school. i have seen so much and can understand why people are so mad. this is sort of a little bit off the subject, but all i try to do was being -- be accepted by the people with power. in my case, it was white people. i went to their schools. i was not smart. if you give black people a chance, we could build pyramids. 13 percent of the population in the united states, i do not see how we can get blamed for so much. it cannot be all of our faults. there are a lot of black people. a lot of latinos and asians who did not get a break just because they're not white in america. the great thing about america is you do not to be white or even born here, you just have to want

it. if you want it, and that is what we all -- [inaudible] we see the system is not fair. obama has promised more transparency. we have seen things that have made our blood curdle. >> i apologize for cutting you off, but the reception is getting to bed. thank you for your time this morning. from salt lake city, another democrat. caeliacelia. >> i have a few comments. i am hispanic voter. i'm 44 years old. have three beautiful children. and they will also be voters. but i have a question.

the thing that really concerns me is immigration. i am worried about that. that is something that really needs to be taking care of, immigration reform. they need to do something to help these people to contribute to society, to pay taxes the way i do. i pay lots of taxes from every paycheck that i work so hard for. i think immigration should also give some kind of, you know, benefits to those people to pay taxes and contribute to society instead of just letting the slide through the cracks. >> is it the immigration issue that makes you a democrat? " no, it does not. what makes me democrat is the violence see republicans and democrats argue -- is i always see republicans and democrats argue. the debate to see you will win,

but it is not about winning. win fore going to win, the people, not just for winning. because sometimes, when you do win and they're doing a debate, they just want to be the winner. but if you're going to be a winner, the winner for the people and not for yourself. if you forget about the people, then the people will forget about you. and i think that is what happened also with republicans. they forget about the people and concentrate on winning. and then forget about everything else. >> mississippi, this is cheryl on our public mind. good afternoon. this is c-span's continuing coverage of election 2012. >> i was raised in arizona. i went to school with a lot of african-americans and the mexicans and latinos. we all got along together. as far as i'm concerned, it does

not matter color you are or who you are. we all pay taxes and we should all deserve to be paid. i am 66 years old. the american way is you get out to work so you don't have some support you. that is not the way to do it. of course, i am in mississippi. the biggest problem we have right here right now is teen pregnancy. and unemployment and people living off the system that don't need to live off the system. because i used to work with the legislation. i was a lobbyist. with home health. and i got to see exactly what it was all about. if the people don't get out and vote and don't get out and voice their opinion, then they have nobody to blame but themselves. they cannot just sit back and say, okay, it is alright, but i

am too lazy to get out and vote. you have to speak because every vote counts. it does not matter what color you are or who you are. it did not matter to me if obama got in office or mitt romney, as long as it was for the people. >> that was from mississippi. we want to show you the scene at the ronald reagan building. this is where the national journal will be holding their event "by the numbers." it should be beginning in just a minute. it will be led by ronald brownstein, a longtime contributor. elaine chao, former secretary of labor, will be participating. as you can see, it looks like

they are almost getting ready to go. as we watched the room, we will take this call from leesburg, va. on our independent line. anne, before you voted yesterday, did you spend some time undecided? >> i really did not. i have to tell you that i am a research queen. i researched things to the nth degree. there has been an awful lot of money pumped into this. we were bombarded. my four kids. no more romney. no more romney texts. it was everywhere. being a research person, i think all voters today, we really need to be able to discern between

fact and opinion. and there's so much opinion. the talking heads up there. but with the internet, we have the tools to be able to do independent research, diversify the news intake, and make sure that we're getting facts and information and not just the noise. i would just like to say i am very, very happy -- we all cried in my house last night because we feel like truth won out over the lies, that hope and love one out of a hate and there is a an awful lot of hate out there. i would urge all americans to work together right now for a president who truly wants to serve the people -- >> i apologize. we have to leave it there because the event at the national journal is beginning. thank you, everybody. >> we want this to be a lively discussion. we welcome your comments chimera questions, your thoughts on this event on twitter at #njdayafter.

also, i would remind everyone to please take a moment and silence yourself phones. this luncheon would not be possible that the generous support of the apollo group. we have the chief executive officer of apollo group and chairman of apollo global. before joining apollo group in 2007, gregg spent 10 years as a research analyst for credit suisse or he was a senior research analyst. greg. [applause] c-spa[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> thank you for putting this together and for allowing the

apollo to be part of this. our partnership has been amazing. it is time to get america back to work. that is why i am here. that is what i am speaking about all the country. i'm very passionate about it. i'll take 20 seconds to explain to you. i think the dead in this country is one of the biggest crises we face if you want to be competitive globally is used to be of the nation. i want to give you a couple facts for why i feel the way i do. we are in nation that has 7.9% unemployment. there are a lot of different numbers about the underemployed. it is interesting to me that, given that unemployment rate, there are 3.7 million jobs posted today, openings, corporations, big and small, all of the country and in different areas were trying to hire people that they cannot. we are one of them.

and they are the largest education company in the country. so it is a very significant issue from my standpoint when i travel to other countries around the world. it is one of the things that they talk about when investing in america, building in america. where will we get the skilled employees that we need to do the jobs today and tomorrow? there are somewhere around two hundred million people in the labor force today. do you know that 80 million do not have a bachelor's degree? they do not all need to have one. it is amazing to me that come from 1880 to 1950, around that time, every decade, we added a year of education to people's lives in this country. we were at out-educating peopl

everybody in the world. that was amazing. i don't need to tell you that that is no longer the case. when you travel to china and india and brazil, to parts of the world where the emerging economies are growing, it should not be a surprise to you when you look at the dollars of investment that they have made into education, both at the k-12 and higher education levels. it is very consistent with what is happening with their economies as well. i am concerned about that. i know there are ways that we can fix this in the u.s.. it will take working together with policy makers, with academics, with folks in the technology in st. -- technology industry. there are some wonderful things that can happen going forward if we fill the gap in this country. i ask you on your way out to

pick up "education, jobs and the american dream. " we went coast-to-coast and did interviews with ceo's and it gives you a good idea what they're feeling. how the will power their own growth going forward. and maybe some sense into why they need to get talent outside of the u.s. i hope you enjoy the session today with ron brownstein. and i think you again for allowing us to participate. i turn this over to you. thanks. [applause] >> the oakhollow group has been a terrific partner with us -- the apollo group has been a terrific partner with us. i would welcome our panelists on stage and you'll get the really good sense for the two panels

that we have a will be looking at by the numbers, the 2012 recap. immediately after, we will have a second conversation on the economy and the election. serving as moderator is ronald brownstein, one of the finalists for the pulitzer prize o coverage of the presidential campaigns. in fact, you may have seen him as part of the abc news team covering last night's election results in new york. first, we will do by the numbers, a 22 election recount. we have which airs -- we have whit ayres, president of north star opinion research. we will featured jerry bernstein, senior fellow at center on budget and policy priorities.

the hon. elaine chao, former secretary of labor. and neera tanden, president for center for american cars. >> if you wanted to and set a predicate, you really could not have done better than last night. at the will look back on it as not only political but even a cultural and social milestone, a moment when the country looked in the mirror and said we are a different place than where we used to be. we have a terrific panel. we will look at the implications of this. i just want to start with three numbers which seemed to encapsulate the election -- 80, 39, 28. barack obama 180% of the combined the the minority voters, which -- barack obama

won 80% of the combined minority voters. mitt romney, in losing, have the best showing among white male voters. >> i appreciate starting their because a spent a good amount of my time -- i think you for doing this panel and the participants. i started my work in politics focusing on reagan, democrats, and the role of race in weighing

down the democratic party. it may well be that some of the issues readdress, if i had to list -- of the issues we address, if i had to list, the democratic party is the party that has won the most votes in every presidential election since 1992. we should probably asked whit and others to speculate on what the republicans to do to address that. but i do not want to leave it there because i don't think that is a big enough picture about what happened on the demographic and cultural side. but it is all related, i think. the problem becomes bigger if it is not just latinos and african- americans. we're dealing with 28% of the electorate. that surprised people.

what that does this to say you can no longer use this rising trend, climate change, and say it is a difference so opinion. there are real consequences. if you get the polls wrong and the election wrong, you lose. the piece of it is very important. but the other pieces are unmarried women who are 23% of the electorate. a majority of americans love now live in unmarried households. -- americans now live in unmarried household. if you want to look at how the women's vote held up from 2008, go look at unmarried women. that is where it held up. they have a world view that focus on the economic side and the cultural side that conflicts with what was being offered by

romney and the republican party. then you have young voters who are one in five voters. obama did surprisingly well and got a high turnout. then you have the group of educated women, all of which are growth segments. this is not just 28% less figure out that problem. they are all interrelated. there is a cultural side and a value side to this. and the difficult of addressing it has to do with the comfort level of diversity, a comfort level with immigration, how to do with the world, how to do with immigration and have to do with family and the role in society. there is a whole range of things that are part of that package. you will see a marriage equality initiatives passing in this election.

>> quarter the lessons for each party from what we saw last night -- what are the lessons for each party from what we saw last night? >> the demographics are changing. this is the biggest change. the big headline is that it is 20% minority. what percent did you do have minority in your sample? i think that almost everyone -- there were some late polls that were picking up the hire enthusiasm among blacks and latinos and asians. but the 20% is the deadline and that is turning. -- but that 28% is the headline and that is trending. whatever share of the republicans need of minority those to be successful will continue to go up. or that 39% or 61% of monon

whites will. there will have to set up and say how can we tap into the latino, the african-american vote and the asian-american good. the latino vote has gone the most attention. but i don't think the republican party can lead 98% -- can leave 90% of the black vote on the table. among all minority groups, there needs to be more out reach. leaving for the democrats and obama, it is not clear that this coalition is solid. obama brought people together. i think mitt romney made a couple of missteps that served to decrease which he could have done with minority voters. it is not clear what will happen with the demand -- with the democratic party when obama is gone in 2016.

will there be a candidate who steps in and continues that enthusiasm with high record turnout rates? or, if you have a john kerry of the candidate, that did not perform well. >> you have news and worried all year but the implications of the republican party. -- you have mused and worried all year about the implications of the republican party. what are the implications of mitt romney and the republican party losing? >> the demographics that we have all discussed have been obvious for a long time. the proportion of whites in the national electorate of the last

four presidential campaigns has gone 81%, 77%, 74%, 72%. this is not a secret. but sometimes, the of this does not become apparent until we have an election like this. but now the obvious is readily apparent to anyone, particularly in the republicans who don't have their heads in the sand. mitt romney did extremely well among whites, as you say. he won whites by a landslide and still lost the election. we not only lost hispanics by a larger proportion than john mccain, 71%-27%, we lost asians by 73% best -- 73%-27%. we are in a position now where we have gone through differences in policy, differences in tone,

and differences in candidates. reached out in a way that we have never -- reach out in a way that we have never reached that before we will not be successful as a national party. >> can you reach hispanic voters or the changing the stance on immigration? " no. immigration is not the most important issue for hispanics. the economy is the most important issue for hispanics. a tremendous -- the tone sends a tremendous message. the time has come for republicans to slap the catch on, break the habit or we will die. tch on, breake packag

the habit or we will die. >> can any of the openings be exploited while the party is where it is on immigration? >> no, there are other issues that matter. but this is a litmus test. this is a threshold issue. it is how you're talking about our community. it is how you're talking about families. as long as the republicans maintain voices within the party -- it is the worst when it is the nominee sing things. but when you have russell pearce, herman cain comments about the electorate, virgil pack, the they should shoot kids

from a helicopter -- these comments it picked up and reported like wildfire in the hispanic press and the hispanic media. that rhetoric and that towne makes it difficult to listen to your policies on other issues. just changing the tone would go a long way. >> with an effort to disenfranchise -- there will be a generational message. the republican party is perceived to not wanting these voters to have the right to vote. they have to deal with immigration and now they need to step back from the idea that, if these people the, we lose. therefore, we cannot win them over. so let's make it difficult for

them to vote. >> let me just stick with the republicans for a minute. among the thinkers in the party, the view that the gop has to move and immigration in an accommodating way -- today, the gop is winning a pawn truths margins -- a preponderance of margins. over 60% of seniors and over 60% of white-collar people voted for mitt romney. can you make these changes without alienating the voters have already there? >> yes, it is possible. it takes a very different there to do it. it will take a republican who is

without question a conservative, but who has a different tone on immigration and hispanic issues. i'm talking about some real life marco rubio or jeb bush. leaders liked -- i am talking about someone like marco rubio or jeb bush. leaders like that, it is possible with a different leader. >> central ways of understanding with the tea party is evolving. republicans in the republican coalition are many voters that are not comfortable. we asked if the growing number of newcomers is a good thing? it was put exactly in half.

