she discovered my father was already married. he was a bigamist. now she had to raise us on her own. she, for some reason, felt that education was the key. as bad as her life was, she never felt sorry for herself. that was a good thing. the problem is she never felt sorry for us either. there was never any excuse the go be made. she prayed for wisdom. god gave her the wisdom to turn off the tv and make us read books. when i started reading about people, i read about people of great accomplishment -- scientists, philosophers. i learned that the person who has the most to do with your life is you. it's not somebody else. it's not the environment. once i learned that, poverty did not bother me anymore. i knew i had the ability to change it.

that does not mean we do not need to help each other escape it. no question about that. it is one of the reasons that my wife and i put these reading rooms all over the countries, particularly in title i schools where kids go to a school with no library, or a poorly funded library. these reading rooms are places that no kid could pass up. they get points for the number of books they read and they can trade them in for prizes. in the beginning, they do it for prices, but it is not long before it puts them on a different trajectory because 70%-80% of high school dropouts are functionally illiterate. if we change that downstream, we have a profound effect of -- upstream. [applause] representative ryan: governor bush, let me ask you -- i learned from my mentors that the

only way to really know poverty is to try to walk in people's footsteps, learn from people struggling. you were governor of florida. a big, diverse state with lots of issues and challenges. this is an issue that you took on. how did you come into understanding this issue? what touched you to give an appreciation for the problem of poverty? governor bush: paul -- excuse me, mr. speaker -- i have not seen him since he became speaker. congratulations. [applause] governor bush: we share a common bond. inspired by jack kemp in the political realm and meeting bob whitsitt, not as governor, but as a person seeking knowledge and truth in the 1990's, i

became sensitized to the fact that poverty is a lot more complex than what the smart people in washington describe it as. it is not just economic. there are all sorts of limits to people's aspirations. how you deal with it is important. compassion is not measured by how much money you spend through washington through a big and mistreated bureaucracy and send it back down to other bureaucrats filling out forms to eventually get back into the community. compassion is, in the greek sense, acting on your sense of consciousness. the only way we can become a more just society is from the bottom up, where people act on their sense of consciousness together. to give people a chance to rise up. that was just -- in all sorts of ways i learned that. one of the ways i did it, paul, was in 1997, i set up one of the first charter schools in the state of florida. the law was passed in 1996.

i helped lobby for that. with the urban league of greater miami, i set up the liberty city charter school. it was a phenomenal experience because this little school just outside of liberty city, we basically got the parents to create the culture of the school. they wanted work kids with uniforms. they wanted a contract where every parent had to commit to a certain number of hours. they voluntarily wanted to see this happen. we had to fight with the school district because they wanted corporal punishment. the school district said, oh my god, you can't do it. we got it. we got it done in a way that makes sense. they wanted discipline, respect for the teachers. they wanted to be engaged. it was an incredible experience. i will never forget, on the opening of the school, we were getting already, and we did not have a flagpole outside the

school. i learned to set cement on a sunday with some friends. on monday, when school started, 90 kids with uniforms were outside, saying the pledge of allegiance. it was a phenomenal experience for me. it is important for all of us to look at this not just from a policy point of view -- i believe in policy, ideas, i have unveiled a serious plan as it relates to welfare reform, but more importantly, i think it is important to act on your sense of consciousness. everybody should have the right to rise up in this country. no one should put limits on their aspiration. if we are a society that you are stuck, if you are wealthy, you will stay there -- that is a society that will be in decline. [applause] senator scott: mr. christie, so often states are referred to as the laboratories for democracy.

can you talk to us about what you think are the answers for the federal government and dispel the notion that the federal government has all the answers for poverty? governor christie: i think most people in the world are looking at our federal government, understanding that they cannot even do the basic things right, let alone things that are more complex. in reaction to what ben said, the first time i went about poverty was from both of my parents. my mom was the product of a single mother. she was the oldest child in that family. my grandfather was gone. my grandmother had to take three buses every day to go to work here at my mother had to raise her two younger siblings. they were abjectly poor, to the

point where my grandmother would, for christmas, recycle the gift that she had given the year before. they had nothing. my father, the same way. his father died of cancer when my father was 15 years old and left my grandmother. in those days, there were not some of the supports that are available today. my grandmother -- both my grandmothers were left to go out and work and the kids to work to keep a roof over their heads. both of my parents brought that sensitivity to the family. my dad was the first one in his family to go to college. he went at night when he was working at the ice cream plant during the day. he would go at night on the g.i. bill because he served in the army. that was his only option when he graduated from high school. when your parents bring those sensitivities to you, no matter

how much success they ultimately have, and my parents had some success -- my dad did. my mother stayed at home to support the family. it helps to understand everything you see as a governor, you can see a reflection of yourself. if you got to where you got to with government, you want to make sure you can do everything you can to give those young people an opportunity to achieve whatever they want to achieve, whatever their dream is. whether it is to be a governor, a neurosurgeon, and onto for newer -- an entrepreneur. the function of the states is to look at our individual communities. we get an option to do that in a way that the federal government can't. what we are doing and camden is setting up not only charter schools but renaissance schools, we are reforming the police.

the high school graduation rate has increased. those kids are not graduate from highs. now they have a chance to achieve things educationally that they would have never had a chance to achieve before campton. that is not the same solution for the city of newark. bigger city, more complex, we have to get in there with different tools. the state has the ability to pick and choose based on the merit of what is going on. if you leave it to the federal government -- one thing that jeb and i have learned as governors is we can really get in there and pick and choose the right tools to use depending on the challenge of the city. i think that is why the government should be empowering the states much more than they are to make these choices. the president does not trust us.

it is not just me, jeb, or scott walker. he does not even trust him and credit governors to make choices. that is a mistake. it is not helping those who we are looking to lift up. [applause] representative ryan: if we gave out trophies to people who fought against all odds, and lead by example, and showed us how to beat poverty, you would win the lombardi trophy -- the greatest trophy of football. mr. carson: really? [laughter] representative ryan: you did it. you are beautiful example of overcoming adversity and odds.

now, you are aspiring to be president. looking at the federal government, what is it that the federal government is doing that is hurting or putting barriers in front of more ben carsons of america? what would you go at right away, those barriers that may prevent more ben carsons from materializing tomorrow? mr. carson: it really started in the 1920's with the wilson administration, insinuating itself into everyone's lives. accelerated, by the time we got to the 1960's, lbj, the government said, we, the government, are going to eliminate poverty, the war on poverty, this new great society.

how did that work? 19 join dollars later we have 10 , times more people on food stamps, more broken homes, crime and incarceration. everything is not only worse, it is much worse. that is not to say that the government is evil, it is saying that they sometimes overstep their boundaries in terms of what they think they should do. maybe they should read the constitution. i think that would be helpful. [applause] mr. carson: maybe they did read the constitution. they read the preamble and it talks about the duties of government. it says to promote the general welfare. they probably thought that meant put everyone on welfare. obviously, it means to create the right kind of atmosphere for people. i believe that the real answer for poverty is not government, but the private sector.

that is the reason that i have indicated that one of the ways to jumpstart the private sector is look at that more than $1.2 -- 2.1 trillion dollars that is overseas, in terms of corporate money that is not being brought back because we have the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. that is absolute craziness. what i would propose is a six month hiatus for that money to be repatriated with no taxes whatsoever, and in the process, require that 10% of it be used in enterprises and to create jobs for people who are unemployed and on welfare. you want to talk about the stimulus? that would be the biggest stimulus since the new deal, and would not cost the taxpayers one penny. that is low hanging fruit, things that we can do. what happens is the business, the corporations start thinking

once again about how we invest in the people around us. we need to get business, industry, academia, churches, all involved in creating the right kind of atmosphere and helping people around them. i have been involved in a lot of nonprofits. particularly, right to life organizations who create these homes and atmospheres for women who have gotten pregnant. when a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, particularly in inner-city, her education typically ends. that child is four times more likely to end up in poverty and end up in the welfare system or the penal system which hurts us as a society. they help that woman and provide child care for her so she can get her ged, get her associate's degree, get her bachelor's degree.

she can learn to take care of herself. that is how you break cycles of poverty. that is not done by the government. you can put people in places to teach that woman that you are worth something, that jesus christ died for you, and you are a worthy individual or you don't get to hear that when it is a government organization. those are the kinds of things that will help us build the fabric of our society. once again. it is our duty. we are our brothers keepers. [applause] senator scott: jeb, in the last few days, you rolled out a new plan on expanding opportunities. you want to explain the main points of your plan? governor bush: first, i think

what we should do is not just talk about the laboratories of democracy, but mean it, do it. people are stuck, they are stuck in poverty. the notion of some that somehow they want to be there is totally ridiculous, wrong. we will never win elections with that. we will become a minority party. i know people in this room do not believe that. if you start with the premise that the state, if they got the chance to do in the unique ways, each community would do it. the state-federal relationship would be focused on outcomes -- how may people are getting in poverty, not how many people are staying in it. right now, you measure the poverty programs by how many people are on the rolls.

and they grow. that's a measurement of success, sadly. we have to turn that around. secondly, we have to have one income eligibility requirement. when i travel around, i see a lot of people not receiving government assistance, but they are one paycheck away from real disaster, or two. they are struggling, working as hard as they can -- they may be working two jobs. the fact is there should be equity between people receiving government assistance and though -- and those striving to live an independent life. work needs to be the single biggest requirement. no more waivers, as this a administration has done. there should be real work eligibility. that means we have to transform our education and training programs. right now, we have a skills gap. if they do not have the skills to get a job, that is the first

step. all of our workforce programs have to be revamped. certainly, education systems, as well. imagine a system where you were starting from scratch. not the one we have today. if you have the same amount money, but could deliver these programs to help people get out of poverty a different way. you would reward marriage, not penalize it. you would reward work. you would promote, in a dramatically different fashion education so that more and more , of our young people were college or career ready. only about a third of them are, it is shameful. and, training programs so that you customize it so that people achieve their dreams. those three things, plus strong which they have

discussed eloquently in their works in the last two years, that is a we need to do. shift all of this back to communities, and allow those four pillars for an upward mobile society -- a radically different education system, a focus on work, a focus on marriage because that is important, and having education system that allows people to rise up. we can make this happen. particularly when we have a president that is committed to it. the good news, and forcefully the old way has failed. , it is easier to make this case because people know this has failed. look at the number of people who are completely dependent on government they and have no hope. they cannot live life. they are creating strains for their families and themselves that is unjustified in this great country of ours. [applause] representative ryan: you made work supports an important part

of your agenda as new jersey governor. you increased your states earned income tax credit. you focused on the work first progress. tell us, what did you see? how have you been able to measure successes? how would you translate that policy at the federal level? governor christie: we have to really reward the people out there doing it. as the economy got better and more jobs were available, especially in the private sector, we wanted to encourage people to make that transition, like jeb was talking about in his answer. if you give people the choice of earning more money on the couch the getting a job, that is what people are facing now. i have individual citizens and my state say to me, it does not make any sense for me in my family. if i went and got a job, i would

make less than i would write now with all the programs put together. doubling the earned income tax credit was one of the ways of doing that. it is essentially refundable tax credit meaning that when you go to work, even if you are not paying income taxes in new jersey because your threshold is too low to pay, we are going to give you a check that based on the fact that you are earning your income and you will get a check that supplements your income from the government. it is based on the fact that you are working, you are earning your income. the gap that exists, and i hear people complain about this all the time but don't articulate it completely. they say, people are on the couch, not working, we have to change the system. you are right, but for some of those folks, they are confronted with the ugly truth that if they did get off the couch and went to work, they would make less.

representative ryan: in some cases, without it, a person would lose materially if they take the job. the eitc helps reduce that problem. governor christie: that's right. remember, our state is a very high cost state. everything is a bit more extensive than other parts in the country. this gap grows even wider in a state like mine. one of the things that we did not talk about that is a barrier that we have to address and the federal government is doing the wrong way -- dealing with drug addiction. because, drug addiction is a huge part of this debilitating cycle. when folks lose hope, a lot of them turn, out of desperation, to drugs.

then we have a situation where incarceration goes higher because of the policies of the federal government. that is why, in new jersey, one of the things we did, we said, if you are a first time nonviolent drug offender, you do not go to prison anymore. you go to mandatory inpatient drug treatment. this is the disease. if we continue to treat it where you are not a violent prison and making a profit off of it, you are an addict. if we put them in jail, and don't give them treatment, and release him from jail, and wonder why they don't get a job, they don't play a role in raising their children -- of course they don't. they are suffering from a disease that prevents them from doing it. i believe the federal government has to change its policies toward this. it has been a noble try.

it has been 30 years or so of the war on drugs. it has been focused on incarceration and enforcement. there will always be jail cells for people committing violent acts, but we need to get people who are addicts and diseased out of those jail cells and give them treatment. you cannot go to work if you cannot get out of bed in the morning. you cannot get work if you are high on heroin or cocaine. no one will hire you. it is one of those barriers. our policies of the federal government are doing nothing to deal with the real problem that we have which is people can be treated. this is the disease. we can make people better. when we do that, we do what ben was talking about which is rebuild families. when a father, a daughter, a sister, a brother comes back into a family -- you cannot calculate the positive effect that has on a family or community. we need to do more of that. that is one of the barriers of

poverty. the power to treat people, not incarcerate people. [applause] governor bush: it is an important point. 50% are incarcerated for drug offenses. not the dealing, but they use. this is an area where conservatives and the president agreed. the president's impulse is to use the clemency process. rather than engage with the speaker and the majority leader to deal with something, i think there is broad consensus on. the other point that is important is to give people a second chance. if you believe that marriage is important, and it is, and you believe that work is important, if you have a record, you cannot get a job.

increasingly, men are becoming obsolete in lower income communities. we have to make sure that they are empowered to do their job. i think that withholding adjudication as part of the element is a key element. if you are on the road to recovery, your crime, whatever it was, would be wiped out. the employment reforms that some of the larger corporations are looking at -- we have to make sure that people have access to opportunities that exist. other thing, on earned income tax credit, if you are 21-25, you cannot get it. i think the earned income tax credit needs to be extended to them. and doubling it for all single filers. back to this notion you need to , get men engaged in the workforce again.

