Joe Biden vs. Paul Ryan - The Complete Vice Presidential Debate
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0:03 - 0:07MARTHA RADDATZ: Good evening, and welcome
to the first and only vice presidential debate -
0:07 - 0:14of 2012, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential
Debates. I’m Martha Raddatz of ABC News, -
0:14 - 0:20and I am honored to moderate this debate between
two men who have dedicated much of their lives -
0:20 - 0:21to public service.
-
0:21 - 0:26Tonight’s debate is divided between domestic
and foreign policy issues. -
0:26 - 0:30And I’m going to move back and forth between
foreign and domestic since that is what a -
0:30 - 0:33vice president or president would have to
do. -
0:33 - 0:38We will have nine different segments. At the
beginning of each segment, I will ask both -
0:38 - 0:43candidates a question, and they will each
have two minutes to answer. Then I will encourage -
0:43 - 0:49a discussion between the candidates with follow-up
questions. By coin toss, it has been determined -
0:49 - 0:53that Vice President Biden will be first to
answer the opening question. -
0:53 - 0:57We have a wonderful audience here at Centre
College tonight. You will no doubt hear their -
0:57 - 1:04enthusiasm at the end of the debate and right
now as we welcome Vice President Biden and -
1:04 - 1:07Congressman Paul Ryan. (Applause.)
-
1:07 - 1:19Very nice to see you. Very nice to see you.
-
1:19 - 1:27VICE PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN: How you doing?
-
1:27 - 1:34MS. RADDATZ: Hey, you got your little wave
to the families in. That’s great. -
1:34 - 1:39Good evening, gentlemen. It really is an honor
to be here with both of you. -
1:39 - 1:44I would like to begin with Libya on a rather
somber note. One month ago tonight, on the -
1:44 - 1:51anniversary of 9/11, Ambassador Chris Stevens
and three other brave Americans were killed -
1:51 - 1:56in a terrorist attack in Benghazi. The State
Department has now made clear there were no -
1:56 - 2:04protesters there. It was a pre-planned assault
by heavily armed men. Wasn’t this a massive -
2:04 - 2:06intelligence failure, Vice President Biden?
-
2:06 - 2:11VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: What it was, it was
a tragedy, Martha. It -- Chris Stevens was -
2:11 - 2:13one of our best. We lost three other brave
Americans. -
2:13 - 2:19And I can make absolutely two commitments
to you and all of the American people tonight: -
2:19 - 2:24One, we will find and bring to justice the
men who did this. -
2:24 - 2:28And secondly, we will get to the bottom of
it, and whatever -- wherever the facts lead -
2:28 - 2:33us, wherever they lead us, w will make clear
to the American public, because whatever mistakes -
2:33 - 2:35were made will not be made again.
-
2:35 - 2:39When you’re looking at a president, Martha,
it seems to me that you should take a look -
2:39 - 2:44at his most important responsibility. That’s
carrying forward the national security of -
2:44 - 2:47the country. And the best way to do that is
take a look at how he’s handled he issues -
2:47 - 2:48of the day.
-
2:48 - 2:54On Iraq, the president said he would end the
war. Governor Romney said that was a tragic -
2:54 - 2:58mistake; we should have left -- that he ended
it -- Governor Romney said that was a tragic -
2:58 - 3:01mistake; we should have left 30,000 troops
there. -
3:01 - 3:06With regard to Afghanistan, he said he will
end the war in 2014. Governor Romney said -
3:06 - 3:11we should not set a date, number one, and
number two, with regard to 2014, it depends. -
3:11 - 3:17When it came to Osama bin Laden, the president,
the first day in office -- I was sitting with -
3:17 - 3:21him in the Oval Office. He called in the CIA
and signed an order saying, my highest priority -
3:21 - 3:23is to get bin Laden.
-
3:23 - 3:28Prior to the election, prior to the -- him
being sworn in, Governor Romney was asked -
3:28 - 3:32a question about how he would proceed. He
said, I wouldn’t move heaven and earth to -
3:32 - 3:36get bin Laden. He didn’t understand it was
more than about taking a -- a murderer off -
3:36 - 3:41the battlefield; it was about restoring America’s
heart and letting terrorists around the world -
3:41 - 3:47know if you do harm to America, we will track
you to the gates of hell, if need be. -
3:47 - 3:53And lastly, the -- the president of the United
States has -- has led with a steady hand and -
3:53 - 4:00clear vision. Governor Romney, the opposite.
The last thing we need now is another war. -
4:00 - 4:02MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan.
-
4:02 - 4:08REP. RYAN: (Sighs.) We mourn the loss of these
four Americans who were murdered. When you -
4:08 - 4:13take a look at what has happened just in the
last few weeks, they sent the U.N. ambassador -
4:13 - 4:18out to say that this was because of a protest
and a YouTube video. It took the president -
4:18 - 4:24two weeks to acknowledge that this was a terrorist
attack. He went to the U.N., and in his speech -
4:24 - 4:28at the U.N. he said six times -- he talked
about the YouTube video. -
4:28 - 4:33Look, if we are hit by terrorists, we’re
going to call it for what it is, a terrorist -
4:33 - 4:39attack. Our ambassador in Paris has a Marine
detachment guarding him. Shouldn’t we have -
4:39 - 4:45a Marine detachment guarding our ambassador
in Benghazi, a place where we knew that there -
4:45 - 4:53was an al-Qaida cell with arms? This is becoming
more troubling by the day. They first blamed -
4:53 - 4:57the YouTube video; now they’re trying to
blame the Romney-Ryan ticket for making this -
4:57 - 4:58an issue.
-
4:58 - 5:04And with respect to Iraq, we had the same
position before the withdrawal, which was -
5:04 - 5:09we agreed with the Obama administration: Let’s
have a Status of Forces Agreement to make -
5:09 - 5:14sure that we secure our gains. The vice president
was put in charge of those negotiations by -
5:14 - 5:18President Obama, and they failed to get the
agreement. We don’t have a Status of Forces -
5:18 - 5:22Agreement because they failed to get one.
That’s what we are talking about. -
5:22 - 5:27And when it comes to our veterans, we owe
them a great debt of gratitude for what they’ve -
5:27 - 5:33done for us, including your son Beau. But
we also want to make sure that we don’t -
5:33 - 5:35lose the things we fought so hard to get.
-
5:35 - 5:40And with respect to Afghanistan and the 2014
deadline, we agree with a 2014 transition. -
5:40 - 5:44But what we also want to do is make sure that
we’re not projecting weakness abroad, and -
5:44 - 5:50that’s what’s happening here. This Benghazi
issue would be a tragedy in and of itself. -
5:50 - 5:54But unfortunately it’s indicative of a broader
problem, and that is what we are watching -
5:54 - 5:59on our TV screens is the unraveling of the
Obama foreign policy, which is making the -
5:59 - 6:02world more -- more chaotic and us less safe.
-
6:02 - 6:07MS. RADDATZ: I just want to talk to you about
right in the middle of the crisis. Governor -
6:07 - 6:11Romney -- and you’re talking about this
again tonight -- talked about the weakness, -
6:11 - 6:17talked about apologies from the Obama administration.
Was that really appropriate right in the middle -
6:17 - 6:18of the crisis?
-
6:18 - 6:23REP. RYAN: On that same day, the Obama administration
had the exact same position. Let’s recall -
6:23 - 6:28that they disavowed their own statement that
they had put out earlier in the day in Cairo. -
6:28 - 6:34So we had the same position, but we will -- it’s
never to early to speak out for our values. -
6:34 - 6:37We should have spoken out right away when
the Green Revolution was up and starting, -
6:37 - 6:42when the mullahs in Iran were attacking their
people. We should not have called Bashar Assad -
6:42 - 6:48a reformer when he was turning his Russian-provided
guns on his own people. We should always stand -
6:48 - 6:54up for peace, for democracy, for individual
rights, and we should not be imposing these -
6:54 - 6:59devastating defense cuts, because what that
does when we equivocate on our values, when -
6:59 - 7:01we show that we’re cutting our own defense
-- -
7:01 - 7:01VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Am I going to get to
say anything here? -
7:01 - 7:05REP. RYAN: -- it makes us more weak. It projects
weakness, and when we look weak, our adversaries -
7:05 - 7:09are much more willing to test us, they’re
more brazen in their attacks, and our allies -
7:09 - 7:09are less willing to --
-
7:09 - 7:12VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: With all due respect,
that’s a bunch of malarkey. In fact -- -
7:12 - 7:13MS. RADDATZ: And why is that so?
-
7:13 - 7:16VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Because not a single
thing he said is accurate. First of all -- -
7:16 - 7:17MS. RADDATZ: Be specific.
-
7:17 - 7:22VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I will be very specific.
Number one, the -- this lecture on embassy -
7:22 - 7:30security -- the congressman here cut embassy
security in his budget by $300 million below -
7:30 - 7:34what we asked for, number one. So much for
the embassy security piece. -
7:34 - 7:39Number two, Governor Romney, before he knew
the facts, before he even knew that our ambassador -
7:39 - 7:45was killed, he was out making a political
statement which was panned by the media around -
7:45 - 7:51the world. And this talk about this -- this
weakness, I -- I don’t understand what my -
7:51 - 7:53friend’s talking about here.
-
7:53 - 7:57We -- this is a president who’s gone out
and done everything he has said he was going -
7:57 - 8:00to do. This is the guy who’s repaired our
alliances so the rest of the world follows -
8:00 - 8:01us again. This is the guy who brought the
entire world, including Russia and China, -
8:01 - 8:09to bring about the most devastating, most
devastating -- the most devastating efforts -
8:09 - 8:15on Iran to make sure that they in fact stop
with their -- look, I -- I -- I just -- I -
8:15 - 8:17mean, these guys bet against America all the
time. -
8:17 - 8:18REP. RYAN: I --
-
8:18 - 8:20MS. RADDATZ: Can we talk about -- let me go
back to Libya. -
8:20 - 8:20VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Yeah, sure.
-
8:20 - 8:27MS. RADDATZ: What were you first told about
the attack? Why were people talking about -
8:27 - 8:34protests? When people in the consulate first
saw armed men attacking with guns, there were -
8:34 - 8:36no protesters. Why did that go on for weeks?
-
8:36 - 8:38VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Because that’s exactly
what we were told -- -
8:38 - 8:39MS. RADDATZ: By who?
-
8:39 - 8:41VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- by the intelligence
community. The intelligence community told -
8:41 - 8:46us that. As they learned more facts about
exactly what happened, they changed their -
8:46 - 8:51assessment. That’s why there’s also an
investigation headed by Tom Pickering, a leading -
8:51 - 8:55diplomat in the -- from the Reagan years,
who is doing an investigation as to whether -
8:55 - 8:59or not there were any lapses, what the lapses
were, so that they will never happen again. -
8:59 - 8:59But --
-
8:59 - 9:01MS. RADDATZ: And they wanted more security
there. -
9:01 - 9:05VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, we weren’t told
they wanted more security again. We did not -
9:05 - 9:10know they wanted more security again. And
by the way, at the time we were told exactly -
9:10 - 9:16-- we said exactly what the intelligence community
told us that they knew. That was the assessment. -
9:16 - 9:20And as the intelligence community changed
their view, we made it clear they changed -
9:20 - 9:23their view. That’s why I said, we will get
to the bottom of this. -
9:23 - 9:28You know, usually when there’s a crisis,
we pull together. We pull together as a nation. -
9:28 - 9:32But as I said, even before we knew what happened
to the ambassador, the governor was holding -
9:32 - 9:36a press conference -- was holding a press
conference. That’s not presidential leadership. -
9:36 - 9:42MS. RADDATZ: Mr. Ryan, I want to ask you about
-- the Romney campaign talks a lot about no -
9:42 - 9:47apologies. He has a book called “No Apologies.”
Should the U.S. have apologized for Americans -
9:47 - 9:54burning Qurans in Afghanistan? Should the
U.S. apologize for U.S. Marines urinating -
9:54 - 9:55on Taliban corpses?
-
9:55 - 10:01REP. RYAN: Oh, gosh, yes. Urinating on Taliban
corpses? What we should not apologize for -
10:01 - 10:01--
-
10:01 - 10:01MS. RADDATZ: Burning Qurans (immediately ?)?
-
10:01 - 10:05REP. RYAN: What -- what we should not be apologizing
for are standing up for our values. What we -
10:05 - 10:11should not be doing is saying to the Egyptian
people, while Mubarak is cracking down on -
10:11 - 10:15them, that he’s a good guy and then the
next week say he ought to go. What we should -
10:15 - 10:21not be doing is rejecting claims for -- calls
for more security in our barracks, in our -
10:21 - 10:26Marine -- we need Marines in Benghazi when
the commander on the ground says we need more -
10:26 - 10:27forces for security.
-
10:27 - 10:31There were requests for extra security. Those
requests were not honored. -
10:31 - 10:38Look, this was the anniversary of 9/11. It
was Libya, a country we knew we had al-Qaida -
10:38 - 10:43cells there. As we know, al-Qaida and its
affiliates are on the rise in northern Africa. -
10:43 - 10:49And we did not give our ambassador in Benghazi
a Marine detachment? Of course there is an -
10:49 - 10:53investigation so we can make sure that this
never happens again. But when it comes to -
10:53 - 10:56speaking up for our values, we should not
apologize for those. -
10:56 - 11:01Here is the problem. Look at all the various
issues out there and that’s unraveling before -
11:01 - 11:05our eyes. The vice president talks about sanctions
on Iran. They got -- we’ve had four -- -
11:05 - 11:09MS. RADDATZ: Let’s move to Iran. I’d actually
like to move to Iran because there is really -
11:09 - 11:11no bigger national security --
-
11:11 - 11:11REP. RYAN: Absolutely.
-
11:11 - 11:15MS. RADDATZ: -- this country is facing. Both
President Obama and Governor Romney have said -
11:15 - 11:22they will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear
weapon, even if that means military action. -
11:22 - 11:26Last week former Defense Secretary Bob Gates
said a strike on Iran’s facilities would -
11:26 - 11:33not work and, quote, could prove catastrophic,
haunting us for generations. Can the two of -
11:33 - 11:40you be absolutely clear and specific to the
American people how effective would a military -
11:40 - 11:42strike be? Congressman Ryan.
-
11:42 - 11:46REP. RYAN: We cannot allow Iran to gain a
nuclear weapons capability. -
11:46 - 11:52Now, let’s take a look at where we’ve
gone -- come from. When Barack Obama was elected, -
11:52 - 11:57they had enough fissile material, nuclear
material, to make one bomb. Now they have -
11:57 - 12:00enough for five. They’re racing toward a
nuclear weapon. They’re four years closer -
12:00 - 12:04toward a nuclear weapons capability. We’ve
had four different sanctions at the U.N. on -
12:04 - 12:09Iran, three from the Bush administration,
one here. And the only reason we got it is -
12:09 - 12:13because Russia watered it down and prevented
the -- the sanctions from hitting the central -
12:13 - 12:14bank.
-
12:14 - 12:17Mitt Romney proposed these sanctions in 2007.
