we have a 40 year tradition of contributing to the democratic process and we continue that through the debate and other public forums. we welcome the entire audience this evening. thank you. >> i am berry erwin, president of the council for better louisiana and thank you for joining us. our debate features candidates in the runoff for louisiana governor. first state representative john bel edwards and state senator david vitter. thank you for joining us. >> kelly spires is one of the questioners and jeremy is here from editor and publish of lawpolitics.com. >> tonight we will dive into issues and topics of great importance to the citizens of louisiana. a drawing was held earlier to determine the order of questions and closing statements.

the format is to encourage a dialogue between the candidates. >> we will talk about the governoring style of the candidates, element and second educati education, the budget and taxes, workforce development, health care, infrastructure, and issues related to each candidate's campaign. our panelist provide background on a topic and pose a question to start the conversation. then candidates will have a turn to ask each other questions. the panelist ask follow-up questions to insure clarity and responsiveness in the answers. >> we will begin with exploring the governoring styles of the candidat candidates. kelly starts it off. >> one of the two of you will be the next ceo of the state. what experience have you had in executive management? mr. vitter? >> i managed my senate office

for several years and if you talk to folks who interact on a number of issues, particularly louisiana residents, they will say it is a responsive center office. i am hands-on. that is my style and different than jindel who has been said to be aloof. hundreds of thousands have my personal cellphone number. i am completely accessible and get into the weeds of important issues. i have great staff to help me. i help direct them. but i get in the weeds and lead them. again, the proof is in the pudding and i think in that, i built a solidht pbte -- a solid

background to get it right. >> second air born division. that is an ex executive position as commander. when we go to the field and train that number grows to 250. i worked being a chairman in the committee requiring me to call meetings and issue the agenda whether it was the military and veteran's special committee in the house of representatives,

which i reserected that committee. i worked with veterans from strengthening homes to making sure cemeteries were open and para officers were in place and the veterans could access the services they were entitled to. >> mr. vitter you will ask mr. edwards a question and mr. edwards you have a minute to respond and mr. vitter gets a 30 second review. the topic is governing style. >> john bel, you talk about shared sacrifice given the enormous challenges we face as a state. but when i look at your concrete record, and others look, i don't see the shared sacrifice from

yourself and other insiders. i see something different. after coming into office, you voted for yourself getting 123% pay raise. you noted for yourself to get a per diem increase. you opposed a bill to mandate governments and illegal gifts. you expressed opposition to the concept of term limits. this really does go to governing style. what real sacrifice will you ask of political insiders and politicians? not just hard working taxpayers who have to pay more and more for government. >> senator vitter, you have been lying sideways to the public. you make $40,000 more a year now than when you got elected to the senate. that is more than i make -- you

make more per month than i make into year. so i am not taking a back-seat to you on any of the issues you raised. in fact, i voted for every single bill in the first ethics reform special session we had in 2008. so shared sacrifice, absolutely, there is shared sacrifice. i have led my example. i am very proud of the work i have done in the legislature on a whole range of issues. and you know, you asked so many different things there rather than one question. but i will tell you as it relates to term limits, i believe that there are term limits already. every office has a certain term whether it is four or six years. and the voters are able to decide if you stay in the office or not. they are able, when they want to, to turn someone out of office. and i think you will experience that pretty soon. >> well, again, i think this illustrates big differences

between us in terms of philosophy about governing. i have always fought against the political establishment because quite frankly i think the political establishment is way too isolated from normal voters. they don't understand normal voters every day lives. that is why i fought automatic pay raises, that is why i never joined the congressional retirement system and will never get a penny. that is why i fought the obamacare exemption and don't get that subsidy. and led the fight to establish term limits in louisiana. i believe in that concept and think we need to return to citizen legislatures not politics as a profession. >> thank you, mr. vitter. now mr. edwards, it is your turn to pose a question. >> david, in the past 16 years you only passed five of 566