you cannot have a society where they are obsolete. we see it play out. we see the criminal justice system be overwhelmed. this is an area where there is common ground left and right. i hope you get the president to do his job. [applause] representative ryan: i think there is a common misconception that the eitc is part of welfare. it is not. it is a milton friedman concepts. the problem, the federal level, is there is so much fraud -- we have to go after the fraud. more ofto make it something that you see in your paycheck. at the federal level it is a , lump sum at the end of the year. you do not see the seal that it makes sense to work. i am losing by going and taking this job. i think there's a lot of reform at the federal level that you

get it back to this great conservative idea, which is work pace, welfare is temporary, and when to get myself up and out of it. governor christie: one of the things we did in new jersey was an power the treasure to do a fraud investigation. we eliminated a good amount of the fraud and made an example for those who are doing it. that helped to reinforce everyone's confidence in the program. part of the deal we made was we will agree to double the eitc, but you need to agree to empower the state treasurer to give the public credit and confidence in it credit for the fact that they are willing to step up and help folks, but also confidence that we are not just throwing the money in the fireplace. senator scott: ben? mr. carson: it may not be a popular thing to say, but the

earned income tax credit, any manipulation of the tax system, for whatever good reason, i generally don't agree with. i think we need to make the income tax system very simple and extremely fair, and stop having all these different variations because -- [applause] mr. carson: what those things do, they create bureaucracy. and the need for this agency and this agency. it feeds the system. the system is already too big. we have 4.1 million federal employees. we have 645 federal agencies and set agencies. we can keep finding reasons to do more things. i think the way that we handled the situation is to begin to teach the populace that if you can stay at home and get government subsidies, or get a minimum wage job, maybe get a

little more staying at home. let's teach those people that when you go to work, you meet people, they get opportunities and they are much better off than the person sitting at home receiving those things. that is the can-do attitude that made america great, not the "what can you do" attitude that is taking us down. [applause] governor christie: i'm all for the president encouraging making work something more than just the paycheck that you get. the practical fact of the matter is when you actually look at the way these programs work and the responsibility for measuring them, the presence rhetoric is not going to make it so that someone will -- that person will not make that decision, no matter how much the president

tells them they can go up the ladder, but they say, i'm losing my apartment, i'm not going to put my children on the street. i'm not going to do that, because i'm not going to put my children on the street. we have to be practical. jeb said this before. if we started from the beginning, we could do things a lot differently. we have to be practical about this in this respect. if we say, we are not going to give people that choice, we are going to speak to them about it, and try to convince them. they will not make a choice. and we will not change what is happening in this country. i'm not saying that every one of these programs is perfect. eitc is embedded in what is already our tax system in new jersey. the bigger problem is we have to figure out a way to reverse what

this president has done over the last seven years which is to make people more comfortable on dependents. senator scott: let's stay on the topic of taxes. you talked about repatriation. you out on top of that that corporate inversions have been happening. one way to impact that is lowered the tax rate. you came up with a tax plan to do that. mr. carson: why does congress have the ability to tax? the back to history, and we see

the reason was to be able to run the government. it was not to affect people's behavior. and do the multitude of things that have resulted in a 75-80,000 page tax code. we need to get back to the basics. i want a completely flat tax. everybody pays exactly the same rate. i base that on the bible. i think god is a pretty fair guy. if you have a -- you only triple time. he did not say, if your crops fail, you do not me anything. so, everybody needs to have skin in the game, and we are compassionate. it is where the 14.9% tax kicks in. below that, you still have to pay a tax.

because everybody has to have skin in the game, and it does not make any sense to me for half the people not to pay any taxes, but have a say in how much the others pay. i want complete fairness and a system, but also no deductions and no loopholes whatsoever. people always manipulate everything to find a way to take advantage of the loophole. now, some people say it is not fair. let's say for simplest they say, you have a 10% tax, and the guy who makes $10 billion payday billion dollars and the guy who pays $10 pays one dollar. that is not fair. the guy who paid a dollars still has my million dollars left. we have to take more of his money. that is called socialism. that does not work in america. as far as i'm concerned. we do not want that.

and then there are those who say yes, but my mortgaged actions, i will lose my house. you are not thinking this through. you will have a lot more money. you don't even mortgaged section. then there will be those will say that the churches will disappear because there will not be any reason for people to -- newsflash, before 1913 with a federal income taxes imposed, there were lots of churches. there were lots of charities, all of our country. because the american people are the most generous and terrible people on the face of the earth. an incentive like that in order to be charitable. you think about what happens as this country was growing and developing, community separated by hundreds of miles, why were they able to grow and drive, because people cared about each other. a it was harvest time and half armor was in a tree picking apples and he fell out and broke his leg, everybody else pitched in.

as somebody was killed by a grizzly bear, everybody took care of his family. that is how we used to be as a society. we stay care about each other, we have to reject all of these purveyors of hatred were trying to create division amongst us. and make us think that there is a war on women and race wars and income wars and age wars. religious wars. what a bunch of crack. , -- trength our strength lies in our unity and in our compassion. we are americans and we take care of each other. and when we learn that, we will also have policies that are fair, that will not pick and choose winners and losers and that is the basis of the tax program that i came up with. >> i went to follow up on the grizzly bears. [laughter] >> i think one thing we have a

congress in the society is we have dramatically reduced death by grizzly bears. [laughter] >> there was a big mac up with are talking about which is the poverty trap. it assistance and advising people from going from welfare to work to building their lives. if you look at the marginal tax rates, the highest tax rate payer is not aaron watters and warren buffett, it is the single earning two kids, $20,000-$30,000 to want to go to work who loses $.80 on the dollar if she makes the next that because of the way the poverty trap is designed. we have to figure out how to ease that, had to reduce those barriers. even if we do that, there is a human component to this. the economics, the numbers, the math figured out, there is still this human components.

jeb bush, i want to talk on that. you mentioned corporal punishment at the liberty charter school. >> i did not participate, just for the record. >> we are not endorsing corporal punishment. >> i went to catholic grade school, junior high, i had nuns for most of my teachers. it also developed a healthy fear of nuns within me. i learned lots of lessons, lots of skills. we are talking about drug addiction. there are amazing stories out there, if you go to san antonio, and visit with patrick garcia and look at his program, which there are dozens of around america, they are going out and administering to drug addicts, particularly harrowing, getting them off the street, in the program, living with them, for months at a time and turning

them around and recidivism rates are plummeting. that is harrowing, which if you do it twice, you are hooked. there are these great stories of people actually succeeding and achieving. if they get the math in the economics right, it is the person-to-person touch. people fighting poverty, i die, sold his soul, using passion and religion,church, jack, he did this in the education component, how would ou do that as a federal -- how did the federal government to respect people? to make this kind of connections flourish? we see these things in spite of the barriers. in spite of the arrogance of washington. how do you change that so we have more of that human interaction? >> like a lot of things in the federal government, scale is the only way that you can access it. you have to hire a lobbyist. you have to have constituencies.

to the congress, or you come to the bureaucracies with scale, and you become the incumbent, and that you spend your energy protecting your franchise. not just on social service programs, but across the spectrum, that is kind of how works. disruptors,, the and the social service arena, the social service entrepreneur's have no chance. no chance. they cannot fill out all the godforsaken forms. they can have auditors. if you go to these organizations, these are people who have a spark. this is defining them. this is how they define themselves. this is they are not doing this because it is a business or an agency. or that their clients are all of this terminology that the modern bureaucratic social service industry talks. they don't talk that way. they talk about acting on their heart and helping people and

saving them in ways that are inspiring. i think the better way to do this is to shift as much power away from wall street and washington, d.c.. i'm convinced whether it is medicaid, education, job training, all of these social services, if we could start a new, and create outcome based measurements, that we would have socialmore flourishing service sector were people in the communities could be able to access some of these moneys. the other thing i would think is important -- my brother became president and said there was a faith-based initiative. it was successful, really successful i think and it did mobilize a lot of focus of turned down barriers to get some of the more grassroots organizations to get involved. it has become different now. it exists, but it is not the same. i think restoring the bottom-up approach as earth -- relates to faith and committee based organizations, to grid a place where they can ease their access into some of the moneys would be

important. [applause] >> the person injured his me today was a need a, a fabulous woman who was at one point, when she was a young adult, living in a trailer in florida. she missed two south glen and ashes a billionaire. that's not my point, the point is, -- [laughter] let me get to the question however. the fact is, her success, listening to her over the last 35 years, entrepreneurship, the ability to create and to innovate is so powerful for those of us who have been mired in poverty, looking for a way out. we look for access to credit, access to capital. today the regulatory environment has been created through. frank,

-- -- amid stories like mine far more difficult. gorilla an absolute standing on the chest of would be entrepreneurs. if you look at the poorest communities dropped the country, they lack entrepreneurs. as we fixed that? >> i see this every day as governor because we see across our state, since dodd frank was put into place, closing of communities and state-chartered banks all over. they're either closing completely are they are merging into a much bigger bank because they simply cannot keep up with the regulatory requirements and they are afraid. they are afraid now that if they make a loan, if they take a risk, that does not go well, that the regulators are going to come in and find -- find them, penalize them, audit them. bankrupt them with hiring accountants and auditors and lawyers.

so, what they did in dodd frank, again, is kind of what i said before, the federal government sees a problem and they react emotionally because they want to get on tv. then they take a meat ax to something that they don't even begin to understand or care, quite friendly. what the collateral damage is going to be. the collateral damage has been judgment or secular talking about, to businesses that already started, that are on -- and in little committees all of his country saying that they are having some success. they want to hire some more employees and open up a second shot. they need credit. they are not going to city banker j.p. morgan or wells fargo. to get it. the loans are not big enough and they are not stable enough to be able to get this place is to give them the money. this is when you go to the guy or woman down the street who runs the community bank who knows you. they like what you do. they're willing to take a risk on you, that is the way it used to be. the way it is now because of the federal government is that the

committee banker, more times than not, if they are still there, they say to the entrepreneur, listen i would love to help you, but i have these auditors and these new regulations and requirements and you do not meet all of them. so i wish you the best of luck. this is one of those either cynical and understood collateral damages from dodd frank, or the fact that they did not even read the bill probably for many of them who voted for it. and they did not understand what it was going to do. as president, i think the next president has to look at this and look at these two big to fail banks to have hundreds of billions of dollars in assets, they can comply with some of its regulation. they, by the way, were the one to created the problem in 2008 with freddie mac and fannie mae which crippled our economy. this was not a small committee bank in florida and new jersey that rate of economic crisis, but we are

creating a different kind of crisis now, which is an availability for capital. people trying to take a great idea entered into a great business. [applause] absolutely right. there's an element that is becoming more talked about in the political square and it is a serious issue, which is you cannot be an entrepreneur if you are an a community that has increasing crime rates. you cannot get insurance. you cannot start your business. people do not have confidence. we are seeing increases in crime in the urban quarters of some of our big cities that is deeply disturbing. i think that we need to have a conversation ashley about how do we support local enforcement so that they can get back to community policing because 99.99% of the time, they are protecting innocent people who feel threatened by the gangsters and by the criminals in these communities that exist. you cannot create an environment where people are going to create

jobs in the communities where unemployment rates are really high, or you permanent dependency on government unless you create a streets. [applause] we have two governors have obsolete been very involved in their states and that taken a leading role, you are in education success story in your own right, how do you, at the federal level, six this problem so that as you described, and as your mantra that you, you get people a good education. what do you think we ought to do at the federal level to respect this problem and to treat this problem? in many ways, it is the evolution of federalism, but go beyond that. that, let mewer just briefly say something about regulations. that i think most people do not recognize. all of these federal regulations come with a price. they cost us in terms of goods

of services. it is the most regressive tax. everybody has to pay it. when you go into the store to buy a box of detergent, and it has gone up $.10 because of regulations, who does that hurt? not the rich person, but the poor person. the middle class person will may be noticed when they get to the cash register and everything has gone up a little bit and they do not so good about it. in addition to stifling innovation and entrepreneurship, it is actually hurting the middle class and the poor people in our country and measurably. you have people like bernie sanders and hillary clinton who will say, it is the fault of the rich. it's not the fault of the ridge, it's the fault of the government who continues to pile these regulations on us which we all have to pay for. of educational policy and the government, the best education we have found --

and i like to base things on evidence and not on ideology -- people who are best educated, homeschoolers. best, private schoolers. charter schoolers. public schoolers. that is not to say that all public schools are back. some are outstanding. when you centralize things, you take away the ability of the

populace and this country is supposed to be of, for, by the people. that's why i think a very large number of federal programs need to be block granted back to the states at 80% and that saves us money at the federal level and we tell the states if you can administer this program and it costs you less than the amount comes you can use the rest. that's going to really incentivize them to be efficient but also make the people pay attention to what's going on and that is especially true in education and a lot of people say in the inner cities why are 50% of the kids dropping out of high school? those kids are observant and they look around and say i'm not getting educated anyway. wese are situations that

have to avoid. we only have 330 million people. we have to compete with china, india. we have to develop all of our people and for everyone of those kids we can keep them going on that path of self-destruction, that's one less person we have to be afraid of, one less person we have to pay for in the welfare system, one more productive number of society who may discover a new in -- energy source or a cure for cancer. we cannot afford to throw any of our people away. [applause] the single most instructive force for public education in this country is the teacher's union. [applause] we got a lot of reforms done. we reformed teacher tenure in new jersey.

