the dzocrats oppose opportunity scholarship or why harry reid would not put a charter school bill of for a vote. we can improve education with accountability at the state and local level. governor martinez in new mexico and lamented and eight-a rating system with education reforms which included raises, training, evaluations for trainers. they are now the number one state in the country for improving regulation rates. republicans are working to lower costs and increase flexibility at the post secondary level. he example, senator michael proposed the hero act. to open up avenues for nontraditional students like single parents. there is a lie on the left that republicans want to cut education.

it is not true. republicans want a good education for every single child in america. we should measure how much we care about education by how much we spend. but how much students learn. wasted onwe see money the priorities of teachers unions, not children. education is too important to let policies be dictated by special interests. education is key to opening doors of opportunity and for fighting poverty. it brings us to principle number eight. the best anti-poverty program is a strong family and a good job. our focus should be on getting people out of poverty by lifting up all people and helping them find work. we need an effective the safety net. the federal government anti-poverty programs have become mismanaged and ineffective. we should restructure and

consolidate them, give them more power to the states and actually measure the results. doing this same thing get the same result. 45 million of our fellow americans are living in poverty. as my friend and my congressman paul ryan has said, the problem isn't bad motives, it is that ideas. as he puts it, instead of fighting poverty federal government has resigned itself to managing poverty. we are spending $800 billion on 92 anti-poverty programs. it's not working. that is why his new plan would consolidate 11 programs into one funding stream. states will be rewarded for lifting people out of poverty and be free to figure out the best ways to meet people's needs. we know a single mother in new york faces different challenges than a family of six in

nebraska. aatever we do we have to take fresh approach for ending poverty. too many families are hurting. family brings me to the ninth topic. principle number nine. our country should value traditions of family, life, religious liberty and hard work. we should champion policies that advance these values. sadly we have witnessed over the past decades the breakdown of the family unit. too many kids don't have the stability and support they deserve and need. said, kidsubio has in single-parent homes are 70-80% more likely to spend their childhood in poverty. enterprisen institute reminds us that research shows marriage is key to financial stability and basic

happiness. there are actually government policies that discourage marriage. senators rubio and lee have proposed eliminating the marriage penalty and increasing the child -- child tax credit. the family first act, to update the dependent care tax credit to match inflation. we are pro-. we are also pro-life. when a woman faces an unplanned pregnancy, society should offer support and compassion. she should know that a adoption is possible. our laws should be improved to make adoption easier path for families who want open their homes to children. our government shouldn't stand the way of family, it shouldn't stand in the way of religion. family life is long synonymous with religious life.

republicans will fight for protecting the right to free exercise and free expression, and freedom from government coercion to violate one religious belief. finally, we want to uphold the value of hard work. hard work is a value. one we pass on to our families and communities. it is what built this country. we need to make it easier to go to work in the first place. passed the congress child care and development block grant act giving state funds to help low income families pay for childcare when a parent has to work or go to school. it can be a model for other programs. using block grants, states can do what is right for their residents. in addition, republicans have passed the working families flexibility act to allow employees to convert overtime hours and paid time off.

that is more time with your kids and less pressure to choose between work and family. ultimately, our goal is to make life more the filling and more affordable. one of the places where americans spend money every year is energy. number 10, we should make america energy independent by anchorage and investment in loweringenergy, prices, and creating jobs at home. america is blessed with abundant resources. we don't need washington, d.c. picking and choosing what energy we can use. we have to build the keystone pipeline. it is good for jobs and a descriptor national security. democrats say they don't want oil because they don't want to burn fossil fuels. opposing the pipeline meet the oil gets shipped to china. it is not getting over there any prius.s --

a great american renaissance is that our fingertips if we use every energy source available to us. we can get prices down and people working. that is a win-win. the kind of american policy we need. to talk about an issue that is often in headlines , a personal issue for many people. immigration. 11, we need anr immigration system that secures our borders, uphold the law, and boost our economy. first,urity must come the mentoring crisis the border made that abundantly clear. the president's planned overlook the border crisis and act funeral laterally to rewrite immigration law is unacceptable and unconstitutional.

his plan to make further changes to the system after the election the fix harder. as a nation of immigrants we must fix our broken immigration system. we can reward those who break laws and punish those who lawfully wait in line. legal immigration has strengthened this country great we want to continue that legacy and protect the american worker. as i said this issue is personal. -- who iso is great k, -- i didn't name my kids jack and grace read my name is over. my mom is greek. she grew up in the sudan and immigrated to the united states after meeting and marrying my dad who was in the army any the opiate.

they moved back to the united states. earlyok an oath in the 1970's in new jersey. i was too young to remember. she will never let me forget the opportunity that our country has given everyone a bus in this room. i have seen the american dream come true in my own family. we need to make sure make remains in place where people aspire to work, and dream, and live. our country should be a welcoming place for those who want to come near and do it the right way. 11 principles i have outlined today represent the parties unifying goals. if anyone asks how was the republican party going to work for me, these principles are part of the answer. they are not everything. our leaders have also put forward positive agendas to

uphold these principles, speaker later gave his five-point speech , that would get more jobs to people and places that need them. let us take advantage of america's energy boom. our focus always remains on expanding opportunity for everyone in this country. rodgers put it, to ensure that in america we are not bound by where we came from, but empowered by what we can become. one election won't fix everything. we can take a step in the right collection -- right direction. if the american people hire us will be ready on day one. thank you for the chance to be with you today. it is my honor to be with you. thank you for listening. whoever you vote for on election day thank you for being part of

the great and successful experiment that is the american democracy. thank you very much. god bless you. let's have some questions. [applause] >> thank you again. >> thank you for having me. it is a great opportunity. >> we are thrilled that you chose to come here. we are excited to get interesting questions. some of which have been brought to us by our students. i am sure you will find it interesting. the first one i want to ask you that in the 2012 election of obama's campaign had

2 million volunteers, 300 people working in the digital world. >> don't remind me. >> one of the things you discussed in your on it is the need for republicans to catch up on digital. the question that i have for you is after this election, whether you are winning the majority or not, how are you going to measure whether or not you have actually achieved something? electoral success may or may not be attributable. >> there are so many points you are making here. one, sheer horsepower on the ground. the digital and data capabilities, which get to the heart of who you are going to target and message. then number three, if you're making these improvements and claiming you are so much better, how can you actually prove it as opposed to just saying it was a

good election, of course you were going to win these states. how do you connect that? it is a great question. it goes to the heart of what the rnc has to do. things, do you mind? we had to stop being a national party and decided it was ok to show up once every four years before an election. we have become a u-haul trailer of cash for a presidential nominee. that is a loser strategy. in the meantime, for years previously, the democrats hire 10 people every 10 blocks, and cleveland and south florida, wherever they needed to be. each volunteers had 800 names on the paper. they were getting to know those people. what the digital and data effort does is it allows us to understand what types of people and who we think we need to turn out to the polls?