In Congress, I’ve been fighting for these -
12:17 - 12:22sanctions since 2009. The administration was
blocking us every step of the way. -
12:22 - 12:26Only because we had strong bipartisan support
for these tough sanctions were we able to -
12:26 - 12:31overrule their objections and put them in
spite of the administration. Imagine what -
12:31 - 12:36would have happened if we had these sanctions
in place earlier. You think Iran’s not brazen? -
12:36 - 12:40Look at what they’re doing. They’re stepping
up their terrorist attacks. They tried a terrorist -
12:40 - 12:44attack in the United States last year when
they tried to blow up the Saudi ambassador -
12:44 - 12:46at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
-
12:46 - 12:51And talk about credibility. When this administration
says that all options are on the table, they -
12:51 - 12:56send out senior administration officials that
send all these mixed signals. -
12:56 - 13:01And so in order solve this peacefully, which
is everybody’s goal, you have to have the -
13:01 - 13:05ayatollahs change their minds. Look at where
they are. They’re moving faster toward a -
13:05 - 13:10nuclear weapon. It’s because this administration
has no credibility on this issue. It’s because -
13:10 - 13:15this administration watered down sanctions,
delayed sanctions, tried to stop us from putting -
13:15 - 13:19the tough sanctions in place. Now we have
them in place because of Congress. They say -
13:19 - 13:22the military option’s on the table but it’s
not being viewed as credible, and the key -
13:22 - 13:28is to do this peacefully, is to make sure
that we have credibility. Under a Romney administration, -
13:28 - 13:30we will have credibility on this issue.
-
13:30 - 13:31MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden.
-
13:31 - 13:34VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Incredible. (Chuckles.)
-
13:34 - 13:40Look, imagine had we let the Republican Congress
work out the sanctions. You think there’s -
13:40 - 13:46any possibility the entire world would have
joined us, Russia and China, all of our allies? -
13:46 - 13:53These are the most crippling sanctions in
the history of sanctions, period, period. -
13:53 - 13:57When Governor Romney’s asked about it, he
said, we got to keep these sanctions. When -
13:57 - 14:00they said, well, you’re talking about doing
more, what are you -- are you -- you’re -
14:00 - 14:01going to go to war? Is that you want to do
now? -
14:01 - 14:02REP. RYAN: We want to prevent war!
-
14:02 - 14:04VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Inaudible) -- and I
-- the interesting thing is, how they’re -
14:04 - 14:07going to prevent war. How are they going to
prevent war if they say that there’s nothing -
14:07 - 14:12more that we -- that they say we should do
than what we’ve already done, number one? -
14:12 - 14:18And number two, with regard to the ability
of the United States to take action militarily, -
14:18 - 14:22it is -- it is not in my purview to talk about
classified information. -
14:22 - 14:29But we feel quite confident we could deal
a serious blow to the Iranians. But number -
14:29 - 14:35two, the Iranians are -- the Israelis and
the United States -- our military and intelligence -
14:35 - 14:40communities are absolutely the same exact
place in terms of how close -- how close the -
14:40 - 14:47Iranians are to getting a nuclear weapon.
They are a good way away. There is no difference -
14:47 - 14:49between our view and theirs.
-
14:49 - 14:54When my friend talks about fissile material,
they have to take this highly enriched uranium, -
14:54 - 15:00get it from 20 percent up. Then they have
to be able to have something to put it in. -
15:00 - 15:06There is no weapon that the Iranians have
at this point. Both the Israelis and we know -
15:06 - 15:12we’ll know if they start the process of
building a weapon. So all this bluster I keep -
15:12 - 15:17hearing, all this loose talk -- what are they
talking about? Are you talking about to be -
15:17 - 15:21more credible? What -- what more can the president
do? Stand before the United Nations, tell -
15:21 - 15:27the whole world, directly communicate to the
ayatollah: We will not let them acquire a -
15:27 - 15:31nuclear weapon, period, unless he’s talking
about going to war. -
15:31 - 15:32REP. RYAN: Martha, let’s just --
-
15:32 - 15:33MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan.
-
15:33 - 15:38REP. RYAN: -- let’s look at this from the
view of the ayatollahs. What do they see? -
15:38 - 15:43They see this administration trying to water
down sanctions in Congress for over two years. -
15:43 - 15:48They’re moving faster toward a nuclear weapon;
they’re spinning the centrifuges faster. -
15:48 - 15:52They see us saying, when we come into the
administration, when they’re sworn in, we -
15:52 - 15:58need more space with our ally Israel. They
see President Obama in New York City the same -
15:58 - 16:02day Bibi Netanyahu is, and he’s -- instead
of meeting with him goes on a -- on a daily -
16:02 - 16:09talk show. They see -- when we say that these
options are on the table, the secretary of -
16:09 - 16:15defense walked them back. They are not changing
their mind. That’s what we have to do, is -
16:15 - 16:17change their mind so they stop pursuing nuclear
weapons, and they’re going faster. -
16:17 - 16:23MS. RADDATZ: How will you do it so quickly?
Look, you both saw Benjamin Netanyahu hold -
16:23 - 16:29up that picture of a bomb with the red line
and talking about the red line being in spring. -
16:29 - 16:36So can you solve this -- if the Romney-Ryan
ticket is elected, can you solve this in two -
16:36 - 16:38months before spring and avoid nuclear --
-
16:38 - 16:41REP. RYAN: We -- we can debate a timeline.
-
16:41 - 16:41MS. RADDATZ: (Inaudible.)
-
16:41 - 16:45REP. RYAN: We can debate the timeline, whether
there’s -- it’s that short a time or longer. -
16:45 - 16:49I -- I agree that it’s probably longer.
Number two, it’s all about credibility. -
16:49 - 16:51MS. RADDATZ: You don’t agree with that bomb
and what the Israelis -- -
16:51 - 16:51VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: No, look -- (inaudible)
-- -
16:51 - 16:52REP. RYAN: (Inaudible) -- look, we -- we both
-- (inaudible) -- -
16:52 - 16:53MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden.
-
16:53 - 16:58REP. RYAN: I don’t want to go into classified
stuff, but we both agree that to do this peacefully, -
16:58 - 17:02you’ve got to get them to change their minds.
They’re not changing their minds, and look -
17:02 - 17:02at what this administration does --
-
17:02 - 17:03MS. RADDATZ: But what do you do -- (inaudible)
-- -
17:03 - 17:05VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Let me tell you what
the ayatollah sees. -
17:05 - 17:05REP. RYAN: You have to have credibility.
-
17:05 - 17:10VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: The ayatollah sees his
economy being crippled. The ayatollah sees -
17:10 - 17:17that there are 50 percent fewer exports of
oil. He sees the currency going into the tank. -
17:17 - 17:22He sees the economy going into free fall,
and he sees the world for the first time totally -
17:22 - 17:25united in opposition to him getting a nuclear
weapon. -
17:25 - 17:30Now, with regard to Bibi, he’s been my friend
for 39 years. The president has met with Bibi -
17:30 - 17:35a dozen times. He’s spoken to Bibi Netanyahu
as much as he’s spoken to anybody. The idea -
17:35 - 17:40that we’re not -- I was in a -- just before
he went to the U.N., I was in a conference -
17:40 - 17:45call with the -- with the president, with
him talking to Bibi, for well over an hour -
17:45 - 17:50in -- in -- in -- in -- in stark relief and
detail about what was going on. This is a -
17:50 - 17:52bunch of stuff. Look, here’s the deal --
-
17:52 - 17:53MS. RADDATZ: What does that mean, “a bunch
of stuff”? -
17:53 - 17:55VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, it means it’s
simply inaccurate. -
17:55 - 17:56REP. RYAN: It’s Irish. (Chuckles.)
-
17:56 - 17:59VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: It is. (Laughter.) We
Irish call it malarkey. -
17:59 - 18:00MS. RADDATZ: Thanks for the translation. OK.
-
18:00 - 18:03VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: No, we Irish call it
malarkey. (Laughter.) But last thing: the -
18:03 - 18:08secretary of defense has made it absolutely
clear. He didn’t walk anything back. We -
18:08 - 18:15will not allow the Iranians to get a nuclear
weapon. What Bibi held up there was when they -
18:15 - 18:21get to the point where they can enrich uranium
enough to put into a weapon, they don’t -
18:21 - 18:23have a weapon to put it into.
-
18:23 - 18:29Let’s all calm down a little bit here. Iran
is more isolated today than when we took office. -
18:29 - 18:33It was on the ascendancy when we took office.
It is totally isolated. -
18:33 - 18:33MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan --
-
18:33 - 18:35VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I don’t know what
world you guys are in. -
18:35 - 18:35MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan --
-
18:35 - 18:39REP. RYAN: Thank -- thank heavens we have
these sanctions in place. It’s in spite -
18:39 - 18:39of their opposition.
-
18:39 - 18:40VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.) Oh, God.
-
18:40 - 18:45REP. RYAN: They have given 20 waivers to this
sanction. And all I have to point to are the -
18:45 - 18:49results. They’re four years closer toward
a nuclear weapon. I think that case speaks -
18:49 - 18:50for itself.
-
18:50 - 18:51MS. RADDATZ: Can you tell the American people
what’s worse -- -
18:51 - 18:51VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: By the way, they’re
-- no, no, they are not four years closer -
18:51 - 18:52to a nuclear weapon.
-
18:52 - 18:54MS. RADDATZ: -- another war in the Middle
East or -- -
18:54 - 18:58VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: They’re -- they’re
closer to being able to get enough fissile -
18:58 - 19:01material to put in a weapon if they had a
weapon. But -- -
19:01 - 19:03MS. RADDATZ: You’re acting a little bit
like they don’t want one, though. -
19:03 - 19:06VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Oh, I didn’t say -- no,
I’m not saying -- (look ?), facts matter, -
19:06 - 19:12Martha. You’re a foreign policy expert.
Facts matter. All this loose talk about them -
19:12 - 19:16-- all they have to do is get to -- enrich
uranium in a certain amount and they have -
19:16 - 19:23a weapon -- not true. Not true. They are more
-- and if we ever have to take action, unlike -
19:23 - 19:29where we took office, we will have the world
behind us, and that matters. That matters. -
19:29 - 19:35MS. RADDATZ: What about Bob Gates’ statement?
Let me read that again: “Could prove catastrophic, -
19:35 - 19:37haunting us for generations.”
-
19:37 - 19:40VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: He is right. It could
prove catastrophic if we do -- we do it with -
19:40 - 19:41-- (inaudible) --
-
19:41 - 19:41MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan?
-
19:41 - 19:46REP. RYAN: And what it does is it -- and it
undermines our credibility by backing up the -
19:46 - 19:51point when we make it that all options are
on the table. That’s the point. The ayatollahs -
19:51 - 19:56see these kinds of statements, and they think,
I’m going to get a nuclear weapon. When -
19:56 - 20:02-- when we see the kind of equivocation that
took place because this administration wanted -
20:02 - 20:06a precondition policy -- so when the Green
Revolution started up, they were silent for -
20:06 - 20:13nine days. When they see us putting -- when
they see us putting daylight between ourselves -
20:13 - 20:18and our allies in Israel, that gives them
encouragement. When they see Russia watering -
20:18 - 20:23down any further sanctions -- and the only
reason we got a U.N. sanction is because Russia -
20:23 - 20:26watered it down and prevented these -- (there
?) from being sanctions in the first place. -
20:26 - 20:31So when they see this kind of activity, they
are encouraged to continue, and that’s the -
20:31 - 20:31problem.
-
20:31 - 20:32VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha, let me tell
you what Russia’s -- (inaudible) -- -
20:32 - 20:36MS. RADDATZ: What -- let me ask you what’s
worse: war in the Middle East, another war -
20:36 - 20:37in the Middle East, or a nuclear-armed Iran?
-
20:37 - 20:39REP. RYAN: I’ll tell you what’s worse.
I’ll tell you what’s worse. -
20:39 - 20:40MS. RADDATZ: Quickly.
-
20:40 - 20:44REP. RYAN: A nuclear-armed Iran, which triggers
a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. This -
20:44 - 20:47is the world’s largest sponsor of -- of
terrorism. They’ve dedicated themselves -
20:47 - 20:47--
-
20:47 - 20:48VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s the only thing
my -- -
20:48 - 20:52REP. RYAN: -- to wiping an entire country
off the map. They call us the Great Satan. -
20:52 - 20:56And if they get nuclear weapons, other people
in the neighborhood will pursue their nuclear -
20:56 - 20:57weapons as well.
-
20:57 - 20:57MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden.
-
20:57 - 20:58REP. RYAN: We can’t live with that.
-
20:58 - 21:05VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: War should always be
the absolute last resort. That’s why these -
21:05 - 21:11crippling sanctions, what Bibi Netanyahu says
we should continue -- which, if I’m not -
21:11 - 21:16mistaken, Governor Romney says we -- we should
continue. If I -- I may be mistaken; he changes -
21:16 - 21:21his mind so often, I could be wrong. But the
fact of the matter is, he says they’re working. -
21:21 - 21:28And the fact is that they are being crippled
by them. And we’ve made it clear, big nations -
21:28 - 21:30can’t bluff. This president doesn’t bluff.
-
21:30 - 21:34MS. RADDATZ: Gentlemen, I want to bring the
conversation to a different kind of national -
21:34 - 21:41security issue, the state of our economy.
The number one issue here at home is jobs. -
21:41 - 21:48The percentage of unemployed just fell below
8 percent for the first time in 43 months. -
21:48 - 21:53The Obama administration had projected that
it would fall below 6 percent now after the -
21:53 - 21:58addition of close to a trillion dollars in
stimulus money. So will both of you level -
21:58 - 22:04with the American people? Can you get unemployment
to under 6 percent, and how long will it take? -
22:04 - 22:06VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I don’t know how long
it will take. -
22:06 - 22:06MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden.
-
22:06 - 22:08VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: We can and we will get
it under 6 percent. -
22:08 - 22:12Let’s look at the -- let’s take a look
at the facts. Let’s look at where we were -
22:12 - 22:18when we came to office. The economy was in
free fall. We had -- the Great Recession hit. -
22:18 - 22:27Nine million people lost their job, 1.7 -- $1.6
trillion in wealth lost in equity in your -
22:27 - 22:30homes, in retirement accounts from the middle
class. -
22:30 - 22:33We knew we had to act for the middle class.
We immediately went out and rescued General -
22:33 - 22:39Motors. We went ahead and made sure that we
cut taxes for the middle class. And in addition -
22:39 - 22:44to that, when that -- and when that occurred,
what did Romney do? Romney said, no, let Detroit -
22:44 - 22:48go bankrupt. We moved in and helped people
refinance their homes. Governor Romney said, -
22:48 - 22:50no, let foreclosures hit the bottom.
-
22:50 - 22:55But it shouldn’t be surprising for a guy
who says 47 percent of the American people -
22:55 - 23:00are unwilling to take responsibility for their
own lives. My friend recently, in a speech -
23:00 - 23:05in Washington, said 30% of the American people
are takers. These people are my mom and dad, -
23:05 - 23:10the people I grew up with, my neighbors. They
pay more effective tax than Governor Romney -
23:10 - 23:14pays in his federal income tax. They are elderly
people who in fact are living off of Social -
23:14 - 23:19Security. They are veterans and people fighting
in Afghanistan right now who are, quote, not -
23:19 - 23:20paying any taxes.
-
23:20 - 23:25I’ve had it up to here with this notion
that 47 percent -- it’s about time they -
23:25 - 23:30take some responsibility here. And instead
of signing pledges to Grover Norquist not -
23:30 - 23:35to ask the wealthiest among us to contribute
to bring back the middle class, they should -
23:35 - 23:39be signing a pledge saying to the middle class,
we’re going to level the playing field. -
23:39 - 23:44We’re going to give you a fair shot again.
We are going to not repeat the mistakes we -
23:44 - 23:49made in the past by having a different set
of rules for Wall Street and Main Street, -
23:49 - 23:53making sure that we continue to hemorrhage
these tax cuts for the superwealthy. -
23:53 - 24:00They’re pushing the continuation of a tax
cut that will give an additional $500 billion -
24:00 - 24:07in tax cuts to 120,000 families. And they’re
holding hostage the middle-class tax cut because -
24:07 - 24:12they say, we won’t pass -- we won’t continue
the middle-class tax cut unless you give the -
24:12 - 24:15tax cut for the superwealthy. It’s about
time they take some responsibility. -
24:15 - 24:17MS. RADDATZ: Mr. Ryan.
