Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event in Mt. Vernon, IA

Richard and Norma Small Multi-Sport Center
Mt. Vernon, Iowa

12:12 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Iowa!  (Applause.)  Thank you!  Are you fired up?  (Applause.)  Are you ready to go?  (Applause.)   

Well, first of all, can everybody please give a big round of applause to Rachel for that great introduction?  (Applause.)  I want to thank the Rams for hosting us here today.  I appreciate you guys.  (Applause.)  Go, Rams!  (Applause.) 

We've got your outstanding Senator, Tom Harkin.  (Applause.) Congressman Bruce Braley.  (Applause.)  Another Congressman who has -- I guess it’s professor emeritus right here -- Dave Loebsack.  (Applause.)  Two of my oldest friends in Iowa, my co-chairs back in 2008 -- your Attorney General, Tom Miller -- (applause) -- and your Treasurer, Mike Fitzgerald.  (Applause.) 

And I'm thrilled to see all of you.  And I hope you're enjoying the warm weather.  (Laughter.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  (Applause.)

I just want to know -- look, I'm from Chicago.  (Applause.) And I campaigned in Iowa in January.  (Laughter.)  So this is basically the warmest you will be for the next six months.  (Laughter.)

Now, I’ve come back to Cornell College today -- (applause)  -- come back to ask each of you for one big thing.  I’m asking for your vote.  (Applause.)  I'm asking for your vote.  In Iowa, you can vote today.  Today.  As long as you’re registered before October 27th, you can vote right up to Election Day.  In fact, you can go vote right after this event at the Cole Library.  (Applause.)  And anyone can find out how to register and where to vote at Vote.BarackObama.com. 

So, Iowa, are you going to vote for me today if you haven't already voted?  (Applause.)  I need you.  I need you. 

Now, as many of you know, we had our second debate last night.  (Applause.)  I'm still trying to figure out how to get the hang of this thing -- debating.  (Laughter.)  But we’re working on it.  We’ll keep on improving as time goes on.  I’ve got one left.  (Applause.) 

But the interesting thing is that Governor Romney has been running around talking about his five-point plan for the economy for quite some time.  And as I pointed out last night, and you guys heard yourselves, it’s really a one-point plan.  It’s really a one-point plan.  It says folks at the very top can play by their own set of rules. 

That’s why they can pay lower taxes than you do, or they can use offshore accounts.  Or they can invest in a company, bankrupt it, fire the workers, take away their pensions, ship the jobs overseas, and still make money doing it. 

It’s the one-point plan that says it’s okay for Wall Street to keep engaging in the reckless behavior that got us into the mess we’ve been fighting back from for the last four years.  It’s the same philosophy that’s been squeezing middle-class families for more than a decade.  It’s the same philosophy that we saw in the previous administration.  And I have seen too much pain and too much struggle to let this country go down that same road again.  (Applause.)   

So, Iowa, we can’t -- I want you to know, folks here in Iowa understand this -- you cannot grow this economy from the top down.  You grow this economy from the middle class out.  We’re not going to go back to what we were doing before.  We’re moving forward.  And that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States.  (Applause.)   

Now, Governor Romney also took another stab at trying to sell us his $5 trillion tax cut that favors the wealthy.  Once again, he refused to tell us how he’s going to pay for it.  He said he’d let you know after the election.  (Laughter.)  Now, here’s a tip:  Usually when a politician tells you he’s going to wait until after the election to explain a plan to you, they don’t have a pleasant surprise in store for you.  (Laughter.)  And in this case, it’s because just about everybody who’s looked at Governor Romney’s $5 trillion in tax cuts says he can’t pay for it without blowing a hole in the deficit or raising taxes on middle-class families.  It can’t be done. 

Governor Romney says he has a plan to create 12 million new jobs in the next four years.  But when folks started crunching the numbers, it fell apart even faster than his tax plan. (Laughter.)  Turns out his jobs math isn’t any better than his tax math.  (Applause.)  The Washington Post called it a “bait and switch.”

So let’s recap what we learned last night.  His tax plan doesn’t add up; his jobs plan doesn’t create jobs; his deficit reduction plan adds to the deficit.  So, Iowa, everybody here has heard of the New Deal; you’ve heard of the fair deal; you’ve heard of the square deal.  Mitt Romney is trying to sell you a Sketchy Deal.  (Applause.) 

We are not buying it.  We know better.  We’ve been there.  We’ve tried that.  We’re not going back.  We’re moving forward.  That’s why I need your vote.  We’ve got to finish what we started in 2008.  (Applause.)  You don’t want to invest in that sketchy deal.  Let me tell you --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Etch-a-Sketch.

THE PRESIDENT:  That, too.  (Laughter.) 

Four years ago, I told you we’d end the war in Iraq -- and I did.  (Applause.)  I said we’d end the war in Afghanistan -- and we are.  (Applause.)  I said we’d focus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11 -- and we have, and bin Laden is dead.  (Applause.)

Four years ago, I promised to cut taxes for middle-class families -- and we have, by $3,600.  I promised to cut taxes for small business owners -- and we have, 18 times.  We got back every dime used to rescue the banks, and we passed a law to make sure that taxpayer-funded bailouts are over for good.

We passed health care reform so your insurance company can’t jerk you around anymore.  (Applause.)  We made sure insurance companies have to let parents keep their children on their parents’ plan until they’re 26 years old if they don’t have health insurance.  (Applause.)  We said to insurance companies, you’ve got to charge women the same as men because being a woman is not a preexisting condition.  (Applause.)

We repealed "don't ask, don't tell" so no one is ever kicked out of the military because of who they love.  (Applause.)

When Governor Romney said we should just let Detroit go bankrupt, we said thanks but no thanks, and we reinvented a dying auto industry that’s come roaring back to the top of the world.  (Applause.)

Last time I was here, I said to students, we’ve going to help you make sure you can afford a college education -- and we took $60 billion that was going to banks and middlemen in the student loan program, we said let’s cut out the middleman, let’s give that money directly to students.  And as a consequence, millions of students have benefited from lower interest rates and Pell grants.  (Applause.) 

Today, four years after the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, we’re moving forward again.  After losing 800,000 jobs a month when I took office, our businesses have now added more than 5 million new jobs over the past two and a half years.  (Applause.) 

Unemployment has fallen from a peak of 10 percent to 7.8 percent.  The stock market has nearly doubled, which means your 401(k)s have started to recover.  Foreclosures are at their lowest point in five years.  Home values are back on the rise.  Manufacturing is coming home to America.  Our assembly lines are starting to hum again.  (Applause.) 

Look, we’ve got a lot more work to do, but we’ve got to build on that progress.  And I’ve got a plan to grow the economy and create jobs and build more security for middle-class families.  I talked about it last night.  I want to export more products, outsource fewer jobs.  We can keep giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas, or we can give those tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in Iowa, right here in the United States of America rebuilding our manufacturing base.  (Applause.)

I want to control more of our own energy.  You heard last night oil production is up.  Natural gas production is up.  But what we’ve also said is we’ve got to develop new sources of energy, and we’ve got to be more efficient with our economy.  And so we raised fuel-efficiency standards on cars so by the middle of the next decade, your car will go twice as far on a gallon of gas.  (Applause.) 

We have doubled the amount of renewable energy that we generate from wind and solar and biofuels.  Today the United States of America is less dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last two decades.  (Applause.)

And so the question -- so the choice you have, you heard last night, it’s not a choice between oil versus solar, or natural gas versus wind.  Look, we all agree we got to increase oil production.  We all agree we got to increase natural gas production.  But the question is whether we build on the progress for the new energy sources of the future.  I'm not going to keep on giving corporate taxpayer-funded welfare to oil companies, $4 billion a year, when we could be using that money to continue to promote wind and solar and long-lasting batteries, and put Americans back to work right now -- (applause) -- seeing that technology develop here in the United States instead of China or Germany, or some other country.  (Applause.) 

And I've got to tell you, Iowa, this is not a pipedream; there are nearly 7,000 jobs in Iowa right now depending on wind  energy.  Last night, Governor Romney claimed he didn’t have a plan to end wind jobs in Iowa, but he called these jobs “imaginary.”  His plan would end tax credits for wind energy producers.  That is a fact.  My plan will keep these investments, and we’ll keep reducing the carbon pollution that’s also heating the planet -- (applause) -- because climate change isn't a hoax. The droughts we've seen, the floods, the wildfires -- those aren't a joke.  They’re a threat to our children’s future.  And we can do something about it.  That's part of what’s at stake in this election.

I want to give more Americans the chance to get a great education and get the skills they need to compete in the 21st century.  (Applause.)  I tried to talk about education last night.  We kept on getting waylaid.  But if you're talking about jobs and economic growth, what’s more important than making sure everybody has got the skills they need? 

I'm only here because of a great education.  All the young people who are making an investment in their college education right now, you guys understand you’ve got to be equipped.  Michelle, her gateway into opportunity was her education system. Her dad was a blue-collar worker, her mom was a secretary.  And right now, as I said, because of the actions we already took, millions of young people are paying less for college because we finally took on that system that was wasting taxpayer dollars, gave it directly to students.

Rachel, by the way -- I took a photo with her parents backstage, and she talked about how -- the fact that we put in place a tax credit for middle-income families to send their kids to college is helping her attend school right now.  (Applause.) 

But what you saw last night, even though we weren’t able to talk about it as much as I would have liked, is a fundamental difference.  Governor Romney says hiring more teachers won't grow our economy over the next four years.  Well, you know what, yes, it will.  But more importantly, what about our kids over the next 40 years?  What about our economy for the next 40 years?

We could gut education, pay for Governor Romney’s $5 trillion tax cut -- or we can recruit 100,000 new math and science teachers over the next decade -- (applause) -- helping our young people refocus on science and technology, engineering, math.  We should make sure all our young people -- our daughters as well as our sons -- are thriving in these fields.  (Applause.) This should be a national mission. 

I've got to tell you, we don’t have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented -- (applause) -- driven young women ready to learn and teach in these fields right now.  (Applause.) 

And when young women graduate, they should get equal pay for equal work.  (Applause.)  That should be a simple question to answer.  When Governor Romney was asked about it, his campaign said, “We'll get back to you.”  That shouldn’t be a complicated question: equal pay for equal work.  I want my daughters paid just like somebody else’s sons are paid for the same job.  That's straightforward.  (Applause.) 

Now, I’ve got to say, last night, Governor Romney’s top advisor finally admitted, no, the Governor didn't really support that bill.  You don't have to wait for an answer from me.  The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first bill I signed into law as President -- the first bill.  (Applause.)

Governor Romney didn't want to talk much last night about how he wants to end funding for Planned Parenthood, how he supports legislation that would turn certain decisions about a woman’s health care over to their employers.  He didn't want to talk about it because he knows he can't sell it.  I don't think your boss should control the health care you get.  (Applause.)  I don't think insurers should control the health care you get.  (Applause.)  I certainly don't think politicians should control the health care that you get.  (Applause.)

We passed Obamacare -- yes, I like the term -- we passed it -- (laughter) -- because I do care, and I want to put these choices in your hands where they belong.  (Applause.) 

Fourth plan -- fourth part of the plan to create jobs right here is use some of the money we’re saving from ending those wars in Iraq, winding down the war in Afghanistan, to pay down our deficit, put our people back to work, including our veterans, rebuilding roads and bridges and schools all across America.  (Applause.)

Governor Romney and I just have a different theory on this. He said it was “tragic” the way we ended the war in Iraq; doubled down on the belief in a speech just last week, said we should have kept troops on the ground in Iraq.  I disagree.  I know these troops.  I know their families.  I know how dedicated they are and the sacrifices they and their families make.  And it was time to bring those troops home to their families.  It was the right thing to do.  (Applause.)

And every brave American who wears the uniform of this country, they need to know as long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we’re going to maintain the strongest military in the world.  And when those troops take off the uniform, we’re going to serve them as well as they served us -- because nobody should have to fight for a job after they fought for our country.  Nobody should have to fight for a roof over their heads or the health care they need after they fought for America.  (Applause.)

And finally, I want to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, and I’ve worked with Republicans and Democrats already to cut a trillion dollars’ worth of spending.  I’m ready to cut more spending that is not contributing to our growth.  But we can't just cut our way to prosperity. 

We’ve got to make investments in science and research and infrastructure.  And we can’t do all that and reduce our deficit unless we ask the wealthiest households to pay a little bit more -- pay higher taxes on incomes over $250,000.  So keep in mind, somebody making $500,000, they’re still keeping the tax break for the first $250,000, but after that, let’s go back to the same rate we had when Bill Clinton was President -- (applause) -- our economy created 23 million new jobs, we went from deficit to surplus.  (Applause.)

Governor Romney was asked, is it fair that he pays a lower tax rate than a teacher who makes $50,000.  He said, yes, I think it’s fair; I think that’s how you grow an economy.  He’s wrong.  You look at our economic history -- that’s not how we grew an economy, by just having a few folks at the top paying even less than folks in the middle.  I’m not going to ask middle-class families to give up their deductions for owning a home, or raising their kids, or sending their kids to college just to pay for another millionaire’s tax cut.  (Applause.) 

I’m not going to ask the students here to pay more for college so I have a little more money in my pocket.  I don’t need it.  (Applause.)  I’m not going to kick children out of Head Start programs, or eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans who are poor, or elderly, or disabled. 

And Governor Romney again last night, over and over again, he says, I can cut taxes for everybody; I can increase military spending by $2 trillion; I will lower taxes for middle-class families and I’m going to close the deficit.  He keeps on saying it.  And when people ask, well, what are you going to cut -- because I don’t know about you guys, but if I’m looking at my budget and I’m trying to shrink my debt, I’ve got to cut something out.  So, so far, what he’s offered is eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood and getting rid of Big Bird --

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  -- and ending wind tax credits.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  It adds up to less than 1/100th of 1 percent of the federal budget.  So he claims his -- now, that was an estimate, by the way.  I was doing that off the top of my head.  (Laughter.)  

He claims his $5 trillion tax cut will create millions of new jobs and pay for themselves.  We have heard this pitch before.  You know where we heard it?  In the previous administration.  We know it doesn’t work.  We know what we’re talking about does create jobs.

And now the choice is up to you.  The election now is up to you.  It comes down to this.  Over and over again, our opponents tell us that because government can’t do everything, it should do almost nothing.  If you can’t afford health insurance, hope you don’t get sick.  If you can’t afford to start a business or go to college, borrow money from your parents.  If a company releases harmful pollution into the air, you know what, that’s the price of progress.  That’s not who we are.  That’s not what America is about. 

We are in this thing together.  (Applause.)  That’s what this country is about.  Here in America, we believe that we’re all in this together -- everybody.  We understand America is not just about what can be done for us, but what can be done by us, as one people, as one nation.

Iowa, you're the reason that we’ve got shuttered factories in places like Newton that are now humming again with workers manufacturing components for amazing wind turbines.  You made that happen because you believed we could do this together.  You're the reason a mother in Cedar Rapids -- actually, a mother right here in this audience -- doesn’t have to worry about surgery for her daughter because the insurance company can’t limit her coverage.

You're the reason a student in Ames, or Iowa City, or Cornell College can get help paying for a college education, and we’ve got a New GI Bill for our returning veterans to get the education they need.  (Applause.)  That all happened because of you.  And we’ve got to do it again. 

You're the reason a young immigrant is not going to be sent away from the only country she’s ever called home.  (Applause.)  You’re the reason that we were able to bring our troops home, and those families are reunited with their loved ones.  You made that happen. 

So if we don’t fight as hard as we can over the next three weeks, all that could be set aside.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  You cannot turn away.  And if your voices aren’t heard, then the lobbyists and the special interests, they’ll fill the void -- the folks who are writing the $10 million checks to try to buy this election; the folks who are trying to make it harder for people to vote in this election.  And you can’t let that happen.  I’m not going to let that happen.  (Applause.)  We’ve worked too hard together over the last four years to let that happen.  (Applause.)

Back in 2008, it started here in Iowa.  (Applause.)  You’re the ones who first showed America that change was possible.  And everything we fought for is now at stake.  And we can choose to go back to the same top-down policies that got us into this mess, or you can choose to move us forward with the policies that have been getting us out of this mess. 