you,thing about all of what you buy and don't buy, what magazines you subscribe to, what card you drive, how many kids do you have? the data analytics can tell me is yourle to 0-100 what propensity to support our candidate? if i'm in iowa, and i want to make sure that i get 100,000 absentee ballots in the door over the next two weeks, i need to know what people do i want to say should get the form? what the data does, it gives you a clue as to who you're going to send the ballot to. that is important. that is something we made tremendous improvements on at the rnc. if you are just a u-haul trailer of cash and you handed out to the presidential nominee and you're not building and building, and you are participating in a 23 debate traveling circus, while obama is

building a data infrastructure, you have to be a national party obsessed over the mechanics. obsessed over ground game, over data game. when i walked in the door, obviously we had to build from scratch. we made big improvements. the last point, how do you tell that although the narrative is your making these improvements, have you tell that it is making the difference? we are working on a project to help us measure that so we can go into the states and same you have a full-blown field hundredn, and these wards, you are doing voter engagement, data work, facebook connection. whenever the tools and platforms are, you are full. these awards in the middle, these are not going on. he will test the voter outcomes rds based on aa

control group and all the things you are doing to see whether or not it is working. we have employed methods and ways to do that through the midterm. one last thing. we are also have become a midterm party that doesn't lose and a presidential party that doesn't win. voter engagement, i believe broader engagement, community engagement on the groundwork is number one. it is number one in the midterm and more important and a presidential election. my state of wisconsin, republican party wins everything it can imagine. we have elected a republican president since 1984. there is something that goes on i'm presidential elections we have to get our act together on. >> thank you for that. i'm going to turn to another piece of what was in the gop

internal audit. i think you referred to it to the autopsy. wife the media did. we called it the growth and opportunity report. we're not dead. dead things have an autopsy. >> it was one of the things you address, your outreach to women. the need to encourage more women to run for office, and think about elected politics. we are heading into a presidential cycle. it looks as though the opposite party are potentially likely to nominate the first woman of a major party. women statee elected officials. what have you done to reach out to them? >> she doesn't pull very well with women. number onel, i think we have done a good job of collecting women of congress and the senate. we have leaders all over.

cathy mcmorris rodgers, the head of the building conference. -- we do athat job bad job w bragging about it. putting more women on the news, making sure we are placing people better. making sure that in our case something that you might not think about initially as far as recruiting women in politics is not just some us the candidates but doing a better job of training women to run campaigns, to be the campaign manager, the communications director. getting women involved at the senior levels at the rnc and on campaigns is another way to bring in more women as candidates and leaders and spokespeople that are talking for our party. we have done a lot of work in

that area. program, and 14-14 we have done an incredible job in recruiting women to be volunteers and campaign workers, and activist. and another great job and doing a black top program, and other training regional opportunity for women in the party. ultimately though, barack obama is making her case. obamacare, isolate poll that shows between republicans and democrats, 42% democrats. ,he statistical data today although i'm not one argue with your premise that we need to do better. i'm not quarreling with you. i'm just telling you that barack obama has so after feet across for women they don't have a sizable advantage on the democratic party over the

republican party as much as the narrative has sunk in. he goes to the youth. you would be surprised that ken cuccinelli beat terry mcauliffe on voters between a teen years old and 24 years old. he's a conservative guy. -- wasn'twasn't want what was delivered as promised. younger people don't want to believe it was designed to screw them over area it was. they don't like the idea of the nsa reviewing all sorts of e-mails and communication. , security andgs free markets solve. that is why we're seeing people come back to our party. into what great segue was going to ask. are students here are certainly interested in this issue. how do you reach out to young voters? are issues like the size of

andent debt on your agenda on the party's agenda? it is something of concern for many of the students graduating from college. life it is resonating on campus. one of the things they can do, when hidden opportunity like this, this is an important thing for us in our party. i appreciate you being here. it is important to me. i chose to do this here with all of you at the university. i want to make the point that i want to speak to young people, and what is happening. i feel like i'm kind of young. [applause] [laughter] i think it is important. i was a college republican. i'm not saying you have to do all of that. i will always remove her students alike they were the most patriotic people on earth. if not the opportunity to be here.

country, and to want to be involved in politics. to care about the future. that is real. i went to an school reasonably priced school in undergrad. i didn't have a lot of debt in undergrad. when i went to law school it was expensive. the university of miami. i came out with a lot of debt. 8500 grand. that is nothing now. back then, it was a lot of money to pay off. the [inaudible] & those papers, i didn't actually understand or feel like it was going to be real. i am making a lot of money when i'm done. maybe i will pay it off. this vision that it is not going to mean a lot. then you get done and that check

you have to write every month, it is a lot of money. wonder, i'm doing well. i have this great job. where's the money going? is back to this debt, it is real. at some point is going to come true. it has to be paid. whether you are married or going to be married and have kids when you do, this light switch costs in your brain when you have a child. you start to hear those things. we want to leave our kids a better thing. but it cliques and you when you have a child. you start to wonder whether these opportunities are going to be there for our kids. students in college get that. they get that government shut down your throat doesn't -- isn't helpful. i think we are doing better. doing things like the campuses across the country, we open the

college republican chapters at republicansollege are doing an incredible job on campuses. we did a couple of hundred campus captains coming in for training two weeks ago. they can speak for and talk about the values of the republican party. >> on that note, what you think about the college publicans latest dad? -- latest ad? >> i think it is a clever ad. i think you have to remember here,i don't know alex is she is plugged into that program. advertising and messaging is targeted. you're not taking one ad and putting it on abc during the national league playoff series. you are going to programs.

everything is micro-targeted. if i want to speak to college students, i can hire an ad buyer that will tell me at 8:00 you are going to get this type of audience at this time. everything is targeted. this analysis that goes on with ads, where can i place this that would get me the audience i want? politics is not different than when abraham lincoln said find they whig and get them to polls. how do you do that? data. knowing where people are watching. knowing as much as you can about what is working for people. getting them to the polls is another mechanism. it is the same thing with advertising and data. >> absolutely. thing, thisferent

is a long-term question. since the early 1990's the parties have swapped power every few cycles. it is not unusual to see one party when, and the other party come back and win the next one. mys alternating pendulum, mother jokes that we are bipolar, i think she is right in the sense of what generally happens is people have gotten into office, decided that the election was a huge validation of their platform and principles, and often times it was really the voters rejecting the party that was in office at that moment. you asger question to the republican party, should you look to, how can you maybe not just win 2016, but to win longer-term?

what are the thoughts about how not to become too filled with hubris? that you leave the country behind. >> good question. i will challenge partially the premise of the question. reagan that things under 43 were1, clinton, bush far different than under barack obama. if you look at reagan and tip o'neill, and bush carrying on through 1992, clinton. when they had a government shut hen, newt gingrich was -- was at the white house every day. there was a camera stand and a microphone outside of the white house every single day. there was a cooperative nature at its core during those administrations in getting

things done. sometimes the bases of both parties get angered by that. that it should happen. this president has taken it to a new level. a lot ofalk to democrats privately, they are frustrated. it matters that a leader in the white house can take speaker and trainer and harry reid and say we're going to knock heads here and figure out what we're going to do to get this budget passed. what we need to do to deal with this issue in syria. that is what we see. you see -- this is part of the this is part of the rhetoric rate i think thi president has taken this non-engagement to a level that we haven't seen in america in american history. point, there are 350 bills right now.

