i would suggest c-span bring in somebody like john nichols or anybody listening if they have a computer, they can look up alec watch. they will have enough information to expose what these guys are into. host: going back to our discussion earlier about veterans and whether they should be taken care of by the government, sld on twitter rights -- back to the campaign, this is

from today's "wall street journal" -- unfriendly fire stalls gingrich. blistering attacks by top republicans recall interparty war over goldwater. a few stories about that. another story from abc news -- actually, from the ap last night, writes "king which under fire from conservative media -- gingrich under fire from conservative media."

a couple stories coming out about the backlash and some of the wall that newt gingrich is running into these days in florida. back to the phones, mike is an independent in germantown, maryland. caller: thanks for taking my call. i hope you do not cut me off too soon and let me explain one talking about because it is not an easy issue that most people do not understand. the united nations is confiscating land under phony environmental treaties and laws. if you go to publicbroadcasting.org, maggie redan. she has an -- a website. she talks about how stacy glenn in fort collins, colorado -- she was given seminars and speeches about it. the city council and the attorney general there took her child away under false pretences

as a punishment because she was ringing the alarm about the international council of local environmental initiatives, and she is being framed and set up by the fort collins government because she is speaking out against the corruption and colonialism involved and land confiscation, but coming to communities all over america. her name is stacy lynne. you can see her videos on youtube and go to theunsolicitedopinion.com. maggie talks under publicbroadcasting.com. host: thanks, talking about issues related to land acquisition and the united nations. next, we go to fill up on the republican line from alabama. good morning. caller: good morning. i will make it quick.

there's an army training facility just to the west of us called fort rucker, alabama, the home of army aviation. i do not think or believe that the centers of excellence for initial flight training, whether it be in pensacola, florida, for several other places, should be set down. a lot of times, there are hurricanes along the florida coast, and they bring their aircraft up to fort rucker -- host: does all this talk about another round of base realignment and closure is concern you there? caller: yes. yes, it does. host: do you think that there is room in the military budget for

some bases to close? is it that your particular case is particularly important, or do you think ne should be closed? caller: i think fort rucker should not be close, but there is -- if i were to give an example, like, fort hood, texas, which has about 50,000 military -- army, military people and civilians, and they are mostly boots on the ground. tanks. things of that nature. maybe they could cut back on some of the bigger posts and set up a smaller post. host: that was philip giving his recommendations for the next possible round of base realignment and closure. let's go to cindy on the independent line from mesquite, texas. good morning. caller: yes, what upsets me

about the military is i understand that 2004 through 2008, american soldiers came back -- the body parts were thrown in landfills. they need to spend money on dna to identify these soldiers. they put them in the landfills. host: you are talking about arlington cemetery? the issue they are having? caller: yes, it has been on the news. they threw our young man's body parts in the landfills. instead of finding out who's they were. host: do you think more money should be spent on investigations into this? caller: yes, they should have done dna. even if a soldier, just his arm came back. i cannot imagine what the families must feel about this. host: thanks for the call. we go now to reuben on the democratic line from san rafael, california. good morning. caller: good morning.

i would like to talk about contract in. i am from california. i used to be a contractor, but i got put out of business. it seems to me that these high requirements for bonding make the rich contractors and the guys that really do not do any work make tons of money, and they turn around and not paid the contractors that cannot afford bonding to do the actual work. i think there should be more oversight to see that these big contractors do not stop paying the little guys and put them out of business on purpose. i worked for marin housing, and i did a little whistleblowing to hud to talk about some corrupt situations over there, wound up losing my contract, losing my license. i think there should be more oversight, and maybe give smaller businesses, you know, a

better -- an easier way to get bonding so that they can compete with the big, giant corporations that make all the money. host: appreciate the call. thanks so much. news yesterday out of arizona, concerning former congress member gabby giffords. seth brewer set to run to replace her. in the tucson area. the primary will be held april 17. special election will be june 12. one republican candidate, a state senator, officially declared his candidacy earlier yesterday, and veteran jesse kelly, who has run for the seat before, will soon announce his entry into the race. speaking of jan brewer, some fallout from her tiff on the

tarmac with president barack obama made the news earlier this week, about her having a heated conversation with the president regarding some comments she made about him in a meeting they had in a book that she wrote. politico has actually a response from the president. he said to abc news yesterday -- going back to the phones, we go to tampa, florida. john is on the independent line. caller: good morning. i just wanted to comment on a couple of things. first of all, the military. you had some call earlier if the cuts were tuesday. i think that the military should be like the third rail.

social programs we have everything, because that the military, that person would not even have the right to talk on the phone, as we do today. i am a veteran, obviously. host: where did you serve? caller: 101st airborne, army. i'm just saying that it is unfortunate in this country we have so many people that have not served the country. they have no skin in the game, and yet, they want to speak of it. it even gets to the point of our paying taxes. we want to tax the rich. yet, there's 49% that pay no taxes in this country. i think it is ridiculous. you have to have some skin in the game, or you just do not know where you are going, but i appreciate c-span. i want these discussions, but again, the military is the only one in the constitution that we have to have, the department of defense. we get rid of the department of energy, department of education

-- we get rid of those things, epa, but the military is what the constitution says this country has if we want to maintain sovereignty, which i know obama does not. host: talking about cuts to the military budget, which we featured in our last segment this morning. this from today's cnn -- experts divided on the pentagon proposed cuts. some military experts friday called defense secretary leon panetta's proposed cuts much ado about nothing, but others expressed concern about the potential of a shrinking u.s. military in the strategic mideast and asia. you can read more about that on cnn if you want to see more about that. let's go to susan on the republican line from clifton, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i think it is unconscionable of president obama to make them to promises to college students, knowing full well that the federal government is broken and

that they are the ones who will have to pay back the $15 trillion plus in federal debt. caller: -- host: susan, thanks for the call. want to feature one or two more stories in the time we have left. this in the back page of the eighth section of the "washington post" this morning.

>> and back to the campaign trail and the road to the white house. mitt romney is expected to hold a campaign rally in panama city, florida. we expect to take you there live at 2:45 eastern time. he is one of the leading candidates in the tuesday florida primary. he and newt gingrich have been hitting the campaign trail hard and putting up new ads on the florida airwaves. we will take a look at one of mitt romney's campaign ads and an ad put out by a superpac that supports a new gingrich.

revenue gingrich came to all after breaching a higher standard in american politics, and man who brought down and another man on ethics accusations appear tonight, he has on his own record, the judgment of his peers -- democrat and republican alike. by an overwhelming vote, they found him guilty of ethics violations, charged them a very large financial penalty, and several of them raised serious questions about his future effectiveness. >> i am mitt romney, and i approve this message. >> there are a lot of reasons not to elect me. >> with medicare, the government says that con artists are draining the lifeblood out of it

by filing millions of dollars in phony claims. >> we did not do any work with the government. >> winning our future is responsible for the content of this message. >> next, the cyber security challenges and preventing voter fraud. an executive with hewlett- packard talked about some of the issues during a daylong forum that exploit new technology and ways to improve boating for members of the military. -- ways to improve voting for members of the military.

>> it was cecil over 30 years ago when the first famous cyber criminal -- it was just over 30 years ago when the first famous seven criminal found that with a whistle he got out of a captain crunch box, he could blow that into the phone, and with the right tone and pitch, he got access to the phone's administrative system appeared from there, about 100 individuals around the world became what were called phone phreaks, and they learn how to use these tones and basically do things like free long-distance calls. they play jokes on 411 operators. nothing really serious. two of them were very famous guys -- steve wozniak and steve jobs. i find it interesting that steve jobs, learn how to hack into phones, made one of our latest break bones that we all use.

but that was pretty much the start of it. if you fast forward, we started putting computers on our home desktops, networks, what have you, it got more sophisticated. people learned how to get into those machines, but nothing too serious at that time. it was not until a little over 10 years ago, when corporations and businesses started taking advantage of the internet and this global connectivity, what we are doing here at the ovf, providing access to these portals of information -- the cyber crime became serious. first targets, actually, around a year 2000, were the most profitable businesses online. pornography sites and online gambling sites. online gambling sites came under significant attack from eastern european cyber criminals. organized crime syndicates who realized that they could extort money from people who are used to extorting themselves.

most of these online gambling sites were offshore in places where they were allowed to operate and not be reached by the arm of the law, and what these gangs did is they took over tens of thousands of computers on the internet, and they would rush these sites in the week before the super bowl or the week before a big boxing match, and bring them to a halt, and they would send an e-mail to the ceo of that business and say, "if you want us to stop this before the super bowl, wire and $50,000 check to this account." these guys were getting paid because the owners of these businesses were used to extorting themselves and felt it was part of doing business until one organization in costa rica was writing a $50,000 check nearly weekly -- because they supported a lot of businesses -- so they fought back. that led to these cyber criminals saying, "we have all these machines under our

control, but now, look at what is on those machines. that led to the advent of identity theft. fast forward combination states learned about these capabilities and organizations and started using the same techniques for nation state- sponsored attacks. that is the world we have today. it is a very sophisticated world. back in the 1980's, there was a movie called "war games." it was well ahead of its kind in. as capabilities did not exist. today, we have far surpassed the capability of that movie. some of you may remember those kids hacking into government computer systems and what not. today, and there are actually four types of cyber crime. i thought i would step through some of these stories so you could understand how it all works. first and most prevalent relieved a lot about a side effect of identity and information -- a lot about is

cyber theft of identity and information. our days are worth anywhere from 30 cents to $100. organizations specialize in stealing large amounts of data. an example recently is zappos.com owned by amazon. they do not know how many records they lost, but i can share with you, it is probably in the millions. what do you do with millions of records? you sell them in groups of 10,000, and you make 30 cents each -- sometimes up to $2 each, depending on the quality of that record. the most famous was a gentleman named albert gonzales in florida. he started hacking at the age of nine. he was caught by the fbi after having stolen 1.5 million credit cards and selling them online. he was caught. the fbi was fascinated with him

and started to work with him to learn about the industry. so he is being paid by the fbi and continued his practices. he was sitting in a marshal's parking lot. marshall's had just gone to wireless transactions in its store. from his laptop, he was able to listen to these unsecured credit card transactions and over the course of 18 months, from the parent company tjx, he stole 40 million credit cards. he threw himself as 7 $5,000 but that party, complained about having to count $340,000 by hand because his bill counter broke. he lived a very lavish lifestyle. identity theft leads to cyber fraud, and you can use these identities to commit fraud. royal bank of scotland fell victim to eight cyber criminals out of eastern europe who actually took atm cards -- they had the numbers. it produced what are called white cards, fake cards. they recruited an army across

280 cities, and within 24 hours -- actually, such as two hours -- they attacked 2180 of's in those cities and took up $10 million. the way they did it? at 11:30 at night, you went and withdrew the maximum amount you could on a card. these guys went and hid each one, about 10, between 11:30 and midnight. that night, a to roll over to a new day, so they could take up the maximum again. between 11:30 at 12:30, $10 million gone. cyber the spinoff, the third tight. cyber espionage is accessing classified information, intellectual property, and it goes across both the public sector and the private sector. you might think of private first class manning who in the army download the files that wikileaks expos. he showed up to work with a

madonna cd, sitting there with his headset listening to his music, when in reality, that was a blank city downloading tens of thousands of documents. finally, the granddaddy, the fourth one, is cyber warfare. cyber warfare is a nation state- sponsored attacks on critical infrastructure. think of it as a power grid, telecommunications systems, transportation, water supply, oil, and gas. those are the four threads of today. sorry about that movie, but it is my job to educate everyone about how ugly and how sophisticated things are getting, and it is getting very ugly out there. today, it is no longer steve jobs and steve wozniak. it is well-funded nation-states sponsoring a lot of these activities. i also typically show a screen shot of an organization called anonymous that we are all reading about, but it is a loosely affiliated global

organization of cyber hackers who will attack organizations on a win -- whim based on a press release or some political agenda they do not like. it is those organizations in concert with nation states that are working together because then the nation-states can contract these organizations and have an arm's length relationship from a lot of the cyber criminal activity that is happening. the most sophisticated attack last year, the most sophisticated attack last year, involve a thing called tokens. many of you probably use them. i carry one in my pocket. but when you want access to a private network, and you are remote, you use one of these devices. what it does is you have a password in your head. you push that button, and it generates a random 6-digit number. you enter it into your computer at that time.

never shall these two meet until that very moment. the number is randomly generated, and it gives you access. very secure. there is a very sophisticated breach that compromised this, and i will go into it in just a moment. the fact of the matter is to breach a system is actually quite easy. it is almost scary how easy it is. there are three steps to the modern cyber hack. the first is to breach the perimeter. the way you reach a perimeter is this two primary ways -- human vulnerabilities. you are trying to look at humans and trying to trick them into doing something and compromising your operation. the other is application vulnerabilities. we have wonderful developers who have great intentions of writing an application, but they cannot anticipate how bad guys might

mess with their logic to get in. much like that very first hack that john draper did of using a whistle to get administrative access -- who would have thought of that? these applications are also being used. you get into the enterprise you want to target. then there are methods of jumping off and covering your tracks. the next thing you do is you are now inside the organization, trying to get access to sensitive data or sensitive systems. you do that through what is called privileged access, and you become a user on the system, and you are no longer an external user. you have compromised some once internal accounts. you can cover your tracks, and you want to go undercover for the longest time. get in, get access, axel trade. that is the modern steps.

sounds simple. let's take a look at the most sophisticated attack that happened last year. the most sophisticated attack. mind you, this went against a company that has -- that produces the algorithms and has the system to generate that ran a number, right? if you can get access to the generator of random numbers and you can figure out customers of this company -- some of their key members' passwords, you can marry those. the target was a human vulnerability. this organization out of asia targeted this company and was targeting a finance department. they said in an e-mail to a mid- level finance manager. microsoft outlook handled that e-mail appropriately. it put it in the junk mail box. it recognized it as potential

spam. problem is this business user's curiosity got the best of him. opened it up. mistake one. what he found was this e-mail, redacted a bit. this is actually what was in it. look what the message says -- "i forward this file to you for review. please open and view it." there is an attachment that says 2011 recruitment plan. security professionals will look at that and say, "hmm, mysterious." comes from a web master at a job board. the grammar of the sentence is a little direct, but curiosity got the best of him, and he opened that attachment. he was very disappointed that this is what he found. ok? this is an excel spreadsheet with no content in it. he thinks he is done, nothing there, shut it off, and went on to do his job as a finance manager.

the company has been breached. if you look in the first cell, that is how excel represents an in venice -- and embedded object. that embedded object was malicious code that took advantage of a vulnerability in adobe flash, much like that phone system 30 years ago. this presentation is using adobe flash. almost every computer has adobe flash on it. that will ability to allow these guys to install what is called a remote administrative tool, but software on that person's machine that gave them remote access to control the machine as if they were sitting at the keyboard. it went undetected. from there, it communicated back to a website, which is a known command and control site. this was a known that site, unfortunately, for about 10

months, but they did not catch it. i will not get too technical, but from there, you can scan the network. they found two servers on the network that open ports, mistakes that were made, and they jumped on to other servers, using an internal tool that corporations use all the time to look at their networks. they are using now the company's own tools. they got on the server and found their target files, these algorithms. they used zip files. they found internally what is called a rar file, like is a file, but they could include it, and they sent it to that side over time. unbeknownst to them, "wall street journal." shortly after that attack, several defense contractors were hacked because of this breach at the security company. those defense contractors lost

quite a bit of sensitive data. 1, 2, 3, that is how it happens. it is not that complex, when you think of it. so, security intelligence -- what we do in this new world where our traditional tools do not work, with these attacks are so sophisticated? i will skip to a couple of slides, step for just a bit. are we frozen? i have been halved. we will see if that comes up. .- i have been hacked we will see if that comes up. we will draw the analogy to voting. let's step back a bit. ok, so, to prevent voter fraud, what do we do? we actually monitor elections,

right? we have monitors on board, and they look at the controls, and we are tracking, making sure. we go overseas, we monitored elections to make sure they are fair and following the rules. that is one of the things we need to do in the online world, monitor these systems and look for fraud, look for crime, and look for when our controls are being breached. i will show you how it works to stop the sophisticated crime of last year. you have to have context of what is happening on line, understand where users are coming from, what they are doing, what they are trying to do, and surface nefarious activity. the first thing that if you were monitoring, no corporation should ever connect to a known commanding control server on the internet. and there was a clear connection that should have been caught in this situation. simple monitoring, very very basic. the next thing is -- and that

would have caught it. the next scenario is a traditional tool used by i.t. organizations all the time. i have never met a finance minister that knows how to use an nmap tool, and it was a finance managers machine that launched this. second, one said a jump of that machine and got on two servers -- it lifted and got the passwords of i.t. administrators and started to use those passwords to get access to sensitive data, but they were doing this that ours where these i.t. administrators were not at work and could not have logged on to the internet. could have been caught. and finally, sending out a multi-part rar file that is encrypted to an ftp site should have set off alarms. that is how monitoring could have helped in this type of environment. when it comes to voting systems

