math on the revenue side. that is close to the historic average. what nobody says is that under that historic average, we have never balanced the budget. the only time is when we were beat between 18.8 and 19.9% of revenues of percentage of gdp. that is even before we deal with the entitlement changes before we deal with the demographics. it makes no sense on top of that when we constantly cite other nations who have a more competitive package. we cite the u.k. with lower tax rates. other nations all around the

world. the remarkable thing is, every one of our international competitors from an oecd standpoint, they collect 10% more of their gdp in the revenues that we do. could we do it smarter? amen. the notion that we are awash in revenues on any relationship value to the rest of the world is not true. this budget does embrace one trillion dollars of net new taxes and keeping all the revenues from obamacare at the same time of putting those 16 million people's that right health care off of health care. you have broken the pledge and decided if we break the pledge let's do it smartly.

and get this plan towards one again, i think my friend mike crapo has said, the deficit is down. that is good news. partly because of extraordinary revenues and payments from fannie and freddie. it is worse than it looks. the 18.5, 18.1 trillion of national debt that has been created for the last 50 years it is a ticking time bomb. what happens in 10 -- in terms of debt out-distinct -- distancing. this is my last 18 seconds. 1% in interest rates, we ought to make sure that the feds are raising those, that is more than

the department of education and the department of homeland security that we fought over for six weeks. it is time for us to get serious. thank you, mr. chairman. chairman: thank you. senator purdue: i would like to commend the staff for bringing this budget to resolution. being new to the senate, i have an outside perspective still and it allows me to see our financial situation the way every working family sees it. back home in georgia people are outraged. i am outraged by the financial irresponsibility of washington, but there are no innocent players appear in this drama. my take is very simple. we are in the midst of a full-blown financial crisis of our own making. it israel and serious and it is happening right now. today we have reached a

financial tipping point in three critical areas. first we have over $18 trillion of debt. if interest rates were to rise to the 30 year average at five point 5%, we would be paying $1 trillion in interest alone today. that is not possible. in 2016 alone, expenses increased by $50 billion. imagine what we could do to support troops and pay down our debt with that money. the problem gets worse. while current annual deficits are down and they are projected to rise in the president's own budget, it is projected to rise by 2025. as a business guy i look at this and say this level of debt is unsustainable. the second tipping point relates to the liability. estimated in excess of $100 trillion. this combined with our debt amounts to over one million

dollars per household. a few weeks ago, the head of social security administration testified before this committee that the retirement portion of that of social security would be exhausted, not insolvent but exhausted. disability would not be able to meet its obligations as early as 2017. even if we barred from the -- borrowed from the retirement side, both would be exhausted, and this administration has no point past 2033. this is what drives my constituents crazy. as bad as it is, the worse is yet to come. demands on the trust fund will cause these costs to rise dramatically. without changing the trust fund it will be exhausted by the are 2030. we have to work together to save social security and ensure our current seniors and those who need help the mode in -- most in

these safety net programs. for too long, washington dysfunction has created gridlock. one side wants tax increases. neither one will solve the equation in its entirety. we cannot tax our way out and we cannot cut our way out of it alone. to break the gridlock we simply have to get our economy growing again. one point of gdp growth means over $3 trillion in federal tax revenues. the challenge of growing our economy is the fact that current economic policies have failed working families who have seen their incomes decline dramatically. we are [inaudible] we have allowed 4 million women to fall into poverty. almost 2000 -- two thirds have stopped hiring or cut back.

this is devastating many working families. we see of the obama administration again turned its back on working americans by vetoing the keystone pipeline. it is a jobs bill. exacerbating the problem is we have $2 trillion trapped overseas because of our archaic repatriation tax code. if we could get washington out of the way, imagine this capital roaring back into our economy creating jobs and spurring incredible economic growth. in addition, comprehensive tax reform which we talked about on both sides is needed along with reducing abusive regulations and unleashing our energy potential here in north america. during those three things alone could jumpstart this economy in a way that we have not seen for decades. this current budget resolution calls for a balanced budget within 10 years but that is the first step. over the next year this

committee has to commit to work every day to find a way to grow this economy, allowing us to balance our budget center. when we balance our budget is not good enough. we need to develop a surplus budget so we can begin to pay this debt down to some more reasonable level. to avoid financial calamity area and it is time we work in a nonpartisan way to break this gridlock. there are no innocent parties here in washington. both sides are guilty even today. this is about our commitment to fulfill our oath of office, 22 -- protect and defend the constitution by solving this crisis right now. we just simply have to work together on this budget resolution and committed to developing a surplus plan over the long term to pay down this debt to save social security, to provide for medicare, and make sure the programs ourselves and can be sustained indefinitely.

winston churchill said americans always do the right thing after having tried everything else. it is high time for us to do the right thing, both sides right now. god knows we have tried everything else. thank you. chairman: thank you. senator: i look forward to working with you. i spent last weekend making my way through eastern oregon to our small towns. i was in umatilla, baker, and union county. i am always struck by the fact that what usually seems big in washington, d.c. is small in these communities and the reverse is true. with -- what is big back home is often considered small in washington. what i am struck by whenever i

am home and out and about for these town hall meetings is the desire of our constituents to see us solve problems and make better use of existing resources and i want to commend senator crapo because he has joined a big group of us in the west on an effort to try to fix the utterly, completely broken system of fighting wildfires. what has happened, and we can debate it, i happen to think climate change is a big factor but i can understand why colleagues would not agree. it is getting hotter there and it is getting drier there. the fires are getting bigger. and i think what is happening is we do not do enough prevention and we, in effect short prevention fund and you get a

lightning strike and all of a sudden you have an inferno. the bureaucracy borrows from the fund to put the fire out and the problem gets worse. what senator crapo and i have said is we have come up with a better way to -- for essentially the same amount of money. let's fight the biggest fires the 1% from the disaster fund. you will not short the prevention fund any longer. you can protect the prevention fund and you spend a little bit of money from the disaster fund, but the reality is you make better use of existing resources. we are not spending any more money because of -- the value of prevention outweighs the fact that you spent a little bit of money on the disaster fund. i want to thank senator crapo and i am sure not everybody here is up on all the nuances of fighting wildfires, but the reality is, this is potentially

a breakout fire season. it is so dry out there. i was in communities recently they said the driest in 25 years. i want to thank senator crapo for being willing. and chairman enzi, this creates an opening for us to do this. we do not go programmatically here but you and senator sanders are talking about creating an opening for us to do that and i can mention other natural resources issues as well. i intend to offer an amendment for the land and water conservation fund. they are the legs of a stool that supports the economy of rural oregon and rural america along with agricultural research and i hope our colleagues will support that. but there are some budget issues that are major everywhere you

