Text of debate. As posted, here, you have 39 pages of hard copy. I have highlighted in red, the 12 major questions in the debate and assigned the appropriate number. Most surprising circumstance? The complete omission [by the moderator, who chose all 12 questions] of any question dealing with ObamaCare. Understand that ObamaCare - as we understand it, today - takes up 24% of the Federal Budget and adds 160 federal agencies - blog editor.
CANDY CROWLEY,
MODERATOR: Good evening from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. I’m
Candy Crowley from CNN’s “State of the Union.” We are here for the second
presidential debate, a town hall, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential
Debates.
CROWLEY: The Gallup
organization chose 82 uncommitted voters from the New York area. Their
questions will drive the night. My goal is to give the conversation direction
and to ensure questions get answered.
The questions are
known to me and my team only. Neither the commission, nor the candidates have
seen them. I hope to get to as many questions as possible.
CROWLEY: And because
I am the optimistic sort, I’m sure the candidates will oblige by keeping their
answers concise and on point.
Each candidate has as
much as two minutes to respond to a common question, and there will be a
two-minute follow-up. The audience here in the hall has agreed to be polite and
attentive — no cheering or booing or outbursts of any sort.
We will set aside
that agreement just this once to welcome President Barack Obama and Governor
Mitt Romney.
(APPLAUSE)
Gentlemen, thank you
both for joining us here tonight. We have a lot of folks who’ve been waiting
all day to talk to you, so I want to get right to it.
Governor Romney, as
you know, you won the coin toss, so the first question will go to you. And I
want to turn to a first-time voter, Jeremy Epstein, who has a question for you.
#1
QUESTION: Mr.
President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from
professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I will have little
chance to get employment. What can you say to reassure me, but more importantly
my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I
graduate?
ROMNEY: Thank you,
Jeremy. I appreciate your — your question, and thank you for being here this
evening and to all of those from Nassau County that have come, thank you for
your time. Thank you to Hofstra University and to Candy Crowley for organizing
and leading this — this event.
Thank you, Mr.
President, also for being part of this — this debate.
Your question — your
question is one that’s being asked by college kids all over this country. I was
in Pennsylvania with someone who had just graduated — this was in Philadelphia
— and she said, “I’ve got my degree. I can’t find a job. I’ve got three part-
time jobs. They’re just barely enough to pay for my food and pay for an
apartment. I can’t begin to pay back my student loans.”
So what we have to do
is two things. We have to make sure that we make it easier for kids to afford
college.
ROMNEY: And also make
sure that when they get out of college, there’s a job. When I was governor of
Massachusetts, to get a high school degree, you had to pass an exam. If you
graduated in the top quarter of your airlines, we gave you a John and Abigail
Adams scholarship, four years tuition free in the college of your choice in
Massachusetts, it’s a public institution.
I want to make sure
we keep our Pell grant program growing. We’re also going to have our loan program,
so that people are able to afford school. But the key thing is to make sure you
can get a job when you get out of school. And what’s happened over the last
four years has been very, very hard for America’s young people. I want you to
be able to get a job.
I know what it takes
to get this economy going. With half of college kids graduating this year
without a college — excuse me, without a job. And without a college level job,
that’s just unacceptable.
And likewise you’ve
got more and more debt on your back. So more debt and less jobs. I’m going to
change that. I know what it takes to create good jobs again. I know what it
takes to make sure that you have the kind of opportunity you deserve. And kids
across this country are going to recognize, we’re bringing back an economy.
It’s not going to be
like the last four years. The middle-class has been crushed over the last four
years, and jobs have been too scarce. I know what it takes to bring them back,
and I’m going to do that, and make sure that when you graduate — when do you
graduate?
QUESTIONER: 2014.
ROMNEY: 2014. When
you come out in 2014, I presume I’m going to be president. I’m going to make
sure you get a job. Thanks Jeremy. Yeah, you bet.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President?
OBAMA: Jeremy, first
of all, your future is bright. And the fact that you’re making an investment in
higher education is critical. Not just to you, but to the entire nation. Now,
the most important thing we can do is to make sure that we are creating jobs in
this country. But not just jobs, good paying jobs. Ones that can support a
family.
OBAMA: And what I
want to do, is build on the five million jobs that we’ve created over the last
30 months in the private sector alone. And there are a bunch of things we can
do to make sure your future is bright.
Number one, I want to
build manufacturing jobs in this country again. Now when Governor Romney said
we should let Detroit go bankrupt. I said we’re going to bet on American
workers and the American auto industry and it’s come surging back.
I want to do that in
industries, not just in Detroit, but all across the country and that means we
change our tax code so we’re giving incentives to companies that are investing
here in the United States and creating jobs here.
It also means we’re
helping them and small businesses to export all around the world to new
markets.
Number two, we’ve got
to make sure that we have the best education system in the world. And the fact
that you’re going to college is great, but I want everybody to get a great
education and we’ve worked hard to make sure that student loans are available for
folks like you, but I also want to make sure that community colleges are
offering slots for workers to get retrained for the jobs that are out there
right now and the jobs of the future.
Number three, we’ve
got to control our own energy. Now, not only oil and natural gas, which we’ve
been investing in; but also, we’ve got to make sure we’re building the energy
source of the future, not just thinking about next year, but ten years from
now, 20 years from now. That’s why we’ve invested in solar and wind and
biofuels, energy efficient cars.
We’ve got to reduce
our deficit, but we’ve got to do it in a balanced way. Asking the wealthy to
pay a little bit more along with cuts so that we can invest in education like
yours.
And let’s take the
money that we’ve been spending on war over the last decade to rebuild America,
roads, bridges schools. We do those things, not only is your future going to be
bright but America’s future is going to bright as well.
CROWLEY: Let me ask
you for more immediate answer and begin with Mr. Romney just quickly what —
what can you do? We’re looking at a situation where 40 percent of the
unemployed have been unemployed have been unemployed for six months or more.
They don’t have the two years that Jeremy has.
What about those long
term unemployed who need a job right now?
ROMNEY: Well what
you’re seeing in this country is 23 million people struggling to find a job.
And a lot of them, as you say, Candy, have been out of work for a long, long,
long time. The president’s policies have been exercised over the last four
years and they haven’t put Americans back to work.
We have fewer people
working today than we had when the president took office. If the — the
unemployment rate was 7.8 percent when he took office, it’s 7.8 percent now.
But if you calculated that unemployment rate, taking back the people who
dropped out of the workforce, it would be 10.7 percent.
We have not made the
progress we need to make to put people back to work. That’s why I put out a
five-point plan that gets America 12 million new jobs in four years and rising
take-home pay. It’s going to help Jeremy get a job when he comes out of school.
It’s going to help people across the country that are unemployed right now.
And one thing that
the president said, which I want to make sure that we understand, he said that
I said we should take Detroit bankrupt. And that’s right. My plan was to have
the company go through bankruptcy like 7-Eleven did and Macy’s and Condell (ph)
Airlines and come out stronger.
And I know he keeps
saying, you want to take Detroit bankrupt. Well, the president took Detroit
bankrupt. You took General Motors bankrupt. You took Chrysler bankrupt. So when
you say that I wanted to take the auto industry bankrupt, you actually did.
And I think it’s
important to know that that was a process that was necessary to get those
companies back on their feet, so they could start hiring more people. That was
precisely what I recommended and ultimately what happened.
CROWLEY: Let me give
the president a chance.
Go ahead. OBAMA:
Candy, what Governor Romney said just isn’t true. He wanted to take them into
bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open. And we would have lost
a million jobs. And that — don’t take my word for it, take the executives at GM
and Chrysler, some of whom are Republicans, may even support Governor Romney.
But they’ll tell you his prescription wasn’t going to work.
And Governor Romney’s
says he’s got a five-point plan? Governor Romney doesn’t have a five-point
plan. He has a one-point plan. And that plan is to make sure that folks at the
top play by a different set of rules. That’s been his philosophy in the private
sector, that’s been his philosophy as governor, that’s been his philosophy as a
presidential candidate.
You can make a lot of
money and pay lower tax rates than somebody who makes a lot less. You can ship
jobs overseas and get tax breaks for it. You can invest in a company, bankrupt
it, lay off the workers, strip away their pensions, and you still make money.
That’s exactly the
philosophy that we’ve seen in place for the last decade. That’s what’s been
squeezing middle class families.
And we have fought
back for four years to get out of that mess. The last thing we need to do is to
go back to the very same policies that got us there.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, the next question is going to be for you here.
And, Mr. Romney —
Governor Romney — there’ll be plenty of chances here to go on, but I want to…
ROMNEY: That — that
Detroit — that Detroit answer…
CROWLEY: We have all
these folks.
ROMNEY: … that
Detroit answer…
CROWLEY: I will let
you absolutely…
ROMNEY: … and the
rest of the answer, way off the mark.
CROWLEY: OK. Will —
will — you certainly will have lots of time here coming up.
Because I want to
move you on to something that’s sort of connected to cars here, and — and go
over. And we want to get a question from Phillip Tricolla.
#2
QUESTION: Your energy
secretary, Steven Chu, has now been on record three times stating it’s not
policy of his department to help lower gas prices. Do you agree with Secretary
Chu that this is not the job of the Energy Department?
OBAMA: The most
important thing we can do is to make sure we control our own energy. So here’s
what I’ve done since I’ve been president. We have increased oil production to
the highest levels in 16 years.
Natural gas
production is the highest it’s been in decades. We have seen increases in coal
production and coal employment. But what I’ve also said is we can’t just
produce traditional source of energy. We’ve also got to look to the future.
That’s why we doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars. That means that in the
middle of the next decade, any car you buy, you’re going to end up going twice
as far on a gallon of gas. That’s why we doubled clean — clean energy
production like wind and solar and biofuels.
And all these things
have contributed to us lowering our oil imports to the lowest levels in 16
years. Now, I want to build on that. And that means, yes, we still continue to
open up new areas for drilling. We continue to make it a priority for us to go
after natural gas. We’ve got potentially 600,000 jobs and 100 years worth of
energy right beneath our feet with natural gas.
And we can do it in
an environmentally sound way. But we’ve also got to continue to figure out how
we have efficiency energy, because ultimately that’s how we’re going to reduce
demand and that’s what’s going to keep gas prices lower.