-- and susan talked about we want everyone to have an online voters account. you started thinking about these sophisticated attacks and know that integrity voting can be compromised. i am a a big believer that technology can bring great benefits to the overall voter registration process and i am impressed with what the has done by reaching out and educating overseas voters, giving them registered databases, access to ballots to be able to print those off. the question becomes -- when are we safe enough to actually do the voting online? i do not think we are there yet. integrity of voting cannot be compromised. what is happening in the industry is we are moving to mobile devices and moving to share devices or cloud computing. what is exciting about what is

happening in industry today h in today hp -- in companies like hp, we are spending a lot of time saying how we design security into these mobile applications? how we design security into these shared services? it is actually a very different approach than how we have been going about this. i do think this is a crawl before we run, and we need to focus on building the infrastructure and services around voting and the processes that we can help automate. but when you think of placing a vote online, the challenge is as you look across our country and all the municipalities and different infrastructures and tools and in many cases, the immaturity of these and other structures, we need to elevate and build that up before i believe we can go that while, but a lot of the work can be in the design infrastructure that

may eventually get to the point where i think we have wonderful online voting capabilities. i probably have another dog video or two i could show you. -- another dark video or two i could show you. >> [inaudible] >> i can repeat your question. >> [inaudible] >> the question is -- how would i feel about placing my personal vote on line from my own machine? right? that is the question. i would love to. i would love to.

i think it is tremendous. i think the concern is not about me from my machine and someone seeing my vote. my concern is about the centralized system that is collecting and tallying and registering all these votes that is operated very different in every municipality, every voting location. unless we can move to a centralized, said, consistent system we have built the system into to protect that -- and really, you are protecting the integrity of the election i think is so critical compared to protecting the integrity of my vote in the transaction my machine that we need to really focus on. i think that comes down to very well thought out security built into these back end systems, and i do believe that we need to do

it in a shared way so that we are not trying to put the systems into hundreds of different types of environments that have multiple different types of infrastructures and levels of security. if we could do it in a shared way, then i think we are putting more resources around those shared services and securing the more consistently. one of the drivers i am responsible for -- there is a thing called cloud computing. i know you all read about it, see the billboards, what have you -- cloud computing is about shared services and using i.t. much more as a service instead of installing and operating it yourself. when you ask cio's their biggest concerns about adopting shared services, security is the number one concern. hp has challenged me -- my job is to turn security into the number one advantage of white would go to shared services. that is what you're suspending

your working on, taking the shared infrastructure and investing more in the security and configuration of the environment and understanding the potential vulnerabilities and putting in place defenses better in that environment that multiple corporations and businesses come to than anyone can do themselves. that is the journey we are on. i think it is not too far off, but it needs to be done before we compromise the integrity of voting. yes, sir? >> in the u.s., the concerns about security have led to returns in many cases to paper ballots and move away from electronic boating -- electronic voting. at the same time, technology folks will say what you do not want to do is create a standard or requirement that freezes the technology. my question is -- how do you compromise those two with these types of voting? how did you reach the right mix? it is a concern also on the

cyber security legislation being developed on the hill now. >> first up, i am technology professional, and it is my job to solve every problem with technology, right? it pains me to say, "week, we have got to be a little cautious here." for 20 years, we have been striving for what we call 100% security. we need to walk down everything, catch everything, control everything and be 100% secure, get no organization, no system, no operation ever is 100% secure. even the companies that spend the most money -- i mean, take a look at google, right? the most modern data center with the smartest people -- halcked. we need to look at this from a risk standpoint and measure the amount of risk in a system or

application and make sure we are operating with an acceptable level of risk. the way to measure that -- and we have to move to this risk discussion. so you move to now -- i believe we have to move to online voting, and i cannot wait for the day when i am sitting at my desk, and i can place my vote, not be going out how to go to my local church or get away from work or worry about my absentee ballot or what have you. we just need to make sure this is me, right? we need to make sure this is me, and we need to make sure that when i submit my vote, the integrity of it is well protected. i think there is risk in all those steps of the way, but there are things we can do to indicate it. then, we have tools that say, "how do we look at the risk of all the touch points in this process, and how do we call it them or collect them together and score a risk score over an

overall business? one of the things we are advocating actually -- online businesses, eventually, we believe will have to present to you a risk score before you conduct business with them. today, we go to sites and have no idea what their security is, but we would like to see a risk score. i think the same will happen in this sector. yes, sir. >> yes, i hear people promote open source open code, that that is the key to security, but does that improve security, or does that just tell the bad guys how to get in? >> good question. not a good answer to that. the notion of open source is basically instead of benders' creating code and then selling it to i.t. organizations that then buildings, there is a lot of open source. think of it as freeware code

that is out there that the community develops and puts in place. open source is being used in lots of areas of security, but you are also working with the community of developers that you not necessarily know. so i think there is a balance. the great thing about open source code is it improves the productivity of i.t. development shops who get access to this code and not recreate a lot of things. you actually produce applications a lot quicker. what we do is we sponsor an organization called the zero day initiative, and what the zero day initiative does -- there are 650 independent researchers around the world who take code. a lot of it is open source and a lot of it is commercial off-the- shelf, and they look for vulnerabilities in that code. did they discover a new vulnerability -- it is called

the zero day vulnerability. no one knows about it. they submit that to this organization called the zdi. we test it, validate it, and if it is a true first time discovery, we write that individual to check, typically $3,000 to $5,000. it is how they make their living. we notified the organization, and they have six months to close it out. why is this so important? do you guys remember about reading the cyber attack on the iranian nuclear facility? that took advantage of the for your is your day vulnerabilities in the windows operating system. that code, which is just tremendous how that whole attack happened -- those of for your vulnerabilities did not need to be all use or take advantage of. any of them allow them to get their attack and find their way to basically the centrifuge within this air gap nuclear facility in iran.

i think testing open source code, testing will liabilities and putting protections in place are one of the things we need to do there. question? yes, please. there is a microphone to your left. >> it is an older technology, but what about voter registration by fax? hal is the security with that? >> anything by fax is not very secure. >> that is what i would think. >> anything by fax is not very secure. this kind of justice into privacy, right? as we collect voter information, we are collecting privacy data about them, whether it is addresses or what not, so we do need to secure that. fax transmissions are just not very secure.

yes? oh, sorry. yes, sir. >> [inaudible] >> yes, so the question is -- as we go towards the holy grail of electronic voting and remote voting, what are the greatest challenges? is it technology? process? is it politics? right? so what do i see as the great challenges? it is not just voting, but it comes to every single type of business process that you are trying to automate the has an element of risk with it. we believe it is people, process, and then technology. the technology is actually pretty strong, the security technology that is out there.

there is actually a lot of great technology. we do not need more security technology. we just need to learn how to use it better. that goes to process. a lot of it is just process and design about how the technology is implemented. often, it is mistakes that we make that introduce risk. an example of the security company -- two servers were left with open ports in the network, and it was just a configuration mistake. a simple thing could have prevented it right there. that is the process side of things. and then people comes down to "do we have the right skills? do we understand the latest types of attacks? are we continually training our people? -- training our people?" historically, citing security has not been where i.t. does go -- guys go, but now we are

investing in training the people so we understand where we are going. i want to thank the ovs foundation for your great work, and i think it is tremendous, and we hope to work with you on the journey towards the holy grail of online voting, which i think if everyone had an online voting account would be wonderful, and i appreciate the opportunity to address all of you here in this wonderful session at the mayflower on this important topic. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> people gathered in panama city, florida, to hear mitt romney. it is expected to start in about 10 or 12 minutes. mitt romney, of course, one of the leading candidates in the tuesday florida primary. he and gingrich have been hitting the campaign trail hard and putting out new ads on the florida airwaves. looking now at one of mitt romney's campaign ads and an ad

put out by a superpac that supports newt gingrich appeared that a good evening. gingrich came to power after all preaching a higher standard in american politics, a man who brought down another speaker on ethics accusations. tonight, he has on his own record the judgment of his peers, democrat and republican alike, and by an overwhelming vote, they found him guilty of ethics violations, charged him a financial penalty, and several of them raised serious questions about his future effectiveness. >> i am mitt romney, and i approve this message. >> there are a lot of reasons not to re-elect me.

>> with medicare, the government says that con artists are draining the lifeblood out of it by filing millions of dollars in phony claims. >> you do any work with any company which did any work with medicare -- >> we did not do any work with the government. >> winning our future is responsible for the content of this message. >> just a couple of the ads that folks in florida have been seeing. mitt romney expected here in a few minutes to rally supporters at the eastern ship building. we are in panama city, florida. while we wait for his arrival, we will look at a preview of the tuesday florida primary now. the voters in the state and different issues that affect different parts of florida, and also a history of past

presidents of primaries in this state. we will come back to panama city as soon as mitt romney arrives. host: but the florida primary, our topic for the next 45 minutes. joining us, the university of south florida political science professor. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> in the days leading up to next week's primary, what particularly are you looking at as far as science about who will win and who will be victorious? >> a lot of people do not like to talk about polls as being meaningful, but they are, and we have seen a shift in momentum since the campaign came to florida, and mitt romney is a little bit on the up right now. newt gingrich lost a little ground. this week it will be critical for some of those undecided voters. candidates are combing the state as fast and furiously as they can, and the ads are running 24/7. news coverage is at all-time

peaks, so there's plenty of opportunities for floridians to be swayed in these last few days. >> tippet -- is typical retail politics work in florida? >> it certainly does. our electorate is going to be primarily over 45 on election day, and it is often the case that if you go to an event, there is a candidate in person, and you shake their hand and get a picture or whatever, the chances that you will turn out go up markedly, and so did the chances that you will vote for that person. of course, they are all trying to get the great photo opportunity, at this restaurant go to this little housing area, whatever, trying to get the perfect place that sways a certain demographic. campaigning in florida requires a lot of focus group work and figuring out the slices that you have to, you know, campaign towards, and this is a state where there are many slices, and

they are all kind of different. >> give us a snapshot of what a conservative or republican voter is, and who they will leverage for. >> there is quite diversity. one of the things that people do not understand about the difference between florida and south carolina is, for example, just our racial and ethnic makeup. 11% of florida republicans are hispanic. some are cuban. some. puerto rican with a lot of other countries in the mix, but the politics can be different, depending on the time of arrival in this country, a generational divide its. even campaigning among the hispanic republicans is quite challenging. then, of course, you have a religious mix. south carolina, largely evangelicals here. you have a sizable republican jewish community.

a higher percentage of catholic republicans than in south carolina. even within the protestant mix, fewer evangelicals and other more liberal -- i would not say liberal, but moderate protestants. even there it is different. you have the three geographies of politics. parts of florida are extremely rural. those tend to be more of the social conservatives. then you have your large urban areas -- tampa, orlando, miami. but the key this time is probably going to be the suburban counties, which have experienced the highest incidences of home foreclosures and unemployment rates. florida is the microcosm of america. campaigning among four republicans is as challenging as campaigning among the entire electorate at large, including democrats and independents. >> august with us to talk about the florida primary. if you want to talk about what

is going on in florida, especially leading up to the primary, 202--- cullis. journal@c-span.org, also. 202-628-0184 if you live in florida. and twitter and e-mail. you can also participate, too. "wall street journal" this morning shows a little bit of the strong sections that mitt romney had back in 2008. they highlight jacksonville, fort myers, and panama city, amongst others. big strings around orlando as well. do you indicate that those areas are just as strong for mr. romney this time around, or as mr. gingrich managed to steal some away from those sections? guest: i think always, there's

inroads to be made, and you cannot quite compare 2008. i think there is a lot of difference because the economy is so much worse in florida than it was in 2008, even though there we had seen the beginnings of the recession. the truth of the matter is florida is a state that is used to leading the country out of the recession. now, we have been lagging behind in recovery, so what you see in some of those areas is a tremendous amount of anger at washington. for some people, they like gingrich because he basically screams at washington. he is basically their megaphone. in other places, they prefer romney because he is more of a business person. if you look at florida's senior vote, which certainly in the southwest area you were mentioning, seniors are more likely to be invested in the market, a little bit better educated here than in some other places, and more cognizant of the economy in general,

invested, follow the world economy, and those voters are very much attracted to romney because of his private sector experience and the fact that he is not a member of congress, but let's be realistic -- the florida republicans that are going to vote in this primary care about one thing -- that is the candidate that can carry florida in november because republicans across the country understand that if your candidate cannot win florida, they will not be winning the white house. host: our guest until 8:30 to talk about these issues. the numbers will be on your screen. let's go first to ohio, we will hear from a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for the opportunity to speak. i have a question for you, professor. i remember watching the house when all of the democrats were kicked out because of a fight between and ex-state patrolman

-- do you remember that? guest: i am sorry, i am not hearing you well. caller: that is all right. my other question is the gridlock we are having now -- we want someone who can pass bills and would have some influence. i remember speaker gingrich having that. host: the ability for a candidate to work on both sides of the house and avoid gridlock guest: believe me, americans are looking for that person because they are very distraught with congress. that is why congress has a record low ratings right now. certainly, as your caller points out, it is the case that gingrich is making much of the fact that he was able to do that. that is one of his loudest claims that he is making on the stump.

on the other side, opponents are pointing out that there are a lot of people who served with him, republicans, that thought that he was not the best of leaders, so there you go. that is exactly why you are seeing this split vote among republicans over these two front runners. people have different perspectives of the power of each of them to actually get something done in washington, but i can tell you that people across the country are clamoring for somebody to put this country together and get the economy moving. host: the unemployment rate in florida is 9.9%, compared to 8.5% on the national average. columbus, ohio, clark on the democrats' line. go ahead. caller: yes, hello, professor. on those psa's that need to be aired, i will call the federal communications commission because what is happening is all this money rolling in because of

that one bill that was passed or supreme court, etc. -- i'm sure you could comment on that -- show that unfortunately, the public service announcements are not put into those roles on a daily basis, and these communications stations are cashing in on all this money running in. one of the problems with the endowment funds was the crash for the colleges. you teach there in south florida, in tampa? guest: yes. caller: number one for all these colleges is football moneymaker, and then the teaching hospitals. host: let's leave it there. there are figures out about ads, which the caller referenced.

this is from the "washington post." host: with that in mind, tell us what you have seen this cycle not only with the amount of ads you have seen, but with the nature of them. guest: it is very expensive to campaign in florida, considerably more than a lot of other states. we have a network in almost every market. secondly, it is true that people are very frustrated with the amount of money going into ads. at a time when people are suffering, they look at this and they think -- i hear a lot of people come up to me and tell me, look at all the good that money can do. the truth of the matter is --

the truth of the matter is that to get your message out to people, you have to use television. that said, the bulk of the ads have the by the -- have been by the super pacs. unlimited contributions and not a lot of transparency at this point. so far, most of the super pac ads have had a very negative tone, because they have been contrasts, and most of the candidate ads have been more positive. you could hardly turn on the television around any news cycle where any programs which have large senior listeners and not be bombarded. you get when gingrich-related -- 1 newt gingrich related -- ad, the next one is romney, and back and forth. host: for the super pac ads,

which adds on each side, what stands out? what stands out as a person who observes these things? guest: a lot of it has to do with their backgrounds. florida voters have a little bit longer memory of some of these things. they are calculating all of the time when they see these ads, which one of these candidates can carry florida. not only that, if they are thinking which one of the candidates can't win over independence? -- can win over the independents. in our state, roughly anywhere from 1/4 to 30% of people will self identify as neither democrat or republican. in past elections, the independent vote has been split. selected in 2008, obama handily won that vote. floridians know you must win that independent vote. looking at these

vulnerabilities as if they have not seen enough of those in the debate. they are putting the two together, and measuring carefully which one seems to be the one and done overcome this -- can overcome this negativity. and still win the white house. host: a cure from e-mail says -- as you were e-mail says -- a viewer e-mail says florida could be the national benchmark. that alone makes it the most interesting primary so far. guest: absolutely. we're the biggest, largest, most diverse state. with 29 electoral college votes, the same as the state of new york, two more than we had in the 2008 election, and we are diverse in terms of religion, race and ethnicity, ideology, geology, and the most -- geography, and we are the most competitive in terms of the democrats against republicans. this is the first primary that only republicans can vote in. vote in.