how much leeway do you think party leaders have to realign their position on these issues? >> the leaders are critical to this. at the end of his presidency, he made a declaration that america is a diverse and multi-cultural country. we are at a competitive edge tentative country. our advantage in the world is that we are competitive and more diverse. i work all across the world and i worked across europe. if you say you're a multi- cultural company anywhere in europe, you are out. you cannot mention multi- cultural. what that did was bring over not just the minorities themselves,

but more educated, more cosmopolitan, -- these and not the only issues they are voting on, but it is their world view. we made the decision -- we new welfare were form was the issue with clinton. we ran welfare in the primary in georgia on purpose so that no one could say after the general election the the reason we were running welfare reform and was to get the white vote. we could win african-americans on welfare reform in the primary. >> as an implication of that today, how tough it before republican? -- how tough would it be for a republican? >> it would be impossible to get

it off the table. my friend jonathan martin said yesterday that any potential 2016 nominee will be intimidated from joining a comprehensive immigration solution because the likelihood that at least 12 candidates will go into iowa and new hampshire in 2016 and ran on repealing obama's amnesty -- you have the catch-22 that the future never gets a vote in the room. the existing coalition were white. over 60% were over 50. groups that are uneasy with a lot of what is happening demographically, how much leeway do you think republicans have? if you're a republican leader, how much risk would there be in moving out in front? >> i don't think there is a lot

of risk, frankly. in the primeval -- in the primary this year, immigration reform did not raise an issue for republican voters. i do not understand why these candidates were moving farther and farther to the right. every exit poll, 3% of the voters had immigration. those voters are not really scared of immigrants. they would vote republican anyway. they can get through the primary. they just have to settle down there and visors and say that we will run this type of campaign. >> hispanic voters are less than

the activist camp than african- americans. certainly, there is a lot of support for health care reform. but what to do about health care reform, leaded or expanded, repeal it summerall? among whites, basically 60% said repeal. 75% of african-americans said to leave it or expand it. when you look at the core issues, lifting people to the middle class and headed do it -- education, health care, training -- what are the challenges each one face? >> immigration is by far not the dominant issue. it is not the only issue on the agenda for voters. it is an issue that creates a lot of the possible rhetoric so you get evaluated on it. but on these other issues, on health care, and overwhelming majority of hispanics voted on

that. an overwhelming majority of them said that taxing the wealthy was a majority of that. 70% to 20% said that they trusted the economy. that should not be their goal. their goal should be to hit the 40% level that w. was able to do. and they need to also created goal for blacks. they cannot conceive 97% of the black vote. they need to make inroads. is unrealistic to say let's go for hispanics. if they can get to the 38%

range, they can be competitive. in the same way, we're talking about the democratic problem with whites. >> in 2013, there is a big deal. comprehensive immigration reform was taken off the table. what else does the party have to do to get back to the kind of numbers that bush saw? >> is a step in the right direction, but it is far from the whole thing. it is basically ronald reagan mindset that says we welcome anyone who shares our values and our desire for lower taxes. bill back and listen to some of ronald reagan's rhetoric. -- go back and listen to some of ronald reagan's rhetoric. if you had to have walls, the

the walls have gates. you have not heard a lot of rhetoric like that from republicans. that is ronald reagan. that is the guy that builds the majority. that we welcome all regardless of what you look like, who share our values. we will get back and we will get back quickly. we are not that far away from being of the level of being competitive with the right leaders. we have to have the right leaders. >> and in terms of the immediate issue of immigration reform, they blanked on it for fear of legislators from heavily blue- collar distress and hedging economic advance -- blue-collar

leaders and hedging economic events. they have to be able to deliver tangible uplift and improvement for this coalition in order to hold it together. >> it needs to deliver for america. it is a function of the number one issue of the election, which is the economy. we had the good fortune to run this time against the republican party and a republican candidate that was out of touch with ordinary voters, that was hostile on immigration and denying the right to vote and denying signs and whatever. but what voters mainly wanted him to address was the short and long term problems of the economy, which means how to

raise in come -- raise incmoe. -- raise income. that your world view is mainly focused on meeting the obligations of commitments made. if i were them, i would get it out of the way. and then you can set of economic issue and you have a much greater challenge. the president knows how he will raise income and create jobs.

>> let's not underestimate the challenge the president faces. the election yesterday was 50- 48. the president managed to get less than 40% support from the largest group. he divided the country by the way he ran the campaign. it is incumbent on this president to reach out, to show a willingness to expand his coalition, to be flexible with some of his policy actions in order to overcome this divide. only he can do it. no one else other than this president can get beyond this incredibly divided country. >> it is worth noting that this may change with provisional ballots being counted right now. at the least, he is the first

president since andrew jackson to be reelected with a smaller share of the popular vote. >> something you were saying about reality -- we saw the october surprise, super storm sandy, natomas is spending the campaign, but also the -- not only suspending the campaign, but also the bloomberg endorsement. many were looking over the right shoulder in terror -- if you acknowledge that climate is a real -- yesterday, for the five members of congress went to defeat.

because they were targeted for taking anti-science positions in independent districts. is the as starting to melt them apart in the republican party on climate science? is there an opening for the president and the administration to move more boldly? >> it is sandy a turning point in this discussion or not? >> the whole discussion of climate change has become so polarized that i think, if we can address some of our economic challenges, some of our immigration challenges, there are a whole host of things on the priority list to overcome all that. right now, it has become so divisive that i will look for

any immediate move on that particular issue. >> the santa barbara oil spill was a galvanizing change. >> i think there's more opportunity there. but it reflects something in the republican party to go back to emigration, romney thought he could survive by positioning to the right and ultimately win by being for the right as possible on immigration. he did not choose to move to the center on it and did not move on it in the debates when he moved on other issues. i wonder, given christie's

position on this, managing the consequences of warming, maybe we can find a basis for acting. and it may be and the cougars of energy -- and may be under th of energy. >> matt, as we see the latino population getting bigger, more affluent, more politically involved and also the culturally-based and more conservative family, somebody mentioning that the gates open

up for equal opportunity, if there is a legitimate latino candidate in the future, will they be able to coalesce with the african-american vote just as president obama has taken the coalition of both latinos and african-americans? would a hispanic be able to do the same thing? >> i think so. i think there are a lot of similarities. if you'll look at the congressional candidates out there that now represent districts that are both black and latino, they're doing that out rich and they're finding that there are some similarities in these communities. we do sometimes see disagreements in primaries were blacks and latinos support candidates from their own communities. but we're starting to see more latino candidates emerging. to do that, they know they need to build good strong

relationships with the african- american community. but i do think there's a whole host of candidates on the horizon. on the republican side, te calledd cruz did not win -- ted cruz did not win, but he did better than romney did. 38% was the magic number that jose funtes mentioned. >> what would be your bet for the odds on a latino candidate on either party ticket in 2016? >> good. >> for both? >> i don't know about for both, but on the republican sen. >> i think it is better on the republican side. >> do we have another question?

in the back. >> it is typical for candidates to pivot toward the center after their respective primaries. can you distinguish the difference between hitting and the creativity -- between pivoting and the creativity of mitt romney saying i did not say go bankrupt or that i am pro- abortion. do you see candidates in the future being that creative? [laughter] >> i will pass on that.

the severity of the -- i am struck on the immigration thing how little of that occurred. in the second debate, he used the words magnate and amnesty. he doubled down after softening in the fall. when he got to that debate, he reaffirmed the signal at least and then he explained. even in so much trouble -- he got in such trouble. what i meant was that we want to make it so hard for you to live here, make it so hard for you to come here that you will choose to go home. he should have done more pivoting on immigration. >> we have a quick question here and then we will wrap up.

>> what impact do you think the election will have on endangered species of moderate republicans and moderate democrats? >> remember them? the continuing hollowing out of the center in congress, especially as you see voting in many states [indiscernible] what is the trend line you see for more centrist legislation? >> not particularly good, particularly in the house. the whole trend gets reinforced by redistricting. but even in the senate today, the greatest threat to a democratic senator in most states is a run from the left in

the primary. the biggest threat for the republicans is a run from the right in the primary. the president is the only one who can bridge the differences. >> this is an asymmetric problem. it is a republican problem. you have to look at what happened in the u.s. senate elections. how is it that the very republican state, montana, north dakota, where you have the votes for romney, they voted for moderates. we have a diverse party. in the statewide races, when you

deal with the house, on the democratic side, it has been driving towards diversity. the opposite is true of the republican side. >> what was striking yesterday is that all the candidates succeeded in getting any crossover support. you look at the states that obama won, whether it was virginia, ohio, massachusetts, connecticut or wisconsin. there was 90% + correlation. [indiscernible] >> the blue dog democrats in the house are gone and the house democratic caucus will be far more liberal than the last house democratic caucus. >> this will be the first time

in history that a majority of house democrats will not be white men. in an election where we are talking about a changing america, that will be one more signal. this has been a great panel. thank you all for joining us. [applause] we will talk about some of the economic and policy implications next.

>> we should have separated you

two. >> today is the day for half the progress of sampling. >> i want to talk about some of the issues specific to the kind of emerging constituencies that were so important. we have to start with the big question. obviously, we are in a position where the country has sent back a democratic president and a republican house. and a democratic majority in the senate. when you look at that configuration and this incredible list of fiscal choices barreling down on us, does this make some kind of deal more or less likely? >> i think it makes a deal in a bit more likely, which is not as likely as i would like to be. but by deal, i don't mean this

gets resolved before january 1. by the way -- i saw the market's taking today. it is an unfortunate thing. it is like they were really expecting a different outcome than everyone else for what the numbers suggested. >> there were a thousand public polls and october. >> but if a deal begins to take shape, and it looks like it could really have -- the bible during the lame duck, it does not have to pass in the lane duck to avoid the recessionary contraction that is embedded in the fiscal cliff. it is more like a fiscal slope. if you go down, it is bad, but if you turn it around, i don't think it will be recessionary. i am not sure about this.

i am still guessing like everyone else. i am way overtired. if the president gets more stuff then i amshe oncewants, feeling a tiny bit more optimistic that there will be enough grown-ups in the room to orchestrate a deal involves both. we have done a lot already. more than a trillion dollars in cuts are on the books already. and some new revenue. >> after this election, do you see a circumstance under which the rubble and in the house will accept a deal -- which the republicans in the house will

accept a deal? >> the republicans are have. it was not heralded very much in the press. they made an offer. the republicans made an offer to increase revenues. at that time, it was not accepted. so that is a very important point. i would just like to start by saying -- i have been through the administration and congratulations to the other side for winning. the american people have spoken. but the second term as hard. there are a lot of unexpected surprises to pop-up. the president has been campaigning for the last 18 months. the fiscal cliff would always be addressed. but with the results of the election and the margins would have determined the complexion of the deal going forward. if indeed romney had one, with

a republican sweep, the members would have a short-term solution and have gone home and would have left a whole mess for the republicans to deal with. now that they have the presidency and the senate, i think that is much more incentive for the democrats to take a more thoughtful and a longer-term solution point of view on addressing the fiscal cliff. >> what you see? >> i don't think we will see a lot in the next few weeks other than half of a framework deal .ppeare the democrats have more of an incentive to engage on how the process plays in 2013. there has been chatter about how a lame-duck deal could be

struck that not only moves the deadline of the fiscal cliff, which is a really boring policy outcome, but sets forth a path for resolving some of these issues. and to the question of whether revenues should be part of that solution, i would agree. the key for republicans is the rates themselves, not more over the dollars themselves. in this past debate, the fight over what the marginal or statutory tax rate will be, they are ready to shift more to talk about the tax burden. there are ways to get there. there are ways to get more revenue. >> the president ran more than anyone ever on raising taxes on the top.

