer called americanhero -- in other words, became outmoded by technology? how often does that happen? guest: obviously we have seen the productivity changes. a lot of that comes from innovation. there is the definite turn in the economy. i think the key thing you want to focus on is in that churn, you want to make sure there are companies coming into its place. you want to stress the business environment, you want to stress new innovations, are indeed, the skills so we can grow the are indeed.r

host: go back to the medical equipment, why is that sector growing so much? guest: that is the tech sector feeding into it. all of our medical equipment being produced today is primarily high tech. i am sure everyone has experienced the best at the doctor's office. so, you are going to see continued growth in that area, as well as the electro-medical measuring devices as well which has grown significantly. host: why are computers shrinking in this particular look at the economy? guest: a lot has been off shore -- offshored. specifically finished products as opposed to components. some people do believe the computer industry is completely

gone, but assembly of computers is considered still manufacturing. host: minneapolis is next. richard. caller: i am really tired of all the baloney these guys are bringing here. you get all of these bureaucrats bringing baloney. i would like everybody to read donald trump's new book "it is time to get tough" considering manufacturing, and mitt romney brought out one of his speeches, that we import a tiny, small amount from china and we send them -- no, they import from us a small amount but we are buying .ots of their junke the fact is, in addition to all this baloney these guys are feeding us, we did nothing to protect our industry for years and years and years. in fact, on "nightline" a few

years ago when we were wringing our hands about the japanese cars coming into the country, they had japanese diplomats saying we didn't protect our industry and we did not pay attention to it while we were off fighting the vietnam war and they took over. when i was in japan years ago, they charged high prices in japan in order to support low prices over here for their electronics. we just do not protect our industry like other countries do. host: thank you. guest: he has a point. definitely the chinese yuan is a series in this -- issue. we have seen growth and our exports to china but nowhere near the imports we are bringing in from china. we need to do better to crack down on a fair trade practices. and we continue to of dialogue with the chinese over there yuan policy. it is hindering our growth. at the same time we are looking

at china as a growth opportunity for many manufacturers, so we are stuck in the world where we want to make sure we reform policies but also maintain the opportunities that exist. host: a very specific question -- but let us look at the growth of the medical equipment sector. lee on twitter asks is this due to the depreciation schedule in taxes. guest: i think it does, to a certain extent. definitely people respond to tax incentives. one more piece for us to make sure that when we have tax policy, that we are smart about what we are targeting. host: anything to add? guest: it extends beyond just medical equipment, it covers several other areas. host: you can see a cause and effect? let us listen to a little bit more from the president's speech, where he is specifically

talking about on mobile manufacturing. [video clip] >> on the day i took office are all industry was on the verge of collapse. some said we should let its die. with 1 million jobs at stake, i refused to let that happen. in exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. we got workers and auto makers to settle differences. we got the industry to retool and restructure. today, general motors is back on top as the world's no. 1 auto maker. chrysler is growing faster in the u.s. than any major car company. ford is investing billions in u.s. plants and factories. and together, the entire industry added 160,000 jobs. we bet on american workers, we bet on american ingenuity, and tonight, the american auto industry is back.

host: the declaration that the auto industry is back. let us look at the numbers. shipments and inventories of motor vehicles and parts from 1996 forward to today, including the recession years. what does it tell us? guest: we are not back, but we are on our way. i think that is the important thing. it is rebounding significantly. we are about the halfway point as far as the levels, pre recessionary -- pre-recessionary levels. $29.9 billion for the shipments. we are pulling out of the recession. it does show an investment into our industry does, in fact, have an effect. it is rebounding, along with other sectors. host: indiana. you are up. caller: thank you very much.

just wanted to make a comment about manufacturing. in 1970, i was working at a men's clothing store selling clothing -- an example, it very well that may drescher, i was selling it for $20 in 1970 -- an example, a very well-made dress shirts, i was selling it for $20. now, it you can also buy an incredible dress shirt for $20. 40 years later. my feeling is if the and -- until the industry in america can make a profit manufacturing items they can sell to the american public, it is going to be a problem. we had to -- they had to give up

manufacturing of certain items because they can't compete. that, in my opinion, is what makes the jobs go away. that is my first comment. my second comment -- basically everybody is competing for our spendable income. but when you have medical costs and the cost of energy basically totally controlling how much spendable income is available at the end of the day, everybody is competing for a small amount of money from each consumer. near --pretend to knkow to know near as much as you gentleman who study these things and make it your livelihood. how do we get back to the point where the american company can manufacture a dress shirt that they can sell to the american

public who can afford to buy it? guest: part of what the caller is calling about, is the consumer has benefited by trade to the extent he can buy a shirt today with what he thought it 50 years ago. that is part of the challenge. as we have become more of a global society, companies, quite frankly, move where there are benefits in trade. and consumers have benefited, and yet there have been clearly people who lost their jobs as a result. i think the way to get back is what i mentioned earlier, making sure we have the right policies in place, making sure we invest in education and innovation to make sure we have what the next big thing is out there so we think need to grow -- can continue to grow. consumers have been very picky about what they have been choosing to buy in the last year. they clearly have been hit by higher energy, food costs, you name it. even though spending has gone up, they have been very

selective. host: switching to another sector, non-defense aircraft. where does the competition for u.s. companies, manufacturing companies like boeing, come from internationally? guest: they have airbus, the major competitor. but also there is an emerging chinese competitor which 5-10 years and now could be a major competitor in that area. in terms of smaller planes, if you have a series about the ones competing in that space. in addition to non-defense, many are also involved in the defense world as well, and with defense cuts coming shortly, many of them will be experiencing pain. host: when you look at the numbers, you need to separate from companies that do both defense and non-defense and segregate the numbers to look at what is happening. guest: we publish non-defense

aircraft and parts, and we published defense aircraft and parts. but when it -- what are looking is non-defense. a very volatile. especially when it comes to orders. that is in part due to the length of time it takes to produce an aircraft. major air carriers will order aircraft well in advance and it will take, in some cases, several years to actually translate into a shipment. we would obviously like to see these shipments bump up a lot more, because if you look at 2008, order levels hitting $25 billion, and yet they are still only shipping at around $7.7 billion right now. host: it has recovered somewhat. guest: someone. but the orders are a good and you -- indication of future economic activity. and i think chad brought up a

good point about defense spending. this will actually help as a buffer in the future, with the decline in defense. host: new york. you are on the air. caller: in reference to your wage chart you had on it earlier, i wish these gentlemen would separate the white-collar wages from the blue-collar worker, the man that actually does of the work, and show the wage increase or decrease over the years from 1958. you would see a very big difference in them wages. this is why the american people are in such trouble. wages have not kept up. prices have gone through their roof, and they don't count our food and our energy into it, like the welfare rates, and

where people are considered poor or well-to-do. if they figured them in and separated the wages by white- collar and blue-collar, you would see a mess. thank you. guest: that is a fair point. it is total compensation because it includes total compensation -- compensation for all workers. but the one thing it does do, if you are looking just at wages and salaries, you are picking up a huge increase in benefits costs. this is an area where many factors in all business, quite frankly, continue to see a lot of increase. the most recent year, insurance cost has gone up, in some cases, double-digit. but he makes a fair point. host: let us quickly look at two specific industries. iron and steel industry. again, a real dip during a recession but it looks like the ira and still -- iron and steel businesses are coming back.

guest: they are on a rebound but i have to qualify by saying price has a large part of that. but at large part is due to the rebound we have seen in the automobile industry, which you touched on earlier. in particular, the steel mill area. but if you look at the drop, which was in late 2008 and 2009, and large part has to do with the combination of the drop in the entire world economy. and we had the drop in construction. a lot of the iron and steel products and up as fabricated steel products -- end up as fabricated steel products for the construction injury. host: barbara. somerset, ky. are you there? caller: yes. i would just like this man to

tell the truth about the pipeline there wanting to build. there is enough pollution in our country now. we don't need canada's. host: pipeline and canada's pollution. guest: the reality is canada will sell the oil some place. we want to be able to sell it in the u.s. it will bring 20,000 jobs. we are confident it can be safely produced. we have other pipelines and the u.s. that are not an environmental risk. host: this number, since we are talking about the pipeline, inventories of petroleum and coal products. guest: the growth qc is primarily due to price. worldwide demand is -- hasn't turned into winced -- influence price and causes steep

inflation. at the end of 2008 and it began a drop-off in 2009 as the economy went into the recession. as we all know and all are experiencing at the pump right now, we're up to 72.2 billion in value shipments right now. it is on its way back up right now. i cannot forecast for you. host: does this include natural gas shipments? guest: this is just petroleum. host: fortunately, we're out of time and i hope we give you a good snapshot of what is happening with my american manufactured in many sectors. thank you to our guests. thanks to both of you. have a great friday and a great weekend and thank you for being with us. [captioning performed by

national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> a number of live road to the white house events to tell you about today coming up on c-span, candidates are in florida today campaigning ahead of the tuesday primary. after 11:00 a.m. eastern, we will bring your remarks from newt gingrich. he will be at the hispanic leadership network's spiring action conference in miami and this is the third such conference of the organization since its official launch last year it is an advocacy action

group and a focus on engaging the hispanic community. newt gingrich's, as our live at 11:00 a.m. eastern and former massachusetts governor mitt romney will also speak to the group and his remarks are set for 12:20. rick santorum is headed back to pennsylvania. at least for the short term, possibly just for the weekend but he will be in florida today speaking to the latin builders association. we will have a wreck santorum's speech and 1:30 eastern here on c-span. president obama is now at the university of michigan speaking to students about affordable college education and you can follow that live on line at c- span.org. this morning, we spoke to the president and ceo of the mortgage bankers association about the obama administration's housing initiatives.

host: meet david stevens, president and ceo of the mortgage bankers association. we will be talking about how things fare in the real-estate industry in this country after the problems of 2008 and what the state of foreclosures is and specifically looking at the president's two proposals and the state of the union address. thank you for being here. why don't we start with the big picture? where are foreclosures moving along and what states are still far behind unsettling some of these foreclosures? guest: many of your viewers are still feeling a lot of pain as a result of what happens in this recessionary he, me, brought on in a significant way by this housing crisis. we are a lot better off than we were three or four years ago. 30-day delinquencies are down now over where they were a year ago but we still have this backlog of 90 day-plus delinquencies which is not recovering. a lot of it is due to several things. there are several states -- five states in particular hold about half of the loans in foreclosure in this country.

we have significant concentrations in certain states. also a difference between judicial and nonjudicial states, more of a process standpoint, producing what is called the shadow inventory of overhang, homes passed the 90 day period still working the way through the system here that is what we need to focus on to get the housing market back on track. host: secondary issue, not homes gone to foreclosure but the number of homes under water, a distinction between what they mortgaged and how much they equity value is. give us a sense of where that is right now? guest: there are a lot of proposals dealing with the negative equity problems. the president's announced a program called harp, and extended it to harp 2.0. it allows for people with negative equity to refinance at a record low rates which certainly could add so weak -- released.

that is really concentrated in a select number of states. nevada, for example, where roughly three-quarters of all homes are experiencing negative equity. other states do not have the same scenario. the recovery, as it were, in the housing market, is uneven across the country. as we think about solutions to the problems, it is really coming up with the selected solutions in key markets and areas that will help the most. host: overall, i would imagine you would like to recover because it means more mortgages. what is your official policy on ways that it can and should be addressed? guest: i spent a couple of years in the administration. i was federal housing commissioner for the obama administration and i have been in the industry for about 30 years. our policy is that there is no single solution that will deal with this crisis we are going through. people who lost their jobs who

find themselves unemployed. there are forbearance programs that can defer payments for a period of time. people have no equity, there is the harp program that allows you to refinance at a higher loan to value and it needed cash flow back to your family. restructuring, short sales, other efforts permitted under the making home affordable program by the administration. so, it is not one single federal solution. we support, i support, and it is very important consumers have access to any program that can help them. this is a very personal situation, when you find yourself not able to make your mortgage payment. and the solution that best meets the needs of an individual will vary on the personal situation. host: let me tell you about his background. first of all, from colorado -- bachelor of arts from the university of colorado in boulder.

started out as a mortgage banker and an progressed at -- to senior vp at freddie mac, senior vp of wells fargo, president and ceo of long and foster, the nation's largest private real-estate firm. an assistant secretary of housing and federal housing commissioner at hud, housing and urban development, during the obama administration. we are going to play a clip from president obama about mortgages and housing in the state of the union tuesday night. >> while government can't fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners should not have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief. that is why i am sending this congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner a chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage refinancing at historically low rates. no more red tape, no more

runaround from the banks, a small fee on the largest financial destitution will insure it will not add to the deficit and it will give banks rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay the deficit of crust. let's never for -- let's never forget, americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and financial system that does the same. host: reaction to the president's proposal. small good -- sounds good, a small feed taking care of the deficit and refinancing may be easy without red tape. guest: i think it has been a tremendous asset to have the administration at least working to implement as many plans as possible helping consumers in need. interest rates, as we know, are at historic lows and the ability to refinance at these nearly 4% rates can put a lot of needed cash flow into family's hands as well as stimulate the economy. host: how would it work?

guest: we have not seen his plan. there is a lot of speculation about how it could work but my sense is it would require legislation. perhaps the fha would be involved. but it would have to be, in a way, and essence to give consumers the ability to refinance, if they are not harp eligible. and there are also existing refinance programs available for any borrower who could qualify. fha allows refinancing up to 97.75% of the property's value within the loan limits standards. i think this will probably be for non-harp eligible borrowers who cannot get in the program because they have a loans financed by freddie mac or fannie mae or faa which already streamlines. the question is who will

provide the financing for it. if it is a government agency, it is likely to be the f h a. we look forward to seeing the program the president and the administration may present and we will support any reasonable effort to help consumers take advantage of the financing options available. host: a note more on harp, but does it stand for? -- what does it stand for? program. host: reporting i have done on it, the readings suggest that people are not accessing its at the levels anticipated. why is that? guest: a national -- natural resistance. talking about the trust deficit -- who do i call? how are they offered? in many cases, the borrower must call their servicer, and the servicer may be the only institution that can offer the program.