Now, Governor Romney
will say he’s got an all-of-the-above plan, but basically his plan is to let
the oil companies write the energy policies. So he’s got the oil and gas part,
but he doesn’t have the clean energy part. And if we are only thinking about
tomorrow or the next day and not thinking about 10 years from now, we’re not
going to control our own economic future. Because China, Germany, they’re
making these investments. And I’m not going to cede those jobs of the future to
those countries. I expect those new energy sources to be built right here in
the United States.
That’s going to help
Jeremy get a job. It’s also going to make sure that you’re not paying as much
for gas.
CROWLEY: Governor, on
the subject of gas prices?
ROMNEY: Well, let’s
look at the president’s policies, all right, as opposed to the rhetoric,
because we’ve had four years of policies being played out. And the president’s
right in terms of the additional oil production, but none of it came on federal
land. As a matter of fact, oil production is down 14 percent this year on
federal land, and gas production was down 9 percent. Why? Because the president
cut in half the number of licenses and permits for drilling on federal lands,
and in federal waters.
So where’d the
increase come from? Well a lot of it came from the Bakken Range in North
Dakota. What was his participation there? The administration brought a criminal
action against the people drilling up there for oil, this massive new resource
we have. And what was the cost? 20 or 25 birds were killed and brought out a
migratory bird act to go after them on a criminal basis.
Look, I want to make
sure we use our oil, our coal, our gas, our nuclear, our renewables. I believe
very much in our renewable capabilities; ethanol, wind, solar will be an
important part of our energy mix.
But what we don’t
need is to have the president keeping us from taking advantage of oil, coal and
gas. This has not been Mr. Oil, or Mr. Gas, or Mr. Coal. Talk to the people
that are working in those industries. I was in coal country. People grabbed my
arms and said, “Please save my job.” The head of the EPA said, “You can’t build
a coal plant. You’ll virtually — it’s virtually impossible given our
regulations.” When the president ran for office, he said if you build a coal
plant, you can go ahead, but you’ll go bankrupt. That’s not the right course
for America.
Let’s take advantage
of the energy resources we have, as well as the energy sources for the future.
And if we do that, if we do what I’m planning on doing, which is getting us
energy independent, North America energy independence within eight years,
you’re going to see manufacturing jobs come back. Because our energy is low
cost, that are already beginning to come back because of our abundant energy.
I’ll get America and North America energy independent. I’ll do it by more
drilling, more permits and licenses.
We’re going to bring
that pipeline in from Canada. How in the world the president said no to that
pipeline? I will never know.
This is about
bringing good jobs back for the middle class of America, and that’s what I’m
going to do. CROWLEY: Mr. President, let me just see if I can move you to the
gist of this question, which is, are we looking at the new normal? I can tell
you that tomorrow morning, a lot of people in Hempstead will wake up and fill
up and they will find that the price of gas is over $4 a gallon.
Is it within the
purview of the government to bring those prices down, or are we looking at the
new normal?
OBAMA: Candy, there’s
no doubt that world demand’s gone up, but our production is going up, and we’re
using oil more efficiently. And very little of what Governor Romney just said
is true. We’ve opened up public lands. We’re actually drilling more on public
lands than in the previous administration and my — the previous president was
an oil man.
And natural gas isn’t
just appearing magically. We’re encouraging it and working with the industry.
And when I hear
Governor Romney say he’s a big coal guy, I mean, keep in mind, when — Governor,
when you were governor of Massachusetts, you stood in front of a coal plant and
pointed at it and said, “This plant kills,” and took great pride in shutting it
down. And now suddenly you’re a big champion of coal.
So what I’ve tried to
do is be consistent. With respect to something like coal, we made the largest
investment in clean coal technology, to make sure that even as we’re producing
more coal, we’re producing it cleaner and smarter. Same thing with oil, same
thing with natural gas.
And the proof is our
oil imports are down to the lowest levels in 20 years. Oil production is up,
natural gas production is up, and, most importantly, we’re also starting to
build cars that are more efficient.
And that’s creating
jobs. That means those cars can be exported, ‘cause that’s the demand around
the world, and it also means that it’ll save money in your pocketbook.
OBAMA: That’s the
strategy you need, an all-of-the-above strategy, and that’s what we’re going to
do in the next four years.
ROMNEY: But that’s
not what you’ve done in the last four years. That’s the problem. In the last
four years, you cut permits and licenses on federal land and federal waters in
half.
OBAMA: Not true,
Governor Romney.
ROMNEY: So how much
did you cut (inaudible)?
OBAMA: Not true.
ROMNEY: How much did
you cut them by, then?
OBAMA: Governor, we
have actually produced more oil –
ROMNEY: No, no. How
much did you cut licenses and permits on federal land and federal waters?
OBAMA: Governor
Romney, here’s what we did. There were a whole bunch of oil companies.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: No, no, I had
a question and the question was how much did you cut them by?
OBAMA: You want me to
answer a question –
ROMNEY: How much did
you cut them by?
OBAMA: I’m happy to answer
the question.
ROMNEY: All right.
And it is –
OBAMA: Here’s what
happened. You had a whole bunch of oil companies who had leases on public lands
that they weren’t using. So what we said was you can’t just sit on this for 10,
20, 30 years, decide when you want to drill, when you want to produce, when
it’s most profitable for you. These are public lands. So if you want to drill
on public lands, you use it or you lose it.
ROMNEY: OK,
(inaudible) –
OBAMA: And so what we
did was take away those leases. And we are now reletting them so that we can
actually make a profit.
ROMNEY: And
production on private — on government land –
OBAMA: Production is
up.
ROMNEY: — is down.
OBAMA: No, it isn’t.
ROMNEY: Production on
government land of oil is down 14 percent.
OBAMA: Governor –
ROMNEY: And
production on gas –
(CROSSTALK)
OBAMA: It’s just not
true.
ROMNEY: It’s
absolutely true. Look, there’s no question but the people recognize that we
have not produced more (inaudible) on federal lands and in federal waters. And
coal, coal production is not up; coal jobs are not up.
I was just at a coal
facility, where some 1,200 people lost their jobs. The right course for America
is to have a true all-of-the-above policy. I don’t think anyone really believes
that you’re a person who’s going to be pushing for oil and gas and coal. You’ll
get your chance in a moment. I’m still speaking.
OBAMA: Well –
ROMNEY: And the
answer is I don’t believe people think that’s the case –
OBAMA: — (inaudible).
ROMNEY: That wasn’t
the question.
OBAMA: OK.
ROMNEY: That was a
statement. I don’t think the American people believe that. I will fight for
oil, coal and natural gas. And the proof, the proof of whether a strategy is
working or not is what the price is that you’re paying at the pump. If you’re
paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why, then, the strategy is
working. But you’re paying more. When the president took office, the price of
gasoline here in Nassau County was about $1.86 a gallon. Now, it’s $4.00 a
gallon. The price of electricity is up.
If the president’s
energy policies are working, you’re going to see the cost of energy come down.
I will fight to create more energy in this country, to get America energy
secure. And part of that is bringing in a pipeline of oil from Canada, taking
advantage of the oil and coal we have here, drilling offshore in Alaska,
drilling offshore in Virginia where the people want it. Those things will get
us the energy we need.
#3
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, could you address, because we did finally get to gas prices here,
could you address what the governor said, which is if your energy policy was
working, the price of gasoline would not be $4 a gallon here. Is that true?
OBAMA: Well, think
about what the governor — think about what the governor just said. He said when
I took office, the price of gasoline was $1.80, $1.86. Why is that? Because the
economy was on the verge of collapse, because we were about to go through the
worst recession since the Great Depression, as a consequence of some of the
same policies that Governor Romney’s now promoting.
So, it’s conceivable
that Governor Romney could bring down gas prices because with his policies, we
might be back in that same mess.
What I want to do is
to create an economy that is strong, and at the same time produce energy. And
with respect to this pipeline that Governor Romney keeps on talking about,
we’ve — we’ve built enough pipeline to wrap around the entire earth once.
So, I’m all for
pipelines. I’m all for oil production. What I’m not for is us ignoring the
other half of the equation. So, for example, on wind energy, when Governor
Romney says “these are imaginary jobs.” When you’ve got thousands of people
right now in Iowa, right now in Colorado, who are working, creating wind power
with good-paying manufacturing jobs, and the Republican senator in that — in
Iowa is all for it, providing tax breaks (ph) to help this work and Governor
Romney says I’m opposed. I’d get rid of it.
That’s not an energy
strategy for the future. And we need to win that future. And I intend to win it
as President of the United States.
CROWLEY: I got to — I
got to move you on –
ROMNEY: He gets the
first –
CROWLEY: — and the
next question –
ROMNEY: He actually
got –
CROWLEY: — for you –
ROMNEY: He actually
got the first question. So I get the last question — last answer –
CROWLEY: (Inaudible)
in the follow up, it doesn’t quite work like that. But I’m going to give you a
chance here. I promise you, I’m going to.
And the next question
is for you. So if you want to, you know, continue on — but I don’t want to
leave all –
ROMNEY: Candy, Candy
–
CROWLEY: — sitting
here –
ROMNEY: Candy, I
don’t have a policy of stopping wind jobs in Iowa and that — they’re not
phantom jobs. They’re real jobs.
CROWLEY: OK.
ROMNEY: I appreciate
wind jobs in Iowa and across our country. I appreciate the jobs in coal and oil
and gas. I’m going to make sure –
CROWLEY: OK.
ROMNEY: — we’re
taking advantage of our energy resources. We’ll bring back manufacturing to
America. We’re going to get through a very aggressive energy policy, 31/2
million more jobs in this country. It’s critical to our future.
OBAMA: Candy, it’s
not going to –
CROWLEY: We’re going
to move you along –
OBAMA: Used to being
interrupted.
CROWLEY: We’re going
to move you both along to taxes over here and all these folks that have been
waiting.
Governor, this
question is for you. It comes from Mary Follano — Follano, sorry.
ROMNEY: Hi, Mary.
#4
QUESTION: Governor
Romney, you have stated that if you’re elected president, you would plan to
reduce the tax rates for all the tax brackets and that you would work with the
Congress to eliminate some deductions in order to make up for the loss in
revenue.