>> i think you can tie this to the previous conversation. it was unprecedented that a candidate ran on raising taxes on wealthy americans. in every single debate, the president talked about it. it was in iowa, made his last closing remarks, he took the stand. it is not just something he talked about. it was an issue that was important to the coalition that elected him. this is an issue important to working white voters. as well as african-americans and latinos. and white women. it is not just promises made. of all the issues, this is one that was clearest.

it was one that they could really only focus on. the challenge to the conversation in washington is that i think the republican party is in an odd position because their posture is let us not do this thing that is the most popular item to do. let's tax everybody or some other group of people. and the president has a very strong position. and it is also a very popular thing to do. if anything, we have a grand bargain that moves away from the politically popular thing to do toward the more politically difficult thing to do. as a progressive, i am not sure why the president would want to do that. why move and issues on taxes when the republicans will do things that are less popular.

>> do you see any way that he signs an extension of the bush tax cuts? >> i find it extremely hard to see. i agree with neera. what i think i hear alex and the secretary saying -- correct me if i'm wrong -- something that is very popular, tax reform, which is that, yes, we need a new revenue and we are willing to bring in revenue to the table, but it has got to be broad based and not from increasing their rates. the problem there -- it is like mitt romney's math problem. you cannot get the revenue you need just on the 250-plus folks. you have to go below that -- >> in terms of narrowing

exemptions. >> raising taxes on "in the middle class," households under $250,000, which happens to be 90% of all households -- i am not sure that formulation works. this is a great economic argument -- i am not nearly as obsessive as the economic impact of going from the top rate -- basically resetting to the clinton years, where not only did poverty fall steeply but we had a budget surplus. rod in the base, lower the rates -- in this climate, you get a tiny broader base and tiny lower rates and it is not going to work. >> on the base broadening question, one of the things on the president's budget is a base-broadening proposal --

>> raises $500 billion over 10 years. >> doesn't lower the rates. >> but the free market having a base-broadening -- >> -- the framework of having a base-broadening -- how you get there -- i was asking the question, with the republicans accept revenue? you are asking if they would accept an offer revenue -- >> -- enough revenue -- >> to stabilize the issue. >> i think the president's mathis will be as well. even if you tax "rich people" in the country, that will not close the deficit. it was not a clear mandate, and the turnout was quite low --

>> but if there is not -- >> clearly there is not great enthusiasm. >> we are very closely divided at this point and you have the president standing here and the house republican starting here, what is the place that you can envision -- >> we don't know, because the president has not stepped up to take leadership to he has been campaigning for 18 months, with a note to disrespect. people on the hill are looking for leadership. >> just be fair, he has a budget proposal. he put forth a budget proposal, it did a speech on a, it is in his budget. it gets $4 trillion in deficit reduction. >> paid for the sequester. >> the idea that he has been out campaigning -- >> he has to bring his members

along treaty is the only member of his bod -- he has to bring members along. he is the only member of his party -- >> the critical question -- >> in some ways -- offer wasublicans' not accepted, let's not forget that. >> we are in reality where, without the president's signature, the tax cuts will expire. what will those funds be of the congressional republicans -- the response be of the congressional republicans -- >> we will see what happens to double the lame-duck session. the electorate is very divided. unless the president tacks to the mill, we will be faced with a horrible scenario.

when wall street drops, it is no companies that are suffering -- it is not just companies that are suffering big is people interested in companies -- >> wall street has done very well -- >> i'm talking about pensions. the overall quality of life -- >> let me move on -- >> very basic point. >> the fiscal cliff is important i washington for good reason, but in the country, all these issues -- can you see any scenario where the two parties may be able to agree -- work

force, education -- basically, equipping people to get ahead faster than we have seen -- is there any place where we've seen initiatives from the president or congressional republicans and where they might converge? >> look, i've actually optimistic. this does not sound optimistic, but i want to sound optimistic. i came to washington in 1997. president clinton had been reelected, and he did not have a senate, and he did not have an expanded democratic majority in the senate. the president has said this before, but people had tried to defeat president clinton, it failed, and they recognized it was in their interest to get things done. over the last couple of years, we have seen that people have been very focused on the presidential election, but

republicans up leaders on education reform, senator landrieu had a workforce on education -- you had republican leaders, lamar alexander. there are areas like renewable energy where republicans in the past have supported proposals that the president did, too. there has been punishment of bipartisanship the past two years, and is that punishment lifting? do the republicans worry about facing tea party opponents? or do they say -- i am hopeful about senators like senator alexander, because they may realize there is not up point to

coming to washington -- >> the romney proposal on individual the bollman accounts and training but a lot of praise across party lines -- individual is to limit accounts and training got a lot of progress party lines -- >> community colleges -- >> are there areas where they might be -- >> on job training, of course, but not spending money like the jobs bill president obama wanted, $8 billion, $23 billion already on a jobs program scattered throughout the whole federal government that really should be challenged to do better. there needs to be necessary reforms to improve job training so that people who are unemployed can get the relevant training, and when they graduate, they can get real jobs. let me go back to neera's point. i think divided government is an excellent opportunity to tackle the really, really important issues in our country.

at the largest issue that we spending.eh we are going to lose potentially our rating as a nation because of our irresponsible deficit spending. if the two parties can get together at tackle the whole issue of entitlement spending, we would be contribute and a great deal to our country. >> i want to follow up that question and asked neera real quick -- john boehner expressed openness to reductions in spending, reforms, but not structural changes, not ending the federal entitlement to medicare or medicaid, as the ryan budget would do. where do you think that goes after the election? >> i think the president really crossed the rubicon there by putting medicare and medicaid on the table. neera mentioned the budget --

hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts. romney tried to put it back in. i thought it was very ironic. social security? no, it has not been on the table. i think he has already done so and i suspect he will continue to. >> one of the interesting things about that -- we will go to the audience in a minute -- think of the context. medicare is one of the policies that transfers resources down the generational ladder. from the retiring baby boom that is 80% white and moving it into an uninsured younger population, it really in many ways -- the federer government has $7 per capita, something like that -- is striking that

under such explicit attack, for kind of rebalancing that i think you are getting at as well, the amount we are spending for the sentiments of the elderly -- >> i think that is a very interesting and insightful way to look at $716 billion, as really almost a redistribution will transfer from -- redistributional transfer of health care from young people to the elderly. >> that was part of the attack -- >> yes. >> the money was going to be saved -- >> no, no, no -- >> cuts to fund obamacare. that is exactly what it was supposed to do. >> the effect was to move resources from seniors to the uninsured people, moving down

the generational ladder at a time that the federal government spends 700 less per capita on seniors. we almost never do that in public policy, shift resources from seniors -- >> the reason -- one of the reasons why at happen, that there was a coalition behind, is that some of the resources went -- coverage of the -- >> eight more years of solvency. >> luck, i think -- >> rebalancing? >> i would say that the president's policies were attack on the point of redistribution. whether romney made as a tax -- made those attacks to get some support for his coalition versus

another, i cannot speak to. i think the president's coalition -- >> more accurate to say that the president offset those attacks. the attacks worked. he was just able to overcome that because he got enormous margins among the people -- >> that is entirely true. >> would benefit from this. the democrats are laying down the tracks to prevent cuts to programs and in the process for changing -- >> no, but -- i think this is an important question. the issues on health care, cap support deductions and health care, medicare, etc. -- the president was very specific about beneficiaries, and those beneficiaries in the future --

>> is there a generational -- when you see this through the generational lens of appeal the population that is 80% white -- what do you think of the debt issues? how does the generational lens applied to this question of the fiscal consolidation? some said that paul ryan is saying we are going to leave medicare the way it is -- >> that is more interesting than the specific transfer, because i'm not a sure that the transfer is ultimately sustainable. it makes the math work -- >> more sustainable today than -- [laughter] >> there is certainly far more interested in the broader question of the debt burden. i think it is question that all

economists are worried about, this debt-to-gdp ratio and. in the generational context as well. at the people are much more aware after years of a trillion dollar deficits than they were four or five years ago -- >> it is not the generational issue, because the people voted overwhelmingly for -- young people voted overwhelmingly for -- >> you are basically saying, are we saying to them, you are going to have to bear the burden of all the consolidation and we are going to exempt ourselves from it, because in the right version, for example, nothing really happens for 10 years. we put more money back in for seniors. generational it, does that work? >> there is the time value of money, and if you start a program with a far enough horizon for younger people,

there is time to make up the difference. that is the purpose of having that delineation. the other think i would say is, you know, i don't think it is the penalty. with a divided government, there is an opportunity to take on these hard issues. both sides are going to be blamed for taking on an unpopular positions. we saw that in 1986, with the tax to between tip o'neill and ronald reagan. i think divided government is an excellent opportunity to tackle some -- >> do we have some questions out here? do we have some questions in the audience? i think we are -- >> we have answered everything. >> while we are finding preston's, this is what i wanted to file away from what secretary chao is saying -- there was a point in the clinton administration were he was able to say to democratic constituencies, who were

resisting various kinds of reform and retrenchment, "hey, if it was up to me, i would not be doing this, but i have these crazy republicans on the hill and therefore i have to --" in other words, would it be easier for president obama to sell democrats are reforming medicare and medicaid and job training programs if, in fact, he has the ability to say, "look, the republicans made me do it"? >> in 1997 there was a budget deal. there was a lot of savings in medicare to basically fund that budget deal, and democrats have resisted that. it is not that you cannot find compromise. the question is, it has to be an honorable compromise. i guess my view of this is, to me personally, i would find it a little depressing if our entire

debate after republicans lost seats in the house -- still have the majority but lost some seats. democrats expanded their majority in the senate, which nobody expected. if you had said a year ago that democrats would expand their madrid, people would have literally said, "you are crazy." and the president was reelected in basically swept the swing states. we may be divided -- >> but there is a tilt. >> in my view, there was a progressive majority for governance. to go with the same policies that he had a year and half ago with boehner would be a disappointment to people who worked very hard to get back to him. -- worked very hard rtto elect

him. if he takes that debate to the country like he did with payroll taxes, more and more people -- >> let me ask a final question and i will start here and go down the line. if we say that the principal economic concern of the public is the decline of economics security and mobility, the crisis we've been living through in various permutations for decades, and it is not clear how much leverage we have to really change this -- if you are going to say what are the two or three things public policy to do to increase the odds of more americans ascending the economic ladder in their lifetime, what are the two or three things you think at doing to increase the chances of americans moving up? >> we have to preserve and keep opportunity. that means having a vibrant free enterprise system that will

promote opportunity, and it too heavy regulatory and government hand will limit that. bill clinton had his best to find during 1997 to do that -- best triumph during 1997 to 2000. of course he had a republican -- no, no, nafta -- trade liberalization is basically gone. it is to the president's own benefit, for his own legacy, if he tacks to the middle and results these big issues. it will disappoint his base, the republicans will disappoint their base pay but for his own legacy, it is better for him to tack to the center. >> when we see the income gaps showing up in the data, we have

to look very closely at the education gaps. whether i.t. has a federal issue or state issue or both, one can debate, but there is a serious crisis in terms of the outcome and disparity of educational attainment. i did anothe one -- i think another one is the tax code. going back to what you are asking earlier, are we going to have a fight over the progressivity of the tax code or reforming the tax code on a revenue-neutral basis? we like the code the way it is, we just want to make a progressive -- is there a way to blend those issues and have a code that is more efficient, more pro-growth?