but there are two ways you can access and find more information. one is to call your servicer directly and the other is to call the hot line set up by the administration to help consumers in need and they can direct them to how to find out more about the harp refinance program. but it is restricted to fannie mae and freddie mac. the first question is, when you buy your home, get your mortgage, most of your viewers the not necessarily know who owns your loan. it could be private investors, the fha, freddie mac or fannie mae -- host: or bundled into derivative packages. guest: private label securities. but if it is freddie mac or fannie mae -- it is certainly available and i suggest any viewer or anybody wondering if they can qualify, make the call and find out if you are eligible. host: in a general sense, when people are under water, there is a big gap between the amount of money they owe and the current price their of the house.

if they were to refinance at lower rates, what happens to the extra money they owe? does someone e to that in the process or do they owe the same amount? host: in a general sense, if they were to refinance at lower rates, what happens to the extra money that they all? does somebody week that in the process, or does -- do they still allow the same amount? guest: under the harp program, you get much lower rates. it varies depending on the need. the negative equity challenge for this country, if you are at 105% negative equity, that could be made up while taking advantage of low interest rates. it is more severe, 120%, which is less frequent, but definitely exists in certain markets, there needs to be other solutions potentially offered. the administration has to refinance program that provides for the opportunity for any

homeowner to get a loan with a principal right down. there just needs to be more potential things offered. host: one more issue from the state of the union -- the president talking about people involved in criminal activity related to mortgages. [video clip] >> i am asking my attorney general to expand our investigations into the lending and risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis, " dick -- holding accountable those who broke the law, speeding assistance to homeowners. host: david stevens, what is the industry reacted to that you knew you did? -- reaction to that new unit? guest: the vast majority of them are out of business.

there are investigations that have gone on. some would argue not enough has been done, but anyone who has violated the law should be held accountable. the president of her -- up with a state attorneys general, -- appointed a state attorneys general, that should be done, did we advocate getting it done as quickly as possible. america needs certainty going forward. as long as there is turmoil and unrest, it means fame is that what to buy homes and want access to credit, this will impact their ability to move forward. we support going after adding one that has committed wrongdoing. host: let's begin with dawdled, a democrat in texas. good morning. -- donald, eight democrat in texas. caller: i am under water in my home.

i have been here for five full years, and not earned one drop of equity. i went through some of the programs you spoke of and found no relief. are the biggest holding might de -- mortgage -- when are they going to put true inventory out there? thank you. guest: first of all, i really appreciate that question because there are so many people like you better city in negative equity at -- that are sitting here that negative equity. the challenges the bank that originated that mortgage might not even all the bad loan. that -- that load. we have a complicated

international services market, where many people are involved, and where those mortgages said. i would suggest calling the hope hot line -- 1-88-955-hope. there might be solutions available to you, and i wish the best to you. host: i am sure you understand the frustration. we're getting thomas to that effect. this from twitter from mike freeman -- guest: hi understand that frustration. i have hundreds of calls coming in when i was in the administration. i think the fault is in many places.

banks are clearly one of those. most of those banks and not in business. the problems do not go away. we have roughly two thousand, two hundred financial institutions in our membership, most of which are small community banks or credit unions, a handful of large institutions that dominate the market. lack of regulation, how investors doppler old -- boy got over it super 48 project -- doubt over exuberant for a project, but this can never happen again. it has destroyed the wealth of too many americans. it is something we have to work and to make sure there is a stable system going forward. host: mary --

guest: absolutely. the glut of foreclosed inventory is terrible. the most difficult aspect is if you live on one of those streets where of their homes are vacant, and there is crime that happens in certain cases, or the homes it gutted or are not maintained, more often than not it is due to abandonment. once the home is foreclosed upon, it is the obligation of the servicer or the investor to maintain the property, but it between the foreclosure timeline when people have vacated the home, that will drive down the value of all the other family homes in the community. we need to address this inventory and get through this foreclosure process, trying to protect every family we can't

let them stay in their homes. there are many solution -- and let them stay in their homes. there are many solutions. host: jim, south carolina, a republican. caller: for the last three years obama as implemented a lot of these policies, and is irksome that these new policies are not any different. you want to believe him because he is charismatic i hope that a lot of these policies really have not worked. before he came to congress in the 1990's, he was an activist, and in many cases demanding home loans for people that could not afford or, put the money down. he is part of the problem. when did anyone hold a god to anyone's head to buy this realistic?

it is irksome to hear how great realist it does, and then when goes down, everyone walks away. where is the personal responsibility? everyone is a victim and the banks are the sole prior of this mess one mortgage brokers were sweet-talking people into this? for the people that did not know any better, there is an element of that, but there is an element of people thinking realist it would always go off, and then you have this bubble, and you have this housing leverage. that is the big problem. what a person walks into a big concerns here is 400 grand for a cd, and the next person says i want a mortgage for 400 grant, that is not the bank's money. your caller seems to think let's give this homeowner a break. there is no one that made that homeowner over-extend

themselves. for people that walked into something that they did not know about, that is different, but it is not everybody who is just a victim as a homeowner. would you not say so? guest: you point out, and this is something that is the real challenge -- it often becomes the reason why some of these programs are hard to implement. what the caller is highlighting is the moral hazard issue of who do you date out? who do you provide the programs to? for those that speculated in the market, or did not disclose income sources, perhaps that is their problem in terms of responsibility, but there are other people in a recession that are impacted. if you have a job loss because you work for an auto combat

manufacturers in the midwest, -- auto manufacturing in the midwest, and you lost your job, and in a recession like this, other solutions you provide to those families? that has been the challenge of many of these programs -- parsing the difference between the moral hazard concerns of not providing free money to those who made bad decisions, as opposed to those who have been infected through no fault of their own. that has made these programs much more difficult. under the making home affordable program, hamp, it is modified under 1 million families. in total, there have been 5 million modifications done since the beginning of this recession. it has been helpful, but it is not enough that is an important

part of the debate. host: we posted a conversation with you on our facebook page, and the question is what is your prescription for the troubled housing market. here's one from william meredith who writes -- jobs, time, and population inflow -- guest: excellent point. i do not have anything to add other then it points to the many solutions that are needed based on the needs of the community and the individual. the issues are not evenly

applied across the country. unemployment and-equity is more harsh in certain states. other markets are more on their way to stabilization and recovery, and that points to those issues. host: here's another one -- guest: these kind of views are exactly what is great about this debate. it points out the positions. if you lost your job, you can bet for the payment in your home, the feeling of desperation and help needed is something where you will have a different view. it is very personal. on a broad scale, the government's role in housing is way too big. 90% of mortgages are financed by freddie mac or fannie mae. you have the government playing

an extraordinary role in housing, not to mention the modification programs and refinance programs, and the federal reserve's role in buying mortgage-backed securities. this is unprecedented, but we are in and unprecedented recession, something that has not happened since the great depression, and we have to be thoughtful to get through this recession, and not provide a bailout for everyone. if you have a home in foreclosure in your neighborhood, that home will sell at a discount, and drive down home values for neighbors around you. the first line of defense is trying to keep a family in their homes. the second step is if they

cannot stay, transition that as quickly as possible to sell. host: marion. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i called a while back when you had people on about three or four months ago talking about the harp program. i began working on a harp in august. they just declined meet this month. so, for six months i have waited for help. i think it is important for people to understand that not everybody did things wrong. i came from a poor family. i in the single mother with five children. i work every day. i saved and came up with a down payment. i was taught that when you went to the bank the man at the bank knew what was right and what was fair, and he would help you.

i did that stuff, and put $15,000 on my home. in the first month they stole my loan. the first company that took it raised the payment $50 within the first year with no explanation. i do not know what they're tree believe people are supposed to do. -- believe people are supposed to do. the biggest problem with the harp program, and i learned this from you, suzanne, all of all mortgages are insured by these banks, and it is not in their interest to cut interest rates or shave my mortgage. it is in their interest for me to declines of their insurance will pay them for their loss. here, id eleanor, and outside of chicago, -- in illinois, i am outside of chicago, we just had

110 houses torn down, foreclosed by the banks, and they gave this land back to our city. so, it is again on our books with no people and nobody paid property tax. i think people should remember clearly george bush during his presidential debates promised to put 1 million new homeowners in homes, and he did. all of these things were fixed so that we would have a housing bubble, so people would make enormous profits, taking a vintage of poor people. -- advantage of poor people. host: lots of topics to follow up on. guest: first of all, that is the story that there needs to be focused on -- the single

parent with children bought a home, put her down payment down, and finds herself in a situation where she cannot afford her home. the question i really would like to know was the purpose of that definition, and i will reemphasize calling the hope hot line if she has not done so already. there are a lot of issues here that are being brought up. without question, one of the points i would assizes this pursuit of how will the ship was far too extensive -- homeownership was far too expensive. homeownership that all costs was a way to get rich quick. there was speculation involved. product offered with no down payments, no documentation in the markets and institutions no longer exist, exacerbated the

bubble and it was policy makers as well that participated. host: from the policy-making aspect, it was cited debt holders have a greater investment and stake in the community, so let's encourage home ownership. this caller believes it was -- let's make everybody rich. guest: there has to be a balanced housing policy. secretary donna the end of -- donovan of hud has said there we need an extensive balance. there are people not prepared for ownership. sub-prime mortgages are a credit simple. there were typically fixed for two years and the theory was that the bar were compelled credit would improve and -- the

bar were's credit would improve -- borrower, the credit would improve. there are studies that show that for the right committees 0 motorships in -- home ownership can create better communities and stability. if you are qualified did have a good job, home and -- homeownership makes sense. for people where it is short- term, or wait to make interest -- instant money, that's an area has to be stopped. right now, we have moved credit to the other side, where access to credit is more conservative than i have seen in well over a decade, and we need to find a right balance.

host: c-span junkie from twitter -- guest: i am not sure what he means by consented to the housing industry. there is a glut of homes in certain markets. judicial states are a perfect example, whether foreclosure time and process takes a long time. the challenges, if a home is going to be foreclosed on, and it is abandoned, the servicer cannot access the home because they do not own it until it goes to foreclosure. it is a challenge for this process. we see high abandonment rates, and that impacts the homes in the committee. there are maintenance concerns. this individual must be in one of those communities for this post. host: we're talking to david

stevens, the head of the mortgage bankers association, and it comes to that job from beijing positions and public policy positions. -- banking positions in public policy positions. and i wanted to s to about your job at freddie mac. from your inside view, what should be done about freddie mac? guest: well, freddie mac and fannie mae have cost taxpayers $175 billion so far. it was not their primary business for -- that was the reason for their default. their standard line of business is essentially still performing well. to the elected default rates are still around the -- cumulative default rates are still around 5%. the challenge is risking -- investing in risky assets, which ultimately brought them

these institutions. the challenge for the taxpayer and for everyone is the government guaranteed the institution itself, which means we are paid for the bad behavior of their investment activities. how do we get a system that goes forward? i think we need to have a guarantee, at least some level, of mortgage-backed securities just to ensure continued availability of mortgage credit. it should never be a mortgage- backed institution, because that is how we pay the price. host: the next call comes from raleigh, north carolina. greg is a republican. caller: thank you for taking my call.

thank you for this guest. i think the cry from our federal government for decades was that everyone is entitled to a house without exception. it was the government's decision to put people in houses, whether or not they could pay for them, whether or not they could qualify for them, whether or not they could keep them, and when the chickens come home to roost, it was like a house of cards. it fell down. this fannie mae and freddie mac situation, where we are about $700 billion already, this is a mess. he not a ron paul fin, but

said last night we live in a free enterprise system, and if we let the free enterprise system work, this would not be a problem right now. it would continue to be a problem. guest: it is an interesting point. without question, the role of government has been too big, and the over the exuberance promoted by all parties threat the last several decades was clearly to strong. i would say the housing bubble from the worst years of 2006, 2007, in 2008, which were the peak years, much of the products were from the private market. fannie and freddie invested in those to some degree, but they were really not alone.

these took down companies like lehman brothers, and they were sub-prime mortgages, and these programs were financed by the private markets. i go back to many decades and every member of the savings and loan crisis of a few decades ago, -- i remember the savings and loan crisis of a few decades ago when private institutions invested aggressively in the mortgage market and that impact of the savings and loan market. i am a huge proponent of balance. extremes on any side can ultimately cause significant disruptions. this is the most severe any of us have experienced, but without question, going back to a fully privatized market does not remove the ills.

host: wanted the dodd-frank reform due to address the concerns -- what did the dodd- frank reform due to address the concerns? guest: several things. it created the consumer financial protection bureau, and richard cordray is now their director. more specifically, there are two rules -- one is called qm , the qualified mortgage, and then the qrm. the qualified mortgage standards require that loans must be fully documented with a proven ability to repay. standards have never existed before. under the qm rule, these loans that destroyed so many americans, because they did not understand what they were getting into, or made bad

decisions themselves, those will not exist anymore under the qm guidelines and the qrm guidelines. we have concerns of some of this might go too far and the limited access to ownership because of these roles. that is why we need balance -- safe, sound, sustainable, fully transparent mortgage programs and disclosures have to be the role of the land going forward, and we also have to make sure we do not eliminate excess simply because they do not have 20% down payment. host: free lancer tweets -- guest: they were not made for

people with great credit, which is why they were rated sub prime. the point is clear. there is to much salesman ship, as it were, in the markets, with programs in needed far greater explanation. -- that needed far greater explanation. most of those programs are prohibited in dodd-frank. host: also, people cashing in on their mortgages, and people are finding they were building the debt responsibilities -- has a practice banned regulated? guest: it has been curtailed because the institutions that events that credit are not

available anymore today. from a regulatory standpoint, they will be controlled through this qualified mortgage standard requirement. yes, indeed exchanged -- in the extreme, you could buy a home that would appreciate to%, or 3% a month, and that money gets spent, but your mortgage payment stays there for 30 years. those practices have to be curtailed. you can not use real estate as a td bank. real-estate is shelter. -- as a piggy bank. real estate is a shelter. that speculative nature has created an expensive black eye. host: nancy sherman has a different proposal altogether.

