US Presidential Debate

:00:12. > :00:17.it. Thank you fortune. Welcome to Denver Colorado in this

:00:17. > :00:21.special edition of World News. The first of three presidential debates.

:00:21. > :00:25.In a few moments, Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama

:00:25. > :00:35.will take the stage to have their first debate, focusing on the

:00:35. > :00:45.

:00:45. > :00:50.The thank you candidates have been preparing for this moment for weeks.

:00:50. > :00:55.They are ready in the hall behind me to have the first of their three

:00:55. > :01:00.presidentiaon domestic issues. They will be

:01:00. > :01:08.watched by up to 100 million Americans one month before the US

:01:08. > :01:11.presidentia When the candidates take to the

:01:11. > :01:21.stage tonight, they convince people they speak their

:01:21. > :01:29.

:01:29. > :01:33.language. Sometimes, that is more of a stretch. (SPEAKS SPANISH) They

:01:33. > :01:37.will not be speaking Spanish tonight. But well in America's

:01:37. > :01:45.fastest growing economic -- ethnic group will become ever more

:01:45. > :01:53.important. Canvassing in Colorado - a swing state where the Latino vote

:01:53. > :02:00.Barack Obama four years ago. Some are disappointed he has not done

:02:00. > :02:06.more to help the millions of the border. This woman find -- says

:02:06. > :02:10.many find the selection a hard choice. We know there is only one

:02:10. > :02:17.candidate who supports any kind of emigration reform of

:02:17. > :02:23.That is Barack Obama. Many Republicans see the Hispanic vote

:02:23. > :02:26.as a huge prize. What has gone wrong? When Ronald Reagan said that

:02:26. > :02:34.he knows when actually Republicans, he meant they were aspirational and

:02:34. > :02:39.socially conservative. That Mitt of.

:02:39. > :02:43.of. Some said he was racially profiling. He called for a hi-tech

:02:43. > :02:48.fence along the Mexican border and struck a harsh note talking about

:02:48. > :02:53.illegal immigrants. The answer is self deportation. People decide

:02:53. > :02:58.they can't do -- they can do better if they return home because they

:02:58. > :03:02.can't find work here. In the last few months, the run the campaign

:03:02. > :03:07.has put on a burst of speed, targeting what he knows in swing

:03:07. > :03:14.states like Colorado. No wonder the latest poll gives Barack Obama the

:03:14. > :03:20.70% but the Hispanic vote. Mitt Romney has back-pedalled and bought

:03:20. > :03:25.a softer focus on illegal immigrationtoric

:03:25. > :03:30.and the language that turns people off and talk about it in a real

:03:30. > :03:35.intense preip way. As night falls, the The candida

:03:35. > :03:45.The candidates will soon face each up

:03:45. > :03:46.

:03:46. > :03:50.up the race for the White House. There are commentators say in this

:03:50. > :03:53.debate is not as important as some in the past because there are few

:03:53. > :04:00.undecided voters. But there are several percentage points up for

:04:00. > :04:07.grabs. It is interesting, over the course of the last two decades, the

:04:07. > :04:12.number of Americans who are has shrunk during the era of Ronald

:04:12. > :04:19.Reagan, for example. They were 20% of Americans who could go either

:04:19. > :04:25.way. Now, most people will tell you there are really only four -6 % of

:04:25. > :04:29.the elector though they will be up to 100

:04:29. > :04:39.million people watching the debate tonight, you have to think that

:04:39. > :04:45.

:04:45. > :04:50.many will go in the already rooting What about that you can lose an

:04:50. > :04:56.election in a TV debate but not win one? So much is about not making

:04:56. > :05:01.mistakes. That is very true. The onus tonight

:05:01. > :05:07.is on Barack Obama, not to lose the debate. Challenges conventionally

:05:07. > :05:13.do pretty well out of these debates. Mitt Romney's campaign, he stands

:05:13. > :05:18.are behind the podium on that stage next to the President. He therefore

:05:19. > :05:23.appears presidential and puts them on an equal playing field. So

:05:23. > :05:27.usually the challenges get a bump see

:05:27. > :05:32.see some of that in the next few days, unless Mitt Romney messes

:05:32. > :05:38.this up. I have spoken to several Republicans over the last few days

:05:38. > :05:43.and most say it will be awash, barring some major mess up by one

:05:43. > :05:48.of the candidates. The chances are they will both do well. Mitt Romney

:05:48. > :05:58.has had much practice and he i good debate are. Barack Obama can

:05:58. > :06:01.

:06:01. > :06:11.be long-winded but he is extremely disciplined. -- debater. So unless

:06:11. > :06:17.one of them makes a mistake, which I believe is unlikely, that is how

:06:17. > :06:24.we expect it to go. Tell us a bit... Is this a hite

:06:24. > :06:29.House has been very specific about how it wants it set-up. I spoke to

:06:29. > :06:32.the debate chairman yesterday who said the White House said the

:06:32. > :06:36.President wanted a podium. He wanted to stand in one of the

:06:36. > :06:39.subsequent debate at the town hall meeting andnge

:06:39. > :06:47.the whole set because the President wants people standing behind him.

:06:47. > :06:53.He has been quite particular about the stage setting of this debate.

:06:53. > :06:56.There is the veteran American news anchor who will be the one the

:06:56. > :07:03.fielding the questions. He has some ability during the course of this

:07:03. > :07:09.and President Obama on the specifics of their policies. And he

:07:09. > :07:14.has come out of retirement to do it? He wanted to do it that much?

:07:14. > :07:18.He said he would not to read again but the debate -- debate Commission

:07:18. > :07:24.bit bit more pushy with the candidates,

:07:24. > :07:27.give give him more latitude if he

:07:27. > :07:35.thought thee question. That is apparently what

:07:35. > :07:45.swayed him. And tell me a bit about the format. It will last 90 minutes,

:07:45. > :07:48.

:07:48. > :07:52.615 minute segments? Yes. -- six 15 minute. The host can interrupt them.

:07:52. > :07:57.They can also interrupt and talk to each other. The commission wants

:07:57. > :08:01.them to do that. They are hoping there will be interaction between

:08:01. > :08:06.the candidates. I have heard from expect him

:08:06. > :08:12.expect him to be aggressive. They DDT is an opportunity for him to

:08:12. > :08:22.get under Mitt Romney's scheme. -- they say it is. Here are the two

:08:22. > :08:39.

:08:39. > :08:46.candidates for their first (APPLAUSE). Welcome. Let's start on

:08:46. > :08:56.the economy. Segment one. Let's begin with jobs. What are the major

:08:56. > :08:56.

:08:56. > :09:06.differences between the two of new creating new jobs? Each of you have

:09:06. > :09:10.two minutes to start. The coin toss will determine. I want to thank

:09:10. > :09:16.Governor Romney and the University of Denver. There are many points I

:09:16. > :09:19.want to make. The most important is that 20 years ago, I became the

:09:19. > :09:24.luckiest man on earth because Michelle Obama agreed to marry me.

:09:24. > :09:29.I want to wish you happy anniversaryhat

:09:29. > :09:34.one year from now, we will not be millio

:09:34. > :09:38.million people. Four years ago, we went through the worst financial

:09:38. > :09:41.crisis since the Great Depression. automobile

:09:41. > :09:46.automobile industry was on the system

:09:46. > :09:50.system had frozen up. Because of the resilience and the

:09:50. > :09:54.determination of the American people, we began to fight our way

:09:54. > :09:58.back. Over the last few months, we public

:09:58. > :10:03.public sector created. The water industry has come back. And housing

:10:03. > :10:08.has begun to rise. -- the automobile industry. But we have a

:10:08. > :10:14.lot of work to do. The question tonight is not where we have been

:10:14. > :10:19.but where we are going. Governor Romney has perspective that says if

:10:19. > :10:25.we cut taxes, skewed towards the wealthy, and roll back regulations,

:10:25. > :10:30.different view. I think we have to It is impor

:10:30. > :10:34.It is important for us to develop new sources of energy. That which

:10:34. > :10:41.range out tax to make sure we are helping small businesses and

:10:41. > :10:46.That we take some of the money we are saving, as we wind down and try

:10:46. > :10:51.to will -- rebuild America. And that we reduce debt has it that

:10:51. > :10:57.allows us to make investments. Ultimately, it will be up to voters.

:10:57. > :11:02.Are we going to double down on the top economic policies to get us --

:11:02. > :11:05.that got us into this mess? Or do we embrace a new economic

:11:05. > :11:10.patriotism that says America does best when the middle class does

:11:10. > :11:15.best. I am looking forward to having that debate. It is an

:11:15. > :11:20.honoured to be here. I am pleased to be at the University of Denver

:11:20. > :11:25.and I appreciate their welcome. And the presidential commission.

:11:25. > :11:29.Congratulations, Mr President, on your anniversary. I am sure this is

:11:29. > :11:33.the most romantic place you can imagine, here with me.

:11:33. > :11:38.Congratulations. This is obviously a tender topic. I have had occasion

:11:38. > :11:44.over the last few years at meeting people around the country. I was in

:11:44. > :11:47.Ohio and a woman grabbed my arm and says, I have been out of work

:11:47. > :11:52.May. Can you help me? Yesterday there was a rally in Denver. A

:11:52. > :11:56.woman came y in her arms. She said her husband had

:11:56. > :12:02.four part-time jobs in three years and lost his most recent jobs and

:12:02. > :12:07.we have just lost our home. Can you help us? The answer is yes. We can

:12:07. > :12:11.help. But it will take a different part. Not the one we have been on,

:12:11. > :12:16.not the one the President describes as a top-down, cut taxes for the

:12:16. > :12:21.rich, Mike Rann has five basic parts. One, get us in a jeep and

:12:21. > :12:28.dependent. That creates about 4 million jobs. Secondly, open up

:12:28. > :12:32.more trade, especially in Latin people

:12:32. > :12:37.people have the skills they need to succeed and the best schools in the

:12:37. > :12:42.world, we are far away from that now. Get us to a balanced budget.

:12:42. > :12:45.Champion small business. Small- business create the jobs in America.

:12:45. > :12:51.In the last four years, small business people decided America may

:12:51. > :12:55.not be the place to open a new business because new businesses are

:12:56. > :12:59.down to a 30 below. I know what it takes to get them going again, to

:12:59. > :13:03.hire people. I am concerned the part we have been on has been

:13:03. > :13:08.unsuccessful. The President's view is similar to that which she had

:13:08. > :13:14.four years ago. That a bigger government, Thaksin Moore, spending

:13:14. > :13:22.more, regulating all. That that would work. -- Thaksin war. I will

:13:22. > :13:29.restore the vitality that gets please respond directly to what the

:13:29. > :13:35.Governor said about trickling down. Let me talk specifically about what

:13:35. > :13:39.we think we need to do. First, we have got to improve our education

:13:39. > :13:44.system. We have made enormous progress drawing on ideas both from

:13:44. > :13:49.Democrats and Republicans, that are already showing gains in some of

:13:49. > :13:54.the toughest to deal with schools. We have a programme called Brace to

:13:54. > :14:03.the top which has prompted reforms in 46 states around the country.