go. for example, health care is a priority. structurally, we understand there is nothing in the budget that is a bigger challenge. we have got to find a way in this budget to tackle something that has been missed by basically everybody in washington, d.c. and that is chronic disease. medicare is no longer about broken ankles. medicare is about cancer and diabetes and stroke and heart disease and i see colleagues here, senator whitehouse has been interested, there are a number of republicans that are interested. we have got to find a way to redesign these programs so they can protect the medicare guarantee and make better use of existing resources. we ought to change some of our priorities along the way and i will tell colleagues at the budget which, as i understand it, would hack away at the bone

of medicaid is a surefire way to make life harder for low income families who are struggling to climb in to the middle class. i hope that will not be part of the budget we end up with. finally about taxes. i think we all understand that this tax code is a rotting economic carcass. my wife always says stop there because you're frightening the children. i will not go any further. i have had the honor of working with senator gregg and senator coats for years. we have a bipartisan tax reform bill. it builds on some of the principles that senator crapo and senator warner were talking about. i hope we can do it. we are not going to advance that cause with reconciliation instructions with respect to tax reform. we have to have a bipartisan tax reform effort am a

reconciliation on tax reform. we come out of the gate in a partisan way on an issue that we understand has to be done in a bipartisan way with the architects of the 86 bill and they said we can do it again but it had better be bipartisan reconciliation. one other amendment that i feel strongly about. we ought to make sure that those who depend on the child tax credit, the american opportunity tax credit and several of these other programs should not get hit by what would otherwise be a scheduled tax hike. there are real opportunities for sensible priorities that can win support across the political spectrum and i hope we will make that priority business as part of this market.

senator portman: congratulations on what is a difficult process on a budget that gets to balance over 10 years. i was here earlier went senator sanders was talking about what a budget is. a budget says who we are as a nation. i would hope that there is nobody who believes we should continue to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more than we take in every year. it makes no sense. we're going to disagree and how you get there. i would hope we could find some agreement on the fact that leaving this legacy to our kids and grandkids is not just bad economics. we have heard testimony on that here in this committee and other committees that we are on. we had erskine bowles say that it puts us in a position for the most predictable economic fiscal crisis in our history but it is

immoral. to take our excess spending today and continue to pass it along to future generations so who we are as a nation is i hope a nation that believes we have a responsibility in our time to be able to do with this issue. you have made some tough decisions to ensure that we can get to balance over 10 years. i do not think that is too much to ask. most people i represent would think we should be able to do it even sooner but it is tough because we are in such a deep fiscal hole. i think there are also things that any individual members would rather not see. a budget is never exactly what you want. it is a way to find common ground between of people to find a majority in this place. there are trade-offs in it. but again, i think it is so important that we get to that balance over 10 years and that we agree even in the next year

where the budget is the most important that we will hold on to the caps we put in place. i like the fact that there is a balance. the president's budget does not balance over 10 years or 20 years or 30 years. by his own admission, it never balances, even on an annual basis. already sitting with $18 trillion in debt which is a record level. he adds another 7.5 trillion dollars in debt. and then we have a debt as a percent of the economy which is how most economies tend to look at it. can you manage the debt, can you handle the interest payments the percent of debt as a percent of the economy goes to levels we have not seen in the history of our country since world war ii. that was temporary and that was a couple of years and we had a lot of defense spending.

we were able to work out of that quickly. that is not the case now. these are difficult times in terms of our fiscal situation with $18 trillion in debt. interest costs alone in the president's budget, it is 1/5 of the non-payroll federal taxes. think about that. it is like $.20 on the dollar. i know we have heard today about how we need to do this with higher taxes, not with spending restraint. it is worth noting that the president's budget puts half or more of their revenue, the new revenue into spending increases. not deficit reduction. for those who have said and i know it is genuine we have to do this by raising taxes, not just cutting spending, the president's budget does have significant tax increases. a couple trillion dollars.

but at least half of that, maybe more does not go to deficit reduction. so just to keep that in mind. that is what we are looking at. these are the different perspectives. do a have a revenue problem or a spending problem? i should say we should look at the congressional office and their data because they are the scorekeeper and what they told -- tell us is 100% of the rising long-term deficit comes from above average spending. i say that is compared to a drop in revenues relative to the historical averages which is the percentage of ddp -- gdp. the budget that is being proposed today actually has revenue well above its historic average of the past 50 years. which is 17.3%. since 2010 alone, tax revenues have risen nearly 50%. having more revenue for growth

is a good thing. i agree with what senator king said earlier about economic growth and i am sure others of you have said it. we have to figure out how to get growth in the economy to be able to get more revenue and that is a good thing. we have to deal with the spending issue. there is no way that taxes can catch up to the enormous growth in revenues that we are looking at. washington spends $30,000 per household. i do not know any of my constituents who think that they are getting their money's worth out of that. that spending is based on the cbo figures where our issue is. even though the revenue continues to be above the historic average. the budget does not touch social security at all. it does not despite what i have heard and some of the media comments people say it goes after medicare and social security. it does not deal with the social security trust fund.

we are going to have to as a group to save social security for future generations. as soon as next year we are told the social security trust fund could be insolvent but under the budget act, social security is not part of our consideration. with regard to medicare, it matches the president's number. we can discuss what policies are to be under that. it allows mandatory programs to grow 40% over the decade while undertaking some reforms to better serve our constituents. finally, because there has been a discussion about scorekeeping, let me make a comment. we ought to know what the income -- impact is on the proposals will have. to know not just what the status quo is but the score is. dynamic means doing a

macroeconomic study. they are ready do a joint tax in the budget office. thank you for including that. i look forward to supporting the budget. thank you. congresswoman stevanabinow: this is our opportunity to debate what our values and priorities are. that is what this process is about. i believe we need to ask ourselves how do we make sure every american has a fair shot to work hard and be successful? how do we make sure that everybody gets a shot at the american dream? to me, the answer is clear. we have got to have a budget for

our country that is a middle-class budget. and also a budget that helps people working hard to get into the middle class. unfortunately, the budget before us today does not do that. we need a middle-class budget that creates millions of good paying jobs, supports small business, invests in rebuilding america, protects social security and medicare and other critical health care services. that lowers the cost of college so people can move forward and get a fair shot and opportunities for working hard and getting the skills they need. and a budget that actually includes efforts to cut taxes for middle-class families, not one more tax cut for those at the top who receive most of the benefit for years. people in michigan are tired of

waiting for the benefits given to the top to trickle down. unfortunately, this budget keeps the system rigged for the wealthy and the well connected. there is nothing to eliminate tax breaks for corporations and sending jobs overseas, it does not do enough to invest in rebuilding america. when we invest in our infrastructure and we all know this is our country did in the 1950's, we create the conditions that allow businesses and families to spot -- to prosper. our economy can only go so far as our infrastructure can take us. right now, that infrastructure is crumbling, and i am hopeful that this is an area where we can come together and get something done. something bold done. and we should be paying for infrastructure investment by

closing corporate tax loopholes dealing with tax expenditures and practices like in version -- and versions that are taking our jobs overseas. if in fact this budget was serious about empowering all american workers then i believe it would be clear that this budget would call for an increase in the minimum wage. it would guarantee that american women can get equal pay for equal work which, by the way, if we really enforce equal pay for equal work, we really have equal pay for equal work my we would lift half of all working women out of poverty. that is a pretty big economic boost. that because this does not do that it sends the message that even if you work a full-time job or two or three or four jobs trying to hold it together it you may still live in poverty in america.

