in the next debate, jack kemp and al gore. verybody assumed, and every pundit in the world wrote that oh, well, kemp will take it and take it on. so i immediately got tried to get kemp to say. kemp would not say. kemp emphatic said something to the effect we're not here to talk about people's character to we are here to talk about issues. that was the end of the character issue drama but then he said he misunderstood the question. >> guest: he took a lot of heat for that. but he also said, i think both of them said to me afterward, long afterward for anything for this book, or for this documentary we did, they had no regrets about that. they both were the kinds of politicians who are uncomfortable talking about this stuff. and also what i did not know was that the "washington post" and other news organizations were working on a story about an illicit i guess is the word, affair that bob dole was having. he had not been, but he had for many, many years with a single woman. and they knew that. and it could be that that kept him f

then there's the conservatives like jack kemp and ronald reagan.n cain, very much-- he's no jack kemp and no ronald reagan-- but he's very much in the second camp. he's likable. he's appealing. he's not electable. let's be very blunt about this. this is a man who has never run for library board. he's never been on a general election ballot about anything. republicans rail and rant about barack obama's lack of experience having served in the senate for four years when he ran for president in 2008, and it's not plausible talking about somebody who whose one electoral challenge was a republican primary he lost two to one. >> brown: another thing that got a lot of attention, and judy asked governor romney about it at the end, are the wall street protests. how big a deal do you think it is? >> i'm skeptical. there are a couple of hundred people here and there so i'm skeptical that they'll have mass rallies. i think they tap into a couple of issues-- student loans. and the second thing is wall street. i think you don't have to be a left winger to be real

i worked on economic growth and tax reform commission that jack kemp headed up. and out of that commission came six principles that a replacement should satisfy. guess what? the fair tax, national consumption tax, and the flat tax on income, they both satisfied the six principles we came up with. at the 13 person commission was deadlocked on which to go because they both have agitated and they both had negatives, et cetera, and as a result the commission decided to state the principles. and we basically said in a report that got caught in a drawer by the way, basically said that either one of those will satisfy those principles. so for decades i've looked at both of them. and knew that they both offered some very positive benefits. the people who have supported flat tax for a long, long time feel very strongly about it. the people who supported the fair tax for a long time feel very strongly about it. so one of the objectives was, let's get both of these groups to the table. so the first, so, therefore, the 9% flat tax on personal income brought the flax tax peop

in the early 1990s, i was asked to serve on commission with jack kemp, the economic growth and tax reform commission. we started the fair tax, the flat tax, and came to some wonderful conclusions about what a good tax structure ought to be. let me introduce before i go any further my senior economic adviser, the co-architect of 9-9-9, mr. rich lowry out of cleveland, ohio. [cheers and applause] i'm happy to be in detroit, but more importantly, i'm happy to be in america where opportunity is born and this is where dreams can be achieved. [applause] i know you heard a lot of disinformation about 9-9-9. don't believe it. look it up for yourself. this is why i want to review that before i get to the opportunity zone. first, 9-9-9, we had five simple principles that we wanted to satisfy. we wanted it to be simple. we wanted it to be transparent. so that you would know when and how you were going to be taxed. we wanted it to be first time. how many people here like spending money to get your tax returns filled out? that's not very efficient. it costs $438 billion a year to file and comply. we w

numerous times ronald reagan flew this plane i served during the reagan campaign with people like jack kemp on our last ronald reagan ronald reagan ronald reagan ronald reagan ronald reagan president reagan president reagan president reagan ronald reagan i with president reagan president reagan were here president reagan were in the reagan library ronald reagan ronald reagan granted reagan president reagan stand in the reagan tradition under ronald reagan. ronald reagan so what does it say when ronald reagan has to be the voice of reason when it comes to taxing the rich and sort of calling his plan to tax the rich the buffett rule a real bombshell just call that the reagan rule it really shows you how far the right the g.o.p. has moved in the last twenty years or co-leader reagan wanted the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes who wasn't considered some sort of radical socialist collision position these dates maybe it's because it comes from a democrat either way the republicans intransigence on taxes is truly a dangerous overcoming society that is completely unequal and that's somethin

once you have a solution as my good friend jack kemp used to say a rise in tihaied lifts all votes. >kids are protesting wall street. do you belief they are unamerican? >> i don't believe they are unamerican but i believe they are anti capitalism. secondly wall street isn't where they ought to be froesing. wall street didn't spend a trillion dollars to try to spend this nation to prosperity. all of that was done by this administration. >> a lot of people are asking herman cain why aren't you in iowa? why aren't you in new hampshire? why are you here selling books? >> i have been to iowa 24 times since the beginning of the year. it's not like we don't have a presence frin iowa. but in order to get my main idea i felt as if i needed to also help promote the book because this book answers the questions that a lot of people are asking. who is herman cain? >> who is herman cain. my question for you craig is as you join me here at the county park in lower manhattan does he feel the buzz of a reel contender? >> he has the buzz. you look at the crowds in pentagon city they came out in droves