-
24:17 - 24:20REP. RYAN: Joe and I are from similar towns.
-
24:20 - 24:24He’s from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I’m
from Janesville, Wisconsin. You know what -
24:24 - 24:26the unemployment rate in Scranton is today?
-
24:26 - 24:27VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I sure do.
-
24:27 - 24:27REP. RYAN: It’s 10 percent.
-
24:27 - 24:28VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Yeah.
-
24:28 - 24:30REP. RYAN: You know what it was the day you
guys came in? -
24:30 - 24:30VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: No.
-
24:30 - 24:31REP. RYAN: Eight-point-five percent.
-
24:31 - 24:32VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Yeah.
-
24:32 - 24:34REP. RYAN: That’s how it’s going all around
America. -
24:34 - 24:34Look --
-
24:34 - 24:37VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: You don’t read the
statistics. That’s not “how it’s going.” -
24:37 - 24:37It’s going down.
-
24:37 - 24:38MS. RADDATZ: (Inaudible) -- two-minute answer,
please. -
24:38 - 24:44REP. RYAN: Look -- (chuckles) -- did they
come in and inherit a tough situation? Absolutely. -
24:44 - 24:45VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.)
-
24:45 - 24:50REP. RYAN: But we’re going in the wrong
direction! Look at where we are. The economy -
24:50 - 24:54is barely limping along. It’s growing at
1.3 percent. That’s slower than it grew -
24:54 - 24:59last year, and last year was slower than the
year before. Job growth in September was slower -
24:59 - 25:03than it was in August, and August was slower
than it was in July. We’re heading in the -
25:03 - 25:04wrong direction.
-
25:04 - 25:11Twenty-three million Americans are struggling
for work today. Fifteen percent of Americans -
25:11 - 25:17are living in poverty today. This is not what
a real recovery looks like. We need real reforms -
25:17 - 25:21for a real recovery, and that’s exactly
what Mitt Romney and I are proposing. It’s -
25:21 - 25:26five-point plan. Get America energy-independent
in North America by the end of the decade. -
25:26 - 25:30Help people who are hurting get the skills
they need to get the jobs they want. Get this -
25:30 - 25:34deficit and debt under control to prevent
a debt crisis. Make trade work for America -
25:34 - 25:38so we can make more things in America and
sell them overseas and champion small businesses. -
25:38 - 25:42Don’t raise taxes on small businesses, because
they’re our job creators. -
25:42 - 25:47He talks about Detroit. Mitt Romney’s a
car guy. They keep misquoting him, but let -
25:47 - 25:53me tell you about the Mitt Romney I know.
This is a guy who -- I was talking to a family -
25:53 - 25:58in Northborough, Massachusetts the other day,
Cheryl and Mark Nixon (sp). Their kids were -
25:58 - 26:04hit in a car crash, four of them -- two of
them, Rob (sp) and Reid (sp), were paralyzed. -
26:04 - 26:07The Romneys didn’t know them. They went
to the same church. They never met before. -
26:07 - 26:13Mitt asked if he could come over on Christmas.
He brought his boys, his wife and gifts. Later -
26:13 - 26:18on he said, I know you’re struggling, Mark
(sp). Don’t worry about their college; I’ll -
26:18 - 26:19pay for it.
-
26:19 - 26:22When Mark (sp) told me this story -- because
you know what, Mitt Romney doesn’t tell -
26:22 - 26:23these stories.
-
26:23 - 26:27The Nixons told this story. When he told me
this story, he said it wasn’t the help -- the -
26:27 - 26:32cash help; it’s that he gave his time, and
he has consistently. This is a man who gave -
26:32 - 26:3630 percent of his income to charity, more
than the two of us combined. Mitt Romney’s -
26:36 - 26:41a good man. He cares about a hundred percent
of Americans in this country. -
26:41 - 26:46And with respect to that quote, I think the
vice president very well knows that sometimes -
26:46 - 26:48the words don’t come out of your mouth the
right way. (Laughter.) -
26:48 - 26:53VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: But I always say what
I mean. -
26:53 - 26:54MS. RADDATZ: You --
-
26:54 - 26:55VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: And so does Romney.
-
26:55 - 27:00REP. RYAN: We want everybody to succeed. We
want to get people out of poverty, in the -
27:00 - 27:04middle class, on to lives of self-sufficiency.
We believe in opportunity and upward mobility. -
27:04 - 27:06That’s what we’re going to push for in
a Romney administration. -
27:06 - 27:06MS. RADDATZ: Vice President?
-
27:06 - 27:07VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Look --
-
27:07 - 27:10MS. RADDATZ: I have a feeling you have a few
things to say here. (Laughter.) -
27:10 - 27:15VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.) The idea,
if you heard that -- that little soliloquy -
27:15 - 27:22on 47 percent, and you think he just made
a mistake, then I think you’re -- I -- I -
27:22 - 27:26-- I -- I -- I got a bridge to sell you.
-
27:26 - 27:30Look, I don’t doubt his personal generosity,
and I understand what it’s like. When I -
27:30 - 27:36was a little younger than the congressman,
my wife was in an accident, killed my daughter -
27:36 - 27:43and my wife, and my two sons survived. I have
sat in the homes of many people who’ve gone -
27:43 - 27:47through what I get through because the one
thing you can give people solace is to know -
27:47 - 27:54they know you’ve been through it, that they
can make it. So I don’t doubt his personal -
27:54 - 27:55commitment to individuals.
-
27:55 - 28:00But you know what, I know he had no commitment
to the automobile industry. He just let -- he -
28:00 - 28:06said, let it go bankrupt, period, let it drop
out. All this talk -- we saved a million jobs. -
28:06 - 28:11Two hundred thousand people are working today.
And I have never met two guys who are more -
28:11 - 28:16down on America across the board. We’re
told everything is going bad. We have 5.2 -
28:16 - 28:21million new jobs, private sector jobs. We
need more, but 5.2 million -- if they’d -
28:21 - 28:25get out of the way, if they get out of the
way and let us pass the tax cut for the middle -
28:25 - 28:30class, make it permanent, if they get out
of the way and pass the -- pass the jobs bill, -
28:30 - 28:34if they get out of the way and let us allow
14 million people who are struggling to stay -
28:34 - 28:38in their homes because their mortgages are
upside-down, but they never missed a mortgage -
28:38 - 28:40payment -- just get out of the way.
-
28:40 - 28:46Stop talking about how you care about people.
Show me something. Show me a policy. Show -
28:46 - 28:49me a policy where you take responsibility.
-
28:49 - 28:53And by the way, they talk about this Great
Recession if it fell out of the sky, like, -
28:53 - 28:59oh my goodness, where did it come from? It
came from this man voting to put two wars -
28:59 - 29:04in a credit card, to at the same time put
a prescription drug benefit on the credit -
29:04 - 29:09card, a trillion- dollar tax cut for a -- very
wealthy. I was there. I voted against him. -
29:09 - 29:15I said, no, we can’t afford that. And now
all of a sudden these guys are so seized with -
29:15 - 29:17a concern about the debt that they created
-- -
29:17 - 29:19MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan.
-
29:19 - 29:25REP. RYAN: Let’s not forget that they came
in with one-party control. When Barack Obama -
29:25 - 29:29was elected, his party controlled everything.
They had the ability to do everything of their -
29:29 - 29:34choosing, and look at where we are right now.
They passed a stimulus, the idea that we could -
29:34 - 29:39borrow $831 billion, spend it on all these
special interest groups and that it would -
29:39 - 29:43work out just fine, that unemployment would
never get to 8 percent. It went up above 8 -
29:43 - 29:47percent for 43 months. They said that right
now, if we just pass this stimulus, the economy -
29:47 - 29:50would grow at 4 percent. It’s growing at
1.3 (percent). -
29:50 - 29:52MS. RADDATZ: When could you get it below 6
percent? -
29:52 - 29:56REP. RYAN: That’s what our entire premise
of our pro-growth plan for a stronger middle -
29:56 - 30:01class is all about: getting the economy growing
at 4 percent, creating 12 million jobs over -
30:01 - 30:05the next four years. Look at just the $90
billion in stimulus, and -- and the vice president -
30:05 - 30:11was in charge of overseeing this, $90 billion
in green pork to campaign contributors and -
30:11 - 30:16special interest groups. There are just at
the Department of Energy over 100 criminal -
30:16 - 30:18investigations that have been launched into
just how -- -
30:18 - 30:19VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha --
-
30:19 - 30:20REP. RYAN: -- stimulus -- (inaudible) -- are
being spent -- -
30:20 - 30:20MS. RADDATZ: Go ahead.
-
30:20 - 30:21Go ahead, Vice --
-
30:21 - 30:24VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha, look. His colleague
runs an investigative committee -- -
30:24 - 30:24REP. RYAN: Crony capitalism -- (inaudible).
-
30:24 - 30:27VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- spent months and
months and months going into this -- -
30:27 - 30:28REP. RYAN: This is the -- this is the inspector
general. -
30:28 - 30:32VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- months and months.
They found no evidence of cronyism. And I -
30:32 - 30:37love my friend here. I -- I’m not allowed
to show letters, but go on our website: He -
30:37 - 30:43sent me two letters saying, by the way, can
you send me some stimulus money for companies -
30:43 - 30:48here in the state of Wisconsin? We sent millions
of dollars. You know why he said he needed -
30:48 - 30:48--
-
30:48 - 30:49MS. RADDATZ: You did ask for stimulus money,
correct? -
30:49 - 30:50VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Sure he did. By the
way -- (inaudible) -- -
30:50 - 30:54REP. RYAN: On two occasions, we -- we -- we
advocated for constituents who were applying -
30:54 - 30:54for grants.
-
30:54 - 30:54VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.)
-
30:54 - 30:57REP. RYAN: That’s what we do. We do that
for all constituents who are -- (inaudible) -
30:57 - 30:57-- for grants.
-
30:57 - 31:01VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I love that. I love
that. This is such a bad program, and he writes -
31:01 - 31:05me a letter saying -- writes the Department
of Energy a letter saying, the reason we need -
31:05 - 31:11this stimulus -- it will create growth and
jobs. He -- his words. And now he’s sitting -
31:11 - 31:15here looking at me -- and by the way, that
program -- again, investigated -- what the -
31:15 - 31:22Congress said was, it was a model: less than
four-tenths of 1 percent waste or fraud in -
31:22 - 31:27the program. And all this talk about cronyism
-- they investigated, investigated; did not -
31:27 - 31:32find one single piece of evidence. I wish
he would just tell -- be a little more candid. -
31:32 - 31:38REP. RYAN: Was it a good idea to spend taxpayer
dollars on electric cars in Finland or on -
31:38 - 31:39windmills in China?
-
31:39 - 31:40VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Look --
-
31:40 - 31:43REP. RYAN: Was it a good idea to borrow all
this money from countries like China -- -
31:43 - 31:44VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.)
-
31:44 - 31:46REP. RYAN: -- and spend it on all these various
different interest groups? -
31:46 - 31:49VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Let me tell you it was
a good idea. It was a good idea -- Moody’s -
31:49 - 31:52and others said that this was exactly what
we needed that stopped us from going off the -
31:52 - 31:57cliff. It set the conditions to be able to
grow again. We have -- in fact, 4 percent -
31:57 - 32:02of those green jobs didn’t go under -- or
went -- went -- went under -- didn’t work. -
32:02 - 32:05It’s a better batting average than investment
bankers have. They have about a 40 percent -
32:05 - 32:06-- (inaudible) -- loss.
-
32:06 - 32:08REP. RYAN: Where are the 5 million green jobs
that were being promised -- -
32:08 - 32:12MS. RADDATZ: I want to move on here to Medicare
and entitlements. I think we’ve gone over -
32:12 - 32:13this quite enough. And both --
-
32:13 - 32:16VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: And by the way, any
letter you send me I’ll entertain. -
32:16 - 32:18REP. RYAN: I appreciate that, Joe. (Laughter.)
-
32:18 - 32:22MS. RADDATZ: Let’s talk about Medicare and
entitlements. -
32:22 - 32:26Both Medicare and Social Security are going
broke and taking a larger share of the budget -
32:26 - 32:32in the process. Will benefits for Americans
under these programs have to change for the -
32:32 - 32:35programs to survive, Mr. Ryan?
-
32:35 - 32:38REP. RYAN: Absolutely. Medicare and Social
Security are going bankrupt. These are indisputable -
32:38 - 32:39facts.
-
32:39 - 32:44Look, when I look at these programs, we’ve
all had tragedies in our lives. I think about -
32:44 - 32:49what they’ve done for my own family. My
mom and I had my grandmother move in with -
32:49 - 32:52us who was facing Alzheimer’s. Medicare
was there for her, just like it’s there -
32:52 - 32:57for my mom right now who’s a Florida senior.
After my dad died, my mom and I got Social -
32:57 - 33:01Security survivors benefits. Helped me pay
for college. It helped her go back to college -
33:01 - 33:06in her 50s, where she started a small business
because of the new skills she got. She paid -
33:06 - 33:11all of her taxes on the promise that these
programs would be there for her. We will honor -
33:11 - 33:12this promise.
-
33:12 - 33:17And the best way to do it is reform it for
my generation. You see, if you reform these -
33:17 - 33:22programs for my generation, people 54 and
below, you can guarantee they don’t change -
33:22 - 33:27for people in or near retirement, which is
precisely what Mitt Romney and I are proposing. -
33:27 - 33:32Look at what -- look what “Obamacare”
does. “Obamacare” takes $716 billion from -
33:32 - 33:38Medicare to spend on “Obamacare.” Even
their own chief actuary at Medicare backs -
33:38 - 33:41this up. He says you can’t spend the same
dollar twice. You can’t claim that this -
33:41 - 33:44money goes to Medicare and “Obamacare.”
-
33:44 - 33:48And then they put this new “Obamacare”
board in charge of cutting Medicare each and -
33:48 - 33:53every year in ways that will lead to denied
care for current seniors. This board, by the -
33:53 - 33:57way, it’s 15 people. The president’s supposed
to appoint them next year. And not one of -
33:57 - 33:59them even has to have medical training.
-
33:59 - 34:04And Social Security, if we don’t shore up
Social Security, when we run out of the IOUs, -
34:04 - 34:09when the program goes bankrupt, a 25 percent
across-the-board benefit cut kicks in on current -
34:09 - 34:13seniors in the middle of their retirement.
We’re going to stop that from happening. -
34:13 - 34:18They haven’t put a credible solution on
the table. He’ll tell you about vouchers. -
34:18 - 34:21He’ll say all these things to try and scare
people. -
34:21 - 34:25Here’s what we’re saying: Give younger
people, when they become Medicare-eligible, -
34:25 - 34:31guaranteed coverage options that you can’t
be denied, including traditional Medicare. -
34:31 - 34:35Choose your plan, and then Medicare subsidizes
your premiums, not as much for the wealthy -
34:35 - 34:40people, more coverage for middle-income people
and total out-of-pocket coverage for the poor -
34:40 - 34:45and the sick. Choice and competition -- we
would rather have 50 million future seniors -
34:45 - 34:48determine how their Medicare is delivered
to them instead of 15 bureaucrats deciding -
34:48 - 34:50what -- if, where, when they get it.
-
34:50 - 34:51MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden, two minutes.
-
34:51 - 34:54VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: You know, I heard that
death panel argument from Sarah Palin. It -
34:54 - 34:58seems that every vice presidential debate,
I hear this kind of stuff about panels. But -
34:58 - 35:01let’s talk about Medicare.
