of the north and the south. they have been the elements of a domestic phenomenon that now has these terrorist dimensions. what constitutes terrorism? international terrorism. -- -- what constitutes international terrorism? just like there is the insurgency against the yemeni government, could be considered to be waiting this domestic battle -- boko haram be considered to be waging this domestic battle against its government. it is an existential threat. one of the things we have learned, and i think the governments throughout africa have learned -- these organizations have the potential to expand at a rapid pace.

it is critically important to nip it in the bud, if you can, but it also speaks to the need to not just have a pointy end of this year that you can take the action 00 end of the spear that you can -- pointy end of the spear, but you can take action to keep these from developing. the roots were in al-qaeda coeur, yet it took advantage of some of the real problems in yemen. same thing with boko haram and others. there is an ideologically driven cord that has a domestic, political agenda. it is also said by a number of underlying conditions -- discrimination, perceived inequities in the system -- they are able to recruit -- some of the teenagers that are being attracted and pulled into these organizations because $10,

$20 is something to attract a person to sign on with the terrorist organization. 15-year-old, 16-year-old, they do not know any better. the terrorist groups suggested an advantage of its -- suggest taking advantage of it. even though president obama has agreed to the actions we need to keep the american people say, he continues to drive home that these are just -- we are contributing to these organizations being able to exploit certain conditions that exist. there is a much broader set of issues that need to be tackled. these countries need to develop the institutions that people can have confidence in. judicial reform, legal reform,

routing out corruption, these are all part of a broader -- rooting out corruption, these are all part of a broader counter-terrorism effort. >> john brennan, the white house advisor on counter- terrorism. thank you for a very interesting and lively talk. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> president obama is on a three-day bus tour through a through iowa.--

mitt romney is stopping in florida, st. augustine, orlando, and fort lauderdale. mr. romney as a campaign rally -- has a campaign -- mr. romney has a campaign rally coming up with marco rubio. the democrats hold their convention after labor day. we will have live coverage of every speech, every minute of both of them here on c-span. there will be three presidential debates in october. the first on oct. 3rd. it will focus on domestic policies. october 16, a town hall debate monitored -- moderated by candy crowley of cnn. the third will focus on foreign policy. for more on this election, this is from "washington journal."

host: it has been two days, what is the bomb on the gop ticket so far. guest: -- bump on the gop ticket so far? guest: this was going to be litigated over the plans for medicare. we saw lots of numbers about that. i do not think it is any surprise and it does not cold not well. there was not a lot of national

polling about paul ryan. there is some polling that has been going on in the months leading up to this. it shows you that the country does not really know him all that well. high-information voters know who he is. otherwise, he is still a blank slate, someone to be defined. host: the president and democrats are trying to define him right away. what do paul ryan and mitt romney due to get what they want into the debate. guest: we will have a different debate than a lot of folks would have expected. there is no way around the debate over the ryan budget. if you look at the response of every democratic house and senate candidate across the country, you will see that they refer to paul ryan as the running mate of their local republican candidate for challenger. that is going to be the framework for this discussion. there will be a serious

discussion about the merits of that plan. host: our guest will be with us for the next 35 minutes or so. we will continue to talk about the 2012 presidential race. we will continue to take tweets and facebook comments, and e- mail as well. here is a piece in political this morning -- politico this morning. what do you think the messages? guest: iowa was a fairly easy win in 2008 for barack obama. this year, it was different. there are different reasons for that. paul ryan has a great deal of appeal in iowa. he has some familiarity with the landscape, with the terrain. things i have heard -- there is a lot of excitement not only

about ryan, but also about the idea of having a catholic on the ticket because he might appeal to the catholic voters up for grabs. in iowa, roughly one-quarter of the vote went heavily for barack obama in 2008. i think it is much more up for grabs this year. i think paul ryan will appeal to that vote. he is a lot of connections and it has done well. naturally, they want to compete. host: mitt romney will be in south florida today in miami. he will be at a business called the juice palace. what will his message be to south floridians? guest: the first message that will want to make is about the ticket and who paul ryan is. if you look at the map of paul ryan, if he will clearly be an asset in the midwest.

that is obvious. if there are other democrats -- their other demographics in place. places like florida if you pay close attention to the entitlement debate. off naturally, there will be some concern and a real effort among democrats to define the budget in a very negative way. i think you'll see an attempt to explain who paul ryan is and what the ticket stands for. host: we will have president obama on live in the 12:00 hour and paul ryan at 2:30 p.m. eastern time. and mitt romney at that event in miami at 5:15 eastern time. our first call now for our guests, charles mahtesian from political. -- politico. good morning.

caller: good morning. i just want to say i think it is very important to know that the ryan budget cut medicare. please to not cut me off. -- please do not caught me off. -- cut me off. it cuts medicare, medicaid, and pale grants -- pell grants. i just heard your guest speaking about catholics. it is my understanding that a group of catholic nuns are on a bus tour right now talking about how immoral the rise in budget -- the ryan budget is. this is before he was selected as the vice-presidential candidate. i think in all of this the republicans are trying to avoid increasing the taxes on the more wealthy people. they are willing to cut all these programs. there'd be some much more money in the budget if they had tax increases. if but they all signed this form from grover norquist about

tax reform. it is really sad that they would hurt so many people and destroy so many lives just based on that. and for people who do not understand one thing with that medicaid, i hear a lot of older people calling in. that affects people in nursing homes. probably a lot of people will not be able to go to nursing homes that really need that. host: let's hear from our guest. guest: you made a point about the catholic vote. it is too diverse. -- it is too diverse to vote as a single lockstep bloc. already, you are beginning to hear voices in the catholic community who were in opposition to paul ryan. there was a bus tour that was mentioned on the call. you are seeing a lot of debate about the social justice wing and the paul ryan budget. i think it will play out in a

place like iowa, particularly in most catholic parts of iowa, places like dubuque. host: jason from louisville. caller: my question is, mitt romney said we cannot take four more years of on-the-job training. what president has ever had the experience of being president? host: thank you for calling. anything there you want to respond to? guest: it gets to the qualifications of mitt romney and paul ryan. mitt romney is not necessarily as widely known as you might think to the american people. he had one term in massachusetts, but has not been on the national, political scene for that long. people are getting much more accustomed to him. lots of questions about paul ryan. who he is, what kind of

background he comes from. he is a fairly useful candidate. -- youthful candidate. that is unusual for us. host: a headline in "the washington post." a shot of president obama at his fund-raiser yesterday. he says that i know him and he is a decent man and i welcome paul ryan to the race. he has a vision that i fundamentally disagree with. we have more from the president yesterday. [video clip] >> this is central to governor -- this kind of top-down economics is central to governor romney and it is central to his running mate. just yesterday morning, my opponent chose his running mate. the ideological leader of the republicans in congress, mr. paul ryan. i want to congratulate congressman ryan. i know him. i welcome him. -- welcome him to the race. congressman ryan is a decent man. he is a family man.

he is an articulate spokesman for governor romney. -- governor romney's vision. but it is a vision that i fundamentally disagree with. host: that word, "ideologue," is out there this weekend. guest: there is a war being waged over defining paul ryan because so many people do not know who he is. it is critical for the democrats to define him in a way that works to their advantage. they are painting him as somebody who is out of the mainstream. you've heard this yesterday on the sunday shows, especially from debbie wasserman schultz, that paul ryan is an extremist and an ideologue. it will work hard to color him -- the republicans will work hard to color him in a much more positive way.

host: here is paul ryan himself in wisconsin from yesterday. [video clip] >> a country with four years of trillion-dollar deficits, economic stagnation. the worst economic recovery in 70 years. the largest deficit and the biggest government since world war ii. nearly one in six americans are in poverty today. that's the highest rate in a generation. you know what? we are not going to take that. we are going to turn that around. [cheers and applause] the good news is we can do this. we can turn this around. we can get this economy turned around and we can get people back to work. host: some say the crowd was estimated at 10,000. do you expect those kinds of crowds, moving forward? guest: there is a great deal of curiosity about paul ryan. i think he will see that kind of excitement, at least for the near term. we will see if that was -- if that is sustainable. the biggest crowd was in

wisconsin, waukesha. it is not his district. that is his backyard. it shows the strength of his popularity, especially in a home state. that is his home state of wisconsin. it was an emotional appearance for him because of the size and it was an historic moment for him. he has a connection to the wisconsin a culture. -- wisconsin culture, whether he is talking about. and she's or bratwurst -- talking about beer and cheese or bratwurst. host: sort of a homecoming rally for him. mitt romney and paul ryan will go their separate ways. what might their messages be around the country? guest: they were joking about the nature of campaigning, they both have to be in different places. the vice presidential candidate gets dispatched to the smaller market and you'll probably see that now. that is why they are in different states. they will cover as much ground

as possible. the message in the short term has to be defining paul ryan in a way that works for republicans and then gets back him as an ideologue. -- and that fight backs -- and that fight back against the image of him as an ideologue. host: charles mahtesian is the national political editor for politico. he spent eight years as a national correspondent for governing magazine. we have harold from new jersey, a republican. good morning. caller: the good news is we live in the united states of america. we have a marvelous constitution and marvelous people with generous hearts. we need from our leaders inspiration. president obama has the ability to do that. he gave an inspiring speech in may to a high school that had been destroyed and came back. my president said correctly to

