>> sean: governor romney made his announcement in new hampshire. where we sat down for our interview. good to see you, thanks for doing in. >> good to be with you. >> sean: big day for you? >> announcing i'm running for president. >> sean: barack obama has failed america, you said that. >> no question about it. he came in the office one job front and center to keep the economy from going off a cliff. americans got back to work. we are into his third year of his presidency. the third year we are seeing continuing high levels of unemployment, home values, declining, foreclosures remain at record levels. he has failed in the job he was elected to do. that's why in my opinion he's not going to be reelected. >> sean: i was reading article. a financial adviser made this statement and it became the front page of the drudge report. the coming depression. do you think it can get that bad? >> if sitterably managed. if you have an economy where the leaders do everything wrong, anything is possible. the right course for america is to reverse almost every single action he's taken as president. everything he did was what the faculty lounge members have been talking for years. which you hear europeans doing. what europeans have done has lead to stagnation. high levels of unemployment. and declining competitiveness for europe. in this country we have a different course. i believe in the way we do it. we belief in individual initiative. personal responsibility. opportunity. freedom, small government, constitution. these american principles are key to getting our economy back to being successful and leading the world. >> sean: you said that we are inches from not being a free market economy. what did you mean by that? do you think america -- would you define america now on the verge of socialism? >> look where we're -- we are. almost 40% of all economic activity in america is by government. government is taking 40% of the gdp. at the state, local and federal level. president obama has taken government spending at the federal level from 20% to 25%. at some point, you see us being a free kphaepb you become a government economy. we gotta stop that. america ceases being america. we cease being able to provide high incomes and good job opportunities and rising standard of living if we have government running our lives. we have to shrink the steel of government. i would cap the a.m. that government can spend at 20% or lower. an -- and say we are not going to spend above that level. democrats want to raise your taxes and spend more and turn us into a is no longer driven by the private sector. >> sean: you talk about kicking the can down the road. passing the bill on to future generations. you have been discussing this on the road and you talked about today. how balance the budget? you want to go from 40% to 20% gdp. specifically balancing america's budget. now for three years we've had at least a trillion and a half billion dollar -- trillion and a half dollar budget deficit. almost five trillion more dollars. they want to raise the debt ceiling from where it is to 14.3, how do you get the budget in balance and provide the services that maybe america wants and maybe don't need? >> some think the only way to balance the budget is raising taxes. not only is it unfair, but you slow the economy which is self-defeating if you are trying to balance the budget. republicans say, cut our way to the budget. cutting helps. and we need to do a lot of cutting and reshaping programs to make sure they are sustainable. there's a third way. combined with reducing federal spending is growing the economy. you need to have a president who understands how to get the economy growing so we can add jobs. more people are paying taxes. companies are profitable, they are paying more taxes. balance the budget by restraining the growth of government and encouraging the growth of the private sector. >> sean: you talked about this. i wanna, as we move forward here, you talked about the president when he ran four years ago, three years ago, that he ran on slogans and platitudes. and now you say this election is different. that now barack obama has a record. you graded him as a failure. is it also in foreign policy, that he's a failure? what is the difference between 2008 and 2012 in terms of running against this president? >> we did kind of an american thing in electing barack obama. we had a guy who was young. we didn't know much about him. he hadn't shown much of a track record. americans said he's saying he's going to take us to a better place. let's give him a chance. now we've watched what happens if you select someone that doesn't have experience. and it hasn't been a pretty picture. he has failed with the economy the economy is still -- shedding jobs in some parts of the economy. we have home values declining. foreclosures at record levels. he has failed internationally. he doesn't have a foreign policy he reacts to events as they occur. sometime he reacts well like getting bin laden. sometime he reacts poor lip the arab spring is an opportunity we've missed. him throwing israel under the bus has shocked our friends around the world. he announced our withdrawal date for our troops in afghanistan that is nothing you share with the taliban. they don't have watches, but they have calendars. he's made monumental errors internationally. his errors domestically add up to a failed presidency. >> sean: you say from the beginning he focused on the wrong things. i want to talk to you about egypt and foreign policy you said from the time he took office, he focused on the wrong things if you were elected in 2008, pretty close. if you had been elected. he was saying it was the worst economy since the depression. what would you have done? what would the steps have been that you would have taken? >> his first job had to be to get the economy going again and stop the decline of america's productive sector. instead, he delegated his stimulus over to nancy pelosi and harry reid. they crafted a new spending program that protected union jobs for government workers. but didn't create the kind of employment opportunities that were needed in the private sector. so the stimulus didn't work. number two, he went out for the things he really cared about. obamacare, cap