Concerning the —
these various deductions, the mortgage deductions, the charitable deductions,
the child tax credit and also the — oh, what’s that other credit? I forgot.
OBAMA: You’re doing
great.
QUESTION: Oh, I
remember.
The education
credits, which are important to me, because I have children in college. What
would be your position on those things, which are important to the middle
class?
ROMNEY: Thank you
very much. And let me tell you, you’re absolutely right about part of that,
which is I want to bring the rates down, I want to simplify the tax code, and I
want to get middle- income taxpayers to have lower taxes.
And the reason I want
middle-income taxpayers to have lower taxes is because middle-income taxpayers
have been buried over the past four years. You’ve seen, as middle-income people
in this country, incomes go down $4,300 a family, even as gasoline prices have
gone up $2,000. Health insurance premiums, up $2,500. Food prices up. Utility
prices up.
The middle-income
families in America have been crushed over the last four years. So I want to get
some relief to middle-income families. That’s part — that’s part one.
Now, how about
deductions? ‘Cause I’m going to bring rates down across the board for
everybody, but I’m going to limit deductions and exemptions and credits,
particularly for people at the high end, because I am not going to have people
at the high end pay less than they’re paying now.
The top 5 percent of
taxpayers will continue to pay 60 percent of the income tax the nation
collects. So that’ll stay the same.
Middle-income people
are going to get a tax break.
And so, in terms of
bringing down deductions, one way of doing that would be say everybody gets —
I’ll pick a number — $25,000 of deductions and credits, and you can decide
which ones to use. Your home mortgage interest deduction, charity, child tax
credit, and so forth, you can use those as part of filling that bucket, if you
will, of deductions.
But your rate comes
down and the burden also comes down on you for one more reason, and that is
every middle-income taxpayer no longer will pay any tax on interest, dividends
or capital gains. No tax on your savings. That makes life a lot easier.
If you’re getting
interest from a bank, if you’re getting a statement from a mutual fund or any
other kind of investment you have, you don’t have to worry about filing taxes
on that, because there’ll be no taxes for anybody making $200,000.00 per year
and less, on your interest, dividends and capital gains. Why am I lowering
taxes on the middle-class? Because under the last four years, they’ve been
buried. And I want to help people in the middle-class.
And I will not — I
will not under any circumstances, reduce the share that’s being paid by the
highest income taxpayers. And I will not, under any circumstances increase
taxes on the middle-class. The president’s spending, the president’s borrowing
will cost this nation to have to raise taxes on the American people. Not just
at the high end. A recent study has shown the people in the middle-class will
see $4,000.00 per year in higher taxes as a result of the spending and
borrowing of this administration.
I will not let that
happen. I want to get us on track to a balanced budget, and I’m going to reduce
the tax burden on middle income families. And what’s that going to do? It’s
going to help those families, and it’s going to create incentives to start
growing jobs again in this country.
CROWLEY: Thanks,
Governor.
OBAMA: My philosophy
on taxes has been simple. And that is, I want to give middle-class families and
folks who are striving to get into the middle-class some relief. Because they
have been hit hard over the last decade. Over the last 15, over the last 20
years.
So four years ago I
stood on a stage just like this one. Actually it was a town hall, and I said I
would cut taxes for middle- class families, and that’s what I’ve done, by
$3,600.00. I said I would cut taxes for small businesses, who are the drivers
and engines of growth. And we’ve cut them 18 times. And I want to continue
those tax cuts for middle-class families, and for small business.
But what I’ve also
said is, if we’re serious about reducing the deficit, if this is genuinely a
moral obligation to the next generation, then in addition to some tough
spending cuts, we’ve also got to make sure that the wealthy do a little bit
more.
So what I’ve said is,
your first $250,000.00 worth of income, no change. And that means 98 percent of
American families, 97 percent of small businesses, they will not see a tax
increase. I’m ready to sign that bill right now. The only reason it’s not
happening is because Governor Romney’s allies in Congress have held the 98
percent hostage because they want tax breaks for the top 2 percent.
But what I’ve also
says is for above $250,000, we can go back to the tax rates we had when Bill
Clinton was president. We created 23 million new jobs. That’s part of what took
us from deficits to surplus. It will be good for our economy and it will be
good for job creation.
Now, Governor Romney
has a different philosophy. He was on 60 Minutes just two weeks ago and he was
asked: Is it fair for somebody like you, making $20 million a year, to pay a
lower tax rate than a nurse or a bus driver, somebody making $50,000 year? And
he said, “Yes, I think that’s fair.” Not only that, he said, “I think that’s
what grows the economy.”
Well, I fundamentally
disagree with that. I think what grows the economy is when you get that tax
credit that we put in place for your kids going to college. I think that grows
the economy. I think what grows the economy is when we make sure small businesses
are getting a tax credit for hiring veterans who fought for our country. That
grows our economy.
So we just have a
different theory. And when Governor Romney stands here, after a year of
campaigning, when during a Republican primary he stood on stage and said “I’m
going to give tax cuts” — he didn’t say tax rate cuts, he said “tax cuts to
everybody,” including the top 1 percent, you should believe him because that’s
been his history.
And that’s exactly
the kind of top-down economics that is not going to work if we want a strong
middle class and an economy that’s striving for everybody.
CROWLEY: Governor
Romney, I’m sure you’ve got a reply there.
(LAUGHTER) ROMNEY:
You’re absolutely right.
You heard what I said
about my tax plan. The top 5 percent will continue to pay 60 percent, as they
do today. I’m not looking to cut taxes for wealthy people. I am looking to cut
taxes for middle-income people.
And why do I want to
bring rates down, and at the same time lower exemptions and deductions,
particularly for people at the high end? Because if you bring rates down, it
makes it easier for small business to keep more of their capital and hire
people.
And for me, this is
about jobs. I want to get America’s economy going again. Fifty-four percent of
America’s workers work in businesses that are taxed as individuals. So when you
bring those rates down, those small businesses are able to keep more money and
hire more people.
For me, I look at
what’s happened in the last four years and say this has been a disappointment.
We can do better than this. We don’t have to settle for, how many months, 43
months with unemployment above 8 percent, 23 million Americans struggling to
find a good job right now.
There are 3.5 million
more women living in poverty today than when the president took office.
We don’t have to live
like this. We can get this economy going again. My five-point plan does it.
Energy independence for North America in five years. Opening up more trade,
particularly in Latin America. Cracking down on China when they cheat. Getting
us to a balanced budget. Fixing our training programs for our workers. And
finally, championing small business.
I want to make small
businesses grow and thrive. I know how to make that happen. I spent my life in
the private sector. I know why jobs come and why they go. And they’re going now
because of the policies of this administration.
CROWLEY: Governor,
let me ask the president something about what you just said.
The governor says
that he is not going to allow the top 5 percent, believe is what he said, to
have a tax cut, that it will all even out, that what he wants to do is give
that tax cut to the middle class. Settled?
OBAMA: No, it’s not
settled.
Look, the cost of
lowering rates for everybody across the board, 20 percent. Along with what he
also wants to do in terms of eliminating the estate tax, along what he wants to
do in terms of corporates, changes in the tax code, it costs about $5 trillion.
Governor Romney then
also wants to spend $2 trillion on additional military programs even though the
military’s not asking for them. That’s $7 trillion.
He also wants to
continue the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. That’s another
trillion dollars — that’s $8 trillion.
Now, what he says is
he’s going to make sure that this doesn’t add to the deficit and he’s going to
cut middleclass taxes.
But when he’s asked,
how are you going to do it, which deductions, which loopholes are you going to
close? He can’t tell you.
The — the fact that
he only has to pay 14 percent on his taxes when a lot of you are paying much
higher. He’s already taken that off the board, capital gains are going to
continue to be at a low rate so we — we’re not going to get money that way.
We haven’t heard from
the governor any specifics beyond Big Bird and eliminating funding for Planned
Parenthood in terms of how he pays for that.
Now, Governor Romney
was a very successful investor. If somebody came to you, Governor, with a plan
that said, here, I want to spend $7 or $8 trillion, and then we’re going to pay
for it, but we can’t tell you until maybe after the election how we’re going to
do it, you wouldn’t take such a sketchy deal and neither should you, the
American people, because the math doesn’t add up.
And — and what’s at
stake here is one of two things, either Candy — this blows up the deficit
because keep in mind, this is just to pay for the additional spending that he’s
talking about, $7 trillion – $8 trillion before we even get to the deficit we
already have. Or, alternatively, it’s got to be paid for, not only by closing
deductions for wealthy individuals, that — that will pay for about 4 percent
reduction in tax rates.
You’re going to be
paying for it. You’re going to lose some deductions, and you can’t buy the
sales pitch. Nobody who’s looked at it that’s serious, actually believes it
adds up.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, let me get — let me get the governor in on this. And Governor, let’s
— before we get into a…
ROMNEY: I — I…
CROWLEY: …vast array
of who says — what study says what, if it shouldn’t add up. If somehow when you
get in there, there isn’t enough tax revenue coming in. If somehow the numbers
don’t add up, would you be willing to look again at a 20 percent…
ROMNEY: Well of
course they add up. I — I was — I was someone who ran businesses for 25 years,
and balanced the budget. I ran the Olympics and balanced the budget. I ran the
— the state of Massachusetts as a governor, to the extent any governor does,
and balanced the budget all four years. When we’re talking about math that
doesn’t add up, how about $4 trillion of deficits over the last four years, $5
trillion? That’s math that doesn’t add up. We have — we have a president
talking about someone’s plan in a way that’s completely foreign to what my real
plan is.
ROMNEY: And then we
have his own record, which is we have four consecutive years where he said when
he was running for office, he would cut the deficit in half. Instead he’s
doubled it. We’ve gone from $10 trillion of national debt, to $16 trillion of
national debt. If the president were reelected, we’d go to almost $20 trillion
of national debt. This puts us on a road to Greece. I know what it takes to
balance budgets. I’ve done it my entire life. So for instance when he says,
“Yours is a $5 trillion cut.” Well, no it’s not. Because I’m offsetting some of
the reductions with holding down some of the deductions.
And…
CROWLEY: Governor,
I’ve gotta — gotta — actually, I need to have you both (inaudible).