-
35:01 - 35:08What we did is we saved $716 billion and put
it back -- applied it to Medicare. We cut -
35:08 - 35:14the cost of Medicare. We stopped overpaying
insurance companies when doctors and hospitals -
35:14 - 35:20-- the AMA supported what we did. AARP endorsed
what we did. And it extends the life of Medicare -
35:20 - 35:27to 2024. They want to wipe this all out. It
also gave more benefits. Any senior out there, -
35:27 - 35:32ask yourself: Do you have more benefits today?
You do. If you’re near the doughnut hole, -
35:32 - 35:37you have $600 more to help your prescription
drug costs. You get wellness visits without -
35:37 - 35:43copays. They wipe all of this out, and Medicare
goes -- becomes insolvent in 2016, number -
35:43 - 35:44one.
-
35:44 - 35:48Number two, guaranteed benefit -- it’s a
voucher. When they first proposed -- when -
35:48 - 35:57the congressman had his first voucher program,
the CBO said it would cost $6,400 a year, -
35:57 - 36:03Martha, more for every senior 55 and below
when they got there. He knew that, yet he -
36:03 - 36:08got it -- all the guys in Congress, and women
in the Republican party to vote for it. Governor -
36:08 - 36:15Romney, knowing that, said, I -- I -- I would
sign it were I there. Who you believe, the -
36:15 - 36:20AMA? Me? A guy who’s fought his whole life
for this? Or somebody who had actually put -
36:20 - 36:28in motion a plan that knowingly cut -- added
$6,400 a year more to the cost of Medicare? -
36:28 - 36:33Now they got a new plan. Trust me, it’s
not going to cost you any more. Folks, follow -
36:33 - 36:35your instincts on this one.
-
36:35 - 36:40And with regard to Social Security, we will
not -- we will not privatize it. If we had -
36:40 - 36:46listened to Romney, to Governor Romney and
the congressman during the Bush years, imagine -
36:46 - 36:51where all those seniors would be now if their
money had been in the market. Their ideas -
36:51 - 36:56are old, and their ideas are bad, and they
eliminate the guarantee of Medicare. -
36:56 - 37:01REP. RYAN: Here’s the problem. They got
caught with their hands in the cookie jar -
37:01 - 37:06turning Medicare into a piggy bank for “Obamacare”.
Their own actuary from the administration -
37:06 - 37:11came to Congress and said one out of six hospitals
and nursing homes are going to go out of business -
37:11 - 37:12as a result of this.
-
37:12 - 37:13VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s not what they
said. -
37:13 - 37:17REP. RYAN: Seven point four million seniors
are projected to lose the current Medicare -
37:17 - 37:20Advantage coverage they have. That’s a $3,200
benefit cut. -
37:20 - 37:21VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That didn’t happen.
-
37:21 - 37:21REP. RYAN: What we’re saying --
-
37:21 - 37:22VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: More people signed up.
-
37:22 - 37:23REP. RYAN: These are from your own actuaries.
-
37:23 - 37:26VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: More -- more -- more
people signed up for Medicare Advantage after -
37:26 - 37:27the change.
-
37:27 - 37:27REP. RYAN: What -- what they’re --
-
37:27 - 37:29VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: No -- nobody is getting
shut down. -
37:29 - 37:29REP. RYAN: Mr. Vice President, I know --
-
37:29 - 37:30VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: No -- no -- (inaudible)
-- -
37:30 - 37:34REP. RYAN: Mr. Vice President, I know you’re
under a lot of duress -- (laughter) -- to -
37:34 - 37:37make up for lost ground -- (laughter) -- but
I think people would be better served if we -
37:37 - 37:39don’t keep interrupting each other.
-
37:39 - 37:40VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, don’t take all
the four minutes, then. -
37:40 - 37:43REP. RYAN: Now let me just -- let me say this.
We are not -- we are saying, don’t change -
37:43 - 37:47benefits for people 55 and above. They already
organized their retirement around these promises. -
37:47 - 37:47VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: They already are --
-
37:47 - 37:48REP. RYAN: But you want to -- (inaudible)
-- these programs for those of us -- -
37:48 - 37:54MS. RADDATZ: Let me ask you this: what is
your specific plan for seniors who really -
37:54 - 37:59can’t afford to make up the difference in
the value of what you call a premium support -
37:59 - 38:00plan and others call a voucher?
-
38:00 - 38:01REP. RYAN: A hundred percent coverage for
them. -
38:01 - 38:01MS. RADDATZ: And what --
-
38:01 - 38:03REP. RYAN: That’s what we’re saying.
-
38:03 - 38:03MS. RADDATZ: -- what cost --
-
38:03 - 38:05REP. RYAN: So we’re saying income-adjust
-- -
38:05 - 38:06MS. RADDATZ: How do you make that up?
-
38:06 - 38:10REP. RYAN: -- these premium support payments
by taking down the subsidies for wealthy people. -
38:10 - 38:15Look, this is a plan -- by the way, that $6,400
number, it was misleading then. It’s totally -
38:15 - 38:20inaccurate now. This is a plan that’s bipartisan.
It’s a plan I put together with a prominent -
38:20 - 38:21Democrat senator from Oregon.
-
38:21 - 38:23VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: There’s not one Democrat
who endorsed his -- -
38:23 - 38:24REP. RYAN: It’s a plan --
-
38:24 - 38:25VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- not one Democrat
who signed his plan. -
38:25 - 38:27REP. RYAN: Our partner is a Democrat from
Oregon. -
38:27 - 38:30VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: And he said he does
no longer support (you for that ?). -
38:30 - 38:32REP. RYAN: We -- we put it -- we put it together
with the former Clinton budget director. -
38:32 - 38:32VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Who disavows it. (Chuckles.)
-
38:32 - 38:38REP. RYAN: This idea -- this idea came from
the Clinton commission to save Medicare, chaired -
38:38 - 38:40by Senator John Breaux. Here’s the point,
Martha. -
38:40 - 38:42VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Which was rejected.
-
38:42 - 38:45REP. RYAN: If we don’t -- if we don’t
fix this problem pretty soon, then current -
38:45 - 38:50seniors get cut! Here’s the problem. Ten
thousand people are retiring every single -
38:50 - 38:53day in America today, and they will for 20
years. That’s not a political thing. That’s -
38:53 - 38:54a math thing.
-
38:54 - 38:58VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha, if we just did
one thing, if we just -- if they allow Medicare -
38:58 - 39:05to bargain for the cost of drugs like Medicaid
can, that would save $156 billion right off -
39:05 - 39:05the bat.
-
39:05 - 39:06REP. RYAN: And it would deny seniors choices.
-
39:06 - 39:07VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: All -- all -- all --
-
39:07 - 39:09REP. RYAN: It -- it has restricted (formula
?) -- -
39:09 - 39:10VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Seniors are not denied.
-
39:10 - 39:10REP. RYAN: Absolutely.
-
39:10 - 39:12VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Sorry, they are not
denied. -
39:12 - 39:18Look, folks, and all you seniors out there,
have you been denied choices? Have you lost -
39:18 - 39:19Medicare Advantage or, if you have signed
up -- -
39:19 - 39:19REP. RYAN: Because it’s working well right
now. -
39:19 - 39:20VICE RESIDENT BIDEN: Because we changed the
law! -
39:20 - 39:25MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden, let me
ask you, if it could help solve the problem, -
39:25 - 39:31why not very slowly raise the Medicare eligibility
age by two years, as Congressman Ryan suggests? -
39:31 - 39:36VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Look, I was there when
we did that with Social Security, in 1983. -
39:36 - 39:41I was one of eight people sitting in the room
that included Tip O’Neill negotiating with -
39:41 - 39:45President Reagan. We all got together, and
everybody said, as long as everybody’s in -
39:45 - 39:51the deal, everybody’s in the deal, and everybody
is making some sacrifice, we can find a way. -
39:51 - 39:55We made the system solvent to 2033.
-
39:55 - 40:02We will not, though, be part of any voucher
plan eliminating -- the voucher says, Mom, -
40:02 - 40:06when you’re -- when you’re 65, go out
there, shop for the best insurance you can -
40:06 - 40:10get; you’re out of Medicare. You can buy
back in, if you want, with this voucher, which -
40:10 - 40:15will not keep pace -- will not keep pace with
health care costs, because if it did keep -
40:15 - 40:20pace with health care costs, there would be
no savings. That’s why they go the voucher -
40:20 - 40:27-- they -- we will be no part of a voucher
program or the privatization of Social Security. -
40:27 - 40:31REP. RYAN: A voucher is you go to your mailbox,
get a check and buy something. Nobody’s -
40:31 - 40:36proposing that. Barack Obama, four years ago,
running for president, said if you don’t -
40:36 - 40:42have any fresh ideas, use stale tactics to
scare voters. If you don’t have a good record -
40:42 - 40:46to run on, paint your opponent as someone
people should run from. Make a big election -
40:46 - 40:47about small ideas.
-
40:47 - 40:51MS. RADDATZ: You were one of the few lawmakers
to stand with President Bush when he was seeking -
40:51 - 40:53to partially privatize Social Security.
-
40:53 - 40:57REP. RYAN: For younger people. What we said
then and what I’ve always agreed is let -
40:57 - 41:02younger Americans have a voluntary choice
of making their money work faster for them -
41:02 - 41:04within the Social Security system.
-
41:04 - 41:05VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: You saw how well that
worked. -
41:05 - 41:08REP. RYAN: That’s not what Mitt Romney’s
proposing. What we’re saying is no changes -
41:08 - 41:09for anybody 55 and above.
-
41:09 - 41:11VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: What Mitt Romney is
proposing -- -
41:11 - 41:13REP. RYAN: And then the kinds of the changes
we’re talking about for younger people like -
41:13 - 41:18myself is don’t increase the benefits for
wealthy people as fast as everybody else -- -
41:18 - 41:18VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha --
-
41:18 - 41:20REP. RYAN: -- slowly raise the retirement
age over time. -
41:20 - 41:21VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha --
-
41:21 - 41:25REP. RYAN: It wouldn’t get to the age of
70 until the year 2103, according to the actuaries. -
41:25 - 41:26Now, here’s the issue.
-
41:26 - 41:27MS. RADDATZ: Quickly, Vice President.
-
41:27 - 41:30VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Quickly, the bottom
line here is that all the studies show that -
41:30 - 41:35if we went with Social Security proposal made
by Mitt Romney, if you’re 40 -- in your -
41:35 - 41:4140s now, you will pay $2,600 a year -- you
get $2,600 a year less in Social Security. -
41:41 - 41:47If you’re in your 20s now, you get $4,700
a year less. The idea of changing -- and change -
41:47 - 41:52being, in this case, to cut the benefits for
people without taking other action you could -
41:52 - 41:55do to make it work -- is absolutely the wrong
way. -
41:55 - 42:00These -- look, these guys haven’t been big
on Medicare from the beginning. Their party’s -
42:00 - 42:04not been big on Medicare from the beginning.
And they’ve always been about Social Security -
42:04 - 42:10as little as you can do. Look, folks, use
your common sense. Who do you trust on this? -
42:10 - 42:18A man who introduced a bill that would raise
it $6,400 a year, knowing it and passing it, -
42:18 - 42:20and Romney saying he’d sign it? Or me and
the president? -
42:20 - 42:24REP. RYAN: That statistic was completely misleading.
But more importantly -- -
42:24 - 42:25VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s -- there are
the facts, right? -
42:25 - 42:27REP. RYAN: -- this is -- this is what politicians
do when they don’t have a record to run -
42:27 - 42:33on: try to scare people from voting for you.
If you don’t get ahead of this problem, -
42:33 - 42:34it’s going to -- (inaudible) --
-
42:34 - 42:36VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Medicare beneficiaries
have more benefits now -- (inaudible) -- -
42:36 - 42:37REP. RYAN: We are not going to run away -- we
are not going to run away -- -
42:37 - 42:39MS. RADDATZ: OK. We’re going to -- we’re
going to move on to a very simple question -
42:39 - 42:39to you both.
-
42:39 - 42:43REP. RYAN: Medicare and Social Security did
so much for my own family. We are not going -
42:43 - 42:46to jeopardize this program, but we have to
save it for the next generation so it doesn’t -
42:46 - 42:46go bankrupt.
-
42:46 - 42:49VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: You are jeopardizing
the program. You’re changing the program -
42:49 - 42:54from a guaranteed benefit to a premium support.
Whatever you call it, the bottom line is people -
42:54 - 42:55are going to have to pay more money out of
their pocket. -
42:55 - 42:56REP. RYAN: The wealthy would.
-
42:56 - 42:59VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: And the families I know
and the families I come from -- they don’t -
42:59 - 43:01have the money to pay more out of -- (inaudible).
-
43:01 - 43:01MS. RADDATZ: Gentlemen, gentlemen --
-
43:01 - 43:04REP. RYAN: That’s why we’re saying more
for lower-income people and less for higher-income -
43:04 - 43:04people.
-
43:04 - 43:07MS. RADDATZ: I would like to move on to a
very simple question for both of you. And -
43:07 - 43:08something tells me --
-
43:08 - 43:09VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.)
-
43:09 - 43:12MS. RADDATZ: -- I won’t get a very simple
answer. But let me ask you this. -
43:12 - 43:15VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I gave you a simple
answer: He’s raising the cost of Medicare. -
43:15 - 43:21MS. RADDATZ: OK, on to taxes. If your ticket
is elected, who will pay more in taxes? Who -
43:21 - 43:24will pay less? And we’re starting with Vice
President Biden for two minutes. -
43:24 - 43:27VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: The middle class will
pay less, and people making a million dollars -
43:27 - 43:32or more will begin to contribute slightly
more. Let me give you one concrete example: -
43:32 - 43:36the continuation of the Bush tax cuts. We’re
arguing that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy -
43:36 - 43:42should be allowed to expire. Of the Bush tax
cuts for the wealthy, 800 million -- billion -
43:42 - 43:48dollars of that goes to people making a minimum
of a million dollars. We see no justification -
43:48 - 43:52in these economic times for those -- and they’re
patriotic Americans. They’re -- they’re -
43:52 - 43:57not asking for this continued tax cut; they’re
not suggesting it; but my friends are insisting -
43:57 - 44:04on it. A hundred and twenty thousand families,
by continuing that tax cut, will get an additional -
44:04 - 44:10$500 billion in tax relief in the next 10
years, and their income is an average of $8 -
44:10 - 44:11million.
-
44:11 - 44:17We want to extend permanently the middle-class
tax cut for -- permanently from the Bush middle-class -
44:17 - 44:20tax cut. These guys won’t allow us to.
-
44:20 - 44:23You what we’re saying? We say let’s have
a vote. Let’s have a vote on the middle-class -
44:23 - 44:28tax cut, and let’s have a vote on the upper
tax cut. Let’s go ahead and vote on it. -
44:28 - 44:34They’re saying no. They’re holding hostage
the middle-class tax cut to the super wealthy. -
44:34 - 44:39And on top of that, they got another tax cut
coming that’s $5 trillion that all of the -
44:39 - 44:46studies point out will, in fact, give another
$250 million dollar -- yeah, $250,000 a year -
44:46 - 44:53to those 120,000 families and raise taxes
for people who are middle-income with a child -
44:53 - 44:59by $2,000 a year. This is unconscionable.
There is no need for this. The middle class -
44:59 - 45:05got knocked on their heels. The Great Recession
crushed them. They need some help now. The -
45:05 - 45:13last people who need help are 120,000 families
for another -- another $500 billion tax cut -
45:13 - 45:15over the next 10 years.
-
45:15 - 45:17MS. RADDATZ: Congressman.