sitting on harry reid's desk. says republicans are doing anything in congress. the truth is the republican-controlled house is the only body doing anything. they passed 360 bills. a lot of those bills, two thirds of the more bipartisan. of those, a majority passed by a two thirds vote. 50-60 of them are authored by democrats. republicans passed those bills, and they are sitting on harry's desk doing nothing. one of the things we can do is take some of those bills, be 100 or 50, and put on the president's desk and say you're going to have to sign some of this stuff.

it is important to our country. when that happens, and he said , andresident signing bills you have a republican-controlled senate and house, people are going to say this is how a normal this is how a normal, functioning body should operate and i think that will set the stage for 2016. next year, would you expect more confrontation with the perhaps mightch lead to more negotiation? >> i actually think things can get done. actually think there's enough sitting in the senate right now the president's going to have to make a deal. he's going to have to sign something. can't pass 300 bills and say nothing here is worth signing. going to sett's the stage for 2016. there mightvision be more vetoes and passages? be moreure there will vetoes, certainly, but i also

think there's enough waiting there for the president that he'll be forced to sign some of is important.ch >> i'm going to take one more question because we want to get time.t of here on the last question really more principles.th your i think what i'm most interested in hearing and what we hear often is more this conversation about the economy. as though every day a new story comes along to knock the front pages and it's not to say that security isn't important or the scandals in the v.a. or whatever is happening in secret service, but certainly the american people are most concerned on a basis about why hasn't this economy really recovered? and you touched this in some of principles regarding to regulations but how do you actually look at the idea that

push forwardn jobs? or is it jobs? it can be esoteric if you don't break it down into a forific example but one sure is keystone pipeline. it's very clear, whether you or you're on the democratic side and against it, i think most people support it a clearcountry but it's example of thousands of new jobs. minot, northo to dakota, or any oil patch across the country, you go to a regional airport with 500 pickup trucks parked outside of these and they're great paying jobs and they're good for thelies and it provides us national security, as well, in becoming more energy independent and that'sone sitting on harry reid's desk and for a while it looked like a lot are democratsat were in favor of it and the

president, after a billionaire named tom stir, decided to spend millions of dollars on campaigns, suddenly the keystone backed off of pipeline. how can legislation in washington create jobs. that's one. when paul ryan passed five or budget proposals -- they're tough budgets but they're real and when they just didn't do go anywhere for five straight year that the president was in charge of this country as and didn't pass a thatt in five years, stifles job creation in this country. example ofs another people losing jobs, small businesses closing up because they don't want to pay the premiums. there are three examples of where a republican controlled senate can make the difference and i think it's important that that, not because of our party but because of our

country. you for your time here. thank you for taking question. everybody.u, >> and sharing your perspective. certainly there are plenty of here who will be excited to say hello to you if hand.ve a minute to shake >> i do. perfect. >> and thank you, again, for coming. >> thank you! [applause] call is out today with its list of the 10 most

vulnerable senators. helling.st, dave joining us, a reporter with the "kansas city star." a lot of developments in the including that ruling yesterday by shawnee county new polljudges and a out showing this race is very close. senator roberts is behind. happening?t's >> he's been behind consistently in polls throughout the year. as you may know, your audience may know, he was veryved in a very, aggressive primary in the state of kansas in august against a candidate named melton wolf and in that race, pat a fixtureho has been of kansas politics since 1980, ineived just 48% of the vote his own party and at that point i think a lot of people began to say look, this guy who's been around for a long time, may face serious concerns from the people he can't do better than that within his own party

sort of the picture on the ground on his side and he's now, named greg orman, an independent, who is campaign that says i'm not a republican, or a democrat, i can vote for the best idea, solver and that has resonance in kansas, largely like a lot of other voters, there is disappointment and at times disgust with the stalemate in washington and orman is playing into that a little bit. with sat down today senator jerry moran, republican from kansas, chair of the national republican senatorial campaign committee and he is painting the narrative that greg is a democrat and has supported president obama. are you going to hear more of that? >> without question. there is every attempt by the republicans in kansas and particularpaign in to paint greg orman as a

thecrat and nationalize election, to make greg orman an of president obama who is very unpopular in the state of kansas, as he is in other places. that's their sort of path to victory, to make greg orman the issueand barack obama the but orman's response has been throughout the last several thes that that's part of old politics, that's the way things used to be done and that i am a problem solver, he says, that can go to washington and break the gridlock there and has some -- some people in kansas like that approach they're concerned about stalemate in washington but the other problem for pat jerry mayt here and have talked about this, pat's been part of government for many year. 78 years old. he's been in elected office in washington since 1980 and people, a lot of kansans, not some kansans think he's

native, he's more about washington than kansas. those things are playing into a fresha that here's idea, independent voice. kansas is a very republican has not sent a senator from the democratic party to depression,ince the only republicans, so roberts has built-in advantages. howl see in a month or so that turns out. >> let me ask you about this university andlk "u.s.a. today" showing greg atan at 46%, senator roberts 41%. he has been in the senate since 1996, replaced bob dole. survey, 11% undecided. >> i think that's because a lot gregople don't know who orman is. elective office. he ran for the senate in 2008 and backed out before the primary. he ran as a democrat in that race in 2008. voters probably don't know who greg orman is and

clearerwaiting to get a picture of what his issue positions are and how he might vote. the most important things you'll hear out here is that refused to so far say whether he would caucus with -- senate republicans or senate democrats if elected and ant decision could have enormous impact on how the after therun elections so i think there is pressure from undecided voters clearer picture of who greg orman is and pat roberts exploit that. he'll say, i'm a republican, i'll vote for the republican is notand my opponent doing that and that is one of the important issues in this race. me ask you about the governor's race. paul davis is slightly ahead senator, now governor sam brownback at 42%. why is the gubernatorial race so close? >> a very different dynamic than the senate race which is being

largely on national issues, democrats vs. republicans. the governors race is built around comtency and execution and governor brownback pursued in his first term a very program of cutting taxes in the state and at least to date the effect of that has a rather sizable hole in the state's budget without providing the kind of boost that i think he suggested would happen and so reason and because people are worried about cuts to education or transportation, davis, state representative, has gotten a lot of traction out here. stays through election day, we'll wait and see. fixture ofr is a kansas politics like pat roberts. they've known each other for a quarter century. kansas is a very republican a built-inmen have advantage but there is unrest

among voters in kansas that you see in the poll numbers and campaigns and that in the end effect on a dramatic the futures of pat roberts and sam brownback. theave helling is on politics beat for the "kansas us fromr" joining kansas city. candidatesday, the for montana's seat in the u.s. house of representatives meet their first televised lewis, ryan zincky and max baucus. live coverage of the debate at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. see any of theo debates we've covered this campaign season, you can find our website, c-span.org. ads in theok at race.ota governor's

