[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> for the next hour and a half several of the campaign events it's president obama in iowa. then paul ryan campaigns in ohio joined by former his first campaign stop after the presidential debate in new york.

>> thank you, what a great virginia welcome. thank you for your warmth and hospitality. i know you have been standing for a while but there has been some extraordinary people speaking. wasn't that fun listening to lee greenwood? that was touching. i appreciate the attorney general speaking to you and congressman forbes.

these are great people and deserve your support. i wish that george allen were here today but we will collect in the next center of the state of virginia. -- we will elect him the next senator of the state of virginia. governor bob mcdonnell has been campaigning all over the country for me. people recognize, as the head of the governors' association, he applies conservatives principles and applies that other states and i appreciate him coming here and spending time with me as he just did. he is quite a guy. dennis miller, he's got talent, he's got humor, and he's got the right candidate this time, so i appreciate that. i have to be honest with you -- i love these debates.

these things are great. i think it is interesting that the president still does not have an agenda for a second term. don't you think it is time for him to finally put together a vision of what you do in the next four years if he were elected? he's got to come up with that over this weekend because there is only one debate left on monday. i think the american people had expected that the president of united states would be able to describe what he will do in the next four years but he cannot. he cannot even explain what he is done in the last four years. he spends most of his time trying to talk about how my plan will work. what about his plan? we know his plan has not worked. last night, a lot of people asked questions and they deserve answers. i think it was germany as the question about how he will get a job after he gets out of college. half the kids in this country and not able to get college-level work out of

college? as a question the need to be answered then you heard lorraine saying when you promise, mr. president, to put in place and immigration reform bill in your first term -- it was mail as that question but was her idea. she brought up immigration -- you promised in your first term, in your first year, but you did not even file a bill. she deserves an answer. then we heard from michael. he asked the question of why we should vote for you because the middle-class is just getting buried. i describe all the ways in which the president had failed to lift the middle-class. this is an election about the great middle-class america. people who are poor get into the middle class and he had no answer as to why he had failed to help the middle class and why they're having such a tough time.

catherine spoke about women and women's equality in the work force. i asked a question that she deserves an answer to which is -- why is it there are 3.6 million more women in poverty today than when the president took office? this president has failed america's women. they have suffered in terms of getting jobs, falling into poverty, this is a presidency that has not helped america's women. i go across the women and ask women what can i do to help, what they speak about is help me find a good job or a good job for my spouse and held my kid, make sure my children have a bright future and better schools and better job opportunities. that is what the women of america are concerned about and the answers are coming from us and not from barack obama. [applause] philip was the first questioner and asked about gas prices.

he wants to know why they have gone up so much. the president's answer -- he said the economy has gotten stronger on that basis, when we have a recovery, gasoline prices would probably go up to six or $7. is that what he is saying? this is a classic non-answer. it is pretty clear that when it comes to his policies and answers and his agenda, he is pretty much running on fumes. the american people want real answers and a real agenda and that is what paul ryan and i will become the next president and vice president of the united states. [applause] we take america to two very different places and that is

clear by virtue of what you have heard over the last two debates and you will hear over the last one as well. the president will put an america in place that has about $20 trillion in debt, killing the american dream for your kids. if i become president, i will take the action to make sure we kept our federal spending, we limit federal spending as a percentage of our total economy, and we finally get america on track to a balanced budget. [applause] if president obama were reelected, is spending plan and is borrowing and the death of that borrowing will cost -- cause not only high income people pyrotechnical small but, you will see middle income people in this country facing $4,000 more in taxes. when i become president of the united states, i will lower taxes for the middle-class and on small businesses who need a real break. [applause]

he made it clear as well in the last couple debates that he is reelected, we will have obama care including $716 billion of cuts to medicare. i hope you know what that means. doctors are saying that half the doctors in america are saying they will not take additional medicare patients because of that. think about that if you're thinking about retiring. that is what is cut in medicare means. why did he take that money out of medicare? to pay for obama care. i will repeal for obama care, replace it, and put that $716 billion to work. [applause] then there was his jobs plan or lack of a jobs plan. he just keeps on saying what he said before. we need a stimulus and need to hire more government workers. there's nothing wrong with working in the government but hiring government workers does not get the private sector growing. raising taxes is another part of his plan and picking winners and losers.

from my calculation, he made about seven big loans to companies in his first year in office. of those seven big lawns, three of the companies have gone bankrupt and one more is in fragile condition. we don't need the government picking winners and losers -- or in his case, losers. let the free market choose the winners and losers. my plan, and you have heard it time and again. i will get this economy going because i really believe in these things. i believe that it makes sense to take advantage of oil, coyle, gas, renewable -- i believe and those things. i do not just talk about it. the president's record makes it clear that he does not believe and oil and gas. that is why we will get to the north american independency in eight years. there is another place that will get the economy going.

and with the trade. we will open up more trade. he said last night that he filed all of these actions against china. he said, we want everyone a and was been adjudicated. we need to label china what it is. a currency manipulator and competing in an unfair manner. a a we've got to help us -- [applause] we've got to help small businesses. if you of a small business, you build that business yourself government did not do it for you. [applause] and so, this election is going to come down to being a choice between to be zero different

americas. an america where they make the rules where it takes more and more from the american people. where it runs more of our businesses and increasingly runs our lives. or instead, an america where we restore the principles that have made the nation that it is. that we bring back the principles. recognizing that god gave us our rights. they include life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness as we choose. [applause] we all value and respect our government and the work that government has to do and recognize its role in our society. but its role is to help encourage free people and allow trimmers to reach for their dreams. to keep it from smothering enterprise, freedom, and opportunity.

the president does not understand the power of the american spirit, i do not think. he says he loves free enterprise, but he thinks government somehow has to get in there and pull all the strings. government is to encourage free enterprise, but then let the people pursue their own dreams, pursue their own visions, pursue happiness as they know it. and i know that -- and i know [applause] something about the greatness of the american spirit. i am convinced that despite all the challenges we face -- the debt and the joblessness, the challenges we face around the world, schools are not performing as they should reject all of those challenges i am convinced should be overcome not by government, but by the american spirit. by free people. i have seen the spirit of america throughout my life. one of my favorite experiences happened a number of years ago that cemented in my mind the great qualities of the human spirit.

they are seen that day in and day out in american citizens across this country. i happen to be at a boy scout court of honor. if you voice doubters here. all right. -- a few boy scouters here. all right. the fellow speaking at the microphone was from colorado. he said that when he was -- back in colorado, that the boy scout troops that he was responsible for wanted to have a special flag. so the purchase of the flight with gold tassels and the had it flown above the capital. when it came back, they said they wondered if they could have the flag go on the space shuttle. they contacted nasa and said, we have this special flag. would you take on the shuttle?

i am sure there were kind of reluctant to take souvenirs' fourth -- from was captured, but they said, ok. we will take your flight. they put it on the shuttle and you can imagine how proud of their boys were to be sitting in school and watch the shuttle wanted to stick to their friends, our flags on the shuttle. and in this audit explode in the air. they called nasa announced the had any remnants of the flag. he called every week for months to see if it had found anything from the flight. and then he said in about september, this is about 3/4 of a year later that he is reading an article in the paper that described some of the debris from the challenger disaster. on their it mentioned something about a flag. so he called nasa again and they said they had found something that would like to present nasa and the boy scout troops and their parents of came together for a presentation. the hand of the boy scouts in

little plastic container. the open the container and inside was their flag in perfect condition. s [applause] " and then the scoutmaster said and that is it on the flagpole next to mr romney. i reached over and i grabbed the flag and i held it out and it was as if the electricity was running through my arms. as i thought about the heroes, the patriots, americans, who lived for something bigger than themselves. who lived for pioneering and discovering. for new knowledge, not for themselves, but for the world and for america. that is the nature of who we are. every day i see people who live for something bigger than themselves. pioneers, heroes. i think of single mothers wondering how they will put food on the table at the end of the week, scrimping and saving to do so.

i think of dads and moms taking two jobs so they can afford to give their kids the same kind of clothes that other kids are wearing at school. i think about young people coming out of college and putting aside their career because they feel it would be an honor and duty to serve in our military. i think about parents and christmastime coming up, saying, let's not exchange to get so we have enough to make sure our kids have a great christmas. this is who we are as a people. and the divisiveness we have seen in washington has spread across this nation. it has got to stop. we can talk about differences on issues without making personal attacks. we can draw on the great american spirit. encourage people to lift themselves. [applause] in in awe of this community -- i am in awe of this community.

i love that line from one of our national hymns -- oh beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife for more than self their country loved. mercy more than life. what our veterans of the armed service fees raise your hands and be recognized -- would our veterans of the armed services please raise your hands and a recognized? [applause] a great military town. 20 days. we decide what can america we're going to have. we will decide what kind of debt relief to our kids. decide if we want a real recovery. 20 days to decide if we will fundamentally change america into something we will not recognize or restore to the principles of the earth. i am counting on you.

i will do everything in my power to get america back. i thank you for being here. get out here and vote. let's take back this great country. that's restore what makes america america. thank you very much. ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> while mitt romney was in virginia, president obama campaigned in iowa. >> ♪ ♪

>> hello iowa. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. are you fired up? are you ready to go? [applause] >> well, first of all, can everybody please give a big round of aplaws to rachel for that great introduction? i want to thank the rams for hosting us here today. i appreciate you guys.

we've got your outstanding senator tom, congressman bruce, another congressman who has i guess professor right here dave, to of my oldest friends in iowa, your attorney general tom miller and your treasurer mike fits jerraled. and i'm thrilled to see all of you and i hope you're enjoying the warm weather. >> i love you. >> i love you back.

[applause] >> i just want to know -- look, i'm from chicago and i campaigned in iowa in january so this is basically the warmest you will be for the next six months. now i've come back to this college today to ask each of you for one big thing. i'm asking for your vote. i'm asking for your vote. [applause] in iowa you can vote today, today, as long as you're registered before october 27, you can vote right up to election day. in fact, you can go vote right after this event at the cole

library. and anyone can find out how to register and vote. so iowa, are you going to vote for me today if you haven't already voted? [applause] i need you. now as many of you know, we had our second debate last night. [applause] i'm still trying to figure out how to get the hang of this thing, debating. but we're working on it. we'll keep on improving as time goes on. i've got one left. but, you know, the interesting thing is that governor romney has been running around talking about his five-point plan for

the economy for quite some time. and as i pointed out last night, and you guys heard yourself, it's really a one-point plan. it says folks at the very top can play by their own set of rules. that's why they can pay lower taxes than you do or they can use offshore accounts, or they can invest in a company, bankrupt it, fire the workers take their pension, ship jobs overseas and still make money doing it. it's the one-point plan that says it's okay for wall street to keep engaging in the recommendless behave yor we've been fighting back from for the past four years. it's the same philosophy that's been squeezing the middle class for more than a decade. it's the same philosophy we saw

in the previous administration and i have seen too much pain and too much strug toll let this country go down that same road again. so iowa, we can't -- i want you to know, i want you to know folks here in iowa, understand this, you cannot grow this economy from the top down. you grow this economy from the middle class up. we're not going to go back to what we were doing before. we're moving forward and that's why i'm running for second term as president. now governor romney also took another stab at trying to sell us his $5 trillion tax cut that favers the weththi. he said heel let you know how

he's going to pay for it after the election. here's a tip. usually when a politician tells you they're going to wait until after the election to tell tu plan, they don't have a pleasant surprise in store for you. and in this case it's because just about everybody who has looked at governor romney's $5 trillion in tax cuts say it can't be done without racing taxes. he says he has a plan to create 12 million new jobs in the next four years. but when folks started crunching the numbers, it fell apart faster than his tax plan. turns out his job math isn't it any better than his tax math. "the washington post" called it a bang switch. so let's recap what we learned

last night. his tax plan doesn't add up. his jobs plan doesn't create jobs. his deficit reduction plan adds to the deficit. so iowa, everybody here has heard of the new deal, you've heard of the fair deal, you've heard of the square deal? mitt romney is trying to sell you a sketch i deal. we're not buying it. we've been there. we're not buying it. we've been there. we've got to finish what we started in 2008. [applause] you don't want to invest in that sketchy deal.

let me tell you. four years ago i told you we'd end the war in iraq and we did. i said we'd tend war in ask and we are. i said we would focus on the terrorist who attacked us in 9/11 and we have and bin laden is dead. [applause] four years ago i promised to cut taxes for middle class families and we have by $3600. i promised to cut taxes for small business owners and we have 18 times. we passed a law to makes sure the tax funded pay youts are over for good. we passed healthcare reform so your insurance company can't jerk you around.

we made sure insurance companies had to let parents keep their children on their parent's plan until their 26-year-old if they don't have a job. we said insurance companies you got to charge women the same as men because being a woman is not a preexisting condition. [applause] we repealed don't ask don't tell so no one is ever kicked out of the military because of [inaudible] >> when governor romney said let detroit go bankrupt we said no and we have an auto industry that came roaring back. last time i was here i said to

students we're going to help you afford a college education. and we took $60 billion going to middlemen in the student loan program and we cut out the middlemen and as a consequence millions of students have benefited from lower interest rates and pell grants. today, four years after the worst economic crisis in our life times we're moving forward again. after losing 800,000 jobs a month when i took office we've added jobs over the past two years. unemployment has fallen from 8% to 7.4%. your 401-ks have started to recover. manufacturing is coming home to america, our assembly lines are

starting to hum again. look, we've got a lot more work to do. but we've got to build progress and i've got a plan to grow the economy and create jobs and create security for middle class americans. i want to export more products, outsource fewers jobs. we can give those tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in iowa, right here in the united states of america, rebuilding our manufacturing. [applause] i want to control more of our own energy. you heard last night oil production is up, natural gas production is up. what we've also said is we've got to develop a new source of energy and we've got to be more

fisht with our economy. so we raised fuel efficiency on cars so your car will go twice as far on a gallon of gas. we had double the amount of renewable energy we generate from wind and solar and buy fuels. today the united states of america is less dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last two decades. so the question -- so the choice you have -- you heard last night, it's not a choice between oil versus solar or natural gas versus wind. we all agree we got to increase oil production and natural gas production. but the question is whether we build on the progress for the new energy source of the future. i'm not going to keep on giving corporate tax funded welfare to oil companies $4 billion a year

when we could use that money to promote wind and solar and long-lasting batteries and putting americans back to work right now. develop that technology right here in the united states instead of china or germany or some other country. [applause] and i've got to tell you iowa, this is not a pipe dream. there are 7,000 jobs in iowa depending on wind energy. governor romney didn't have a plan to end wind jobs in iowa but he called these jobs imaginary. my plan will keep these investments and we'll keep reducing the carbon pollution that's heating the planet. the floods, the whiled fires, those aren't a joke. those are a threat oh our

children's future and we can do something about it. that's part of what is at stake in this election. i want to give more americans the chance to get a great education and get the skills they need to compete in the 21st century. i tried to talk about education last night. and we kept on getting waylayed. if you're talking about jobs and economic growth. what is more important than making sure everybody has the skilled they need? i'm here because of a great education. all of the young people making an investment in a college education right now, you have to understand you need to be quipped. i shell, her gait way into opportunity was her education system. her dad was a blue collar worker, her mom was a secretary. and right now because of the actions we already took, millions of young people are paying less for college because we took on that system that was

wasting taxpayer dollars. rachel, by the way, i took a photo with her parents backstage and she talked about the fact we put in place a tax credit for middle income families to attend college is helping her attend school right now. [applause] but and you saw last night, even though we weren't able to talk about it as much as i would have lalk liked is a fundamental different. romney says hiring more teachers won't grow our economy over the next four years. but yesing the. what about over the next 40 years, what about oir economy for the next 40 years? we could gut education, pay for the $5 trillion tax cut or recruit math and science teachers over the next decade

helping our young people refocus on science and technology, engineering, math. we should make sure all our young people, our daughters as well as our sons are thriving in these fields. [applause] i've got to tell you, we don't have to collect abunch of binders to find qualified women ready to learn in these fields right now when young women graduate, they should get equal pay for equal work. that should be a simple question to answer. [applause] when governor romney was asked about it, his campaign said we will get back to you. that should not be a complicated question. people -- equal pay for equal work. i want my daughters paid like

somebody else's son is paid for the same job. that is the way forward. [applause] last night, governor romney finally admitted that the governor did not support the bill. you don't have to wait for an answer. the late ledbetter fair pay act was the first bill i signed into law. [applause] that was the first bill. governor romney did not want to talk too much last night about how he wants to end funding for planned parenthood, how he supports legislation that would turn decisions about women's health care to her employers. he did not want to talk about it because he cannot sell it. i don't think your boss should control the health care you get.

