harper. we will have that for you at 11:00 a.m. eastern here on c- span. later, american nuns and the catholic church at the national press club. also here on c-span. tonight at 8:00, a look at personal liberties and the gun laws. here is a brief look. >> bloomberg is a great example. some how he manages never to be photographed in his costume. first he went after restaurants. there are people whose blood pressure does not spike if they eat too much sodium. [laughter] who the hell is bloomberg to tell us what we can put on our food anyway? if you are on a major dose of a

hypertension drug, screw you. you are a moron. [laughter] but being a moron with a modicum of freedom beats the hell out of letting some know it all -- >> it just a short part at an event looking at personal liberties and gun rights. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> which is more important? wealth or honor? the economy, stupid. it is the kind of nation we are. whether we possess the wit and the determination to deal with economic questions but not limited to them. all things do not follow from wells or poverty.

i know this first hand and so do. all things outflow from doing what is right. >> look at what has happened. we have the lowest rate of unemployment, inflation, and home mortgages in 28 years. [applause] look at what happened. 10 million new jobs. 10 million workers getting the raise they deserve with the minimum wage law. >> c-span has aired every minute of every major party conventions since 1994. you can watch our live coverage, every minute of the conventions come out live on c-span, c-span radio, and streamed online at c- span.org. >> c-span, created by america's cable companies, brought to you

as a public service by your television provider then th. >> yesterday, president obama and first lady michelle obama stop by iowa. the persident toured the state from weasst to east. president obama back at the white house today meeting with secretary tim geithner and secretary clinton. the white house is flexing the muscle of incumbency by announcing manufacturing jobs as paul ryan campaigns. from iowa, this is 45 minutes. ♪

[u2 - city of blinding lights] ♪ >> oh, my goodness! [applause] this is so sweet. >> we love you! >> we love you guys, too. [applause]

let me start by -- four more! >> four more years! four more years! >> four more! [applause] but i want to start by thanking jennifer for -- [applause] we are so proud of her. and we are so grateful for her sacrifice and her service, and for andrew's service and sacrifice as well. so i just want to thank her for that wonderful introduction and for all she's doing for our country. [applause] and, yes, it sounds like you all are pretty fired up. [applause] and very ready to go. [applause] and i'm really glad to hear that. first of all, it's good to see my husband. [laughter] because i haven't seen him in a good week. >> five days. >> five days? >> five days. >> it seemed like a week, it was

so long. [laughter] >> i missed you. >> we love you! >> just take care of him. [laughter] but i am just as happy to be back in the great state of iowa, where it all began. [applause] so you guys are getting me all fired up just being here. it is so beautiful here. [applause] it is so beautiful. good to be back. our family has so many wonderful memories of our time here in iowa. in pella, i remember that an entire neighborhood sang "happy birthday" to malia on the fourth of july. [laughter] that was so sweet. she was a little, bitty something, too. and on the day of the big jefferson-jackson dinner, i remember how we danced down the street with the isiserettes. [applause] >> that's what they were called.

>> it was the isiserettes -- and a few thousand folks across the state, as well, were there, too. so that was fun. >> that was fun. >> and our girls, malia and sasha, they still talk about our visit to the state fair. [applause] we had a ball. we rode the bumper cars, we slid down that big slide -- where barack almost lost sasha. [laughter] she flew up -- >> i held on. >> it wasn't pretty. wasn't happy about that. [laughter] and, yes, we experienced the magic of our first fried twinkie. [applause] yes, we did. even though you say i don't let you eat them, you eat what you want. [laughter] but we were surrounded by the press, so barack left and the girls looked at me and they said, "oh, i'm so glad dad is gone." [laughter] now we can have fun. [laughter] so after he left, we stayed. we cut loose. we stayed until the fair shut down. it was a ball.

and i have to say that we're all very jealous that barack got to go back to the fair without us last week. did you have a fried twinkie? >> pork chop and beer. >> he's so pleased with himself. [laughter] >> it was good. it was tasty. >> but in all seriousness, though, because of those wonderful memories and so many more, i want to start by saying thank you. truly. thank you for the kindness, generosity and love that you have shown our family -- i mean, throughout the state, consistently. [applause] iowa was our very first experience with a national campaign, truly. and it is because of all of you that malia and sasha still think campaigning is fun. [laughter]

they do. now, they never really want to go, but they're like, that was fun. [laughter] but more importantly, because of you, barack and i will always remember what this process can be at its very best. every election, you all remind us what democracy is all about. tos about people getting know the issues and discussing them with their neighbors. it's about meeting your candidates and getting to know them and their families up close and personal. i will never forget the very first visit that i made here back in 2007, and i think it was the very first campaign event i did, so of course i was nervous. and it was in the backyard of someone's home, and i have to admit i really didn't know what it would be like. i hadn't done much campaigning,

and back then people barely even knew who barack was, let alone who i was. but the folks in that backyard welcomed me like an old friend, and within minutes, i was so comfortable that i remember kicking off my heels and i was standing barefoot in the grass, just talking and laughing and listening to people's stories. and i heard about what was going on in folks' lives -- the jobs they were juggling, the businesses they were trying to keep afloat, the kids they hoped to send to college if they could just find a way to afford it. and the more we talked, the more at home i felt -- because what i learned was that in all of those stories i saw my story. i saw barack's story. i mean, you all know that story by now. my father worked at the city water plant his entire life. and neither of my parents had a college degree, but they saved and sacrificed so that my brother and i could have the

kind of education they only dreamed of. >> whitney young! >> and while -- whitney young? oh, my goodness, that's my high school. [laughter] go, dolphins! [laughter] and while pretty much all of our college tuition came from student loans and grants, my dad still had to pay a small portion of that tuition himself. and every semester, my dad was determined to pay his little portion of our tuition bill and to pay it on time -- because he was so proud to be able to play even just a little part in sending his kids to college. so he couldn't bear the thought that me or my brother would miss a registration deadline because his check was late. and really, more than anything else, what i remind people is that's what's at stake in this election. that's why we're all here. that's what we're working for. it's that fundamental promise that no matter who you are or where you started out, in

america, if you work hard you can build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids. [applause] that's why we're here. and whether it's equal pay for women or health care for our families, whether it's supporting our veterans or saving our auto industry, that's what this man, my husband, has been fighting for every single day as president. [applause] and the one thing i share with people is that over the last three and a half years, as first lady, i have had the chance to see up close and personal what being president really looks like. and i've seen some things. [laughter] but seriously, i have seen how the issues that come across the president's desk are always the hard ones -- the problems with

no clear solutions, the judgment calls where the stakes are so high and there's absolutely no margin for error. and as president, i've seen how you're going to get all kinds of advice and opinions from all kinds of people. but the truth is that at the end of the day, as president, all you have to guide you are your values and your vision and your life experiences. in the end, it all boils down to who you are and what you stand for. [applause] and we all know who my husband is, don't we? [applause] and we all know what he stands for. [applause] he is the son of a single mother who struggled to put herself through school and pay the bills. he's the grandson of a woman who woke up before dawn every day to catch a bus to her job at the bank. and even though barack's grandmother worked hard to help support his family and she was good at her job, like so many women, she hit that glass ceiling and watched men no more qualified than she was -- men she'd actually trained -- climb

up that ladder ahead of her. so what i remind people is that your president knows what it means when a family struggles. this is not a hypothetical situation for him. he knows what it means to want something better for your kids and your grandkids. [applause] and that's why i love him, that's why i married. and that's what i think about every night when i put malia and sasha to bed. sometimes they put me to bed. [laughter] i can't stay up later than them anymore. but i think about the world that i want to leave for them, for all of our sons and daughters. i think about how i want to give our kids that foundation for their dreams, opportunities worthy of their promise --

because all of our children in this country are worthy. [applause] we all want to work to give them that sense of limitless possibility, that belief that here in america, the greatest country on earth, there's always something better out there if you're willing to work for it. [applause] so we know that we can't turn back now. we have come so far, but we have so much more work to do. and if we keep moving forward, then we need to work our hearts out for the man that i have the pleasure of introducing -- my husband and our president, president barack obama. [applause] >> hello, dubuque! [applause]

thank you, dubuque. how is everybody doing today? [applause] now, first of all, i, too, just want to thank jennifer for not just her introduction, but for serving as a military spouse and championing the causes that are so important for so many military families like hers. and so please give her a big -- another round of applause. thank you for everything that you do. very proud of you. [applause] i also want to acknowledge, sitting next to jennifer is congressman bruce braley -- who helped to get the bill that jennifer had worked on, based on her experience with andrew,

passed, and i had the honor of signing into law -- congressman bruce braley, who is doing a great job on behalf of our veterans and on behalf of working people here in iowa. [applause] a couple of other friends who are here -- your own attorney general -- this guy supported me when nobody could pronounce my name. [laughter] folks would say, tom, why are you doing that? but he is a man of great integrity, a champion on behalf of consumers nationwide as well as here in iowa -- tom miller is here. give him a big round of applause. [applause] also, your own mayor -- mayor roy buol is here. give roy a big round of applause. [applause] and finally, my wife. [applause]

now, it is true, i have not seen her in five days and -- except i caught the end of leno. [laughter] and the only reason that she, i think, is happy to see me is because she knows that after today, she gets to go tomorrow and get our girls from sleep- away camp, and she has been missing them terribly. so we stand in the way of her getting to her babies. [laughter] >> we still love you. [laughter] >> but i have to tell you, when i stand here and listen to her, i am just reminded how lucky i am, because she is a woman of strength and integrity and

honor. she keeps me straight every single day. she is the best mom in the world. [applause] and she's cute. [laughter] and the problem is, sometimes when i listen to her talk i start choking up a little bit, and i forget what i'm going to say. [laughter] but i could not be prouder of her. and i say often -- back in 2008, i said, look, i'm not a perfect man, i won't be a perfect president. i do think she is a perfect first lady. i just want you to know that. [applause] now, this is our third day in iowa. [applause] and she's right, we have been traveling all across the state. we did stop at the state fair. we stopped to get something to

eat before she showed up, just so there wasn't any issues -- >> smart man. >> smart man. [laughter] we began the journey in council bluffs, and just like four years ago, we've traveled all across this state, west to east, meeting with you and talking about your lives. we've driven through boone and des moines and oskaloosa and marshalltown and waterloo and cedar rapids. we met farmers who've been badly hurt by drought and who now need us to pass a farm bill. [applause] we met folks who've helped iowa become a leader in wind energy. [applause] and now they need us to keep investing in clean, renewable energy. [applause] this morning i had breakfast

with some of our outstanding veterans who fought under our proud flag. [applause] and so now we need to serve them just as well as they've served us, and make sure that they've got new jobs and new opportunities and a roof over their heads when they come home. [applause] and every stop, i've got fond memories of the last campaign -- the campaign we had four years ago. every stop, i've gotten reminders of what makes iowa so special and how this is where our movement for change happened. [applause] it was because of you. it was because of your stories and your strength and your spirit that i had the strength and the spirit to go through that campaign. and it's because of you that i've had the strength to do the job over the last three and a half years. >> thank you! [applause]