bills you authored. you have been called the most corrupt member of congress and been named the least effective member of both parties and don't show up to work. the best indicator of what someone does tomorrow is what they did yesterday. and you show you are more concerned with helping your friends than being accountable to voters and taxpayers. how is it you don't represent a third bobby jindel term? >> you are completely misrepresenting my record. you talk about bills you introduced that passed. you have to look at things i fought for and worked with others on on a bipartisan bases or was a prime author on that did pass. that record of bipartisan accomplishment i will put next to anybody certainly including yours. a water resources bill i co-wrote with barbara boxer of

california is important for coastal measures. fixing the flood insurance crisis, i helped lead that effort, yes with others on a bipartisan bases. coastal restoration i have been involved in that and making huge progress made in the last several years to fund the work we need to do. hurricane recovery. i worked non-stop with our delegation, with others, to pull us out of the dark time in terms of recovery from katrina and rita. i have a full record of bipartisan accomplishment. >> your rebuttal. >> 5-565 bills does speak for itself. you have been named the least effective members of congress. you have one of the worst att d attendance record of all hundred members in the united states state senate and you said you

endorse bobby three times. i like him and respect his leadership and agree with all of this political values is your record. >> follow-up questions, reporters. >> i would like to bring it back to the state legislature and how you will interact with lawmakers. would you all have a plan to testify in front of committees or would you not? >> i would as i said a few minutes ago. i am a very hands-on person. i would be interacting with individual legislatures as i do now. most have my personal cell and i interact with them constantly. i would be on the floor or off the floor in committees. that is a different governing style we have seen in the last several years. i exhibited that governor style in the u.s. senate with real effectiveness. >> mr. edwards, would you like to continue? >> i will testify i lead from

the front. i lead by example. i will testify in support of the bills i am proposing to the legislature. i will meet with the leadership, and rank and file members of the legislature in the house and senate. i will tell you i have not had a meeting with bobby jindel in many months. >> we need to move on to the next topic. >> k-12 education. jeremy, you have the question. >> we have seen significant reforms and changes over the last 20 years including school accountability measures for teachers and students, growth in the recovery school districts, charter schools, and this is in addition to vouchers and school choice mechanisms. aside from common core, could you pick a couple you would keep or strengthen or get rid of from the list i just went through. mr. edwards? >> i will support charter schools.

when charter schools help the perishes and the perishes are in need of help. however, i believe in local control of education. i believe that local taxpayers and voters and parents ought to be able to hold their school board members accountable for how dollars are spent and children are educated. if a district has an a or b better grade, i believe they should have the final decision of a new charter school opening in that district or not. if the letter grade is a c, d, or f, i think it is probably appropriate for the board to have the opportunity to review and perhaps reverse the denial of that charter application. i also have no plans to end the voucher system. it was unconstitutional when it was passed. i voted against it for that reason and the supreme court held it was unconstitutional. i will not end it but i will confirm to its stated purpose which is to give parents of kids trapped in failing schools a

choice. >> jeremy, this is a huge issue where john bel and i have different records. on all of the reform efforts i have been an active leader for charter and voucher scholarships. choice empowers parents particularly from poor families. accountability, i have been in support of that. john bel's record is consistent in the opposite direction against charters. he would limit those opportunities as we just admitted voting against the voucher scholarship proposal when it first came up. voting consistently against accou accountability over and over again because fundamentally he has been doing the work and charting the course of the teacher's union not parents, not empowering parents who need it

the most. >> thank you, mr. edwards. it is now your opportunity to pose a question to mr. vitter on the education topic. >> just like bobby jindel, you were for common core before being against it. you were a strong supporter and then against it in a fundrais g fundraisinging letter, then for it again, and you now flip-flopped again and want people to believe you are against it. you have put your personal interest ahead of the common interest and when the political winds change so do you. just like bobby jindel you put personal ambition over what is best for students and teachers. on this issue, why should louisiana parents trust you today? >> you are talking about common core first of all. it is you who said at the press club, with the respect to the common core standards you were okay with the sarntands.