-
45:17 - 45:23REP. RYAN: Our entire premise of these tax
reform plans is to grow the economy and create -
45:23 - 45:26jobs. It’s a plan that’s estimated to
create 7 million jobs. -
45:26 - 45:33Now, we think that government taking 28 percent
of a family and business’ income is enough. -
45:33 - 45:39President Obama thinks that the government
ought to be able to take as much as 44.8 percent -
45:39 - 45:41of a small business’ income.
-
45:41 - 45:48Look, if you taxed every person in successful
small business making over $250,000 at a hundred -
45:48 - 45:54percent, it’d only run the government for
98 days. If everybody who paid income taxes -
45:54 - 45:58last year, including successful small businesses,
doubled their income taxes this year, we’d -
45:58 - 46:00still have a $300 billion deficit.
-
46:00 - 46:06You see, there aren’t enough rich people
and small businesses to tax to pay for all -
46:06 - 46:11their spending. And so the next time you hear
them say, don’t worry about it, we’ll -
46:11 - 46:15get a few wealthy people to pay their fair
share, watch out, middle class. The tax bill -
46:15 - 46:17is coming to you.
-
46:17 - 46:20That’s why we’re saying we need fundamental
tax reform. -
46:20 - 46:25Let’s take a look at it this way: 8-out-of-10
businesses, they file their taxes as individuals, -
46:25 - 46:30not as corporations. And where I come from,
overseas, which is Lake Superior -- (chuckles) -
46:30 - 46:36-- the Canadians -- they drop their tax rates
to 15 percent. The average tax rate on businesses -
46:36 - 46:40in the industrialized world is 25 percent,
and the president wants the top effective -
46:40 - 46:46tax rate on successful small businesses to
go above 40 percent. Two-thirds of our jobs -
46:46 - 46:53come from small businesses. This one tax would
actually tax about 53 percent of small-business -
46:53 - 46:58income. It’s expected that’d cost us 710,000
jobs. And you know what? It doesn’t even -
46:58 - 47:03pay for 10 percent of their proposed deficit
spending increases. -
47:03 - 47:07What we are saying is lower tax rates across
the board and close loopholes, primarily to -
47:07 - 47:13the higher-income people. We have three bottom
lines: Don’t raise the deficit, don’t -
47:13 - 47:17raise taxes on the middle class and don’t
lower the share of income that is borne by -
47:17 - 47:21the high-income earners. He -- he’ll keep
saying this $5 trillion plan, I suppose -- -
47:21 - 47:21VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.)
-
47:21 - 47:26REP. RYAN: -- it’s been discredited by six
other studies, and even their own deputy campaign -
47:26 - 47:28manager acknowledged that it wasn’t correct.
-
47:28 - 47:30MS. RADDATZ: Well, let’s talk about this
20 percent. -
47:30 - 47:31VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well -- (chuckles) --
-
47:31 - 47:37MS. RADDATZ: You have refused yet again to
offer specifics on how you pay for that 20 -
47:37 - 47:43percent across-the-board tax cut. Do you actually
have the specifics, or are you still working -
47:43 - 47:46on it, and that’s why you won’t tell voters?
-
47:46 - 47:50REP. RYAN: Different than this administration,
we actually want to have big bipartisan agreements. -
47:50 - 47:52You see, I understand the --
-
47:52 - 47:53MS. RADDATZ: Do you have the specifics? Do
you have the math? Do you know exactly what -
47:53 - 47:53you’re doing?
-
47:53 - 47:55VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’ll be -- that’d
be a first for the Republican Congress. -
47:55 - 48:00REP. RYAN: Look -- look at what Mitt -- look
at what Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill did. -
48:00 - 48:04They worked together out of a framework to
lower tax rates and broaden the base, and -
48:04 - 48:09they worked together to fix that. What we’re
saying is here’s our framework: Lower tax -
48:09 - 48:16rates 20 percent -- we raise about $1.2 trillion
through income taxes. We forgo about 1.1 trillion -
48:16 - 48:20(dollars) in loopholes and deductions. And
so what we’re saying is deny those loopholes -
48:20 - 48:25and deductions to higher- income taxpayers
so that more of their income is taxed, which -
48:25 - 48:27has a broader base of taxation --
-
48:27 - 48:27VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Can I translate?
-
48:27 - 48:29REP. RYAN: -- so we can lower tax rates across
the board. -
48:29 - 48:33Now, here’s why I’m saying this. What
we’re saying is here’s a framework -- -
48:33 - 48:33VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I hope I’m going to
get time to respond to this. -
48:33 - 48:34REP. RYAN: We want to work with Congress --
-
48:34 - 48:34MS. RADDATZ: I -- you’ll get time.
-
48:34 - 48:39REP. RYAN: We want to work with Congress on
how best to achieve this. That means successful -
48:39 - 48:39-- look --
-
48:39 - 48:40MS. RADDATZ: No specifics, yeah.
-
48:40 - 48:44REP. RYAN: Mitt -- what we’re saying is
-- (laughter) -- lower tax rates 20 percent, -
48:44 - 48:46start with the wealthy, work with Congress
to do it -- -
48:46 - 48:48MS. RADDATZ: And you guarantee this math will
add up. -
48:48 - 48:52REP. RYAN: Absolutely. Six studies have guaranteed
-- six studies have verified that this math -
48:52 - 48:52adds up, but here’s the other point --
-
48:52 - 48:53MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden --
-
48:53 - 48:53VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Look --
-
48:53 - 48:53REP. RYAN: (Inaudible) -- one point -- (inaudible)
-- -
48:53 - 48:54MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden.
-
48:54 - 48:56VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Let me translate. Let
me have a chance to translate. -
48:56 - 48:58REP. RYAN: I’ll come back in a second then,
right? -
48:58 - 49:00VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: First of all, I was
there when Ronald Reagan tax breaks -- I mean, -
49:00 - 49:05he gave specifics of what he was going to
cut, no -- number one, in terms of tax expenditures. -
49:05 - 49:13Number two, 97 percent of the small businesses
of America pay less -- make less than $250,000. -
49:13 - 49:17Let me tell you who some of those other small
businesses are: hedge funds that make 6(00 -
49:17 - 49:21million dollars), $800 million a year. That
-- that’s what they count as small business -
49:21 - 49:22because they’re passthrough.
-
49:22 - 49:27Let’s look at how sincere they are. Ronald
-- I mean, excuse me, Governor Romney, on -
49:27 - 49:32“60 Minutes,” I guess it’s about 10
days ago, was asked, Governor, you pay 14 -
49:32 - 49:38percent on $20 million. Someone making $50,000
pays more than that. Do you think that’s -
49:38 - 49:41fair? He said, oh, yes, that’s fair; that’s
fair. -
49:41 - 49:43This is -- and they’re going to talk -- I
mean, you think these guys are going to go -
49:43 - 49:47out there and cut those loopholes? The loophole
-- the biggest loophole they take advantage -
49:47 - 49:52of is the carried interest loophole and -- and
capital gains loophole. They exempt that. -
49:52 - 49:57Now, there’s not enough -- the reason why
the AEI study, the American Enterprise Institute -
49:57 - 50:02study, the Tax Policy Center study, the reason
they all say it’s going to -- taxes will -
50:02 - 50:09go up on the middle class, the only way you
can find $5 trillion in loopholes is cut the -
50:09 - 50:13mortgage deduction for middle-class people,
cut the health care deduction for middle-class -
50:13 - 50:18people, take away their ability to get a tax
break to send their kids to college. That’s -
50:18 - 50:19why they -- (inaudible) --
-
50:19 - 50:20MS. RADDATZ: Is he wrong about that?
-
50:20 - 50:22REP. RYAN: He is wrong about that. There are
-- you can -- -
50:22 - 50:22VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: How’s that?
-
50:22 - 50:26REP. RYAN: You can cut tax rates by 20 percent
and still preserve these important preferences -
50:26 - 50:28for middle-class taxpayers --
-
50:28 - 50:29VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Not mathematically possible.
-
50:29 - 50:32REP. RYAN: It is mathematically possible.
It’s been done before. It’s precisely -
50:32 - 50:33what we’re proposing.
-
50:33 - 50:35VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.) It has never
been done before. -
50:35 - 50:36REP. RYAN: It’s been done a couple of times,
actually. -
50:36 - 50:37VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: It has never been done
before. -
50:37 - 50:40REP. RYAN: Jack Kennedy lowered tax rates,
increased growth. Ronald Reagan -- -
50:40 - 50:40VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Oh, now you’re Jack
Kennedy. -
50:40 - 50:46REP. RYAN: Ronald Reagan -- (laughter) -- (chuckles)
-- Republicans and Democrats -- -
50:46 - 50:47VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: This is amazing.
-
50:47 - 50:48REP. RYAN: Republicans and Democrats have
worked together on this. -
50:48 - 50:49VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s right.
-
50:49 - 50:51REP. RYAN: I understand aren’t used to doing
bipartisan deals. -
50:51 - 50:52VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: But we told each other
what we were going to do. When we did with -
50:52 - 50:53Reagan, he said --
-
50:53 - 50:53REP. RYAN: Republicans and Democrats --
-
50:53 - 50:55VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- here -- here are
the things we’re going to cut. This is what -
50:55 - 50:55he said.
-
50:55 - 50:57REP. RYAN: We can agree on a framework; let’s
work together to fill in the details. That’s -
50:57 - 50:57exactly --
-
50:57 - 50:58VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Fill in the details.
-
50:58 - 51:00REP. RYAN: That’s how you get things done.
You work with Congress -- -
51:00 - 51:00VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Seriously ?).
-
51:00 - 51:03REP. RYAN: Look, let me say it this way. Mitt
Romney was governor -- -
51:03 - 51:05VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s coming from
the Republican Congress working bipartisanly? -
51:05 - 51:06REP. RYAN: Mitt -- Mitt Romney --
-
51:06 - 51:07VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Seven percent rating?
Come on. -
51:07 - 51:12REP. RYAN: Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts,
where 87 percent of the legislators he served -
51:12 - 51:16with were Democrats. He didn’t demonize
them. He didn’t demagogue them. He met with -
51:16 - 51:18those party leaders every week.
-
51:18 - 51:18VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.)
-
51:18 - 51:21REP. RYAN: He reached across the aisle. He
didn’t compromise principles. -
51:21 - 51:22VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: And you (saw what happened
?). -
51:22 - 51:24REP. RYAN: He found common ground, and he
balanced the budget. -
51:24 - 51:28VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (You saw what ?) -- if
he did such a great job -- if he did such -
51:28 - 51:29a great job in Massachusetts --
-
51:29 - 51:29MS. RADDATZ: Vice President, what --
-
51:29 - 51:29REP. RYAN: He balanced the budget four times.
He balanced the budget four times without -
51:29 - 51:29raising taxes.
-
51:29 - 51:31VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- why isn’t he even
contesting Massachusetts? -
51:31 - 51:32REP. RYAN: (Inaudible.)
-
51:32 - 51:35MS. RADDATZ: Vice President, what would you
suggest -- what would you suggest beyond raising -
51:35 - 51:37taxes on the wealthy that would substantially
reduce the long-term deficit? -
51:37 - 51:41VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Not -- just let the
taxes expire like they’re supposed to on -
51:41 - 51:48those millionaires. We don’t -- we can’t
afford $800 billion going to people making -
51:48 - 51:55a minimum a million dollars. They do not need
it, Martha. Those 120,000 families make $8 -
51:55 - 52:01million a year. Middle-class people need the
help. Why does my friend cut out the tuition -
52:01 - 52:03tax credit for them? Why does he go out after
the child -- (inaudible)? -
52:03 - 52:04MS. RADDATZ: Can you declare anything off-limits
-- -
52:04 - 52:05VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Why do they do that?
-
52:05 - 52:07MS. RADDATZ: Can you declare anything off
limits? Home mortgages deductions -- -
52:07 - 52:10REP. RYAN: Yeah. We’re saying close loopholes
on high-interest people-- -
52:10 - 52:10MS. RADDATZ: Home mortgage deductions --
-
52:10 - 52:12REP. RYAN: -- for higher-income people. Here
-- -
52:12 - 52:14VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Can you guarantee that
no one -- -
52:14 - 52:14REP. RYAN: This taxes --
-
52:14 - 52:16VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- making less than
$100,000 will have a mortgage -- -
52:16 - 52:17REP. RYAN: This --
-
52:17 - 52:19VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- their mortgage deduction
impacted? Guarantee? -
52:19 - 52:21REP. RYAN: This taxes a million small businesses.
-
52:21 - 52:25He keeps trying to make you think that it’s
just some movie star or hedge fund guy or -
52:25 - 52:25an actor--
-
52:25 - 52:29VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Ninety-seven percent
of the small businesses make less than $250,000 -
52:29 - 52:30a year --
-
52:30 - 52:31REP. RYAN: Joe --
-
52:31 - 52:33VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- would not be affected.
-
52:33 - 52:36REP. RYAN: -- you know, it hits a million
-- this taxes a million people, a million -
52:36 - 52:37small businesses --
-
52:37 - 52:39VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Doesn’t tax 97 percent
of the American businesses -- small businesses -
52:39 - 52:39--
-
52:39 - 52:42REP. RYAN: It -- it taxes a million small
businesses, who are our great job creators. -
52:42 - 52:43VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I wish I’d get it
-- the greatest job creators are the hedge -
52:43 - 52:44fund guys.
-
52:44 - 52:44REP. RYAN: (Let’s end ?) --
-
52:44 - 52:46MS. RADDATZ: And you’re going -- and you’re
going to increase the defense budget. -
52:46 - 52:46REP. RYAN: Think about it this way.
-
52:46 - 52:49MS. RADDATZ: And you’re going to increase
the defense budget. -
52:49 - 52:51REP. RYAN: No, we’re just not going to cut
the defense budget like they’re -- they’re -
52:51 - 52:51proposing --
-
52:51 - 52:52VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: They’re going to increase
it $2 billion -- $2 trillion. -
52:52 - 52:54REP. RYAN: That’s not accurate. We’re
talking about preventing -- -
52:54 - 52:56MS. RADDATZ: More than that. No -- so no massive
defense increase? -
52:56 - 52:59REP. RYAN: No, we’re saying is, don’t
-- OK, you want to get into defense now? -
52:59 - 53:00MS. RADDATZ: Let -- yes, I do. I do --
-
53:00 - 53:00REP. RYAN: All right. So --
-
53:00 - 53:02MS. RADDATZ: -- because that’s another math
question. -
53:02 - 53:02REP. RYAN: Right. OK.
-
53:02 - 53:03MS. RADDATZ: How do you do that?
-
53:03 - 53:09REP. RYAN: So they proposed a $478 (sic) billion
cut to defense to begin with. Now we have -
53:09 - 53:15another $500 billion cut to defense that’s
lurking on the horizon. They insisted upon -
53:15 - 53:17that cut being involved in the debt negotiations
-- -
53:17 - 53:18MS. RADDATZ: Let --
-
53:18 - 53:19REP. RYAN: -- and now we have a $1 trillion
cut -- -
53:19 - 53:21MS. RADDATZ: Let’s put the automatic defense
cuts aside. OK? -
53:21 - 53:21REP. RYAN: Right. OK.
-
53:21 - 53:23MS. RADDATZ: Let’s put those aside. No one
wants that. -
53:23 - 53:24VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I’d like to go back
to that. -
53:24 - 53:24REP. RYAN: OK.
-
53:24 - 53:27MS. RADDATZ: But I want to know how you do
the math and have this increase in defense -
53:27 - 53:28spending?
-
53:28 - 53:29VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Two trillion dollars.