guest: that is out of my area. i have seen, in effect, even in the occupied movement, one of the desires. stephen debt is a serious problem. debt in general is a serious problem. it is a big challenge this nation faces s and economy. it is expressed in that? -- has and the economy. it is expressed in that question. this is a nation as been a nation of borrowers and spenders for far too long, and we need to get to a protocol

where we are savers and investors. that is a transition as think we will learn. host: robert, an independent in nashville. caller: i wanted to address this to c-span, and not necessarily david stevens, who essentially it is a shill for the mortgage banking industry, ok? the entire crux of this is the biggest crock i have ever heard in my entire life. my wife and i played by the rules, paid our mortgage on time, did everything we could possibly do to keep our home without any problems. we paid on time every time. we realize the mortgage was under water, and we refinanced in 2006.

we are not broken. we have one home. we do not have a home in florida. we have a home in tennessee. this mortgage bankers' association guys sitting there is nothing but a shill for barack obama. we voted for barack obama. he did not do a thing for us. dodd-frank did not do a thing for us. they said tests of thing about forbearance, and they said -- sent us off thing about forbearance, and said if you pay $6,000, will extend your payment out. if we had 6000 extra dollars, we would not have been in this position to begin with. this guy is nothing but a liar. host: robert, we will leave it at that point.

guest: it expresses the anger. it is a challenge. when i left the administration i was deciding whether to stay in washington or go back to private industry. this outcry is not uncommon. the reality is we need certainty and we need to get markets that are functioning going forward so families can have access to credit, something chairman bernanke talked about in his white paper a few weeks back. this a bear is a reflection of the overall concern of those seven -- a deere is a reflection of the overall concerns. host: the fed plans to keep the same is a strict policy through 2014. -- the same interest rate policy through 2014. i'm wondering what that might do for people looking for holders of in the next five years? looking -- looking for homes in the next five years? guest: this is not a push for one way or the other, but low interest rates and the cost of real estate in this country, in

my 30 years in this housing system, i've never seen both at such an opportune time for families that are qualified and can afford to buy a home. i think the fed chairman directing a long term message about interest rates sends column and certainty to markets about what they can expect. will it be that long? it depends on the trajectory of this economy, but as long as the economy remains soft, the ability to keep rates low provides capital flowing to the markets and families, and that helps the recovery.

it is four days to the florida primary for the gop primary. today we will have several events just after 11:00 or we take you to the hispanic leadership network where they are holding their conference and newt gingrich is among the speakers today. that is set to get under way just after 11:00. former massachusetts governor mitt romney is been to that group and his remarks will start at 12:20. rick santorum is in florida day although reports say he is headed on to pennsylvania for the weekend. he will speak to the latin builders association and their decision 2012 conference later this afternoon at 1:30 eastern and that is live here on c-span. back in washington, the house is in today but just barely barely a day have a pro forma session coming up at 11:00 eastern and house democrats are meeting at this hour in their legislative retreat on the eastern shore of maryland. we will have speeches from that

retreat from vice president joe biden and president obama coming up on c-span 2 and the house pro forma year on c-span. until that gets under way, abuse and comments from this morning's "washington journal." host: the whole topic of income inequality comes up in the papers this morning. the largest tree this is in "the new york times" op-ed page. the longtime head of the pew research center. you can see the headline in the piece -- don't mind the gap.

guizot, it is around this idea of you but -- host: it is around your idea of the views of income inequality. what does a fair shot look like and how does the government support that? that is really what we want to engage you with this morning. there are a few other pieces. here is one from "the new york times" about the president's and house democrats, their meeting in cambridge, maryland with the party caucus.

so, there is another reference to it. let me show you how the topic was addressed by mitt romney in last night's cnn candidates' debate leading into the florida primary next tuesday. [video clip] >> i think it is important to insure we do not castigate people who are successful and tried by innuendo say there is something wrong been successful in having investments and having a return on them. mr. speaker, you indicate some how i did not earn t money. i earned the money. i did not inherit it. i te risks. those investments create jobs in america. i am proud of being successful, in theree enterprise system that creates jobs for other people. i am not going to run from that. i am proud of my taxes i pay. my taxes plus charitable contributions this year, 2011, will be about 40%. host: on the phone is the political reporter for "the

miami herald." florida e about its history has had cycles of boom and bust. people capitalizing on real- estate and other ventures in the boom years and then the cycle turns around. we are in the middle of one of those times and florida. how is the whole issue playing, income inequality, among florida voters this year? guest: more of a concern to democrats than republicans. i suspect -- i have not told -- but i suspect independents, probably the majority -- a little more concerned. but that said, as you heard on the campaign trail, newt gingrich adopting populist message. strayed off the republican reservation a bit and mitt romney's sort of dressing down of him. there is a concern among people here. we have busted. our boom is gone and housing market is awful. the job picture is pretty awful. you look at the surveys and you

talk to the average person on the street, politicians being honest in a moment of candor, these are tough times and floridians are rather displeased. host: the president has made a number of stops and the states. how is he planned issue of florida's economy when he talks to the citizens? guest: the way he played it nationwide. i think the president's biggest problem is that when he was leaving congress -- or, better said, when he did have the majority on both houses, the democraticly controlled senate, a wing to its rolls, did not accomplish a lot of the agenda. coupled with obamacare, as the call that in republican circles, could slow down his agenda. as a result of lot of people did not see the president has been very effective. the economy is showing some signs of unproven but people are not necessarily feeling it. host: as we go to election day tuesday, handicap what happened last night and how it might change the equation.

guest: what you saw -- actually the debate on monday night you saw a change in the kind of the narrative and dynamics of the race. mitt romney really had a good performance on monday night. then after that newt gingrich, as he did in iowa, kind of floundered -- campaigns are stories, things of messages. newt gingrich's messages from one place or another, he has had big, enthusiastic crowd, but you look at television, the way things are playing out -- msnbc, fox, cnn -- the coverage of gingrich has been largely negative, and that is in part because romney's campaign was driving the never to a wild brownie was taking on obama. last night, it really did not -- romney looked good, he had the crowd on his side for once. jacksonville, friendly, home territory.

i think what you will see on the news clipsi think most of the people are going to see the clips seem on the news and hearing the talking heads, i think that coverage of the debate itself rather than the debate is going to lead people to think more and more that romney is far more than necessarily dead. that is me saying i think romney will probably win. that is the safe bet. host: what isour projection for turnout on tuesday? guest: the expectation games between republicans and democrats. i would imagine probably around 2 million. host: what percentage of eligibles? guest: probably around 50%. closed primary means only republicans can vote. only 500,000 early absentee ballots have been requested. the number changes -- something like 260,000 ballots have

already been cast. host: candidates are treating it like make or break, analysis and the paper. and our own schedule of camera shots of around the sta, they are crisscrossing the stage trng to reach every voter. thanks so much for giving us your leg of the land as the floridians listen to these last- minute messages and make up their minds, the republicans, on tuesday. guest: thank you very much, and have a good day. host: from "the miami herald." we will get back to the topic, part of the debate last night, income inequality. i want to get back to the piece about mind the gap" income inequality and fairness.

there that word again, fairness. so, income inequality, what is fairness? are you concerned about the gap between rich and poor? that is the topic, echoed in the republican bake as it moves around florida and the last days of the primary. pennsylvania. republican. you are on the line. caller: good morning. host: you got the floor. caller: this income inequality is just anxcuse to try to

reduce to view -- reduced due -- redistribute the wealth of the nation, to take from somebody who is profitable, somebody who works hard, and takes the fruits of their labor and gives it to someone else. you should get what you warn. host: for example, when people say tax policies unfairly favor the wealthy, what is your reaction? caller: the wealthy pay the greatest percentage of the taxes. almost half the people pay no income tax. host: jim from oil city. robert is from milwaukee. democrat. caller: good morning. the question, income equality, what is fair, is somewhat vague. host: i would agree. [laughter] caller: my opinion is that, it is all right for anyone to make as much money as they want to make.

and if they happen to being fruitful in making all of that money, it is good for them. the problem is that a lot of the people have become very, very, very rich, send their money out to swiss bank accounts and also to the cayman islands and they are not paying taxes on all of that money. which is the biggest problem. it is not a matter of how much money you have, it is a matter of where you are going with your money and what you are investing in. you are not investing in the united stas of america because all you are concerned if is making sure that all of your money is somewhere else. so, i think that is where the problem lies -- is not necessary just democrat saying this about the rich, it is also some republicans and also independents. host: thanks. from milwaukee. a viewer from twitter --

we are talking about what is fair in american society. new hampshire. hello, to patricia. caller: i do not know where this myth >> you can see today all of "washington journal" on our website, c-span.org. u.s. house is coming in next.

>> the house returns next tuesday for legislative work. aimed atls overhauling the federal budget

process. vice president joe biden and the president obama is speaking today. the vice president is live on c- span2. we'll have live coverage of the president later today. . four days until the florida primary. we expect to hear from newt gingrich who will be speaking to the hispanic leadership network. that is running just a little bit late. we will have his comments live. mitt romney will be there at 12:20 eastern. rick santorum will be speaking in miami and that will be live at 1:30. last night in florida, the final debate was held by cnn.

we spoke to a reporter who covered that debate. host: how is this issue playing of in, and equality among florida voters this election? guest: more of the concern to democrats than republicans. i would suspect independence or did majority and are concerned about republicans. newt gingrich is adopting a populist message. there's a concern among people here.

our boom is gone. the housing market is awful. but the surveys -- look at these surveys. these are very tough times in florida. >> the president has made a number of stops in the state. he talked to the citizens and how was the playing? guest: his biggest problem is that he was leading congress -- he did have a majority in both houses of congress. he did not accomplish a lot of his agenda.

host: handicap what happened last night and how might change the equation. guest: what you saw at the debate on monday night, you saw a change in the narrative for the dynamic of the race. mitt romney had a big performance on monday night. newt gingrich kind of floundered -- they are stories. the message from one place to another -- he has had big crowds. look at the television. and on cnn, coverage of newt gingrich has been in negative mitt romney it has been taking on obama.

last night, it really did not -- romney looked good, he had the crowd on his side for once. jacksonville, friendly, home territory. i think what you will see on the news clips, i think most of the people are going to see the clips seem on the news and hearing the talking heads, i think that coverage of the debate itself rather than the debate is going to lead people to think more and more that romney is far more than necessarily dead. -- far better than the necessarily did. that is me saying i think romney will probably win. that is the safe bet. host: what is your projection for turnout on tuesday? guest: the expectation games between republicans and democrats. i would imagine probably around 2 million. host: what percentage of eligibles? guest: probably around 50%. closed primary means only republicans can vote. only 500,000 early absentee

ballots have been requested. the number changes -- something like 260,000 ballots have already been cast. host: candidates are treating it like make or break, analysis and the paper. and our own schedule of camera shots of around the state, they are crisscrossing the stage trying to reach every voter. thanks so much for giving us your leg of the land as the -- lay of the land -- floridians listen to these last-minute messages and make up their minds, the republicans, on tuesday. >> an update on last night's cnn debate. there are more than 1 million hispanic voters up for grabs in the republican primary next tuesday. lots of coverage coming up on c- span later today. we will have newt gingrich shortly.

that will be coming up next couple of minutes. they are wrapping up a previous panel. mitt romney will be speaking to the same group at 12:20. then it will ticket to miami for the hispanic leadership conference -- rick santorum is speaking. the associated press says that rick santorum is tired, broke, and going home. he is taking a break before the tuesday primary. he expects to, and third in that primary. he would rather -- he expects to third. in we'll have those comments from rex santorum coming up on c- span. if you missed any of the

coverage, you can find it on our website, c-span.org. more specifically at c-span .org/campaign 2012. we will take some of your phone calls. we're waiting to hear from newt gingrich to speak to the group. mitt romney coming up this afternoon. the previous panel is wrapping up. we will have coverage next tuesday of the florida results as they, and when the polls drop and reports from the candidate's speeches. all that will be here on c-span and c-span.org. we have opened up our phone lines. you can tell us what you think about your favorite candidates. we of broken up airlines differently.

here are the numbers -- onst: we ask you to call in new line the best support your candidate. we want to let you know about some of our coverage coming up next week here on c-span. we will be bringing you the senate intelligence committee. they are hearing on the global threats to the u.s. and that is coming up on tuesday at 10:00 eastern, ahead of the cia and the fbi here on c-span. we have a call waiting on our newt gingrich line. caller: good morning.

i want to say that i was a former democrat supporting hillary clinton and then i switched over to support the other side. i'm disenchanted with the kinds of criticism that is being put forward to the speaker. i realize he has a lot flaws. having these people come out of the woodwork is troubling me. for the past three years, i have supported -- i have not supported president obama. you're supporting newt gingrich? caller: i'm disenchanted with the republican establishment. host: you are calling from virginia. he was not able to get on the

virginia primary ballot. caller: that is correct. we have to write his name and manually. host: will you do that? caller: yes. host: good morning. where are you calling from? caller: arkansas. i think rick santorum would make a wonderful president. he has a ways to go and he is behind the other two, but i liked him best. host: what do you think about his strategy of concentrating on other states? reports say he is going back to pennsylvania and to focus on other states -- the fund raising is not there.

caller: i am sorry to hear that. i believe that if he had gotten their earlier than the others and if he had been there for a long time in florida -- host: it looks like the rolling average of polls has rick santorum at about 11%. mitt romney at about 39%. newt gingrich at 38%. we're waiting to hear from newt gingrich. this is connie. hello. make sure you mute your television. i'm going to put you on hold for a moment.

back to it gingrich supporter. this is bill. good morning. caller: i have watched all the debates by the democrats in the past. i change my mind this year. i have been impressed by newt. i think newt has some great ideas. i do not see how mitt romney -- i have no problems with him. he's just like president obama. on health care, newt gingrich is the one to carry the fight. i do not see how mitt romney is going to win and how he can stand up against president obama. >> what state are you calling

from? >> texas. >> when does taxes have the primary? >> generally i think it is supposed to be in may. i think the date has been put on hold. i have not kept up with it. >> would you have supported rick perry? >> no. again, i will be voting republican this year. that would be tough to do. i might not vote at all. i could vote for romney before i could vote for or perry. i want someone that can debate it president obama and that is newt gingrich. >> newt gingrich will be coming out in about five minutes.

this is the hispanic leadership conference. newt gingrich will speak first. connie, go ahead. >> i like what mitt romney believes in. i live in massachusetts. i thought he did a good job as governor for the people in our state. this is a ron paul supporter. >> i am a resident of texas city, texas. i moved here from central texas where we had what i thought were fantastic roads and bridges. but i want to tell you that the texas city area, the roads and bridges are a cut above even what is generally available in texas. >> do you think ron paul has

something to do with that? >> when this was started, the early part of the jurors the bush administration, we had a former governor in the white house and we get rick perry in the state capital and we have ron paul as our representative. >> as you can see, we have broken up our lines by candidates. who do you support? call in on new line the best fits your political beliefs. newt take calls until gingrich comes out to speak. chris, go ahead with your comments. mute your television. supporter any republican candidate because as

you can see, they are not for what america is looking for. they are --they're not for the middle class. they are not for -- >> we will let you go. these are four republican supporters. here is it rick santorum supporter. nick, hi. >> i watched the debate last night. i think rick santorum is the most level headed out of all of them. if he was to take ron paul as his vice president, i think the republican party might have a chance. you got mitt romney, a robotic airhead. newt gingrich has a much of a past that it is unreal.