we set up a public school choice program. we increased our charters to the largest number we had bad in history -- we have had in history. people really enjoyed it and the union felt threatened. million to the legislative democrats in my state in the year i was running for reelection because they worse -- they were concerned. million theem $20 day after i was reelected and we made no gains in the state legislature. andslative leaders came in said congratulations. no more education reform for a second term. we took the money from them. in new jersey alone, the teachers union has 200,000

members and they collect mandatory dues of $730 per person per year. that's hundred $40 million a just in new jersey a year and they pay nothing toward teacher salary, pension, health care. it's a fund to be able to award their friends. imagine that kind of force replicated in state after state yet we have all kinds of people who are for school choice and what did they pay for? whater paper that tells us been just told us. stop paying for white papers. get your hands dirty and start paying for people in office who will support the positions you have because the teachers union is a subsidiary of the

democratic party and we have seen it already. before their primary test one vote, they endorsed hillary clinton. she is bought and paid for and no changes will be made. all the things we talk about here, the politics is a large part of what's stopping this. [applause] >> we had two recall elections in wisconsin. one of those reforms try to recall our legislature, our governor, the supreme court. we have had these fights as well so we have seen them play out at the state level and i know you had a similar fight. woodson calls it

complex,ty industrial a way of saying there's a special interest at the national level that there to protect the status quo. we have 80 different programs with a huge budget and they fund the status quo, the interest groups, doing the same thing over and over and then we get the predictable results, which is why the war on poverty is a stalemate. how do you take this fight on at the national level? how do you challenge these complexes, these interest groups and succeed at the national level? >> i don't think we should try to do it at the national level. you break it down by having a president working with a reform-minded speaker convincing the senate to get it going. [applause] to say if a state wants to take its early childhood education

plan -- florida has the largest voucher program for four-year-old in the country. it helps us with our early literacy efforts. we have had the greatest gains in learning for the little guys. hispanic, african-american kids in the top five. low income kids in the top five. if the state of florida wanted to expand its program, collapse all this money, give it to the state, and hold us to account for better outcomes. you will limit the infrastructure around this money that does fight to keep this system in place. headstart is an $8,000 a year per kid number. in florida, we have better outcomes with lower cost and we should be able to have that power. we are empowering church-based

organizations. a lot of the faith-based organizations are providing the service. why would we always assume this top-downs to be a driven approach. is it essential to have this bureaucracy around had a one money? -- title i money? the department of education and tallahassee were there to fill out the forms for 10% of the money to go to education. a joke. we are not improving education because we have bureaucrats on one side with no outcome measures and no one seems to care if kids aren't learning. flip this around and focus on getting learning games. education should be about children learning, not the economic interest of the adults.

california will be the first place where this will happen. it could happen here. it could happen in florida, a lot of other places. then it becomes an example for others. >> this is where conservative principles make a difference. [applause] >> this is where they apply to this problem and make a difference. controlederalism, local . at the end of the day, what ends up happening is the left says block grants mean you don't care. they mean you're not prioritizing. they kind of say if you don't make this a national priority, a federal program, you really just don't care. has given us the results we have today. muchnts mean you care so

you want to empower people on the ground and giving them the true they need to solve the problems. money to contributing the problem from a federal level indicate not caring? this is about folks in the government who have a philosophy they get to pick the winners and losers. they could care less about success. i propose to eliminate the corporate business act. the democrats came back with an attack credit type program. they kept increasing the tax credit. i said all you're doing is illuminating the corporate tax through the back door because the more of these credits, the less corporate tax will bring in. one of the leaders said then we decide who gets the money. that is a philosophy. that's the difference.

they wanted to decide who gets what. we just wanted to be successful. i don't care whether it's someone i've never met before in my life or someone i have come i don't care if it's someone i like or don't, i was great ideas and work ethic to be rewarded in this country again. [applause] washington arein making those decisions so far aboutrom -- are making $800 per employee where the teacher is making about $50,000. aching sure we eliminate as much of the department of education as much on the federal level only means good news for students. [applause] back, youk around the see students in the front row

the sides. -- and you've done a great job of making sure k-12 sticks in a profound way. 44% of the doubts of the future will be the middle skill jobs -- jobs of the future will be the middle skill jobs. what a have a conversation about how we make sure those skills are obtained by our kids. >> when i was in high school, they used to have locational education where you could learn how to become an electrician, a plumber, welding. i was recently speaking with a ceo of a big company and he says i cannot find any welders. i would gladly pay $80,000 a year. you won't get that coming out of college in many cases.

we need to recognize there is a multitude of different talents and skills that are important to society work. you don't have to be in the house surgeon. some plumbing work done and the plumber gave him the bill and it was $2700 and the plumber said i didn't get that when i was a surgeon either. the point being there's a wide variety of different types of tolls that are necessary make a society like ours floors. we also need to be thinking about innovation in education. there are computer programs that can look at the way a kid solves

five out of the problems and it knows what they don't know and they can go back and bring them up to speed. we need to begin to take advantage of that particularly to close the gap in our stem problems. we can work on virtual classrooms where we take the very best teachers and put them in front of one million students at a time. teachers. reward good what do you get for being a good teacher? unlike in the private sector, you get more work to do. discourages them. it's a conglomeration of things we have to look at. in theze that agricultural age, we could

produce more core and wheat than anybody. youidn't matter whether could solve quadratic equations. in the industrial age, all you needed was a willingness to work. now we are in the technological age and we must adjust. they are doing all kinds of things that are very technologically oriented and we just need to take that to the next level. [applause] >> a lot of the conversations we're having relates to the -- ins and government government -- government in general is a mid 20th century organizational model and the world has dramatically changed. washington won't be a place

where these breakthroughs take systemut imagine a because we have technology to follow this where you move to a competency based model where a child reaches their ability each and every year so they could do the work and half a year to get a years worth of knowledge. they could get a degree by graduating from high school. we are holding kids back because we have a funding model based in the 1950's. 180 days you breathe in and out and you will get the money. the system is rewarded. it has nothing to do with learning. you have a system where you reward improvement where kids that struggle are not just pushed back, they have to master the material and kids who excel

can do it faster, you would deal with this learning gap for kids stuck in poverty. it from not do washington because 10% of education dollars come from washington. you have to have courageous politicians that take on this powerful economic interest of the adults. we should be funding people who have the strength and character to take on this obsolete system to liberate teachers to be able to do what they can do in harnessing technology is a key element. it will not happen i must state legislatures do it. i think about how obsolete our system is. it's the same as it was in the 19 century. one person standing in front of a whiteboard talking for 180

days when we used to have to get those kids out of school to attend the fields. if the rest of the world is spending more time in school than ours are, we need to go to that kind of model and we need to use technology more differently. think about all of us now in the age of smartphones and ipads. our children think differently. ,hen any of us have a problem when any adult has problems with their smart phone, you hand it to your 13-year-old. that's what i do. bridget is 12 years old and she has a couple buttons and says here you go, dad. their minds work differently. been exposed to something we have never been exposed to so why not use the

advantage? why are kids still carrying around 40 pound backpacks? morning when every i take them to school. the way the federal government could do it is make sure the money we are spending is to improve technology. you can download instead of outdated books three and four years old. they could download the most current material and their more comfortable working on that than they are with the books. we may feel as though the world is passing us by but it is. make sureed to do is our kids are given that technology. their minds work differently. let's adjust. and we're not compensating teachers based on their success.

we are basing it on how long they are there. we just won a case in new jersey with a teacher late to school and thes in two years school district finally fired arbitrator and the reinstated the teacher. , just onem like that example, these kids have no shot unless we have the political courage to look at these unions and say your day is over, you have failed. [applause] >> we are down to our last three minutes in this panel. it up.me for us to wrap how do we reset the expectations of the american people to look to conservatives for filing --

solving the problem of poverty? we have heard some really good ideas that will work anywhere at any time and every place in america. i think we have to be willing to go into the den of the lion. went to thewhen i national action network of al sharpton, everyone thought i was nuts. when i started talking to people about empowerment, turning your own dollars over to create wealth, about the effects of out of wedlock births, what manytion does, the contributions black people had made to america, and it up with elijah mccoy.

had so many inventions. people would say is that a mccoy? by the time i got finished, standing ovation. when we go there and we talk about what we believe, they actually resonate with it and we have to stop having this phobia. do you have much better policies than the democrats do. [applause] you have to go sell it. the good news is we have a huge opportunity here because the president's policies have failed , the social system has been torn, and now we have to act and our ideas are the best ideas. i would follow the ryan model. go listen first, go learn, develop the policies from the

bottom up and then you have a chance to lead and persuade people there's a better way because people know what we have today has failed. [applause] your question is a political question because if you don't put the political muscle behind being able to do this, you will not have the authority to govern. we have to go back to campaigning in places where we are uncomfortable. should stop going to chamber of commerce lunches. they're wonderful but we got there both for the most part -- we got their votes for the most part already. we need to go to african-american churches, into the hispanic communities. we do and make sure we go there first to listen. don't go there first with a 10 point plan. to be listened to.

listening is empowering and first we have to listen. our party has failed in going into those places because we have said we don't get instant gratification back so why go there? we narrow our site on what we can do. , they want to hear from everybody and we need to show up and campaign and places we are uncomfortable. let's hear it for jeb bush, ben carson, and chris christie. [applause] >> thank you. >> thanks a lot [speaking french.

>> of what we can foundation event in south carolina, a conversation with former arkansas governor, mike huckabee . this is about .5 minutes to -- 25 minutes. one quick announcement. there are people standing in the back but their seats in the front. there are plenty of seats. >> all the seats are on the front row. if you would please matriculate to the front, you'll find a place. stand in theu can back. mike huckabee. also is we have to bring out the next guy. we have the governor of arkansas , mike huckabee.

come join us. >> hello, mr. speaker. >> i love the title of one of your books. what are you struck the conversation with us about the road to recovery from those of us who have had to go through poverty. i feel likee things i can bring to the discussion was i grew up in poverty. i find it amazing when people talk about poor people like they

want to be. if you grow poor, i guarantee that you do not want to be that way. you never wanted people to make fun of your shoes or the fact that you had two pairs of jeans and nothing more. you did not enjoy that. you did not enjoy when your friends would talk about they went on vacation, and you never did. i did not grow up resentful. i grow optimistic and hopeful that, in america, there would still be the opportunity to get an education, work hard, and one day, enjoy more than i grew up enjoying. i believe that there is an incredible opportunity for us in this country to reclaim the spirit of america where people are rewarded for their work. when that happens, and we give them opportunity, we will see the growth of not just our economy, but of people being able to move upwardly. i think sometimes the government policies that we created are created by people who never spent a day poor. they don't understand. it is one of the reasons we need a new vision, a new approach, and is why i am so very delighted to be with the two of you today to talk about it. speaker ryan: let me ask you

this. given this arrogance, what is the biggest thing that people miss what we talk about fighting poverty? what is the biggest thing that we miss? governor huckabee: there is an industry of poverty built around the notion that, if we have organizations and advocacy groups, that will result poverty -- resolve poverty. we spent over $2 trillion and the poverty rate is pretty much the same as it was 50 years ago. we did not really do much to move the needle. part of the reason is because we did not attack some of the fundamental purposes and reasons that people cannot get out of the hole. when i was governor, and we reforms welfare in the 1990's, we were given a lot of flexibility as to how we did it. it worked because we knew our demographics, our people.

we knew that half of the people, to get them into work, the transition, that is the challenge. we did it. a lot of the programs are designed this way. if you are single mom and able to get wic, food stamps, medicaid, section eight housing, in some states, transportation assistance -- there are a host of benefits that can be tapped into. most of them are necessary for those families to survive, and some of them still have a hard time. if a parent goes to work and works at the only job for which they are qualified, which is probably a minimum wage job, and they work enough, they will work themselves right up to the threshold at which those programs to secure. work actually could totally impoverished their families where they have not enough food, no roof over their head.

people say -- i have heard it put this way, welfare mothers ought to get out and work. i think, those welfare governments are a lot smarter than the idiots in government who designed the program that punishes them for trying. what you need is a sliding scale so that you do not lose all of your benefits. speaker ryan: i agree. i think that is what we call a poverty tax which is a big tax against work. the administration has trapped more people in poverty thinking that if we treat the symptoms of poverty than the job is done, when all we are doing is trapping people in poverty. the challenge with sliding the scale down is each person is different.

there are different benefits, different situations. it is hard to come up with a one size. how do you get at that at the human, individual level so that you can always, in every person's instance, make work pay? governor huckabee: let me offer to suggestions. one is something we have done at the -- that could be at the congressional level. let these programs be managed at the state level. governors have to balance their budgets. they are close to their people. they will be held accountable for their results. they are in a position to decide what will work for their state. massachusetts and arkansas are very different. you have to let the programs be administered, and the details of the design be done as opposed to the people as possible. it is a little something called the 10t amendment. that is one thing. the reason i am a strong

proponent for the tax -- it is a tax at the point of consumption, not productivity. our tax system defies common sense. if they were, we punish them by taxing their work. if they say, we punish them by taxing their savings. and, we tax them for being good stewards of their resources because we tax their inheritance. if we tax at the point of consumption, we tax what they pay. the fair tax has an underlying principle. here is what it does. people at the bottom third of the economy are those who benefit the most.

if a person works today for eight hours, and cannot really make it on that because they are working at the factory, busting it, but cannot make it, and says, i will work double shifts, help my daughter through college. if you work a 16 hour day, you would think you would make a double paycheck, but you don't. you bump the tax bracket. the incentive is work as little as possible. it would be a powerful unlocking of the economy and you bring capital back into the united states that has been part of offshore.. 60,000 plants have closed since the year of 2000. we are talking about putting rocket fuel in the economy which is the only thing that solves the economy -- giving people jobs that pay enough money for them to survive and succeed.