>> few years ago, things in minnesota weren't going very got a new coach who makes tough decisions and now things are looking up. added over 150,000 new jobs and have one of the fastest economies in the nation. cut taxes while increasing our fund and investing in education. darn good record, right? coach.od >> i'm jeff johnson. as governor, i'll audit every and i'm pretty thorough. with your homework? let's double check that. did you eat this? mark mark dayton should be held accountable for wasting our money. middlet of touch with class minnesotaians.

it's time for a governor that gets it and gets us. jeff johnson for governor. >> in a state plagued bipartisan dysfunction and special interests, a team of extraordinary candidates have stepped forward. nichollet, brandon and pat bob helland, dean. together they are the independents. >> on the next "washington agenda inthe latino the 2014 elections. cristobal alex. then chair of the american conservative union, and the census bureau report on health insurance, poverty and 2013. for

"washington journal" is live at 7:00 a.m. at eastern on c-span. enterprisen a forum onosted global poverty. the event live starting at noon eastern on c-span. >> here are a few of the receivedwe've recently from our viewers. q&a just watched the c-span interview with sally quinn. i enjoyed her interview and comments. comments about spirituality, i would like to see another

interview with her. like to compliment c-span on their coverage of the representative guiterrez from texas that was a wonderful segment. you guys will probably do him again. i thoroughly enjoyed it. a segment youhed had had eli lake from the "daily host said eliyour is a frequent guest. please widen your scope. think he was limited in his knowledge and there are far more have on yourts to program. >> i'd like to tell you how much enjoyed and how informative was.kevin barron's guy it was really interesting and i think he's very knowledgeable. him on again. >> continue to let us know what you think about the programs you're watching. email us or send us a

tweet like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. >> on thursday, president obama was in chicago where he spoke to students at northwestern university about jobs and the economy and his economic policies. is an hour. >> ladies and gentlemen, the the united states. chief" playing] >> hello, evanston! hello, northwestern!

thank you so much. everybody have a seat. here.so good to be go cats. i want to thank your president, the dean ofo, and the kellogg business school, sally blunt, for having me. i brought along some guests. your governor, pat quinn is here. senator, dick durbin is here. congresswoman jan schakowsky is here. got some folks who represent the chicagoland area and do a great job every day. danny davis, robin kelly, mike brad schneider. tisdale.r, elizabeth

where's elizabeth? she is. one of my great friends, former manneredstaff, mild mayor of chicago, rahm emanuel is here. is great to be back home. be back, great to northwestern. back when i was a senator, i had the honor of delivering the commencement address for the class of 2006. turns out, i've got a bunch of staff who graduated and so they're constantly lobbying me about stuff so earlier this year i popped in via video to help kick marathon.nce i figured this time i'd come in person. not only because it's nice to be so close to home but it's also

friends. to see old people who helped to form how i service.ut public people who helped me along the way. frankwinkle was my greatoman and was a supporter. lisa madigan, your attorney my seat mate. myte senator terry link was golf buddy so you've got people here who i've just known for not only helpsy me be where i am today but i think about how public service. and i'm also happy to be here because this is a university with therimming possibilities of a new economy. your research in technology, the ideas and the innovation, the training of doctors and educators and scientists and entrepreneurs.

you can't help but visit a this and feel the promise of the future. that's why i'm here, because it's going to be young people and universities like this that will shape the theican economy and set conditions for middle class the 21stll into century. and obviously, recent months have seen their fair share of turmoil around the globe but one be crystal clear. american leadership is the one uncertain world. it's america. diplomats that lead the fight to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as isis. america, our doctors, our thattists, our know-how leads the fight to contain the

efca.epidemic in west it's america. our colleges, our graduate our unrivaled private sector that attracts so many shores to study and start businesses and tackle some of the most challenging the world. when alarms go off somewhere in a disasterwhen it's that is natural or man-made, there's an idea or invention that can make a where thingshis is this is who the world calls, america. they don't call moscow. they don't call beijing. they call us. and we welcome that responsibility of leadership who we are.'s that's what we expect of ourselves.

but what supports our leadership the world is ultimately the strength of our economy here i want to stepay back from the rush of global events to take a clear eyed hook our economy. its successes, and its shortcomings and determine what we still need to build for your generation, what you can help us build. americans, we can and should be proud of the progress that country's made over the past is six years and here are the thes because sometimes and i thinkrs confuses the nature of the reality out there. here are the facts. when i took office, businesses were laying off 800,000 americans a month. today, our businesses are hiring americans a month.

[applause] rate has coment down from a high of 10% in 2009 today. [applause] our the past 4 1/2 years, businesses have created 10 million new jobs. this is the longest privateupted stretch of sector job creation in our history. think about that. to applaud't have because i'm going to be giving statistics. good right now, there are more job sincegs than at any time 2001. states hashe united put more people back to work europe, japan, and every advanced economy combined. i want you to think about that.

have put more people back to america than europe, japan and every other combined.conomy this progress has been hard but and it has steady directal and it's the result of the american people's drive and their determination but it's resilience also the result of sound decisions made by my administration. so it is indisputable that our economy is stronger today than when i took office, by every measure, we are better off now than we were when i took office. at the same time, it's also ofisputable that millions americans don't feel enough of the benefits of a growing economy where it matters most that's in their own lives.

aren'tse truths incompatible. our broader economy in the has come a long way. arethe gains of recovery not yet broadly shared or at shared enough.ly we can see that homes in our communities are selling for more and that the stock market's doubled and maybe the orghbors have new healthcare a car fresh off an american assembly line and these are all the stress that families feel, that's real, too. than it shoulder be to pay the bills and to put whensome money, even you're working your tail off, it's harder than it should be to ahead. and this isn't just a hangover recession.eat i've always said that recovering from the crisis of 2008 was our order of business, but i

our economyat wouldn't be truly healthy until we reverse the much longer and evasion of middle class jobs and incomes. our challenge. we're creating more jobs at a steady pace. housingt a recovering market, a revitalized manufacturing sector -- two tongs that are critical middle class success. we've also begun to see modest months.wth in recent all of that has gotten the economy rolling again, despite fact that the economies of many other countries around the world are softening. americans, we measure our success by something more than or a jobs report. we measure it by whether our meaningful work but give people a sense of purpose and whether it allows folks to their families. and too many families still work too littleurs with

to show for you. muchrowth could be so faster and wages could be going made some better decisions going forward with the help of congress. task now is to harness the momentum that is real, that exist, and make sure that we accelerate that momentum, economy grows and jobs grow and wages grow. challenge. family isn'tl bringing home any more than it did in 1997, and that means it's harder for middle class americans to climb the ladder of success. means it's harder for poor americans to grab hold of the class.into the middle that's not what america's supposed to be about. very essence of who we are because if being an american means anything, it ifns we believe that even we're born with nothing,

of our circumstances, last name, whether we were wealthy, whether our parents were advantaged, no matter what hardircumstances, with work we can change our lives and then our kids can, too. and that's about more than just fairness. it's more than just the ideal of what america's about. when middle class families can't afford to buy the goods or our businesses sell, it makes it harder for our economy to grow. economy cannot truly succeed if we're stuck in a winner-take-all system where a shrinking few do very well while a growing many are struggling to by. historically, our economic simpless rests on a principle. when the middle class thrives people can work hard to get into the middle class, america

thrives. when it doesn't, america doesn't. this is going to be a central challenge of our time. have to make our economy work american.working and every policy i pursue as president is aimed at answering that challenge. over the last decade, we learned the hard way that it wasn't sustainable to have an economy where too much of the growth was on inflated home prices and bubbles that burst and a mentality on wall street, where the recklessness of a few wherethreaten all of us, incomes at the top skyrocketed sawe working families theirs decline. for was not a formula sustained growth. we need an economy that is built on a rock that is durable and competitive and that's a steady source of good middle class jobs. when that's happening, everybody does well.

