tom friedman is hitler. you go. >> what harry reid said about the tea party -- >> if he could say hezbollah, i can say that, correct? >> you're 100% right, absolutely right. >> what about reid? i can read it for you. >> read it, will you. >> reid tweeted last night, boehner's plan is not a compromise, it was written for the tea party, not the american people. hmm. democrats will wil will not vot. and it was hashtagged -- >> i'm getting vaguely turned on. >> go ahead. >> first of all, you've got the senate majority leader, the tough democrat in the united states senate saying basically tea party folks are not really average americans, they're not the american people. then you've got tom friedman, the quintessential writer for "the new york times" going out, comparing tea party folks to radical islamic terrorists. so much for the new tone, number one. number two, the tea party -- >> can i take notes? >> yes, kimberly, please. the tea party stands for three things -- constitutionally limited government, fiscal

tom friedman was wrong about the lexus in his famous book olive tree lexus it was that the lexus was actually created with huge government subsidies in japan and protectionist policies how is tom friedman wrong now in this whole narrative. well tom friedman has written many many columns kind of giving all managed to this mythical centrist voter i think it's a valuable narrative when you're trying to push unpopular policies if you look right now we see this kind of mainstream media narrative again and again that this standoff is a result of both parties intransigence both parties bases not accepting compromise the reality is that when you look at the polling on issues that are you know at play right now protecting medicare protecting social security. not extending the bush tax cuts for the chop one percent earners of the earners there these are these are how the decisions that have rod broad support among the american electorate when you look at how those things poll among republican voters they polled well so this is really an entrenched you know minority saying we need to slash thes

pulitzer prize-winning author tom friedman will join us for that session. we want to thank you for joining us in salt lake city, and we want to thank governor robert and his wife for hosting us and for the extraordinary -- gov. herbert and his wife for hosting us and for the extraordinary job they are already doing. we are prepared to answer questions. [applause] >> can we take questions, please? >> gov. gregoire, what is your feeling about -- >> let me tell you what is going on in washington, d.c. i think that is more to the point. across the nation, we can ill afford the debate going on in washington, d.c. we are in a fragile state of recovery. the fact that we're not moving forward to solve the debt issue is resulting -- i can tell you in my own home state, where i am

it is my pleasure sedate to welcome back tom friedman, one of our nation's foremost thinkers, to talk about global competition and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for our united states. he has written for "new york times" for 30 years. he has published five best- selling books. he has received numerous awards for his reporting and commentary from including the national press club lifetime achievement award. he has joined us on several occasions in the past to offer his inside and opinion on the hot topics of the day. it is with great pleasure that here in the great state of utah we get to turn again for the inside of our friend tom friedman, for his perspective on how america can recapture its position as a global competitor of innovation and economic leadership in the world. tom, thank you. [applause] >> governor, thank you. it is a treat to be back here for the governors' conference and be back in utah. this is a great audience. one thing i love about this meeting is i look around and see all of these great governors. some of them i have had the pleasure of knowing.

david david leone hard. >> thank you roger cohen, thank you tom friedman. david david brooks. anthony bour sdaefern is here. he workeds a chef for more than 2years, his bibreak me wit missemoi kihen confidential t made waves with shocking stories about life in the professional kitchen. bourdain has since left the restaurant business to pursue a career as writer and television host. here is a look at his program, no reservations. >> so this is white meat. >> nice and rare, when are you eating fresh killed beautiful chicken with. >> it has to be pink. >> it's got to be pinked. >> yes. >> in new york that would tolly freak people out no matter how good the chicken is. >> this is what connects the liver and the intestine. >> interestingly. >> he is unusual in that they prefer to use an electric grill over traditional charcoal kbleefing the consistent heat makes better product. >> it's crunchy but not as crunchy as the gizzard but a lot more succulent. >> it's absolutely fantastic. >> a new yorker who made all the most important decisions of his life when he was 17 years old. >> ro