[applause] speaker ryan: you see the fair tax having a positive impact on tax aversion. would you suggest that you would also eliminate the irs? governor huckabee: it is the only plan that eliminates the irs. [applause] governor huckabee: look, i'm pretty blunt. i think it is a rogue entity. in our system of jurisprudence, we are innocent until proven guilty. a presumption of innocence is ours. the burden of proof is on the

accuser. we are find and targeted at the beginning of the process, not the end. if we are found innocent, we are given our money back. if we are found guilty, we lose our money, interest, and we could go to jail. speaker ryan: i could spend 10 minutes going into the new controls that we put on the irs,

and all the strings and riders we did, but i will not spend five minutes doing that. the president said that economic inequality is the "defining challenge of our time." do you think focusing on inequality is the way to fight poverty? governor huckabee: focusing on the solution is the way to make it work. the solution is making an environment where jobs are brought back to the united states. be used to make things in this country. now we make up things -- we designed the iphone, but it is made in china. we tax capital and labor. we tax the people building something and the parts and pieces that they are building it with. if they make the same product in china, they do not tax capital and labor for items of export. they are not taxed as they are

built. we do not tax at import. the result is there is a 22% embedded cost in what we make in this country first what is made in china, mexico, or indonesia. there is no wonder that prices in america for many things are more expensive because it is inherently more expensive. the fair tax take that out. you build this chair in the carolinas where we used to build a lot of furniture, 22% of it is taxed. if you build it in china, it has a 22% advantage. both chairs are untaxed until they are purchased. now, you have an equal marketplace. if you account for cheaper labor costs, america is back in business making things. that is what built the of middle-class in this country. we will never be a great middle class without making things again. [applause] senator scott: governor, i spent some time on your website looking at how you would eradicate poverty. what you said is family would be the building block of poverty eradication?

governor huckabee: i think people think that if we had different government programs, it would do it. this is the simplest way to do it. a child born into a family were both mother and father have high school education and are gainfully employed, and remain together in a monogamous marriage and our partners for life -- the three things -- 88% chance that they will not spend a day in poverty. on the other hand, if a child grows up in a single-parent family where one or more parent has no college education, the reverse is dramatic. some of us say that marriage matters, stable marriages and

families matter -- it sounds like we are coming at it from trying to tell people how to live. it is an economic issue. you want to eliminate poverty? weekend eliminate most of it by instilling in people that it is a virtue. it is based on what this country was founded on. some things are right, virtuous. we should uphold them. we live in a culture where we uphold now that a person does not need marriage to have a child, that fathers are incidental to a strong growing up. we have to be honest. whether it is politically incorrect or not, we need to

say, that is crazy. children need mothers and fathers. they need stability. they need homes. that will do more to get them out of poverty than anything. [applause] speaker ryan: the reason we speak about family and marriage is because that is a beautiful support for that person, to teach them, to connect them, and equip them with the skills that when they grow up they have the tools to succeed. that is missing in so many parts. this is not something that just hits people of different income groups -- whether it is heroin, drugs, alcohol, it is breaking families. you have this deep history as a pastor, a man of faith, and in so many ways, there is this belief and notion that government needs to occupy the space in society that is between ourselves and government which is really where community and faith ought to occupy. we are losing that. we are losing the systems especially for people that may be suffering from a problem. give me a sense of how you think faith plays into this and how we take on this arrogant idea that government needs to crowd them out.

in a sense where a person does not have a family, how to be get them connected with the person, and how does faith play a role? governor huckabee: part of the reason i got into politics was because i wanted to take the values and insights that i learned from the experience into the political arena. i did not leave my faith behind. i brought it with me. i never exchange the capitol

dome for the steeple. we have made the huge mistake in this country of thinking that we should somehow create this huge separation between faith and government. the truth is we cannot function as a society when we divorced the sense of our fundamental judeo-christian values as the foundation of our society for this reason. we can't. [applause] governor huckabee: we were designed, as a country, because our founders understood that the best government we will ever have is not the government that we elect, it is self-government. it is when we govern ourselves to do what is right. when we don't hit people, lie to people. but we do that, we don't need a lot of government over us managing our behavior. i always said to the small government folks -- and i am one

of them -- the best way to have a small government is to have bigger hearted people who govern themselves. the more people who are self-contained, moral, virtuous people, following their faith -- i know that if you don't catch me doing something and the president doesn't catch me do something, he still does. the worst you can do to me -- i am concerned about his evaluation. here is the point. let's quit apologizing for being a country in which we have to be people that understand our basic self-centered nature. the bible would call that the sin nature. let's quit apologizing. our founders understood that if there was just one branch of government, it would get too big, corrupt, and run over people. they created three branches and one would oversee the other two. it is a brilliant system. it was designed on this notion that we cannot be left to ourselves.

we have to ultimately answer to each other, accountability, and ultimately, god. that is not something we should be ashamed of. that is who we are. senator scott: governor, we are very quickly running out of time. we have about four minutes left. you started off in sales and advertising, you became a pastor.

my mother wanted a pastor, but she got a politician. you finished being a governor. as governor, you did some radical things on sentencing reform. k talk about the policies at the state level that would set captives free. governor huckabee: helping people understand the education is a critical ticket to avoiding poverty. family matters. make it harder to get a divorce, not easier. it is easier to get out of a contract for a used car in most states than it is to get out of the marriage. the me put it this way. it is easier to get out of marriage than it is to get out of the contract for a used car. make it a little tougher to get in and even tougher to get out. we lock up a lot of people that we are mad at, rather than people be our afraid of. there are people that need to be locked up -- we are afraid of

them, they are dangerous. there are people that we lock up that economically, it is a disaster. for five dollars-six dollars per day, you could keep them in community-based assistance. in our prison system in arkansas, 80% of inmates were there because of a drug or alcohol issue. they were drunk or high when take committed the crime, or they committed the crime to get drunk or high. we have to focus on the treatment of people who have addictions, and treat them as people with addictions rather than treat them as people with criminal behavior. the criminal behavior is subsequent to the addiction. speaker ryan: this is an issue that is coming full circle. in the 1990's, we

overcompensated. no we see the devastation that has occurred. if conservatives of faith have seen how the power of redemption is so beautiful and important. the state and federal level have way overcompensated. this is an area where i think that there is a federal government over criminalizing things, and state laws have shown there is a way forward, that there is reform that works. this is an area where i think we can make a big difference and on a redemption -- honor redemption. governor huckabee: i know our time is almost gone, but let me respond to that by saying, the best way to do that is turn it loose at the state level and let them be the laboratories of democracy that they were intended to be. obamacare is a failure because it was a 50 state experiment.

all states are not the same. if we make a 50 state mistake, the whole country is messed up. let some governors take some ideas and road test them. if it doesn't work, you have not messed the whole country up in the process. the best way to do that is not punish programs that are faith-based -- whether in the prisons or poverty system. it is no way to let these programs work if you deny people of faith from participating from of faith-based perspective. government can give you a sandwich, but cannot give you a hug. quite frankly, what people need is the affirmation that as a human being they have worth and value, they are not expendable and disposable.

[applause] speaker ryan: what a beautiful sentiment to end on. ladies and gentlemen, governor huckabee. [applause] governor huckabee: i appreciate it. speaker ryan: a quick picture? governor huckabee: i get to be the meat of the sandwich. [applause] >> today, planned parenthood will endorse hillary clinton. presidentzation's joins the former secretary of state at an event in manchester,

new hampshire to make the official announcement. this is the first time the organization is endorsing a candidate during a presidential primary. you can see it live at 4:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> c-span takes you on the road to the white house. the >> at the c-span takes you to the white house. we're taking it your calls live on twitter, facebook, and by phone. at the camp foundation forum formerremarks by candidate senator lindsey graham. andr that, john kasich marco rubio. this is about one hour.

>> thank you very much. it is a great day in south carolina. we are so excited to have the foundation and everything his father did to continue on. when you talk about poverty, you have talk about solutions. republicanssaid have always thought about it but they haven't always said it and we want to talk about these things so i wanted to come out to welcome you and thank you for being here in the foundation for doing this because we think it's so important. i want to give a couple shout outs because i think it's so important. speaker ryan said when he took his leadership role, things

would change. how about the fact they repealed obamacare? was that not fantastic? who you have senator scott has been a fighter in everything they are doing but he's continuing to fight about guantanamo bay. becauseup for tim scott we need him to keep fighting for us on that front for let me talk to you about what we have done itself carolina. -- in south carolina. you're talking about people you don't always see. what we saw was a situation with know is ifnd what we you improve education, you lift we hadthings so where this situation in education we never seems to get past where we needed to go. we studied it and was started it i grew up in a small town.

now my daughter goes to river bluff high school where every smart board, a flatscreen tv, tablet. when i went back to my hometown, have theey didn't equipment to play a video on. we said that wouldn't happen anymore so we got together with our general assembly and said we would make a change and we acknowledge that for the first time, it just cost more to child in poverty so we changed the funding formula, put reading coaches in every elementary school, to knowledge he and every school and said we will no longer educate children based on where they are born, but because they deserve a good education. [applause]

we doubled down on reading coaches, continued with technology, internet inside the schools, making sure those kids have tablets and we are taking it a step forward to where we are staying in poverty-stricken areas we need to have good teachers. he will see this year we start funding a program where anyone , ifgets a teaching degree you promise to teach in a rural area for eight years, we will pay for your education. [applause] the beautiful part of all of this -- we are doing it without raising taxes. say we have to make education a priority, we have to show we care about these kids and it's not what you say, it's what you do. in south carolina, we are doing that in education.

then we saw in opportunity when people lose their jobs, when they ask for unemployment, sign up for welfare, we are missing an opportunity. when we have someone come for a job, they don't sit down and fill out paperwork to get welfare, they are in interview. we ask what is your skill set and we match them with businesses and we have taken over 25,000 people off welfare and put them to work. [applause] there is not one parent rich or poor that doesn't want their child to have a good education. there is not one person that doesn't want to be a contributing member to society. everybody want to be and have a better life. everyone wants a better life for

the children. when you have the opportunity, you have solution and when you have solutions, that's when you lift people up. taking all about opportunities and solutions and if we continue to talk about them and follow-up by acting, we will make every day a better day so thank youlina for taking the time to be here. thank you to all the candidates. now i want to talk to you about one that is no longer a presidential candidate but is a dear friend and i will tell you senator lindsey graham made us all proud and south carolina in the way he talks about foreign policy. [applause] >> i have watched senator graham

. in anyime i was with him wasation, all i had to do pick up the phone and he was always there but his brightest moment was the fight he did on foreign policy as a candidate for president. that's a conversation that will ,o on because of lindsey graham because he brought up conversations we had it talked about so help me give a warm thank you to senator lindsey graham. [applause] >> thank you [speaking french] i finally made it on the big stage. [laughter]

bad news for you is i have four hours of unused time but we can do this. number one to our governor, she give the republican response to president obama from the south carolina point of the. -- point of view. how many of you are from out of state? you want to help already? spend money while you are here. you forckly, thank coming to columbia, to all the people who sponsored this. thank you to the people who believe in early childhood education. i want to do a lot of things in terms of helping people improve their life. if you don't get out of debt, you can do none of those things. how do you get out of debt?

what i want this group to do is not only focus on how to increase the ability of every american to get out of already but to make sure we don't become grief. urge the congress to do something. get our fiscal house in order, we can't do all the good things you want to do. the baby boomer generation of -- anyone born after 64? good luck. see if not this coming together of the republican and democratic party to find a way to save medicare and social security from bankruptcy, to flatten the tax code, and put the money on debt. tonger people, you will have

work a little longer. sorry about that. level,ple at my income you might have to pay a little more, sorry about that. unplugged ask a young man alone to go overseas, i will ask these people to sacrifice too. the sooner we do it, the smaller they will be and the quicker we can get on with saving our country. have you get out of poverty? get a job. get a job that pays more than the poverty rate. how do you get a job? you have to get someone to create one. the republican and democratic party have failed in this regard.

we are not where we need to be. do you think we are winning or losing? don't you think the republican party can up our game? don't you think we can spend some money to spend on education, and it may not be traditional republican orthodoxy, but we should? do think we should make jobs better than the democrats are doing? so the bottom line is that i would like us to be better than jack kemp. [applause] to the extent: that i can as a senator in 2016. we will have a chance to start over and maybe focus on this issue in a way that we haven't done before. here are youe you ?ere

thank you to you and your family. hope and pray that the party of jack kemp will come back with a vengeance. [applause] a party is not worth its salt if it cannot help people. deal away you can get out of debt and end party is for both parties to work together. [applause] lindsey graham: i don't know how to do it either without bipartisanship. and tim scott is the next jack

kemp. are tryingm and paul to do with our party and everybody wanting to be president for the most part are here today. that tells you the power of the kemp name of the power of the idea of trying to solve a problem. we has republicans have a problem, demographically. lowernot do well with -income americans because they think the republican party doesn't have their interests at heart. our democratic friends do very well, electorally, but the bottom line is that both parties are failing. so what i would like to do as a republican is to convince every american that cares about poverty that we also care. but it is not enough to care. you have to actually do something. and here is what i want to leave you with. if it takes me working with a

debt,at to get us out of i will do my part. [applause] if it takes me working with a democrat to create an agenda that will create jobs that don't exist a day and provide education for those that are lacking, i will do my part -- exist today and provide education for those that are lacking, i will do my part. [applause] lindsey graham: we are about to have an election, as you can tell. i want to make sure that everyone who is running for president of the united states to make sure that they are challenged by you so that they can do their part. it will be impossible to solve these be problems -- these big problems without strong presidential leadership. choose wisely. welcome to south carolina. [applause]

>> everybody -- [applause] >> whew! this has been a fantastic conversation, has it not this has been a fantastic ?onversation, has it not absolutely. >> what all the people who play for the green bay packers football please raise your hand? how many green bay packers fans are in the house? how many dallas cowboys fans are ?n the house

mr. ryan: we are going to keep this conversation going, so please, give everyone a hand. [applause] paul ryan: we are excited about this because now you've got two

parties in this game competing for ideas and how to fix this thing. restoreng is, how do we this american idea that everybody in this country can make it? how do we treat these problems to the root problems. the two of you have taken a lot of leadership roles in this. taking thehave been leadership role in the senate, and john, let's just start this off. john kasich: i think the message hewith jack, it is what always talked about.

i served with jack and i had a great time with him and it is it that you have to have an attitude were everybody has to have an opportunity to rise. so, you know, let's just take a couple of issues, like criminal justice reform. we give judges more discretion now based upon a what a person did. let's talk about banning the box. paul ryan: explain the box. you were a felon and you apply for a job and they say, here is your application, check the box if you were a felon, and so they take that application and they throw it in the trash. also happenanctions where if you have in fact committed a crime and you have been rehabilitated, you can find a way back and you can get a job in many professions where you are not permitted to get one. we have also enforce the jobs in ohio because we want minorities to develop entre newer ships -- entre

