Mr. Lehrer good evening from the Clark Athletic Center at the university of massachusetts in boston. Im jim lehrer of the newshour on pbs, and i welcome you to the first of three 90minute debates between the democratic candidate for president , Vice President al gore and the republican candidate, governor george w. Bush of texas. The debates are sponsored by the commission on president ial debates, and they will be conducted within formats and rules agreed to between the commission and the two campaigns. Tonight, well have the candidates at podiums. No answer to a question can exceed two minutes. Rebuttals are limited to one minute. But as moderator, i have the option to follow up and to extend any particular give and take another threeandahalf minutes. Even then, no single answer can exceed two minutes. The candidates, under their rules, may not question each other directly. There will be no opening statements, but each candidate may have up to two minutes for a closing statement. The questions and the subjects were chosen by me alone. I have told no one from the two campaigns, or the commission, or anyone else involved, what they are. There is a small audience in the hall tonight. They are not here to participate, only to listen. I have asked, and they have agreed, to remain silent for the next 90 minutes. Except for right now, when they will applaud as we welcome the two candidates, governor bush and Vice President gore. [applause] mr. Lehrer and now the first question as determined by a flip of a coin, it goes to Vice President gore. Vice president gore, you have questioned whether governor bush has the experience to be president of the United States. What exactly do you mean . Gore well, jim, first of all, i would like to thank the sponsors of this debate and the people of boston for hosting the debate. I would like to thank governor bush for participating, and i would like to say im happy to be here with tipper and our family. I have actually not question ed governor bushs experience. I have questioned his proposals. Here is why. I think this is a very important moment for our country. We have achieved extraordinary prosperity, and in this election, americans have to make an important choice. Will we use our prosperity to enrich not just the few, but all of our families . I believe we have to make the right and responsible choices. If im entrusted with the presidency, here are the choices that i will make. I will balance the budget every year. I will pay down the National Debt. I will put medicare and Social Security in a lockbox and protect them. And i will cut taxes for middleclass families. I believe its important to resist the temptation to squander our surplus. If we make the right choices, we can have a prosperity that endures and enriches all of our people. If im entrusted with the presidency, i will help parents and strengthen families because, you know, if we have prosperity that grows and grows, we still wont be successful unless we strengthen families by, for example, ensuring that children can always go to schools that are safe. By giving parents the tools to protect their children against cultural pollution. I will make sure that we invest in our country and our families. And i mean investing in education, health care, the environment, and middleclass tax cuts and retirement security. That is my agenda and that is why i think that its not just a question of experience. Mr. Lehrer governor bush, one minute rebuttal. Mr. Bush well, we do come from different places. I come from west texas. I have been a governor. The governor is the chief officer and learns how to set agendas. I think youll find the difference reflected in our budgets. I want to take onehalf of the surplus and dedicate it to Social Security, onequarter of the surplus for important projects, and i want to send onequarter of the surplus back to the people who pay the bills. I want everybody who pays taxes to have their tax rates cut. And that stands in contrast to my worthy opponents plan, which will increase the size of government dramatically. His plan is three times larger than president clintons proposed plan eight years ago. It is a plan that will have 200 new programs expanded programs. It will create 20,000 new bureaucrats. In other words it empowers , washington. Tonight, youre going to hear that my passion and my vision is to empower americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives. Mr. Lehrer so i take it by your answer, then, mr. Vice president , that in an interview recently with the New York Times when you said that you questioned whether or not governor bush was experienced enough to be president , you were talking about strictly policy differences. Mr. Gore yes, jim. I said that his tax cut plan, for example, raises the question of whether its the right choice for the country. And let me give you an example of what i mean. Under governor bushs tax cut proposal, he would spend more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 than all of the new spending that he proposes for education, health care, Prescription Drugs and national defense, all combined. Now, i think those are the wrong priorities. Now, under my proposal, for every dollar that i propose in spending for things like education and health care, i will put another dollar into middle class tax cuts. And for every dollar that i spend in those two categories, ill put 2 toward paying down the National Debt. I think its very important to keep the debt going down and completely eliminate it. And i also think its very important to go to the next stage of welfare reform. Our country has cut the welfare rolls in half. I fought hard from my days in the senate and as Vice President to cut the welfare rolls and weve moved millions of people in america into good jobs. But its now time for the next stage of welfare reform, and include fathers and not only mothers. Mr. Lehrer were going to get a lot of those. Mr. Bush let me just say that obviously tonight were going to hear some phony numbers about what i think and what we ought to do. People need to know that, over the next ten years, it is going to be 25 trillion of revenue that comes into our treasury and we anticipate spending 21 trillion. And my plan say why dont we pass 1. 3 trillion of that back to the people who pay the bills . Surely, we can afford 5 of the 25 trillion that are coming into the treasury to the hard working people that pay the bills. There is a difference of opinion. My opponent thinks the government the surplus is the governments money. Thats not what i think. I think its the hardworking people of americas money and i want to share some of that money with you so you have more money to build and save and dream for your families. Its a difference of opinion. Its a difference between government making decisions for you and you getting more of your money to make decisions for yourself. Mr. Lehrer let me just follow up one quick question. When you hear Vice President gore question your experience, do you read it the same way, that hes talking about policy differences only . Mr. Bush yes. I take him for his word. Look, i fully recognize im not of washington. Im from texas. And hes got a lot of experience, but so do i. And ive been the chief executive officer of the second biggest state in the union. I have a proud record of working with both republicans and democrats, which is what our nation needs. We need somebody that can come to washington and say lets forget all of the politics and the finger pointing and get positive things done on medicare, Prescription Drugs, Social Security, and so i take him for his word. Mr. Gore jim, if i could just respond. The governor used the phrase phony numbers, but if you look at the plan and add the numbers up, these numbers are correct. He spends more money for tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 than all of his new spending proposals for health care, Prescription Drugs, education, and national defense, all combined. I agree that the surplus is the American Peoples money, its your money. Thats why i dont think we should give nearly half of it to the wealthiest 1 , because the other 99 have had an awful lot to do with building the surplus and our prosperity. Mr. Lehrer threeandahalf minutes is up. New question. Mr. Bush i hope its about wealthy people. Governor bush, you have a question. This is a companion question to the question i asked Vice President gore. You have questioned whether Vice President gore has demonstrated the Leadership Qualities necessary to be president of the United States. What do you mean by that . Mr. Bush here is what i have said, jim. Ive said that eight years ago they campaigned on Prescription Drugs for seniors. And four years ago they campaigned on getting Prescription Drugs for seniors. And now theyre campaigning on getting Prescription Drugs for seniors. It seems like they cant get it done. Now, they may blame other folks, but its time to get somebody in washington who is going to work with both republicans and democrats to get some positive things done when it comes to our seniors. And so what ive said is that theres been some missed opportunities. Theyve had a chance. Theyve had a chance to form consensus. Ive got a plan on medicare, for example, thats a twostage plan that says well have immediate help for seniors and what i call immediate helping hand, a 48 billion program. But, i also want to say to seniors, if youre happy with medicare