-
53:29 - 53:32REP. RYAN: You don’t cut defense by a trillion
dollars. That’s what we’re talking about. -
53:32 - 53:33The additional trillion --
-
53:33 - 53:36MS. RADDATZ: And what national security issues
justify an increase? -
53:36 - 53:39VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Who’s cutting it by
a trillion? -
53:39 - 53:44REP. RYAN: We’re going to cut 80,000 soldiers,
20,000 Marines, 120 cargo planes. We’re -
53:44 - 53:46going to push the Joint Strike Fighter out.
-
53:46 - 53:47MS. RADDATZ: Drawing down in one war --
-
53:47 - 53:48REP. RYAN: We’re cutting missile defense.
-
53:48 - 53:49MS. RADDATZ: -- and one war -- (inaudible
) -- -
53:49 - 53:53REP. RYAN: If these cuts go through, our Navy
will be the small it is -- it -- the smallest -
53:53 - 53:58it has been since before World War I. This
invites weakness. -
53:58 - 54:02Look, do we believe in peace through strength?
You bet we do. And that means you don’t -
54:02 - 54:06impose these devastating cuts on our military.
So we’re saying don’t cut the military -
54:06 - 54:11by a trillion dollars, not increase it by
a trillion, don’t cut it by a trillion dollars. -
54:11 - 54:13MS. RADDATZ: Quickly, Vice President Biden,
on this, and I want to move on. -
54:13 - 54:16VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Look, we don’t cut
it. And I might add this so-called -- I know -
54:16 - 54:20we don’t want to use the fancy word “sequester,”
this automatic cut -- that was part of a debt -
54:20 - 54:22deal that they asked for.
-
54:22 - 54:26And let me tell you what my friend said at
a press conference announcing his support -
54:26 - 54:30of the deal. He said -- and I’m -- we’ve
been looking for this moment for a long time. -
54:30 - 54:31(Inaudible) --
-
54:31 - 54:32REP. RYAN: Can I tell you what that meant?
-
54:32 - 54:33VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Why --
-
54:33 - 54:35REP. RYAN: We’ve been looking for bipartisanship
for a long time. -
54:35 - 54:39VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: And so the bipartisanship
is what he voted for: the automatic cuts in -
54:39 - 54:44defense if they didn’t act. And beyond that,
they asked for another -- look, the military -
54:44 - 54:50says, we need a smaller, leaner Army. We need
more special forces. We need -- we don’t -
54:50 - 54:53need more M1 tanks. What we need is more UADs.
-
54:53 - 54:54MS. RADDATZ: Some of the military -- I know
that’s -- (inaudible) -- -
54:54 - 54:58VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Not some of the military;
that was the decision of the Joint Chiefs -
54:58 - 55:03of Staff, recommended to us and agreed to
by the president. That’s a fact. -
55:03 - 55:04MS. RADDATZ: Who answers to the civilian leaders.
-
55:04 - 55:07VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: They made the recommendation
first. -
55:07 - 55:08MS. RADDATZ: OK. Let’s move on to Afghanistan.
-
55:08 - 55:10REP. RYAN: Can I get into that for a second?
-
55:10 - 55:11MS. RADDATZ: I’d like to move on to Afghanistan,
please. -
55:11 - 55:12REP. RYAN: OK.
-
55:12 - 55:16MS. RADDATZ: And that’s one of the biggest
expenditures this country has made, in dollars -
55:16 - 55:23and, more importantly, in lives. We just passed
the sad milestone of losing 2,000 U.S. troops -
55:23 - 55:28there in this war. More than 50 of them were
killed this year by the very Afghan forces -
55:28 - 55:35we are trying to help. Now, we’ve reached
the recruiting goal for Afghan forces. We’ve -
55:35 - 55:41degraded al-Qaida. So tell me, why not leave
now? What more can we really accomplish? Is -
55:41 - 55:43it worth more American lives?
-
55:43 - 55:47REP. RYAN: We don’t want to lose the gains
we’ve gotten. We want to make sure that -
55:47 - 55:53the Taliban does not come back in and give
al- Qaida a safe haven. We agree with the -
55:53 - 55:58administration on their 2014 transition. Look,
when I think about Afghanistan, I think about -
55:58 - 56:02the incredible job that our troops have done.
You’ve been there more than the two of us -
56:02 - 56:04combined.
-
56:04 - 56:09First time I was there in 2002, it was amazing
to me what they were facing. When I went to -
56:09 - 56:14the Arghandab Valley in Kandahar before the
surge, I sat down with a young private in -
56:14 - 56:18the 82nd from the Menominee Indian Reservation
who would tell me what he did every day, and -
56:18 - 56:22I was in awe. And to see what they had in
front of them -- and then to go back there -
56:22 - 56:25in December, to go throughout Helmand with
the Marines to see what they had accomplished -
56:25 - 56:28-- it’s nothing short of amazing.
-
56:28 - 56:32What we don’t want to do is lose the gains
we’ve gotten. -
56:32 - 56:37Now, we’ve disagreed from time to time on
a few issues. We would have more likely taken -
56:37 - 56:42into account the recommendations from our
commanders, General Petraeus, Admiral Mullen, -
56:42 - 56:47on troop levels throughout this year’s fighting
season. We’ve been skeptical about negotiations -
56:47 - 56:52with the Taliban, especially while they’re
shooting at us. But we want to see the 2014 -
56:52 - 56:57transition be successful. And that means we
want to make sure our commanders have what -
56:57 - 57:02they need to make sure that it is successful
so that this does not once again become a -
57:02 - 57:04launching pad for terrorists.
-
57:04 - 57:05MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden.
-
57:05 - 57:08VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha, let’s keep
our eye on the ball. The reason I’ve been -
57:08 - 57:14in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq 20 times
-- I’ve been up in the Kunar -- I’ve been -
57:14 - 57:20throughout that whole country, mostly in a
helicopter and sometimes in a vehicle. The -
57:20 - 57:26fact is we went there for one reason: to get
those people who killed Americans, al-Qaida. -
57:26 - 57:34We’ve decimated al-Qaida central. We have
eliminated Osama bin Laden. That was our purpose. -
57:34 - 57:39And in fact, in the meantime, what we said
we would do, we would help train the Afghan -
57:39 - 57:47military. It’s their responsibility to take
over their own security. That’s why, with -
57:47 - 57:5449 of our allies in Afghanistan, we’ve agreed
on a gradual drawdown so we’re out of there -
57:54 - 57:59by the year -- in the year 2014.
-
57:59 - 58:04My friend and the governor say it’s based
on conditions, which means it depends. It -
58:04 - 58:12does not depend for us. It is the responsibility
of the Afghans to take care of their own security. -
58:12 - 58:19We have trained over 315,000, mostly without
incident. There have been more than two dozen -
58:19 - 58:22cases of green on blue where Americans have
been killed. -
58:22 - 58:27If we do -- if the -- if the measures the
military has taken do not take hold, we will -
58:27 - 58:35not go on joint patrols, we will not train
in the field. We’ll only train in the -- in -
58:35 - 58:37the Army bases that exist there.
-
58:37 - 58:44But we are leaving. We are leaving in 2014,
period, and in the process, we’re going -
58:44 - 58:50to be saving over the next 10 years another
$800 billion. We’ve been in this war for -
58:50 - 58:57over a decade. The primary objective is almost
completed. Now all we’re doing is putting -
58:57 - 59:03the Kabul government in a position to be able
to maintain their own security. It’s their -
59:03 - 59:06responsibility, not America’s.
-
59:06 - 59:10MS. RADDATZ: What conditions could justify
staying, Congressman Ryan? -
59:10 - 59:15REP. RYAN: We don’t want to stay. We want
-- look, one of my best friends in Janesville, -
59:15 - 59:20a reservist, is at a forward operating base
in Eastern Afghanistan right now. Our wives -
59:20 - 59:25are best friends, our daughters are best friends.
I want -- I want him and all of our troops -
59:25 - 59:29to come home as soon and safely as possible.
-
59:29 - 59:33We want to make sure that 2014 is successful.
That’s why we want to make sure that we -
59:33 - 59:37give our commanders what they say they need
to make it successful. We don’t want to -
59:37 - 59:40extend beyond 2014. That’s the point we’re
making. -
59:40 - 59:46You know, if it was just this, I feel like
we would -- we would be able to call this -
59:46 - 59:52a success, but it’s not. What we are witnessing
as we turn on our television screens these -
59:52 - 59:59days, is the absolute unraveling of the Obama
foreign policy. Problems are growing at home, -
59:59 - 60:03but jobs -- problems are growing abroad, but
jobs aren’t growing here at home. -
60:03 - 60:09MS. RADDATZ: Let me go back to this. He says
we’re absolutely leaving in 2014. You’re -
60:09 - 60:14saying that’s not an absolute, but you won’t
talk about what conditions would justify -- -
60:14 - 60:15REP. RYAN: Do you know why we say that? Do
you know why we say that? -
60:15 - 60:15VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I’d like to know why.
-
60:15 - 60:20REP. RYAN: Because we don’t want to broadcast
to our enemies, put a date on your calendar, -
60:20 - 60:21wait us out and then come back.
-
60:21 - 60:21We want to make sure --
-
60:21 - 60:22MS. RADDATZ: But you agree with the timeline?
-
60:22 - 60:28REP. RYAN: We do -- we do agree with the timeline
in the transition, but what we -- what any -
60:28 - 60:34administration will do in 2013 is assess the
situation to see how best to complete this -
60:34 - 60:36timeline. What we do not want to do --
-
60:36 - 60:37VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: We will leave in 2014.
-
60:37 - 60:44REP. RYAN: What we do not want to do is give
our allies reason to trust us less and our -
60:44 - 60:49enemies more -- we don’t want to embolden
our enemies to hold and wait out for us and -
60:49 - 60:50then take over the --
-
60:50 - 60:51VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha, that’s a bizarre
statement. -
60:51 - 60:53REP. RYAN: That’s why we want to make sure
-- no, that’s why we want to make sure that -
60:53 - 60:54this -- that --
-
60:54 - 60:57VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s a bizarre statement,
since 49 of our allies -- hear me, 49 of our -
60:57 - 61:01allies signed onto this position, 49.
-
61:01 - 61:03REP. RYAN: And we’re reading that they want
to pull out early. -
61:03 - 61:08VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Forty-nine. Forty-nine
of our allies said out in 2014. It’s the -
61:08 - 61:12responsibility of the Afghans. We have other
responsibilities -- -
61:12 - 61:12REP. RYAN: Which is -- which is -- which is
what we agree with. -
61:12 - 61:16MS. RADDATZ: Do you -- do you think that this
timeline -- but we have -- we have soldiers -
61:16 - 61:16and Marines --
-
61:16 - 61:16VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Theirs are sufficient.
?) -
61:16 - 61:23MS. RADDATZ: We have Afghan forces murdering
our forces over there. The Taliban is, do -
61:23 - 61:25you think, taking advantage of this timeline?
-
61:25 - 61:30VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, look, the Taliban
-- what we’ve found out -- and we -- you -
61:30 - 61:37-- you saw it in Iraq, Martha. Unless you
set a timeline, Baghdad in the case of Iraq -
61:37 - 61:42and -- and Kabul in the case of Afghanistan
will not step up. They’re happy to let us -
61:42 - 61:48continue to do the job -- international security
forces to do the job. The only way they step -
61:48 - 61:54up is say, fellas, we’re leaving; we’ve
trained you; step up. Step up. -
61:54 - 61:55MS. RADDATZ: But let me -- let me go back
-- -
61:55 - 61:57VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s the only way
it works. -
61:57 - 62:02MS. RADDATZ: Let me go back to the surge troops
that we put in there. And you brought this -
62:02 - 62:07up, Congressman Ryan. I have talked to a lot
of troops. I’ve talked to senior officers -
62:07 - 62:13who were concerned that the surge troops were
pulled out during the fighting season, and -
62:13 - 62:17some of them saw that as a political -- as
a political move. So can you tell me, Vice -
62:17 - 62:23President Biden, what was the military reason
for bringing those surge troops home before -
62:23 - 62:24the fighting season ended?
-
62:24 - 62:26VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: The military reason
was bringing -- by the way, when the president -
62:26 - 62:31announced the surge -- you’ll remember,
Martha -- he said, the surge will be out by -
62:31 - 62:37the end of the summer. The military said,
the surge will be out. Nothing political about -
62:37 - 62:43this. Before the surge occurred -- so you
be a little straight with me here, too -- before -
62:43 - 62:47the surge occurred, we said, they’ll be
out by the end of the summer. That’s what -
62:47 - 62:50the military said. The reason for that is
-- -
62:50 - 62:54MS. RADDATZ: Military follows orders. They
-- I mean, there -- trust me, there are people -
62:54 - 62:54--
-
62:54 - 62:54VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Sure --
-
62:54 - 62:56MS. RADDATZ: -- who were concerned about pulling
out on the fighting season. -
62:56 - 62:59VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: But -- there are people
that were concerned, but not the Joint Chiefs. -
62:59 - 63:04That was their recommendation in the Oval
Office to the president of the United States -
63:04 - 63:09of America. I sat there. I’m sure you’ll
find someone who disagrees with the Pentagon. -
63:09 - 63:14I’m positive you’ll find that within the
military. But that’s not the case here. -
63:14 - 63:21And secondly, the reason why the military
said that is you cannot wait and have a cliff. -
63:21 - 63:27It takes, you know, months and months and
months to draw down forces. (Inaudible) -- cannot -
63:27 - 63:27wait --
-
63:27 - 63:30REP. RYAN: Let me bring some -- let me try
and illustrate the issue here, because I think -
63:30 - 63:35this -- it can get a little confusing. We’ve
all met with General Allen and General Scaparotti -
63:35 - 63:39in Afghanistan to talk about fighting seasons.
Here’s the way it works. The mountain passes -
63:39 - 63:45fill in with snow. The Taliban and the terrorists
and the Haqqani and the Quetta shura come -
63:45 - 63:50over from Pakistan to fight our men and women.
When it fills in with snow, they can’t do -
63:50 - 63:54it. That’s what we call fighting seasons.
In the warm months fighting gets really high; -
63:54 - 63:56in the winter it goes down.
-
63:56 - 64:03And so when Admiral Mullen and General Petraeus
came to Congress and said, if you pull these -
64:03 - 64:08people out before the fighting season is end,
it puts people more at risk -- that’s the -
64:08 - 64:14problem. Yes, we drew 22,000 troops down last
month. But the remaining troops that are there, -
64:14 - 64:19who still have the same mission to prosecute,
counterinsurgency, are doing it with fewer -
64:19 - 64:20people.
-
64:20 - 64:21That makes them less safe.
-
64:21 - 64:22VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Inaudible.)
-
64:22 - 64:27REP. RYAN: We’re sending fewer people out
in all these hot spots to do the same job -
64:27 - 64:29that they were supposed to do a month ago
-- -
64:29 - 64:29VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Because we turned it
over -- -
64:29 - 64:32REP. RYAN: -- but we took 22,000 people out
for them to do it. -
64:32 - 64:36VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: -- we turned it over
to the Afghan troops we trained. No one got -
64:36 - 64:43pulled out that didn’t get filled in by
trained Afghan personnel. And he’s -- he’s -
64:43 - 64:49-- he’s conflating two issues. The fighting
season that Petraeus was talking about and -
64:49 - 64:55former -- and Admiral Mullen was the fighting
season this spring. That’s what he was talking -
64:55 - 64:58about. We did not -- we did not pull them
out. -
64:58 - 64:59REP. RYAN: The calendar works the same every
year. (Chuckles.) -
64:59 - 65:02VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: It does work the same
every year. (Inaudible) -- there -- -
65:02 - 65:07REP. RYAN: (Chuckles.) Spring, summer, fall
-- (chuckles) -- it’s warm or it’s not. -
65:07 - 65:10They’re still fighting us, they’re still
coming over the passes, they’ll -- they’re -
65:10 - 65:16still coming in to Zabul or to Kunar, to all
of these areas, but we are sending fewer people -
65:16 - 65:18to the front to fight them. And that is not
safe. -
65:18 - 65:21VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s right, because
that’s the Afghan responsibility. We’ve -
65:21 - 65:22trained them.
