about. [applause] i'll give you the political answer and the policy answer. politically, that statistic that you give is one of the best reasons why mitt romney will win. those voting blocks that were attracted before, it did not work so well for those 10 people. they are getting out of college >> the opportunities are not there. it has been minorities. it has been new voters and young voters who are suffering the worst in the obamas economy. politically, romney's message of growth through economic development, not more taxes, is exactly the message they want to hear. secondly, that voted block is

the one that will pay the bill for the unacceptable tax and debt and deficit policies over the last 30 years. we are saying, we want to get back on track, balance the budget. romney is the only one talking about it. let me tell you what the real answer is for these young folks. when we all travel and try to recruit jobs in virginia and louisiana and new jersey, the top thing they want to know about is what are you going to do long term to give me the trains, motivated, world-class employment to sustain my business in the long haul? we have our work cut out for us. we have a great education system. we have betrayed -- the best workers in the world. we do not have the focus and the

work force training for those young people, we are not going to cut it. . we are at the lowest level of new startup businesses in america in 30 years. think about that. small businesses are 90% of all of the businesses. there is no way to create the state in economic growth we need to keep america the hope of the earth. you have to have the next steve jobs or bill gates to do the job. until we create a culture of entrepreneur shipped and we have every policy at the federal and state level focused on creating that generation of entrepreneurs, those young people who are getting out of college who are willing to take risk and free to fail, we are

not going to get those young people the opportunities they need that is why romney is the best choice for america, young and old. >> this is about jobs. that goes back to what are we doing to recruit businesses. i am looking for the day when we are not taken from each other. south carolina has started to do that. in south carolina, we built things. we build cars, we built planes. we are the number one tire producer in the country. there are three factors that are allowing south carolina to become the it state. keeping the cost of doing business low. time is money. they know we value time is

money. work-force training. when a company comes to south carolina, they do not have to conform to our work force. we train the workers for them. they tell me what they need to have and i make sure we have those workers ready. i am telling you because i will continue to be a union buster all day long. we are still one of the lowest unionized states in the country. for all of you who have asked me about the national rate -- national labor relations board, they need to go. what happened in south carolina -- let me give you a quick story. boeing wanted to create 1000 jobs in south carolina. they wanted to expand to thousand jobs in washington state. not one person was hurt. president obama and the national labor relations board sued and said they could not do it.

i fought and everyone of these governors stepped up and said, this is one of the most un- american things we have ever seen. being an election year, president obama dropped the lawsuit. instead of those 1000 employees in charleston, a few weeks ago, we saw one of those big airplanes come onto the tarmac saying, made with pride in south carolina followed by 6000 non- union employees proud about the work they do. [applause] >> >> thank you. i have heard some wonderfully inspiring things. one of the things you said was that one of the prime components

of leadership is taking difficult positions, especially political, public decisions. why do i hear very few people stand up in the republican party speaking about weapons reform, especially on assault weapons? they are designed only to kill human beings. you have never seen big game with a flak jacket. there is no excuse for them in my view. [applause] >> who wants to take that? >> is there any form of assault weapons or anything else that we should reconsider, or is that all of of the table? bobby? >> i disagree with the premise of the question. i do not think it takes political courage to do the right thing. when president clinton did not foresee -- enforce the laws on

the books -- we need to keep weapons away from those who are coin to break our laws. this is a principal disagreement -- those who are going to break our laws. this is a principale this agreement. it is amazing to me in the constitution that they find all of these things. they said our state could not put to death a convicted child molester. they said it was not constitutional for us to put him to death. but some of the people who say that do not want to read what is in the constitution. it is a principled stand. the way we make our communities safer is not to disarm the ones who are following the loss. it is to stop these nonsensical

operations called fast and furious that put weapons in the hands of criminals. crackdown on criminals, not law- abiding people. [applause] >> i would agree with the premise of what body said. political courage is in the eye of the beholder. i disagree with the premise, too. in new jersey, we have some of the harshest laws in the country. we have some people with tempers flare. you have to be careful. the fact is, each state should be able to make their own determination. >> you have supported the gun control laws, which are pretty strict. >> i have because that is what the people of the state wants. they have been found to be constitution under the united states constitution. i have no problem with different

states making different determinations. i disagree with the premise of the question. i am repels the about the reaction to things that happen in this state and politicians tripping over each other to take a strategy and try to turn it into a political cause. i think it is wrong. it has been done by a number of politicians. can we please have funerals for the dead before we start lining up with bills in congress and holding press conferences? i think it is unseemly. no matter what you -- where you stand on this issue, you should not be using a strategy -- tragedy and have people in congress saying, because of this, we have to do a, b or c.