that is why on day one, when i took office, with rahm and others working with us, i said we would rebuild our economy on a new foundation, and with dedicated effort we have been laying the cornerstones of this foundation every day since. i mentioned earlier that there is not an economic measure by off thanare not better when we took office but let a breakdown what we have also been doing structurally to try to make sure we are at a strong foundation. the first cornerstone is new investments in the energy and technology that make america a magnate for good economics. right off the bat, we upped our investment in american energy to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

today, the number one oil and gas producer in the world is no longer russia or saudi arabia, it's america. [applause] for the first time in nearly two decades, we now produce more oil than we buy from other countries. we are advancing so fast in this area that two years ago, i set a goal to cut out all interest by half in 2020. we will meet that goal this year. [applause] six years ahead of schedule. so that's in the traditional fossil fuel area but at the same time we have spent tens of thousands of people to manufacture wind turbines and installing solar panels. we have tripled the electricity that we harness from the wind.

we have increased tenfold what we generate from the sun. we have brought enough clean energy online to power every home and business in illinois and wisconsin 24/7. that's the kind of progress we can be proud of, and in part accounts for the progress we have also made in prodreducing carbon omissions. i know here at northwestern your researchers are working to convert liquid fuel, which sounds impossible or at least really hard. [laughter] news is if you need to get the hard or impossible done, america and american universities are a pretty good place to start. our hundred year supply of natural gas is a big factor in growing -- bringing jobs back to our shores. many are in manufacturing, producing the quintessential.

during the last decade it was readily accepted that american manufacturing wasn't your aversive will decline -- was in your aversive will decline. -- irreversible decline. with the help of folks like jan helpedk and others, we our automakers restructure and retool. today they are building and selling new cars at the fastest rate in eight years. we invested in new plants, new technology, new high-tech hubs like the digital manufacturing and design institute that northwest is part of. today, a mailman -- today, american manufacturing is growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the economy and more than half of all manufacturing executives have said they are actively looking at bringing jobs back from china. many in the middle class, it was

defined by outsourcing good jobs and if we keep up these investments we can in source -- insource. opening their doors here in america at the fastest pace in decades. and in the process, we have also worked with american exports and open to new markets. knocked down barriers to trade. businesses that export tend to have low paying jobs. our businesses sell more goods and services made in america than the rest of the world to the rest of the world -- to the rest of the world than ever before. that is progress we can be proud of. that many of these manufacturing jobs have changed. they are not just punching in and pounding rivets, you were coding computers, guiding robots, mastering 3-d printing. these jobs require hedger -- higher education. that is why the second

cornerstone of the new foundation we have been building is making sure our children are prepared and our workers are prepared to fill the jobs of the future. america thrives in the 20th century because we made high school free. we sent a generation to college. we cultivated the most educated workforce in the world. but it didn't take long for other countries to look at our policies and caught onto the secret of our success. they set out to educate their kids, too, so they could outcompete our kids. we have to leave the world in education once again. [applause] that is why we launched race to the top in our schools. andned thousands of math

science teachers, supported states that raised standards for learning. today, teachers and 48 states and d.c. are teaching our kids the knowledge and skills they need to compete and win in the global economy. working with parents and educators, we turned around some of these countries lowest performing schools. we are on our way to connecting 9% of students -- 99% of students the high-speed internet. let's face it, some of these changes are hard. sometimes they cause controversy. and we have a long way to go. public education in america is improving. last year, elementary and middle school students have the highest math and reading scores on record. the dropout rates for latinos and african-americans are down. [applause] the high school graduation rate is up.

it is now above 80% for the first time in history. we have invested in more than 700 community colleges which are so often gateways to the middle class. we are connecting them with employers to train high school graduates for good jobs in fast-growing -- in a fast-growing fields. here in chicago, rahm just announced that the city will pay striving high school graduates. we help students afford college, and today more young people are graduating than ever before. we have sent more veterans to college on the post-9/11 g.i. bill, including several veterans here at northwestern. [applause] a few of them are in this hall today and we thank them for their service. so we have made progress on manufacturing, in creating good

jobs, and progress on education. even if you have the right education, for decades one of the things that made it harder for families to make ends meet and businesses to grow with the high cost of health care. so the third cornerstone had to be health care reform. before thede affordable care act, aka oba macare-- [applause] in the decade before the affordable care act, double-digit premium increases were, and. ceo's called them one of the biggest challenges to their competitiveness, and if you're complier didn't drop your care, it might pass it onto to you and take it out of your wages. dramatichave seen a slowdown in the rising cost of health care.

would we passed the affordable care act craigslist saying what are you doing about cost? let me tell you what we have done about cost. if your family gets her health care through your employer, premiums are rising at a rate tied for the lowest on record. what this means for the economy is staggering. ande hadn't taken this, premiums had kept growing at the rate they did, the average premium for family coverage $1800with the -- would be higher. most people don't notice it. that is $1800 you don't have to pay out of your pocket or see vanish from your paycheck. $180000 tax cut. -- an tax cut. that is the consequences of some of the reforms we have made. because the insurance in many cities,

they have announced the next is important- something is happening here. next year's premiums are actually falling in some of these markets. [applause] one expert said his this is defying the law physics -- said this is defying the law physics but this is progress we can be proud of. we are slowing the cost of health care. in we are covering more people at the same time. in just the last year, we reduced the share of uninsured americans by 26% stop that means of uninsured americans have gave the financial security of health insurance in less than one year. for young entrepreneurs, like many of you here today -- the fact that you can compare and s youffordable plans free

up to strike out on your own into chase that new idea. something i hope will unleash new and -- new services and enterprises all across the country. the job lock that used to exist because you needed help insurance -- you are free from that. you can go out and do something on your own and get affordable health care. and meanwhile, partly because health care prices have been growing at the slowest rate in growth andears, the what health care costs the government is down, also. i want everybody to listen carefully. when we were debating the affordable care act, there was a lot of complaining about how we couldn't afford it. the independent, nonpartisan congressional budget office recently reported that in 2020, medicare and medicaid will cost lessndred and $88 billion

than projected just four years ago. here's what that means in latest term -- layman's terms. it has been the single biggest driver of future deficits and our debt. --lth care is now the this is a game changer for the fourth cornerstone, getting our fiscal house in order for the long run. we can afford to make investments to grow the middle class. someen a growing economy, prudent spending cuts, health care reform, and asking the world to pay a little bit more on the taxes, over the past five years we have cut our deficits by more than half. office, the deficit was nearly 10% of our economy. today it is approaching 3%. [applause]