>> we will do everything we can so they have a say were that road goes, so they don't get atked off three we performed the schools with an african democrat mayor, and other schools are working better. that was a big lift. all these things, and many more. we have programs to rehab people on drugs. we have moved our addiction services into the prisons, and into the community where they are supervised. the recidivism rate is better. time, our recidivism rate in the presence is half the national average.

but gang bangers that caused trouble in the prisons, we will throw away the key. but we tried to give people opportunities. people who are 50, we have adult education programs. we have new programs, if you are likely to be a dropout, we will have an education path for you where you will not drop out. in the schools, we try to educate people for jobs, not educate them in a vacuum. in this city, many more things. we are now integrating developmentally disabled into the workforce. we get them into hospital settings, a grocery, a walmart, or wherever they can perform. so they can feel like their life has meaning. the list goes on and on. it is an attitude of economic growth. when you are growing, everyone has to feel as though they have a chance to rise.

a rising tide does lift. welfare reform, you see caseworkers, more than in a hospital. we have narrowed the caseworker to one very we invite businesses into the welfare office. when you are getting your aid, we will also train you. because the person with the job is sitting next to you. it is also an opportunity for people to do better. it is a sin not to help people who need help. it is equally a sin to continue to help people who need to learn how to help themselves. that is the motto we follow. [applause] marco, you have a tremendous life story. i have respect for your past three sometimes, people believe that we don't know any poor people. i go home to my family, walk

into a neighborhood, mired in poverty. what i see in neighborhoods when a visit my grandfather every week, it is not request for up, forit is a leg education and training. to empower the individual. >> that is why it is so important the republican party has candidates running for office who had fathers who were mailmen, and mine, a bartender. because it is one thing to read about these things, but another to live with them. it is important. john kasich just describe the things they are doing in the state. one thing i hope to do is take --

>> marco, you did a flex fund program. you're taking this issue on quite a bit. getting them back to the states so we can have flex funds. that is similar to the opportunity grant we made proposals for. tell us how i flex fund works. you turn the money over to state and local communities. it will never, from the federal government. you know that only at the state level are you going to get the kind of innovation that we see described here today in ohio and other states across the country. >> when you went to college in the 70's, it was always nice for a nice protest. [laughter] [applause] i thought about handling it

the way another candidate does, but thought better of that. [applause] [laughter] what, on television this morning -- >> we have 41 minutes people that can tolerate differences and respect people. partys not the republican . back to marco. >> if i could take a step back for a moment. the reason i love free enterprises because it is only economic model in the history of the world where you can make more people richer without making rich people poor. er.

in a free enterprise economy, if there is poverty, it is because there is an impediment to allowing free enterprise to work in people's lives. fund and thety flex fund we have talked about is designed to help area if you are a child born into a broken family, and unstable home in a unsafe neighborhood with a failing school, where most people are the dealers and poor role models, you have a lot against you. unless something dramatic happens to shakeup that dynamic, statistics say he will struggle to get ahead. we need to break that model. think you'll ever get that in the federal government. there is no way the federal government can combine innovative programs to assist the entire country. it behooves us to say we care about poverty, and we care so much, we will make the funds available to those of their who know how to make it work at the

state and local level. this depends on where you are in life. students,ntraditional and we talked about job training. people in her 20's and 30's, take for example a single mother who makes $10 per hour, raising two kids on her own. the only way she can get a raise -- i am going to keep talking through it -- the only way she can get a raise is if she goes back to school, and get a degree so she can get a job that pays more. what is the impediment? , orschool is it expensive it takes place during the day when she has to work. , i know mayben is it is jarring to the audience, the question is, what is the proper role of the federal government? is it to respect individuals, respect

communities, civil society, state and local governments and provide resources? when we talk to governors about block rents, and senators about getting resources back to the community, that does not mean we care less. that does not mean we don't have ideas. it means, what we are trying to do is liberate people who are there fighting poverty, with the power to do it and make affects. are you trying to have resources, but not command-and-control? want to allow the american economy to be the most powerful in the world. the jobs created here create wealth. we are focused on eradicating poverty. we treat the symptoms of poverty, the pain of it, but we do not cure poverty in america today with these federal programs. the goal is to ensure that those

funds are given to those entities at the state and local poverty,at will stop so people can get the better paying jobs to create a more dynamic economy. >> let me give you an example. firstinvolved in the welfare reform bill in congress all, you realize, there are people on government assistance that cannot take a pay raise because they will lose more than what they gain. you take a woman offered a pay raise, and that is why we are raising our threshold so that when a woman makes more money, she does not lose her childcare. we need to have a system that encourages people to work their way up. let me give you another one. under the work requirement, most people know, if you were on work release, you have to work 30 hours a week of you are able-bodied.

but we want education opportunity in there. if you can be trained, it should work toward your work requirements. but we need permission to do that. to me, that is absurd. welfareshove the programs back to the states with guard rails on them. you can't take medicaid money from the poor and spend it on the highways. you need the flexibility to take it a long way. i got to tell you marco, in the old days when we were balancing budgets, we have another program and the federal government that i think works, but we have to clear that out. that is the earned income tax credit. allows people at the bottom to earn more money and have an incentive. they have a higher marginal rate than those were at the top. we have to make sure that we have the incentive for people to rise, and i put them in a position that when they go to work and lose more than what they gain, and they think the

system is terrible. giving the states more flexibility and having a leader, whoever that leader is, who will share with people around the country those efforts that are anlly working to get people opportunity and begin to lift them out of poverty. rate,hest marginal tax isn't warren buffett, isn't aaron rodgers, it is people losing $.80 on the dollar if they take a step forward. it is a huge disincentive to work. why take the risk if you're losing so much? >> if you call the welfare department in washington, you will get voicemail. ohio, justvernor of give me my program and let me run. don't hold me accountable for not spending money that it was not designed to do.

all of us are for it. [applause] >> one of the major impediments to seeing the eradication of poverty happens in our tax code. it is complicated. i'm a big believer, if you have to have more entrepreneuris, how do we get there? >> we have to make the tax code assembler. llc, tax corporation, you're paying on your personal rate, which could be substantially higher than what a corporation is paying. we should have a flat rate of 25% irrespective of how you are organized. do second thing we have to -- [laughter] >> we are going to enforce our immigration laws. [applause]

>> you're on a roll, keep going. >> you have to allow businesses to expand every thing they invest in their business. a big business can afford to write that off, but a smaller starting business, the ability to fully write off that expense is critical to their survival and ability to move forward. that will make america a better place for people to invest.

>> the tax credit is pro-work, it allows hard-working families to keep more of what they earned. isht now, raising a family very expensive. the most important job any of us will have is as a parent. i want our tax code to reflect that. i call for an increase in child care tax spending. >> first of all, anymore protesters out there? [laughter] disrupting, you just turn everyone against you. thank you all very much. [applause] >> i think there are a couple other things. job creation is based on the certainty.

if you have a rickety financial system, businesses say, what will happen to me? if you have taxes going up, businesses say what will that mean for me? regulation is what kills all businesses. we are in danger because of. frank.-dodd we left cheers because everyone knew our name, that is what we want in a bank, we want them to know our names, but we have to take risks. these small businesses are like a gentle orchid. if you stomp on them, you destroy the opportunity to get a job. our small businesses are providing jobs for families, they are heroes. need to freeze all federal regulations for a year, and then review them all and get rid of the ones that don't work. we do that in ohio right now.

congress should be voting on this stuff. i don't understand how the bureaucracy can keep putting this off. found a way, teaming up with the house and the senate, they have creaky rules with the filibusters, you and i worked on it in the early days, to get around that filibuster. we will have an epa vote, another vote coming up, they will probably veto them, but we will show where we stand on regulations. >> regulation is critical. businesstax any small in ohio. we nurture our small businesses. marco is right, nurturing that corporate rate and personal rate , i like 28. i think that makes sense. that helps small businesses. the other elements, you have to get fiscal control. if you don't have a rocksolid fiscal policy, they will not

invest. tax, andegulatory fiscal policy that makes sense. that allows investors to say ok, i will create another job or start a business. those are the three things i think are critical. >> let's go to the personal, human level once more. people facing problem, it is not a one size, fit all set. these are two of some of the major problems that people of all walks ofnds, life, are facing, and it becomes an enormous barrier. what you did as governor, tell us what you did and what we should do on the issues of mental illness and drug wow, thatjohn kasich: is a lot.

[laughter] but i will, i will. on mental illness, they would have support at the local level, and we didn't do it. it is absolutely immoral that we locked up the bipolar and the schizophrenics. so what we are doing is that we have both the resources at the community level and the state to work on helping these people and help them to not go into prison. for those people who are addicted, we have been working on this for six years. we are making sure that we are able to monitor the amount of prescriptions that are being delivered. from prescribers, we can face it -- trace it to a board and i mean, treating people in the prisons and getting them out and getting them into the community, i mean, there we have less than a 20% recidivism rate, and that is miraculous.

and we are all paying for this at a higher price because when people go into the emergency room, they are sicker and it is more expensive. poor, thethe working drug addicted, the mentally ill, these are issues where people are living in the shadows. i would like to think like jack are alive,hen we everybody has a shot. that has to communicate to everybody's heart. we are really about people, paul, i and i know is where your heart is, and marco. [applause] part of the foundation, honestly. marco: we can't catch a break, man. [laughter] >> part of this is making sure that kids have access to good quality education and the big question is, how do we get there?

in the federal government, there are fewer opportunities for kids in america. how do we reverse that? we don't need a national school board. we need to do things at the state and local level. [applause] marco rubio: the second i would in is the great justices and america today, and that is that poor people can't go to school. rich people pay for their school, the upper-middle-class send their skin -- their kids to school. many people across this country have aggressively pursue this and parents want to put their children in the best situation possible. one thing that i want to do is to create the equivalent of what we have in florida which is the or print scholarship program. youreu of paying part of tax liability to the federal government, you can donate it to a not-for-profit, faith-based,

educational organization so their parents can put them through school. yelling]r [indiscernible] >> i think that is important as well. we have a lot of folks today who are going through the k-12 education system who wants to go to college. we have others who are on that skill track who want to immediately get into the workforce. subsequently, we have had a lot of suggests -- a lot of success. dual track is important. south carolina is a state where high-tech manufacturing is alive and it is well. for lotus came to south carolina. bmw just came to the coast. just camet -- volvo to south carolina. bmw just came to the coast. ecedesities bends -- mer

benz just came to south carolina as well. marco rubio: are for people that year.to make $50,000 a [applause] sen. rubio: and many other school districts are doing a ood job of providing that and some don't have that. i think if you're a student and old and , 16 years you've decided i want to be a welder, a car technician, airplane mechanic and there isn't a program available for you to do it, i want to open up pel grant so you can use it to go to high school in the morning and the local community college in the afternoon and acquire skill, and when you graduate, you're not just getting a high school diploma, you are plumber, to work as a a welder, a pipe fitter. [applause] gov. kasich: we've lowered vocational education to the seventh grade. it's already done in our state. and secondly, i have to tell

you, we also have to pay ttention to early childhood education. we can't have people who are can'tely poor, where they have the kind of development in their brains that they need, because as we all know, if they don't get it as they get older, they lose the capacity to do as do.l as they can so early childhood education, vocational education. but here's another thing. we need to raise the standards of our guidance counselors so hey actually guide students, and they're not involved in just monitoring the gym or the cafeteria. finally, marco, i think it should be done across the country. jobs in he in-demand our state. and what we need is we need to training and re educating people k-12 for the jobs that exist. and you know, in the old days, you can get a high school education, and if you didn't do it very well, you can get a job or a chemical plant or something and make, you or $55,000 and support your family.

those jobs don't exist. is going to ystem have to produce students who have the skills for the 21st century jobs. now, that's not something that, you know, a federal government something , but it's that every school district needs to do. and in addition to all of that, mentoring nleashed a program. and you e a business, were involved in a faith-based or value-based organization and you take over a school from the standpoint of mentoring a child, a 3:1 mattch. why does that matter? in the businesses they have gone in and mentored, they have a 97% graduation rate, mentoring and encouraging children of all absolutely s is critical. > three principles we as conservatives talk about and act on that are sorely needed here, sm.ber 1, federali the constitution, power back to

the states in localities so that government close to the people can govern best and that's something we're talking about clearly, with what you're and your out in ohio flex grant. second one is customize. individual persons have different or problems, so customize, aid or support their particular need. a liberal progressivist that.sophy can't accept it doesn't comport. view.contrary to that the third one we talk about, we practice that in our economics philosophy, but our social philosophy is how do we measure outcomes? the entire -wire system from an input-based effort measurement system, how spending, how we many programs are we creating, to focus on results. nd one of the things i think we've learned as i traveled the country and many people have one this is, you also have to break up these local government monopolies. a lot of states you go to benefit at welfare

the county welfare agency and that's the only game in town. if you go to say catholic harities or lutheran social services or the city of anaccostia in washington d.c. or look at how america works in ilwaukee, a for-profit institution, they're in the business of providing this wholistic support that's ustomizing it, and they're competing based on results with that local county welfare agency. they're competing. provision of the services so that it's if you exceed, getting better results, getting them out of poverty, tracking do good.n you if you don't, just rubber people through the system, they go out of business. principle pply that to this space? gov. kasich: what we've done is taken our welfare operation and put it into job training.