in the advocate you said in 2014 quote the standards are fine close quote. you said there is no conspiracy about common core and this is not a federal takeover of education. you said that about common core. not me. i have a specific plan to get us out of common core and the park test. it has been part of my plan in the race. it is all at davidvitter.com and part of my detailed plan on the challenges we face. >> senator, i have been voting against common core since brought to the legislature in 2014. that is my record. 2014 and in 2015. i did make statements such that the standards themselves are not a communist conspiracy but i never said the standards should be adopted without being vetted by parents and educators and made the changes where necessary. that is my record from the

beginning. i have been against common core. my voting record is hundred percent consistent on that. i have never flip-flopped. you flip-flopped and flip-flopped again. >> mr. vitter, it is your turn to ask a question on k-12 education. >> i want to go back to the choice in education because i think it is premier civil right issue of time. whether every child in louisiana has the right to a great education. as discussed before, you were in favor of limiting the opportunity to establish charter schools and you would not allow it unless an entire system is drf. that would cut out 6800 students in lafayette perish for example who are in d or f schools from being able to enjoy new charter schools. state-wide that is 170,000 kids who are in d or f schools.

>> your question? >> you are limiting those charter opportunities. what do you say to those poor families who are not going to get the full charter opportunities because of your specific legislation? >> first of all, when it comes to voucher, i voted against this because it was unconstitutional. my oath of office means something to me. when it says you will support the constitution of the united states and the laws of the state of louisiana i take it seriously. my decision was affirmed by the supreme court. money stolen from the local school districts had to be returned so the students could receive the services they were entitled. i believe in local control of education. when a school district is performing well it ought to be in control of the decision of a new charter school opening. otherwise, the creation of a charter school diverts funding away from the programs that made that school district

successfully to begin with. i believe that is the right thing to do. because if parent and leaders don't have the ability to hold them accountability it is only a matter of time until they stop authorizing new taxes. >> there are failing schools in the districts you are talking about. you will limit and trap the students without more choices and voucher scholarships would give them. the record is the record. you can try to talk a good game but on education you have fought all of these reforms every step of the way. you fought the voucher scholarships. you tried to limit charters. you co-authored at least four different bills to curtail charter schools. certainly accountability. you have not consistently opposed common core but you have

opposed accountability and that is what you are trying to point to in terms of supposed opposition of common more. >> thank you. we are out of time on this topic but we go to the next one with kelly and posed to mr. vitter >> louisiana has been dealing with significant budget cuts. the legislature raised more than $700 million in new revenue yet another huge shortfall looms. given where we stand today, do we solve the problem by shrinking state government or should we better match revenue with spending? >> kelly, quite frankly we need to do both. i have a balanced approach on both sides of the equation. i laid out the approach months ago in our detailed plan on our website at davidvitter.com. the first thing i would do is call a special legislation session focused on this.

i would start on the spending side and have reforms to undedicate most areas of the budget so we can roll up the sleeves and cut the spending in those areas we cannot afford or are wasteful and off limits. that is why higher-ed has cuts that are not porportioniate. and we need to get rid of certain exemptions and credits that don't produce for the economy or taxpayers. i think as opposed to john bel i would have a balanced approach that looks at both sides of the equation. >> mr. edwards? >> kelly, we have to do both. you look for new ways to create efficiency and deliver state services with a cost savings. you have to expand the flexibility to allocate cuts across a broader spectrum of the budget so you are not focusing