the caucuses ahead of us could have been dependent roads. here, you have to be registered 29 days ahead of the election. host: surely on our republican -- let's hear from a florida resident. shirley, on the republican line. good morning. caller: i am a proud alumni of usf. i'm where you were down at tampa for the debate last monday night. from some friends, we understand that maybe a couple of thousand friends showed up for dr. ron paul. isn't it amazing -- he is pulling 14% in the polls right now, that he is not even campaigning here? to what do you attribute this amazing spirit, and the people willing to come out and shot for -- come out and waved signs

and show up for dr. ron paul? we think it does more to do for liberty and constitution. guest: ron paul has a tremendous following on college campuses. i was outside broadcasting with the local nbc affiliate, and i heard shots where ron paul -- shouts across the way, where ron paul supporters were banging drums and colin l. professor macmanus the excitement is very much -- calling out professor macmanus. the excitement is very much related to the intrusion of government, and the concern about privacy. that is one reason ron paul has a lot of following. i attended a debate at the university of north florida, and it was the same thing there. it is a common pattern. to put things in perspective, one of the reasons he is by passing florida, besides the cost of television, frankly was

that he was humorous in the debate -- that was quite needed, but also, in 2008, ron paul only received 3% of the republican vote. he would prefer to go to states where they have caucuses because his supporters are so passionate they will show up in great numbers, then he feels that he could secure enough delegates that he will have a lot of influence on the platform and pushed the candidates toward some of his ideals. host: professor macmanus, off of twitter, and john in north carolina asks -- guest: excellent question. that is one of the things that

has pushed around me a little -- pushed mitt romney a little bit in the plus column since the south carolina primary, because the polls in magic's between the -- in matchups between the president and both gingrich and romney show that romney does better in the matchup against obama, but not surprisingly, it is a dead heat here in florida. that is exactly why we are the nation's premier battleground state in 2010. we are bright purple. where are not red or blue. we are really very competitive. >> lettuce across the state -- host: that is across the state, or an overall state? -- overall sense? guest: statewide polls show romney polls better against obama than does gingrich, and that is on the mind of florida republicans. i keep coming back to the point, and i cannot stress enough, electability is on the minds of republicans because

they know the importance of florida on the national map, and in recent years, no one has won the white house without winning florida, if you are a republican. host: we hear consistently the i-4 corridor. what is it? guest: we call it the highway to heaven for republicans. -- for politicians. this is where you win or lose, come florida. is the huge stretch that stretches between the tampa, saint peter's big -- saint petersburg area, to dayton area. together, the tampa and orlando media markets have 45% of all the registered republicans in the whole state living there. in a general election it is the most competitive part of the state, with an almost equal divided between republicans and democrats. the me give you a sample of the tampa bay market.

it has one fourth of all of florida's registered voters and is the largest market in the state. as we speak, 30% are registered democrats, -- 38% are registered democrats, 38% are registered republicans and the rest are independent. you have a similar profile in the orlando area. it is a slice of everything. racial and ethnic diversity, a large porter rican population, a cuban. every kind of race, religion, geography, rural, urban, suburban all along this highway, which is why it is canada's come -- to florida they have to go to one -- candidates come to florida, they have to go to one end of this corridor. if you hit those areas, you have the bulk of the republicans. host: florida, troy. independent line.

caller: i've been noticing that dr. ron paul keeps distancing himself from the pack. i'm wondering how his platform of abolishing the federal reserve and the irs is really going to appeal to republican constituents, and how that has to be, and if florida is not a matter, is that a situation he will have to deal with in many other states? guest: dr. ron paul has already said he is not going db -- going to be competitive in florida rather than appealing in the debates -- appearing in the debates. those were widely watched by republicans in florida as well as republicans elsewhere. he does not feel that he will do well here. a lot of it is his views on

some things like the federal reserve do not resonate with florida as much as other places. certainly, his stances on security are really out of sync with a lot of republicans here, because we have a lot of military retirees and active duty military. he realizes his message, i yield him a lot of votes, but -- will not yield him a lot of votes, but certain portions, like opening up to the, that is a -- opening up cuba, that is a popular stance, because flights have just begun from tampa to cuba. sometimes he does resonate with florida, but to win florida, and we are a winner-takes-all state, he has simply not got the support to do that. he recognizes that, and as for -- focusing elsewhere. it chilled in louisville,

kentucky, bill, republican line -- host: louisville, kentucky, bill, republican line. caller: good morning, susan. [unintelligible] i am from bard's town, kentucky, and i do not see how anybody can vote for anybody other than a republican. i have called washington for the last 34 weeks over this 2% social security raid of my paycheck. this is 2%. the hundred billion dollars has now for the first time in history been transferred from the general fund to pay 44 million unemployed averaging $1,089 a month to go. [unintelligible] if anybody remembers, when bush was in office, he wanted to do the same thing, and everybody

said they would eliminate social security. i want someone to tell me why this is not eliminating our social security. we have $100 million. this cannot be extended more. host: we will leave it there. to the point about social security, one of those issues of concern among florida voters, particularly among senior citizens? guest: it is interesting to point out that when people look at florida they think seniors are the ones most interested in social security and medicare, but the truth of the matter here is the group really focused on these issues most are the baby boomers nearing retirement, and that is the glut of the florida electorate. they have had to think about the retirement they were going to take -- working a few more years, worrying about medicare

and the health-care system -- there is anxiety about these issues. haveentleman's comments received attention here among groups that are focused on that, concerned that reducing taxes simply takes away from social security. it is a fairly sophisticated argument that a lot of people, frankly, do not get, but one that a lot of senior groups are articulating. host: off of twitter, a hypothetical question -- >> you can find the rest of this conversation online at c- span.org as we take you live to panama city, fla., for a mitt romney rally.

he is at a company that builds and repairs ships. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪ ♪ panama, panama, oh, oh, oh, oh. ♪ >> how about it? [applause] are you ready for some change?

are you ready for some mitt romney? welcome, northwest florida. thank you for showing up today at eastern shipbuilding. let's give it up for bryan. brian, where are you at? folks, this is the ground zero of where north florida is going to make the difference in picking the next president of the united states of america. god bless you all for showing up. i want to introduce you to our host, the owner of this beautiful facility. >> thank you. ladies and gentlemen and employees of east building ship group, welcome to the nelson street facility, and more importantly, will come on this beautiful saturday afternoon to this relatively impromptu rally

for the republican presidential candidate, the next president of america, governor mitt romney. [applause] as you know, we hear at eastern have been building vessels for the past 36 years. five of my 10 children, eight of whom were born in this county, work at the shipyard six days a week, sometimes seven days. you see behind me a representative sample of the vessels that we build here. i do not want to bore you with statistics, but we are presently building three 300 foot offshore supply vessels, one of which is a harvey haller, with the small

american flag on her. we are building an anger handler to your left for c4 international of new york. -- anchor handler to your left for seacorp international of new york. sam, thank you for horn beck bringing your business to this county. we are building also, as you walked in the yard, you saw a big gray upside down steel box. that is the first module for the first of two and 95 vessels we will export to brazil. -- 295 vessels will export to brazil. they will work for drilling offshore in brazil.

we at eastern consider ourselves extremely fortunate that due to our reputation for quality vessels, we have been able in this extremely tough economic environment to expand, and we are in the process of hiring 500 additional employees. [applause] that is true. however, we want to keep all of you guys and our 500 new employees gainfully employed. this is particularly why we are so proud to have been asked to host this rally for governor mitt romney. governor romney, i believe, is a conservative businessman.

he understands the private sector. and i believe he has a plan and the vision not only to facilitate an economic recovery in this nation, but to grow our economy. [applause] i 41 firmly believe he has basic american values -- i, for one, firmly believe he has basic american values which have made our country great. i believe that these values will make him the next leader in the white house who will govern our country. particularly to employees and friends of eastern shipbuilding

group, you have seen signs, romney believes in america. well, i think he believes in our kind of america, where people through hard work provide for their families and build things in this country with their own two hands. [applause] on that note, i would like to introduce representative alan spence. he has been our friend for 30 years or so. his company did a good job paving the sandy creek airpark. allen. >> thank you. all right, what a day. first of all, do we want four

more years of president obama? >> no! >> i did not hear you. >> no! >> do you want four years of mitt romney? >> yes! >> louder! yes! when i met mitt romney -- you know the movie jerry mcguire -- you had me at hello? when i met mitt romney, he had me. he understands policy and he understands how to create jobs. we were on the bus earlier this morning. while this crowd is fired up, most crowds are fired up because everyone is ready for real

change. i can tell you that it is my honor to introduce to you the next president of the united states of america, mitt romney. >> thank you, alan. mr. speaker, thank you. mr. speaker, brian, eastern shipbuilding, jimmy, thank you for being with me this morning. this morning? this afternoon. it is great to be here. what a facility this is. if it is great to hear that you are doing well and you are going to be adding jobs. america can compete as long as we get the government out of the way and let continuity takeover, and we are seeing it right here. -- ingenuity takeover, and we are seeing it right here. i watched the president on tv a

couple of nights ago. he was speaking before congress. it reminded me of the speech he did at disney world. he was speaking from fantasyland then too. he said that america is on track and that things are going swimmingly. he has not been to florida. did you know that the median income in america has dropped by 10% in the last four years? there is an increase in the cost of energy and food, but incomes are down. one-quarter of the foreclosures in america are here in florida. we would like the president to get at a fantasyland and visit the people of florida and -- out of fantasyland and visit the people of florida and realize his policies are not working. i think this election is going to be about the course of

america in a way we have not seen in a long time. the dramatic difference between where he is leading america and where i believe we need to go could not be more stark, more dramatic. if you go through it piece by piece, he is comfortable with the idea of spending $1 trillion each year more than we taken. he is comfortable with the idea of america taking on larger and larger deficits that eventually put us on the same track as greece. my belief is that we should cap federal spending and balance the budget. you know, he spoke in that state of the union address and he said that he was for all of the above when it comes to energy. that is shorthand for saying he is for coal, gas, oil, nuclear, but look at his record. he has virtually stopped call

through regulation. he has held off offshore drilling. he has made it virtually impossible for us to tap into our natural gas resources with the epa putting on the brakes. we have not seen in the nuclear plant in years and years. he is doing everything to stop development of carbon based energy. in my view, it is time to open up those sources and get america energy secure, energy independent of the cartels. this is a guy who fundamentally thinks that when there is a problem the government ought to take it over. he looks at health care, and thinks the government should take over health care for us. they will run at the way they run the post office and amtrak. if we want to get health care soft, we need to get health care to act more like a market, and repeal obamacare, and i will.

there is also a sense on the president's part of that the greatest days of america are in the past, that other nations are rising and we have to learn to accommodate and appease these nations. he reaches out to some of the world's worst actors, ahmadinejad, castro, kim jong un. he held out his hand with the invitation card. they all said no. weaknesses always rejected, and weakness in gets adventurism by some of the world's worst actors. in my view, it is time for america to stand tall, and we will never apologize for the united states of america. you know, he has an agenda for our military. there is one place he is willing to cut, from what i can tell, one place, and that is our

military. he laid out cuts of almost $500 billion a week ago. he is planning on more cuts. these are cuts that our secretary of defense has said would be a doomsday scenario, and yet that is where he is going. he is cutting 100,000 active duty personnel from our armed forces. he is slowing down construction of ships for our navy and air force. do you realize that our navy is now smaller than at any time since 1917? our air force is older and smaller than any time since it was founded in 1947. we have always since the days of fdr had the capacity to fight two wars at a time. not that we wanted to, but we wanted to have that kind of safety and capacity to defend ourselves. this president says we should only fight one more at a time.

first time in a century we have had that course. my view is not to have a weak military, but to have the military so strong no one ever would think of challenging it. shipbuilding from nine ships per year to 15 ships per year. i will make sure we have a 11 carriers to go with them around the world. i will make sure we have an air force that is the best and most modern in the world and i will add 100,000 troops to our active duty personnel. there is a lot of waste in the department of defense, like the rest of government. i am going to take care of that waste. but i'm not going to use it to pay for obamacare. i'm going to use it to modernize our navy and air force, and get the troops we need, and also to provide our veterans the care

they deserve. now, i am speaking to you today as if i am already the candidate for president for the republican party. but i am not. i still have some primaries to go through. there is one coming up here on tuesday. so i need everyone here to go out and get a few friends to vote for me. i'm running against speaker a veryh, for instance, oa nice fellow. he is a historian, but that does not give him the right to rewrite history. he was given the opportunity to lead our party. he failed. some people remember the contract with america. that was a good thing. what happened four years later? he was fined for ethics violations.

he had to resign in disgrace. he cannot rewrite history. he may be a great guy with a lot of great ideas, but he is not the leader we need at a critical time. this will be an historic election. we need someone who has been a leader and succeeded at being a leader. i have, and i will lead america back to strength. russ is coming guys. -- thank you, you guys. i think you know what an extraordinary land this is. when i was a boy, my mom and dad wanted me to fall in love with america. they put us in the car and drove us around the national parks. we came down here to cyprus

parts and saw the beauty of the oceans. we went out west to look at the mountains. the canyons, the sequoias, the oceans. i fell in love with america. they drove us around in their rambler. it was amazing we were able to make it without any breakdowns. my dad made ramblers, i can say that. i fell in love with the beauty of the land. and then over the years that i have had occasion to be in business and to work in different parts of the country, and now to run for president and meet people all over the country, you fall in love with the people of america. it is the heart of the country, not just the beauty of the landscape. it is the people, the values that we have. there is something very unusual about the values which we have in this country. when the founders of this nation crafted that first founding document, the declaration of

independence, they said words which would bring true throughout the world, that the creator had endowed us with our rights -- not the king, not the state -- and that among those rights were life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. we would be free in america to pursue happiness as we choose. the government would not tell us how to live our lives, even if they think they know better than we. we do not need them to make a choice of what kind of light bulb we have, what kind of health care we have, what kind of automobile we drive. they do not need to tell us if we have a gas driven car or an electric car. me, i prefer gas still. and because of that freedom and the other freedoms we enjoy, people came here from all over the world. this was the place on the planet where freedom would rain.

every freedom seeker, pioneer, innovator, they wanted to come to america. and come they did for hundreds of years. it is what made us who we are. we are a nation of immigrants. that is what has made america the economic powerhouse of the world. i cannot think the president understands that like you do. i love the principles of the nation. i love the hymns of america that sing the praises of the nation. america the beautiful, that term beautiful not just applying to the land, but to the people. o beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, four purple mountains' majesty, above the fruited plain. you have extraordinarily spacious skies here today. when i was in iowa, site told the people that i thought the corn qualified as an amber waves of grain. that may account for my 25 loss

in that state. there is another verse, perhaps my favorite. oh beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more themselves their country loved, and mercy more than strife. would our veterans raise their hands? wow. wow. woah. wow. this is a military oriented state and community. thank you for your service. thank you. there is another version that we do not think of terribly often, but i like this one too. o beautiful for patriot dream that seas beyond the years. those founding fathers were not just crafting for their time, but for an enduring time. and as we face challenges as we do today, we need people in leadership who are willing to

use the constitution and the declaration as the blueprint for the way forward. i want to return freedoms to america, the pursuit of happiness to america. i want dreams to be made through again. i want to make sure your kids are confident in the future and proud of the past. this is the time to draw on the goodness of the american people, restore what is lost, and make sure that america remains what it has always been, the hope of the earth and the shining city on the hill. thank you. thank you.

♪ only in america >> we will hear more from mitt romney tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. eastern time with live coverage of another campaign stop on florida's atlantic coast. our road to the white house coverage continues tonight with newt gingrich. he will be giving a speech at the republican party is a lincoln day dinner at west palm beach. that is tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. both candidates have been running new campaign ads. let's take a look at an ad from each of the top two candidate. >> while florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, newt gingrich cashed in.

gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the same agency that helped create the crisis. >> i worked as an historian. >> and historian, really? censored for ethics violations, gingrich resigned from congress in disgrace. if gingrich wins, this guy will be very happy. >> i am i mitt romney, and i approved this message. >> if a man is dishonest to obtain a job, he will be dishonest on the job. >> what kind of man would distort and deceive in order to win an election? this guy. mitt romney. mitt romney had the chance to vote for george h. w. bush or pat buchanan, but he voted for a liberal democrat instead. he said his investments in fannie and freddie were in a blind trust, but as reported in

the national journal, he earned tens of thousands of dollars from an investment not in a blind trust. he denied seeing a false at his campaign used to attack newt gingrich, but his campaign paid for the ad, and his voice is on it. if we cannot trust what mitt romney says about his record, how can we trust him on anything? >> c. spence wrote to the white house coverage takes you live to -- c-span's road to the white house coverage takes you live to candidate events in florida. >> our young people are very concerned about issues like global warming and things of that nature. they're concerned about humanity. help them understand that if they take one of these drugs that is being smuggled into this country, that they are partially responsible for deaths. i want them to understand that 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 are not a good example in that regard, and that must change. if i am president, i will tell young people, stop taking drugs because you are killing people. >> there have been few occasions -- in an administration filled with embarrassment's, there have been few more embarrassing than when obama met with hugo chávez, shook hands with him, and chavez handed him an anti-american book as a president. when chavez and ahmadinejad get

together and say they want to harm the united states, they mean it. we need to take an aggressive strategy, not a military strategy, but an aggressive strategy of replacing chavez and giving the people of venezuela a chance to live in freedom. >> at c-span.org/campaign 2012, see what the candidates are posting on social media. >> one of the speakers at the lincoln day dinner will be florida congressman alan west. he spoke earlier this week on capitol hill about unemployment, family issues and conservatism in the african-american community. >> good morning to everyone. i want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to come out this morning for what they think is going to be a very good discussion, a very good forum, and i think this

will be the first of many. with the weather as it is outside, i want to thank you for braving these dangerous roads to be here for this event. i am representative alan west, from florida district 22. >> we had a lot of excitement last week down in south carolina. now that excitement is coming to florida. the whole purpose for us being here today is how do we articulate and connect with conservative principles back to our black community, the african-american community? because i really believe that the core of the african-american community truly is conservatism, and we just have to be able to understand what that is. we're going to get into a

discussion today. you know, limited government, understanding what limited government is that is fiscally responsible and constitutionally mandated, understanding individual sovereignty, the rights and freedom of the individual, their responsibility, there accountability, i think we also have to understand that there is a difference between the quality of opportunity and equality of achievement for the individual. what does that mean? our free-market system. i have to tip my hat to our colleague from missouri for allowing us to be here in the committee on small business hearing room. if you remember, one of the great strengths of the black community are small businesses. we have to look at how we get that empowerment back into the urban community. when you go back and listen to people like congressman jack kemp and art lafferty, they talk

about urban empowerment zones. we have to look at how we get that restarted. our traditional culture of the values, really, the core of who we are as african-americans, education, faith, family, but let us not forget security, strong national defense. no matter how prosperous you make a people, you must also keep them safe. today we want to look at those principles. something has to be done, and there has to be a different way to tackle this problem. with that said, i want to take the time to introduce a woman who is on the forefront of conservative principles of the african-american community. she walks the walk, she talks the talk.

