20121023_third_presidential_debate.tsv

1	BOB SCHIEFFER	Good evening from the campus of Lynn University here in Boca Raton, Florida.	0
2	BOB SCHIEFFER	This is the fourth and last debate of the 2012 campaign, brought to you by the Commission on Presidential Debates.	0
3	BOB SCHIEFFER	This one's on foreign policy.	0
4	BOB SCHIEFFER	I'm Bob Schieffer of CBS News.	0
5	BOB SCHIEFFER	The questions are mine, and I have not shared them with the candidates or their aides.	0
6	BOB SCHIEFFER	The audience has taken a vow of silence — no applause, no reaction of any kind except right now when we welcome President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.	0
7	SYSTEM	(Sustained cheers, applause.)	0
8	BOB SCHIEFFER	Gentlemen, your campaigns have agreed to certain rules and they are simple.	0
9	BOB SCHIEFFER	They have asked me to divide the evening into segments.	0
10	BOB SCHIEFFER	I'll pose a question at the beginning of each segment.	0
11	BOB SCHIEFFER	You will each have two minutes to respond, and then we will have a general discussion until we move to the next segment.	0
12	BOB SCHIEFFER	Tonight's debate, as both of your know, comes on the 50th anniversary of the night that President Kennedy told the world that the Soviet Union had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba — perhaps the closest we've ever come to nuclear war.	0
13	BOB SCHIEFFER	And it is a sobering reminder that every president faces at some point an unexpected threat to our national security from abroad.	0
14	BOB SCHIEFFER	So let's begin.	0
15	BOB SCHIEFFER	The first segment is the challenge of a changing Middle East and the new face of terrorism.	0
16	BOB SCHIEFFER	I'm going to put this into two segments, so you'll have two topic questions within this one segment on that subject.	0
17	BOB SCHIEFFER	The first question, and it concerns Libya, the controversy over what happened there continues.	0
18	BOB SCHIEFFER	Four Americans are dead, including an American ambassador.	0
19	BOB SCHIEFFER	Questions remain.	0
20	BOB SCHIEFFER	What happened?	0
21	BOB SCHIEFFER	What caused it?	0
22	BOB SCHIEFFER	Was it spontaneous?	0
23	BOB SCHIEFFER	Was it an intelligence failure?	0
24	BOB SCHIEFFER	Was it a policy failure?	0
25	BOB SCHIEFFER	Was there an attempt to mislead people about what really happened?	0
26	BOB SCHIEFFER	Governor Romney, you said this was an example of an American policy in the Middle East that is unraveling before our very eyes.	0
27	BOB SCHIEFFER	I'd like to hear each of you give your thoughts on that.	0
28	BOB SCHIEFFER	Governor Romney, you won the toss.	0
29	BOB SCHIEFFER	You go first.	0
30	MITT ROMNEY	Thank you, Bob, and thank you for agreeing to moderate this debate this evening.	0
31	MITT ROMNEY	Thank you to Lynn University for welcoming us here, and Mr. President, it's good to be with you again.	0
32	MITT ROMNEY	We were together at a humorous event a little earlier, and it's nice to maybe be funny this time not on purpose.	0
33	MITT ROMNEY	We'll see what happens.	0
34	SYSTEM	(Laughter.)	0
35	MITT ROMNEY	This is obviously an area of great concern to the entire world and to America in particular, which is to see a — a complete change in the — the — the structure and the — the environment in the Middle East.	0
36	MITT ROMNEY	With the Arab Spring came a great deal of hope that there would be a change towards more moderation and opportunity for greater participation on the part of women and — and public life and in economic life in the Middle East.	0
37	MITT ROMNEY	But instead we've seen in nation after nation a number of disturbing events.	0
38	MITT ROMNEY	Of course, we see in Syria 30,000 civilians having been killed by the military there.	0
39	MITT ROMNEY	We see in — in — in Libya an attack apparently by — well, I think we know now by terrorists of some kind against — against our people there, four people dead.	0
40	MITT ROMNEY	Our hearts and minds go to them.	0
41	MITT ROMNEY	Mali has been taken over, the northern part of Mali, by al-Qaida-type individuals.	0
42	MITT ROMNEY	We have in — in Egypt a Muslim Brotherhood president.	0
43	MITT ROMNEY	And so what we're seeing is a — a — a pretty dramatic reversal in the kind of hopes we had for that region.	0
44	MITT ROMNEY	Of course, the greatest threat of all is Iran, four years closer to a nuclear weapon.	0
45	MITT ROMNEY	And — and we're going to have to recognize that we have to do as the president has done.	0
46	MITT ROMNEY	I congratulate him on — on taking out Osama bin Laden and going after the leadership in al-Qaida.	0
47	MITT ROMNEY	But we can't kill our way out of this mess.	0
48	MITT ROMNEY	We're — we're going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust strategy to help the — the world of Islam and — and other parts of the world reject this radical violent extremism which is — it's really not on the run.	0
49	MITT ROMNEY	It's certainly not hiding.	0
50	MITT ROMNEY	This is a group that is now involved in 10 or 12 countries, and it presents an enormous threat to our friends, to the world, to America long term, and we must have a comprehensive strategy to help reject this kind of extremism.	0
51	MR. SCHIEFFER	Mr. President.	0
52	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, my first job as commander in chief, Bob, is to keep the American people safe, and that's what we've done over the last four years.	0