-- our president said directly to -- correctly to the graduates, we need god. god bless you. may god bless the united states of america. god has answered that prayer and and god has said, mr. president, i will bless the united states if you keep our commandments. -- keep my commandments. the problem is we have not been keeping the commitments, especially you shall not give false testimony and that kind of stuff. what we need, obviously, to do -- this great country deserves better than evil. we do not need to demonize people. we should have unconditional love. a love for people, for pets.

what we really need is to shine the light of devotion to the commandments and to all of the marvelous things that started this country. host: let's hear from our guest. guest: he talked about the degraded nature of our political debate. millions and millions of dollars have been plowed into market after market. demonizing the opposition. there is no reason to think that will change on both sides. host: good morning, bobby. on the democratic line from alabama. caller: i have to disagree with your guest. talking about people need to get to know ryan. he may be a good family man. i have no idea. he has a record in congress of what he is for and what he is

against. that is very plain. you can look the record up. one more thing little of subjects -- -- one more thing that is a little off subject. they make a big deal about social security. there's a simple solution to that. take the cap off. people that make $75,000 pay 100% on social security. the cap should be taken off. everybody pays what they make. on the trade deficit, this goes -- comes from one of the republicans, donald trump. he says put a tax on china imports, the same that they have on stuff that goes over there. they charge 30% on stock going into china from the united states -- we charge 20%.

do that and in a couple of years you will not have to worry about the deficit. thank you. i will take your comment off the air. host: thank you. guest: i do not necessarily disagree with the caller. paul ryan does have a record in congress. it is something that will be litigated over the next 100 days or so. each party will best fme that record in a way that best suits them. and helps their nominee. the republicans have a larger task of explaining who is paul ryan. people are familiar with the obama administration's record. people are far less familiar with the paul ryan plan. it is something we have seen in the polls. we know that there is lots about the plan that is unpopular. we also know that people do not necessarily understand what is in it. that's what makes the definition of paul ryan so essential to the republican party. host: mitt romney will be making a campaign stop in miami, according to 'the

herald." -- "the herald." they are looking at a crowd of about 2000 people. we have a tweet from jody. is florida a must-win for romney? jody thinks ryan will be unpopular with older americans. guest: none of the big states are in place are very competitive in the 2012 election. florida is extremely competitive and it is such a diverse state. it has a huge treasure trove of electoral votes. it is a state need this side can -- it is a state that neither side can afford to avoid. if obama/biden take it, it is a real dagger to romney/ryan.

host: we will have the miami event live on c-span at about 5:00 p.m. eastern time. mitt romney and senator marco rubio expected to join him as well. this comes after hour event with -- after our events with paul ryan and president obama early in the day. bonnie from oklahoma, good morning. caller: am i on? host: you are. caller: to those people who say what the government is going to do for me? i'll tell them. romney and ryan will give them a job. and then they can spend their money as they want. right now the government gives them money and they'll have to spend it what they want to spend it for. but i think that all of these people that are sitting on their duffs and want the government handout, free education, free headstart, free

everything, but somebody else is paying for it. thank you. host: let's hear from our guests. guest: the cult hit on an issue -- the caller hit on an issue that will be important during the homestretch of the election. it is central and you hear republican candidates up and down the ticket, the idea there's been a great expansion of the federal government during the past years. the other part is about the need for the federal government to play a role in the lives of many americans. host: how important is the personal chemistry between the men? mitt romney and paul ryan. guest: it is not essential. you have seen cases of candidates not liking each other. i did not think that is the case here.

it takes a while ago for politicians -- a while, though, for politicians. oftentimes they have big egos. it is not always the case that they will mesh very well. they seem to have some kind of chemistry. romney has a great deal of respect for paul ryan. there is some risk for that choice. most of his advisers advise mitt romney not to pick ryan. because of the risk. mitt romney felt even stronger after meeting paul ryan. you can tell that there is some sort of chemistry between them. maybe that will grow over the course of the campaign. it is not essential to them winning but it does help. host: there was an event in north carolina yesterday. they tape a segment for "60 minutes" which ran last night. mitt romney was asked, exactly what would have vice president ryan bring to the table in the mitt romney administration?

here's a look. [video clip] >> i anticipate there'll be some areas of his expertise or he will take a lead role in helping to oversee those areas. maybe some cabinet officers will work with the vice president. he will have a role in helping to shepherd legislation on the hill. of course, you have a legislative affairs director that takes that kind of lead, as well. you cannot imagine having someone like paul ryan, who has been able to work with members of the house, democrats and republicans. i cannot imagine not using him and using that skill to get people to come together on common ground. despite the differing views on issues. this is a key reason i selected him. he has almost a unique capacity to find people of different parties who are of common purpose that can come together to do something that is right for the country. host: mitt romney things paul --

thanks paul-- thinks paul ryan will be effective on the hill. guest: you never know what kind of relationship they will have until the administration comes into place. and tell their relationship -- until their relationship tells -- gels a little bit. there are some areas where paul ryan would play an important role. he has been in congress for 14 years. he would be a liaison to those on the hill. he knows democrats very well. and also he would play a big role in fiscal policy. that is his area of expertise. you can pretty much draw an outline of where he would have the bigger footprint. host: there writer writes in "the wall street journal" about why mitt romney chose paul ryan. she writes that, while the congressman will publicly aid the congressman -- he will be a

voice in the inner circle, relating with his own inexperience -- experience how to tackle and when the toughest issues. the goal is to win. pick up on the independent vote out there. it is up for grabs. guest: i am not sure i would agree with that assessment of the race. guest: to me, the real asset that ryan brings to the ticket is the enthusiasm of the base. it seems to me that the obama administration has signaled which way they are going and the romney approach will be similar. i think it is the kind of pick that was signaled by the nature of the race, that it has been static for months now. nothing has moved. polls out today are showing the race is essentially where was in may. in may, it mitt romney was up -- it showed that mitt romney was

up 48%-47%. after all that has happened -- since then, the results are almost exactly the same. these were taken before the pick of paul ryan on saturday. now it is 48%-47% obama. statistical dead heat in may. statistical dead heat here. something had to be done from the romney campaign to move the dial in one trajectory or another. otherwise, he was on a trajectory to lose a very close race. to me, that seems to be the more likely motivation. i think paul ryan is the kind of -- has the kind of skill set that can appeal to swing voters. you would be more -- you'd be making an enormous bet. you will be -- whether you think it is the kind of reform we need, it doesn't matter. it is polarizing enough that you would not support a

candidate like that if you're trying to win. host: thank you for waiting. good morning. caller: i feel as though i have my party back. we're a country and our country works -- we are not like western europe where they throw promised to the people. i think ryan and romney were great together. we need economic growth and opportunity. allow the free enterprise system to work. you cannot burden it. i'm a catholic and i'm concerned about obamacare. even the bishops have a lawsuit or something.

i did not think people should go around saying the ryan budget is anti-human. we have to get back to the people running the governments. host: we look at this headline in politico. guest: that is an issue that joanne references. it generates a great deal of enthusiasm among the base. and also among catholics. this is the first major ticket that is a non-protestant ticket, with a mormon and a catholic. the value is that it is a year the catholic vote is up for grabs. conservative catholics find

great appeal in paul ryan. they are looking for somebody who can speak to the values that ryan articulates. you're beginning to see the opening round of the debate over paul ryan's value to the ticket. he is very strong in certain areas. he will have some strength with conservative catholics. he has a bunch of constituencies on the right that he appeals to. host: there is a poll. anything tied up with age or gender or anything else within the numbers you can tell us? guest: the overarching theme is how static the race was. you can guess close to the mark on how the race was.

the economy is a huge problem for barack obama. he is ok on foreign policy. americans are not happy with his job performance on the economy. the outcome of the election will be contingent on that because that has been the problem all along and continues to be. pennsylvania. caller: paul -- somebody mentioned about paul ryan being an ideologue. i do not think that is too far off base. if you talk to anybody who is in love with ayn rand, it gets pretty crazy talking to him.

it is like a lady created this idea that only exist in her own mind. for some reason, young people latch on to that like a religion. when ryan has his own staff and has to read her book, that is an ideologue. host: any thoughts? guest: that gets to what we have been talking about this morning -- who is paul ryan and what does he believe? host: the democrats plan to point to his opposition to abortion rights and federal financing of contraception, which could turn more women away from the gop ticket. guest: we found the president has a lead among female voters.

