SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE – BARACK OBAMA, MITT ROMNEY – HOFSTRA NEW YORK 17th OCTOBER 2012 – PART TAHI
[Photo: Saul Loeb. Getty Images].
How did the second debate go then? Over the next two hours, I will edit this following debate’s text down, to be more readable. Portions of the text is from McClatchy agency.
Peace. (Oh I’m watching TVOne 6pm news too right now : TVNZ)
Debate Venue: Hofstra University, Hempstea, New York – October 16th, 2012. Speakers: Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass. President Barack Obama. Moderator Candy Crowley.
Crowley: Good evening. I’m Candy Crowley from CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Crowley: The Gallup organization chose 82 uncommitted voters from the New York area. Their questions will drive the night. The questions are known to me and my team only. Neither the commission, nor the candidates have seen them. I hope to get to as many questions as possible.
Crowley: And because I am the optimistic sort, I’m sure the candidates will oblige by keeping their answers concise and on point. We welcome President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.
We have a lot of folks who’ve been waiting all day to talk to you, so I want to get right to it. Governor Romney, I want to turn to a first-time voter, Jeremy Epstein, who has a question for you.
Question: Mr. President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I will have little chance to get employment. What can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?
Romeny: Thank you, Jeremy. I appreciate your — your question, Thank you, Mr. President, also for being part of this — this debate. Your question — your question is one that’s being asked by college kids all over this country. I was in Pennsylvania with someone who had just graduated: “I’ve got my degree. I can’t find a job. I’ve got three part- time jobs. They’re just barely enough to pay for my food and pay for an apartment. I can’t begin to pay back my student loans.”
So what we have to do is two things. We have to make sure that we make it easier for kids to afford college.
Romney: And also make sure that when they get out of college, there’s a job. I want to make sure we keep our Pell grant program growing (for high achievers). We’re also going to have our loan program, so that people are able to afford school. But the key thing is to make sure you can get a job when you get out of school. And what’s happened over the last four years has been very, very hard for America’s young people. I want you to be able to get a job.
I know what it takes to get this economy going.
With half of college kids graduating this year without a job. And without a college level job, that’s just unacceptable. So more debt and less jobs. I’m going to change that. I know what it takes to create good jobs again, to have the opportunity you deserve. And kids across this country are going to recognize, we’re bringing back an economy.
The middle-class has been crushed and jobs have been too scarce. I know what it takes to bring them back, and I’m going to do that.
Crowley: Mr. President?
Obama: Jeremy, first of all, your future is bright. And the fact that you’re making an investment in higher education is critical. Not just to you, but to the entire nation. Now, the most important thing we can do is to make sure that we are creating jobs in this country. But not just jobs, good paying jobs. Ones that can support a family.
Obama: And what I want to do, is build on the five million jobs that we’ve created over the last 30 months in the private sector alone. And there are a bunch of things we can do to make sure your future is bright.
Number one, I want to build manufacturing jobs in this country again. Now when Governor Romney said we should let Detroit go bankrupt. I said we’re going to bet on American workers and the American auto industry and it’s come surging back.
I want to do that in industries, not just in Detroit, but all across the country and that means we change our tax code so we’re giving incentives to companies that are investing here in the United States and creating jobs here. It also means we’re helping them and small businesses to export all around the world to new markets.
Number two, we’ve got to make sure that we have the best education system in the world. And the fact that you’re going to college is great, but I want everybody to get a great education and we’ve worked hard to make sure that student loans are available for folks like you, but I also want to make sure that community colleges are offering slots for workers to get retrained for the jobs that are out there right now and the jobs of the future.
Number three, we’ve got to control our own energy. Now, not only oil and natural gas, which we’ve been investing in; but also, we’ve got to make sure we’re building the energy source of the future, not just thinking about next year, but ten years from now, 20 years from now. That’s why we’ve invested in solar and wind and biofuels, energy efficient cars.
We’ve got to reduce our deficit, but we’ve got to do it in a balanced way. Asking the wealthy to pay a little bit more along with cuts so that we can invest in education like yours.
And let’s take the money that we’ve been spending on war over the last decade to rebuild America, roads, bridges schools. We do those things, not only is your future going to be bright but America’s future is going to bright as well.
My thoughts: Together Mr Romney and Mr Obama have a solid plan with pracitcal rebuild ideas. Encouraging to hear. Upping math, science, physics, agricultural knowledge for the next generation of learners could be good. Also encouraging people to be thinking about “the neighborhood,” more and encouraging people to more appreciate their hood would also save gas costs. So neighborhood culture, where people are rewarded for saving fuel and making their neighborbood more fun with a sense of pride in the hood, could help revolutionize the USA too. A dollar saved is a dollar earned, during rebuild years too (that’s more for the American people – not politicians to hear).
There also needs to be more talks with Universities and colleges with the job markets sector. For example – identify growth areas of economic job creation ahead (based on usefulness of those jobs, on useful products being made the USA will always need. Then show the job map projections to leading educators, divvy the job training up across USA’s states at colleges. Then there’s less waste and graduates are placed in a job that was being created for them, while they were in study for that job, well before they graduated. That’s the practical application to this plan actually achieving a good result. I like the plan so far. That’ll work.
Young people need that certainty (their folks to), otherwise you’d be doubting yourself studying, unless you knew that job was their at the end. Is it still $US 200,000 for a degree on average? So, that job guarantee has got to be there. Another thought is student exchanges in other countries. What allies of the USA can create jobs (eg: 2-3 year stints) as well and also give a wave to USA’s leaders as to how they can help. eg: Australia can supply 20,000 jobs each year for a tenure of two years. NZ 5,0000. In addition to the norms. That kind of effort also could give young people incentive to be actually be encouraged into study in the US with certainty.
In regards to energy planning. It is unrealistic for any nation with oil to guarantee along the twenty year timeline. As governments change, market settings change too. Weather patterns will change a heck of a lot. (More than we all admit to in the years to come). It would be unrealistic for the US to “lock it in,” expecting a twenty year commitment with energy supply total guarantee from a foreign country (albeit even an ally).
However, if the spirit of an agreement is entered into towards an energy commitment – that is what could be sought by the US from an energy country afar off. Five year supply chain deals are realistic. I mean, no one wants their energy taken for granted. And we also need to strongly encourage the USA to stay on the green energy planning track outlined above. So the five year, lots of energy commitment, could achieve that.
One question – what is the energy source of the future from the USA’s perspective right now? Any strong indication that you are on the 10-20 planning track with five main buzz words there? Energy is the big one, so the twenty year sustainability timeline actually being discussed – is the best thing someone outside of the USA’s borders could hear from this debate. It does wonders for both candidates ‘image.’
[The sound is good so far].
Complete debate scroll via McClatchy. UK Telegraph has photos.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 17.10.12~