:14:03. > :14:07.race to the top. I want to hire more teachers and create more spot

:14:07. > :14:11.in our community colleges so people can get trained for jobs that are

:14:11. > :14:16.there. And I want to make sure we keep tuition low for our young

:14:16. > :14:21.people. When it comes to our taxes, Governor Romney and I believe the

:14:21. > :14:27.corporate tax rate is too high. I want to know it, particularly for

:14:27. > :14:31.manufacturing. Take it down to 25%. And I want to close those loopholes

:14:31. > :14:36.that are giving incentives for companies that are shipping jobs

:14:36. > :14:39.overseas. I want to provide tax breaks for companies in the US. On

:14:39. > :14:45.energy, Governor rummy and I agree that we have to boost American

:14:45. > :14:48.energy production. -- Governor Romney. Add oil and natural gas

:14:48. > :14:54.production are higher than they have been in years. But I also

:14:54. > :14:58.believe we have to get the energy sources of the future, like wind,

:14:58. > :15:03.solar and so on, and make those investments. That is possible but

:15:03. > :15:07.we need to close the deficit. One of the things I am sure we will

:15:07. > :15:11.discuss his how to deal with taxes and make sure that we are reducing

:15:11. > :15:15.spending in a responsible way and revenue

:15:15. > :15:18.revenue to make those investments. This is where there is a difference.

:15:18. > :15:23.Governor Romney's central plan calls for a five trillion dollars

:15:23. > :15:28.tax cut. On top of the extension to the other taxes. And two trillion

:15:28. > :15:32.dollars in military spending, that the military has not asked for.

:15:32. > :15:36.That is eight trillion dollars. We can only paper that by reducing

:15:36. > :15:42.debt of it and making payments, without dumping those costs on

:15:42. > :15:46.middle class Americans. That is a big central question. Both of you

:15:46. > :15:50.have spoken about many different things and we will try to get

:15:50. > :15:54.through them in as specific a way as possible. First, Governor Romney,

:15:54. > :15:59.do you have a question you would like to ask President Obama about

:15:59. > :16:05.what he said? First of all, I do not have a five trillion dollars

:16:05. > :16:11.off off the scale you spoke about. I

:16:11. > :16:16.believe we should provide tax High income people are doing fine

:16:17. > :16:21.in this economy. They will do fine weather you a present or I am. The

:16:21. > :16:26.people having a hard time our middle income Americans. They have

:16:26. > :16:32.been very... They have been crushed under your policy. They have seen

:16:32. > :16:38.their income come down by $4,300. This is a tax in and others - tax

:16:38. > :16:45.in itself. It has been crashing. And gasoline prices have doubled.

:16:45. > :16:50.are are up. Healthcare costs have gone

:16:50. > :16:55.up by $2,500 a family. The question is, how do you get them going

:16:55. > :17:00.again? Energy, trade, the right training programmes, balancing our

:17:00. > :17:06.budget. Those are the cornerstones of my plan. But the President

:17:06. > :17:12.Richard a c First, education. That is key. --

:17:12. > :17:17.mentioned. Our training programmes now, 47 of them, report to eight

:17:17. > :17:21.different agencies. Overhead is dollars

:17:21. > :17:25.dollars back to the States and go to the workers so they can create

:17:25. > :17:30.their own part ways to get the training they need. The second area,

:17:30. > :17:35.taxation. We have to bring them down. Both for corporations and

:17:35. > :17:38.individuals. But so that we do not lose revenue, I also know what

:17:38. > :17:43.deductions in credits and exemptions so that we keep taking

:17:43. > :17:48.in the same money when you account for growth.nergy

:17:48. > :17:53.is critical. The President pointed out that production of oil and gas

:17:53. > :17:58.in the US is up. But not due to his policies. In spite of his policies.

:17:58. > :18:02.Mr President, all of the increase in natural gas and oil has happened

:18:02. > :18:07.on private land, not government. On government line, your

:18:07. > :18:12.administration has cut the number of permits and licences in half. If

:18:12. > :18:19.I am President, I will double them and get the oil from offshore and a

:18:19. > :18:24.Lasker and bring that pipeline in from Canada. And I like coal. --

:18:24. > :18:29.Alaska's. People in the oil industry feel it is getting crushed.

:18:29. > :18:33.-- coal industry. America should be energy independent. Finally, in

:18:33. > :18:38.regards to the tax cut, I am not looking to cut massive taxes and

:18:38. > :18:42.reduce revenue going to government. My number one principle is there

:18:42. > :18:47.will be no tax cut that adds together as it. No tax cut that

:18:47. > :18:51.adds to the deficit. But I want to reduce the burden paid by middle

:18:51. > :18:55.income Americans. And to do that, that means I can't reduce the

:18:55. > :19:03.burden paid by a high income Americans. Any language to the

:19:03. > :19:08.contrary is something not accurate. Let's talk about taxes. It is

:19:08. > :19:13.obstructed. Four years ago when I stood on this stage, I said that I

:19:13. > :19:18.would cut taxes for middle class families. That is exactly what I

:19:18. > :19:23.did. We cut taxes for middle class families by about $3,600. The

:19:23. > :19:29.reason is, because I believe that we do best when the middle class is

:19:29. > :19:34.doing well. By giving them those tax cuts, they had more money in

:19:34. > :19:39.their pockets. Maybe they can buy a new car. They are certainly a

:19:39. > :19:42.better position to weather the through. They can buy a computer

:19:43. > :19:48.for the child going to college. That means they are spending more

:19:48. > :19:53.money, business has more customers and hire more workers. Governor

:19:53. > :19:59.Romney's proposal, that he has been promoting for 18 months, calls for

:19:59. > :20:04.top of two trillion dollars additional

:20:04. > :20:09.military. He says that he is going to pay for it by closing loopholes

:20:09. > :20:13.has has been asked over 100 times how

:20:13. > :20:17.you would close those deductions and loopholes. He has not been able

:20:17. > :20:22.to identify them for a start I will make an important point. When you

:20:22. > :20:27.add up the loopholes and deductions that upper income individuals can...

:20:27. > :20:31.Are currently taking advantage of, you take those all the way, you do

:20:31. > :20:34.not come close to paying for five additional

:20:34. > :20:38.additional military spending. That is why independent studies are

:20:38. > :20:44.looking at this. They say the only way to meet Governor Romney's

:20:44. > :20:51.pledge of not producing deficit, or burgeoning

:20:51. > :20:55.burgeoning middle class families. They would pay about $2,000 more.

:20:55. > :20:59.That is not my analysis, that is the analysis of the economists who

:20:59. > :21:05.down down Economics where those at the

:21:05. > :21:09.top are doing well, so the average person is getting a $250,000 tax

:21:09. > :21:19.break, while middle class families are burdened further, that is not

:21:19. > :21:27.what I believe is a recipe for 5th leads stay on taxes. What is

:21:27. > :21:36.the differesaid about my tax plan is inaccurate. I

:21:36. > :21:41.am not looking for a five trillion place a tax cut that would add to

:21:41. > :21:46.the deficit. No economist can say it my tax plan adds five trillion

:21:46. > :21:51.if I say I would not add to the deficit with my tax plan. I would

:21:51. > :21:58.not reduce the share paid by high income individuals. I know it is a

:21:58. > :22:03.popular thing to say. I have five boys. I am used to people saying

:22:03. > :22:07.something that is not always true and hoping I will believe it. That

:22:07. > :22:16.is not the case. I would not reduce the taxes paid by high income

:22:16. > :22:22.circumstances, raise taxes for what

:22:22. > :22:27.what taxes. He cites a study. There are six other studies that it did a

:22:27. > :22:32.study and say it is completely wrong. I saw a study that said he

:22:32. > :22:37.would raise taxes. There are many bottom

:22:37. > :22:41.bottom line. I want to bring down rates. I want to know what

:22:41. > :22:47.deductions, exemptions and credits and so forth so we keep getting the

:22:47. > :22:52.revenue when he. Then why not the rates? The reason is because small

:22:52. > :22:56.business pays their individual rate. 54% of American workers work in

:22:56. > :23:00.businesses that are not taxed at individual

:23:00. > :23:06.individual tax rate. It's we know hire

:23:06. > :23:11.hire more people. This is about jobs. This is about jobs for the

:23:11. > :23:18.American people. Do you challenge his

:23:18. > :23:25.on this tax Five weeks before the election, he

:23:25. > :23:30.is saying his big bold idea is never mind. The fact is, if you are

:23:30. > :23:34.lowering the rates the way you describe, it is not possible to

:23:34. > :23:39.come up with it enough deductions and loopholes that only affect high

:23:39. > :23:47.income individuals to avoid either raising the death has said all

:23:47. > :23:53.burden in the middle class. -- deficit. It is naff. We do share a

:23:53. > :24:01.deep interest in encouraging interest - Maxwell business growth.

:24:01. > :24:06.My tax plan has lowered taxes for taxes for s

:24:06. > :24:11.taxes fo18 times. What unwanted do is continue the

:24:11. > :24:18.tax cuts we have put in place for small businesses and families. I

:24:18. > :24:22.have said for incomes over $250,000 a year, we should go back to the

:24:22. > :24:27.rate we had when Bill Clinton was President and we created over 20

:24:27. > :24:33.million new jobs. When fund deficit to surplus and created more

:24:33. > :24:37.millionaires. By doing that, we can reduce the deficit, we can

:24:37. > :24:42.encourage job growth through small businesses, but we are also able to

:24:42. > :24:45.make the investments that are We

:24:45. > :24:51.We do have a difference when it comes to definitions of Small

:24:51. > :24:57.Business. Under my plan, 97% of small businesses would not cede the

:24:57. > :25:03.income taxes go up. Governor Romney say the top 3%, they are the job

:25:03. > :25:08.creators. Btion, they are or a bunch of millionaires

:25:08. > :25:12.and billionaires who are small businesses. Donald Trump is a small

:25:12. > :25:22.business. I know he does not like to think of himself as more

:25:22. > :25:23.

:25:23. > :25:28.believe, will not grow our economy because the only way to pay for it

:25:28. > :25:35.without burss or blowing up a deficit is to make

:25:35. > :25:40.drastic cuts in things like education, making sure we are

:25:40. > :25:47.continuing in basic science and making

:25:47. > :25:56.making American growth. That would be a mistake. So everybody

:25:56. > :26:00.understand. We are way over our first 15 minutes. No problem. I

:26:00. > :26:10.don't have a problem because we are still on the economy. We will come

:26:10. > :26:11.

:26:12. > :26:17.the deficit. Mr President, you are absolutely right. 97% of the

:26:17. > :26:21.businesses are not taxed at the Betty 5% tax rate. Those businesses

:26:21. > :26:25.that are in the last 3% of the businesses employ half of all the

:26:25. > :26:29.people who work in small business. Those are the businesses that

:26:29. > :26:35.employ one quarter of all of the workers in a matter. Your plan is

:26:35. > :26:41.to take their tax rate from Betty 5% to 40%. Idle to a guy who has a

:26:41. > :26:45.very small business. He has for employees. He says he any summer

:26:45. > :26:55.Cabinet how much they pay in taxes. Federal income tax, stayed in

:26:55. > :27:03.contacts, the state property tax, plan is to take the tax rate

:27:03. > :27:12.unsuccessful small businesses from 35% to 40%. But will cost 700,000

:27:12. > :27:17.jobs. I don't want to cost jobs. My priority is jobs. I will bring down

:27:17. > :27:23.the tax rates, no deductions and exemptions, the same idea to get

:27:23. > :27:26.the rates down, lower deductions to create more jobs because there is

:27:26. > :27:31.nothing better for getting us to a balanced budget than to have more

:27:31. > :27:36.people working, earning more money, paying more taxes. That is the most

:27:36. > :27:40.effective and efficient way to get this budget balanced. You may want

:27:40. > :27:44.to move onto another topic but I want to say this to the American

:27:44. > :27:48.people. If you believe we can cut taxes by five trillion dollars and

:27:48. > :27:53.add to trillion dollars in additional spending that the

:27:53. > :27:57.military is not asking for. Seven trillion dollars, just to give you

:27:57. > :28:02.a sense, over ten years, that is more than our entire defence budget.

:28:02. > :28:08.The bid by closing loopholes and deductions for the will to do,

:28:08. > :28:14.somehow you were not end up picking up the tab, then governor Romney's

:28:14. > :28:24.plan may work for you. Mathew, common sensws us

:28:24. > :28:25.