. our moderator. >> thank you. it is wonderful to be here this morning. i appreciate the opportunity to moderate this great panel. i believe this is historic because usually panels that convene in washington and are talking about grievances and to government programs, but we are convening here today to talk about freedom and opportunity. we convene here today to talk about black responsibility as well as black rights, so this is indeed historic. let me first thank congressman west. he is a hero.

when you were here earlier, you came up to him and wanted your pictures, i know you agree with me to saying that he is a hero and a leader. not just for wearing our nation's uniform, but now he is here in washington. we really appreciate it. perhaps the next time we see him, his neck step will be to -- next step will be to become our nation's first black republican president. [applause] we admire you congressman wes. -- west. what a leader and inspiration you are. thank you. [applause] now, before i get started, i want to see the chief of staff -- is he still here? he would like to address congressman west as well for bringing this forum together. >> i just wanted to thank your organization for having us here

today. i would also like to reach out. i had a couple of former and current staffers from asia who was an intern for us and now she graduated law school. she came back to the capital. -- capitol. also, tiffany more. she is at the united states trade rep office with us. one of the things we are trying to do is get young blacks and -- black students and opportunity in our office. i would ask for your assistance moving forward. i apologize for having to leave early, but i know others are going to stay here. thank you for your work. a look for it to working with you. f >> thank you. thank you for those kind words. [applause] as congressman west just told us about the unemployment rate,

in the black community, since your position just one out -- announcement just went out on c- span the you have positions available, i am sure you'll get a lot of applications. [laughter] this is a time when our country needs fixing and there is no group of americans better qualified to understand what is wrong in america and why it needs fixing than its black citizens. it is a mirror reflection of the moral and monetary reflection of our country. we as a nation are in a crisis. we are at a crossroads similar to the 1850's were we cannot go on half-free, half-enslaved. we must make a decision about who we're going to be if we're going to remain a biblical -- a united nation. biblical and responsible, or secular and entitled nation. there is no other ethnic group in america that has suffered more from the misuse of government, the misuse of politics and political power, off and has more to gain by restoring traditional values and individual responsibilities,

free markets, limited government, and a strong national allegiance than blacks. i think it is very appropriate and timely the congressman west would host this important forum at the beginning of 2012. again, i thank him. i am humbled for the opportunity. i appreciate that he also allows me to weigh in on developing the questions and to select which panelists would answer. thank you c-span for capturing this event for the whole world to see. i want to thank all of you who are attending. i want to get to some ground rules. the black conservative form is for two hours. how'd you address our future in two hours? after rot, paper, scissors, we have questions on the table. the topics are -- perception versus reality. urban issues in a 21st century.

the black church and state. the true history of civil rights. and conservative principles in the black community. we have 14 billion palace of -- brilliant panelists, whom i will specifically ask two questions each. i will ask three panelists to address the same question and move on to the next question with three different palace. -- panelists. if you disagree with something that was said by a panel is that was asked in a question, you can chime in for only one minute. then we will have opportunity later for you to address the question again. what's left completed the five -- once we have completed the five topics toppers, 10 questions total, i will ask a question on gop outreach will be open to all of the palace. plus, we have two special guests in our audience who will also be asked of that question and address it. one is garland hunt and the other is troy town who is from the montgomery tea party. they will address that question as well. if there is a panelist who did

not get a question earlier but has a burning answer within them, that will be the time to address it. if we stay on time, we should have 15 minutes for audience q&a and time for allen west to close this historic event. well we're going to do with housekeeping on questions from the audience, you ask your question from your seat and i will repeat the question. now, introduction of our panel. our host, congressman alan west. i have to say one thing before you say hello. when i call your name as i am introducing the panel, you have a one address sentenced to say -- one breath sentence to say a little bit more about who you are. congressman west, we know you. you do not get your sentence. >> happy to be here. >> congressman tim scott from

south carolina. >> good morning. >> we want a little bit more than that. did you pick a pony in that race? >> i need of a deeper breaths than that. wean made -- we may need to focus more on the issues that gives us the opportunity to have a black voice in the conversation. >> we hope we will address some of those things today. >> we will also be joined by congressman jim jordan. i do not believe he is here yet due to the weather. he is chairman of the rnc republican study committee. we have congressman emanuel cleaver, also not with us yet. i understand he also had fled -- flight complications. a democrat from missouri and

also the chairman of the congressional black caucus. we hope that he will be able to join us as well. former congressman j.c. watts is also with us this morning. we want to thank you. [applause] >> thank you. i just want to add my thanks to congressman west and all those to put this together and organized. i know this takes a lot of work and a lot of effort on behalf of a lot of people. so, thank you to all of those who were involved. i look forward to the dialogue and discussion this morning. >> i believe that the congressman west announced the questions that they do not know, which when they are going to get. that is why they are trying to be nice to me now. [laughter] octavia johnson from roanoke, virginia. thank you for joining us this morning. >> good morning.

i too want to thank congressman west for allowing me to be here this morning. i believe it is -- it is important for us to be a leader within our community. keep the people informed as to our thoughts and our commitments. thank you. >> thank you. city council member bill cleveland from alexander, virginia. >> , former city council member. >> former city council member bill cleveland, on his way to d.c., perhaps. >> i am just glad to be here. in a substitute teacher. i ran in virginia but did not win. i still work with the community. i was just sitting out in the audience and saw my name here. so, thank you very much congressman west for allowing me to be a part of this. i am really excited to answer

questions. >> thank you. i am glad you have joined us. >> mayor gow b. fields. >> thank you. i look for to the conversation and then committed to the long view. >> great. the one breath role is to tell us something about yourself perritt so now i'm going to have to tell about everybody. some i could not find their bios on the web. i do not america's i have been -- i do know the mayor, because i have been at his beautiful city in lakeland and what a beautiful inspiration he is. alabama community activist,fred solomon, from alabama. >> thank you. you talk about wondering why you are here. that is certainly what i am doing. wondering what i am on this

panel. but obviously i come to this from a little different perspective than most of you. but growing up in a rural town in south alabama in the 1940's and being the only jewish family in the entire county, much less the town, was an experience. in an old guy. i have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly -- believe me. if i have felt your pain. i would just like to say that i think americans who happen to have black skin are the same as americans who happen to have white skin. they want to have meaningful employment. they want to spend time with their children. they want to have some private time with their mates. and mostly, they would like to see their children graduate from high school and go to college.

not drop out of high school and go to prison. so, thank you for having me here. >> we appreciate that. that means i may have to ask you about educational choice and options. next we have louisiana pastor, cleon bryant. i should also say tea party activists. >> absolutely. thank you, star, and congressman west for having us all here today. in the crater of the "runaway slave" movie. also one nation back to god ministries. in a former president of the naacp in garland, texas. i have seen both sides of the street. i hope this particular conversation that is started today it will help us engage in dialogue that will be meaningful to all americans here in this very important election year of 2012.

we must not fail in our efforts to do what is necessary to bring about this discussion. again, i want to thank you you start and of course, colonel alan west to is a shining example of what an american can be -- red, yellow, black, or white in this country. >> thank you. community activist christine brooks. has she been delayed? ok. christine vote -- christine brooks has been delayed. have we heard from her at all? she is not going to bill to make -- she is not going to be able to make it. she is coming? ok, thank you. frederick douglass republic founder k karl smith. >> thank you.

we can broaden the base of the conservative movement. i'm happy for the opportunity to be here. i appreciate it. >> karnie smith, sr.. author and activist. >> good morning. thank you for the opportunity to share. i am happy to be with you. >> you are welcome. very nice to have you. finally, not least, we have sheriff david clarke, jr. from wisconsin.

there are fourth and 8th grade students and we lead the infant mortality rate and i could go on and on but you get a sense of where i'm at. i'm in law enforcement and you know what that connection is. what's interesting is that it's a city that has forever been in the throes, if you will, and the brace of liberal orthodoxy and i have been a man alone, a man alone struggling for conservative values, and so i'm pleased to be in an audience with like-minded thinking people. thank you very much. >> and i appreciate you saying those words, because actually, i think it's one of the reasons that we're here. most cities are reflective of what is happening in your

city but what's interesting and unique about milwaukee and wisconsin is it seems to be on the cutting edge of some of the ideas that we're even going to talk about today. this is the state that gave us the model for welfare reform. this is the state that gave us the model for school choice vouchers, so as the scripture says, where food abounds, grace with much more. i'm happy we can talk about these issues are from another perspective. we have to get into the realities, the perceptions and where we go from here as an african-american people. now, we're going to move on into the forum and the topics of the forum, the first being perception versus reality and so question one is going to go to, and forgive me, panelists ahead of time, i'm going to shoot up your last names when i ask a question and i'm going to reiterate that how you get a question, i'm going to ask three people the same question and then we will move on to the next. if you have a burning thought or idea on a question that you weren't

asked, then go ahead and chime in, but keep your words brief, so that we can get to everybody and that we can get to every question, so question number one is going to go to west cleveland and solomon. it is about the perception and what a segue from what sheriff clarke just said about the social suicide many conservative blacks are facing when they say they believe different than you. the perception, all blacks are liberal. one-third of blacks self identify as conservatives. republicans have a branding and/or marketing problem if 33% of blacks poll as conservative yet only 8 to 10% vote regularly with the g.o.p. what is the problem and how do we fix it? congressman west? >> well, you're absolutely spot-on, and i think that's why this type of forum is so important. ly give you a great example.

just about a week ago, i was speaking at an installation ceremony for a rabbi in boynton beach, and after i spoke, and of course, i used some references from the old testament to talk about transitions of leadership, the rabbi's uncle came up to me and started speaking to me, and you know, his first assumption, well, you know, you're a member of congress, he said, and he started talking about the democratic party, and when i told him that i was a republican, he had this look on his face that was just a kodak moment, and then i told him, i said well, you know, i'm that guy, so i think it's very important that we take it upon ourselves, you know, i don't need to sit back and wait for a party to do something that i know needs to be done, and one of the challenges i tell people is that everybody has a blackberry. everyone is on a computer or whatever. everyone is a media source, and each and every one of us sitting here today, we have an e-mail list, and the

people out there with the list on us. you have an e-mail list. how many people will look at this on c pan now and will send it out with a youtube click so it will be there. that's how we break down the perception. we can't have this fear of standing up and saying who we are, because there are so many times you go out and people will come up to you and say, hey, wes i agree with you, too, well, why are you whisper? we thought shout at football games, and we shout in church. we need to start shouting about the principle that make us who we are, but first of all, eye i think we need to have this conversation articulate what those thoughts are. >> thank you. >> well, with me, it begins with being in the community and being seen, and when they see you, they can't believe it, and then they say -- they ask me, bill, well, really, what is your philosophy?

and i tell them the same as yours, but i will give you the creed that i stand by and it's one that a man wrote a good while ago. i believe that the all individuals are wren titled to justice and opportunities and should assume the responsibilities of citizens of a free society. i believe that fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of the government. i believe that the government must preserve individual liberty by upholding constitutional limitations. i believe that peace is best preserved through a strong national defense, and finally, i tell them, i believe that faith in god is recognized by our founding fathers is essential to the moral fiber of this nation, and they say, bill, this is what i believe in.

i say, well, welcome to the republican party, because that's what we believe in, and they say, well, you know, well, you're different from them. i say no, i'm not any different than them. what you have to do is you have to be here. if you believe in it, then we can move and we can achieve it, and they say bill, i'm with you but i'm not with them but i'll vote for you. i say don't just vote for me. it's about the philosophy, and you have that philosophy and you have it within you. don't vote what you see. vote what you know. that's what changes. >> all right, fred. you have to follow that answer. >> that's going to be tough. >> it's going to be tough but you're from alabama. >> i'll do my best. the question is what's the problem and how do we fix it? i think the problem is a combination of intellectual dishonesty, ignorance and foolishness. i believe that our education

system is largely response infor this. we have allowed our primary and secondary education to be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. our higher education system is heavily influenced by liberal and sometimes extreme progressive agendas, and tends to attempt to teach our young what to think instead of how to think. we've stopped teaching critical thinking, if we ever did. i think we did at one point. historical facts, especially facts pertaining to american history are intentionally ignored and distorted at the college level. in fact, in many colleges today, you don't even have to take a course in american history to graduate.

throw in a national media that with all due respect is mostly morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest, in my opinion, and the intellectual dishonesty part has been complete. this leads to ignorance. we're all ignorant of something, even the true history of america and the founding of our country and the true history of the republican party, as it relates to black america. regrettably, this ignorance of the truth and the facts makes people susceptible to professional race hustlers that sell racial division outright lies an hatred. you sprinkle in a heavy dose of far left pop culture and presto, you have foolishness at warped speed.

that's the problem, as i see it. now, the fix, quickly, is to send grassroots foot soldiers like k. carl smith and my friend troytowns and other black conservatives, regular folks into the minority community with the facts, and the truth in a non-condescending way, using the frederick douglass republican model, starting with the swing states, these foot soldiers must spread the truth, recruit and train more as they go. they can use the truth as their sword and frederick douglass' values and words as their shield, but friends, this has got to start now. it's almost too late. >> thank you for your very thoughtful answer and one of the reasons that we're here is that i think inside of all of us is a hope that it

is not too late. congressman watts, you wanted to weigh in on this, too, i believe. >> yes, i do. i concluded a long time ago that most black people don't think alike. most white people just vote alike. i think the pertinent question for republicans is why is it that so many black people that agree with us, but they don't vote like us. that's a real question. perception in the arena that we are in, and in most arenas, it is reality. well, in my church on sunday mornings, if you come to our church, and we give the impression that we don't care about you visiting our church, you're probably not going to come, because of the perception that we gave to you, and so i would hope that that in our discussion as we move forward that we would think about the perception. do we have anybody here from

the r.n.c. this morning? do we have anybody here from the senatorial committee? do we have anybody -- >> and they were invited. >> you know, this is the discussion that the institutions of the republican party, that they need to be involved with. how many people do we have at the strategic table in any of the presidential campaigns? you know, i'm at the strategic table for one of them, but i think we need a tim scott or allen, you need to be in the same camp that i'm, in but somebody that looks like us needs to be at the strategic table to say i know what you were trying to say, but i wouldn't have said that like that. >> right, right. >> so again, perception is reality.