You can choose to go back to a foreign policy that gets us into wars with no plan for getting out, or you can help move us forward and end the Afghan war responsibly and bring our troops home, and focus on the terrorists who were going to attack us.  (Applause.)

You can choose to turn back the clock 50 years for women and for immigrants and for gays and for lesbians -- or you can stand up and say, we want to move forward.  We believe in the country where no matter who you are, or what you look like, or where you come from, or who you love, you can make it if you try.  (Applause.)

That's what’s at stake in this election.  That's what I still believe in.  And if that's what you still believe in, then we’ve got to fight as hard as we can for the next three weeks.  And I promise you, if you are willing to stand with me, and knock on doors with me, and work as hard as you can, and talk to your friends and your neighbors and your classmates, and if you will vote for me, we will win Linn County again.  We will win Iowa again.  (Applause.)  We will win this election again.  We’ll finish what we started, and we’ll remind the world why the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.  (Applause.)

God bless you and God bless America.  (Applause.)

END
12:40 P.M. CDT

Remarks by the President and Governor Romney in Second Presidential Debate

Hofstra University
Hempstead, New York

9:00 P.M. EDT

MS. CROWLEY:  Good evening from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.  I'm Candy Crowley from CNN State of the Union.

We are here for the second Presidential Debate, a town hall sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.  The Gallup organization chose 82 uncommitted voters from the New York area. Their questions will drive the night.  My goal is to give the conversation direction and to ensure questions get answered.

The questions are known to me and my team only.  Neither the Commission, nor the candidates have seen them.  I hope to get to as many questions as possible, and because I am the optimistic sort, I'm sure the candidates will oblige by keeping their answers concise and on point.

Each candidate has as much as two minutes to respond to a common question, and there will be a two-minute follow-up.  The audience here in the hall has agreed to be polite and attentive  -- no cheering, no booing, or outbursts of any sort. 

We will set aside that agreement just this once to welcome President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.  (Applause.)

Gentlemen, thank you both for joining us here tonight.  We have a lot of folks who have been waiting all day to talk to you, so I want to get right to it.

Governor Romney, as you know, you won the coin toss, so the first question will go to you.  And I want to turn to a first-time voter, Jeremy Epstein, who has a question for you.

Q    Mr. President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate I'll have little chance to get employment.  What can you say to reassure me, but more importantly, my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Thank you, Jeremy.  I appreciate your question.  And thank you for being here this evening.  And to all of those from Nassau County here that have come, thank you for your time.  Thank you to Hofstra University and to Candy Crowley for organizing and leading this event.

Thank you, Mr. President, also for being part of this debate.

Your question is one that's being asked by college kids all over this country.  I was in Pennsylvania with someone who had just graduated.  This was in Philadelphia -- and she said I've got my degree, I can't find a job.  I've got three part-time jobs; they’re just barely enough to pay for my food and pay for an apartment.  I can't begin to pay back my student loans. 

So what we have to do is two things.  We have to make sure that we make it easier for kids to afford college, and also make sure that when they get out of college there’s a job.  When I was governor of Massachusetts, to get a high school degree you had to pass an exam.  If you graduated in the top quarter of your class, we gave you a John and Abigail Adams scholarship -- four years tuition-free to the college of your choice in Massachusetts that's a public institution.

I want to make sure we keep our Pell Grant program growing. We're also going to have our loan program so that people are able to afford school.  But the key thing is to make sure you can get a job when you get out of school.  And what’s happened over the last four years has been very, very hard for America’s young people. 

I want you to be able to get a job.  I know what it takes to get this economy going.  With half of college kids graduating this year without a college -- excuse me -- without a job and without a college-level job, that’s just unacceptable.  And likewise, you got more and more debt on your back.  So more debt and less jobs.  I'm going to change that.  I know what it takes to create good jobs again.  I know what it takes to make sure that you have the kind of opportunity you deserve. 

And kids across this country are going to recognize we're bringing back an economy.  It’s not going to be like the last four years.  The middle class has been crushed over the last four years.  And jobs have been too scarce.  I know what it takes to bring them back, and I'm going to do that and make sure when you graduate -- when do you graduate? 

Q    2014.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  2014.  When you come out in 2014, I presume I'm going to be president -- I'm going to make sure you get a job.  Thanks, Jeremy.

Q    Thank you.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Yeah, you bet. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT:  Jeremy, first of all, your future is bright. And the fact that you’re making an investment in higher education is critical not just to you, but to the entire nation.  Now, the most important thing we can do is to make sure that we are creating jobs in this country, but not just jobs -- good-paying jobs, ones that can support a family.

And what I want to do is build on the 5 million jobs that we’ve created over the last 30 months in the private sector alone.  And there are a bunch of things that we can do to make sure your future is bright.

Number one:  I want to build manufacturing jobs in this country again.  When Governor Romney said we should let Detroit go bankrupt, I said, we’re going to bet on American workers and the American auto industry, and it’s come surging back.  I want to do that in industries not just in Detroit but all across the country.  And that means we change our tax code so we’re giving incentives to companies that are investing here in the United States and creating jobs here.  It also means we’re helping them and small businesses to export all around the world to new markets.

Number two:  We’ve got to make sure that we have the best education system in the world.  And the fact that you’re going to college is great, but I want everybody to get a great education. And we’ve worked hard to make sure that student loans are available for folks like you.  But I also want to make sure that community colleges are offering slots for workers to get retrained for the jobs that are there right now, and the jobs of the future.

Number three:  We’ve got to control our own energy.  Not only oil and natural gas, which we’ve been investing in, but also we’ve got to make sure we’re building the energy sources of the future -- not just thinking about next year, but 10 years from now, 20 years from now.  That's why we invest in solar and wind and biofuels, energy-efficient cars.

We’ve got to reduce our deficit, but we’ve got to do it in a balanced way -- asking the wealthy to pay a little bit more along with cuts so that we can invest in education like yours.  And let’s take the money that we’ve been spending on war over the last decade to rebuild America -- roads, bridges, schools.  We do those things, not only is your future going to be bright, but America’s future is going to be bright as well.

MS. CROWLEY:  Let me ask you for a more immediate answer, beginning with Mr. Romney.  Just quickly, what can you do?  We’re looking at a situation where 40 percent of the unemployed have been unemployed for six months or more.  They don't have the two years that Jeremy has.  What about those long-term unemployed who need a job right now?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Well, what you're seeing in this country is 23 million people struggling to find a job and a lot of them, as you say, Candy, have been out of work for a long, long, long time.  The President’s policies have been exercised over the last four years and they haven’t put Americans back to work.  We have fewer people working today than we had when the President took office.  If the -- the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent when he took office; it’s 7.8 percent now.  But if you calculated that unemployment rate taking back the people who dropped out of the workforce, it would be 10.7 percent. 

We have not made the progress we need to make to put people back to work.  That's why I put out a five-point plan that gets America 12 million new jobs in four years and rising take-home pay.  It’s going to help Jeremy get a job when he comes out of school.  It’s going to help people across the country that are unemployed right now. 

And one thing that the President said, which I want to make sure that we understand -- he said that I said we should take Detroit bankrupt.  And that's right.  My plan was to have the company go through bankruptcy like 7-Eleven did and Macy's and Continental Airlines, and come out stronger.  And I know he keeps saying, you wanted to take Detroit bankrupt.  Well, the President took Detroit bankrupt.  You took General Motors bankrupt.  You took Chrysler bankrupt.  So when you say that I wanted to take the auto industry bankrupt, you actually did. 

And I think it's important to know that was a process that was necessary to get those companies back on their feet so they could start hiring more people.  That was precisely what I recommended and ultimately what happened.

MS. CROWLEY:  Let me give the President a chance.  Go ahead.

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy, what Governor Romney said just isn't true.  He wanted to take them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open, and we would have lost a million jobs. And don't take my word for it.  Take the executives at GM and Chrysler, some of whom are Republicans, may even support Governor Romney, but they'll tell you his prescription wasn't going to work.

And Governor Romney says he's got a five-point plan.  Governor Romney doesn't have a five-point plan; he has a one-point plan.  And that plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules.  That's been his philosophy in the private sector.  That's been his philosophy as governor.  That's been his philosophy as a presidential candidate.  You can make a lot of money and pay lower tax rates than somebody who makes a lot less.  You can ship jobs overseas and get tax breaks for it.  You can invest in a company, bankrupt it, lay off the workers, strip away their pensions and you still make money. 

That's exactly the philosophy that we've seen in place for the last decade.  That's what's been squeezing middle-class families.  And we have fought back for four years to get out of that mess.  The last thing we need to do is to go back to the very same policies that got us there. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, the next question is going to be for you here.  And Mr. Romney -- Governor Romney, they'll be plenty of chances here to go on, but I want to --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  That Detroit answer --

MS. CROWLEY:  -- we have all these folks -- I will let you absolutely --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  -- and the rest of the answer, way off the mark.

MS. CROWLEY:  Okay.  You certainly will have lots of time here coming up, because I want to move you on to something that's sort of connected to cars here and go over -- and we want to get a question from Phillip DiCola (ph). 

Q    Your Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, has now been on record three times stating it's not policy of his department to help lower gas prices.  Do you agree with Secretary Chu that this is not the job of the Energy Department?

THE PRESIDENT:  The most important thing we can do is to make sure we control our own energy.  So here's what I've done since I've been President.  We have increased oil production to the highest levels in 16 years.  Natural gas production is the highest it's been in decades.  We have seen increases in coal production and coal employment. 

But what I've also said is we can't just produce traditional sources of energy.  We've also got to look to the future.  That's why we doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars.  That means that in the middle of the next decade, any car you buy you're going to end up going twice as far on a gallon of gas.  That's why we've doubled clean energy production like wind and solar and biofuels.

And all these things have contributed to us lowering our oil imports to the lowest levels in 16 years.  Now, I want to build on that.  And that means, yes, we still continue to open up new areas for drilling.  We continue to make it a priority for us to go after natural gas.  We've got potentially 600,000 jobs and a hundred years' worth of energy right beneath our feet with natural gas.  And we can do it in an environmentally sound way.

But we've also got to continue to figure out how we have efficient energy, because ultimately that's how we're going to reduce demand and that's what's going to keep gas prices lower. 

Now, Governor Romney will say he's got an all-of-the-above plan.  But basically, his plan is to let the oil companies write the energy policies.  So he's got the oil and gas part, but he doesn't have the clean energy part. 

And if we’re only thinking about tomorrow or the next day, and not thinking about 10 years from now, we're not going to control our own economic future.  Because China, Germany -- they're making these investments.  And I'm not going to cede those jobs of the future to those countries.  I expect those new energy sources to be built right here in the United States.  That's going to help Jeremy get a job.  It's also going to make sure that you're not paying as much for gas.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor, on the subject of gas prices?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Well, let's look at the President's policies, all right, as opposed to the rhetoric, because we've had four years of policies being played out.  And the President is right in terms of the additional oil production, but none of it came on federal land. 

As a matter of fact, oil production is down 14 percent this year on federal land, and gas production is down 9 percent.  Why? Because the President cut in half the number of licenses and permits for drilling on federal lands and in federal waters.  So where did the increase come from?  Well, a lot of it came from the Bakken Range in North Dakota.  What was his participation there?  The America brought a criminal action against the people drilling up there for oil -- this massive new resource we have.  And what was the cause?  Twenty or 25 birds were killed and they brought out a migratory bird act to go after them on a criminal basis.

Look, I want to make sure we use our oil, our coal, our gas, our nuclear, our renewables.  I believe very much in our renewable capabilities -- ethanol, wind, solar -- would be an important part of our energy mix.  But what we don't need is to have the President keeping us from taking advantage of oil, coal and gas.  This has not been Mr. Oil or Mr. Gas or Mr. Coal.  Talk to the people that are working in those industries. 

I was in coal country.  People grabbed my arms and say, please save my job.  The head of the EPA said you can't build a coal plant, it’s virtually impossible given our regulations.  When the President ran for office, he said, if you build a coal plant you can go ahead, but you’ll go bankrupt.  That's not the right course for America.  Let’s take advantage of the energy resources we have as well as the energy sources for the future.  And if we do that, if we do what I'm planning on doing, which is getting us energy-independent -- North America energy independence within eight years -- you’re going to see manufacturing jobs come back, because our energy is low-cost.  They’re already beginning to come back, because of our abundant energy.

I'll get America and North America energy independent.  I'll do it by more drilling, more permits and licenses.  We're going to bring that pipeline in from Canada.  How in the world the President said no to that pipeline I will never know.  This is about bringing good jobs back for the middle class of America and that's what I'm going to do.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, let me just see if I can move you to the gist of this question, which is are we looking at the new normal?  I can tell you that tomorrow morning a lot of people in Hempstead will wake up and fill up and they will find that the price of gas is over $4 a gallon.  Is it within the purview of the government to bring those prices down, or are we looking at the new normal?

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy, there’s no doubt that world demand has gone up.  But our production is going up.  And we're using oil more efficiently.  And very little of what Governor Romney just said is true.

We've opened up public lands.  We're actually drilling more on public lands than in the previous administration -- and the previous President was an oil man.  And natural gas isn't just appearing magically -- we're encouraging it and working with the industry.

And when I hear Governor Romney say he’s a big coal guy -- and keep in mind, when -- Governor, when you were governor of Massachusetts, you stood in front of a coal plant and pointed at it and said, “This plant kills” -- and took great pride in shutting it down.  And now suddenly you’re a big champion of coal.

So what I've tried to do is be consistent.  With respect to something like coal, we made the largest investment in clean-coal technology to make sure that even as we're producing more coal, we're producing it cleaner and smarter.  Same thing with oil.  Same thing with natural gas.

And the proof is our oil imports are down to the lowest levels in 20 years.  Oil production is up; natural gas production is up; and most importantly, we're also starting to build cars that are more efficient.  And that's creating jobs.  That means those cars can be exported because that's the demand around the world, and it also means that it will save money in your pocketbook.  That's the strategy you need, an all-of-the-above strategy, and that's what we're going to do in the next four years.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  But that's not what you’ve done in the last four years.  That's the problem.  In the last four years you cut permits and licenses on federal land and federal waters in half. 

THE PRESIDENT:  Not true, Governor Romney.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  So how much did you cut it by --

THE PRESIDENT:  Not true.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  By how much did you cut them by then?

THE PRESIDENT:  Governor, we have actually produced more oil --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  No, no, how much did you cut licenses and permits on federal land and federal waters?

THE PRESIDENT:  Governor Romney, here’s what we did:  There were a whole bunch of oil companies --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  No, I had a question, and the question was how much did you cut them by?  How much did you cut them by?

THE PRESIDENT:  You want me to answer a question, I'm happy to answer the question.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  All right, and it is?

THE PRESIDENT:  Here’s what happened:  You had a whole bunch of oil companies who had leases on public lands that they weren’t using.  So what we said was, you can’t just sit on this for 10, 20, 30 years, decide when you want to drill, when you want to produce, when it’s most profitable for you.  These are public lands, so if you want to drill on public lands, you use it or you lose it.  And so what we did was take away those leases, and we are now re-letting them so that we can actually make a profit.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  And production on private -- on government lands is down.

THE PRESIDENT:  And production is up.  No it isn’t.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Production on government land of oil is down 14 percent --

THE PRESIDENT:  Governor --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  -- and production of gas is down 9 percent. 

THE PRESIDENT:  -- what you’re saying is just not true.  It’s just not true.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  It’s absolutely true.  Look, there’s no question but that the people recognize that we have not produced more oil and gas --

THE PRESIDENT:  I’ll give you your time.  Go ahead.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  -- on federal lands and in federal waters. And coal -- coal production is not up; coal jobs are not up.  I was just at a coal facility where some 1,200 people lost their jobs. 

The right course for America is to have a true all-of-the-above policy.  I don’t think anyone really believes that you’re a person who’s going to be pushing for oil and gas and coal.  You’ll get your chance in a moment.  I’m still speaking.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Governor, if you --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  And the answer is, I don’t believe people think that’s the case because I --

THE PRESIDENT:  -- if you’re asking me a question, I’m going to answer it.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  It wasn’t a question.

THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  All right.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  That was a statement.  I don’t think the American people believe that.  I will fight for oil, coal and natural gas.  And the proof of whether a strategy is working or not is what the price is that you’re paying at the pump.  If you’re paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why, then, the strategy is working.  But you’re paying more.

When the President took office, the price of gasoline here in Nassau County was about a buck-eighty-six a gallon.  Now it’s four bucks a gallon.  The price of electricity is up.  If the President’s energy policies are working, you’re going to see the cost of energy come down. 

I will fight to create more energy in this country to get America energy secure, and part of that is bringing in a pipeline of oil from Canada, taking advantage of the oil and coal we have here; drilling offshore in Alaska; drilling offshore in Virginia, where the people want it.  Those things will get us the energy we need.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, could you address -- because we did finally get to gas prices here -- could you address what the Governor said, which is if your energy policy was working, the price of gasoline would not be $4 a gallon here.  Is that true?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, think about what the Governor just said.  He said, when I took office the price of gasoline was $1.80, $1.86.  Why is that?  Because the economy was on the verge of collapse.  Because we were about to go through the worst recession since the Great Depression, as a consequence of some of the same policies that Governor Romney is now promoting. 

So it’s conceivable that Governor Romney could bring down gas prices, because with his policies we might be back in that same mess. 

What I want to do is to create an economy that is strong and at the same time produce energy.  And with respect to this pipeline that Governor Romney keeps on talking about -- we've built enough pipeline to wrap around the entire Earth once.  So I’m all for pipelines.  I’m all for oil production.  What I’m not for is us ignoring the other half of the equation. 

So, for example, on wind energy, when Governor Romney says these are imaginary jobs, when you’ve got thousands of people right now in Iowa, right now in Colorado, who are working, creating wind power with good-paying manufacturing jobs, and the Republican Senator in Iowa is all for it, providing tax credits to help this work.  And Governor Romney says, I’m opposed; I’d get rid of it. 

That’s not an energy strategy for the future.  And we need to win that future.  And I intend to win it as President of the United States.

MS. CROWLEY:  I’ve got to move you along.  And the next question is for you.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  No, he got the first -- he actually got the first question, so I get the last question -- last answer on that one. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Actually in the follow-up it doesn’t quite work like that.  But I’m going to give you a chance here.  I promise you, I’m going to.  And the next question is for you, so if you want to continue on.  But I don’t want to leave all these guys sitting here.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Candy, I don’t have a policy of stopping wind jobs in Iowa.  And they’re not phantom jobs, they’re real jobs.  I appreciate wind jobs in Iowa and across our country.  I appreciate the jobs in coal and oil and gas. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Okay, thank you --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  I’m going to make sure that taking advantage of our energy resources will bring back manufacturing to America.  We’re going to get through a very aggressive energy policy -- 3.5 million more jobs in this country.  It’s critical to our future.

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy, it’s okay, I’m used to being interrupted.

MS. CROWLEY:  We’re going to move you along to taxes.  All right, we’re going to move you both along to taxes over here and all these folks that have been waiting.  Governor, this question is for you.  It comes from Mary Polano (ph). 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Hi, Mary.

Q    Governor Romney, you have stated that if you’re elected President you would plan to reduce the tax rates for all the tax brackets, and that you would work with the Congress to eliminate some deductions in order to make up for the loss in revenue.  Concerning these various deductions -- the mortgage deduction, the charitable deductions, the Child Tax Credit, and also the -- oh, what’s that other credit?  (Laughter.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  You’re doing great.

Q    Oh, I remember -- the education credits, which are important to me because I have children in college.  What would be your position on those things, which are important to the middle class?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Thank you very much.  And let me tell you, you’re absolutely right about part of that, which is I want to bring the rates down.  I want to simplify the tax code, and I want to get middle-income taxpayers to have lower taxes.  And the reason I want middle-income taxpayers to have lower taxes is because middle-income taxpayers have been buried over the past four years. 

You’ve seen as middle-income people in this country -- incomes go down $4,300 a family, even as gasoline prices have gone up $2,000.  Health insurance premiums up $2,500.  Food prices up.  Utility prices up.  The middle-income families in America have been crushed over the last four years, so I want to get some relief to middle-income families.  That's part one.

Now, how about deductions?  Because I’m going to bring rates down across the board for everybody, but I’m going to limit deductions and exemptions and credits, particularly for people at the high end, because I am not going to have people at the high end pay less than they're paying now.

The top 5 percent of taxpayers will continue to pay 60 percent of the income tax the nation collects.  So that will stay the same. 

Middle-income people are going to get a tax break.  And so in terms of bringing down deductions, one way of doing that would be to say everybody gets -- I’ll pick a number -- $25,000 of deductions and credits, and you can decide which ones to use.  Your home mortgage interest deduction, charity, child tax credit and so forth, you can use those as part of fill in that bucket, if you will, of deductions.  But your rate comes down, and the burden also comes down on you for one more reason, and that is every middle-income taxpayer no longer will pay any tax on interest, dividends, or capital gains; no tax on your savings. 

That makes life a lot easier.  If you’re getting interest from a bank, if you’re getting a statement from a mutual fund, or any other kind of investments you have, you don't have to worry about filing taxes on that because there will be no taxes for anybody making $200,000 a year and less on your interest, dividends and capital gains.

Why am I lowering taxes on the middle class?  Because under the last four years, they’ve been buried, and I want to help people in the middle class.  And I will not -- I will not under any circumstances reduce the share that's being paid by the highest income taxpayers.  And I will not under any circumstances increase taxes on the middle class. 

The President’s spending, the President’s borrowing will cause this nation to have to raise taxes on the American people, not just at the high end.  A recent study has shown that people in the middle class will see $4,000 a year higher taxes as a result of the spending and borrowing of this administration.  I will not let that happen.  I’ll get us on track to a balanced budget, and I’m going to reduce the tax burden on middle-income families.  And what’s that going to do?  It’s going to help those families, and it’s going to create incentives to start growing jobs again in this country.

MS. CROWLEY:  Thanks, Governor.

THE PRESIDENT:  My philosophy on taxes has been simple, and that is I want to give middle-class families and folks who are striving to get into the middle class some relief -- because they have been hit hard, over the last decade, over the last 15, over the last 20 years.

So four years ago, I stood on a stage just like this one -- actually, it was a town hall -- and I said, I would cut taxes for middle-class families, and that's what I've done -- by $3,600.  I said I would cut taxes for small businesses -- who are the drivers and engines of growth -- and we've cut them 18 times.  And I want to continue those tax cuts for middle-class families and for small businesses.

But what I've also said is if we're serious about reducing the deficit, if this is genuinely a moral obligation to the next generation, then in addition to some tough spending cuts, we've also got to make sure that the wealthy do a little bit more. 

So what I've said is your first $250,000 worth of income, no change. And that means 98 percent of American families, 97 percent of small businesses, they will not see a tax increase.  I'm ready to sign that bill right now.  The only reason it's not happening is because Governor Romney's allies in Congress have held the 98 percent hostage, because they want tax breaks for the top 2 percent.  

But what I've also said is for above $250,000, we can go back to the tax rates we had when Bill Clinton was President.  We created 23 million new jobs.  That's part of what took us from deficits to surplus.  It will be good for our economy and it will be good for job creation. 

Now, Governor Romney has a different philosophy.  He was on "60 Minutes" just two weeks ago and he was asked, is it fair for somebody like you making $20 million a year to pay a lower tax rate than a nurse or bus driver, somebody making $50,000 a year. And he said, yes, I think that's fair.  Not only that, he said, I think that's what grows the economy. 

Well, I fundamentally disagree with that.  I think what grows the economy is when you get that tax credit that we put in place for your kids going to college.  I think that grows the economy.  I think what grows the economy is when we make sure small businesses are getting a tax credit for hiring veterans who fought for our country.  That grows our economy.

So we just have a different theory.  And when Governor Romney stands here, after a year of campaigning when during a Republican primary, he stood on stage and said, I'm going to give tax cuts -- he didn't say tax rate cuts, he said tax cuts -- to everybody including the top 1 percent, you should believe him, because that's been his history.  And that's exactly the kind of top-down economics that is not going to work if we want a strong middle class and an economy that's thriving for everybody. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor Romney, I'm sure you've got a reply there.  (Laughter.) 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  You're absolutely right.  You heard what I said about my tax plan.  The top 5 percent will continue to pay 60 percent, as they do today.  I'm not looking to cut taxes for wealthy people.  I am looking to cut taxes for middle-income people. 

And why do I want to bring rates down and at the same time lower exemptions and deductions, particularly for people at the high end?  Because if you bring rates down, it makes it easier for small business to keep more of their capital and hire people. And for me, this is about jobs.  I want to get America's economy going again.  Fifty-four percent of America's workers work in businesses that are taxed as individuals.  So when you bring those rates down, those small businesses are able to keep more money and hire more people.

For me, I look at what's happened in the last four years and say this has been a disappointment.  We can do better than this. We don't have to settle for how many months -- 43 months with unemployment above 8 percent, 23 million Americans struggling to find a good job right now.  There are 3.5 million more women living in poverty today than when the President took office.  We don’t have to live like this. 

We can get this economy going again.  My five-point plan does it.  Energy independence for North America in five years; opening up more trade, particularly in Latin America; cracking down on China when they cheat; getting us to a balanced budget; fixing our training programs for our workers; and, finally, championing small business. 

I want to help small businesses grow and thrive.  I know how to make that happen.  I spent my life in the private sector.  I know why jobs come and why they go.  And they're going now because of the policies of this administration.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor, let me ask the President something about what you just said.  The Governor says that he is not going to allow the top 5 percent -- I believe is what he said -- to have a tax cut, that it will all even out, that what he wants to do is give that tax cut to the middle class.  Settled?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, it's not settled.  Look, the cost of lowering rates for everybody across the board 20 percent, along with what he also wants to do in terms of eliminating the estate tax, along with what he wants to do in terms of corporate changes in the tax code, it costs about $5 trillion. 

Governor Romney then also wants to spend $2 trillion on additional military programs, even though the military is not asking for them.  That's $7 trillion.  He also wants to continue the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.  That's another trillion dollars.  That's $8 trillion. 

Now, what he says is he's going to make sure that this doesn't add to the deficit and he's going to cut middle-class taxes.  But when he's asked how are you going to do it, which deductions, which loopholes are you going to close, he can't tell you.  The fact that he only has to pay 14 percent on his taxes when a lot of you are paying much higher, he's already taken that off the board.  Capital gains are going to continue to be at a low rate, so we're not going to get money that way. 

We haven't heard from the Governor any specifics beyond Big Bird and eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood in terms of how he pays for that.

Now, Governor Romney was a very successful investor.  If somebody came to you, Governor, with a plan that said, here, I want to spend $7 or $8 trillion and then we’re going to pay for it, but we can’t tell you until maybe after the election how we’re going to do it, you wouldn’t have taken such a sketchy deal. 

And neither should you, the American people, because the math doesn’t add up.  And what’s at stake here is one of two things.  Either, Candy, this blows up the deficit -- because keep in mind, this is just to pay for the additional spending that he’s talking about -- $7-$8 trillion -- that’s before we even get to the deficit we already have.

Or, alternatively, it’s got to be paid for not only by closing deductions for wealthy individuals -- that will pay for about 4 percent reduction in tax rates -- you’re going to be paying for it.  You’ll lose some deductions.  And you can’t buy this sales pitch.  Nobody who’s looked at it that’s serious actually believes it adds up.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, let me get the Governor in on this.  And, Governor, let’s, before we get into a vast array of who says -- what study says what, if it shouldn’t add up, if somehow when you get in there, there isn’t enough tax revenue coming in, if somehow the numbers don’t add up, would you be willing to look again at a 20 percent --

MR. ROMNEY:  Well, of course they add up.  I was someone who ran businesses for 25 years and balanced the budget.  I ran the Olympics and balanced the budget.  I ran the state of a Massachusetts as a governor, to the extent any governor does, and balanced the budget all four years.

When we’re talking about math that doesn’t add up, how about $4 trillion of deficits over the last four years -- $5 trillion? That’s math that doesn’t add up.  We have a President talking about someone’s plan in a way that’s completely foreign to what my real plan is. 

And then we have his own record, which is we have four consecutive years where he said, when he was running for office, he would cut the deficit in half.  Instead, he’s doubled it.  We’ve gone from $10 trillion of national debt to $16 trillion of national debt.  If the President were reelected, we’d go to almost $20 trillion of national debt.  This puts us on a road to Greece.

I know what it takes to balance budgets.  I’ve done it my entire life.  So for instance, when he says, yours is a $5 trillion cut -- well, no, it’s not, because I’m offsetting some of the reductions, withholding down some of the deductions and I --

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy --

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor, I’ve got to --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  I’m sorry --

MS. CROWLEY:  Actually, I need to have you both hang -- I understand the stakes here.  I understand both of you, but I will get run out of town if I don’t allow --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  And I just described to you, Mr. President, I just described to you precisely how I’d do it --

MS. CROWLEY:   You will get --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  -- which is with a single number that people can put -- and they can put their deductions and credits into that bucket.

THE PRESIDENT:  Are we keeping track of --

MS. CROWLEY:  Let me -- Mr. President, we’re keeping track, I promise you.  And, Mr. President, the next question is for you --

THE PRESIDENT:  Great, looking forward to it.

MS. CROWLEY:  -- so stay standing.  And it’s Catherine Fenton who has a question for you.

Q    In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Catherine, this is a great question.  And I was raised by a single mom who had to put herself through school while looking after two kids.  And she worked hard every day and made a lot of sacrifices to make sure we got everything we needed.

My grandmother, she started off as a secretary in a bank.  She never got a college education even though she was smart as a whip.  And she worked her way up to become a vice president at a local bank, but she hit the glass ceiling.  She trained people who would end up becoming her bosses during the course of her career.  She didn't complain.  That's not what you did in that generation. 

And this is one of the reasons why one of the first -- the first bill I signed was something called the Lilly Ledbetter bill, and it was named after this amazing woman who had been doing the same job as a man for years, found out that she was getting paid less, and the Supreme Court said that she couldn’t bring suit because she should have found out about it earlier, where she had no way of finding out about it.  So we fixed that. 
And that's an example of the kind of advocacy that we need, because women are increasingly the breadwinners in the family.  This is not just a women’s issue.  This is a family issue; this is a middle-class issue.  And that's why we’ve got to fight for it. 

It also means that we’ve got to make sure that young people like yourself are able to afford a college education.  Earlier, Governor Romney talked about he wants to make Pell grants and other education accessible for young people.  Well, the truth of the matter is, is that that's exactly what we’ve done.  We’ve expanded Pell grants for millions of people, including millions of young women all across the country.  We did it by taking $60 billion that was going to banks and lenders as middlemen for the student loan program, and we said let’s just cut out the middle man.  Let’s give the money directly to students.  And as a consequence, we’ve seen millions of young people be able to afford college, and that's going to make sure that young women are going to be able to compete in that marketplace. 

But we’ve got to enforce the laws, which is what we are doing.  And we’ve also got to make sure that in every walk of life, we do not tolerate discrimination.  That's been one of the hallmarks of my administration.  I’m going to continue to push on this issue for the next four years.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor Romney, pay equity for women.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Thank you, an important topic, and one which I learned a great deal about, particularly as I was serving as governor of my state, because I had the chance to pull together a cabinet, and all the applicants seemed to be men.  And I went to my staff and I said, how come all the people for these jobs are all men?  They said, well, these are the people that have the qualifications.  And I said, well, gosh, can’t we find some women that are also qualified?  And so we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet.  I went to a number of women’s groups and said, can you help us find folks?  And they brought us whole binders full of women.

I was proud of the fact that after I staffed my cabinet and my senior staff, that the University of New York in Albany did a survey of all 50 states and concluded that mine had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America. 