:28:25. > :28:35.that is not a recipe for job growth. -- math. We have tried both

:28:35. > :28:37.

:28:37. > :28:43.approaches. Mitt Romney's plans had us ended up moving from surplus to

:28:43. > :28:47.deficit. It culminated in the West fun and a crisis since the Great

:28:47. > :28:49.Depression. Bill Clinton had the approach I am talking about.

:28:49. > :28:55.created created 23 million new jobs. We

:28:55. > :28:59.went from deficit to surplus and businesses did very well. In some

:28:59. > :29:03.ways, we have some data on which approach is more likely to create

:29:03. > :29:08.for America for Americans. I believe the

:29:08. > :29:12.economy works best when middle class families get tax breaks so

:29:12. > :29:18.didn't have some money in their pockets. And those who have done

:29:18. > :29:24.well because of this magnificent afford to do a little bit more to

:29:24. > :29:30.make sure we are not blowing up the deficit. The President began the

:29:30. > :29:36.word. word. Many make this comment. Let

:29:36. > :29:44.me repeat what I said. I am not in favour of a five trillion dollars

:29:44. > :29:50.tax cut. My plan is not to put in place anyththe

:29:50. > :29:54.tax -- deficit. That is not my plan. Let's look at history. My plan is

:29:54. > :29:58.not like anything that has been tried before. My plan is to bring

:29:58. > :30:03.down rates and the set -- deductions, exemptions and credits

:30:03. > :30:07.at the same time. We bring down rates to get more people working.

:30:07. > :30:12.My priority is putting people back to work in America. They are

:30:12. > :30:17.the the evidence of the last four years.

:30:17. > :30:26.It is extraordinary. We've got for stopped

:30:27. > :30:32.stopped looking for work in this country. -- 23 million. 40 million

:30:32. > :30:36.are on food stamps today. Economic growth is slower than last year.

:30:36. > :30:41.Going forward with the status quo is not going to cut for the

:30:41. > :30:45.American people who are struggling today. We are still on the economy.

:30:45. > :30:52.This is theoretically a second segment on the economy.

:30:52. > :30:57.Specifically on what to do about the federal deficit. And the

:30:57. > :31:02.question, you each have two minutes on this, Governor Mitt Romney you

:31:02. > :31:08.go first because the President went first on Sepp Blatter one. What are

:31:08. > :31:12.the on how you will go about tackling the deficit problem in

:31:12. > :31:19.this country? I am glad you raised that. It is a critical issue. Not

:31:19. > :31:22.just an economic issue. It is a moral issue. It is not moral for my

:31:22. > :31:26.generation to keep spending more than we taking. Knowing those

:31:26. > :31:30.burdens will be passed onto the next generation. There will be

:31:30. > :31:34.paying the interest and the principal or their allies. And the

:31:34. > :31:39.amount of debt we're adding, one trillion a year, is not moral. How

:31:39. > :31:45.do we deal with it? There are three ways you can cut a deficit. One is

:31:45. > :31:50.to raise taxes. Number two is to cut spending. Number three is to

:31:50. > :31:54.grow the economy. More people work, fare paying taxes and the job gets

:31:54. > :31:57.done that way. The President would prefer it raising taxes. The

:31:57. > :32:01.problem with raising taxes is that it slows down the rate of growth.

:32:01. > :32:06.You can never quite get the job done. I want to know were spending

:32:06. > :32:10.and encourage economic growth at the same time. What will I cut? I

:32:10. > :32:16.would elimi by this test if they do not pass it.

:32:16. > :32:26.Is the programme so critical it is pay for it? If not, and get rid of

:32:26. > :32:26.

:32:26. > :32:33.it. Obamacare is on my list. I will get rid of that. I. Subsidy to PBS.

:32:33. > :32:37.I like PBS. I like you to. But I am not going to keep spending money on

:32:37. > :32:41.to pay for that are cu

:32:41. > :32:45.that are currently good programmes but I think there will be run more

:32:45. > :32:49.efficiently on the state level and send them to stay. I'll make the

:32:49. > :32:56.government more efficient. I will cut down employees, combined

:32:56. > :33:00.agencies. This is the approach we have to take to get America to a

:33:00. > :33:04.balanced budget. The President said he will cut the deficit in half.

:33:04. > :33:10.Unfortunately, he doubled it. Trillion dollar deficits for the

:33:10. > :33:16.last four years. He has put as much debt held by the public as all

:33:16. > :33:22.prior Presi is the President, two minutes. When I

:33:22. > :33:28.walked into the Oval Office, I had gratingly. You know where that came

:33:29. > :33:33.from. Two was paid for by a credit card. Two touts cuts that were not

:33:33. > :33:41.paid for. And a lot of programmes that were not cut -- paid for. And

:33:41. > :33:44.a massive e that, what we have so, yes, we have

:33:44. > :33:48.had to take initial emergency measures to make sure we do not

:33:48. > :33:53.sleep -- slip into a depression. Let's make sure we are cutting out

:33:53. > :33:57.those things that are not helping us grow. 77 a government programmes,

:33:57. > :34:02.anything from aircrafts that the air force had ordered but were not

:34:02. > :34:09.working very well, 18 government programmes for Education that were

:34:09. > :34:19.well-intentioned but when I helping kids learn. We went after a medical

:34:19. > :34:20.

:34:20. > :34:25.- in Medicare and Medicaid. His work with Democrats and Republicans

:34:25. > :34:31.to cut $1 trillion out of Ralph domestic budget. That is the

:34:31. > :34:36.largest car of in the Budget since Dwight Eisenhower. We know we have

:34:36. > :34:40.to do more. I put forward a specific four trillion dollars

:34:40. > :34:47.deficit reduction plan. It is on the website, you can look at all

:34:47. > :34:52.the numbers, would cut the make and what revenue we raised. The way we

:34:52. > :34:59.duet is $2.50 for every Cup, we asked for a dollar of additional

:34:59. > :35:09.revenue. Paid for by asking those of us to have done very well to go

:35:09. > :35:09.

:35:09. > :35:19.should be a little bit more to reduce the deficit. That is how the

:35:19. > :35:26.it. This is a major difference between us. Many just finished his

:35:26. > :35:35.point. You are looking for contrast. When Ronnie stood on the stage with

:35:35. > :35:42.nomination, he was asked, would you take $10 of spending cuts for just

:35:42. > :35:50.$1 of revenue? And he said no. If he takes such an unbalanced

:35:50. > :35:54.getting out investments in schools and education, it means governor

:35:54. > :36:04.Romney talked about Medicaid and how we could send it back to the

:36:04. > :36:04.

:36:04. > :36:14.30% cut in the primary programme right

:36:14. > :36:22.

:36:22. > :36:27.Will you support Simpson dolls? Bowles. I have my own plans. The

:36:27. > :36:30.President should have granted, fight for it. That is what

:36:30. > :36:40.done. done. We are putting it before

:36:40. > :36:45.Congress now. You have present -- been President four years. If you

:36:45. > :36:50.are re-elected, we will get to a one trillion dollars debt. You said

:36:50. > :36:55.before you would cut it in half. I love what you said about four

:36:55. > :37:00.trillion dollars worth of cuts. We still show trillion dollar deficit

:37:00. > :37:08.every year. That does not get the job done. Why is it that I don't

:37:08. > :37:14.want to raise taxes? Actually, you said that in 2010, I will extend

:37:14. > :37:19.the tax policies that we have. When when we are

:37:19. > :37:24.when we are in recession, you should not raise taxes on anybody.

:37:24. > :37:29.-- slow. It is still going slow. Slower than when you made that

:37:29. > :37:35.statement. If you believe the same thing, you just don't want to raise

:37:35. > :37:45.taxes on people. The reality is, it is not just Donald Trump you are

:37:45. > :37:45.

:37:45. > :37:51.Thaksin. It is all of the businesses that up very small. --

:37:52. > :38:01.taxing. That is why your plan will kill 700,000 jobs. I don't want to

:38:01. > :38:06.to the taxes. We have had this that

:38:06. > :38:13.that in order to reduce the deficit, they have to the rope -- revenue in

:38:13. > :38:18.addition to cut. Governor Romney has ruled out revenue. Absolutely.

:38:18. > :38:24.Com pete the? The revenue I get is by more people working, are getting

:38:24. > :38:28.higher pay, paying higher taxes. -- completely. The idea of taxing

:38:28. > :38:34.people more, putting people out of balance the

:38:35. > :38:39.balance the budget by raising taxes. Spain spends 42% of its economy on

:38:39. > :38:43.government. We are now spending 42% of our economy on government. I

:38:43. > :38:49.don't want to go down that path, of growth that puts Americans to work

:38:49. > :38:54.with more money coming in because you

:38:54. > :39:00.you say in order to get the job done, it has to be balanced? If we

:39:00. > :39:04.are serious, we have to take a balanced ap just

:39:04. > :39:09.individual taxes. Let's talk about corporate taxes. I have identified

:39:09. > :39:19.areas where we can ride away make a change that I believe would

:39:19. > :39:19.

:39:19. > :39:29.corporate corporate welfare. They get

:39:29. > :39:33.deductions that small businesses do not get. Does anybody think that

:39:33. > :39:37.the companies need extra money when they make money every time you go

:39:37. > :39:43.to the pump? Why would we want to eliminate that? Why don't we

:39:43. > :39:50.eliminate tax breaks for corporate jets? If you have a corporate jet,

:39:50. > :39:54.you can probably afford it. When it comes to talk -- corporate taxes,

:39:54. > :39:59.Governor Romney says he wants to be a revenue neutral way, close

:39:59. > :40:03.loophole deductions. He has not identified which ones they are. But

:40:03. > :40:08.rate. I wan rate. I want to do the same thing

:40:08. > :40:13.that I have identified. Part of the way to do it is not give tax breaks

:40:13. > :40:17.to companies that are shipping jobs overseas. You can take a deduction

:40:17. > :40:24.right now for moving a plan overseas. I think most Americans

:40:25. > :40:29.would say, that doesn't make sense. If we take a balanced approach,

:40:29. > :40:34.what that then allows us to do is also to help young people, the way

:40:34. > :40:39.we already have, make sure that they can afford to go to college.

:40:39. > :40:44.It the is the teacher I met in Las Vegas, a wonderful young lady, who

:40:44. > :40:49.describes to me that she has 42 kids in her class. The first two

:40:49. > :40:54.weeks, she has some of them sitting on the floor until finally they get

:40:54. > :41:00.reassigned. They are using text books that are ten years old. That

:41:00. > :41:04.is not a recipe for growth. That is not how America was built. And so

:41:04. > :41:08.Budget reflect choices. We will have to make decisions. If we are

:41:08. > :41:12.asking for no revenue, that means we have to bunch

:41:12. > :41:17.of stuff. The magnitude of the tax cuts you are talking about,

:41:17. > :41:23.Governor Romney, would result in Severe hardship for people. More

:41:23. > :41:28.importantly, it would not help us grow. Renewed talk about shifting

:41:28. > :41:35.businesses, we are talking about potentially a 30% cut in Medicare.

:41:35. > :41:41.-- when you talk about. That may not seem like a big deal when it is

:41:41. > :41:45.just numbers on paper. But if we talk about a family that hastic

:41:45. > :41:51.autistic child and his depended on that Medicaid, it's a big problem.

:41:51. > :42:01.And governors are creative but not creative enough to make up 30%

:42:01. > :42:08.