>> and i've got to tell you, iowa, we're not done yet. this journey is not done yet. we've got some unfinished business to do. [applause] and i've come here to ask you to stand with me, just like you stood with me in 2008, to finish what we started. [applause] because less than three months from now, you will face a choice, and that choice could not be bigger. this is a choice not just between two candidates. it's not just between two political parties. more than any election in recent memory, this is a choice about two fundamentally different visions for our country, how we move this country forward. and the direction that you choose when you walk into that voting booth will have an impact not just on your lives, but on the lives of your children and the lives of your grandchildren. it will impact us for decades to come.

when we came together in 2008 -- and it wasn't just democrats, we had independents and some republicans, too -- it was to restore the basic bargain that built this country, the basic bargain that made us the most prosperous economy in the world. it's a bargain that says if we work hard, we should be rewarded. it's a deal that says if you put in enough effort, you can find a job that pays the bills. you can afford a home that you call your own. you won't go broke when you get sick. you can retire with dignity and respect. [applause] and, most of all, it's a bargain that says your kids will get a great education and they'll grow up safe and healthy. and they will have opportunities that you couldn't

even dream of, that they will be able to achieve things that you could have only hoped for. that's the basic promise of america. that's the american dream. and we knew that restoring it wouldn't be easy, that it would take more than one year, or one term, or even one president -- because we had just gone through a decade in which the middlehits. [applause] jobs had been getting shipped overseas. incomes and wages were flat or even going down, while the cost of everything from health care to college were going up. a few folks at the top were doing really well, but the average family was struggling. and this was before we saw the worst financial crisis since the great depression. and so many more of our friends and neighbors and family members lost their jobs and lost

their homes, lost their savings and pushed that american dream even further out of reach. so when i ran for this office four years ago, i told you there were no quick fixes, there were no easy solutions. that's still true today. but what i also told you and what is also still true today is that we have the capacity to meet every challenge. we've got everything we need to meet our challenges. [applause] we've still got the best workers in the world. [applause] we've still got the best entrepreneurs, and small businessmen and women in the world. [applause] we've got the best scientists and researchers in the world. we've got the best farmers in the world. we've got the best colleges and universities in the world. [applause] we are still a young nation and we've got the greatest

diversity of talent and ingenuity -- people want to come here from every corner of the globe. so no matter what the naysayers say, no matter how dark the other side tries to paint things, there is not another country on earth that wouldn't gladly change places with the united states of america. [applause] because people understand that even though we go through some tough times, there is a resilience and grit about this country. and this country is the place where if you're willing to work hard -- no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter what your last name is -- you can make it. [applause] that's the idea that we were trying to rebuild in 2008. that's the idea that we continue to pursue in 2012. that is what this campaign is all about. and that is why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. [applause]

>> four more years! four more years! four more years! >> now, dubuque, here's the thing -- i told you all the things we've got going for us. we do have one problem -- politics in washington. >> yes! >> you've got the other side, which has decided that "compromise" is a dirty word, and thinks the only way to move forward is to go backwards to the same top-down economics that got us into this mess in the first place. >> booo -- >> you know, governor romney chose his running mate this week -- congressman ryan. >> booo -- >> no, no, no, congressman ryan -- i know him. he's a good man, beautiful family.

he is the ideological leader of the republicans in congress. he is a articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision. i just happen to fundamentally disagree with his vision. [applause] their vision is wrong for working families and it is wrong for the country. look, my opponent and his friends in congress, they believe that if you just get rid of more regulations on big corporations and big banks, and then you give more tax breaks to the wealthiest americans, that that will automatically lead to jobs and prosperity for ordinary families. here,m not exaggerating that's their basic economic plan. the centerpiece of governor romney's economic plan is a new $5 trillion tax cut -- a lot of it going to the wealthiest americans. >> booo -- >> now, keep in mind, $5

trillion is a lot of money, even in washington. our entire defense budget is a little over half a trillion dollars a year, so this tax cut would be like giving the equivalent of the entire defense budget in tax cuts -- a lot of it going to very rich people -- every year for 10 years. now, these folks say they want to reduce the deficit and the debt. so the question is, well, how do you give away $5 trillion and then reduce the deficit? well, recently we found out. governor romney expects you to pay for it -- >> booo -- >> -- expects middle-class families to pick up the tab. governor romney's tax plan would actually raise taxes on middle-class families by an average of $2,000 for families with children. >> i don't have $2,000 -- >> you don't have $2,000 to spare. i didn't think so. and, by the way, don't take my word for it. this is based on independent

studies that have been done by folks who analyze this stuff for a living. they say, look, this will cost middle-class families with children an average of $2,000. and they're asking you to pay an extra 2,000 bucks not to reduce the deficit, not to help our kids get educated, not to help kids go to college, not to rebuild our roads or our bridges or our ports -- they're doing this to give another $250,000 tax cut to folks who are making $3 million a year or more. >> booo -- >> now, have you heard this before? >> yes! >> they have been trying to sell this trickle-down snake oil before. [laughter] and guess what, it didn't work then. it won't work now. it's not a plan to create jobs. it's not a plan to reduce the deficit. it's not a plan to move the economy forward. and, secretly, i think they know this. i think they know their plan is not very popular.

you can tell that because they're being pretty dishonest about my plan -- especially, by the way, when it comes to medicare. now, this is something i've got to point out here, because they are just throwing everything at the wall to see if it sticks. [laughter] here's what you need to know -- i have strengthened medicare. i have made reforms that have saved millions of seniors with medicare hundreds of dollars on their prescription drugs. [applause] i have proposed reforms that will save medicare money by getting rid of wasteful spending in the health care system -- reforms that will not touch your medicare benefits -- not by a dime. now, mr. romney and his running mate have a very different plan. they want to turn medicare into a voucher program. >> booo -- >> that means seniors would no longer have the guarantee of medicare -- they'd get a

voucher to buy private insurance. and because the voucher wouldn't keep up with costs, the plan authored by governor romney's running mate, congressman ryan, would force seniors to pay an extra $6,400 a year. and i assume they don't have it. >> booo -- >> my plan has already extended medicare by nearly a decade. [applause] their plan ends medicare as we know it. my plan reduces the cost of medicare by cracking down on fraud and waste and subsidies to insurance companies. their plan makes seniors pay more so they can give another tax cut to millionaires and billionaires. that's the difference between our plans on medicare. that's an example of the choice in this election. and that is why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states of america. [applause] just like we've got a different plan on medicare, we've got a

different economic plan. you just heard, they want to give $5 trillion tax cuts -- tax breaks to wealthy americans who don't need them. four years ago, i promised to cut middle-class taxes -- and, dubuque, that's exactly what i've done. [applause] so if you talk to a friend of yours who says, oh, those democrats, they're all tax-and- spend liberals, you tell them the average middle-class family, their taxes are about $3,600 lower since i've become president. [applause] and right now, what i want to do is to keep taxes right where they are for the first $250,000 of everybody's income. if your family makes under $250,000 -- like 98 percent of american families do and 97 percent of small businesses do -- you won't see your income taxes increase by a single dime next year. [applause]

now, if you're fortunate enough to be in the other 2 percent -- >> i wish! [laughter] >> if you're fortunate enough to be in the other 2 percent, you still get a tax cut on your first $250,000. but all we're asking is for the next little bit that you make you can afford to contribute a little bit more, above $250,000, so that we can pay down our deficit in a responsible, balanced way, and invest in things like education that help america grow. [applause] now, that alone won't cut our deficit. we're going to have to still make sure government does its part. we've already cut a trillion dollars' worth of spending that we don't need, and we can do more to make government more

efficient. we have to do more. but we're not going to reduce the deficit just on the backs of the middle class. so i think it makes sense to ask folks like me who've been incredibly blessed to go back to the rates that we paid under bill clinton -- a time, by the way, when nearly 23 million new jobs were created, we went from deficit to surplus -- and here's the kicker -- we created a lot of millionaires, too. [laughter] and the reason is, is because the economy, when you look back on american history, always works best when the middle class is doing well. [applause] let me ask you something. when a teacher or a construction worker or a receptionist or a firefighter -- when you get a little extra money in your pocket, what do

you do? >> spend it! >> you spend it. because times are tight and maybe you've been driving around in that old beater, you had that car for 10 years and you decide it's about time to trade it in. or maybe you think now is the time i can finally buy a new computer for my kid who is about to go to college. or maybe i'll go to a restaurant, or, heaven forbid, i take a vacation once in a while. [laughter] and what happens is that suddenly businesses have more customers and they make more profits. and so folks at the top are doing very well, but the businesses -- because they're more profitable -- now they're hiring more workers, who then have more money, who then buy more products, who then give businesses more customers. [applause] that's how you grow an economy -- not from the top down, from the middle out, from the bottom up, giving everybody a fair shot. [applause] that's the choice in this election, and that's why i'm running for a second term as president, because that's what

i believe. that's my vision for the future. [applause] on just about every issue, governor romney and i just have a different opinion. when the auto industry was on the brink of collapse, more than a million jobs at stake, governor romney said let's "let detroit go bankrupt." i said let's bet on american workers. and we got workers and management together, and they changed how they were doing business. and three years later, the american auto industry is back on top. [applause] that's what i believe. that's the kind of america we need. [applause] so now i want american manufacturing back in america. [applause] i want to stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas.

let's give those tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in dubuque, right here in the quads, right here in iowa -- in cleveland and raleigh. [applause] let's put people back to work. [applause] governor romney likes to say, well, you know what, i know how to fix the economy, because i've been in the private sector. well, it turns out that a lot of that experience was investing in companies that were called "pioneers" in outsourcing. we don't need folks who know how to outsource. we need folks who are working to insource, to create jobs here, and hire american workers so we sell american products around the world stamped with three proud words -- made in america. that's what i believe. [applause] on energy, governor romney has said that he wants to get rid of the tax credit for wind

energy -- doesn't believe in -- he says these sources of energy are "imaginary." congressman ryan calls them a "fad". he needs to come to iowa. he'll find out that there are 7,000 jobs in this state that depend on the wind industry. these jobs aren't a "fad." they're the future. [applause] we should stop giving $4 billion of taxpayer subsidies to oil companies that are making money every time you go to the pump. let's start investing in clean energy that will create jobs and secure our future. that's a difference in this election. [applause] i want to make sure that our kids are getting the best education in the world. [applause] i was just visiting some teachers before -- cascade middle school, right before i came here.

aren't you supposed to be at the in-service over there? [laughter] i won't tell. just don't get photographed. [laughter] and we had this great meeting -- and folks don't go into teaching for the money. they go into it because they believe in our kids, they believe in our future. [applause] but school districts all across iowa and all across the country are having a tough time -- budget cuts, teacher layoffs. so i've said let's help local school districts to make sure they can hire great teachers, especially in math and science, where we've got to really do better in terms of our performance. [applause] let's make sure that 2 million more people can go to community colleges to train for the jobs that businesses are hiring for right now. and let's bring down college tuitions once and for all for young people -- because higher education is not a luxury. it's an economic necessity for

young people. [applause] back in 2008, i said i would end the war in iraq -- we ended it. [applause] i said we would go after al qaeda and bin laden -- we did. [applause] we are transitioning and bringing our troops out of afghanistan. and so after a decade of war -- i say to folks none of this could have been accomplished if it hadn't been for our amazing men and women in uniform. [applause] so we've got to make investments to make sure that they're getting the services that they have earned, because they should never have to fight for a job when they have fought for this country. [applause]

and let's take half the money that we can save after a decade of war, and let's do some nation-building here at home. let's hire some hardhats to get on the job rebuilding roads and bridges, schools. that's good for the economy. that's where we need to take america. governor romney says his big economic plan -- in addition to these tax cuts for the wealthy -- he wants to kill obamacare. get rid of it. >> nooo -- >> now, first of all, i want you to know i kind of like the term "obamacare." [laughter] because i do care. that's why i passed the bill. i care about folks with preexisting conditions -- which is why, because of this law, they'll be able to get health insurance. [applause] i care about the 6.5 million young people who can now stay on their parent's plan because of obamacare.