if you are a woman you have to accept less in return for the work that you do. this budget fails to protect social security. it feels to protect health care for millions through the affordable care act and thanks to the affordable care act, we have seen health coverage to 16.4 million americans who are not able to afford it before. by repealing the loan which this budget does, and the tax credit it provides, it is also a massive tax increase. this is a massive tax increase on middle-class families. this budget fails to protect and strengthen nursing home care for seniors and health care for families through medicaid. all of which are vital to delivering medical care to our most vulnerable americans. in short, this budget has

priorities that are out of step with the priorities of the majority of the american people. i also am deeply concerned about the budget that the house is considering. as chair of the agricultural and nutrition committee during the consideration of the 2014 farm bill we made tough decisions. everyone talks about how sequestration does that make any sense. we should evaluate program by program. i am proud of what we did on a bipartisan basis. we went in and cut 100 different programs that either did not work or were duplications and we cut above sequestration and created savings and so i want to thank you for not including agriculture and reconciliation. i have to say also, i am concerned that the budget still

includes cuts to agriculture. we have -- i would like to put into the record with my comments nearly 400 nutrition organizations, all of whom have come together and said please recognize what we did together on a bipartisan basis and please do not cut further. i am looking forward to working with you on this particular issue to make sure we're not cutting livestock disaster assistance and all the other things that create a strong rural economy and a strong food system. thank you. chairman: that will be included. senator graham followed by senator murray. senator graham: what are our values is an often asked question.

senator king and senator portman went through the budget in great detail. the first thing we should embrace is protecting our nation at a time of great crisis. we have talked about the fiscal crisis but i would like to spend a minute talking about our national security crisis. i have never seen more terrorist organizations with more safe havens, with more capability with more weapons, with more money to strike the chaim -- homeland anytime before 9/11. i appreciate with the chairman is trying to do but on the defense side we're still suffering from what i thought was a poor decision in 2011 and that was sequestration. to the members of the supercommittee, you tried hard to find a way to achieve $1.2 trillion over a decade to help our national debt and that is a national security issue. our issue has to be addressed like any enemy of the nation. this budget does not change

sequestration. we are on course to have the smallest army since 1940. the smallest navy since 1915. the smallest marine corps that can only deal with one continuance he operation and a time and an air force that is losing one fighter squadron and one wing after the other of -- without any enemy firing a shot. here is the thing i would say about the enemies we face. they hate us all equally. they do not understand our differences we have on the committee. they do not understand the difference between being a democrat or republican or libertarian or a vegetarian. that we have decided to worship god in own our own home and stand up for each right to have our religious expression and we are tolerant of each other's views. that is enough for them. they live in a world where

bernie sanders and jeff sessions are not different. if you want to know how crazy they are, they do not see any difference between bernie sanders and jeff sessions. they constantly talk about our differences but i imagine senator sanders and senator sessions would have a lot in common. everything you have in common, radical islam hates. if someone does not do something about it soon, they will come our way again. the number one harvard he i have is to keep the war over there so it does not come here. the worst combination of all is radical islam acquiring weapons of mass distraction. the only reason 3000 died on 9/11 and not 3 million is they could not get the weapons to kill 3 million of us. if they could, they would. they have never been closer in many ways. we'll have to go back to iraq and most likely syria with an

american ground component as part of a regional force to dig these guys out of the ground and clear and hold and build. as for holding syria that will be a monumental endeavor. billions of dollars, the country has been completely ravaged. people are being crucified raped, and sold into slavery as a spate create we have to live in a world that is not just driven by members. i will be trying to increase the overseas contingency operation account. i believe since 2011 until today , the world has changed dramatically for the worse and when -- we need more money to defend the nation and that is one way to do it. having said all of that, the national debt is $18 trillion and takes bipartisanship to get that foreign debt. the unfunded liability that senator perdue talked of his going to crush us all. this is -- as much as any weapon

would crush us as a nation will -- so will the debt eventually crush us. senators crapo and others have worked on the gang of six. to try to find a way to replace sequestration. it will take something like simpson-balls to get us out of the debt mess that we are in. if we do not reform entitlements, there is no way to get there from here. we can take all the top wagers are -- top wage earners money and their dog and not get close. you could throw -- grow the economy at 10% and not get where you need to be. we will not do that in this budget resolution but somebody someday has got to do that. maybe the members of this committee will fall in that category, i hope. as for you you have produced a budget that does balance. you have produced about -- a budget that has a lot of effort put into it and i want to fix

the defense part of it as best i can. we have a unique opportunity down the road to do something not only to fix sequestration but maybe to make a down payment on what a waste those that follow us, 80 million baby boomers will retire. i will be in that group and we only to those coming behind us to pass on a little better than we are able to give today. that is achievable if you do something like simpson bowles. i look forward to changing the defense part of the budget by supporting the end product when all is said and done. thank you. >> thank you. senator murray: i understand the challenges of writing a

budget. writing a budget forces us to layout out what we value and set aside what we do not. putting into numbers what kind of country we think we are and what kind of country we think we can be. when democrats wrote the budget we made our values and priorities crystal clear. we put jobs, economic growth, and the middle class first. we replaced the automatic budget cuts evenly across defense and on and -- nondefense expenses by closing loopholes. we kept the promises we made to our seniors and families. the republican house did not simply accept our budget but i am proud that coming out of that terrible government shutdown we were finally able to break through the gridlock and

dysfunction to reach a bipartisan budget deal that put in place a budget for two years prevented another government shutdown, rolled back the worst of the automatic cuts, put a stop to the constant crisis and laid down a foundation for continued a partisan work. we just got this senate republican budget this morning but based on what we are saying, i am concerned that instead of building on our bipartisan budget deal that this would take a huge step backwards and he would push us toward the government that works for the wealthy and well-connected but leaves the middle class and working families behind. for example, we know there is bipartisan support to replace sequestration in a sensible and balanced and fair way. not only did we prove that with her deal but democrats and republicans have continued to come out against the senseless cuts to defense and nondefense investment. it looks like this republican budget pays lip service to a

sequester fix but without actually putting that in their budget numbers and proposing a responsible replacement. a gimmick may allow deficit hawks to say the budget does not make the sequester caps while allowing the defense hawks to say it does. they are about making tough choices. democrats have laid out our ideas for how sequestration must be replaced. i hope our republican [indiscernible] this ignores the proud -- progress we have made and maintains a single minded focus on spending cuts and fails trickle down economic policies. we still have work to do but compared with where we were three or four years ago, the outlook has brightened