53	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We ended the war in Iraq, refocused our attention on those who actually killed us on 9/11.	0
54	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And as a consequence, al-Qaida's core leadership has been decimated.	0
55	PRESIDENT OBAMA	In addition, we're now able to transition out of Afghanistan in a responsible way, making sure that Afghans take responsibility for their own security, and that allows us also to rebuild alliances and make friends around the world to combat future threats.	0
56	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, with respect to Libya, as I indicated in the last debate, when we received that phone call, I immediately made sure that, number one, we did everything we could to secure those Americans who were still in harm's way; number two, that we would investigate exactly what happened; and number three, most importantly, that we would go after those who killed Americans, and we would bring them to justice, and that's exactly what we're going to do.	0
57	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But I think it's important to step back and think about what happened in Libya.	0
58	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, keep in mind that I and Americans took leadership in organizing an international coalition that made sure that we were able to — without putting troops on the ground, at the cost of less than what we spent in two weeks in Iraq — liberate a country that had been under the yoke of dictatorship for 40 years, got rid of a despot who had killed Americans.	0
59	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And as a consequence, despite this tragedy, you had tens of thousands of Libyans after the events in Benghazi marching and saying, America's our friend.	0
60	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We stand with them.	0
61	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now that represents the opportunity we have to take advantage of.	0
62	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And you know, Governor Romney, I'm glad that you agree that we have been successful in going after al-Qaida, but I have to tell you that, you know, your strategy previously has been one that has been all over the map and is not designed to keep Americans safe or to build on the opportunities that exist in the Middle East.	0
63	MR. ROMNEY	Well, my strategy's pretty straightforward, which is to go after the bad guys, to make sure we do our very best to interrupt them, to — to kill them, to take them out of the picture.	0
64	MR. ROMNEY	But my strategy is broader than — than that.	0
65	MR. ROMNEY	That's — that's important, of course, but the key that we're going to have to pursue is a — is a pathway to — to get the Muslim world to be able to reject extremism on its own.	0
66	MR. ROMNEY	We don't want another Iraq.	0
67	MR. ROMNEY	We don't want another Afghanistan.	0
68	MR. ROMNEY	That's not the right course for us.	0
69	MR. ROMNEY	The right course for us is to make sure that we go after the — the people who are leaders of these various anti-American groups and these — these jihadists, but also help the Muslim world.	0
70	MR. ROMNEY	And how we do that?	0
71	MR. ROMNEY	A group of Arab scholars came together, organized by the U.N., to look at how we can help the — the world reject these — these terrorists.	0
72	MR. ROMNEY	And the answer they came up was this.	0
73	MR. ROMNEY	One, more economic development.	0
74	MR. ROMNEY	We should key our foreign aid, our direct foreign investment and that of our friends — we should coordinate it to make sure that we — we push back and give them more economic development.	0
75	MR. ROMNEY	Number two, better education.	0
76	MR. ROMNEY	Number three, gender equality.	0
77	MR. ROMNEY	Number four, the rule of law.	0
78	MR. ROMNEY	We have to help these nations create civil societies.	0
79	MR. ROMNEY	But what's been happening over the last couple years as we watched this tumult in the Middle East, this rising tide of chaos occur, you see al-Qaida rushing in, you see other jihadist groups rushing in.	0
80	MR. ROMNEY	And — and they're throughout many nations of the Middle East.	0
81	MR. ROMNEY	It's wonderful that Libya seems to be making some progress, despite this terrible tragedy, but next door, of course, we have Egypt.	0
82	MR. ROMNEY	Libya's 6 million population, Egypt 80 million population.	0
83	MR. ROMNEY	We want — we want to make sure that we're seeing progress throughout the Middle East.	0
84	MR. ROMNEY	With Mali now having North Mali taken over by al-Qaida, with Syria having Assad continuing to — or to kill — to murder his own people, this is a region in tumult.	0
85	MR. ROMNEY	And of course Iran on the path to a nuclear weapon.	0
86	MR. ROMNEY	We've got real gaps in the region.	0
87	MR. SCHIEFFER	We'll get to that, but let's give the president a chance.	0
88	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor Romney, I'm glad that you recognize that al-Qaida's a threat because a few months ago when you were asked, what's the biggest geopolitical threat facing America, you said Russia — not al-Qaida, you said Russia.	1
89	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War's been over for 20 years.	0
90	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But, Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s.	0
91	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You say that you're not interested in duplicating what happened in Iraq, but just a few weeks ago you said you think we should have more troops in Iraq right now.	0
