Obama_town_hall_post.txt

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 out 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've invested in solar and wind and biofuels, energy-efficient cars.
We've got to reduce our deficit, but we've got to do it in a balanced way, asking the wealthy to pay a little bit more along with cuts so that we can invest in education like yours.
 And let's take the money that we've been spending on war over the last decade to rebuild America: roads, bridges, schools.
 We do those things, not only is your future going to be bright, but America's future is going to be bright as well.
Candy, what Governor Romney said just isn't true.
 He wanted to take them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open, and we would have lost a million jobs.
 And that—don't take my word for it.
 Take the executives at GM and Chrysler, some of whom are Republicans, may even support Governor Romney, but they'll tell you his prescription wasn't going to work.
And Governor Romney 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 4 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.
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.
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 my—the previous President was an oil man.
 And natural gas isn't just appearing magically; we're encouraging it and working with the industry.
And when I hear Governor Romney say he's a big coal guy, I mean, keep in mind, when—Governor, when you were Governor of Massachusetts, you stood in front of a coal plant and pointed at it and said, "This plant kills," and took great pride in shutting it down.
 And now suddenly, you're a big champion of coal.
So what I've tried to do is be consistent.
 With respect to something like coal, we made the largest investment in clean coal technology to make sure that even as we're producing more coal, we're producing it cleaner and smarter.
 Same thing with oil.
 Same thing with natural gas.
And the proof is our oil imports are down to the lowest levels in 20 years.
 Oil production is up, natural gas production is up, and most importantly, we're also starting to build cars that are more efficient.
 And that's creating jobs.
 That means those cars can be exported 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 4 years.
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.
 [Laughter]
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 that—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.
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 4 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 2 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.
No, it's not settled.
 Look, the cost of lowering rates for everybody across the board 20 percent, along with what he also wants to do in terms of eliminating the estate tax, along what he wants to do in terms of 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.
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 this is 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, when she had no way of finding out about it.
 So we fixed that.
And that's an example of the kind of advocacy that we need, because women are increasingly the breadwinners in the family.
 This is not just a women's issue.
 This is a family issue; this is a middle class issue.
 And that's why we've got to fight for it.
It also means that we've got to make sure that young people like yourself are able to afford a college education.
 Earlier, Governor Romney talked about—he wants to make Pell grants and other education accessible for young people.
 Well, the truth of the matter is, is that that's exactly what we've done.
 We've expanded Pell grants for millions of people, including millions of young women all across the country.
 We did it by taking $60 billion that was going to banks and lenders as middlemen for the student loan program, and we said, let's just cut out the middleman.
 Let's give the money directly to students.
 And as a consequence, we've seen millions of young people be able to afford college, and that's going to make sure that young women are going to be able to compete in that marketplace.
But we've got to enforce the laws, which is what we are doing.
 And we've also got to make sure that in every walk of life, we do not tolerate discrimination.
 That's been one of the hallmarks of my administration.
 I'm going to continue to push on this issue for the next 4 years.
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.
 That's a part of what I'm fighting for as President of the United States.
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.
That's—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.
Well, we've gone through a tough 4 years, there's no doubt about it.
 But 4 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 Qaida's leadership like never before, and Usama 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.
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.
Good, I look forward to it.
 Was it Lorena? Lorraine.
 We are a nation of immigrants.
 I mean, we're just a few miles away from Ellis Island.
 We all understand what this country has become because talent from all around the world wants to come here: people who 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 that 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've 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.
I do want to make sure that we just understand something.
 Governor Romney says he wasn't referring to Arizona as a model for the Nation.
 His top adviser on immigration is the guy who designed the Arizona law, the entirety of it.
 Not E-Verify, the whole thing.
 That's his policy.
 And it's a bad policy.
 And it won't help us grow.
Look, when we think about immigration, we have to understand, there are folks all around the world who still see America as the land of promise.
 And they provide us energy, and they provide us innovation.
 And they start companies like Intel and Google, and we want to encourage that.
Now, we've got to make sure that we do it in a smart way, 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——
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 their families.
 So nobody is more concerned about their safety and security than I am.
So as soon as we found out that the Benghazi consulate was being overrun, I was on the phone with my national security team, and I gave them three instructions.
 Number one, beef up our security and procedures not just in Libya, but 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 Qaida 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.
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 in my team—whether the Secretary of State, our U.
N.
 Ambassador, anybody on my team—would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, Governor, is offensive.
 That's not what we do.
 That's not what I do as President.
 That's not what I do as Commander in Chief.
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 2 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.
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——
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.
 That's what reporters called it.
 And as far as currency manipulation, the currency has actually gone up 11 percent since I've been President because we have pushed them hard.
 And we've put unprecedented trade pressure on China.
 That's why exports have significantly increased under my Presidency.
 That's going to help to create jobs here.
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.
Barry, I think a lot of this campaign, maybe over the last 4 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 considered 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 4 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 4 years.