pleasure that here in the great state of utah we get to turn again for the inside of our friend tom friedman, for his perspective on how america can recapture its position as a global competitor of innovation and economic leadership in the world. tom, thank you. [applause] >> governor, thank you. it is a treat to be back here for the governors' conference and be back in utah. this is a great audience. one thing i love about this meeting is i look around and see all of these great governors. some of them i have had the pleasure of knowing. it is not a democrat or republican under anyone's name. it is in that spirit i come here. i hope i give both sides a little indigestion and support in what i am about to say. i will talk for about 30 or 40 minutes and then opened up for dialogue -- open it up for dialogue. i am going to give you a sneak preview of my new book. it is a book i have written with a different and longtime collaborator from johns hopkins university. the book is not until september, but it is certainly on the topic of the day. the book is called "that used to be us: how america fe

fortunately, it is my pleasure today to welcome back tom friedman, one of our nation's four most speakers, to talk about global competition and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for our united states. he has written for the new york times for 30 years including five best-selling books. he has received numerous awards for his reporting and commentary, including a lifetime achievement award. he has joined us on several occasions in the past to offer his inside an opinion on the hot topics of the day, domestically and internationally. it is with great pleasure that here in the great state of utah we get to turn once again for the insides of our friend tom friedman for his perspective on how america can recapture its position as a global competitor and economic leadership in the world. thank you. [applause] >> it is a treat to be back here for the governors' conference and to be back in utah. this is a great audience. one of the things i love about this meeting as i look around and see all these great governors, some of whom i have had the pleasure of knowing, it does not a demo

>> well, peter, it's a continuation of tom friedman's amazingly influential and best selling book, theorld is flat, hot, flat and credit. this time he is corroborating with a foreign policy adviser who is also a close friend and longtime associate of his. and the book is really outlines for ways in which america has gone off the rails and for ways we could get it back on. >> when is this coming out of? >> it's coming the day after labor day. it's highly programmatic, and it is just a roadmap for the u.s. which is going to be a great event. >> mr. seroy, who is andrew feinstein? >> andrew feinstein is most likely the world's leading expert on the global arms race, the kind of black market in arms around the world. he was an south african by birth, a politician who now lives in exile in london. and he is the go to person for every media organization and every ngo on the global arms race. >> y. in exile? >> well, it's a long story but it has to do with the corruption of the government and his attempt to stand up against it a few years ago. >> in south africa. >> correct spent and i want t

tom friedman in "the new york times" today has this as the headline -- "make way for the radical centera third way is now on the way." is it real? does that really reflect where americans are? >> i think it does reflect it. i think americans have a basic sense of fairness. they even did a study of our dna that says as primates, we care about fairness, which is one reason why i think the country now is saying that obama is speaking more to where the majority is by demanding both a combination of cuts and revenue increasement. but what you need then are people in the middle too often seem passive. they're defensive. you need passionate centrists. somebody said to me "you need raging centrists!" if somebody could have the passion teddy roosevelt said -- he was absolutely in the center of the country, to the left of his republican party, to the right of the republicans, he called for a square deal. harry truman called for a fair deal. that's what you need, people that are proud of where the country is. the country is in the center. but too often, the people with the passion are on the left

i agree with tom friedman on that as well. but it should be how do we do what is necessary to bring our beloved nation back to the first place standing which is where it always must be and what our families and our children deserve? as the american -- as the african proverb said, this is really what's happening now, the elephants are fighting and the grass is getting crushed. this should not be a fight of the political ideology, democratic leaders have shown their willingness to compromise on many of the programs we hold sacred, what those compromises are and how large they are i think will determine where the c.b.c. stands when the time comes to vote. but there can be no compromises, as you've heard from my colleagues tonight, on social security, which has nothing to do with the deficit whatsoever, or on medicare which we have done so much to strengthen and lengthen in the affordable care act, or in medicaid which would not only cause undo but -- undue but grave harm to the poor and all of the states and territories that we r