it seems pronounced this year especially. it is the kind of issue that has been accelerated because the democratic message this year about a war on women and we will over the fall. host: tax returns came up in the "60 minutes" interview. one viewer wants to know when the last time the cabinet has only shown two years of income tax returns. guest: that has been a big problem for romney in getting passed this and handling the

attacks on his tax returns. paul ryan would not want to complicate that message or do anything that would create a big distance between them. he will release two years of returns and that puts him in line with the nominee. host: harold, atlanta, good morning. caller: the cbo came out with the ryan budget. the medical costs are going up. landslide for obama. and also, sir, the taxes. 2% romney will pay. are you kidding me? look at his voting record.

you are going to tell me -- in new york. caller: good morning. i am opposed to both sides. i believe if obama is as much of a polarizing figure as paul ryan. i believe politicians do not have skin in the game and a vote according to their self interest. i admire paul ryan's technocracy because he is knowledgeable about the budget and he probably could get the country into better shape. i disagree with the fact -- it allows loopholes where hedge funds and wealthy people can escape very high tax rates.

they pay capital gains and dividends of currently 15%. i think that is wrong. if he wants to be honest, he would address that. i think we should not be a debtor nation. historically, debtor nations decline and it ultimately leads to their demise. i think obama, we do not know obama very well. many of his records are hidden. he spent a lot of money protecting his so-called transparency. if he was concerned about jobs, he would not have spent two years on his health plan. that is all i have to say. host: ok. guest: the college gets to the point that comes up over and

over. there is a tremendous cynicism in the american electorate. you see that in the polling in spades. you see that in the disapproval numbers of congress. they are at or near historic lows. it is a prevalent theme and better. host: are there any alternatives for folks? guest: there will be alternatives. there always are. one of the bigger options that could affect the presidential election in some states would be gary johnson, from the libertarian party. we typically do not see the third party is doing well or

being competitive except maybe once in a generation phenomenon. this year, johnson is a little different. he is a former teacher and governor in new mexico. he has some attraction in the rocky mountain west. high digits in some polls. third-party candidates tend to fade. host: the conventions are starting in a few weeks. "sarah palin will not have rnc speaking role." guest: that tells you something about the role that sarah palin

plays in the party. she does have a base either way. she has a solid base within the republican party. you see that in her success in endorsing candidates in the house and senate. she has taken a different kind of approach to supporting candidates and has had a great deal of success at the senate level. every time she endorses a candidate and brings her support to the table, it underscores her party. she has a voice that is unlike any other in the reported. -- in the republican party. footprint in the republican party. host: jane is a democratic caller from cincinnati.

caller: good morning. obama so heavy with welfare. he has had a reason and he did not start welfare. thousands of years ago started that and have not let up on that. it was supposed to be set up the table and democrats and republicans ran it into the ground. there is not enough jobs out there for anybody to go to. if he did not work on health care, we would not have that now. it was a big issue for him to start off on and i appreciate him for doing it. they do get a republican in office and they are with him,

they will be set out on the streets of the nursing homes and they will not like that one bit. guest: it is beginning to social lines and get some attractions and that as welfare reform. republicans have criticized the administration's moves as lessening the commitment by welfare reform. we have not had that debate at the national level at a sustained way since the 1990's. that introduces an unstable element. now 15 years later.

host: st. augustine is a small community in florida where mitt romney will be going to and we had this headline. he will be on the campus of flager college. scott is calling from that town now. you are a member of the green party. talk to us about mitt romney's visit. caller: the paper doesn't mention anything. they do not want you to show up. they said the governor came here but the paper did not mention it. left real quick and only the tea party people were left. host: what are you looking for? caller: honesty, a special from you guys.

c-span said yesterday that you are a charity. you're not a charity. you get the money and he take the money. you do not ask for donations. you get our money for free. number two, why are you here with politico? politico is a republican organization. host: what makes you thing politico is a republican organization? caller: all the independent polls are saying obama is ahead. his poll says they are tied. so 1984 of you guys to promote mitt romney and paul ryan for days on end. party.

you are scared that they are going to lose. host: a couple of strong points from scott, a green party person. pittsburgh, pennsylvania. a chance to respond to political being a republican organization. guest: i don't think there's any merit to that. we will cover mitt romney and paul ryan. our readers have insatiable appetites for politics. we will cover a closely. that is true of almost any news organization. almost invariably you'll get killed from both sides.

we get criticism from both sides about where we stand. >> "washington journal" airs every day live at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> and our next president. let me tell you, we're so happy to have governor romney here with us today, and he is through thrilled to be here in miami. go here. to try a man g

as attorney general, icahn and i will continue to sue the federal -- i can and i will continue to sue the federal government, the epa, the nlrb, but the only way to stop the over regulation of the federal government is to let mitt romney as president of the united states. he is about creating jobs, and that is what we all desperately care about. we also have with us today the governor's son.

>> [speaking in spanish] good afternoon, miami. it is our honored to be with you today, and with your indulgence i would like to say a few words in spanish. [speaking in spanish]

[speaking in spanish] [speaking in spanish]

>> usa! >> i described to themowsaved ar insurance. i am honored to be here with you today. i am proud to be from this committee. i live a few blocks away. joining me here today is the next president of the united states. at such a critical moment in our nation's history, this country has been different than the rest of the world. never has there been such a society like this. almost everybody in the world live in poverty for thousands of years.

everyone else was trapped by the circumstances of their birth. whenever your parents did, that was what you were allowed to do. you were allowed only to go as far as your parents went. that changed because on this continent some command began a nation on the true principle that every single person born was born with certain rights given to them by god, that no government could deny them. from those principles sprung free enterprise and free enterprise created prosperity in this nation, unlike anything man has ever known. no community understands that better than this one. hundreds of thousands of men and women who lost their youth and their country to tyranny, and are grateful to god that this nation was 90 miles off the shore of theirs, because

here they were able to provide for their families and leave their children better off than themselves. this country, makes us different, has never been automatic and has always required americans to accept it and do what it takes to keep it that way. now is our chance to do that, too. for four long years, we have a president that does not understand that about our country. he does not believe in free enterprise. he thinks the only way to get ahead is by pulling other people behind. he divides us against each other. he divides us against each other in an attempt to win this election. it will not work, because that is never who we have bent and not who we are now. what we have a chance to do is to elect someone that believes in free enterprise, that believes in the greatness of

america, and will instill policies that will ensure our children inherit what they deserved. that is why it is my privilege and my honor to welcome to my community, to welcome to my neighborhood, the next president of the united states of america, mitt romney. >> thank you. thank you. thank you. this is a team. this is 18. this is the family. this team, this family are want

to help me win the white house this november. better days are ahead, but we will have to have a better leader in the white house, and i will be that person. i know there are people who are critical of america and think our best days are past, but i know something, do not forget who just won the most medals at the olympics. we did. do not forget to put a vehicle all the way to mars. who put us there? we did. i know the chinese are planning on getting to the moon. they're working hard to get a rock at to the moon. when they do, they will find an america flag there that has been there for 43 years. the people of america are going to have a choice about which course to go down, a i have someone here i want to have you

understand a little bit about me. this is my son, my baby, if you will, and i will have him say a couple of words, as well as in spanish, but he understand spanish, so what i will have him say a few words. >> [speaking in spanish]

>> romney! >> we have a dramatic twist to make about what kind of america we want. we either go down the path which makes america more like europe, or we will make america more like america. this president ran for office, saying he was going to do a bunch of things. he has not done that. 23 million americans out of work or underemployed. i will get the jobs of american needs. i know how to do it. he said he will help people to

be able to hang onto their homes. i will get this economy going so people will see home of values going up again. the president said under his progress we have seen more people start businesses and began a new enterprises. he has been crushing small enterprise. we are at a 30-year low in new start-ups. the president said he would cut the deficit in half. i think it is immoral for us to keep spending our kids' future. i will get america on track to a balanced budget. if you think jobs are plentiful, if you think home values are good, if you think your health care needs to be taken over by the government, you know the person to vote for, and that is barack obama. if you want somebody who wants

rising wages and home values and get america on track to have fiscal sanity, and then i am the person who should be the next president of the united states. the other day, the president said something, which i did not believe he said it. i could not believe it. he said if you have a business, you did not build it, someone else did that for you. i thought that cannot possibly be what he meant. he said look at the context, so i looked at the context, and the context was worse than the quotation, because he said if you are successful you may think it is because you are smart, and a lot of people are smart, and you might think it is because you worked hard, but a lot of people worked hard. in my view this is a nation that has always reverenced and