[applause] i care about the seniors who have seen discounts on their prescription drugs. we're closing the doughnut hole because of the law that we passed. [applause] so if mr. romney and congressman ryan want to spend the next two and a half years having the same argument we had about health care all over again, they can feel free to try to do it. but the supreme court has spoken. it is the law of the land. we are moving forward to give every american the health security that they deserve. that is the difference in this election. [applause] on all these issues -- health care, manufacturing, education -- all these things that go into creating a solid, secure middle-class life, all these issues tie together.

it goes back to what michelle was talking about and what i started off with, and that is who we are, our values. you know, we've gone through tough times, but what hasn't changed is our character. americans are tough and we are resilient and we may get knocked down, but we bounce back up. and the other thing that we understand is what our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents taught us, which is, if you work hard, this is the country to be. [applause] that you may meet some barriers some times, there may be some hurdles, but you can't be stopped when you decide on something. and that's what's at stake in this election. do we affirm those values and pass them on to our kids and our grandkids just like we got them from our parents and our

grandparents? now, over the next three months you are going to see more negative ads than you've ever seen in your life. you've already seen them. and these folks on the other side, i mean, they're just writing $10 million checks. governor romney obviously has got more friends than i do that can write $10 million checks. [laughter] and they are just -- they are running these ads, and they're not selling a plan to create jobs or to grow the economy or revive the middle class. basically, they've got one message, and that is, the economy is not where it should be and it's obama's fault. and they're just going to say it over and over again. over and over again. you're going to get sick of it -- you already are. and you know, i've got to admit, i would be worried, given the amount of money that is being spent, if it weren't for iowa, if it weren't for what i remember about 2008. see, we've been outspent before. we've been counted out before.

but what i know is, when the american people cut through the nonsense and they focus on what's important, and when they remember what it means for us to have a country where everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules -- when you guys decide what's important, you can't be stopped. when you pull together, you've got more power than any guy who is writing a $10 million check. [applause] and so, iowa, i'm going to need your help one more time, here, to finish the job. [applause] we've got more schools to build. we've got more folks to put back to work. [applause] we've got more roads to build. we've got more young people to send to college. we've got more troops to come home. [applause] and if you are willing to stand with me, and work with me, and make some phone calls with me and knock on some doors with me, if you're still fired up, if

you are still ready to go like i am, i promise you we will win iowa. we will win this election. we will finish what we started. and you and i together will remind the world why america is the greatest nation on earth. god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪ >> ♪ i've been knockin' on the door that holds the throne

i've been lookin' for the map that leads me home goodbeen stumblin' on hearts turned to stone the road of good intentions has gone dry as bone we take care of our own we take care of our own wherever this flag's flown we take care of our own from chicago to new orleans from the muscle to the bone from the shotgun shack to the superdome we yelled "help" but the cavalry stayed home there ain't no one hearing the bugle blown we take care of our own we take care of our own

wherever this flag's 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's the love that has not forsaken me where's the work that set my hands, my soul free where's the spirit that'll reign, reign over me where's the promise, from sea to shining sea where's the promise, from sea to shining sea wherever this flag is flown 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's flown we take care of our own we take care of our own we take care of our own ♪ >> which is more important? wealth or honor? it is not as it was said by the victors four years ago, the economy is stupid -- it is the kind of nation we are. it is whether we still possess the wit and determination to deal with many questions, including economic questions, but certainly not limited to them. all things do not flow from well for poverty. i know this first hand and so do

you. all things flow from doing what is right. [applause] >> look at what has happened. we have the lowest rates of unemployment, inflation, and home mortgages in 28 years. [applause] look at what happened. 10 million new jobs, over half of them high wage jobs. 10 million workers getting the raise they deserve with the minimum wage wall -- law. >> c-span has showed every convention since 1984. now, the countdown to this year's conventions. you can watch our live coverage, every man and of the republican and democratic national conventions. live on c-span, c-span radio, and streamed online at c- span.org. all starting monday, august 27. this week and on "the "booktv" afterwards, in their book "who's

counting?," the authors say they're serious problems with fraud in the u.s. election system. >> there is a series of things you have to do to make sure you have an election with integrity. if everyone is confident that the person that got the most votes is declared the winner. saturday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern and sunday afternoon at 4:45 p.m., a talk about the largest bank failure in u.s. history. the collapse of washington mutual. part of our quality "booktv" weekend on c-span2. >> the german chancellor is on a two-day visit to canada, a meeting with canadian prime minister harper on parliament hill today, talking about european debt crisis, trade issues, and more. they will address reporters coming up in about 10 minutes, about 11:00 eastern. we will have the news conference for you when it gets under way from ottawa. meantime, the official welcoming

ceremony on parliament hill. [gun salute]

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>> german chancellor angela merkel in ottawa today, meeting with canadian prime minister stephen harper. there will be talking about the

european debt crisis, a trade issues, and developments in the middle east. it is said that a small trade mission is shaping up as a major component of the german leader's two-day visit. angela merkel arrived in five major business leaders, and they will be joined by five canadian counterparts at today's luncheon. again, a news conference is set to get under way momentarily. we will have live coverage of that for you here on c-span once it does start. meantime, while we wait, part of this morning's "washington journal." a look at items in the news in your phone calls. host: they could turn a to close to call race into a landslide for president obama, but by definition, there probably nowil not. a suffolk university poll of

people who are eligible to vote but are not likely to do so finds that these stay at home americans back obama's reelection over republican mitt romney by more than two to one. two-thirds say they are registered to vote. 8 in pac-10 said the governor plays and a born role in their lives. even so, they said a range of reasons for declaring that will lead vote, saying the odds are no better than they will. the vote does not really matter and nothing ever gets done anyway. well, let's talk to the director of suffolk university's political center. he joins us by phone this morning from boston. good morning. guest: good morning. thanks for having me. host: why are these people saying they will not vote? is it because they are too busy or sending a? >guest: we have told both unregistered citizens and we also polled people who were

registered, many of whom voted in 2008 but said they were not voting. the and registered voters used expressions like -- i have no time, too busy. 26%, my vote doesn't count matter. 12%, i am not interested. a 10%, i just do not want to. among those who were registered the their preferred cents were somewhat similar. the top answer was it is my right to vote or not to vote, 13%. i do not like either candidate, 12%. again, the vote does not count, 12%. this is an open-ended question. so the responses people gave us in this nationwide poll were their own words. >> we will take you live to ottawa now as the news product -- conference with angela merkel and stephen harper is about to get under way. >> good morning. [speaking french]

>> i want to begin by well giving you very warmly. you're welcome to me to germany. madam chancellor, your last visit to canada in 2010, you were at, of course, the g-8 in huntersville and the g-20 in toronto, but we're particularly pleased to welcome you here in the nationals -- nation's capital on your first bilateral visit to canada, the first such visit to ottawa by a german chancellor in a decade. germany is, of course, a close ally, partner, and friend of canada. and the ties of national interest, may be added those to family. over 3 million canadians trace their roots to germany. [speaking french]

[interpreter inaudible] you and i, angela, join these various international forums at almost exactly the same time, and i have always been impressed, not only by the quality of your contributions to but also the respect that you command from everyone around the table. our discussions last night and today with our officials have been frank and useful. trade and investment between canada and germany is strong. our country's growth firm advocates for the open markets that create jobs, growth, and long term prosperity for our citizens. however, there is room to expand our economic relationship directly and indirectly through wider trade with europe. [speaking french]

we remain firmly committed to concluding a canada-european union comprehensive economic trade agreement. your ongoing support has been vital to the great progress that has been made so far, and i know we will continue to work together to achieve this important milestone. something, by the way, which will serve as a very encouraging sign to both our economies and to the wider global economy. [speaking french]

of course, we discussed the global economic situation in the ongoing efforts to restore stability in europe. and let me just say this, that we in canada appreciate your steadfast resolve in confronting these alleged confronting these financial and economic challenges and in finding solutions. in particular, we support your concern with not just finding any solution but finding good and sustainable solutions to these problems. [speaking french] >> i also appreciated our changing views on international issues, particularly on the situation in syria. issues of -- >> issues of international peace and security, particularly in syria, have been featured prominently in our discussions. your leadership plays a vital and constructive role. angela, canada and germany are certain friends in a very uncertain world. your visit here is a testament to the strength of that relationship, a relationship

that i personally and canadians generally greatly value. >> once again, i wish you a very warm welcome. >> thank you very much. i gladly came here to canada on this, my first among bilateral visit after having, obviously, been able to enjoy canadian hospitality during summit meetings. we have close and friendly relations. i have said this before quite repeatedly, we have to be very careful not to lose sight of -- [inaudible] i am very grateful for the welcome. yesterday night, we had this very good talk, and it showed,

again, that on multilateral and bilateral issues, there is a high degree of agreement between us. this visit also underlines that the relations between canada and germany are much closer not only on the political level, but also on a personal level. yesterday, for example, during the reception -- [no audio] >> as you can see, we're having some video problems with our feed from ottawa this morning. we will work on that and try to get that on for you later in our program schedule. did want to let you know, as you saw there a ment ago, we will be live from the national press club coming up this afternoon. a member of the leadership conference of women religious will speak of the national press club. topic, the relationship between american nuns and the vatican.