jack kemp came up with enterprise zones or empowerment zones. president clinton borrowed the terminology, heaped praise on congressman kemp but managed to turn the whole thing upside down where it had nothing to do with positive incentives and everything to do with a one-size-fits-all, top-down micromanagement with strings attached and mandates which haven't produced the positive outcome one would expect of the so we're going to go back to the original design of congressman kemp which, by the way, in researching empowerment zones, you may want to check out stewart butler at heritage. he pointed out to me that kemp's original bill had a majority of a democrat house all sign on as co-sponsors and somehow the bill was never called to a vote. that shows you the bipartisan support for the concept. and essentially what we did is carve out an exemption that the announcement in detroit of opportunity zones made the statement first and foremost that 9-9-9 just made the entire country one giant opportunity zone. kemp's design was to say, let's get rid of

excess in foundation is -- >> bruce bartlett held senior policies in the administrations and staffs jack kemp and ron paul and this is his words. in my opinion, that is pretty thoughtful article. in my opinion, regulatory uncertainty is a canard invented by republicans that allows them to use current economic problems to pursue an agenda supported by the business community year nb and year out. in other words it's a simple case of political opportunism and not -- i'll say what he sites is the level of unemployment and the rate of growth and profitability in the sectors of the economy where we're trying to put in better protections, health care, energy and financial services and he cites an academic that says there's no evidence you can find support the proposition that our efforts to design better protections in those areas are damaging growth. what's damaging growth and confidence is the growth is slower than we'd like because we're still healing from a terrible financial crisis and we fates the cumulative shocks of europe and japan and that's why we have more work to do. >> thank you, the g

you're an economic adviser to bob dole and jack kemp in 1996.ou ran for president very briefly in 2000. ended up co-chairing the steve forbes campaign for president. you ran for senate in the state of georgia. is it fair to say that you're not a washington insider but you're not exactly a political outsider. >> i am not a washington insider and i'm not a politician even though i have helped other politicians with their campaigns. i have been a businessman for over 40 years. so my part time activities helping other candidates does not make me a politician. i ran for the united states senate in 2004 and i came in an impressive second. and so i did not know what that was going to lead to. so i consider myself not only a washington outsider but also a nonpolitician. because even though i've helped people, i have not healld high elected office. >> what is your relationship with the brothers who many americans might not interrogatory name but they have funneled millions of dollars into conservative causes. they are part of bank rolling at the citizens

it's a party that under jack kemp has tried to raise the size of the tent, if you will. and you also have a lot of dixiecrats, former dixiecrats in your party. you know that. is this a former dixiecrat reminder? >> i think it is reminiscent of the old days. and i would agree with wayne, there's nothing in my experience with the governor that would lead anyone to believe that he would condone, appreciate, or accept this type of slur on his property. i think this is a matter of, you know -- and i take him at his word. he said his parents and he got rid of this, you know, painted over this in the 1980s, fine. if these other individuals have something to say that's contrary to that, then produce that evidence. but there is a broader problem. and that is one that the republican party suffers from, in many quarters with black folks, and that is the sense of, this indication that we're somehow less sensitive to those types of things that we tend to dismiss them. and as you look at some, you know, of the conservative, more conservative bloggers and the like, you know, sort of al

host: you mentioned being on the campaign trail with jack kemp.'ve also had experience on the campaign trail with senator demonto, the bush-quail ticket in 92, and george allen for governor in 1993. back to the phones. tallahassee, florida, donald on our line for democrats. caller: thank you. i would just like to add you used the word christian value a number of times. does it bother you, sir, na k89% of so-called christians believe in the rapture when it's not in the bible and do you believe in the rapture? host: what does that have to do with politics? guest: well, he used the word values a number of times. this is to me a value that consent a person to hell because of false teachings. host: i think we're getting off the rails on there. we're going to move on to houston, texas. warren on our line for independents. go ahead, warren. . . caller: china? it has been going on in for 30 years now. guest: the majority leader spoke yesterday, and he has started a program now being run by a number of the freshmen republicans. it tries to look for differe

in the early 1990s i was asked to serve on a commission with jack kemp, the economic growth and tax reformo some wonderful conclusions about what a good tax structure ought to be. let me introduce before i go further my senior economic adviser, the co-architect of 9-9-9 mr. rich lowrie out of cleveland, ohio. [ applause ] i am happy to be in detroit but more importantly i'm happy to be in america with this is where opportunity is born. and this is where dreams can be achieved. i know that you heard a lot of disinformation about 9-9-9. don't believe it. look it up for yourself. this is why i want to review that before i get the opportunity zone. first, 9-9-9, we have five simple principles we wanted to satisfy. we wanted it to be simple. we wanted it to be transparent. so that you would know when and how you were going to be taxed. we wanted it to be efficient. how many people here like spending money to get your tax returns filled out? that's not very efficient. it costs us $430 billion a year to file and comply. we wanted it to be fair. not according to washington's definition of fair, bu