[applause] i don't think insurers should control the health care you get. i certainly don't think politicians should control the [applause] health care that you get. [applause] we passed obama care -- i like the term -- we passed it. because i do care and i want to put these choices in your hands where they belong. the fourth part of a plan to create jobs right here is to use the money we are saving from ending the wars in iraq and winding down or in afghanistan to pick up our deficit and put our people back to work, including our veterans, building roads and schools and bridges across america. [applause]

governor running mate and i have a different theory on this. he said it was tragic the week ended the war in iraq. he double down on that in a speech last week and said we should have kept jobs -- troops on the ground in iraq. i disagree. i know these troops. i know their families. i know how dedicated they are and the sacrifice they and their families make. it was time to bring those troops home to their families. it was the right thing to do. [applause] and every brave american who wears a uniform for this country needs know that as long as i am commander-in-chief, we will maintain the strongest military in the world and when those troops takeoff the uniform, we will serve them as well as they have served us because nobody should have to fight for a job after they have fought for our country. nobody should have to fight for

a roof over their head or the health care they need after they have fought for america. [applause] finally, i want to cut the deficit by $4 trillion or the next 10 years and i have worked with republicans and democrats to cut $1 trillion dollars worth of spending and i'm ready to cut more spending that is not contrary to erode. but we cannot cut our way to prosperity. we've got to make investments in science and research and infrastructure. we cannot do all that and reduce our deficit unless we ask the wealthiest households to pay a little bit more. pay a higher tax on incomes over $255,000. somebody making $500,000 -- they are still keeping the tax break for the first $250,000. after that, let's go back to the same rate we had when bill clinton was president and our

economic -- our economy create new jobs and when from deficit to surplus. [applause] governor romney was asked if it wasis fair that he pays a lower tax rate than a teacher who makes $50,000? he said he thinks it is fair. he thinks that's how you grow an economy. he is wrong. you look at our economic history. that is not how we grow an economy by having a few folks at the top paying less than folks in the middle. i will not ask middle-class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids are sending them to college just to pay for another millionaires' tax cut. [applause] i'm not going to ask the students here to pay more for college so i have little more money in my pocket. i don't need it.

i'm not going to eliminate health care programs or head start programs. or eliminate health insurance for americans who are poor or disabled. governor romney again last night, over and over, said i can cut taxes for everybody, i can increase military spending by $2 trillion, i will lower taxes for middle-class families and i will close the deficit. he keeps on saying it and when people ask what will you cut? i don't know about you, if i look at my budget, i am trying to shrink my debt, i got to cut something out. so far, he has offered cutting support for planned parenthood and getting rid of big bird. and ending wind tax credits.

it adds up to less than 1/100 of 1% of the budget. that was an estimate, by the way. i was doing that off the top of my head. he claims is $5 trillion tax cut will create millions of new jobs and pay for themselves. we have heard this page before. you know where we heard it? in the previous administration. we know it doesn't work. we know what we're talking about and now the choice is up to you. the election now is up to you. it comes down to this -- our opponents tell us that because government cannot do everything, we should do almost nothing. if you can afford health insurance, "you don't get sick. if you cannot afford to start a business or go to college, barr money from your parents. if your company releases harmful pollution into the air, that is the price of progress.

that is not who we are. that is not what america is about. we are in this thing together. [applause] that's what this country is about. here in america, we believe that we are all in this together. everybody. we understand america is not just about what can be done for us but what can be done by us as one people, as one nation. you are the reason that we got shuttered factories in places like newton that are humming again with workers manufacturing components for amazing when turbines buried made that happen because you believe we could do this together. your the reason a mother in cedar rapids, a mother right here in this audience, doesn't have to worry about surgery for herdaughter because the insurance company can not limit her

coverage. your the reason student aid -- a student can get help paying for college education and we have a new gi bill for returning veterans. [applause] that all happened because of you. and we got to do it again. you are the reason young immigrant will not be sent away from the only country she has ever called home. you are the reason that we were able to bring our troops home and those families are reunited with their loved ones. you made that happen. if we don't fight as hard as we can over the next three weeks, all that could be set aside. that is what we are fighting for. that is what we are fighting for. that is what we are fighting for. you cannot turn away. your voices are not heard, than the lobbyists and special interest will fill the void, the folks running the $10 million check to buy this

election, the folks trying to make it harder for people to vote in this election and you cannot let that happen. i will not let that happen. we have worked too hard to gather over the last three years to let that happen. [applause] you know, back in 2008, it started here in iowa. you are the ones who first showed america that change was possible. and everything we fought for is now at stake. we can choose to go back to the same top down policies that got us into this mess or choose to move us forward with the policies that have gotten us out of this mess. you can choose to go back to a foreign policy that gets us

into war with no plan for getting out or you can help move us forward by ending the afghanistan war responsibly and bring our troops home and focus on the terrorists who attacked us. you can choose to turn back the clock 50 years for women and for immigrants and for gays and lesbians or you can stand up and say we want to move forward. we believe in the country no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, you can make it if you try. that is what is at stake in this election. that is what i still believe in and of that's what you still believe in, we've got to fight as hard as we can for the next three weeks and i promise you, if you're willing to stand with me and knocked on doors with me and work as hard as you can and talk to your friends and neighbors and classmates, and if you will vote for me, we will win lynn county again, we will win iowa again, we will win this election began and

show the world why the united states of america is the greatest nation on earth. god bless you and god bless america. [applause] ♪ national captioning institute] national cable satellite corp. 2012] bruce springsteen] dunn]

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>> president obama and mitt romney deliver keynote addresses at the foundation dinner tomorrow night. it is traditional for the catholic charity fund-raiser to invite presidential candidates to make remarks about themselves and the campaign. our live coverage is here on c- span at 9:00 p.m. eastern. >> with a focus on the presidential debate, c-span is asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this year's documentary competition. students will answer the question in a short video -- what is the most important issue the president should consider in 2013, for the chance to win a grand prize of $5,000.

video's student cam competition is open to students grades 6 to 12. >> republican vice presidential candidate paul ryan campaign in ohio with former secretary of state condoleezza rice. in her first official campaign appearance of the gop ticket. from baldwin wallace university, this is a little more than an hour and a half. >> great to be back. great to be here at baldwin wallace. great to be here with the yellow jackets. i think there is a certain buzz right now in ohio. are you ready to win? [applause] i have been all over the state. we have eight rallies.

i was at victory centers -- everywhere i go, i get a feeling something is going on in the state of ohio. the momentum is moving. thank you for all your doing. keep it up. we have to do all we can because we have to win, don't we? we simply cannot afford another four years like the last four. i will ask you today -- because ohio was so important, and as they say, so goes ohio, so goes the country. think about it -- have you done absolutely everything you can, and will you in the next 20 days to everything you can to insure a romney-ryan victory to take back ohio and the country? had he made phone calls for mitt and paul? have you put up any signs?

have you gone door-to-door? did you get your absentee ballot applications today? every single person here got one -- if you have not already voted early or fell that the application, do it. let's thank those votes. you can vote right after this rally. they're open 8:00 to 5:00 every day, including today. will you vote early? we want to back those votes. if you vote early, you are free on election day to help other people to the polls. commit to mitt -- vote early. [applause] we saw last night in that debate why it is so important we do everything we possibly can over the next 20 days, didn't we? we saw barack obama come out swinging. he promised he would take the new approach. there was going to be a new style -- and there was.

but even though he had a new, different, aggressive style, he still had the same failed record and the same failed policies and when that was pointed out by mitt romney he could not defend them. didn't you think mitt romney did a great job last night? [cheers and applause] mitt romney not only talked about the failed record and that president obama has not offered anything new for the next four years, but he laid out a vision for america. that is what people want to hear. they want to hear the next four years can be better. we can be sure we let these guys to turn this thing around and get our country back on track. [applause] mitt romney has a terrific partner in paul ryan, doesn't he? [applause]

that mission that mitt romney laid out last night -- there is no more articulate spokesman of it and paul ryan, talking about it every day. he is smart. he is in this for the right reasons. he understands america faces serious problems and they are no laughing matter. that is why he did so well in his debate compared to joe biden. [applause] representing you in a united states senate, i cannot wait to work with paul ryan as the next vice-president of the united states. [applause] we're also blessed to have another star with us today. [applause] she is one of my favorite people in the world, and is one of america's most respected public figures.

folks, didn't she make us proud with her speech of the republican national convention in tampa? i will tell you something you somethingcondi rice, she also makes all the browns fans here proud. the only place she would rather be in here with you is the dog pound. she is an undying, loyal cleveland browns fan. welcome, former secretary of state, condoleezza rice. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. well, thank you very much. thank you. thank you.

well, thank you so much for that warm welcome to baldwin wallace university. i have to start by saying go jackets. [applause] i would like to thank my friend and wonderful senator, rob portman. thank you for all you do for your country. and you cannot find a finer public servant than rob portman. thank you. [applause] now, it is true i am going to go see the cleveland browns, who by my count won the game last week. but that is not why i am here. i want, like you, to see this country prosper and continue to be a place of unlimited

opportunity. to see this country lead the world toward prosperity and liberty and peace. and so i am here to support mitt romney and paul ryan in that quest. this is a pivotal time in our country's history. we are at a crossroads, ladies and gentlemen. we are at a crossroads about what kind of country we are going to be and whether you and i, who have benefited so much from what our ancestors gave us, are going to pass on that same country of liberty and opportunity to our children. and that is what this election is about. [applause] we are at a crossroads because we cannot continue to spend money that we cannot afford to

pay back and therefore, will saddle our children with the debts we have taken on. we just cannot afford that. we cannot afford to be a country where so many men, and especially so many women, in these hard economic times do not know if they will ever work again. indeed, americans are feeling this terrible economic tension and pain. it has been a rough decade or so. 9/11 changed our conception of physical security. the crisis of 2008 changed our conception of economic prosperity, and the past four years have been very tough on folks who just want to work hard and make a living. when i was a little girl i remember my grandfather saying

to my mother, angelina, you and john have to buy a house as soon as you can, because the value of your home never goes down. but americans have watched as this most prized asset, the value of their home, has indeed gone down. many americans out of work wonder if they will ever work again. they have reason to worry where jobs are being created so slowly. the longer you are out of work, the less likely you are to find a job. when mitt romney and paul ryan said they are going to put the country back to work, this is an urgent call, not one for which we can wait another four years. [applause]

but you know as important as it is for us to pay our bills and not take on debt that we cannot afford, as important as it is to get people's sense of hope again, i want to make one other argument. i want to say one other thing. when you are secretary of state you get to go around the world and see what this great country means to the world. you get to see what people do not particularly like about us, but you also get to see how admired america is for its central belief that it does not matter where you came from, it matters where you are going. now, across the world, people look to the united states for strength. they look to the united states to keep the peace, and by the way, we have to be eternally grateful that we have men and women in uniform who volunteer, they volunteer -- [applause]

and we have kept the strength, the peace through strength, but we also give the world hope so that people have come here from all over the world to be a part of the belief that it does not matter where you came from but matters where you are going. people here have never been trapped in their view of class as a prison. we have never been envious of one another, and we have certainly never been envious of one another's success. [applause] instead, we of been a country of opportunity and hope. as i stand here at this wonderful university i am reminded that so much of that sense of opportunity and hope

and possibility comes with a good education that can transform who you are and what you might be. i have to tell you, we all have our family heroes, and one of mine and ours is my grandfather on my father's side, a man named john wesley rice senior. when he was a sharecropper's son in alabama, he decided he was going to get book learning in a college. he asked people, how could a colored man go to college? he said they have this little presbyterian college 30 miles from here. you could go there. he went for one year. he said i am out of cotton, so you are out of luck. my grandfather said, so how are those boys going to college? he said they have what you call a scholarship.

he said if you want to be a presbyterian minister, you can get a scholarship, too. my grandfather said that is exactly what i have in mind. [applause] and my family has been college educated and presbyterian ever sense. the transforming power of education that these young people are experiencing here at this fine university is a wonderful thing of itself, but i want them when they leave here to be able to take part in the prosperity of an economy that works the way you and i do. that is also what this election is about, and that is being watched across the world, because america needs to lead from strength and needs to lead from values and principles, and america needs to feel confident in values and principles so that we want to lead.

[applause] that principle that it does not matter where you came from, it matters where you are going has always meant we are not the people that is constantly agreed. -- were constantly aggreived . we did not give way to agreement -- aggreivement to our twin brothers entitlement, why don't they give me -- [applause] instead, no matter our circumstances at birth, we believe the that with a chance we would succeed. we might not be able to control our circumstances, but we could control our response and look at what we build for the united states of america. that is what this election is about. that is what this pivotal time in our history is about. that is why we are at a

crossroads. we are at a crossroads in so many fronts. jobs for our people. yes, on equality for men and women to have the same opportunity to succeed. this is a powerful country that has been a powerful force for peace and liberty in this world. i want to see it be that way well into the future. sometimes it seems the task before us is just too hard, but i want to remind you, as i said to the nation at the republican convention, that americans have had a way making the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect. the united states went by grants the greatest military of the -- went against the greatest

military power of the time. and then we've fought the civil war, brother against brother. hundreds of thousands dead on both sides and we emerged a more perfect union. where i live, you think about the people who came across there in the covered wagons. they had to be optimistic, because they did not even know what was on the other side and kept going anyway. a girl grows up in alabama and cannot go to a movie theater or restaurant but her parents were convinced you could become president of the united states of america. she becomes secretary of state. [cheers and applause] america has been the place that makes the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect. it took courage and vision, and that is why i am so proud to be here today, because i know we

are all going to work very hard to make sure that vision and that leadership and that integrity that we see in mitt romney and paul ryan is available to america in these troubled times. [applause] and so it is a great honor and great privilege to ask to join me on stage, the congressman from wisconsin and future vice president of the united states, paul ryan. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪

>> thank you. [applause] what an example. if you want to see the embodiment of the american idea, look no further than this leader off of my right shoulder, condoleezza rice. [applause]

if you want to see what a capable and consciences leader looks like from wisconsin look no further than my left shoulder. -- the buckeye state look no shoulder.an my left i also want to say thank you to mary shaper. [applause] look, b.w, thanks for hosting us here today. go jackets. we really appreciate it. [applause] the three of us get to go see the grounds later today. i got to tell you, here is one thing i wanted it, i want to be joe thomas. -- meet joe thomas.

this is a guy from our neck of the woods in wisconsin. i watched him play college ball. he is a fantastic tackle. a great guy. nice going last sunday. all right? [applause] i am a mime -- miami of ohio graduate. i remember during those years my friends from cincinnati and cleveland would not talk to each other at least twice a year, and it is great to see these old rivalries. didn't mitt romney do a great job for us last night? [applause] you know, this is my second time following condoleezza rice. it is a little intimidating. a tough act to follow. mitt romney had a fantastic first debate. he laid out a vision for the country. we were able to cut through the clutter of all the 30-second

attack ads and saw a leader. last night, same thing. cut through the clutter of all the attack ads, and what did we see? we saw a president offering not a single new idea on how to turn things around. we saw a president not offer a single idea or lesson learned from the failures of the last four years. what we saw in mitt romney was a leader who has the solutions, ideas on how to turn this economy around. how to get people back to work, and how to get america back on the right track, and that is what we are going to do on november 6 right here in ohio. we are going to recognize the leadership and make mitt romney the next president of the united states. [cheers and applause] here is president obama's problem. his economic agenda failed not

because it was stopped. it failed because it was passed. [laughter] he came in with one-party rule. the ability to do everything of his own choosing, and he did, and look at where we are right now. 23 million americans struggling to find work. we had a discussion about how women are faring in this economy last night. 5.5 million are still struggling for work in this economy. a half-million more are unemployed today than when president obama was sworn in. 26 million are trapped in poverty, the highest rates in 17 years. we need to get people back to work. we need to get this economy turned around. the american idea is there. it has not gone away, but we have the wrong people and the

wrong policies in place, and if we clear the way and go forward with a pro-active, pro-growth solution to the agenda mitt romney is talking about, we will get people back to work and out of poverty and back in the middle class. [applause] you know, somewhere out there on the horizon is a dream that you have for yourself, for your children. lately too many people it seems like it is getting more distant. it is still there. we need leadership. thank you, ma'am. one of my favorite historians passed away a week ago. he would often say great leaders step up in the

important moments. condoleezza rice just explained how important this very moment is. you see, this is not just an election where we are picking a president for four more years. it really does not matter what generation you come from, this is the most important election in your generation, because we are not just deciding who is going to be in washington for a few years, we are deciding what kind of country we going to be and what kind of people we are going to be. the american idea is there. in a nutshell, it does not matter who you are, where you come from, under what circumstances you got here or were born, you could make the most of your life. the only thing limiting you in this free society and free economy is your own god-given talent and hard work and effort. [applause] you can be whatever you want to be in this country. we need to remove the barrier so people can have the right to

rise. so people can get out of poverty and make the most of their lives. when you see these ideas coming from the president. when you see all the borrowing and spending and regulating and the money printing, it just does not work. if you want to see what this movie looks like at the end of the movie, go home, turn on the tv and look at europe. they are already in a debt crisis. they have already kicked the can so far down the road there is no more road to kick the can down. here is what happened. generations of politicians made a lot of empty promises to voters to get elected, and now that the debt crisis has hit them, those promises are broken promises. they are slashing health and retirement benefits for current retirees, cranking up taxes, going into recession. young people have no opportunities. the youth unemployment rate is about 20%.