celebrated people who are successful and begun businesses and a cheat things. we are a nation of individuals with dreams to build enterprises and lives for themselves. that is the nature of america. when a person goes to work every day and says i think i am going to community college and see if i can get some more skills and get a promotion, when they get the current motion -- the promotion, we congratulate them. when a kid goes to middle school, working their heart out to get the honor roll, they took the bus to get the school, but if they get the honor roll i get the credit not to the bus driver, to the kid. if you begin a business like this one, you begin a business like this one and people from

all over south florida to taste these five products here, i give credit to the people who work here, not to the government who opened the street for us. senator rubio was absolutely right, from the beginning of the country the idea was the rights that we have as citizens are not given to us by our government, but are given to us by our creator. it is god who gave us our rights, and among those rights are life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. we are free in this nation to pursue happiness as we choose, and circumstance of birth does not limit our potential. look at marker rubio, what an extraordinary legal, an example that kind of promise in america. that is the american dream. i heard him speak at another

audience and said something i will not forget, when he came and lived very modestly in a community right here, they saw some of the big fancy homes. i never heard my parents say, i wonder why those people will not give us some of what they have. instead, the parents said, aren't we lucky to live in a land where if we work hard and take some risks we might be able to achieve that for ourselves. that is the nature of america. that is what makes america the way we are. people have come here for hundreds of years seeking for opportunity, freedom to pursue their dreams, and when they are successful, when they achieve their dreams, they do not make guess poor, they make us better off. i will not apologize for success and i will never apologize for america overseas.

if i become the next president, and paul bryan becomes the next vice president, -- paul rye and becomes the next vice- president, we will do everything in our power to make america strong, which strong homes and strong values. we will cling to the principles of the constitution and the declaration of independence. we will improve our economy. i would have five things i am gone to do to get our economy growing -- and we will take advantage of our energy resources, coal, gas, will come out rules. number 2, we will make sure every person has the skills they need to see that. that means our schools can no longer be in the bottom. they must be the best. we must put the kids first in our education world. number three, i want more trade. it is good for us to be able to trade with other nations.

create more jobs here. there is a huge market next door where we can do more trade, latin america. i will crack down on nations like china when they cheat. number four, we will finally get america to strengthen -- to shrink the size of federal spending and balance the budget. number five, i will champion small businesses, help small business grow and help more people. that is what we are going to do, make sure this nation stays strong, not by virtue of government that tries us how to live -- that tries to tell us how to live our lives. i believe in your capacity to build a better life for yourself. i do not believe government can do what he can do. you can achieve your dreams, and you will make america strong

car. i will fight to keep america strong. it will be second to none in the world. i love this country. i love america. we will keep america strong and the hope of the earth. thank you so very much. thank you, guys. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ♪ ♪

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♪ >> tomorrow, it is on to ohio.

tomorrow night, a rally at the courthouse in chillicothe, ohio. president obama kicks off his own bus tour today. he is spending three days in iowa. this afternoon he stopped in council bluffs. he said a congressional republicans have been blocking a farm bill from becoming law. ♪ ♪

>> hello, iowa. it is good to be back. it is good to be back in iowa. i miss you guys. thank you. first of all, can everybody get big round ofpla applause. i want to acknowledge

the best secretary of agriculture we have ever had. [applause] congressman leonard boswell and [applause] did you see the sun is coming out? [applause] i love being back in iowa. we're starting here in council bluffs, but we will be heading east and i think i will and at the state fair. michelle has told me i cannot have a fried twinkie, but i will be checking out the butter cow and chocolate moose. -- mousse. that, if i can. the last time i went to the

state fair, secret service let me do the bumper cars. i was not president yet, so i could do that. not this time. now, before i get started, i just want to say a few words about the drought because it has such an impact on this state and all across the country. right now, people in iowa and across the heartland are suffering from one of the worst droughts in 50 years. farmers, ranchers depend on a good crop season to pay the bills and keep a roof over their heads. i know things are tough right now. the best way to help these states is for the folks in congress to pass a farm bill that not only helps farmers and ranchers respond to natural disasters but also makes the necessary reforms to give farmers and ranchers some long- term certainty. unfortunately, right now to many members of congress are

blocking the farm bill from becoming law. i am told that governor romney's new running mate may be in iowa and he is one of the leaders in congress standing in the way. if you happen to see congressman ryan, tell him how important the farm bill is. we need to put politics aside when it comes to during the right thing for iowa and rural america. [applause] it is always a problem waiting for congress. in the meantime, i have made sure my administration is doing everything we can to provide relief for those in need. last week, we announced $30 million to help ranchers and farmers to get more water for livestock and rehabilitate land. today, we're announcing the

federal government will help livestock producers by purchasing meat and fish right now while prices are low and we will freeze it for later. we have a lot of freezers. that will help ranchers who were going through tough times right now and also over the long term, the food will be used by those in the pentagon and other places. america depend on farmers and ranchers to put food on the table, depend on them to feed our families, so we need to be there for them. not just today but tomorrow and every day until this drop passes because we are americans. that's what we do. we take care of each other. when tough times strike our neighbors, we give them a hand. [applause] now, that speaks to the larger

idea of why i'm here. the notion that i am my brother's keeper, the idea that we are in this together was at the heart of the journey that began here in iowa five years ago. you know, we spend a lot of time on bus tours like this one, in school gymnasiums, small businesses throughout this state. the bus we had was not as nice as this one. [laughter] that campaign back in 2007-2008 had plenty of ups and downs, but no matter what you, the people in iowa, had my back. you had my back. [applause] when the pundits had written us

off, when we were down in the polls, you believed in me, and i believe in you. it was on your front porches and in your backyard where the movement for change in this country began. but our journey is not finished. not yet. nextoing to spend the three days driving all across this state, just like a did in 2007, to cross from council bluffs to the quad cities. once more, you face the choice. that choice could not be bigger. it is not just between two candidates, two political parties. more than any other election, this is a choice between two fundamentally different visions for this country and the path we have to take. the direction that you choose when you walk into that voting booth in november will have an impact not just on your lives but your children's, grandchildren's for decades to

come. this one counts. [applause] crowd: four more years!four more years! four more years! four more years! >> think about this, council bluffs. we came together. it was not just democrats but independents and some republicans because we understood we needed to restore the basic bargain that made this country great, the basic deal that created the middle class and the most prosperous economy the world has ever known. it's a simple bargain. it says it you work hard, your work should be rewarded. if you act responsibly and you put in enough effort, you should be able to find a job to pay the bills.

you should have a home you call your own. you should count on health care when you get sick. put away and up to retire with dignity and respect. most of all, give your kids in education that allows them to dream even bigger than you did. that's the american promise. that's the american dream. [applause] the reason we came together was because we had seen a decade in which that dream was being betrayed. jobs were being shipped overseas. you were working harder but making less while the cost of everything from health care to college kept going up. it all culminated in the worst financial crisis since the great depression. we knew that restoring the

basic bargain that made this country would not be easy. we knew it would take more than one year, one term, one president. that was before the crisis hit. we saw friends and neighbors lose their jobs, lose their homes, lose their savings, pushing the american dream even further out of reach for many americans. over the last 3.5 years, we have seen american grit. you are tougher than any tough time. when we get knocked down, we stand back up. some workers lost their jobs and they went back to community college, got retrained, and now have a new job. slowly we have seen 4.5 million new jobs created, 500,000 manufacturing jobs created.

no matter how bad the crisis was, one thing did not change and that is the character of the american people and the resilience of the american people. what has not changed is our determination to do what we came together to do in 2008 which is to make sure that in america, hard work pays off. no matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like, you can make it here in america if you try. [applause] that is what this campaign is about, iowa, and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states of america. [applause] you know, i told you four years ago that there would not be quick fixes, easy solutions. the challenges have been building for decades.

that's still true today. i want everybody to know that we have the capacity to meet every challenge. we have the best workers in the world. we have the best entrepreneurs, the best colleges, universities, the best researchers, the best scientists. we have a diversity of talent and ingenuity. there's not another country that would not trade places with the united states of america. [applause] what is holding us back right now is washington politics. you've got people on the other side to have been thinking

compromise is a dirty word and whose main idea is to go back to the same old top-down economics that got us in this mess to begin with. you know, this weekend, my opponent, mr. romney, it chose the ideological leader of republicans in congress. congressman ryan is a good man, a family man. he is an articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision. the problem is that vision is one i fundamentally disagree with. [applause] governor romney and his allies in congress think we just get rid of more regulations on big corporations and give more tax breaks to the wealthiest americans, and medicare as we know it and make it a voucher

system that somehow this will lead to jobs and prosperity for everybody. the centerpiece of mr. romney's entire economic plan is a new $5 trillion tax cut, a lot of it going to the very wealthiest americans. last week, an independent study, not by me, but by independent economists said that governor romney's plan would are naturally raise taxes on middle-class families with children by an average of $2,000 apiece. this would not be done not to reduce the deficit. it would not be done to create jobs or put people back to work rebuilding roads, bridges, or schools. it's just you paying an extra $2,000 to get another $250,000 tax cut for those making more

than $3 million per year. does this sound familiar to you? they have tried to sell us this trickle-down theory before. guess what? every time and has been tried it has not worked. it did not work then. it won't work now. it won't create jobs. it will not lower the deficit. it is not a plan to lower the deficit. we need tax relief for working families. [applause] you need tax relief. people trying to raise kids, put a roof over their heads, send them to college. that is the choice. that is the reason i'm running again. four years ago, i promised to cut middle-class taxes, and that is exactly what i've done.