92	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the — the challenge we have — I know you haven't been in a position to actually execute foreign policy, but every time you've offered an opinion, you've been wrong.	0
93	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You said we should have gone into Iraq despite the fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction.	0
94	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You said that we should still have troops in Iraq to this day.	0
95	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You indicated that we shouldn't be passing nuclear treaties with Russia, despite the fact that 71 senators, Democrats and Republicans, voted for it.	0
96	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You've said that first we should not have a timeline in Afghanistan then you said we should.	0
97	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now you say maybe or it depends, which means not only were you wrong but you were also confusing and sending mixed messages both to our troops and our allies.	0
98	PRESIDENT OBAMA	So what — what we need to do with respect to the Middle East is strong, steady leadership, not wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map.	0
99	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And unfortunately, that's the kind of opinions that you've offered throughout this campaign, and it is not a recipe for American strength or keeping America safe over the long term.	0
100	MR. SCHIEFFER	I'm going to add a couple of minutes here to give you a chance to respond.	0
101	MR. ROMNEY	Well, of course I don't concur with what the president said about my own record and the things that I've said.	0
102	MR. ROMNEY	They don't happen to be accurate.	0
103	MR. ROMNEY	But — but I can say this: that we're talking about the Middle East and how to help the Middle East reject the kind of terrorism we're seeing and the rising tide of tumult and — and confusion.	0
104	MR. ROMNEY	And — and attacking me is not an agenda.	0
105	MR. ROMNEY	Attacking me is not talking about how we're going to deal with the challenges that exist in the Middle East and take advantage of the opportunity there and stem the tide of this violence.	0
106	MR. ROMNEY	But I'll respond to a couple of the things you mentioned.	0
107	MR. ROMNEY	First of all, Russia, I indicated, is a geopolitical foe, not --	0
108	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Number one --	0
109	MR. ROMNEY	Excuse me.	0
110	MR. ROMNEY	It's a geopolitical foe.	0
111	MR. ROMNEY	And I said in the same — in the same paragraph, I said, and Iran is the greatest national security threat we face.	0
112	MR. ROMNEY	Russia does continue to battle us in the U.N. time and time again.	0
113	MR. ROMNEY	I have clear eyes on this.	0
114	MR. ROMNEY	I'm not going to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to Russia or Mr. Putin, and I'm certainly not going to say to him, I'll give you more flexibility after the election.	0
115	MR. ROMNEY	After the election he'll get more backbone.	0
116	MR. ROMNEY	Number two, with regards to Iraq, you and I agreed, I believe, that there should have been a status of forces agreement.	0
117	MR. ROMNEY	Did you --	0
118	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's not true.	0
119	MR. ROMNEY	Oh, you didn't — you didn't want a status of forces agreement?	0
120	PRESIDENT OBAMA	No, but what I — what I would not have done is left 10,000 troops in Iraq that would tie us down.	0
121	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That certainly would not help us in the Middle East.	0
122	MR. ROMNEY	I'm sorry, you actually — there was a --	0
123	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Here — here is — here is --	0
124	MR. ROMNEY	There was an effort on the part of the president to have a status of forces agreement.	0
125	MR. ROMNEY	And I concurred in that and said we should have some number of troops that stayed on.	0
126	MR. ROMNEY	That was something I concurred with.	0
127	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor --	0
128	MR. ROMNEY	That was your posture.	0
129	MR. ROMNEY	That was my posture as well.	0
130	MR. ROMNEY	I thought it should have been 5,000 troops.	0
131	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor --	0
132	MR. ROMNEY	I thought it should have been more troops.	0
133	MR. ROMNEY	But you — (inaudible).	0
134	PRESIDENT OBAMA	This is just a few weeks ago.	0
135	MR. ROMNEY	The answer was, we got no troop (through ?)	0
136	MR. ROMNEY	whatsoever.	0
137	PRESIDENT OBAMA	This is just a few weeks ago that you indicated that we should still have troops in Iraq.	0
138	MR. ROMNEY	No, I didn't.	0
139	MR. ROMNEY	I'm sorry, that's --	0
140	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You made a major speech.	0
141	MR. ROMNEY	I indicated — I indicated that you failed to put in place a status of forces agreement at the end of the conflict that --	0
142	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor --	0
143	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor, here's — here's one thing — here's one thing — here's one thing I've learned as commander in chief.	0
144	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let him have — (inaudible).	0
