and next to me is tom donnelly, resident knell at aei and the co-director of our marilyn ware center. we're going to try to have a bit of a conversation although because we have three microphones apparently from the year 1974, that may be a little bit difficult. but i know that you'll be patient with us as we try and go back and forth a little bit and make it a little bit more lively for you. it'll keep you awake and, perhaps, keep us awake as well if we jump back and forth and talk about the issues facing us in national security or, and we will top about half an hour from the end and open it up to questions from everybody. because we don't just have a hill audience today, we're going to talkless in shorthand about some of the issues that are familiar to all of you, sequestration, things we can refer to in this a word. i'm going to ask my colleagues to be a little more fulsome in describing them just so we can have a complete discussion with the rest of the world who watches this on streaming video. in any case, we have the state of the union address coming up soon. i suspect much lik

it is one of the few events that we do with only aei scholars, although i am very happy to be together with them. i will lay out for you what the other events are at the end of the session. but let the let me introduce the folks that are here with me at the table. first on the far left, so to speak, it is such a stock joke, i'm sorry. [laughter] on the far left is a resident scholar who specializes in japan. he does a lot of work on the pacific and air power as well. next to him is fred kagan, the christopher gibson chair and tom donnelly, the codirector of the maryland where center for security studies. we are going to try to have a discussion with these microphones from the 1970s. we will try to make a little bit more lively for you. it will keep you and us awake. we will talk about issues that are facing us in national security and we will stop about half hour early and open things up to westerns from everybody. because we don't just have a hill audience today, but also an audience on the outside, we are going to talk more about the issues that i suspect are very familiar to all of

this got a terrific event at aei cop watching "zero dark 30" with the cia. it's not part of the series, but a national security event. with that, let me thank all of you and we are closed. thanks. hot mark hot mark >> the ambassador at large for human trafficking at today's modern-day slavery. during the symposium on trafficking earlier this week. it's about 25 minutes. >> when you start by saying how grateful i had to be here to speak today. i wish i could have been in the audience all day because of the lineup was very formidable i hope i'm not going to be too repetitive of folks. if i am repetitive, think of it as an indication on how her whole of government approach and the obama administration is working because we are saying the same things. some contradictory to what the folks at doj or dhs and other parts of government, then we'll talk later the notion of lifting a thousand voices and having innovation. either way i hope will be covered. i want to thank the dean. carol lancaster has been a real supporter of the work, not just through vital voices and

. >> the biggest problem right now is the additional speech that came out that aei and nro highlighted but to jimmy's point, his performance was -- >> can i just read this? i want to read this to my pal ari how who is out there. just off the presses, he gave a speech to the american object institute, james zogby. i do not think he's a bad guy but that institute is highly anti-israel, always has been anti-israel and i reckon it always will. to top that off, they found out today, could have been yesterday, that chuck hagel running for president years ago, god forbid, at rutgers gave a speech where he said that the state department is an adjunct of the israeli foreign office. now come on. this guy cannot take his foot out of his mouth for the last ten years. that's the problem, ari. i agree with you. presidents deserve their cabinet choices but every once in a while you get a clunker like a john tower or somebody like that. this guy hagel is our current day john tower. >> i think we should stand up for the security of our allies, including israel, but he's not running to be and he's not a

. >> he went over to the aei, the number one war center, this is totally neocon. your thoughts.his is hopeless. i thought he'd admit the truth here today. >> it was a bit jarring to hear some of that coming from eric cantor who has been a warrior. >> hasn't he been the guy standing behind boehner's back waiting to trip him over because he's been too moderate? >> no question. he's been standing off center stage waiting for his opportunity to become speaker. i thought that there was a lot of practicality in the speech but i didn't think there were really big ideas. i think -- >> it was like sundries and notions in a drugstore. little items, like telling colleges they got to tell people what employment prospects there are for english majors. what's that about? cantor -- let's take a look. he took a approach that the university education should be more like a vocational school, a tech school, a school you can learn a trade and make a living. like i don't know. he suggested kids be told by colleges what majors earn the most money so families make better choices. let's listen. talk ab

within republican party that may make them john heilemann more amenable because you saw eric cantor at aei make a speech in which he talked about a whole series of issues that he thought the republicans had to be more attuned to the voters in terms of how they viewed social and economic issue. >> well i mean charlie, look you think about the coalition the president put together in 2012. it's the coalition of the ascendant forces it's minorities and college educated white minute and ma lineal voters. those are the groups that are expanding and they are the part that at least in peedual elections right now democrats are dominating. what the president's trying to do going forward is to solidify that political coalition, make it an n during one. the democrats can build off for years to come. the republicans sees that's a huge problem for them. the democrats could be a national dominant national governing party even if they're not necessarily dominant at the congressional level or in large parts of the country. and you see republicans reacting to that. so marco rubio moving on immigration. chri

not the party much the 53% or the party of the elite, whether that's outreach eric cantor style at aeider, gentler proposal for the gop. the shadow of romney actually looms quite large over the republican party. >> i think that's absolutely right. first, i want to say this network owes romney a royalty for the number of times we have shown him sing oig america the beautiful." is it the golf clap? the irony is that mitt romney who had been the moderate politician in the past actually stuck the party with a real problem by going too far to the right on some of the most basic issues of equality and inequality. >> self-deportation. >> self-deportation. i hope he has a good sense. george mcgovern, after he lost in 1972, appeared before a group, and he said i wanted to run for president in the worst way, and i did. >> that's very good sfwloosh my dad worked on that campaign. is there anything mitt romney could do to burnish his image on the national stage? >> he seems to be flailing. he seems to not know what it is he wants to do. i'm glad he has found more gainful employment than prank call