considerably. projected federal spending is down by trillions of dollars and so is the deficit. we should all be able to agree there is no short-term fiscal crisis but there is a short-term need to invest in policies that boost wages and economic security for our working families and middle class. we should be able to agree that the wealthiest americans and the biggest corporations do not need another tax cut that middle-class families do. they need help with the cost of childcare and saving for retirement. real, sustainable economic growth is built from the middle out, not from the top down. it is absurd to put forward a budget plan that asks middle-class and working families to shoulder these deep and painful cuts while giving the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations a pass. i am concerned the budget breaks the promises we made to our

seniors and families. i am still reading through the details of this budget that i know many of us are ready to fight back against any republican plan to reduce the deficit on the back of the middle class and most honorable families or cut the benefits so many seniors have earned and depend on. i will be ready to offer amendments that will lay out my priorities and what i believe will be best for my washington state constituents and families i represent. i know that republicans now control congress and the -- that it is their job to write and pass the budget and want you to know howard doors open and i urge you to work with us on a bipartisan deal before we start cruising toward another needless crisis. thank you. chairman: thank you. senator toomey and then senator baldwin. senator toomey: thanks for the work you put into getting us to this port -- this part.

there are things i would do differently if i had my way. this budget begins to confront the fiscal mess that has been years in the making so i consider that progress. it has been quite a fiscal mess. spending has more than doubled since 2000. the double -- the debt has more than doubled since 2007. the debt was about 62% of our total economic output. it is now $18 trillion, more than 100% of our economic output. any honest evaluation of where we are fiscally, it shows clearly we are on an unsustainable path. if you do not enact the reforms that are needed to get on a sustainable path then you are inviting a fiscal crisis and that is what is going to happen

if we do not make the reforms we need. president obama gave us his addition of a 10 year budget. he takes a budget that is in crisis and makes it worse create he has massive spending increases. the president would project and call for spending to increase even faster than the economy grows which means the government would consume an ever larger portion of our total economic output. he has proposed a major additional round of tax increases above and the on the $1.8 trillion that he has been responsible for. and despite all the taxes the excess of spending a so great that he wouldn't add yet another $6 trillion to our nation's debt. the president has put out a budget. and that is the wrong path. we have got an alternative. our budget balances by 2020 five

by eliminating much of the overspending. it reduces spending as a percentage of our economic output and reduces the debt as a share of the economy. it begins although very modestly, it does begin to pay down the debt and the combination of the things i mentioned surely lead to greater economic growth. that is the most important thing we are doing here. it is only in washington that a budget like this could be considered radical. we have a budget that cut spending and one of the 10 years. spending growth, it takes 10 years to get this wretched to balance. spending grows about 3% per year. that is more than i prefer but it is a little bit less than the rate of the economic growth. total spending diminishes very slightly as a percentage of our total economy and that is considered extreme. it is not.

i do want to stress the most important and constructive thing we can do in addition to getting on a fiscal path is to promote policies that will promote maximum growth. a slight growth in the rate of spending, that is helpful in putting us on up path towards a balanced budget. it slightly diminishes toll spending as a percentage of our economy. that encourages more economic growth. by repealing obamacare we know we would encourage more economic growth and job creation. within 10 years obamacare if it were to place would result in 2.5 million fewer jobs. i do want to stress there is in this town this occasional ocean surfaces that more government

spending equates to more economic growth. that is exactly backwards. the reality is the economy does not live off the government. it is the other way around. in countries that limit the size of their government as a percentage of the economy, they tend to have more job creation and more prosperity generally. i understand our democratic colleagues are criticizing what we have done here. i would point out that in recent years when our democratic friends were in control they chose to do a budget just once in the last five years despite a statutory obligation to do it every year. we are in control and we are doing the budget. when we had no obligation many of us offered a budget anyway because we feel a sense of responsibility to lay out a plan to show how we would deal with the fiscal circumstances we face. our democratic colleagues have no plans and they do not intend

to offer a plan. they have no vision or willingness to share it and admit to their vision. they have every right to criticize but it rings a little bit hollow when they will not offer a plan of their own. i will support this budget despite the fact that it does not accomplish all that i would like us to accomplish especially in getting the mandatory spending under control which we must do. it is a sensible start. it does balance within 10 years by reducing overspending. modestly reducing spending helps to reduce our debt in absolute terms as well as a percentage of our economy and would result in stronger economic growth than the path we are on today. i thank you for your good work and look forward to working with you for the completion of this. senator baldwin: when we came together a little less than two

years ago during the very-ryan negotiation, i said in my opening remarks that we needed to pass a responsible budget that invests in the middle class , strengthens our economy, and takes a balanced approach to reducing the deficit without shortchanging our future. i believe that the bipartisan effort that the resolution did its best to achieve those goals. as president obama noted in his state of the union this year, the american economy is growing again. we are creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. unemployment is lower, and american businesses are posting large profits and boosting the stock market along with them. for too many americans, the good

news is only that. something they see on television or read in the paper. not something they see in their paychecks or at the kitchen table as they pay their bills and struggle to balance the family's budget. so many of the wisconsin workers that i hear from are struggling to make ends meet. they are working more and taking home less and they are worried that for the first time in american history, their kids will have fewer opportunities than they did. the middle class families and small businesses who are working so hard to move our economy forward deserve to have both parties in washington working together to pass a bipartisan budget that creates jobs and grows our economy. so the question before us today is, are we going to work together across party lines on a budget that builds stronger

economic growth? the question before us is whether we work to pass a bipartisan budget that creates shared prosperity. unfortunately, the resolution we have does not meet that standard. in fact, the budget does not invest in education and create a strong path to the middle class. it fails to make college education more affordable and the huge student debt crisis. it does not make strong investments that america desperately needs and our roads and bridges and ports that will create jobs and provide businesses with the quality transportation system they need to move their goods to market. it also does not invest in the workforce readiness for advanced manufacturing and make a commitment to supporting innovation, science, research,

technology. these are the investments that would not only create economic growth and make us more competitive, these are the investments that will also strengthen the economic security of the middle class. one thing that both republicans and immigrants should be able to agree on is the need to pass a budget that grows our economy for the middle class instead of rigging the rules in favor of special interest, millionaires and billionaires by trading as sacred the tax expenditures that benefit those groups. we should be able to agree that what america needs is a middle-class budget that gives everyone a fair shot to get ahead and build a stronger future for themselves and their families. a path is before us and the american people expect us to

take it. together. some republicans have begun to talk the talk on middle class economics but with this budget, we have an opportunity if we work together to have those leaders join us in walking the walk. this budget proposal the one before us right now, is another missed opportunity. unfortunately, it will not help our economy rise. most importantly, it will not help hard-working americans rise. i yield back. senator ayotte: i thank the

chairman for the difficult work of putting together this budget resolution. as we look at where we are in this country, the nation's fiscal outlook is one that needs to be desired in terms of what we know in terms of making a stronger and better future for the next generation. it is clear that we need to get america's fiscal house back in order and fix the broken budget process in washington. since i have been elected to the senate there has been one time when we have gone through the actual budget process on the floor. i think it is very important that when we talk about families sitting around kitchen table that we as members of congress actually work together to get a legit resolution done instead of the many years when we have not done that and the many times when we have kicked the can down the road. when i was first elected, the national debt was nearly $14 trillion. now it it exceeds $18 trillion.