economic growth, my old boss jack kemp said the rising tide raises all boats and that's all layers of american workers. if you create jobs and create wealth, through the private sector, and redistribute wealth and capital in the private sector, the economy flourishes and grows. when government tries to control the process and outcomes and redistributes wealth it stays sticknant and creates larger deficits. bill: he says consistently, less regulations will take the shackles off business in america. >> and reform tax policy. bill: true. kirsten, what do you think about what he's talking about? >> i thought it was interesting that he referred to closing the gap, which is not a normal republican talking point. in fact, normally, when democrats complain about income inequality in this country, you usually get the name calming, the class warfare stuff. so it seems like he's shifting his tone a little bit. bill and to what direction do you conclude? >> into sort of acknowledging that there is a problem of income inequality in this country, that it's not okay that you have the tiny percentage

in the early 1990s, i was asked to serve on commission with jack kemp, the economic growth and tax reform commission. we started the fair tax, the flat tax, and came to some wonderful conclusions about what a good tax structure ought to be. let me introduce before i go any further my senior economic adviser, the co-architect of 9-9-9, mr. rich lowry out of cleveland, ohio. [cheers and applause] i'm happy to be in detroit, but more importantly, i'm happy to be in america where opportunity is born and this is where dreams can be achieved. [applause] i know you heard a lot of disinformation about 9-9-9. don't believe it. look it up for yourself. this is why i want to review that before i get to the opportunity zone. first, 9-9-9, we had five simple principles that we wanted to satisfy. we wanted it to be simple. we wanted it to be transparent. so that you would know when and how you were going to be taxed. we wanted it to be first time. how many people here like spending money to get your tax returns filled out? that's not very efficient. it costs $438 billion a year to file and comply. we w

bruce bartlett held senior policy places in the staff representing ron paul and jack kemp.hese are his words. in my opinion -- this is a thoughtful article. he says that by in his opinion, regulatory uncertainty is a canard invented by republicans that allows them to use current economic problems supported by the business community each year -- a simple case of opportunism and not an effort to deal with unemployment, he cites this in context. he looks at the level of unemployment and the rate of growth and profitability in the sectors of the economy where we are trying to put in place health care, energy, and financial-services. they say that there is no evidence that confined to support the proposition for better protections in those areas. damaging grove is growth that is slower than we would like. we are still healing from a general financial crisis. that is why we have more work to do. >> the gentlewoman from west virginia it is recognized for five minutes. >> welcome, mr. secretary. fsoc, one of its principal creations was to look at the systemic connectedness of our i

in the early 1990s, i was asked to serve on commission with jack kemp, the economic growth and tax reformommission. we started the fair tax, the flat tax, and came to some wonderful conclusions about what a good tax structure ought to be. let me introduce before i go any further my senior economic adviser, the co-architect of 9-9-9, mr. rich lowry out of cleveland, ohio. [cheers and applause] i'm happy to be in detroit, but more importantly, i'm happy to be in america where opportunity is born and this is where dreams can be achieved. [applause] i know you heard a lot of disinformation about 9-9-9. don't believe it. look it up for yourself. this is why i want to review that before i get to the opportunity zone. first, 9-9-9, we had five simple principles that we wanted to satisfy. we wanted it to be simple. we wanted it to be transparent. so that you would know when and how you were going to be taxed. we wanted it to be first time. how many people here like spending money to get your tax returns filled out? that's not very efficient. it costs $438 billion a year to file and comply. we wan

he served on the staff of jack kemp who did a piece in "the new york times" spiled "misrepresentations, regulations and jobs." he says -- i am going to read a couple lines from his piece. he says, republicans have a problem -- and he's republican himself -- he said, republicans have a problem. people are increasingly concerned about unemployment but republicans have nothing to offer them. he further says that no hard evidence is offered for this claim that the -- all the uncertainty within business is tied to regulation. he says that notwithstanding the lack of evidence, the republicans repeat this assertion endlessly throughout the conservative echo chamber. he also says while concerns about regulation have risen during the obama administration, they are about the same now as they were during ronald reagan's administration, according to an analysis of the federations data by the economic policy institute. and he ends by saying this, he says, my opinion regulatory unserpt is invented by republicans that allows them to use current economic problems to pursue an agenda supported by the b

jack kemp. dan quayle actually won. it's not as anyone's political fortunes got better after doing it. >> they think they can win too. i don't disagree with them. the math is on the republicans side. >> this is why i think they'll take the happy mormon. >> but the rubio calculation has to be why should he use his political standing to shore up somebody else? i would believe rubio. i will be shocked if he's the v.p. nominee. >> you've been a great panel. i thank you for rushing here, jake and chuck. >> didn't know president obama had a press conference and had to ask questions. >> i'm assuming there wasn't any news or you would have told us. >> nine questions, 75 minutes. it might be his longest word to question press conference going. >> i asked three questions so i can't blame him for that. [laughter] >> i asked 2.5. >> the two of you had five of the nine? good going. thanks very much. [cheers and applause] >> margaret, thank you, we've made it through another washington ideas forum and in five minutes we're starting t