Now, one of the reasons I was able to get so many good women to be part of that team was because of our recruiting effort, but number two, because I recognize that if you’re going to have women in the workforce that sometimes they need to be more flexible.  My chief of staff, for instance, had two kids that were still in school.  She said, I can’t be here until 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. at night; I need to be able to get home at 5:00 p.m. so I can be there for making dinner for my kids and being with them when they get home from school.  So we said, fine, let’s have a flexible schedule so you can have hours that work for you.

We’re going to have to have employers in the new economy, in the economy I’m going to bring to play, that are going to be so anxious to get good workers, they’re going to be anxious to hire women.

In the last four years, women have lost 580,000 jobs.  That's the net of what's happened in the last four years.  We’re still down 580,000 jobs.  I mentioned 3.5 million women more now in poverty than four years ago. 

What we can do to help young women and women of all ages is to have a strong economy, so strong that employers are looking to find good employees and bringing them into their workforce, and adapting to a flexible work schedule that gives women the opportunities that they would otherwise not be able to afford.

This is what I’ve done.  It’s what I look forward to doing. And I know what it takes to make an economy work.  And I know what a working economy looks like.  And an economy with 7.8 percent unemployment is not a real strong economy.  An economy that has 23 million people looking for work is not a strong economy.  An economy with 50 percent of kids graduating from college that can’t find a job, or a college-level job -- that's not what we have to have.  I’m going to help women in America get good work by getting a stronger economy and by supporting women in the workforce. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, why don't you get in on this quickly, please?

THE PRESIDENT:  Catherine, I just want to point out that when Governor Romney’s campaign was asked about the Lilly Ledbetter bill, whether he supported it, he said, I’ll get back to you.  And that's not the kind of advocacy that women need in any economy. 

Now, there are some other issues that have a bearing on how women succeed in the workplace -- for example, their health care. A major difference in this campaign is that Governor Romney feels comfortable having politicians in Washington decide the health care choices that women are making.  I think that's a mistake. 

In my health care bill, I said insurance companies need to provide contraceptive coverage to everybody who’s insured, because this is not just a health issue, it’s an economic issue for women.  It makes a difference.  This is money out of that family’s pocket. 

Governor Romney not only opposed it, he suggested that in fact employers should be able to make the decision as to whether or not a woman gets contraception through her insurance coverage. That's not the kind of advocacy that women need.

When Governor Romney says that we should eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, there are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for not just contraceptive care; they rely on it for mammograms, for cervical cancer screenings.  That's a pocketbook issue for women and families all across the country, and it makes a difference in terms of how well and effectively women are able to work. 

When we talk about child care and the credits that we’re providing, that makes a difference in terms of whether they can go out there and earn a living for their family.

These are not just women’s issues.  These are family issues. These are economic issues.  And one of the things that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates, and women are getting the same, fair deal as men are.  And I’ve got two daughters and I want to make sure that they have the same opportunities that anybody’s sons have.  And that's a part of what I’m fighting for as President of the United States.

MS. CROWLEY:  I want to move us along here to Susan Katz (ph) who has a question.  And, Governor, it’s for you. 

Q    Governor Romney, I am an undecided voter because I’m disappointed with the lack of progress I’ve seen in the last four years.  However, I do attribute much of America’s economic and international problems to the failings and missteps of the Bush administration.  Since both you and President Bush are Republicans, I fear a return to the policies of those years should you win this election.  What is the biggest difference between you and George W. Bush? And how do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Thank you.  And I appreciate that question.  I just want to make sure that -- I think I was supposed to get that last answer, but I want to point out that I don't believe --

THE PRESIDENT:  I don't think so, Candy.  I want to make sure your timekeepers are working here.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  The time --

MS. CROWLEY:  The timekeepers are all working. 

THE PRESIDENT:  All right.

MS. CROWLEY:  And let me tell you that the last part, it’s for the two of you to talk to one another, and it isn’t quite as ordered as you think.  But go ahead and use this two minutes any way you’d like to, the question is on the floor.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  I’d just note that I don't believe that bureaucrats in Washington should tell someone whether they can use contraceptives or not, and I don't believe employers should tell someone whether they could have contraceptive care or not.  Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives.  And the President’s statement of my policy is completely and totally wrong.

THE PRESIDENT:  Governor, that's not true.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Let me come back and answer your question. President Bush and I are different people, and these are different times.  And that's why my five-point plan is so different than what he would have done. 

For instance, we can now by virtue of new technology actually get all the energy we need in North America without having to go to the Arabs or the Venezuelans or anyone else.  That wasn’t true in his time.  That's why my policy starts with a very robust policy to get all that energy in North America, become energy secure.

Number two, trade:  I’ll crack down on China.  President Bush didn't.  I’m also going to dramatically expand trade in Latin America.  It’s been growing about 12 percent per year over a long period of time.  I want to add more free trade agreements so we’ll have more trade.

Number three, I’m going to get us to a balanced budget.  President Bush didn't.  President Obama was right -- he said that that was outrageous to have deficits as high as half a trillion dollars under the Bush years.  He was right.  But then he put in place deficits twice that size for every one of his four years, and his forecast for the next four years is more deficits almost that large.  So that's the next way I’m different than President Bush.

And then let’s take the last one, championing small business.  Our party has been focused on big business too long.  I came through small business.  I understand how hard it is to start a small business.  That's why everything I’ll do is designed to help small businesses grow and add jobs.  I want to keep their taxes down on small business.  I want regulators to see their job as encouraging small enterprise, not crushing it. 

And the thing I find most troubling about Obamacare -- well, it’s a long list -- but one of the things I find most troubling is that when you go out and talk to small businesses and ask them what they think about it, they tell you it keeps them from hiring more people. 

My priority is jobs.  I know how to make that happen.  And President Bush had a very different path for a very different time.  My path is designed in getting small businesses to grow and hire people.

MS. CROWLEY:  Thanks, Governor. 

Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, first of all, I think it’s important to tell you that we did come in during some tough times.  We were losing 800,000 jobs a month when I started.  But we have been digging our way out of policies that were misplaced and focused on the top doing very well and middle-class folks not doing well. And we’ve seen 30 consecutive -- 31 consecutive months of job growth, 5.2 million new jobs created.  And the plans that I talked about will create even more.

But when Governor Romney says that he has a very different economic plan, the centerpiece of his economic plan are tax cuts. That’s what took us from surplus to deficit.  When he talks about getting tough on China, keep in mind that Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to China, and is currently investing in countries -- in companies that are building surveillance equipment for China to spy on its own folks. 

Governor, you’re the last person who is going to get tough on China.

And what we’ve done when it comes to trade is not only sign three trade deals to open up new markets, but we’ve also set up a task force for trade that goes after anybody who is taking advantage of American workers or businesses, and not creating a level playing field.  We’ve brought twice as many cases against unfair trading practices than the previous administration and we’ve won every single one that’s been decided.

When I said that we had to make sure that China was not flooding our domestic market with cheap tires, Governor Romney said I was being protectionist, that it wouldn’t be helpful to American workers.  Well, in fact, we saved a thousand jobs.  And that’s the kind of tough trade actions that are required. 

But the last point I want to make is this:  There are some things where Governor Romney is different from George Bush.  George Bush didn’t propose turning Medicare into a voucher.  George Bush embraced comprehensive immigration reform; he didn’t call for self-deportation.  George Bush never suggested that we eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. 

So there are differences between Governor Romney and George Bush, but they’re not on economic policy.  In some ways, he’s gone to a more extreme place when it comes to social policy.  And I think that’s a mistake.  That’s not how we’re going to move our economy forward.

MS. CROWLEY:  I want to move you both along to the next question because it’s in the same wheelhouse so you will be able to respond.  But the President does get this question.  I want to call on Michael Jones.

Q    Mr. President, I voted for you in 2008.  What have you done or accomplished to earn my vote in 2012?  I’m not that optimistic as I was in 2012.  Most things I need for everyday living are very expensive.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we’ve gone through a tough four years, there’s no doubt about it.  But four years ago, I told the American people and I told you I would cut taxes for middle-class families, and I did.  I told you I’d cut taxes for small businesses, and I have.  I said that I’d end the war in Iraq, and I did.  I said we’d refocus attention on those who actually attacked us on 9/11, and we have gone after al Qaeda’s leadership like never before and Osama bin Laden is dead. 

I said that we would put in place health care reform to make sure that insurance companies can't jerk you around, and if you don't have health insurance, that you'd have a chance to get affordable insurance -- and I have. 

I committed that I would rein in the excesses of Wall Street, and we passed the toughest Wall Street reforms since the 1930s. 

We've created 5 million jobs -- gone from 800,000 jobs a month being lost -- and we are making progress.  We saved an auto industry that was on the brink of collapse.

Now, does that mean you're not struggling?  Absolutely not. A lot of us are.  And that's why the plan that I've put forward for manufacturing, and education, and reducing our deficit in a sensible way, using the savings from ending wars to rebuild America and putting people back to work, making sure that we are controlling our own energy, but not just the energy of today, but also the energy of the future -- all those things will make a difference.

So the point is the commitments I've made I've kept.  And those that I haven't been able to keep, it's not for lack of trying and we're going to get it done in a second term.  But you should pay attention to this campaign, because Governor Romney has made some commitments as well, and I suspect he'll keep those, too.  When members of the Republican Congress say, we're going to sign a no-tax pledge so that we don’t ask a dime from millionaires and billionaires to reduce our deficit so we can still invest in education and helping kids go to college, he said, me, too. 

When they said, we're going to cut Planned Parenthood funding, he said, me, too.  When they said, we're going to repeal Obamacare -- the first thing I'm going to do, despite the fact that it's the same health care plan that he passed in Massachusetts and is working well -- he said, me too. 

That is not the kind of leadership that you need, but you should expect that those are promises he's going to keep. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, let me let --

THE PRESIDENT:  And the choice in this election is going to be whose promises are going to be more likely to help you in your life, make sure your kids can go to college, make sure that you are getting a good-paying job, making sure that Medicare and Social Security will be there for you.

MS. CROWLEY:  Thank you. 

Governor.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  I think you know better.  I think you know that these last four years haven't been so good as the President just described, and that you don't feel like you're confident that the next four years are going to be much better either.  I can tell you that if you were to elect President Obama, you know what you're going to get.  You're going to get a repeat of the last four years.  We just can't afford four more years like the last four years. 

He said that by now we'd have unemployment at 5.4 percent.  The difference between where it is and 5.4 percent is 9 million Americans without work.  I wasn't the one that said 5.4 percent. This was the President's plan -- didn't get there. 

He said he would have by now put forward a plan to reform Medicare and Social Security, because he pointed out they're on the road to bankruptcy.  He would reform them.  He'd get that done.  He hasn't even made a proposal on either one.  He said in his first year he’d put out an immigration plan that would deal with our immigration challenges -- didn't even file it.  

This is a President who has not been able to do what he said he’d do.  He said that he’d cut in half the deficit -- he hasn’t done that either; in fact, he doubled it.  He said that by now, middle-income families would have a reduction in their health insurance premiums by $2,500 a year.  It’s gone up by $2,500 a year.  And if Obamacare is passed -- or implemented -- it’s already been passed -- if it’s implemented fully, it will be another $2,500 on top. 

The middle class is getting crushed under the policies of a President who has not understood what it takes to get the economy working again.  He keeps saying, look, I’ve created 5 million jobs.  That’s after losing 5 million jobs.  The entire record is such that the unemployment has not been reduced in this country. The unemployment, the number of people who are still looking for work, is still 23 million Americans.  There are more people in poverty -- one out of six people in poverty. 

How about food stamps?  When he took office, 32 million people were on food stamps.  Today, 47 million people are on food stamps.  How about the growth of the economy?  It’s growing more slowly this year than last year, and more slowly last year than the year before.

The President wants to do well, I understand.  But the policies he’s put in place, from Obamacare to Dodd-Frank to his tax policies to his regulatory policies -- these policies combined have not let this economy take off and grow like it could have.  You might say, well, you got an example of when it worked better?  Yes.  In the Reagan recession, where unemployment hit 10.8 percent, between that period -- the end of that recession and the equivalent period of time to today, Ronald Reagan’s recovery created twice as many jobs as this President’s recovery. 

Five million jobs doesn’t even keep up with our population growth.  And the only reason the unemployment rate seems a little lower today is because of all the people that have dropped out of the workforce. 

The President has tried, but his policies haven’t worked.  He’s great as a speaker and describing his plans and his vision. That’s wonderful, except we have a record to look at.  And that record shows he just hasn’t been able to cut the deficit, to put in place reforms for Medicare and Social Security to preserve them, to get us the rising incomes we need.  Median incomes down $4,300 a family, and 23 million Americans out of work -- that’s what this election is about.  It’s about who can get the middle class in this country a bright and prosperous future and assure our kids the kind of hope and optimism they deserve.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor, I want to move you along.  Don’t go away, and we’ll have plenty of time to respond.  We are quite aware of the clock for both of you.  But I want to bring in a different subject here.  Mr. President, I’ll be right back with you.  Lorraine Osario (ph) has a question for you about a topic we have not heard.

THE PRESIDENT:  This is for Governor Romney?

MS. CROWLEY:  Yes, this is for Governor Romney, and we’ll be right with you, Mr. President.  Thanks.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Is it Lorena?

Q    Lorraine.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Lorraine.

Q    Yes, Lorraine.  How are you doing?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Good, thanks.

Q    President.  Romney:  What do you plan on doing with immigrants without their green card that are currently living here as productive members of society?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Thank you, Lorraine.  Did I get that right?  Good.  Thank you for question.  And let me step back and tell you what I’d like to do with our immigration policy broadly, and include an answer to your question. 

First of all, this is a nation of immigrants.  We welcome people coming to this country as immigrants.  My dad was born in Mexico of American parents; Ann’s dad was born in Wales and is a first-generation American.  We welcome legal immigrants into this country.

I want our legal system to work better.  I want it to be streamlined.  I want it to be clearer.  I don’t think you have to -- shouldn’t have to hire a lawyer to figure out how to get into this country legally.  I also think that we should give visas to people -- green cards, rather, to people who graduate with skills that we need.  People around the world with accredited degrees in science and math get a green card stapled to their diploma; come to the U.S. of A.  We should make sure that our legal system works.  

Number two, we’re going to have to stop illegal immigration. There are 4 million people who are waiting in line to get here legally.  Those who’ve come here illegally take their place.  So I will not grant amnesty to those who’ve come here illegally.  What I will do is I’ll put in place an employment verification system and make sure that employers that hire people who have come here illegally are sanctioned for doing so.  I won’t put in place magnets for people coming here illegally.  So, for instance, I would not give driver’s licenses to those that have come here illegally, as the President would. 

The kids of those that came here illegally -- those kids I think should have a pathway to become a permanent resident of the United States.  And military service, for instance, is one way they would have that kind of pathway to become a permanent resident.

Now, when the President ran for office he said that he’d put in place in his first year a piece of legislation -- he’d file a bill in his first year that would reform our immigration system  -- protect legal immigration, stop illegal immigration.  He didn’t do it.  He had a Democrat House, a Democrat Senate, a supermajority in both houses.  Why did he fail to even promote legislation that would have provided an answer for those that want to come here legally and for those that are here illegally today?  That’s a question I think the President will have a chance to answer to answer right now.

THE PRESIDENT:  Good, I look forward to it.  Was it Lorena? Lorraine.  We are a nation of immigrants.  We’re just a few miles away from Ellis Island.  We all understand what this country has become because talent from all around the world wants to come here.  People are willing to take risks.  People who want to build on their dreams and make sure their kids have even bigger dreams than they have.

But we’re also a nation of laws.  So what I’ve said is we need to fix a broken immigration system.  And I’ve done everything I can on my own, and sought cooperation from Congress to make sure that we fixed the system. 

First thing we did was to streamline the legal immigration system to reduce the backlog, make it easier, simpler and cheaper for people who are waiting in line, obeying the law, to make sure that they can come here and contribute to our country.  And that's good for our economic growth.  They’ll start new businesses.  They’ll make things happen that create jobs here in the United States. 

Number two, we do have to deal with our border, so we put more Border Patrol on than any time in history, and the flow of undocumented workers across the border is actually lower than it’s been in 40 years.