i don't care if it is with christians, with jews, if it's in the church, in your organization, in my business, if my clients and my customers felt like i don't care about their needs, they're going to go somewhere else and buy a tractor. >> that's right. >> so we can't ignore this issue surrounding perception, you know, what tim scott and allen west, and i have had to defend them in saying, look, you don't know these guys. give them 15 minutes with you, and give the other side 15 minutes with you. i'll await the results in peace, but we will get them solved. friends, we do have to be concerned about the perception and it just shouldn't be the people on this panel or the people in this room. >> right. thank you. i really appreciate that. >> can i give 30 seconds on this issue? >> yes. >> well, i would like to

mention that -- and i agree with everything that has been said. the word conservatism is synonymous with racist in the black community. you have to remember that black conservatists wrote the crim crowe laws and started the kkk so as republicans we have a different meaning. democratic conservatives just want to hold dear to the racist fathers. we want to hold dear to the founding fathers. i don't use the word conservative to identify myself politically. i'm a frederick douse lass republican, that i believe in respect for the constitution, respect for life. i believe in limited government and personal responsibility. that is what frederick douglass advocated when he talked about t i'm not suggesting that you don't use the word conservative but define the word first based on who you are talking to. frederick douglass asked how to bring the message to the black community, the quintessential conservative,

he is the answer. his life has to be elevated. that's how we're going to save our community, save this country and get this country back toward constitutional conservatism. >> i'm going to go on to the next question, and since congressman jordan is not here yet, i'm going to allow sheriff clarke to take his turn and segue from the comment that you just wanted to make, and actually, i want to make a mention about jim jordan, because when you talk about the republican party, j.c. watts is exactly right, there is a branding and marketing problem, and they're really with no excuse. congressman jordan heads up the republican study committee and they are doing everything they can to try to make a difference with us as african-americans to try to right what has broken down with the republican versus black community situation. i'm going to move on to the next question, because it's also on perception and reality and it's really

critical to the answers you just heard, because there is in the perception a wide misconception that more government is better for low income populations, but the reality is less government, whether in retirement, healthcare, education, green, labor laws such as minimal wage would disproportionately benefit low income americans, so why is the misconception so embraced and mistrust of individual liberty and personal responsibility? clarke, scott and k. carl smith. >> thank you. the government handouts, big government entitlement programs are used like an intoxicating drug. when you wonder to yourself or you wonder outloud why is it that individuals in our central cities, black

people, why they know -- it's easy when you talk logically, when you try to reason with folks, you're working on the wrong side of the brain. we need to appeal to the emotional side of the brain. we're emotional people. we have overcome a lot. we deserve to be emotional, but that's a different side of the brain where logic and reason, which i'm hearing a lot of today, with being an independent thinker works with me, but it's not going to work with people whose thinking dominates on the right side, which is all emotion, so when you start talking about government handouts, you start talking about entitlements, that's a pleasing message. it's very hard to overcome. congressman west talked about the fear from a lot of people in our community and why they whisper and why

they tend to take an underground approach to being conservative. fear is tough to overcome. they're afraid. it's easy to say, hey, develop some courage and go out and stand up for what you believe in when they see what happened to clarence thomas, when they see what happened to herman cain, when thee see what happened to michael steele, who at one time was the head of the r.n.c. and they look and go see, i don't want that to happen to people most folks just want to go through life and raise their families and enjoy it and make a good wage for themselves. they don't want to be in the bellies of the beast like we are, people on this panel. they don't want to be there, so then you have to ask where is the face? because when something from the left comes up in the city of milwaukee, they are quib, the left, to get jesse jackson and al sharpton to speak on behalf of all blacks and we know that they

don't, but they're still a face. where is the face on the conservative side? i'm not talking about someone who can speak for all blacks, but somebody mentioned it here earlier that someone who looks like us, where is the face of the conservative movement that you can send down into the gallows of our urban centers with the resources, being able to connect emotionally, not reason and logic. you take a message of reason and logic, into the hood, if you will, it won't get you very far. you have to a have a message that deals from the emotional perspective. the left has a counter strategy for when we try to do this. they have a strategy. don't let that balloon get off the ground. when you see it, like i am in milwaukee and i said i'm a man alone, go get them. they give license to people to come after me, gatekeepers, if you will. they have a strategy to counter any plan or strategy

that we might have to spread this word, so we need a face. we need a face on this movement. >> i think we have quite a few here and i'm appreciating those comments. you remind me of two things, one, dr. king when he said that men fear nothing more terribly than to stand out against per veiling opinion. he had trouble getting his movement started and number two, when you talked about milwaukee and how the left has strategy against us getting something done, one of the reasons i appreciate that, is that we do have congressmen in the room that can pass laws to make realities on the ground beter for a community that might not know they want those answers. congressman scott, i would like to you answer this question as well. >> thank you very much. i guess i have had the opportunity to experience it from he both sides and one of the things i had to be tout is that i was not a lost child needing help from some liberal well-meaning well intentioned big government coming to solve my problems, growing up in a

single parent household, living in abject poverty and having the opportunity to successfully flunk out of high school in the ninth grade helped me reach the conclusion that the more government came to help me, the less individually responsible i was going to be for myself. time and time again, my mom kept telling me this lesson, boy, i brought you into the world and i may have to take you out. you continue your behavior in the same direction you're going in today, the people who you think are helping you will be the ones putting you in jail because of your efforts an activities on your own behalf. the only person you can blame is the one in the mirror. unfortunately, when you listen to big government when they say someone else caused your situation to happen and you are not responsible for where you are, the fact that your dad was gone gives you the reason why we have to treat you for the psychological defission siz that you currently have -- defission siz that you currently have^ , unfortunately when you arrive at the charleston county jail where i live, they may give you psychological assistance but

it will be from the guy sitting next to you in the bed. the more the government comes to rescue, the fewer people escape that mace, so how do we overcome that? it is a simple formula. it realizes that the most successful businesses in the world today never ask the question who is going to be in the white house and can i succeed? they want to know the rules of the game, the rules of the field and they will play consistent with the rules. the great challenge we have is the challenge of selling and marketing the truth to people who are desperately seeking the truth, but if the absence of truth and absence of good salespeople, they will drink anything, sand, dirt, and not water, and so what i think we have to do in order to address the misconception that somehow government comes to rescue you is to tell our own stories. america's success is a story of struggle and then triumph. tragedy and more triumph. the only way you get something for nothing is

from the government and the only way that actually works out for you is when you realize that the nothing -- the something you're getting for nothing is an absolute chain around your wrist that leads you in the direction that they want to you go, so it's really not something for nothing. it's something for the incredibly high price of your freedom, and that great challenge that we have to overcome is a challenge that has been mixed in this stew for so long that it is now inseparable for so many people and their conscience. i can't separate how i can be successful without the government. we think the guy at the white house is going to solve our problems. i don't care if he is republican or democrat. at the end of the day i'm going to succeed because i have been given the inalienable right and opportunity for success. i have been given the great birth right of being an american. if we don't have a conversation about the underlying issues, it doesn't matter about what the political consequences

are that we are in. >> i appreciate it, yes, thank you. yes, that is very true. listening to you congressman scott, we're not only pleased that you're in the congress and in a position that has the bully pulpit, but you reminded me how at a point people do get it for their own lives, after all these political promises, whether families have collapsed, their communities are still sitting in ruin and so a polling just came out a couple days ago that showed that african-american communities about 13% are saying we don't want this diet anymore. it's not a lot, and some can look at that glass half full or empty. 87% are still with the current administration and some of the promises that they're making but for us to see that type of movement in such a short period of time, maybe some are starting to look at their own reality. >> and i will say to that, four decades of a war on poverty, and the same people are helped, ought to be a lesson in itself. >> you read my book, uncle sam's plantation.

we're going to have to keep answers shorter because we have a lot of topics to get through and the clock is running. >> just real quick, as we say in south alabama, we cut to the chase. these gentlemen are saying is that you, we, are losing the propaganda war is what it is, you know. we got the right stuff and the right message but we're losing the propaganda war, it is that simple. >> you know, perhaps, but again, if i can thank congressman west, because we're in a new year, and i believe as was mentioned by our leader of the forum for the internet and other technology that is now on our side, i'm just not sure that yesterday's reality is tomorrow's reality. the next topic -- >> if i could get a chance to respond to that question. >> oh, i'm sorry. >> yes, please.

i would like to introduce manuel cleaver who has joined us from the great state of missouri and also the chairman of the congressional black caucus. you're right on time, because the next round of questions, i actually have one for you, so i really appreciate that you are here. thank you for joining us. >> i want to quickly say and i agree with all the comments made from congressman scott and he said something interesting that i agree with is the sale of the marketing strategy we have to overcome. it is a question of propaganda. thank god we have a literary legacy of douglas' writings. the themes we talk about does experience all of this. he wrote about all of it and gave us the solution. his life has to be studied. we have to elevate douglas. dowel douglas was born a slave even on his own body but in his writings he talked about his shave master approached him and told him douglas, make no plans for the future, i'll take care of you. make no plans for the future

and douglas talked about the role of the federal government is not to provide for us. he said the role is to protect us. that's what it is supposed to do, so with the sense of the government protecting us and not providing for us then comes in personal responsibility, so douglas is the key to all this. >> yes. >> you can't place the race card on a douglas republican. >> we have another round where we will allow for others to weigh n you're absolutely right. i remember when they asked our hero frederick douglass, what should we do and he said do nothing with thing negro. questions for the 21st century, question one goes to watts, cleaver, clarke, jr. >> getting school choice into urban america has been a tremendous battle against unions and traditional civil rights groups. what is the problem? why wouldn't we as a society want money to follow students of poor parents to the school of their choice, whether that school is public, private,

non-sectarian, religious or home schooled. what? >> watts. >> i think any of these things in the political arena, it is no different in politics than it is a pastor getting up sunday morning and delivering a sermon and being in an arena that you are competing for the hearts and minds of the people sitting in the audience, and politics now, of course, gets a little bit nastier than it does on sunday mornings, but be that as it may, it's important the delivery, who is delivering it, you know. people being engaged, et cetera, and i think when you look at a lot of the battles that i think that that's been fought, you know, for so long, people have been made and not just people,

and in the black community, but people in many communities for so long, they have been told that two plus two are verve and then all of a sudden someone comes along and says two plus two is four and they say oh, he forgot where he has come from. well, i think we should all want the facts, and we have have -- caico james said to me and i think he gave the best definition and i talked tad about it in my book and i think she gave the best definition of conservative i have heard. she said conservative is living the way your grand mama taught you to live. you treat other people the way you wanted to be treated. you don't spend out more money than you take in. you don't waste. you don't get yourself deeply in debt, et cetera, et cetera, and the list goes on. i don't have to tell you

that. i see some gray hairs in here so you all know what i'm talking about, but i think we are in a competition for the hearts and minds of the american people on taxes, on economic development, on jack kemp. i'm a jack kemp disciple. i mean, jack knew the value of going in and into those underserved communities and doing things to say we've got to eliminate taxes and regulatory policy in this community in order to at track capital here simply because capital is a coward. you invest your money just like every other republican and democrat or liberal and conservative in this country. when you invest your money, you want a return, and the money you invest is not going to flow, you're not going to invest your money into an industry that is

overregulated, overlitigated and overtaxed. >> on the question, then, why is it so hard to get full choice? the supreme court has ruled it is not unconstitutional for money to follow parents to the children and school of their choice. every community that attempts to pass a voucher movement has strict opposition, i mean, we're talking vicious opposition from the left, from unions and traditional civil rights groups an including ncaap. we're on every lawsuit that we see when someone fights for school choice. what's the problem? >> and i was going to segue into that, in terms of school choice, saying that margaret thatcher said win the argument, you win the vote. we have not won the argument. rain major issue, i don't care if it's a balanced budget -- >> on school choice. >> obviously we have not won

the argument if -- i have seen numbers from 68 to 87% of people in the black community support parental choice in education. >> yes, they do, so why aren't we getting it? what is the problem when you talk about a community -- i'm going to ask congressman cleaver this, and i see that tim wants to address this as well. there is a problem with the community saying they want something this critical to their future, connected specifically to their economic well-being, and yet they have to fight the ncaap and all of the unions and others to send their children where they want. it is more than just the issue that we're dealing with, parental choice in education, enterprise

zones -- >> but on school choice, let's let -- congressman cleaver, you come from a state where we know the hard parts of that state, st. louis and kansas city, both have tried to get school choice voucher initiatives and both hit hard by the left. what is the problem? why can't money follow children to the schools that their parents want them to go to, whether it's a public, private, religious, charter and or home school? >> i apologize for being late. >> no worries. >> i was on an airplane and it was delayed. >> you weren't on a conservative plane because they would have gotten you here on time! it would have been a private jet! you were on a commercial union-controlled airplane. we're glad it landed safely. go ahead. >> thank you very much. i thank my colleague and my friend allen west for

inviting me to be here. kansas city and st. louis, missouri, kansas city, the largest city in the state is kansas city and st. louis and both have de-certified school did the stricts but i came to kansas city out of college, out of prayerview. we had 74,000 students on the campus in the public school system. today there are 16,000. there are only two cities in the state where you can have charter schools, kansas city and st. louis. i think the argument that you are making, i woulding agree with, except there is one problem, that there are still those schools which would deny access to of african-americans, and i think that they are fewer than they were when i was in school, but they are there, and so i think you will find

it is not the ncaap, but the ncaap legal fund, which is completely separate. they are not the same. >> that's right. it is a legal fund that is fighting school choice. >> yes. so i have four children. when i was elected mayor, jim kirkpatrick from the star came to me and said you're getting criticism because people say your children are going for a private school and i said to him, let me tell you something, you you can write whatever you want to write about it, you go ahead but you leave my children alone. when i ran for mayor, i didn't run my children for anything and i will send them to the best schools i can get them in, and so i believe that we ought to send our children to schools that can produce. i agree with you on all that. all i'm saying is that you are going to find resistance because there are schools

that still -- and we just had it in missouri. >> oh, i know! >> where they just bought fought off allowing black students to come to the schools. >> congressman scott, should we keep african-american children or low income children in failing schools until there is some type of racial equality into other schools in that particular state? >> of course not. let me say this, as a state legislator, for two years i fought for the school choice legislation to free kids from schools that are impoverished and have low results because the bottom line is you can't get a good education if you can't get a good education, and the unions and the education world are more committed to the structure of education than they are to the child, and the only way to solve the problem is a simple concept here. if you don't vote for the future of our children, we are not voting for you. i don't care whether you're black or white, republican or democrat, at the end of

the day, until we start saying that the child is the future and vote consistent with that child's future, it doesn't matter, and the problem is that we're not doing. that when you look at south carolina, 44 cents on the education dollar goes where the student is. that means 56 cents on the dollar goes to fund apparatus around the kid. we have a dysfunction and deficiency that is structural in nature and the teachers unions fund democratic candidates, and democratic members of the house, and therefore, we lost the vote by one or two votes and the caucus, unfortunately, in my state, voted for the continuation of a poor educational choice and a poor educational outcome and future spending in government because many refuse to give the average child in a poor neighborhood a quality education. >> this is happening all over the place. sometimes the unions have the republicans in their pocket, too, because we just lost up in pennsylvania as a result, but i think what

congressman watts was saying something appropriate here is that it connects to other issues and that's one of the reasons they will not separate out and vote for somebody that has their child's best interest as opposed to the other issues. dr. smith, you wanted to weigh in on this? >> this was not my question, but i will wait for my question. >> you will get one. >> but i do want to say something here. when we take the republican message to the black community, to the churches, to the hood, douglass in 1848 went through the same problem of school choice. he was trying to send his daughter rosetta, who was nine at the time to send her to seminary. the board board of education of rochester tried try to force him to send his daughter to an inferior school outside of his district and douglass said no, no, no, no. my money should follow my child.

douglass said the inability for a parent to not have the power to choose the school of their choice is worse than slavery. this is frederick douglass. this is 1848. 1848. douglass says no, i'm going to send her there because she's my child and she deserves the best education possible, and you are not determining for me what i will do for my child. 1848, so douglass said eight years later, the school system was integrated because douglass put pressure onto school system. one of his model productions is face, it fight it, fix it. face it, fight it, fix t it. >> that's right. >> by fight it, he meant pressure, political pressure, media, news, and he owned two newspapers an put pressure on the system until they changed the

decision an changed the most vulnerable values much. face it, fight it, fix it. >> i believe you mentioned that in your book and i think that is appropriate now and even today because this very day, the school choice movement is convening, and so we are still fighting and trying to fix it. the institute for justice is still fighting in our harder hit communities and i think there are 14 active voucher programs in the country and 41 different states are considering legislation so it is very important, very alive and i like that -- face it. if you don't have quality education for your child. fight it, and then we can get it fixed so they can have a brighter future. the second question in this urban issues in the 21st century topic area will go to fields, johnson and bryant, and the question -- economic revitalization of poor communities through

deregulation and lower taxes is not a new idea. in fact, congressman watts mentioned the late great jack kemp who opined for decades on interprize zones to attract business interests into our hard hit and at risk communities. today well-known and respected economist paul romer has third world countries like honduras thinking of ideas of charter cities. it seems kemp's ideas are coming true in foreign countries even like rwanda. what is happening in america? why don't we have our economic enterprise alive by now? can poor communities in america be revitalized by reducing corporate taxes and protecting us from regulations in targeted zones and/or zip codes? fields, johnson, bryant. >> good morning. in responding to this question -- mayor, i think this is your first question.