in other words, we are not falling back into the mindless posterity or manufacturing prices, trying to find benefits to slash. finally, we have put in place financial reform to protect consumers and prevent a crisis on wall street from hammering main street america. we have new tools to prevent too big to fail. taxave stock tax -- stopped funded bailouts. we have made it illegal to gamble with your money. we have established the first-ever consumer watchdog to protect from the responsible lending. we secured billions of dollars of relief for consumers. we have seen industry practices

changing. heartimes from critics we that the way to grow the economy is to get rid of regulation. free folks up from the oppressive hand of the government. told, turns out, truth be there are still some dopey regul ations on the books. [laughter] there are regulations that are outdated or no longer serving a useful purpose. we have scrubbed the laws out there. we have identified hundreds that are outdated and don't help our economy or don't make sense. we are saving businesses billions of dollars by gradually eliminating those unnecessary regulations. was thecontrast of that

scourge of casino mentality and wall street. rules that protect the basic safety of workers on the job. rules that safeguard the air our children breathe, keeping mercury and arsenic out of our water supply. these don't just have economic benefits, these are rules that save lives and protect families. and i will always stand up to those. so here's the bottom line. for all the work that remains, for all the citizens that we still need to reach, what i want people to know is that there are some really good things happening in america. unemployment down. jobs up. manufacturing growing. deficits cut by more than half.

high school graduations up, college enrollments up, energy production up, clean energy production up. financial system more stable. health care costs rising at a slower rate. trendlinesboard, the have moved in the right direction. that is because this new foundation is now in place. new investments in energy and technology. new investments in education that will make our workforce more skilled and competitive. new reforms to health care that cut costs for families and businesses. new reforms to our federal budget that will promote smart investments and stronger economy for future generations. new rules for our financial system to protect consumers and prevent the kind of crises that we injured from -- we endured.

it is no surprise that for the first time in more than a decade, business leaders from have said theld world's most attractive place to invest is not india or china -- it's the united states of america. and that is because the financial sector is healthier, because manufacturing is healthier, because the market is healthier, because health care inflation is at a 50 year low, because our energy boom is at new heights. because of all these things, our economy isn't just primed for more sustained growth, america is better poised to lead and succeed in the 21st-century and any other nation on earth. we have got the best cards.

i will not allow anyone to dismantle this foundation. for the first time we can see real, tangible evidence of what the contours of the new economy will look like. an economy teaming with new industry and commerce and humming with new energy and new technologies and bustling with highly skilled, higher wage workers. it is an america where a student graduating from college has the chance to advance to a vibrant job market and word entrepreneur can start a new business and succeed and an older worker can retool to have new jobs. to fully realize this vision requires steady, relentless investment in these areas. we cannot let up and we cannot be complacent. we have to be hungry as a nation. we have to compete. when we do, if we take the necessary steps to build on the

foundation that we have laid over the last several years, i promise you we will build an economy where we are stronger. it is achievable. talk a little more specifically about what we should be doing right now. that theot to realize problems of the middle class aren't going to be reversed overnight. there are a lot of folks out there who are underpaid and underemployed, working long hours, having trouble making ends meet. i hear from them every day. i meet with them, and it is heartbreaking. they are struggling hard. there are no silver bullets. anybody who tells you otherwise is not telling the truth. there are policies that would grow jobs and wages faster than

we are doing right now. if we rebuild roads and bridges, because we have got $2 trillion of deferred maintenance on our infrastructure -- it won't just put construction workers and engineers on the job he will revitalize entire communities and connect people to jobs and make it easier for businesses to ship goods around the world. we can pay for it with tax reform that actually cuts rates on businesses but closes loopholes, making it even more attractive for companies to invest and create jobs here in the united states. let's do this. make our economy stronger. if we make it easier for first time homeowners to get a loan, we don't just create even more construction jobs and speed up recovery in the housing market, we will speed up your efforts to start a new company and send your kids to college. families. more young

make our economy stronger. if we keep investing in clean energy technology, we won't just put people to work on the assembly lines, pounding in place, we will reduce our carbon emissions and prevent work costs of private chains down the road. let's do this. invest in new american energy to make our economy stronger. if we make high quality preschool available to every child, not only will we give our kids a safe place to learn and grow while their parents go to work, we will give them the start they need to succeed in school and earn higher wages. i am setting a new goal. by the end of this decade, let's enroll 6 million children and high quality preschool. that is an achievable goal that

we know will make our workforce stronger. [applause] if we redesign our high schools, we will graduate more kids with real-world skills that lead to a good job in the new economy. in jobnvest more training and apprenticeships, we will have more workers coming back to the country. if we make it easier for students to pay out their college loans, we will help a whole lot of young people -- [cheering and applause] let's do this, let's keep reforming our education system to make sure young people of every level have a shot at success, just like folks at northwestern do. if we fix our broken immigration system, we will just prevent

some of the challenges like the ones we saw at the border this summer. we will encourage the best and brightest around the world to study here and stay here and create jobs here. say thatnt economists a good, bipartisan reform bill that the house has now blocked for over a year would roll our economy and shrink our deficits and secure our borders. it passed that bill. -- let's pass that bill. let's make america stronger. [applause] if we want to make and sell the best products we have to invest in the best ideas. your nanotechnology doesn't just conduct groundbreaking research, it has spun off 20 startups and more than 1800 products. that means jobs. [applause] here's another example. they try toe ago, sequence the human genome. one study found that every

dollar we invest it returns $140 to our economy. that sounds like a good return on investment. [laughter and applause] today, the world's largest genomic centers in china. ist doesn't mean america slipping, it does mean that american is in investing. we can let other countries discover the products and businesses that will shape the next century and a century after that so we have got to invest more in the kinds of basic research that led to google and gps, that makes our economy stronger. wage, wese the minimum won't just -- [cheering and applause] we won't just put more money and workers -- in workers pockets, they will spend the money. they will in turn hire more people. first two years since i

asked congress to raise the national minimum wage, 13 states as d.c. went ahead and raised theirs and more business owners are joining them on their own. it's on the ballot in five states this november, including illinois. [applause] and here's the thing. surveys show that a majority of small business owners support a gradual increase to $10.10 an hour. a survey last week showed that two thirds of employers up the minimum wage should go up. more than half of them think it should be at least $10. so what is stopping us? let's agree that nobody who works full-time in america should ever have to have a family in poverty. let's give america a raise. [cheering and applause]

if we make sure a woman is. he -- womans is paid equally-- [cheering and applause] women anot just giving boost, gentlemen. youw ant y-- you want your wife making that money she deserves. it the entire family a boost. it gives the entire economy a boost. women now outpace men in college degrees. they often start their careers at lower pay and that grows over time. that affects their families. it is stupid. let's inspire and support women. [applause] in fields like science and technology and engineering and math.