in greece and spain it is over 50 percent. right now, look at this great institution we are at. right now half of college graduates are either not working in the sector they trained for or even working at all. that is unacceptable. we do not have to settle for this. they made -- this may be the best president obama can give us, but it is not the best we can give ourselves. [applause] and what history shows is the qualities that make a great leader at this kind of moment are these. a person with a moral compass. a person with a bedrock of principles. a person with a vision for the

future and the ability and skills to execute the vision. ladies and gentlemen, that is mitt romney. that is exactly what we saw last night. that is exactly what we saw two weeks ago, and exactly the man we will see on november the seventh. [applause] this is a man who has succeeded in some areas where others have failed. this is a man where when his country calls and asks him to help support the olympics in turnaround, he did that. this is a man who throughout his career has learned exactly what it takes to create jobs. turning around struggling businesses. starting successful businesses. businesses we know like sports authority, staples, steel dynamics. by the way, being successful in business is a good thing. there is nothing wrong with that. that is something we all take pride in. we do not envy other people's

success, we want to emulate other people's success. we want more people to become successful. that is freedom. that is free enterprise. that is the american dream. [applause] so when we see a president speak to our darker emotions of fear, envy, and anxiety, that is not what we do in this country. that is not how you win elections. you see the president cannot run on his record. it is a terrible record. we have a debt crisis staring us in the face, and he is given us nothing with for budgets with trillion dollar deficits every year and no solutions. we have so many people struggling to find work. 5.5 million people stopped trying. if we actually count those people who stopped looking for work, the unemployment rate would be closer to 11%. we can do better than this.

when mitt romney was governor of massachusetts -- this is a republican governor of a democratic state, 87 percent of the legislature he served with were democrats. did he demean them or ridicule them? no. he met with them every monday and he found common ground and got things done. he balanced the budget without raising taxes. he lowered unemployment. the bond rating went up. unemployment went down. that is precisely the kind of leadership we need today. [applause] you look at what the president is proposing. he basically has one new idea, raise taxes even more. raise taxes on successful small businesses so we are taxing at over 40 percent. we are not -- our competitors overseas are taxing at 25% or less.

here in the midwest where we come from, here in big 10 country most of the business comes from small businesses. most of the jobs come from small businesses. overseas where i come from means lake superior. the canadians just lowered their tax rate to 15%. he wants the tax rate on small businesses, the ones that create small businesses to go above 40? it does not even pay for 10% of his proposed deficit spending. all of this borrowing and interest is going to amount to a $4,000 tax increase on middle class families. remember when he said if you are in the middle income you make less than $250,000 per year, no tax increases? of the 21 tax increases in obamacare, 12 hit the middle class. he said he would cut the deficit in half in four years. wrong. he said he would bring people together to solve the country's biggest problems.

look, the other day on tv the president said i cannot change washington from inside. [laughter] isn't that why we elect presidents? if he cannot change washington, it is time we change presidents. [applause] what mitt and i owe you is a really clear choice. that is our obligation. it is not enough for us to complain or criticize, but to offer solutions. you heard that last night. in our five-point plan are specific solutions to get people back to work, to get the economy reaching its potential, to create 12 million jobs. we have so much energy right

here in ohio, let's use the energy and create jobs. [applause] let's help the workers in between jobs get the skills they need and help the kids in our inner cities get out of the schools that are trapping them in poverty and give them a good education so they can get on with their lives. cut spending. balance the budget and stop the washington knows best and we can keep spending money we do not have. let's champion small businesses. this is bigger than that. this is not just getting jobs. it is not just creating energy. it is bigger than that. america, it is an idea. it is not just a country with a flag. it is not just wisconsin or ohio

or california or maine, it is an idea. you know, it is the only country founded on an idea. the idea is really clear. thomas jefferson said it so well in the declaration of independence. our rights come from nature and nature's god, not from government. that is the answer to the american idea. [applause] our founders established this. i see cheese heads all over. it makes me hungry sometimes when i see that. i see veterans here. the veterans of this country put on the uniform and serve our nation and secured each and every generation, and we thank them for that. [applause]

please do not forget early voting. ohians have a unique responsibility. you are the battleground of the battleground states. you are used to it. you know this. that is why you are here. you have a unique responsibility and opportunity and obligation to make sure that we secure our future, that we look back at this moment as the moment we got things right. winston churchill probably said it best. the americans can be counted upon to do the right thing, but only after they have exhausted all the other possibilities. [laughter] i kind of think of that as the moment we are at right now. mitt romney and i are pledging this. we will reclaim the principles that made us great. we will lead and fix this mess

in washington. we do not want to spend the next four years blaming others. we are going to take responsibility. [applause] of all things we are not going to try to transform this country into something was never intended to be. we will not replace our founding principles. we will reapply our founding principles. we have leaders ready to leave. -- lead. we're not going to need to be saved. we a country headed in the wrong direction that can be taken on the right track. it is not too late to get this done thank you so much for coming out today. thank you for what you have done. do not forget the early vote. thank you everybody. thank you so much. appreciate it. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the american people have worked too hard, and the last thing we can afford to do right now is to go back to the very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place. i cannot allow that to happen. i will not allow it to happen. that is why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. >> the middle-class america is getting crushed. incomes are down at the same time gasoline prices are up. food prices are up. health insurance premiums are up. it's tough being a class, even if you have a job in america. we will work to create more jobs and more take-home pay grid that is our passions. that is why we are in this race. we will provide for the future of this great country. >> watch and engage monday as

president obama and mitt romney needed in their final debate come not from boca raton, florida. our debate prestored 7:00 p.m. eastern, followed by a debate at 9:00 hour -- your reaction at 10:00. >> over the next three hours, senate debates around the country, beginning with candidates in florida. bill nelson, a democrat faces his republican challenger, u.s. rep connie mack. in an hour, candidates in new york. senator kirsten gillibrand and wendy lung. after that, the first debate between incumbent democrat senator maria cantwell and challenger michael baumgartner. several live events tomorrow -- the former head of israel's intelligence agency, the mossad,

speaks at a middle east -- speaks on middle east policy and security on c-span 2. on c-span at 1:00 p.m. eastern, live from georgetown university for secretary of state clinton is speech on energy and u.s. foreign policy. >> i watched two types of programs on c-span -- every election year, presidential election year, i watch or conventions. when you show your old convention speeches and debates -- and that is a great service you guys offer. i have the memory of being 8 years old and watching a old richard nixon speech or harry truman's speech. for a political junkie like me that is great. the fact that you focus on a wide range of public policy issues -- there is something for everybody, whether you are interested in national security, housing policy, something with the economy. i like that you have talks were all that is covered. >> he watches c-span on comcast. c-span -- -- by america's cable

companies in 1979. brought to you by your television providers as a public service. >> the first debate between the candidates for senate in florida. incumbent senator bill nelson, a democrat, and his republican senate -- challenger, u.s. rep connie mack. this debate is about an hour. >> i am honored to have the joining us from across the strait -- state of florida and our live audience this night. the format is simple -- each candidate will be asked to question in alternate fashion. each will have one minute and 15 seconds to respond. date -- they then will be allowed at my discretion up to 30 seconds of the bottle. we will move on to other

questions. we will break into economic and domestic policy, and later, questions to the gentleman's record, and finally foreign policy and national security. we thank you for being with us. i would like to introduce our veteran panelist joining us today -- reporters from south florida and around the sunshine state. anthony mann, political reporter, lisette campos, from tampa, and it tallahassee-based political reporter for "the miami herald." we begin with opening statements -- congressmen mack goes first for one minute. >> good evening. i am a proud mainstream conservative. i grew up and was born right here in florida with florida values. there is a clear choice between senator nelson and me.

bill nelson cast the deciding vote to cut $700 billion out of your medicare to pay for obamacare. i voted against obamacare. bill nelson -- he voted to gut our military. i voted to strengthen our military. bill nelson voted for higher taxes, 150 times. 150 times. i voted to tax cuts -- cut taxes. i have a simple test. if you voted for higher taxes 150 times, it is time for you to go. the liberals in washington turn to government to solve the very problems that they treated in the first place. what made our nation great is not our government. it is you -- the american people. i look forward to tonight's debate. >> thank you. now senator bill nelson -- one minute. >> thank you for this debate. i am looking forward to pointing

at what the truth as, because everything that the congressman has just said is not true. that is part of the problem in our politics today -- it is so polarized. it is so excessively partisan. it is so 80 logically rigid, this idea, it is my way or no way. the way you run the government of the united states is to respect the other fellow's point of view, you reach across the partisan divide, and to bring people together and build a bipartisan consensus. i will show you in the course of this debate how i have been able to do that. i will show you that what the congressman said was not true. let the debate began. >> thank you to both candidates. through this debate, he was here

a reference to the statewide poll. it is the leadership florida sunshine state survey. it came up with a lot of interesting results as we pulled you across florida. let's take a look -- we were asked, what is the most important issue facing florida today? the top three answers -- 44% said the economy. 6%, education. 5%, crime and drugs. you'll hear about the service throughout the next hour. let's have the questioning began. the first question goes to congressman mack and will come from anthony mann. >> politicians love to talk tough on spending, but can you name a single program or item that benefits the residents of florida that you think needs to be cut to help balance the budget in these tough times? >> thank you for the question. this goes to the heart of what this debate should be about. it is about spending. in washington d.c., we have been

on a spending spree. we have seen year after year, the last four years, we have added $1 trillion to a new debt every year. some of us, myself included, believe we need to cut spending, that we need to rein in our debt and deficits. senator nelson serves on the budget committee, and for almost four years has failed to pass a budget. why is that significant? that is significant because if you want to control spending, you have to have a budget. the reason you have a budget at home, the reason you have a budget in your business, is so you can control spending. the senator sits on the budget committee and as bill to pass a budget in almost four years. the question was, what would i cut? there are a lot of things -- you can go to my website, and we have a list of things we would cut. let me tell you this -- we do not continue to fund amtrak. i think pbs is something else we

can look at cutting. when you continue to borrow 40 cents on every dollar -- >> senator nelson -- one minute, 15. >> right off the bat i have to explain that what he said about the budget is not true. not only did we pass the budget, we passed it in lot last year -- law last year. this was not a budget resolution. this was an actual act signed into law by the president and, as a matter of fact, it set the course of categories of spending for two years, not one year. when you look at spending cuts, you know there is something known as tax expenditures. it is called a tax loopholes. that is basically loopholes that

go out to special interests. if we are going to reform the tax code, we can go in and start taking out a lot of them. give you an example -- how about $40 billion to come out of the oil industry? how about another -- here is a good one -- $11.5 billion to come from not letting bp deduct their cleanup expenses? those of this two examples. >> 32nd rabat or -- strict 30 seconds. >> senator nelson, what you just said is not true. the people of this they deserve the truth. what frightens me is you does -- serve on the budget committee, and you apparently do not understand that we failed to pass a budget. you talk about loopholes, which is interesting. senator, you put some cows on your fund to avoid paying taxes. -- former to avoid paying taxes.

you tell anybody else to avoid doing it, but it is ok for you. $40,000 a could've gone for teachers. >> 30 seconds. >> check the record -- the budget control act. i would like to have an opportunity, and i cannot do it in 20 seconds, there have been tower is on that property for 60 years, -- cows on that property for 60 years. when i was a little boy raising my 4h club project. i will expand on that later. >> our next question from lisette campos -- that question with the one minute, 52nd response for each will be directed to senator nelson first. >> this question is for senator nelson -- my question is about job creation. in the statewide survey michael referred to earlier in the broadcast, the statewide poll, participants gave the lowest

marks to a state when it came to . job creation it more tha more than 51% of people surveyed said ford is doing a poor job. why you feel you are more equipped -- florida is doing a poor job. why you feel you are more equipped and your opponent to tackle this issue? >> we have a long way to go. think where we came from. this time in a 2008, we were going into a financial death spiral. the stock market collapsed. a massive job layoffs. and that occurred for a year- and-a-half. then, for the last 31 straight months, we have had private sector job growth. what we see today is the increase of the housing market, housing the new starts in fact

are up 33% in florida. it is slow, it is not fast enough, but it is happening. the economy is going to be reflective of a good shot in the arm of confidence if the congress can come together and pass a budget plan which i want to lay out for you, in large part with income tax code reform. i started part of it in my answer and i will get to it later. >> congressman mack? >> senator nelson, we agree -- we are waiting for you to pass a budget. it has been almost four years since you pass a budget in the united states senate. what is interesting to me is that there are a lot of floridians who are suffering right now, who are hurting.

they are looking for work. almost 830,000 people out of work. many have quit even looking for work, senator nelson. you have painted this picture that this does not exist. i am not sure which florida you are talking about. there are people who are losing their homes, who are still losing their homes. this economy is not one that is working. there is a small business in my district that wanted to expand. a boat building business. it took 31 different permits and fees for them to be able to expand before they could hire the first full-time employee. this is a government out of control. if you want to give entrepreneurs and risk takers back in the game, you have to lower taxes, not raise taxes like you have over 150 times. you need to reduce regulation. the need to be upfront with people and tell them that, look, these are difficult times, but we are going to put our faith and trust in you, the american people, not more government.

>> let's move along to the next question -- senator? 30 seconds for each. strict 30. >> it is just not true. here is the 150 tax votes he is talking about -- that is simply not true. outside, a fact check organizations have said it is not true. you have not talked about all of the tax cuts that i voted for. when we start talking about this, let's talk about all of your missed votes this year. when you show up it is even worse because you try to take that medicare and social security. >> congressman mack? 30 seconds. >> your propensity to vote for higher taxes 150 times is shocking, absolutely shocking. if you voted for higher taxes 150 times, it is time for you to go. the question was about job creation -- if you are going to

continue to raise taxes and the very people we are relying on to create jobs, they do not have the money to invest if you keep taking it into washington's. if you continue with regulations, they cannot grow. let's put our faith and trust back in the people of this country. >> next question -- it will first be addressed to congressman mack. >> let's talk about medicare. a new study out this week says that the romney-ryan premium support plan for medicare would raise the cost of health care for seniors by about $200 per month. under obamacare, medicare is scheduled to go insolvent in 12 years. how do we protect medicare for florida's 3 million seniors and save it for the next generation without massive slashes and cuts in benefits? >> thank you for the question period is an important question.

i think a lot of people who are watching this have -- they are wondering what is happening to medicare. by the way, this is not an entitlement. this is something people have paid into. this is something they have earned. this is something that is theirs. it is something they have been saving for and working on for a long time. senator nelson cast the deciding vote to cut $700 billion out of medicare. at what the senator nelson said before the vote? he said it is unconscionable to whack away medicare advantage from our seniors, but that is exactly what he did. i agree -- it is unconscionable. over 1 million seniors in the state of florida on medicare advantage, because of your vote, your vote, they will lose their medicare advantage. you talk a good game and say things like, i successfully offered an amendment. you can successfully offer all

the amendments to do want -- it did not pass. but you still voted for it. you call the unconscionable and a nonstarter. the president said he needed your vote. you chose the president over the people of florida. >> i will not -- let you get away with this. $716 billion was in fact savings that extended the life of medicare for eight years. medicare was going to run out in three years. let's talk about some of his medicare vote. he voted to cut medicare by taking away the guaranteed benefit and replacing it with a voucher that a senior citizen would have to negotiate with an insurance company. >> about 35 seconds -- go ahead. >> how much >> social security.

he voted to partially privatize social security by putting a dent to the vagaries of the stock market. he has a plan -- by putting in the vagaries of the stock market. he has a plan that would at this rate medicare. over $1 trillion out of social security. we are going to release tonight the impartial, nonpartisan congressional research service study that shows how we absolutely savages medicare, social security and $3 trillion out of defense. that is what his penney plan is. >> congressman?