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: I understand
the stakes here. I understand both of you. But I — I will get run out of town
if I don’t…
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: And I just
described — I just described to you, Mr. President — I just described to you
precisely how I’d do it which is with a single number that people can put — and
they can put they’re — they’re deductions and credits…
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, we’re keeping track, I promise you. And Mr. President, the next
question is for you, so stay standing.
OBAMA: Great. Looking
forward to it.
#5
And it’s Katherine
Fenton, who has a question for you.
QUESTION: In what new
ways to you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically
regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?
OBAMA: Well,
Katherine, that’s a great question. And, you know, I was raised by a single mom
who had to put herself through school while looking after two kids. And she
worked hard every day and made a lot of sacrifices to make sure we got
everything we needed. My grandmother, she started off as a secretary in a bank.
She never got a college education, even though she was smart as a whip. And she
worked her way up to become a vice president of a local bank, but she hit the
glass ceiling. She trained people who would end up becoming her bosses during
the course of her career.
She didn’t complain.
That’s not what you did in that generation. And this is one of the reasons why
one of the first — the first bill I signed was something called the Lily
Ledbetter bill. And it’s named after this amazing woman who had been doing the
same job as a man for years, found out that she was getting paid less, and the
Supreme Court said that she couldn’t bring suit because she should have found
about it earlier, whereas she had no way of finding out about it. So we fixed
that. And that’s an example of the kind of advocacy that we need, because women
are increasingly the breadwinners in the family. This is not just a women’s
issue, this is a family issue, this is a middle-class issue, and that’s why
we’ve got to fight for it.
It also means that
we’ve got to make sure that young people like yourself are able to afford a
college education. Earlier, Governor Romney talked about he wants to make Pell
Grants and other education accessible for young people.
Well, the truth of
the matter is, is that that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve expanded Pell
Grants for millions of people, including millions of young women, all across
the country.
We did it by taking
$60 billion that was going to banks and lenders as middlemen for the student
loan program, and we said, let’s just cut out the middleman. Let’s give the
money directly to students.
And as a consequence,
we’ve seen millions of young people be able to afford college, and that’s going
to make sure that young women are going to be able to compete in that
marketplace.
But we’ve got to
enforce the laws, which is what we are doing, and we’ve also got to make sure
that in every walk of life we do not tolerate discrimination.
That’s been one of the
hallmarks of my administration. I’m going to continue to push on this issue for
the next four years.
CROWLEY: Governor
Romney, pay equity for women?
ROMNEY: Thank you.
And important topic, and one which I learned a great deal about, particularly
as I was serving as governor of my state, because I had the chance to pull
together a cabinet and all the applicants seemed to be men.
And I — and I went to
my staff, and I said, “How come all the people for these jobs are — are all
men.” They said, “Well, these are the people that have the qualifications.” And
I said, “Well, gosh, can’t we — can’t we find some — some women that are also
qualified?”
ROMNEY: And — and so
we — we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds
that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet.
I went to a number of
women’s groups and said, “Can you help us find folks,” and they brought us
whole binders full of women.
I was proud of the
fact that after I staffed my Cabinet and my senior staff, that the University
of New York in Albany did a survey of all 50 states, and concluded that mine
had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America.
Now one of the
reasons I was able to get so many good women to be part of that team was
because of our recruiting effort. But number two, because I recognized that if
you’re going to have women in the workforce that sometimes you need to be more
flexible. My chief of staff, for instance, had two kids that were still in
school.
She said, I can’t be
here until 7 or 8 o’clock at night. I need to be able to get home at 5 o’clock
so I can be there for making dinner for my kids and being with them when they
get home from school. So we said fine. Let’s have a flexible schedule so you
can have hours that work for you.
We’re going to have
to have employers in the new economy, in the economy I’m going to bring to
play, that are going to be so anxious to get good workers they’re going to be
anxious to hire women. In the — in the last women have lost 580,000 jobs.
That’s the net of what’s happened in the last four years. We’re still down
580,000 jobs. I mentioned 31/2 million women, more now in poverty than four
years ago.
What we can do to
help young women and women of all ages is to have a strong economy, so strong
that employers that are looking to find good employees and bringing them into
their workforce and adapting to a flexible work schedule that gives women
opportunities that they would otherwise not be able to afford.
This is what I have
done. It’s what I look forward to doing and I know what it takes to make an
economy work, and I know what a working economy looks like. And an economy with
7.8 percent unemployment is not a real strong economy. An economy that has 23
million people looking for work is not a strong economy.
An economy with 50
percent of kids graduating from college that can’t finds a job, or a college
level job, that’s not what we have to have. CROWLEY: Governor?
ROMNEY: I’m going to
help women in America get good work by getting a stronger economy and by
supporting women in the workforce.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President why don’t you get in on this quickly, please?
OBAMA: Katherine, I
just want to point out that when Governor Romney’s campaign was asked about the
Lilly Ledbetter bill, whether he supported it? He said, “I’ll get back to you.”
And that’s not the kind of advocacy that women need in any economy. Now, there
are some other issues that have a bearing on how women succeed in the
workplace. For example, their healthcare. You know a major difference in this
campaign is that Governor Romney feels comfortable having politicians in
Washington decide the health care choices that women are making.
I think that’s a
mistake. In my health care bill, I said insurance companies need to provide
contraceptive coverage to everybody who is insured. Because this is not just a
— a health issue, it’s an economic issue for women. It makes a difference. This
is money out of that family’s pocket. Governor Romney not only opposed it, he
suggested that in fact employers should be able to make the decision as to
whether or not a woman gets contraception through her insurance coverage.
That’s not the kind
of advocacy that women need. When Governor Romney says that we should eliminate
funding for Planned Parenthood, there are millions of women all across the
country, who rely on Planned Parenthood for, not just contraceptive care, they
rely on it for mammograms, for cervical cancer screenings. That’s a pocketbook
issue for women and families all across the country. And it makes a difference
in terms of how well and effectively women are able to work. When we talk about
child care, and the credits that we’re providing. That makes a difference in
whether they can go out there and — and earn a living for their family.
These are not just
women’s issues. These are family issues. These are economic issues.
And one of the things
that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates and women are
getting the same fair deal as men are.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President…
OBAMA: And I’ve got
two daughters and I want to make sure that they have the same opportunities
that anybody’s sons have. That’s part of what I’m fighting for as president of
the United States.
#6
CROWLEY: I want to
move us along here to Susan Katz, who has a question.
And, Governor, it’s
for you. QUESTION: Governor Romney, I am an undecided voter, because I’m
disappointed with the lack of progress I’ve seen in the last four years. However,
I do attribute much of America’s economic and international problems to the
failings and missteps of the Bush administration.
Since both you and
President Bush are Republicans, I fear a return to the policies of those years
should you win this election. What is the biggest difference between you and
George W. Bush, and how do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?
ROMNEY: Thank you.
And I appreciate that question.
I just want to make
sure that, I think I was supposed to get that last answer, but I want to point
out that that I don’t believe…
OBAMA: I don’t think
so, Candy.
ROMNEY: … I don’t
believe…
OBAMA: I want to make
sure our timekeepers are working here.
ROMNEY: The time —
the time…
CROWLEY: OK. The
timekeepers are all working. And let me tell you that the last part, it’s for
the two of you to talk to one another, and it isn’t quite as (inaudible) you
think.
But go ahead and use
this two minutes any way you’d like to, the question is on the floor.
ROMNEY: I’d just note
that I don’t believe that bureaucrats in Washington should tell someone whether
they can use contraceptives or not. And I don’t believe employers should tell
someone whether they could have contraceptive care of not. Every woman in America
should have access to contraceptives. And — and the — and the president’s
statement of my policy is completely and totally wrong.
OBAMA: Governor…
ROMNEY: Let me come
back and — and answer your question.
President Bush and I
are — are different people and these are different times and that’s why my five
point plan is so different than what he would have done.
I mean for instance,
we can now, by virtue of new technology actually get all the energy we need in
North America without having to go to the — the Arabs or the Venezuelans or
anyone else. That wasn’t true in his time, that’s why my policy starts with a
very robust policy to get all that energy in North America — become energy
secure.
Number two, trade —
I’ll crack down on China, President Bush didn’t. I’m also going to dramatically
expand trade in Latin America. It’s been growing about 12 percent per year over
a long period of time. I want to add more free trade agreements so we’ll have
more trade.
Number three, I’m
going to get us to a balanced budget. President Bush didn’t. President Obama
was right, he said that that was outrageous to have deficits as high as half a
trillion dollars under the Bush years. He was right, but then he put in place
deficits twice that size for every one of his four years. And his forecast for
the next four years is more deficits, almost that large. So that’s the next
area I’m different than President Bush.
And then let’s take
the last one, championing small business. Our party has been focused too long.
I came through small business. I understand how hard it is to start a small
business. That’s why everything I’ll do is designed to help small businesses
grow and add jobs. I want to keep their taxes down on small business. I want
regulators to see their job as encouraging small enterprise, not crushing it.
And the thing I find
the most troubling about Obama Care, well it’s a long list, but one of the
things I find most troubling is that when you go out and talk to small
businesses and ask them what they think about it, they tell you it keeps them
from hiring more people.
My priority is jobs.
I know how to make that happen. And President Bush has a very different path
for a very different time. My path is designed in getting small businesses to
grow and hire people.
CROWLEY: Thanks,
Governor.
Mr. President?
OBAMA: Well, first of
all, I think it’s important to tell you that we did come in during some tough
times. We were losing 800,000 jobs a month when I started. But we had been
digging our way out of policies that were misplaced and focused on the top
doing very well and middle class folks not doing well.
Now, we’ve seen 30
consecutive — 31 consecutive months of job growth; 5.2 million new jobs
created. And the plans that I talked about will create even more. But when
Governor Romney says that he has a very different economic plan, the
centerpiece of his economic plan are tax cuts. That’s what took us from surplus
to deficit. When he talks about getting tough on China, keep in mind that
Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to
China, and is currently investing in countries — in companies that are building
surveillance equipment for China to spy on its own folks.
That’s — Governor,
you’re the last person who’s going to get tough on China. And what we’ve done
when it comes to trade is not only sign three trade deals to open up new
markets, but we’ve also set up a task force for trade that goes after anybody
who is taking advantage of American workers or businesses and not creating a
level playing field. We’ve brought twice as many cases against unfair trading
practices than the previous administration and we’ve won every single one
that’s been decided.