the way it is, fine, you can stay in the program. But were going to give you additional choices like they give federal employees in the federal Employee Health plan. Federal employees have a variety of choices to choose, so should seniors. And my point has been, as opposed to politicizing an issue like medicare, in other words, holding it up as an issue, hoping somebody bites it and try to clobber them over the head with it for political purposes, this year, in the year 2000, its time to get it done once and for all. Thats what ive been critical about the administration for. Same with Social Security. I think there was a Good Opportunity to bring republicans and democrats together to reform the Social Security system so seniors will never go without. Those on Social Security today will have their promise made, but also to give younger workers the option at their choice of being able to manage some of their own money in the private sector to make sure theres a Social Security system around tomorrow. There are a lot of Young Workers at our rallies we go to that, when they hear ill trust them at their option to be able to manage, under certain guidelines, some of their own money to get a better rate of return so that theyll have a Retirement Plan in the future, they begin to nod their heads and they want a different attitude in washington. Mr. Lehrer one minute rebuttal. Mr. Gore well, jim, under my plan, all seniors will get Prescription Drugs under medicare. The governor has described medicare as a government hmo. Its not, and let me explain the difference. Under the Medicare Prescription Drug proposal im making, here is how it works you go to your own doctor and your doctor chooses your prescription. No hmo or Insurance Company can take those choices away from you. Then you go to your own pharmacy, you fill the prescription, and medicare pays half the cost. If youre in a very poor family or if you have very high costs, medicare will pay all the costs, a 25 premium, and much Better Benefits than you can possibly find in the private sector. Here is the contrast. 95 of all seniors would get no help whatsoever under my opponents plan for the first four or five years. Now, one thing i dont understand, jim, is why is it that the wealthiest 1 get their tax cuts the first year, but 95 of seniors have to wait four to five years before they get a single penny . Mr. Bush i guess my answer to that is the man is running on mediscare. Trying to frighten people in the voting booth. Its just not the way i think and its not my intentions and not my plan. I want all seniors to have Prescription Drugs in medicare. We need to reform medicare. Theres been opportunity to do so, but this administration has failed to do it. And so, seniors will have not only a medicare plan where the poor seniors will have Prescription Drugs paid for, but there will be a variety of options. The Current System today has meant a lot for a lot of seniors, and i really appreciate the intentions of the Current System. As i mentioned, if youre happy with the system, you can stay in it. But there are a lot of procedures that havent kept up in medicare with the current times. No Prescription Drug benefits, no drug therapy, no preventative medicines, no vision care. We need to have a modern system to help seniors, and the idea of supporting a federally controlled, 132,000page document bureaucracy as being a compassionate way for seniors, and the only compassionate source of care for seniors is not my vision. I believe we ought to give seniors more options. I believe we should make the system work better. But i know this. I know it will require a different kind of leader to go to washington to say to both republicans and democrats, lets come together. Youve had your chance, Vice President. Youve been there for eight years, and nothing has been done. My point is, is that my plan not only trusts seniors with options, my plan sets aside 3. 4 trillion for medicare over the next 10 years. Next ten years. My plan also says it requires a the next 10 years. My plan also says it requires a new approach in washington, d. C. Its going to require somebody who can work across the partisan divide. Mr. Gore if i could respond to that. Under my plan, i will put medicare in an iron clad lockbox and prevent the money from being used for anything other than medicare. The governor has declined to endorse that idea, even though the republican as well as Democratic Leaders in congress have endorsed it. I would be interested to see if he would say this evening hell put medicare in a lockbox. I dont think he will because under his plan, if you work out the numbers, 100 billion comes out of medicare just for the wealthiest 1 in the tax cut. Now here is the difference. Some people who say the word reform actually mean cuts. Under the governors plan, if you kept the same fee for service that you have now under medicare, your premiums would go up by between 18 and 47 , and that is the study of the congressional plan that hes modeled his proposal on by the medicare actuaries. Let me just give you one quick example. There is a man here tonight named George Mckinney from milwaukee. He is 70 years old, he has high blood pressure, his wife has heart trouble. They have income of 25,000 a year. They cannot pay for their Prescription Drugs. So theyre some of the ones that go to canada regularly in order to get their Prescription Drugs. Under my plan, half of their costs would be paid right away. Under governor bushs plan, they would get not one penny for four to five years, and then they would be forced to go into an hmo or to an Insurance Company and ask them for coverage, but there would be no limit on the premiums or the deductibles or any of the terms and conditions. Mr. Bush i cannot let this go by, the oldstyle washington politics, of were going to scare you in the voting booth. Under my plan, the man gets immediate help with Prescription Drugs. Its called immediate helping hand. Instead of squabbling and finger pointing, he gets immediate help. Let me say something. Mr. Gore jim can i make one other point . They get 25,000 a year income, that makes them ineligible. Mr. Bush look, this is a man who has great numbers. He talks about numbers. Im beginning to think not only did he invent the internet, but he invented the calculator. Its fuzzy math. Its a scaring hes trying to scare people in the voting booth. Under my tax plan, that he continues to criticize, i set onethird. The federal government should take no more than a third of anybodys check. But i also dropped the bottom rate from 15 to 10 . By far the vast majority of the help goes to people at the bottom end of the economic ladder. If youre a family of four in massachusetts making 50,000, you get a 50 cut in the federal income taxes you pay. Its from 4000 to about 2000. Now, the difference in our plans is, i want that 2,000 to go to you, and the Vice President would like to be spending the 2000 on your behalf. Mr. Lehrer one quick thing, gentlemen. These are your rules. Im doing my best. Were way over the three and a half minutes. I have no problems with it. Do you want to have a Quick Response and we will move on . Were almost to five minutes on this. Mr. Gore its just clear, you can go to the website and look. If you make more than 25,000 a year, you dont get a penny of help under the bush Prescription Drug proposal for at least four to five years, and then youre pushed into a medicare into an hmo or Insurance Company plan, and theres no limit on the premiums or the deductibles or any of the conditions. And the Insurance Companies say it wont work and they wont offer these plans. Mr. Lehrer let me ask you both this and well move on on the subject. As a practical matter, both of you want to bring Prescription Drugs to seniors, correct . Mr. Gore correct. Mr. Bush correct. Mr. Gore the difference is i want to bring it to 100 and he wants to bring it to 5 . Mr. Bush thats totally false for him to stand up here and say that. Let me make sure the seniors hear me loud and clear. They have had their chance to get something done. Im going to work with democrats and republicans to reform the system. All seniors will be covered, all poor seniors will have their Prescription Drugs paid for, and in the meantime, well have a plan to help poor seniors and in the meantime, it could be one year or two years. Mr. Gore let me call your attention to the key word there. He said, all poor seniors. Mr. Bush wait a minute. All seniors are covered under Prescription Drugs in my plan. Mr. Gore in the first year . Mr. Bush if we can get it done in the first year, you bet. Yours is phased in in eight years. Mr. Gore its a twophase plan. For the first four years it takes a year to pass it and for the first four years only the poor are covered. Middle class seniors like George Mckinney and his wife are not covered for four to five years. Mr. Lehrer i have an idea. If you have any more to say about this, you can say it in your closing statements and will move on, ok . New question. Vice president gore, how would you contrast your approach to preventing future oil price and supply problems like we have now to the approach of governor bush . Mr. Gore excellent question. And here is the simple difference. My plan has not only a shortterm component but also a longterm component. It focuses not only on increasing the supply, which i think we have to do, but also on working on the consumption side. No now, in the