if we do not take action we will reach [indiscernible] so the need for deficit and debt reduction is becoming more, not less urgent as we look at the challenges we face. putting our nation on a fiscally responsible path will require us to make some difficult choices. when i ran for office i said this would not be easy. and that we were going to have to make some difficult choices but i can tell you that i am blessed to be the mother of two children. i have a 10-year-old and a seven-year-old and when i look at the physical state of this country i think it should be all of our obligations to make sure that we do not burden our children with crushing debt and uncertainty. and that our children do not pay the price for our action and inaction and failure to make tough choices. we have seen washington kick the can down the road when it comes

to addressing dead and making difficult decisions and addressing our fiscal house in the state of our economy. given this track record i can understand why so many people are skeptical that we are serious about fixing the fiscal mess we are in. we cannot wait any longer. the longer we wait the more -- the harder these decisions become. often it seems that we have collectively as a congress keep burying our heads in the sand and passing the buck on the difficult decisions. this budget i can tell you makes some hard choices and i do not like everything in this budget but i believe it is important that we move forward and try to make some difficult decisions to put together a fiscally responsible blueprint for the nation. it begins to take the important steps in takes to addressing the

$18 trillion in debt that we face. this framework balances the budget in 10 years with $3 billion of surplus in the 10th year. it provides our best opportunity to address so many problems that i hear from my constituents and concerns i have heard about the president's health care law. the affordable care act. this preserves retirement programs and does not raise taxes. by contrast, the president budget does not even attempt to address our looming fiscal crisis. it never balances, and if you look at omb's budget tables, it raises taxes by almost $2 trillion to pay for new spending and those new taxes, all they do is hurt our ability to grow and create new jobs. it would add 8.5 trillion dollars to the $18 trillion of debt over the next decade and under his plan, one of the most shocking things as we think about the nation is the -- we

have to pay a mortgage and under the president's plan, the country would spend more on interest on our national debt by 2021 then we would spend on defending the nation. the foremost responsibility we have to the american people. there is an issue that is not addressed and it is an issue i am concerned about. i hope we will come together to address. as you look at what we are spending our federal dollars on two thirds of where we are spending our money is what is so-called mandatory spending. part of it is important retirement programs that are not on a fiscally sustainable path. if we continue as collectively not to take action to address the sustainability of these programs, we are going to be in a position where people who really need them in the future see a necessary cuts because today we would not make the

decisions that need to be made. because of that, if you look at where we are and where we are spending dollars, we continue to squeeze on the discretionary and. those are the nondefense programs and defense programs and i have -- happen to serve on the armed services committee. as we look at where we are under the budget control act that act was intended when it was passed by this congress to address the whole picture, but the supercommittee failed in its efforts to not only have automatic spending cuts on discretionary spending but to take a look at the big picture. i voted against the budget control act at the time. the reason i did is because i was concerned then that we were not making the hard decisions that needed to be made. that it did not truly address the long-term drivers of our debt and that the arbitrary cuts would harm important things like the defense of our military.

in this budget resolution it is important for our colleagues to understand i want to address the concerns that i have and i have heard from the leaders of our military, given the grave threats we face around the world right now. the cuts that are coming back in place in 2016 to our military and i believe we have a responsibility to do that. that is not something that we are going to be able to fully address under a budget resolution because in order to address it we have to make changes to the budget control act. that will require 60 votes to do that. it is not something that could be done in a budget resolution. one of the things i have included and appreciate other members of the committee acting with mayon is a fund that would allow us as an initial step going forward i hope to come up with a bipartisan agreement on the discretionary spending and

hopefully, we can work together to address the long-term drivers of our debt. thank you, chairman. senator: certainly a budget is an expression of rarities. it is a roadmap and i would like to see a roadmap that works for working americans. that is not what we have before us today. let's take a look at some of the different pieces. we have a huge deficit in infrastructure in this country. shortchanging jobs and the foundation for the future of the economy. is there anything in this that addresses that deficit? that is shameful not to address the deficit infrastructure. your spending 5% of gdp on infrastructure. we're spending less than 2%. the cost of higher education is steadily slimming the door shut

on opportunity for millions of families, destroying the american dream of opportunity. let's see. investment in head start, no. greater investment in quality k-12 schools, no. no. moving held grants from mandatory to discretionary and making it harder for the most challenged americans to go to college. the attack on students. situation on student loans should offer the same low interest rate. what we find is eliminated stafford loans and changes to cause a student to max out loans with an additional $5,000-$7,000 in repayment.

for the accounting trick that diminishes payment for seniors. really? i realize i disagree with the president. americans have had enough accounting tricks aimed at decimating retirement security and medicare reductions are pretty dramatic. that is impact on health care for seniors. unspecified as to how it would take effect. that is smoke and mirrors.

the intent breaks the fundamental trust between all of us and seniors in america. let's look to health care. the plan is interesting. keeping $1 trillion in taxes and doing $2 trillion in cuts. talk about the assault on working and poor families. that is brutal. medicaid health care for the poorest block grants it and sends it to the states. i am sure the budget contains many sacrifices for the wealthy and i have looked for them. let's see. no changes in the tax loopholes. why not? why not close loopholes?

no giveaways and big cuts to food stamps. no change in a tax structure and 70% of income in 2012 and paying half what they paid in 1995. they did well in 1995. so, i'm disappointed. there is a roadmap to infrastructure and less opportunity for the poor and working americans. i certainly hope we can do much better. thank you.