[applause] the average working family here in iowa and across the country has seen their tax go down about $3,600. your taxes have been lower. i want to keep them where they are, so if your family makes under $250,000, which, by the way, is over 90% of americans, you will not seek your taxes go up by a dime. 97% of small-business this will

not see their taxes go up, but here is the thing. this is important. omaha. we love you. [cheers and applause] . we did not want to leave our nebraska folks out of this. but here is the thing. if you are lucky enough and are fortunate enough and have been blessed enough to be in the other 2%, the top 2%, you still get a tax cut for your first $250,000 of income. all we are saying is that after that, maybe you can do a little bit more to pay down the deficit and invest in things like education that help the economy grow. [cheers and applause]

and, listen. we have already cut $1 trillion out of spending. we are going to cut more. we are going to streamline government and make it work efficiently and effectively. but we are also going to ask folks like me to do a little bit more, and what we are asking is for folks like me to go back to the rates we paid under bill clinton, and, by the way, that was a time when retreated nearly 23 million more jobs, and we created the biggest budget surplus in history, and here is the kicker. those at the top actually did well, because guess what?

when a fire fighter or a teacher gets more money, what do they do? maybe they go and buy a new car or something for this school year, or they go to a restaurant, or heaven forbid, they take a vacation, and that means businesses start hiring more workers, and everybody does better. that is how we grow the economy. not from the top down but from the middle up and from the bottom up. that is the choice in this election, and that is why i am running for a second term as president of the united states. you know, across the board, there is a sharp contrast. when the automotive industry was

on the brink of collapse, more than 1 million jobs were saved. governor romney said, "let detroit to go bankrupt. i refused to turn my back on one of the great american industries. i bet on american workers and american manufacturing. three years later, the american automotive industry has come roaring back, so now, i want to make sure that the jobs are taking root here. i want them to take root here. governor romney, he likes to brag about his private sector experience. a bunch of that experience was invested in companies that have been called pioneers of outsourcing. let me tell you. i want in sourcing, not outsourcing. i want to stop giving tax breaks

to companies shipping jobs overseas. thes create jobs here in united states, hiring american workers, making american products, selling them around the world, stamped with three words, "made in america." [cheers and applause] that is what i believe in. here is another difference. right now, homegrown energy, things like wind energy, and governor romney wants to end tax credit for wind energy producers, american now produces twice as much electricity from wind as before i took office. [cheers and applause] we have doubled how much we are producing from wind.

this is about 7000 jobs in iowa. but that these tax credits, all whole lot of these jobs would be at risk. thousands of jobs across the country would be at risk. so i think we should stop spending millions of taxpayer subsidies for an oil industry that is making all kinds of profits, and let's keep investing in the clean energy that has never been more promising. that is the choice in this election. back in 2008, i said it was time to end the war in iraq. we ended it. i was saying it is time to go after bin laden and al qaeda, and we did. [cheers and applause]

we set a timeline to start bringing our troops out of afghanistan, after a decade of war, we start doing some nation-building here at home. we cannot have done any of this without the extraordinary work of our men and women in uniform. as long as i am commander in chief, we will serve our veterans as well as they have served us. no veteran should have to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they come home. that is why we have invested so heavily in making sure it is working the way it is supposed to. that is why we have put more money in fort traumatic brain injuries and among veterans. those are investments that we

have got to make, and my plan says let's take half of the money that we are no longer spending on more, and let's also use it to put people back to work building our wireless network and creating a better job corps, so they can hire our veterans to be firefighters and police officers in the communities that need it. that is the america that we want to build. that is why i am running for a second term. [cheers and applause] i want to make sure the world once again lead the world in educating our kids and training our workers. i want to help, especially in math and science. i want to give millions of more americans the chance to go to community college and learned the skills the businesses are hiring for right now, and i want

to give colleges and universities to bring down the cost of tuition once and for all, because higher education is not a luxury. it is an economic necessity. everybody should be able to afford it. a plan to help homeowners refinance their homes at lower rates, saving on average $3,000. this isent's solution, not a solution. that is part of the problem. that is the difference in this election. my opponents as one of the first things he would do is repeal obamacare. i think that part of being middle-class america is making sure you do not go bankrupt. that is what because of this

law, you will be able to get health insurance. that is why 6.5 million young people cannot stay on their parents' plan. this is why seniors are now getting discounts on prescription drugs. that is why insurance companies may impose lifetime limits when you need it most. it is true. obama does care. the supreme court has spoken. we are not going backwards. we are going forward. [cheers and applause] you know, all of these things, all of these things, whether it is bringing back manufacturing, creating more construction jobs, or people's health care, making

sure your kids get the best education, making sure our veterans have the same coverage my grandfather had when he came back from world war ii and was able to go to college on the gi bill, all of these things are part of what makes us, and they are all bound together. these are the ideas that made this country great, and basic promise that if you work hard, you can get ahead. it is not always quite to be smith. there are going to be times when times are tough, but the basic idea that if you work hard and look after your family, that work is going to be rewarded. that is the promise that our parents and grandparents passed down to us, and now it is the promise we have to pass down to our kids and grandkids. that is what is at stake in the election, so over the next three months, you are going to see the other side spend more money on

negative ads than we have seen in history, and they have got some really rich people writing $10 million czechs, and basically, they're going to say the same thing over and over again. they know their economic theories are not going to sell. all they are going to say is the economy is not as good as it should be, and is obama's fault. they will expect you to have amnesia and not remember who it was that got us into this mess. [cheers and applause] but they figure if they run the advertisements enough, people may start thinking about it. that is true. so they may have a plan to win the election, but they cannot hide the facts that they do not

have a plan to create jobs or grow the economy, and i do have that plan. i have got a plan that puts you first. i have got a plan that puts middle-class families and folks trying to get into the middle class first. but i am going to need your help. i am going to need your help. i've got to make sure you are registered. i have got to make sure your friends are registered. in iowa, you can get registered online. all you have to do is go online to gottaregister.com. that is g-o-t-t-a register.

when you focus your attention, all of the struggles your parents and grandparents went through and how maybe because you got a student loans somewhere or maybe because your dad is able to get a job at the factory, you guys were able to build a good life together, just like michelle and i, we were able to get opportunities that our parents could never imagine, when you focus on that, the way we pull together, that gives everybody a fair shot, and everybody is played by the same rules, and everybody is taking responsibility, when you come together and reaffirm those core values that make this the greatest country on earth, you cannot be stopped. all the money the folks are spending does not matter.

you are our democracy. you make decisions about the direction of this country. and, iowa, i have to tell you, we have come too far. we have got too many jobs we have to create. we have got too many teachers we still have to hire. we have got too many schools we have to rebuild. we have too many students that need a better education. we have got more homegrown energy we have to generate. we have got more troops to bring home. we have got more doors we about to open for everybody who is willing to work hard enough to walk through those doors. that is what is at stake in this election. this is why i am running for president of the united states. that is why i am asking for your vote, not just for me but for the country we believe in, and if you are willing to work with me and knock on doors with me,

if you vote for me in november, we will win iowa. we will win this election. we will finish what we started in 2008, and we will remind the world why the united states of america is the greatest country on earth. god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. ♪ >> knocking on the dorr -- door it leads me home ♪ we take care of our own

we take care of our own from the shotgun shack to the superdome but the calvary stayed home there is no one hearing the bugle blondest we take care of our own, we take care of our own wherever this flag is flown we take care of our own ♪

where the eyes, the eyes with the will to see where the hearts, that run over with mercy where is the love that has not forsaken me? where is the work that some of my hands and sold free? where is the promise from sea to shining sea? wherever this flag is flown wherever this flag is flown we take care of our own we take care of our own wherever this flag is flown we take care of our own we take care of our own

we take care of our own wherever this flag is flown we take care of our own ♪ ♪ ♪

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> if you missed any of the president's remarks, and you can see it again tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, and at 9:00, mitt romney is campaigning with senator marquard rubio. the republican national convention, august 27 to 30. democrats hold their convention after labor day, september 4 to 6. we will have live coverage of both, and in october, presidential debates. the first will focus on domestic policy. october 16, a town hall event moderated by someone from cnn, and then one on foreign policy.

today, paul ryan hit the campaign trail without mitt romney. he was in des moines, iowa, at the state fair. he was escorted by the iowa governor. terry branstad.