What I’ve also said is if we’re going to go after folks who are here illegally, we should do it smartly and go after folks who are criminals, gangbangers, people who are hurting the community -- not after students.  Not after folks who are here just because they're trying to figure out how to feed their families.  And that's what we’ve done. 

And what I’ve also said is for young people who come here, brought here oftentimes by their parents, have gone to school here, pledged allegiance to the flag, think of this as their country, understand themselves as Americans in every way except having papers, then we should make sure that we give them a pathway to citizenship.  And that's what I’ve done administratively.

Now, Governor Romney just said that he wants to help those young people, too.  But during the Republican primary he said, I will veto the DREAM Act that would allow these young people to have access.  His main strategy during the Republican primary was to say, we’re going to encourage self-deportation -- making life so miserable on folks that they’ll leave. 

He called the Arizona law a model for the nation -- part of the Arizona law said that law enforcement officers could stop folks because they suspected maybe they looked like they might be undocumented workers and check their papers.  And you know what, if my daughter or yours looks to somebody like they're not a citizen, I don't want to empower somebody like that. 

So we can fix this system in a comprehensive way.  And when Governor Romney says the challenge is, well, Obama didn't try -- that's not true.  I sat down with Democrats and Republicans at the beginning of my term, and I said, let’s fix this system, including senators previously who had supported it on the Republican side.  But it’s very hard for Republicans in Congress to support comprehensive immigration reform if their standard bearer has said that, this is not something I’m interested in supporting.

MS. CROWLEY:  Let me get the Governor in here, Mr. President.  Let’s speak to, if you could, Governor --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Let’s.

MS. CROWLEY:  -- the idea of self-deportation.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  No, let me go back and speak to the points that the President made and let’s get them correct.  I did not say that the Arizona law was a model for the nation in that aspect.  I said that the E-Verify portion of the Arizona law, which is -- which is the portion of the law which says that employers could be able to determine whether someone is here illegally or not illegally, that that was a model for the nation. That's number one.

Number two, I asked the President a question I think Hispanics and immigrants all over the nation have asked.  He was asked this on Univision the other day.  Why, when you said you’d file legislation in your first year, didn’t you do it?  And he didn’t answer.  He doesn’t answer that question.  He said the standard bearer wasn’t for it.  I’m glad you thought I was a standard bearer four years ago, but I wasn't.  Four years ago, you said in your first year, you would file legislation.  In his first year, I was just getting -- licking my wounds from having been beaten by John McCain, all right.  I was not the standard bearer.  My view is that this President should have honored his promise to do as he said.

Now, let me mention one other thing and that is self-deportation says let people make their own choice.  What I was saying is we’re not going to round up 12 million people, undocumented, illegals, and take them out of the nation.  Instead, let people make their own choice.  And if they find that they can’t get the benefits here that they want and they can’t find the job they want, then they’ll make a decision to go a place where they have better opportunities.

But I’m not in favor of rounding up people and taking them out of this country.  I am in favor, as the President has said and I agree with him, which is that if people have committed crimes we’ve got to get them out of this country.

Let me mention something else the President said.  It was a moment ago and I didn’t get a chance to -- when he was describing Chinese investments and so forth --

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy, hold on a second.  At some point --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Mr. President, I’m still speaking.

MS. CROWLEY:  I’m sorry --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Mr. President, why don't you let me finish --

THE PRESIDENT:  Governor Romney, I’m used to --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  I’m going -- I’m going to continue -- I’m going to continue.  If the President made --

MS. CROWLEY:  Go ahead and finish, Governor Romney.  Governor Romney, if you could make it short.  See all these people, they’ve been waiting for you.  Could you make it short and then --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Yes, just going to make a point.  Any investments I have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust.  And I understand they do include investments outside the United States, including in Chinese companies.

Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Have you looked at your pension?

THE PRESIDENT:  I’ve got to say -- Candy --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?

THE PRESIDENT:  You know, I don’t look at my pension.  It’s not as big as yours so it doesn’t take as long.  (Laughter.)

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Let me give you some advice.

THE PRESIDENT:  I don’t check it that often.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Look at your pension.  You also have investments in Chinese companies.  You also have investments outside the United States.  You also have investments through a Cayman’s trust.

MS. CROWLEY:  We are sort of way off topic here, Governor Romney.

THE PRESIDENT:  We’re a little off topic here.

MS. CROWLEY:  We are completely off immigration.

THE PRESIDENT:  I know we were talking about immigration.

MS. CROWLEY:  And we’ve -- quickly, Mr. President --

THE PRESIDENT:  I do want to make sure --

MS. CROWLEY:  If I could have you sit down, Governor Romney.  Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  I do want to make sure that we just understand something.  Governor Romney says he wasn’t referring to Arizona as a model for the nation.  His top advisor on immigration is the guy who designed the Arizona law, the entirety of it.  Not E-Verify, the whole thing.  That’s his policy.  And it’s a bad policy.  And it won’t help us grow.

Look, when we think about immigration, we have to understand there are folks all around the world who still see America as the land of promise.  And they provide us energy and they provide us innovation, and they start companies like Intel and Google -- and we want to encourage that.

Now, we’ve got to make sure that we do it in a smart way, in a comprehensive way, and we make the legal system better.  But when we make this into a divisive political issue, and when we don’t have bipartisan support -- I can deliver, Governor, a whole bunch of Democrats to get comprehensive immigration reform done, and we can’t --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  I’ll get it done.  I’ll get it done the first year --

THE PRESIDENT:  -- we have not seen Republicans serious about this issue at all.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, let me move you on here, please.  Mr. President --

THE PRESIDENT:  And it’s time for them to get serious on this. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Don’t go away, though. 

THE PRESIDENT:  This used to be a bipartisan issue.

MS. CROWLEY:  Right.  Don’t go away, because --

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m here.  (Laughter.)

MS. CROWLEY:  -- I want you to talk to Carey Ladka (ph), who wants to switch the topic for us.

THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Hi, Carey.

Q    Good evening, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m sorry, what’s your name?

Q    It’s Carey.  Carey Ladka (ph).

THE PRESIDENT:  Great to see you, Carey.

Q    This question actually comes from a brain trust of my friends at Global Telecom Supply in Mineola yesterday.  We were sitting around talking about Libya, and we were reading and became aware of reports that the State Department refused extra security for our embassy in Benghazi, Libya, prior to the attacks that killed four Americans.  Who was it that denied enhanced security, and why?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, let me, first of all, talk about our diplomats, because they serve all around the world and do an incredible job in a very dangerous situation.  And these aren’t just representatives of the United States.  They’re my representatives.  I send them there, oftentimes into harm’s way. I know these folks, and I know these families.  So nobody is more concerned about their safety and security than I am.

So as soon as we found out that the Benghazi consulate was being overrun, I was on the phone with my national security team, and I gave them three instructions.  Number one, beef up our security and procedures not just in Libya but in every embassy and consulate in the region.  Number two, investigate exactly what happened, regardless of where the facts lead us, to make sure that folks are held accountable and it doesn’t happen again. And number three, we are going to find out who did this and we are going to hunt them down, because one of the things that I’ve said throughout my presidency is when folks mess with Americans, we go after them.

Now, Governor Romney had a very different response.  While we were still dealing with our diplomats being threatened, Governor Romney put out a press release, trying to make political points.  And that's not how a Commander-in-Chief operates.  You don't turn national security into a political issue, certainly not right when it’s happening. 

And people -- not everybody agrees with some of the decisions I’ve made, but when it comes to our national security, I mean what I say.  I said I’d end the war in Libya -- in Iraq, and I did.  I said that we’d go after al Qaeda and bin Laden -- we have.  I said we’d transition out of Afghanistan and start making sure that Afghans are responsible for their own security. That's what I’m doing.

And when it comes to this issue, when I say that we are going to find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable -- and I am ultimately responsible for what’s taking place there, because these are my folks, and I’m the one who has to greet those coffins when they come home, you know that I mean what I say.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, I’ve got to move us along. 

Governor?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Thank you, Carey, for your question.  It’s an important one, and I think the President just said correctly that the buck does stop at his desk, and he takes responsibility for that -- for the failure in providing those security resources.  And those terrible things may well happen from time to time.  I feel very deeply sympathetic for the families of those who lost loved ones.  And today there’s a memorial service for one of those that was lost in this tragedy.  We think of their families and care for them deeply.

There were other issues associated with this tragedy.  There were many days that passed before we knew whether this was a spontaneous demonstration or actually whether it was a terrorist attack.  And there was no demonstration involved.  It was a terrorist attack.  And it took a long time for that to be told to the American people. 

Whether there was some misleading or instead whether we just didn’t know what happened, I think you have to ask yourself, why didn’t we know five days later when the Ambassador to the United Nations went on TV to say that this was a demonstration -- how could we have not known? 

But I find more troubling than this that on the day following the assassination of the United States ambassador -- the first time that's happened since 1979 -- when we have four Americans killed there, when apparently we didn’t know what happened, that the President, the day after that happened, flies to Las Vegas for a political fundraiser, then the next day to Colorado for another event, another political event.  I think these actions taken by a President and a leader have symbolic significance, and perhaps even material significance in that you’d hope that during that time we could call in the people who were actually eyewitnesses.  We’ve read their accounts now about what happened.  It was very clear this was not a demonstration.  This was an attack by terrorists. 

And this calls into question the President’s whole policy in the Middle East.  Look what's happening in Syria, in Egypt, now in Libya.  Consider the distance between ourselves and Israel.  The President said that he was going to put daylight between us and Israel.  We have Iran four years closer to a nuclear bomb. 

Syria -- Syria is not just the tragedy of 30,000 civilians being killed by a military, but also a strategically significant player for America.  The President’s policies throughout the Middle East began with an apology tour, and pursue a strategy of leading from behind.  And this strategy is unraveling before our very eyes.

MS. CROWLEY:  Because we’re closing in, I want to still get a lot of people in.  I want to ask you something, Mr. President, and then have the Governor just quickly.  Your Secretary of State, as I’m sure you know, has said that she takes full responsibility for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi.  Does the buck stop with your Secretary of State, as far as what went on here?

THE PRESIDENT:  Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job, but she works for me.  I’m the President, and I’m always responsible.  And that’s why nobody is more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I do. 

The day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror, and I also said that we’re going to hunt down those who committed this crime.  And then a few days later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force Base, and grieving with the families. 

And the suggestion that anybody on my team -- whether the Secretary of State, our U.N. Ambassador -- anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, Governor, is offensive.  That’s not what we do.  That’s not what I do as President.  That’s not what I do as Commander-in-Chief.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor, if you want to reply quickly to this please.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Yes, I surely do.  I think it’s interesting the President just said something, which is that on the day after the attack he went in the Rose Garden and said that this was an attack of terror.

THE PRESIDENT:  That’s what I said.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror?  It was not a spontaneous demonstration?

THE PRESIDENT:  Please proceed.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Is that what you’re saying?

THE PRESIDENT:  Please proceed, Governor.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the President 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror. 

THE PRESIDENT:  Get the transcript.

MS. CROWLEY:  He did, in fact, sir.  So let me call it an act of terror in the Rose Garden.  He used the word --

THE PRESIDENT:  Can you say that a little louder, Candy?  (Applause.)

MS. CROWLEY:  He did call it an act of terror.  It did, as well, take -- it did, as well, take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that.  (Applause.)

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  The administration indicated that this was a reaction to a video and was a spontaneous reaction.

MS. CROWLEY:  They did.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  It took them a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist group.  And to suggest -- am I incorrect in that regard?  On Sunday, your Secretary --

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  -- excuse me, the Ambassador to the United Nations went on the Sunday television shows and spoke about how this was a spontaneous reaction.

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy, I’m happy to have a longer conversation about foreign policy.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, let me -- I know you -- absolutely.  But I want to move you on.

THE PRESIDENT:  Okay, I’m happy to do that, too.

MS. CROWLEY:  And also, people can go to the transcripts and --

THE PRESIDENT:  I just want to make sure that --

MS. CROWLEY:  -- figure out what was said and when.

THE PRESIDENT:  -- all those wonderful folks are going to have a chance to get some of their questions answered.

MS. CROWLEY:  Because what I want to do, Mr. President -- stand there for a second, because I want to introduce you to Nina Gonzalez, who brought up a question that we hear a lot both over the Internet and from this crowd.

Q    President Obama, during the Democratic National Convention in 2008, you stated you wanted to keep AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.  What has your administration done or plan to do to limit the availability of assault weapons?

THE PRESIDENT:  We’re a nation that believes in the Second Amendment, and I believe in the Second Amendment.  We’ve got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen, and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves. 

But there have been too many instances during the course of my presidency where I’ve had to comfort families who have lost somebody -- most recently, out in Aurora.  Just a couple of weeks ago -- actually probably about a month, I saw a mother who I had met at the bedside of her son who had been shot in that theater. And her son had been shot through the head.  And we spent some time and we said a prayer.  And remarkably, about two months later, this young man and his mom showed up, and he looked unbelievable -- good as new.  But there were a lot of families who didn’t have that good fortune, and whose sons or daughters or husbands didn’t survive. 

So my belief is that, A, we have to enforce the laws we’ve already got; make sure that we’re keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill.  We’ve done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we’ve got more to do when it comes to enforcement. 

But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t belong on our streets.  And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally.  Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced, but part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence -- because, frankly, in my hometown of Chicago there’s an awful lot of violence, and they’re not using AK-47s, they’re using cheap handguns. 

And so what can we do to intervene, to make sure that young people have opportunity?  That our schools are working?  That if there’s violence on the streets, that working with faith groups and law enforcement, we can catch it before it gets out of  control. 

And so what I want is a comprehensive strategy.  Part of it is seeing if we can get automatic weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.  But part of it is also going deeper and seeing if we can get into these communities and making sure we catch violent impulses before they occur.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor Romney, the question is about assault weapons, AK-47s.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Yes, I’m not in favor of new pieces of legislation on guns and taking guns away or making certain guns illegal.  We, of course, don't want to have automatic weapons, and that's already illegal in this country to have automatic weapons. 

What I believe is we have to do, as the President mentioned towards the end of his remarks there, which is to make enormous efforts to enforce the gun laws that we have and to change the culture of violence we have.  And you ask how are we going to do that?  And there are a number of things.  He mentioned good schools.  I totally agree.  We were able to drive our schools to be number one in the nation in my state, and I believe if we do a better job in education, we’ll give people the hope and opportunity they deserve and perhaps less violence from that.

But let me mention another thing, and that is parents.  We need moms and dads helping raise kids.  Wherever possible, the benefit of having two parents in the home -- and that's not always possible -- a lot of great single moms, single dads, but, gosh, to tell our kids that before they have babies, they ought to think about getting married to someone, that's a great idea, because if there’s a two-parent family, the prospect of living in poverty goes down dramatically.  The opportunities that the child will be able to achieve increase dramatically.  So we can make changes in the way our culture works to help bring people away from violence and give them opportunity and bring them in the American system.

The greatest failure we’ve had with regards to gun violence in some respects is what is known as Fast and Furious, which was a program under this administration.  And how it worked exactly I think we don't know precisely, but where thousands of automatic and AK-47-type weapons were given to people that ultimately gave them to drug lords that used those weapons against their own citizens and killed Americans with them.  And this was a program of the government.  For what purpose it was put in place, I can't imagine.  But it’s one of the great tragedies related to violence in our society which has occurred during this administration, which I think the American people would like to understand fully. 
It’s been investigated to a degree, but the administration has carried out executive privilege to prevent all the information from coming out.  I’d like to understand, who were the ones that did this, what the idea was behind it, why it led to the violence.  Thousands of guns going to Mexico --

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  -- drug lords --

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor, if I could, the question was about these assault weapons that once were banned and are no longer banned.  I know that you signed an assault weapons ban when you were in Massachusetts.  Obviously with this question, you no longer do support that.  Why is that?  Given the kind of violence that we see sometimes with these mass killings, why is that, that you’ve changed your mind?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Well, Candy, actually, in my state, the pro-gun folks and the anti-gun folks came together and put together a piece of legislation.  And it’s referred to as an assault weapon ban, but it had, at the signing of the bill, both the pro-gun and the anti-gun people came together because it provided opportunities for both that both wanted.  There were hunting opportunities, for instance, that hadn’t previously been available and so forth.  So it was a mutually agreed upon piece of legislation.