we're moving them all into one when you are hat dependent -- now, look, some you know, ple, as tim, need to get up to a benchmark. here are people who don't know how to set an alarm, get them up for work. we have to get them to a then ark where they can perform and then what we want to do is make sure we combine both he assistance with the requirement, the tough requirement, that you have to come and get trained. if you're able-bodied, we're not going to put up with this if you're just going to walk away. very s is amazing and a comprehensive reform in the state. it's funny, we're making good it, but some of the welfare departments don't want to do it, and i'm telling them, look, if you don't want to do this, i'll just turn around and or i'll turn it over to another county which really gets their attention. that we need people get skills, help skills out, help skills grow. that's to me the best way to do it, and paul, your idea

of -- any idea is acceptable in the 21st century. sen. rubio: the first point, the more money you spend on it, that's the more you care because you spend more money on it. the purpose is not to spend more money, although it may take more money. it purpose is, what is doing? is it solving the underlying problem? which goes back to the point i safety net ur program. our safety net does not cure poverty. it treats the pain and symptoms of poverty, but it does not cure it. the only cure for poverty is a we need to job and have programs to allow people the skills and opportunity they need for the better-paying job. the second thing is the answer doesn't always lie in a overnment agency and i think that's what john was talking about, opening up these funds and these programs for innovative for program that is can provide solutions for the particular problem. this is a huge impediment in education. today, you can only get a four-year degree by an

accrediting college accredited by six boards in america. high-quality of learning programs that you can learn in a self directed way. you can get credit through what you've earned through work experience, military experience, self directed online course work. you should be able to direct all that learning into the degree or of a certificate program and what's standing in the way of it is an and out-moded model. >> this is our challenge. this is what i see as the fight hat's coming, because we are going to engage without principles and offer better ideas in the way forward and actually he code, cause of the raoot poverty, the war on poverty. complex, ty industrial the accreditation. what do you think, marco, is key to taking on these monopolies, decentralizing power, and injecting competition for results so that we actually can this code?

sen. rubio: i think it begins y convincing people that you actually care about what they're going through. the other side, what they're going to say, the republicans and the conservatives will look to gut the program. they don't want to fund our particular agency the way it's been funded traditionally. that means they don't care about people like you. that's why the work you've done, you've done tim and john and what we're doing today is so critical. if you don't talk about what through, they ng think you don't care about them. it begins with acknowledging that we do have a problem in america, there are people being left behind and we want to fix that problem because we can't be the great country we are destined to continue to be if we don't solve that problem with a significant percentage of the american families being left behind, but the reason why we're changing it is because what work. doing now doesn't it isn't working. what we're doing now is leaving people behind. what we're doing now is trapping people, what we're doing now is condemning a seven-year-old child to not be able to break the cycle of poverty they inherited from their parents and grandparents because they are condemned to fail in schools, because of all the underlying

issues in their lives are not oftentimes by , government monopolies that only care about existing for the purpose of themselves, for existing and perpetuating the current status quo so it won't be easy. nytime you take on an established status quo program or anything for that matter, it is a hard fight and a fight we must have, because america is special because it is a nation where everyone can go as far as their talent and work will take them. if we lose that, we stop being a special country. [cheering] gov. kasich: i've got to tell you, paul, it's interesting. i think, marco, you're right. you have to establish the credibility. all of the efforts we've made not just to grow the economy, but to make sure that people don't get left behind. so i was unveiling my tax cut plan in my last budget. you know why i did it? at an annual meeting of the community action agencies. agencies nity action are not normally a place where republicans go to announce tax cuts, but what

i've told them is i've helped you, but you've got to understand, we've got to create jobs. i've got a tax cut plan i and improve raise the economy and will create jobs and i expect you to support it, and they did. did.hey so i think that when you have results and you show people that you care, people are willing to change. changes.willing to make bureaucracy is another deal, and sometimes you've just got to and disenfranchise them. give them a chance, but if they then you to change, don't have any choice. >> this is a lot of warheads in my opinion. there has to be a philosophical country about where we are in to country and how we give the next levels of opportunity in this nation. many believe that the federal overnment is the first place you go to when you're in need go and the last place to we have debates about what should the minimum wage be? when we have those debates, the

poorest workers lose when you increase that minimum wage. you're looking forward good job without the access to the skill set that you typically get in vel job, you're stuck. you're taking rungs out of the it makes the ladder so it even more difficult to climb up the ladder. sen. rubio: that's exactly right. the first thing we have to explain and be very clear about where ant a country everyone has a chance, without any outside interference, has a chance to go as far as their talent and work will take them. the impediments people face with that is different and we have to address those different issues. one of them in skills. automation, the minimum wage is a threat to jobs because if you make a person than a machine, you accelerate automation. fast-food changes will be fully auto mated at some point. making that happen faster. the jobs to build those machines you have to e but have skills. if you have to a community

college system or technical career system that is training people for those new skills, they are going to be left behind and that's what we're facing dramatic the transformation of our economy. we are not just living through an economic downturn. through an g economic transformation on overty, except it's happening every five years instead of 100 years. equip people with the skills they need in the new economy, they'll be left behind. e have a retirement system designed in the 30s, higher education designed in the 50s, poverty program in the 60s, energy policies from the 70s and nothing looks like it did five years ago, we have an outmoded, outdated government and a government left that is more interested in protecting the status quo than addressing the challenges of the 21st century. that's a huge issue in this campaign. . pplause] rep. ryan: one of the things i

found so profound, going out, using like my mom says, i've got two ears, one mouth, use them in that proportion. going out, watching people struggle, listening to what they've done and what some of 's the videos you'll see, these ncredible stories of people overcoming major adversity, and that's the best lesson there is, seeing what other people have as policy r job makers is to get behind them so that we can empower more of this. who is a person that you know hard times, that was in destitution, that went through a struggle, and that really succeeded, that really flourished, that found the potential? who is the person you know that did that, and why do you think make it? ble to gov. kasich: i just have two in new hampshire, marco. one, i went to this forum on drug addiction. in 1998 or 1999, i don't book called rote a "courage is contagious." and it

extraordinary f people who do extraordinary things. one of the people in the book was a young lady who went to the university and i met her at the university. she and her mother lived in a ar and her mother was an addict. and i met her at princeton. apply even know how you to princeton when you're living in a car because you're her.less, and i hadn't seen she had traveled with me on a book tour. i hadn't seen her in 20 years. new hampshire. she's now running one of the national anti-drug programs in america, and then the other day, a woman who had been human trafficked, she busted out of it, she's now running a human trafficking on the national level in new hampshire. what happened? lord's got a lot of miracles, and we're not running out of them. there's one out there for somebody else. so it's determination, it's grip, it's not allowing yourself as a victim,

right? when we were kids, our parents aught us, when you get knocked down, you get back up again. all four of us sitting up here operate under that philosophy, but there's also this -- i happen to believe that the power of faith really makes a difference, that you are created purpose, that you -- that the lord expects you to carry out a mission to help heal the world. and when i looked at these two women, i mean, they're miracles, and i pointed to everybody in the room, you look at this. if you don't believe in miracles, if you don't believe in the power of the lord, look at these peoples' lives, and they're very inspiring, paul, but the stories go on and on and always great to put them together and tell people are they can be what they meant to be, and it raises all of our games and gives us hope and grip and ion love. sen. rubio: in the course of my life and campaign, i've reacted

with so many parents and family neighborhood, and sports teams that have faced xtraordinary challenges, and people that have worked for me. the one story i always tell, it influenced me and happens to be very close. it was a long time ago but i think it still speaks to the promise of america. both my parents were born in cuba. my father on his ninth birthday, his father died. so he had to stop going to work at nine years of age. the bottom line is he never went work o school and would for the next 70 years of his life. parents came here with barely a chance. they arrived, didn't speak the language, didn't know anyone. had no education beyond what an havanaear-old learned in in the 1930s and '40s, and this was hard. instant success for them. they struggled, they would take any job they could find, but they just persevered.

let me tell you what happened less than 10 years later. my father worked his way up to being a banquet bartender on miami beach. my mother was a cashier at a hotel, a maid at a hotel in las vegas, and my parents were never rich, never famous. you would have never heard about them if i had not run for office and told this story, but my parents were sugar successful, a bartender ng as and a maid, a few decades removed from that particular circumstance, they owned a home in a stable neighborhood. they both retired with security children better off than themselves and the thing i love about this country this is the only place in the world where they ever could have done that. and number 2, it is the story of millions of people, including people sitting here today, including up here on the stage right now. generation or two away from that story and that's what makes us different and that's what we're at risk of losing. if we ever lose that, we stop being an exceptional country. we all experience that.

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we have about 22 seconds left. >> i will say we've worn out the protesters. sen. rubio: they have 16 seconds left. sen. scott: let's not encourage them. [laughter] you guys have been a fantastic audience. john kasich for and marco rubio. [applause]

joeollowing the panels, the panel. co-hosts among the participants were paul ryan and bob woodson. and the president of the american enterprise institute. this is just under an hour. >> okay. this is going to be great, and we're certainly hopeful that this will show up on morning joe next week. we're thrilled to have joe

scarborough and minket from msnbc's morning joe. come on, let's go! >> thank you for having us. >> thank you so much. >> it's a great honor to be here. you know, mika, it's a big deal is here because usually on saturday afternoons n new york city, she's usually speaking to the young marxist league up there. mika: i was wondering where you were going. >> it's where i was going. mika: i'm glad to be here, i have to say. i was sitting in the back listening to this, and this is a republican party that could win the white house. [applause]

interesting, being a republican sitting back there other members o of the national press, a lot of people saying, we haven't heard this so much in 2015. but it is really, really impressive, and it's really the reason why i know you all became conservatives, why a lot of you became republicans. the reason i did was because of because ke jack kemp, of people like ronald reagan, and what's so inspiring listening to this and listening to speaker ryan -- by the way, does that sound? speaker ryan. applause] when i first got to congress, and i don't know if you guys knew that i was in congress. to congress, ot little paul ryan was 23 years old, and he was a staffer who was helping a group of us called the new federalists, who were

trying to abolish four federal i can s, and yes, remember what the four federal agencies were, and i was firstsed with the guy the day. and so to turn on the tv set and our republican party has paul ryan as speaker is a very, very exciting -- mika: and he still looks 23. joe: he still looks 23, by the way. mika: you, on the other hand. joe: you know, i'm getting old. a little hag art because i've got to work besides her every day. joking with you. but you know, the thing about paul and the thing about jack people, these are the along with so many others that have been up here today who made me a republican, because they didn't believe that we were or 53%.to 47% ronald reagan believed and paul yan believes, and jack kemp believed that what we believe is

of just relevant to 47% americans. it's relevant to 100% of not cans, and that it's ust as relevant to a 17-year-old latino working in south-central l.a. as a 65-year-old hedge fund manager h, connecticut. it's more relevant! is 100% of eve i'm sons, and that's why honored to be here with you guys mika is so honored to be here and listen to this side of the republican party that can take back the white house and will take back the white house. mika, why don't we introduce our esteemed panel. mika: we'll start with paul ryan, speaker of the house, opportunity he

lives series. joe: no beard michlt paul, you're there. paul ryan is with us. founder and son, president for the senator for neighborhood enterprise known as the godfather on the movement to empower neighborhood-based organizations, and arford brooks, president of the american enterprise institute. by the alling this, way -- we're going to be calling this what we learned today, so joe, take it away. joe: i want to start with what mika told me as we were you guys, listening to you moderate several of these panels. a democrat.m this republican party could win the white house going away. talk about that. nd why we don't see that every day. rep. ryan: well, hopefully, you'll see it more and more and more, because we have our country locked in a very bad rajectory, and we're on the

wrong track. people in poverty, more ersistent poverty, a weak economy. and i won't get into all of the issues, but if we don't have a inspiring, clusive, exciting majoritarian republican party, we will not be able to on these partys and get us the right track. joe: a party as you always say has to be for something, not against something. rep. ryan: that's right. joe: so what are we for? what have we learned today? . rep. ryan: what we're learning today is that we're not just an a osition party, we're proposition party. what we learned today -- and this really shouldn't be about party. by the way, wouldn't you, if you were a person, wouldn't you like have both parties compete for your vote no matter who you are, where you live, no matter what zip code in america? i mean -- [applause]. joe: so you're trying to tell me there's help even for mika? rep. ryan: there's help even

for mika. without being partisan, i think alternative, an and i think we have ideas for principles that offer better solutions and i think we need to talk about those solutions, and the other thing we need to do, my friend told me, we need to listen. we need to go experience, see what people are experiencing, learn, and when we find good ideas and great success stories, back them. get behind them. empower them and take those lessons and effect them as policy makers and that's what this is all about. joe: so bob, how do we take hat we hear today, what we learn from think tanks, what we debate on college campuses and apply it to the realities and peoples' fference in lives? bob: first of all, we've got to do what paul and others said. we've got to go and listen. the wall street journal is here. the last presidential election, candidate visited any

counties 100 poorest in the country. paul changed that. to go and portant listen but also we should stop distinguishing ourselves by what we're against. people are not motivated to change by always reminding them of injuries to be avoided. we should also go among the poor and deal with not what people don't have, but what's left. look at the capacity of the poor. go in and ask not how many people in these low-income neighborhoods that are raising children, that are dropping out of jail and on drugs, but how many are raising children that are not dropping out of school or in jail or on drugs. they are the real source of new knowledge and innovation about how to address poverty. you what, i tell what we've seen in harlem at a schools from rter

a lot of the students, is of extraordinary. mika: it is. and when you look at the victories that are possible, avoid the ot to systemic problems, from the jail system to other problems especially pertaining to race even that are holding americans back. arthur, can you talk a little bit on that? arthur: yeah, it's pretty encouraging for these families. by the way, great job, paul. ev bus seriously, keeping the tenor up, it's great. a guy who runs a think tank, this is extremely encouraging and i'm really optimistic, but through else comes when we're talking about these ideas. it's clear that paul and tim and they go beyonds, just the what of trying to figure out what we need to do bout poverty, not just, okay, the expansion of the earned income tax credit, something like this, what we started to ear a little bit is an

optimistic philosophy about the bob just ople mentioned this. it's very important to go where the poor people are and talk to them as brothers and sisters, to see them as people. what's happening is interesting. when i was a child from then until now, over the war on metastisis of big government programs, that are less material poverty, but more dependency, something bad for the soul. started to seeve poor people as liabilities to e nage, and that's a terribl thing. if anybody doesn't want to feel like a -- we're assets. every single one of us has our oar in the water and we deserve o be part of the american family and be part of the progress and part of the of us.ns that affect all

joe: whether it's the national media, whether it's on the floor of the house or the senate or whether it's from the white house, success is always easured by spending more money and government programs. more moneyntry spend per student than any other country on the planet. e spend more money per a hospital patient than any nation we failednet, and yet miserably. how do we move beyond the the politicians in washington d.c., as measuring uccess by just pouring more money into failing systems. mr. brooks: you don't measure the input in terms of welfare systems. you measure the impact in peoples' lives. the conservative movement has always been about impact and seeing the results of things. the problem is that the movement has not been involved enough in poverty and has given the entire territory over to the left.