[cheers and applause] >> nice to see you. >> thanks for your hospitality. thanks for having me. >> we are happy to have you and plan to work for you from now to

november. >> you know, my mother-in-law is from clinton, iowa. he was like my wife's third or fourth cousin. second was norman's cousin or something like that. that is great. >> and then they will come back to the iowa capital. we have the buildings in downtown des moines. every year, we do this. >> the thing we did at the hall. a gold medal, yes. >> we have got all of that displayed in downtown des moines. >> of, really?

>> yes. he was a wrestler for the university. >> thanks for coming to iowa. >> my pleasure. >> you said yesterday that the president --

>> i want to enjoy this affair right now -- to enjoy this fair right now. >> have you ever seen this. >> no, i have not. i usually lose to a 17-year-old

woman who is wearing a tiara. i'm going to keep myself in shape, that is for sure. that is your -- that is interesting. that is great. yes. i am looking forward to it. oh, yes.

good to see you. ok. we will get to that later. right now, i just want to enjoy it. >> nice to meet you. >> what is your name, ma'am? enjoy the fair. hi. you are enjoying the fair?

how are you doing? nice to meet you. nice to meet you. they make those. what is your name? angry bird. good to see you. watch the baby, everybody. hey, how are you doing? hey, what is your name? hey, buddy. what is your name? >> mckenna. >> where are you from? >> des moines, iowa. >> we are running for office. that is why we have all of these

people around. >> a prediction poll. >> you know what? we like to think of it as america's team. good to see you. what is your name, ma'am? like a tootsie roll. very cool. nice to meet you. hey, aidan. how are you doing? that is pretty cool. you get a little bell goes strap and put it on your>> right, rig. they work well.

my kids just spit them out o nthe ground. -- on the ground. nice to see you. take care. >> the majority in your state and iowa -- >> we will play all these issues. president obama -- we will see these issues later. hey sir, thanks for your support. thanks for your service. hello, jenna. i am just getting used to it. it is different. thanks for coming out to the fair today. >> thanks for coming to iowa. the competitive edge has a lot of promotional things.

all of this -- >> oh, really? no kidding. id in mitt's first campaign, was in landsford also. >> welcome to iowa. thanks for coming. >> good to see you. >> not provoked -- >> because we could get away with it. you don't try to get someone -- >> so what nfl team do you have? >> iowa state and iowa. >> are you more -- >> this ia s a factor. >> you have a lot of basketball. >> we have a lot of cubs fans. >> i live an hour and a half --

>> i am behind you 100%. >> my grandfather went to -- great school. i keep going. we had an event for governor crawford. that is the centerpiece -- this is -- >> you -- we got this and -- >> we ran again. >> he ran before and almost beat him. and now he's running again.

>> this year -- >> good to see you. >> nice to see you there. >> no question, no question. >> i would speak to him, too. [applause] >> sit down, guys. >> good afternoon. we will wait just a second to let the media get positioned. my name is rick green, the editor and vice president of the des moines register. we want to thank you for being here and appreciate your patience. we know it is hot and warm but it is worth the wait.

[applause] >> this has been a politicla al soapbox. this is a chance to bring forward great candidates from different levels to interact with you, the voters. the great tradition is that we have great civil discourse and we are respectful to our guests. i introduce the great governor of iowa, terry grandstatt. -- brandstad. >> thanstad. >> it is my honor to introduce a man who will be a great vice-

president for the country . the voice of fiscal responsibility and a great congressman from our neighboring state, paul ryan. [applause] >> hey . [applause] >> are there any packer fans here? all right, cool. hey, everybody, how are you doing? what a beautiful day to be at the state fair. do you have wristband day here? wristband day, you can ride all the rides with one wristband all day. from a wisconsinite to an iowan, have wristband day. i heard president obama is

starting his bus tour today. and i heard he wasn't going to come to the iowa state fair. it'snk it's -- i think become so -- you know, it's funny. it is funny because iowans and wisconsinites love to be respectful of one another and listen to one another, but these ladies must not be from iowa or wisconsin. and so -- oh. they are starting to hear. like i said, you must not be from iowa. so, hey, all right. my guess is -, my guess is the

reason president obama isn't making it here is becasue huse e only knows left turns. you know, but have you see nhim come through on his bus tour, you may ask him the same question i am getting asked, and that is where are the jobs, mr. president? [applause] now, one thing we have to get straight, one thing we have to get straight is we are not growing this economy or creating jobs like we can in america. that is why mitt romney and i have a plan for a stronger middle class to get this country

growing jobs again and get us back on the path to prosperity in this country. there are five things we will do right away to create 12 million jobs. we have energy i nthin this country, let's use this energy in this country. renewables, biomass, nuclear, and oil and gas. let's get it. let's not keep buying from other countries. we also need workers with skills to thrive and survive in this economy. you know what we need to do? we need to stop spending money we don't have. president obama has given us four years of trillion-dollar

deficits and is making matters worse and spending our children into a diminished future. on november 6, we will change that. we also need to have free and fair trade to make more things in iowa, make mroore things here and sell them oversees. 97% of consumers are outside this country. we need to make more things in iowa and the midwest. if we do that, we will create jobs. [applause] >> one more thing. one of the great things about mitt romney, is that he actually knows how to create jobs. he has created jobs, started small businesses, turned aroulnd

failing businesses. that's the leadership and experience we want to have. this is a man with real life experiences who knows if you have a small business, you did build that small business. [applause] we need to rebuild and reenergize our small buisinesses and that is where our jobs come from. i have to tell you, overseas, for a wisconsinite this means lake superior, our competing nations are taxing their businesses at a lower rate than ours. president obama tells america's successful small businesses that they want the top tax rate to go to 45%. the canadians just lowered the

tax rate for their businesses to 15%. how on earth are our small businesses going to compete when we have other countries lowering their tax rates? we have to lowe rthr the loophos and reductions. and we have to stop cutting small businesses and spending that money in washington. that's right. that's right. >> usa! usa! >> thank you. another thing. we have people who are hurting in this country. people are hurting because we don't have jobs. families live paycheck to paycheck and the paychecks

aren't stretched to what they have. we have the largest deficit and biggest government since world war ii. one of six americans live in poverty today. what we have to do and need to do is get the policies that get self-e from welfare to self sufficiency and dignity. what is so disturbing about president obama's reason action is that he took a reform that was bipartisan and he signed this into law by in 1996, we called this welfare reform. this is one of the greatest by partisan policies in 20 years because it said, if you will receive this, you have to get ready for work, to get back on

your feet. you see, we believe in the safety net. we believe in a safety net that is there for people who cannot help themselves. it is there to help people who are down on their luck to get up on their feet. and the working requirement did more to help the poor and to reduce child poverty than anything we have seen in a generation. and president barack obama just got rid of those work requirements, and they're no longer has to be a work performance for people to receive welfare. this is going to send the wrong message. we want to give people a hand up, but not handouts. and so, what you see from us is this. we owe you a choice. you are our fellow citizens and

we want to give you a choice to decide the kind of country you want to have, and what kind of people you want to be. we want america to be the land of the free, with a safety net but upward mobility, a society of people reaching their potential and making the most of their lives. we do not want to follow europe or have a welfare state, we do not want to have a long recession, or see the path of household incomes going down. we want to turn this around. and with mitt romney, we are used to this in wisconsin. and with mitt romney, we have leaders -- a leader who is proven, who knows to create jobs. we have a leader when his country needed him, he moved to

salt lake city and he saved the olympics and he made us proud. we have a leader, when he was governor of massachusetts, balance the budget without raising taxes, and he increased household income. he increased the take-home pay. our job is to grow the economy and get people back to work and help people have bigger paychecks. this can be done and we can turn this around and get this economy going. do you know what we will do? we will do this in iowa and all around the country. we will do this anywhere that we can go. november 6 is the day that we are going to do this. i feel such kindred spirits here. i live an hour and a half from debut -- iowa.

this is where my mother in law is from. some of you -- you may be vikings or bears fans. i won't hold that against you. i see packers hats. but at the end of the day, we are americans. america is special. america is the only country founded on an idea. that is the big difference here. what is unique about america is that we recognize the points and facts, the principles that our veterans fought for. our rights, they come from nature and god, not from government. that is who we are. that is what we believe. and if we reapply thsoose principles we can get this

country on track. help us do this thing. help us bring this state to the mitt romney column. we saved it for our kids, our grandkids. thank you, everyone. have a great -- [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [applause]