shortterm, we have to free ourselves from the domination of the Big Oil Companies that have the ability to manipulate the price from opec when they want to raise the price. And in the longterm, we have to give new incentives for the development of domestic resources like deep gas in the western gulf, like stripper wells for oil, but also renewable sources of energy. Domestic sources that are cleaner and better. Im proposing a plan that will give tax credits and tax incentives for the Rapid Development of new kinds of cars and trucks and buses and factories and boilers and furnaces that dont have as much pollution, that dont burn as much energy, and that help us get out on the cutting edge of the new technologies that will create millions of new jobs. When we sell these new products here, well then be able to sell them overseas. There is a ravenous demand for them overseas. Now, another big difference is, governor bush is proposing to open up some of our most precious environmental treasures, like the Arctic National wildlife refuge, for the Big Oil Companies to go in and start producing oil there. I think that is the wrong choice. It would only give us a few months worth of oil and the oil wouldnt start flowing for many years into the future. I dont think its a fair price to pay to destroy precious parts of americas environment. We have to bet on the future and move beyond the Current Technologies to have a whole new generation of more efficient, cleaner, energy technology. Mr. Bush its an issue i know a lot about. I was a small oil person for a while in west texas. This is an administration thats had no plan. And all of a sudden, the results of having no plan have caught up with america. First and foremost, we have to fully fund liheap, which is a way to help low income folks, particularly here in the east, to pay for high fuel bills. Secondly, we need an active Exploration Program in america. The only way to become less dependent on foreign sources of crude oil is to explore at home. You bet i want to open up a small part of alaska. When that field is online, it will produce one Million Barrels a day. Today, we import one Million Barrels from saddam hussein. I would rather that a million come from our own hemisphere, our own country, as opposed to coming from saddam hussein. I want to build more pipelines to move natural gas throughout this hemisphere. I want to develop the Coal Resources in america. Have clean Coal Technologies. Weve got abundant supplies of energy here in america and wed better get after it and better start exploring it, or otherwise well be in deep trouble in the future because of our dependency upon foreign sources of crude. Mr. Lehrer so, if somebody is watching tonight and listening to what the two of you just said, is it fair to say, okay, the differences between Vice President gore and george w. Bush are the following. Youre for doing something on the consumption end, and youre for doing something on the production end . Mr. Gore let me clarify. Im for doing something both on the supply side and production side and on the consumption side. Let me say, that i found one thing in governor bushs answer that we certainly agree on, and thats the low income heating assistance program. I commend you for supporting that. I worked to get 400 million just a couple of weeks ago. And, to establish a permanent Home Heating Oil reserve here in the northeast. Now, as for the proposals that ive worked for for renewables and conservation and efficiencies and new technologies, the fact is, for the last few years in the congress, weve faced a lot of opposition to them. Theyve only approved about 10 of the agenda ive helped to send up there. I think we need to get serious about this energy crisis, both in the congress and in the white house, and if you entrust me one with the presidency, i will tackle this problem and focus on not know new technologies that will will make us less dependent on big oil or foreign oil. Mr. Lehrer how would you draw the difference . Mr. Bush well i would first say he should have been tackling it for the last seven years. Secondly, the difference is we need to explore at home. And the Vice President doesnt believe in exploration in alaska. Theres a lot of shutin gas that we need to be moving out of alaska by pipeline. Theres an interesting issue up in the northwest as well. That is whether or not we remove dams that produce hydroelectric energy. Im against removing dams in the northwest. I dont know where the Vice President stands, but thats a Renewable Energy source of energy we need to keep in line. I was in coal country in West Virginia yesterday. There is an abundant supply of coal in america. I know we can do a better job of clean Coal Technologies. Im going to ask the congress for 2 billion to make sure we have the cleanest Coal Technologies in the world. My answer to you is, in the shortterm, we need to get after it here in america. We need to explore our resources and we need to develop our reservoirs of domestic production. We also need to have a hemispheric Energy Policy where canada, mexico, and the United States come together. I brought this up recently with vicente fox, the newly elected president in mexico, hes a man i know from mexico. I talked to him about how best to expedite the exploration of natural gas in mexico and transport it up to the United States so we become less dependent on foreign sources of crude oil. This is a major problem facing america. The administration did not deal with it. Its time for a new administration to deal with the energy problem. Mr. Gore if i may just briefly, jim, i found a couple of other things we agree upon. We may not find that many this evening, so i wanted to emphasize them. I strongly support new investments in clean coal technology. I made a proposal three months ago on this. Also domestic exploration, yes, but not in the environmental treasures of our country. We dont have to do that. Thats the wrong choice. I know the Oil Companies have been itching to do that, but it is not the right thing for the future. Mr. Bush no. Its the right thing for the consumers. Less dependency upon foreign sources of crude is good for consumers. And we can do so in an environmentallyfriendly way. Mr. Gore well, can i have the last word on this . Mr. Lehrer new question, new subject. Governor bush. If elected president , would you try to overturn the fdas approval last week of the Abortion Pill ru486 . Mr. Bush i dont think a president can do that. I was disappointed in the ruling, because i think abortions ought to be more rare in america. Im worried that that pill will create more abortions and cause more people to have abortions. This is a very important topic and its a very sensitive topic, because a lot of good people disagree on the issue. I think what the next president ought to do is to promote a culture of life in america. Life of the elderly and life of those living all across the country. Life of the unborn. As a matter of fact, i think a noble goal for this country is that every child, born or unborn, but to ought to be protected by law and welcomed to life. I know we need to change a lot of minds before we get there in america. What i do believe is that we can find good, Common Ground on issues like parental notification or parental consent. I know we need to ban partial birth abortions. This is a place where my opponent and i have strong disagreement. I believe banning partial birth abortions would be a positive step to reducing the number of abortions in america. This is an issue that will require a new attitude. Weve been battling over abortion for a long period of time. Surely, this nation can come together to promote the value of life. Surely, we can fight off these laws that will encourage doctors to to allow doctors to take the lives of our seniors. Surely, we can Work Together to create a cultural life so some of these youngsters who feel like they can take a neighbors life with a gun will understand that thats not the way america is meant to be. Surely, we can find Common Ground to reduce the number of abortions in america. As to the drug itself, i mentioned i was disappointed. I hope the fda took its time to make sure that american women will be safe who use this drug. Mr. Lehrer Vice President gore . Mr. Gore well, jim, the fda took 12 years, and i do support that decision. They determined it was medically safe for the women who use that drug. This is indeed a very important issue. First of all, on the issue of partial birth or socalled lateterm abortion, i would sign a law banning that procedure, provided that doctors have the ability to save a womans life or to act if her health is severely at risk. Thats not the main issue. The main issue is whether or not is whether or not the roe v. Wade decision is going to be overturned. I support a womans right to choose. My opponent does not. It is important because the next president is going to appoint three and maybe even four justices of the Supreme Court. Governor bush has declared to the antichoice groups that he will appoint justices in the mold of scalia and clarence thomas, who are known for being the most vigorous opponents of a womans right to choose. Here is the difference. He trusts the government to order a woman to do what it thinks she ought to do. I trust women to make the decisions that affect their lives, their destinies, and their bodies. I think a womans right to choose ought to be protected and