it might make the economy grow a little bit. >> the 2 or 3 things help the economy get ahead, neera. >> immigration reform. it does depress wages that you have millions of people un document. if you move people out of that status, that will have a positive benefit not just to people, but to wages being depressed. equity is a critical issue. we face a significant challenge -- in the short-term, medium- term, and long term, there is so much inequity in education. it is not something that the political process likes to discuss, but it is one in which we need to think more creatively about how -- ideas not good for our -- it is not good for us in

the medium or long-term. >> nice to go last on this because i can think. [laughter] a really high-quality pre-k -- >> i agree. >> education for kids at the bottom of the income scale. this is supported by conservatives and liberals alike. a nobel-laureate economist to i think is associated with republicans has written eloquently about how critically important -- and there has got to be a significant government will pick it will not happen withou -- significant government role. it will not happen without. and this is of be, but full employment. during my lifetime, the only time i've seen conditions improve is when the unemployment rate was 4 or below. i don't think that left to its own devices, even with

eight economy better than the current one -- by the way, we have a lot of infrastructure problems. we could marry a problem of infrastructure repairs in the public sector, and high unemployment -- >> this has been a great pair of panels thinking about the policy implications of the changing electorate that was vividly on display last night. you have been a terrific and -- what's the word -- endurance in this audience. [laughter] >> join me in thanking our distinguished panelists. [applause] i would like to thank the underwriters were able to bring us together live, an online, and on c-span. there will be a lot more discussion and analysis going on and you can find it every day on

nationaljournal.com. thank you for joining us here live. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> just a reminder, and a couple of minutes, 2:30 eastern, we will take you like to a briefing on hurricane sandy updates from fema. we will have that live for you at 2:30 eastern. an update from the senatorial race. christina bellantoni tweets that id heitka -- heidi heitkamp won her seat. the house republican conference schedules its leadership election for november 14. one more, tweet from the associated press -- virginia gov. bob mcdonnell says that republicans must figure out how

to broaden their base of support. we will hear from house speaker john boehner in about an hour or so, his reaction to the presidential and congressional elections. that is coming up at 3:38 suspend -- coming up at 3:30 on c-span. claire mccaskill has been elected, getting 55% to the vote, beating todd nagin, who got 39.2% of the vote. here is our victory speech from last night. -- her victory speech from last night. [applause] >> thank you. 18 months ago, there was a lot at the political chattering classes that were spotting a lot of information about the senate race in missouri. they all said it is over, it's done. red.too red, just too

there is no way that claire mccaskill can survive. you know what happened? you proved them wrong. [cheers and applause] with the stubborn determination, tenacity, and a refusal to give up, we showed the country what is there is made of. -- what missouri is made of. [applause] now, i have to start -- i have so many blessings from god i cannot name them all. i have to start with the people on this stage. these are my children, my stepchildren, my siblings, their spouses, my husband.

they are my rock, my foundation, they are there for me, and he puts up with a lot. [laughter] [cheers and applause] there is one person missing on this stage tonight, and i just got to tell you -- mom, this one's for you. [cheers and applause] and the reason i know this one is for my mom is that i actually believe that when the votes are counted, something extraordinary will happen, because you need to understand that this race was called before any of the votes city, st.louis

louis county -- [cheers and applause] guess what, mom, i think we finally won rural missouri. [cheers and applause] i also have to thank this amazing staff i work with on in this campaign. we have been at it for two years -- yes -- [cheers and applause] we have been going full bore for two years, and this is such a team. every single part of this campaign in intellect, a great strategy, work ethic that i am in awe of, a sense of togetherness -- there were no egos on our team, just a focus on what we had to get died i cannot name them all, but they

are truly special, but i have to give a shout out to corey and adrian, campaign manager and deputy campaign manager. [cheers and applause] ok, then let's get to the meat and the bones. and that would be you. that would be all of you. what you did, thousands of volunteers across this state, you decided you wanted nothing more complicated than for your government to reflect your values. [cheers and applause] i stand in awe of her passion and commitment and patriotism and determination that you are going to have a voice and its united states senate that makes you proud. [cheers and applause]

i also stand here and a knowledge of the fact that i did not get every vote today. there were hundreds of thousands of votes that were cast for congressman akin. he graciously called me, he graciously congratulated me. i recognize his years of public service and his patriotism. [cheers and applause] but all the people -- the votes i did not get today, here is my message to them. i go to washington first as a missourian. [cheers and applause] and i will continue to be a senator that works across the aisle in a bipartisan way to find the compromises to solve problems for every missouri family, not just the families of those that voted for me. [cheers and applause]

along the way, i had the incredible honor of meeting people that are perfect strangers to me that greeted me like long-lost friends. there is nothing that makes me prouder than complete strangers walking up to me, grabbing my hand, and giving me a word of encouragement. whether it was the elderly woman at the airport at grant my hands and said, "ms. claire, i am going to fight hard for you," or the maintenance man at the office building who shouted at me, "claire, we got your back." [cheers and applause] it is and those people, those assault of the earth wonderful

people that live in this state i love, those people that i will go to washington and fight for it with everything i've got. [cheers and applause] this was an extraordinary campaign for so many reasons. the results are astounding. i want all of you to own it. you deserve it, you did it. god bless you and thank you. six more years. [cheers and applause] >> we will take you live out to the fema briefing, the update after hurricane sandy. >> thank you for joining us this afternoon for an update on hurricane sandy response and recovery. you will hear from fema administrator craig fugate and director of disaster services charley shimanski.

following the remarks, we will take questions from reporters. craig, take it away. >> good afternoon, everybody. to add proverbial insult to injury, we have another winter storm packing the areas with everything from snow to wednesday coastal flood warnings that have been issued, with high and dangerous surf conditions. we will refer you to the national weather service for warnings as they are occurring. because this storm is forecast to impact the area, state and local governments that have been impacted by hurricane sandy were preparing for this. it has resulted in some operations having to be secure or postponed during the storm. we are prepared to begin the operations as soon as conditions permit and alert state and local responders to the

additional impact spread some of the concerns that we were relieved -- you worried about are the people who are currently still displaced are people who are dealing with the damage shawms and whether the -- damaged homes, and whether this is going to cause further damages. total impacts to the state, numbers including west virginia, connecticut, new york, new jersey, still about 660,000 customers have not had power restored. the concern was with the numbers go off, or how much to lead this would -- delay this would build into the response. there were many ball or both communities, with the coastal erosion from hurricane said -- many vulnerable communities, with the coastal erosion from hurricane sandy. fema unified commands with the

states of new york, new jersey and connecticut prepared for this, and hopefully, if the storm goes through, we will see significant additional damages -- we won't see a significant additional damages. registration for assistance continues, high numbers compared to more recent disasters as of around 10:00 a.m. this morning, our last numbers, about 295,000 people have registered fema. we have disbursed almost $286 million. again, as we get reported updates, the numbers continue to go up, as people are getting assistance, with the bulk of that going to renter's assistance. because of the number of people who have had damage and are looking for renter's assistance, making sure that as we start looking at what the longer-term issues are, the states set up

for their disaster task forces, we are standing up with them and working, but identifying additional water properties as well as other activities that may be needed for the long-term housing. some of the programs include things such as temporary repairs putting that is available -- funding that is available, as well as other potential solutions needed. we are engaging with our state counterparts, looking at what the long-term housing needs will be. secretary donovan of hud has been engaged in this, because the longer term solutions will require other federal programs, particularly what we're talking about affordable housing. i'm sure you will have more questions, but i want to turn it over to our partners, charley shimanski of the american red cross. i want to point out that

although the red cross is on the call, there are a lot of other volunteer agencies. this morning i was on a conference call with southern baptists. there's a substantial response from the faith-based and volunteer organizations working in support of local communities and survivors. at this time i would like to turn it over to the red cross and charley will give you an update on red cross activities. >> i want to follow up with what craig just said. the southern baptist convention quoting i started c some of our operations, the southern baptist dimension is one of the many national organizations involved and is our partner that provides much of the food and does the cooking and the mobile feeding kitchens. it is a whole community response in terms of the non-profit

sector. we are hobbled to be a part of it. as this is bearing down, we are continuing to provide relief services. we urge people to stay safe and stay in place. this will bring strong winds, heavy rain, snow. that means new power outages, coastal surges into the exact same areas that were already attracted. shelters are open through the impacted areas. the red cross is actively getting ready for this storm. we have already sent in thousands of items for folks in new york, new jersey, tens of thousands of blankets, hand and foot warmers, hats and gloves, you name it, trying to keep people warm. we will be supporting warming shelters and warming centers and existing shelters in the area. most important, to keep everyone safe, residents said red cross volunteers alike, we are making certain that our delivery of

meals and relief supplies as well as the operation of our feeding sites that and they are a limited to some element of this storm, for some duration of this storm, we will be needing to limit our operations for the safety of a volunteers as well as the residents. so in anticipation of this, yesterday we handed out thousands of ready-to-eat meals and thousands of supplies to neighborhoods to make sure that folks at the meals they need even if we are not providing our traditional mobile feeding. meals are also available, of course, at our shelters. right now we just encourage people to hundred down -- hunker down check on their neighbors. we have mobilized full resources of our organization, more than 300 of our response vehicles have been activated to help us supplies -- helpless distribute

meals, snacks, and supplies. we have shelters providing food and water at all the sites i mentioned. about 90% of these workers are volunteers, and they are really extraordinary. -- the really extraordinary piece of it is that 40% of the 2000 have come from local communities. they are what we call community volunteers. they have simply reached out to say to the red cross, how can i join your relief effort and help out in my community? about 20% of the population. as night, about 8500 people affected state in more than 100 shelters. i will finish it so that we can get rich your questions. -- get right to your questions. the aggregate service delivery to date -- people in 10 states, as well as the roker of columbia and pue -- district of columbia

and puerto r ico affected by sandy. 27,000 health services, more than 121,000 relief items. this weekend we will have a major part of new york and new jersey and in facted -- impacted areas with relief items, because people will be out doing cleanup work and we want to make sure people know what resources are available from the red cross. finally, since sandy hit, the rest of the organization's overall have provided more than 110,000 shelters, stays, 60,500 of those supporting -- supported by the american red cross. i will stand by it and stand ready to answer any questions you may have. >> at this time we will be

taking some questions. so that we can get to as many people as possible, we asked for one question per person. we are ready for the first one. thank you. >> the first question will come from bloomberg news. your line is open. >> very specific question. can you tell me about the agency's involvement in getting these buses to new jersey and what the status of those are? >> i have bill, who is running the response and recovery operations here, the ordination center. >> we were able to work with the technical assistance of the department of presentation and a contracting capability, general services administration, to respond to request by officials

in new jersey through our joint state-federal operation there. they requested 350 buses initially. that number was reduced to 260. again, as craig brought out earlier, those operations are being generated by the state operating officer and according officer in new jersey, a dynamite, unified team. >> thank you. next question, please. >> lisa stark, abc news. >> just a couple quick things. is there any way to know how many people were displaced by sandy. i think at 95,000 people in new jersey and new york are eligible for housing, although much

different number when you talk about 295,000 people registered. maybe not all of those for emergency housing. do we have an idea of how many people are truly displaced at this point? >> the short answer is that we know that there are a lot of households -- will look with satellites and other tools, how many homes have been impacted by flooding, which has been one of the primary impacts, the storm surge and flooding. that number we can get to you, we broke it down by states. the one thing we don't know, because many of the homes flooded may be repairable and people may be able to stay in them. what we don't know is how many of those homes will require extensive repairs or cannot take power. that is one of the reasons we are working with the state house task force to identify not how much damage, but how many people will not be able to stay in their homes or return to their

homes because of damages. we will get you those numbers based on our initial assessments, which are how many homes are we able to determine have had a flood-related impacts. that will not necessarily tell us how many people have long- term housing needs. >> thank you. next question, please. >> the next question will come from "new york post." >> could you tell us what support fema is providing if any to utilities, getting the power back on? >> through mission assignments, it has been everything from providing military aircraft to transport vehicles and crews from various parts of the west coast to support the area, coordinating across the federal agencies, department of transportation, getting vehicles

and crews move across the country through working with local and state programs to get them across state lines, where they have inspection and permitting programs. we've been supporting them through the defense logistics agency, emergency fuel and other needs. there is a variety of things that we have been doing to support as the states have requested assistance for both municipal and private sector utilities to get more power restored into these areas. those are just some examples. i will ask the staff to get us some fact sheets, but quite honestly, everything from putting utility trucks fly across the country to supporting emergency fuel operations in the areas of impact. >> the next question comes from "the wall street journal." your line is open.

>> there are a vacuum is being transferred today from new jersey shelters to the racetrack. we are told by the red cross that they are working with the state to relocate several hundred residents from shelters because the owners need to go back to normal business. is this a safe thing to be doing as the nor'easter approaches, in terms of winds making people vulnerable in a tent? >> i would really have to defer to the state court in an officer to answer this question. i am not on the scene. we are just in support mode. >> charley shimanski at the red cross. i, too, would refer you to the state. the red cross is working to support the state and federal government. our first priority is always to make sure that everyone has a safe, warm place to stay during

the nor'easter. >> next question, please. >> npr. your line is open. >> thanks again for the help with this. wonder if you have any sense of how many people have evacuated voluntarily against the storm that is sitting today. >> i sure don't. evacuation's were not as great as we had for hurricane sandy, so they are very localized in some of the communities, where they were concerned about additional from flooding -- additional storm flooding due to the nor'easter. i don't have the number of how many people were ordered to evacuate. i would have to refer you back to the states of them back. but we do know that there were some evacuation's that were not on the scale for sandy, but those communities that were most vulnerable to coastal storms flooding.