:42:08. > :42:11.revenue on something like Medicaid. breaks. First of all, the

:42:11. > :42:16.Department of Energy says the tax breaks for oil companies is $2.8

:42:16. > :42:23.billion the year. It's a treatment that has been in place for 100

:42:23. > :42:28.years. It is time to end it. In one year, you provided $90 billion in

:42:28. > :42:35.breaks to the green energy world. I like green energy as well but that

:42:35. > :42:39.is about 50 years' worth of what oil and gas receives. This too $0.8

:42:39. > :42:47.billion goes largely to small companies. But if we get that tax

:42:47. > :42:57.rate from 35% down to 25%, that money is on the table. -- $2.8

:42:57. > :43:03.

:43:03. > :43:07.billion. But don't forget, you put of breaks, into solar and wind. A

:43:07. > :43:12.friend said he did not just pick the winners and losers, you pick

:43:12. > :43:17.the losers. This is not the kind of policy we want to get America

:43:17. > :43:23.energy Secure. A second topic. I have been in business for 25 years.

:43:23. > :43:27.I have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe I need a new

:43:27. > :43:31.accountant. The idea that you get a break for shipping jobs overseas is

:43:31. > :43:39.not the case. What we have his money coming from overseas back to

:43:39. > :43:46.this country. Finally, Medicaid, I would like to take the Medicaid

:43:46. > :43:50.get what you got last year plus inflation, plus 1%. And then you

:43:50. > :43:55.will manage the care for your poor in the way you think best. I

:43:55. > :43:59.remember as a governor when this idea was floated, the governors,

:43:59. > :44:05.Republicans and Democrats, said police let us do that. We can care

:44:05. > :44:12.for our own poor. -- please let us. They have the federal government

:44:12. > :44:16.tell us how to care for our poor. What a magnificent thing, the idea

:44:16. > :44:19.that states are the laboratories of democracy. Do not let the federal

:44:19. > :44:24.government tell everybody what kind of training programmes they have to

:44:24. > :44:28.have and what kind of Medicare they have to have. And if the state get

:44:28. > :44:32.in trouble, we can step in and see if we can find a way to help them.

:44:32. > :44:38.But the right approach is one that relies on the brilliance of our

:44:38. > :44:45.people and state. We are still on the economy but another part of it.

:44:45. > :44:50.This is Segment three. Entitlements. The first answer goes to you, two

:44:50. > :44:55.minutes, Mr President. Do you see a major difference between the two of

:44:55. > :45:00.you on social security? I suspect that on social security we have got

:45:00. > :45:10.a somewhat similar position. Social security is structurally sound. It

:45:10. > :45:12.

:45:12. > :45:18.will have to the Tweed, the way it was with Ronald Reagan. -- tweaked.

:45:18. > :45:28.But I want to speak about the values behind social security and

:45:28. > :45:30.

:45:30. > :45:36.Medicare. My grandmother helped to raise me. She died three days

:45:36. > :45:40.before I was elected President. She was fiercely independent. Only add

:45:40. > :45:45.a high-school education, was a secretary and ended up being the

:45:45. > :45:48.vice-president of a local bank. She lived alone by choice. The reason

:45:48. > :45:53.she could be independent was because of social security and

:45:53. > :45:58.Medicare. She worked all her life, put in this money and understood

:45:58. > :46:03.that there was a basic guarantee. That is the perspective I bring

:46:03. > :46:07.when I think about what is called entitlements. The name itself

:46:07. > :46:11.implies some sense of dependency on the part of these folks. Folks that

:46:11. > :46:16.have worked hard, like my grandmother. And there are many

:46:16. > :46:20.others like that. My approach is to say, how do we strengthen the

:46:20. > :46:25.system over the long-term? In Medicare, what we did was we said,

:46:25. > :46:29.we are going to have to bring down the cost if we are going to deal

:46:29. > :46:36.with the long-term deficit. But to do that, let's look at where the

:46:36. > :46:39.money is going. $716 billion we were able to save from the Vedic

:46:39. > :46:43.get programmed by no longer over paying insurance companies by

:46:43. > :46:47.making sure that we were not overpaying providers and by using

:46:48. > :46:52.that money, we can lower prescription drugs for seniors by

:46:52. > :46:56.$600. And we were also able to make a significant dent in providing

:46:56. > :47:01.them the kind of preventive care that will alter that we save money

:47:01. > :47:06.throughout the system. So, the way for us to deal with Medicare in

:47:06. > :47:11.particular is to lower healthcare costs. -- alternately. But in

:47:11. > :47:16.regards to social security, you do not need any major structure

:47:16. > :47:20.changed. To follow up on this, Governor Romney you have two

:47:20. > :47:24.minutes on social security and entitlements.

:47:24. > :47:31.Our seniors depend on these programmes. Offered me to talk

:47:31. > :47:36.about entitlements. -- often. Either the President nor I are

:47:36. > :47:41.proposing any changes for any current retirees or near retirees,

:47:41. > :47:46.either to social security or Medicare. If you are 64 older, you

:47:46. > :47:51.do not have to listen further. But for younger people, we have to talk

:47:51. > :47:59.about changes. I was wrong when I said the President was not

:47:59. > :48:04.proposing any changes. He is on Medicare. -- if you are 60 or older.

:48:04. > :48:09.Four current retirees, he is cutting money for the programme. He

:48:09. > :48:12.says by not overpaying providers. Just going to them and saying we

:48:12. > :48:18.will reduce your great and everybody will get a lower rate.

:48:18. > :48:21.That is not just going after pay -- places where there is abuse. Some

:48:21. > :48:26.percentage of hospitals and nursing homes say they will not take any

:48:26. > :48:31.more Medicare payments. 50% of doctors say they will not take any

:48:31. > :48:37.more Medicare patients. We have 4 million people on Medicare

:48:37. > :48:43.advantage that will lose it because of the $760 million worth of cuts.

:48:43. > :48:50.How can you cut Medicare $716 billion for current recipients and

:48:50. > :48:54.Medicare? You point out we are giving some back. That is one -- $1

:48:54. > :48:59.for every 15 you have cut. They are smart enough to know that is not a

:48:59. > :49:03.good trade. I want to take the money you have cut and put it back

:49:03. > :49:08.into Medicare. We can include a prescription programme. But the

:49:08. > :49:12.idea of cutting $716 billion from Medicare to be able to balance the

:49:12. > :49:18.additional cost of a bummer care is a mistake. With regards to young

:49:18. > :49:28.people, I have proposals to make sure Medicare and social security

:49:28. > :49:29.

:49:29. > :49:35.are there without any question. -- cost of other care. The essence of

:49:35. > :49:45.the plan is that you will turn Medicare into a programme called

:49:45. > :49:55.Premium support. It's understood... You don't to support that? No.

:49:55. > :49:58.

:49:58. > :50:05.If you are 54 off 55 you may want to listen. This may affect you.

:50:05. > :50:09.original idea is that we would give a voucher to seniors and make them

:50:09. > :50:15.go out into the private market place and by their own health

:50:15. > :50:20.insurance. The problem is because the Thatcher would not necessarily

:50:20. > :50:30.keep up with healthcare inflation, it would cost the average senior

:50:30. > :50:31.

:50:32. > :50:36.about $6,000 a year. There is still a problem. Those in shares

:50:36. > :50:40.companies are pretty clever at figure gap who are the younger and

:50:40. > :50:45.healthier seniors. They recruit them, leaving the Olda, sicker

:50:45. > :50:50.seniors in Medicare. Every healthcare economist who looks at

:50:50. > :50:54.it says over time, the traditional Medicare system will collapse. Then

:50:54. > :50:58.we have folks like my grandmother at the mercy of the private health

:50:58. > :51:04.insurance system at the time when they are most in need of decent

:51:04. > :51:13.healthcare. I do not think vouchers are the right way to go. This is

:51:13. > :51:18.not only my opinion. The savings we obtained from Medicare bolster the

:51:18. > :51:24.system, length and the trust fund by eight years, benefits were not

:51:24. > :51:29.affected by all. Ironically, if you repeal Obamacare, and I had been

:51:29. > :51:36.fond of this term, if the repeal it, what happens is those seen years

:51:36. > :51:41.will be paying $600 more in prescription care. They have to pay

:51:41. > :51:47.for basic check-ups that can keep them heavier. The primary

:51:47. > :51:51.beneficiary of that repeal our insurance companies. It is

:51:51. > :51:55.estimated they will gain billions of dollars back when they are not

:51:55. > :51:58.making senior as any healthier. I do not think that is the right

:51:58. > :52:03.approach mac comes to making sure Medicare is stronger over the long-

:52:03. > :52:09.term. We will talk specifically about healthcare in a manner. Do

:52:09. > :52:15.you support the voucher system, governor? I support no change for

:52:15. > :52:19.current retirees. The President's supporters taking over $700 billion

:52:19. > :52:24.and of that programme. That is number one. Number two is for

:52:24. > :52:28.people becoming a long cool young. We make sure we did it Medicare in

:52:28. > :52:33.place for them. We allow them to choose the kind Medicare programme

:52:33. > :52:41.or a private plan. Their choice. Do we have at least two plans that

:52:41. > :52:45.will be entirely of no cost to them. -- Day War have at least. If the

:52:45. > :52:49.government can be as efficient as the private sector and offer

:52:49. > :52:53.premiums as low as the private sector, people will be happy to get

:52:53. > :53:01.tradition Medicare or get a private plan. I would rather have a private

:53:01. > :53:05.plan. I don't want the government is to me what healthcare I can get.

:53:05. > :53:10.But people make their own choice. The other thing we do to save

:53:10. > :53:14.Medicare is to have to have higher benefits for lower income. But for

:53:14. > :53:19.high income people, we have to lower some of the benefits. We have

:53:19. > :53:28.to make sure the programme is there for the long-term. The idea came,

:53:28. > :53:34.not even Paul Ryan, it came from Bill Clinton's chief of staff. This

:53:34. > :53:37.is an idea there has been around for a long time. If we get

:53:37. > :53:41.competition in the Medicare world, people can get the choice of

:53:41. > :53:47.different plans at lower-caste and better quality. I believe in

:53:47. > :53:50.competition. If I can just respond very quickly. Every study has shown

:53:50. > :53:56.that many care has low administrative cost them private

:53:56. > :54:02.companies. Private insurers have to make a profit. Nothing wrong with

:54:02. > :54:09.that. That is what they do. You have high administrative costs,

:54:09. > :54:14.plus the prospect on top of that. - - profit. If you are going to save

:54:14. > :54:19.any money, what has to happen is that the money has to come from

:54:19. > :54:24.somewhere. And when the mood to a voucher system, you are putting

:54:24. > :54:29.seniors at the mercy of those insurance companies. And over time,

:54:29. > :54:35.if traditional Medicare has decayed or fallen apart, then they are

:54:35. > :54:39.stark. This is the reason why it has been said that your plan will

:54:40. > :54:44.weaken Medicare substantially. And that is why they were supportive of

:54:45. > :54:52.the approach that we took. One last point I want to make, we do have to

:54:52. > :55:02.know what the cost of healthcare. Not just in Medicare. But overall.

:55:02. > :55:03.

:55:03. > :55:07.That is a big topic. Is that a separate topic? The President said

:55:07. > :55:11.the government can provide the service at a lower caste. It will

:55:11. > :55:16.always be the best product that people can purchase. My experience

:55:16. > :55:22.is the private sector will provide a better product at a lower cost.

:55:22. > :55:29.Ken you agree that the voters have a clear choice between the two of

:55:29. > :55:33.the in Medicare? Absolutely. What is your view about the level of

:55:33. > :55:41.federal regulation of the economy right now. Too much? In your case,

:55:41. > :55:46.Mr President, should there be more? This is not a new to read -- two

:55:46. > :55:50.minutes Segment. Then we will go to healthcare. We deletion is the

:55:50. > :56:00.central. You cannot have a free market work if the dinner have

:56:00. > :56:06.regulation. -- regulations are the central. You have to have

:56:06. > :56:12.regulations so you can have an economy work. At the same time,

:56:12. > :56:20.regulations can be excessive. now? In some places years. It can

:56:20. > :56:30.become out of date. You have seen regulation become excessive and it

:56:30. > :56:32.