defended. Mr. Lehrer governor, well go to the Supreme Court question in a moment, but make sure i understand your position on ru486. If youre elected president , not through appointments to the fda, you wont support legislation to overturn this . Mr. Bush i dont think a president can unilaterally overturn it. The fda has made its decision. Mr. Lehrer that means you wouldnt, through appointments, to the fda and ask them to mr. Bush i think once a decision has been made, its been made unless its proven to be unsafe to women. Mr. Gore jim, the question you asked, if i heard you correctly, was would he support legislation to overturn it. And if i heard the statement day before yesterday, you said you would order he said he would order his fda appointee to review the decision. Now, that sounds to me a little bit different. I just think that we ought to support the decision. Mr. Bush i said i would make sure that women would be safe who used the drug. Mr. Lehrer on the Supreme Court question, should a voter assume youre prolife. Mr. Bush i am prolife. Mr. Lehrer should a voter assume that all judicial appointments you make to the Supreme Court or any other court, federal court, will also be prolife . Mr. Bush the voters should assume i have no litmus test on that issue or any other issue. Voters will know ill put competent judges on the bench. People who will strictly interpret the constitution and not use the bench to write social policy. That is going to be a big difference between my opponent and me. I believe that the judges ought not to take the place of the legislative branch of government. That theyre appointed for life, and that they ought to look at the constitution as sacred. They shouldnt misuse their bench. I dont believe in liberal activist judges. I believe in strict constructionists. Those are the kind of judges i will appoint. Ive named four Supreme Court judges in the state of texas and would ask the people to check out their qualifications, their deliberations. Theyre good, solid men and women who have made good, sound judgments on behalf of the people of texas. Mr. Lehrer what kind of appointments should they expect from you . Mr. Gore we both use similar language to reach an exactly opposite outcome. I dont favor a litmus test, but i know that there are ways to assess how a potential justice interprets the constitution. In my view, the constitution ought to be interpreted as a document that grows with our country and our history. I believe, for example, that there is a right of privacy in the fourth amendment. And when the phrase a strict constructionist is used and when the names of scalia and thomas are used as the benchmarks for who would be appointed, those are code words, and nobody should mistake this, for saying the governor would and appoint people who would overturn roe v. Wade. Its very clear to me. I would appoint people that have a philosophy that i think would make it quite likely they would uphold roe v. Wade. Mr. Lehrer is the Vice President right . Is that a code word for overturning roe v. Wade . Mr. Bush it sounds like the Vice President s not right very many times tonight. I just told you the criteria on which ill appoint judges. I have a record of appointing judges in the state of texas. Thats what a governor gets to do. A governor gets to name Supreme Court judges. He also reads all kinds of things into my tax plan and into my medicare plan. I want the viewers out there to listen to what i have to say about it. Mr. Lehrer reverse the question. What code phrases should we read by what you said about what kind of people you would appoint . Mr. Gore it would be likely that they would uphold roe v. Wade. I do believe its wrong to use a litmus test. If you look at the history of a Lower Court Judges rulings, you can get a pretty good idea of how they are going to interpret questions. A lot of questions are first impression, and these questions that have been seen many times come up in a new context and so but, you know, this is a very important issue. A lot of young women in this country take this right for granted, and it could be lost. It is on the ballot in this election. Make no mistake about it. Mr. Bush ill tell you what kind of judges hell put on. Hell put liberal activists justices who will use their bench to subvert the legislature. Thats what hell do. Mr. Gore thats not right. Mr. Lehrer new subject, new question. Vice president gore, if president milosevic of yugoslavia refuses to accept the Election Results and leave office, what action, if any, should the United States take to get him out of there . Mr. Gore well, milosevic has lost the election. His opponent, kostunica, has won the election. Its overwhelming. Milosevics government refuses to release the vote count. Theres now a general strike going on. Theyre demonstrating. I think we should support the people of serbia and yugoslavia, as they call serbia plus montenegro, and put pressure in every way possible to recognize the lawful outcome of the election. The people of serbia have acted very bravely in kicking this guy out of office. Now, he is trying to not release the votes and then go straight to a socalled Runoff Election without even announcing the results of the first vote. Now, weve made it clear, along with our allies, that when milosevic leaves, then serbia will be able to have a more normal relationship with the rest of the world. That is a very strong incentive that weve given them to do the right thing. Bear in mind also, milosevic has been indicted as a war criminal and he should be held accountable for his actions. Now, we have to take measured steps, because the sentiment within serbia is, for understandable reasons, against the United States, because their nationalism even if they dont like milosevic, they still have some feelings lingering from the nato action there. So, we have to be intelligent in the way we go about it. But make no mistake about it, we should do everything we can to see that the will of the serbian people, expressed in this extraordinary election, is done. And i hope that hell be out of office very shortly. Mr. Lehrer governor bush, one minute. Mr. Bush well, im pleased with the results of the election as the Vice President is. Its time for the man to go. It means that the United States must have a strong, diplomatic hand with our friends in nato. Thats why its important to make sure our alliances are as strong as they possibly can be to keep the pressure on mr. Milosevic. This will be an interesting moment for the russians to step up and lead as well. It might be a wonderful time for the president of russia to step into the balkans and convince mr. Milosevic that its in his best interest and his countrys best interest to leave office. The russians have a lot of sway in that part of the world. We would like to see them use that sway to encourage democracy to take hold. Its an encouraging election. Its time for the man to leave. Mr. Lehrer what if he doesnt leave . What if all the diplomatic efforts, all the pressure from all over the world and he still doesnt go . Is this the kind of thing, to be specific, that you as president would consider the use of u. S. Military force to get him gone . Mr. Gore in this particular situation, no. Bear in mind that we have a lot of sanctions in force against serbia right now. The people of serbia know that they can escape all those sanctions if this guy is turned out of power. Now, i understand what the governor has said about asking the russians to be involved, and under some circumstances, that might be a good idea. But, being as they have not yet been willing to recognize kostunica as the lawful winner of the election, im not sure its right for us to invite the president of russia to mediate this dispute there because we might not like the result that comes out of that. They currently favor Going Forward with a Runoff Election. I think thats the wrong thing. I think the governors instinct is not necessarily bad, because we have worked with the russians in a constructive way in kosovo, for example, to end the conflict there. But, i think we need to be very careful in the present situation before we invite the russians to play the lead role in mediating. Mr. Bush well obviously we wouldnt use the russians if they didnt agree with our answer, mr. Vice president. Mr. Gore they dont. Mr. Bush let me say this to you, i wouldnt use force. I wouldnt use force. Mr. Lehrer you wouldnt use force . Why not . Mr. Bush its not in our National Interest to use force in this case. I would use pressure and diplomacy. There is a difference with what the president did in kosovo, which i supported, and this. Its up to the people in this region to take control of their country. Mr. Lehrer new question. How would you go about as president deciding when it was in the National Interest to use u. S. Force, generally . Mr. Bush well, if its in our vital National Interests, and and whether or not our people could be harmed or if alliances are threatened or whether our friends in the released are threatened. That would be a time to seriously consider use of force and sadly whether the mission is alear, whether there clear understanding as to what the mission would be. Whether or not we were prepared and trained to win, whether or not our forces were high morale and High Standard and finally, whether or not there was an exit strategy. I would take the use of force. Seriously. I would be guarded in my approach. I dont thing we can be all things to all people in the world. We have to be careful with the use of troops we have a different spirit he believes in nationbuilding. I would be very careful using our troops as a nation builders. Role of the military is to fight and win wars and prevent wars from happening in the first place. I take my responsibility seriously. It starts with making sure we rebuild the military power, morale in todays military is too low. We are having trouble meaning recruiting goals. Troops are not wellequipped. I believe we are overextended into many places. Therefore, i want to rebuild the military power. It starts with a billiondollar payraise for the men and women who wear the uniform. To make sure the troops are well housed and equipped your bonus plans to keep the high skilled folks that she refused and a commanderinchief that clearly sets the mission and that is to fight and win war and therefore prevent work from happening in the first place. Mr. Lehrer . Ice president gore mr. Gore. Nobody should have any doubt about that, least of all our adversaries or potential adversaries. If you entrust me with the presidency, i will do whatever is necessary in order to make sure our forces state the strongest in the world. 