That’s what we need more of, Candy.  What we have right now in Washington is a place that’s gridlocked.

MS. CROWLEY:  So if you could get people to agree to it, you’d be for it?

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  We haven’t had the leadership in Washington to work at a bipartisan basis.  I was able to do that in my state and bring these two together.

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT:  First of all, I think Governor Romney was for an assault weapons ban before he was against it.  And he said that the reason he changed his mind was, in part, because he was seeking the endorsement of the National Rifle Association.  So that’s on the record.

But I think that one area we agree on is the importance of parents and the importance of schools -- because I do believe that if our young people have opportunity, then they’re less likely to engage in these kind of violent acts.  We’re not going to eliminate everybody who is mentally disturbed, and we’ve got to make sure that they don’t get weapons, but we can make a difference in terms of ensuring that every young person in America, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, have a chance to succeed.

And, Candy, we haven’t had a chance to talk about education much, but I think it is very important to understand that the reforms we’ve put in place, working with 46 governors around the country, are seeing schools that are some of the ones that are the toughest for kids starting to succeed -- we’re starting to see gains in math and science.

When it comes to community colleges, we are setting up programs, including with Nassau Community College, to retrain workers, including young people who may have dropped out of school, but now are getting another chance -- training them for the jobs that exist right now.  And in fact, employers are looking for skilled workers, and so we’re matching them up, giving them access to higher education.  As I said, we have made sure that millions of young people are able to get an education that they weren’t able to get before.  Now --

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, I have to move you along here. You said you wanted to get this question so we need to do it here.

THE PRESIDENT:  Just one second, because this is important. This is part of the choice in this election.  When Governor Romney was asked whether teachers -- hiring more teachers was important to growing our economy, Governor Romney said that doesn’t grow our economy.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, it was guns here so I need to move us along.  The question was guns so let me --

THE PRESIDENT:  But this will make a difference in terms of whether or not we can move this economy forward for these young people and reduce our violence.

MS. CROWLEY:  Okay.  Thank you so much.

I want to ask Carol Goldberg to stand up because she gets to a question that both these men have been passionate about.  It’s for Governor Romney.

Q    The outsourcing of American jobs overseas has taken a toll on our economy.  What plans do you have to put back and keep jobs here in the United States?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Boy, great question, an important question because you’re absolutely right.  The place where we’ve seen manufacturing go has been China.  China is now the largest manufacturer in the world -- used to be the United States of America.  A lot of good people have lost jobs.  A half a million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last four years -- that’s total over the last four years.  One of the reasons for that is that people think it’s more attractive in some cases to go offshore than to stay here.  We have made it less attractive for enterprises to stay here than to go offshore from time to time. 

What I will do as President is make sure it's more attractive to come to America again.  This is the way we're going to create jobs in this country.  It's not by trickle-down government, saying we're going to take more money from people and hire more government workers, raise more taxes, put in place more regulations.  Trickle-down government has never worked here, has never worked anywhere. 

I want to make America the most attractive place in the world for entrepreneurs, for small business, for big business to invest and grow in America.  Now, we're going to have to make sure that as we trade with other nations that they play by the rules, and China hasn't.  One of the reasons -- or one of the ways they don't play by the rules is artificially holding down the value of their currency.  Because if they put their currency down low, that means their prices on their goods are low, and that makes them advantageous in the marketplace.  We lose sales and manufacturers here in the U.S. making the same products can't compete. 

China has been a currency manipulator for years and years and years.  And the President has a regular opportunity to label them as a currency manipulator, but refuses to do so.  On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator, which will allow me as president to be able to put in place, if necessary, tariffs where I believe that they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers. 

So we're going to make sure the people we trade with around the world play by the rules.  But let me not just stop there.  Don't forget what's key to bringing back jobs here is not just finding someone else to punish -- and I'm going to be strict with people who we trade with to make sure they follow the law and play by the rules -- but it's also to make America the most attractive place in the world for businesses of all kinds.  That's why I want to bring down the tax rates on small employers, big employers, so they want to be here.

Canada's tax rate on companies is now 15 percent.  Ours is 35 percent.  So if you're starting a business, where would you rather start it?  We have to be competitive if we're going to create more jobs here.  Regulations have quadrupled -- the rate of regulations quadrupled under this President.  I've talked to small businesses across the country.  They say, we feel like we're under attack from our own government.  I want to make sure that regulators see their job as encouraging small business, not crushing it.  And there's no question but that Obamacare has been an extraordinary deterrent to enterprises of all kinds hiring people. 

My priority is making sure that we get more people hired.  If we have more people hired, if we get back manufacturing jobs, if we get back all kinds of jobs into this country, then you're going to see rising incomes again.  The reason incomes are down is because unemployment is so high.  I know what it takes to get this to happen.  And my plan will do that.  And one part of it is to make sure that we keep China playing by the rules.  Thank you.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, two minutes here because we are then going to go to our last question. 

THE PRESIDENT:  We need to create jobs here.  And both Governor Romney and I agree actually that we should lower our corporate tax rate.  It's too high.  But there's a difference in terms of how we would do it.  I want to close loopholes that allow companies to deduct expenses when they move to China that allow them to profit offshore and not have to get taxed, so they have tax advantages offshore.  All those changes in our tax code would make a difference. 

Now, Governor Romney actually wants to expand those tax breaks.  One of his big ideas when it comes to corporate tax reform would be to say if you invest overseas, you make profits overseas, you don't have to pay U.S. taxes.  But of course, if you're a small business or a mom-and-pop business or a big business starting up here, you've got to pay even the reduced rate that Governor Romney is talking about.  And it's estimated that that will create 800,000 new jobs -- the problem is they'll be in China or India or Germany.  That's not the way we're going to create jobs here. 

The way we're going to create jobs here is not just to change our tax code, but also to double our exports.  And we are on pace to double our exports, one of the commitments I made when I was President.  That's creating tens of thousands of jobs all across the country.  That's why we've kept on pushing trade deals, but trade deals that make sure that American workers and American businesses are getting a good deal. 

Now, Governor Romney talked about China, as I already indicated.  In the private sector, Governor Romney's company invested in what were called "pioneers of outsourcing."  That's not my phrase.  It's what reporters called it.  And as far as currency manipulation, the currency has actually gone up 11 percent since I’ve been President because we have pushed them hard.  And we’ve put unprecedented trade pressure on China.  That's why exports have significantly increased under my presidency.  That's going to help to create jobs here.

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, we have a really short time for a quick discussion here.  iPad, the Macs, the iPhones -- they are all manufactured in China.  One of the major reasons is labor is so much cheaper here.  How do you convince a great American company to bring that manufacturing back here?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  The answer is very straightforward:  We can compete with anyone in the world as long as the playing field is level.  China has been cheating over the years -- one, by holding down the value of their currency; number two, by stealing our intellectual property -- our designs, our patents, our technology.  There’s even an Apple store in China that's a counterfeit Apple store selling counterfeit goods.  They hack into our computers.  We will have to have people play on a fair basis.  That's number one.

Number two, we have to make America the most attractive place for entrepreneurs, for people who want to expand a business.  That's what brings jobs in.  The President’s characterization of my tax plan is --

THE PRESIDENT:  How much time you got, Candy?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  -- is completely -- is completely --

MS. CROWLEY:  Let me go to the --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  -- is completely false.  Let me tell you.

MS. CROWLEY:  Let me go to the President here because we really are --

THE PRESIDENT:  All right, I’m --

MS. CROWLEY:  -- because we really are running out of time. And the question is, can we ever get -- we can't get wages like that.  It can't be sustained here.

THE PRESIDENT:  Candy, there are some jobs that are not going to come back because they're low-wage, low-skill jobs.  I want high-wage, high-skill jobs.  That's why we have to emphasize manufacturing.  That's why we have to invest in advanced manufacturing.  That's why we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got the best science and research in the world.

And when we talk about deficits, if we’re adding to our deficit for tax cuts for folks who don't need them, and we’re cutting investments in research and science that will create the next Apple, create the next new innovation that will sell products around the world, we will lose that race.  If we’re not training engineers to make sure that they are equipped here in this country, then companies won’t come here.  Those investments are what’s going to help to make sure that we continue to lead this world economy not just next year, but 10 years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now.

MS. CROWLEY:  Thanks, Mr. President.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Government does not create jobs.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor Romney.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Government does not create jobs.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor Romney, I want to introduce you to Barry Green because he’s going to have the last question to you first. 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Barry?  Oh, there’s Barry.  Hi, Barry.

Q    Hi, Governor.  I think this is a tough question.  Each of you, what do you believe is the biggest misperception that the American people have about you as a man and a candidate?  Using specific examples, can you take this opportunity to debunk that misperception and set us straight?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  Thank you, and that's an opportunity for me, and I appreciate it.  In the nature of a campaign, it seems that some campaigns are focused on attacking a person rather than prescribing their own future and the things they’d like to do.  In the course of that, I think the President’s campaign has tried to characterize me as someone who’s very different than who I am. 
I care about 100 percent of the American people.  I want 100 percent of the American people to have a bright and prosperous future.  I care about our kids.  I understand what it takes to make a bright and prosperous future for America again.  I spent my life in the private sector, not in government.  I’m a guy who wants to help, with the experience I have, the American people. 

My passion probably flows from the fact that I believe in God and I believe we’re all children of the same God.  I believe we have a responsibility to care for one another.  I served as a missionary for my church.  I served as a pastor in my congregation for about 10 years.  I’ve sat across the table from people who are out of work, and worked with them to try and find new work, or to help them through tough times.

I went to the Olympics when they were in trouble to try and get them on track.  And as governor of my state, I was able to get 100 percent of my people insured, all my kids, about 98 percent of the adults; was able also to get our schools ranked at number one in the nation, so 100 percent of our kids would have a bright opportunity for a future.

I understand that I can get this country on track again.  We don't have to settle for what we’re going through.  We don't have to settle for gasoline at $4.  We don't have to settle for unemployment at a chronically high level.  We don't have to settle for 47 million people on food stamps.  We don't have to settle for 50 percent of kids coming out of college not able to get work.  We don't have to settle for 23 million people struggling to find a good job.

If I become President, I’ll get America working again.  I will get us on track to a balanced budget.  The President hasn’t. I will.  I’ll make sure we can reform Medicare and Social Security to preserve them for coming generations.  The President said he would.  He didn’t.

MS. CROWLEY:  Governor --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY:  I’ll get our incomes up.  And by the way, I’ve done these things.  I served as governor and showed I could get them done. 

MS. CROWLEY:  Mr. President, last two minutes belong to you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Barry, I think a lot of this campaign, maybe over the last four years, has been devoted to this notion that I think government creates jobs, that that somehow is the answer.  That's not what I believe. 

I believe that the free enterprise system is the greatest engine of prosperity the world has ever known.  I believe in self-reliance and individual initiative, and risk-takers being rewarded.  But I also believe that everybody should have a fair shot and everybody should do their fair share, and everybody should play by the same rules, because that's how our economy is grown.  That's how we built the world’s greatest middle class.  And that is part of what's at stake in this election.  There's a fundamentally different vision about how we move our country forward. 

I believe Governor Romney is a good man, loves his family, cares about his faith.  But I also believe that when he said behind closed doors that 47 percent of the country consider themselves victims, who refuse personal responsibility, think about who he was talking about -- folks on Social Security who have worked all their lives; veterans who have sacrificed for this country; students who are out there trying to hopefully advance their own dreams but also this country’s dreams; soldiers who are overseas fighting for us right now; people who are working hard every day, paying payroll tax, gas taxes, but don't make enough income. 

And I want to fight for them.  That's what I’ve been doing for the last four years, because if they succeed, I believe the country succeeds. 

And when my grandfather fought in World War II, and he came back, and he got a GI Bill and that allowed him to go to college, that wasn’t a handout.  That was something that advanced the entire country.  And I want to make sure that the next generation has those same opportunities.  That's why I’m asking for your vote, and that's why I’m asking for another four years.

MS. CROWLEY:  President Obama, Governor Romney, thank you for being here tonight. 

On that note, we have come to an end of this town hall debate.  (Applause.)  Our thanks to the participants for their time, and to the people of Hofstra University for their hospitality. 

The next and final debate takes place Monday night at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.  Don't forget to watch.  Election Day is three weeks from today.  Don't forget to vote.  Good night.

END
10:39 P.M. EDT

Remarks by the First Lady at a Campaign Event -- Cleveland, Ohio

Tri-C Metro College Campus
Cleveland, Ohio

6:11 P.M. EDT
 
MRS. OBAMA:  Oh, my goodness.  (Applause.)  Oh, yeah.  It is always so nice to be in Cleveland.  You all, it’s like coming home.  (Applause.) 
 
Well, I am always thrilled to be here with you all in Cleveland.  This is --
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  I love you all, too.  Love you so much.  (Applause.)  We’re going to get this done!  We’re going to get it done.  You all are fired up.  I love it.  (Applause.) 
 
But I want to start by thanking Kenn for that very kind introduction and for all his leadership, his service to the community, his work on behalf of this campaign.  Let’s give Kenn a round of applause.  (Applause.) 
 
And I want to recognize a couple more people who are here -- Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, as well as Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.  (Applause.)  They’re both here.  Thank you for your leadership.  Thank you for being here.  Let’s give them a round of applause.  (Applause.)
 
And most of all, I want to thank all of you.  I mean, I know that it’s the middle of the day and you all are out here ready to work, all fired up and ready to go.  I love that!  (Applause.)  I love it.  And let me tell you, I’m feeling pretty fired up and ready to go because this morning, let me tell you what I did -- I cast my ballot early for Barack Obama.  (Applause.)  Yeah!  Yes, today!  It felt so good.  (Applause.) 
 
Right now, my absentee ballot is on its way to my hometown
-- Chicago, Illinois -- and that means we are one vote closer to reelecting my husband and moving this country forward for four more years.  (Applause.) 
 
But I’m also --
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)  (Laughter and applause.)
 
MRS. OBAMA:  This is my kind of crowd, my kind of crowd.
 
But I’m also excited to be here in Ohio because I get to do one of my favorite things.  That is to talk about the man I have loved and admired for 23 years, since the day we met.  (Applause.)  Now, you all know -- you've seen him -- my husband is pretty cute -- (applause) -- still cute.  (Applause.)  He’s charming and incredibly intelligent, and he’s fine.  (Applause.) He is fine.  Now just cute, he’s fine.  (Applause.) 
 
But that is not why I married him.  Oh, listen closely, especially to the fellas.  Listen to this.  What truly made me fall in love with Barack Obama was his character.  It is what you see in this man every day.  It’s his decency and honesty.  Truly, it is his compassion and conviction.  See, I loved that Barack was so committed to serving others that he turned down high-paying jobs, and he started his career fighting to get folks back to work in struggling communities.  I loved that about him.  (Applause.) 
 
And you all know that I love the family man.  I loved how devoted he was to his family, especially the women in his life.  Let me tell you, I saw this in him:  I saw the respect he had for his own mother.  I saw how proud he was that she’d put herself through school while still supporting he and his sister as a single mom.
 
I saw the tenderness he felt for his grandmother and how grateful he was that long after she should have retired, she was still waking up every morning before dawn, catching that bus to her job at the community bank, doing everything she could to support his family.  And he also watched as that woman was passed over for promotions simply because she was a woman, but he also saw how she kept getting up -- kept getting up year after year, without complaint or regret.
 
See, with Barack, I found a real connection, see, because in his life story, I saw so much of my own.  See, growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I watched my own father make that same uncomplaining journey every day to a job at the city water plant. And I saw how my father carried himself with that same dignity.  You know what I’m talking about?  That same pride in being able to provide for his family; that same hope that his kids would one day have opportunities he never dreamed of.  How many people do we know like that in our lives?
 
See, like so many families in this country, our families weren’t asking for much.  They didn’t want much.  They didn’t begrudge anyone else’s success.  They didn’t mind if others had much more than they did -- in fact, they admired it.  That’s why they pushed us to be the best we could be.  (Applause.)  But they simply believed in that fundamental American promise that even if you don’t start out with much, if you work hard, if you do what you’re supposed to do, then you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and your grandkids.  (Applause.)
 