When I said that we
had to make sure that China was not flooding our domestic market with cheap tires,
Governor Romney said I was being protectionist; that it wouldn’t be helpful to
American workers. Well, in fact we saved 1,000 jobs. And that’s the kind of
tough trade actions that are required.
But the last point I
want to make is this. You know, there are some things where Governor Romney is
different from George Bush. George Bush didn’t propose turning Medicare into a
voucher. George Bush embraced comprehensive immigration reform. He didn’t call
for self-deportation.
George Bush never
suggested that we eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, so there are
differences between Governor Romney and George Bush, but they’re not on
economic policy. In some ways, he’s gone to a more extreme place when it comes
to social policy. And I think that’s a mistake. That’s not how we’re going to
move our economy forward.
CROWLEY: I want to
move you both along to the next question, because it’s in the same wheelhouse,
so you will be able to respond. But the president does get this question. I
want to call on Michael Jones.
#7
QUESTION: Mr.
President, I voted for you in 2008. What have you done or accomplished to earn
my vote in 2012? I’m not that optimistic as I was in 2012. Most things I need
for everyday living are very expensive.
OBAMA: Well, we’ve
gone through a tough four years. There’s no doubt about it. But four years ago,
I told the American people and I told you I would cut taxes for middle class
families. And I did. I told you I’d cut taxes for small businesses, and I have.
I said that I’d end
the war in Iraq, and I did. I said we’d refocus attention on those who actually
attacked us on 9/11, and we have gone after Al Qaeda’s leadership like never
before and Osama bin Laden is dead.
OBAMA: I said that we
would put in place health care reform to make sure that insurance companies
can’t jerk you around and if you don’t have health insurance, that you’d have a
chance to get affordable insurance, and I have.
I committed that I
would rein in the excesses of Wall Street, and we passed the toughest Wall
Street reforms since the 1930s. We’ve created five million jobs, and gone from
800 jobs a month being lost, and we are making progress. We saved an auto
industry that was on the brink of collapse.
Now, does that mean
you’re not struggling? Absolutely not. A lot of us are. And that’s why the plan
that I’ve put forward for manufacturing and education, and reducing our deficit
in a sensible way, using the savings from ending wars, to rebuild America and
putting people back to work. Making sure that we are controlling our own energy,
but not only the energy of today, but also the energy of the future. All of
those things will make a difference, so the point is the commitments I’ve made,
I’ve kept.
And those that I
haven’t been able to keep, it’s not for lack of trying and we’re going to get
it done in a second term. But, you should pay attention to this campaign,
because Governor Romney has made some commitments as well. And I suspect he’ll
keep those too. You know when members of the Republican Congress say, “We’re
going to sign a no tax pledge, so that we don’t ask a dime for millionaires and
billionaires to reduce our deficit so we can still invest in education, and
helping kids go to college. He said, “Me too.”
When they said,
“We’re going to cut Planned Parenthood funding.” He said, “Me too.” When he
said, “We’re going to repeal Obamacare. First thing I’m going to do,” despite
the fact that it’s the same health care plan that he passed in Massachusetts
and is working well. He said, “Me too.” That is not the kind of leadership that
you need, but you should expect that those are promises he’s going to keep.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, let me let…
(CROSSTALK)
OBAMA: …the choice in
this election is going to be whose promises are going to be more likely to help
you in your life? Make sure your kids can go to college. Make sure that you are
getting a good paying job, making sure that Medicare and Social Security… (CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Mr.
President. Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
OBAMA: …will be there
for you.
CROWLEY: Thank you.
Governor?
ROMNEY: I think you
know better. I think you know that these last four years haven’t been so good
as the president just described and that you don’t feel like your confident
that the next four years are going to be much better either.
I can tell you that
if you were to elect President Obama, you know what you’re going to get. You’re
going to get a repeat of the last four years. We just can’t afford four more
years like the last four years.
He said that by now
we’d have unemployment at 5.4 percent. The difference between where it is and
5.4 percent is 9 million Americans without work.
I wasn’t the one that
said 5.4 percent. This was the president’s plan. Didn’t get there.
He said he would have
by now put forward a plan to reform Medicare and Social Security, because he
pointed out they’re on the road to bankruptcy. He would reform them. He’d get
that done. He hasn’t even made a proposal on either one.
He said in his first
year he’d put out an immigration plan that would deal with our immigration
challenges. Didn’t even file it.
This is a president
who has not been able to do what he said he’d do. He said that he’d cut in half
the deficit. He hasn’t done that either. In fact, he doubled it. He said that
by now middle-income families would have a reduction in their health insurance
premiums by $2,500 a year. It’s gone up by $2,500 a year. And if Obamacare is
passed, or implemented — it’s already been passed — if it’s implemented fully,
it’ll be another $2,500 on top.
ROMNEY: The middle
class is getting crushed under the policies of a president who has not
understood what it takes to get the economy working again. He keeps saying,
“Look, I’ve created 5 million jobs.” That’s after losing 5 million jobs. The
entire record is such that the unemployment has not been reduced in this
country. The unemployment, the number of people who are still looking for work,
is still 23 million Americans.
There are more people
in poverty, one out of six people in poverty.
How about food
stamps? When he took office, 32 million people were on food stamps. Today, 47
million people are on food stamps. How about the growth of the economy? It’s
growing more slowly this year than last year, and more slowly last year than
the year before.
The president wants
to do well. I understand. But the policies he’s put in place from Obamacare to
Dodd-Frank to his tax policies to his regulatory policies, these policies
combined have not let this economy take off and grow like it could have.
You might say, “Well,
you got an example of one that worked better?” Yeah, in the Reagan recession
where unemployment hit 10.8 percent, between that period — the end of that
recession and the equivalent of time to today, Ronald Reagan’s recovery created
twice as many jobs as this president’s recovery. Five million jobs doesn’t even
keep up with our population growth. And the only reason the unemployment rate
seems a little lower today is because of all the people that have dropped out
of the workforce.
The president has
tried, but his policies haven’t worked. He’s great as a — as a — as a speaker
and describing his plans and his vision. That’s wonderful, except we have a
record to look at. And that record shows he just hasn’t been able to cut the
deficit, to put in place reforms for Medicare and Social Security to preserve
them, to get us the rising incomes we need. Median income is down $4,300 a
family and 23 million Americans out of work. That’s what this election is
about. It’s about who can get the middle class in this country a bright and
prosperous future and assure our kids the kind of hope and optimism they
deserve.
CROWLEY: Governor, I
want to move you along. Don’t — don’t go away, and we’ll have plenty of time to
respond. We are quite aware of the clock for both of you. But I want to bring
in a different subject here.
Mr. President, I’ll
be right back with you.
Lorraine Osorio has a
question for you about a topic we have not…
OBAMA: This is for
Governor Romney?
CROWLEY: It’s for
Governor Romney, and we’ll be right with you, Mr. President. Thanks.
ROMNEY: Is it
Loraina?
QUESTION: Lorraine.
ROMNEY: Lorraine?
QUESTION: Yes,
Lorraine.
ROMNEY: Lorraine.
QUESTION: How you
doing?
ROMNEY: Good, thanks.
#8
QUESTION: Mr. Romney,
what do you plan on doing with immigrants without their green cards that are
currently living here as productive members of society?
ROMNEY: Thank you.
Lorraine? Did I get that right? Good. Thank you for your question. And let me
step back and tell you what I would like to do with our immigration policy
broadly and include an answer to your question.
But first of all,
this is a nation of immigrants. We welcome people coming to this country as
immigrants. My dad was born in Mexico of American parents; Ann’s dad was born
in Wales and is a first-generation American. We welcome legal immigrants into
this country.
I want our legal
system to work better. I want it to be streamlined. I want it to be clearer. I
don’t think you have to — shouldn’t have to hire a lawyer to figure out how to
get into this country legally. I also think that we should give visas to people
— green cards, rather, to people who graduate with skills that we need. People
around the world with accredited degrees in science and math get a green card
stapled to their diploma, come to the U.S. of A. We should make sure our legal
system works.
Number two, we’re
going to have to stop illegal immigration. There are 4 million people who are
waiting in line to get here legally. Those who’ve come here illegally take
their place. So I will not grant amnesty to those who have come here illegally.
What I will do is
I’ll put in place an employment verification system and make sure that
employers that hire people who have come here illegally are sanctioned for
doing so. I won’t put in place magnets for people coming here illegally. So for
instance, I would not give driver’s licenses to those that have come here
illegally as the president would.
The kids of those
that came here illegally, those kids, I think, should have a pathway to become
a permanent resident of the United States and military service, for instance,
is one way they would have that kind of pathway to become a permanent resident.
ROMNEY: Now when the
president ran for office, he said that he’d put in place, in his first year, a
piece of legislation — he’d file a bill in his first year that would reform our
— our immigration system, protect legal immigration, stop illegal immigration.
He didn’t do it.
He had a Democrat
House, a Democrat Senate, super majority in both Houses. Why did he fail to
even promote legislation that would have provided an answer for those that want
to come legally and for those that are here illegally today? What’s a question
I think the — the president will have a chance to answer right now.
OBAMA: Good, I look
forward to it.
Was — Lorranna —
Lorraine — we are a nation of immigrants. I mean we’re just a few miles away
from Ellis Island. We all understand what this country has become because
talent from all around the world wants to come here. People are willing to take
risks. People who want to build on their dreams and make sure their kids have
an even bigger dreams than they have.
But we’re also a
nation of laws. So what I’ve said is we need to fix a broken immigration system
and I’ve done everything that I can on my own and sought cooperation from
Congress to make sure that we fix the system.
The first thing we
did was to streamline the legal immigration system, to reduce the backlog, make
it easier, simpler and cheaper for people who are waiting in line, obeying the
law to make sure that they can come here and contribute to our country and
that’s good for our economic growth.
They’ll start new
businesses. They’ll make things happen to create jobs here in the United
States.
Number two, we do
have to deal with our border so we put more border patrol on the — any time in
history and the flow of undocumented works across the border is actually lower
than it’s been in 40 years.