10year Budget Proposal i have set twice as much for this purpose as governor bush is has in his proposal. We should be reluctant to get involved in some place in a foreign country. If our National Security is at stake if we have allies and if we have tried every other course and if we are sure military action will succeed and if the cost of a portion it to the benefit, we should get involved. Just because we dont want to get involved everywhere doesnt mean we should back off anywhere it comes off comes up. I disagree with maybe when only oil supplies are at stake than our National Security is at risk. I think there are situations in kosovo where there is genocide were National Security is at stake. Mr. Lehrer governor . Thebush will it be strongest in years to come and the warning signs are real. Everywhere i go around the campaign trail i see people, moms and dads who son or daughter may wear the uniform and the tell me about how discouraged their son and daughter maybe. A recent poll was taken amongst thousand personnel as well as officers, over half of whom are going to leave the service when their time of enlistment is up. The captains are leaving the service. There is a problem, and it will require a new commanderinchief to rebuild the military power. The other day i was honored to be flagged by colin powell in general four who stood by and agreed with me and general schwarzkopf. They agreed with me. If we dont stop extending our inops all around the world nationbuilding missions, then we will have a series problem coming on the road and im going to prevent that. One of the major priorities of my administration. Mr. Lehrer Vice President gore, how should the voters go about deciding which one of you is better suited to make the decisions we have talked about, or the it is milosevic proposal. At our proposals and look at us as people and make up their own minds. I served my country in vietnam here at my father was a senator who strongly opposed the vietnam war. I went to college in this great city and most of my peers felt against the war as i did, but i went anyway because i knew if i didnt, some of the elves in the small town of tennessee would have to go in my place. I served for eight years in the house of representatives and i served on the intelligence committee, and specialized in working with arms control and served on the Armed ServicesCommittee Good for the last eight years i served on the National Security council. When the conflict came up in bosnia, i saw a genocide in the heart of europe with the most violent war on the continent of europe since world war ii. That is where world war i started, in the balkans. My uncle was a victim of poison gas there. Millions of americans saw the result of that conflict. We have two be willing to make good, sound judgment. I know the value of making sure our troops have the latest technology. Skipping the weapons is a big mistake we have to stay in the cutting edge. Governor, how would you advise them to make the decision . Mr. Bush you have to look at how one is handled responsibility in office. The same with domestic policy, makeer have the ability to people follow and whether your sound and suppose are whether you relying on groups to decide what the course of accident of action is. We need decisions made on sound principles that have been the governor of a big state and one of the hallmarks of one might relationships in austin, texas is ive had the capacity to work with both republicans and democrats. That is an important part of leadership. Audience, there is one elected state center who is a democrat one statewide officer is a democrat. There are a lot here in the debate. Supportt to show their that shows i know how to lead. Who can lead and who has shown the ability to get things done . Way over thewe are three and a half minutes. Go ahead. Mr. Gore one of the key points is the need to reestablish the oldfashioned principle that politics ought to stop at the waters edge here when i was in the congress, i worked with former president reagan to modernize our strategic weaponry and pursue armscontrol in a responsible way. When i was in the United States senate, i worked with your father and was one of the only few democrats in the senate to support the persian gulf war. I think bipartisanship is a National Asset and we have to find ways to reestablish it in Foreign Policy and National Security. Mr. Lehrer do you have a problem that . Mr. Bush why havent they done that in seven years. Mr. Lehrer should the voters of this election see this on domestic area as a major choice between competing political philosophies . Mr. Bush mr. Gore absolutely paired this is an important time in the history of our country we have the biggest surpluses in all of American History. The key question that has to be answered in this election is will we use this prosperity wisely, in a way that benefits all of our people and doesnt go just to the few question mark benefits gohe tax to the wealthiest 1 . I think we have to make the right and responsible choices could we have to invest in education, protecting the environment, health care, a Prescription Drug benefit the ghosts to all seniors, not just to the poor under medicare not relying on hmos and Insurance Companies. I think we have to help parents and strengthen families by dealing with the kind of inappropriate entertainment material that families are heartsick their children are exposed to. We have got to have welfare reform taken to the next stage. Have got to balance the budget every single year, pay down the National Debt, and under my also, the National Debt will be completely eliminated by the year 2012. We need to put medicare and Social Security in a lockbox. The governor will not put medicare in a locks lockbox. It should not be used as a piggy bank for other programs. It should be protected. I dont detail anything that takes things out of Social Security or medicare or anything other than Social Security or medicare. The priorities are just very different. For every new dollar that i propose for spending on health care, governor bush spends three dollars for a tax cut for that wealthiest 1 . For every 10 how are i proposed is spent on education, he proposes five dollars on a tax cut for wealthiest 1 . Those are very clear differences. Mr. Lehrer governor, one minute. Mr. Bush the man is practicing fuzzy numbers again. He is going to grow the government in the largest way since learned johnson we are talking about massive government. Adding to our increasing 200 new programs, 20,000 new bureaucrats. Imagine how many irs agents it is going to take to figure out his targeted tax cut for the middle class that excludes 50 million americans. There is a huge difference in this campaign. He says he is going to give you tax cuts, 50 million of you wont receive it. He wants to see the right people get tax relief. That is not the role for the president to determine right and wrong. After my plan is in place, the wealthiest americans will pay a higher percentage of taxes than they do today. 