>> what state are you calling from? >> idaho. the media and everybody else have probably already made up their mind. >> we will have rick santorum speaking this afternoon as part of our live coverage. dallas is a deeper supporter? dallas -- is a gingrich supporter? is off the line. >> i like ron paul because he is the one who is standing up for our rights. indefiniteor this detention they got. they say they will not be able to rest americans -- not be able

to arrest americans. the fed needs to go. it is a big hoax for those who of the money. i hope ron paul gets elected. if not i will be voting for and newt gingrich. i hope we have a chance to vote for a man who wants to protect our rights and put the country back on the straight and narrow. >> patti is a mitt romney supporter. >> i resent the fact that somebody said he was an error hairhead. he has been a successful businessman. i have been republican and mitt romney brings some sense of decency, i believe, to the white house.

i'm calling from oregon. our primary in oregon -- i can remember. >> thank you for calling. one more call, larry. areyo you there? go ahead. >> i support newt gingrich. mitt romney has these offshore accounts. he has put his money out there in another bank. i do not understand how that money would be used for the people of america. newt gingrich has great ideas. people laughed at the prospect of putting people on the moon.

he inspired scientists and discover new things that we use in the society. >> you have the last word because it looks like newt gingrich will be coming out. this is live coverage of the hispanic leadership network. mitt romney will be coming up in about 30 minutes. >> i have a phone. a phone with a pink cover. come see me if it is yours.

i need everybody to please take your seats. please take your seats.

please take your seats. we're starting. now. shh. thank you. thank you. on behalf of the hispanic leadership network, it is nice to have you here today. this is an historic day in the hispanic community. i have the distinct honor of introducing someone who is going to be introducing somebody else and that is the hispanic leadership network advisory committee member, please give him a warm welcome.

[applause] >> good morning. what a great honor to be here any bigger thrill to introduce our next speaker. he took south carolina last saturday. and then there were three. mitt won new hampshire. newt gingrich won south carolina. then there were three. all eyes are here on florida, again. [applause] if we have to describe our next speaker, one word would be "leadership." newt gingrich understood as a young -- and a young age that he would dedicate his life to serving his country. that he is done exceptionally.

he is best known for being the architect for the contract of america that in 1994, the republican party to gain a majority in the united states house of representatives for the first time in 40 years. congress passed the first balanced budget in a generation under his leadership and cut taxes for the first time in 16 years, and he reformed welfare. please give a warm welcome to speaker newt gingrich. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you very, very much. we had a slightly more modest group downstairs who endorsed me. i thought i would call up to see if the rest of you decide you like to join us in launching a nationwide effort. people came in from california, louisiana, and texas. i'm thrilled. we helped develop the americano about nine years ago and we have had a consistent effort to develop a nationwide approach to weight center right latino communications capability to talk about issues that matter to all of us. this is something that has no boundaries. every ethnic group that comes to america has the right to pursue

the american dream. it is very important -- i was thrilled when lionel and kathy came today. everybody in the latino community has aspirations that are precisely the heart of the american dream. they want to work and have independence. we're honored to be here and to be with you. i want to thank everybody who was put this together. it does matter a great deal. these are all first-rate people who've done the first rate job. i can promise you that with the help of many of you i become the nominee, we will work closely in every single state and we recognize that working with the

latino community is every single state because there are people everywhere who of the background who came from someplace either in spain or latin america. let me talk about some practical things. i would move mexico from the northern command to the southern command here in miami to create a capacity to deal with all of latin america. it makes no sense to divide mexico. [applause] i was treating the southern command and its personnel. we invest more in bahrain or japan -- think about the scale of the media say. we are neglecting this hemisphere.

almost 50 years later, we continue to neglect this hemisphere and it is dangers and foolish and we should have different policies. our commitment to every person in latin america -- we want you to have the opportunity to live under the rule of law and we want america to be your closest friend in your closest ally in giving you a chance for your family to pursue a better future. and that message and a human level will be received by people across all latin america and could help us break out. i was deeply influenced in the 1980's and how you break through. i would like us to have that kind of program that gives hope to everybody. hugo chavez says he is our

enemy. i am prepared to accept that. [laughter] [applause] there have been a few occasions in an administration filled with embarrassments that when president obama met with hugo chavez and he smiled and handed him an anti american book as an active delivered contempt. we do understand that what we get together and they say they want to harm the united states, they mean it. we should take an aggressive strategy of replacing hugo chavez and giving the people of venice well the opportunity to live in freedom -- the people of venezuela. [applause] i come to you as someone who

helped pass the helms-burton act. i was -- i will not waive article 3 as president, which every president has waived. i think the important for us to implement that -- i think it is important for us to implement that. but we need to do more than that. it is amazing that president obama can look east and worry about freedom in tunisia, libya, egypt, were a little bit about freedom and syria and more about iran and all because that would be embarrassing. he cannot bring themselves to look south. i would like a cuban south to

help the people of cuba liberate themselves. [applause] if you look at the non-military strategies of president reagan and pope john paul to defeat the soviet empire, and we were serious about communicating to the next generation and the cuban hierarchy, there will not be a transition to a dictatorship but a transition to freedom. you get to decide which side you want to join. we will notice who does what and we will do accountable for every act of repression. i think he would find the morale collapsing. we have the scene where one reagan talks about the evil empire. then we have a prisoner who says -- to answer rating, they

have to use the word "evil." the morale of very guard inside. dropped and the morale of every prisoner when to up because a western leader had the courage to tell the truth about the soviet empire. the willingness to intimidate those who would be oppressors by saying to them, you'll be held accountable and those of you engaged in violence against the people of cuba will suffer the consequences of your behavior. in an age when people can take film -- one of my goals is to flood the island with enough cell phones and video cameras in any act of

repression gets filmed by 30 people. this person will be on the list after the revolution. watch the morale of the police force drop. the other part of land america -- of latin america -- we have to help the government of mexico win the war against the drug cartels. this is extraordinarily important. i helped pass the plan columbia as speaker. this was compounded by the drug cartels which was compounded by the the power in rural colombia. we need to be prepared in a different situation with

different complexities to help the government of mexico in every way we can defeat the drug cartels because it is a threat for everybody in the hemisphere to have a failed state in mexico and to have the drug dealers surviving. [applause] there is a broader pattern. the broader pattern is the question of how do we maximize our trade and how we maximize our ability to compete? i am bothered when i see the chinese gaining ground in latin america because their government cares, their government is engaged and wants to maximize the opportunity to import and export from latin america. what changes in regulations and in tax laws -- what we need to

do -- i will do everything i can to maximize our opportunities in latin america and to maximize the opportunity for miami to become the center of commerce, the center of education, the center of opportunity so that all of -- will overhaul the system.es thatvisa when we make it harder to get here, we should not be surprised when we have too few visitors. we have an obligation to reshape the entire visa program. i say that on behalf of the cruise lines and on behalf of disney world and on behalf of universal.

we're losing thousands of jobs because we have a visa program that is so complicated. one item that was not covered last night. i have had a firm position on the right of the border region to have a rican people referendum. the people have to make that decision. i think they have every right to have the referendum to decide on stated or not. that is something i would support, their right to of the referendum. and then to negotiate the right of a session -- if that is what they want to do. i do believe the people of

puerto rico -- this was my position when i was a speaker. >> i have a question. the united states armed forces -- we have 4 million puerto ricans in the united states who are voters. the question is simple. you want our vote -- yes or no? i do not want you to make the decision. we will be going to referendum. the believe that to be a state or not -- do you believe that to be a state? >> i believe the people of

puerto rico should make the decision. the people should make the decision if they want to be a state. i will work with them. but the people have to decide their future. i would welcome them if they make the decision. i will not tell them what decision they should make. period. now, let me talk about one other controversial issue. this cannot last night -- this came up last night. i don't believe you can pass a comprehensive immigration bill. write has toor

many enemies. you have to control the border. we propose to control the bill. rwriting a there are 23,000 people in homeland security in the washington area and i would be willing to move up to half of them to texas and arizona and new mexico if that is what we have to do to have enough manpower. things could easier you have a different conversation when people take you seriously. i'm for english as the central language. english is the old language of maximum opportunity. every parent knows this. this should not be controversial. i met with the president of miami-dade.

they have 94 languages in their college alone. we want everybody to be able to talk with each other. that should not be controversial. we're inviting people to come to america to be americans. i think that people applying for citizenship should have a higher standard of knowledge of american history than we currently require. i think our own children should of a higher standard of american history that we currently require. [applause] this is a remarkably unique civilization which integrates people from every part of the planet with a skill and that no other country has. there's something unique and it is worth learning. i want to modernize the visa

system. i like to modernize the deportation system. if you're not an american system, which should be able to review -- we should be able to get rid of you in two weeks. there are some people that we did not want here and the neighborhoods to not want them here. i think we have a guest worker program and it has to be economically driven. i would outsource it to american express, visa, or mastercard. if you had any effective guest worker program and an effective card system, there is no excuse

for any employer to hire somebody illegally and i would be far higher economic sanctions on employers who do that. would not come to the question of 11 million who are here. i had a deep disagreement with governor romney. i opted to worth exploring -- i think it is worth exploring. a number of migrants would go back home and apply for cards. i try to deal with an honest way with the complexity of what is going on. you have people who've been here for 25 years. they have children, grandchildren, and a local church. some of you may remember this from the debate in washington. i got attacked as though i had

sold out on americans. they started yelling amnesty. for folks who have been there for a long time and are financially responsible, if they can have an american family sponsor them -- let local citizen panels. can prove that they have a family sponsor them and they should get a right of residence -- not citizenship. to get citizenship, they should go back home and a file like everybody else. there would take a trip and file. in some countries, it is a matter of years. it is not enough when you get to people with strong family ties to say deportation and letting

go. they are not going to self- deport. in other passion the most families have -- you know the passion that most families have. the idea that a grandmother will self-to deport. this is a fantasy. this is not a solution. citizens should decide that you should have residency. law.ie in under the it is a practical step. i hope you would support the idea that no one is in america illegally. those here without citizenship are here with the proper papers.

this is an improper way to reunify the country -- this is an appropriate way. two last things. one, i don't think a lot about specific ethnic by ethnic, how we go round to capture people. i think about how we can create millions and millions of jobs so people will be better off and so everybody will be working. america works when americans are working. it is true or in some communities than others. the cost new study on in the hispanic community of the president's decision to veto the pipeline. it is a significant cost in higher prices of energy and in working in houston and working

in the ports of houston and galveston. this is a bad decision to president has made. it has an impact specifically on hispanic people. we want every american to have a chance to get a first job, a better job, and someday to on the job by owning the business. i think the hispanic chamber of commerce told us there were 3 million hispanic-owned small businesses in the united states. this will do very well if we haven't of entrepreneurial tax code an entrepreneurial precatory system and a president who likes people who create jobs. i think we can start moving very fast. [applause]

the last thing i want to say affects every hispanic american and every american. gasoline last year was the highest price in american history, twice the price when obama entered office. our dependence on foreign oil is an enormous threat to our national security. when you watch the iranians practice to close the straits of it is, they're saying -- in our interest to have an american energy program which would create american jobs, and dramatically improve our balance of trade, give us the national security reserves of knowing we can do it.

i have a simple goal to have no american president ever again bwow to a saudi king because we do not need the oil. [applause] i will close with a brief commercial. i'm running for president. i would like to extend -- to every person of every background. we have a primary here on tuesday. i would love to have your support. go on youtube, facebook, tweet - - even talk to people face to face. i will try to lead all americans into a dramatically better future. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you so much, speaker for being here with us today, and mrs. gingrich. please stay in your seat. we have a slight change in the program. governor romney -- >> he is getting near as we speed -- he is getting here as we speak. i want to think speaker

gingrich for that energetic speech. everyone was so impressed with everything coming at a miami. so stand by. we will we back in just a few minutes. do not leave the room. will announce governor romney -- we will announce governor romney. word thatetting some governor romney is going to speak a bit earlier than we expected. he was scheduled for 12:20 and maybe earlier. we will hang here just a little

bit. we will have direct santorum at about -- we will have rick santorum in miami at 1:30 eastern here on c-span. while we wait for governor romney, will open up our phone lines to supporters of governor romney. here are the numbers -- please make sure you mute your television when you call in. we want to point an article in "politico." the headline says -- "newt

gingrich 2012 rise unnerves house gop." they think he would not run weekly in the suburbs and among women and independents. the polls are changing daily in florida. there was a pole yesterday in "the wall street journal" which showed some movement on governor romney's part. we will show you some of those skills in just a moment. a romney supporter, lou. lou.ead, we have sharron who supports newt gingrich. >> i lived in georgia when he was a congressman and what he was speaker of the house.

he is the one person who is accomplice and conservative solutions and i think the fact that the republican establishment party does not one and because he gets things done and they want the status quo and that's the reason why they are backing mitt romney. host: "the wall street journal" poll -- newt gingrich with 37%, mitt romney at 28%, rick santorum who we will have letter for you, 18% and ron paul, at 12%.