on higher education and health care. you do that by looking at the statutory dedications. but also the constitutional dedications. but those are harder and take longer because you have to get two 3rds vote in the legislature and approvaled by the voters themselves. we will september federal dollars back into the louisiana as well. when they help meet obligations to the people and save us we will do that with the medicaid expansi expansion. we will focus on growing the economy and not incentivising the government where there is no growth. the biggest thing is reduce or eliminate tax gave aways that cost too much or don't return. we can create savings to reallocate to high rer priority items >> you may ask the question on budget and tax. >> john bel talks about a

balanced approach but his record is different. it is another area where we have completely different records which suggest would lead in different directions. this past year in the legislative session you voted for $2.1 billion in taxes. you have a plan on your website you are touting that is a $1.5 billion tax increase on the 165,000 families involved. you have never specifically authored a single piece of legislation to undedicate any area of the budget. you have never authored a singleal piece of legislation to cut in those areas. that is not a balanced record. why should voters believe you in saying that you are going to take a balanced approach when the concreate record is very, very different. it is all taxes -- concrete --

>> the voters shouldn't believe you and the ridiculous question you asked with figures you made up. my record is clear. i did vote for the things i talked about. reducing tax give aways that cost too much and don't produce enough return on investment to create savings that we then reallocate to higher priorities like saving lsu, like making sure the safety net hospital system stayed open, making sure the medical school in sheave port had the money to continue to operate. those were the hard choices we had to make. i did vote for those measures because they were the right thing to do and consistent with what i said i will continue to do as our governor. we will not stay in this ditch we are in under jindel. we will roll up the sleeves and

pull ourselves out and finance our priorities. that is my commitment. >> i asked about a balanced approach and what is on the saving and reform of government side. you talked about a tax measure: getting rid of an exemption. >> your record is all taxes, no budget reform, and no savings. that is the record. you have not authored a single bill to undedicate any part of the budget. if i can missing, name the bill. you have not authored a single bill to go into the areas and cut the budget. you have never proposed or led in that effort. but you voted for $2.1 billion in taxes this year and you are proposing more.

>> your pledge to out of state interest cause you to repeatedly to vote to send our jobs overseas. jobs of louisiana residents and americans. bobby caused the state's dodge budget to employed. you have been unfaithful to use taxpayers and why should they believe you changed? >> i have taken no pledge to glover nor quest in dealing with challenges in the state budget and laid out a truly balanced approach in terms of doing that. you refer to bobby jindel constantly but the fact of the matter is i have on several occasions publically fought, butted heads, and disagreed with bobby on things. his use of one-time money to plug the budget hole, you voted a lot for that, but i opposed him in 2012. i led the charge to stop abusive

legacy lutawsuits. i dragged him kicking and screaming to propose and pass that reform. in contrast when have you every publically disagreed strongly with your party leader barack obama? when did you stand up at the 2012 national democratic convention and say he is wrong on this? he is wrong on obamacare or gay marriage or anything else? it has never happened in any public way. >> mr. edwards? >> you are wrong. you signed the glover anti-tax reform. you said you have not signed it but you lied. you signed the pledge in washington, d.c. and in fact, i have stood up against the president with respect to the moratorium. i voted for a resolution calling

on him to direct the secretary of interior to take that moratorium down. just the other day, i stood up and opposed the decision not to go forward with the keystone pipeline because that is the wrong decision for our country and our state. it would create jobs, allow for energy independence and if you believe sitting here tonight that the president poses the biggest threat to our future in louisiana, you need to stay in wash and deal with that. >> time is over for this topic, we need to move on. >> we can continue that conversation because in the next topic we are talking about and that is workforce development. jeremy, your question. >> we have been told there is an industrial boom coming for qualified workers particularly in the technology field. in southwest louisiana there is a need of 35,000 jobs over the next five years.