the left, generally speaking, measures how much money you spend and the input. about the impact. what do you expect if we give all the territory on poverty over to the last. they'll waste three generations of poor peoples' lives. thiss why we have to be in game. when we go out of here, look, this is a real challenge. of here sometime in the next day or two days or weeks, we're going to be confronted with actual poor people. what do we take away from this? ibilitywer is our respons as conservatives to remember that the reason for the free enterprise system is to help poor people more. levels of for higher education and good family values and the faith that we have in we can help people who need us more. that's the kind of impact we can have. mentality that we need to bring the policy into life. policy.bring back the [applause]. joe: let me ask you this, bob, in bringing back the policy, we

enterpriset the free system, and everybody thinks about how the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, the system is rigged against not only the poorest middle class americans. mr woodson: i think as conservatives, we've got to take esponsibility for our contributions to that carecature of us. been on all, we have the forefront of, like everyone else, and that is harvesting the failures of the poor and we have on it, and created a commodity on the poor, where 70 cents of every dollar goes not to the poor, but those who serve for a people, they ask not for the problems solvable but fundable. you go to a republican-run state and mocratically-run state see the difference in how we treat the poor. there are structural easons -- when you create a commodity, it means that people them.t from serving

so we have professional people depend come and careers upon other people being dependent, and they are conservative as well. why what we've got to talk about is how do we structurally give the authority to the poor themselves, and leadership in these communities hat paul visited, they are the ones who should be running these that.ams, but i don't see bill bennett said it. he said when liberals look at of poor, they see a sea victims. when conservatives look at the aliens.hey see a sea of you've o, mr. speaker, been in this first hand and have so many ideas, and yet one of is a little bit about the government having too much -- sometimes maybe need to et out of the way, but isn't that you at this point? rep. ryan: i never really looked at it like that, and i still don't. i always see myself fighting it.

i think when you go back at the macro level and you see this 50-year experiment of this war on poverty, 80 programs, a the philosophy behind that was, this is such a priority, it's so big, we're washington.ke it in we're going to create this bureaucracy, and we're going to have this program, and then we're going to have all this stuff, and we lose smart experts out there that are going to figure out how to do all of this. that's basically the governing philosophy that's taken over our federal government. and what it does is it ignores the individual. it ignores how people in the are, and it actually cries out, like i said before, that space between ourselves and he government, where we actually live our lives. it crowds out our communities, our civil society. it crowds out our opportunities. tell me any taxpayer out there poverty, isn't your problem, you know, just pay your taxes, the government has got

this taken care of, don't worry about it. that is wrong, and that is basically what we've said and done the last 50 years. so what we're trying to do is break this up. i think that philosophy, as well intended as it may be, is paternalistic. i think it's condescending and rrogant, and it ignores the fact that in our communities are the answers. with people are the answers. person's you look at a problem in poverty, sometimes it's materialistic. sometimes you've just lost a job and need a new one. that's what economic growth fixes, but a lot so much problems are deeper than that, and it requires another person to help them, or a group of people to help them. some bureaucrat in washington isn't that answer. so how do we break up this government monopoly, re-engage the citizenry, reignite the people, eache, all and every one of us, have a role to play in our communities, and how do we revive civil society and stop government from

displacing it? the way i argue about it is, this is not a budget-cutting exercise. money.e same amount of it should be a life-saving exercise, and that means the overnment can provide resources. it can be the supply lines, but it should not be the front lines in the war on poverty. people, communities, churches, civic groups, you name it, lines and the t kind of attitude i think we have have. [applause] joe: so arthur, let me ask you, we've got a lot of presidential candidates come on stage. mika and i interviewed some of afterwards, and what's the one thing you would poverty? t what's the big idea? because you know, there are only so many things that you can prioritize when you step into you're speaker of the house. if you're the next president or of the house, what would you tell them to get together on, and what's the big poorest among e

us? mr. brooks: the most important thing to be thinking about about when you're talking people who are poor in america today, is work. it's always work. funny, there are two kinds of people, the people who believe that work is a blessing, and people who think that work is a p.m p.m. -- punishment. you've got to figure out which ones we are. on the left, you have all kinds stamps.e on food and that's not a punishment. and on the right, i'm going to ock it to them with work requirements. this is a mistake. we need policies and a philosophy that says, you know, look -- and let me go all "think tank" on you. there are four sources of happiness, faith, family, community and work. those are the four things in all that give us happiness. are the poor different? no, they're us. this is what we're all built on, if you look at the foundations of the constitution,

founding documents, and basically, do you know what they're saying? that the pursuit of happiness. who's it for? it's for the riffraff that were coming into this country. are? ow who the riffraff us. we're just ambitious riffraff. hat's what america is all about. that's the beauty of it. and if we can't see that faith, family, community, and especially work are the basis of a happy life for poor people just as they are for us, then we're treating them as the other, and that's the basis of our problems. all public policy, all philosophy, has to start with the idea of the meaning of good work. mr woodson: well, i reject the answer hat work is the for poverty. it's the answer for the first two categories of poverty, those who are just broke. the factories are closed but intact.haracter is but the people in category 4 who are poor because of moral failings. they have moral failings. they're drug addicts, prostitutes, engaging in

predatory lifestyles. a job for people like that is not available to them, so what they need is transformation. we need to acknowledge that people have character deficits, but that does not mean because they do, they can't be redeemed. paul has been around this ountry with people who have specialized in bringing about major redemption and ransformation of some of these very broken people only after they have gone through a process of transformation and redemption, can they take a job but a ning or anything, job does not create redemption in a person. so what we need to do is provide the resources in those low-income neighborhoods to those indigenous leaders that ave demonstrated they have their ability to be moral mentors and character coaches, and we need to empower them and, herefore, attach resources and

opportunity to a process of personal redemption and transformation. joe: so give us the four -- mr woodson: there's four categories. there are people who are just broke. they lost their job, factories moved out. are the poor people who character is intact but as you said, they look at the disincentives to work and, therefore, they make a decision to withdraw from those because hard.rice is too category 3 would be people who are physically or mentally disabled. e need to find a way to take care of them. category 4 is the poor person ho's poor because they engaged in risky behavior. they are the ones that are filling the jails, and they are the ones committing the crime. the people that the center for neighborhood enterprise serves and the people you met are the people who specialize in category 4. they're in some of the most drug-infested crime-ridden neighborhoods, and they have created islands of excellence in these neighborhoods. when jack kemp helped us, public

housing, resident management. us 10 years, jack helped generate within the crime in public housing, they drilled out the drug dealers, sent 600 kids hrough college and yet not one researcher from left or right ver came in that community to examine what these did to help. joe: talk about that. talk about what jack kemp did in moralg you in finding the leaders, that could help make a eally strong leadership role and make a difference in that community. mr woodson: well, first of all, and it e at a time, wasn't politically expedient for him to do so. all the friends, say why do you care about this, they don't vote for us. but jack was a man of principle. he said as paul ryan did, when i to go on why he wanted this tour. he said because i'm deeply concerned about this nation.

he used his did, to listenle celebrity to the grass roots leaders. he traveled with me as paul has housing.ublic he said, bob, i'm willing to sponsor legislation. i can get you 100 republicans if i get me one democrat, and recruited walter fontray, who co-sponsored seven amendments of 93-0housing act, and we won in the senate and over 400 in the house. [applause] and ronald reagan signed it into t w, myself and six residen leaders. i thought the republican party was on its way to redemption itself. but what they did was they walked away from it. whining back to just and complaining about what the left is doing.

and paul is so encouraged ecause i think he has done the same thing. he has visited more low-income, high-flying neighborhoods than caucus er of the black even. and so he's -- what he's doing, he went there and said, i don't want any press. but once he's there, i said to explain, e got you've got to show what he saw. i keep expecting him to blow up in the community, as a celebrity, and walk away from it. but he has not done that the way the other republicans -- rep. ryan: when i worked with him, he was such a diva. arthur was talking about how republicans and conservatives other than jack yourself, it failed miserably. in focusing on the truly

isadvantaged, how are you getting the message back to your brothers and sisters in the caucus about how important this issue is, not for moral al game but for a responsibility? rep. ryan: we have a moral obligation. most of us are driven to that by our faith. but even still, if you take a look at this country, how so many it is, how people are slipping through the we were raised to think this american idea was beautiful, successful, and everyone can get it, but there are so many people who just on't buy that anymore, for if that's now and what is continued on, we'll become france without an america it up. got to say recently, the french have wondered why been here.n't

see the french jokes don't work anymore with barack obama as president. rep. ryan: the reason i wanted to go learn after elections, to out press, was just experience and to learn and to see if the party of kemp and the arty of reagan can take the same principles, the same principles, which is what we all purported to believe in and see them on display, see them being driven and put into place and receive the results, and then at if we can go apply them large and get all conservatives to do so, and that's what we're if we cando here, and succeed in doing that, and have a conversation in this country where we truly offer the country forward, a real agenda, it is based on these rinciples, then the way i see it is we can give the people of this country the choice, what kind of country do you want. what do you want us to be? we shouldn't be sitting here trying to cut deals in ashington and just going to their lowest common denominator. if we really think we're on the wrong track, which we do, then

we have to snap ourselves out of that and say here's what this new track looks like, and you that if you're leaving the poor behind. you can't reignite the american idea, economic growth, prosperity, if we continue to let people slip through the cracks and the point he's making about all the various types of poverty, some of it is really deep and very intractable, that's the one we should focus ones we have to get our minds around and what we learned is our policies and principles are perfect and empower because they those who are on the ground doing it. . pplause] joe: arthur, i think it was 1979, i was in northwest florida nd finished watching the atlanta falcons lose another football game on cbs. and i was walking away from the a tease for saw "60 minutes" and it was about

and guy named jack kemp, they were talking about how in 980, who knows maybe he could be a force in presidential politics, and i stopped and watched him, and i was transfixed. "60 minutes" h, was right. the guy transformed republican 30 tics for the next 25, years. could you talk in closing about how jack kemp is relevant not only to our movement and to our arty, but to our country in 2016? mr. brooks: yeah, thanks for asking that question about the great jack kemp. look, just talking about politics here for a second, we're talking about things that are bigger. we're talking about the moral imperative of helping our sisters, talking about politics here for a second. is this orientation helpful? going to helpoing the republican party? there's data on this, my

friends. [applause] you are right in your hearts, because here's how it works. that if conservatives capture the traits that are ypically associated with liberals, empathy and compassion, that fact will swing independent persuadable voters by 10 percentage points to the right. that can something win. it's the only thing that will. it's written on your heart and will win the election and the country will come back to onservative ideas and we'll be able to help those people. you've got to be a warrior for this stuff. emember jack kemp, not just because what he did was right. in the first vote for republican ticket, i ever cast was in 1996, because jack kemp was on that ticket. ooh, that's what i think, right. e get to do that again and win to boot, but we've got to do it god her and thavrpg thank for paul ryan michlt so bob, our final thoughts on why it's

important. joe: first of all, can you believe what a walk he is, he reduced compassion to a percentage. i'm very impressed because i'm not good with numbers. i went to the university of alabama, you know. but then again, when you go to alabama, you don't have to be good at math, because every year, we only have to count to . mber 1 mika: oh, my gosh. how many times have i heard that. joe: yeah. hearts.ss your poor things. mika: you don't need to dance now. joe: oh, no, i'm not dancing. mika: so bob, final thoughts on legacy.p's r woodson: for one thing, a really close relationship, i loved to say to jack when he said head secretary, i when you go to chicago, you on't go to kuwanis, you go to public housing where they have the signs up. ou invite liberal mayors

because they've never been there. jack would do that and they were came.assed but always also, if you look back, there was no protest against jack, because when he came to boston, a group of people came on a bus. stopped them hers as they were pulling up and said no, you all have got to get out of here. because jack had that kind of elationship that he was never picket picketed. every time he gave testimony, he would see all brown and black faces because we would fill the room three hours before jack would testify. every time you see jack testify, you would see faces of every kind. my point is, when you show up for grass roots are leaders, they are not sunny-day friends. they will show up for you. and jack had a passionate me people,ong low-inco because he was the kind of them, that showed up for and they showed up for him.

mika: beautiful. made aou know, paul ryan became nt when he speaker of the house, and i was one of a thousand people, a he ion people praying that would become speaker of the house, and he said, i'm going to ut my family first and i don't think i can be speaker while putting my family first. he somehow figured out how to do it, but he told the republican it, but i will o be home every weekend, with my children. i want you guys to know, this is he one saturday in a year that paul hasn't been home with his family, because that's what jack kemp means to him, and i want close by talking about jack kemp's legacy, not for the next but 40 years.