that is why people hate politicians. these are people suffering and we are going to turn it into a political circus. we should have more care for each other and the human spirit and not have a politician running for a microphone everytime there is a tragedy in this country. [applause] >> i want to thank you all for being here. we are going to see you next year. we are a nonpartisan institute. there is a dinner for madeleine albright that i am about to hand over to i appreciate all of you being here again. thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> next, a presidential candidate mitt romney and president obama talk about the july employment figures. and your comments on washington journal. >> this weekend on american history tv, was the turning point of the civil war at gettysburg or the battle for richmond? >> robert e. lee's emergence as a successful chimera -- field commander marked a decisive moment in the eastern be assured that shaped the larger direction of the conflict. >> a university of virginia professor on the battles that

drove the union army away from the capital of the confederate. and more on the -- "the contenders." >> extremism in defense of liberty is not right. >> barry goldwater at 730 eastern and pacific -- 7:30 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span 3. >> president obama speaks at the eisenhower executive office building asking congress to extend a middle-class tax cuts. the senate passed the bill last month, but the house defeated a similar measure. the president also commented on the july unemployment report,

with 163,000 jobs added despite a rise in the unemployment rate. this is about 10 minutes. [applause] >> thank you, everybody. good morning. thank you. thank you so much. thank you. have a seat. it is great to see all of you. i hope you're having a wonderful summer. i am joined here today by moms and dads, husbands and wives. for their families. like most americans, they work hard and they don't ask for much. can afford to pay the bills, that they can afford to own a give their kids greater opportunity, the other children things that they didn't even imagine.

every single decision that i make is focused on giving them that chance. if we want to keep moving this country forward, these are the folks who will get us there. this morning, we learned that our businesses created 172,000 new jobs in the month of july. that means that we have now created 4.5 million new jobs over the last 29 months. and 1.1 million new jobs this year. those are our neighbors and

family members finding work. and the security that comes with work. but let's acknowledge that we still have too many folks out there who are looking for work. we have more work to do on their behalf. not only to reclaim all the jobs that were lost in the recession, but also to reclaim the kind of financial security that too many americans have felt has been slipping away from them for too long. and we knew, when i started in this job, that this would take some time. we have not had to come back from an economic crisis this before this painful since the 1930's. but we also knew that, if we were persistent, if we kept at it, and kept working, that we would gradually get to where we need to be. here is the thing. we will not get there -- we will let it to where we need to be if we go back to the policies that helped to create this mess in the first place. and the last thing that we should be doing is asking

middle-class families who are still struggling to recover from this recession to pay more in taxes. the building a strong economy begins with rebuilding our middle-class. and what we should do right now is give middle-class families and small business owners a guarantee that their taxes will not go up next year. when families have the security of knowing that their taxes won't go up, they are more likely to spend and more likely to grow the economy. when small business owners have certainty on taxes and can plan ahead, they are more likely to hire and create new jobs. and that benefits all of us. that is why, last week, i was pleasantly surprised -- i was glad to see the senate come together and extend tax cuts on the first $250,000 of every family's income. that means that 98% of americans will not see their taxes go up next year. that means that 97% of small businesses wouldn't see their income taxes go up next year, not a single dime. that would be important. that is why it is so disappointing that so far, at least, house republicans have refused to follow the senate's example and do the same thing. on wednesday, they bolted to

hold these middle-class tax cuts hostage unless we also spend a trillion dollars over the next decade on tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of americans. in fact, it is worse than that because their plan would actually raise taxes on 25 million hard-working american families by about $1,000 each. at a time when too many working families are already struggling to make ends meet, they want to give millionaires and billionaires and folks like me tax cuts that we don't need and that the country cannot afford, even if middle-class families have to pick up the tab for it. those are their priorities. this week, we learned that there are some in the republican party who do want to stop there. an independent nonpartisan study found that one plan at least would give more tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires and they would pay for those tax cuts by raising taxes on middle- class, an average tax hike of more than two thousand dollars for families with children.