>> thank you. i'm am voting for the budget. you compare it to the president's budget and and balances in 10 years. so, if americans want a balanced logic, some think it is too long. this one balances and the president budget best presidents budget never gets to balance. it never gets to balance. we have had a lot of talk about hard-working americans and good paying jobs for americans. we all support that. the ranking member talked about a full employment economy.

we have different ways we plan to get there and him we need a full employment economy and we put the tax on job creators. i disagree that is a way to get to a full employment economy. i support the budget and it provides a mechanism to repeal and replace of obamacare. some of my colleagues say, what do we do about health insurance? we have no intention of allowing those who would lose coverage to be disadvantaged by the loss of obamacare. we think there is a better way to provide health care and we

intend to do that. as a matter of fact, millions of people have lost their insurance and millions of americans have had the co-pay and dr. bulls increase. we are told this would not happen. none other than senator schumer a person who voted for obama care. he said it was a mistake for democrats to push through obamacare. people who had insurance coverage and liked their insurance coverage, we should not have disadvantage them. i can assure my colleagues that the repeal and replacement of obamacare will take care of those people who have been disadvantaged by relying on the

false promises of obamacare. senator king mentioned health care costs going up and we could solve the deficit problem. i would point out to my colleagues that obamacare is the law of the land and it does not solve the problem. it was supposed to solve the problem and it does not. my friend from rhode island talked about the smashing and slashing of expenditures under the budget and i am always amused when i hear these terms and i hear about non-defense budget ceremonies. next year, it would be $495

billion. the increase is $558 billion. the savagery we are being told is part of the budget. currently, the federal government spends 20.3% of the gross to mystic product and under this smashing budget we hear about it, it would go to 20.3% of gdp and all the way down again. a flight -- a slight decrease. nothing like the savagery support

the budget and if balances 10 years without a tax increase. i want to go back to what the senator said. we support the idea of revenue by growing the economy. the economy grows with more jobs created and there are more people out there. the economy is better and revenues are results of that. those of the types of revenue that i think are called for in the balanced budget plan and i congratulate you on a difficult task at eight important step forward -- and an important step forward. >> i want to thank all of those today and i hope it will be helpful over the next several days. tomorrow, we will meet and we

will be in a bigger room. we will have a little bit more room for everybody, even those who want to watch the process of sausage making. it will awful or -- it will offer amendments. we will work to schedule votes appropriately and the members can be there to vote. we have recess until march 19.

>> later today, the senate budget committee continues work on the budget proposal and the resolution aims to balance the budget and cut projected spending. the daylong coverage begins at 10:30. a look at u.s. military efforts in iraq and syria. the request for the use of military force. we will sit down with rick larsen and chris stewart of the intelligence committee will

discuss the nuclear discussions with the steel deadline approaching. those conversations starting live. >> the city store. >> inside the museum, remains of the jackson and this was ironclad. the oval shapes are the gun ports and the jackson is armed with six rifles. the particular rifle fire today is built for the jackson. it was completed in 1865.

they claim to fame was connected to the fact that they are right here and this is why the facility is here. it is to tell the story of this particular ironclad and show people there were more than just one or two. there were many. >> watch all of our events. >> obama response to the republican budget request. the budget committee begins work on the budget proposal. after that, washington journal is live. and, work on a bill dealing with

membership rules. obama response to the budget and the plan benefits wealthy americans at the expense of the middle class. the president also announces a public-private partnership. this is about one hour and 25 minutes. ♪

i want to a knowledge some of my favorite members of congress -- and knowledge -- i want to ack nowledge some of my favorite members of congress. sherrod brown is here. i like his wife more. he is ok. congressman and congresswoman fudge is here. mayor jackson is here. thank you so much. he is around here somewhere. i want to thank the members of the club for inviting me here. it is wonderful to be back in the city and i see a lot of

friends, in some cases, mentors. it is wonderful to see. otis is one of my favorite people. now, every sitting president since ronald reagan has come here to the city club of cleveland to take your questions because this is an institution that reflects a truly american idea. the belief that we all have a role to play in resolving issues of our time. in a democracy the most important office is the office of the citizen and this tradition reflects that. my presidency began in the depths of a historic crisis and

no issue is more important than the future of our economy. it does -- it is of interest in ohio in cleveland. no topic weighs more heavily on the minds of families. no subject is more worthy of an open debate. 75-year's ago, another president came to cleveland to engage the debate near the end of his second term. eight years in office marked by depression recovery, political divisions at home and looming threats overseas. fdr refused to accept the notion that we are less than the masters of our fate. we are characters in a living book of democracy, he said. we are also the authors.

whether the chapters to come tell a story of retreat or of continued advance. that is a pretty good summary of where we are today. that is the choice that was laid out back then, a story of retreat or of advance. america chose the second and we are better. we face a similar choice. the world is changing faster than his.do we retreat from the 21st century or advanced together? do we renew the founding promise of opportunity for everybody and not just some? before i take questions, i want to spend some time talking about the choice and i want to set the

stage but talking about where the economy is. following the worst crisis since the great depression, in fact by some measures, faster and deeper. we pulled out faster because we had learned lessons. we are in the midst of 60 months of consecutive growth and 12 million new jobs. american business has added 200,000 jobs each month for 12 straight months. that is the first time that has happened in 40 years. the unemployment rate has fallen from 10% in 2009, when it first came into office. we were losing 800,000 jobs a month.

today, the unemployment rate is at 5.5%. last year, we saw the unemployment rate declined and, in one of the most hopeful signs, middle-class wages are starting to come up. this progress is no accident. first and foremost, it is the result of you, the drive and determination of the american people. i'm going to take a little credit. it is also the results of decisions made by my administration in partnership with members of congress to prevent a second recession and

lay the foundation for growth and prosperity. a lot of decisions were controversial and there was resistance and obstruction. we decided to continue to advance because we believe that, if the last decade was defined by outsourcing, we could define this one by bringing back good jobs to america. there are more job openings since 2001. the auto industry that we rescued is firing on all cylinders. that makes a difference in ohio. factories are opening their doors at the fastest pace in two decades. over the last five years manufacturers have added jobs at a rate not seen since the 1980's. they talk about manufacturing

being dead. you know what? manufacturing is actually growing at a faster pace than the rest of the economy. and, more companies are realizing that made in the usa is a trademark to be proud of and they are investing. that is something i will discuss at the summit where we get officials to meet with foreign investors around the world in a one-stop shop to start getting more investment and is this in the united states. we believe we can build a more competitive world and our students are the highest math and reading scores. graduation rates hit an all-time high and more americans are earning degrees than ever before.

we believe we can grow the economy, even as we are tackling climate change. today, america is not just number one in oil and gas. we are number one in wind power. last year was the biggest year for solar power and we are producing three times as much wind power and solar power as we did when i went into office. every three weeks, we produce as much solar power as we did in all of 2008. just last month, the largest solar installation came online in the desert. it is 10 times faster than the rest of the economy. thanks to lower gas prices and higher fuel standards, the typical family should save $700.

we believe that sensible regulations could prevent another crisis in shield families and encourage fair competition. today, we have the tools to stop bailouts and we have a new consumer watchdog to protect families from predatory lending saving billions of dollars for american consumers. by the way, there is the affordable care act. 16 million more americans have gained the security of health care coverage. we have cut the ranks of the uninsured from tough votes from congress. the growth in health-care premiums and the cost for business matched the lowest levels on record.