me century link in monroe is trying to bring in engineers and technical workers to fill jobs but are finding it difficult. can you give two or three examples of what you will do to address the need over the next four years? >> this is critically important -- and one generation's time we are going from a time when 25% of people needed education beyond high school to get a good job and now that number is two thirds of the people. you have to invest in higher education, four year university and community and technical colleges. the straight of louisiana has cut state support for higher education more than any other state in the nation over the last eight years and raised tuition on its kids more than any other state in the nation in the same time period. that is the perfect recipe for disaster. we have to do better and align the workforce needs with job

creation opportunities out there so that kids are getting the education that allows them to have the certified skills and training necessary to land the jobs. we have to do it around the state. you were talking about century ling in monroe. since the end of the session in 2010, job creation is positive but when you get to alexandria and north to is zero. a key to address this is invest in the higher education around the state. >> jeremy, i have a lot of proposals on my website. our mari skare -- maritime sector it very important. i proposed structural reform so we would focus on ports,

maritime and have leaders built into led and dot to help me do that. a subcabinet focused on growing those jobs. secondly, we need to be more addressing the burden of litigation. we need litigation reform because we are hurting because of abuse of lawsuits led by trial lawyers who are funding john bel edwards campaign. i have led reforms against that . there are a lot of other details in my plan. vitter.stion for mr. -- if you can't make those who protect those who

protect our freedom part of your job plan what plan is it? >> i have a strong record in terms of supporting veterans. it often starts with individual cases, helping them get the proper treatment and benefits they need. i spent a lot of time, along with my staff, helping veterans on the issues with great results . i talk to veterans who have interacted with my office. you do not want to do that. i asked them how they feel about my representation of them and ask them how they feel about my leadership to make sure we get the community-based clinics we need for veterans, particularly the new ones we are building in lafayette and lake charles. i have worked closely with others and we are getting those community-based clinics. >> the question was about jobs training. v.a.bs training at the

i put increased emphasis specifically for veterans as they make the transition from wartime to work and health health -- health lead that effort -- helped lead the effort. a you move the g.i. bill from $1100 -- in 2012 you voted no on the veterans job score act that would've invested $1 billion in new job training for veterans. you voted no on the national defense appropriations act which provided for jobs training to help prepare members of the armed forces for civilian employment. your record on these issues is atrocious when it comes to job training for veterans and helping them transition from warriors to workers. in the country. developmenteconomic is critical.

you are trying to portray that you are a conservative or moderate and that you will knew night and have a main street -- unite and have a mainstream view. leading pro-business groups and givemic development groups you a very low score, the national federation of independent businesses, 23% rating. the top economic development group in the state, the louisiana association of business and industry, 25% lifetime rating, lower that ms. landrieu and bits -- bill jefferson. voters think that is a pro-economic development workforce development record that you will grow jobs and grow the economy? >> the louisiana association of business and industry gave over 90 legislators f grades.

it did not like the way we supported our universities and hospitals and the people of louisiana, i can live with that. the louisiana association of business and industry is headed by someone who is a very strong supporter and former executive council and chief of staff to bobby jindal. they endorsed you because they want a third bobby jindal term. they would like to have a third bobby jindal term on steroids. when it comes to voting records, i will not give anybody 100% except for my wife. , you try tohn bel portray yourself as a conservative but the record is the record and that suggests something different. you can try to talk about bobby jindal but these are mainstream economic development groups. i am not talking about this year this year, i am talking about a lifetime rating

of 25%, comparing that lifetime rating to mitch landrieu and mary landrieu and bill jefferson, they all score higher. the fact you are in the bottom 10% in terms of those ratings about jobs and economic development. that is not conservative or moderate. >> time to move onto another topic. health care. >> in the realm of education, our state has seen several changes over the past you years in public health care and how it is delivered. the public private partnerships, would you keep the policies we have now and work out the issues we currently face, or go in a --ferent reaction altogether direction altogether? >> the public and private partnerships are a good form and need work

administered by five insurance companies. we are going to expand the medical program when i am governor. it is the louisiana plan we already reformed it. they would have saved $52 million this year alone. that is how it was scored. 30 states have done it. 13 with republican governors. this isn't right versus left. this is right versus wrong and i will do it as governor.