>> it sure is. >> thank you. >> in responding to this question, the answers revert back to the same things that have already been said. i mean no disrespect to anyone else but i believe congressman watts said it extremely well. people i have listened to, the two plus two equals serve so long that they write it, e-mail it, tribute it and believe it. when you show up with the truth, it's not received. one of the things we're dealing with is that not only have we lost in this branding battle, we're losing the argument, but we tend not to really understand what it is that we're up against. democrats have been very successful at labeling black republicans as traitors and that's how we're portrayed in the community so when we show up with the truth or a solution, it is not well received. what we have to do is find a better way of stepping up our game on businesspeople on the marketing front. i have an insurance with the

national services business. i can't show up and tell someone i want to tell you some insurance or i want to sell you this or that. i have to understand where they're coming from rand make sure they know that there is a solution that will solve that problem, that will heal that ache and that pain. we have not done a good enough job in making sure we do that. we also have to make sure we overcome the miseducation that is taking place to make people understand we do understand the issues and concerns. when we polled what people believe in this charter schools or school choice, the way we do, but then don't accept it, we cannot forget how much resistance there is going to be from other blacks who are on the other side that don't want to give up power and influence. >> right. that are going to make sure that we're portrayed as the enemy and traitor that has turned our back on our people and they're the ones that should be trusted. not all of them are that way, but we need to

understand that is what is a part of what is going on. when you mix that in with our national and state support network, not having us at the table, not including us and how the strategy and messaging is done, when you hear the short words or the rhetorical comment, it turns people off because they don't know that they're really even being listened to or that the issues are understood, and whether it is this issue, school choice or some other issue, it reverts back to the same thing. we have a multifaceted challenge and we need to make sure that we understand it first, and we deal with it in a smart way than we have been up until now. >> the reason i chose to discuss this with the community leaders is because some ideas don't have to be initiated out of washington, d.c. and when you talk an enterprise zone and the power of local governing, where is the breakdown? what is stopping local

activity, local people from fighting for just removing some of these governmental barriers and taxes that have taken over our hard-hit communities so that business will come in? sheriff johnson, would you answer that, please? >> i believe that we need to go into the communities and the people need to educated and we need to speak with them and see what their concerns are, and that we take it all to the table, but a lot of people have not been taught, so once we teach the people within that community, let them know what is available to them and we need to get them out of their mind-set into another mind-set of the economy to move them forward, to bring them out of where they are, and to provide them with the education of the services,

and if we tell them what it is what we can do for them and get their input. a lot of people do not listen to the people that are living in those areas, and i think that once we get committees together from the people that live there, listen to them, and then we then sit down and talk with each one of them, and i think that they will have a better understanding, and we need to have an understanding of the people that live within the community. >> i think a lot of those spokespersons from the black conservative movement have a deep appreciation from living in the community. i know me myself after 7 years in and out of the grips of welfare, i think that it is a two-front battle. we're talking about getting law, because we know that public policy shapes public behavior. we have had a last 50 years of policies that have base

ibly paid for irresponsibility, and so we have resulted in that. now we look at the breakdown, the collapse of family, which we will get to later so there is a message to the individual themselves, getting where they are and to bring them to understand some of the things that we have heard already today. you have to think do i want this or not? but it seems that there is a hand on the governmental side, that shapes the policies necessary and the question is can that be done on a local level when we look at charter cities an economic enterprise zones? >> it certainly can be done, star. we succeed as individuals but we have been taught to succeed as groups. we want to taub about it. it is very easy for us all to get into the rut of overstating the obvious but what we want to talk about here today is solutions and what we can do is, in fact, create our own enterprise zones. just about 20 years ago,

just like joining with the top 20, we would meet every three months and 2 off us would bring $3,000 to this meeting. these were black men, men of color, of latino extraction. we would bring $3,000 to this meeting. we had to trust each other in order to consolidate that money together, and in consolidating that money, that $3,000 among the 20 of us, that's $60,000 and in that year's time, we're talking $240,000. what did we do with that money? we take that money and find houses and find businesses to buy that other ethnic groups in that community were already buying and we turned them into businesses where we could put our people to work. we didn't just talk about the problem. we actually did something about it by investing in it ourselves. by having skin in the game. your school question, didn't

get a chance to weigh in and i know you're not talking about that. >> weigh in, but we have to make these answers shorter as well if we want to get to all thee to be itss. >> new orleans, president of ncaap, late '70's, we brought our money to our communities where they were closing our schools. they were closing black schools so what did we do with the ncaap president before the ncaap was hijacked by the progressionive left, when ben hooks was president of the national, it wasn't quite as hijacked as it is now, but we brought them into our community by create magnate magnet schools that are in garland, texas today, and that was a lawsuit that my organization was bringing then. we are overstating the obvious. we know what the problem is. we came here today to talk about solutions. >> how we can fix t congressman west, perhaps you should weigh in on this

question and then we have to move on. >> i'm from georgia, so i'm not long-winded too much. chairman cleaver to his credit and it was a great meeting egg had. he brought in top black executives to the congressional black caucus and we talked about how do we incentiveize that investment of capital to go back into the communities and talked about what jack kemp brought up and talked about the urban and economic zones, and the chairman of black entertainment bob johnson said how can we look at something as simple as capital gains tax, and how can we do something to adjust capital gains tax to incentivize people to invest in minority businesses and get this thing happening in the urban city so that they get a good return and they have a lower capital gains tax because they did invest? you know, we're talking about up in washington, d.c., what we need to do is incentiveize economic growth. >> right. >> it's not just the black community it is black communities across the

united states of america. we're doing everything in washington, d.c. that is counterproductive to any private sector growth. i grew up in the same neighborhood as dr. king, and i remember walking down auburn avenue as a young kid, because i went to our lady of lourdes catholic street across the street from ebenezer and go down to butler street, ymca, professional, everything. you go to auburn avenue today, it's gone. so where do we go to the blocking and tackling of understanding what does the private sector need, black community as well, to incentivize growth, to ensentivize small billsnesses to get back into the urban areas, because america can only be as great as the sum of its parts and if the black community continues down the path it is in now with exorbitant unemployment and failure of small businesses, it's not going to hannon. i think the thing we should do, and chairman cleaver and i will get together on this and we will come up with tax

policy that incentivizes small business growth back into black communities. >> thank you, congressman. >> 30 seds. >> to congressman west's point, you know, many conservatives think when you talk about minority business or black business, you have abandoned our conservative values. >> right. >> that's as silly to me as saying if you profit, you're anti-civil rights. >> and you target investment all the time. >> that is just a reality. you know who employs most black people in los angeles? black people. you know who employs the most black people in chicago? black people. it is the black small business owners that hire people in the community, so, you know, we're not anti-republican or anti- conservative to say we ought to incentivize people to attract investment capital in our communities.

>> star, just 15 seconds? >> ok. >> i didn't get to add this to my answer. i invite to you come to lakeland and see what we have done with enterprise zones and creating an environment and incentive for redevelopment in those communities that have been hardest hit. i would love for you to see it. >> you do have a wonderful community. i have actually been there before. as for another panel discussion, we'll have to talk about that type of scenario to where the government does the work, which is where conservatives do have a problem, and/or removing barriers of government so that others will invest in that work, which is why jack kemp's idea was mention and what romer is talking about in charter cities as well as the rwandan president is talking about. he says i am not here to pay for charity. i want to build prosperity. he has created created an environment where they can do free trade. he said i don't want foreign aid. i want free trade. i was fascinated when i saw a product from a wanda in

our macy's here locally. >> star, real quick, and i wasn't going to do this, but i have to, because i experienced this firsthand in the '70's under the carter administration. a lot of these ideas will work, and it doesn't matter if they're liberal or conservative ideas, but the 300-pound elephant in the room, or the 3,000-pound elephant in the room is the corruption. when you take 40% muss right off the top with corruption, none of these things are going to happen. >> that's another thing to decide, whether government should do the work or private, and i would like to stay with privately incentivizing, which is what kemp had in mind, remove the barriers over our city areas so private investment will really flow as opposed to what has been done to set up the structures to then say you come through me and i might give you a head up.

that's some of the challenges we have even with affirmative action programs. it reminded me of the next question, because it actually was a good segue and i think it was you congressman west in talking about what has changed. topic number three is the black church and state, and question number one is going to go to brooks, dr. smith and bryant. has brooks come in yet? we will then have a little bit of time to open the floor on this particular one. question one, the top three social crises in black america today, h.i.v. aids, abortion and welfare dependency are looked at being rooted in black sexual conduct. black pastors are fighting these poor traditionals of marriage and the two parent household which is a foundation in the black community. this is an appropriate question because we can taub about economics all day as a result of the government's role, the black family has collapsed so we are going to

go to dr. smith and ask you this question. >> should the black pastors speak up against this in their communities that are fighting against traditional values? >> part of the role of the black pastor is to be a prophet as well as a priest. i only am concerned about the social struggles and teng that affects the congregants so the pastor has that responsibility to make the word of a god alive, real and relevant in the social context, and not being afraid to take that particular stand, so that's why that pastor has to make sure that he or she does not allow them to be too

conservative in the force and they have to follow that voice, because that pastor has that role and responsibility to be the watchperson, so to speak, of that particular community and not be afraid to share that and be firm and firm in doing that, and be honest about the sharing and molding and shaping the community and not being -- not giving in to the surrounding pressure, but setting the standard for the surrounding community, and so that is a new capacity to make that happen. >> what is the problem? are they too too in bed with the political structures of the party and afraid they won't get an invite to the party? >> star, i have been a pastor for over 33 years and i have seen how political money has corrupted good men in the pulpit.

the pulpit, now in many cases -- not many, but in many cases, you have hustlers, who have infiltrated the pulpit, and are now fleecing the flock of god, and now using that pulpit to push a liberal agenda, that's the truth of it. now, let's face the facts if we came here to talk, let's talk. the fact of the matter is this -- when they, in fact, talk about what's wrong on sunday morning from the bible, their social sermon is something totally different. why? because they're afraid of being called bad apples. they're afraid of living the truth, that they preach on sunday mornings, and so the result of that is that even though we preach against abortion, we preesh against same sex -- we preesh against same-sex marriage

and all of that, the way the lifestyle is that is lived throughout the week weaken courages the congregation to go ahead on tuesday's or saturdays and vote on voting day for something totally different. this has to be confronted and faced in honest discussion. now, the one thing that most americans even today in our comfortable lifestyles are afraid of, and this is what the are runaway slave movie addresses, is that there is a slave revolt that must take place in this country, and that still sparks fear in the hearts of most americans when they think of people who they feel they have had subdued for such a long time. when they see these bad apples sitting in this room today, with the exception of maybe a few, they think that there is something to be afraid of. herman cain called a bad

apple by a person who pulled himself up by his own boot strings, harry belafonte. why was he called that? i will tell you why. you put 90% of this panel in the same crate, in the same barrel with the progressive liberals that are poisoning our children in our schools, that are poisoning our communities, they will, in fact, ruin it for the progressive liberal agenda. i encourage everybody who see this type of corruption going on, from the pulpit to the statehouse, to the white house, to become bad apples, and, in fact, let's ruin it, because they will, indeed, spoil a next generation, and they have spoiled almost two generations of people who have become enslaved to a system that must be addressed by people sitting

in this room today. passion. the analogy that he shared with you, let me peel the onion for you a little bit more. i know men that i talk to that

are pastors that had not sold out in the pulpit on sunday mornings. i talked to him. i worship with them. i have not spoken with these men, but i will name a few. tony evans, brett price, bill winston. they preach to mega congregations every sunday morning. a 90% of their congregation does not like us. they think like us, but they do not vote like us. the first comments that came out of my mouth is, we have the solutions, but the pertinent question is, what does the republican party do to establish and its institution a mechanism that says we hear you, we are in the trenches with the.

tim scott, alan west, michael steele, j.c. watts, that is my point. it just takes a little bit to say we need to be at the strategic center. you want us to sell the meals, but you do not want us to buy the groceries. i have said that -- i am not a johnny-come-latelies' with this argument. i have been saying this for 20 years. i run the risk of being the whiny black guy, but so be it. if i am convinced it is not the truth, i talk to these pastors. they have been for life. they have been for marriage. i have been for all of the things we have been for, they

preach it in the pulpit. >> here is the deal, also. we did talk about the 33% debt due poll with us. there needs to be out reached there. i talked to african americans of that 33% who are convinced they should stay independent. the republican democrat political world is business. if you are not engaged in the primary part of it to work your way up, i am not waiting for the party structure today to do these questions for us. they have their own problems when it comes to the divide. >> i totally agree. this is not about waiting on the party. the party knows this is going on today. congressman west invited them. >> at 100% agree with you. >> that you have the life issues. who in the trenches, the african

american folks who stand for life and stand for marriage. >> i understand para >> again, i'm going to be ok. >> you are absolutely right. there is an absolute responsibility of the goals we are trying to represent in the community with the republican party. then there is a responsibility in the community. i will let the congressman have a word. >> thank you very much. it is not the pastors, it is what an individual does. when you get into the black media, what those congregations are listening to, they are listening to people who are playing their music and shaping their minds. that undermines the pastor that is in the pulpit. until we get the message to those individuals that are

listening in the black media, because i turn them off, i love their music but they will not shake my mind. once other people can learn that or we can get our message out in the same way, we will get the people doing what we want them to do. >> i have a master's and divinities. i have the past three for 37 years at one of the largest churches in the state of misery. the black church is the most conservative institution in the black community. you cannot get black pastors out there talking about doing marriages between two men. i do not care how liberal they might be on some stuff. you cannot pay them to do that. i guess one of the things i want to say is, let's not create division where we do not need to. i want to get to that a little bit later. >> he did bring up another question them.

if they are in disagreement with these activities that are taking over their communities. you look at a law in california where it will be taught in their schools, perhaps their silence should not be. question no. 2 is going to go to you again congressman cleaver. this is about planned parenthood. why do traditional civil rights organizations like the naacp -- and i will include in their the congressional black caucus. we find most members of the congressional black caucus joined with supporting organizations like planned parenthood to fight the black church on abortion with almost one and a two black births being legally terminated. where is the disconnection that you are saying, most pastors get up and they are seeing the the crises.

they are working that man who is struggling with his identity. yet when it comes to the political representation of these communities, those champions of the community comes to washington and undermines every single thing that the pastor has said on sunday morning. what is the problem? >> first of all, congressional black caucus has never taken a position on planned parenthood. >> perhaps the have not taken an active position -- when we look at the vote and support of the funding. it was a big deal this last go around. the funding to take $330 million from a billion dollar corporation when everybody is trying to get corporate welfare out of the city, an organization that is bent on destroying black children, it is written in their materials. even if they have not taken a

formal position, why would they continue to vote for the status quo? >> i made a statement that was a fact. all of a sudden there are "whoos." anything i say you can check it. the cbc has never taken a position on that at all. on the issue of planned parenthood is a lot more complex. planned parenthood does more than abortion. abortion ends up being a small part of what they do. they also do a lot of other things for poor women who would come in for another personal and private reason that has nothing to do over abortion. it is not a simple issue. you cannot find any time -- you can check with whoever -- the congressional black congress has

never voted on "we are for planned parenthood." a lot of people voted for the measure even though they feel there are some parts that are directed to poor people. >> perhaps not just planned parenthood, let's say specifically apportioned. getting one of them to be on the side of the pro-life has been challenging. i want others to weigh in. >> i will say this and i am through. it is important for us reject i am not in here trying to fight people and all of this. -- i am not in here trying to fight people and all of this. even the language we use, we are mad. >> when you are looking at the kind of abortion rates in the black community, there are people that are upset that are not hearing from their representatives. >> you can i get upset because i say we have not taken a position -- >> i apologize for those who are

deeply breathing when you said that. today is the march for life. once again, the 39th anniversary of roe v wade and the devastation done to our community. >> it is already illegal for the house of representatives to put any kind of money into abortion. many times what happens is that it is put into legislation, even though everybody knows it is against the law. the hyde amendment has been in place since what, 1985? people put it into legislation so we can have this argument. they will not change anything if it is not allowable in the united states congress to put money into abortion. >> as the fact that the united states congress and overwhelmingly the black caucus members of votes for the continuance of the funding of

$330 million to planned parenthood, although they say they are not using that money specifically for abortion, they are a billion dollar corporation. is this important? should we challenged the congressional black caucus? doesn't matter at all if children are being killed in the womb in our community? >> it is a crucial issue. we should challenge. we need to take second career fens 13:in five. start voting your valleys. that is the problem. -- start voting your values. if we start putting values and stop being a political chopine be a christian championed. in the start at irritating these politicians. we run them, they do not run as. that is what we need to do. we have to make our values know.