:56:32. > :56:42.has hurt the economy. Let me give you an example. There are some

:56:42. > :56:46.

:56:46. > :56:54.unintended consequences that are harmful to the economy. 122

:56:54. > :56:59.Committee and small banks have closed. Here is another. D1 to

:56:59. > :57:09.repeal it? I want to repeal it and replace it. You have to have

:57:09. > :57:11.

:57:11. > :57:21.regulation. You need transparency. Unita had been a budget limits. --

:57:21. > :57:26.

:57:27. > :57:31.you need to have. Let him have a response. This is a great example.

:57:31. > :57:36.There has been such an enormous economic crisis... It was prompted

:57:36. > :57:40.by reckless behaviour across the board. It was not just on Wall

:57:40. > :57:45.Street. You have learned officers who were giving loans and mortgages

:57:45. > :57:49.that really should not have been given because they did not qualify.

:57:49. > :57:54.But people were borrowing money to buy houses they could not afford.

:57:54. > :58:00.Credit agencies were stamping bees as great investments when they were

:58:00. > :58:04.not. You also have banks are making money, churning out products that

:58:04. > :58:10.the bankers themselves do not understand. In order to make big

:58:11. > :58:15.profits but knowing it made the entire system vulnerable. What did

:58:15. > :58:21.we do? We step in and had the toughest reforms on Wall Street

:58:21. > :58:25.since 1930s. We said you have to rage a capital requirements. He

:58:25. > :58:30.cannot engage in some of the risky behaviour. We will make sure bet

:58:30. > :58:34.you have a living will so we can know how you're going to wind

:58:34. > :58:39.things down if you make a bad debts are we do not have other bail-out.

:58:39. > :58:48.We also made sure that all the help we provided those banks were paid

:58:48. > :58:53.back with interest. Governor Romney says he wants to repeal it. I

:58:53. > :58:57.appreciate it. It appears we have some agreement that a market place

:58:57. > :59:02.needs to have some regulation. But in the past, he says he just wants

:59:02. > :59:07.to repeal it and roll it back. The question is does anybody out there

:59:07. > :59:13.think that the big problem we had is that there was too much

:59:14. > :59:22.oversight and regulation of Wall Street? If you do, then governor

:59:22. > :59:27.Romney is you cannot day. That is not what I believe. -- your

:59:27. > :59:31.candidate. We have to have regulation in Wall Street but I

:59:31. > :59:35.would not designate five banks too big to fail and give them a blank

:59:35. > :59:38.cheque. That is one of the unintended consequences of this. It

:59:38. > :59:48.was not thought through properly. It is chilling regional and small

:59:48. > :59:53.

:59:53. > :59:57.banks. -- is killing. The regulation says we have to have

:59:57. > :00:02.qualified mortgages and if he did not qualify and mortgages, there

:00:02. > :00:07.are big penalties. But they never define what a qualified mortgage is.

:00:07. > :00:13.It has been two years and we still do not know. Banks are reliable did

:00:13. > :00:18.to make loans and mortgages. Try and get a mortgage today. It is

:00:18. > :00:24.hurting the housing market. It was not anticipated what regulations

:00:24. > :00:28.you needed to have. Sometimes they do not come up with a clear

:00:28. > :00:31.regulation. I will make sure we do not hurt the functioning of our

:00:31. > :00:35.market place and our businesses, because I want to bring back

:00:35. > :00:42.housing and get good jobs. We have another clear difference between

:00:42. > :00:50.the two of you. Let's move to healthcare. I know there is a clear

:00:50. > :00:56.difference. That has to do with the affordable care acts. That means

:00:56. > :01:04.two minutes each. You go first, governor Romney. You want to repeal

:01:04. > :01:09.it. I'm sure did. It comes from my experience. A woman came to me and

:01:09. > :01:13.said I cannot afford insures for myself and my son. I met a couple

:01:13. > :01:19.who said, we're thinking about dropping Alan shares because we

:01:19. > :01:22.cannot afford it. And the number of small businesses I have gone to who

:01:22. > :01:29.said they are dropping their shares because they cannot afford it. We

:01:29. > :01:35.have to deal with cost. -- insurance. The Congressional Budget

:01:35. > :01:43.Office says will cost 200 and -- 200 $1,000 a year more traditional

:01:43. > :01:47.insurers. It is adding to the cost. By this year, he would have brought

:01:47. > :01:52.down the cost of insurance for each family. It has gone up by that

:01:52. > :02:00.amount. It is expensive. Expensive things hurt families. That is why

:02:00. > :02:04.add to not wanted. It cuts $716 billion from Medicare to pay for.

:02:04. > :02:14.It puts in place an unelected board which was tell people what kind of

:02:14. > :02:21.

:02:21. > :02:26.trick mistaken have. I do like that idea. -- do not. I do not know how

:02:26. > :02:30.the President could come into office, facing 22 million people

:02:30. > :02:35.out of work, rising unemployment, and economic crisis at the kitchen

:02:35. > :02:42.table, and spent his energy and passion fighting for Obamacare and

:02:42. > :02:47.son are fighting for jobs for the American people. It has killed jobs.

:02:47. > :02:51.We must crack a plan on the state level that fits the knee of the

:02:51. > :03:00.state. Then let's focus on getting the cost down for people. Rather

:03:00. > :03:04.than raising it. Mr President? years ago when I was running for

:03:04. > :03:09.office, I was travelling around and hand -- around and having the same

:03:10. > :03:13.conversations. It was not just that small businesses work seen class

:03:13. > :03:21.scarab good and they could not get affordable coverage even if they

:03:21. > :03:25.wanted to provide it to their employees. It was families. They

:03:26. > :03:33.were worried about going bankrupt if they got sick. Millions of

:03:33. > :03:43.families, all across the country. They had a break existing condition.

:03:43. > :03:49.

:03:49. > :03:53.-- pre-existing. They do not have enough money to pay the bills

:03:53. > :03:59.because the insurance companies say they have hit the limit. We did

:03:59. > :04:02.work on this, alongside with working on jobs. This is part of

:04:02. > :04:07.the plan to make sure middle class families are secure in this country.

:04:07. > :04:11.Let me tell you what Obamacare did. If you have got held in shares, it

:04:11. > :04:17.does not mean a government takeover. You keep your own insurance. But it

:04:17. > :04:23.does say insurance companies can jerk you around. -- cannot. Bacon

:04:23. > :04:29.nine per as arbitrary lifetime limits. They have to let you keep

:04:29. > :04:33.your kid a new insurance plan until you 26. It also says you going to

:04:33. > :04:37.have to get rebates if insures companies are said -- spending

:04:37. > :04:42.Morar on administrative costs and profits than they are on actual

:04:42. > :04:48.care. If you do not have health insurance, we are setting up a

:04:48. > :04:52.group plan. This is a BBC News special. You alive in Denver

:04:52. > :05:02.Colorado with a special coverage of the first televised debate of the

:05:02. > :05:04.

:05:04. > :05:13.2012 presidential debate campaign. Back to the debate now. Be an irony

:05:13. > :05:18.is, we have seen this model of work really well. In Massachusetts.

:05:18. > :05:24.Governor of one needed a good thing, working with Democrats in the state

:05:24. > :05:31.to set out what is essentially the identical model. As a consequence,

:05:31. > :05:36.people are covered there. It has not destroy jobs. As a consequence,

:05:36. > :05:46.we have a system in which we have the opportunity to start bringing

:05:46. > :05:53.

:05:53. > :05:59.down class. Your five seconds when I did with my first statement but I

:05:59. > :06:03.will go on. First, I like the way we did it is Massachusetts. I like

:06:03. > :06:09.the fact in may state we had Republicans and Democrats work

:06:09. > :06:14.together. Instead you pushed through a plan without a single

:06:14. > :06:24.Republican vote. When Massachusetts reelectricityed a Republican

:06:24. > :06:28.

:06:28. > :06:35.Senator to stop Obama Care you pushed it through anyway. We in the

:06:35. > :06:41.legislation 87% Democrat worked together. 200 only voted against

:06:41. > :06:46.the plan by the time we finished. We did not raise tax. You have

:06:46. > :06:54.raised them by $1 trillion under Obama Care. We did not cut Medicare

:06:54. > :06:57.by $1 716 million. We did not tell people what kind of treatments they

:06:57. > :07:01.would receive or do something a number of people across this

:07:01. > :07:05.country recognise - put people in a position where they will whose the

:07:05. > :07:09.insurance they had and wanted. Right now the CBO says up to 20

:07:09. > :07:14.million people will lose insurance as Obama Care goes into effect next

:07:14. > :07:18.year. Likewise a study by McKenzie and company of American businesses

:07:18. > :07:22.said 30% anticipate dropping people from coverage so for those reasons,

:07:22. > :07:28.for the tax, for Medicare, this barred and people losing their

:07:28. > :07:33.insurance, this is why the American people do not want care kairb. It

:07:33. > :07:37.is why Republicans - Obama Care - said do not do this. Republicans

:07:37. > :07:41.put a plan out, a bipartisan plan that was swept aside. I think

:07:41. > :07:45.something this big, this important has to be done on a bipartisan

:07:45. > :07:51.basis and we have to satisfy President who can reach across and

:07:51. > :07:56.fashion important legislation with the input from both parties

:07:56. > :08:00.Governor Romney says this has to happen on a bipartisan basis, this

:08:00. > :08:04.is a Republican idea. Governor Romney at the beginning of this

:08:04. > :08:11.date wrote and said at we did in Massachusetts could be a model for

:08:11. > :08:15.the nation. I agree the Democratic legislatures in Massachusetts might

:08:15. > :08:19.have given advice the Republicans in Congress about how to cooperate.

:08:19. > :08:23.We use the same advisors and they say it is the same plan. When

:08:23. > :08:29.Governor Romney talk about this board, for example, unelected board

:08:29. > :08:36.we have created. What this is, is a group of health care experts,

:08:36. > :08:40.doctors, to figure out how can we reduce the cost of care in the

:08:40. > :08:45.system overall? Because there are two ways to deal with our health

:08:45. > :08:49.care crisis - one is to simply leave a whole bunch of people

:08:49. > :08:53.uninsured and let them fend for themselves, to let businesses

:08:53. > :08:57.figure out how long they can continue to pay premiums until they

:08:57. > :09:00.give up and workers are no longer insured which has been the trend

:09:00. > :09:05.line or alternatively we can figure out how to make thes cost of care

:09:05. > :09:10.more effective and there are ways of doing it. So at Cleveland Clinic

:09:10. > :09:15.one of the best health care systems in the world, they actually provide

:09:15. > :09:20.great care, cheaper than average. The reason they do is because they

:09:20. > :09:24.do some smart things. They say if a patient situation in, let's get all

:09:24. > :09:30.the doctors together at once, do one test instead of having the

:09:30. > :09:36.patient run around with 10 tests, let's make sure we provide care so

:09:36. > :09:42.ecatch the onset of something like diabetes. Let's pay providers on

:09:42. > :09:51.the basis of performance as opposed to on the basis of how many

:09:51. > :10:00.procedures they have engaged in. So this board identifies best practice

:10:00. > :10:03.an says let's use the purchasing power of Medicare and Mehdi -Cade

:10:03. > :10:07.to help institution lies all the things we do when Obama Care is

:10:07. > :10:12.fully implemented we will be in a position the show that costs are

:10:12. > :10:16.going down and over the last two years health care premiums have

:10:16. > :10:20.gone up, it is true, but they have gone up slower than any time in the

:10:20. > :10:30.has 590 years. So we are beginning see progress. In the meantime folks

:10:30. > :10:35.