>> lisa myers, nbc news. your line is open. >> i have a couple questions for mr. shimanski, and that goes to how much have all the relief efforts provided by the red cross in the wake of sandy cost to date, and how much during this period have come into the red cross in terms of donation? >> lisa, thanks for asking her first, on the cost, our focus is on making sure that the people who need help get it as quickly as possible. we are still in the midst of the storm, still in the sprint of the response, not to mention the long term recovery that will go on and on, more of a marathon, if you will. we don't know how long power outages will last, and the

figures are coming in, it is really too early to know the specific cause. -- cost. this is likely to be the biggest red cross response in the last five years. in terms of how much money was raised, the reports i've seen -- first off, the american public has been generous in supporting riker's efforts, and our focus is, of course, service delivery. we are still processing donations. the sources i am looking at indicate that we have raised $103 million in donations from the charitable -- generous public. that would include from our web site, the 800 phone line, and through texting. >> next question, please. >> bob wick from wirs radio. >> the question is more or for information.

i am in the affected area, with coverage from ocean city up to the river and we go west to the four-mile circle of junction and 72. our great frustration throughout this entire event is the lack of direct information from anywhere. when our internet was down and the phones were down and satellite was down, we had almost nothing, and i and actively appealing on air for groups, what it is, town officials, getting us things that we could put on air, because we would all of this. we were getting nothing. is information applicable to ocean city all the way to asbury park and to the four-mile circle, if you would contact us, we would more than glad to take it to air and we can give you the numbers. >> give us your number and we will repeat back and make sure we have good copy. >> wyrs, 91.7.

we are also translating, w2370ao, and on the web, wyrs.org. the main station number is 609- 978-1678. fax is 609-597-4146. my personal station itself on is 618-7605. they think that is -- anything that is airworthy in our coverage area, we will take to air immediately. anything we can dowto help, we

would greatly appreciate, because we are extremely frustrated. >> we will reach out to you. we think we have good copy and all that and we will be calling you shortly. >> charley shimanski at the red cross. our public affairs folks are here with me and they will contact you also. we have been pushing as much information as we can out through social media, our own facebook page, but i understand your concern that people don't have power, don't have internet, they are not going to see that. we will be in touch with you and we appreciate the ability to use u.s. another mechanism for our reach. -- use you as another mechanism for our reach. >> we have time for two more questions. >> this is for craig.

i want to get an idea, now that people are moving more into recovery mode, when the recovery centers might open where people can go and get information about -- i know that people are registering on line, and i'm just wondering. also, if you can clarify -- you say that people are asking for rental assistance. what has most of the money got to so far? >> the recovery centers -- we have opened up in -- actually, the three states that have been impacted, connecticut, new york, new jersey -- we are using today, because quite honestly, we are doing tents in other places where there is not any power at. as we get more locations, we are looking to announce those. we are increasing the density of those in some of the more populated areas. we'll also looking to get, as power comes on, more permanent -- we know these will be there for several months in many

cases. we will get you the current list and get you the information to keep you going. we are building rss feeds for that. most of the assistance right now, the preponderance of it, has been going towards the individual assistance, going towards a renter's assistance. we do have and have been paying needs the program's other assistance. to give you some examples of that, right now the tunnel housing assistance, basically. persistence -- renter's assistance, is $269 million per part of the reason that number is not very high right now is that if we can get the information rather than waiting until we have inspectors out there, often times using remote sensing to determine your home and where the area -- if we can

approve the initial assistance without having to wait for the inspector, we are, but to do rest of the contacts and other assistance, that will g required inspector to get out there. the bulk of this is provided for assistance to people to get renter's assistance to find people tuesday while they determine what is next. if their home has been destroyed. >> i think we have time for one more question. >> last question comes from "the star-ledger." >> talking about renter's assistance, is there enough housing stock in the new jersey area to provide for all the people? governor christie recently mentioned something about fema trailers. >> we are looking at not only renter's assistance, but in some cases -- and we say it at pma trailers, and you hearken back to -- fema trailers and you

harken back to katrina. we have moved to how to improve housing. it is an option we are looking at, and it may be a good solution for some folks who live more in a suburban area or less dense housing areas where there may not be available until assistance but the other thing is working with a lot of the industrial -- not industrial, but industry corporate housing er programs onrs to get more available housing stock they may have. because there is so many people impacted, we are not precluding any options, but we're not yet insultve not yet manufacturers housing, but we are prepared to support that if

the state department's -- install many factors housing, but we are prepared to support that if the state determines that is impacted. we did not let this preclude solutions, particularly for people for people who, either because of jobs or schools or available housing stock, did not want to leave their communities, and this may work in those cases. >> and that concludes our call pick four more information about fema, please visit fema.gov, and we ask those -- disasterassi stance.gov. >> that concludes today's conference call. you may disconnect at this time. >> in a half an hour, we will take you to capitol hill where we will hear from john boehner and his reaction to the election.

mark writing he will respond with respect to the fiscal cliff facing the nation. jennifer covers the why house for the huffington post and says president obama called last night and this morning, according to the report. and from the associated press, democrat heikamp has won the u.s. senate race in north dakota. last night in the senate race in virginia, tim kaine the torque -- george allen. 50 2% went to tim kaine and 48% to george allen. kaine spoke to supporters for just over 20 minutes.

>> thank you so much. it is a great night to be a virginian! [cheers and applause] [chanting "tim kaine"] thank you. what a great crowd. you know, in 2008, virginia made some wonderful history by sending a fiscally responsible former governor to the united states senate in helping to put barack obama in the white house.

[cheers and applause] well, the night is still young, but thanks to you, we are already halfway there to doing it again tonight. [cheers and applause] actually, we are more than halfway there. nbc just called the presidential race. [cheers and applause] [frenzied cheers and applause]

four more years. thanks for sending that note up. so -- geez. that was great. [cheers and applause] so, we still, i guess, have a little bit to find out how the va number goes. nbc called the nation for president obama. thank you again. you guys look great. thank you so much. four more years! [chanting "four more years!"]

this is big, big. you know, this road, this road, on this campaign, started 19 months ago, 581 days ago. when i kicked off the campaign from the steps of my back porch just a few miles from here. over 19 months, we have traveled more than 60,000 miles. we were joined by an unprecedented 50,000 grassroots supporters. and even though we face more negative ads from secretly funded outside groups than any

other campaign in the country except the president, we were able to overcome the influence of the negative ads and prove once again the strength of people power, grass-roots campaigning. [cheers and applause] so, here's what it means, folks. here is what it means. our victor to regard victory tonight proves that it is the number of people who stand with you, -- our victory tonight proves that it is the number of people who stand with you, not the number of people who write a check. [cheers and applause] and tonight, and tonight, we also proved that virginians are ready to keep moving forward with leaders committing to finding common ground to help strengthen the middle class in

the entire nation. let me just take a moment to recognize my opponent, george allen. i want to thank him for his years, more than 20-plus years, of elected service to virginia. [applause] i want to thank his wife susan, who is every bit as vigorous and effective a campaigner. while george and i disagreed on many issues, the former governor -- we both share a deep love of this commonwealth and this country. now, the election is over. [cheers and applause] and, and for as hard as the 19- month campaign is, now is the hard work.

it is time for all of us who love this country to come together and find common ground in our efforts to find solutions to our nation's common problems. [cheers and applause] cani'm optimistic that we because that is the va way. working together, we will make fiscally responsible choices to reduce our deficit while keeping the economy strong and not shredding our nation pose a safety net. safety net. in fact, we will do it in a way where we make the key investments we need to make to grow the economy in a fair way. working together, we will invest in our small businesses and infrastructure to strengthen the middle class and create jobs. you know, there are entrepreneurs and small businesses that are the engine of growth in the nation and we have to do more to promote those true job-creators. working together.

[cheers and applause] working together, we have got to win the global race. that means we have got to continue making those critical investments from early childhood to higher education to work force training to keep our nation positions ahead of all of our global competitors. but most of all, most of all, working together, we will remind virginians and all americans that our institutions of government can actually function again, that our leaders can set aside partisan politics and rise to the challenges that affect our nation. we know that as a commonwealth and as a country, we have been through tough times. we know that many of our friends and neighbors and family members are still struggling. but you know what? unlike some of the doom and gloom uc perpetrated out there, i am not pessimistic because we

have been through tough times before and we have come out stronger for it. [cheers and applause] we all know this. tough times don't last. but tough people last. [cheers and applause] reale're going to get a strength in this commonwealth nation and continue to pave the way for a brighter future for all americans. i want to take a couple of minutes to offer some thanks. this is the hard part of the speech because as i look out and see so many of you, who i knew before i was even running for office, i could make this portion stretch on. i could actually start a good filibuster tradition that i might need to learn in this august body. let me give you some thanks. i want to start with the people closest to me, my own family.

[cheers and applause] and let me just begin. i am one of those rare democrats who has won political hero and it is a republican. it is my father-in-law, mr. holden. [cheers and applause] my father-in-law played an amazingly important role in the life of this commonwealth and this country. he did it in a courageous way at a political cost to himself. at age 89, he is completely excited and satisfied about his political career. i am so glad -- [inaudible] [cheers and applause] everything that he did in politics was a team effort with

his wife, my mother-in-law, give her a big round of applause. [cheers and applause] they have four wonderful children, one of, i am going to talk about in a second. they also have 10 grandkids. you know what? here is something about really cool about them. of the 10 grandchildren, three are now graduated from college. one is just finishing up a stint in the peace corps. one is training to be a navy seal. one is a lieutenant in the marine corps. that is public service. that has been passed down to the grandchildren's generation. i demonstrated my extreme intelligence and good judgment when i asked their daughter to marry me.

and ann has been the best friend i could have, in a wonderful wife, a wonderful mother of our three children, and one of our children is on stage with us tonight -- [cheers and applause] we have our 28th anniversary on the 24th of november. i will also say that my wife is the best public servant in the kaine household. her work as a lawyer, a judge, reforming the foster care system, and now helping other states do the same is an everyday example for me. [cheers and applause] yeah!

and some of you know, ann could not campaign for me because she was a court to judge. people started asking me, they say you are married but we never see your wife around. she loves the excuse of being a judge. she gets out of coming to too many events. her ability to work can campaign with and for me in this race was a major key to my victory, a major key to my victory. i do not mean to be a modest but before this race, i was 7-7. ann, i knewn with i was not going to lose. her sister, her brother woody are here, and his wife and their

two youngsters, a around the corner neighbors from us. i want to give a round of applause around this family. [applause] >> we love you, tim! >> thank you. this one, i will have a hard time getting through the sun because my parents are with me-- this one because my parents are with me. [applause] i grew up in may non-political household. we did not talk about a spot -- politics, it was baseball. i still think they have to hide

from their friends in kansas city they have a son in politics. but my parents, it's the hold and family has been a political inspiration, my family has been the character and social values that my mother and father have. my dad's incredible work ethic have shipped to i am and i would not be able to, i would not have been able to do anything without the support and nurturing that continues to this day and will continue for a long time. i also have -- i also have two kansas city brothers, my brother stephen my brother patrick and their wives. four of their five kids, four nieces and nephews of mine. we are a very tight, a classic

irish catholic family. i admirer growth -- both of my brothers and their wives and kids. they are zero ways here when i need them. pat and steve, i love you guys. thank you for being here. let's thanking- congratulate senator jim webb for a great job. [applause] i -- when jim decided not to run, i was conflicted. i wish i had been on the trail campaigning for his reelection. i have said this over and over again, i am not running to be his replacement because i do not think a jim webb is easily replaced. i do place to try to be a worthy

successor to jim webb. show your appreciation for this great american public servant. [applause] i want to thank my friend of 32 years, mark warner. he said it earlier, i have been married to ann 28 but i met him 32 years ago. we met when we were in moscow. we reconnected when he was chair of the governor campaign and i was a foot soldier standing at the back of this room when he was on the stage in 1989 celebrating that fantastic victory. and our friendship and professional paths have crisscrossed back and forth. i was governor during a

challenging time. i had to make a lot of tough decisions. i could not have made them had not been a lieutenant governor able to work so closely, a great virginia governor. even if i have to hear junior senator everyday, and i will have to hear it from the sky every day, i am so excited to restart this partnership in a new way. [applause] you have some great, great public officials who have influenced me standing in this room. i cannot name them all because i cannot see them all. former governor wilder, bobby scott, dwight jones, so many wonderful servants who have taught me about richmond and taught me about politics as a way to provide answers and held

serve. i want to thank you all. let me say congratulations to my congressman, bobby scott, who also got reelected. and to my mayor, dwight jones, who was reelected. [applause] i look forward to doing great work together, as we have for many years, to continue to strengthen the city and our country. i also want to think, i have the best campaign team anybody, anybody -- [applause] i -- i have learned --[applause] i have learned you do not have to do it all yourself in political life.