6 million families wont pay any tax at all. It is a huge difference. It is the difference between the federal government wanting to think on your behalf. Mr. Gore let me say that you have not heard him deny them he has called them phony and fuzzy, but the fact remains that almost 30 of his proposed tax cut goes only to americans who make more than 1 million per year. E money mr. Lehrer do have a rebuttal . Mr. Bush after my plan the wealthiest of americans pay more at the percentage of the whole than they do today. Make 50,000 hours in massachusetts you get a tax cut. A family in allentown pennsylvania, i campaigned with them the other day. They make 51,000 combined income. They pay 38 3500 in taxes. Under my plan to get 1800 of you tell me who stands on the side. His plan makes more sense. He would rather spend 1800 and i would mr. Lehrer do see it that way, Vice President gore . Mr. Bush i am not mr. Gore i am not going to calling names are the analysis leaves out more than half of the tax cut that i have proposed. If you add the numbers up, he still hasnt denied it. He spends more on a tax cut the wealthiest 1 in all his newest proposals. Those are the wrong priorities. Years foron over 10 the wealthiest 1 . , almost 30 goes to americans who make more than 1 million per year. Every middleclass family is eligible for a tax cut under my proposal. That College Tuition up to 10,000 a year ought to be tax deductible so middleclass families can choose to send their children to college. I believe that all seniors should be able to choose their own doctors and get scription drugs from their own pharmacist with medicare paying half the bill. I believe parents ought to have more choices with Charter Schools and Public School of choice to send their kid always to a safe school. I think we need to make education the number one priority in our country and treat teachers like the professionals that they are and that is why i have made it the number one priority in my budget, not a tax cut for the wealthy. Mr. Bush this is a man whose plane excludes 50 million americans. He picks and chooses he decides whether the right people are. It is a fundamental difference of opinion. I want my fellow americans to your one more time. Her going to collect 25 trillion dollars of revenue over the next beyears and we are going to projected to spend 21 trillion. Surely we can send 5 of it back to you pay the bills. This man has been disparaging my plan with the washington fuzzy math. If you are a single mother making 22,000 a year and you have two children, under this tax code, for every additional dollar you make, you may higher marginal rate on the dollar than someone making 200,000 a year, and that is not right. My plan drops the rate from 15 to 10 and increases the child credit from 500 to 1000 to make the cold more fair for everybody. Not just a few, but everybody who has taxes up to get some relief. Mr. Lehrer having clear that up, we are going to a new question, education. Governor bush, both of you promised or medically to changed or medically Public Education in this country, but of the public money spent on the education, only 6 is federal money. You want to change 100 of Public Education was 6 of the money. Is that possible . Mr. Bush we can make a huge difference by saying if you receive federal money, we expect to show results. Let me give you a story about Public Education if i might. It is an academy in houston texas. It is a Charter School run by some people from teach for america pretty young folks who said im going to do Something Different for my country. I want to teach. It is a school full of socalled atrisk children. It is how we unfortunately label certain children. Strong school of discipline and height standards and one of the best schools in houston. The key ingredient are high expectations, strong accountability. He says just let us teach and hold us accountable and that is what we do. As a result, these young mainly hispanic youngsters are some of the best learners in houston, texas. That is my vision for Public Education all around america. Tora and i set our girls Public Schools in austin paid many art meeting the call. Unfortunately, a lot of schools just wont teach. One i want to changed head start reading program. Two is to say if you want to access reading money, you could do so because the goal is for every single child to learn to read. Throughst be k3 to k programs. Let schools reach out beyond the confines of the current structure to recruit and teach for the children type teachers. They are going to say if you receive federal money, measure or notshow us whether children are learning to read and write and add and subtract and if so there will be a bonus plan. But if not, instead of continuing to subsidize failure, the money will go to different schools and federal money to be due to the child will go to publix will Charter School or tutorial or catholic school. What i care about his children and so does michael feinberg. It can happen in america with the right kind of leadership. Mr. Lehrer Vice President gore . Mr. Gore we believe in some things the same. I believe in accountability. I support local control, so does governor bush. Im in favor of testing as a way of measuring performance. Every school district, every state tested. Ive also proposed a voluntary National Test in the fourth grade and eighth grade and the former testing the governor has not endorsed, i think only teachers ought to be tested, including in the subject that they teach. We have got to recruit 100,000 new teachers. I have budgeted for that. We have to reduce class size so that the student who walks in has more oneonone time with the teacher. Yet have universal preschool and document College Tuition tax deductible up to 10,000 a year. I would like to tell you a quick story. I got a letter today and im here with a group of 13 around the country who help me prepare. We ate lunch at a restaurant and the guy who served us lunch that meet a letter today. His name is randy ellis he has a 15yearold daughter and sarasota high school. Her science class was supposed to be for 24 students. Student. E 36th they cant squeeze another desk in for her, so she has to stand during class. I want federal government, consistent with local control and new accountability to make improvement of the schools in number one priority is so she will have a desk and can sit down in a classroom where she can learn. Mr. Lehrer all right. So having her the two of you, the voters have heard the two of you, what is the difference . What is the choice between you and education. Mr. Gore there are mr. Bush there are new there are no testing inability his plan. If you receive money you must show us whether children are learning to read and write and add and subtract pay that is the difference. You may claim you have mandatory testing, but you dont, mr. Vice wasnt. Testing is the cornerstone of performance. It is the cornerstone of reform in the state of texas. Republicans and democrats came together and we asked what can we do to make the publication the Public Education the best and we have done a long way to Work Together. And the cornerstone is to have strong accountability in return for money and flexibility, we will ask you to show us and post the result on the internet could we encourage parents to take a look at the comparative results of school. Wreps juncker School Movement that i signed the legislation to get started we have a strong Charter School movement that i signed the legislation to get started. We need to expand education something thats, the Vice President ial running mate supports. He wont support local districts. How do you respond . Mr. Gore i do have mandatory testing. The voluntary National Test is in addition to the mandatory testing that we require of states, all schools and School Districts and a students themselves and require teacher testing which goes a step further than governor bush has been willing to go. Here are a couple of differences , jim. Governor bush is in favor of vouchers, which would take taxpayer money away from Public Schools and give them to private schools that are not accountable for how the money is used and dont have to take all applicants. Private schools play a great role in our society. All of ours children have gone to public and private schools, but i dont think they should have a right to take taxpayer money away from Public Schools ellis is standing in the classroom. I went to a school in date county florida for the facilities are so overcrowded that children have to eat lunch in shifts with the first shift starting at 9 30 in the morning. This is a Funding Crisis all around the country. There are fewer parents of School Aged Children as a percentage of the voting population and there is the largest generation of students ever. We are in an Information Age when learning is more important than ever. We have to make it the number one priority, modernize our schools, reduce class size, recruit new teachers, give every child a chance to learn with one on one time in a high quality, safe school. If it is a Failing School, shut it down and reopen it under a new principal with a Turnaround Team of specialists the way governor jim does in north carolina. The governor, if it is a Failing School that would leave the children in the Failing School for three years and then give a little bit of money to the parents, a down payment on a down payment for private School Tuition and pretend that would be enough for them to go out and go to a private school. Mr. Lehrer 30 seconds, governor. Mr. Bush first of all, most of the governance is that the state level. I am going to make the state do this and that youre all i am saying is if you spend money, show us result and test every year, would you do not do, mr. Vice resident. You can Vice President. You can say in the cameras you do, but you dont. You have to test every year. Secondly, one of the things weve got to be careful about in politics is throwing money at a system that is not yet been reformed. More money is needed and i spend more money. Step one is to make sure we reform the system and make sure that it leaves no child behind. Are anding how old you start asking what do you know, and if you dont know what you are supposed to know, we will make sure you do it early and before it is too late. Mr. Lehrer we have been talking about a lot of specific issues. It is often said in the final analysis about 90 of being the percent the president of the United States is in dealing with unexpected things that come up and you point to a decision, an action you have taken, that illustrates your