:10:35. > :10:39.out there with insurance you are already getting a row bait.

:10:39. > :10:42.Governor Romney says we will replace it but has not said who to

:10:42. > :10:45.but other than leave to it the States. The fact of the matter is

:10:45. > :10:49.that so prescriptions he has offered like letting you buy

:10:49. > :10:53.insurance across 'Stateline's, there is no indication that that

:10:53. > :10:57.somehow will help someone with a pre-existing condition be able the

:10:57. > :11:01.finally buy insurance. In fact it is estimated by repealing Obama

:11:01. > :11:06.Care you are looking at 50 million people losing health insurance at a

:11:06. > :11:15.time when it is slightly important. Governor what would you do if Obama

:11:15. > :11:19.Care is repeal? How would you replace it? It a lengthsy

:11:19. > :11:23.prescription but prey existing conditions are covered, young

:11:23. > :11:26.people can stay on their family plan which is offered in the

:11:26. > :11:29.private marketplace. You do not need a government the pan date that

:11:29. > :11:34.for that to occur. But let's come back the something to the President

:11:34. > :11:37.and I agree on - the key fast being in health care is to get the cost

:11:38. > :11:42.down so it is more affordable for families. He has a model for doing

:11:42. > :11:47.that a board of people, an unelected appointed board of

:11:47. > :11:52.government who will decide what kind of treatment you should V in

:11:52. > :11:57.my opinion the Government is not effective in bringing down the cost

:11:57. > :12:01.of almost anything. As a matter of fact, free people and free

:12:01. > :12:05.enterprise trying to find people to do things better will be more

:12:06. > :12:10.effective in bringing down the cost than the Government will ever be.

:12:10. > :12:13.Your example of the level land Clippic is a case in point along

:12:13. > :12:18.with others I could describe. These are enterprises competing with each

:12:18. > :12:23.other learning how to do better and better jobs. I used to consult to

:12:23. > :12:26.businesses, hospitals, health care providers. I was amazed at the

:12:26. > :12:30.creativity and innovation that exists in the American people. To

:12:31. > :12:35.bring the cost of health care down we do not need a board of 15 people

:12:35. > :12:39.telling us what kinds of treatments we should V we instead need to put

:12:39. > :12:45.insurance plans, providers, hospitals, doctors on target such

:12:45. > :12:50.that they have an incentive as you say, performance pay for doing a

:12:50. > :12:55.excellent job keeping costs down and that is happening. Mao clinic

:12:55. > :12:59.does it well. Cleveland Clinic, others. But the right answer is not

:12:59. > :13:02.to have the Federal Government take over health care and start

:13:02. > :13:07.mandating the providers across America telling it a patient and a

:13:07. > :13:11.doctor what kind of treatment they can have. Is the wrong way to go.

:13:11. > :13:15.The private market and individual responsibility always work best.

:13:15. > :13:23.Let me just point out first of all this board we are talking about

:13:23. > :13:27.cannot make decision boss what treatments are given. Is explicitly

:13:27. > :13:30.prohibited in the law - decisions about. Let's go back to what

:13:30. > :13:33.Governor Romney indicated that under his plan he would be able to

:13:33. > :13:43.cover people with pre-existing. ACTUALLY, GOVERNOR, THAT IS NOT

:13:43. > :13:45.

:13:45. > :13:49.WHAT YOUR PLAN DOES. WHAT YOUR PLAN DOES IT TO DUPLICATE WHAT IS THE

:13:49. > :13:54.LAW IF YOU ARE UNDER HEALTH INSURANCE FOR UNDER THREE MONTHS

:13:54. > :13:58.YOU CAN GET CONTINUOUS COVERAGE AND ASSURANCE COMPANY CANNOT DENY YOU

:13:58. > :14:00.ASSURANCE COMPANY CANNOT DENY YOU ASSURANCE COMPANY CANNOT DENY YOU

:14:00. > :14:04.IF IT HAS BEEN UNDER 90 DAYS. BUT THAT IS ALREADY THE LAW AN DOES NOT

:14:04. > :14:14.HELP THE MILLIONS OUT THERE WITH WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. THERE

:14:14. > :14:30.

:14:30. > :14:34.IS A REASON GOVERNOR ROMNEY SET UP BUT WHEN GOVERNOR ROMNEY CAN NOT

:14:35. > :14:38.DETAIL HOW IT WILL BE PLACED. THE REASON HE SET UP THE SYSTEM IN

:14:38. > :14:44.MASSACHUSETTS IS BECAUSE THERE IS NOT A BETTER WAY THE DEAL WITH THE

:14:44. > :14:49.PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS PROBLEM. HE SAYS IT WILL - HE WILL CLOSE

:14:49. > :14:53.DEDOESS AND LOOPHOLES FOR HIS TAX PLAN - DEDUCTIONS. WE DO NOT KNOW

:14:53. > :15:03.THE DETAILS. HE SAYS HE WILL REPLACE WALL STREET REFORM BUT WE

:15:03. > :15:12.

:15:12. > :15:15.DO NOT KNOW WHICH ONES. I think American people have to ask

:15:15. > :15:21.themselves the reason Governor Romney is keeping plans to replace

:15:21. > :15:25.secret because they are too good is? It because somehow middle-class

:15:25. > :15:31.families will benefit too much from them? No, the reason is because

:15:31. > :15:34.when we reform Wall Street, when we tackle the problem of pre-existing

:15:34. > :15:39.conditions, then these are tough problems and we have to make

:15:39. > :15:42.choices and the choices we have made have been ones that ultimately

:15:42. > :15:47.benefit middle-class families across the country. I have to

:15:47. > :15:50.respond to that, which is my experience as a Governor that is if

:15:50. > :15:56.I come in and lay down a piece of legislation and say it is my way or

:15:56. > :15:59.the eye way, I do not get a lot done. What I do is the same way

:15:59. > :16:03.that O'Neil and Regan worked together some years ago. When Regan

:16:03. > :16:07.ran for office he laid out the principles he was going to foster -

:16:07. > :16:12.lower tax rates, he said he would blooden the base. You service said

:16:12. > :16:16.the same thing, you will - broaden the base. You said you would

:16:16. > :16:19.simplify the tax place, broaden the base. I want to bring down the tax

:16:19. > :16:23.burden for middle income families. I want to work with Congress saying

:16:23. > :16:29.what are the ways we can bring down redoes. One way toys have a single

:16:29. > :16:35.number, make up a number, 25,000, 50,000, anybody can have deductions

:16:35. > :16:38.up to that amount then that number disappears for hi-income people.

:16:38. > :16:42.Would could follow Simpson for a model, take deductions by

:16:42. > :16:45.deductions and make difference as the way. There are alternatives to

:16:45. > :16:49.accomplish the objective I have, which is to bring down rates,

:16:49. > :16:53.broaden the base, simplify the code and create incentives for growth.

:16:53. > :16:57.With regard to health care you have remarkable details with regards the

:16:57. > :17:00.my pre-existing condition plan. You obviously studied up on my plan. I

:17:00. > :17:04.do have a plan which deals with people with pre-existing conditions

:17:04. > :17:08.which is part of my health care plan. What we did in has chew sets

:17:09. > :17:16.is a mod yol for the station state by state. I -- model. I said that

:17:16. > :17:21.at the time. The Federal Government taking over health care for the

:17:21. > :17:26.nation whisking aside the 10th amendment is not course for America

:17:26. > :17:31.to have a stronger more vibrant economy That is a terrific section

:17:31. > :17:36.way to our next segment which is the role of government. The role of

:17:36. > :17:41.government - you are first on this Mr President. The question is this

:17:41. > :17:45.- do you believe both of you, but you had the first two minute on

:17:45. > :17:50.this, Mr President - do you believe there is a fundamental difference

:17:50. > :17:54.between the to of you as to how you view the mission of the Federal

:17:54. > :17:57.Government? Well, I definitely think there are differences. Um,

:17:57. > :18:03.the first role of the Federal Government is to keep the American

:18:04. > :18:08.people safe. That is its most basic function. As Commander in Chief,

:18:08. > :18:14.that is something that I have worked on and thought about every

:18:14. > :18:18.single day I have been in the Oval Office. But I also believe that

:18:18. > :18:22.government has the capacity - the Federal Government has the capacity

:18:22. > :18:25.to help open up opportunity and create ladders of opportunity and

:18:25. > :18:30.to create frameworks where the American people can succeed. Look,

:18:30. > :18:36.the genius of America is the free enterprise system. Freedom and the

:18:36. > :18:41.fact that people can go out there and start a business and work on an

:18:41. > :18:47.idea, make their own decisions but as Abe Lincoln understand there are

:18:47. > :18:52.also some things we do better together. So in the middle of the

:18:52. > :18:57.civil war Abe Lincoln said let's help to finance the

:18:57. > :19:01.transcontinental railroad. Let's start the national academy sciences,

:19:01. > :19:04.let's start land grant colleges, because we want to give these

:19:04. > :19:08.gateways of opportunity for all Americans because if all Americans

:19:08. > :19:13.are getting opportunity, we are all going to be better off. Does not

:19:13. > :19:17.restrict people's freedom, that enhances it. So what I have tried

:19:17. > :19:22.to do as President is to apply those same principles. When it

:19:22. > :19:26.comes to education, what I have said is we have the reform schools

:19:26. > :19:29.that are not working. We use something called Race to the Top,

:19:29. > :19:32.was not a top-down approach, Governor. We said the States, we

:19:33. > :19:36.will give you more money if you initiate reforms and as a

:19:36. > :19:42.consequence you had 46 states around the country who have made a

:19:42. > :19:48.real difference. But what I have said is let's hire another 10,000

:19:48. > :19:53.maths and science teachers to make sure we maintain our technological

:19:53. > :20:00.lead so people are skilled and able to succeed and hard-pressed states

:20:00. > :20:04.cannot all do that. We have seen lay offs of hundreds of thousands

:20:04. > :20:07.of teachers and Governor Romney thinks we do not need more teachers

:20:07. > :20:10.but I do. Is the kind of investment the Federal Government can do, kit

:20:10. > :20:14.not do it all but it can make a different concerns and as a

:20:14. > :20:24.consequence we will have a better Tened work force which will create

:20:24. > :20:24.

:20:24. > :20:30.jobs because companies want to I love great schools. Massachusetts,

:20:30. > :20:35.our schools are ranked number 1. Great teachers. I reject the idea I

:20:35. > :20:42.do not believe in great teachers. Every state should make that

:20:42. > :20:44.decision on their own. The role of government, look behind us. The

:20:44. > :20:47.constitution and the declaration of independence. The role of

:20:47. > :20:54.government is to promote and protect the principles of those

:20:54. > :21:01.documents. Life and liberty. A responsibility to protect the lives

:21:01. > :21:06.and liberties of our people. That means the military. I do not

:21:06. > :21:10.believe in cutting the strength of the military. We are endowed by our

:21:10. > :21:17.Creator with their rights. We must maintain our commitment to

:21:17. > :21:21.religious tolerance and freedom in this country. We are endowed with

:21:21. > :21:25.are created by the right to pursue happiness as we choose. We need to

:21:25. > :21:30.make sure that those who are less fortunate are cared for by one

:21:30. > :21:40.another. We believe that we are role children of the same college.

:21:40. > :21:42.

:21:42. > :21:47.We care for those who have difficulties. -- the same God. We

:21:47. > :21:52.need to provide the pursuit of happiness for our citizens. We also

:21:52. > :22:00.want to maintain the right of individuals to pursue their dreams.