a romney supporter, what state are recalling from? caller: florida. hos host: not able to hear you. go to a dinner supporter. host: go ahead caller: i am a new gingrich supporter. i want to say to the gop establishment and the elite media it is obvious they are pushing for mitt romney and the gop needs to know that we the people are going to be the ones to decide who the is. nominee is. host: what state are you calling from? caller: and calling from michigan. you look at some of the top gop

runners for this presidential race. rick santorum has a history of being conservative and backing his beliefs and his moral affects that line of. with all the gop's that are up there, they are flip-floping. i would feel much more comfortable and happier if i had somebody i had confidence in, that i know will not flip-flop one way or another and that stays true to his morals and is a true patriot. and not a gop machine person, not a big business person, and certainly not somebody who wants to hide in the united states rather than deal with foreign affairs. host: just to let folks know -- we're waiting to hear from mitt romney. he had originally been scheduled for 12:20 p.m. and we expect him to speak a little sooner than that so we will stay here and take some of your phone calls

and find out what you think of the candidates. we have set aside our lines for the pop -- for the top four candidates. we will have direct santorum speaking to the hispanic builders association coming up this afternoon at 1:30 eastern here on c-span. next up is marked, a gingrich supporter. it did you get a chance to see his speech? caller: yes, i believe i was a supporter of mitt romney but i believe he will lose because most people in the united states see this as an invasion and him wanting to give amnesty to grandparents, he will lose. puerto rico will never become a state. we don't want it as a state. host: his comments were that he one of the people of puerto rico

to decide that. what do you think of that? caller: even if they want to become part of the union, it is up to the other states whether we want to accept them. as a state. they are just the commonwealth. the reason they are is because the [inaudible] down there. the other states have to bring them into the union. host: let's hear from a mitt romney supporter. caller: hello? i'm calling from san francisco. i am a romney supporter. i feel some of the caller is it seems are thinking about themselves and are on issues or

morality so they pick somebody that is without morals. i don't understand that. i think we need somebody who actually understands, as a romney says, that understands money, the economy, and jobs. if you would survey every household as to what is important to their family, it would be jobs, money, he economy. we need somebody who can actually be obama. i think people should put their own personal let's say religious zealousness aside and focus. it is about beating obama and they are totally, totally losing sight of that fact. that is why republican congressmen are saying not newt. we need mitt to be obama up. >host: we will hear from mitt

romney in a few minutes. they also heard from marco rubio and we will show his speech later in our program. here is a ron paul supporter. caller: i am a big ron paul supporter. mainly because of his stand on foreign policy. he is the only guy out there who seems to have an understanding of anwar is and the fact that we are projecting all this money going out. and just from yesterday, they say they will close more bases in the united states and we're putting more money out and investing in other countries by sending our troops there and causing a huge amount of antipathy against us. he is the only guy who will come out and say that we should not attack iran and that is insanity because none of these other guys are talking about the

fact that iran happens to pose as anti-ship missiles that are almost unstoppable. they are made by russia and they get sent there. when these guys talk about attacking iran, they need to realize are we willing to give up a couple of aircraft carriers? are we willing to go to war? that's what it would mean. it would mean a declaration of war and none of those other folks seem to be on that level of reality. i am in california and i hope folks in california will rise up and give ron paul a big victory out here because that will host: brepublicans in florida get their chance on saturday. tuesday. even the vice president talked politics with democrats. they have their legislative retreat today and the vice president spoke to them earlier.

we covered that and you can see that later in our program scheduled and in our video library. biden predicts democrats will retake of the house. here is a new to gingrich supporter. what city and state recalling from? caller: i'm calling from florida. host: are you a gingrich supporter? caller: you are darned right. before i will vote, if mitt romney gets the nomination, i will vote for obama based on the principle that the devil you know and the w don't know. mitt romney is a moshi moderate

from massachusetts, white bread, he has no flavor and no passion. he has been picked by the republican establishment simply because he has a passing resemblance to ronald reagan. he has the same type of hair and these people are hoping to find another ronald reagan and mitt romney is not another ronald reagan. newt gingrich -- the thing i like most about him is he things out of the box. he has the audacity to come up with a very novel ideas. host: you said you would vote for the devil you know. you would vote for president obama over mitt romney. if newt gingrich got the nomination, could he be obama? ♪ caller: i will certainly vote

for newt. host: do you think he can beat the presidential ex-husband caller: yes. you guys in the media are so out of the mainstream of america. you ride iran and chauffeur- limousines and you don't know what americans want. americans would flock to newt gingrich. you can buy a book debt newt wrote five years ago and he says the same thing back then that he is now. newt is thinking. he is not being handled. no one is being whispered in his ear. he does not even use a teleprompter. host: thanks for your call and your comments. we will have more of a chance for you to fall in later andrea we are waiting for mitt romney to speak to the hispanic leadership network. they have been holding their

conference in miami today. they earlier heard from florida senator and mitt romney supporter marco rubio. we will show you his comments at least as much as we can until governor romney speaks. [video clip] >> that was a kind introduction, thank you. rick sanchez is staring at me and it makes me nervous. thank you. [speaking spanish] [spaeking spanish] [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] >> to those that don't speak spanish, i apologize. i was describing how i saved a bunch of money on my car insurance. [laughter] thank you for choosing miami. it is a great place to do political things and it is an exciting and vibrant place. on my way in today, i got a text for my friend that someone is

flying a plane over the building that says marco, we are not blind. by coincidence, neither am i.. [laughter] if i am in the senate for another year, i may start being a little bit more gray. anyways, thank you for choosing this place and for being a part of this and giving us the opportunity to speak at this key moment in our nation's history. when people talk about americans of spanish descent, the first issue that comes to mind as immigration. the issue of immigration is not a theoretical one. it is not an issue of statistics and it is not always an issue of law and order. it is an issue of their lives and the people they love whether you can hear from another country yourself or your parents did or whether you have been here generations. there is no one in the community of the hispanic community of americans who do not love someone who has found themselves in limbo or in a situation.

it is impossible to walk a block in miami, los angeles, and san antonio without running into somebody who is being be deeply impacted by a broken immigration system. when politicians and political figures speak about the issue of immigration, they are not just talking about a legal issue. there's been about the real lives of real people that to many of us love and care for. it is an important issue, not just for our country, but in our community, it is a gateway issue. >> [inaudible] please, help us. you are an immigrant yourself. [inaudible] [applause] >> these young people are very

brave to be here today. they raise a legitimate issue if you allow me -- if they would give me the courtesy of finishing my speech where i will speak about this, i ask that you guys let them stay. i think there will be interested in what i have to say. [applause] i don't want them to leave. i want them to stay. these young men and women raise a legitimate issue. taking into a crowd they know may not be friendly to their point of view and have the bravery and courage to raise their voices. thank god i am in a country where they can do that. [applause]

i want them to hear what i have to say. i think i am not who they think i am and i don't stand for what they claim i stand for. unfortunately, they were not willing to be a part of it so i will speak to you. those of you with cameras and tape recorders will hopefully reported to you and the rest of the world and the rest of the country. the immigration issue is critical and important because it is a gateway issue to the number one issue on the minds of the people in this community of all walks of life and that is economic empowerment. there is no community in america that understands the american dream of economic empowerment better than ours. the number one issue in our community is the desire to accomplish your dreams and hopes and to leave your children and grandchildren with opportunities that you yourself never had.

people live obsessed in this country with this notion every day but no community is more assessed than ours. it is the reason why people come here. it is the reason why they work two jobs. is the reason why your parents give up their own hopes and dreams so you could do the things they could not. , so you could be what they could not be coming to you could go or they could not go, so their doors that were closed to them would be open to you. which community understands that better than ours? there is none. it is do we are into this -- and typifies our life and what has made our country great. i would submit to you that there has never been an economic system that provides the opportunity to do that better than the american free enterprise system. no economic system is perfect but nowhere in the world have more people from all walks of life been able to empower their children and grandchildren more than there were able to do here in the 20th-century and in the american free enterprise system. today it is under assault. our country today is run by a president that is divisive as

any figure in modern american history and 27 has chosen the route of divided americans against each other for the purpose of gaining votes and political support. [applause] his message is one that says to people that the way to protect your job is to raise your boss is taxes. the way for you to do better is for someone else to be worse off. the only way could climb up the ladder is if we pull people down. that language is common all over the world. you find it often in the third world. it has never been who we are. [applause] as i said in a speech at the end of last year, we have never been a nation of haves and have-nots. we have always been a nation of has and sin to have -- nation of haves and soon to haves.

if we lose that, we lose was great in economics. the choice is put before to get -- today are dangerous was because if we choose this path of pitting people against each other and buy into the notion that our economy cannot grow fast enough for all of us to prosper so we will have to empire -- empower government to distribute wealth among us, we have chosen to become like everyone else. we've chosen to become like the country's your parents and grandparents came here to get away from. that is a powerful message. [applause] that is the message that we need to deliver. that is the message we need to work on delivering. it is a winning message. it is a difficult message to get to. the gateway issue of immigration stance in the minds of some money people we lived next to and love. our country has a broken legal immigration system. the status quo is not

sustainable. we don't have a functional guest worker program in a nation that knows it has a need for temporary workers especially in agriculture. [applause] our nation has a complicated and burdensome visa process where even if you want to enter this country legally and you want to stay here legally, it cost so much money and is so complicated that it is difficult to comply with. the things i just outlined are the things of massive, overwhelming support in our country. there is broad bipartisan support across the board for the idea that america needs a legal immigration system that works. that is why i challenge the republican nominees and all republicans not just to be the anti-immigration policy -- party. we should be the pro-legal immigration party. [applause]

a party that has a positive platform and agenda on how we can create a legal immigration system that works for america and immigrants. i think you can find brought broad bipartisan support today for the idea that our legal immigration system is broken and needs to be modernized. when he taken the realities of the 21st century and tailor a system that takes care of that. i think you can find broad bipartisan support for the notion that our immigration laws need to be enforced and we need some sort of electronic low-cost verification system for employers and that we need increased border security and ways to protect our borders and that we need to invest. >> that is marco rubio speaking earlier to the hispanic leadership network 3 we will show all of that speech later in our program. you can find it also on our video library at c-span.org.

we will take you back live to the hispanic leadership network conference bridge former center norm coleman will be introducing mitt romney live here on c-span. >> we had a tremendous secretary and we're just thrilled. somebody once said, a leader without followers is just a big guy taking a walk. [laughter] in the end, the great leadership within this latino community, spanish community, we need you. we need your voices to be raised in your action and your power in order for us to move this country and the right direction and make sure that we elect a new president of the united states, get rid of barack obama, and that will happen in november with you. [applause] it is my great pleasure to be introducing our next speaker. let me state up front that for quite awhile now i have been working closely with governor

romney's foreign-policy team. i know he believes that for far too long and far too often we take the countries in our hemisphere for granted. from the point of view of trade, security, and culture, the governor romney understands it is a self-defeating approach. he intends to change it by deepening our engagement with all our friends to the south. the central issue in this race is the economy. it is jobs. the conversation at the dinner table is different if mom and dad have a job. governor runyan understand what it takes to grow jobs. as governor of massachusetts, he inherited a state that was mired in recession and shedding jobs. working with a democrat- controlled legislature, he pressed forward with conservative solutions to a whole host of problems including a state budget severely out of whack. amazingly, he was able to

balance the budget while simultaneously cutting taxes. by the time he left office, massachusetts had a $2 billion rainy day fund and its economy had picked up and they were once again hiring. that is what we need in america, the kind of leadership. long before he entered public service, he had a career in the private sector helping to start new businesses and wreck -- rescue failing once. wellman firms like staples and pizza uht where there are tens of thousands of workers. given the economic crisis we are in and given the joblessness that is the worst since the great depression, he brings experience in the private sector that makes him uniquely qualified to address the challenges that we now face. he knows firsthand why businesses hire. he knows firsthand why -- what kind of government policy stifle investment and stifled job creation. it is said that crises have a

way of producing great leaders. we are in a time of crisis and we need great leadership. with the experience of what it takes to understand to grow jobs. before i turn the floor or the governor, want to talk about his family. he has been married for more than four decades to his white ann. she was magnificent last night. between them they have five sons and 16 grandchildren to are the center of their lives. it has been a great pleasure getting to know them. they are wonderful american family, a model and inspiration for us all as occupants of the white house, that will make us proud. ladies and gentlemen, the amigo, mitt romney. [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much.

i appreciate your welcome. i brought some of my family with me today. as you probably know, i care about my family. i have one son here today this is my youngest son, my baby. i don't think he likes being called the baby. i thought i would have him say hi to you. he lived for a couple of years in chile so i asked him if he would speak to you in spanish tommy how well he does [laughter] around on, he is barred by for the best. >> papa -- [applause] >> you're going to do better than that, right? >> [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] [laughter] [applause] >> i got that one. >> come here and say something in spanish, too. >> ola! [laughter] [applause] >> i have another friend want to say hello, my sweet are of 42 years, ann romney. >> it is good to see friends in the audience. i understood craig's last comment -- an excellent president reported [laughter] it is wonderful to have our son

and grandson. when we ran four years ago, parker was a big hit on the campaign trail and he was only 1 years old. he loved this stage and the love the microphones and he loved the balloons. he had no idea what was going on body loved the lights and the excitement. it is interesting to see him back here four years later. four years ago, i was definite about one thing that i would never do this again [laughter] i can't tell you how much ahmadabad. mitt laughed and said you say that after every pregnancy [laughter] all the women out there know what i'm talking about. a year ago, when we made the final decision about whether we were going to go forward, i obviously had a change of heart. . askmitt 1 think -- no one will know who you will run against.

i have no idea the other candidates will be. i don't with the issues will be by the time we come down to it. i only have one question to rescue -- if you can get through this whole process and you can finally be the president, can you answer me this one question? can you fix it? he said yes. that's all i needed to know. [applause] i have to throw aside all those arguments i made about never running again and say it is worth it. this country is worth it. what needs to be done needs to be done by someone who knows how to do it. you cannot have someone turn something around if they have never turned around anything before. you cannot have someone run an organization if they have never run an organization before. we tried tha the last time.

how's that working? [applause] i feel so strongly. i have seen him in every avenue be successful. to me, the most important and where has been successful as it -- has been as a husband and father. [applause] he did tell me when i was raising - craig was not always does well behavior -- of the five, he was the best-behaved. he was the baby and everyone thought it was fabulous. when they were relieved najee, mitt would be traveling and he would hear an exasperated wife. he would say don't worry everything will be ok and we will get through this phase of life. remember, what you are doing, your job is more important than my job. what that meant to me was that we were equal partners, that our success was going to be measured

by our children's success and our relationship, and now we have the reward of having that come true. the other great part is watching my grandchildren. we have 16 of them and watch them ms. p a. -- miss b a. -- misbehave. you guys so deserve it. mitt has exhibited an ability his whole life to figure out the core of the problem and then figure out how to fix it. it is not just having the answer. it is in implementing a which is the hard thing and i think that will be hard in the next phase, too. i have all the continents this guy will be a great president and the need everybody in this country to understand that as well as i do. i appreciate all of you being here. it will be an interesting day in florida on tuesday, we hope. thank you.