president and the democrats, for that matter the republicans as well be -- i don't know if you saw tom friedman'spotentially a third way of moving a third party gaining steam next year. thought on the democrats and the republicans. >> first of all, i just completely disagree that there's any sense of equivalency here. >> and the public does, too, by the way. 70% blame the republicans, 43 to 48 blame the president. it's no way equal. sometimes there's a tendency to equate everything. the republicans will not let the democrats surrender. i think the public is seeing this play out, if you will, wolf. and look, people are -- they're seeing one water wanting to s surrender and the other sigh side wanting to default and they're probably not that pleased with either one. >> if there's a third party that emerges along the lines of ross perot, you remember what happened in 1992, terry, does that in effect guarantee barack obama's re-election? >> no, i don't think anything at this point guarantees barack obama's election. in this current process, the american people definitely want this over. but the devil

"new york times" columnist and pulitzer prize-winning author tom friedman will join us for that session. we want to thank you for joining us in salt lake city, and we want to thank governor robert and his wife for hosting us and for the extraordinary -- gov. herbert and his wife for hosting us and for the extraordinary job they are already doing. we are prepared to answer questions. [applause] >> can we take questions, please? >> gov. gregoire, what is your feeling about -- >> let me tell you what is going on in washington, d.c. i think that is more to the point. across the nation, we can ill afford the debate going on in washington, d.c. we are in a fragile state of recovery. the fact that we're not moving forward to solve the debt issue is resulting -- i can tell you in my own home state, where i am not an income tax state, i am a sales tax state, consumers are not buying goods. businesses that have the money to hire or not hiring because people are concerned about this. it is time we put this issue behind us and got on with the issue confronting every american, do i have a job, will

the by the incredible overflow crowd, there is nobody in aspen who less need an introduction and tom friedman. somebody once said that of henry kissinger, and he said there may be no one who needs less of an introduction, but there is also nobody who more enjoys one. [laughter] so i will say a couple of nice words about tom, unnecessary though they might be. ever since she went from beirut to jerusalem decades ago, you have been the clearest thinker about where our country is going and where our world is going. he speaks with common sense. you may know hell rare reported common sense is, so that is why all of us think of tom as a national -- how rare reported common sense is, so we think of tom as a national treasure. >> walter, thank you. first of all, it is great to be here and wonderful to be here and it is a -- amazing what you have built here. thank you all for coming out at this early hour. i have a book coming out in september, written with a friend of mine. michael is a foreign policy professor at johns hopkins. what are to foreign policy guys doing writing about america? the book cam

"new york times" columnist, tom friedman will join us. he has a new book out, and we may be given a little bit of insights. i look forward to seeing all of you at these sessions. if i can, let me begin by asking for a motion for the adoption of rules of procedure for the meeting. it has been moved and seconded. part of the rules require that any governor who wants to submit a new policy or adoption will need a three-fourths vote to suspend the rules. any discussion? all signify by saying "aye." i now would like to announce the appointment of the following governors to the nominating committee for the 2011-2012 national governors' association committee. governor herbert, nixon, and mcdonald will serve as chair of the group. we are also honored today to be joined by several distinguished guests. first, we have members from the canadian parliament with us today. would you please raise your hand so we can acknowledge you and thank you for attending our meeting. we appreciated. thank you. [applause] >> i do not see them. they were here last ni

"new york times" columnist and pulitzer prize winner tom friedman will join us. he has a new book out. word has it we maybe given insight. i look forward to seeing all of you at the sessions. now if i can with a little business begin by asking for a motion rt adoption of rules and procedure for the meeting. >> so moved. >> it's been move and seconded. part of the moves require that any governor that wants to submit a new policy will need a 3/4 vote to suspend the rule. so all -- any discussion? all of those in favor please signify by saying aye. all of those opposed? the ayes can it. if you have in proposals get those to david quam of nga. i would now like to announce the appointed governor 2011-2012, governor herbert, nixon, and governor mcdonald will serve as chair of the group. we are also honored today to be joined by several distinguished guests. first we have members from the canadian parliament with us today. would you please raise your hands so we canning a knowledge you and thank you for attending our nga meeting? you are here often. we appreciate it. th