:22:00. > :22:04.The Government should not replace that. We are seeing a trickle-down

:22:04. > :22:11.government approach. The Government thinks it can do a better job than

:22:11. > :22:19.three people pursuing their dreams. It is not working. One in six

:22:19. > :22:27.people are in poverty. We have $32 million gone from 32 million people

:22:27. > :22:35.on foot stems to 47 million people on food stamps. It is time for a

:22:35. > :22:39.new path. Let us go for some specifics. Education. Does the

:22:39. > :22:43.federal government have a responsibility to improve the

:22:43. > :22:47.quality of public education? primary responsibility is at the

:22:47. > :22:57.state and local level. The federal government can play an important

:22:57. > :23:03.role. I agree with some of the ideas. The federal government can

:23:03. > :23:12.get local and state schools to do a better job. I have added that. I

:23:12. > :23:22.once the children getting federal money, these are disabled or low-

:23:22. > :23:28.income kids, I want them to be able to go to the school of their choice.

:23:28. > :23:32.I once the parent and the child to decide where to send them. How do

:23:32. > :23:38.see the federal government's responsibility to improve the

:23:38. > :23:43.quality of public education? It has a significant role to play. Through

:23:43. > :23:51.our programmes we have worked with democratic and Republican

:23:51. > :23:56.governments. They have an impact. Do you have different views with

:23:56. > :24:01.the governor Mitt Romney? This is where budgets matter. Burgess

:24:01. > :24:10.reflect choices. When Governor Romney indicates that he wants to

:24:10. > :24:15.cut taxes and benefit folks like me and him, to pay for it we are

:24:15. > :24:23.having to initiate significant cuts and federal support for education.

:24:23. > :24:27.That makes a difference. The budget reflects many of the principles

:24:27. > :24:36.that Governor Romney has been talking about. It is not very

:24:36. > :24:44.detailed. What it did do, you look at cutting the education budget by

:24:44. > :24:48.up to 20%. When it comes to community colleges. We are seeing

:24:48. > :24:53.great work done all over the country. We can train people for

:24:53. > :24:56.jobs that exist right now. One thing that we probably agree on is

:24:56. > :25:06.that getting businesses to work with community colleges to set up

:25:06. > :25:08.

:25:08. > :25:12.training programmes. Let me finish my point. They are partnering so

:25:12. > :25:20.that they can design training programmes and people know there is

:25:20. > :25:26.a job waiting for them. But that requires some federal support. One

:25:26. > :25:32.final example. When it comes to making college affordable, one of

:25:33. > :25:37.the things I did as president was send $60 billion to banks and

:25:37. > :25:41.lenders as middlemen for the student loan programme. There was

:25:41. > :25:51.no risk for the banks and lenders. But they were taking billions out

:25:51. > :25:52.

:25:52. > :25:58.of the system. As a consequence, we have been able to provide students'

:25:59. > :26:07.assistance and lower interest rates. This is an example where priorities

:26:07. > :26:10.make a difference. Governor Mitt Romney believes in assistance. But

:26:11. > :26:20.when he tells a student you should borrow money from your parents to

:26:20. > :26:27.go to college, that indicates the degree to which there may not be a

:26:27. > :26:32.focus on the fact that certain people just do not have that option.

:26:32. > :26:42.They need to have that opportunity and walk through that door. That is

:26:42. > :26:43.

:26:43. > :26:49.vitally important. We are running out of time. Respond to that.

:26:49. > :26:56.President, you own your own house and plane, but not to own facts. I

:26:56. > :27:06.am not going to cut education funding. I can not going to make

:27:06. > :27:09.

:27:09. > :27:15.changes there. The place to put your money is an indication of wear

:27:15. > :27:23.your heart is. You put $90 billion in green energy. That would have

:27:23. > :27:32.hired 2 million teachers. Many of these businesses have gone out of

:27:32. > :27:36.business. Many are working to be to steer campaigns. -- were

:27:36. > :27:43.contributing to your campaigns. We do not want to pick winners and

:27:43. > :27:48.losers. Telling people what kind of health treatment they can receive.

:27:48. > :27:55.Taking over the healthcare system that has existed in this country.

:27:55. > :28:00.The right answer is to consider how to make the private sector more

:28:00. > :28:06.efficient and effective. I propose we grade our schools. So parents

:28:06. > :28:13.know which schools are succeeding and failing. I do not want to cut

:28:13. > :28:20.our commitment to education. I want to make it more effective and

:28:20. > :28:26.efficient. I have that experience. - to such schools are ranked number

:28:27. > :28:36.one in the nation. -- Massachusetts. It is because I care about

:28:37. > :28:37.

:28:37. > :28:45.education. We only have three minutes left. I do not want to say

:28:45. > :28:53.I have done a poor job. You have done a great job. We have lost a

:28:53. > :29:03.pot. We only have three minutes left. Then we go to closing

:29:03. > :29:03.

:29:03. > :29:07.statements. I want to ask, in three minutes total time, many of the

:29:07. > :29:14.legislative functions of the federal government right now higher

:29:14. > :29:22.in a state of paralysis as a result of Paterson divide. If elected or

:29:22. > :29:29.re-elected, what would you do about that, Governor? I was elected in a

:29:29. > :29:34.state where my legislature was 87% democrat. Attica doubt that I had

:29:34. > :29:42.to get along and work across the aisle. Our schools are number one

:29:42. > :29:49.in the nation. We cut taxes 19 times. As President I'll sit down

:29:49. > :29:56.on day one with Democratic and Republican leaders and talk about

:29:56. > :30:00.the issues and challenges. We have to work on a collaborative basis.

:30:00. > :30:06.Not because we want to compromise our principles, but because there

:30:06. > :30:14.is common ground. The reason I am in this race is that because people

:30:14. > :30:18.are hurting today in this country. We face a deficit that will cross -

:30:18. > :30:24.- crash future generations. There are developments of concern. We

:30:24. > :30:30.need to have leadership in Washington that will keep people

:30:30. > :30:35.together. They do not need to care less if it is a Democrat and

:30:35. > :30:45.Republican. The Easter President? Governor Romney will have a busy

:30:45. > :30:51.first day. He will also repeal the healthcare reforms. My philosophy

:30:51. > :30:56.has been, I will take ideas from anybody. As long as they are

:30:56. > :31:00.advancing the cause of making middle class family stronger. That

:31:00. > :31:06.is how we cut taxes for middle class families and small businesses.

:31:06. > :31:13.That is how we cut one trillion dollars of spending. That is how we

:31:13. > :31:20.signed three trade deals into law. That is how we repealed do not ask,

:31:20. > :31:29.do not tell. That is how we ended the war in Iraq. That is how we are

:31:29. > :31:32.going to end the war in Afghanistan. We have seen progress even under

:31:32. > :31:37.Republican control of the House of Representatives. But part of being

:31:37. > :31:44.principled is being able to work out what it is you intend to do.

:31:44. > :31:49.Not just saying, I'll sit down. You have to have a plan. You have

:31:49. > :31:59.occasionally got to say no to folks in you're own party and the other

:31:59. > :32:04.party. We have had some fights between me and the Republicans.

:32:04. > :32:09.That was a fight that needed to be had. And we were fighting on making

:32:09. > :32:15.sure that Americans had more security with the health insurance.

:32:15. > :32:20.That was a fight we needed to have. Part of leadership and Government

:32:20. > :32:26.is saying what it is you're four Put also been willing to say no to

:32:26. > :32:31.some things. Governor Romney, when it comes to his own party, has not

:32:31. > :32:39.displayed the willingness to say no to some extreme parts. That brings

:32:39. > :32:49.us to closing statements. A coin toss, Governor Romney elected to go

:32:49. > :32:51.

:32:51. > :32:56.last. I want to thank you and government rummy -- Governor Romney.

:32:56. > :33:05.I want to thank the University of Denver. Four years ago, we were

:33:05. > :33:10.going through a major crisis. But my faith and confidence in the

:33:10. > :33:15.American future is undiminished. The reason is because of its people.

:33:15. > :33:20.The woman I met in North Carolina who decided at 55 to go back to

:33:20. > :33:24.school to inspire her daughter and get a new job, because a company in

:33:24. > :33:29.Minnesota or was willing to give up salaries and perks for their

:33:29. > :33:39.executives to make sure they did not lay off workers, the workers I

:33:39. > :33:45.met in Toledo or Detroit. It gives in that sense of pride. They are

:33:45. > :33:51.helping to build America. The question is how we build on their

:33:51. > :33:56.strengths. Everything I have tried to do and everything I am proposing

:33:56. > :34:05.on improving education and closing loopholes foreign companies

:34:05. > :34:10.shipping jobs overseas for ending the deficit in a way that allows us

:34:10. > :34:18.to invest in the future. All of those things are designed to make

:34:18. > :34:24.sure the American people, their genius, their determination is

:34:24. > :34:32.channelled and they have an opportunity to succeed. Everybody

:34:32. > :34:36.is getting and doing a fair share. Four years ago, I said I am not a

:34:36. > :34:40.perfect man and would not be a perfect President. Governor Romney

:34:40. > :34:45.probably thinks I have kept that promise. But I also said I would

:34:45. > :34:55.fight every single day on the behalf of the American people. I

:34:55. > :35:01.have kept that promise. If you vote for me, I will continue that.

:35:01. > :35:06.Governor Romney. Thank you for tuning in this evening. This is an

:35:06. > :35:09.important collection. I am concerned about America. I am

:35:09. > :35:15.concerned about the direction it has been taking over the last four

:35:15. > :35:22.years. This is a bigger collection than the two of us as individual.

:35:22. > :35:28.It is an election about the course of America. There are two very

:35:28. > :35:33.different parts that we have been speaking about this evening. We

:35:33. > :35:41.will talk about those in future debates. They lead in different

:35:41. > :35:46.directions. It is, just looking to words. You can look at the record.

:35:46. > :35:54.You will continue to see a middle class squeeze. In comes going down,

:35:54. > :36:02.prices going up. You will see chronic unemployment. If I am

:36:02. > :36:06.president, I will help create 12 million new jobs. The President is

:36:06. > :36:09.re-elected, the healthcare system will be fully installed. Fatah will

:36:09. > :36:18.mean a whole different way of life for people on the insurance plan

:36:18. > :36:24.they had in the past. If I am elected, we will put in place the

:36:24. > :36:30.kind of principles I've put in place in my own state. We will

:36:30. > :36:40.focus on getting the cost of healthcare down. If the President

:36:40. > :36:43.

:36:43. > :36:47.is re-elected to receive a $716 million cut to Medicare. I will

:36:47. > :36:52.restorer that $716 billion to Medicare. And finally, military.

:36:52. > :37:02.You will see dramatic cuts. The Secretary of Defence said these

:37:02. > :37:05.

:37:06. > :37:10.would be devastating. I will not The next debate will be the advice

:37:10. > :37:13.presidential event on Thursday October 11 at Centre cap college in

:37:13. > :37:23.Kentucky. For now from the University of deny very, thank you

:37:23. > :37:34.

:37:34. > :37:41.and goodnight. (APPLAUSE) This is a BBC special. We are there in

:37:41. > :37:45.Colorado. What do you think? Well, it was certainly serious, Mike. It

:37:45. > :37:49.Watts 90 minute of solid economic policy, the kind of debate American

:37:49. > :37:54.voters have been telling me they want to hear. They want to know

:37:54. > :37:57.about Medicare and taxes. They want to know about social security and

:37:57. > :38:01.whether people could actually follow it though is a totally

:38:01. > :38:05.different question. I was incredibly complicated, very

:38:06. > :38:09.numbers-laden and detated. You have to tread this fine line between

:38:09. > :38:14.explaining in detail what your policies are going to be while not

:38:14. > :38:18.losing the audience l I wonder how much this debate managed to do that.