i just think that we have our priorities skewed if the notion is that we give tax breaks to folks who don't need them and, to help pay for that, we tax folks who are already struggling to get by. that is not how you growing economy. you grow in economy from the middle up and from the bottom up. and the kind of approach that the house republicans are talking about is bad for families and bad for our economy. the people standing behind me should not have to pay more just so the wealthiest americans can payless. that is not just talk-down economics, but upside down

economics. [laughter] instead of the middle class paying more, we should ask the wealthiest americans to pay a little more, a modest amount, so we can reduce our deficit and still make investments in things like education that help our economy grow. we are talking about folks like me going back to the tax rates that existed under bill clinton. if you remember, that is when we created 23 million new jobs, we went from deficits to surplus, and most of the top did well, too, because, when middle class families have money in their pockets, they go out to buy that new car, the new appliance, the new computer for the kids come and go out where restaurant or, heaven forbid, they take a vacation every once in awhile.

businesses do well because they have more customers. here is the thing. there are a lot of well-to-do americans, patriotic americans, who understand this and are willing to do the right thing, willing to do their part to make this country strong. for those of you who are keeping score at home, here's where we stand. we might have a whole bunch of disagreements with folks in the other party on whether it is a good idea to spend more money giving tax breaks to millionaires were billionaires' and, frankly, that issue is probably not going to be resolved until after november. in the meantime, we say we all agree on extending tax cuts for middle-class families.

the house says it agrees. the senate has already shown that it agrees. and i certainly agree. so let's at least work on what we agree on. let's keep taxes low for 98% of americans and we can argue about the other 2%. let's keep taxes low for the 97% of small-business owners and we can argue about the other 3%. if congress sends me a clean bill extending the tax cuts on the first $250,000 of every family's income, i will sign it right away. [applause] i will sign it right away. there is no reason to wait. there is no reason to make families and small businesses anxious just so one party can score political points. go ahead and given that guarantee now that their taxes will go up next year.

keep in mind one last point that i want to make. we are saying that nobody's income taxes go up on the first $250,000 of their income. even someone who makes more than that will still get a tax break on the first $250,000. do you understand? even somebody who is worth $200 million, on that first to under $50,000, -- on that first $250,000, your taxes will be lower. it is the right thing to do for our economy. this shouldn't be one of those things we argue about for the next five years. [applause] americanwhat the

people sent us here to do. let's work on those things we can agree on. let's make progress. let's do right by the people behind me and the millions of americans that they represent. i will be fighting every single day to make sure that you have opportunity. i expect and i hope that congress will do the same. thank you very much, everybody. god bless you. [applause] god bless america and have a great weekend. [applause]

>> campaigning in nevada, mitt romney called the increase in the unemployment rate to 8.3% an extraordinary record of failure for the president. he also talked about his five. planned for the middle-class. we join this about one minute into his remarks. >> i understand you declared a state of emergency, and declared this a disaster area under state

law. this economy has hurt american families, and we need help. this is a place that is really struggling. we just got a new number from the unemployment report. it is another hammer blow. the president has not kept policies that put america's families back to work. i will get america working again. [applause] i mean -- you know this. these numbers are not just statistics. these are real people, really suffering, having hard times. 23 million americans out of work, or stopped looking for work, or way underemployed. the official unemployment number, 8.3%. that is the longest time, 42 months -- the longest time we have had unemployment above 8% in american history, since this has been recorded. this is an extraordinary record of failure. the president's policies have

not worked, because he thinks government makes america work. he is wrong. it is people that make america work. [applause] i hope the president understands. but all the businesses that the mccandless family organized were not built by government. they were built by people, not by government. and so the time has come for a plan that will actually get america's workers back to work, that will create more jobs and more take-home pay, and i know how to do that. this is not a mystery for me. this is not theory. this is practice. i have five things i am going to do, five things i am going to do in my plan to help get the middle class working again, with more jobs and more take-home pay. putting them in place, it will get the economy going again, get higher incomes again.