1:00 p.m. eastern here on c- span. tonight at 8:00 p.m., a look at personal liberties and gun rights, hosted by the independence institute. here is a brief look at that. >> happiness, psychiatrists say, can be as beneficial to brain chemistry as some of the best drugs. even better than the healthy foods that are put -- our first lady pushes on "sesame street." it is true. where did the nanny state control stuff come from? from the modern public health establishment, the public health movement. more often than not, i think the public health movement is a complete obstacle. and originally, the public health field was about stopping epidemics. that is what it was instituted for. but 100 years later, you know, we procured and eradicated polio, measles, mumps. step that used to kill tens and hundreds of millions of people

that are now almost unheard off. you have to reinvent yourself now to stay relevant, because there millions of government grant dollars at stake. if you price yourself out of the market by being irrelevant, the money dries up. so the public health people had to find something else to do. there's still some of the public-health establishment sadr about aids and cancer. that is fine and good. but it has become a social science instead of a heart science, and that is the problem. you have a lot of quasi-of the mexican not going to a laboratory. instead of doing hard science, they are shrinking our desert portions because that is all they know how to do. i used to represent an organization called the center for consumer freedom, a nonprofit food ad for a suit -- advocacy group. they tell me now that there is a percent -- a professor in san francisco -- of course, san francisco, who was on tv

claiming that sugar -- sugar, you know, a spoonful helps the medicine go down. the sugar is so dangerous and toxic that the government should regulate it like out of. yeah, and on cann, the writ -- cnn, the reporter nodding. come on, it is sugar. i cannot wait for the next remake of "willy wonka." we will all be eating broccoli. >> a short look at the event representing personal liberties and gun rights, coming up at 8:00 p.m. tonight. as you may have seen a few minutes ago, we were showing you the news conference from ottawa with stephen harper and angela merkel. some video difficulty. if we can, we will show it to you later in the schedule. >> which is more important, wealth or honor?

it is not as said by the victors four years ago, the economy is still a bit. it is the kind of nation we are. it is whether we still possess the wit and determination to deal with many questions, including economic questions, but certainly not limited to the pit of things do not flow from wealth bor poverty. i know this first and in so do you. all things flow from doing what is right. >> look at what has happened. we have the lowest combined rates of unemployment, inflation, and home mortgages in 28 years. [applause] look at what is happening. 10 million new jobs, over half of them high wage jobs. 10 million workers getting the raise they deserve with the minimum wage law. >> c-span is there every minute of every major party conventions since 1984. and now we're in the countdown to this year's conventions.

you can watch our live gavel-to- get all coverage, every minute of the republican and democratic national conventions, live on c- span, c-span radio, c-span.org and strained online. , all starting monday, august 27. >> ahead of our convention coverage tomorrow to the white house coverage with former senator and republican presidential candidate rick santorum, speaking recently the young america's foundation that will conservative national conservatives to the conference. he said the "future of the republic is at stake when it comes to the november election." this is just over an hour. >> ok, everyone, can we have your attention please? we would like to get started with the program. to introduce our featured speaker tonight, i would like to introduce jolie stewart-davis, a dedicated advocate in recent graduate from central washington university.

she was very active at her school by getting involved in organizing the 9/11 never forget project, freedom we, and launching our chapter on campus. now that she has a graduate, she will be starting at penn state law school in the fall. please welcome jolie. [applause] >> well, thank you, pat. i am also and it intern scholar for the summer, and i have been so lucky to have this great opportunity. i am thankful for the foundation for giving me this opportunity. young america foundation has committed to ensuring that an increasing number of young americans get to know the value of individual freedom, a strong national defense of a free enterprise the addition to price, a traditional value. as the principle of reorganization of the conservative movement, the foundation introduces thousands of young americans to these

principles. we accomplish our mission by providing essential conferences, seminars and educational materials, internships, and speakers to young people across the country. you can learn more about the foundation by visiting our web site at www.yaf.org. as pat said, i am going to penn state l.a. debut this fall. it is my honor to produce a fellow lion, rick santorum. [applause] prior to running for president, he served as a voice for conservatives everywhere. he served two terms in the u.s. house of representatives, where he took on washington's special interest groups. he was elected to the u.s. senate in 1995, where here, he was a member of the notorious gang of seven that expose congressional banking and congressional post office scandals. senator santorum was also the author and for manager of the

landmark welfare reform act, which empowered millions of americans to get off the rolls of welfare and get into the workforce. he wrote and champion legislation that outlawed the ines procedure known as partial birth abortions as well as the born infant protection act, the unborn victims of violence that, in combating autism back. because he believes that each and every individual has a value and the most vulnerable in our society need to be protected. [applause] senator santorum has fought for a balanced budget in a line-item veto. he bravely proposed reforming entitlements, cutting spending, and even developed a spend-o- meter which added that the cost of liberal amendments on spending bills. this made him one of the most conservative senators in pennsylvania's history. he believes passionately that we

must repeal obamacare and replace it with a bottom-up patient, not government-driven system. this june, senator santorum launched pager id voices, a grass-roots online community of american -- patriot voices. for faith, family, freedom, an opportunity. he is the author of the 2005 "new york times" best seller "it takes the family," which you all received earlier this evening. rocking the sweater vest tonight, but he is continuing the fight to give every american a voice. so ladies and a doubling, please welcome rick santorum. [applause] >> thank you. thanks. thank you very much. two standing ovations -- i am about done. [laughter] thank you for that.

appreciated. enjoy your time in happy valley, and let me thank all of you for the wonderful, kind words that so many of you give me in the photo line and an opportunity to chat briefly with everybody. i was very grateful for your support. i know there is a group of folks here, including jolie, who helped us out in the campaign. i have to recognize one person who is here tonight, amanda biondo, her father, mike, was our campaign manager in new hampshire. amanda was very active in the campaign, too. thank you for being here, antiwhite your father for his great work. [applause] thank you to the other folks a volunteer and help us out. it was an amazing journey running for president. i can say in all candor that when i was asked by people, you know, when i travel around the country about a year-and-a-half, two years ago, people would

always ask me, well, are you running for president? i would respond, no, i am walking. [laughter] and that is pretty much what it was. people would ask, what motivated you to run for president? was it the fact that you lost your last race for u.s. senate by 18 points? was it the fact that you did not have any money? was it that you did not have major supporters or any real endorsements of any kind? what was that the possibly motivated you to take the enceinte position that you could actually be a competitive candidate for president? with having been out of politics for four and a half years and not having any money and not having lost her last race, and the answer was -- i look at the situation in this country, and maybe it was just clearer to me than others, but i am increasingly believing that others are seeing at the same way. it is becoming clearer to people

that this is a landmark election. this is the turning point in american history. now, i know you hear politicians and you hear, you know, or readers get up and say rather dramatic and sweeping things like this all the time. i have never said that before. i have been involved in it raises for 22 years now. my first race for congress was back in 1990 at the ripe old age of 32. and i never said this was the most important election, and, heck, i was on the ballot. and one from election to election -- i never fell that things were -- i mean, things were bad. there were difficulties. the economy in the early 1990's. we had difficulties on national- security issues around the events of 9/11, but i never felt that something fundamental

was at the to the point. and i believe that. i believe barack obama has done a real great favor for the country. and i say that in all sincerity. for a long time in this country, we have been on a very slow road. we have been on a slow road to gradually giving our freedoms away. gradually believing the siren song that the government can do better for us than we can do for ourselves. it is inevitable -- our founders understood that when they established freedom. many roads that it was the easiest part, in some respects, to establish freedom. the hardest part would be to maintain it over this corrosive thing in a society called time. that the farther away you are from the light and the spark

that created this great country, the harder it is to have the zeal of the founders to maintain the great principles upon which our country was found. we have been blessed in this country with enormous success. let's just be honest, we changed the world. america change the world. at the time of our found alive expended seat in the u.s., as in most of the world, was around 35 to 40 years of age -- life expectancy in the u.s. was around 35 to 40 years of age. to give you a perspective, to go back to the time of jesus christ, life expectancy was 35 to 40 years of age, and they were an agrarian society. as the world changed much in 1776 years? a little. not much. and in 200 years, after america did something that was truly revolutionary -- gave the world

a document, a template to transform society. something unheard of and unknown in the course of human history, something that we do not even talk about much in this country. we ignore -- we do not even teach it in most of our schools anymore. this revolutionary document called what -- not the constitution, wrong answer. [laughter] the declaration of independence. and i ask that question of you, because i knew most of you would say the constitution. the constitution is a great document. it is the operators manual of america. but it is not who we are. who we are is in the declaration of independence. what makes america special, different, is in the declaration of independence. in these words -- words which we all know, at least we all used

to know -- we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are in doubt by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. those are words that could roll off the tongue of every citizen in this country for decades. they were at the core of the understanding of what it meant to be an american. being an american is not like being french. [laughter] [applause] and i am not poking the french. although i do not mind poking the french, i am not poking the french. it is not like being british. it is not like being italian. it is not like being jewish or arabic.

if you are an iranian, your an iranian or you are a syrian because of and ethnicity. america is not and ethnicity. we're all hyphenated americans. what makes you an american? my grandfather and father came to this country, and when they step on the shore of america, they became an american. why? because they believed a certain set of values. american, being an american is about accepting a certain set of ideals. ameritech is an ideal. -- america is an ideal. you can go to france and spent 50 years in france and if you're not a french prison, you'll never be french but you may speak beautiful french, but you'll never be french but you can be here for 30 seconds and

be an american. that is what makes us different. because we're something different in the world. we are a country that is based on a set of ideas and ideals and principles. and when people say we want to change and transform america, that means you are fundamentally taking away was a, for long time in the history of our country, was the core of who we are, and that is the declaration. god-given rights. there was another revolution that took place right at the time of the american revolution, the french revolution. the difference between the french revolution and the american revolution -- the french revolution was based on three principles. equality, pretty good. and we conducted a quality if you want to. a quality is good, but we can have excessive equality. we can explain that in a minute,

because it is a very current and important topic in america today. equality is good. liberty, good. absolutely. those are both in the founding document i just talked about and the phrase i just shared with you. but the third word of the french revolution was fraternity. brotherhood. as opposed to paternity, fatherhood. our rights come from god. in france, it was an anti- clerical, anti-god conclusion. all rights came from the government. and when they had the government formed, the world with radical tierney and the reign of terror and the guillotine. the marquee de lafayette who fought with george washington during the american revolution and returned to france during the french revolution had two

frames hanging in his home. one was a framed copy of the declaration of independence. the other frame to the day he died remained empty. he was looking for a similar document, to anchor the french constitution. something to put limits on the power of government. something that was a higher calling, a higher responsibility than the civil law, hence the moral law. that is what the declaration has done for our country. our country, four times in the declaration of independence the word "god" is mentioned. not the word god the divided province, supreme judge. creator. all of these things point to

what? that america was founded as a great look at the three rights they talk about concluding a life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. like, the foundation a life, given to you by god. it cannot be denied. yet we do in this country. movementthere's a big particularly on college campuses and how about liberty. we need to be very careful with what liberty really means because there are those who will distort the true meaning of liberty as our founders understood it. liberty is not the freedom to do whatever you want to do. yes, it is freedom from government telling you what to do but it is deeper than that.