it is great to be here at aei. i'll tell you, i'm an admirer of, arthur of what you do. because you have done so much to, i think, put in to context what it means to be a conservative and how conservative policies actually help people. and i do think that your insight and commitment in this has only begun to reap rewards. we look forward to continuing with the fight with you to make a better life for all. thank you very much for hosting this today. you know, in washington over the past few months, our attention has been on cliffs and debt ceils, debt ceilings, budget, and negotiation. all is extremely important. i don't think there's in i substitute for getting the fiscal house in order. there's no greater moral imperative than to reduce the mountain of debt that is facing us, our children, and theirs. our house republican majority stands ready for the president and his party to join us and actually tackling the big problems facing this country. but today i'd like to focus on what lice beyond the fiscal debate. over the next two years, our house majority will pursue an a

we'll get reading from leading economist phillip swagel from aei next.urope is on edge, bracing for the results of italy's critical election. the winner right now is anybody's guess. so how will it impact the debt crisis across europe? global finance expert and spotlight ideas managing partner steven pope is our special guest from london straight ahead. tracy: gas prices surging nearly 50 cents a gallon last month. is the national average headed to $4 a gallon? we're looking for answers. i know i certainly am, coming up. ashley: first, breaking news for you on a reported merger in office retail. "the wall street journal" reporting that officemax and office depot are in talks to join forces. sources say the talks are fluid. shares are up nicely in the past year. you want to watch those names at your market option. you were noting officemax up 87% over the last year. office depot up 41%. big movers in the stock, talking about getting together. keep and eye on that. get ready for the most overlooked tax whopper. it is in president obama's health care law. i

he cuts of his leadership in the last quarter century and transforming aei where he was president and ceo to the most prominent public policy institute in the world we now recognize him as a giant in the industry. i'm delighted to introduce him as the moderator of our panel. thank you so much for being here. [applause] [applause] >> thank you margaret. this wonderful evening is all you're doing. i speak for everyone present an offering profound gratitude for your generosity, grace, care and intensity of purpose that have brought us all together. [laughter] and we extend hearty thanks and congratulations to jim billington, roberta schaefer and their colleagues at the library of congress for undertaking to preserve tom's papers for posterity. politics consists of the competition of interests and the competition of ideas. among interests, the advantage lies with those that have already got themselves politically entrenched, farmers, teachers, retirees. among ideasthe ideas, the advantage lies with those that mobilize tangible constituencie, homeownership, too big to fail finance. new int

senators rubio and widened have a proposal that they unveiled right here at aei itch addresses this goal. and i look forward to working with them, along with chairman john klein in pursue legislative action in the house. over the course of this congress would also want to work to inform our student a process because students give big financial incentive to finish their studies center. will encourage entrepreneurship in college education, including for-profit schools, and we will fix the we subsidize education by making the cause more transparent to parents, students, and the millions of taxpayers who help at some of the bills. we owe it to them. now, a good education leads to more innovation. and throughout our history american colleges and universities have served as a cornerstone for the world's innovation. they are a big part of why the u.s. remains the destination for the world's vest and brightest. investment in education leads to innovation, which leads to more opportunity, and jobs for all. our problem, the investment we make is not yielding the maximum return. each year our colle

aim pleased to welcome eric cantor to aei today to make a speech entitled,making life work. an ordinary introduction would chronicle eric's incredible political rear and rise to majority leader and talk about his legislative accomplishments, but eric's career is not a collection of accomplishments. it's a long-term effort to make a better, fairer, country for all americans. eric is someone who regularly pauses to remember the why of public policy, valuing justice for all, protecting the vulnerable, and fighting against class divisions in american life. he cares about freedom and opportunity because he knows they lead to a happier, more prosperous life for more people. he cares about those being left behind by failing schools. people looking for work and not finding it. people who face barriers to starting businesses and building a better life. eric canner to knows between each legislation is an american or someone who wants to become an american. here's the around i admire eric the most. he fights for everyone, whether they're going to vote for him or not. and we're very hon

these are the kinds of things that i'll be talking about today at aei to fry and make life work againr, is this a situation where you feel like you have to explain how your policies actually play out on american families? this sounds like the kinder, gentler gop. because when people start hearing all this talk about budget cutting, sometimes their eyes glaze over because it's just numbers. and you're probably in a situation where you've gotten a lot of pressure from the president who has said this is not the way the american people want to go. is this a plan to try and take back that debate? >> i do think there are some lessons to be learned from the last election. and i think that we have been steadfast in our commitment to the principles of limited government and free enterprise and faith in the individual, accountability in government. but somehow i believe that we've got to finish or complete the sentence, if you will. we've got to democrat trait why we're for the things that we're for. just as i spoke at the school yesterday, i'm a parent. i have three college-age kids. one that'

aey want to know if you're politician that they like. tweeting pictures of your dog and talking about your family have all become part of the way that we communicate with voters. i cannot underestimate the amount of change that has brought on the way that we do campaigns. he used to be your introductory was whenever they decided to run second ad. videos and communication and tweets and text messages and stuff that was not part of the political culture six years ago. that has changed the way we do these campaigns and the way we expand the electorate. i knew that barack obama was going to be a big deal in 2007 because my brother called me up and said, "i heard about this guy with his funny name and he sounds cool." he read about him on the internet. he went out and register to vote. the possibilities are endless. expanding the electorate goes in every direction in every state and we will continue to do it. >> it is not just changing the way we campaign but the way we govern. you see the way the president reaches out to the american people