What I’ve also said
is if we’re going to go after folks who are here illegally, we should do it
smartly and go after folks who are criminals, gang bangers, people who are
hurting the community, not after students, not after folks who are here just
because they’re trying to figure out how to feed their families. And that’s
what we’ve done. And what I’ve also said is for young people who come here,
brought here often times by their parents. Had gone to school here, pledged
allegiance to the flag. Think of this as their country. Understand themselves
as Americans in every way except having papers. And we should make sure that we
give them a pathway to citizenship.
And that’s what I’ve
done administratively. Now, Governor Romney just said, you know he wants to
help those young people too, but during the Republican primary, he said, “I
will veto the DREAM Act”, that would allow these young people to have access.”
His main strategy during the Republican primary was to say, “We’re going to
encourage self-deportation.” Making life so miserable on folks that they’ll
leave. He called the Arizona law a model for the nation. Part of the Arizona
law said that law enforcement officers could stop folks because they suspected
maybe they looked like they might be undocumented workers and check their
papers.
You know what? If my
daughter or yours looks to somebody like they’re not a citizen, I don’t want —
I don’t want to empower somebody like that. So, we can fix this system in a
comprehensive way. And when Governor Romney says, the challenge is, “Well Obama
didn’t try.” That’s not true. I have sat down with Democrats and Republicans at
the beginning of my term. And I said, let’s fix this system. Including Senators
previously who had supported it on the Republican side. But it’s very hard for
Republican’s in Congress to support comprehensive immigration reform, if their
standard bearer has said that, this is not something I’m interested in
supporting.
CROWLEY: Let me get
the governor in here, Mr. President. Let’s speak to, if you could…
ROMNEY: Yes.
CROWLEY: …the idea of
self-deportation?
ROMNEY: No, let — let
— let me go back and speak to the points that the president made and — and —
and let’s get them correct.
I did not say that
the Arizona law was a model for the nation in that aspect. I said that the
E-Verify portion of the Arizona law, which is — which is the portion of the law
which says that employers could be able to determine whether someone is here
illegally or not illegally, that that was a model for the nation. That’s number
one.
Number two, I asked
the president a question I think Hispanics and immigrants all over the nation
have asked. He was asked this on Univision the other day. Why, when you said you’d
filed legislation in your first year didn’t you do it? And he didn’t answer. He
— he doesn’t answer that question. He said the standard bearer wasn’t for it.
I’m glad you thought
I was a standard bearer four years ago, but I wasn’t.
Four years ago you
said in your first year you would file legislation.
In his first year, I
was just getting — licking my wounds from having been beaten by John McCain,
all right. I was not the standard bearer.
My — my view is that
this president should have honored his promise to do as he said.
Now, let me mention
one other thing, and that is self-deportation says let people make their own
choice. What I was saying is, we’re not going to round up 12 million people,
undocumented illegals, and take them out of the nation. Instead let people make
their own choice. And if they — if they find that — that they can’t get the
benefits here that they want and they can’t — and they can’t find the job they
want, then they’ll make a decision to go a place where — where they have better
opportunities.
But I’m not in favor
of rounding up people and — and — and taking them out of this country. I am in
favor, as the president has said, and I agree with him, which is that if people
have committed crimes we got to get them out of this country.
ROMNEY: Let me
mention something else the president said. It was a moment ago and I didn’t get
a chance to, when he was describing Chinese investments and so forth.
OBAMA: Candy?
Hold on a second.
The…
ROMNEY: Mr.
President, I’m still speaking.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: Mr.
President, let me finish.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: I’ve gotta
continue.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Governor
Romney, you can make it short. See all these people? They’ve been waiting for
you. (inaudible) make it short (inaudible).
ROMNEY: Just going to
make a point. Any investments I have over the last eight years have been
managed by a blind trust. And I understand they do include investments outside
the United States, including in — in Chinese companies.
Mr. President, have
you looked at your pension? Have you looked at your pension?
OBAMA: I’ve got to
say…
ROMNEY: Mr.
President, have you looked at your pension?
OBAMA: You know, I —
I don’t look at my pension. It’s not as big as yours so it doesn’t take as
long.
ROMNEY: Well, let me
give you some advice.
OBAMA: I don’t check
it that often.
ROMNEY: Let me give
you some advice. Look at your pension. You also have investments in Chinese
companies. You also have investments outside the United States. You also have
investments through a Cayman’s trust.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: We’re way
off topic here, Governor Romney.
(CROSSTALK)
OBAMA: I thought we
were talking about immigration.
(CROSSTALK)
OBAMA: I do want to
make sure that…
CROWLEY: If I could
have you sit down, Governor Romney. Thank you.
OBAMA: I do want to
make sure that — I do want to make sure that we just understand something.
Governor Romney says he wasn’t referring to Arizona as a model for the nation.
His top adviser on immigration is the guy who designed the Arizona law, the
entirety of it; not E-Verify, the whole thing. That’s his policy. And it’s a
bad policy. And it won’t help us grow.
Look, when we think
about immigration, we have to understand there are folks all around the world
who still see America as the land of promise. And they provide us energy and
they provide us innovation and they start companies like Intel and Google. And
we want to encourage that.
Now, we’ve got to
make sure that we do it in a smart way and a comprehensive way, and we make the
legal system better. But when we make this into a divisive political issue, and
when we don’t have bipartisan support — I can deliver, Governor, a whole bunch
of Democrats to get comprehensive immigration reform done, and we can’t…
ROMNEY: I’ll get it
done. I’ll get it done. First year…
OBAMA: … we can’t —
we have not seen Republicans serious about this issue at all. And it’s time for
them to get serious on it.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, let me move you on here please. Mr. President, (inaudible).
OBAMA: This used to
be a bipartisan issue.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Don’t go
away, though — right. Don’t go away because I — I want you to talk to Kerry
Ladka who wants to switch the topic for us.
OBAMA: OK.
Hi, Kerry.
QUESTION: Good
evening, Mr. President.
OBAMA: I’m sorry.
What’s your name?
QUESTION: It’s Kerry,
Kerry Ladka.
OBAMA: Great to see
you.
QUESTION: This
question actually comes from a brain trust of my friends at Global Telecom
Supply (ph) in Minneola yesterday.
OBAMA: Ah.
#9
QUESTION: We were
sitting around, talking about Libya, and we were reading and became aware of
reports that the State Department refused extra security for our embassy in
Benghazi, Libya, prior to the attacks that killed four Americans.
Who was it that
denied enhanced security and why?
OBAMA: Well, let me
first of all talk about our diplomats, because they serve all around the world
and do an incredible job in a very dangerous situation. And these aren’t just
representatives of the United States, they are my representatives. I send them
there, oftentimes into harm’s way. I know these folks and I know their
families. So nobody is more concerned about their safety and security than I
am.
So as soon as we
found out that the Benghazi consulate was being overrun, I was on the phone
with my national security team and I gave them three instructions.
Number one, beef up
our security and procedures, not just in Libya, but at every embassy and consulate
in the region.
Number two,
investigate exactly what happened, regardless of where the facts lead us, to
make sure folks are held accountable and it doesn’t happen again.
And number three, we
are going to find out who did this and we’re going to hunt them down, because
one of the things that I’ve said throughout my presidency is when folks mess
with Americans, we go after them.
OBAMA: Now Governor
Romney had a very different response. While we were still dealing with our
diplomats being threatened, Governor Romney put out a press release, trying to
make political points, and that’s not how a commander in chief operates. You
don’t turn national security into a political issue. Certainly not right when
it’s happening. And people — not everybody agrees with some of the decisions
I’ve made. But when it comes to our national security, I mean what I say. I
said I’d end the war in Libya — in — in Iraq, and I did.
I said that we’d go
after al-Qaeda and bin Laden, we have. I said we’d transition out of Afghanistan,
and start making sure that Afghans are responsible for their own security,
that’s what I’m doing. And when it comes to this issue, when I say that we are
going to find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable.
And I am ultimately responsible for what’s taking place there because these are
my folks, and I’m the one who has to greet those coffins when they come home.
You know that I mean what I say.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, I’m going to move us along. Governor?
ROMNEY: Thank you
Kerry for your question, it’s an important one. And — and I — I think the
president just said correctly that the buck does stop at his desk and — and he
takes responsibility for — for that — for the failure in providing those
security resources, and — and those terrible things may well happen from time
to time. I — I’m — I feel very deeply sympathetic for the families of those who
lost loved ones. And today there’s a memorial service for one of those that was
lost in this tragedy. We — we think of their families and care for them deeply.
There were other issues associated with this — with this tragedy. There were
many days that passed before we knew whether this was a spontaneous
demonstration, or actually whether it was a terrorist attack.
ROMNEY: And there was
no demonstration involved. It was a terrorist attack and it took a long time
for that to be told to the American people. Whether there was some misleading,
or instead whether we just didn’t know what happened, you have to ask yourself
why didn’t we know five days later when the ambassador to the United Nations
went on TV to say that this was a demonstration. How could we have not known?
But I find more
troubling than this, that on — on the day following the assassination of the
United States ambassador, the first time that’s happened since 1979, when —
when we have four Americans killed there, when apparently we didn’t know what
happened, that the president, the day after that happened, flies to Las Vegas
for a political fund-raiser, then the next day to Colorado for another event,
other political event.
I think these — these
actions taken by a president and a leader have symbolic significance and
perhaps even material significance in that you’d hope that during that time we
could call in the people who were actually eyewitnesses. We’ve read their
accounts now about what happened. It was very clear this was not a
demonstration. This was an attack by terrorists.
And this calls into
question the president’s whole policy in the Middle East. Look what’s happening
in Syria, in Egypt, now in Libya. Consider the distance between ourselves and —
and Israel, the president said that — that he was going to put daylight between
us and Israel.
We have Iran four
years closer to a nuclear bomb. Syria — Syria’s not just a tragedy of 30,000
civilians being killed by a military, but also a strategic — strategically
significant player for America.
The president’s
policies throughout the Middle East began with an apology tour and — and — and
pursue a strategy of leading from behind, and this strategy is unraveling
before our very eyes.
CROWLEY: Because
we’re — we’re closing in, I want to still get a lot of people in. I want to ask
you something, Mr. President, and then have the governor just quickly.