how when know that? the next word in the declaration is pursuit of happiness. life and liberty for what? to pursue happiness. you would know if you read other philosophers at the time, i think it was in the virginia constitution, life, liberty and -- property. they said no that was insufficient. property does not quite grasp what the real purpose of america is. , why we are declaring our independence did they put determine their "happiness." life is an important right. liberty follows you cannot have liberty without life. you have to have the freedom to be able to pursue so government does not constrain you or do things against sure will, so you

can be free to do what? >> what is the definition of happiness? joy, pleasure, contentment. if you define happens, that's pretty much what you would say. that is not what our founders would said. our founders of this to happen is to be something different. if you go back and look up the first webster's dictionary, you will find the definition of happiness includes this basic principle -- true happiness comes from doing what called -- what got calls you to do, doing what you ought to do will result in true happiness. it may not result in immediate pleasure but our founders understood that the freedom was to pursue with you ought to do, not what you want to do. in so doing, you build a great

society of virtuous people with limited government and the unlamented potential of the american public building a great and prosperous society from the bottom of and that's exactly what happened. into what 35 years, life expectancy has more than doubled. we went from an agrarian to an industrial to a technological society because government was limited. that, ladies and gentlemen, more than any other issue is what is at stake in this election. if barack obama is reelected, i feared that this great, noble experiment will be on its way to a close. today, 50% of americans pay income taxes and roughly less than 50% receive some kind of government benefit. when obama care is implemented,

ultimately, 100% of the people will be dependent upon the federal government for their benefit. when that happens, as your friends in the u.k. are here will tell you, maggie thatcher - as tough as she was, as reform- minded as she was, she was never able -- she campaigned that she would not touch the british system. it is a sacred cow. she said in the waning days after ronald reagan, when she was compared to ronald reagan, she said to is never able to accomplish with ronald reagan accomplished in this country. said the reason the british national health care system, once people are addicted and dependent, it is very hard to take that away. we have to win this election.

because i believe the future of the republic is at stake. that's why i decided to get out and run for president. i decided to go out and tell people exactly what i just told you. here is why -- the amazing thing is in spite of being outspent by how many multiples to one, in spite of getting absolutely no press coverage and being out there in these debates and they throw me a question every now and then about abortion or gay rights or something like that, to reinforce the stereotype -- the candidate likes to talk about these things -- in spite of that, we went around the country and talked about these core principles and core values. we talked about this election being about who we are. the problems in this country are economics but they are much more foundational.

they go to the core of who we are and the core of the family structure in america. we went out and talked about that. amazingly, people came. we ended up winning iowa and 11 other states. i would share with you that those of you are out there on college campuses and you think it is hopeless on so many campuses -- when i went out and talk about the basic principles of who we are -- go back to the declaration. ask them whether they agree with that they will say we are divided. no, we're not as divided as we think. we just forgot like so many, we have not been re-anchored. becker then to something we can

start out -- anchor to something about what america is about and walk them forward. what does that mean? what does this whole idea of god-given rights and fundamental rights really mean? where did those rights come from and when the government comes in and says we will give you a right, you can see what happens. they tell you how to exercise those rights which is exactly what they are doing. so many other things they are now imposing their will on people. against their fundamental freedoms. i am encouraged, i am greatly encouraged, by what i saw across america. there is a wellspring of people who see what this time in america is about and they are

anxious and willing and they are stepping forward. i have no doubt whether it is this election or the next one or the ones in the future that the american dna which is different -- the vast majority of people looking into this country came here because they wanted those things i talked about -- your ancestors by and large came here because they wanted those things. it is in your dna. they did not stay behind. i would encourage to be happy warriors and talk about the greatness of our country, to remind people who we are and what we are about and how we transformed this world and that if we were willing to go back to the pre-revolutionary days of being servants, subjects of the king, servants to the whatnment' which is exactly

we were prior to 1776 and exactly where we are headed if we don't do something now. there is no one that will be affected by this more than the people in this room, the young people of america. you are seeing the effects of the economy struggling along. it is an oppressive government. it is an increasingly oppressive regulatory scheme and an antipathy toward anyone successful. it minimizes their accomplishments and celebrating the collective. this is not america. i really do believe people are seeing it. i am optimistic about this election but we have to be able to go out and communicate big

things, big ideas and fundamental principles. if you do, i am convinced that you can't actually start changing parts. you can start changing hearts all over america. study and understand who we are and what we are about. be not afraid to go out and preaches at the mountain tops. i would be happy to take your questions. [applause] [applause]

>> no questions? thank you all very much. [laughter] yes, sir? >> i am from the university of arkansas. you have been a huge defender of the unborn from the senate and i wondered what your evaluation of the process led movement is now? there seems to be a lot of focus on national debt and what do you think of the pro-like life movement? >> i am very optimistic about the movement of the pro-life and movement in america and that centers around young people. you folks are very visual generation, you spend all your time looking at screens. that is how you learn, visually,

that is who we are as young americans. that is a great thing because it looked at the child in the womb , as most of you have pictures of your cells in the womb. you are the generation that has though sonogram pictures. how can you say that is not made or that is not a person or that is not a human life? how can you say that is a blob of tissue? how can you look at these sonograms and say you can't kill that? you can look at the toes and fingers. one of my favorite movies is " juno." [laughter] page.ever forget: - -- alan page. i remember walking into the

abortion clinic to get the abortion clinic and a little friend of hers from school not knowing what to said to try to stop her from getting the abortion and they have this awkward conversation where they avoided the discussion. this friend of hers she knew from school was walking into an abortion clinic to get an abortion. she did not know what to say. this will girl walked by, she blurts out a fact -- your baby has eyes. that is the truth. you cannot avoid the truth of what abortion is. for so many years, you don't realize -- generation after generation of americans are lying to you. they were lied to. krill's relied too. young men were lied to. the supreme court said you can

kill this child. it makes sense now you have the reality of what life in the womb is. it is genetically human just like each and everyone of us. it is metabolize a man there for a live band is a human life than what we have done in this country is we have drawn a line between human life and person board. we have joint airline -- we have drawn a line with some protections under our constitution. once we create lines based on fiction, based on where you are, location - then we can draw other lines and 15 people in this country decide who lives and who dies which is exactly where we are in america today -- i believe the young people in

this country will reject that. i think the understanding and knowledge of the gravity of the fact that a third review -- 1/3 of you are not here, over one in three pregnancies of america and an abortion. 1/3 of this generation is not here. the consequences of that, the cures that have not been created, the technology about not has helped, the work that inspires all of us -- it did not occur because they weren't given a chance. i think we are better than that. i think you're generation as much as you are criticized as being the entitlement generation, you're also the generation that is seeking purpose. q. are the generation -- if you ever notice, most of the advertisers on cello the rigid on television when they go after younger people, they

appealed to your sensibilities that that is something good to be derived in doing something with this product. they appeal to your senses. there is something beyond just how much it costs. i think that is a good and noble thing about this generation is known for and i think it will be one of the things that will transform the pro-life movement in this country. it has also grown up and stop pointing fingers at people and saying you are bad for doing these things. we need to set up crisis pregnancy centers around the country and say we love you and understand it is hard. we want to help you whatever decision you make. the pro-life movement must always be about love. it has to be about love for the mother, the father, the baby, all.

we are much more about that and i think we will continue to be much more about that and i think that, as always, transforms. [applause] >> yes? >> mentioned liberty in your remarks and i wanted to get your comments what a common perception that a lot of youth has today which is that what people ought to do is to be able to make sure that all americans are able to do what they want to do. then again, as long as that as it does not hurt anyone. can you comment more about to counter that assertion which seems to be prevalent in our youth today? >> it is a growing understanding of liberty. it is a freedom from as opposed

to a freedom for. it is this very narrow view of liberty that everybody should have their opportunity to do whatever they want to do as long as does not hurt anybody. of course, what does that mean? what hurts people? a drive up and i'm late for something and i see a red light -- freedom from government oppression --right? i want the freedom from these unjust traffic laws. so i just blow through it. well, you might not hurt anybody. maybe someone will be in the intersection at some time. sometimes you may not hurt anybody. if you don't respect bill

wallace, if you disagree the laws, if you don't respect the national laws, government based on what is right and was wrong according to the public. freedom from without hurting anybody, you create a society that is free from collective moral judgment. i want to use drugs. that is my home and i won't hurt anybody. but you do hurt somebody. you heard somebody in how drugs are purveyed to hurting

yourself and your ability to do things and putting your family members -- you hurt people and doing things that are wrong. and society makes a judgment that we are going to put limits on those things. we will pull laws in place. we're going to impose the values of our society to allow liberty to occur. if there are not constraints of liberty, there can be no liberty. for example the red lights -- if there is no constraint and you crossing the intersection, everybody will suffer. the idea is that there has to be some objective for these laws. other than letting people do with the want to do. the objective has to be a higher order, a moral order. that is the problem with this idea of government is the

problem and government is bad and people should do whatever they won. that is simply not the american view of liberty. there has to be a constraint on freedom for free and to exist. the question is -- what is the basis of those constraints? by and large, in the founding of our country, there were based on the judeo-christian principles of right and wrong. now we are seeing on the left, and it tends to change that, to reject judeo-christian principles and replace it with, they say, nothing but that is not true. you replace it with something, another set of principles. the approach on the right is for getting rid of these things, too, these artificial constraints because i want to be able to do.

when you remove those constraints, you replace it with something. even the absence of a constraint is a moral decision. that is why we need to think very carefully about some of the fundamental changes that are being talked about in our society and the consequences of those because they are not the absence of moral constraint or absence of legal parameters. they are an imposition of a different set of values. yes? >> i want to thank you for visiting our school again. [laughter] >> thank you. >> i am from hillsdale college in seattle. washington state has recently legalized same-sex marriage. this last week, the democratic party made a part of their platform. the trend seems to be moving in that direction.

what are your thoughts? are we on the wrong team? are we going the wrong way? >> i think in 37 states that have voted on this issue, every time it has been voted, mary sayswon. -- marriage won. u.s. collect and happen. -- you ask how that can happen. your generation is bombarded with one point of view on this issue. it is clear that younger people have a different point of view on the issue of marriage than folks who are older. yet, every time it has gone the ballot, it has lost, why?