>> you're seeing a lot of the residual impact of this question. it just breaks down all community lines. the marriage rates in black america are dismal enough for you to look at. they are getting younger every day. >> i just want to say this as a side note. i have seen a parallel here with congressman west talking about the silence of black conservatives. we talked about the pastors. some of the not standing up for certain issues. i am hearing it again on this issue. i am one of those who believe silence is carried out by other means. not taking a position is taking a position. >> yes, sir. if i can follow up on that. we are called as pastors to identify the caesars of this

world. jesus tells us to render unto caesar the things that are caesar's and unto god the things that are god, which plainly states to us that there are some things that do belong to cesar like taxes. there are some things that do not belong to the seizure of this world, and we are called to stand in the date when we see that happening and proclaim it. if we do not do it, we are not the ministers that we should be. that is what is wrong in this scenario as far as why we look into our communities. we see how they have been run down. we see how they have been affected by political voting. it is because years ago, my pastor and former president of the national baptist convention of america, i grew up in the

1950's. i remember negro day. i remember all of those things. i also remember how active and important the church was. i remember what a leader he was. that type of pastor who will tell it like it is. we did not kill babies back in the 1950's and 1960's the we are doing it now. why? because you have somebody standing up to the caesars of this world. that is what is failing us today. >> what a segue into the next question on conservative principles and black america. because time is running and we are running out of it and we want to allow opportunity for the audience to weigh in, i will open these next two questions. keep your answers brief. then we will move into our q and a from the audience. 50 years ago 70% of black

children were raised by married parents. today 70% are being raised by a single parent. many social thinkers. to the expansion of the welfare state for the cause of the breakdown of marriage. are they right or wrong, connect that to the next question which is if there is a connection between government dependency and the state of black family today, why are black people so insistent to elect liberal political leaders and reject conservative leaders that a spouse a message of traditional values? i am opening up the floor to this one. >> congressman, thank you for joining us. we are almost finished so i will allow you to say a few words before we finish. >> standing up for families is

very important. i keep going back to this because as bryant said, we are here for solutions. to me, that is the solution there. frederick douglas raised -- he did not have both parents and his home. he developed a strategy to be successful anyway in spite of the context. there are things he did specifically from ages 6 to 21 that helped him survive the slavery movement but get prepared for freedom. listening to stores from his grandmother, reading books -- he took responsibility for his own education. he was courageous to fight against his former master and then read about it. >> i will open up to you to say,

should we get rid of all governmental programs that are assisting the poor so that people will look toward more responsible behavior's and activities considering when frederick douglass was here we did not have a welfare state? >> first of all, you do not want to take away all government programs. one of the mandates of the constitution is to promote the general welfare. we have to understand every child born in the united states of america gets a letter. that is a ladder of opportunity. sometimes you're going to slip off the letter, and that is why we need a safety net. the point of a safety net is for you to bounce back up and get on the ladder and continue to climb. i think what we have a center of this country right now, it comes back to the very simple argument of the equality of opportunity for us is the quality of achievement. some people say the safety net becomes a hammock and you just lay there. that is not what america is

about. if we had listened to senator daniel patrick on hand. he said, if you take the man out of the home, you will destroy the community. equality of opportunity leads to economic freedom. the quality of achievement leads to economic dependency. what we need to do is what i said, limited government, constitutionally mandated, fiscally responsible. that is what we have to get back to. i think then you will see not just in the black community but all communities across the united states of america a better day. it really comes down to opportunity versus achievement. >> i would like for you to take the opportunity to introduce yourself formally, and especially some of the specifics that the republican study community is looking at. before you came in the room, republican structure was beat up a little bit. i think you are the only one who has responded to the invite.

yet, you have in my opinion one of the best committee is here in washington, d.c. because you are all conservatives looking for conservative or christian principles and the law. >> thank you for having me. let me thank colonel west for putting this together and his tremendous leadership at this time in our country. i want to apologize. i had a delayed flight. let me say it this way, the colonel was just talking about the family. if you think about it, the institution that also determines the strength of our culture is our family. the first institution the good lord put together was not the church or the state, it was the family. when you have a welfare type structure that says particularly to the unwed mother out there, do not get a job or have money,

have more kids and do not get married and you will get more money. we try to have a pro family by is to everything we do. that is the reason i got into politics to try to look to do things that benefit the institution. let me just say this because i am late. let me just thank you for being involved in taking the risk that is always associated when you try to make a difference. it is easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize but you are getting involved in trying to make a difference. when you do that, there is persecution that comes with it. i appreciate your willingness to take the risk associated with trying to accomplish anything of meaning or significance. does anyone ever read cal thomas? he was talking about the way the

elite national press sees things different than normal americans. he was talking about how sometimes we will get a piece from the press for positions we take and things we say. he says, i get up every morning and read my bible and the new york times so i can see what each side is up to. there is certainly some truth to that. thank you for taking the risk that sometimes comes with fighting for pro-family and conservative positions. i appreciate that. we try to stay focused on that. taking the risk associated with true leadership just like colonel west has done. >> thank you. i am going to go to the audience. first, i will call on garland hunt. he represents prison fellowship there, as well. i would like some comments. we talk about the family, i almost segued us into what you are dealing with going into these prisons.

we see these young boys who have mismanaged their lives much as a result of the things we discussed today. >> thank you very much for the opportunity. we're talking about the whole idea of how the nation as well as the gop response to concerns in the african-american community. one of the issues we have to deal with -- coming from prison fellowship i did mention today some of the incredible disparity in the criminal justice system and those who are incarcerated. america is actually the number one country in the world and the rate of incarceration. >> 2 million. >> that is exactly right. over 2 million. >> 798,000 african-americans.

>> as a result of that, you have half of those going into the system, the question is not only are they going and -- are coming right back out. 700,000 are released every year. if that is the case, how do we stop the recidivism rate where they are literally going back? over 70% that come out right back in. all of these situations are even more amplified in the black community. if you are black, you are nine times more likely to spend time in prison and be arrested. one out of three young black men between the ages of 20-29 are either in prison, jail, and i just want to say to you that is why we have to work on reentry. that is what we are committed and focused. that is a group weekend change. we can change the heart. once something changes morally

and biblically, they begin to be a different person. i just want to challenge us in that regard. the prison populations are being recruited by islam and other faiths. we have to recognize those coming out can championed our communities. that is where we have to start. >> i appreciate those comments. prison fellowship and the program that they have is on the pro solution side. i see dina nelson. many of the crisis pregnancy centers across the country, i think you are up to 12 or 1300 now. they are helping people as a result of decisions that have made. perhaps even their families have made because they are in these broken homes or communities. i will open up for questions. we have about five minutes. i see this young lady and this

gentlemen, and i think i will leave it there for now and see where we are. if you make it quick -- >> you indicated that the hyde amendment prohibits funding the going for abortion. yet, title 10 specifically says that money cannot go to an agency that performs abortion as a method of family planning. how is it that 365 million tax paye goes to planned parenthood every year and we are not shutting it down? i also would ask you, will you show leadership on this question of life in the african-american community? new york city is a primary example of the impact abortion is having on the black community.

their numbers were recently released again. for the 11th year in a row, more black babies are aborted in new york city that are born alive. if we do not see this as the leading urgent issue for our community and to do something about it, we will not be here 50 years from now. congressmen, all of you, will the show leadership on this issue? thank you. >> something i think is far more important than that in terms of solutions. at first of all, the way politics works -- when people say planned policies, that makes me so mad. that is so silly. this is capitol hill. what happens is there are amendments put on legislation that will have something to do

with abortion. everybody knows that the hyde amendment already prohibits it. we call it a pure got you a minute. -- amendment. that way if you campaign against somebody can campaign against the as being pro-abortion. democrats play games on the other side as well. more importantly to me, you are talking about solutions, it is absolutely crazy for us to get in here and try to figure out ways we can be mad at each other. if i can pull together hispanics and african-americans and draw city council lines so we can have the quality and then black democrats and black republicans cannot sit down and work together, somebody sit down and ask if i would campaign against

alan west. the cannot give me money. i will not do it. it is crazy because i have some differences with them on some political matters -- i would rather work with him to make sure we cover all of the bases. we ought to have republicans who are black. for us to decide we are going to play that game of the fighting each other is absolutely crazy. >> my question is this. title 10 specifically says if abortion is used in family planning, they cannot get title 10 money. it will you show leadership on this question of planned parenthood being investigated to get taxpayer money out of that organization. that is my question.

>> no, ma'am. i will not try to get taxpayer money out of the organization. i will vote to prohibit abortion in that organization because that is the law. taking money out that would restrict other services to poor people, i will not do that. >> let me comment on a couple of things that have been said already. and the start off by saying to colonel west, this has been a good morning. this has been a positive and constructive experience. it should be an embarrassment that we should have a conversation that we're having to have this morning. i will say to the lady asking the question, the answer is yes. we ought to not give $365 to planned parenthood. seriously. [applause] i think there is an opportunity for black churches throughout this nation to create a coalition and a 5 01 see 3 that

is not under the umbrella of the church and start a competition with planned parenthood. we are so focused on the issue of life, let's start focusing on the issue of life by saving lives. one of the things i think is the foundation of all we have talked about is the erosion of the actual social fabric of this nation. it shows its first sign of tearing apart in the african- american community because of the economic challenges that we face. if you think about who is in prison and incarcerated, we're building a $100 million new facility to house 1300 new inmates. these are 83 things 90% of them

had in common. there were functionally illiterate, the came from single-parent households, and they lived in poverty. we are looking for solutions that those things that hill as, let's start with those three. -- those things that hill us, let's start with those three. >> i do not know if you have done any research on planned parenthood. you have to go back to the origins of planned parenthood. it came out of the thought process of eugenics. eugenics was the basis of not the germany that said we can produce a master race of people if we get rid of the social engineering, getting rid of those who are intellectually inferior. that is what planned parenthood came out of. it is a deliberate thing. if we look at african right now and we saw a genocide going on, we would have many problems with that. what is going on right now in america with abortion is

genocide on the black race. as a man of god, i challenge you as a man of god to go back into your research on planned parenthood. if you go and do your research into are a man of god, he would do everything in your power to fight that organization. is devilish in its origin. >> i am hearing from some of these -- the passionate responses from the community. as a graced us with your presence here, perhaps there is a conference that needs to occur where there is no media in the room. there are pastors and legislators only that will roll up their sleeves and address these very complicated -- >> make sure if that happens, nobody starts complaining about separation of church and state. >> let me say this, it is an honor to be here with you, but i think everyone in this room on

this panel, we love our people. we must love them enough to tell them the truth about what is going on. we are asking you as the head of the congressional black caucus to love them enough to get least save their lives of the future generations. that is all they are asking us to do. division -- my god, you are right. there is no reason for us to be divided, but we must come awake so we can deal with this problem with our eyes wide open. >> i just wanted to say about prison fellowship and working with young people. when i introduce myself, i introduce myself as a substitute teacher in the alexandria school system. my specialty is working in the juvenile detention facility. i am also working on mcdonald's

read entry program. we have one of the best free entry programs that is going on. i wanted to give you my card. it is about helping the incarcerated. one in got as a majority, i intend to act like abraham lincoln with firmness in the right as god lets us see the right to achieve the following goals. i am deeply concerned about the disproportionate rates of black and latino americans who are confined in correctional facilities. the high rate of recidivism that goes with those that are released from these facilities and their lack of preparation and transition back into communities, a lack of a readiness of communities that receive them, the laws that

hinder their ability to become productive members of society upon their release. i am greatly concerned about the families of these incarceration -- incarcerated persons, especially the children who are at high risk of being incarcerated themselves. therefore, i support nationally and community-based programs that address the prevention of incarceration to work with the incarcerated, to aid in the reentry, and assist families and communities in ways that break the cycle of incarceration and recidivism. additionally, i support national and community-based programs that prepare x offenders in understanding their rights. >> let's stop there. i think we have to get back to what congressman scott pointed out. common denominators and those who are incarcerated and are re-

entering society because they served their terms. illiteracy -- we discussed in very quickly school choice. out of wedlock birth and a single parent households, this is something we have to have serious and sometimes uncomfortable dialogue about in the black community. and the poverty when it comes to -- the connection between the literacy and a single head households. i will go to one more question that we have time for. we are going to have to close. do you have a question? >> i just want to say thank you to congressman west for having this absolute on some and invigorating forum. it has been stimulating intellectually and emotionally -- emotionally.

i have so many questions and i will stick to one. incarcerations for black men in this country. our party as conservatives, what do we say to the black man who has served his time -- this question came up in the debates with mitt romney and rick santorum -- what do we say after they have served their time and are on probation, now have been convicted felons and they would like to vote. should we give them the privilege back? what do we say as black conservatives in our party? >> i would tell you speaking as a former commander in the united states military, i busted many of soldiers down and rank. you have to earn it your rank back. that is what i say to them.

earn it back. that is what i would say to them. >> before we could go to that, just quickly on this issue of crime and incarceration rates. i think we would be remiss if we keep this discussion one- dimensional on what we do with incarcerated man, what do we do to restore their rights. making the comment that the recipients on the other hand -- the other end of their antisocial behavior was also black. as a career law-enforcement officer for 34 years, first and foremost for me, what do we do

to restore the lives of victims who many that are on the receiving end of crime never get over psychologically. we talk about the cost of incarceration, do we decollate the true cost of crime as it relates to medical needs of the victim, lost wages, insurance ?ates it is not just about the cost of building a new prison and what we can do with that money. we have to have a dual conversation that black on black crime is just as an important issue as black incarceration rates. >> we are out of time so you are going to have to very quickly after question while congress midwest makes his way back up to the podium. >> i will say i am a returned citizen. we changed our name because i have never heard anyone call

martha stewart and ex offender. my question is, we do not need to beg anybody to help us. everybody i heard appear has the power. when are we going to teach our children? everything that has happened in history, what they did was they taught their children, i am running for office in d.c. i was just taking young things that -- has is taking little things that teach young people about their history. we do not even teach our people the basics. >> they cannot even answer. i am glad you were able to get into the points that you did because they were extremely important. you have reentered society, and you are attempting to make a difference by going into the political realm.

we had some discussion on school choice. we had some discussion on prisons. i have a feeling that this is not the last forum you are going to do. we are totally out of time. i want to thank our panelists for their participation in the first 2012 black concerted -- conservative forum hosted by alan west. i want to thank c-span and other media for covering this historic event. thank you for attending, and we cannot go on forever. so now i want to turn it back over to congressman alan west. >> i have to tell you, the success of this forum came because of a great moderator. please give a round of applause to star parker. i want to thank each and everyone of you.

i want to thank the panel for being here. back in november when i sat down with my staff and i said, this is something we need to do. the thing in the back of your mind, if you are going to throw a party will people come? when i look out at this audience and the media outlets, i am absolutely floored. this is something we have to talk about. growing up one of my favorite shows was i dream of jeannie. the genie is now out of the bottle. what are we going to do? you have to go out and talk to others, you have to write op-ed pieces, you have to post videos. you have to come up with your own action plan. what we will do on capitol hill is create an action plan. we will get people involved in continue to be voices. we just need to be heard. i do think one thing we need to do is bring the black pastors together with black legislators

on capitol hill. we need to get a consistency of a message going out to our community. we have to have this conversation and talk to our people. we cannot continue to lead to plus two equal seven. many stand here today because we had great parents. they took an interest in who we are. we got a great education and took advantage of the opportunities this country give to each and everyone of us. i will not go down and enter my life knowing the opportunities i had were not going to be passed on to my two daughters or to your children or grandchildren. that is the greatness of the black community. that is the greatness of the struggle we have gone through as we talk about frederick douglass to today. now each and everyone of us become the new frederick douglass and we take this forward. may god bless you all and keep you in your travels. we will see you when we have the next one. thank you for being here.

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>> will just heard from florida congressman alan west. he will be one of the speakers tonight at new gingrich's campaign speech. c-span will have live coverage at 8:00 eastern. tomorrow campaign coverage continues on the news makers with the chairman of the republican party of florida. for leonard currie talks about his state's upcoming primary. you can watch that at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 eastern. >> c-span to road to the white house coverage takes to live through the weekend a leading up to tuesday's primary. >> our young people have a great deal of concern. they are a very humanitarian people issue -- concerned about global warming and things about that nature.

help them understand that if they take one of these drugs being smuggled into this country, they are partially responsible for deaths. i want them to understand the tens of thousands of people who are being killed by a 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 are not a good example in that regard. if i am president, i will campaign in an aggressive way to our young people to stop taking drugs because they are killing people. >> hugo chavez has openly declared he is our enemy. i am willing to accept that. [applause] an administration filled with embarrassment's, there have been few more embarrassing than when president obama met chavez, attempted to be pleasant with

him, shot as smiled and handed him an anti-american book. i think we have to understand when hugo chavez gets together and say the harm -- they want to harm the united states, they mean it. we need to take an aggressive non military strategy of replacing hugo chavez and giving the people of venezuela the opportunity to live in people. -- to live in freedom. >> c-span.org/campaign2012. >> the tea party express bus is in florida. one of the stops is winter park, a suburb of orange county. amy kremer and judson phillips

are among the speakers. >> thank you for being here. i have the honor as -- i have the honor of introducing one of your local tea party leaders. we are excited to be here with you today. >> thank you for coming. i will give the microphone to matt and let him look and you out here. i would like to say a few words before we get the party started. >> thank you for coming. this is without question the most important election in our lifetimes. we only have one goal. we understand that our values coalesce. the values of america are worth fighting for. it is those values that barack obama is administration has been trying to undermine. we have said enough is enough. we have to get involved.

people who have never been involved in the political system realizes we have to retake this country and take back america. this administration will push america off of a cliff. it will push us into bankruptcy. they will be out down before saudi kings. l dermine our values and the freedoms that founders fought and died for. it will turn this country into a european socialist machine. i am so glad to see. i am so glad you are gathered here today because it gives me encouragement for what we are going to see what happened -- what we will see happen in november. i hope we see a big change and we do not see this administration in the white house after november. [applause] >> thank you. one of the beauties of the tea party movement is it got people who had been the silent majority off of their sofas, out of their homes, and into our community on

the street, at meetings, getting informed, doing their own research. i absolutely love to see those who have made informed decisions take a stand for their candidates. whoever that candidate maybe, stay engaged. stay informed. encourage one another to never again be part of that silent majority. together, once our primary has been settled, let us all join hands, lock arms, and get out the vote so that we once again can be in america on the road to prosperity. we can undo the failed policies of our current administration. do you stand with me?