[applause] >> thank you. i want to thank you in this organization for having helped sponsor the debate last night. i thought was a delightful debate. i loved it. you are an energetic and enthusiastic part of that debate and i want to thank you [applause] i also want to thank the many people in this room who helped me four years ago and are still helping me. i see remedios over there. i better not call out all the names. i thank you so very much for your help in the many who are helping me in this campaign. means a great deal to me. i thought i would spend a moment talking about the president's failures as they relate to latin america and the nations of latin america and as they relate to our homeland with regards in particular to the immigration policies here and as they relate to the inability of our economy

to help people find work. , not only the people who have lived here all their lives that those who have come to this country and people who are suffering more than the population as a whole. this is more of a discussion than a lecture. with regard to immigration -- i like immigration. i like legal immigration. i think is important for america to recognize that immigration is an extraordinary source of the vitality for our nation and bring people of different cultures you're great opportunity and growth for the entire economy. demographically, we need immigration. it is an advantage we have over the european nations. we have populations that want to come here and grow our economy. it is an extraordinarily important aspect of america's vitality. i also believe to protect legal immigration we need to stop illegal immigration i would in fact built a fence and i would

in fact have in the border security agents to make sure that we're able to protect the border. and i will put in place a system that allows employers to know who is here legally and not so that people, if they want to hire someone, and identified immediately if their card is valid or counterfeit. if a person does not have a card or it is counterfeit, if the employer hires them, i will crack down aggressively on those employers like we do on companies that don't pay their taxes. on that basis, we will stop the flow of illegal immigration into this country, i am convinced of that. i am very concerned about those who are already here illegally and how we deal with those 11 million or so that are here legally and my heart goes out to the record of people. my heart also goes out to the people who are being held by the so-called coyotes who are brought into this country and in many cases of abuse and victimized. my heart -- my thoughts and heart goes out to the millions

of people in their home countries willing to come to this country legally who've been sponsored by people in this room. i care about all three groups. our primary responsibility as a government is to the last two groups. those that are waiting legally to come here, i want them to get here. i would love to see a transparent process and have them go on the internet and see where they stand and how many months or years it will take for them to get here rather than going through this labyrinth of loopholes and laws and a maze of regulations to get to this country legally. i want to make that easier. i would also like to make sure that those being brought here illegally by the coyotes that are being abused, that that ends because there will not be the demand to come here illegally. with regards to those who are here illegally, those people who have come here illegally should be able to be given a temporary status, a temporary work permit

but at the end of that time, they would apply for permanent residency after they return home. they need to get in line with everyone else that wants to come here. other people call that self- deportation but we will not go out and round people up in buses and ship them home. we'll let people make your own decisions based on their employment opportunities here or lack there of if they don't have a valid work authorization cards from this country. i want to protect illegal immigration. i would like to expand legal immigration. i would like to have a visa program that meets the needs of our employment community. we should match visa's and the number of visas we give that in agriculture and hospitality and high-tech. we should measure those to conform with the needs of our employment community. policy expansile expansion of our visa program and clarification of our legal immigration program and a

commitment and conviction across this country that we do not let the mainstream media confused. we're not anti-immigrant. we're not anti-immigration. where the pro-immigration, pro- citizenship nation and party and [applause] let me mention a second topic and that is latin america policy. on a regular basis, every four years, a candidate's stand up and said that latin america is being ignored by their predecessors. and they will change that. and they don't. the question is, why? there is an answer to that. people who are leading a country, typically decide what is in their best interest. foreign-policy is typically guided by the best interest of the nation involved. the people who have been leading our country sometime have frankly thought is more in our best interest to be looking at

china and to be trading with china and working with south korea and china and japan because of the high growth there. there have been others in the past to have said no, it is europe and we have devoted our time and attention to europe. taking a look of the world today, they are out of date. what is happening in latin america whether it is from mexico, the caribbean, through central america and south america is such extraordinary growth economically not to mention demographically. there is a huge economic, political, and military opportunity and series of challenges and obligations right here in this hemisphere. while china is important and europe is important, right here is an enormously important aspect of american foreign policy. [applause] i think there has been the perception for way too long that economic ties with latin america

are somehow charitable endeavors by american business. that is simply out of date. there are enormous opportunities for american enterprise to become involved in latin america and vice versa. palle as we know, trade between two nations where they each trade the products and services at which they excel, raises the standard of living of both nations. it is one of the remarkable aspects of free trade we have that opportunity right here in this hemisphere it is astonishing that more businesses have not become aware of that but some are. i have a long an unfortunate history in the airline industry. i say on fortune because some years ago, a fellow named david nieleman asked if i would invest in his startup airline. i said i will never invest again. that was jet blue. [laughter] i make some mistakes now and then. i watched him. after being chief executive of jetblue and be successful, he

went to brazil. he bought an airline they're called azul and brought american techniques to that airline and it is doing spectacularly well. you will find more and more people recognize the mass of opportunity for exchange and trade. if i am president of united states, one thing i will do my first 100 days is to begin an economic initiative of drawing a latin american businesses and american businesses closer together. this is a mass of opportunity, not a charity, but an opportunity. it will help lift both parts of the world. [applause] besides that being in our mutual self-interest, there's something else which i think we have ignored too long. that is the geopolitical in the creek -- implications of what is happening in the world and how it relates to latin america. many of us in our country still

have the holiday from history that has been spoken about by a number of folks that was that following the collapse of the soviet union, the idea that america was so far ahead of everyone else that we did not need to worry about the rest of the world. we were the model for the 21st century. that is how we felt. actually, there are now four competing models for leadership in the 21st century. ours is one based on freedom and free enterprise. china has proposed a different model. their model also encompasses free enterprise, different than ours in some respects and they combine that not with freedom but with authoritarianism. that is a model they are selling around the world. it is doing pretty well. then you have russia resurgent given their energy resources and want to become a superpower again and you have the jihadists and their view is to cause the collapse of the others and be

the last man standing grade these four forces are in competition today and they are not just playing in asia and europe. or the middle east. they are playing here. our nation sit back looking into the left and to the right and not saying what is happening right here in this hemisphere. we have to compete here. we have to recognize that what bolivarian movement under way and castro and countries like ecuador and guatemala, this is an extraordinary threat to this region. there's an opportunity for us to stand up and fight for what we believe and promote democracy. let me tell you how i will do that. we have ambassadors and all these different countries. cliff, is the former ambassador to brazil. they are doing the best they possibly can and reported to the state department with bureaucrats.

it is not highly coordinated. the ambassador from brazil says it would be helpful if we could help the brazilians in developing medical technology for one of their new hospitals and the ghost of health and human services department of united states and says i would like to bring some people down here and build a wing of this hospital, good luck. on many committees he has to go through and how many bureaucrats, we would never get it done. i want to appoint one person as a presidential envoy responsible for democracy and freedom in latin america [applause] this person would be given responsibility with budget and would be annually measured looking at each nation if we are making progress or are we falling behind? how we work with the various nations and have the capacity to draw on all the resources of america and stand behind those nations that are reaching toward freedom and to oppose those that are falling in line behind hugo

chavez or castro. there is a battle going on very least to recognize that but we're up against -- when we were up against the soviet union. we need to do that now and when he did do it in latin america. i am president, i will get that done. [applause] there is a time coming soon or cuba will be free. that will happen but we will have to get organized for it. we'll have to recognize that the people there want freedom as people do all over the world and america cannot setback. we walked across the world as iran have for all -- had over 1 million people in their streets demonstrating for freedom. this president had nothing to say. can you imagine having ronald reagan not -- having nothing to say? even bill clinton would have said something [laughter]

i will not only say something when fidel castro finally leaves that are, i will do something. i will be behind the voice of freedom here and there. we will help you become free. -- will help cuba become free. [applause] thank you. let me also noted in that regard that i'm looking for to appointing this person. and finding a person who has extraordinary marketing skills. i come from the world of business. i spent 25 years in business. my first 10 years of my business career, i was hired by big companies to try to make them

more successful. i was impressed by how well american companies can compete around the world and how effective we are at marketing our ideas. think about this -- we convince people around the world to buy a brown, caramel color water called coca-cola and pay half a day's wage for and will buy it. we are able to convince people of things where sometimes you scratch your head straight it is a great product but we sell around the world. and yet democracy, we don't sell that so well. we send billions of dollars around the world, giving out money, and we are despised by some people. i don't understand why. in some respects, it is because we are not using the kind of marketing skills that we have in this country look at what fidel castro does with his marital operation. --miracle operation. that is the cataract operation. for a tiny amount of money, he can get the good will of people

all over latin america. and us, for billions and billions of dollars, we get resentment. how can we be so short-sighted as to not bring into our government the scale of people in our business world, in our terrible world to say let's promote freedom and democracy and make a model for the entire world to see? [applause] part of that experience is to stand by your friends and to have been so successful that those around them look and say look what it is like if you follow the freedom agenda. if you have free enterprise and free trade and people have elections, look what happens in wonderful places like columbia. how can the world did this president stand around for three years and all of our best friend fighting hugo chavez? i don't understand. we should have done this on day want. colombia what a friend.

one more trade. let's make an example for less take -- let's make the people in venezuela look over the border and say they got a better deal that averted disaster happened in panama. i am looking forward to the time or the people of puerto rico make a decision about becoming a state. [applause] some friendst here. luis fortunio is there somewhereo,h, he is coming later. he is passionate about state and i think you'll have a referendum in november? i expect the people of puerto rico will decide lecky feels that they want to become a state. i will work with him to make sure that if that vote comes out in favor of statehood, we will go to the process in washington to provide status to puerto rico and create a model in the caribbean of the benefits of having freedom. [applause]

let me also just note that i think there are threats we face around this hemisphere that have to be addressed together. terrorism and drug trafficking and other forms of crime is one more of those areas of concern. one of the first -- one of the first things i will do is form a hemisphere taskforce, bringing nations together the willing to become together and deal with these issues. there a number of places where drugs are being brought and puerto rico is one that is being used given the fact that there is more difficulty getting to the mexico border. people have looked at puerto rico as a way to bring drugs into the united states and from there into florida. we have to be far more vigilant to look at the cross-border implications of crime. this does not affect latin america so much in terms of putting pressure on latin american leaders as it does to

put pressure on us -- we have got to do much better job communicating to our children in this country whether they are hispanic or non-hispanics, that drugs are causing death around the world. [applause] our young people have a great deal of concern they are a humanitarian people and are concerned about issues like global warming and things of that nature. they are concerned about humanity. how can they understand that if they take one of these drugs being smuggled into this country that they are partially responsible for deaths. i want them to understand the tens of thousands of people who are being killed by virtue of drug use in this country. it is time for the united states of america to take responsibility for the pain and suffering and torture and murder that is going on throughout latin america. we're not a good example in this regard and that -- i will campaign in a very aggressive way to our young people if i

become president, stopped taking drugs the your killing people. [applause] -- because you are killing people. i am very concerned about the fact that we have so many people out of work. i watch the president give a speech the other day and he talked about how swimmingly things are going [laughter] in the united] i am afraid he got it wrong. he is detached from the reality here. 9: 9% of floridians out of work and 7% of latinos out of work. this is unacceptable. it was one thing or it to happen for a short period of time but now it is gone for 35 straight month. this is a failed presidency. he did not cause the recession. he made it worse. this recovery is the slowest and most tepid we have seen since herbert hoover agree we need to have a president who does not to spend his entire life in academics and in washington.

but instead has been in the real economy working in a real double understands how to compete in how to get america to create jobs again. [applause] the was a great line that was spoken by mitch daniels the other night. he said america will have a choice. the choice is to follow the path barack obama is leading us down to become a european-style welfare state and if you believe in that, he said that as government trickle-down economy. i do not believe in trickle-down government. that does not work. the $787 billion stimulus bill did not trickle-down to the private sector creating jobs. that is the long way to go. the right way to go is to believe in the principles that made america the economic powerhouses. it is those are the principles outlined in our declaration of independence. those who wrote it said that we are endowed by our creator with

certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. in america, we are able to pursue happiness as we to. we are not prevented from pursuing our dreams by virtue of the place of our birth, by our circumstances of our birth, instead, we can pursue our greatest by virtue of hard work, education, a lot, dreaming. as you probably know, hispanic americans account for a disproportionate share of new enterprises in this country as do immigrants generally. this is a great source of vitality for america. if you are republicans in this room, and i think your -- [laughter] sure i couldm not vote republican. you hear that in your community. you remind people that the reason we are so anxious to be in america and we are so in love with america is not because of the check we get from governments.

it is because of the opportunity that exists in america. ours is the party of opportunit devoted to the declaration of independence and the pursuit of happiness. [applause] i will fight to get more opportunities for americans and that is the way we will create jobs for latinos, hispanics, for our entire nation. thank you, guys, i love this country, i love your support, we will make a strong hemisphere, thank you. [applause] >> you're very kind. >> we will see you tonight for sure. >> nice to meet you again barre. thank you so much. >> lunch will be served in a all

across the hall and the ball room across from us. it is important that everybody is back by 1:20 at the late latest. we will have a distinguished panel on immigration. please be back here by 1:20. >> more of this later today when you can see the events from earlier, the newt gingrich speech, the marker reduce speech, but they are taking a break here and we are, too, as we get ready for rick santorum coming up at 1:00 their dues afternoon when he speaks to the new latin builders association and that is expected to start in about 35 minutes or so and we'll have that live when it starts. we are opening up our phone lines for your comments based on who you support.