we are going to take advantage of energy -- oil, gas, coal. [applause] and when i say take advantage, let me tell you the gold. by the end of my second term, by the end of my second term -- [applause] you got that, did you? by the end of my second term, north america will be energy independent. will not be buying any oil from the middle east or venezuela.

number two. the american workers of today and tomorrow will have the skills to succeed in america. that means better schools, better job training. we cannot continue to allow our schools to perform at the bottom of the world. we need our schools to be the best in the world. we did it in my state. we can give our kids the future they need with great schools. [applause] number 3, we have to have a trade that works for america. that means if people cheat like china, we do not let them keep doing that. we open new markets, so we can sell our products to new places. i want to open up latin america, so we can sell more goods to latin america. we have language skills that will help us get there. i want to open up latin- american. number four, there is a problem

in a country that has too much debt. what happens is the people who have looked at the amount of debt the country has have shown that if you have too much debt, it slows down the rate of growth of businesses and job creators, and the overall economy. we are going to have to get serious about doing something politicians talk about, but do not do. that is cut spending, cut the deficit, and finally get america on track to have a balanced budget, and i will do it. that is number four. [applause] number 5, we finally have to champion small business in this country, instead of attacking it. almost everywhere i go, people who are in small business say, "why does it feel like the government treats me like i am the enemy? the government is always on my back."

the government now has a plan to raise taxes on small business, taking the tax rate from 35% teel 40%. the national foundation of independent businesses has said those tax policies will cost 700,000 jobs. we cannot afford to lose more jobs. rice university looked at my tax plan and said it will create millions of jobs. that is what we have to do to help small business. [applause] there are a lot of things hurting small business these days, but there is something else that has been a cloud. i was talking to a guy who owned a number of restaurants in the las vegas area. he said if obamacare goes through, i do not know how i can hold on to my businesses.

i am going to take out the cloud of obamacare and return it to personal responsibility. [applause] let me tell you what those five things will do. in just four years, in my first term, we will add 12 million new jobs to america. will have more jobs and take home pay. as employers are competing, they will have to raise wages and benefits. i want better -- better benefits, better wages, and more jobs for american middle- class citizens and their families. this is the course america has to take. the road we are on now, you will see bigger government and fewer jobs. that is not the right way. let us get america working again. [applause]

by the way, by the way, this five. plan is not based -- five point plan is not based on spending years in academics, coming up with theories. this is based on actually having had a job in the private sector. [applause] i started a business of my own, which started small and grew to become very large. i also was able to help invest in some other businesses that started up. you have heard some of those names. you have heard of staples, of course, but also the sports authority. my firm was able to help get it going. another is called bright horizons children's centers. each employs thousands of people today. when free individuals, when the free market -- when individuals encourage the start of a new business, people are careful with their money and make sure

every dollar is being spent as well as it possibly can be, for the right products, getting the customers, making sure your distribution is in place. staples, when we got going, we did not rent a fancy office building. we were brand new. the managers and our team said, "we are going to use the back of an old shopping center that has been abandoned." we got used furniture for the people who worked there. in the board room, we had a big table surrounded by used naugahyde chairs. these were so old that once you sat down, you had to be athletic to rise out of these things. i compare that with what happens with president obama's government giving hundreds of millions of dollars to some start up a country -- company like someone drove -- like

solyndra. the corporate headquarters looks like the taj mahal. i have been there. today, staples employs roughly 90,000 people. [applause] solyndra, i think you know how many people it employs. the president does not understand how the private sector works, how small business works, what it takes for a business person to say, "let us hire another person. let us invest in that person." these are the people who build enterprises, not government. you heard what he said the other day. i could not believe what he said. it may go down as the most famous "of his entire presidency. he said, "if you have a business, you did not build

that. someone did that for you." he does not understand that it is entrepreneurs of all kinds that have built this country, free individuals, reaching for excellence, reaching for achievement. it is kid saying, "i am going to study hard to make the honor roll." i appreciate the work of the bus driver who got them there. i love the bus driver. i want as many good bus drivers as possible. if that kid got the honor roll, it is because he or she earned it, not because the bus driver got them there. if somebody working in a factory or a shop like this decides, "i am going to get more skills, take more training to get a job promotion" -- to get those skills, he or she had to drive their cars, which meant the dmv had to give them a

license. but they deserve credit for that promotion, not the dmv. [applause] when john mccandless and his sons took the risk with the money they had saved, to start these businesses and hire other people -- if credit goes to them and the people they hired, the people they work here -- i appreciate government, but it did not build this. those people build this business. [applause] the prison and has been saying we are taking him out of context. you go look at the rest of his speech. it is on youtube. the context is worse than the " -- the quote.