>> you are welcome. >> in our primetime schedule, three campaign rallies. president obama in council bluff, iowa. paul ryan, who began his first solo campaign trip since he was tapped as the running mate of mitt romney. he is at the fair at the iowa --

he is at the iowa state fair, which we just saw. then mitt romney with marco rubio in miami. >> there are still wolves in the woods and we saw this. we saw this when saddam hussein invaded kuwait. our energy supply may be held hostage, but we did what was right. and we did what was necessary and destroyed a threat, and we freed eight people and we locked a tyrant in the prison of his own country. >> tonight, 10 million of our fellow americans are out of work. millions work harder for lower pay. the incumbent president says that unemployment always goes up a little before the recovery, but this only has to go up by one more person before a real

recovery can begin. >> c-span has aired every moment of every party convention since 1984. watch the group -- watch the republican and democratic conventions live on c-span. >> the reform party nominated their presidential and vice- presidential candidates this weekend in philadelphia. army veteran andre barnett is running for president with ken cross running for vice president. they spoke for 10 minutes. >> i humbly accept your party's nomination for presidential candidate. i realize that many of you are taking a chance on someone that you did not know for every long before, but i hope this was an educated decision you made.

i realize there are some concerns on some of my stances, but that is one reason i believe the reform party is going to grow immensely and work very well. we have the ability to talk about these things. and this discussion is important in any growing process. through the process that we have going here, we are creating a model. and we are showing ourselves to be true to what america needs and what they want out of leadership. i respected everything you said. mr. cross, you are an incredible candidate and i am happy to have you at my side. there is a lot that drew me to this party, as isaii said

before. but right now, as i look at the people who took part in this process, i am more proud. i see the fast stand of american young, old. there are some of them who are executives,ic poor. i see the people who are here in everyday liefe, those who are actually effected. not the super-elites. but those who are effected by government. i promise you -- i will do what i can. the reform party encompasses what america is looking for.

reform. we have to get this back to a simpler form of government. this is not over-complicated. i greatly appreciate your faith in me at this point. and i reach out to each and every individual with any problems with my stances. i want to work with you and i want you to work with me in return. this is the only way it works with everyone. if this is a unilateral dec ision, it will end in failure. this is about success and a better future. something where we can leave something better for our children and they have more than we had. something where we can strive to do better.

where we can project a real image of democracy around the world. not the psuedo-democracy we have now and can make decisions in congress within the government and get things done. it won't be a do-nothing government or america. an america wehrhere people look at us and whisper behind our backs on what we think we are or what we used to be. they will look at us as what we are now and how far we will go into the future. the reform party is the greatest party that there is now. we have nowhere to go but up. we are growing. we will be the voice of the middle class and all of america. i am not a proponent of the 1%

or 99%, it is 100% of everyone in america. i will not focus on social issues. that's not what we need. that belongs outside of politics. i will focus on our economy. on the defense of this country. and on making our americans better educated to make the decisions we need made every single day. i will intensify my focus on bringing jobs back to america. people who are working, gridning nding their hands to the bones, they don't have time -- to do the research needed. we need people that are going to be effectively intergrating

themselves into this process. this great, american process we have. it is what sets us apart from other countries and sets us apart from the communists, those who would be considered religious, fanatical countries. we are america. we are great, and wonderful, and proud. i think the reform party is the microcasm of america. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you so much, andre. i would like to give the opportunity to mr. cross, who is our vice-presidential

nominee. am grateful to be nominated for the reform party for vice president. i look forward to working with mr. barnett to help restore america to its position of strength and respect in the world that we ought to be in, and that we have dropped from in the two-party system. we need a better way than we are doing things now. even the campaign we are doing at the presidential level is personal attacks and slurs. it reminds me of that commercial, "where is the beef." a few policies and positions are set forth, with little detail provided and little focus on how

they will do this and turn around the problems we have now. i am sure mr. barnett and i will spend time working on options to set forth before the people to provide alternatives to what we have and solutions to our problems. we need a government, of the people, for the people, by the people. we have gotten away from that. i am not a politician. i am a citizen candidate. not a great speaker. i love my country. the founders of this country were not polished politicians. they were generals, farmers, scientists, and all sorts of walks of life that stepped forward to help serve their

country. we need this attitude, we need to present that attitude before the people so they understand that there is a better way, there is a chance to have a better way through the reform hope.tha ngivinan giving up the american people, many i have talked to, photographic shops at wall-mart, they feel the same way. that there is nothing they can do and there is no hope. the two parties are so polarized that nothing can be done and we just have to go forward and see what happeness, when things collapse or crash. that is a pathetic situation and we can do better than what we have with the republicans and

democrats. i look forward to assisting mr. barnett with his approaches and i believe that together, we can help to make a path for a stronger america, for ourselves and our posterity. >> >> the vice-president will speak at an agricultural institute in danville, virginia, tomorrow. now from this morning's "washington journal," conversation on the affordable care act. our guest is the president and ceo of the national business group on health. what is the national business

group on health? >> it is a member or resist -- a membership organization. we have 342 members. we work on health benefits and policy from the point of view of large employers, and bwe -- host: what did you want to find out and what are the main results. guest: we did a survey in the summer, and that is the first time that large employers know what they are right to be doing for the subsequent year, 2013. because they are in the middle of dealing with the affordable care act, we wanted to know what they are doing, which they would normally do, but how they are

dealing and copeland with the affordable care act. those are the broad areas we surveyed. host: what did you find out about cost? guest: 7% for 2012, and that is on a rising base. the problem with that is is four times the overall economy. it is way out of whack. host: how does that compare with recent years? guest: it is about the same as 2012. host: does the study looked at years beyond next year? guest: 2012 is the only one we are certain about. talking health care

and larger businesses. we talk about what large employers are expecting. it is the 7% figure for 2000 to gear. our guest is the president of the national corp. on health. we will get to your calls in a moment. four employees, -- for employees, what are they expected to do? guest: the employer had to make some design changes, and that is increase the cost sharing or asking that employees either get prescription drugs through mail order or that pay a higher price. it is an ongoing medication they take. they have already done that. they will wakeup in the morning

on open enrollment day and they will note that they will pay out of pocket themselves to. that is from the very beginning. the cost sharing is going up slightly. the amount that comes out of their paycheck will go up less than 5%, but it will go up at a time when wages are flat. if they are standing still, they are well off as opposed to losing their job. host: you touched on that health care all. what does it mean for large companies. guest: employers have to provide information in a customized way. there are fees they are having to pay to pay for certain

things. depending on how the rules are written, if they provide coverage and for the employee, the out-of-pocket cost, the contributions they pay out of their paycheck, is more than a certain amount. it is considered unaffordable. that individual can go into the exchange and get a federal subsidy. host: can you gauge to the extent which employers will be assuming the new cost? take us into the idea of cost sharing. guest: large employers have comprehensive benefits. the cost sharing will probably be up to 20%.

if they cover their family, the percentage may be different. host: let's hear from north carolina. caller: i would like the lady to clear up one thing. just to clear it up, paul ryan and matt ryan are trying to do, is making a continue to make it solvent. what they are trying to do is the democrats keep saying able to wipe it out. it is optional. people 55 and over, they can

keep what they got. when people get 65, it is optional. they can keep the medicare that they'll are going to get. or they can get a grant. who would not want to have that option? host: bister anything that we can apply to this conversation -- is there anything that we can apply to this conversation? guest: not really. there was some assistance to large employers who provide coverage for retirees. that is the only area where the affordable care act was supporter of for large employers. they still provide the kind of medical benefits. host: what is considered a large employer? guest: for us, it is over 500.

the law specifies is a 50 or older. ao host: let's hear from raleigh, north carolina. caller: i am disabled. i am retired and i worked most of my life. i have two chronic bonuses. -- illnesses. i have lupis, so if i go over my voucher -- i have to have back surgery and my doctor told me to stop taking medicaid because he said it was too messy and they do not pay pay aren't tied. -- on time. guest: there is no worry on her

behalf. there is plenty of coverage for all of the things that she is talking about. host: moving on to dixon, ill., sarah. care talking about health and larger businesses that are experiencing an increase in health-care costs. what did you think? caller: it has been really hard for people in their fiies to get jobs. are the premiums more for employers that hire 57-year- old's verses a 20 something year-old? guest: our insurers are self insured, do not pay premiums. they just basically pay medical claims. they pay more for someone who maybe 50, but some of the biggest expenses are newborn babies who are born premature

or automobile accidents or diving accidents. there is no age related -- it is called age banding. but there is no question that as you age you have a need for more services, and a lot of them are just preventive services. and it is true that as you get older -- i can tell you that as you get older, you have problems study did not have when you were younger. host: what did they say are the most effective ways to control costs? guest: the number one way to control costs for large employee numbers is a consumer directed health plan. these are health plans with higher deductibles. there are variable, and sometimes you have a choice on how variable you want to be. are you also have cost sharing on the service.