rep. ryan: well, i've got to go catch a flight home in a minute [laughter] mika: sorry. rep. ryan: the jack kemp is who public service. he's the one who inspired me by taking these beautiful principl liberty, s, freedom, free enterprise, consent to govern, the american idea in the natural god-given rights. these things were written on paper and our founding. what jack kemp did to me, personally, is breathe life into them, to see what they looked feel.to see how they to see how they're actually still as relevant today as ever before. and more important than that, he breathed life into everybody. he would go into inner cities and talk about limited government and free enterprise and how it was uplifting and how it made a difference and could help the country. so jack kemp took our party and edited it to ronald reagan's a security was agenda at the time and gave us

reaganomics, gave us a majority inclusive party, and it is that that , that belief, thusiasm, that infectious enthusiasm that got me where i am and got me into this in the first place. mika: arthur brooks, bob woodson, speaker paul ryan, thank you very much. . pplause] mika: thanks so much. thank you very much. we'd love to do anything we can you.lp here.ve more to do we have another panel, very distinguished. guest.ght know our next you just might know him, senator tim scott, co-moderator of the forum, grew up in a poor single-parent household in north in the u.s. erved house from 2011 to 2013, tim

scott. middle.in the [applause] watts, from ca southeast washington d.c., grew up in gang violence, lost two brothers, two boyfriends, and many friends and neighbors to violence. she got involved with an antigang nonprofit and became the first college graduate in her family. also, we have president of the jack kemp.s son of got to say, ve mika, weave begun this forum problem.erious we cannot move forward until we resolve the crisis of monday night. alabama or clemson. senator, you have the floor. thank you very much. i realize you're from alabama and they had a group alabama song today. "roll tide" is not the one they

were singing. "sweet-home alabama" because when it's over, the only place that will be left is sweet home alabama because clemson is going to win by two touchdowns. [applause] out dirtka: starting out dirt. sen. scott: i believe in miracles. joe: your story is story dinary, and it's a that, unfortunately, my party, your party hasn't heard enough about. talk about the challenges that the republican party has, to the truly disadvantaged. are it feel like we listening, we don't care, we don't have solutions. there aren't enough midst.mps in our >> the reason i'm so compassionate about it, i've seen it first hand. as a kid struggling in high

school, flunking out as a fresh man, needing a conservative mentor, john ran the local chick-fil-a, comes into my life and teaching me about dreaming the american dream, being an employer, not just an employee. that all resonated in me and helped focus my energy in a positive way. what we as republicans need to do is get out of our house, out drive in, walk into neighborhoods where they're desperate for hope. we found in the last seven years, is that if you're desperate for hope, the federal government has not served you well. he policies have been an abysmal failure for people trapped in poverty and it's time for the leaders to take a stand. it will work every single time. by the way, chick-fil-a, they finally got one in manhattan. i've got to tell you, my

southern children have never been happier. but you have proven that all chick-fil-a. at mika: monica, we would love if you could share your story. certainly, a very tough road, especially in the beginning, right? the atts: yes, like majority of most frican-americans, have come from are family housing and have faced similar issues as me. i was homeless. my mother and father was crack addicts so a came from an addict family in the home, so a dysfunctional environment. when you come from that type of environment, the community is forced to raise and you guide you to the right direction and should act. they condition your mind and say this is the way you should be in the what you see community. as role models and community leaderships that actually got me to the next step get to know people who put me in position where i

can be able to help and reach my capacity. so i really thank the people i and came contact with into my community in the programs and assisted me to be the best i can. >> how many kids in your family? ms. watts: seven kids by my parents. two of my brothers passed away now. ne of my brothers is on his 12th year of a murder charge. two of my sisters were arrested and locked up. my last sister, i don't know here she's at, because she was arrested in louisiana. mika: so how were you able to break through? able to get to a point in your life where you're from college, where you're looking at a future? ms. watts: basically believing in something higher than yourself or an individual, and coming into contact with people motivate you, can rememberi

encourage you and don't let you down when you make a mistake, pushing you, ntly even when you fall and make a mistake. mere's genuine people around and helped me be the person i am today. >> i met monica through ron moaten, one of the poverty some rs who has received notoriety, but ron is on the streets engaging young people who think that nobody cares about them, and i think that's what the discussion was about today, is how we make sure that we're empowering the folks who are on the ground and who are able to love when we know that love.nment can't and so ron moten, vesting on as well, has given monica a better opportunity than had, and this kemp forum is a big event. we're thrilled with it. we've done other kemp forums on

we have been in southeast dc, and had a conversation with them. talking about police-community relations. that's the front lines of african-americans who come across police. what a difficult job police officers have. those are clearly complicated relationships. when something goes wrong we have a lot of problems. we need to have conversations. i know governor casey kasem a lot in ohio talking about how to manage some of those challenges. they had some unfortunate incidents that had similar reactions. here in south carolina with governor haley, and her leadership, that makes it difference. mr. scarborough: how do we do in washington dc? how do you guys do in congress? like jimmy did, getting republicans, democrats together. finding common ground and making progress on these issues.

senator scott: there is a reason to be hopeful. there is a silver lining. we found some common ground in on some very important issues. one of the important issues is really on criminal justice reform. we have seen outside groups from the koch brothers to the heritage foundation to the aclu and the naacp. they are holding hands and that is a miracle working on criminal justice reform. you have senators, people on the far right, cruz, and people working with people on the far left. we found some common ground. it's just not celebrated very often. another place is on apprenticeship programs. if we want to put people to work and they have graduated, we will have to help people create incentives to hire folks so they can earn and learn the skills necessary to be productive and

having a successful life. ms. brzezenski: are you working now? ms. watts: i am currently a mental health counselor in south carolina. i am still looking for a better job with a better pay and south carolina. [applause] mr. scarborough: if -- mr. kemp: i would like to ask her what she thought of today. we heard a lot of candidates talking about issues. that does not happen often enough. what did you think? ms. watts: i think it was very impressive for you to point out that the system was not working and that you're now looking for a way to fix it and rebuild it. acknowledging the fact it was not working and you are able to come up with the system and listen and understand ways to make the system better and able to work for america as a whole. mr. scarborough: talk about

today. i want to follow up what i said at the very beginning. we watched a lot of this roof over started interviewing the candidates. mika was blown away by this republican party, by this group of conservatives talking about poverty. real conversations we don't seem to be getting on the presidential campaign. was that part of the goal of this? if it was, did you accomplish it and how you continue after today to spread the message across the country? mr. kemp: i appreciate you two being here. it's important to have this civil competition of ideas. i know we're the number one trending twitter hashtag. people will know about this. thanks to senator scott and speaker ryan.

we don't want to just do it -- we did invite the democratic candidates to come this evening and they were not able to join us. we had to democratic moderators. we will try to do something with the democrats down the road. i would love to do this with democrats and republicans. wouldn't it be incredible to see that civil competition of ideas? [applause] that is with the country wants to hear. mr. scarborough: john kasich said it here. we have got to do that. one party, one governing philosophy cannot fix the problem. your dad knew that better than anybody. mr. kemp: the best line he misappropriated and credited to president lincoln was you serve your party best when you serve your country first. [applause] mr. kemp: i think we saw a bunch of national political leaders

who embody that phrase and want to put america first and they recognize that the american idea is not a reality if in our inner cities where young people like monica are coming out, if they don't have a chance, if we can't help people like ron motton who are helping, the american idea is not a reality. connecting all these dots is what we want to do with our forums and political party. mr. scarborough: there is such a disconnect from what we see every day on the campaign trail and what we are hearing in this forum. and another thing i said was one when we were coming here, you are going to be seen. the cream of the crop. this is the part of the republican party that is not

against something. that is for something. that wants to make a difference in the country. talk about how discouraging it is to watch the presidential campaign, to listen to the negativity. how do you break through that? senator scott: fear sells. what we have seen is the selling of fear. easy to harness, easy to identify, and is very easy to divide our country into little fiefdoms. that's a challenge we have to overcome. today, we overcame that. today we saw candidates on the stage -- [applause] -- who are all competing for the exact same job giving deference to other people's ideas. i have posted 12 these candidates for president here over the last several months. as individuals drilling down into the issues, you get a

richer response and a more thorough response to the questions when you have a one-on-one. it's as if in the middle of the debate you put red meat on the floor, but they are tearing each other apart to get to it. what monica said that was so important and it reinforces what paul said on the stage, speaker ryan. you have two ears and one mouth. go into the communities and listen. she didn't say anything about the government and her response to the question about how did you get here. it did not include the government. it's not that the government cannot play some role in the process. mr. scarborough: there is a place for the government obviously. senator scott: i have two pages of solutions we heard today. earned income tax credit to eliminating the burden some regulations of dodd frank, charter schools, criminal justice reform, mental health, drug addiction. -- if you start with solutions

, you repel people. if you start with people, you attract solutions. that is what we have to do. [applause] ms. brzezenski: i think as an aside is the odds you lived against. monica, now you have a college degree and you want an advanced degree. you are looking for a better job. that comes from the concept of today and ron's inspiration and also from you. you are amazing [applause] we have a lot of kids. we have kids that come through and work for us and cannot do half of what you have done. there is something really, really incredible that you should take ownership of for sure. what an incredible story. mr. kemp: there are lots of people out there. wherever we come from on the scale, each of us needs love and investment. one of the greatest points my dad ever made was what arthur

says. he talked about people being our greatest resources. that is something we have to embrace, and it is difficult. we all know how much challenge we face ourselves in ourselves. in this country you are given a chance to be free and engage the world around you and make decisions. the last thing i would say is something i said earlier about the quality of political leaders. there is such disdain for washington. when you get to know your leaders and you actually hear them interact and talk, they are extraordinary people who are motivated by public service. each of us is called to serve so each of us should play our part to get involved.

senator scott is such an incredible example. it is great to have speaker ryan. having an african american republican senator in congress is a wonderful thing. he does not lead with that. and we have two. there is senator booker. it should not be such an anomaly , but we are proud to have senator tim scott serving the state of south carolina. [applause] mr. scarborough: senator, i would love to close with you chanting "roll tide" as loud as you can. after that, with the kemp family here, and when i say that i'm talking about all of us. ms. brzezenski: pretty good. mr. scarborough: mrs. kemp and the children and grandchildren,

kemp'slk about jack killed costs legacy in 2016 about how it lives on with you and so many of us. and what the best thing we can do is move forward as we leave this place today to make sure it continues living on for the next generation. with a bit of a revival. senator scott: we are in need of a revival. can somebody say amen. i will tell you, and you can get involved at thekempforum.com and become opportunity voters. one of the things i realized 20 years ago this year, in 1996 my dream came true. bob dole was running for president. he was looking for someone to provide inspiration and hope to the country. he leaned over and chose your dad. and i was excited because the one thing i knew about jack kemp

was he loved with a colorblind kind of love. i saw it on the football field when he was playing. i saw it in politics. and when i grew up in politics i wanted to be like jack because he had a compassion for people , but he had in mind for policy and numbers. it was not one or the other. it was fusing the two together. today, for america to be great is not for the republican party to be great. it's for the american country, the u.s. to be great. that requires real leadership. [applause] senator scott: for all of us, if paul was still here, i would say wisconsinites, for all of us kempites, it's important for us to feel and think. monica is a classic example of who we should follow in the direction of the kemp legacy. let's start there.

ms. brzezenski: senator scott, monica watts, jimmy kemp. thank you very much. [applause] ms. brzezenski: thank you. mr. scarborough: let's get a picture real quick. right here. [applause] ms. brzezenski: thank you so much. great job. are you all right? mr. scarborough: thank you guys so much. senator scott: how many of you guys have had a great day? a wonderful day. [applause] scarborough: just remain standing and let me say at the center for south carolina is been my privilege to serve the citizens of south carolina. senator scott: it's been an amazing privilege to have presidential candidates come back to our state and talk about the issues that truly motivate people to listen. if we have people listening, they will be informed. if they are informed, they are educated. if they are educated, they will make the best decisions for the future of our country.

i believe that 2016 will be a pivotal and defining year for the nation. let's make good choices by being opportunity voters. god bless you and enjoy the rest of your day. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> previews of the new hampshire primary and the caucuses. the latest political developments from new hampshire. -- chris galdieri looks of the profile of new hampshire voters. dford wills gol

preview the iowa caucuses for democrats and republicans. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal live at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> students around the country are working on c-span student cam documentary contest, telling us the issues they want the candidates to discuss. the social media we are following students as they produce their videos. here is a tweet from indiana. can a very fort wayne it could students were excited to hear real ben carson address gun control. the patrolled eastern middle interviewed former attorney general eric holder for their c-span video project. also, presented of john shimkus i was interviewed by students for their c-span project.

is $100,000 in prizes with a grand prize of $5,000. the deadline is january 20, 2016. more information, visit our website. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] >> now donald trump speaks at a campaign rally in clear lake, iowa. range of issues including foreign policy, national security, and gun ownership rights. iowa holds the first in the nation caucus february 1. r playing] ♪e tigee

>> latest gentlemen, please welcome the next president of the united states, donald trump. ♪ >> beautiful, thank you very much. we have had so much fun, i love iowa. said we areve just even. will we are winning every single national poll in every state paul, but that is not going to happen here, right?

even is no good. i have a feeling we will surprise a lot of people on february 1. a lot of people will be surprised, i have very little doubt about it. they had record crowds, but usually people are sitting. i want to thank you. our country is in very serious trouble, a meta-what aspect of our country you look at whether it is the military -- the general just recently when he left said in terms of preparedness we have ever been. i think he said since inception. let's take a back to world war ii, or world war i. we can't do that. military.rengthen our i will build our military bigger

and better and stronger than ever before. bigger and better and stronger. [applause] hopefully, nobody is what a mess with us. in many ways, that is the cheapest thing you can do. instead of ending up in these protracted wars, i city generals always being interviewed on gender vision -- television. do you think general patton went on television? they get interviewed, they say what we are going to do, how we are going to do it. i saw one of the generals recently, nice guy, nice guy, he is saying how tough isis is. can you imagine, the enemy is watching this. they are saying -- is this what we're fighting? not going to happen anymore, folks. there going to have toughest, smartest people.

by the way, i never mentioned the military without mentioning the fact that our vets will be treated with grace. they will be treated great. they are not treated right. we have illegal immigrants treated better in many cases. it is not going to happen anymore. the veterans administration is a mess. it is corrupt, it is run poorly. our veterans are going to be treated well. put it down and guarantee it. it is going to happen. one other thing i have to say, there has been talk that i was going to go in the back of the pack. not going to happen. this has been a great tradition. people talk about putting iowa -- then you won't see me as much. that will be terrible. and i will not see you. it is not the same thing. iowa will remain where it is. it will