and trade and card check and stacking the national labor relations board with labor stooges. one thing after another. the liberal agenda he had been pining for, for years he put in place and it had the impact that could have been predicted. it put the economy on the skids. >> sean: you said this campaign is going to be different from when you ran in 2008. i think one of your advisers was quoted in the "washington post" as saying we are not going to be chasing tennis balls this time. meaning reacting to everything. you've been a little more low profile than perhaps you were name recognition official this time is higher. what is the difference in this campaign as you launch today, versus the campaign that you ran in 2008? >> when i ran in 2008, the issue people were most concerned about, during the primaries was iraq. and the surge in iraq. john mccain ran a very good campaign. he focused on his experience as a military leader, as a senator. he focused on iraq and the surge. and that worked well. today the issue people care about is the economy. not next week, even next year. they are wondering whether 10 years from now their kids will enjoy the america that is as prosperous as the america we've enjoyed? the answer is, this president has failed to deliver on the issue people care most about. what people care most about, which is the economy is in my wheel house. i spent my life not in politics. i've only been in politics for years, governor, four years. i didn't inhale. my life has been as a private sector guy. i understand how to compete and how america succeeds or fails in creating jobs. i want to bring that expertise to the presidency of the united states to get america's economy on track again so we can pass the torch on to the next generation. not just pass on a bill to the next generation. >> sean: more of my interview with republican presidential candidate mitt romney on the day he announces. next, the governor explains about his universal health care bill in massachusetts. plus, sarah palin's big bus tour gathers lots of attention from the liberal media. brent bozell is here in this week's installment of media mash. mash. and our american panel and the funny thing about vegetables... they fill you up without filling you out. yes! v8 juice gives you three of your five daily servings of vegetables. that's what i'm talking about! v8. what's your number? do you remember when taking a bath and going for a swim became the same thing for a few days? then keep the tradition going at bass pro shops >> sean: former governor mitt romney announced today he is running for president of the united states. we continue with part two of my interview with the gop presidential candidate, mitt romney. >> you have to win a republican primary to get that opportunity to debate president obama. the one issue that you know keeps coming up is the issue of what they call romneycare. your health care bill in massachusetts. i want to give awe opportunity today to address the conservatives, the tea party movement and explain to them, because that keeps coming up again and again. what happened? what the bill was about? how you differentiate that from obamacare? when you to iowa, the democratic party lovingly welcomed you to the state, they said because you paved the way for health care reform in massachusetts, we were able to pass the affordable care act, obamacare. it seems to be their strategy to sort of say the exact same thing. to explain to conservatives that is their big area of skepticism for you, because it is one issue that comes up. in your own words what want to tell them about it? it does not seem to go away. >> first let me tell you what i would do if i was president. i would repeal obamacare in the first day of my administration, i will say to the secretary of health and human services, i want a waiver for all 50 states from obamacare. number one. we had a bill that is 70 pages. he has a bill 2,700 pages. >> sean: you have to pass it to find out what is in it. >> nancy pelosi said that >> sean: a -- i didn't mean to interrupt. >> in those extra 2,630 pages he does what we didn't. he takes over health care. had the federal government manage health care not just for the uninsureed, that's how we were dealing with, but for everybody. that's why the american people are saying no way. why did we take on this issue? people worried if they changed jobs they would lose insurance or didn't have insurance. we had people who were gaming the system who could afford to care for themselves, but instead was showing up at hops, expecting government to pay. -- showing up at hospitals, expecting government to pay. we said we are going to insist on personal responsible. we worked with the heritage foundation, great conservative group. looked at great conservative thinkers in the past and said personal responsible is the way to go. we fashioned a plan which met a tate need. i would never take what we did for our state and say let's impose that on every state in the country that is wrong. it violates the principle of federalism, a bedrock principle of our constitution. each state should craft their own solutions. one thing i can tell you, obamacare is out. if i get the chance to debate president obama, i'm looking forward to saying, thank you mr. president for all the compliments you send my way. i know what they are intended to do. one question, why didn't you call me? why didn't you ask me whether the massachusetts plan was working or not? what parts didn't work? what things you shouldn't do? i know this, obamacare would bankrupt the nation. obamacare will severely impact the quality of health care for the american people. and it will be repealed. >> sean: what about the mandate aspect of this? the constitutionality of it, government mandating health care has been a big issue. in romneycare bill, it was mandated. there was a state mandate. what is the distinction considering republicans arguing wait a minute there's no constitutional authority to put a mandate on people that they must have insurance? >> federal constitution does not allow for man days to be provided by the government. state constitutions have mandates of many kinds. we mandate kids go to school. if you are going to drive you have to have