if they had kept growing at the rate they had been growing the average would be higher than it is today. now, we do not get a lot of credit for that. keep in mind that the reforms we are putting in place are not giving people more insurance. they are reducing the overall cost and putting $1800 in people's pockets. they do not notice it because it is what did not happen. that is $1800 that firms can use to hire investors -- employees or that you are spending on a computer for your kids or paying down debt and stabilizing your finances. or, put it into retirement. finally, we believe we can lay the foundation for growth while getting our fiscal house in order. you'll recall that when i came

into office, deficits were skyrocketing because the economy was plummeting and less tax revenue was coming in. more was going out. the notion was that the steps we took to ensure the recovery would happen would cause even higher deficits. we have cut the deficits by two thirds. two thirds. and, looking forward, the long-term deficit projections have improved because we have done such a good job in controlling health care costs. the affordable care act will cut our deficits by $1 trillion in the next two decades.

the single biggest factor driving the projected deficits if not the single biggest factor driving them down. this is progress every american can be proud of. we have a long way to go. i am not satisfied and you are not, either. we have more work to do. more americans will tire you that. we have emerged from a crisis better positioned for the future than any of our competitors. we pick ourselves up, retooled, retrained, refocused and the united states of america is coming back. now, i want to return to the

issue of the debate we were having because it is bearing on the debate we are having now. every step we take, we are told our goals are misguided and the policies would crush jobs and exploded deficits, destroying the economy forever. remember that? because, sometimes we do not run the tape back and we have the same argument going forward. a republican in congress warned our policies would diminish stock prices. the stock market has doubled in corporate profits -- corporate balance sheets are stronger than they have ever been.

because of my terrible business policies. one republican senator claimed we faced a trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. another projected gas prices would go up to six dollars and $.60 -- $6.60. my opponent pledged to bring the unemployment rate down to 6% by 2016. next year. it is 5.5 now. -- 5.5% now. the leader of the house republicans, a friend of mine, he critiqued my policy with "

where are the jobs/" ?" well, 12 million new jobs and the lowest rates in 50 years. manufacturing coming back. auto industry coming back. clean energy doubled. i have come to answer the question and i want to return to the debate that is central to this country. the alternative economic theory presented by the other side does not change. it really does not. it says, "if we do little more than cut taxes for the top strip out regulations and let special interests write their own rules, prosperity trickles down to the rest of us.

" i take the opposite view because of the evidence. we know from the facts that are there for all to see that america does better and the economy, everybody does better when the middle class does better and we have more ladders for people to get to the middle class. we do better when everybody grows together. we do better when we have a chance to benefit from success and contribute to it. we know from history that, when we stray from the ideal, it does not turn out well. we have now got evidence there is a better way and a better approach. i am calling it middle class

economics. for the first eight years of the century, before i was in office, we tried trickle down economics and we/taxes for those of the top, stripping out regulations and did not make investments in the things we need to know -- we know we need to grow. we had soaring deficits job losses, and the economy in crippling recession. since then, we tried middle class economics and we have lower deficits, job creation, and the economy is steadily growing. so, when we, the american people, the public, evaluatioe the better argument, look at the facts. it is not abstractions. there was a time where you could

say they were equally valid differences of opinion. they were economic arguments in a book. not anymore. reality has rendered judgment. trickle-down economics does not work and middle class economics does. that is what we should keep in mind when we think about what will take us forward. not a path where we slow down business. not a path with government shutdowns in fiscal shutdowns. not a path where a few of us do spectacularly well and those who work hard see incomes and wages erode. we need to go forward to an economy for everyone who is willing to work hard. we invest in the future.

give working americans the tools they need for their fate. research, education, infrastructure, job training -- we know the recipe for growth and we know we can make growth broad-based and raise incomes and wages. they will get plowed back in -- they will get brought back in and we will get back in a virtuous cycle. a good place to start down the stronger path is the budget. it is a blueprint for where we believe the country should go. the budget is not just numbers on the page. it reflects values and priorities. republicans in congress have been working hard to reposition rhetoric around the economy and

noticing people would like to see a shift in how they talk about the issues. one republican said -- another wrote a policy memo saying that republicans must define themselves as the party of higher wages. another urged his party to shout at the top of the lungs. the gop is the ticket to the middle class. this is good. this is a good development. i am encouraged by this. once you have everybody talking about the same thing, we can decide how to do it.

we can share our goals. if the goal is to strengthen the middle class and create more opportunities for the middle class, that is good. there is nothing i like more than the opposition party that works to help hard-working americans get ahead. i do not have another election to run. let's work. the problem is, the rhetoric does not match three audi and the walk does not sync up with the talk -- match the reality and the walk does not sync up with the talk. the budget fails to aembrace middle class economics. it doubles down on trickle down. you can do some fact checking. the budget rolls out more for

those who have the most and makes massive cuts to investments that benefit all of us and asked middle-class families to foot the bill. it is a budget that claims reducing the deficit is the hyatt's -- the highest priority. the first proposal is to set -- spend trillions of dollars on another giant tax cut slanted in favor of those at the top. if you claim deficit reduction is the number one priority, how can you start by giving a tax cut to everybody at the top and not do much to help those down the pyramid? under the republican budget, millionaires and billionaires

get a tax cut of $50,000 a year. the average millionaire takes as much as the average middle-class american makes. they say they will close eye income loopholes for those at the top. i have proposals. their budget does not name it would pull they would close. not one. this budget does provide nothing to prevent tax cuts from expiring for 26 million. these are those who have gone without a raise and the budget lets the tax cuts expire. it is the equivalent of a pay cut for the family. so, you can call cutting taxes

for the top and letting taxes rise for working families and a lot of things. you cannot call it a ticket to the middle class. that, you cannot do. allowing tax cuts to expire does not get you close to the budget goal of $5 trillion in deficit reduction and republican leaders say we need to keep bringing down the deficits. i think we should bring them down and my budget would keep them below gdp and it would protect fiscal health. house republicans want to balance the budget without asking sacrifices of americans and asked them to sacrifice less. that means that everybody else sacrifices more and those who joined sacrifice more.

the authors of the budget are careful not to get specific about cuts proposed. they imply that, no matter who you are, somebody else bears the burden. compared to the plan put forward , if the cuts fell in equally here is what would happen. investments in education would be cut to the lowest level since 15 years ago, a time when we know we need to up our game with education because of competition around the world. 150,000 -- 157,000 children would have less education. 8 million low income students would see financial aid cut. investments in job training would be cut to the point where 4 million fewer workers earn higher wages from programs.

we would have partnerships ended that help manufacturers grow their businesses. these are not new. these are some of the greatest hits and just as more working families are feeling some security, the republican budget strips health insurance for millions. it takes away coverage for millions more who rely on medicaid, including here. children with autism. parents and children with disability. it would cut medicare and turn it into a voucher program. instead of the promise that health care will be there for

you, you get a role of a dice. if you get sick enough to cover the cost of care, you win. if not, you lose. programs that help low income parents care for children or put a roof over their head would be in the crosshairs. despite all the talk, they cut the funding to the lowest level in a decade. lower taxes for the most well-off. job training in infrastructure,