Your secretary of
state, as I’m sure you know, has said that she takes full responsibility for
the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Does the buck stop with your
secretary of state as far as what went on here?
OBAMA: Secretary
Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I’m the president
and I’m always responsible, and that’s why nobody’s more interested in finding
out exactly what happened than I do.
The day after the
attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people in
the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened. That this was an
act of terror and I also said that we’re going to hunt down those who committed
this crime.
And then a few days
later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force Base and
grieving with the families.
And the suggestion
that anybody in my team, whether the Secretary of State, our U.N. Ambassador,
anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our
own, governor, is offensive. That’s not what we do. That’s not what I do as
president, that’s not what I do as Commander in Chief.
CROWLEY: Governor, if
you want to…
ROMNEY: Yes, I — I…
CROWLEY: … quickly to
this please.
ROMNEY: I — I think
interesting the president just said something which — which is that on the day
after the attack he went into the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of
terror.
OBAMA: That’s what I
said.
ROMNEY: You said in
the Rose Garden the day after the attack, it was an act of terror.
It was not a
spontaneous demonstration, is that what you’re saying?
OBAMA: Please proceed
governor.
ROMNEY: I want to
make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days
before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.
OBAMA: Get the
transcript.
CROWLEY: It — it — it
— he did in fact, sir. So let me — let me call it an act of terror…
OBAMA: Can you say
that a little louder, Candy?
CROWLEY: He — he did
call it an act of terror. It did as well take — it did as well take two weeks
or so for the whole idea there being a riot out there about this tape to come
out. You are correct about that.
ROMNEY: This — the
administration — the administration indicated this was a reaction to a video
and was a spontaneous reaction.
CROWLEY: It did.
ROMNEY: It took them
a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist group. And to
suggest — am I incorrect in that regard, on Sunday, the — your secretary –
OBAMA: Candy?
ROMNEY: Excuse me.
The ambassador of the United Nations went on the Sunday television shows and
spoke about how –
OBAMA: Candy, I’m –
ROMNEY: — this was a
spontaneous –
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, let me –
OBAMA: I’m happy to
have a longer conversation –
CROWLEY: I know you –
OBAMA: — about
foreign policy.
CROWLEY: Absolutely.
But I want to — I want to move you on and also –
OBAMA: OK. I’m happy
to do that, too.
CROWLEY: — the
transcripts and –
OBAMA: I just want to
make sure that –
CROWLEY: — figure out
what we –
OBAMA: — all of these
wonderful folks are going to have a chance to get some of their questions
answered.
CROWLEY: Because what
I — what I want to do, Mr. President, stand there a second, because I want to
introduce you to Nina Gonzalez, who brought up a question that we hear a lot,
both over the Internet and from this crowd.
#10
QUESTION: President
Obama, during the Democratic National Convention in 2008, you stated you wanted
to keep AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. What has your administration done
or planned to do to limit the availability of assault weapons?
OBAMA: We’re a nation
that believes in the Second Amendment, and I believe in the Second Amendment.
We’ve got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make
sure they can protect themselves.
But there have been
too many instances during the course of my presidency, where I’ve had to
comfort families who have lost somebody. Most recently out in Aurora. You know,
just a couple of weeks ago, actually, probably about a month, I saw a mother,
who I had met at the bedside of her son, who had been shot in that theater.
And her son had been
shot through the head. And we spent some time, and we said a prayer and,
remarkably, about two months later, this young man and his mom showed up, and
he looked unbelievable, good as new.
But there were a lot
of families who didn’t have that good fortune and whose sons or daughters or
husbands didn’t survive.
So my belief is that,
(A), we have to enforce the laws we’ve already got, make sure that we’re
keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. We’ve
done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we’ve got more to do
when it comes to enforcement.
But I also share your
belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t
belong on our streets. And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader
conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is
seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is
also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town
of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence and they’re not using AK-47s.
They’re using cheap hand guns.
And so what can we do
to intervene, to make sure that young people have opportunity; that our schools
are working; that if there’s violence on the streets, that working with faith
groups and law enforcement, we can catch it before it gets out of control.
And so what I want is
a — is a comprehensive strategy. Part of it is seeing if we can get automatic
weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and
the mentally ill. But part of it is also going deeper and seeing if we can get
into these communities and making sure we catch violent impulses before they
occur.
CROWLEY: Governor
Romney, the question is about assault weapons, AK-47s.
ROMNEY: Yeah, I’m not
in favor of new pieces of legislation on — on guns and taking guns away or
making certain guns illegal. We, of course, don’t want to have automatic
weapons, and that’s already illegal in this country to have automatic weapons.
What I believe is we have to do, as the president mentioned towards the end of
his remarks there, which is to make enormous efforts to enforce the gun laws
that we have, and to change the culture of violence that we have.
And you ask how — how
are we going to do that? And there are a number of things. He mentioned good
schools. I totally agree. We were able to drive our schools to be number one in
the nation in my state. And I believe if we do a better job in education, we’ll
— we’ll give people the — the hope and opportunity they deserve and perhaps
less violence from that. But let me mention another thing. And that is parents.
We need moms and dads, helping to raise kids. Wherever possible the — the
benefit of having two parents in the home, and that’s not always possible. A
lot of great single moms, single dads. But gosh to tell our kids that before
they have babies, they ought to think about getting married to someone, that’s
a great idea.
Because if there’s a
two parent family, the prospect of living in poverty goes down dramatically.
The opportunities that the child will — will be able to achieve increase
dramatically. So we can make changes in the way our culture works to help bring
people away from violence and give them opportunity, and bring them in the
American system. The — the greatest failure we’ve had with regards to — to gun
violence in some respects is what — what is known as Fast and Furious. Which
was a program under this administration, and how it worked exactly I think we
don’t know precisely, where thousands of automatic, and AK-47 type weapons were
— were given to people that ultimately gave them to — to drug lords.
They used those
weapons against — against their own citizens and killed Americans with them.
And this was a — this was a program of the government. For what purpose it was
put in place, I can’t imagine. But it’s one of the great tragedies related to
violence in our society which has occurred during this administration. Which I
think the American people would like to understand fully, it’s been
investigated to a degree, but — but the administration has carried out
executive privilege to prevent all of the information from coming out.
I’d like to
understand who it was that did this, what the idea was behind it, why it led to
the violence, thousands of guns going to Mexican drug lords. OBAMA: Candy?
CROWLEY: Governor,
Governor, if I could, the question was about these assault weapons that once
were once banned and are no longer banned.
I know that you
signed an assault weapons ban when you were in Massachusetts, obviously, with
this question, you no longer do support that. Why is that, given the kind of
violence that we see sometimes with these mass killings? Why is it that you
have changed your mind?
ROMNEY: Well, Candy,
actually, in my state, the pro-gun folks and the anti-gun folks came together
and put together a piece of legislation. And it’s referred to as an assault
weapon ban, but it had, at the signing of the bill, both the pro-gun and the
anti-gun people came together, because it provided opportunities for both that
both wanted.
There were hunting
opportunities, for instance, that haven’t previously been available and so
forth, so it was a mutually agreed- upon piece of legislation. That’s what we
need more of, Candy. What we have right now in Washington is a place that’s
gridlocked.
CROWLEY: So I could —
if you could get people to agree to it, you would be for it?
ROMNEY: We have –
OBAMA: Candy?
ROMNEY: — we haven’t
had the leadership in Washington to work on a bipartisan basis. I was able to
do that in my state and bring these two together.
CROWLEY: Quickly, Mr.
President.
OBAMA: The — first of
all, I think Governor Romney was for an assault weapons ban before he was
against it. And he said that the reason he changed his mind was, in part,
because he was seeking the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. So
that’s on the record.
But I think that one
area we agree on is the important of parents and the importance of schools,
because I do believe that if our young people have opportunity, then they are
less likely to engage in these kinds of violent acts. We’re not going to
eliminate everybody who is mentally disturbed and we have got to make sure they
don’t get weapons.
(AUDIO GAP)
OBAMA: because I do
believe that if our young people have opportunity, then they’re less likely to
engage in these kind of violent acts.
We’re not going to
eliminate everybody who is mentally disturbed, and we’ve got to make sure they
don’t get weapons. But we can make a difference in terms ensuring that every
young person in America, regardless of where they come from, what they look
like, have a chance to succeed.
And, Candy, we
haven’t had a chance to talk about education much, but I think it is very
important to understand that the reforms we’ve put in place, working with 46
governors around the country, are seeing schools that are some of the ones that
are the toughest for kids starting to succeed. We’re starting to see gains in
math and science.
When it comes to
community colleges, we are setting up programs, including with Nassau Community
College, to retrain workers, including young people who may have dropped out of
school but now are getting another chance, training them for the jobs that exist
right now.
And in fact,
employers are looking for skilled workers. And so we’re matching them up.
Giving them access to higher education. As I said, we have made sure that
millions of young people are able to get an education that they weren’t able to
get before.
Now…
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, I have to — I have to move you along here. You said you wanted to…
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: We need to
do it here.
OBAMA: But — but
it’ll — it’ll — it’ll be…
(CROSSTALK)
OBAMA: … just one
second.
CROWLEY: One…
OBAMA: Because —
because this is important. This is part of the choice in this election.
When Governor Romney
was asked whether teachers, hiring more teachers was important to growing our
economy, Governor Romney said that doesn’t grow our economy.
When — when he was
asked would class size…
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: The
question, Mr. President, was guns here, so I need to move us along.
OBAMA: I understand.
CROWLEY: You know,
the question was guns. So let me — let me bring in another…
OBAMA: But this will
make a difference in terms of whether or not we can move this economy forward
for these young people…
CROWLEY: I
understand.
OBAMA: … and reduce
our violence.
CROWLEY: OK. Thank
you so much.
I want to ask Carol
Goldberg to stand up, because she gets to a question that both these men have
been passionate about. It’s for Governor Romney.
#11
QUESTION: The
outsourcing of American jobs overseas has taken a toll on our economy. What
plans do you have to put back and keep jobs here in the United States?
ROMNEY: Boy, great
question and important question, because you’re absolutely right. The place
where we’ve seen manufacturing go has been China. China is now the largest
manufacturer in the world. It used to be the United States of America. A lot of
good people have lost jobs. A half a million manufacturing jobs have been lost
in the last four years. That’s total over the last four years.