They also believed something else.  They believed that when you’ve worked hard and done well, and you had that chance to walk through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you.  You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.  (Applause.)  That’s how Barack and I and so many of us were raised.  Those are the values we were taught. 
 
And let me tell you, more than anything else why I’m out here almost every day is that this is what this election is about.  It is about a choice about our values and our hopes and our aspirations.  It’s a choice about the kind of America we want to leave for our kids and our grandkids, and what does that America look like. 
 
We believe in an America where every child, no matter where they’re born or how much money their parents make, every child deserves good schools -- the kind of schools that push them and inspire them and prepare them for college and jobs of the future -- every child.  We believe in an America where no one goes broke because somebody got sick.  (Applause.)  Where no one loses their home because someone lost a job.  Not in America.  (Applause.) 
 
We believe in an America where we all understand that none of us gets where we are on our own, that there is always a community of people lifting us up, where we treat everyone -- everyone -- with dignity and respect, from the teachers who inspire us to the janitors who keep our schools clean -- everyone.  (Applause.)
 
See, in this America that we’re working to build, when one of us stumbles, when one of us falls on hard times -- and we all could possibly do that -- we don’t tell them, tough luck, you’re on your own.  Not in this America.  Instead, we extend that helping hand while they get back on their feet.  (Applause.)  We believe that the truth matters in this America, and you don’t take shortcuts, you don’t game the system, you don’t play by your own set of rules.  Instead, that we reward success that’s earned fair and square.  (Applause.) 
 
And finally, we believe in keeping our priorities straight. What does that mean?  Well, we know good and well that cutting Sesame Street is no way to balance our budget.  We know that.  (Laughter and applause.)  We know that shortchanging our kids is not how to tackle our deficit.  If we truly want to build opportunities for all Americans, yes, we need to cut wasteful spending.  But we also need to make smart investments in our future -- in education and infrastructure, things that are necessary for an economy built to last.  And that’s what my husband stands for.  That’s the country he has been working to build for the last three and a half years.  Those are his values.
 
And over the past three and a half years, as First Lady, let me tell you, I have seen up close and personal what being President really looks like.  I’ve seen it.  And I have seen how critical those values are for leading this country.  I’ve seen how the issues that come across a President’s desk are always the hard ones -- the decisions that aren’t just about the bottom line, but they’re about laying a foundation for the next generation.  And I’ve seen how important it is to have a President who doesn’t just tell us what we want to hear, but who will tell us the truth, even when it’s hard -- especially when it’s hard.  (Applause.)
 
And I’ve also seen that when it comes time to make those tough calls, and everyone is urging you to do what’s easy, or what polls best, or what makes good headlines -- as President, you have to be driven by the struggles, hopes and dreams of all of the people you serve.  (Applause.)  That's what it takes to make the right decisions for this country.  That’s what it takes to be a leader. 
 
And since the day my husband took office, on issue after issue, crisis after crisis -- believe me, I have been there -- that's what we’ve seen in him.  We have seen his values at work. We’ve seen his vision unfold.  We’ve seen the depths of his character, courage and conviction.
 
Let me take you back to when Barack first took office.  We were in the midst of an economy that was on the brink of collapse.  You don’t have to take my word for it.  Newspapers were using words like "meltdown," "calamity," declaring "Wall Street Implodes," "Economy in Shock."  You remember that?  See, for years folks had been lured into buying homes they couldn’t afford, so their mortgages were underwater.  And banks weren’t lending.  Companies weren’t hiring.  The auto industry was in crisis.  The economy was losing 800,000 jobs a month.  Do you hear me -- 800,000 jobs a month.  And a lot of folks were wondering whether we were headed for another Great Depression.  Do you remember that?  (Applause.)
 
Well, let me tell you, that is what Barack faced on day one as President of the United States.  He inherited an economy in rapid decline.  But let me tell you about your President.  Instead of pointing fingers, instead of placing blame, your President got to work.  (Applause.)  Because he was thinking about folks like my dad, folks like his grandmother. 
 
And that’s why he cut taxes for small businesses and working families, because your President believes that here in America, teachers and firefighters should not pay higher tax rates than millionaires and billionaires -- not in America.  (Applause.)
  
And that’s also, while some folks were willing to let the auto industry go under with more than a million jobs that would have been lost, Barack had the backs of the American workers.  He fought hard to protect jobs for American families.  And that is why today the auto industry is back and new cars are rolling off the line at proud American companies like GM.  (Applause.)
 
And, yes, while we still have a long way to go to completely rebuild our economy, there are more and more signs every day that we are headed in the right direction.  The stock market has doubled.  Experts have grown by 45 percent.  Manufacturers have added 500,000 jobs.  We have had 31 straight months of private sector job growth -- 5.2 million new jobs under this President -- good jobs, right here in the United States of America.  (Applause.)
 
Now, in addition to being a job creator, yes indeed, he was doing some other things.  See, as President you’ve got to be able to do more things at once.  Barack was also focused on improving access to health care for millions of Americans, millions.  (Applause.)  And let me tell you, Barack didn’t care whether health reform was the easy thing to do politically.  No, that’s not who he is.  He cared that it was the right thing to do.
 
He was thinking about the folks he had met all across this country -- a woman diagnosed with breast cancer who couldn’t find an insurance company that would cover her care; the seniors pinching pennies to save up for the medicine they need; the parents who couldn’t get life-saving treatment for their children because one of them lost a job -- that’s who he was thinking about. 
 
And today, because of health reform, today our parents and grandparents on Medicare are paying hundreds less for their prescription drugs.  (Applause.)  Today, because of health reform, our kids can stay on our insurance until they’re 26 years old because of health care reform.  (Applause.)  
Because of health care reform, insurance companies now have to cover basic preventative care -- things like contraception, cancer screenings with no out of pocket cost.  (Applause.)  They won’t be able to discriminate against you because you have a preexisting condition -- maybe diabetes or asthma.  (Applause.)  And here’s one that always gets me -- if you get really sick, serious cancer, let’s say, and you need expensive treatment, no longer can they tell you, sorry, you’ve hit your lifetime limit and we’re not paying a penny more.  That is now illegal because of health reform.  (Applause.)
 
Now, when it comes to giving our young people the education they deserve, look, let me tell you Barack knows that like me and like so many folks he never could have attended college without financial aid.  (Applause.)  We would not be here without financial aid.  (Applause.)  In fact, when we were first married, our combined monthly student loan bills were actually higher than our mortgage.  I know there are people who can relate to that.  See, I see a few hands.
 
So let me tell you, when it comes to student debt, Barack and I, we have been there.  This is not a hypothetical.  That’s why Barack doubled funding for Pell grants and fought so hard to keep interest rates down -- (applause) -- because, fortunately, we have a President who wants all of our young people to be prepared for good jobs of the future.
 
And finally, when it comes to understanding the lives of women, when it comes to standing up for our rights and opportunities, we know that my husband will always have our backs -- always.  (Applause.)  Why?  Because Barack knows from personal experience what it means for a family when women aren’t treated fairly in the workplace.  And trust me, today as a father of two girls, he knows what it means to want our daughters to have the same freedoms and opportunities as our sons.  And that’s why the very first bill he signed as President was to make sure women got equal pay for equal work -- the first thing he did.  (Applause.)
 
And that is why he will always, always fight to make sure that we as women can make our own decisions about our bodies and our health care -- always.  Always.  (Applause.) 
 
So let me tell you something.  When people ask you over the next 22 days -- because you all are going to be out there, right? 
AUDIENCE:  Yes!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  And you’re going to come across people who are going to say, well, what has this President done for our country? When you run into those folks who are trying to figure out which of these two guys is going to be the best one to keep America moving forward, here’s a few things you could tell them.
 
Tell them about the millions of jobs Barack has created.  Tell them about all those kids in this country who can finally afford college.  (Applause.)  Tell them about the millions of lives that will be changed because of health reform.  Tell them how Barack ended the war in Iraq.  (Applause.)  Tell them how together we took out Osama bin Laden.  (Applause.)  Tell them how your President has been fighting every day to make sure veterans and military families get the benefits they have earned.  (Applause.)
 
Tell them about all those young immigrants in this country who will no longer live in fear of being deported from the only country they’ve ever called home.  (Applause.)  Tell them about the brave servicemembers who will never again have to lie about who they are to serve the country they love.  (Applause.)
 
I could go on and on and on, but here’s what I really want you to make sure they know.  Remind them that their President, he knows the American Dream because he’s lived it.  (Applause.)  And he is fighting every day so that everyone in this country can have that same opportunity no matter who we are or where we’re from or what we look like or who we love.
   
But let’s be clear.  While he is proud of all that we have achieved together -- because we have been doing this together -- my husband is nowhere near satisfied.  Barack of all people in this country knows very well that too many folks are still hurting.  He knows that there’s plenty of work left to be done.  And as President Clinton said, it’s going to take longer than four years to finish rebuilding an economy from the brink of collapse.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  Four more years.
 
AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  But here’s the thing, the thing I think about. And I am grateful as a mother and a citizen -- thankfully in Barack we have a leader with a deep and unyielding faith in the American people; a leader who understands that this country was built by men and women like all of us who wake up every day, who work hard to move this country forward; a leader who just like you is fighting every day to make sure that this country lives up to the values we were raised with -- values like trust and integrity, honesty and determination.
 
And understand this:  Together -- slowly, but surely -- we have been pulling ourselves out of that hole we started in.  We are steadily moving this country forward and making real change. 
So here’s the question.  Are we going to just turn around after all of this and go back to the same policies that got us in mess in the first place?
 
AUDIENCE:  No!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  Are we just going to sit back and watch everything we’ve fought for to just slip away?
 
AUDIENCE:  No!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  Or are we going to keep moving this country forward?  (Applause.)  What are we going to do?  (Applause.)  Forward, forward -- that’s the only choice, the only choice.
 
But in the end, the answer to these questions is truly on us.  Do you hear me?  Because understand this, all our hard work, all the progress that we’ve made -- it’s all on the line.  It’s all at stake this November.  And as my husband has said, this election will be even closer than the last one -- that’s the only guarantee.  And as you know, it could all come down to what happens in just a few key states like right here in Ohio -- right here, right here, right here.
 
Just to put it in perspective -- I want to put it in perspective, especially for new voters, first-time voters.  Listen, back in 2008, let me tell you what happened.  Back then, we won Iowa by about 262,000 votes.  Now, that might sound like a lot.  But when you take that number and break it down across precincts, that’s just 24 votes per precinct.  You hear me -- 24. We all know 24 people who didn’t vote last election.  We all know 24 people in our lives.  That could mean just a couple of votes on your block, just a single vote in an apartment building, just one or two votes in a college dorm.
 
So if there is anyone here who might thinking that somehow their vote doesn’t matter, that their involvement doesn’t count, that in this complex political process that ordinary folks can’t possibly make a difference, I just want you to keep that 24 votes in the back of your mind.  And I want you to think about how with just a few more evenings on a phone bank, just a few more days knocking on doors -- (applause) -- just look at this room.  This room could swing an entire precinct for Barack Obama. 
 
And if we win enough precincts, we will win this state.  And if we win Ohio, we’ll be well on our way to putting Barack Obama back in the White House for four more years, right here.  (Applause.)  Right here!  This room can get it done.  You all can get it done.
 
So for the next 22 days -- here’s the plan.  We’ve got 22 days and we need everybody to work like you’ve never worked before.  Sign up with one of our volunteers, if you haven’t already, today to make phone calls, knock on some doors in your neighborhood.  Talk to everyone you know -- everyone you know -- your friends, your neighbors, that nephew you haven’t seen in a while.  You know he’s not going to vote unless you stay on him.  (Laughter.)  That classmate you haven’t talked to in a few years -- tell them what’s at stake, especially for our young people out there.
 
Our young people.  I have met so many young people who said to me that my parents and grandparents weren’t going to vote for Barack in 2008, but because I talked to them about what this election means for me and my future, they changed their minds.  I can't tell you how many young people I talk to like that.  That is the power you all have. 
 
So I want you and everyone here today to send folks to vote.barackobama.com. for all the information you need, and tell them that they don’t have to wait until November the 6th to cast their votes.  (Applause.)  Here in Ohio, and in states all across the country, voting has already begun.  And this morning I saw just how quick and easy it can be to do your part when I voted early. 
 
And in the next couple of weeks, Barack is going to do the same -- he's going to vote early in person back home in Chicago. (Applause.)  So we want you all to vote early.  All right?  We want you to think about voting early, whether it's by mail or in person -- vote early.  Because when you vote early then you can spend that time on Election Day -- (applause) -- getting everyone you know out to vote.  Right?  (Applause.) 
 
And if you're not going to vote early, then make sure you get to the polls and you bring a whole bunch of people along with you.  You got it?  That is the plan.  That is it.  That's the secret weapon -- it's you!  You all are the secret weapon.
 
But I'm not going to kid you, this journey is going to be hard.  And there will plenty of ups and downs during these last 22 days.  You do realize that -- ups and downs.  But when get tired -- and you will -- when you start to think about taking a day off -- and you will -- I just want you to remember that what we do for the next 22 days will absolutely make the difference between waking up the day after Election Day and wondering, could I have done more, or feeling the promise of four more years.
 
So from now until November the 6th, we need you to keep working and struggling and pushing forward -- because that is how change always happens in this country.  (Applause.)  And again, I’m especially talking to the young people here -- because we know from our history that change is hard and it requires patience and tenacity.  You know what I'm saying? 
 
AUDIENCE:  Yes!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  But if we keep showing up, if we keep fighting the good fight and doing what we know in our hearts is the right thing, then eventually we get there.  We always do. 
 
So don’t let anyone talk down your dreams and aspirations.  No one.  (Applause.)  Don’t let anyone talk down our country or our future.  I want our young people to know you have every reason to be optimistic about what lies ahead, because here in America, we always move forward.  We always make progress.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  God bless America!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  God bless America.  (Applause.)  Yes, indeed.
 
Because in the end, that’s what this is about.  We can't forget that’s what elections are always about.  Don’t let anybody tell you differently.  Elections are always about hope.  The hope that I saw on my father’s beaming face as he watched me cross that stage to get the college diploma that he helped to pay for. (Applause.)  The hope that Barack’s grandmother felt when she cast her ballot for the grandson she loved and raised -- that's the kind of hope I'm talking about.  (Applause.)  The hope of all those men and women in our lives -- you know those people -- those folks that work the extra shift for us; the folks who saved and sacrificed and prayed so that we could have something more.  (Applause.)  The hope that so many of us feel when we look into the eyes of our own kids and grandkids. 
 
That’s why all of us are here today, because we want all our kids to have a foundation for their dream.  We want to give all our children opportunities worthy of their promise -- because all of our kids are worthy.  Every single child in this country is worthy.  (Applause.)  We want our children to have that sense of limitless possibility; the belief that here in America, the greatest country on the planet, there is always something better out there if you’re willing to work for it.  (Applause.) 
 
So what give me passion, what keeps me pumped up is the belief and understanding that we cannot turn back now.  Not now.
 
AUDIENCE:  No!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  Not now.  We cannot, nor will we, because we have come so far.  But we still have more work to do. 
 
AUDIENCE:  Yes, we do!
 
MRS. OBAMA:  So here’s my last question:  Are you ready for this?  (Applause.)  Are you ready to roll up your sleeves?  Twenty-two more days.  (Applause.)  We can get this done right here in Ohio!
 
Thank you guys.  God bless.  (Applause.)  
 
END 
6:39 P.M. EDT
 

Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event in Miami, FL

JW Marriott Marquis
Miami, Florida

7:17 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Everybody, please have a seat.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  It's good to be in Florida.  (Applause.)  It's good to be in Miami.  Thank you so much, everybody.  Thank you. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  (Applause.)  I do. 