30 seconds. >> senator nelson, you know better than that. you can call that savings, you can call it taking the money or anything you want. you cut $700 billion which he said would be unconscionable and i agree with you. the problem is when the president said to you i need your vote, you chose to stand with the president like you do 98% of the time instead of standing with the people of the state of florida. you whacked away at the medicare advantage and you should explain that to them. >> 30 seconds. >> that is just it. it is not a cut. as a matter of fact, all of the fact checkers say it is not a cut. it is savings. it did not come from the medicare beneficiaries. if king and the providers, in some cases -- iot came from the providers. my state with about unconscionable but not protected

florida by exempting out medicare advantage for florida until we got the correct formula that would reward our seniors. it is one of the most wildly successful programs right now. within moments of and premiums down. >> quick rebuttal. question from the moderator. every household has to prioritize. the the cure and medicaid, social security and defense dick up six out of every 10 federal dollars. -- social purity and medicaid, -- social security, medicaid, defense take up six out of every 10 federal dollars. >> thank you for the question. that is not the choice we will have to make. >> i understand.

here is what you're going to do. we are going to make sure that job creators get back into the game. if you want more revenue to come up into the federal government, you put people back to work. the best economic engine behalf is the american people. they want to compete. they want to strive for the american dream. you do that by getting them back to work. not by raising taxes. >> senator, 30 seconds. >> you can cut the medicare has to be saved. that is what we did. people say what you going to do about medicare? we already did something about medicare. we extended its life for another eight years. until 2024. if you want a cut, i will give you an example. defense, you can take some of our troops out of europe. that was an old court war -- cold war strategy. that will save us billions. >> the welcome back to budget

and deficit questions. this question will be directed to senator nelson to request what should be done about the fiscal cliff coming on december 31? it would bring huge tax increases and deep spending cuts. >> it is not going to happen. sequestration was never intended to happen. think back to what happened. we had an artificial debt ceiling that this country, it were not raised a year ago, we could not have paid our bills. so a budget agreement was put together. the was a cut of $1 trillion of the top. then there was a super committee of six farmhouse and six from the senate -- six from the house and six from the senate to reach a bipartisan agreement. the mechanism was like a guillotine over their heads.

it would been so onerous that they would come to agreement. all you needed was one. deadlocked 6 to 6. that activated the sequestration. what will happen is after the election, we will go back, i can tell you over half of the senate bipartisan is ready to put together that comprehensive plan, part of which i explained in an earlier question, where you can do cuts but you can get revenue from the tax loopholes lower everybody's tax rates and then have room to lower the deficit. >> thank you, sir. 1:15, congressman mack. >> this is a great question. this shows the ec one thing to the people florida and you do something else in washington, d.c.. you said we can't do sequestration. it will hurt our military.

because of your vote on sequestration, you cut by $20 billion out of defense. you gutted our military. you continue to send foreign aid to countries that do not support the united states of america. i find it interesting that you keep talking about medicare and see crustacean. you voted to take $700 billion out of medicare. it is a fact. to pay for obamacare. you voted to gut our military through sequestration. i cannot vote for sequestration. it was a dumb idea. we should have never done that. i think what is important here is that you can either have someone who tells you one thing but then of notes with barack obama -- votes with barack obama 98% of the time. make sure that we put florida first. we protect and save medicare. not gut it. >> senator? 1:15.

>> congressman, you are repeating the same lines over and over. would you voted against a year ago was ever going to let this country go into the false where it could not pay its bills. obviously the country could not do that. therefore, we had to try to get a bipartisan budget agreement. you were in the significant minority voting against that budget agreement. speaking of votes, why don't you explain how you do not show up to work? why don't you explain how this year you have one of the worst voting records. i have missed one vote this year, you have missed 178. and when you do show up the vote, it is even worse. one of the votes he missed was the paul ryan plan. that was the second paul ryan plan your ast would you support

it, you said yes. a later interview, he said it was stupid it wasno. then your folks corrected you and you changed your position again. so why don't you explain to people why he missed all of these votes. >> let me make sure i do this clear for you. i will keep talking about this because these are your votes and you cannot run on them. you said i am in the minority. i might be in the minority with your kind in washington but i stand in the majority with the people of this state and country. as far as my voting record, i have a 94% voting record. you have been 92% voting record. last year, a cost -- i cast 430 votes. you cast less than 200. you have a lot of explaining to do.

>> how can you argue with someone who does completely pulls it out? he would have you think that i voted half the time because he voted -- 400 and i voted 203 >> we will have to take a break. back in a moment with more of the debate. welcome back to our florida unit -- senate debate on the campus of nova southeastern university. ms. campos, your question is directed to congressman mack. >> congressman mack, it seems when politicians address women issues, the campaign ads focus on abortion rights, control, and yet advocate in florida tell us domestic violence is the single most important issue that affects women. the cdc says one in every four women will face some form of

domestic violence in their lifetime. the violence against women act has been allowed to expire. advocates in florida are asking that we -- it be reauthorize. what is your position on that? >> i am honored and proud to have with me tonight three women that are very special to me. my wife, my mother who is here and the star of our new commercials, and my daughter. the idea that someone would harm anyone of them or anyone is disgusting. we need to do all we can to protect them. we also need to do all we can to make sure that they have an opportunity. i think about my doctor. -- my daughter. will it be like when she gets older and graduates to college, you are going to college, after

you graduate college -- i want to make sure she has a good job. women are worried about jobs and security. and being secure at home and making sure their children are taken care of. and that they put food on the table. like i said, i into the question. i did answer the question. what would you reauthorize the violence against women act? >> yes. >> senator nelson. 1:15. >> we ought -- i have already voted for it. we cannot get the votes to break the filibuster in the senate. but i think we should ask further -- why did the congressman vote against the ledbetter bill that fought for equal pay for equal work for women. >> focusing on domestic violence

and specifically for these programs. you voted for it with changes, it earmarks for sexual assault. the advocates in florida are asking for the reauthorization with no changes. they say each state would be better suited to determine funding based on each state's needs. >> i will certainly look at a change there but we have to get it out of the senate and we could not get the 60 votes. violence is not -- isn't rape violence? m congressmenack -- congressman mack voted to redefine rape as forcible rape. it is clear he stands on women's issues. >> let's move on to the next question. >> what he said it not true and we cannot let -- senator, i you need to do a better job of explaining your own record

because you're messing up mine. apparently you are looking at somebody else. it is a shame. the people of the state of florida are tired of you saying one thing to them and then going back to washington and voting with barack obama 98% of the time. they are tired of that. they want you to look them in the eyes and tell them what you are going to do for them instead of what we will do for barack obama. >> is that the only line that you memorize? [laughter] >> let me tell you that violence against women -- for you not to have produced it in the house where we were trying to produce it in the senate is -- here we are in 2012. it is true, you voted for a redefinition of rape as forcible

rape. it seems to me that rape is rape. >> we will move on to the next question now. the slump will be directed first -- this one as a senator nelson predicts there are more delinquent mortgages in florida than any other state. you supported the present housing initiatives but most of them have fallen short of expectations. what would you do and why should people vote for you if they are about to lose their homes when you have been in office during the worst housing crisis in recent history? >> florida was the one that really got hit the hardest along with a few other states. because of our economy being so dependent upon housing and construction and real estate. in number programs have been tried. some of them have been successful. let me tell you one that has been successful right now. it is going to allow 8 million people nationally to refinance

their mortgages from 6.5% down in to the 4 % how but the connected the bank to do it because the mortgages were under water -- they could not get the banks to do it because the mortgages were under water. these mortgages that are held by fannie and freddie are now being refinanced so the homeowner on the $200,000 mortgage will save a total of 5000 a year in interest. that is a successful program and it is going on right now. >> it is important that we understand what is happening here in the housing market. let me talk to you about a friend of mine who lost his job.

he could not pay the bills. so he tried to use one of those new plants that barack obama and senator nelson passed. you know what he was told? before we can help you, you have to default on your loan. he does not want to default on the loan. it is against what he believes in. after all wild when he ran out of savings, he had to default on his loan predicted the program periodicity default on your loan, we cannot help you. -- onhis loan. they changed the plan and said when you default on your loan, we cannot help you. small community banks are afraid to lend money because he will shut them down. we talk about small businesses, the housing market. it is simple -- small banks want to lend money but if you put dodd frank on top of them, they

are afraid he will put them out of business. that is not a way to get this economy going or help people stay in their homes. >> we will move on to anthonuy mann. >> congressman, you had made clear you oppose obamacare and want to repeal it. would you maintain the parts popular but the public? no exclusions for pre-existing conditions, allowing young adults today on their parents' insurance, close in the medicare doughnut hole. how would you pay for them? >> thank you very much. i think most people recognize that obamacare must be repealed. this is a law, by the way, that was invented this bipartisanship. not one republican supported it. the american people do not support it. we need to repeal obamacare. here is why. not only do we not want a government run health care system that has an unelected board making decisions about people's health care decisions,

we also did not want to whcack away medicare advantage from our seniors. but there are things we can be moving forward. one of the things we can do is association helped plan. let's say a small restaurant with 14 employees -- they can be part of the florida restaurant association, use that association to pull their buying power together to afford insurance. pre-existing conditions is something i think we can cover as well. but we will do first is repeal obamacare. if you want to get top leaders back into the game, you cannot -- those fees and taxes on top of small businesses trying to grow. there are rest are groups out there who are having to change their entire business plan. to deal with obamacare. >> senator. 1:15. >> there you go again. same message. the void of specifics - devoid

of specifics. do you trust the independent fact checkers? factcheck.org, the school at the university of pennsylvania? they said everything that he said is not correct. and thenw hen you look at the need to have something done with medicare, it is going to run out in three years if you repeal obamacare. it is going to end october of 2015 -- 2013. it will run out of money. that was one of the major reasons of passing a reform of medicare and health care system. what about the three and a half million people in florida that do not have health insurance?

we want to get them into the health insurance system and that is why the health insurance exchanges are being set up in 2014. >> senator, techie very much. we will be back in a moment. a quick rebuttal question. 30 seconds each. then be moved to foreign policy. the average american owes $51 ,000. we collected $2.50 trillion in revenue last year. senator, why isn't that enough? why do you need texas to go up but marx we do not request you want to close bush era tax breaks. -- why do you want taxes to up up? >> i do not.

>> you want to close the bush era tax cuts. >> $14 trillion over ten years in tax loopholes. it has grown to the last time i voted for tax reform under president reagan. >> congressman mack, a brief 33 >> here we go again. senator nelson is telling everyone else in the to get rid of tax loopholes but he has taken a vintage of one himself. if you want to do it, just do not tell the rest of us it is not good enough for us. if it is good enough for you, it should be good enough for everybody else. i am the only one in this race that has a plan to balance the budget. the only one willing to put that plan into the debate. senator nelson, a unit served on that budget committee -- you served on the budget committee and failed to serve a budget. >> immigration policy.

the question goes to senator nelson. >> senator nelson, there are an estimated 11 million undocumented people living in florida. hughes' support amnesty, creating a pathway to citizenship of these individuals to remain on u.s. soil are you believe that sets a dangerous precedent and is unfair to evans to of come to the country legally? >> i will answer that in detail but i will first say -- not only has it been a cow pasture for 60 years, why don't we ask him why he takes two homestead exemptions which is directly contrary to florida's constitution that says a husband and wife can only take one homestead exemption. now, what we need, and i voted

for comprehensive immigration reform. what you need is -- you have 11 million people here to read you have to get them in a situation where if they are eligible to go to the back of the line, they have to pay a fine, they have to have a clean record, they have to learn english and then they can apply. another one is what about children? children that came here through no fault of their own. the dream act. i have voted and sponsored the dream factory my opponent has voted against it. -- the dream act. my opponent has voted against it. a child that will upon by to wish to -- that upon graduation can go to college instead of being deported. >> this is an important question. but the answer is i started off by saying no, i do not support

amnesty. we have to support our laws. this reminds me of a gentleman that i met when i was a young man. he is from cuba. he came to the united states, became a citizen, work hard, saved his money. built a business. keep me my first job. -- gave me my first job. this is someone who has chased the american dream. but the talk about immigration, we need to remember we are talking about people who are coming to the united states for a better way of life. that is something we should all be honored that people want to come said they can have a shot at the american dream. -- so they can have a shot at the american dream. we have to secure our borders. we have to give employers the tools they need with everify to make sure people who are looking

for work are illegally -- are legally allowed to get work. we cannot continue to have a system that encourages people to break the law instead of do the right thing. >> our next question will first be directed to congressman mack. >> after a recent uprising in the middle east including an attack on our continent in libya, many americans are worried about an attack on our soil or in of the war. hu do you think is the single most dangerous person in the world when it comes to americans national security and what would you do to stop him or her? >> this is a great question. we have seen recently what happens when you have a weak foreign policy. we have seen around the world, the enemies of the united states challenged the united states. we have seen the -- that this administration has backed away from our closest allies around the world.

we have seen this administration make it less safe in america because they are unwilling to stand strong for america and around the world. if i have the opportunity to be in the united states senate, i will stand up for america, america's values, and americans here and anywhere in the day around the world. what we need to do is make sure people like ahmadinejad in iran are not able to get a nuclear weapon. the administration has failed. they are for years closer to a nuclear weapon. there are examples all around the world where this administration has turned its back on our allies and vowed to our enemies -- bowed to our enemies. if you want to be sure, you stand stronger for americans all-around the world. >> to the question as to

prioritize, the single biggest person and the single biggest threat to national security. >> notice he walked all around your question. the greatest threat to the u.s. is a terrorist threat. we have a believable young men and women in uniform and not in uniform that you do not see in the cia, collecting information to keep us safe and to stop the terrorists before he acts in the first place. obviously iran with a nuclear weapon would be a tremendoussly destabilizing situation, effective united states or israel. the president has clearly said that he will not allow that to develop. this is where i believe you see the sharing, it is almost

seamless, of the intelligence between israel and united states. we have the common security concern here. there are other threats around the world. but what we need to do is to make sure we do not allow the radical extremists -- look at what is happening in pakistan. >> final time for that. we will have to move on. the final question will first be directed to congressman mack. >> should any changes be made it into the embargo against cuba and why not lift a completely in deal with cuba the way we deal with china? >> i was in error. that goes to you first of the congressman. 1:15, final answers. >> should any changes be made in the embargo against cuba and why not lift it entirely and deal with cuba the same way we deal with china? >> no, we should not lift the

embargo. we should allow family members to travel and to take remittances. that have been expanded. but not lifting the embargo. i want to go back, since we are coming to the closing, and tell you we have a great pride in this state on our space program. my opponent is the only member of the florida delegation that voted against the nasa bill. we have a pride of telling the truth and being personally responsible in this state. my opponent has filed a bill for a wall street hedge fund and speculator to collect $2 billion on bonds from a country that he bought on pennies for the dollar. he has filed a resolution to avoid a court judgment for $18

billion for the chevron corp., one of his largest contributors. >> one sentence. accompanied his clothes progress because cuba as closer -- he needs to close. >> because cuba is closer and the anbar -- the embargo has had a positive affect your >> >> you keep talking about my research. you do not understand. that is the problem. we were talking about the embargo. fidel castro and his brother are brutal people. frugal people. murdering their own people. -- brutal people.

murdering their own people. i talked about my friend from cuba. talking to him about what he observes in cuba. within the embargo, the only thing it would do would pad the pockets of the castro brothers. if castro wants to open up cuba, it is all in their hands. free and fair elections. the least the political prisoners. freedom of speech. -- release the political prisoners. freedom of speech. we should not lift the embargo to help fund someone who wants to hurt his own people. senator nelson has voted to weaken restrictions. >> we will have to call time on that. our affiliate's are demanding give that power back to them. we will stay here as long as he went after. i sure i speak for all of my colleagues across florida and

the nation. as long as he would like to stay. but for now, one-minute closings. strictly, senator nelson first. >> my opponent has a pattern of not telling the truth. and you have seen it in a display. we will substantiate all of how he has not told the truth. he rails against the stimulus bill. he did not tell you he wrote a letter to the department of transportation in order to get $29 million of stimulus in his congressional district. i want to thank you for the privilege of public service. i want to ask for your vote. when i flew in space, i looked through the window of that space craft back at earth. it was stunning that i did not see any political divisions and i did not see any ethnic and religion -- religious divisions.

we are all in this together. that is a metaphor of what we should do for our politics. bring people together in a positive way. we are americans and that is what we have today. >> thank you. i want to thank those that made this debate possible. i wish we could have more debates in this close election. you have seen tonight why we need a change in washington, do you see -- what to doseed.c. our government is failing us. bill nelson botha for obamacare. i voted against it. he voted to gut our military. i voted to strengthen our military. he voted for higher taxes 150 times. i voted to cut taxes. i believe in free markets, free enterprise and free people. i believe we need to renew the american spirit and the american dream.