One of the reasons
for that is that people think it’s more attractive in some cases to go offshore
than to stay here. We have made it less attractive for enterprises to stay here
than to go offshore from time to time. What I will do as president is make sure
it’s more attractive to come to America again.
This is the way we’re
going to create jobs in this country. It’s not by trickle-down government, saying
we’re going to take more money from people and hire more government workers,
raise more taxes, put in place more regulations. Trickle-down government has
never worked here, has never worked anywhere.
I want to make
America the most attractive place in the world for entrepreneurs, for small
business, for big business, to invest and grow in America.
Now, we’re going to
have to make sure that as we trade with other nations that they play by the
rules. And China hasn’t. One of the reasons — or one of the ways they don’t
play by the rules is artificially holding down the value of their currency.
Because if they put their currency down low, that means their prices on their
goods are low. And that makes them advantageous in the marketplace.
We lose sales. And
manufacturers here in the U.S. making the same products can’t compete. China
has been a currency manipulator for years and years and years. And the
president has a regular opportunity to label them as a currency manipulator,
but refuses to do so.
On day one, I will
label China a currency manipulator, which will allow me as president to be able
to put in place, if necessary, tariffs where I believe that they are taking
unfair advantage of our manufacturers.
So we’re going to
make sure that people we trade with around the world play by the rules. But let
me — let me not just stop there. Don’t forget, what’s key to bringing back jobs
here is not just finding someone else to punish, and I’m going to be strict
with people who we trade with to make sure they — they follow the law and play
by the rules, but it’s also to make America the most attractive place in the
world for businesses of all kinds.
That’s why I want to
down the tax rates on small employers, big employers, so they want to be here.
Canada’s tax rate on companies is now 15 percent. Ours is 35 percent. So if
you’re starting a business, where would you rather start it? We have to be
competitive if we’re going to create more jobs here.
Regulations have
quadrupled. The rate of regulations quadrupled under this president. I talk to
small businesses across the country. They say, “We feel like we’re under attack
from our own government.” I want to make sure that regulators see their job as
encouraging small business, not crushing it. And there’s no question but that
Obamacare has been an extraordinary deterrent to enterprises of all kinds
hiring people.
My priority is making
sure that we get more people hired. If we have more people hired, if we get
back manufacturing jobs, if we get back all kinds of jobs into this country,
then you’re going to see rising incomes again. The reason incomes are down is
because unemployment is so high. I know what it takes to get this to happen,
and my plan will do that, and one part of it is to make sure that we keep China
playing by the rules.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, two minutes here, because we are then going to go to our last
question.
OBAMA: OK. We need to
create jobs here. And both Governor Romney and I agree actually that we should
lower our corporate tax rate. It’s too high. But there’s a difference in terms
of how we would do it. I want to close loopholes that allow companies to deduct
expenses when they move to China; that allow them to profit offshore and not
have to get taxed, so they have tax advantages offshore.
All those changes in
our tax code would make a difference.
Now, Governor Romney
actually wants to expand those tax breaks. One of his big ideas when it comes
to corporate tax reform would be to say, if you invest overseas, you make
profits overseas, you don’t have to pay U.S. taxes.
But, of course, if
you’re a small business or a mom-and-pop business or a big business starting up
here, you’ve got to pay even the reduced rate that Governor Romney’s talking
about.
And it’s estimated
that that will create 800,000 new jobs. The problem is they’ll be in china. Or
India. Or Germany.
That’s not the way
we’re going to create jobs here. The way we’re going to create jobs here is not
just to change our tax code, but also to double our exports. And we are on pace
to double our exports, one of the commitments I made when I was president.
That’s creating tens of thousands of jobs all across the country. That’s why
we’ve kept on pushing trade deals, but trade deals that make sure that American
workers and American businesses are getting a good deal.
Now, Governor Romney
talked about China, as I already indicated. In the private sector, Governor
Romney’s company invested in what were called pioneers of outsourcing. That’s
not my phrase. That’s what reporters called it.
And as far as
currency manipulation, the currency has actually gone up 11 percent since I’ve
been president because we have pushed them hard. And we’ve put unprecedented
trade pressure on China. That’s why exports have significantly increased under
my presidency. That’s going to help to create jobs here.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, we have a really short time for a quick discussion here.
iPad, the Macs, the
iPhones, they are all manufactured in China. One of the major reasons is labor
is so much cheaper here. How do you convince a great American company to bring
that manufacturing back here?
ROMNEY: The answer is
very straightforward. We can compete with anyone in the world as long as the
playing field is level. China’s been cheating over the years. One by holding
down the value of their currency. Number two, by stealing our intellectual
property; our designs, our patents, our technology. There’s even an Apple store
in China that’s a counterfeit Apple store, selling counterfeit goods. They hack
into our computers. We will have to have people play on a fair basis, that’s
number one.
Number two, we have
to make America the most attractive place for entrepreneurs, for people who
want to expand their business. That’s what brings jobs in. The president’s
characterization of my tax plan…
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: …is
completely…is completely…
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: …is
completely false. Let me tell you…
CROWLEY: Let me to go
the president here because we really are running out of time. And the question
is can we ever get — we can’t get wages like that. It can’t be sustained.
OBAMA: Candy, there
are some jobs that are not going to come back. Because they are low wage, low
skill jobs. I want high wage, high skill jobs. That’s why we have to emphasize
manufacturing. That’s why we have to invest in advanced manufacturing. That’s
why we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got the best science and research in the
world. And when we talk about deficits, if we’re adding to our deficit for tax
cuts for folks who don’t need them, and we’re cutting investments in research
and science that will create the next Apple, create the next new innovation
that will sell products around the world, we will lose that race.
If we’re not training
engineers to make sure that they are equipped here in this country. Then
companies won’t come here. Those investments are what’s going to help to make
sure that we continue to lead this world economy, not just next year, but 10
years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now.
CROWLEY: Thanks Mr.
President.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Governor
Romney?
ROMNEY: Government
does not create jobs. Government does not create jobs.
CROWLEY: Governor
Romney, I want to introduce you to Barry Green, because he’s going to have the
last question to you first?
ROMNEY: Barry? Where
is Barry?
#12
QUESTION: Hi,
Governor. I think this is a tough question. To each of you. What do you believe
is the biggest misperception that the American people have about you as a man
and a candidate? Using specific examples, can you take this opportunity to
debunk that misperception and set us straight?
ROMNEY: Thank you,
and that’s an opportunity for me, and I appreciate it.
In the nature of a
campaign, it seems that some campaigns are focused on attacking a person rather
than prescribing their own future and the things they’d like to do. In the
course of that, I think the president’s campaign has tried to characterize me
as — as someone who’s very different than who I am.
I care about 100
percent of the American people. I want 100 percent of the American people to
have a bright and prosperous future. I care about our kids. I understand what
it takes to make a bright and prosperous future for America again. I spent my
life in the private sector, not in government. I’m a guy who wants to help with
the experience I have, the American people.
My — my passion
probably flows from the fact that I believe in God. And I believe we’re all
children of the same God. I believe we have a responsibility to care for one
another. I — I served as a missionary for my church. I served as a pastor in my
congregation for about 10 years. I’ve sat across the table from people who were
out of work and worked with them to try and find new work or to help them
through tough times.
I went to the
Olympics when they were in trouble to try and get them on track. And as
governor of my state, I was able to get 100 percent of my people insured, all
my kids, about 98 percent of the adults. I was able also to get our schools
ranked number one in the nation, so 100 percent of our kids would have a bright
opportunity for a future.
ROMNEY: I understand
that I can get this country on track again. We don’t have to settle for what
we’re going through. We don’t have to settle for gasoline at four bucks. We
don’t have to settle for unemployment at a chronically high level. We don’t
have to settle for 47 million people on food stamps. We don’t have to settle
for 50 percent of kids coming out of college not able to get work. We don’t
have to settle for 23 million people struggling to find a good job.
If I become
president, I’ll get America working again. I will get us on track to a balanced
budget. The president hasn’t. I will. I’ll make sure we can reform Medicare and
Social Security to preserve them for coming — coming generations. The president
said he would. He didn’t.
CROWLEY: Governor…
ROMNEY: I’ll get our
incomes up. And by the way, I’ve done these things. I served as governor and
showed I could get them done.
CROWLEY: Mr.
President, last two minutes belong to you.
OBAMA: Barry, I think
a lot of this campaign, maybe over the last four years, has been devoted to
this nation that I think government creates jobs, that that somehow is the
answer.
That’s not what I
believe. I believe that the free enterprise system is the greatest engine of
prosperity the world’s ever known.
I believe in
self-reliance and individual initiative and risk takers being rewarded. But I
also believe that everybody should have a fair shot and everybody should do
their fair share and everybody should play by the same rules, because that’s
how our economy’s grown. That’s how we built the world’s greatest middle class.
And — and that is
part of what’s at stake in this election. There’s a fundamentally different
vision about how we move our country forward.
I believe Governor
Romney is a good man. Loves his family, cares about his faith. But I also
believe that when he said behind closed doors that 47 percent of the country
considered themselves victims who refuse personal responsibility, think about
who he was talking about.
Folks on Social
Security who’ve worked all their lives. Veterans who’ve sacrificed for this
country. Students who are out there trying to hopefully advance their own
dreams, but also this country’s dreams. Soldiers who are overseas fighting for
us right now. People who are working hard every day, paying payroll tax, gas
taxes, but don’t make enough income.
And I want to fight for
them. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last four years. Because if they
succeed, I believe the country succeeds.
When my grandfather
fought in World War II and he came back and he got a G.I. Bill and that allowed
him to go to college, that wasn’t a handout. That was something that advanced
the entire country. And I want to make sure that the next generation has those
same opportunities. That’s why I’m asking for your vote and that’s why I’m
asking for another four years.
CROWLEY: President
Obama, Governor Romney, thank you for being here tonight.
On that note we have
come to an end of this town hall debate. Our thanks to the participants for
their time and to the people of Hofstra University for their hospitality.
The next and final
debate takes place Monday night at Lynn (ph) University in Boca Raton, Florida.
Don’t forget to watch. Election Day is three weeks from today. Don’t forget to
vote.
Good night.
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