let's catch up to 2014. pass a fair pay law, make our economy stronger. while we're at it let's get rid of the barriers that keep more moms who want to work from entering the workforce. helping business and political leaders who recognize the flexibility and -- that flexibility is good for business. let's offer those deals to women. we want to make sure that men can purchase a patent child rearing. it's a good investment. california adopted paid leave, which boosted work and earnings for moms of young kids. let's follow their lead and make our economy strong. none of these policies i just mentioned, on their own, will entirely get us to where we want

to be. but if we do these things systematically, the cumulative impact will be huge. unemployment will drop a little faster. workers will gain a little more leverage when it comes to wages and salaries. consumer confidence will go up. families will be able to spend a little more and save a little more. our economy grows stronger. growth will be shared. more people will feel this recovery rather than just read about it in the newspapers. that's the truth. i'm going to keep aching the argument for these policies because they are right for america. they are supported by the facts. i am always willing to work with anyone, democrat or republican, to get things done. every once in a while, we

actually see a bill land on my desk from congress. [laughter] we do a bill signing. i tell them, look how much fun this is, let's do this again. [laughter and applause] but if gridlock prevails, if cooperation and compromise are willnger valiued, i keep doing everything i can on my own if it will make a difference for working americans. [applause] i will keep teaming up with governors and mayors and ceos and philanthropist who want to help. here's an example. there are 28 million americans who would benefit from a minimum wage increase. over the past two years, because

we have teamed up with cities and states and businesses, 7 million of them have gotten a raise. until congress chooses to step up and help all of them i will keep fighting to get an extra million here and there. we will keep fighting for this. other thingay one about the economy. often times you hear this from critics. the notion is that the agenda i have outlined is somehow to pro-business, s, free-market values. and since we are here at a business school, i thought it might be useful to point out bloomberg, for example, came out with an article today balancehat corporate strongest they've

ever been. corporate debt is down. rockets are up. -- profits are up. businesses are doing good. any ofea that somehow these policies like the minimum clean energypay or are somehow bad for business is simply belied by the facts. it is not true. and if you talk to business leaders, even the ones who really don't like to admit it because they don't like it that much -- [laughter] admit that the balance sheet looks really strong and the economy is doing

better than our competitors around the world. so don't by this notion that businessthis is a anti- agenda. this is a pro-business agenda. this is a pro-economic growth agenda. i'm not on the ballot this fall. michelle is pretty happy about that. [laughter] but make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot. every single one of us. this isn't some official campaign speech or political speech, and i'm not going to tell you who to vote for, though i suppose it is kind of implied. [laughter] but what i have done is laid out my ideas to create more jobs and

to grow more wages. and i have also tried to correct the record, because there is a lot of noise out there. every item i just said, those are the facts. it's not conjecture, it is not opinion, it is not partisan rhetoric. those are facts. so i have laid out what i know has happened over the last six years of my presidency, and i have laid out an agenda for what i think should happen to make us grow even better, faster. opposition party should now have the courage to lay out their agenda. hopefully also grounded in facts. there is a reason fewer republicans are preaching doom on deficits. the deficits have come down at a record pace. they are now manageable.

there is a reason fewer republicans are running around about obamacare. while good, affordable health care and might be a famed threat to freedom, it turns out it's working pretty well in the real world. [cheering and applause] when push came to shove and republicans had to take a stand on policies that would help the middle class and working americans like raising the minimum wage or enacting fair pay or refinancing student loans are extending insurance for the unemployed, the answer was no. the one thing they did vote yes on was another massive tax cut for the wealthiest americans. just last month, at least one top republican said the tax cuts for those at the top are, and i'm quoting, "even more pressing

now than they were 30 years ago." more pressing! when nearly all the games of the recovery have gone to the top 1%. inequality is at its highest rate we've seen in decades, i find it a little hard to swallow. they desperately need a tax cut right now? it's urgent? why? [laughter] what are the facts? what is the impure code data that would justify that decision? you guys are all smart. you do all this analysis. you want the numbers? has anybody seen a credible argument that that is what our economy needs right now? seriously. [laughter]

you watchs the -- if the debate, including on some of the business newscasts -- and just pontificating about how important it is -- based on what? what's the data, what's the proof? if there were any credible argument that says windows of the top do well and eventually everybody else will do well, it would have worn itself out by now. we'd see data that it was true. it's not. neveran economics have trickled down. [applause] it grows from opportunity for working people. what makes us different.

i just want to be clear because you guys are going to be business leaders of the future. you were going to be making decisions based on logic and reason and facts and data. toht now, you have got startlingly different visions for this country. i believe with every bone in my body that there is one clear choice here. it's supported by facts. is our moment to define what the next decade and beyond will look like. this is our chance to set the conditions for middle-class growth the 21st century. the decisions we make this year and over the next few years will determine whether or not we set the stage for america's greatness in this century, just like we did the last one. whether or not we restore the link between hard work and higher wages. whether or not we continue to

invest in the skilled, educated citizens. whether or not we build an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead. some of that depends on you. came to a reason why i this business school instead of another. believe that capitalism is the greatest force for prosperity, opportunity the world has ever known, and i believe in private enterprise. innovators and risktakers and makers and doers driving job cr eation. but i also believe in a higher principle. we are all in this together. [applause] that is the spirit that made the american economy work. is what made the american economy not just the world greatest work creator but don't rate is opportunity generator. because you are the future business leaders, that makes you

the stewards. that is our people. as you engage in the pursuit of profit, i challenge you to do so with a sense of purpose. as you chase your own success, i challenge you to cultivate more ways to help more americans achieved their success. it is the american people who have made the progress of the last six years possible. it is the american people who will make it your progress possible. it is the american people that make american business successful. they should share that success. it's not just for you, it is for us. if the american people that made the investments over the course of generations to allow you to be here and

experience the success. that is the story of america. america is a story of progress. sometimes halting, sometimes in complete -- sometimes incomplete, sometimes challenged, but a story of america is a story of progress. and it has now been six long years since our economy nearly collapsed. despite that shock, through the pain that so many felt, for all andgritty, grueling work all the work left to be done, a new foundation is laid. a new future is yet to be written. i am as confident as ever but that future will be led by the united states of america. thank you, everybody. god bless you and god bless america. [cheering and applause] ♪

>> on friday, president obama will be in indiana. you can see our live coverage of the event starting at 3:10 p.m. eastern. c-span's 2015 student petition is underway. this nationwide competition will award 150 prizes totaling $100,000. create a five to seven minute documentary on the topic the

three branches and you. videos need to include c-span programming, show varying importance and must be submitted by january 20 oh stop. grab a camera and get started today. up, the debate between the candidates for connecticut governor. then, political pollsters preview the 2014 midterm election. either we will hear from republican national committee chair. on friday, vice president joe biden will be speaking at a forum on youth employment. joining business leaders and public officials at an event hosted by the u.s. chamber of commerce foundation and the urban alliance. live coverage at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span two. at noon, another talks about his book, "predator: the secret

origins of the drone revolution." >> this weekend on the c-span network, friday night at 10:00 eastern on c-span, a conversation with retired u.s. supreme court justice. on saturday night, the founder and former chair of microsoft, bill gates, on the ebola virus outbreak. the director of the smithsonian's national museum of african art. talky night, authors about war and the constitution. saturday night, heather richardson on the history of the republican party. sunday at noon, the legal affairs editor at reuters. friday, on american history tv, historians and authors talk