if we all work together, we can get this done. mitt romney need somebody he can count on and we need another republican senator from the state of florida. i am asking you to stand with me. i am asking you to step with mitt romney. i am asking you to vote -- for your vote. >> thank you. goodnight. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> several live senate debate tomorrow. in connecticut, linda mcmahon and chris murphy face off in their fourth debate. they are running for the seat of to lieberman -- of joe lieberman. our coverage of at 4:00 p.m. eastern. in other senate race is in virginia. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, live from virginia tech university for the debate between republican george allen and democrat tim kane --

kaine. in wisconsin, former governor tommy thompson, a republican, and tammy baldwin in their second debate for the u.s. senate tomorrow night. they are competing for the seat of herb kohl. that debate is also rated a toss up by the political report. our live coverage is at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> there is a movie theater that i write about. i have gone to visit it. it has been there since 1947, the founding year of the country. it shows films for all of the world, the night states, england, india, to me is -- it symbolizes the resilience of the country and the openness of the country, in spite of all the violence and trouble people have

suffered over the last many decades in pakistan. during one of the protests against -- and the video that insults the profit mohammed, there was a very negative image, during one of the protests, people turned against the movie theaters and burned them. i generally see that as a protest against the west. i do not see that as a protest against the united states even though avatar was one of the movies you could have seen at this theater. you had islamist activists who it not like these leaders for decades way before this profit mohammad film which was never shown in them anyway. so they grab an opportunity to attack. and a whip up a bunch of young people. there were teenagers involved. i argue in that piece that what

they were really attacking was the nature of their own country, which perhaps they did not understand. i try to say that with the greatest respect. who am as a foreigner to say what your country is about? but i do know how from -- from having studied the history and listening to pakistan is themselves that it is an incredibly the first place. it was born as an even more diverse place as it is today. lots of different cultures. lots of different traditions. lots of differ ways to be. that movie theater symbolize pakistan and that is what people burned when they set it on fire . >> more with steve inskeep sunday at 8 on c-span's q&a. >> see the president of debate monday night live on c-span, c- span3 du and online at c- span.org. what engage. -- c-span, c-span radio and

online at." c-span.org. watch and engage. after that, mitt romney campaigns in virginia and president obama is of in -- in iowa. on washington journal tomorrow morning, celinda lake talked about how the presidential campaign is seeming to female voters. and matthew cooper of national journal daily looks at issues facing congress for the rest of the year, including the so- called fiscal cliff and how the result of the presidential race will affect the congressional agenda. washington journal is live on c- span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> democratic new york senator

--senator kirsten gillibrand is being challenged by republican wendy long, of mitt romney's justice advisory committee. they will debate in saratoga springs, new york, with courtesy of ny-1. this is about an hour. >> good evening. welcome from skidmore college. >> tonight the u.s. senate debate is being filmed across the state on ny1 news, as well as across the country on c-span. let us introduce the two candidates this evening in order of when they are speaking, which was determined today by a coin toss. >> please welcome senator kirsten gillibrand. [cheers and applause]

and please welcome attorney wendy long. [cheers and applause] we are going to begin now with one minute opening statements. we begin with senator gillibrand. >> this election is about who we fight for. i am fighting for the middle class, our military, and our seniors. i am fighting so that every child in new york has an opportunity for their god-given potential. i know that government does not create jobs. people do. we have unleashed the entrepreneurial spirit in businesses.

we can see america made again right here in new york. we have to clean up washington. that is why i took on my own party with automatic pay raises. members of congress need to focus on accountability. we can bring people together to get it done. at the senate, that is what i have done. >> thank you. we will turn to ms. long. >> thank you to skidmore college and you for moderating this debate. i believe in a constitution that unites us all as a people.

i was fortunate to get an outstanding public school education and serve as a top staffer to two state u.s. senators and a law clerk at the u.s. supreme court. i became a partner at a law firm in new york. i am a wife and a mother of two school-age children. i have been through many tough times in my family, and many good times, too. i understand what is going on around the kitchen tables around new york. we are broke. we are overtaxed, overregulated, and we have lost jobs. >> thank you for both of those statements. we will begin with the next question. answers will be limited to 60 seconds. rebuttals will be 45 seconds. re-rebuttals will be 30 seconds.

the first question goes to senator gillibrand. the state department has been criticized for its handling of the situation in libya. we know there were multiple requests for security and it went unheeded. we heard the president last night take full responsibility. what could have been done to avoid this attack? what should be done going forward? >> the secretary of state, hillary clinton, has done an extraordinary job around the world representing our values. president obama has taken responsibility for what happened in libya. my heart goes out to families of

those who were killed in that terror attack. as president obama explained, we will make sure that we get to the bottom of what happened in libya. we will make sure that that terrorist attackers will be held accountable. he will conduct a full-scale investigation with secretary clinton to find where the failings and shortcomings were. as he has shown time and time again, he does not give up and he does not forget. he holds those responsible who must be held responsible. i have no doubt he will do the same in this case. >> we heard president obama say something that was clearly incorrect. he was saying for days and secretary clinton was saying for days that this whole thing in libya was spurred by this amateur video. they did not say this was a concerted terrorist attack. ambassador rice went out time after time saying this, and i agree that it is time for ambassador rice to resign. would you agree that after she went out with this false story that she should resign? >> absolutely not. we know that there has been extraordinary turmoil in the

arab spring. we lost lives. president obama has been committed to trying to strengthen democracy in the middle east. >> i know, but i am talking about this specific instance. we know this was a specific act of terror. yet this administration repeatedly tried to blame it on some spontaneous video. he was tried to blame it on an amateur video. we know that is not the case. we have got to get to the bottom of this case and figure out who knew what and when. >> we will get to the bottom of this. we will hold those accountable for the attack. this is the kind of issue that should not be politicized. it is the kind of issue where we come together and get to the bottom of it.

>> i'm sorry, but we want to move on from this topic. >> the next question is for ms. long. you have criticized the stimulus, which is the centerpiece of the obama's recovery plan. do you think that government spending can never bring the economy out of the recession? >> i think that people create jobs and that government does not create jobs. most of the stimulus was completely wasted. it was filled with hundreds of millions of dollars of corporate cronyism that went to companies like solyndra. all of that money came from somewhere. it came out of the pockets of taxpayers or it increased our debt to china.

that is where the money came from. as president obama said, there were not as many shovel ready jobs as he thought. >> pay down the debt and the deficits and create a growing economy. that is what we are focused on. we are focused on small business. that means cutting their taxes and streamlining taxes. make sure the have the loans that they need. we want to see made in america. rebuilding our infrastructure. build towns, roads, and water systems across our state. we need to refocus on building new roads and projects. i can tell you, we have tough choices to make. we can tighten our belt. we can cut spending. we have to do it precisely and carefully.

we cannot have a "slash only" approach. >> can you suggest something that you would cut? she talks about cutting taxes and getting small businesses of the loans they need, but she has not done any of these things. what we need to get small business is going is to get the private sector to give them loans. her idea of getting a loan is taking money from taxpayers and giving it out to her favorite group. the right way to make a loan is to go to a bank can go through a legitimate project. she has undermined the ability of banks to do that with the dodd-frank bill. >> we will move onto that. let me move on to another question. this is for senator gillibrand. the arrest of a new york citizen for allegedly trying to bomb a

federal reserve calls for robust national defense and national security. we are weeks away from the fiscal cliff that would cut $55 billion a year from defense spending. what steps are you prepared to take to prevent that from happening if you think that is something to be avoided? >> there was a terror attack this morning in new york at the federal reserve. i have deep gratitude for the fbi and our police force. once again, the have thwarted another terrorist attack. the reason why i disagree with my opponent's approach.

i work hard with peter king and across party lines to make sure that a dirty bomb cannot attack. we want to make sure that our religious institutions -- >> let her finish. you will have a chance to rebut. >> we look for fat and waste in the program. that is why i did not vote for this budget deal. i believe sequestration will be bad for new york. it will cut the things we need most -- firefighters, police force, education. >> sequestration would be terrible, senator, but what have you done to avoid sequestration? you have to decide which cuts to make. as far as i can see, you have not done anything to advance the ball in that. if i were representing new york, i would know what is going on. it would not catch me off of guard.

in terms of the attack on the federal reserve, it will be important to make sure that iran does not get a nuclear weapon. we do not want nuclear weapons in the hands of any of the terrorists. that will increase what we already know are not only threats of terrorism, but right here on american soil. >> the pledge you have taken, the tax pledge to never increase taxes, doesn't that lead to the kind of budget showdown that has brought us to the edge of the fiscal cliff? >> no. i agree with ronald reagan. we cannot increase taxes. the tax foundation showed new york is dead last in the tax climate.

it is not the answer. the more we increase taxes, the more spending that follows. we need to cut. that is the only way to go about it. the tax system we have now is counterproductive. it is confusing. it takes forever. we need tax reform. we definitely do not want to increase the overall amount of taxes we are paying. that is the nature of the pledge that i took. >> thank you. >> social issues. ms. long, you have called roe v. wade a horrible position. you also said that you believe abortion rights should be left to the people to decide.

explain exactly what that means. also, do you believe that an update is needed for new york's laws which are antiquated and potentially dangerous for some of you wants to score political points? >> roe v. wade is universally recognized among most scholars. -- most legal scholars to be a bad decision, just from a legal point of view. whether you are pro-life or pro- choice, if it were overturned, every state would get the law that they want. >> would you advocate for the overturn of roe v. wade? would you like to see it? >> of course. it was a terrible constitutional decision.

there was a lot of confusion on this. if it were overturned, the decision would return to the state. each state can decide what policy they want. i am pro-life. there is no doubt about that. i believe that every single human being from conception until natural death has the right to life. the includes elderly, the disabled, everyone. when i see that little picture of a baby in the ultrasound, that is a human being. it is entitled to respect. that is up to state legislators. as i go around the state, i do not hear anyone talking about abortion issue. my opponent wants to talk about this issue because you want to distract from her terrible record on the economy.

>> senator. >> i disagree with my opponent. i believe everyone has a right to make a decision about her productive rights and about her family and when she will begin a family. we have to fight for women's rights. this is not a made up issue. they introduced a bill that would debunk all of title 10, which is the money spent on at- risk women. it would also redefine rape. they want bosses to decide whether or not employees should be able to have access to birth control. they had a panel and the

first one was devoid of a female speaker. i urge every woman in this stt ate and acorross the country to vote. >> first of all, i am fully in favor of women's rights. i am a woman. i believe in women's rights. there is something else that you said that is completely wrong. no one is advocating making decisions about anyone else's contracepting. no one is suggesting taking anyone's contraception away. the issue is -- will religious employers and religious institutions and other people's faiths -- and i have the faith that tells me that abortion is evil -- will i be forced to buy such a plan and offer it to my employees?

this is a question of infringing the most basic liberty you have. >> fundamentally, if you support that, that will give any employer the right to deny any coverage that they have a religious belief that opposes it. 98% of america's women use birth control. a majority of women use birth control. to say that it is evil shows a disregard for the building of a woman to make her personal decision about her body and her family. >> ms. long -- >> i just repeated what she said. that is all. >> as long as we are on this issue of the war on women, there is a war going on in this state.

we have in new york assembly -- >> let's stick to the topic at hand. >> we will give you an opportunity to speak on the issues you want to go to. when you talk about -- when democrats talk about the fear that roe v. wade might be overturned, doesn't that relate to fear mongering? >> i do not think it is fear mongering. this presidential nominee, mitt romney, said he would get rid of planned parenthood. his party has said that there should be no exceptions for abortions.

no exceptions for rape, incest, for the life of the mother. that is a serious problem for new yorkers and many women that i know. look, these are fight and battles that my mother had and that my grandmother had. women of america believe that they should make their own decisions about contraceptions. they do not expect legislators to think that the bosses should make that decision. i am making sure that women are heard in this election. women have to vote and hold congressional members accountable. they have to be heard. these are fundamental issuesthe. these are fundamental issues of all right. you talk about the war on women. mitt romney says -- it is an issue of fairness.

>> you are completely misleading this audience and people who you say employers could decide what a woman could do with contraception. it is completely false. religious and players have the right to subsidize and what it will offer, it is completely -- no one is telling them to make decisions. >> employers do not get to pick and choose which laws they will follow. >> we have set up a situation where government dictates your faith. do you know what will happen? >> look, this is a compromise that was reached in the new york state and signed into law by a republican governor for 10 years. i do not think that citizens

believe their religious beliefs have been circumvented. >> let me ask you the original question. i want to ask about the supreme court. make this a brief exchange. who is a model supreme court justice and why? >> i greatly admire justice sotomayor. she was the number one proponent against sotomayor. i think she will make a tremendous justice and will have a long run. >> my problem with her is that she does not follow the constitution. we need people who will be

modest judges and follow the law. i cannot believe we are sending -- the unemployment rate has gone up over the last year. it seems that all anybody wants to talk about is -- >> we will talk about economic issues some more. >> i admire many justices. i admire justice stevens. justice roberts is a good justice too. the question is the approach to the law. did apply the constitution? our do they seek to impose our own political views on the

bench. >> thank you. >> this question deals of the second amendment regarding second amendment rights. you support second amendment rights. you would want to protect the rights of hunters and sportsmen. explained why as semiautomatic is something gun advocates would seek to limit or ban? >> that is not my only concern at all. i want to preserve what the second amendment says, which is the right to own arms. that is an individual right, like the other list of the bill rights. that is what i am concerned with protecting. it is for purposes of self-

defense. it does all sorts of purposes. what i think it's amazing is my opponent, when she represented this area in congress, she told everyone she kept her gun under her bed. it amazes me how she can do this 180 flip. by the way, in the most basic nra course, they tell you where to store your gun and it is a bad idea to put it under your bed. >> response. >> i support the second amendment and the right of gun owners. we have serious issues across

new york. we have a gang violence and gun violence. it is deserving to sit next to a mother who lost a child to gun violence. it is inexcusable. what i have to do is make sure that i can protect our families. that means a common-sense reforms that keeps guns out of the hands of criminals. the biggest challenges we have is 90% of our weapons come from out of state. 90% are used by criminals. what we have to do is keep those guns out of the hands of criminals. that is why i have written a piece of legislation that would lock down on them and should the law enforcement have the tools to track them. >> she is overlooking the root cause of crime is criminal. you did not solve this problem by hindering the rights of law-

abiding citizens. the way to stop the gun violence is to apprehend criminals. criminals do not care what the laws are. they will find ways to get guns and commit violence anyways. all of these restrictions on the basic second amendment right of law abiding citizens who have firearms is not the answer. >> does to be clear regarding the change in the nra reading, did you change your ideology between the time that you were a congresswoman representing this area and subsequently become a senator? did you do that for some other reason? >> my beliefs have never changed. i met with a family that lost their daughter. i met with a family that was experiencing enormous amount of gun violence and gang violence. i have to be able to protect

those families. i have been outspoken on common-sense legislation that could be bipartisan. it is not about law abiding gun owners. it is about criminals. we need to give the law enforcement the tools to find them. >> ok. >> thank you. it is time for our lightning round. we will ask questions that can only be answered by words "yes" or "no." both candidates must refrain from explanations or "maybes." we will start with senator gillibrand. should new york reinstate the death penalty? >> no. >> yes. >> do you read books on your ipad? >> no. >> no. >> do you watch programs on pbs?

>> yes. >> yes, but i could live without it. >> do you write your own tweets? >> yes. >> yes. >> have you ever been arrested? >> no. >> no. >> we're going to start with ms. long.

would you like to be selected as a senate majority leader? >> would i like to be senate majority leader? sure. [laughter] >> senator. >> yes. >> have you fired a gun within the last year? >> yes. >> no. >> have you read "fifty shades of grey?" [laughter] >> no. >> no. >> should there be a national

ban on large sugary drinks? >> no. >> no. >> do you read political blogs? >> yes. >> yes. >> have you purchased a lottery ticket within the last year? >> yes. >> no. >> that concludes our lightening round. now it is time for cross- examination. you can ask your opponent one question. response is 60 seconds long. >> congress is broken. if you are elected, will you break your pledge if there is a deal that has $10 of cuts for every $1 of revenue increase?