the consumer directed health plan bring to the employee or the defendant into what we call consumerism. we know they pay more attention to calling the nurse line to get information. they get more preventive services, a whole range of things. consumer directed is the number one. the second is held wellness improvement. all employers are now offering very comprehensive programs to encourage their employees and adult dependents to choose their lifestyles, to do a whole range of things, including talk to a coach. if they do it, the employers will in some instances pay them more money -- for instance, put $100 in their health account.

there are a range of things. no. 2 is cost sharing. those three things are the most effective way to control costs. host: do you expect the wellness to grow in years to come? guest: yes, it is interesting. in the last five years, the leading employers have used this. more and more employers are turning their organizations and to what they call and what we call a culture of hults with a lot of emphasis on people choosing healthy lifestyles. -- culture of health. paying for personal coaching, when you think about that, if someone would have tried to grade 10 years ago for a personal coach, someone will have said, are you kidding? but there are that is what they're doing. and -- but now that is what they're doing. host: you may be interested to know that the purchasing of health benefits at xerox corporation, 55,000 people.

certainly, a big company. we are in buffalo, new york, john, a democrat. caller: i just want to know if this is born to be a long-term 7% rise in or after 2014 when everybody has to get health care, will about lower lacoste's after 2013? -- lower the cost after 2013? guest: there is no evidence that cost will be lower. in 2014, millions of people, assuming it goes the way it goes to go despite the supreme were decision about medicaid, assuming additional people will have coverage. that will cost as much as a cause for a large employer. costs are not going to go down. our fear is that demand could go up and then providers could increase prices because they have more demands on them.

health care is different. it is not like buying a computer where costs are down when more people buy. in health care, that is not necessarily the case at all. in the next three or four years, unless we actively control costs, they will go of, and they go up more than 7%. host: here is a tweet from nick. he wants to know why they don't support a national health care option. is that true that they do not support a national plan? guest: i think he means like health care for all. there may be some large employers that think that is a good idea. generally, i think there is a fear that if something is government run, it is not going to end up costing less.

they use the comparison between medicare and the private sector and how medicare costs so little. it if you can control prices, basically, medicare tells the providers what they will pay them. they do not have to discuss it further. and they do that with medicaid, too. those private doctors turn around and charge more for what -- to make up for what they feel is missing. it is estimated about $1,000 per year per family coverage in cost because of that. if we had national health insurance and they did it that way, yes, it would probably cost employers last, but i cannot believe that would pass because the health industry would take about a 20% pay cut, and i've never seen them willing to do that. host: the next call is from

anne in the florida keyes. -- keys. caller: about two or three years ago they passed where you could keep your adult children on your health plan. my husband works for a large company. what they did is that we used to have a $200 deductible per family and that became a $1,000 deductible per family. we could have insured our adult children for that amount of money. there's always a dip in the system. it does not work. it is not real. somebody comes up with an answer and the insurance companies come up with a well- rounded. -- a way around it.

i do not think the nationalized health care will work either. guest: there is no question that probably the employer to increase the deductible, which has been happening across the board for the past three years. it is somewhat independent of betting -- adding the adult children of 26, because it was going to happen anyway. but you are making an extremely important point. there is no free lunch. if you move people are on to the plan and increased the cost of the current debt -- of the plan, thereby to increase in cost sharing. host: steffan in ohio, good morning. caller: if you previous callers as the question i was going to grass.

because of that, i want to know, what is it in massachusetts that makes the health system work that could be implemented nationally soared ribordy could benefit from the same -- so everybody could benefit from the same type of plan? guest: that is an excellent question. generally, what is looked at for the exchanges in the affordable care act will look a lot like the massachusetts connector. massachusetts is a very rich state. they already have literally billions of dollars that were being paid to hospitals to cover people for hospitalization. most states do not have that. there was already a pool of money and that made it easy when they brought in a lot of new people. and it was used to cover those people. it would be hard to have that

work in most other states in the country. but the model is very similar to the exchanges. host: can you give us more becher and on the consumer directed health plans. -- more background? what are they? guest: some of them are high deductible plans, but not all of them. the prince of all behind them is it is a plan where you have a high -- a principle behind it is where you have a high deductible, so you care what you are spending money on. usually the first amount of money is where you have to pay upfront. it is a front-end deductible. most of the employers actually seed the account from which you pay out, so you are eased in to this higher deductible. if you get something called a health savings account, which

is a tax qualified savings account, which you own, your employer might give you, let's say, $500 for your account. it is your money. you can save it, like for a retiree, or you can use it for your deductible. you can reduce the amount of deductible you have to pay. the principle is that if you feel it is your money, you are going to ask more questions about whether you need something, what it costs, if there is something less expensive. we know, for example, when you are in a consumer director of planned, people are much more likely to use a generic -- consumer directed health plan, people are much more likely to use generic, call the nurse line. the principle is changing the dynamics of consumers obama -- of consumerism. it is not just doing what your

doctor said. we assume there will be health- directed plans as an option. host: we have barbour on the democratic plan -- barbara on the democratic line. caller: if these companies do not want to pay for of care coverage, why do we have this as a business? if you have a single payer, you can still use private industry to oversee. but the industry does not want to do that. furthermore, people have criticized government-run health care, like the u.k.. they should try going without

any health care at the age of 60 like i did for three and our viewers -- three and a half years before obamacare kicked in in pennsylvania and i was able to buy because of pre- existing conditions. i was refused any kind of health care coverage by the private industry. private industry has to look out for itself, because they are a business. they are to make a profit. which is ridiculous if you get it on his face. this business of health savings accounts, you have to have money in order to save that. in order -- in other words, if you do not have $1,000 a month to put into a of savings plan,

you do not have a of savings plan. guest: a couple of things. first, employers are put -- are paying over hundreds of dollars on average. usually, was taken out of the employee's paycheck is considerably less. you are already getting from your first pay period on, you are giving money from your employer that you can use to pay your medical bills. you can set that aside literally or figuratively, and if you do not have any health care benefits for the first six or seven months, you may have equal to the collective all right there in just four is taken out of your paycheck. caller: moving forward, what role, if any, does capitol hill have in this big business of health care?

host: the most important role they should have is controlling health care costs and encouraging controlling health- care costs. not getting in the way or putting in mandates or administrative burdens that cost money. and if employers are trying to decide whether to hire one person -- , i mean, we have a slowly recovering economy. it is recovering, but it is certainly slow. if employers are waiting to see if the economy is strong enough to maintain the jobs, the more expensive we make it to hire or keep someone on a full-time basis, which is what we are doing -- and congress and the administration could make it worse -- then we will not have the recovery that we need. everybody needs to say that our biggest problem for the working families, for the nation, for our competition in the world, is controlling caller: health care costs last call from

virginia, george, republican. -- caller: medicare and medicaid are fine. the only problem we have are the people that run those programs. they're not doing their job properly. we have all kinds of a chronic systems for everything else. why can't we come up with an electronic system to check all of this stuff? when the doctors are sending in their bills and hospitals are sending in their burrows that they are not ee paid? guest: he is making -- that they are not paid double? guest: he is making a very important point.

in large percent of the economy is wasted. it puts your address when you do not need to be put at risk, or it actually harms you. there is no argument about the total. yes, there is some fraud and abuse and we should always do more about that. but the biggest problem is the overuse of tests and services that do not improve health. they do not add clinical value. the institute of medicine, you can go to their website and see lots of information. lots of experts have dealt with this topic. what congress and the administration can do is to make the elimination of risk top of the agenda. all of this about the fiscal crisis, much of that would actually go away if we fix this problem.

caller: good morning, and a 70- year-old retired banker from houston. a good number of my neighbors and people i associate with are from small oil companies. there is one thing that i've heard from more than one source, that these companies are giving serious consideration to cancelling all benefits from health care, taking the amount of they normally gave and deducting the penalty and handed a check to the employees to get their own health insurance. i'm wondering if that is something that your guest can comment on. guest: i'd be happy to. there is evidence that the small employers are certainly considering dodd.

-- that. if you do the math, it may be an attractive thing to do. most smaller employers do not provide coverage. the higher it costs, the more likely they are to stop providing the coverage. you are right about that there. one caution, though, and it depends on what you want to do as an employer. the reason most large employers self provide very rich business -- benefits is because most want to recruit and retain talent. if you're going to do that in this country today, whether that is a policy that we would all start going back 40 years or not, if you want to hire the most talented people and keep them, then today in the united states to have to provide health benefits. if you're going to change the equation there, then you have to realize two things. number one, it will affect your ability to attract talent.

unless it is tax protected,and you allow to provide them a lot more cash to make up for that, and that is one of the arguments that is against doing what they're talking about. host: thanks a lot for your time and inside on things this morning. guest: thank you very much. >> president obama began a trip and i what it takes. also today, paul bryan campaign at the state fair in des moines, iowa. after that, romney campaigned in miami with florida senator marco rubio. >> tonight, executives from google and twitter talked about the future of american