ourselves champion shale gas as a game changer. and at the end of the day find ourselves in the same trade-off. water versus fu%l@@@@@@@@@@ @ @s we have to look at the social and economic implications of every single project idea the advance. a new way of engaging some of these things to catch that earlier. >> can i say one thing about this? i think, i have spent three years with technology assessment. inculcating the idea that you have to think about the system and think about the implications of technology beyond the immediate horizon. we also are susceptible to the way that -- [unintelligible] the whole corn ethanol causing prices to increase is one of those ideas that is convenient and stuck in our heads. increase is one of those little ideas that just as convenient and has stuck in our heads. every food economists that has looked at this problem has concluded that, in fact, those corn prices went up because of demand in china and india and the rest of the world, especially for their increase in need for meat and not for ethanol. it is an idea. it is often, often repeated, but i think especially with so many press in the room it is important to understand that that was not the cause. we absolutely need to pay attention to it. there are a lot of problems with corn ethanol. increasing food prices is not one of them. >> i read one other footnote. we bought sugar-based ethanol coming in from brazil, which would have been been a cheaper alternative and a better alternative. we continue to block it today. so to your point we need to look at this comprehensively and understand if our true mission is to wean ourselves from oil then why not sugar ethanol from brazil? why block that? >> the reason -- >> i'm getting the signal. gary's comment is going to be the last comment. >> the reason is pretty straightforward. the whole corn ethanol episode has very little to do with energy policy. it is all to do with agriculture. the wto closing in on farm subsidies. there needs to be another way to deal with this problem, and that is the way it was dealt with. no energy person i know thinks that it had anything to do with energy policy. >> there is politics around agriculture in the united states? [laughter] >> none. >> i'm sure their lobby did not have any influence on it either. >> let's thank our panel this morning. [applauding] we will make sure that everybody we have there e-mail addresses and so forth. you'll get the video. we will send you the web archive. so thank you for being here. we want to thank the new american foundation for working with asu to advance this. hopefully we have some good ideas generated here today. thanks a lot. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> president obama was in illegal and promoting the recently passed health care bill. his remarks are next. after that, a discussion on health care costs and the federal deficit. then robert samuelson on the economy. >> tomorrow morning, a conversation with the implementation of the health- care bill with julie appleby and then rayola dougher of the american petroleum institute. an update on the economy including the latest job numbers with greg robb. later, president obama of cal -- travels to north carolina to deliver remarks on the economy. live coverage from charlotte began as an old and 30 a.m. eastern. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online. you can connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube. sign up for our scheduled alert e-mails @ c-spaat c-span.org. >> the president is introduced by karen mills, who is a native of the state of maine. this is 30 minutes. >> please welcome karen mills. [applause] >> good afternoon, fellow mainers. [applause] i am karen mills. i live in brunswick . can we hear it for brunswick and the midtown? i worked in washington. i am the head of the small business administration. this is a special day for me. one year ago today, was my first day on the job. [applause] one year. and there is no place that i would rather be on this anniversary then in my home state of maine with all the small businesses, and this crowd who is waiting to hear from our president, barack obama. [cheers and applause] you know, i've traveled all around the country. and i have heard from a lot of small-business owners. small-business owners think of all their employees and -- as their family. they take care of their family and the number one concern is finding affordable health insurance. [cheers and applause] one small business owner told me that the day she was able to provide health insurance for herself, and your employees, that was the day that she decided her business was successful. [applause] now, she is one example of people like you who spoke up and made your voices heard in washington. people who value fairness and common sense and hard-working, people who value the health and well-being of your community, and people who keep your eye on the goal and do not give up in a tough environment. yeah. [applause] people with maine values. [applause] you spoke up and now we have one of the most important pieces of legislation in decades. yeah. [applause] it is going to be good for m aine kids and seniors and good for maine's 35,000 small businesses. i do not always meet people in washington that share maine's the use. i heard from one person a couple of weeks ago, he was giving a speech to the members of congress who were about to vote on this bill. he asked them to stand with him and he said, "we are not bound to win, but we are bound to be true." he was not just encouraging them to make the right decision, he was telling them something about himself. he showed us that he was courageous, he showed us thahow connected he is to people like you, and he showed us that this was our opportunity to change people's lives for the better for generations to come. [applause] he was showing us that maine's voices and values can make their way all way to washington and have an impact. -- all the way to washington and have an impact. [applause] for the past year, i have been proud to call that person my boss. [applause] so, ladies and gentlemen, please tell me welcome our president, barack obama. [cheers and applause] ♪ ["hail to the chief" plays] [applause] [cheers and applause] >> hello, portland. thank you. thank you. thank you, portland. thank you. thank you. thank you, everybody. thank you so much, thank you. thank you, everybody. what a wonderful -- when the sun comes out around here, everybody gets excited. [applause] i love you back. [cheers and applause] i have to say the last time i was in maine was before the caucuses. it was a little cooler here, as i recall. it is wonderful to be back here. people want to say a few nice things about. first of all, we could not have a better small business administrator than your own neighbor, caramels -- karen mills. please give her a round of applause. she is doing a great job. i think she has more than a few folks remain on her staff. she has stocked tem all over the place. everyone is doing -- thshe has stocked them all over the place. i want to thank the governor who is here. thank you. there he is, right there. thank you. [applause] you are ar outstanding mayor is. we got two great champions from maine whose tireless efforts have helped working families across the state and the country. [unintelligible] [applause] it is good to be back in maine. i and everybody to remember, when i came here during the campaign, i made a promise. it was not a promise about any particular issue. it was a promise that our government would once again be responsive to the needs and aspirations of working families. america's middle class. it was a promise that washington would concern itself not just with the next election but with the next generation of americans. [cheers and applause] keeping that promise is even more critical now at a time when so many families and so many small-business owners are still struggling here in maine and across the country. every time my visit the workers -- every time i visit the workers in a factory, every time i sit down and read letters from americans across the country. i see and hear the same questions. folks are asking, how my going to find a job when i have only known one skill my entire life? i just got laid off and i am in my 50's. how am i going to retire when i keep spending my savings just to get by? they're trying to make sure that -- i am trying to make sure my kids go to college. tuition goes up. how am i going to make it when i am stretched to the limit, a mortgage and, bills? those are the questions i year. i want you to know we're working every single day. -- those are the questions i hear. i want you to know that we're working every single day to turn the economy around. there is the -- we'recrushing cost of health care here in america. i want you to know that last week, after one year of debate and a century of trying, health insurance reform became the law of the land. [cheers and applause] last week -- [crowd chanting] because of folks like shelley and michael, we have. because of people like you, it happened. people have the courage to stand up at town hall meetings and talk about how insurance companies were denying their families covered because of pre- existing conditions. folks wrote letters about [unintelligible] and it was forcing them to give up their insurance. it happened because callous small-business owners and families and doctors shared stories about health care system that was best -- working better for the insurance industry that it was for americans. when the special interests and -- sent a army of lobbyists and blanketed with negative ads, you refused to give up. when the pundits were talking about who was a band who was down and what would it mean for democrats or republicans, you never lost sight of what was right and what was wrong. knew it was not about fortunes of one party. it was about the future of our country. -- you knew it was not about the fortunes of one party. it was about the future of our country. [applause] and today, because of what you did, the future looks stronger and more hopeful than it has in some time. now, over the last year, there has been a lot of misinformation spread about health reform. there has been a lot of fear mongering, a lot of overheated rhetoric. you turn on the news, you see that those same folks who were hollering about it before it passed, there still hollering about how the world will end because we passed this bill. it is not an exaggeration. john boehner called the passage of this bill -- we do not need to boo, he called the passage of this bill "armageddon." yet others who said this was the end of freedom as we know it. so, after i signed the bill, i looked around. [laughter] [cheers and applause] i looked up at the sky to see if asteroids were coming. [laughter] i look at the c ground to at ofracks -- at the ground to see if cracks had opened up. it was a pretty nice day. [applause] birds were still chirping. foxworth strolling down -- folks were strolling down the street. no one had lost their doctor. no one had pulled the plug. no one was being dragged away to be forced into some government-run health care plan. the thing is, you have to love some of the pundits in washington. every single day since i signed the reform law, there has been another poll or headline says, "nation still divided on health care reform." the polls have not changed that. well, yeah, it just happened last week. it has only been one week. [cheers and applause] can you imagine if some of these reporters were working on a farm? you planted some seeds in the came out the next day and they looked and "nothing has happened." "there is no crops, we're going to starve, oh, no." [applause] "it is a disaster." it has been a week, flks olks. before we find out if people like health care reform, we should wait to see what happens when we put it into place. just a thought. now, this reform is not going to solve every problem with our health care system. it is a huge, complicated piece of business. a couple of trillion dollars, thousands of people affected, thousands of people working in the industry. it is not going to bring down the cost of health care overnight. we're going to have to make some adjustments along the way. but it represents enormous progress. it enshrines the principle that every american should have the security of decent care. nobody should go bankrupt because they have a kid who is sick with a pre-existing condition. [applause] small businesses should not be burdened because they want to do the right thing by their employees. so now that this bill is finally locked, all the folks who have been playing politics finally have to confront the reality of what this reform is. they're going to have to confront the reality of what it is not. there will have to acknowledge that this is not the government takeover of our health-care system. it will see that americans like their doctor, you will keep your doctor. if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it. no one will be able to keep that a wave -- take that away. it has not happened yet and it will not happen in the future. what this represents is basically a middle of the road solution to a very serious problem. it is not a single payer. some people wanted that, i understood that. [applause] so, it is not that. but it is also not what the republicans are advocating for, which is essentially that you completely deregulate the insurance industry, you let them run wild and somehow, you were going to benefit. that was their theory. it was called the foxes guarding the chicken coop health care plan. [applause] so, it is not the plan that some on the left supported in the past. it is not what some on the right supported. it is a common-sense plan. this reform incorporates ideas from republicans and democrats, including, by the way, a number of ideas from your senator and someone i consider a friend, olympia snowe, who spent many hours meeting with me on this bill. [applause] what this reform does is build on of system of private health insurance when ibarra got. if you have insurance, this reform will make it more secure and more affordable. if you cannot afford insurance, or if you have been denied coverage, you will be able to get it. over time, cost will come down per family -- for families and businesses and the federal government, reducing our deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next two decades. this is what this reform will do. [applause] now, portland, it will take about four years for this plan. we have to do it responsibly, we have to get it right. there is also a reform that will take effect this year. i want to -- everyone to understand what will happen this year. starting this year, millions of small-business owners are going to be eligible for a tax benefit that will help them cover the cost of insurance for their employees. let me talk about what this means for a small-business owner like bill miller. bill, stand up. that is bill right there. [applause] now, i want to give a plan to bill. he owns market house company and the maine [unintelligible] here in portland. [applause] in exchange for this publicity, i hope i will get some samples of the beer. [applause] ok. he noodedded in the affirmative. he wants to give them health insurance and more hours but he cannot afford to do both. this tax credit will make it easier for an employer like him who wants to do the right thing by his workers. starting now, small-business owners like him will have the security of knowing that they can qualify for tax credit that covers up to 35% over one-third of what they paid for their employees' health insurance and starting now, small-business owners who provided health care can sit down at the end of the week and look at their expenses, and again began calculating how much money they will say. for small-business owners who do not provide health insurance, they will be able to factor in this benefit when they are deciding to do so.