>> the biggest issue around health care is obamacare. the core of obamacare and medicaid expansion. john bel, you have supported all of that including the core m mandates of obamacare. hb-429, clear vote. and that fundamental mandate is what through 98,000 louisiana residents off the health care plans they had and wanted to keep. obamacare said no, we are not allowing that. we know better and that is not good enough. that fundamental mandate led to increased in cost. folks are getting their premiums now and they are soaring. what do you say to middle class louisiana families who got thrown off a plan they wanted to keep and face the soaring premiums >> i say the affordable care act came from congress and that is where you sit. we are not voting in louisiana on mandates for obamacare.

you are making that up. if you are worried about health insurance premiums going up you should support medicaid expansion. every family with private insurance is paying $1,000 a year extra to pay for the private care and because the hospitals are not getting compensated they are building it into the contracts and that results in higher premiums. we are paying the taxes to the federal government and not accepting them back so that 250,000 of the worker poor get the benefit of health care coverage with our tax dollars that are instead going to other states that did that we are paying more in terms of private insurance. that is a disaster for this state. we need to do better by our people. we need to bring those dollars home. we need to save the tax dollars in the process. it is just the right thing to do. it is called putting louisiana first and i know that is foreign, david, but we need to

do that. >> the record is the record. it is all at lagovernorfacts.com in case you want to look. very specific vote in 2014. hb-429. it was a vote by you and you sided with the president. that is siding with the people of louisiana. that is what through 98,000 louisiana residents off the health care they wanted to keep. they used a model i am proposing. they didn't say we will do it under our terms. they negotiated their own terms. you have a chance to pose a question. >> while in congress, you voteded to end medicare for 70,000 louisiana seniors. that has no place in government. the seniors deserve to know whether you plan to balance our budget on their backs as well.

how can you justify ending one of the most successful insurance programs in history and ask the seniors to pay more. >> john bel, you know i am for medicaid and have voted to end it as you know it. you know that is the case. this attack is exactly what we hear from the national democrats. i hear this from harry reid over and over on the senate floor. i hear it from barack obama over and over. i never said i want to end made care as we know it. i never voted that way. one of several reasons i voted against obamacare is it stole from medicare. it stole $750 billion to create a new entightment and weakened medicare. that is why record on medicare. -- entitlement -- i am proud of my record. you are spreading the old fears and lies of national democrats.

we hear it all of the time from harry reid, barack obama and all of the rest. >> you hear it all of the time because it is your record in. in 2013 and 2014 you voted budgets that would turn medicare into voucher system and increased the cost on seniors and made them pay the difference. that is your record. that is the paul ryan budget you have supported. the people of louisiana need to know that you will treat them better. they deserve better retirement plans and need a governor who will not budget the balance on their back. >> if we are moving from one thorny topic to another one and that is the state's infrastructure; roads, highways, ports and everything questioned. jeremy? >> i am sure you know what number i am going to say which

is $12 billion. the back log of projects in louisiana. there is not enough to address the larger problem. how would you generate more money or is it time to concede this is too big of an issue to deal with? how do we break the tradition? >> until you fix the trust fund, it is premature to ask the people of louisiana to pay more whether that is a toll or additional gasoline tax. up to $60 million has been leaving the transportation trust fund not paying for roads and bridges but going to the state police. that is wrong and not the expectation of the taxpayers when they paid the gas taxpayer.

i will get the trust fund under control in the first year. i will wean the state police out of the trust fund and that is $60 million. i am increase by 25% the amount of the capital bill and that is an additional $75 million per year. as soon as we do that, we will double the investment in the port priority program from 20 million to 40 million overnight. that is the right thing to do. once we clean it up and see we don't have enough revenue to go forward and maintain the system we have in terms of highways then and only then will we consider tol tolls or other revenue measures. >> we cannot ask the hard working citizens of louisiana to put more money in the bucket whether there are gaping holes at the bottom of the bucket. that is the situation now and john bell voted for that situation. that is the situation now.