american speaking have the attitude that it is not hurting mesa what's wrong. it is a problem. the problem is until you have something really to make a decision, no one thinks tour with the consequences are. of changing the marriage laws in this country. once we have a debate about it, people realize that this does affect me. this will affect me. it will affect my marriage, it will affect the country, it will affect my children and my church. we go through the debate and talk about how it will change the definition of marriage - then if you seek to implement that, you let people marry, let's look at the other

consequences. what does the education curriculum look like in this country with respect to maris and receive in a lot of schools and states that have adopted it. you have textbooks that reflects the fact that when you have stories about people, you have stories about maori people who are heterosexual and homosexual. that is now being taught in a public school systems. that is normal and write and find their respective of the beliefs of the parents who are involved. you will see education curriculum change in this country. you will see the impact on religious-affiliated organizations. we are seeing it already in several states. where, not the church itself, the church-related institutions are denied tax status, nonprofit

status or denied -- the boston catholic church would not do something for roberto but could not do adoptions. they're one of the largest adoption institutions in the state of massachusetts. you'll see a whole variety of religious affiliated organizations will be denied their501c status or be denied federal funds. why don't we participate with organizations that are bigoted? that will be another phrase. what will come next is that you cannot speak about these things. i may have what met one canadian from vancouver, there she is, but gay marriage has been in canada for four or five years now and there is at least two wanted cases -- 200 cases of

hate speech and other types of criminal and civil proceedings brought against people including -- i don't remember what diocese but there was a bishop that talked about marriage and was told by the state that he would be charged with a hate crime. you say that cannot happen in the united states. it will happen. in that killed501c3 terrible deduction's to bigoted organizations. will transform a marriages in this country, we will take everybody who is an orthodox, believing christian and jew and turn them into hate speech purveyors. i will have to change the way they preach and also the way they live their faith out. this goes back to this broader issue of an attack on religious liberty and.

attack on religious liberty is not just about what you can say in church. how many people believe that the free exercise of religion meant how you worship on sunday? no, because as believers we understand that our faith is more than what we do on sunday. it is what we do the rest of the week in our lives. , in our work. , in what we say outside a church and what we are seeing is an attack right now by this administration but we are seeing an attack by the left on religious liberty and it is going to and will amp like you won't believe. this is a direct assault on our judeo-christian heritage. you say it won't make any difference. how can you say that?

have considered it will make the difference and lives of children. a study released the other day is the best longitudinal study on the impact of children being raised in same-sex household. he know what happened? academia and the media went crazy and tried to prove this guy out of the university and the night tenure and threatened his funding. it was because he wrote and academically bulletproof study on this issue but came up with the conclusion that the left did not like. the intimidation and the intolerance is unbelievable. you see what is going on with chick-fil-a. can you imagine the mayor of a small town in louisiana, in rural louisiana, who said we will not let somebody who says

they're for gay marriage have business in our town. can you imagine? we will not let starbucks in our town because they support gay marriage. what would happen? yet is ok for the mayor of boston and chicago. it is not ok. this is not just about the economy election. there are huge cultural, fundamental things at stake in this election. the democratic party has come out and said they are for redefining the basic institution of our society. you go down the street in washington, d.c. and you'll find a place called the archives were you will find volumes and volumes of studies called environmental impact studies. if you want to do something to change the environment and ecology by building a bridge across the swamp, you got to

spend millions of dollars and proves the federal government that what you will do is not going to ease -- disturbing ecology or the environment. yet, we are now in this brave new world of fundamentally changing the basic foundation of promise of our society, the family. what evidence have you heard about why this is a good thing other than the quality? equality is a good thing. it all depends. if the government is in the business of the quality of resolving, is that a good thing that everybody is the same? is everybody the same? of course not. of course not. none of us are the same, objectively false. where does equal to come from? where does that term come from?

we are equal in the eyes of god. that is where the term and this understanding in our society comes from. god sees us all as his children and equal irrespective of our abilities. objectively, we are not equal. some are smart and so much stronger -- and some are stronger. how you determine equality? based on what to? it sounds good but it is a false equality. certain things aren't equal. communism is not equal to capitalism. some would say they are. they are not. one is an abject failure for society and one promotes and is consistent with how societies work and how people function. it is true that a lot of other things. be careful with the quality. be careful to accept a false

view of the quality, a government dictated view of the quality that is not consistent with nature and natural law. >> good evening and thank you for coming tonight. i am from brandeis. you have touched on every question i was going to ask. as a real artist and a practicing catholic, my faith forms my reason and my logic but why do you think every company like chick-fil-a and starbucks or oreos why did they have to jump and on political issues? >> you have to ask those folks. they did not take a position on a particular issue. this started with an interview done by a member of the executive team of chick-fil-a to

a religious publication talking about his fate. chick-fil-a closes on sunday. does anyone not believe they are a biblical-based company to [applause] da chick-fil-a believes in christianne of it. this is the kind of -- i don't know -- chick-fil-a is not going out there, i can assure you, to start this fight. they are trying -- that want to [laughter] sell chicken] that's all they want to do is just sell chicken. they want to take the money from making those chicken sandwiches and improve the quality of life of the associates who worked in chick-fil-a which they do and want to take that money and put it back into the community, which they do. they want to support things are

the core basic values of our country, which they do. it is a great company. in some ways, it is a great contributor to communities all across the country and yet, what we see is the thought police coming in and saying you will agree with us on this or we will sanction you. if people want to protest chick- fil-a because of what a member of their executive committee says, fine. people can do whatever they want to do. if people want to show up at chick-fil-a tomorrow, they can do that, too. [applause] the idea of the government coming in is a bridge too far. for the mayor and the folks

from philadelphia to say the things they said about not wanting them in our city yet they embrace barack obama o has the very same position up until one month ago. the very same position and yet -- vote for him -- they want them to be president because they want his check. this is the hypocrisy that you see. democratic party did what they did. it has been a position they have held that they did not think it was the right time for them to come forward and now they have shown their true stripes. now the american public and make a choice as to what the right course is. >> thank you very much. >> i'm a student at oregon state.

i have lived in california my whole life. >> and you're here. >> my friends will be voting for obama because that is the status quo for a liberal state. it is disappointing because many of them will not learn about the opposition and watch the presidential debates over the summer. what advice can you give the young voters who practice such ignorance? [laughter] >> well -- i think it is incumbent upon every citizen to go to and it is incumbent for them to vote based upon as aggressive and as comprehensive a review of the positions of the candidates as possible. that is how democracy works. unfortunately, that is not how elections are in this country.

we have an imperfect system and many folks who don't pay attention. it is tragic. one of the great responsibilities you have particularly in a presidential election -- it is the idea that people go into that voting booth and don't have any idea what the candidate's positions are on the issues. someone who goes for one candidate or the other, the fact that you don't have the requisite information to be able to make those decisions is sad. i don't know how you avoid it. particularly given social media, how do not learn what these candidates believe? you folks are so connected and you get so much information permit you, just by osmosis you have to pick up something.

it is part of the general discussion at least on social networking. i think it is probably -- it almost have to be by choice to ignore this or be in a cave for this type of elections. i would encourage them -- maybe your on facebook or they can call you on twitter so they can see what you see. you can ask them to do you favor -- when i post something, take a look at it. encourage them to engage. i don't expect to agree with me but i would like to reduce bank and try to engage them in what is an essential element of being a citizen of this country. >> thank you. >> i am from atlanta, georgia.

you have health reform health care and i fill the one of the biggest mistakes this administration that was taking the requirements of work in order to receive a welfare check. how do you feel this will affect the lower middle-class and the future of our society? >> i think this was one of the grid as the couple must -- accomplishments of the republican revolution in 1994. bill clinton signed it against his will. he vetoed twice. it required work. because we know people cannot succeed in america without working. it is obvious unless you are a trust fund baby. you are going to have to work to survive. as a result these great society programs, i'm sure the people who put these programs to get a thought they were doing people in favor but they are not.

it is not the responsibility of the government to provide a. for you it damages you. it makes you dependent. he will struggle. it is just a different kind of struggle. i got criticized once in a debate about universal daycare in the finance committee in the senate and i gave an example of someone i have. hired i hired nine people off the welfare rolls. i talked about one of the who was working for me for about one year and was losing her subsidized day care because she could not find a slot for her two kids. she was going to have to quit because she could not make it work. she had a sister who was not working, living at home, and could have taken care of her children but she didn't want to.

she didn't have to. she's getting paid and got a check and she didn't need to. it would be more of a hassle for her to work. ultimately, the sister, literally the last day, she said i will do it and she was able to keep her job. she got a college degree and is now a teacher. the sister who is not living a very good life, raising those children, turned her around. if we have universal day care, none of that what happened. you would say we have avoided a struggle. life is a struggle. it is always a struggle whether the government provides free or not. there are always tough decisions you have to make and the sacrifices you have to make. what are we learning from the struggles? i would make the argument that the more the government does for us, the smaller we become, less

capable we become. , the last self confident we become. i cannot tell you the number of women i talked to over the years afterward from this bill who came up to me and said i did not believe i was capable. i did not believe in myself and you force me to get out and i now have confidence in what i can do. people at home receiving checks struggled. . they might not struggle where their next sandwich comes from or glass of milk comes from but they struggle with who they are. we're not doing them a favor. by having to the comewards of our society. physically, mentally, or otherwise. with president obama and he went out and said we will repeal the

work for welfare, against all, we specifically wrote the bill and i helped write it to make sure that the president could not waive that provision. it turned out to be true. there is a study done by the brookings institution that if you do three things in america you will be guaranteed never to be in poverty. one of the three things was work tw,o, graduate from a. high- schoolthree, get married before you have children. you do those three things in america, those people and up in poverty 2% of the time. people who do those three things and up to the top half of income earners the 75% of the time. we know what works and. america

we know what works. if you feel you do one of those three things, the chances you'll be in poverty are 74%. we know what works and yet the president of the united states of america assaults marriage, sides with the teachers' unions to deny people the opportunity to get a quality i school education and it says no you don't have to work. we know what will happen. they will be pour and vote for the people who gave them the benefit. this is the most important election of our lifetime. there are fundamental issues we're dealing with. what we see is the left continuing to promote the value

structure. i love it when they say we've got to get morality out of politics. they are. [laughter] they are getting the morality of the traditional values out of this country and they're replacing it with a different morality. it is not the absence of morality. it is a different moral code. work is at the heart of it. the attack on religion is at the heart of it. the attack on the family is at the heart of it. alexis de toqueville came to this country and the institutions of this country, family, churches, small businesses, the people who stood as a buffer between the individual and the government.

that is what made america so successful because we have these rich institutions that surrounded the individual and gave them the ability to rise. this leftward march we have seen, not with this administration but with a -- but for many years, wants to pulverize those institutions, small businesses, civic and community organizations, churches and the family. get rid of them and it is just you and the naked public square alone against the government. big things are at stake. you folks will be going to your colleges and you will be engaged in a battle for your survival. as a free people. i know all of you will go back to school and be engaged and

have good times. you've got two months to have an impact. if what happened four years ago happens again on college campuses across this country, you will have a lot of explaining to do to your children and gland -- and grandchildren about what you did when america's freedom was at stake. what you were willing to sacrifice. our founders in that declaration -- what does it say in the and?" pledge -- pledgee mutually to each other our honor. they gave it all. the new freedom was worth it. how about you? go ahead, last question. >> i think everybody in this room can agree that in order for there to be true change to our government, we must return to

our traditional values. you derive your traditional values from the bible and from a puritanical set of four catholics that this country was founded on. in modern society, we have turned to a very relativistic and novelistic form of not truth -- it cannot be called morality. now that this is permeating our society, how do you suggest we return to those values when the majority of our society does not believe in that truth. ? how can there be true change? >> be not afraid. to stand up and proclaim the truth. you must pull -- brooklyn there is truth. you folks are here because you want to engage.