he said, "a lot of people think they are smart, and think they are working hard." i do not know where he is going with this idea. we celebrate people who are smart and who work hard. we celebrate achievement in this country. we do not celebrate government. [applause] look. this goes back to the very beginning of america. this is something that is so fundamental to the american spirit that we are surprised as

we hear the president talked about smart and hard work and who built a business in the way that he did. it just seems so strange to us, because we know that when the founders wrote the declaration of independence, they saw something which was perhaps beyond their years and experience. they saw something perhaps inspired or brilliant. they said it was not government who gave us our rights. these rights were in doubt on us by our creator. -- endowed on us by our creator. [applause] among these rights were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. three people in this country have come here for centuries. people come here today, seeking these freedoms. the right to pursue happiness as they choose. that has made america the powerhouse we are, respected around the world. i just came back from overseas. i got the chance to meet a hero. i met like wallace of -- lech

wallesea. he said no to despots and oppression. i am always impressed by the power of one person to say no to people who would be oppressive, and to make a difference, and in some respects change their lives, the lives of their community, perhaps even the life of a nation. he said no to the tyrants from russia that were occupying his country, and the lead to a change that has brought freedom to millions of people. i think of rosa parks, who was on that bus. when the bus driver said, "give up your seat for this white man," she said no. [applause]

a fellow in tunisia was told by a government bureaucrat that he could not open his fruit stand. he, in protest, committed suicide by self immolation. from that came a revolution throughout the middle east that continues to roll. i think about the man who was leading his nation as a tyrant and a dictator, ceausescu. he got a crowd together, to tell them about the wonderful things he had done. 200,000 people came together. he stood up and began to speak to them, going through all the wonderful things he had done to make their life better. an older woman looked up and said, "lawyer." she said it again, "liar."

people around her began saying it. it spreads through the entire crowd. he tried to flee, and a soldier grabbed him. ultimately, he was executed. individuals make a statement of freedom and say no to oppression. they change the world. these are times for all americans to stand for the things we believe in most equally. i love this country because of the freedom of our people, of our ability to change the world. [applause] this is a time when the world needs american leadership. that is what like woolsey -- lech walesea told me. we need leadership in our homes, in our economy, in our military. a strong america is the best ally peace has ever known.

this is a time for choice for america. we are going to decide whether we are going to continue to have the policies of a president who has not had a job in the private sector, policies that have led america to have 42 straight months of unemployment above 8%, 23 million out of work. those policies lead to an america that is not as strong as it must be for ourselves, for our children, and for the world. we can instead take a course which i will represent, which is to keep america strong air, do the things that will get jobs again, make sure that people know their future is bright and their kids' future is bright. i love this country. i will do everything in my power to keep america strong. we will take back america, and keep america the hope of the earth. thank you so much. thank you.

[applause] ♪ >> following his remarks in las vegas, mitt romney spoke to reporters about harry reid's recent comments that mr. romney had not paid his taxes. he was also asked when he would announce his pick for vice presidents. this is 15 minutes. >> good morning. sorry for the extra noise. if we did not have the air

conditioner on, you probably could not stand here. i turn to you for any questions you might have. please. >> with the jobs added last month, are we still in recession? >> we still have 23 million americans out of work. you'll see job numbers that bounce around. there is no question we have 42 months with unemployment above 8%. this administration said, if they got there stimulus, they would hold unemployment below 8%. they said the measure and have not been below 8% since. with this number of middle-class families struggling, it is clear these policies have not worked. his team said that by now we would have unemployment at 5.5%. it is still above 8%, 8.3%. i am not going to look at every

monthly statistic. but this continues a pattern of american families really struggling, having hard times. the president's policies are to blame for not having gotten the economy back on track. a lot of people are suffering in this country. i think it is an extraordinary failure of policy, a failure of leadership. and i think it is a moral failure for a country as successful and prosperous as our own to go for years in a mode that feels too many people like a recession. some said that if you are unemployed, it is a depression. there are a lot of people having a hard time. the president's approach has not worked. we have listened to him give a major speech on his economic plans to get people working, and there was nothing new. just another stimulus. i have laid out a plan which will get americans working again, will create 12 million jobs, and perhaps more than that.