-
65:22 - 65:23REP. RYAN: Not in the East.
-
65:23 - 65:25MS. RADDATZ: Let’s move -- let’s move
to another war. -
65:25 - 65:26VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Not in the East? (Inaudible)
-- -
65:26 - 65:27REP. RYAN: (Inaudible) -- East, RC-East --
-
65:27 - 65:29VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: RC-East, most dangerous
place in the world. -
65:29 - 65:31REP. RYAN: That’s why -- that’s why we
don’t want to send fewer people to do the -
65:31 - 65:31job.
-
65:31 - 65:33VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That’s -- that’s
why we should send Americans in to do the -
65:33 - 65:36job instead of the -- you’d rather Americans
be going in and doing the job instead of -- (inaudible) -
65:36 - 65:36--
-
65:36 - 65:38REP. RYAN: No. We are already sending Americans
to do the job -- -
65:38 - 65:38VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: No --
-
65:38 - 65:39REP. RYAN: -- but fewer of them. That’s
the whole point. -
65:39 - 65:42VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: That -- that’s right.
We’re sending in more Afghans to do the -
65:42 - 65:45job, Afghans to do the job.
-
65:45 - 65:51MS. RADDATZ: Let’s move to another war,
the civil war in Syria, where there are estimates -
65:51 - 65:57that -- estimates that more than 25,000, 30,000
people have now been killed. In March of last -
65:57 - 66:02year, President Obama explained the military
action taken in Libya by saying it was in -
66:02 - 66:08the national interest to go in and prevent
further massacres from occurring there. So -
66:08 - 66:13why doesn’t the same logic apply in Syria?
Vice President Biden. -
66:13 - 66:16VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: It’s a different country.
It’s a different country. It is five times -
66:16 - 66:23as large geographically. It has one-fifth
the population that is Libya, one-fifth the -
66:23 - 66:25population, five times as large geographically.
-
66:25 - 66:29It’s in a part of the world where you’re
not going to see whatever would come from -
66:29 - 66:35that war. It’s (seep ?) into a regional
war. You’re in a country that is heavily -
66:35 - 66:41populated in the midst of the most dangerous
area in the world. And in fact, if, in fact, -
66:41 - 66:47it blows up and the wrong people gain control,
it’s going to have impact on the entire -
66:47 - 66:50region, causing potentially regional wars.
-
66:50 - 66:56We are working hand in glove with the Turks,
with the Jordanians, with the Saudis and with -
66:56 - 67:01all the people in the region attempting to
identify the people who deserve the help so -
67:01 - 67:07that when Assad goes and he will go, there
will be a legitimate government that follows -
67:07 - 67:11on, not an al-Qaida-sponsored government that
follows on. -
67:11 - 67:17And all this loose talk of my friend, Governor
Romney, and the congressman about how we’re -
67:17 - 67:22going to do, we could do so much more in there,
what more would they do other than put American -
67:22 - 67:28boots on the ground? The last thing America
needs is to get into another ground war in -
67:28 - 67:34the Middle East requiring tens of thousands
if not well over a hundred thousand American -
67:34 - 67:39forces. That -- they are the facts. They are
the facts. -
67:39 - 67:45Now, every time the governor is asked about
this, he doesn’t say any -- he say -- he -
67:45 - 67:50goes up with a whole lot of verbiage, but
when he gets pressed, he says, no, he would -
67:50 - 67:55not do anything different then we are doing
now. Are they proposing putting American troops -
67:55 - 67:59on the ground, putting American aircraft in
their airspace? Is that what they’re proposing? -
67:59 - 68:05If they do, they should speak up and say so.
But that’s not what they’re saying. -
68:05 - 68:13We are doing it exactly like we need to do
to identify those forces who, in fact, will -
68:13 - 68:19provide for a stable government and not cause
a regional Sunni-Shia war when Bassad (ph) -
68:19 - 68:21-- when Bashir (sic; Bashar) Assad falls.
-
68:21 - 68:22MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan.
-
68:22 - 68:27REP. RYAN: Nobody is proposing to send troops
to Syria -- American troops. -
68:27 - 68:33Now let me say it this way. How would we do
things differently? We wouldn’t refer Bashar -
68:33 - 68:40Assad as a reformer when he’s killing his
own civilians with his Russian-provided weapons. -
68:40 - 68:45We wouldn’t be outsourcing our foreign policy
to the United Nations, giving Vladimir Putin -
68:45 - 68:51veto power over our efforts to try and deal
with this issue. He’s vetoed three of them. -
68:51 - 68:55Hillary Clinton went to Russia to try and
convince him not to do so; they thwarted her -
68:55 - 68:59efforts. She said they were on the wrong side
of history. She was right about that. This -
68:59 - 69:02is just one more example of how the Russia
reset’s not working. -
69:02 - 69:07And so where are we? After international pressure
mounted, then President Obama said Bashar -
69:07 - 69:12Assad should go. It’s been over a year.
The man has slaughtered tens of thousands -
69:12 - 69:18of his own people and more foreign fighters
are spilling into this country. So the longer -
69:18 - 69:25this has gone on, the more people -- groups
like al-Qaida are going in. We could have -
69:25 - 69:30more easily identified the Free Syrian Army,
the freedom fighters, working with our allies, -
69:30 - 69:36the Turks, the Qataris, the Saudis, had we
had a better plan in place to begin with, -
69:36 - 69:42working through our allies. But no, we waited
for Kofi Annan to try and come up with an -
69:42 - 69:48agreement through the U.N. That bought Bashar
Assad time. We gave Russia veto power over -
69:48 - 69:52our efforts through the U.N. and meanwhile
about 30,000 Syrians are dead. -
69:52 - 69:58VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: What would my friend
do differently? If you notice, he never answers -
69:58 - 69:59the question.
-
69:59 - 70:02REP. RYAN: No, I would -- I -- we would not
be going through the U.N. on all of these -
70:02 - 70:02things --
-
70:02 - 70:05VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Let -- let -- let me
-- you don’t go through the U.N. We are -
70:05 - 70:12in the process now and have been for months
in making sure that help, humanitarian aid, -
70:12 - 70:18as well as other aid and training, is getting
to those forces that we believe, the Turks -
70:18 - 70:25believe, the Jordanians believe, the Saudis
believe are the free forces inside of Syria. -
70:25 - 70:33That is under way. Our allies were all on
the same page, NATO as well as our Arab allies, -
70:33 - 70:39in terms of trying to get a settlement. That
was their idea. We’re the ones that said, -
70:39 - 70:39enough.
-
70:39 - 70:45With regard to the reset not working, the
fact of the matter is that Russia has a different -
70:45 - 70:48interest in Syria than we do, and that’s
not in our interest. -
70:48 - 70:53MS. RADDATZ: What happens if Assad does not
fall? Congressman Ryan, what happens to the -
70:53 - 70:56region? What happens if he hangs on? What
happens if he does? -
70:56 - 71:02REP. RYAN: Then Iran keeps their greatest
ally in the region. He’s a sponsor of terrorism. -
71:02 - 71:06He’ll probably continue slaughtering his
people. We and the world community will lose -
71:06 - 71:09our credibility on this. Look, he mentioned
the reset. -
71:09 - 71:11MS. RADDATZ: So what would Romney-Ryan do
about that credibility? -
71:11 - 71:16REP. RYAN: Well, we agree with the same red
line, actually, they do on chemical weapons, -
71:16 - 71:20but not putting American troops in, other
than to secure those chemical weapons. They’re -
71:20 - 71:26right about that. But what we should have
done earlier is work with those freedom fighters, -
71:26 - 71:32those dissidents in Syria. We should not have
called Bashar Assad a reformer, and we should -
71:32 - 71:34not have -- we should not have waited to Russia
to give us the green light -- -
71:34 - 71:34VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: We didn’t call Assad
-- -
71:34 - 71:35MS. RADDATZ: What’s your criteria for --
-
71:35 - 71:40REP. RYAN: We should not have waited for Russia
to give us the green light at the U.N. to -
71:40 - 71:40do something about it.
-
71:40 - 71:41VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Russia --
-
71:41 - 71:46REP. RYAN: They’re -- they’re still arming
the man. Iran is flying flights over Iraq -
71:46 - 71:46--
-
71:46 - 71:48VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: And the opposition is
being armed -- -
71:48 - 71:52REP. RYAN: -- to help -- to help -- to help
Bashar Assad. And by the way, if we had the -
71:52 - 71:55status of forces agreement that the vice president
said he would bet his vice presidency on in -
71:55 - 71:59Iraq, we probably would have been able to
prevent that. But he failed to achieve that -
71:59 - 72:00as well. Again --
-
72:00 - 72:03MS. RADDATZ: Let me ask you quickly, what’s
your criteria for intervention? -
72:03 - 72:04VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I don’t -- yeah.
-
72:04 - 72:05REP. RYAN: In Syria?
-
72:05 - 72:06MS. RADDATZ: Worldwide.
-
72:06 - 72:08REP. RYAN: What is in the national interests
of the American people. -
72:08 - 72:09MS. RADDATZ: How about humanitarian interests?
-
72:09 - 72:12REP. RYAN: What is in the national security
of the American people -- it’s got to be -
72:12 - 72:14in the strategic national interests of our
country. -
72:14 - 72:16MS. RADDATZ: No humanitarian?
-
72:16 - 72:22REP. RYAN: Each situation will -- will come
up with its own set of circumstances. But -
72:22 - 72:27putting American troops on the ground, that’s
got to be within the national security interests -
72:27 - 72:27of the American people.
-
72:27 - 72:30MS. RADDATZ: I want to -- we’re almost out
of time here. -
72:30 - 72:33REP. RYAN: That means things like embargoes
and sanctions and overflights -- those are -
72:33 - 72:36things that don’t put American troops on
the ground. But if you’re talking about -
72:36 - 72:41putting American troops on the ground, only
in our national security interests. -
72:41 - 72:46MS. RADDATZ: I want to move on, and I want
to return home for these last few questions. -
72:46 - 72:53This debate is indeed historic. We have two
Catholic candidates, first time on a stage -
72:53 - 72:59such as this, and I would like to ask you
both to tell me what role your religion has -
72:59 - 73:08played in your own personal views on abortion.
Please talk about how you came to that decision. -
73:08 - 73:13Talk about how your religion played a part
in that. And please, this is such an emotional -
73:13 - 73:14issue for so many --
-
73:14 - 73:15REP. RYAN: Sure.
-
73:15 - 73:21MS. RADDATZ: -- people in this country. Please
talk personally about this if you could. Congressman -
73:21 - 73:22Ryan.
-
73:22 - 73:27REP. RYAN: I don’t see how a person can
separate their public life from their private -
73:27 - 73:34life or from their faith. Our faith informs
us in everything we do. My faith informs me -
73:34 - 73:38about how to take care of the vulnerable,
about how to make sure that people have a -
73:38 - 73:40chance in life.
-
73:40 - 73:47Now, you want to ask basically why I’m pro-life?
It’s not simply because of my Catholic faith. -
73:47 - 73:54That’s a factor, of course, but it’s also
because of reason and science. You know, I -
73:54 - 74:01think about 10 1/2 years ago, my wife Janna
and I went to Mercy Hospital in Janesville -
74:01 - 74:09where I was born for our seven-week ultrasound
for our firstborn child, and we saw that heartbeat. -
74:09 - 74:16Our little baby was in the shape of a bean,
and to this day, we have nicknamed our firstborn -
74:16 - 74:19child, Liza, “Bean.” (Chuckles.)
-
74:19 - 74:22Now, I believe that life begins at conception.
-
74:22 - 74:26That’s why -- those are the reasons why
I’m pro-life. -
74:26 - 74:31Now, I understand this is a difficult issue.
And I respect people who don’t agree with -
74:31 - 74:38me on this. But the policy of a Romney administration
will be to oppose abortion with the exceptions -
74:38 - 74:41for rape, incest and life of the mother.
-
74:41 - 74:48What troubles me more is how this administration
has handled all of these issues. Look at what -
74:48 - 74:52they’re doing through “Obamacare” with
respect to assaulting the religious liberties -
74:52 - 75:00of this country. They’re infringing upon
our first freedom, the freedom of religion, -
75:00 - 75:05by infringing on Catholic charities, Catholic
churches, Catholic hospitals. Our church should -
75:05 - 75:09not have to sue our federal government to
maintain their religious -- religious liberties. -
75:09 - 75:13And with respect to abortion, the Democratic
Party used to say they want it to be safe, -
75:13 - 75:19legal and rare. Now they support it without
restriction and with taxpayer funding, taxpayer -
75:19 - 75:23funding in “Obamacare,” taxpayer funding
with foreign aid. The vice president himself -
75:23 - 75:29went to China and said that he sympathized
or wouldn’t second- guess their one-child -
75:29 - 75:34policy of forced abortions and sterilizations.
That, to me, is pretty extreme. -
75:34 - 75:36MS. RADDATZ: Vice President Biden.
-
75:36 - 75:45VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: My religion defines
who I am. And I’ve been a practicing Catholic -
75:45 - 75:52my whole life. And it has particularly informed
my social doctrine. Catholic social doctrine -
75:52 - 75:58talks about taking care of those who -- who
can’t take care of themselves, people who -
75:58 - 76:01need help.
-
76:01 - 76:09With regard to -- with regard to abortion,
I accept my church’s position on abortion -
76:09 - 76:14as a -- what we call de fide (doctrine ?). Life
begins at conception. That’s the church’s -
76:14 - 76:16judgment. I accept it in my personal life.
-
76:16 - 76:23But I refuse to impose it on equally devout
Christians and Muslims and Jews and -- I just -
76:23 - 76:29refuse to impose that on others, unlike my
friend here, the congressman. -
76:29 - 76:37I -- I do not believe that -- that we have
a right to tell other people that women, they -
76:37 - 76:41-- they can’t control their body. It’s
a decision between them and their doctor, -
76:41 - 76:46in my view. And the Supreme Court -- I’m
not going to interfere with that. -
76:46 - 76:52With regard to the assault on the Catholic
Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No -
76:52 - 76:57religious institution, Catholic or otherwise,
including Catholic Social Services, Georgetown -
76:57 - 77:05Hospital, Mercy -- any hospital -- none has
to either refer contraception. None has to -
77:05 - 77:11pay for contraception. None has to be a vehicle
to get contraception in any insurance policy -
77:11 - 77:16they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact.
-
77:16 - 77:26Now, with regard to the way in which the -- we
differ, my friend says that he -- well, I -
77:26 - 77:32guess he accepts Governor Romney’s position
now, because in the past he has argued that -
77:32 - 77:37there was -- there’s rape and forcible rape.
He’s argued that, in the case of rape or -
77:37 - 77:43incest, it was still -- it would be a crime
to engage in having an abortion. I just fundamentally -
77:43 - 77:45disagree with my friend.
-
77:45 - 77:46MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan.
-
77:46 - 77:51REP. RYAN: All I’m saying is if you believe
that life begins at conception, that therefore -
77:51 - 77:57doesn’t change the definition of life. That’s
a principle. The policy of a Romney administration -
77:57 - 78:04is to oppose abortion with exceptions for
rape, incest and life of the mother. Now, -
78:04 - 78:07I’ve got to take issue with the Catholic
Church and religious liberty. -
78:07 - 78:08VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: You have, on the issue
of Catholic social doctrine, taken issue. -
78:08 - 78:11REP. RYAN: If they -- if they agree with you,
then why would they keep -- why would they -
78:11 - 78:14keep suing you? It’s a distinction without
a difference. -
78:14 - 78:14VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Chuckles.)