last year only 11 cents of every dollar of revenue associated with the state transportation trust fund went to roads and bridges. went to concrete and asphalt. that is ridiculous. i have a detailed plan to change that. it is all at davidvitter.com. i have a second plan to lead an effort among chambers, business groups, and leading legislatures to develop a high priority building program. high priority projects in key areas of the state to spur economic development linked to new revenue, tied to that. go to the voters and citizens and say this is what we will build in a finite amount of time. if you support it we will not spend the money any other way. it would go to voters and citizens to earn their approval. >> a question on infrastructure,

mr. vitter. >> david, you have been rated the least effective member of congress, the fifth highest absence rate among 554 peers and nowhere does it show in any other area than transportation. you have not helped finish i-49 or back up the projects jeremy asked us about. you even worked against securing loan forgiveness after hurricane katrina for local governments. >> why don't you talk to local leaders and officials about my record. you will hear a different story. >> no, i didn't. >> i have been a leader on i-49 including as a high ranking republican on that committee. we have brought significant money to virtually finish i-49 north and to start i-49 south in

a major way. through that work on that committee i have helped turn louisiana from a donor state. we were spending more money through federal gas tax to the federal government than we received back whether i went to congress it was about 93 cents on the dollar. we are no longer a donor state. we are getting more back than we send to the federal government because of the reforms and the work i did with others. and there are lots of specific projects. la-1, i-49, many critical projects around louisiana, relief in baton rouge and greater new orleans that have benefited as a result. we need to go farther and i am working on a federal highway bill. >> david, the fact of the matter is you have been ineffective in the senate and worked against the local government in

louisiana when they sought loan forgiveness after hurricane rita and katrina. >> i secured the loan forgi forgiveness. >> i get my information from the local people who lead the municipalities and perishes. >> mr. vitter, you can continue the conversation with the question. >> john bel is misrepresenting the record. i helped secure the loan forgiveness. talk to the leaders who received it in key perishes. but john bel, you are always talking about fighting the former governor, in fact, there have been eight budgets you voted for and supported five of them. on this critical issue of infrastructure they were horrendous and stole from the transportation trust fund. you voted for 5-8 budgets. hundreds of millions and voted for the very budget i was

referring to under which only 11 cents of every dollar of that revenue goes to roads and bridges and steel and concrete. why should voters believe as governor you will do something different? lagovernorfacts.com. that is your record. >> i have voted for five budgets and that means i voted more budgets than the vast majority of my colleagues. the reason it is different is because i am going to be the governor. i am going to set the priorities. if you don't vote for the budget you don't pass a budget and nothing gets funded. but as governor, i will be able to control the process and make sure with that line item veto we will do the things i am talking about. just the most recent years we voted for revenue to take it clear that the state police can get out of the transportation

trust fund. that is going to happen in the first year. zero dollars are going to be aappropriated to the police. that is my commitment to the people of louisiana. we have the revenue in place to make sure that happens. i did support that revenue because i want to be in a position to make sure that we can restore faith and confidence to the people of louisiana in the trust fund. >> again, john bel, there is an enormous gap between your rhetoric and the vote. you talk about battling bobby jindel but supported 5-8 of his budgets. you voted for the state fund and it was rated over and over, hundreds of millions, and you voted for the budget under which 11 cents of every dollar, only 11 cents goes to transportation, and everything else is rated.