insurance. states provide mandates within the rights of their constitution. in our state, we said, we've got people who are looking at health care like welfare. they can afford to care for themselves, but they don't want to pay. we said we are not going to let that go on. we are going to insist they either get insurance or pay their own wait a minute no more showing up at the hospital and expecting government to pay for them. this is, in my view, a conservative point of view. insist on personal responsibility. say we are not going to let government grow and grow. we are spending over a billion dollars a year, giving out free care to people. many of whom could care for themselves. that's wrong. >> sean: do you think the plan -- i remember once i was interviewing you asking you about in issue, you said first of all i signed the plan but it wasn't the plan i wanted. apparently, you vetoed aspects of this. did that have a big impact? if you had to go back today and look at it, would you have done it the same way, differently? do you think it was the success, the bill you passed in mass pass? >> there are a number of things in the bill that i -- would have changed, i continue to think those changes would have been better. you learn from experience. so, yeah, a lot of things i would change. it is not perfect. there are a lot of things in that bill that don't work. the nice thing about a state solution to a state problem it is relatively easy to make changes and improve. if i were governor of massachusetts the problems people point out, i would fix. but i'm not running for governor. i'm running for president of the united states. that's why it is important to make clear, i would repeal obamacare. grant a waiver to all 50 states, immediately upon take office. and i would go to work to make sure the american people understand it is at the state level we care for those that don't have insurance. >> sean: the final installment of my interview with gop presidential contender mitt romney. he shares his views on all the fiscal reforms proposed by paul ryan. and whether he would implement them as president. plus, the fall-out from weinergate continues. will the congressman survive this scandal? and a special edition of media mash still to come about mash still to come about governor palin'shost: could swio really save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance? do woodchucks chuck wood? 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[ male announcer ] not on our watch. we're lifelock. go to lifelock.com and learn how our patented billion point database can help protecyou. call 1-800-lifelock today. lifelock. relentlessly protecting your identity. >> sean: welcome back. former massachusetts governor mitt romney officially announced his candidacy for president earlier today. i sat down with him in new hampshire. here's our fine installment. you said the president, you just mentioned, threw israel under the bus, when he said that israel should go back to '67 borders. he sort of backed off from it. explain what you meant when you were saying that? >> it is clear when bebe netanyahu got here something dramatic happened. the president by insisting on the '67 borders laid out what a bargaining position might be that perhaps the israelis ought to take the lead on not america. you don't tell your ally how you would dispute a between them and another people. you link arms with your al life israel is the best ally in the mideast. we don't dictate what the terms of the agreement might be. it is clear in the past presidents have said we can't have negotiations unless the result will be that the palestinians and other nations around them, agree that when a peace agreement so reached that there's peace. that israel has the right to exist as au jus wish state. that's something which hamas and of course the palestinian authority continued to refuse to agree to. >> sean: what amazes me is the palestinians and the agreement now with hamas, hamas' charter calls not only for the destruction of israel but the destruction of jews calling for a modern day holocaust. the president did mention it has to be addressed. but to suggest they should negotiate in any way until that one issue is resolved. would the united states of america ever sit down with a group whose charter called for our destruction and the destruction of our people? >> we don't negotiate with terrorists. and the president was suggesting that israel should. that's why like myself believe he threw israel under the bus. the right course of dealing with allies is look arms with them. make sure there is not a dime's worth of distance in public if you have an issue with netanyahu, sit down in private and hammer it out. come out and hold arms together. if you don't, the foes of america or of our allies around the world they take courage from what they think is a split between us. and they try and get a better deal. they try to play one off against the other that is what is happening. you are not seeing progress in part because the president has not made it clear to israel that we stand firmly and squarely behind them. >> sean: you have gone after the president of the issue of apologizing for america. to what extent do you think that hurts our position in the world? >> i think the president's posture, from the beginning, was one of saying, look all the people in the world have common interests that we all share. and if we can sit down together and understand each other better and meet with the president and so forth,. he suggested he was going to meet with the world's worst leaders, including ahmadinejad. i disagree with that premise. i don't think everything in the world has the same interests. i think there are some in the world who seek to oppress and pillage other people. i think america has to show that we reject those people and we are strong in defending our principles and liberty. >> sean: back to the economy for one second. how many years, as you look at these deficits and the debt ceiling battle going on in washington. and for example, paul ryan talking about cutting 6.2 trillion dollars over a period of time. reforming medicare, social security. if you become president, realistically, how are you going to balance the budget? how long it's gonna tak