i talked to groups like this and people say you are preaching to the choir. that may be true. sometimes the choir has to go out and sing as soloists. [laughter] [applause] don't doubt your voice. don't doubt your voice. when you watch the olympic games in new -- and you hear the participants asked if they can compete with the pressure. they know it. dig deep. you have the young america foundation which is providing you -- a soviet array of speakers -- i saw the an array of speakers. these are folks that i learn

from. learn from them and read their stuff. some of it may be dry. i understand that. learned. know it better than the other folks. there is nothing better. you guys have all taken tests. you walk into that test and you know you have not done your homework or your study and you walk in there and you are nervous and it is horrible. when you go into that test and you have the confidence, you write great prose, you know it. you need to know it. you cannot be -- this young lady talked about her ignorant friends who don't know what is going on. you cannot be like that. you cannot think this is the right thing to do.

you'll get destroyed by an academic and does not know what they're talking about but can't talk about it. in need to know the truth. in need to understand from whence we came. you need to drill down. if you do, you will have that confidence. you will be able to speak whether it is at the bar or in the dorm or wherever it is, you will be able to confidently communicate the truth. when people hear the truth, they will know it. i cannot tell you the responses i get from people when i talk about these basic values of our country. they say that makes sense. i went to some of the most liberal institutions in this country and went out and talked to people and they were

protesting the outside. repressed it -- protesting the outside and you, present the truth ca --lmly present the truth and some people said they have never heard that before. some people have never heard the truth. you need to go out and teach it, teach do we are and how we got here and how our country is at the press of this and -- process pr --ecipice -and economic a difference. this generation can look back and to accomplish. the great generation held off nazi germany and they were amazing. there were no different than you. what they did that made them great was they were willing to

stand up, fight to the bitter end, using their lives and sacred honor to win. they were willing to sacrifice it all to maintain freedom. no one is asking you to put on a uniform or pick up the gun and go somewhere to defend us from an enemy from abroad. thank god, some do. i am asking all of you to put on that cloak of citizenship. do your duty as a citizen of this country, know your stuff and be not afraid to proclaim the truth. thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the republican national

convention kicks off monday, august 27 and we will have coverage on c-span and the democrats the week after in charlotte, every minute of both conventions will be live on c- span, cspan radio and archived on c-span.org. a couple of convention speakers were announced today by the republicans. north carolina senate ay kellyotte a andrtur davis and bobby jindal. flore congressman and senate candidate connie mack and virginia governor bob mcdonnell and ohio senator rob portman. to get your campaign 2012 information online at our website, the latest political ads and the latest political media postings from the campaigns are c-span.org all at /campaign 26 -- c-span.org /camp

in 2012. -- campaign 2012. sister mary hughes will be speaking at the national press club about the relationship between american nuns and the vatican live at 1:00 eastern here on c-span. until then, a conversation in this morning's washington journal . host: what is wrong with the presidency? guest: we are not targeting this president or any other individual who has held the office rather the structure of the presidency and the executive branch. we think it could stand for some reforms as congress can. we come at this not necessarily from the left or right. we want to see government

functioning more effectively than it currently does. that means many things. in particular, it means getting the two parties to work together more effectively and getting the leaders of both parties to engage in an ongoing conversation with the american people. we have a plan which i will shamelessly plug called make the president to work. it has outlined several reforms and is. thank you very much. we are here today to talk about the presidency. there are several things we think can bridge the gap developed in washington between the leaders of the two parties and the two branches. number one, we think it is important for there to be quarterly bipartisan leadership meetings. every three months, whether of

the president should be required to get together with leaders of both parties in order to make sure the legitimate conversation takes place across party lines. host: should they be public? guest: the members and the president would appear in public before and after the meeting. they deserve some privacy. the most important thing in our mind is making sure that conversation takes place at all. under this president and his predecessor, months of not years go by before substantive conversations take place between leaders of both parties agree we think that is unfortunate and we need to see that change. host: one idea is to hold a question time for the presidentt. this is what your handout says --

guest: one of the best parts of the british system is the prime minister visits parliament on a regular basis. he or she answers questions from the members of parliament. we think a similarly regularly scheduled engage between the president and congress would be very beneficial. it would be for the american people want to see their elected leaders to engage in honest, and scripted dialogue. host: what about the political issues being slung back-and- forth in a grandstanding way? guest: we believe this exchange takes place on a regular basis. instead of being a confrontation, they should do this on a regular basis. we think they will recognize

their camp -- constituents want to see a more forthright conversation and do not want to see javelin throwing. by the way, as important as it is forby the way, libby, as impt as it is for the president to talk to congress, we think that he or she should talk more frequently to the american people also. we are advocating for the president told a monthly news conferences, every 30 days, high poll numbers, low poll numbers, it doesn't matter. every 30 days, hold an event with the press corps, and the more often that takes place between the president and congress and the president and the people congress represents, the more likely we are to bridge the partisan divides that have taken over washington. host: dan schnur is the co- founder of no labels. if you would like to join the conversation -

host:let's run through a couple more things that no labels is calling for. one is fast-track legislative authority. why is that significant? guest: i am so glad you brought that up. as many of your viewers know, even critical, well reasoned legislation can be bogged down in the process leading congress. the president has the authorities when it relates to trade agreements to fast-track that legislation -- in other words, congress can not attach any amendments or slow down the process. they simply have to vote up or down. we think that a president, democrat or republican, ought to have a broader fast-track authority. what they want to be able to do

twice every year is to say that this legislation is so important that i want congress to vote up or down on it. no stalling, no killing it with amendments. you have to say yes or no great ever present in the site for him -- can decide for him or herself, whether it is jobs legislation, environmental production, criminal justice, the president can say that this is so important that we cannot afford to wait. congress, you say yes or no. host: two other ideas are making parties pay for presidential fundraising, but also using the line item veto, but with a twist. what is the twist? guest: let's come back to line item veto and a second, because the first of the two he raised sends a powerful message to the people did president obama, like president reagan and pleasant clinton before him, traveled very frequently to raise money for his reelection campaign. what is standard operating procedure for both parties is to attack on a single official event along with a series of campaign fund-raisers said that the american taxpayers can pay

for the cost of air force one and secret service and all the other attendant costs it takes to move the president around the country. we don't think that is fair. that is an unfair cost imposed on the american taxpayer. what we're proposing is that any political activity takes place during presidential travel, the president's party, the democratic national committee or the republican national committee, is going forced to incur those costs. it is perfectly legitimate, but the american taxpayer should not be forced to pay for it. host: and a line-item veto? guest: it has been judged by the courts that the president should not have the ability to strike a very specific language from legislation, but through this process, we think that we can give the president a bit of a scalpel rather than a sledgehammer to move legislation to the goals of his overall agenda.

one other quick point, libby. i mentioned at the beginning that in addition to making the presidency work, no labels also has a process called "making congress work." i know you talked to one of my colleagues about that last week, but it is worth reminding viewers that we target these reforms toward both branches of government, and we have a multipoint reform for congress as well, that if congress does not fulfill its responsibility to pass the budget on an annual basis, it does not get paid. we had several members of congress saying they support this. for voters or non-voters who are increasingly disgusted with congress, take a little bit of heart in knowing that there are dozens and dozens of members of congress in both parties who are willing to support legislation that would require them to give up pay if a budget is not passed.

and your viewers can get the full list of those members of congress on our website, nolabels.org. host: antoinette in ohio. the republican plan -- republican caller. caller: i am so glad i got got up. i think more emphasis should be put on the economy. this country is in deep trouble. anytime you owe $16 trillion to another country, i don't see how we can even survive like that. more emphasis should be put on this problem. and why we have obama with all his promises and promises and no results, more debt.

guest: boy, antoinette, i am so glad you asked that question, and, libby, we're lucky we got her on the air right away. we've been talking about the reforms with been proposing in almost an abstract way, and what antoinette did is a great service in reminding us that these are not abstractions. there is a real-world impact of the paralysis on capitol hill and in washington, d.c. what concerns our members so much, and hundreds of thousands of members, liberal and conservative across the country, is this oncoming fiscal apocalypse that is likely to hit next year. the reason we are proposing these reforms, the reason we want a more bipartisan structure in congress, the reason we want the president and congressional leaders talking to other more frequently, one of the reasons for that is so that our electoral leaders can take on the challenges that antoinette is talking about.

we are working very hard -- we are gathering in new york city to ask congress to come together to take on the nation's challenges. antoinette, i am so glad you raised that question, because it reminded us that these reforms are designed to encourage principle the conservatives and principal the liberals not to abandon their ideological principles, but to find ways to work together across party lines and deal with the economic and fiscal challenges that antoinette is talking about. host: "the miami herald" is talking today about swing states and economic swings. "how will this affect the presidential election?" looking at states like colorado, florida, nevada, and virginia. we're talking with dan schnur,

co-founder of no labels' campaign, "how to fix the presidency." hi, scott. democratic caller in north carolina. caller: thanks for having me on line. i really appreciate your ideas and things like what this group is doing. however, i would say that labels are important. our government and things we hold to the american values were shaped by the depression and the drought. so i do not mind labels. i do not mind labels. i think they are ok. my concern is that last summer,

we have democrats willing to say, we will cut. we will find other sources of revenue. republican says no. we have signed a pledge to grover norquist. we are not doing anything with taxation. it is either cut or nothing. i do not know if there is going to be middle ground or if there is one side who has pledged allegiance to a third-party organization that is on elected that has values -- if we had those things during the be the b-2, we would not have had world war ii. -- during world war ii, we would not have had world war ii. guest: we believe people should have strong ideological principles. this is not an organization for the metal. we have democrats and top republicans who like those labels. as proud as they are of their partisan and ideological labels, and understand the importance of being able to put

those labels the size in order to work together to deal with the types of public policy challenges the nation is facing. scott also raises an important point about pledges. if we have a suggestion that no member of congress take any place other than the place of office, whether it is republicans taking no taxes pledge or the democrats. an excellent point was raised, the inability of the parties to get to be concealing. most of the authority of reporting i have seen suggests

that both president obama and speaker boehner were both pulled back by the basis of their respective parties. he kind -- the bases their parties. the kind of reforms would be designed to encourage cooperation across party lines that they were attempting to demonstrate, rather than discourage it. host: a lot of the elements to make the presidency work -- what about the lead up to the campaign season? we talked about presidential fund-raising. ron reis from colorado and says, -- rights an e-mail from colorado and says, how loud a message would it have been for a party not to run negative as? -- negative ads? guest: it sounds like i am continuing to change the subject back to making congress work. we are really of ideas that we

talked about in the context of congress. we talked about forbidding-than the-for being negative bank has to be run by -- forbidding native as to be run by opponents -- negative ads to be run by congressional campaigns. because it poisons the well so much for their ability to work together once the election is passed. the romney and the obama campaigns spend a lot more time and energy going negative and they have in the past. there're all sorts of incentives that we can talk about letter for both the romney and the obama campaigns. to spend a lot more time, money, and energy going negative than they would have in the past. you do not have to worry about the backlash from undecided voters. he can use the negative messages to rev up your own troops.