about world war i 100 years late r. former fbi agents on catching the unabomber suspect. sunday, the 100th anniversary of the panama canal. find our television schedule at c-span.org to let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. call us or email us. or you can send us a tweet @c -span, #comments. next, the connecticut governors debate in which dan malloy faces tom foley. this is from the university of connecticut. it is about an hour. >> live from the university of

connecticut, the hartford current, the connecticut daily newspaper association and uconn bring you the gubernatorial debate. ♪ from foxvening, i'm connecticut news. tonight, we are joined for a one-on-one debate weeks ahead of election day. here tonight is republican candidate tom foley, and our current governor and democratic candidate, malloy. several major topics after which they will deliver their closing statements. here's the format. once the question is asked, each candidate will have 90 seconds. they will have up to three minutes and rebuttal time, but each candidate will have only 15 minutes of rebuttal time for the entire debate. that will require some strategic

discretion. joining me at the desk is jim bernstein and kirs keating. cards,didates have drawn and the audience has promised to remain quiet, no cheering or applause or outburst of any kind. withirst topic deals something very important to all of us here in the connecticut, the economy. chris keating will ask the firs t question. >> our economy has only grown by 1% total. what specific steps should state government take to kickstart the economy, and how big of a role should financial incentives play? then say it is great to be with you and i want to recognize my white cap bu is here with me today, and the great lieutenant governor. i want to thank the current -- t he economy is very important.

i am proud that we have seen the creation of 60,000 private sector jobs that that is not enough. i won't rest until every person in connecticut who wants to have a job has a job, and we are making progress in that regard. you asked are there incentives such a b implies -- of course there are. one of the things i am proudest about is the express program. before nancy and i were sworn in there was no toolset to help grow small businesses in connecticut, even the most job creation takes place in small businesses. what we have done is created a tool that allows us to stand alongside small businesses, many with minority group members are women. we saw 1200 of those companies make very rapid progress in employing people and building our confidence and investing in our economy. that toolset is extremely important and is part of an overall set to make sure we are

adding to our economy. there are other incentives that we have supplied. importantnk is really is that for the first time in a long time we are making the kinds of investments that will produce jobs well into the future. we are university, seeing massive new investments in technology as well as bioscience and other areas. >> thank you. mr. foley? >> i'm also pleased to be here and would like to recognize my wife. i want to thank you to fox for hosting this debate. i hear a lot of figures and numbers tonight from governor malloy. i call it malloy math. some are true but most aren't. to bewould like you particularly careful because when the government says, "let me be perfectly clear," because

what he is about to say probably isn't either clear or true. so let's talk about the economy. 1% growth -- the worst growth rate of any state. least part of at the reason why our growth rate has been so slow is because slapped theloy largest tax increase on american -- in american history on its citizens. thingsdone other that have been policy driven, driving up electricity rates. families don't have as much money as they used to. he has also led spending grow out of control. public spending is now crowding out the public-sector. if you look at just the public-sector growth that is just a front. and if the governor is correct, private sector wages shrank, too . this is a very bad situation for connecticut. we have to do something. later in the discussion we will talk about the policies. >> thank you.

time for both of you to have your bottle. yourre pulling time out of 13 minute rebuttal bank. you are limited to three minutes per question. tobefore nancy and i came office, connecticut had failed to create net jobs for 22 years. no growth at a time when the -- sharede country the creation of 23 million jobs. what we have done since then is seen the creation of 60,000 private sector jobs. but i would like to point something out. in the last two quarters of 2013, after we made historic investments in the future in connecticut, we grew faster than other states. 2.8%, the fastest growth in new england. we are growing faster than new jersey, a place where mr. foley brings in the governor on a regular basis.

we're also making sure that we are paying our long-term obligations, something that connecticut has not done for a very long time. we had toappy that raise revenue and cut services and go back to the negotiating table but that is what a leader does. when you inherit a state with the largest -- the largest per capita debt in the nation somebody has to lead. it fell upon us to do that. we are investing in transportation, investing in education, we are going to make sure every child has an opportunity for prekindergarten experiences. the first in the nation to do that. we have also made sure that people have health insurance. we were the most successful state in the nation when it came to implementing health care, in large part thanks to the work of the great lieutenant governor. we have done many other things, including the toolbox i was talking about to make sure we are creating jobs for the future in connecticut. the last may class that graduated from uconn found it ea

sier to find a job in any class in the prior six years. we are seeing job growth that is consistent with job growth around the nation. we are seeing economic growth that is consistent with other cities. some are higher and some are lower. but we're making real progress and what we're doing for the first time is investing in our future. >> mr. foley? >> a couple examples of malloy math. you claim that 60,000 jobs were you and your lieutenant governor to office but that is not true. 25,000 of those jobs were created under governor bowrown. you only created if your numbers are right, 35,000. he said economy is growing, are you aware we lost 3500 jobs in connecticut? you are not right about growth rates.

we have lagged to massachusetts. massachusetts grew 11% and we have only come back 2-3%. a couple other things he forgot to tell people is that you are antibusiness. your antibusiness policies have drinks jobs. in the meantime, you are giving away billions in taxpayer dollars to large, wealthy corporations. it simply hasn't created any jobs. in many cases you have typed these incentives the things that have no relation to jobs. you provided utc $400 million but not one job was created. that's ridiculous. when i'm governor we will have policies that will create jobs in this wonderful state. we will stop having antibusiness policies that discourage employers from investing and wanting to grow. we will get the economy growing and get things back on the right

track. thank you. >> mr. malloy, do you wish to respond? we will move on to question two. >> the size of the state government often gets blamed as being a drag on the economy probably because of the tax cuts -- taxes it takes to support it. should the size of state government be reduced and tell specifically which areas or functions you would cut. has gone up by over $3 billion. 16%. that is simply too fast. we must do something to reduce the growth in spending, it is crowding out private sector activity. i will smit spending flat for two years that will allow residents to catch up and balance budgets and get our spending back in line. but that doesn't require reducing the size of the state employees.

in many areas we may actually be understaffed. recently, the dmv had some of the longest wait times of any state in the nation. that is probably a management problem. i will bring 35 years of management experience and i can help with that. in some cases we will understaffed -- were understaffed. i don't think we should reduce the size of the state work force. there are areas we can make savings. deliverye money in the of health care services, not just a state employees and teachers but to everyone in connecticut. it will be a huge boost to the economy. we will see real and rapid growth that we can bring down the cost of delivering health care services. i'm not talking about changing benefits, i am talking about -- cost $90,000,ack let's make it cost $85,000. i can do that with my business organization. >> mr. foley talks about his

business experience. i ran a city for 14 years. i saw them grow during the time i was mayor. educationalg, added institution, made progress. but we also understood that we have to build a city for the long run. we have to invest in interest -- in infrastructure. we are not laying people off. we are not driving the stay into bankruptcy. what we are doing is making sure that we are making steady progress. heading up the infrastructure that will allow us to compete with massachusetts who are doing some of these things long before we were. not as my a dewpoint of the last two quarters of 2013 when we outgrew every state in new england.