ability to handle the unexpected, the crisis under fire, etc. When the action in kosovo was dragging on and we were searching for a solution to the problem our country had defeated the adversary on the battlefield without a single American Life being lost but the dictator was hanging on. I invited the former Prime Minister of russia to my house and took a risk and asking him to get personally involved along with the head of finland. Belgrade and take a set of proposals from the United States that would constitute a surrender by serbia, but it was calculated and it paid off. I could give you other examples of decisions over the last 24 years. I have been in Public Service 24 years. Throughout all that time the people i have fought for have been the middleclass families. I have been willing to stand up to powerful interests, like the powerful insurance hmos, Oil Companies. Sometimes they get too much power. Peoplemy lot with the even when it means you have to stand up to some powerful interests who are trying to turn the policies and laws to their advantage. You can see it in this campaign. Companies want to oppose my proposals and president bushs because they prices. Er governor bush. I have been standing up to big trial lawyers. The question was about emergencies, wasnt it . [laughter] governor one of the things you have to deal with is catastrophe. I can remember the fires that swept Parker County texas, the floods, i went down to del rio , texas. Done a good job of working with governors but that it time youre tested is the time to test your heart when you see peoples lives upside down. It broke my heart to go to del rio or a fella and his family got uprooted. The only thing i knew to do was get aid as quickly as possible which we did and put my arms around the man and his family and cry with him. That is what governors do. Governors are often the front line of catastrophic situations. New question, there can be all kinds of crises. There could be a crisis in the financial area. The stock market could take a tumble. There could be a failure of the major financial institution. What is your general attitude toward Government Intervention in such an instance . Obviously, but what i would do first and foremost is get in touch with the Federal Reserve chairman to find out the facts and all the circumstances. I would have my secretary of treasury be in touch with the financial centers, not only here but at home. I would make sure key members of congress were called in to discuss the gravity of the situation and i would come up with a game plan to deal with it. That is what governors end up doing. We are problem solvers. We come up with Common Sense Solutions for problems we are confronted with. In this case, i would gather all the facts before i made the decision as to what the country ought to do or not to do. I want to respond to the fires of floods in texas. I went down to texas when the fires broke out in fema has been a major flagship project and i agree, it works extremely well. On the International Financial rubin, ay friend bob close advisor and friend in all respects. I have had a chance to work with him and Alan Greenspan following the crisis of the mexican peso, when there was a possible worldwide recession through the asian markets, and now the euros value has been dropping but seems to be under control. But it started, for me, in the last eight years when i had the honor of casting the tiebreaking vote to end the old economic plan at home and put into place a new economic plan that has helped us make progress. 22 million new jobs and the greatest prosperity ever. But it is not good enough in my attitude is you have not seen nothing yet. Weve got to do more and better. Governor, would you agree there is no basic difference on intervening federal government intervening in what may be seen as a financial crisis . There is no difference. Met morehe economy is for the gore and clinton folks meant for the for th economy. In terms of the response to the question, no. Mag comment on that . You may. I think the American People deserve the credit. They were working pretty hard eight years ago and they had ingenuity eight years ago. The difference is we have got new policy and instead of concentrating on tax cuts mostly cutshe wealthy, i want tax for the middle class families and i want to continue the prosperity and make sure it enriches not just the few, but all of our families. We have gone from the biggest deficit to the biggest surplus. We have gone from a triple dip recession or previous 12 years to a tripling of the stock market. Instead of high unemployment we the lowest africanamerican and latino unemployment rates ever in history. It is not good enough. More thant to do much the key is job training, education, investment in health care and education, the environment, retirement security, and we have got to preserve Social Security. I am totally opposed to diverting one out of every 6 out of the trust fund into the stock market. I want new incentives for savings and investments for the young couples were working hard so they can save and invest on their own on top of Social Security, not at the expense of Social Security. Governor. One, a lot of folks are still waiting for that 1992 middleclass tax cut. I remember the Vice President saying, give us a chance. It did not happen. Now he is having to say it again. They have had their chance to deliver a tax cut to you. Second, the surest way to bust this economy is increase the role of the federal government. The Senate Budget committee did a study of the Vice President s expenditures. They projected it could bus to the budget by 900 billion. That means you have to raise taxes or go into Social Security. This is a plan that will increase the bureaucracy by 20,000. There is so much fine print it will require numerous agents. We need somebody disciplined by the code, continue prosperity, be fair, sharing surplus with the people who pay the bills. Particularly those at the bottom end of the economic letter. Jim, whatuld respond, he is quoting is nothing Senate Budget committee, it is a Partisan Press release by the republicans. The taxpayerth paper it is printed on. As for 20,000 new bureaucrats, as you call them, the size of the federal government will go down in a gore administration. People smaller today than it was eight years ago. The fact is you are going to have a hard time convincing folks we were better off eight years ago than we are today. That is not the question. The question is, will we be better off four years from now than we are today . As for the surest way to havingn ours prosperity a 1. 9 trillion tax cut, almost half of which goes to the wealthy, and a 1 trillion privatization proposal is the surest way to put our budget into deficit, raise Interest Rates i cannot let the man continue. It is 1. 3 trillion, Vice President. Im not going to be one of these president s who says, you get tax relief and you do not. Im not want to be picky. What is fair is everybody who pays taxes ought to get relief. I thought we clear this up. [laughter] a new question. Of the view have Social Security reform plans and we could spend the evening and two or three others talking about the details. We are not going to make that but [laughter] experts, including federal greenspan,irman alan say it will be impossible for either view to keep the system viable on its own during the coming baby boomer retirement onslaught with either reducing benefits or increasing taxes. Do you disagree . I do. If we can keep our prosperity going, if we can continue balancing the budget and paying down the debt, the Strong Economy keeps generating surplus. Here is my plan. I will keep Social Security in a lockbox and that pays down the National Debt in the interest savings. Back intot right Social Security which extends the life of Social Security for 55 years. I think it is very important to understand cutting benefits under Social Security means that people like Winifred Skinner from des moines, iowa would have a harder time because there are millions of seniors who were living almost hand to mouth. You talk about cutting benefits, i do not go along with it. I am opposed. I am also opposed to a plan that awayts one out of every 6 from the Social Security trust fund. Social security pays the checks this year with the money that is paid into Social Security this year. The governor wants to divert one out of every six dollars into the stock market. He would drain 1 trillion out of the trust fund in this generation over the next 10 years and Social Security under that approach would go bankrupt within this generation. His leading advisor on this plan said that would be ok because then Social Security could start borrowing. It would borrow up to 3 trillion. Social security has never done that and i do not think it should do that. I think it should stay in a lockbox and i will tell you this. I will veto anything that takes money out of Social Security for privatization or anything else other than Social Security. Governor. I thought it was interesting on the two minutes he spent on my plan he does not want you to know he is loading up ious for the future generation. The revenue exceeds the expenses until 2013. For those of you who wants to scare into voting for him, hear me loud and clear. A promise made is a promise kept. We want younger workers to take some of their own money. The payroll taxes your money and we ought to put it into safe