>> that is a little bit of a false question. we could raise revenue in such a deal without amending the tax code. i am opposed to higher tax rates. what we really need is an economy that will grow. you can cut tax rates tremendously. you can reduce loopholes. we have a pro-growth tax code. you can make more revenue. i think we should reform the tax code. it needs an overhaul. if we do that and we have a pro-growth tax code, we will see the economy grow and jobs created. that is a fantastic idea. >> ms. long, you can ask

senator gillibrand a question. >> you have been an advocate for women's rights and transparency in government. i see this crisis in new york assembly in we have an assemblymen who is sexually harassing women in his office. this is a repeated pattern in this culture of corruption in albany. and assembly speaker instead of trying to remedy it, instead took over money in taxpayer money and gave fresh money to keep these women quiet. this is a scandal. these young women were probably very idealistic. they are working in the state

assembly and treated this way by someone in power. what i found outrageous is the actions of the assembly speaker to cover it up. why did not call for his resignation? >> the allegations against lopez for sexually harassing his employees is outrageous. it is disgraceful. there is no place in the state for a boss to harass his employees. there has been a full investigation and why it was permitted to a confidential settlement when we have the facts from that investigation,

we will know whether or not that was done improperly. lopez should have paid those finds himself. taxpayer money should not have been used. we do have to hold people accountable. that is why the investigation is important. he was wrong to not have done this in public. >> wasn't it wrong to use taxpayer money to cover it up? we know it was wrong. >> we wanted one question and we got one answer. we will move on to some of our additional questions. this one is for senator gillibrand. the affordable health care, also known as obamacare. republicans are calling this a hit on medicare.

is the reduction justified? what would you tell senior citizens about the reduction? >> i would reassure senior citizens that those were reforms that strength and medicare and medicaid. it takes some fat out of the system. the money was going to insurance companies. we want to streamline medicare and medicaid to make sure it will be there for seniors and the next generation of seniors. these are the kind of reforms that matter. they strengthen our entitlements. at the same time, they get rid of fraud or abuse. >> ms. long. >> i'm sorry, but i have to return to the topic i was addressing. you said of the speaker that he should have resigned. there is taxpayer money to cover up the sexual harassment

that was going on. how do not ask him to resign? >> there is an ongoing investigation right now to get to the bottom of it. with the speaker, it was a bipartisan call for him to resign for what he was covering up. >> there was an investigation going on with the speaker? >> we'll move on to any question at this point. at this point, we know there is a hot presidential race going on. polls are tight. if president obama is reelected and you are also successful on election day, you will have to work with the president of the opposing party. can you please in one area where you agree with the

president? where do believe you could work together to benefits new yorkers? >> first of all, i believe president obama has been the one who has not been willing to come have we work with people in the senate. he sent a budget that he knows no one will vote for. that is really the problem here. we're not seeing compromise from his side in the white house. >> we do not know who will control the senate at this point. what could you work with him on a? >> if he is interested in reducing our deficit as he said he is, if he is interested in reviewing our deficits, i would work with him on that. i would be willing to cut any and all areas of the federal

budget. i am talking about cutting spending right now. >> senator gillibrand, if mitt romney is elected, what is an area that you have of agreement with him? >> as governor, he fought for health care. >> we got that done. according to the supreme court, it is considered constitutional. it is something you could work with him on. >> there are, and values we can come together on. when i spoke this on friday passed a health care bill, and reached across the aisle to make sure to help our heroes and protect them and help that they desperately need. we were able to repeal but corrosive and negative policy

that undermines our military. i can find common ground with the senators. i would look toward president romney on where we can agree. we want to make sure that iran does not obtain nuclear-weapons. that is an area and where we can get along. >> there are some jewish voters or remain unconvinced about the president, the current one, particularly when it comes to iran and its nuclear program. the president did not meet time to meet with that israeli president benjamin netanyahu.

>> i know that president obama is an ally of isreal. we have worked side by side to make sure that iran never attains a nuclear weapons and is now reach the capability. all options are on the table. president obama and the prime minister of israel have a strong relationship. they talk all the time. whether or not to make a meeting on a given day is not the measurement of their relationship. they are collectively working on sanctions and putting enormous pressure on the countries of that we can convince the i ran people to rise up against their leadership

or to convince assad that he has to join the economic community and stop pursuing a clear weapons. i have no doubt in my mind that president obama is 100% allied with israel on security. >> this administration's policies with regards to israel is incomprehensible. our relationship with israel is at an all-time low. president obama is responsible for that. if i were the senator, i think a senator should stand up and be an advocate for israel. it is clear we have not done it is real want us to do. i agree with secretary hillary clinton. we have to make sure that the military option is on the table. we have to make clear to iran that if they go ahead with an attack, they will meet with

reprisal from us. they are still negotiating iran and it is not working. they are marching very close to that red line. >> rebuttal? >> i disagree. we are hand and glove with israel. president obama will make sure that america is safe. he has on his commitment to national security. when he came into office, we were in iraq and afghanistan. he has been able to take on osama bin laden. we are out of iraq. he is making sure our country is safe. he wants to make sure that iran

never obtained nuclear weapons. >> it is wonderful to kill osama bin laden, but we cannot rest on our laurels and take victory laps when the head of islam and terrorism is rearing its ugly head out the middle east. we saw this at the federal reserve today. it is still a dangerous world. radical terrorists still want to kill us. this is not the right direction to be going in by leading behind and letting the situation get out of control and letting iran to continue to march toward nuclear capability. then they will not only be able to arm themselves, but armed terrorists. >> question for ms. long. do you think u.s. involvement in afghanistan was a mistake? should there have been a public deadline for withdrawal? >> it was not a mistake. we went in for a good reason -- to go after the terrorists who caused the 9/11 attacks on america in new york.

we need to disable al qaeda. that is our goal. what bothers me is that when the president initiated this, he did so with a timetable as well. it seems to me that his timetable has been politically driven and not driven by military reality our national security and the need to defend our country. the whole timetable has disregarded the recommendations of the general. it is not for the purposes of winning over al qaeda. >> i believe we should be out of afghanistan right now. 10 years ago, we were attacked and 9/11 by al qaeda. they created a base of operations and training ground in afghanistan. it is important to take?

al qaeda and their operations and take osama bin laden. we have done that. al qaeda has now become an international a remotely operated organization. the last attacks have taken place is from pakistan or yemen. today very al qaeda is left in -- there is ripe corruption in his government. we should not put our money in afghanistan. the threat has moved. we have threats in pakistan. we should have a counter terrorism approach as opposed to the capture and search approach.

we need narrow, targeted missions against terrorism. that would be preferable. >> i certainly agree on al qaeda. we cannot limit our concern to afghanistan. i saw some of these people. we thought they were our friends when they were the freedom fighters and fighting the soviet union. it is difficult sometimes to know who your allies are and who you can trust. i think there might be a limited role to continue to play in afghanistan and be more nimble. there are other places where we need to combat terrorism. >> senator, this question is for you. back to the economy. new york lost jobs while the

eight years she was in office. what would you support and the believe fracking should be part of that mix? >> all in one minute? >> yes. [laughter] >> i can stand are unique challenges. i also understand are unique opportunities. what we have going for us is an incredible system with our private and public colleges. we have a great manufacturing tradition. where opportunities lie is in manufacturing. we have biotechnology. we have energy technology. we have office technology all across our state. that is why funding in research

and development is so important. it is why we have to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit for all of our engineers and our ventures. that is how businesses can be created. that is where opportunity is. we need to see it right here in upstate new york. we have the tools and what it takes. that is what will turn the economy around. >> you believe the future is in what might be called "clean tech." there is manufacturing that is not clean tech. is drilling something you would support? >> we have unlimited opportunity in by a fuel and wind and solar. we produce those technologies on those products right here in new york.

we want to make a longterm investment there. it is a significant economic opportunity. what we need to make sure of before we start hydro fracking is to understand the facts. there are three things we need to know before i would be encouraging that in new york. first, what are the chemicals and formulas used? have there been any studies about the health of facts of those formulas and chemicals? second, when you drill down weekly, when you bring the water back up, it can be read it active? you have to have in place an agreement on how you look clean and treat that water.

third, when that is done, you can have wells that will deteriorate over time. we have to require that gas companies will have a commitment to do the cleanup so we do not have more in our state. one of the things we have going for us in new york is that we have clean drinking water. we relied on agriculture and tourism. we have to keep on having clean drinking water. >> two things -- first of all, the question was, what have you done to bring jobs back to upstate? the answer really is, nothing. as i go around upstate, i see towns with and the store fronts and factories that have been closed out and paint peeling off of buildings and people desperate for work and desperate for jobs. your only answer to this is to introduce these things are called jobs bills. what they really are is taking money out of the taxpayer's pocket and handed it out to other taxpayers who are favored by you. jobs are created by people. they are created by the private

sector. what we need is to cut taxes and cut regulation and absolutely get going with tighter fracking for natural gas. this has been studied. we have it happening. it has been happening for decades in ohio and west virginia. it is called the gold rush of west virginia. and the economies are booming. guess what? there has been no evidence anywhere that is polluting drinking water. that is a phony concern. people need to get going with hydro fracking. it could spur a manufacturing renaissance in this state. we could get manufacturing going again. what we have right now as you go around the state, you will hear about plants closing and people being laid off. you hear about layoffs.

[talking over each other] >> can i respond to the first issue, hydro fracking? >> go ahead. >> you said that you believe the economic benefits outweigh the risk of methane in drinking water. >> there are no health risks. >> to the extent that there are -- the concern i have is this, how much methane is too much in drinking water? how much to my children be exposed to?

those are not questions on other should have to ask. yes, it is an economic opportunity, but before we destroy our clean drinking water, we shall make sure we have all the facts. we have a right to know those facts. by then we do not want to know the facts? that should be disclosed. why would do not want to know the facts? >> methane has been going through the water for centuries. this little movie where you let a match and it burns -- that has nothing to do with fracking. >> i will sneak in one more question. i might cut you abruptly because we want to get to the closing statements.

this is for ms. long. you oppose a the dream act. imagine you are talking to the many young people in new york. how would you explain to them why the country is better off if they were deported? >> i do not think they should be deported. immigration needs immigration reform. we need to do it properly by congress and not our an unlawful and unconstitutional act of the president acting without congress. the first thing is, we need to secure our borders. we need to know who is coming in and who is coming out. once we secure our borders, we should proceed to immigration reform. we need to completely reform our immigration laws and come up with an orderly process to address the issue you are talking about.

if people come here illegally and they have committed crimes -- if they are here and do not have family connections, that is another story. if there were brought here as a young person, it is correct to establish a path where they could gain a path to legality. >> senator gillibrand. >> i believe in comprehensive immigration reform. we have an immigrant heritage in new york. we need to make sure that a child to comes to this country can have the opportunity for a college education and can serve in our military and have the pathway to citizenship. this is the kind of bill that would have common sense and have positive progress. >> sorry to cut you off. we have covered a lot of ground. it is time for closing remarks. you will have 60 seconds for

both of these. senator, we will begin with you. >> i want to thank ny1 and ny1 news for hosting this debate. i want to thank ms. long for joining me in this debate. new york, it has been an honor to serve you. i want to continue to fight for middle class families. let's be clear, there is a lot at stake in this election. it is a choice between moving forward or whether we will go backward. i know that new york will lead the way in economic recovery. to do that, we need to focus on our strengths -- our world- class universities and educational institutions, our commitment to advanced manufacturing, our great workers who can compete with anyone in the world when given a level playing field.

i know that we can come together in this election and get things done. i know that we can do that. in the senate, i have done it. >> ms. long. >> i have been talking to people around the state. november 6 is not just an election, but an emergency. people sit around the kitchen tables all around the state. they know that we are broke. they want us to stop spending money we do not have. they want us to reform taxes and affordable health care. they want to cut the red tape that is strangling small businesses. i hear people saying, we do not trust the democrats. they also say, we do not trust the republicans either. but i believe the greatness of america and the prosperity in new york is within our reach.

we need to pull together and do it. i would be privileged to represent you and the state of new york and america. i ask for your vote on november 6. >> thank you. thank you for participating. >> we would like to thank you, skidmore college. thank you. goodnight from saratoga springs. election day is on november 6. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> several live senate debates to tell you about tomorrow. in connecticut, who they face off in their fourth debate. they're running for the seat of retiring senator joe lieberman. our coverage of 4:00 p.m. eastern is courtesy of ct

broadcasters. another senate race rated a toss of his virginia. -- toss-up is virginia.t this debate is courtesy of wsls tv. tommy thompson will face tammy baldwin tomorrow night. that debate hosted by wisconsin public television is rated a toss up by the current political report. -- cook political report. >> i watched two different types of programs on c-span. every presidential of election year, i show the conventions, speeches, and debates. i still have a memory of being 8

years old and watching the 52 convention. the four political junkie like me, that is great. the fact that you focus on a wide range of public policy issues, there is something for everybody. something with the economy, i like that you cover talks were that is covered. >> he watches c-span on comcast. rated by america's cable companies, brought to you by your television provider. >> see the presidential debate on monday. watch ending gauge. in a few moments, the first debate between the incumbent democratic senator maria cantwell and michael baumgardner.

then, mitt romney campaigns in virginia and president obama is in ohio. several live events to tell you about tomorrow. the former head of the israel intelligence agency speaks at the middle east policy and security. that is on c-span 2. we are live from georgetown university where secretary of state clinton's speech on us foreign policy. from seattle, the first debate between the democratic incumbent and her republican challenger. this hour-long debate is courtesy kcts 9.

the league of women voters in washington. >> welcome to the 2012 debate series. we are teaming up with the league of women voters to talk about some of the ballot issues this election season. >> we have a live audience, members of the league of women voters, supporters and opponents of both candidates. the doctor there will be a 2 minute opening and closing statements. we will ask all the questions and each person will have 90 seconds to respond. there will be no rebuttals, so they get three challenge cards to rebut something thereupon unstated. they can make up to three challenges. the zero questions developed by producers and the league of women voters. the order was determined in a

random manner. >> information about the office. senators are elected every six years, an annual salary of $174,000. you must be 30 years old and a citizen for nine years, a resident of the state you represent. cities include proposing and enacting federal legislation, approval of presidential appointees like supreme court justices, ratifying treaties and trying all impeachments. >> we ask the audience to hold their applause until we have introduced everyone. >> state senator michael baumgarder the prefers the republican party and maria cantwell that prefers the democratic party. [applause] >> we began with two-minute

opening statements from each candidate. the opening statement was determined by echoing toss. we start with maria. >> i want to thank the leader of women voters and michael for discussing these issues tonight. this election is about moving our country forward and solving some of our problems. like people at home, i was frustrated by the implosion of the economy. and many of the challenges we face, including the fact that congress wants to filibuster more that wants to work. i decided i would work every day to solve the economic issues and address of jobs -- address jobs. if i had to walk across the aisle, i did so. if i had to stand up against my side, i did that, too.

nothing will get me in the way of the washington values, by passing bickering to get things done. we helped push capital to small businesses, 75% of where job growth happens. i tried to make sure that conservatives and he party tried to kill the export-import that helped 80,000 people ship products overseas. i made sure bickering did not kill the program. i worked with boeing to make sure that we got the tanker deal and got programs at community colleges to train laid off and unemployed workers. the future of our country lies in preserving those workers not in destroying social networks. we will have a chance to talk

about many issues tonight but i want to keep the country moving forward. thank you for watching. >> it is truly a privilege to be here. i want to recognize a few special people in the audience. i grew up in a great state of washington, my mother is here. not just washington state's happiest grandma, but the best public kindergarten teacher. my father served for the forestry and national resources sciences. i was able to go to wsu and get a master's degree from harvard. it led me to spend years as a volunteer working with jesuits and teaching children. i decided to leave my private sector business career and go to iraq as a civilian. and of course, my wonderful wife is here with our two children,

conrad and roman. if you hear crying, roman is one month old and is giving his opinion on the state of the economy. eleanor and i met in afghanistan and she is the smartest and toughest person i know. she study genetics at cambridge, became a journalist, and once ran 200 miles to the desert. that is like going from seattle to portland, but she did it in the sierra -- sahara. she is definitely the better half. the reason we are running for offices because washington, d.c. is really broken. we think america needs bipartisan budget, private sector driven economic growth and it needs to end the war in afghanistan have smarter foreign policy in the middle east.

republicans and democrats need to work together. people say that is impossible hand if i can find love in afghanistan, all things are possible. >> we will start with the questions now. numerous tax cuts including the bush era tax cuts are set to expire. at the same time, $1.20 trillion are supposed to take effect. the loss of tax breaks are being referred to as the fiscal cliff. what do we need to do to avoid going over this fiscal cliff? >> when i was getting ready for this debate, slate gordon said to say 20 times that we had a budget surplus when murray at the -- maria took office, nwow

we have a deficit. there is no greater example than the bipartisan failure. there was an opportunity to balance the budget and in the state senate, we passed budgets to years in a row. senator cantwell hasn't passed a budget in three years. she wants to blame the deep party, she wants to blame republicans instead of talking about real solutions. the first thing that we should do is end the war in iraq and afghanistan. instead of this fiscal clef, i think we should take another look at bowles-simpson. >> thank you.

there is a reason senator gordon isn't here, because i represent the values of washington state. when you look at the policies that my colleague just criticize, he is talking about the bush policies. wars that were not paid for, a tax cut that wasn't paid for, various things that did not work. you can find many republican economists that say these policies did not work. the budget control act cut $817 billion and we now need to come up with another $1.20 trillion. i will personally go back to wall street who has made record profits on bailouts i did not support. i would make sure that we ended subsidies to the oil and gas companies that made record profits as well. we don't need to keep subsidizing those companies when

we need to move on to other sources. my colleagues will find it hard to work across the aisle but i am committed to doing that. i worked with my colleague about putting a budget control act and cutting discretionary spending. this would result in $187 billion in spending. we would have been in a better place to deal with this fiscal cliff. my opponent said he would let us go over the fiscal cliff if we had not cut medicare and social security. >> a challenge? >> take a clear listen here. she blamed president bush for the war is put on a credit card. senator cantwell voted for both of these wars. foreign policy is essential for the u.s. senate. it is the advisory board of the

country and it is disingenuous to blame president bush for the wars that she voted for. >> the issue is that joe biden, a great senator and downgrade vice president said that if we are going to go to war, we should pay for it. i voted with him and my other colleagues because we can't continue to put country into debt by not financing those actions. i want to bring troops tom -- home from afghanistan as the president did from iraq. >> she said we can't fight wars that we can't pay for. that is why we have $16 trillion in debt. i have proposed a one penny tax on gasoline that would be temporary in a time where we had troops in war. senator cantwell has not done

what she said needs to be done. >> we will get all of our challenges of the way up front. this is important for us to make sure that we can finance moving forward. it creates jobs. we have to make sure that we are doing things in real dollars. i don't support taxing transportation for something other than transportation. >> as a heads up, you have both used to challenges and you have one left. >> vice-president joe biden said on thursday night that troops are leaving afghanistan in 2014 , period. congressman ryan said they hope for 2014, but won't set a deadline.