he said the key to being governor is to know how to. . he said you have to be able to. and tell people, go do that. that this is secret to success. obviously it does not work unless the people you are pointing to are the right people. this team i have, a mixture of people who have worked for me for my very first campaign to those should just come on board, is so professional and energetic. [applause] finally, i just want to thank all of u.s. friends. -- you as friends. i have virginia teachers here. right? including some who have taught our own kids. i have friends from labor, friends from business. i have friends that i met from

southwest -- and the eastern shore, you inspire me. a campaign like this is incredibly tiring. but you know what, you drive energy from the good work that so many people do around this commonwealth. i could not be so from -- more fortunate in the friends and supporters i have had in 15 years. i'm going to add lib one more thank you, i want to think people who waited for hours and people whohank waited for hours and hours. [applause] i am not sure, i am not sure people should have had to wait for hours and hours to vote. when i was a youngster, i took a year off from moscow and worked as a missionary in honduras. -- law school and worked as a missionary in honduras. nobody could vote for anything. nobody could vote for anything.

i took it for granted, of course people vote. that is what we do. when you live somewhere else where people cannot vote and they cannot pick their leaders and a lot of people in the world still living countries and societies like that, you come to realize how important it is. the specter of virginians standing for hours and hours in mind today, maybe they should not have had to, but they were willing to do it. [applause] participation was important. so i want to thank all of those, whoever they voted for, who went out and participated in record numbers. ine!e love you, tim kan >> as hard as it is, as challenging it is, other real work starts tomorrow when mark warner gets off the campaign trail and bobby's got us to and

mayor jones does and they get right back to the work. and i start prepping to join them when i take the oath to go into the u.s. senate. it is all about partnerships. virginian nose and shows how we can do it. -- knows and shows how we can do it. [applause] thank you, all. i will conclude in saying, you look beautiful. nobody has handed me any notes about va. we have gotten two-thirds of the tract. i wanted to win and i wanted the president to win. i wanted the president to win va. i am going to go watch tv and hope that that happens. thank you for being here. [applause]

[u2's "a beautiful day] >> time kaine winning the seat from jim webb. george allen for rent -- trying for a second run, fell short. hear his comments to supporters last night. they are about 10 minutes. [applause] >> i want to began, as i have always be done every election night, thinking god. i thank god for many blessings. one of the blessings i came to realize, the greatest blessing in my entire life was my wife susan. [applause] susan, susan works as hard, if

not harder than i did, speaking, driving, going all over virginia. during the and -- she is the best thing that ever happened to me and i thank god for you. we are also blessed with three wonderful children. oke, and i am so proud of them and the efforts they made in this campaign as of. all of us worked very hard to motivate people toward the promise of the american dream. as a team we have campaign all over our commonwealth. beautiful people -->> beautiful people listening to them, learning from them and being inspired by the people of virginia and their unshakable belief in the promise of the american dream. tonight after a very hard-fought contest, we were reminded how closely divided we are here in virginia politically.

i glad i got off the sidelines. i am very glad we did get off the sidelines and get into the fight and advocate the ideas and the solutions and the principles that we believe our porting for the future of our country. -- are so important for the future of our country. there are many people that we have heard from all over virginia. we have learned from them, heard their voices. it is important for people to advocate for the values and families of small business people throughout the commonwealth of virginia who have not been listened to in washington. i want to say a word about tim kaine. we had the highest honor anybody could be accorded from the people of virginia to serve as governor. i also have the opportunity to serve virginia in the united

states senate. now tim kaine will have the opportunity. i have called him and congratulated him. we tried to which the campaign on ideas and issues and reforms we feel would be best for virginia and america. we still remain friends personally. i congratulated him and i pledge my cooperation and support has the and shakes the sullom task -- solemn task of representing the people of virginia during a very difficult times in our nation's history. we have not succeeded in winning this election. many folks helping out in this campaign. each of you should hold your heads high. we honestly and vigorously advocated our principles and

offered a clear vision for the future. creating jobs and a competitive tax system, and powering education, reasonable at it -- policy. offered a pro freedom path to fiscal responsibility for our nation. the best way to preserve the peace is the strength. we also call for unleashing america's plentiful american energy resources for more jobs, opportunity, greater national security and revenues to the government. that is everywhere from our

fields to the coast. virginia is ready and able to power the economy. we spoke to renew our historic commitment to individual freedom, personal responsibility and opportunity for every american to succeed. what i remember hearing from some many virginians, a small- business man who said i want the government to get off my back and out of my pocket. [applause] i think it would be nice if we had a government that was on this side of entrepreneurs and small-business owners. those ideas did not prevail in this senate contest here in from johnoing to hear boehner, his reaction to the election and his thoughts on the upcoming fiscal cliff.

coverage is just about to get under way. >> good afternoon, everyone. let me offer my congratulations to polo in the first lady and

joe biden. -- to president obama and the first lady and joe biden. i hope to the election were turned out differently. mitt romney and paul ryanair good men and leaders. i want to wish them well. the american people have spoken. they have reelected president obama and they have again reelected a republican majority in the house of representatives. if there is a mandate yesterday, it is a mandate to work together on the solutions to the challenges we face as a nation. my attitude is not a confrontation but conviction. we face a series of tremendous challenges and a great opportunity. weeks away from now looms the so-called fiscal clef. a combination of automatic tax increase mandated by law. within months of the fiscal cliff, congress will be asked to

raise the debt ceiling. legislation will be needed to keep the government running as a continuing resolution under which we are currently operating expires. amid all of the short-term hurdles, we face the greatest challenge of all, a massive debt that is smothering growth and exceeding the size of our economy. there will be many who will say with the election over, we should confront the first challenges by electing the top two tax rates expire and pushing it off to somewhere else. they have lessing based in the same temporary policies that have put this into this fix. now they are saying, let's have more of the same. let's to drive our economy of the fiscal cliff and we will call it a day. that might get us out of town but it will not get us out of the problem and it will hurt our

economy. we cannot keep going on like that, we cannot set the bar that low. it is time we raise the bar. the american people this week did give us a mandate to simply do the simple thing -- they elected us to lead. they gave us a mandate to work together to do the best for our country. we know what the best thing is, an agreement that sends the signal to our economy and to the world that after years of hunting on the fiscal challenges we face, -- punting the fiscal challenges we face, 2013 is going to be different. if we want to lift the cloud of debt hanging over our country. we will not solve the problem overnight. we certainly will not do it in a lame-duck session of conference -- congress. it will not be solved by taking a plunge of the fiscal cliff.

what we can do is avoid it in a manner that serves as a catalyst for major solutions enacted in 2013 to begin to solve the problem. republican majority stands ready to work with the president to do what is best for our country. that is exactly what i told the president earlier today. that is the will of the people and we will answer to them. doing what is best means considering the impact of the policies that will be set in motion. princeton young says going over part of the fiscal " read a cliff -- fiscal cliff would cost more than 70,000 jobs. it also confirmed many of those hit with a rate increase will be small business owners, the very people who both parties acknowledge are that he to private sector job creation. there is an alternative.

it involves making real changes to the financial changes and reforming our tax code to curb special interest loopholes and deductions. by working together in creating a cleaner tax code, we can get our country is stronger, healthier economy. that means more revenue, which is what the president wants. because the american people expect us to find common ground, we are willing to except additional revenue by way of tax reform. there is a model that supports economic growth. in 1986, with a democrat house, and a republican president named ronald reagan. in 1986, there were skeptics who doubted the economic benefits of tax reform. those skeptics were wrong. a stanford economist said the 1986 reform is the sort of an

unsung hero of the good economic times we have had for a long time. the time has come again to revamp the tax code. and if we do, he argues, there will be a response and revenue will come in. but american people also expect us to solve the problem. for that reason, in order to garner republican support for new revenues, the president must reduce spending and shore up entitlement programs that are the primary drivers of our debt. if we're not seeking to impose our will on the president, we are asking him to make good god in his balanced approach. he has called for a balanced approach to the deficit, increase revenues. that is not balanced if it means higher taxes on small businesses that are the key to getting our country moving again in keeping a moving. a balanced approach is not balanced by increasing the amount of money coming into the

coffers of government without cutting spending and addressing entitlements of the same time. a balanced approach is not balance if it is done in the washington way of raising taxes now and ultimately failing to cut spending in the future. a balanced approach is not balanced if it means cutting the defense instead of making the common-sense cuts that are needed. real economic growth to elude us in the first term of the president. without it, we cannot solve our debt problem. for the purposes of forging a bipartisan agreement, we're willing to accept new revenue under the right conditions. what matters is where the increase comes from and what type of reform comes with it. does the increased revenue come from government taking a larger share of what the american people earning? or does it come as a byproduct of growing our economy,

energized by a simpler tax code, with fewer loopholes and lower rates for all? at the same time, are we supporting growth by taking concrete steps to put our country's entitlement programs on a sounder financial footing or are we going to continue to avoid a matter, the root of the problem? shoring up entitlements and reforming the tax code, closing deductions, and moving to a simpler system will bring jobs home and result in a stronger, healthier economy. history teaches that this is the right path to take. tax reform, done in the manner i have described, will result in additional revenue that the president wants. it will support economic growth, which means more revenue generated for the treasury. it will improve the efficiency of the tax system, which means

additional revenue as well. we're closer than many think to the critical mass that is needed to get tax reform done. the president and i talked about it did during the summer of 2011. they offered proposals in the so-called super committee that provided revenue via tax reform. to get economy moving again is the only way we will be able to balance the federal budget. the question we should be asking, is not which taxes should i race to get more revenue, but which reforms can we agree on that will get our economy moving again? there are two ipads we can take to get to revenue. -- two paths we can take to get revenue. feeding the growth of our

economy through a better tax code will. the president has signaled a willingness to do tax reform with lower rates. republicans have signaled a willingness to accept new revenue, if it comes from growth and reform. let's start the discussion there. i am not suggesting we compromise our principles but i am suggesting we commit ourselves to creating an atmosphere where we can seek common ground and seized it. if we cannot find common ground, we will continue to operate on a tax code on a year-to-year basis. emmys will continue to extend major programs for a month at a time. it means we will face expiration of the government's borrowing authority. and we will be on constant downgrade watch from our creditors. in the new testament, there is a parable. one man who built his house on sand and the other who built his house on rock. the foundation of the economy,

the rock of our economy, has always been small businesses and the private sector. i ran one of the small businesses and i can tell you raising a small business tax means they do not grow. in small businesses do not grow, our economy does not grow. if our economy does not grow, we do not have a prayer of digging our country out of a hole that we call our national debt. this is like going over part of the fiscal cliff is no solution at all. instead of building a house on sand, let's bill that on iraq. instead of raising small business taxes, -- let's built in on a rock. instead of raising small- business taxes, let's plan for a serious process, focused on substance, not on theatrics. it will require weeks of work, rather than a week and a photo ops. it will not happen around the

campfire or in a secret room of some air force base, over 18 holes of golf. this will take time. if we are striving for a solution, i am confident we can get there. mr. president, this is your moment. we are ready to be led. not as democrats or republicans that as americans. we want you to leave, not as a liberal or conservative, but as president of the united states. we want you to succeed. lead to challenge ourselves to find the common ground that has deluded us. let's rise above the the function and do the right thing together for our country. thank you. >> could you clarify on tax reform? [inaudible]

>> jaunt -- john boehner congratulating the president on his win last night and spending all of his comments addressing the so-called fiscal cliffs at the end of the year saying that he would be willing to include higher taxes "under the right conditions." we are opening up our phone line for what you're hearing from john boehner and others regarding the fiscal cliff. here are the numbers to use. democrats -- ensure that you -- make sure you mute your television. bob is a democrat in idaho. go ahead with your thoughts. >> i am very disappointed that john boehner did not stick around to answer any questions. harry reid did that.