-- and infrastructure. if you've heard these before, you have heard these budget proposals. when the economy is in a slump we need tax cuts. when the economy is doing well, tax cuts. we know the predictions that justify the budget years ago were wrong and, despite the new evidence, the approach has not changed. there is nothing wrong with changing your opinion, it if the

facts change. serious economic proposals change when underlying assumptions are proven false. if the republicans believe we should adhere to the investments, they should make the case. prove it to us. if they believe it is time to end the social contract that sustains so many, own it and make the argument. you cannot credibly claim this helps working families get ahead. it is the same argument about health care. it's one thing to argue that about obama care. it is working better than i expected. it doesn't matter. evidence be damned.

still a disaster. the theories they are putting forward our a path to prosperity. i'm offering a different path. everybody does best when everybody gets a fair shot and everybody plays by the same set of rules. the tools they need at an ever-changing world. the budget make it easier to afford college and paid leave. it lowers the taxes of working

families and puts taxes in their pockets. and repairs americans to earn higher wages down the road. that is why my budget makes new investments in on-the-job training. i want to make sure they get the education and young people can afford to go to college. and so, we are working with rival companies and community colleges to provide apprenticeships and on-the-job training. i propose making community college as free as high school today. up our game up. . it means building the most competitive economy anywhere so that businesses can churn out

jobs for workers to fill. before i came here, i want to manufacturing. -- i went to a manufacturing into baiter. i did not sample the whiskey before i came here. i have taken a sample home. the partnership is bringing manufacturing jobs back to cleveland. the republican budget would cut the whole thing. if something is working, why would we get rid of it? we should invest in it. today, i announced new public and private investment for manufacturing. that includes a new manufacturing hub that makes america a leader with uniforms

our soldiers where into battle. 21st century businesses need 21st century infrastructure and my budget invests in modern ports and bridges. the fastest internet. it and invest in basic research. the jobs of the future are created right here in the united states. we can pay for the investments in a responsible way. we need to cut loopholes and ask those at the top to pay. and we can keep exports and protect workers with a trade deal. first, in asia, then, in europe. i have heard a lot of conversations about this. you saw it did not always live

up to the hype and that is why the deal we are negotiating now would reform nafta with higher standards and new tools to hold countries accountable. it would focus the impact on american workers and make sure the 21st century economy rules are not written by china. they need to be written by the united states of america. that is what this does. so, helping working families make ends meet and giving them the tools they need. revving the engines of growth. that is what middle class economics offers. if we make the investments in ourselves and prosperity in our future, the economy will be stronger for decades.

it falls upon us now. remember the words of fdr. it falls upon us now to say if the chapters will tell a story of retreat or advance. i believe in advance. the challenges of this generation are less dire than the greatest generation. we have the same will and drive. we know what works. we know what we have to do. we have to put aside the outmoded debates and reject failed policies. embrace policies that work. we are going to write the next great chapter of our continued advance in the book of

democracy. all right. thank you, cleveland. god bless you. let's take some questions. come on. i get to start calling on people. i like that. i am going to ask you to regime hand and i will call it. stand up and introduce. i am going for a, girl. -- i'm going "boy, girl." colleen: i am colleen and my question for you is, thank you for coming to cleveland.

you talk about the importance of everybody playing by the same rules. millions of americans do not have the right to court-appointed counsel in civil cases and cannot enforce the rules out to protect them. how you propose we address the important issue? obama: you know we have worked hard to continue to support legal aid around the country. this was a target of budgets early in the previous administration and we have not fully recovered. with the existing congress, it is not likely we get a bump we need. the things i think we can do is, in addition to the federal government helping i think we

can elicit more from law firms than they currently cough up. young lawyers are eager to participate, if it is structured properly. the other thing is to create, in various jurisdictions, more efficient civil procedures that can streamline the progress. a lot of clients you work with we do not need a process of filings and motions. often times when people are desperate, they say they have been cheated by a landlord or they bought a product that is faulty. they cannot necessarily afford a lengthy process and the office should be reserved for the toughest cases. there are ways to structure more

effective does huge resolution mechanisms. that will operate by jurisdiction and some have come up with creative ways to fill the holes. legal aid's cuts took place a while ago. they do for the work you are doing. -- thank you for the work you are doing. right there. you. yeah. nice photo. rick: you visited us twice already. obama: great school system. rick: still is. regarding community college initiatives, i think some

community colleges here in cleveland and across the country get a bad reputation that they do not provide high-quality education. i believe they do. how do we provide a better message to our constituents and to students. how do we convey the message? obama: i am doing my best to advertise. one of our greatest comparative advantages is the higher education system here in the united states. we obviously have the best universities in the world and people come from everywhere to get education. we also have an unparalleled community college system. there are places doing great

work and the challenge we have is that they are underutilized and we are not linking what community college is doing with high schools. so, part of the initiative is not to just make the first two years of community college free. not everybody needs a for your education. -- a for your education. -- a four-year education. if they can get the first two years free and get plugged into a business, they save money, do not have student loans and they

can work, for a time, learn more and get a higher degree. if they decide to take community college and springboard into a four-year university, they transfer credits and save themselves half the cost of the degree. we are trying to create more partnerships suited for the particular needs of the public. in some cases, what is needed for a mid-career person is a quick training program. so, increasingly, what we are doing is working with commuting colleges to reach out to businesses where there are job openings and have the business helped design the training program.

a career person who needs a job right away may be a single mom or a dad who is laid off. they do not have the luxury of two years of study. get them into something where 6-10 weeks of training, we know there will be a job. it is designing the program. if you are a high school student who were is interested in doing something that does not necessarily require a degree, we get community college is to link up with a high school and the high school student gets credit and experience with businesses who are partnering with the community college. now, that student has a head

start on moving into their career and they are starting money -- saving money in the process. if it is his duty who wants to go to a four-year university and does not have the money, they come to cleveland and it is a good price, relative to other schools. going to community college and making sure they are getting the kind of counseling they need so they are taking the credits that are transferable in the fields that they need. they are not wasting time in the community college taking out grants and loans and get to the university and have to start all over again. so in each of these cases, by us linking these institutions, businesses, high schools, we

can create a series of pathways of success and it can be life long. and the great thing about community colleges is that they are flexible in the way that four-year institutions because of the way of the nature of those institutions, it's a little harder to do. community colleges can adapt and meet a need quickly. so a new business comes to town, we need machine tool operators or coders or whatever it is, potentially you can design something quickly that's effective and makes an immediate difference. so we've put a lot of resources into community colleges. we are highlighting these programs, encouraging the kinds of links that i just described, and we're going to keep on doing it. ok. let's see. right there.