>> i support president obama and vice president by them in saying that we need to get our troops helm. i supported the measure saying to make sure that we have a plan to do so. the vice president was clear and said, make sure the afghan government takes responsibility for the security. i do, and the long run, want to make sure that the community supports the number of great advances that have happened in afghanistan, the education of women. the education of the general public. when i think about this situation that happens to this young girl and pakistan, the united states needs to work with our partners to make sure we are supporting the advancement of young people.

>> i am not here to debate vice president biden or congressman ryan. i felt there was something lacking from both of them in the foreign policy discussion. i missed our anniversary because i was devising a combat team about to deploy in afghanistan. that brigade is supposed to be in afghanistan in 2014. we are making comments right now to pakistan that we will have troops in afghanistan after 2014. any plan needs to revisit the vietnam-era and think about military advice and things that were said there. our interest in afghanistan is not trying to build a democracy. the soviets were there for nine years and others thought we should have hundreds of thousands of troops on the ground. our interest there is denying operational training space to

transnational terrorists. we can bring the troops home and treat the situation much more similar to somalia and yemen. we are not credible, we can't afford it, it is unconstitutional. the fact of the matter are that she is consistently voting fund the war. senator cantwell has consistently been in support of wars that we can't pay for and putting a strain on the troops. got it has been two years since the congress passed the affordable health care act and the supreme court upheld many of the key provisions. there are efforts to repeal the act in congress. and where do you stand with what needs to be done to improve health care and the u.s. - -in the -- in the u.s.?

>> my family has been blessed when it comes to health care. both of my brothers had cancer and come through it. i think about the quality of health care we have had and how important it is. we have a different view on how to do that. i have a friend that is about my age who is self-employed. the electors by huskies' season football tickets. if he goes to the urgency room, it will cost us all. we need to vote market forces to a product that he can afford. i want to fight for, under the banner of obama care or not, how insurance across state lines. that can bringeform

down the cost of medicare. flip that into a savings plan. a lot of times, there is a tax advantage. those are the ideas that i will fight for regardless of of obama care is overturned or not. >> this notion of buying insurance across state lines is something we debated heavily in the united states senate. i never saw so many letters opposed to it by organizations in washington state. business organizations, medical organizations, everybody who was concerned. if you are concerned like those in the juvenile diabetes association, if you're concerned about what is covered under a pre-existing conditions, this notion that lets you go across the aisle and you are not guaranteed any benefit is a big

concern business, labor, health care, individual organizations opposed it. what i worked hard to do is what all washington values are. to drive down the cost of health care. it should be more like the rate of inflation in stead of the 80%-10% it was. -- 8%-10% it was. we want to take away fee-for- service and focus on outcomes. we want to deliver services at a lower cost that deliver better outcomes. my provision in this bill is one of the best cost-saving benefits of this the entire plan. we have to drive costs down, not denied benefits. >> i think one of the unfortunate things about health care policies is the complete lack of bipartisanship and the

approach. we do them together. think about civil rights legislation, welfare reform under bill clinton, democrats and republicans working together. she regularly blames the key party for not being able to get things done. i can think of no better state to knock back to the senate. i would not apply for the senate if i cannot work with congresswoman nancy pelosi or senator harry reid. >> the tea party, which you have signed pledges for, are not the values of washington state. i go to uphold the values of this washington, not the other. our state has been so innovative, what has been done at virginia mason, some of the things in spoke kaine.

-- in spokane. i want to make sure that these things that drive down costs and deliver better care becomes law of the land. >> earlier this year, president obama basically ordered the department of homeland security not to deport illegal immigrants brought to this country as children. it is the spirit of the so- called dream act, which has stalled in congress. first tell us where you stand on the dream act, then were you view current immigration policies and how they should or should not be changed? >> i support the dream act. i believe if somebody has gone through our entire school system -- can you imagine going through kindergarten, getting a scholarship, going to college, only to find out you cannot go to college in the united states because even though you thought you had a scholarship support you don't have a social security number? it should not be the fault of any of these children they cannot continue their education.

i supported comprehensive immigration reform. our agricultural community in central washington is counting on it. our high-tech companies are counting on it. so much of our economy is counting on us not just training a work force by being willing to bring the best and brightest to the united states. that is why i want to make sure that with lindsey graham and chuck schumer we get back to the business, the bipartisan individuals working proposal we cannot get to because the partisan bickering in washington, d.c., was so strong and conservative elements of the republican party to not want to bring it up. it is costing us millions and the products that we have to pick and ship overseas because we don't get a work force. we have to solve this problem, and just like the bill that passed the senate before, we will pass it again and this time it should the house gets the job done. >> mr. baumgartner? >> once again, 12 years of a

record of failure. this has to be addressed for humanitarian reasons, economic reasons, and i had a lot of concern over the growth of illegal immigrants see under president bush. it has gone to a new level under president obama. the issue is it needs to be sequenced correctly. if we don't solve the system in terms of having secure borders, greatly expanding the number and efficiency of our guest worker visas, we will not solve the problem in a sustainable way. we have to put that in place before we do something like the dream act. if we take a step back on this issue, what is the fun of the problem? why does our country need to import -- what is the fundamental problem? but as our country need to import so much labor at a time of high unemployment? we cannot get enough stem

degrees, and then is to be supported. you think about record unemployment and the state's like washington, that is also an indictment of our system of welfare and labor laws in this country. we have to look at this in a total way. it will not get solved by playing politics and using it as a wedge issue. but expand the number of visas, secure the borders, and do the right thing for all of these immigrants. >> a vast majority of scientists agree that climate change is happening and people in our region are feeling the effects in terms of agricultural crops and rising sea levels. what is your understanding of our national strategy to address climate change, and what do you think the top party should be in this regard? mr. baumgartner? >> i think it is very clear that climate change is happening. the berkeley study was important for that. but i don't agree with the idea that every scientist thinks that it is caused by man.

i think that is still debatable. either way, we need a national strategy because the earth is getting warmer. the best efficiency in return we will get is to do things to improve our sea walls and infrastructure to make sure that if sea levels rise we are prepared for that. but if we're going to have a strategy to get carbon out of the atmosphere, it needs to be directed towards india and china because those are the main producers of carbon right now. in the state senate, i voted to close down the state's only colt using coal plant because i would like to have clean air, less carbon in the air, but it has to be done in a balanced and thoughtful way. as we deal with climate change, and has to be mitigation. >> senator cantwell? >> i worked in a bipartisan fashion with my colleague, susan collins, on two different pieces

of legislation, one for adaptation. when there is one degree temperature change, it means something for our hydro system. it means an impact to the prices in the future. we need to plan, diversify. i work with susan collins on doing something much more comprehensive. this is an important issue for us. i want us to diversify off of fossil fuels. the level of co2 and the damage it causes is a problem. i don't want to drill off the coast of washington or drill in the arctic wildlife refuge, two things that i think my opponent supports. we need to start a process to protect consumers and the future, and not just from environmental impacts but the high cost of fossil fuel moving forward. i am confident that an energy economy of clean energy can help us create jobs, diversified, and protect our environment over the

long run. >> corporations are people, money is speech, citizens united has opened the floodgates of virtually unlimited money in politics. so-called super packs are spending millions, much of it from undisclosed sources to influence state and federal races. what is the proper role of corporations in american elections? if elected or reelected, would you support legislation requiring full disclosure of all political expenditures and funding sources? >> yes, i support making sure that we have transparency and went to the senate supporting mccain-fine gold. i was frustrated only parts of that were implemented, and this parts of large organizations coming in and being able to spend money without us being able to identify them. would i like us to pass better, more comprehensive campaign refinance reform laws?

i would, but at a minimum we need to correct this process and what is happening in this election, that we don't know who these individuals are. the fact that free speech is protected, and i wanted to be protected under the constitution, as we move forward, this has to be one of the key cornerstones. i was so proud to get to the u.s. senate and my colleagues mccain and feingold said because of the way that i ran my race in 2000 that i helped people -- helped convince people to move forward with this campaign finance reform. >> it is interesting to hear her talk about this. i think money and politics causes a big problem. i'm at a tremendous disadvantage at financially in this race, and it has made it difficult to get to the truth out and talk about solutions and ideas. if i could wave a magic wand, it

would be no television advertising. we would go barnstorming the state and have real discussion and ideas. i think that would be a better process to get people elected. obviously, there is a free- speech consideration. i absolutely support greater transparency and full disclosure in terms of how we finance campaigns. our american republic is so special, but if you devalue and corrupt the process by which people are elected and play games with financing campaigns, you in danger our basic democracy. yes, i support campaign finance reform and transparency requirements. >> the national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform has recommended a $12 trillion deficit target. what is your target? which areas of the budget if any would you exempt from deficit reduction efforts?

mr. baumgartner? >> i think we would be far better off to have voted and passed the bowle-simpson plan, which instead of what senator cantwell has done, no real plan for the reforms or potentially even tax increases that our economy will need. i would like to see a balanced budget amendment, something as close as we can get to that. in the state senate, we have the balanced budget requirement. that forces us to have a greater fiscal responsibility and also forces republicans and democrats to work together. if we could get anywhere near the productivity back in washington, d.c., that we have in our state legislature the past two years, a carpenter would be better off. -- our country would be better off. >> your question is important

and eliminating. i think this race and many races are about this. how we're going to move the country forward and are we going to balance it on the backs of seniors? you have my commitment i am not doing that. one of the complaints i had about simpson-bowles was the wanted to cut social carry right away. i asked myself, with all of the things that have happened to our economy, the implosion of wall street, all the things that have gone wrong, the fact small businesses could not get capital, and somehow seniors and social security had cooked up financial instruments and thrust them on our economy? i don't think so, yet that was the recommendation, to cut social security right away. social security is valid until 2033, and we can talk about ways to improve and strengthen it, but i will fight to protect it. as far as the $4 trillion, i would recoup some of the money

that was paid out to wall street. i support the president's level of going up to $1 million and say we should let the bush tax cut to expire. even grover norquist said allowing this to expire is not a tax increase, and if that is what he thinks, which should be up to get that done and put money back into our economy. when we get back, we need to make sure we don't go over the fiscal cliff, but you will not find me saying that i vote to cut social security. >> the syrian president assad remains in power. meanwhile, rhetoric from the iranian government is escalating as they can't at the prospect of conflict with israel. what are your approaches to this, first syria, iran, and the middle east in general? >> that is a good question.

syria is a complex situation. the notion the united states could get directly involved is something i don't want to do. i support humanitarian aid. i support making sure that people on the ground have the ability to go to turkey in various places for safety, but the key thing for us right now is to continue to put pressure on china and russia and others to get the assad regime out of power. they cannot continue to attack their people. the reason i say this is about the larger world community is because i worked so hard in iran to make sure that in this case wheat used economic stations reject economic sanctions. i passed a piece of legislation that is being put in place that basically puts pressure on china and other people to have transparency on how iran gets

oil refined. the reason that is important is because it is a huge percentage of their revenue. i believe we're starting to see iran change because of that pressure on their economy, and i hope that kind of action will bring them to the table as opposed to someone thinking we're flying into iran to more about -- flying into iran tomorrow. >> this should not be so much about senator cantwell's past failures, voting for two wars on credit card, and instead voting for the next one. i spent the summer and syria and high school. i love those people and had a great time. we should not intervene there. it is not in our national interest. unless they start doing things with chemical weapons and we think they are going to fall into the wrong hands, and then we should take action. with regard to iran, it is dangerous for them to get

nuclear weapons. it would likely lead to the rest of the region going nuclear and that would be a huge security threat. the last thing we need right now as another poorly planned war. we don't need senators to authorize another poorly planned war. we need to know what will happen the day after and what terror cells are likely to do here in america if action was taken. right now, we don't have any credibility in the middle east because far failed foreign policy. by withdrawing from afghanistan, we would have better leverage. i think this is a jobs application process at the end of the day. >> investments in education for children represent less than 8% of federal spending, yet children make up a full quarter of our population. sequestration, which will cut deeply into education funding, more than $6 billion. what is the role of federal

government in ensuring quality education for all children, especially early learning? mr. baumgartner? >> early learning is so important. i have frequent discussions with my mother, who is one of washington state's first board certified kindergarten teachers about the importance of what goes on before kids get into our classrooms. it is something we need to continue to fund. every time you talk about sequestration, i hope everybody at home thinks about senator cantwell's negligence of kicking the can down the road, and her negligence of solving this. the federal government should set high standards and should test, but i like the idea of more local control in decision making for how we support education. i also like the idea of federal dollars following the student. i like to see more flexibility for states to choose things and parents choose things for them. i like senator cantwell, i

support public charter schools -- unlike center can't well, i support public charter schools. >> education is so important. as someone who went to school on financial aid and was the first person to graduate from college, i understand this. you registered with early childhood education. i want to make sure that we don't have a ryan budget that would essentially cut some of our most essential programs. i want to invest in early childhood education. then in the k-12 system, i am focused to continue science, technology, engineering, and math. some of the best advancements i have seen in our state are at the mead school district in spokane, or in the tri-cities or the evergreen school district in southwest washington or in highline, the aviation high- school. they are reinventing the way that education works. they are getting a new

generation of young students to care passionately about those key sectors. we need to have skilled workers in. if i am going. i'm going to keep pushing for that innovation, but i am not going to support ideas of the wry and budget, which my opponent does, that would cut pell grant education. we need more people: 24-year decrease. we need it 2-year degrees as well, but we need to make college more affordable, and i think this is a key difference. >> mitt romney says that he likes big bird but he would fire him. according to him, of public broadcasting as an expense that we could live without. tell us now, as you are being watched and listened to on public television and radio stations, where do you stand on funding for public broadcasting? is it a waste or is it worth it? senator cantwell?

>> one of the reasons why we wanted to do this is because of what public television represents and the fact this will be broadcast many times. not one night, but many times between now and the election. we like that about public broadcasting. my mama's here tonight. i know that she is grimacing a little because it is probably hard to hear this stuff when your daughter is being attacked, but, mom, i know how to stick up for myself, okay? we had the most wonderful experience. we came down because of public broadcasting to hear the irish tenors. we had a wonderful time. she is a singer, she sings in the edmonds music group and has a wonderful voice. because public television brought those people into our living room, we also got to come down here and listen to them as they performed. it is bringing things to the public they may not necessarily get to see on their own.

i appreciate that about public television. >> i am a big fan of big bird and public television. my wife and i, as a state senator, you don't like lot of money. you make a good salary, $40,000 per year, but when you are raising two kids and trying to buy a house and do those middle- class things like save for college, you have to tighten your belt. we dropped cable and we lot a lot -- we watch a lot of pbs. my wife, being english, is a fan of some of the programs on pbs, and i really, really like frontline. i think it does some of the best coverage of afghanistan. i was talking about front line with a couple of captains who deployed and were going to go back. when i was talking to those captains, and you think about what has gone on with senator cantwell's wars, a set of their group of 12 captains, nine of

them -- nine -- are getting treatment for ptsd. when you think of the human toll, the suicide rates are real, the divorce rates are real, the ptsd rates are real. it is one thing for senator cantwell to look at my gas tax, but it is an effort to help the veterans. the country has not gone to war. we need something to remind the american people we still have 70,000 troops getting shot at in the desert right now. >> i would like to ask both of you to address an issue about tribal gaming in spokane. the spokane tribe has proposed building a third casino at an off-reservation site. that would be outside of spokane. to do so, they need to be granted an exception of the indian gaming regulatory act

that generally prohibits tribal gaming on land acquired after 1988. supporters say this will create jobs. opponents say it violates the spirit of that act and potentially opens the expansion of gaming in other cities. where do you stand on this proposed casino by the spokane tribe, mr. baumgartner? >> this issue is in my home district, and i oppose the expansion of this casino, the building of this casino. this is right next to fairchild air force base, which is tremendously important for the national security of america and also tremendously import for the economy of eastern washington. this proposed casino would put that in doubt. i have to say that in general with native american issues, america has made a lot of progress in recent years providing ability for economic development on native american indian reservations.