i believe in not what people say but what they actually do. when republicans talk about compromise, my recollection, not recollection, it is fact that on inauguration night in 2009, after obama's inauguration, 15 senior members of congress met for four hours and they voted to oppose every major policy issue that obama put forward. >> bob mentioned the comments of harry reid. we will show you a bit of those in a moment. next, we go to wisconsin and misses mary on our republican mind. caller: hi, this election is

brought with voter fraud that will never be looked into. obamacare will never be repealed and destroy all of us. the four americans murdered on 9/11, 2012 will go unanswered. the information and the lies told against romney and a lack of information by the voters has made this election more dangerous. >> this is sean, independent line. where are you from? ahead. >> the way i see it, if they are worried about voter fraud and seeking common ground, they would stop transferring callers that to do not know to call the tax law correspondent tim get in touch with your taxpayer advocate. when you get in touch with them,

the people in washington seem like they do not even know they are supposed to help the people who are having these issues. if you cannot get your questions answered, they transfer you to another person. i do not know how you're going to fix the problem if they are not answering the questions. >> john boehner was not the first congressional leader to speak to reporters today. that was harry reid. among the things he said, we're not going to do away with a filibuster. we're going to make the senate a more meaningful pay -- place. >> the american people want us to work together. democrats want us to work together. they want a balanced approach to everything, especially the situation we have beginning with the deficit, and taxes are a part of that. i can remember my first press

event with you after i had been selected as the democratic leader. i was so afraid, i really was. as i do, on occasion, off the cuff, said that i know how to fight, i know how to dance, i do not dance as well as i fight, but i would rather dance any time. i still feel that way. it is better to dance and then to fight. it is better to work together. everything does not have to be a fight. everything does not have to be a fight. that is the way it has been. everyone should to comprehend, especially my senate friends, that to legislations art of

compromise, consensus building. that is a political scientist to has studied this for generations, they continue to say, the way we get things done is to work together. we need republicans to help us. a compromise is not a dirty word. i am willing to negotiate any time on any issue. >> harry reid from earlier today. the balance of power in the senate, 53 democrats, 45 republicans. heidei defeated peter berg. we're taking your thoughts on the fiscal cliffs and the comments of john boehner in short while ago. you heard harry reid talk about a balanced approach.

he said a balanced approach is not balance the means raising taxes today for spending cuts tomorrow. back to the phones, larry is in memphis. caller: our you doing? all i heard from john boehner, more of the same. these people want to do the same thing. they want to do the same thing. last night, the country decided to move in another direction. the majority of the people voted for barack obama because we are not going back, we're going to move forward. all of the people who said they want their country back, it was never your country. it is our country. everybody should have a decent job and a decent place to live. if america is supposed to be the

shining star, everybody in the country -- we voted for barack obama. >> next, we go to dorothy on our republican line. caller: congratulations to president obama. i guess america voted and this is what she wants, this is what you get. taxes going up, the bush tax is going away, cutting the coal power plants, people are going to get hammered and then you are going to regret what happened last night. >> georgia is next, ray what you think of john boehner and his comments? caller: i appreciate you taking my call. these people that we sent to congress, republicans and democrats, seem to belong to the

biggest country club in the world paid for by somebody else. these people, i heard harry reid talking about dancing, and they do a dance every day that pulls the will over the eyes of the american people. >> who did you vote for? caller: i voted for romney. i say i am independent because occasionally i will vote democrat. usually i vote against an incumbent. you get some money that goes to washington and stays there 30 years and the country is then a mess. >> here is a look at the latest results in the presidential race and elsewhere. president obama with 50% of the popular vote, 48% to mitt

romney. carey johnson, 1%, of the most popular votes of many women carrying candidate in the past. barack obama winning 3 03 as of now electro votes. -- 303 elect oral votes. -- electoral votes. herman isn't it spurred on our democrats -- is in pittsburgh on our democrats line. caller: the money that was spent, there were many people who donated $100 million to the election. you mean to tell me they cannot pay taxes to help the country get out of this quagmire? it does not make sense. it seems like they could donate to get us out.

>> our >line. caller: i am a registered republican. one of the things i am upset with, 60 days ago "60 minutes" had a news article with a guy named grover norquist. he is a republican lobbyist and he is the one that has 96% of the republicans signing a pledge that they will never, ever raise a nickel of taxes, regardless of the country's turmoil. i was amazed when i saw, and i have done research, that he is the most powerful man in the united states because he tells the republicans what to do. as a result of that, i am strictly, i have always been a

republican but i did not vote for romney because i could not believe he signed a place she would never raise taxes. he says one thing and he does the other. that cannot be done. the republicans have got to do something, as well as the democrats. they can do what they -- >> a think we lost you. in virginiadorothy who is on our independent line. caller: i have a comment as far as the democrats and republicans, it is shameful that we are a country that cannot work together. in the bible it talks about a house divided cannot stand. if we had them in the house and senate, arguing instead of working together, the country will never recover.

hopefully, you know, things will change and we can come together and worked as a people. >> to you think the atmosphere is any better now? caller: i guess time will tell. i was listening to the joke, saying they are willing to work together, but those are just malefactions. until they can get in there and really do what they say, you know, it is good to say we are willing to work together and all of this. until they can come to some solution for our country, i do not think it will get better. >> president obama 01 virginia last night, by the way, we were talking about the fiscal cliff, fitch, the bond rating service, says president obama most pivot off his reelection victory and forge an agreement with congress to prevent a series of tax

increases and spending cuts next year saying that the president must work toward a plan to avoid it to or risk losing the top aaa rating next year. we go to memphis, james on our democrats line. caller: it seems that every time this issue of taxes comes up, it is the same stump speech from john boehner. and the republican side is going to cost jobs and hurt the economy. if the tax cuts would help the economy, we should be doing great, all of the years we have been having. the thing is, i agree with the former republican caller. he said that, basically, until we get grover norquist out of

the house of representatives, we are not going to get anything done. it is better to go off the cliff so we can get him out of the way. they have a choke hold on our representatives. >> a couple more minutes of your phone calls, reaction to john boehner's comments and the impending fiscal cliff congress faces. north carolina is next. caller: thank you for taking my phone call. i am a registered republican and i voted for polo. the reason why i did it is he is the best man for that job. i am happy to be here -- to hear john boehner's town but the american public has spoken. they should be listening and maybe for a change we can work together. reform is a number one priority,

as the callers have stated. i think it has been on every president's plate going back to the time of john f. kennedy. it is time for the american public to make their statements and hopefully, with the election next year, that might send a further message and i think that finally he might be able to get some bipartisanship. >> you have seen reaction from john boehner and harry reid. we have a week -- a written statement from mitch mcconnell and paul ryan. here is what mitch mcconnell had to say -- i extend my congratulations on the hard- fought victory. the american people did to bank things, they gave president obama a second chance to fix the problem, but he admits he failed to solve. and they preserved the gop's control of the house of

representatives, the voters have not endorsed the failures of the first term, they have simply given him more time to finish the job they asked him to do. paul ryan is coming back to the house. he won his seat last night, he says i'm going to be continuing our responsibility as chairman of the house budget committee and representative of wisconsin's first congressional district. released this morning. let's get a call, north carolina is next. lee is on our independent line. caller: it is unbelievable how -- even iwth boehener -- with boehener saying what he did, you cannot get a clear, it seems

disingenuous. it seems to be not honestly saying -- he does not do what he says. i agree with the prior callers. even with ms. mcconnell, he cannot even give the president -- mitch mcconnell a complement without stopping him in the back. -- stabbing him in the back. host: releasing the eric cantor statement.

last call, stereo, new jersey. go ahead. caller: president obama and the democrats have spoken. republicans need to listen to what the democrats are saying and make the changes that need to be made. the president will meet them halfway. if we do not make the changes, the people will see and then there will be another election and they will lose again. host: thank you for all of your calls. you can see this briefing again later in our schedule and in the video library. president obama won reelection

last night with 50% of the popular vote. mitt romney, 48% of the popular vote. mitt romney addressed supporters in boston last night after speaking with president obama. thank you so very much. thank you. thank you. thank you. i have just called president obama to congratulate him on his victory. his supporters and his campaign

also deserve congratulations. i wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the first lady, and their daughters. this is a time of great challenges for america. i pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation. [applause] i want to thank paul ryan for all he has done for our campaign. [applause] and for our country. besides my wife, hit paul is the best choice i have ever made. and i trust that his intellect and his hard work, and his commitment to principle, will continue to contribute to the good of our nation. i also want to thank ann, the love of my life.

she would have been a wonderful first lady. [applause] she has been that and more to me and to our family, and to the many people she has touched with her compassion and care. i thank my sons for their tireless work on the behalf of the campaign, and think their wives and children for taking up the slack as their husbands and dads have spent so many weeks away from home. [applause] i want to thank the dedicated campaign team. they have made an extraordinary effort, not just for me, but for the country we love. to you tonight, and to the team across the country -- the volunteers, fund-raisers, donors, surrogates.

i do not think there is an effort that can compare with what you have done these past few years. thank you so much. thanks for all the hours of work, for the calls, for the speeches and appearances, for the resources, and the prayers. you gave the plea from yourselves and performed magnificently. you have been the best we could have imagined. you humbled us. the nation is at a critical point. which cannot risk of partisan posturing. our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work. we citizens have to rise to the occasion. we look to our teachers and professors. we count on you to inspire our children with a passion for learning and discovery. we look to our pastors, priests, rabbis, and counselors of all kinds, he to whom advance the principles of charity, honesty, integrity, and family.

we look to our parents. everything depends on the success of our homes. we looked to job creators of all kinds. we are counting on you to invest, to higher, to step forward. we look to democrats and republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics. i believe in america. i believe in the people of america. [applause] i ran for office because i am concerned about america. this election is over, but our principles in door.

i believe in the principles on which this nation was founded, the only guide to a resurgent economy and a new greatness. like so many of you, paul and i have left everything on the field. we have given our all to this campaign. i so wish -- i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader, and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america. you guys are the best. thank you so much. thank you. [applause]

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>> thank you. thank you. thank you so much. tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. [applause] it moves forward because of you. it moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and oppression.

the spirit that lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope. the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation. tonight, in this election, you, the american people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come.

[applause] i want to thank every american who participated in this election. [applause] whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time. by the way, we have to fix that. whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone. whether you held an obama sign or a romney sign you made your voice heard. and you made a difference. i just spoke with governor romney and i congratulated him and paul ryan on a hard-fought campaign.

[applause] we may have battled fiercely but it's only because we love this country deeply. and we care so strongly about its future, from george to lenore to their son mitt, the romney family has chosen to give back to america through public service. that's a legacy we honor and applaud tonight. in the weeks ahead, i look forward to sit do you think with governor romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward. i want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, america's happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope for, joe biden.