investments so that 1 trillion gross to be 3 trillion. The money stays within Social Security. It is part of the system. He keeps claiming it will be out of Social Security. It is your money, your retirement benefits. It is a fundamental difference between what we believe. I want you to have your own asset you can call your own. I want you to have an asset you can pass from one generation to the next. I want to get a better rate of return for your own money than the 2 the current trust gets today. Mr. Greenspan missed the opportunity to say theres a better rate of return on the Social Security money. The surplus we can make sure if we trust workers and understand the power of the compounding rate of interest. Here is the difference. I give a new incentive for younger workers to save their own money and invest their own money, but not at the expense of Social Security. My plan is Social Security plus. The governors plan is Social Security minus. Security would be cut. Problem hits because the money contributed to Social Security this year is an entitlement. The money is used to to pay the benefits for seniors. ,f you cut the amount going in then you have to cut the value of each check unless you come up with the money from somewhere else. I would like to know from the governor i know we are not supposed to ask each other questions but i would be interested in knowing does that 1 trillion come from the trust fund or does it come for the rest of the budget . There is enough money to pay Seniors Today and the Current Affairs of Social Security. The 1 trillion comes from the surplus. It is more money than needed. Let me tell you your plan. It is Social Security plus debt. Usually future generations with ious. It is time to have a leader that does not put off tomorrow we should do today. It is time to have somebody to step up and say, look, let us let younger workers take some of their own money and, under certain guidelines, invested into the private market. The safest of federal investment leads 4 . There is a fundamental difference of opinions. Younger worker after younger worker, here is my call to say i trust you. The issue is changing because seniors understand the promise made will be a promise kept. But younger workers understand we better have a government that trusts them and that is what im going to do. New question, gentlemen. Here is big issue. If we do another round we are almost out of time. Briefly . Established Social Security they called it the full faith and credit of the United States. If you do not have trust in that, i do. If you take it out of the surplus, that means the trust fund goes bankrupt in this generation within 20 years. Go ahead. This is a government that things a 2 rate of return on your money is satisfactory. It is not. This is a government that says younger workers cannot possibly have their own asset. We need to think differently about the issue. We need to make sure seniors get the promise made. But i want to tell you if we do not trust younger workers to manage their own money with the Social Security surplus and grow from 1 trillion to two 3 trillion, it will cause benefit reductions. New question. Governor bush, are there issues of character that distinguish you from Vice President gore . Well, the man loves his wife and i appreciate that a lot and i appreciate nine. He loves his family a lot and i appreciate that because i love my family. I think the thing that discouraged me about the Vice President was uttering the famous words no controlling legal authority. I felt there needed to be a better sense of responsibility of what was going on in the white house. Haveieve i believe they the buck stops here to the lincoln bedroom. It is not right. Aboutd to have a new look how we conduct ourselves in office. I see it all the time when people come up to me and say, i do not want you to let me down again. We can do better than the past administration. It is time for a fresh start. It is time for a new look. Time for a fresh start after a season of cynicism. I do not know the man well, but i have been disappointed about how he and his administration has conducted the fundraising affairs. Going to a buddhist temple and claiming it was not a fundraiser is not my view of responsibility. Vice president. I thought we ought to attack the problem and that each other. I want to spend my time making this country even better than it is, not make you out to be a bad person. You may want to focus on scandal. I want to focus on results. As i said a couple of months ago, i stand here as my own man and i want you to see me for who i really am. I have been married 30 years. We became grandparents a year and a half ago and we have four children. I have devoted 24 years of my life to Public Service and i have said this before and will say it again. If you entrust me with the presidency, i may not be the most exciting politician, but i will work hard for you every day. I will fight for middleclass families and working men and women and i will never let you down. Governor, what are you saying when you mention the fundraising scandals or fundraising charges involved . What are you saying the voters should take from that . They ought to factored in when the make their decision. Part of me . In what way. Bei think people ought to held responsible for the actions they take in life. Go ahead. I think that is part of the need for cultural change. We need to be responsible for what we do and people in the highest office of the land must be responsible for decisions they make in life. That is the way i have conducted myself as governor and that is the way i will conduct myself as president should i be fortunate enough to our new vote. Are you saying this is irrelevant . No. I think the American People should take into account who we are as individuals, what our experience is, what positions are, what our proposals are. Im asking you to see me for who i really am. I am offering my own vision, my own experience, my own proposals. Incidentally, one of them is this. This Current Campaign financing system has not reflected credit on anybody in either party and that is one of the reasons ive said before, and i will pledge tonight, if im president the first bill joe and i will send to the United States congress is the mccain reform bill. Whether Prescription Drugs for all seniors that are opposed by drug companies, the patient bill of rights to take decisions away , all of these other proposals are going to be a lot easier to get passed the American People if we limit special interest money and give democracy back to the people. I wish governor bush would join me this evening in endorsing the Campaign Reform bill. Governor. I read in the New York Times were he said he cosponsored the mccainfeingold fundraising bill. He was not in the senate with senator feingold. What you need to know about me is im going to uphold the law, have an attorney general that enforces the law. It is the time for Campaign Funding reform after the election. This man has outspent me, the special interests are outspending me, and i am not going to lay down my arms in the middle of a campaign for somebody who has no credit ability on the issue. Senator mccain said excuse me, one second. Senator mccain said in august it did not matter. Theres going to be blood on the floor of the senate. First, would you support the billt or would you sign a that included i would support the effort to ban corporate soft money and labor union soft money as long as there was dues. I campaign on this since the primaries. I believe that its a b instant disclosure. We need to fully enforce the law. We need to have an attorney general that says if the laws are broken, we will enforce the law. Be strict about it. Be firm about it. Governor bush, you have attacked my character and credibility and i am not going to respond in kind. I think we ought to focus on the problems and not attack each other. One of the Serious Problems system ofll is our government is being undermined by too much influence coming from special interest money. We have to get a handle on it. Like john mccain i have learned from experience and it is not a new position for me. Supported full Public Financing of all federal elections and anybody who thinks i am just saying it will be the first bill i sent to congress, 8 00 p. M. Aturday at eastern on American History tv, go inside a Different College classroom and hear about topics ranging from the revolution, civil rights, and president s to 9 11. Thanks for your patience and for logging into class. With both campuses closed, watch professors transfer teaching to a virtual setting. Gorbachev did most of the work to change the soviet union but reagan met him halfway. 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Presidency,he Stanford University history Professor EmeritusDavid Kennedy talks about the presidency as an institution, explaining how it functioned and changed since the framers created the office in the constitution. The Alumni Association hosted this event and provided the video. David so let me begin with some numbers. There have been 45 presidencies but only 44 persons who have served as president , thanks to the peculiar way that way we count the two nonconsecutive administrations of Grover Cleveland back in the 19th century. All 44 of those president s have been males. All but two of them have been white, protestant males. 17 of them, 17 of the 44, have been elected to second tms