that is the record. your red -- rhetoric is different. >> gentlemen, we have come to the last topic of the evening. time constraints say let's each do 30 second response on the first question. i give it to the reporters. >> gentlemen, both of you in recent forums have discussed trackers following you and your family with video camera and the media in louisiana is writing about private investigators. have you and your campaign hired professionals to carry out the such behavior? if so, have they done anything you regret? >> it is the reality of campaigns i have lived with for years. i have lived with the trackers for many years and they associated with every campaign. we have not directly hired them. but others in support of my

campai campaign. it is a free country. in terms of negative campaigns. there is nobody who has been the target of more negative campaigning than me. there are eight different entities attacking me. three in the primary, three of their assoc aceationsation -- association. >> the short answer is no. senator vitter spent $156,000 on private investigation and lied saying the money was spent on legal fees. he said it is free country and he is sending private investigators to spy on the

sheriff. louisiana doesn't need more scandal. i urge everybody to go to www.ltv.com and watch the cferee given. >> a question for mr. edwards. >> john bel, follow up on this. you never hired the parts but the state democratic party does it on your behalf. you say you don't do negative campaigning but you have the most vicious negative ad up that veterans have been offended by and asked you to take at a down. you have nothing to do with the trial lawyer pac that has been running negative campaigns in the millions of dollars for months. isn't that disingenuine?

you are not living by the honor code. you are living by the lawyers' code trying to parse words. >> mr. vitter, a question. >> nors -- my campaign has not played for a tracker or private investigator. i have not seen any footage of you anywhere from a tracker. i understand you don't like it. it hits you where you live. >> i am not talking about me saying anything. you have missing out on your deals in congress in order to engage extra curriculum

activities. >> >> you said the trial lawyers were working for jay garden. now it is benefiting you to say they are working for me. >> let's each one of you who have had a chance to ask a question we are almost to the closing comments. why don't you get 30 seconds and you get 30 seconds. 30 seconds, vitter. >> again, john bel, you are being dis-in genuine to suggest the trial lawyers are not doing your dirty work. you are living by on honor code

of technicality. >> i am not suggesting anything. i am not looking at video foot null from you. have haven't hired a private investigator to go after you. the last part of the honor code is i will not tolerate those who do. you are a liar. and a cheater >> what have you said -- >> i don't tolerate that. >> if you don't agree with tlar behavior why are you tolerating and benefiting from their behavior? what we will do now is go to closing remarks. we are just about out of time for the hour debate. we thank you for your candid and energetic commentary. we will go to the closing remarks. >> this is certainly an important election. we have two candidates for governor. john bel edwards and myself who

could not offer more starkly different voting records and political philosophy and therefore directions in which we would lead the state. it is pretty clear that john bel edwards wants to talk about anything but the future. he wants to talk about anything about those records and philosophies and where we would lead the state. that is because his campaign is built on a myth that he is some sort of conservative and we don't differ much on the issues when we absolutely do. so, i humbly ask for your vote and support and ask you look on the key issues and how we differ on job creation. his ranking is at the bottom of the barrel. on education my support of charter and accountability and reforms and john bel has the opposite record supporting the

teachers's unions not parents, families and children. >> thank you. mr. edwards? >> i want to thank the veterans. we are on the eve of veteran's day and i want to thank them for the service of the country. when i decided to serve the country nobody asked if was a democrat or republican. which candidate is best able to lead the state right now after eight years of miserable failed poliauolicie policies? leadership to bring the people together, performance agreement, and tackle the biggest problems and challenges and provide real opportunity for our children in louisiana. that is my record in the legislature as a leader. i will fight against anyone of any party when they do harm to use. and i will find along the side of anyone of any party when they want to do our state good.

... >> today on c-span, washington journal is next. interviews with freshmen members of congress who iraq war veterans. we talked to a democrat from massachusetts and a republican from oklahoma. at --ns day observances

a look at the mental health of america's veterans with a doctor of the veterans health administration and a kernel of the washington, d c medical center. ♪ host: good morning. it is veterans day. at themarking that day tomb of the unknown soldier. president obama will be laying a wreath there this morning and we will talk about veterans issues on the program coming up. we want to talk about the fourth gop debate. the candidate squared off on taxes, trade, foreign policy. what was your take away, democrats 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001.