i am confident we can get america working again. it will take not government stepping in, but government encouraging the private sector to take the lead in creating new businesses, starting the kind of employment opportunities that americans look for. the economists will tell us what the future holds. we are all ready for the 23 million americans -- it is a recession for them, if not worse, if not a depression. >> we have heard about uncertainty for the private sector, based on government decisions. big issues you would have to deal with -- one is the cuts to the pentagon, the automatic sequester. how urgent is it to address that? what are your ideas? some people are also saying tax reform, which provides uncertainty and could take up to a year. what is your view of how long major tax reform would take, if you were elected president?

>> the sequestration, i would like to see the president and congress come together and put a year-long run away from where we are now through the term of the next president. hopefully me, but if not me, president obama. give me or the next president the capacity to reform our tax system and make sure our military plans are consistent with the needs of american leadership. i think the idea of massive cuts to our military is a terrible idea. it is going to cause layoffs. it is good to cause a sensation of various programs essential to american workers. -- it is going to cause a cessassion of various programs essential to american workers. clearly, the president should step forward and say these cuts are unacceptable. the cuts to the military are unacceptable. and the uncertainty caused by the tax changes -- some call it a tax cliff. these things do not help the american economy.

we need stability. let us have at least a year of run with, or even six months after the new president is elected, so we can have the tax reform and the military spending plans and budget plans consistent with that individual's leadership and views. my own view on tax reform is that we should make our tax code simpler. we should bring down rates. high income people are not going to pay a smaller share of taxes in america if i am president. i have been interested in seeing that the president continues to say things that are patently untrue. my tax policy will not reduce the taxes paid by high income americans. with regards to middle income americans, i want to lower the taxes paid. i know there are groups out there that put together assumptions and say different

things, but my plan is clear. i will not raise taxes on the american people. i will not raise taxes on middle income americans. assertions to the contrary are simply false. i am afraid the campaign knows that, and i hope members of the media focus on that. i want to bring down rates, limits deductions and exemptions for high income people. but when you finish going to my plan, and we scored it properly, i will not have a plan that lowers the share paid by high income folks, or that raises taxes on middle income americans. >> individuals are looking for some sense of a plan. if you are a president, with tax reform takes six months? a year? >> the length of time is dependent in part upon whether we elect republicans in the senate and house, and by what number, so i cannot give you a prediction of how long it would take to put in place a full tax

reform program until we had those individuals in place. i can tell you i think one of the great opportunities for our nation was proposed when the tax commission, the budget commission, came back. i am talking about some symbols -- simpson-bowles. why the president did not seize upon that -- if he thought some aspects needed to be adjusted, make some adjustments. instead, it just died. we need to have presidential leadership. we have not had presidential leadership on budget matters. with regards to the senate, we have gone three years without a budget. it is absolutely extraordinary that a nation like ours, by virtue of the failure of leadership, does not even have a budget in place.

>> senator reed has said you did not pay taxes for 10 years. could you silence these remarks by disclosing more of your tax returns? >> harry reid really have to put up or shut up. who are your sources? let us have him explain who that is. by the way, i understand what he is trying to do. he is tried to deflect the fact that jobs numbers are bad, that americans are out of work, and throw anything up on the screen that will grab attention from the fact that policies of the white house have not worked to put americans to work, and the senate does not even have a budget in place. let me say categorically i have paid taxes every year, and a lot of taxes. a lot of taxes. he is simply wrong. that is what i am anxious for him to give us the names of the people who put this forward. i would not be surprised to hear names from the white house or the obama campaign. like these other charges -- this is a time when i took the