[applause] and i wouldn't be the man i am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years ago. let me say this publicly, michelle, i have never loved you more. i have never been prouder to watch the rest of america fall in love with you too, as our nation's first lady. [applause] sasha and malia, before our very eyes, you're growing up to become two strong, smart,

beautiful young women, just like your mom. [applause] and i'm so proud of you guys. but i will say that for now one dog is probably enough. to the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics -- [cheers and applause] the best. the best ever. some of you were new this time around and some of you have been at my side since the very beginning.

but all of you are family. no matter what you do or where you go from here. you will carry the memory of the history we made together. and you'll have the lifelong appreciation of a grateful president. thank you for believing all the way. through every hill, through every valley. you lifted me up the whole way. and i will always be grateful. and all the incredible work you put in. i know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. and that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics who tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos. or the do main of special interests.

but if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turn out at rallies and crowded along the rope line in a high school gym or saw folks working late at a campaign office and -- in some tiny county far away from home, you'll discover something else. you'll hear the determination in the voice of a young field organizer who is working his way through college and wants to make sure every child has that same opportunity. you'll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift.

you'll hear the deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse working the phones late at night to make sure that no one who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they come home. that's why we do this. that's what politics can be. that's why elections matter. it's not small. it's big. it's important. democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy an messy and complicated. we have our own opinions. each of us has deeply held beliefs. when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.

that won't change after tonight. and it shouldn't. these arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. we can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter. the chance to cast their ballots like we did today. [applause] but despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for america's future. we want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers. a country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and

innovation with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow. we want our children to live in an america that isn't burdened by debt. that isn't weakened by inequality. that isn't threatened by the du destructive power of a warming planet. we want to pass on a country that's safe and respected and admired around the world. a nation that's defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this world has ever known. [applause] but also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being. we believe in a generous america.

in a compassionate america. in a tolerant america. open to the dreams of an immigrant's daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. to the young boy on the south side of chicago who sees the light beyond the nearest street corner. to the furniture worker's child in north carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist. an engineer or an entrepreneur. a diplomat or even a president. that's the future we hope for. that's the vision we share. that's where we need to go. forward. that's where we need to go.

now we will disagree. sometimes fiercely. about how to get there. as it has for more than two century, progress will come in fits and starts. it's not always a straight line. it's not always a smooth path. by itself, the recognition that -- recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won't end the grid lock or solve all our problems. or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus. and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward. but that common bond is where we must begin. our economy is recovering. a decade of war is ending. a long campaign is now over. [applause] and whether i earned your vote or not, i have listened to you.

i have learned from you. and you've made me a better president. and with your stories and your struggles, i return to the white house more determined and more inspired than ever about the work left to do for the future ahead of us. [applause] tonight you voted for action. not politics as usual. you elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. and in the coming weeks and months, i am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties. to meet the challenges we can

only solve together. reducing our deficit. reforming our tax code. fixing our immigration system. freeing ourselves from foreign oil. we've got more work to do. but that doesn't mean your work is done. the role of citizen in our democracy does not end with your vote. america has never been about what can be done for us. it's about what can be done by us, together. doing the hard, frustrating, necessary work of self- government. that's the principle we were founded on. this country has more wealth than any nation. but that's not what makes us rich. we have the most powerful military in history but that's not what makes us strong. our university, our culture, are the envy of the world. but that's not what keeps the

world coming to our shores. what makes america exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth. the belief that our destiny is shared that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. it is the freedom which so many americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights and among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. that's what makes america great. i am hopeful tonight because i've seen the spirit of work in america. i've seen it in the family business whose owners would

rather cut their own pay than lay off their neighbors. and in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job. i've seen it in soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb. and in those seals who charged up the stairs in the darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them watching their back. i see it on the shores of new jersey and new york. where leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm. and i saw it just the other day. in ohio. where a father told the story of his 8-year-old daughter whose

long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything. had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care -- [cheers and applause] i had to not just talk to the father but meet this incredible daughter of his. when he spoke to the crowd, listening to that father's story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes. because we knew that little girl could be our own. and i know that every american wants her future to be just as bright. that's who we are. that's the country i'm so proud to lead as your president.

and tonight, despite all the hardship we have been through, despite all the frustrations of washington, i've never been more hopeful about our future. i have never been more hopeful about america. and i ask you to sustain that hope. i'm not talking about blind optimism. the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. i'm not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight. i have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the

evidence to the contrary that something better awaits us so long as we have courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. america, i believe we can build on the progress we have made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. i believe we can keep the promise of our founders. the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like. or where you -- or who you love. it opportunity matter if your black or white or native american or hispanic or old or young or able, disabled, gay or straight. you can make it here in america if you're willing to work hard. i believe we can seize this future together.

because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. we're not as cynical as the pundits believe. we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we were made -- we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states, we are and forever will be the united states of america and together, we will continue our journey forward and remind the world why it is we live in the greatest nation on earth. thank you, america. god bless you. god bless these united states. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause]

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♪ >> here is a sampling of what c- span viewers had to say. >> i was extremely offended by that. i am 24 years old, homeless. before i lost my address, i was

able to vote for max obama. i have been working -- for obama. i am not on food stamps or anything like that. i want to keep working. because of the obama because of believe i am able to go to school. i think mitt romney lost a lot of people in columbus because of that 47%. >> i am merely of said. i cannot believe that we, again, that mr. obama into the white house. i am a nurse and it has been here to find a job. a home health -- patients are not being seen big medicare cuts.

>> i think it is a very dark day. i am shocked and dismayed how this man could have won again. i really feel that the election, so many people are out of work. i am an executive in this community who lost his job and was able to find a job. there are no jobs. the woman who called before, the situation with the obama, with our troops and our embassy, i think he handled it improperly and i would not be surprised before he gets ready to give his inaugural speech that there might not be an impeachment trial that starts. i think the country is more divided today than ever before. i think he was able to win

because so many people have moved to the bottom side of the scale because there is no work in this country and it is not going to get better. >> i want to address why i believe mitt romney did not win. the people realize that we do not want someone to blame -- plainly liked to our face. he was called out -- blatantly lied to our face. he was called out by obama. he made the people aware. he lets us know who we were dealing with and gave us the opportunity to choose what would be best for us. the republican party needs to stop pointing fingers at obama, making it seem that he put this where we are. we cannot come together as one and help the people of america.

>> i've listened to a lot of people tonight. everybody is cutting the president down four people being on social security. -- down for people been the social security. i am on disability and my wife and my daughter depend on that. i would give up everything i have to get a job. it is not the president, it is the insurance companies. when i go down the street, people that know me, the slack that i get, it is uncalled for. if people would start making an effort to making the world a better instead of trying to cut it down, we might get somewhere.

>> i am saddened today. i cannot believe the american people did not vote for a man with a proven record. so what, he is rich. he knows what he is doing. he gave to charity, he cared about the american people, and the media has failed us. that is why blame more than anything. we need to ask ourselves, i think we will find out what he meant when he talked to the russian president and said, wait until i am reelected. that is scary to me. and the benghazi thing is totally -- people have closed eyes. >> i am a guy who started out as a flaming liberal 40 years ago. over the years, i came to

realize that in the last analysis, when you are a liberal, it isn't all about -- is all about what your country can do for you. but we have seen here is putting the constitution and the scrap heap of history. the president has government in an unconstitutional manner. -- governed in an unconstitutional manner. >> people have to realize that a lot of times when our elected officials are irresponsible by saying, we have to be like our household, the government is not run like our household. that is totally ridiculous for someone to use that. it is absolutely not the way government is run. we do not have certain things available to us in our household. we have to all think on a

grander scale and to say, the president started something that was worse than anyone ever thought. he was able to get us to where we are just by the things he was able to do. the congress was not working with them. we all need to work together. >> we invite you to continue the conversation on the results of the election as the final returns come in. >> c-span programming is good because they tried to cover both sides of the issues. your moderator's do a good job of staying detached. not offering their own opinions. very comprehensive about covering the different house and senate and other woodrow wilson center and other public affairs in d.c. that i would not

normally be exposed to. >> he watches c-span on comcast. greeted by america's cable companies in 1979, it brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> earlier today, a group of prominent conservatives gather to discuss the results of last night's election and what direction conservatives and tea party can -- supporters see the republican party going forward. this is 40 minutes. >> good afternoon. i am chairman of conservative hq.com. i am going to introduce five nationally known and recognized conservative leaders. we will each talk for a little bit and then we will open it for q&a.

the battle to take over the republican party begins today. the failed republican leadership should resign. at last night's disaster, some good news. conservatives are saying never again are we going to nominate a big government establishment republican for president. we will talk to. conservatives have a deep bench of the new leaders. the election of -- yesterday's defeat will spell the end of the government republicanism. these people will join such small government constitutional conservatives as scott walker,

rand paul, marco rubio. general andttorney the 50 odd members of the house his did for conservative principles and voted against the debt ceiling deal. republicans never win the presidency unless they nationalize the election at around conservative principles. we do not always win nationalized elections, but we never win unless the candidate presents two world views. mitt romney fell to do that. in choosing to ignore the conservative agenda, he chose not to follow the path that led to republicans winning the white house seven of the last 11 elections. but republican national chairman, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, and john boehner and other republican leaders behind the epic election

failure should be replaced with leaders more in tune with the conservative base of the republican party. likewise, establishment republican consultants would never be hired to run or consult on a national campaign again and no one would give a dime to their ineffective super pacs. mitt romney's loss was the death rattle of the establishment republican party. far from cigna late the rejection of the tea party, at the disaster of 2012 signals the beginning of the battle to take over the republican party and the opportunity to establish the gop as the party of small government, constitutional conservatism. now we will hear from the chairman of for america.

>> thank you, richard. good afternoon. i am also the founder and president of media research center. i will not comment on the press other than to say that nothing personal, but your profession was atrocious this year. the question is to what degree did you have an impact in the atrocious ness? we do not know. it will tell us what will happen as a result of that. we will have more to say later. i am coming as the founder and chairman of for america. how is it so many conservative pundits had it wrong last night? every poll showed obama winning or within striking distance of every battleground state. why were they so wrong?

perhaps it is because so many of us simply could not fathom that the united states would so willingly choose the path of destruction. in 2008, america did not know what she was buying. not so this year. obama is record was there for all america to see. this time, america would not buy it, we felt. somehow, enough of us dead. some of us -- and off the bus -- enoughuof us did. define or be defined. he 26 -- succeeds -- given obama's atrocious record in his first term, the worst performance in modern history, and given the had nothing to offer for the next four years, it should have been a cakewalk

for mitt romney to define him. but mitt romney did not. second, when republicans distinguish themselves from democrats, the win. when you run as democrats light, they lose. democrats always run to the left end of the political spectrum. republican support hovers around 20%. republicans have always enjoyed the support of conservatives and that number is at least double the number of liberals. you support the conservative agenda, you win. obama did not support the conservative agenda. neither did mitt romney. at the end of the day, conservatives were left out in the cold. it should have been a landslide for mitt romney. mitt romney is a moderate than his campaign embarked on a bizarre defense from the outside. republicans in congress performed more dismally. for the past four years, we

conservatives have been telling the republicans in congress that they would -- they would choose to fight "when we take the senate in 2012. " we warned the senate leadership that when was if. we were ignored. we expressed to the house leadership that symbolic meaningless votes are useless, only an agenda to address the limiting entitlement crisis while reading america of the unnecessary, the moral, and the inefficient would suffice. they should honor their solemn commitments. we suggested that they demand and embrace the return of constitutional governments.

we were told that "we take the senate" all things would be done. the end result was predictable. the when evaporated months ago. they projected six, seven, eight seat pickup sped that disappeared. the accomplished the impossible. they lost two seats. not one democratic incumbent was defeated. it is time for conservatives to withhold any further support from the republican party unless and until the gop we earn said. to do so, the following commitments must be made. a refusal to participate in any lame-duck session that further advances in the last democrat agenda. and this earliest opportunity, about to find obamacare it has

committed to terminate. a pledge not to raise any taxes on the rich or the middle class or anyone else. aggressively support a cut, a cap, and balance agenda. aggressively support an agenda to on to the regulatory and madness in washington. permanently bent your marks. reform the tax code. return the country to constitutional government. commit itself to a strong military. embrace a strong socially and culturally conservative agenda the gop has an excellent party platform. if you want our support, support your own platform first. thank you. >> thank you.

policy director representing american principles project. >> thank you, richard. i think it is important for conservatives to start by confronting the fact that the 2012 election was an historic victory for the american left. probably its greatest since 1936. unlike 1992, 96, or 2008, the democratic national ticket did little to obscure the nature of its agenda. it would be surprising if the administration did not interpret its victory as a mandate to complete the europeanizing of the american government. the administration pays little attention to the republican house, using judges and regulators to impose its will on subjects ranging from same-sex

marriage in all 50 states to green curbing. the defeat of every republican challenger for the u.s. senate, coupled with democratic victories in 25 out of a possible 33 races. hanging on to the house by a slightly reduced margin will be small consolation to those of us to hope for the repeal of obamacare and broadbased tax and entitlement reform. republicans have lost four of the last six presidential elections and five of the past six in terms of the popular vote. this followed three landslide victories in the era of ronald reagan. if this is not the time to recreate an integrated conservative politics to counter

the relentless and successful assault by the american left, it is hard to imagine when such a time would come. >> thank you. president susan b. anthony list. >> are pro-life mission -- the retaining of michele bachmann, who was heavily targeted, and the return of steve cain. those were three bright spots. overall, not a good night for the pro-life movement. the gap between public opinion