[applause] thank you so much for being out here today. thank you for staying engaged. god bless america. [applause] >> thank you, patricia. thank you for hosting us here. we kicked off the store -- we put it together in two days. we are doing a statewide tour. we end on monday in pensacola. we are excited to be here in the state of florida. is the first time we have taken tea party express into south florida. this primary is so important. our voices need to be heard. every single voice counts the matter what the media or the republican party is saying, no matter what is coming out of the talking heads in washington, d.c., we still matter. we are not going to back down. tea party express, and full

disclosure we have not endorsed any candidate. we want to stay united with the tea party movement. we have ignited each candidate here today. if the canada cannot attend the are more than welcome to send a surrogate. i do think we have one surrogate here today as well as one can it may show up. you know how fluid and flexible the campaigns are. there are always changing. i want you to know that right out front. i want to bring up somebody who has traveled with us across the country five times. this is his sixth. you know him and have seen him all across the news. he is a great spokesperson for the tea party movement. mr. lloyd markets. >> i am not an african-american. i am lloyd marcus, american thank you very much. guess what, it is 2012.

it is the year. >> patriots -- listen up ♪start spreading the news i'm telling you today we are taking back america in 2012 this socialist nightmare is going to come to an end. i promise because we are going to vote them out in 2012. i want to wake up in my america

-- without acorn thugs breaking my knees. my harry reid blues have melted away now we have taken the house, now it's time to take the senate in 2012. and when we stop them there, their agenda just doesn't have a prayer. you up to you and you, and -- november 2012. have you had enough of the obama regime? lord knows, so have i.

thank god it is 2012. i just want to wake up in my america where i can still speak my mind. i want o find my freedom restored. harry reid is out. no more obamacare. obama -- he's gone. my obama blues. they are melting away. brothers and sisters, we have to take back our country come november 2012. and when we crush them there,

this socialist nonsense does not have a prayer. it's up to you, and you and you in 2012. ♪ ♪ [applause] thank you. god bless you. >> thank you. he always does a fantastic job. [applause] the key to our -- the tea party express would never be the same without him. we have a surrogate speaking on behalf of canada it rick santorum. he -- candidate rick santorum.

scott? >> thank you everybody. i see a number of people here, over the last couple of years i have been able to work with and give your help on the health- care freedom amendment which will be in the state of florida. thank you for your help with that. i think we will send a strong message when we tell president obama that floridians do not want what he is selling. we fight back against the individual mandates both state and federal. i first became aware of rick santorum 10 years ago. i saw a speech on the senate floor. it was on the life issue. flipping through c-span and i saw it. i stopped to listen. i was captivated by the elegance of this man articulating the issue. a lot of politicians do not want to speak boldly about that

because the ruffles some others. this is a band that spoke boldly about something he believed in regardless of the political peril. i watched his career since then and i have watched him make decisions that were sometimes politically unpopular. he made them recently. including friday i was talking to him about an issue. i said, that might not go over so well and our state. he said, that is what i believe and that is what i will say. do you know how rare that is in tallahassee and washington? we need a man who will stand up and do the right thing regardless of political consequences. .

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>> i'm going to say this, it is unamerican. our founders would roll over in their graves if they knew we had a president forcing those policies. i'm here for rick santorum. i watched him privately. this is a man for the bail-out, no part of it. cap in trade, which by the way i'm responsible for here in florida. i have it through the committee going on the floor next week, it would appear. he stood against bail-outs, he stood against cap in trade. he's the only of the candidates that are here in florida campaigning unequivocally against the individual mandates. he's the only candidate that stands with all of us for florida's amendment 1 freedom act. if the other candidates are here, i would like you to ask

them, how do they stand on amendment 1, the florida health care freedom act. that would be a good question for them. individual mandates, whether it is state or federal, are wrong. please stand with rick santorum. he's a family man. he is a -- one of the people i know that has more kids than me. i have six, he has seven. this is one of the people i know has stood on prince -- principles and not wavered to the left or right. i think we need someone who will stand firm in a clash of principles against barack obama. just a clash of these two. we don't need to moderate our views. let's put rick santorum in the white house so he can put the conservative patriotic flag

forward, and move this country back to conservativism and away from debt and put americans back to work. thank you for being here, and thank you for letting me speak today. [applause] >> i want to thank you all for being part of the rally. the rally is going to continue. i know they have some great entertainment. if you would like to follow me, i promise i am ready to lead you to do that. if you want to come out, please feel free. what a great opportunity to have this candidate before us. it is an opportunity for us to make a choice against the establishment! [applause] so thank you so much, and i look forward to the form -- forum

that will be inside. thank you so much. again, may god not only god bless america, but may we be a blessing to god. thank you. [applause] >> you know what i say to the establishment? bring it on. we're not going away. be right now i want to bring up a friend of mine -- that's been actually one of the greatest things is the friends we met. he's from right here in your own back yard, orlando, florida, mr. jason hoit. i'm sure you've seen him across the airways. >> thank you. i want to thank you for coming to central florida and pointing out how important the i-4 corridor is. how many people here consider

themselves part of a local tea party group. i want to point out, there are awesome groups here in central florida. it is that time we know how important the election is here, but it is time to get plugged in, it is time to find a local group, and 2s it is time to get -- and it is time to get outside the local comfort group. there's the westor lapped owe tea party, the eastern orlando tea party. there is a tea party down in lake nona, i believe. the north lake tea party. the south lake tea party and 912 group. i sound like an auctioneer. do i hear another? do i hear north lake? i would encourage everyone on c-span to find someone else in your area. don't think political parties are out there organizing the vote. this is where we as individuals

must get up every day and just do the right thing. like so many individuals, i wake up every day thinking, i have no regrets, i am all in. and i want to encourage everyone here to do that same thing as well. thank you everybody. thank you, amy. [applause] >> sorry. i shouldn't have walked away. i got caught. the next person i want to bring up is a freedom fighter. she has an amazing story. miss chris ann hall. she's a floridian. what is it with florida and all these patriots? i think florida is a great state. what do you think? >> thank you, amy. i'm just a common girl. i don't know how i got here, except god saved my plans for the middle of my life's dream, and i have met such wonderful

people, and i thank god every day for where i am and what i'm able to do. you know what? i just want to be the purveyor of hope. don't we today sometimes get discouraged? we have to remember, we did an amazing thing in 2010, didn't we? we told the united states, we told the world, that america is still an exceptional nation, and we are going to fight to keep her that way. you know what has happened? we have seen through the course of events that men and women are subject to human nature. we should not be discouraged by that. we should be reminded that we do not find our savior in a politician. we do not find our savior in a party, that we the people of

america must take back this nation. we were built as a nation of the people, by the people, for the people, and it is only through us that we are going to return this nation back to its constitutional foundation. john phillip corrin said it is a common faith for the idols to see their freedoms taken by the active. freedom requires eternal individual lens. when we stop that. when we fail to be ecertainally vigilent, the consequence is serve tude -- servitude. that is our punishment for the crime. ladies and gentlemen, we are charged to be eternally

vigelent. that means you hire them to do a job for you, and first and foremost, that job is to protect your liberty. if they fail to do that job, it is your responsibility as the boss to fire them. i don't care what they have behind their name, a "d" or an "r" if they fail to protect our liberty, we as the boss of this nation must say, you are failing to do your job. you must go home. you know what thomas jefferson said? thomas jefferson said that if the people at just one time fail to pay attention to the public arena, if we fail to pay attention to what our politicians are doing, he said this in a letter, he said you and i and congress and assemblies and judges and

governors shall become raffnuss -- ravenous wolves. he said it is the law of general human nature in spite of individual acceptance. it is our responsibility to remain eternally individual lent -- vigilant so we do not have a nation of ravenous wolves. "i know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death." [applause] what he was telling us, ladies and gentlemen, was that he did not want to consider a life anywhere on this planet without liberty.

nowhere. what else was he telling you? he was telling you that if you do not have liberty, if we are not focused on liberty, every single thing we do will get us informing but chains and -- nothing but chains and slavery. we must put liberty first. ladies and gentlemen, this is our task today, this is our task forever. it took 700 years to write the constitution and the declaration of independence. we have been moving away from it since 1913. we are not going to turn this around overnight. this is not a sprint, this is a marathon. it is about time that we stood up and say, hey congress, hey president, we are the boss, you are the employees. stop whining, stop making excuses, and do your jobs! [applause]

do you stant stand with me today as responsible employers with this great and most exceptional nation and say we will not accept political bartering anymore. principles above parties, principles above personalities, because america deserves better, and ladies and gentlemen, our children deserve better. thank you. and follow this great movement of the tea party. don't let anybody tell you that we are going away because we are the heartbeat of america, and we are here to stay. god bless america. [applause] >> thank you. and she's a veteran. so thank you for your service to our country. there are amazing people in this movement. we truly have been blessed. i want to bring up another person that has traveled with us on another occasion throughout the nation. he was with us always stiring up

trouble. he's not a floridian, though, he's from tennessee. >> hello, florida! just in the interests of full disclosure, back in september, newt gingrich was polling at 5% and i endorsed him. look what happened to him. i'm just saying. i'm here today because i want to see something great happen in florida. i'm old enough to remember my history. i remember in the 1980's there was a guy named ronald reagan. i remember in the 1980's there was a guy helping ronald reagan named newt gingrich. and i remember in the 1980's there was another guy that was just awol. in 1992 regular -- reagan was gone. newt gingrich was helping republicans get elected. there was another guy out there voting for liberal democrats and contributing to liberal

democrats. in 1994 newt was helping conservatives take control of congress and support the reagan legacy. this other guy, he was running for reagan. in 2002 newt was out there and banking conservativism. in 2002, this guy was announcing, i am a progressive, what's up with that? newt started new businesses. newt helped invent vent the conservative cause. this guy was the most conservative liberal governor in the country. what's up with that? now he wants to be president. here's a dirty secret about that guy. he talks about all the liberal things he did, and he blames it on massachusetts. "i had to do it because it was so liberal." here's a secret. in 2 december 2005, mit romney

decided he was not going to run for re-election. the re-election effort for him was going to look like custer's last stand, so he decided to run for president instead. in 2006 he gives massachusetts romney care, he gives massachusetts cap in trade. he's a lame duck at that point. he doesn't need massachusetts. he doesn't have to appease massachusetts, but he does it anyway. down in florida, mit romney has been lying. i am a lawyer. i know something about lying. if mit romney says anymore lies about newt gingrich, the attorneys are going to sue him

for the unauthorized practice of lying. we could choose a conservative and put a conservative up against a liberal and put a conservative back in the white house. i don't know about you-all, but in my opinion there is only one choice. let's put a conservative back in the white house. let's kick obama's donkey. let's save america, and let's bring america back. thank you so much. god bless florida. >> we're going to keep on the campaign trail on the road to the white house tonight with live coverage. we'll hear tonight from win of the speakers from newt gingrich. he'll be speaking at the republican party's lincoln day dinner in west palm beach and we'll have live coverage of the event from 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> c-span's road to the white house coverage fakes you live -- takes you live to the candidate events.

>> we have to help our young people understand that if they take these drugs, they are responsible for other people's deaths. i want them to understand the tens of thousands of people being killed by 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's going on throughout latin america. we are not a good example in this regard, and that must change. if i'm president, i will campaign in a very aggressive way to our young people, stop taking drugs because you are killing people. >> hugo chavez says openly and honestly he is our enemy. i'm prepared to accept that. [applause]

there -- in an administration filled with embarrassments, there have been few more embarrassing than when president obama met chavez and chavez handed him an anti-american book as an act of deliberate contempt. i think we should understand when chavez and automatic dinjad -- mahmoud ahmadinejad get together and say they want to harm the united states, they mean it. i think we need to take an aggressive strategy in replacing chavez and let the people live in freedom. >> see what people are posting on twitter at c-span.org/2012. >> in his weekly address, president obama talked about ending political gridlock in washington and the influence of

congress. and mark rubio contrasted the economics of obama and accuses america as -- accuses obama as pitting americans against each other to get re-elected. >> what i saw this week is americans believe in america. if you look in some things that go on in this town, who could blame them for being a little cynical. two days ago a senator promised that every sting l american i appoint to -- promised that he

will strike down every aappointment. it is not that the senator thinks these nominees are unqualified. all the judicial nominees being blocked have bipartisan support. almost 90% have unanimous support from the judiciary committee. instead, one of the senators aides told reporters that the senator plans to you delay and slow the process in order to get the president's attention. well, this isn't about me. we weren't sent here to wage perpetual political campaigns against each other. we were sent here to serve the american people, and they deserve better than gridlock and gains. one senator gumming up the works for the whole country is certainly not what our founding fathers envisioned. the truth is, neither party has the truth is, neither party has been blameless of tactics like these, but it is time for both parties to put an end to games

like these. i am asking congress, both democrats and republicans, to stop these games by passing a rule that allows all judicial nominations a simple up or down vote within 90 days. we should also stem and close the influence of money in politics. there should be a ban of insider trading in congress. i will sign that bill immediately. they should limit any elected official from owning stock. and they should vote that those who give campaign money for congress can't lobby congress and vice-versa. i spoke about the incredible example set by our armed services at a time -- services. at a time when too many of our p.m. groups let us down, they focus on a mission and work together. if you agree with me that leaders in washington should

work as they do, make your voice heard telling members of congress it is time to end the gridlock and start the practices that really matter, beginning with american energy, american skills, and a return to american values. an economy built to last. thanks. god bless you, and have a great weekend. >> hello, i'm marco rubeo -- rubio, a senator from florida. right now i am focused on the primary. it is an exciting contest, and i know the passions are high. i wanted to take a moment to explain to the rest of the country why republicans in florida are excited about this primary. we believe that our country is in big trouble. as you know, earlier this week, president obama delivered his fourth address to congress. it was an opportunity for the president to talk about his accomplishments over the last three years and lay out his plans for the year ahead. he missed on both counds counts. you didn't hear much talk of the

success of his administration, and that's because there isn't much. yes, this president inherited a significant national debt, but over the last three years, he's made it worse. our national debt has grown by nearly 50% since he took over. now for the first time since world war ii our national debt is larger than our country's economy. this president inherited an economy where unemployment was too high, but over the last few years he made it worse. today our unemployment rate is higher than the day he took office. in fact, since he took over, it is growing over 8%. this didn't want you to -- this president didn't want you to see his failure, but you see it. he asked the congress to give the stimulus and obama care to fix it. the democrats in congress gave it to him.

not only didn't it work, it made everything worse. president obama has a year left in the white house. what are his plans now to make everything better? what does he plan to do now that he didn't do before? we got our answer. he plans to pit us against each other. he tells americans worried about their jobs that the way to help them is to raise their boss' taxes. he tells those that are hurting the only way they can be better off is for others to be worse off. he tells all of us that the only he tells all of us that the only way for us to climb up the economic ladder is for others to be pulled down. this divisive effort telling people they will be better off by punishing others, this never worked anywhere. people end up flea fleaing countries that adopt these

policies, and more often than not, they come here. they come here, because this is not who we are. americans have always believed that all of us can succeed. that those who have made it fairly can stay there, and those who are trying to make it will have a real chance to join them. this is what has made us different, this is what has made us prosperous. this is what makes us exceptional. now for the first time in my adult life, we have a president abandoning our economic heritage to become like the country people come here to get away from, to become like everybody else. yes, people are hurting. yes, there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor. the way to solve it is not to embrace the trickle-up poverty and economics, the way to solve it is to embrace the american free enterprise system. no economic system is perfect, but the american free enterprise system has empowered millions of people in the past. i know, because i saw it with my own eyes.

my father was a bartender. i thank god every night that there was someone willing to risk their money to build a hotel on miami beach so he could work. i thank god there was enough prosperity in america so people could go on vacation to las vegas or florida, and by the way, leave money in my dad's tip jar, because with that money, he raised us, and gave us an opportunity to do things he could never do. along the way we had help. i had loans and grants and i went to a public school system. that's an important role for government to play. i also thank god we had an economy prosperous enough to pay for these things as well. i will close by saying i hope this year will be a step toward a new and prosperous america. i know in this land a place

where anyone can accomplish anything is not just in history books. i have seen it in my own life. and there is no reason we cannot continue it here if we all do the right thing. may god bless all of you, and may god continue to bless the united states of america. >> c-span's live road to the white house continues from florida tomorrow with a newt gingrich campaign rally in the villages. beginning at 1:30 p.m. eastern. we'll also show you republican presidential candidate mit romney at 6:30 p.m. eastern. that's tomorrow here on c-span. >> april 15, 2010, i had arrived in paris, walked into the hotel lobby. met the general for the first time, and he looked at me and said, are you the rolling stone guy? i don't care about the article, i just want to be on the governor.

>> michael hastings wrote about the commander of u.s. forces in the 2010 issue of "rolling stone." >> i said, well, sir, it is between you and lady gaga. and he responded by "just put me and lady gaga in a heart-shaped tub. >> i thought this was a different kind of general. >> michael hastings talks about his article on c-span's "q & a." >> and you are watching "the communicators" in las vegas at the consumer electronics show.