president at his word, when he called me. he said, "this is going to be an important campaign on the direction of the country, and a debate for the direction of the country." i had hoped it would be a debate on the direction of the country. what we are seeing instead is an attack -- one attack after the other, misleading, false attacks. the advertisements saying i will raise taxes on the middle class. that is patently false. by the way, the president has raised taxes on the middle class, as determined by the supreme court. that being said, the president has advertisements on my stand on life, which are also wrong, and they know they are wrong. this is a time to have a debate on the direction of the country, not a series of attacks that are misguided, inaccurate, untrue, and detract from the real issues america faces. and those are important issues. i happen to believe that when we finally come to the debates and

have a chance to talk about these things, and the american people really focus on what is happening, that they will put aside this silliness. i think that are putting it aside now. they realize what it is -- politics at its worst. >> instead of going back and forth with harry reid, when not release the tax returns and put the issue to bed? >> you can go on our website and see my financial disclosure statements, going back to 2002. you can see the tax returns i put out for 2010. those are, i think, hundreds of pages of documents. i have already received an estimate for 2011. as soon as that is completed, we are waiting for information to complete that. as soon as that is completed, we will put up the most recent year.

i have already learned, from harry reid and others, that the people on the other side of the aisle will try to go to anything we give them, to distort it, to turn it into something it does not say, and to try to make political fodder. i am falling -- following the president of john mccain, putting out two years of income tax returns and our financial disclosure statements, as required by law. you'll be surprised to see the amazing amount of data associated with our disclosure on line. i do not know who has the microphone. >> the obama campaign filed suit in ohio to try to reduce early voting by a few days for military living overseas. your reaction to that? the you think it is just unfair, going after the military in that way? >> i have not seen that report,

so i cannot comment on the specific filing that you describe. i can tell you that i believe our military and the men and women in uniform have an absolute right to speak in this election. their lives are affected by what happens in policies here in this country, and the direction of america. every effort should be taken by the government of the united states of america to assure that every member of the military has the right to vote, and their vote is counted. any effort to impede the right of our military members overseas or domestically in voting would be an extraordinary violation of the trust we should have for those who serve so valiantly. >> there are culture fights in your party recently -- a battle about chick-fil-a and about the muslim brotherhood, with michele bachman and members of congress calling on an investigation of those in the federal government.

the you think these are important things your party is talking about now? >> those are not things that are part of my campaign. >> as your party puts together its platform, do you think auditing the senate should be part of that platform? >> my view is that we should audit the fed, and that the actions of the fed should be open for the review of congress and the understanding of the american people. >> your advisers have publicly hinted that you are close to making a decision about your running mate. why can't you address where you are in that process and whether you have made a decision? >> i will absolutely beside it and announce my running mate before the third day of the republican convention in august. other than that, i have nothing for you.

please. >> than in the spotlight with the gsa. president obama cannot take a trip on the taxpayers' dime. what are your thoughts on coming to las vegas? we need the tourism dollars. we need the convention. what is your take, locally? >> i go back to the experience of what happened with rudy giuliani, in the case of a real national disaster. he said, "please come to new york." if i am president of the united states, i will tell people to come help nevada. las vegas is having tough times.

north las vegas has declared a state of emergency, a disaster. the level of unemployment, the home prices are severe. i hope people recognize that nevada is open for business, doing well. company meetings are welcome. it is a fabulous site for conventions. come and enjoy this environment of warmth and water and hospitality. i will certainly carry that message, and hope that people recognize this is a great place to come and visit. i know it is a great place to live as well. thank you. >> next, live, your calls and comments on "washington journal ." then hillary clinton talks about religious tolerance. >> at the foot of that bridge, i was beaten. i thought i was going to die. i thought i was going to die. >> in 1965, 25-year-old john

lewis took part in a voting rights mark -- march. >> we became -- came in hearing distance of the state troopers. a man identified himself and said i am with the alabama state troopers. this is an unlawful march and will not be allowed to continue. one of the people walking beside me said, give us a moment to pray. the major said, troopers advance. >> across that bridge >> this morning, paul conaway talks about the role of 18 to 29 year-old voters in the elections. then, we analyzed the july unemployment numbers released by the labor department with borraine woellert. then we