by encouraging the bipartisan cooperation that we have been discussing, our hope is that more voters take a broader, more reason to look at the alternatives available to them on the ballot. congressional level, a presidential level, and up and down the ballot. when you have more voters more open-minded about their choices, it creates more of a disincentive for campaigns to go as full throat negative as the presidential campaigns have now. host: an independent color in virginia. welcome. caller: hello. i respect everything you say. it's pretty much sounds good. sort of like in europe were doctors do not get paid if you come in and you are sick. it sounds really good. but my main thing is how you can be against the money, because you, yourself, just now asserted the nbc poll, in these polls are conducted by the same media outlets there controlled

by corporations, nbc, abc, cnbc, fox news network. we all know that those people are controlled by corporations, the same people who do not want taxes and do not want people to be able to control themselves. my question is, how do we change, when you're looking at the presidency and i saw that your other guy was on the other day and was talking about changing congress also, but how? we just have republicans literally in this country -- i mean, we have an economy that has been going crazy for a long time. we have a vice presidential pick who did not have a budget plan when george bush was in power. host: ann e-mail came in saying,

do you want the congress to become a rubber stamp for the president on important issues? the president already has too much power. >> it is a great question and gives me a chance to clarify the fast-track proposal. we do not want to change the balance of power between the president and congress. we want to provide both institutions with the tools to do their jobs the way they're supposed to. we think that by giving the congress not unlimited fast- track authority, but letting it president of united states have two bills, two legislative priorities over the course of the year, the congress can and should vote on up or down. it is an effective way of giving the president tools without shifting the balance of power. similarly, we want to streamline the appointments process to make it easier for the president to put men and women in place in his or her administration. congress recently voted to streamline the process,

voluntarily giving up a little bit of their authority, not a lot, but a little bit of their authority, recognizing that they need to do so to make the administration work effectively. we think that if the president were willing to come to congress for a q&a session of the time we talked about earlier, that ships a little bit of the authority back in the other direction. an essential point of your fear or pose a question, we're not looking to upset the finely calibrated balance of power between branches of government. we want to see both bridge is better equipped and better in power to do the job they were elected to do. host: dan schnur, co-founder of no labels was director of communications for the 2000 presidential bid of john mccain. other experience and background includes a bipartisan statewide organization devoted to making face more responsive to voters.

-- state government more responsive to the needs of california voters. he is an adviser to the hill and blending case foundation. -- an adviser for the william and melinda gates foundation. no labels polled 1100 registered voters last month and it showed that 86% of respondents said the effectiveness of the presidency could be improved with the rights reform. talking about ways to improve the presidency with dan schnur. jason, a republican is up next. calm i would like to make a comment on the gentleman who said -- caller: i would like to make a comment on the gentleman who said he liked labels. instead of taking care of our the veterans benefits or our social security or medicare, it seems the the government likes

to use labels to destroy our liberty. on top of that, pakistan and saudi arabia, they were directly involved with 9/11, so that hurts my feelings. thank you. guest: jason, like several of our other callers, has strong frustrations about the way government does or does not address the issues that are of most concern to him. we talked earlier about the debt limit, on the very first call. i think we can use jason's call to broadband the conversation a little bit, that for a voter who is rightfully frustrated that their congress and their president are not working to address the issues of greatest concern to you, whether it is job creation, taxes, debt protection, whenever the top priority is, you have every right to be frustrated. we encourage you to look at our making congress work and making the president to work proposals, and once you do, you would

agree, as the poll that you cited the showed, the systems of government, the processes of government can work more effectively than we do, than they do. we send good men and women to washington and they want to do the right thing, and we have a process in place to keep them from working together across party lines. a few of the reforms we talked about today can make it easier for congress to take on the other kinds of policy challenges your callers have been asking about. host: a tweet says, do we need a new constitution for emerging political realities into consideration and stop misusing power? can we look at the framework that already exists? guest: most of the proposals we're talking about not require a constitutional change or statutory change. rather, congress and the president could simply decide on their own without passing any new bills to implement these kind of reforms. it does not take a new law to require a president to hold monthly news conferences.

it is not take a new law, for example, for congress to set a new tallon -- calendar in which rather than being here in the morning from monday to tuesday, we propose that congress in three weeks in washington during the people's business and hope for a week to spend time with constituents. these do not require constitutional challenges. it is common sense. host: a poll from last month. 93% of respondents agreed that regular meetings between the president and congressional leadership should occur, even if they're from opposing parties. 84% say it a sitting president fundraising a kid do it -- activity should be paid in full by the party our campaign. 82% say the president should be given the of 30 to remove individual provisions from a bill and recent of them for an up or down vote in congress. let's look at some more make presidency work efforts by no labels. we talked about the question is time for the president. also, fixing the presidential

appointment process and expanding the presidential power to reorganize it also on the list are those regular meetings with congressional leaders. guest: we have talked about several of those items, but the one year is that is of particular importance is having a nonpartisan accounting of the nation's fiscal and economic situation presented to both congress and the president on a regular basis. rather than having the two-party is a vote working with their own sets of numbers, adding a comptroller general, for example, presenting budgetary information for both sides with good faith, we think will go a long way towards bridging the gap the currently exists between the two parties here in washington. host: mike, a democratic caller in georgia. caller: good morning. i want to ask the guest, how do expect the president to get anything done when the first night of his inauguration, we had some republican added

disclosed location already planning to take down the president before he proposed his first anything. how do you expect the president to get anything done? guest: that is exactly the point, mike. the thing we're trying to address with our proposals on both make the presidency work and making congress work, what we're trying to address is the poisonous, hyper-partisan atmosphere that exists in washington now in both parties where both sides decide, if you excuse the expression in the current social context, when both sides decide to shoot first and ask questions later. when both sides automatically assume the worst of the other party rather than looking for common ground. we think regular meetings between the two sides of congress, we think regular meetings between the president

and congressional leadership, we think the other reforms we're talking about can lower the volume, can de-partisanize the answer to some degree. in the republicans or democrats might take an extra minute or two for conversation. host: maria, new jersey, independent scholar. caller: good morning. i wanted to say that i think we already have the worst parliamentary system. c-span shows the english parliament and sometimes the australian where it is a lot of talk in mocking of each other. essentially, we have a presidential campaign that is centered on gaffes and blocking anybody else. the constitution party has no place here. ron paul dropped out. washington said too much -- i think the only parliamentary system should be considered as

the no-confidence vote. we have no redress of grievances here. we're being sold down the river, either fast or slow, by international corporations. our borders are not protected. we have illegals coming in here and being giving things were they did not pay their due at all. so, essentially, nobody is seeking to impeach the president for his executive orders, granting amnesty, and other things. i think what we need to do, short of a complete revolution, is to have some way for the general public to voice the incredible lack of confidence in the people who are up for election now. host: can we follow up with a question for you? when you watch the question time from the british parliament, you do not find it to be a productive exchange? >> no -- caller: no, i think it is a total farce. host: ok, let's hear from dan schnur.

guest: there are a couple of points in which i respectfully disagree with maria. most important is that americans do have a way of addressing their dissatisfaction with their elected leaders. it is the next election. one of the biggest problems that exist in politics that washington and the national level and state level as well is the most powerful voices in politics tend to be those that discourage cooperation across party lines. when a principaled liberal and congress decides it wants to work with summit is something done, there is a lot of strident voices to discourage that cooperation. one of our rules is to say that "working together is not a bad thing. it is a good thing. every two years or every four years or every six years, depending on the office, americans really do have a chance to weigh in, either in supporter opposition of their elected representatives. we want to make sure that when the people of this country have a chance to weigh in, you're

hearing not just on the nay- sayers bidding cooperation across party lines is a bad thing, but you're hearing from people that understand in order for the country to take on public policy geladas, people need to work together. we think our reforms and make the president to work and making congress work accomplished those things. once again, at the risk of being totally shameless, people can find more information at www.nolabels.org. host: we asked our viewers with a think about a new suffolk university poll that issuing 90 million americans may not vote in november because they feel disenfranchised or uninterested or they are making a silent protest of sorts are they do not have time, facing other problems. jessica road into our facebook page and said the problem is apathy, and people wonder why our country is a mess. it does not leave much room to complain later, but they will anyway. she supports ron paul and talks about that. here is that had won from "usa today." 90 million americans may not

vote in november who could. they could turn it too close to call race into a landslide for president obama. but by definition, there probably will not. it looks at why these people choose not to vote or find themselves unable the vote. the thing that your reforms could affect these people? gues i certainly do. i do not necessarily agree with the viewer who wrote in suggesting that the problem for people not voting is one based on apathy. i teach at the university of southern california, the university of california berkeley. as most of your viewers know, young people of that generation, 18 to 25, 10 to vote in lower numbers than any other generation -- tend to vote in our numbers than any other generation. which does suggest that the, as your talks about. that said, the same young people who vote in such small numbers, they volunteer their time back into their community in higher numbers and another generation in recent american history.

not because they're apathetic, not because they do not care. it is because they look at a political system that they think is hyperpolarized, they think is broken. they think they want to make a difference, rather than going out to vote, they would rather clean up a park. they would rather help kids learn how to read. what we have to get across to them, both young people and broader americans, is that while volunteering is the most noble of activities, if you really want to make change happen, you may get at the ballot box. one of our primary goals at no labels is demonstrating to the american people this does not have to be black and white, does not have to be a hyperpolarized kill or be kill political atmosphere. when the american people support is working together, i think we will see voter participation go up in a significant way. host: our next call, bill, a republican in kansas. caller: good morning.

i think you are probably on the right track with the idea of having no labels, but i think there are some labels that are needed, but they evolve around the intangibles. c.s. lewis said in one of his better works that one of the things that western civilization has been degrading in is the idea of courage. i think with the country needsneed courage in our leaders and obedient -- needs courage in their leaders and the need leadership. we did not have the courage like roosevelt. we do not have a man like kennedy, someone who can animate the people. i thought four years ago was barack obama. it sounded like it, but once it got into office, i found out he was anything but a leader. leaders just do not do that. for my professional experience, i remember working for fedex and fred smith had those intangibles of a leader or people would get behind him and say, fred, we're behind you. behind you. whatever it takes to