make sure you call in on the line that best reflects your support and mute your television. abc reporter john karl tweets -- you can follow its and the camp and reporters are tweaking and what they're posted on facebook at our twitter page . here is a romney supporter in florida, thanks for waiting. caller: i was hesitant about voting for --

host: marlene i think i have lost you. here is a gingrich supporter. go ahead. hello. caller: newt gingrich is the man, thank you. host: let's go to mary who was on our line for rick santorum supporters. i want a reminder that rick santorum is scheduled to speak at 1:33 we understand he is there a better early so we could be going their early as wellmary you are a ron paul supporter? caller: must be a mixup but i am a ron paul supporter. usually vote democratic. i'm not sure what world we would have. ron paul seems like somebody who

is interesting. i wonder if koch brothers are in league with him because he is a libertarian. do you know and it about that? host: i don't know anything about that. here is a mitt romney supporter caller: i support him totally and completely. i think he is the right person for president. he has a great vision for developing this hemisphere. that includes all latin countries. host: we want to remind you that you mute your television set when you call in curren here isa mitt romney supporter. caller: i just have never seen anyone as in love with their country and is determined as mitt romney is.

he is the most honest. he is the most capable man, i think, of being president of the united states of america. host: will give you a chance to see rick santorum coming up about half an hour and later today, all the speeches from today's event that that is hispanic leadership conference. if you missed a neighbor, you conducted on our website at c- span.org/campaign 2012. we are also covering the democratic meeting in cambridge, maryland where they are holding their legislative retreat and they heard from vice-president by an earlier and will go from president obama next as the returns from an arbor, mich.. he will speak at 1:227 and that will be live on c-span 2. vice president joe biden spoke to democrats this morning, kind

of a pep rally on the east coast, eastern shore of maryland and a vice president said that democrats will take the house in 2012 and president obama will be reelected. his comments are about 50 minutes a we will show you as much as we can until we see rick santorum at 1:30. >> ladies andladies and gentleme president of the united states, joe biden. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, i know that our members from maryland, steny hoyer tote each and every proud member of our delegation would like to extend a warm welcome to the vice president for once again joining us and our issues conference. mr. vice president, i think you find yourself, not just friends, but we would say family here, because you have been very gracious to always accept our invitation to come and not just address the members of the house democratic caucus, but to listen in to work with us. in fact, most of us would say that, mr. vice president, every time we have asked, you have had our back. you have not only had our backs, but you have been gracious to invite us to join you not just at the white house, but in your home with mrs. biden, to talk

not just policy, but about the things that make america tech, and -- tick, and for that week thank you. we thank you for your service. you're one of the longest serving senators in history. still very young. i see lots of hair on their still. as well, it is important to note that the biden's have served. your son bo gave service to this country in iraq. he served us and he is back home. and we thank the lord for that. [applause] now the attorney general of your state of delaware, and so the biden's have served. and they continue to serve. and we're very fortunate to have as the vice president, the 47th vice-president of the united states, a man who has

proven to be not just our friend, not just a member of our family, not just a man who has served in the u.s. senate and who make sure that his family serves his country with pride, but we have with the someone who has been a great leader in the history of the united states of america, and so i would like to introduce to you again, the vice president, joe biden. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you very much and happy birthday, by the way. i think i have told the speaker before that when i was elected with barack obama as vice president, i was also elected that year to the senate for the seventh time.

i got sworn in the seventh time, because you may remember we had some votes early on in january, and so the day i had to -- and i apologize for my cold -- the day i had to make a choice -- which everybody thought was easy, but it was not easy in one sense. i did not want to leave the senate. i loved the senate. the day i left the senate, the senate historian came in. he was trying to think of something to say nice about senator biden who was leaving to become vice president biden. he said the caucus should know, only 13 people in the history of the united states ever served as long as joe biden. all i could think of was my father saying that is the

definition of a misspent adulthood. [laughter] but i love the congress, and i know a lot of you very well. i do not think you down for a second that i mean what i am about to say. the doubt for a second that i mean what i'm about to say. i admire you. i am one person who has not forgotten that there are three equal branches of government. quite frankly, i continued to think the congress is in a sense the most important one, because you're the ones who are there every day back home. he is a great honor to be back with nancy, who -- it is a great honor to be back with nancy, who i think is going to be remembered not just for being the first woman speaker. she is going to be remembered for being the second woman speaker. [applause] i sincerely mean this when i say

it, and steny has heard me say it and every one of you who i have worked with in this capacity, i think nancy you are going to go down as one of the most significant speakers in the history of the united states of america. [applause] your several years dent is going to extend, but the truth of the matter you are one of the most effective people i have ever known. there's not a single solitary thing on our agenda that would have gotten done without your leadership. i mean that sincerely. and by the way, all of you, and a lot of people that are not here today, -- a lot of people

who are not here should be here. it was a tough year, because they took some tough votes. you know the old expression the proof of the pudding is in the eating. the proof of the pudding is being cleared to the american people. those decisions you made, the risks you took, the losses we incurred, really did save this country, and the american people are beginning to figure out. the american people are focusing on a more and more. i have a great speech here for you. but because i am late and because you've just eaten, i'm going to shorten it. i'm just going to talk from a few notes here. if anybody wants a copy of the speech, the press wants a copy, i will be happy to give it to you. look, the front end of this is, to me, pretty simple. it is becoming absolutely clear that decisions that we made and

you implement are actually working. the public is beginning to understand that it is working. they are also understanding another thing. you know, god love john boehner -- and jon is a good guy. i sincerely like him personally. but john, when asked about compromise, said "i reject the word." well guess what? the american people are figuring amount that they reject the word, they reject the notion of compromise. i thought it was pretty stark and remarkable the different mood at the state of the union, not just the quality of the state of the union, but the mood on the floor. i think it is become pretty clear to every republican the folks have figured out that they

reject the notion of compromise. i think the american public understands that we have never been able to move this heterogeneous country along without compromise. you can compromise and be true to your principles. they're not inconsistent. leader cantor, when it came to the debt ceiling vote, called it -- and they meant it, because i was doing the negotiation, and steny and jim and others know, trying to deal with the debt ceiling -- he said, and he was honest about it, that this is a leverage moment. a leveraged moment. a leverage moment in which they were using may be the second most significant thing we inherited from our forefathers, which was an absolutely gold- plated reputation around the world, that there was never a

doubt about america's commitment to honoring its debts, that was used as a leverage moment. and i think the public saw it. and mitch mcconnell, who worked with for years and still work with, mitch was straightforward. he said the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president. so the generic point i want to make here is i think a lot of things are becoming clear to the american people. that is not the way they want us to do business, and that is not the way we did business when it was reversed. we had our issues. for years, i was chair of the judiciary committee with reagan and both bush's. the truth of the matter is, we never took the position that our

fundamental objective was to defeat the incumbent president. obviously, we wanted to win. tom davis, a retired tom davis, republican john davis -- tom davis said just this week that for democrats to take 25 seats, they will need a wave. then he said, continued polarization can create that wave. that was not our tom davis. that was there tom davis. these guys know it, but i am afraid they cannot help themselves. and right now i do not see any change yet in this policy of political strategy of obstruction and division. i think the people may straighten this out for us. we are not going to straighten them out on this, but the american people may straighten

them out between now and november, capitulating, but on actually cooperating in compromising -- not on capitulating, but on actually compromising and cooperating. last september, that was a tie between republicans and congress and you. boehner, cantor, mcconnell, they made it clear. it is about obstructing the president's agenda. it is about defeating barack obama. but i think mitt romney and newt gingrich -- and i am not trying to be funny. in deadly earnest here. i think they are slightly different. i think it is more than about obstructionism. i think they actually believe

what they're saying. when these guys are out there saying, let detroit go bankrupt -- that is the front and of the quote, and it gets worse. let foreclosures continue and the housing market hit rock bottom. poor people have no habit of working. barack obama is the food stamp president. i think it is more than political theater and tactic. i think they believe it. and the reason i say that is -- and i do not want to get going on these guys, i know that is not appropriate. i do not want to begin, but i know where events. i think it ends on january 20th of next year. barack and i once again standing with the majority -- [applause]

folks, i will talk about this a little later, but you are lucky to have steve is there doing the job he has. as steve and i are meeting to get down to brass tacks next week, i really do think we're going to win back the house. i think you're going to win back the house. look, the president is always kidding me, and you're going to hear from him shortly. he gives me credit for this quote. it is not mine, it is kevin white's. he said, "do not compare me to

the almighty. compare me to the alternative." i think, like every election, the comparison is to the alternative. and these are not, in my view, and i mean this sincerely. these are not bad guys, but they really believe as strongly as we do the direction they want to take the country. i was talking to mike donovan, who i think is one of the smartest guys in politics. the big difference between us and them, i think, can be distilled to a phrase. the difference between us and them is we are strongly supportive of the private sector. they are strongly supportive of

the privileged sector. i think that we will be able to show, and americans are beginning to figure out, that we are committed to bringing back the private sector because we know that is the engine. we do not create jobs. we create opportunities for people to create jobs. they create jobs, the private sector, and we're committed to bring it back. and i think they are determined to preserve the privilege sector. because again, i think they really believe that what i would refer to as the privileged sector, wall street unabridged, the super wealthy who are not prepared to contribute, and i could go on with a whole range of other identifications, the you know, america is going to get an absolutely clear

comparison this year. i have been doing this, as has been pointed out by others, and i guess i look it too, a long time. i have been in as many elections as almost all of you except a few. i can honestly say, to my memory, this is the first election were the opposition is not trying to hide the ball. i mean it sincerely. think about it. i'm being deadly earnest. usually, every race i have run since getting elected as a kid in 1970 to a local office and the senate in 1972, every election -- and it was admittedly a different republican party than as well -- i remember riding up to the university of rochester in a small plane, and we were talking

about the history of the social policies of this country related to social security etc. i remember them saying that the republican party since dewey has been me to, just not as much. me too, just not as far. me too, does not as bold. and then they gave up on the me too, because they did not really mean me too anymore. then they were going to extend medicare, preserve social security, compassionate conservatives. well, they're dead thing about -- the good thing about this election is they are being unvarnished now. they are making no bones about it. they are not trying to hide the

ball. they're not trying to pretend, not only in their rhetoric, but in their actions, how they vote, what they propose, what their budget is. it is a start, stark, a star, a stark contrast -- stark, stark, stark, stark contrast. it is fundamentally different. i know there are some even among the republican leadership who still are the party of the 1970's -- or of the 1990's -- but they cannot control their party. the was asked at a function -- and i'm going to get criticized for saying this -- i was asked by a group of people what we can do to help and i said, give me a republican party. i'm not being facetious.

nancy can tell you. a lot of people do not like cantor. i personally happen to like him. he has always been straight with me. when cantor walked out of those talks, he did not walk out. he said joe, i cannot get it done, i cannot come back. the truth of the matter is, who do you make the deal with? who can you reach out and shake hands with and say we have a bargain? that is the way this country has always functioned. right now -- and the public saw our lead in the debate over the extension of the payroll tax. when the wall street journal had to come in and say to the republicans, basically, what you doing? so, the fact of the matter is,

there are a number of things that are clear as well. the way i divide this up, i think of what is clear, what is new, and what is at stake. to me, what is clear, and it is clear to the american people now, we inherited an awful lot. you know, the metaphor that was used, osama bin ladin is used and general motors is alive to sum up where we are. the metaphor is a lie. we inherited a world where we had 150,000 combat troops fighting in iraq, no political solution in sight and no way out. no clear path. what is clear is that we kept our commitment to the american people, and one of the greatest honors i had -- nancy and i -- and i called the president from

baghdad. i got to stand there in one of those body palaces of saddam hussein with the president and prime minister of iraq, with the chief of staff of the iraqi army and the chief of staff -- chief of our armed forces, american, and i got to say, mr. president, america is leaving. having kept our commitment, we're going home completely, and in the tradition of all american soldiers, we're leaving with nothing but our honor and our dignity. [applause] that was the most important cigna the moment in my career. -- significant moment in my career. what was clear was we were

engaged in a war of afghanistan without having any idea what our objectives were. really? what was it? we stated our objective, and that was to decimate al qaeda, the single threat to the u.s., and that existed in the region. well, for the president's actions -- and we have all been in committees. we have all been in groups. we all -- when something goes well, we all deserve a little bit of the credit, but it is usually somebody. i tell you, this guy has a backbone like a ramrod. for four weeks, only four of us knew the possibility of where bin laden was. about a month later, the call came, and as you know, colonel,

you end of making decisions based on the moon. will there be enough light? the president went around the table and said, i have to make a decision. what is your opinion? he started with the national security adviser, the secretary of state, and ended with me. every single person in that room hedged their bets except for leon panetta. leon panetta said go. everyone else said 49 of this, 51 of that. he got to me and he said, joe, what do you think? know we had nindid not so many communists around the table. give the man a direct answer. i said, you should not go.

we have to do two more things. he said, i will give you my decision. the next day, he said go. he knew what was at stake. not just the lives of those great warriors, but literally, the presidency. and he pulled the trigger. that is clear to the american people. that says less about bin laden than it does about character, about this guy leading from behind. this guy does not lead from behind. he just leaves. that is clear. we inherited the world where we were not feared by our foes and not respected by our friends, literally.

we're now the most respected nation in the world again -- [applause] leading not just by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. the american people know it. it is clear that we inherited a n economy that was in free fall. as the president pointed out and you know because you have lived it every single day for the last three years, we lost 8 million jobs before our first pass at the recovery act. we've now added jobs for 23 straight months. i have a chart. you do this in focus groups and they say, that is good. and then you hold up the chart showing all the jobs going down,

and then what happened from the time we pass the recovery act and what happened on the stock market, and they go. they understand it now because they're beginning to feel it. they're not talking about reorganizing the auto industry. we were talking about liquidating two pieces of it. it is clear now that with your help, and i know there was weeping and gnashing of teeth even among some of our democratic friends. we insisted on a reorganization. and instead of losing four hundred thousand jobs, we have now gained 176,000 jobs that pay people real wages. [applause] i could go on but i will not.