:38:18. > :38:23.I'm looking at the social media as I'm sure you have been. A lot of

:38:23. > :38:28.people say Governor Romney in many ways made the running. He was Sian

:38:28. > :38:33.upbeat and unusual for him homely. The President seemed less energised,

:38:33. > :38:37.more strained, more tired and there was so much detail if him? Yeah, I

:38:37. > :38:42.think I would agree with all of that. I think Governor Romney gave

:38:42. > :38:46.a solid performance. He was crisp. He came across as, you know, as

:38:46. > :38:56.human as you could come across when you discuss dense economic policy.

:38:56. > :39:05.

:39:05. > :39:09.He was clear and punchy. I think u I think he looked presidential and

:39:09. > :39:12.fulfilled that role. Voters who perhaps were wavering about his

:39:12. > :39:16.credibility as a President certainly in terms of the visuals

:39:16. > :39:21.of this, will have felt that he managed to fulfil that role. Now,

:39:21. > :39:26.the big question is going to be whether this debate changes any

:39:26. > :39:30.minds between now and November 6. To some extent that will depend on

:39:30. > :39:34.how it was played but I think people were wavering about Governor

:39:34. > :39:39.Romney and might well feel tonight he gave a very solid performance.

:39:39. > :39:44.We will run some clips from the debate in a moment. But the

:39:44. > :39:47.moderator taking quite a kicking on the social media. A lot of people

:39:47. > :39:51.suggesting he let Governor Romney take over the debate It is

:39:51. > :39:56.interesting you refer to the social Mead yafplts I have been watching

:39:56. > :40:00.it too tweeting -- media - I have been tweeting and watching Twitter

:40:00. > :40:06.during the course of the debate. In previous elections it was cable

:40:06. > :40:10.television that was the decider of who won and lost these things and

:40:10. > :40:17.it replayed all the clips. This might be the first presidential

:40:17. > :40:21.debate where it is Twitter and social media who are the early

:40:21. > :40:26.arbitors of who wins the depit and you are right suggesting tonight

:40:26. > :40:33.Governor Romney was the winner and there were questions had the

:40:33. > :40:40.moderator was punchy enough entrusting them an keeping them on

:40:40. > :40:46.track incur tailing Governor Romney who certainly over road the

:40:46. > :40:50.moderator when he told him his time was up. On tax both candidatess

:40:50. > :40:55.attempted to appeal to the squeezed middle-class. Mitt Romney saying

:40:55. > :40:59.the pressure they faced is crushing. We should provide tax relief to

:40:59. > :41:03.people in the middle-class but I'm not going to reduce the high income

:41:03. > :41:08.people. They will to fine whether you are President or I am. The

:41:08. > :41:11.people having the hard time are middle income Americans. Under the

:41:11. > :41:17.President's policies they have been buried. They have been crushed.

:41:17. > :41:25.Middle income American haves seen their income come down by 4300

:41:25. > :41:28.dollars. This is a tax of itself, I call it the economy tax. It has

:41:28. > :41:32.been crushing Added to that Governor Romney crucially for him

:41:32. > :41:37.denied he would make tax cuts for the rich an repeated there would be

:41:37. > :41:42.no tax cut that adds to the deficit.There Was 25 minute on

:41:42. > :41:45.taxation in the course of a 90- minute debate tonight. I think that

:41:45. > :41:49.underlines how critical a difference this is between the two

:41:49. > :41:51.candidates. I think it is the most fundamental difference between Mitt

:41:51. > :41:56.Romney's view of America and the American economy and Barack Obama's

:41:56. > :42:00.view of how to run the economy. Mitt Romney fundamentally believes

:42:00. > :42:04.if you give tax cuts to everybody you will get a trickle-down effect

:42:04. > :42:07.in term of job creations. You should not over-tax the wealthy

:42:07. > :42:12.because they are the people that create jobs in the country and that

:42:12. > :42:15.it will stimulate economic growth if you keep tax cuts in place for

:42:15. > :42:19.everyone. Barack Obama does not believe that and as he said during

:42:20. > :42:24.the course of this debate, "We have tried that method and it did not

:42:24. > :42:30.work, it did not stimulate growth and led Tuesday the time of trouble

:42:30. > :42:34.we got into before the 208 crash". It is not surprising to me they

:42:34. > :42:38.spent a lot of time on this issue. It is surprising they spent almost

:42:38. > :42:43.half an hour on it but it was the meet between the difference between

:42:43. > :42:51.the to candidates. The President was questioned about his tax

:42:51. > :42:57.policies. He defended the proposals he implemented as President. Four

:42:57. > :43:02.years ago I said I would cut taxes for middle-class families. We cut

:43:02. > :43:09.taxes for middle-class families by about 3600 dollars. The reason is

:43:09. > :43:13.because I believe that we do best when the middle-class is doing well.

:43:13. > :43:17.By giving them those tax cuts they have a little more money in their

:43:17. > :43:18.pocket so maybe they can buy a new car. They are certainly in a better

:43:18. > :43:22.position to weather the extraordinary recession that we

:43:22. > :43:25.went through. They can buy a computer for their kid who is going

:43:25. > :43:31.off to college which means they are spending more money, business haves

:43:31. > :43:34.more customers, businesses make more profits then hire more workers.

:43:34. > :43:38.Is this fair in addition to laying out in detail his plans and his

:43:38. > :43:41.defence of his plans I have the sense that Barack Obama was

:43:41. > :43:44.constantly attacking Governor Romney on a plan that Governor

:43:44. > :43:51.Romney had said he absolutely was not going to implement. I was not

:43:51. > :43:56.his plan and there was a slight sense that Mitt Romney was more

:43:56. > :43:59.sure-footed and swift-footed. He was on the move. President Obama

:44:00. > :44:03.was not. I wondered half way through the debate whether the

:44:03. > :44:06.Obama campaign had made the decision they were not going to

:44:06. > :44:10.attack during the course of this debate. I wonder if that is because

:44:10. > :44:13.President Obama has done so well in the polls on this issue of

:44:13. > :44:17.likability, he has been consistently ahead on this issue of

:44:17. > :44:23.likability. Was that it they decide it was just not worth jeopardising

:44:23. > :44:28.that? They did not want risk him coming across as unlikeable because

:44:28. > :44:32.he was attacking Governor Romney. It was almost like President Obama

:44:32. > :44:37.had decided "I'm not going to rise to the occasion, I'm not going to

:44:37. > :44:42.keep attacking. I'm not really going to go for this". I'm not sure

:44:42. > :44:46.if that is what the kolkue laigs was but you are right, Governor

:44:46. > :44:52.Romney was more sure footed going after the President's record and

:44:52. > :44:56.attacking that record than the other way around. The debate turned

:44:56. > :45:02.to deficit reduction. The President outlined the reason behind the $1

:45:02. > :45:06.trillion deficit he won a when he faced the presidency In the oval

:45:06. > :45:10.office I had more than $1 trillion deficit greeting me and we know

:45:10. > :45:16.where it came. From two wars paid for on a credit card. Two tax cuts

:45:16. > :45:22.that were not paid for and a bunch of programmes that were not paid

:45:22. > :45:25.for then a massive economic crisis. Despite that what we have said

:45:25. > :45:29.situation, yes, we had to take some initial emergency measures to make

:45:29. > :45:33.sure we did not slip into a great depression but what we have also

:45:33. > :45:37.said is let's make sure we are cutting out the things that are not

:45:37. > :45:40.helping us grow. Mitt Romney of course has the face down this

:45:40. > :45:43.constant accusation he is a big money man not in touch with the

:45:43. > :45:48.American people. He insisted dealing with the deficit was a

:45:48. > :45:51.moral issue not just an economic one. I think it is not just an

:45:51. > :45:55.economic issue. I think it it is a moral issue. I think it is frankly

:45:55. > :46:02.not moral for my generation to keep spending massively more than we

:46:02. > :46:06.take in knowing purchase denys will be passed onto the next generation

:46:06. > :46:11.-- those burdens. The amounts of debts we are adding at $1 trillion

:46:11. > :46:15.a year is simply not moral. So how do we do it? Mathematically there

:46:15. > :46:20.are three ways you can cut a deficit. One is to raise taxes.

:46:20. > :46:24.Number two is to cut spending and number three toys grow the economy

:46:24. > :46:27.because if Moir -- is to grow the economy because if more people work

:46:27. > :46:30.you can get the job done that way. The President would prefer raising

:46:30. > :46:34.taxes. I understand. The problem with raising taxes is that it slows

:46:34. > :46:38.down the rate of growth. You could never quite get the job done. I

:46:38. > :46:41.want a low - to lower spending and encourage economic growth at the

:46:41. > :46:44.same time On the back of that Mitt Romney made this point which may

:46:44. > :46:48.follow with the voters. He said to Barack Obama "You have been

:46:48. > :46:51.President four years. We still have a $1 trillion deficit. You

:46:51. > :46:55.President for another four years, we will have more trillion dollar

:46:55. > :46:59.deficits". How is it going to play, do you think? I thought that was

:46:59. > :47:08.one of the strongestt point of the debate for Governor Romney when he

:47:08. > :47:13.and said, "Look what have you done in the last four years in terms of

:47:13. > :47:15.deficit reduction? You have not done anything" and for conservative

:47:15. > :47:20.voters worried about the deficit that will have been a strong moment

:47:20. > :47:25.in the campaign. It was directly questioning the President's record

:47:25. > :47:27.over the last four years as a quint essential part of the Romney

:47:27. > :47:30.strategy because what the are trying to say is you have not

:47:30. > :47:34.achieved in the last four years what you said you were going to.

:47:34. > :47:38.Your plan is not working, it is now time to give Republicans and to

:47:38. > :47:42.give my plan a chance. Is the kind of broad backdrop of what

:47:42. > :47:45.government for Romney was saying. One other thing I would say from

:47:45. > :47:51.this clip which is so interesting about it being a moral issue which

:47:51. > :47:55.is so different from America and countries, that is this really is

:47:55. > :48:00.for very many Americans the deficit is a moral issue and government

:48:00. > :48:04.spend sing is a moral issue. How to deal with health care can become a

:48:04. > :48:12.moral issue in the way that it is not in European countries like

:48:12. > :48:18.economic policy but here it is a issue of value and I think Mitt

:48:18. > :48:23.Romney will have fund a lot of conservatives ears. Stay with us.

:48:23. > :48:27.You have been watching a BBC special on the first televised

:48:27. > :48:33.electial election with Governth Govern

:48:33. > :48:38.and President Barack Obama. Thank you very The

:48:38. > :48:47.candidates were asked to define their differences on Obama Care.

:48:47. > :48:51.Mitt Romney, let's to go clip - he commanded the appeal universal

:48:51. > :48:59.health care and on the President on jobs. Do not know how the President

:48:59. > :49:03.could have come into office facing crisis at the kitchen table and

:49:03. > :49:06.spend his energy over two years fighting for Obama Care instead of

:49:06. > :49:09.fighting for jobs for the American people. It has killed jobs. The

:49:09. > :49:13.boast course for health care is to do what we did in my state, craft a

:49:13. > :49:17.plan at the state level that fits the needs of the state and then

:49:17. > :49:27.let's focus on getting cost down for people for people an raising

:49:27. > :49:28.

:49:28. > :49:32.witness the $2500 additional Thank you very much. This was

:49:32. > :49:36.President Obama's defence of his medical policy. When Obama Care is

:49:36. > :49:41.fully implemented, we are going to be in a position to show that costs

:49:42. > :49:46.are going down and over the last two years health care premiums have

:49:46. > :49:56.gone up, it is true, but they have gone up slower than any time in the

:49:56. > :49:57.

:49:57. > :50:03.In the meantime, folks with insurance are getting a rebate.

:50:03. > :50:10.Obama there of course. That concludes our summary of the first

:50:10. > :50:14.televised presidential debate. There is a sense of some things