when i was a boy, had a great privilege of playing basketball with nes purse. i was the only non native american person on the team, almost, and we want to the nationals. i thought at a young age being different than it everybody else in a competitive environment like that helped my formation and led me to want to learn more about other cultures. i think you would find me as someone who has great sympathy and a great understanding of the issues, but i don't think this casino is the right maneuver in that area of washington right now. >> senator cantwell? >> i have been very concerned that as indian gaming increases across america that we don't have reservations shopping. that is why we have supported stronger rules to maturities rules are outlined. this tribe has to go through a process and procedure. i have no idea whether they meet the requirements or not, but it is important follow the process

and the community and everyone around them have a say. i know there are concerns about fairchild. there are concerns from other business interests. if that is what a regional process is, i hope to make sure that process goes well. but i would like to go some rigid back to something. senator baumgartner is wrong, all of america went to war in iraq and afghanistan. if we support our troops. that they have served our country and we thank them. that is why i am working so hard when they come home to insure that have jobs. what is wrong is the notion that we think we cannot support them. my opponent said that he would not have voted for going to afghanistan, but then when it came time to voting for the funds for afghanistan, he said he would not support that. that support was about standing up the afghan army so we can come home and afghanistan can

take charge of their own responsibilities. >> the last coal-fired plant and the state is being shut down. it is being converted to natural gas. plans are to wait to build up to five coal terminals in the northwest to feed and asia. this seems like a contradiction. it is not ok to use coal, but it is okay to sell it. that ignores the reality that coal burned in china not affect the planet just as much as kohlberg here. reduced and -- where you stand on the proposed coal terminals? >> i want to get off fossil fuels and diversify. i think it would be better for the united states to pursue a policy of clean energy with china. if we have things we could work on together that will mean jobs for northwest companies to sell clean energy solutions to china. we already shipped them airplanes and sell them software and coffee. working together on clean energy

solutions would be a great idea. i will make sure as this proposal moves forward around various communities and our state that we will make sure that questions are asked about the mitigation, the impact of these coal facilities. during that process, i hope that we will come up with the answers. if we don't, i am not sure that coal come in and of itself, should be the focus of moving forward. i want to emphasize, how much it is important and imperative that we continue to build into a structure for the u.s. to ship products to china specifically protect it may be that these terminals, these rail lines, this improved infrastructure would help us in having a quicker, faster rally to sell other products in the future. -- faster railway to sell other products in the future. am i have a lot of concern about the coal trains, not least of which at the line would split

in my own home district. we need to know the impact of this and the comprehensive impact. will the impact emergency response if we have more trains coming across and people cannot get across the train line? what will happen with the coal dust? will that impact health care? i 1 a for review at a clear understanding of that. -- i want a thorough review and a clear understanding of that. but with the carbon in the atmosphere, china is going to burn coal whether we like it or not. that is a fact of life. if you don't want the chinese to do that, i would recommend that you send day diplomat -- send a former diplomat to work on those issues, but i think we've to realize with the chinese are going to do. i certainly approve of the idea of greater energy independence in america, which will require an all of the above approach and require more development of natural resources here.

that is connected to getting our troops out of the middle east, making us less dependent on wars and foreign dictators overseas, and very connected to our economy and balancing that debt to leave a better america for feature. i think natural resources need to be developed in america. >> it has been reported that a common practice among many local law enforcement agencies is to call the u.s. border patrol when a person is pulled over and can only speak spanish. immigrant rights groups say the border patrol agents don't just provide interpretation, they often question and arrest people who are here without documentation. they say that such actions by the border patrol is often racial profiling, and it raises serious concerns about violations of the federal civil rights act. should this common practice continue? should this be the role of the u.s. border patrol? mr. baumgartner? >> the first thing we ought to

do is teach more of our law enforcement officer spanish so they can communicate directly. i think that everybody should learn multiple languages in a global economy. my french is not as good as it used to be. one of the reasons i met my wife in afghanistan was because of the language she spoke. our immigration system needs a lot of work. it has been one of the failures of washington, d.c., at over 12 years because rather than solve it, it has been more optimistic -- more opportunistic to use it as a wedge issue. that is certainly the case with this issue. our borders need to be secured, but they should not be brought in here to deal with petty criminals. that is something law enforcement should do directly. >> this is an important issue about balancing privacy rights and security issues. we all know of the case of the

terrace trunk 2, over the canadian border into our state. it was good border control security that stopped him. what we need to do is make sure that around our borders -- and we have had problems in port angeles, of people stopping and pulling individuals over when they do not-- this is an import. we want the privacy rights of individuals in the northwest to be respected. we want there is civil rights to be respected. we also want good security. having local law enforcement communicating with the border control is very important and we will continue to make sure that was done. >> that was the final question. we will move on to closing

statements. we began with senator cantwell. >> thank you very much. thank you to everyone here. i thank my nephew who is here. -- actually, two nephews who are here. my nephew is looking for a job. it reminds me how much jobs and a the economy are what is important here. that is why i have worked hard to help the fishing industry by coming up with a new process to create fishing jobs. i focused on aviation and as the chair of the aviation committee i will focus on making sure we remain the hub of the aerospace industry. we passed bipartisan legislation to invest and construction and

other infrastructure. this is about whether we will continue to move forward on the types of job creation that our nation needs or whether we will try to balance the budget on the backs of our seniors. i will not do that. i am not for the rise in the plan for getting social security. i know if we invest in the american worker, our economy will be strong. just like 50 years ago when we opened the space needle, we can have optimism and opportunity. it is not the policies of a tea party that will get us there that want to filibuster congress. i am asking for your support. i will continue to work hard from spokane to southwest washington and in various parts of our state. i am asking for your help to fight for these policies in

washington, d.c. to make sure we get the job done. >> thank you. i want to thank the moderators, the league of women voters, and it t why senator cantwell for being here. i wish we could do more. we have not had the opportunity for more debates, but i have appreciated this opportunity here. campaigns should not be about who has the most money or who wears what particular political hat. the crisis is too important. it is about who has the best ideas and solutions. i think you have a good idea of what you will get from senator cantwell if you send her back. you will get the same you had the last 12 years. i have traveled all around this great mother earth of ours and this great country, and i know america is exceptional. it does not mean we do not have things to improve on and we can

not learning from other countries, but we are still exceptional. that is because we always leave things better in america for the next generation. that is not happening right now. all of the dead and partisanship, these wars that have not been funded, the lack of a smarter foreign policy in the middle east -- i do not want to see that happen. with your vote, we can get somebody who will strongly speak his mind, strongly be a voice of independent leadership. it will not be about whether i am a republican or democrat, but doing what is right. i think together we can solve this challenge, we can solve the debt crisis by real ideas. if we do that, we will continue what makes america so exceptional. we will leave a better america for your children and grandchildren. i am senator baumgartner, thank

you for being here. >> week thank you both for being here. that is all the time we have for this debate it. >> you can get more information by going to kcts9.org/vote2012. >> i would like to thank the league of women voters in washington. thank you to our studio audience and thank you to the candidates who joined us today. please give them another round of applause. [applause] >> thank you at home for joining us. >> we will see you next time. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] several live senate debates tomorrow. linda mcmahon and chris murphy

face off for the retiring seat of joe lieberman. and other senate race is in virginia. at 7:00 eastern, we will be live from virginia tech university for a debate between george allen and tim kaine. and in wisconsin, former governor tommy thompson will face tammy baldwin in their second debate for the senate tomorrow. that debate is also rated a toss up. our live coverage is added o'clock eastern. -- at 8:00 eastern. >> it starts as an economic

argument. men are having a harder time adopting to the economy and women are adopting more easily. -- adapting more easily. the economy as fast changing. women seem to be getting those skills and credentials at a much faster rate than men are and they seem to be more nimble. that filters down into our societies. i talked about how that changes marriage, our notion of fatherhood and what men can and cannot do and how young people have sex and make decisions. you can see it having an influence and our culture. hanna rosin discusses "the end of men" on "after words." >> see the presidential debate to monday night live on c-span, c-span radio, and online at c-

span.org. watch and engage. over the next hour and a half, several of wednesday's's campaign events and battleground states. in half an hour it is president obama in iowa. after that, paul ryan campaigns in ohio joined by condoleezza rice. first, mitt romney campaigns in chesapeake, virginia. the first campaign stop after the presidential debate in new york. >> tomorrow morning, celinda lake on how the campaign is appealing to women voters. matthew cooper of national journal daily looks at issues facing congress for the rest of the year including the so-called fiscal cliff and how the results of the presidential race will

affect the congressional agenda. >> mitt romney campaign and virginia yesterday. this is a little less than half of an hour. >> thank you, what a great

virginia welcome. thank you for your warmth and hospitality. i know you have been standing for a while but there has been some extraordinary people speaking. wasn't that fun listening to lee greenwood? that was touching. i appreciate the attorney general speaking to you and congressman forbes. these are great people and deserve your support. i wish that george allen were here today but we will collect in the next center of the state of virginia. -- we will elect him the next senator of the state of virginia. governor bob mcdonnell has been campaigning all over the country for me. people recognize, as the head of the governors' association, he applies conservatives principles and applies that other states and i appreciate him coming here and spending time with me as he just did. he is quite a guy. [applause] dennis miller, [applause]

he's got talent, he's got humor, and he's got the right candidate this time, so i appreciate that. [applause] i have to be honest with you -- i love these debates. these things are great. i think it is interesting that the president still does not have an agenda for a second term. don't you think it is time for him to finally put together a vision of what you do in the next four years if he were elected? he's got to come up with that over this weekend because there is only one debate left on monday. i think the american people had expected that the president of united states would be able to describe what he will do in the next four years but he cannot. he cannot even explain what he is done in the last four years. he spends most of his time trying to talk about how my plan will work.

what about his plan? we know his plan has not worked. last night, a lot of people asked questions and they deserve answers. i think it was germany as the question about how he will get a job after he gets out of college. half the kids in this country and not able to get college- level work out of college? as a question the need to be answered then you heard lorraine saying when you promise, mr. president, to put in place and immigration reform bill in your first term -- it was mail as that question but was her idea. [laughter] she brought up immigration -- you promised in your first term, in your first year, but you did not even file a bill. she deserves an answer. then we heard from michael. he asked the question of why we

should vote for you because the middle-class is just getting buried. i describe all the ways in which the president had failed to lift the middle-class. this is an election about the great middle-class america. people who are poor get into the middle class and he had no answer as to why he had failed to help the middle class and why they're having such a tough time. catherine spoke about women and women's equality in the work force. i asked a question that she deserves an answer to which is -- why is it there are 3.6 million more women in poverty today than when the president took office? this president has failed america's women. they have suffered in terms of getting jobs, falling into poverty, this is a presidency that has not helped america's women. i go across the women and ask women what can i do to help, what they speak about is help me find a good job or a good job for my spouse and held my

kid, make sure my children have a bright future and better schools and better job opportunities. that is what the women of america are concerned about and the answers are coming from us and not from barack obama. [applause] philip was the first questioner and asked about gas prices. he wants to know why they have gone up so much. the president's answer -- he said the economy has gotten stronger [laughter] on that basis, when we have a recovery, gasoline prices would probably go up to six or $7. is that what he is saying? this is a classic non-answer. it is pretty clear that when it comes to his policies and answers and his agenda, he is pretty much running on fumes. the american people want real answers and a real agenda and

that is what paul ryan and i will become the next president and vice president of the united states. [applause] we take america to two very different places and that is clear by virtue of what you have heard over the last two debates and you will hear over the last one as well. the president will put an america in place that has about $20 trillion in debt, killing the american dream for your kids. if i become president, i will take the action to make sure we kept our federal spending, we limit federal spending as a percentage of our total economy, and we finally get america on track to a balanced budget. [applause] if president obama were reelected, is spending plan and is borrowing and the death of that borrowing will cost --

cause not only high income people pyrotechnical small but, you will see middle income people in this country facing $4,000 more in taxes. when i become president of the united states, i will lower taxes for the middle-class and on small businesses who need a real break. he made it clear as well in the last couple debates that he is reelected, we will have obama care including $716 billion of cuts to medicare. i hope you know what that means. doctors are saying that half the doctors in america are saying they will not take additional medicare patients because of that. think about that if you're thinking about retiring. that is what is cut in medicare means. why did he take that money out of medicare? to pay for obama care. i will repeal for obama care,

replace it, and put that $716 billion to work. [applause] then there was his jobs plan or lack of a jobs plan. he just keeps on saying what he said before. we need a stimulus and need to hire more government workers. there's nothing wrong with working in the government but hiring government workers does not get the private sector growing. raising taxes is another part of his plan and picking winners and losers. from my calculation, he made about seven big loans to companies in his first year in office. of those seven big lawns, three of the companies have gone bankrupt and one more is in fragile condition. we don't need the government picking winners and losers -- or in his case, losers. let the free market choose the winners and losers. my plan, and you have heard it time and again. i will get this economy going because i really believe in these things. i believe that it makes sense to take advantage of oil, coyle, gas, renewable -- i believe and those things. i do not just talk about it.

the president's record makes it clear that he does not believe and oil and gas. that is why we will get to the north american independency in eight years. there is another place that will get the economy going. and with the trade. we will open up more trade. he said last night that he filed all of these actions against china. he said, we want everyone a and was been adjudicated. we need to label china what it is. a currency manipulator and competing in an unfair manner. a a we've got to help us -- we've got to help small businesses. if you of a small business, you build that business yourself government did not do it for you. and so, this election is going to come down to being a choice between to be zero different americas.

an america where they make the rules where it takes more and more from the american people. where it runs more of our businesses and increasingly runs our lives. or instead, an america where we restore the principles that have made the nation that it is. that we bring back the principles. recognizing that god gave us our rights. they include life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness as we choose. [applause] we all value and respect our government and the work that government has to do and

recognize its role in our society. but its role is to help encourage free people and allow trimmers to reach for their dreams. to keep it from smothering enterprise, freedom, and opportunity. the president does not understand the power of the american spirit, i do not think. he says he loves free enterprise, but he thinks government somehow has to get in there and pull all the strings. government is to encourage free enterprise, but then let the people pursue their own dreams, pursue their own visions, pursue happiness as they know it. and i know that -- and i know something about the greatness of the american spirit. i am convinced that despite all the challenges we face -- the debt and the joblessness, the challenges we face around the world, schools are not performing as they should reject all of those challenges i

am convinced should be overcome not by government, but by the american spirit. by free people. i have seen the spirit of america throughout my life. one of my favorite experiences happened a number of years ago that cemented in my mind the great qualities of the human spirit. they are seen that day in and day out in american citizens across this country. i happen to be at a boy scout court of honor. if you voice doubters here. all right. [applause] -- a few boy scouters here. all right. [applause] the fellow speaking at the microphone was from colorado. he said that when he was -- back in colorado, that the boy scout troops that he was responsible for wanted to have a special flag. so the purchase of the flight with gold tassels and the had it flown above the capital.

when it came back, they said they wondered if they could have the flag go on the space shuttle. they contacted nasa and said, we have this special flag. would you take on the shuttle? i am sure there were kind of reluctant to take souvenirs' fourth -- from was captured, but they said, ok. we will take your flight. they put it on the shuttle and you can imagine how proud of their boys were to be sitting in school and watch the shuttle wanted to stick to their friends, our flags on the shuttle. and in this audit explode in the air. they called nasa announced the had any remnants of the flag. he called every week for months to see if it had found anything from the flight. and then he said in about september, this is about 3/4 of a year later that he is reading an article in the paper that described some of the debris from the challenger disaster. on their it mentioned something

about a flag. so he called nasa again and they said they had found something that would like to present nasa and the boy scout troops and their parents of came together for a presentation. the hand of the boy scouts in little plastic container. the open the container and inside was their flag in perfect condition. [applause] " and then the scoutmaster said and that is it on the flagpole next to mr romney. i reached over and i grabbed the flag and i held it out and it was as if the electricity was running through my arms. as i thought about the heroes, the patriots, americans, who lived for something bigger than themselves. who lived for pioneering and discovering. for new knowledge, not for themselves, but for the world and for america. that is the nature of who we

are. every day i see people who live for something bigger than themselves. pioneers, heroes. i think of single mothers wondering how they will put food on the table at the end of the week, scrimping and saving to do so. i think of dads and moms taking two jobs so they can afford to give their kids the same kind of clothes that other kids are wearing at school. i think about young people coming out of college and putting aside their career because they feel it would be an honor and duty to serve in our military. i think about parents and christmastime coming up, saying, let's not exchange to get so we have enough to make sure our kids have a great christmas. this is who we are as a people. and the divisiveness we have seen in washington has spread across this nation. it has got to stop. we can talk about differences on issues without making personal attacks. we can draw on the great american spirit.

encourage people to lift themselves. [applause] in in awe of this community -- i am in awe of this community. i love that line from one of our national hymns -- oh beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife for more than self their country loved. mercy more than life. what our veterans of the armed service fees raise your hands and be recognized -- would our veterans of the armed services please raise your hands and a recognized? [applause] a great military town. 20 days. we decide what can america we're going to have. we will decide what kind of debt relief to our kids. decide if we want a real

recovery. 20 days to decide if we will fundamentally change america into something we will not recognize or restore to the principles of the earth. i am counting on you. i will do everything in my power to get america back. i thank you for being here. get out here and vote. let's take back this great country. that's restore what makes america america. thank you very much. ♪ ♪ ♪

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