the bottom line is, you have been educated. when i was here last, you had two messages for me to take back to the president. steny's message, make it in america, and nancy and everybody else's message to get tough with these guys. enough is enough. let's lay down our cards and stay pat. well, the message was heard, folks. the message was heard. and i think we have delivered on our message since then with your help. the most interesting conference i have attended since i was vice-president was two weeks ago in the white house. it was a conference on a word that america had not heard very much, in sourcing. there were ceo's or presidents from dupont, ford, master lock,

rolls royce, chesapeake bay, candles, and you know what they wanted to talk about? they wanted to talk about why they're coming back home. is not because of the democrats. it is not because of barack obama and joe biden. it is because of america's incredible underpinning of strength and resilience and the productivity of our workers. copy of. to send a some of you may have seen it. there is a study done by a boston group that these guys hired pointing out why people are coming back, why it is economically sound to bring manufacturing back to america. it ranges from everything from escalating wages and costs in china, vietnam and the rest. it literally makes more sense to come back.

it is because nobody steals your ip here in this country. it is because your trademarks do not get stolen. it is because it makes no sense. they have figured it out, not to separate the factory floor from innovation and research and development department, making them 10,000 miles away. the list goes on and on, but it is coming back. it really is. it is not a joke. it is not a joke. it is coming back. and we are in a position now, with your help and your leadership, stuff you have already done, to record -- reward companies that come back and not reward them for leaving. is there another country you can think of the rewards companies for coming to the united states? i am being deadly earnest. is there any other country you know? we pay your moving expenses to leave. we do not pay your moving

expenses to come back. we let you deduct the corporate bond interest to build a new plant against your income back here because you do not have to bring your in come home from abroad. but the company that does it here has to deducted against their profit here, which is less consequential. why do we do those things? there are a whole lot of things we can do. we are in a position of what is new is, we have gotten the message. your leadership in the house particularly, on being made in america -- you can make it in america without violating any, any international standards. you can make it in america now because it is economically more feasible to make it in america. and i will summarize this whole conference. if you're going to build a factory, the cost of building the factory has to be advertised

and you have to look at it over 30 years. within five years, even the wage advantage is that exist in going to china will be less than 5%. by the way, the other thing we have to do -- and you guys have been doing it all along -- we have to convince the american people out there of the truth, the facts. everybody thinks the chinese people the party even our lunch. i want the chinese to grow force -- have already eaten our lunch. i want the chinese people to grow, but the truth is, we are the most reliable nation in the world. they make of 19.6% of manufacturing value added worldwide. do you know what we make up in the middle of a recession? 19.4%, now, without any change. so this idea that we have to

yield to the inevitable i find offensive and historically inaccurate. where is it written that we will not be the manufacturing capital of the world and the 21st century? where does this say that? i'm serious. how many lectures do you hear from economists, even liberal economists, saying we have to be a service economy. we're never going to do that again. guess what? with all those jobs having gone abroad the last 30 years, outsourcing, now the they are coming back, now that it is making sense to be here, guess what? we are lacking skilled workers. we do not have enough tool and die makers. so what are we going to do? we're going to make a deal. a direct correlation between the help we give community colleges and partnering with major corporations. i will not start to name your

districts, but seven of you are already doing and in their districts. creating jobs, providing the talent for the new investments that are occurring here in the united states of america because we have the most productive workers. we decided not to take mitt romney's advice and figure out that you can help people who are in trouble with their housing, and there is a way to do that. ok, i know that people do not want to help a guy who took a mortgage out on his home and bought a boat and now he is under water, but guess what, there are 14 million americans out there -- >> vice-president joe biden speaking to democrats at their retreat in cambridge. we will show all of that to you later on our schedule. we will find it in our video library on c-span.org. you can also follow it on c- span-2. here on c-span, our road to the

white house coverage continues. we're going to take you back to miami. rick santorum will be speaking to the latin builders association. this is live on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> thank you all for coming in again. we hope you have enjoyed today's event. again, we want to thank all of the elected officials that are doing this today.

we want to thank all of the past presidents that are here today from the latin builders association. and once again, we want to thank the sponsors for helping make this event possible. southern way systems, the way service of florida and others. again, if you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please get with our staff or call the office. there are some great opportunities in the coming months. before i turn it over to bernie, i really want to thank the staff that put this together, especially zachary and geena for their tireless work. i also want to thank michele for

helping some much with the event planning. i would invite you all to participate in our next lunch that will take place friday, february 24th in south beach, where our speaker will be the former chairman and founder of a company that is a great story, a great history with the lba. you can come to our lunch in the morning and then go to burger-in the evening i am going to do. evening ibash in the am going to do. we have a special guest joining

us this afternoon. we're excited to have someone like senator rick santorum joining us. to introduce him right now, we will turn it over to our president, bernie. [applause] >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen, it has been a long day, but it has been worth it. we have heard our state is doing. we've also seen speaker gingrich, and soon we will see senator santorum speak to us. a great day for latin builders. latin builders takes pride in being an organization that is at the forefront of issues that affect our community and our country. the senator has a similar story

to ours. his grandfather came as an immigrant, rags to riches, same kind of story that we all share. he is also a conservative, which a lot of us in this room are. so, welcome senator. i want to say a couple of things about the senator, talk about his background and his bio. remember, if you have not had café, please, it is time to get your café and partaking in this part of the presentation. santorum was first elected to congress in 1982 and served until 2005. in 2000, he was elected by his

peers to the position of senate republican conference chairman. during his tenure in washington, he became one of the most successful government reformers in our history, taking on washington's powerful special interests. senator santorum, along with john boehner, were members of the gang of seven that exposed the congressional banking and post office scandals. [applause] he was also an architect of the welfare reform act of 1996 that hasn't howard millions of americans to leave the welfare -- has empowered millions of americans to leave the welfare rolls and work. senator santorum fog for fiscal sanity in washington before it was -- fought for fiscal sanity in washington before it was in fashion.

he developed a spendometer that added up the cost of democrat amendments to spending bills. this record made him one of the most conservative senators and pennsylvania's history. he served eight years on the senate armed services committee, where he led the fight before the attacks of september 11th, 2001, to transform our military from a cold war forced to meet today's threats. he believes united states should strengthen the embargo on cuba and to take a hard line against fidel castro. [applause] like many of us today, he is a true family man. he has been married to his wife, karen, for 21 years and is the father of seven wonderful children. one is joining us today. thank you for joining us.

ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct pleasure and honor to welcome the former senator of the great state of pennsylvania, rick santorum. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here with you this afternoon. it is always great to be down here. i am here today with my daughter, elisabeth. she is here today. you can say hi to elisabeth. we just went down to the ursine -- went down to the sales --

versailles and had a sandwich. i have been to miami, little havana and hanoi many interactions with the cuban community over the years -- havana, and had many interactions with the cuban community over the years. my grandfather was born in italy. he came right after world war i, when mussolini came into power. it is a very familiar tale. miscellany came into power, and after three -- mussolini came into power and after three years, he figured out what mussolini was about, and he was not about that. so he came here. he ended up working five years until he earned his citizenship and had the money to bring the rest of the family over. he worked a couple of years in the auto factories in detroit.

after he lost his job there, he ended up in the coal fields in pennsylvania. he worked in a company town. he was one of the guys who started the union because there were no miners' unions. he started a union so that they would not get paid with coupons. they would get paid with cash. they had to shop in the stores the company town. they had to live in the house as the company provided. so, he was not a republican, he was a fighter. he was a fighter for working people. he worked in the coal mines until he was 72 years old. he worked actually digging coal in the minds until he was 72 years old. i always talk about my grandfather and what he meant. he was a very, very tough guy. he smoked everything, pipes, cigars, you name it. he smoked it. he was strong as an office until

the day he died. -- and ochx until the day he di. the first person i ever saw the i was my grandfather. i remember going up to the casket and seeing the rosarian his folded hands and looking at his enormous hands. these big, thick, tough hands. and all i could think about as i looked at my spindly little fingers was that those were the hands that the freedom for me in america. freedom for me in america. [applause] it was that motivation, when i saw what was going on in washington, d.c., with the explosion of government, and someone taking the freedom away that my grandfather sacrifice so much, and my dad, who fought in

world war ii and spent the rest of his life counseling veterans in the veterans administration, those who were coming back from vietnam and suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism and other ailments. my dad and my mother both worked with veterans. it was something that, when i saw our country on the brain, i decided i had to step forward and -- brink, i decided i had to step forward and continue to fight for my children and my grandchildren. i decided to enter this race, and i did so because i felt we needed someone who was a sharp contrast, someone who believed in the founding principles of this country and had a record to back that up. i know you had speaker gingrich here, and knew it is a good friend. governor romney is a good man,

and ron paul certainly brings a unique perspective to the equation. i felt it was important to have someone who maybe had a little different approach. i do not come from a background of wealth. like i said, my mom and dad grew up on the va grounds. my other grandfather was a small businessman and had a restaurant in florida for many years. i did have small business knowledge through him, but i grew up in public housing. i grew up in apartment for the first 18 years of my life. was a wonderful thing. i had a mom and dad who loved me, and that was the most important thing. people say that when we come down here, we pander to every group. when i come down here, it feels like my home when i was growing

up. it was a group of people who believed so strongly in faith and family, and the love and support and connectedness of the community that i experienced when i was growing up as a kid in the ethnic community i grew up in. it is a wonderful blessing to our country, these little communities we have throughout america, like the cuban community here. this community is not only won the believe strongly in faith and family, this community probably as much -- there are others who are similar, but not as big -- this community as much as any understands freedom and the passion for freedom. [applause] not only do you pursued here in your work that you do in the united states and small

business -- and i know what this organization is all about. it is all about having the entrepreneurial spirit and freedom to go out and provide for yourself and your family and those who work for you and your community. it is not surprising that you see the small business atmosphere here in the cuban community. everybody going out and trying to exercise of freedom. it is a beautiful thing and something that as the united states senator and congressman, i always focused on. i came from a steel town, not an area of wealth or background. my feeling was, when i voted in the united states senate, that i was going to vote on behalf of making sure that every guy, the little guy, and i mean a little worker, if you will, who worked in the mines or the mills, too little of entrepreneur who was going out and trying to be better than the big guy, the big

corporations. i was focusing my efforts on trying to make sure we created a plainfield that little piece -- a playing field, where the little people, the little guy could compete. one of the things i want to do is take the corporate tax and make it a net profit tax. very simple. no lawyers, no accountants. sorry for the accountants who may be in the room. take the corporate tax and cut in half. make it a net profit tax. if you're a small builder in you have someone you're competing against, one of the big mega guys, they're paying the same tax you are. right now, they're not. if they are a big corporation, like most big corporations, not only do they pay less taxes, but they have people from the irs and other agencies who actually live and work in their business. big and so important

that they have compliance people who work with them all day every day who does work on complying with whatever the regulations are, whatever the taxes are. people have said republicans are the party of big business. that is false. republicans are the party of small business. barack obama loves big business because he can have people in his administration sitting in there telling him how to run their company. if you want to micromanage everything from the top down, which this president wants to do, it is easier to do it if you have five major builders in this country than if you have a bunch of little guys you have to chase around and find out what they do. they do not like that. if they can create a way for big business and big government to work together -- like a dog- franc. dodd-franc is destroying -- look at dodd-frank.

it is destroying small business in america. it says specifically the big business gets in trouble, the government will bail them out. how much less competitive can you get? i was talking to one guy who is in the mortgage business. he said prior to dodd-frank he spent 30 minutes a week on compliance. he now spends three hours a day. so he is getting out. chalk one up for bankamerica. they want this to happen because they cannot control you. they cannot micromanage you like they can with the big guys, who are very happy to be controlled, because they know they can get rid of all the competition and make the money. that is what is going on here. this is the most important election in your lifetime. if we do not repeal obamacare

frank and all the ways the government is trying to control you, then this room will be half its size in 10 years, and half again in 10 more. it cannot survive. that does not mean you will be -- you not be doing the same amount of work. you'll just be working for the guy instead of owning the company. that is not why you and your ancestors came to this country. [applause] you came to this country because he wanted a country that believed in you. not a country where you had to believe in someone else to take care of you. that is what is fundamentally at stake here in america today, and

that is why i put together a bold plan, not just on corporate taxes, but on regulation which of course is killing everything. i said i will repeal every single obama regulation that costs over $100 million a year, and that is several hundred. he has done more regulations that cost more than $100 million a year in three years than president bush did -- or president clinton did, for that matter -- in eight years. i will repeal every single one of those regulations on day one. [applause] and now we're down here in south florida. i know international trade is an important thing, it is everything. many of you saw the debate last night, and hopefully you got the sense that this is an issue i care deeply about and got involved in.

when i left the united states senate, i thought to myself, i'm going to go out and get in the private sector. at the time, we had six children. we had not had our seventh yet. i thought maybe i should be a little league coach and start doing what dads do instead of getting out of the house of 5:00 a.m. every morning and getting back at 8:00 p.m. every day. i thought, is there anything i need to stay involved with from a public policy point of view where if i do not, something might happen that i do not want to happen? the answer was yes. it was my concern -- and a series of speeches i gave back in 2006, at a time when the iraq war was incredibly unpopular. i went out and talked about how we had to win the iraq war and face threats. i called the speech the gathering storm of the 21st century.

i talked about the threat of radical islam, and militant marxism and socialism in central and south america and the partnership between the two. of the would not think that a secular leftist regime -- you would not think that a secular leftist regime in venezuela or cuba or bolivia would be a threat or a willing partner with radical islamists who are not secular at all but theocrats. why would a group of radical theocrats who want to impose their version of islam on the rest of the world partner with a bunch of secular rest to be eight religion -- secularists, who hate religion, try to destroy a religion, tried to destroy everything that is holy, why would they get

together? one reason. they hate america. and they see america as a threat to their vision of the world. they both want to a press. they want to control. they want to rule everything from the top down and they both seek power. so they in fact have gotten together. they have gotten together and have coordinated, as you see, iran, specifically in a very heavy way involved in venezuela. we know what venezuela is. venezuela is cuba part be. rihanna about the secret police and their role in the event -- we all know about the secret police and their role in the venezuelan government. it makes cuba a more dangerous place for central and south america. why? while. now they have resources.

-- oil. now they have resources. for a long time, the embargo was about controlling castro and his ability to spread his them throughout the south american countries. oil,ow with hugo chávez's we have seen the combination be a deadly one. and it is increasing. it is increasing in an area of the world where we should be dominating. dominating, not in the sense of controlling, that in the sense of relationships, and growing the values that the people of that region want to have, trade and economic vitality. instead, we see the effects of socialism and marxism. and, because we have under two administrations, both bush and obam