-
78:14 - 78:20MS. RADDATZ: I want to go back to the abortion
question here. If the Romney-Ryan ticket is -
78:20 - 78:25elected, should those who believe that abortion
should remain legal be worried? -
78:25 - 78:32REP. RYAN: We don’t think that unelected
judges should make this decision; that people, -
78:32 - 78:36through their elected representatives and
reaching a consensus in society through the -
78:36 - 78:38democratic process, should make this determination.
-
78:38 - 78:44VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: The court -- the next
president will get one or two Supreme Court -
78:44 - 78:50nominees. That’s how close Roe v. Wade is.
-
78:50 - 78:56Just ask yourself: With Robert Bork being
the chief adviser on the court for -- for -
78:56 - 79:01Mr. Romney, who do you think he’s likely
to appoint? Do you think he’s likely to -
79:01 - 79:08appoint someone like Scalia or someone else
on the court, far right, that would outlaw -
79:08 - 79:12Planned -- excuse me -- outlaw abortion? I
suspect that would happen. -
79:12 - 79:18I guarantee you that will not happen. We picked
two people. We picked people who are open-minded. -
79:18 - 79:21They’ve been good justices. So keep an eye
on the Supreme Court -- -
79:21 - 79:22REP. RYAN: Was there a litmus test on them?
-
79:22 - 79:26VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: There was no litmus
test. We picked people who had an open mind, -
79:26 - 79:28did not come with an agenda.
-
79:28 - 79:32MS. RADDATZ: I’m going to move on to this
closing question because we are running out -
79:32 - 79:33of time.
-
79:33 - 79:37It’s certainly known -- you’ve said it
here tonight -- that the two of you respect -
79:37 - 79:43our troops enormously. Your son has served,
and perhaps someday your children will serve -
79:43 - 79:44as well.
-
79:44 - 79:50I recently spoke to a highly decorated soldier
who said that this presidential campaign has -
79:50 - 79:56left him dismayed. He told me, quote, “The
ads are so negative and they are all tearing -
79:56 - 79:59down each other, rather than building up the
country.” -
79:59 - 80:04What would you say to that American hero about
this campaign? And at the end of the day, -
80:04 - 80:09are you ever embarrassed by the tone?
-
80:09 - 80:10Vice President Biden.
-
80:10 - 80:15VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I would say to him the
same thing I say to my son, who did serve -
80:15 - 80:23year in Iraq: that we only have one truly
sacred obligation as a government. That’s -
80:23 - 80:28to equip those we send into harm’s way and
care for those who come home. -
80:28 - 80:34That’s the only sacred obligation we have.
Everything else falls behind that. -
80:34 - 80:44I would also tell him that the fact that he,
this decorated soldier you talked about, fought -
80:44 - 80:49for his country -- that that should be honored.
He should not be thrown into a category of -
80:49 - 80:55the 47 percent who don’t pay their taxes
while he was out there fighting and not having -
80:55 - 80:58to pay taxes and somehow not taking responsibility.
-
80:58 - 81:03I would also tell him that there are things
that have occurred in this campaign and occur -
81:03 - 81:08in every campaign that I’m sure both of
us regret anyone having said, particularly -
81:08 - 81:14in these special new groups that can go out
there, raise all the money they want, not -
81:14 - 81:20have to identify themselves and say the most
scurrilous things about the other candidate. -
81:20 - 81:22It’s -- it’s -- it’s an abomination.
-
81:22 - 81:28But the bottom line here is I’d ask that
hero you reference to take a look at whether -
81:28 - 81:36or not Governor Romney or President Obama
has the conviction to help lift up the middle -
81:36 - 81:41class, restore them to where they were before
this Great Recession hit and they got wiped -
81:41 - 81:47out or whether or not he’s going to continue
to focus on taking care of only the very wealthy, -
81:47 - 81:51not asking them to make -- pay any part of
the deal to bring the -- bring back the middle -
81:51 - 81:53class, the economy of this country.
-
81:53 - 81:58I would ask him to take a look at whether
the president of the United States has acted -
81:58 - 82:03wisely in the use of force and whether or
not the slipshod comments being made by my -
82:03 - 82:11-- my friend or by Governor Romney serve -- serve
our interests very well. But there are things -
82:11 - 82:16that have been said in campaigns that I -- I
find not very appealing. -
82:16 - 82:17MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan.
-
82:17 - 82:21REP. RYAN: First of all, I’d thank him to
his service to our country. -
82:21 - 82:25Second of all, I’d say, we are not going
to impose these devastating cuts on our military -
82:25 - 82:28which compromises their mission and their
safety. -
82:28 - 82:33And then I would say, you have a president
who ran for president four years ago promising -
82:33 - 82:41hope and change who has now turned his campaign
into attack, blame and defame. You see, if -
82:41 - 82:46you don’t have a good record to run on,
then you paint your opponent as someone to -
82:46 - 82:52run from. That was what President Obama said
in 2008. It’s what he’s doing right now. -
82:52 - 82:56Look at all the string of broken promises.
If you like your health care plan you can -
82:56 - 83:01keep it -- try telling that to the 20 million
people who are projected to lose their health -
83:01 - 83:04insurance if “Obamacare” goes through
or the seven point million -- 7.4 million -
83:04 - 83:06seniors who are going to lose it.
-
83:06 - 83:11Or remember when he said this: I guarantee
if you make less than $250,000, your taxes -
83:11 - 83:15won’t go up. Of the 21 tax increases in
“Obamacare,” 12 of them hit the middle -
83:15 - 83:17class.
-
83:17 - 83:21Or remember when he said, health insurance
premiums will go down, and $2,500 per family -
83:21 - 83:25per year? They’ve gone up 3,000 (dollars),
and they’re expected to go up another 2,400 -
83:25 - 83:25(dollars).
-
83:25 - 83:29Or remember when he said, I promise by the
end of my first term, I’ll cut the deficit -
83:29 - 83:37in half in four years? We’ve had four budgets,
four trillion-dollar deficits. A debt crisis -
83:37 - 83:42is coming. We can’t keep spending and borrowing
like this. We can’t just keep spending money -
83:42 - 83:45we don’t have.
-
83:45 - 83:51Leaders run to problems to fix problems. President
Obama has not even put a credible plan on -
83:51 - 83:55the table in any -- any of his four years
to deal with this debt crisis. I passed two -
83:55 - 84:00budgets to deal with this. Mitt Romney’s
put ideas on the table. We’ve got to tackle -
84:00 - 84:02this debt crisis before it tackles us.
-
84:02 - 84:06The president likes to say he has a plan.
He gave a speech. We asked his budget office, -
84:06 - 84:10can we see the plan? They sent us to this
press secretary. He gave us a copy of the -
84:10 - 84:13speech. We asked the Congressional Budget
Office, tell us what President Obama’s plan -
84:13 - 84:18is to prevent a debt crisis. They said, it’s
a speech; we can’t estimate speeches. You -
84:18 - 84:24see? That’s what we get in this administration:
speeches. But we’re not getting leadership. -
84:24 - 84:30Mitt Romney is uniquely qualified to fix these
problems. His lifetime of experience, his -
84:30 - 84:34proven track record of bipartisanship -- and
what do we have from the president? He broke -
84:34 - 84:38his big promise to bring people together to
solve the country’s biggest problems. And -
84:38 - 84:41what I would tell him is we don’t have to
settle for this. -
84:41 - 84:41VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Inaudible.)
-
84:41 - 84:41MS. RADDATZ: I -- I --
-
84:41 - 84:42REP. RYAN: We can do better than this.
-
84:42 - 84:44VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: I hope I’ll get equal
time. -
84:44 - 84:48MS. RADDATZ: I -- you will get just a few
minutes here, a few seconds, really. -
84:48 - 84:54VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: The two budgets the
congressman introduced have eviscerated all -
84:54 - 84:59the things that the middle class cares about.
It has knocked 19 -- it will knock 19 million -
84:59 - 85:05people off of Medicare. It will kick 200,000
children off of early education. It will eliminate -
85:05 - 85:10the tax credit people have to be able to send
their children to college. It cuts education -
85:10 - 85:19by $450 billion. It -- it -- it does -- it
does virtually nothing, except continue to -
85:19 - 85:21increase the tax cuts for the very wealthy.
-
85:21 - 85:26And, you know, we’ve had enough of this.
My -- the idea that these -- so concerned -
85:26 - 85:31about these deficits, I pointed out, he voted
to put two wars on a credit card. He did -- -
85:31 - 85:32MS. RADDATZ: We’re -- we’re going to --
-
85:32 - 85:32REP. RYAN: He voted --
-
85:32 - 85:34MS. RADDATZ: We’re going to the closing
statements in a minute. -
85:34 - 85:34REP. RYAN: But let me -- just a second --
-
85:34 - 85:35MS. RADDATZ: I -- you’re going to have your
closing -- -
85:35 - 85:39REP. RYAN: Not raising taxes is not cutting
taxes. And by the way, our budget -- -
85:39 - 85:40VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: We have not raised --
-
85:40 - 85:43REP. RYAN: -- we increased spending by 3 percent
a year instead of 4 1/2 percent like they -
85:43 - 85:44proposed.
-
85:44 - 85:45MS. RADDATZ: Let me -- let me calm down things
here -- -
85:45 - 85:47REP. RYAN: So not spending more money as much
as they say is not a spending cut. -
85:47 - 85:50MS. RADDATZ: -- just for a minute. And I want
to talk to you very briefly before we go to -
85:50 - 85:56closing statements about your own personal
character. If you are elected, what could -
85:56 - 86:02you both give to this country as a man, as
a human being that no one else could? -
86:02 - 86:07REP. RYAN: Honesty. No one else could? There
are plenty of fine people who could lead this -
86:07 - 86:12country. But what you need are people who,
when they say they’re going to do something, -
86:12 - 86:18they go do it. What you need are when people
see problems, they offer solutions to fix -
86:18 - 86:20those problems. We’re not getting that.
-
86:20 - 86:24Look, we can grow this economy faster. That’s
what our five-point plan for a stronger middle -
86:24 - 86:27class is all about. It’s about getting 12
million jobs, higher take-home pay; getting -
86:27 - 86:33people out of poverty, into the middle class.
That means going with proven pro-growth policies -
86:33 - 86:38that we know work to get people back to work,
putting ideas on the table, working with Democrats -
86:38 - 86:41-- that actually works sometimes -- and then
getting things done. -
86:41 - 86:43MS. RADDATZ: Vice President, could we get
to that -- to that issue of what you could -
86:43 - 86:48bring as a man, a human being? And I really
am going to keep you to about 15 seconds here. -
86:48 - 86:50VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, he gets 40, I
get 15, but that’s OK. That’s all right. -
86:50 - 86:51MS. RADDATZ: He didn’t have 40. He didn’t
have 40. -
86:51 - 86:56VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Now, let me tell you,
I -- my -- my record stands for itself. I -
86:56 - 87:03never say anything I don’t mean. Everybody
knows whatever I say, I do. And my whole life -
87:03 - 87:08has been devoted to leveling the playing field
for middle-class people, giving them an even -
87:08 - 87:12break, treating Main Street and Wall Street
the same, holding the same responsibility. -
87:12 - 87:17Look at my record. It’s been all about the
middle class. They’re the people who grow -
87:17 - 87:21this country. We think you grow this country
from the middle out, not from the top down. -
87:21 - 87:26MS. RADDATZ: OK. We now turn to the candidates
for their closing statements. Thank you, gentlemen. -
87:26 - 87:30And that coin toss, again, has Vice President
Biden starting with a closing statement. -
87:30 - 87:34VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, let -- let -- let
me say at the outset that I want to thank -
87:34 - 87:42you, Martha, for doing this, and Centre College.
The fact is that we’re in a situation where -
87:42 - 87:50we inherited a god-awful circumstance. People
are in real trouble. We acted to move to bring -
87:50 - 87:54relief to the people who need the most help
now. -
87:54 - 87:59And -- and in the process, we -- in case you
haven’t noticed, we have strong disagreements. -
87:59 - 88:06But I -- you probably detected my frustration
with their attitude about the -- the American -
88:06 - 88:12people. My friend says that 30 percent of
the American people are takers. They -- Romney -
88:12 - 88:16points out, 47 percent of the people won’t
take responsibility. He’s talking about -
88:16 - 88:20my mother and father. And he’s talking about
the places I grew up in, my neighbors in Scranton -
88:20 - 88:21and Claymont.
-
88:21 - 88:26He’s talking about -- he’s talking about
the people that have built this country. All -
88:26 - 88:29they’re looking for, Martha -- all they’re
looking for is an even shot. When they’ve -
88:29 - 88:34been given the shot, they’ve done it. They’ve
done it. Whenever you level the playing field, -
88:34 - 88:35they’ve been able to move.
-
88:35 - 88:40And they want a little bit of peace of mind.
And the president and I are not going to rest -
88:40 - 88:45until that playing field is leveled, they
in fact have a clear shot and they have peace -
88:45 - 88:50of mind, until they can turn to their kid
and say with a degree of confidence, honey, -
88:50 - 88:55it’s going to be OK. It’s going to be
OK. That’s what this is all about. -
88:55 - 88:57MS. RADDATZ: Congressman Ryan.
-
88:57 - 89:02REP. RYAN: I want to thank you as well, Martha,
Danville, Kentucky, Centre College. -
89:02 - 89:08And I want to thank you, Joe. It’s been
an honor to engage in this critical debate. -
89:08 - 89:15We face a very big choice. What kind of country
are we going to be? What kind of country are -
89:15 - 89:22we going to give our kids? President Obama
-- he had his chance. He made his choices. -
89:22 - 89:27His economic agenda, more spending, more borrowing,
higher taxes, a government takeover of health -
89:27 - 89:33care -- it’s not working. It’s failed
to create the jobs we need. Twenty-three million -
89:33 - 89:39Americans are struggling for work today. Fifteen
percent of Americans are in poverty. -
89:39 - 89:46This is not what a real recovery looks like.
You deserve better. Mitt Romney and I want -
89:46 - 89:53to earn your support. We’re offering real
reforms for a real recovery for every American. -
89:53 - 90:01Mitt Romney, his experience, his ideas, his
solutions, is uniquely qualified to get this -
90:01 - 90:05job done. At a time when we have a jobs crisis
in America, wouldn’t it be nice to have -
90:05 - 90:08a job creator in the White House?
-
90:08 - 90:15The choice is clear: a stagnant economy that
promotes more government dependency, or a -
90:15 - 90:21dynamic, growing economy that promotes opportunity
and jobs. Mitt Romney and I will not duck -
90:21 - 90:23the tough issues.
-
90:23 - 90:32We will take responsibility. And we will not
try to replace our founding principles; we -
90:32 - 90:38will reapply our founding principles. The
choice is clear, and the choice rests with -
90:38 - 90:42you, and we ask you for your vote. Thank you.
-
90:42 - 90:45MS. RADDATZ: And thank you both again. Thank
you very much. -
90:45 - 90:45VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Thank you.
-
90:45 - 90:50MS. RADDATZ: This concludes the vice presidential
debate. Please tune in next Tuesday for the -
90:50 - 90:54second presidential debate at Hofstra University
in New York. -
90:54 - 90:59I’m Martha Raddatz of ABC News. I do hope
all of you go to the polls. Have a good evening. -
90:59 - 90:59(Applause.)
-
90:59 -END
- Title:
- Joe Biden vs. Paul Ryan - The Complete Vice Presidential Debate
- Description:
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The one and only debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan. The debate is in HD and has been transcribed for your viewing pleasure.
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