Can everybody please give Lidia a big round of applause for the wonderful introduction.  (Applause.)  Give it up for Sheila E.  (Applause.)  I was backstage.  I want to thank an extraordinary Congresswoman and somebody who is just fighting on behalf of families not just here in Florida but all across the country every single day -- my friend, Debbie Wasserman Schultz -- give her a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

To one of my campaign co-chairs who is -- she's putting in a lot of miles, and could not be a more passionate advocate on behalf of the things that we work for -- Eva Longoria.  (Applause.)  We're thrilled to have her here.

I want to thank Kirk Wagar for all the great work here in Florida -- Kirk.  (Applause.)  And finally, I want to thank your former governor, somebody who's been a great friend, Charlie Crist in the house.  (Applause.)  Charlie reminds all of us that the values we're fighting for, they're not Democratic values or Republican values -- they are American values.  And that's why we're here. 

I want to thank everybody for the incredible support.  It is going to make a difference.  But I want everybody to understand we’ve got some work to do.  We’ve got an election to win.  In just over two weeks, on October 27th, Florida gets to start voting early.  And I assume everybody is registered here.  (Applause.)  If you're not, we'll sign you up right now.  (Laughter.)  Or actually, I think the registration deadline was yesterday, so you better have gotten it done.  (Laughter.)  But I'm assuming they wouldn't have let you in if you hadn’t registered.  (Laughter.)   

Everything that we fought for in 2008 is on the line in 2012.  So we are going to have to be fired up, and we’re going to have to be ready to go.  And I’m going to need your help to finish what we started.  (Applause.)

And it’s useful to remember what we’ve done.  Four years ago, I told you we’d end the war in Iraq -- and we did.  (Applause.)  I said that we’d end the war in Afghanistan -- and we are.  I said that we’d refocus on the people who actually attacked us on 9/11 -- and today, al Qaeda is on its heels and Osama bin Laden is dead.  (Applause.)

Four years ago, I promised to cut taxes for middle-class families -- and we have, by $3,600.  I promised to cut taxes for small business owners -- and we have, 18 times.  We got back every dime we used to rescue the financial system, but we also passed a historic law to end taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailouts for good. 

We passed health care reform so that your insurance companies can’t jerk you around anymore, or tell you that being a woman is somehow a preexisting condition.  (Applause.)  

We repealed "don't ask, don't tell," so that nobody is ever kicked out of the military because of who they are or who they love.  (Applause.)  

And when Governor Romney said let’s "let Detroit go bankrupt," we declined his business advice and we reinvented a dying auto industry that is now back on top of the world.  (Applause.)  And that’s not just critical to economies in the Midwest, it’s vital to our economy -- something every American should be proud of.

Today, four years after the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, we’re moving forward again.  People don’t remember the month I was sworn into office, we lost 800,000 jobs.  Our businesses have now added more than 5 million new jobs over the last two and a half years.  (Applause.)  Unemployment has fallen from a peak of 10 percent down to 7.8 percent -- the lowest level since I took office.  More Americans are getting jobs.  Manufacturing is coming back to America.  We signed three trade deals that's helping to open up markets all over the world, including the Latin American market, which is absolutely vital to the economy and Florida and southern Florida. 

Even in the most hard-pressed states like Florida, we’re starting to see home values finally start picking up again.  (Applause.)  So, look, we are not yet where we need to be.  We’ve got a lot more work to do.  And obviously, in a state like Florida that was so hard hit when the housing bubble burst, we’ve got too many friends and neighbors who are looking for work.  We’ve got too many families who are still struggling to pay the bills.  Too many homes are still underwater.  Too many young people are burdened by debt after they graduate from college.

But if there’s one thing I know, it is this -- and that is we have come too far to turn back now.  (Applause.)  The American people have worked too hard to get to this point.  And after all that we have been through together, after all that we have fought for together, why would we go backwards?  Why would we go back to the very same policies that led us to this mess in the first place? 

That is not an option.  I won’t allow that to happen.  You can’t allow it to happen.  And that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States -- because we will not let it happen.  We’re moving forward.  We’re not going backwards.  (Applause.)   

I have seen too much pain and too much struggle to let this country go back to the economic policies that don’t work, and that are at the heart of what Governor Romney is offering.  The centerpiece of his economic plan -- a $5 trillion tax cut that favors those of us who've been extraordinarily successful in this country.  And he’s been pitching this plan for a whole year now; stood up on stage in primary debates and proudly promised that his new tax cut would reduce the tax burden for everybody, including the top 1 percent.

Now, of course, you wouldn’t know that from listening to the latest version of Mitt Romney.  (Laughter.)  I was telling folks -- I spoke at Miami University, and I was saying that after a year in which he was calling himself "severely conservative," he’s now trying to convince us that he was severely kidding about everything.  (Laughter and applause.) These days, whatever you’re for, he’s for.  (Laughter.)  Loves the middle class; loves Medicare; loves teachers.  (Laughter.)  He even said that he loves the most important parts of Obamacare -- loves them.  (Laughter and applause.) 

And when it comes to all the things that he’s actually promised to do as President, suddenly he’s got a case of amnesia.  (Laughter.)  Tax breaks for outsourcers?  I've never heard of it.  Saying we should cut back on teachers?  Doesn’t ring your bell.  (Laughter.)  Kicking 200,000 young Floridians off their parent's insurance plan?  Who, me?  (Laughter.) 

When he’s asked about the cost of his tax plan, he pretends just it doesn’t exist.  What $5 trillion?  I don’t know anything about a $5 trillion tax cut.  Don’t pay any attention to the $5 trillion tax cut on my website.  (Laughter.)  It’s still there.  (Laughter and applause.)

But this has been -- this is not unique to him.  This has been the strategy of the other side for the entire four years that I’ve been in office.  They expect that you’ve forgotten what happened -- that we lost 9 million jobs in the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes as a consequence of misguided policies.  And they think that we haven’t been paying attention now to Governor Romney for the last year and a half.  And he will say whatever it takes to try to close the deal.  He’s counting on the fact that you won’t remember that what he’s selling is exactly what led us to this crisis in the first place.

And so, Florida, part of our task over the next four weeks is to let him know we remember.  We know full well that if he gets a chance, Governor Romney will rubber-stamp the top-down economic policies that have been promoted by his congressional allies, including his running mate -- who will be debating tonight.  And we can’t afford that kind of future.  His plan will not create jobs.  It will not help the middle class.  It will not speed up the recovery -- in fact, it will slow down the recovery. 

And we can’t afford that.  We cannot go back to what we were doing.  Not now.  Not when we’ve come so far.  We’ve got to keep moving forward.  And that’s why I’m running for a second term -- because I see a vision for the future in which everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody is playing by the same rules.  

I know that jobs and prosperity don’t trickle down from the top.  They grow from a strong, thriving middle class and creating ladders of opportunity into that middle class for everybody who is willing to work hard. 

I know that more tax breaks for people who are shipping jobs overseas won’t create jobs.  What does is supporting small businesses, manufacturers who are making products right here in Florida, products stamped with those proud words:  "Made in America."  Instead of providing tax breaks for outsourcing, we have to reward those companies that are investing in creating jobs right here.  And we can do it.  That’s the choice that you face in this election.

We can create more jobs by controlling our own energy.  There are thousands of Floridians right now who are making a great living promoting solar energy and wind energy and clean energy, all across this state.  (Applause.)  We doubled our investment in clean energy, which is creating jobs and is good for our environment.  And we also raised fuel standards so that by the next -- middle of the next decade, your cars and trucks will go twice as far on a gallon of gas.  (Applause.) 

And today, the United States of America is less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the past two decades.  (Applause.)  So we need to build on that progress, not go backwards.  My plan would continue to cut our oil imports in half by investing in the clean energy that’s creating jobs right here -- wind and solar, fuel-efficient cars, long-lasting batteries. 

And we can do so by -- and we can pay for it by no longer giving $4 billion a year in taxpayer subsidies to oil companies that are doing just fine.  We’ll help produce more oil, but we don’t need to give them $4 billion to do it.  Let’s make sure that we don’t lose the race for clean energy to China or other countries.  We need to develop that technology right here in the United States.  (Applause.) 

And it will be good for our environment.  It will do something about carbon in our atmosphere -- and that is not a joke.  That is not a hoax.  That’s our children’s future.  And folks here in Miami understand that better than anybody, because the impact of climate change will be significant on our kids and our grandkids unless we take those steps.  We can't just deny our way out of these things.  It’s a threat to our children’s future.

I believe that we’ve got to have the best education system in the world.  That is economic development.  That's not something separate and apart.  (Applause.)  If our kids have the skills they need to compete, then our economy will grow.  And I’m only here because of the education that I got.  I wasn’t born into wealth or fame.  You hadn’t heard of the Obama name before I ran.  (Laughter.)  Had you?  No.  (Laughter.)  Let’s face it.  First time you heard it, you probably thought the guy might be Japanese -- I don't know.  (Laughter.)  Italian?  Who knows?

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Latino.

THE PRESIDENT:  Latino.  (Laughter and applause.)  Right.  The Obama family from Jalisco.  (Laughter.) 

But education is what gave me opportunity.  It’s what gave so many of you opportunity.  It’s the gateway into a middle-class life.  (Applause.)  So when I hear Governor Romney say hiring more teachers won’t grow the economy over the next four years, I have to say, no, actually it will.  But more importantly, what about our kids over the next 40 years?  What about our economy over the next 40 years?

We can get education to pay for tax breaks we don't need, or we can recruit 100,000 new math and science teachers.  We can provide better early childhood education.  We can train 2 million more workers at community colleges.  (Applause.)  We can lower the cost of tuition for our young people.  That's an agenda for growth.  That's what creates opportunity.  That's what we can do together.  And that's why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States.  (Applause.)  Four more.

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years! 

THE PRESIDENT:  I mentioned that we ended the war in Iraq, that we’re ending the war in Afghanistan.  I want to use that money to pay down our deficit, put our people back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools all across America.  Right here in Florida, we’ve got huge projects that are going up all over the state that will build the infrastructure to facilitate more trade, move more goods more efficiently, help businesses grow.  And we have the resources to do it if we make good decisions. 

But Governor Romney said it was "tragic" to end the war in Iraq.  He repeated this last week, said we should still have troops on the ground in Iraq.  And I fundamentally disagree with that.  I think bringing troops home was the right thing to do.  (Applause.) 

And every brave American who wears our country’s uniform should know we will make sure as long as I’m Commander-in-Chief we’ve got the strongest military in the world.  And when our troops come home and take off their uniform, we will serve them as well as they’ve served us -- because if you fought for this country, you shouldn’t have to fight for a job or a roof over your heard when you come home.  (Applause.)

And finally, we’ll cut the deficit by $4 trillion, but we’re going to do it in a sensible way.  We’ve already cut a trillion, working with Democrats and Republicans.  So we can cut more spending.  But we’re not going to be able to reduce our deficit in a serious way unless the wealthiest households are willing to go back, for incomes over $250,000, to the same rate that we were paying under Bill Clinton -- when the economy created nearly 23 million new jobs, we went from deficit to surplus, and businesses and investors did very well -- because the economy grows best that way, when it’s broad-based and everybody has a stake in how the economy grows.

And I understand Governor Romney disagrees with this.  He did an interview and he says he thinks it’s fair that he pays a lower tax rate making $20 million a year than the teacher who’s makes $50,000.  I just think that’s wrong.  And if we’re going to be serious -- (applause) -- if we’re going to be serious about reducing the deficit then we’ve got to make choices. 

And the choice I make is not asking middle-class families to give up their home mortgage deduction or tax credits they get for raising their kids just to pay for a tax cut for me.  I’m not going to ask students to pay more for college, or kick kids off of Head Start programs, or eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans who are poor or elderly or disabled just so I can get a tax break. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thank you.  (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT:  You’re welcome.  (Applause.) 

And by the way, the math still doesn’t add up in terms of their plan, because when Governor Romney says he can cut taxes, increase military spending, close the deficit -- all by getting rid of Planned Parenthood and Big Bird -- (laughter) -- he needs a calculator because there’s something wrong with his math.  He says, don’t worry, new tax cuts will pay for themselves.  That is what we heard exactly from President Bush back in 2000, 2001.  And it didn’t work.  And we know our plan does.

So this is the choice that we face.  This is what the election comes down to.  And I said at the convention, over and over again, we’re told by our opponents that since government can’t do everything, it should do almost nothing.  It’s sort of a "you’re on your own" philosophy.  If you don’t have health insurance, hope you don’t get sick.  (Laughter.)  If you can’t afford to start a business or go to college, borrow money from your parents.  (Laughter.) 

That is not who we are.  That’s not how America became great.  We believe in individual initiative and we don’t believe in helping people who aren’t willing to help themselves, but we also understand there are some things we do better together.  We understand that in America it’s not just about what can be done for us, but what is done by us, together as one nation, as one people. 

And that’s what 2008 was about.  We fought some fierce battles over the last four years, but everything we’ve gotten done, it happened, ultimately, because the American people came together -- black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, able, disabled -- people came together.  (Applause.) 

You’re the reason Florida seniors are paying $600 less on their prescription drugs because of Obamacare.  You did that.  You’re the reason that a working family in this state was able to save their home from foreclosure. 

There was somebody in the audience today, while we were taking a picture, who talked about their mom -- 90 years old, because of the mortgage modification program we put into place, saved her home, lives with her sister -- 90 and 95.  You did that, though.  You did that.  (Applause.)

That’s what’s at stake.  You made that happen.  The kids at Gainesville, or Tallahassee, or here in Miami who are getting an education -- maybe the first in their family, the veterans who are going to college on the New GI Bill -- that’s what we were fighting for.  (Applause.) 

You’re the reason that there are young immigrants all across this state who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our flag, and they don’t have to fear now that they’re going to be deported from the only country they call home.  (Applause.)  You made that happen.

You ended "don't ask, don't tell.”  You allowed us to bring our troops home so their families could greet them and say" "Welcome home."  (Applause.)  You did that.

And so you can’t afford to turn away now.  You can't.  I know that sometimes in politics folks are excited and they have fun, you have nice events like this and everybody gets dressed up -- and you guys are looking very good.  (Laughter.)  But then sometimes when it gets tougher, people get discouraged and they’re wondering, well, I don’t know, is change really possible?  And we get cynical and we get doubtful.  It happens to everybody; there’s nothing wrong with that.  It happens in our lives; it happens in our politics.  It happens in everything that we do.  But you can't succumb to that. 

And the reason is that when we don’t get involved, when we don’t insert ourselves into the process, when your voices aren’t heard, then somebody else fills the void -- the folks who are writing $10 million checks to try to buy this election; the folks who are trying to make it harder for Floridians to vote; the politicians in Washington who are trying to tell women that they shouldn’t make their own decisions when it comes to their health care.  (Applause.)  So you’re the ones who have to make sure that doesn’t happen.  

That sign there, "Forward," that’s a message to me, but it’s also a message to you.  You’ve got that power, that capacity.  And so when you think about the next 26 days, I would implore you to ask yourselves, is there something else I can do?  Is there some little bit of difference that I can make?

Here in Florida, last time in 2008, if you go precinct by precinct, it’s a difference of a couple of hundred votes.  It may be just that little bit of extra effort is what makes a difference.  And you will see me working harder than I’ve ever worked in my life, because every time I meet somebody who tells me that their mom was on the verge of losing their home, or their mom was on the verge of not being able to get treatment for a potentially deadly disease; every time I meet a young person who says I can go to college now because that change you made in the student loan program made it possible; every time I meet one of these Dreamer kids who explains how they feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off their shoulders; every time I think about all the people who are working so hard in this country and aren’t asking for much, just asking for a shot -- every time I think of them and knowing that they’ve got to have somebody in Washington who’s fighting for them and who’s thinking about them every single day -- (applause) -- that’s going to make me work as hard as I know how over the next 26 days and over the next four years.  And I hope you have that same feeling.  (Applause.) 

We cannot let up now.  We cannot let up.  I need you focused.  I need you ready to fight.  And if we do, we’re going to win Florida.  And when we win Florida, we’re going to win this election.  We’re going to finish what we started, and remind the world why the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.  (Applause.) 

Thank you, everybody.  God bless you.  Let’s go get this done.  (Applause.) 

END
7:46 P.M. EDT