145	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You've got to be clear, both to our allies and our enemies, about where you stand and what you mean.	0
146	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, you just gave a speech a few weeks ago in which you said we should still have troops in Iraq.	0
147	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That is not a recipe for making sure that we are taking advantage of the opportunities and meeting the challenges of the Middle East.	0
148	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, it is absolutely true that we cannot just beat these challenges militarily, and so what I've done throughout my presidency and will continue to do, is, number one, make sure that these countries are supporting our counterterrorism efforts; number two, make sure that they are standing by our interests in Israel's security, because it is a true friend and our greatest ally in the region.	0
149	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Number three, we do have to make sure that we're protecting religious minorities and women because these countries can't develop unless all the population — not just half of it — is developing.	0
150	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Number four, we do have to develop their economic — their economic capabilities.	0
151	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But number five, the other thing that we have to do is recognize that we can't continue to do nation building in these regions.	0
152	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Part of American leadership is making sure that we're doing nation building here at home.	0
153	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That will help us maintain the kind of American leadership that we need.	0
154	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let me interject the second topic question in this segment about the Middle East and so on, and that is, you both mentioned — alluded to this, and that is Syria.	0
155	MR. SCHIEFFER	The war in Syria has now spilled over into Lebanon.	0
156	MR. SCHIEFFER	We have, what, more than a hundred people that were killed there in a bomb.	0
157	MR. SCHIEFFER	There were demonstrations there, eight people dead.	0
158	MR. SCHIEFFER	Mr. President, it's been more than a year since you saw — you told Assad he had to go.	0
159	MR. SCHIEFFER	Since then 30,000 Syrians have died.	0
160	MR. SCHIEFFER	We've had 300,000 refugees.	0
161	MR. SCHIEFFER	The war goes on.	0
162	MR. SCHIEFFER	He's still there.	0
163	MR. SCHIEFFER	Should we reassess our policy and see if we can find a better way to influence events there, or is that even possible?	0
164	MR. SCHIEFFER	And it's you — you go first, sir.	0
165	PRESIDENT OBAMA	What we've done is organize the international community, saying Assad has to go.	0
166	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We've mobilized sanctions against that government.	0
167	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We have made sure that they are isolated.	0
168	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We have provided humanitarian assistance, and we are helping the opposition organize, and we're particularly interested in making sure that we're mobilizing the moderate forces inside of Syria.	0
169	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But ultimately, Syrians are going to have to determine their own future.	0
170	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And so everything we're doing, we're doing in consultation with our partners in the region, including Israel, which obviously has a huge interest in seeing what happens in Syria, coordinating with Turkey and other countries in the region that have a great interest in this.	0
171	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, this — what we're seeing taking place in Syria is heartbreaking, and that's why we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we are helping the opposition.	0
172	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But we also have to recognize that, you know, for us to get more entangled militarily in Syria is a serious step.	0
173	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we have to do so making absolutely certain that we know who we are helping, that we're not putting arms in the hands of folks who eventually could turn them against us or our allies in the region.	0
174	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And I am confident that Assad's days are numbered.	0
175	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But what we can't do is to simply suggest that, as Governor Romney at times has suggested, that giving heavy weapons, for example, to the Syrian opposition is a simple proposition that would lead us to be safer over the long term.	0
176	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor.	0
177	MR. ROMNEY	Well, let's step back and talk about what's happening in Syria and how important it is.	0
178	MR. ROMNEY	First of all, 30,000 people being killed by their government is a humanitarian disaster.	0
179	MR. ROMNEY	Secondly, Syria's an opportunity for us because Syria plays an important role in the Middle East, particularly right now.	0
180	MR. ROMNEY	Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world.	0
181	MR. ROMNEY	It's their route to the sea.	0
182	MR. ROMNEY	It's the route for them to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon, which threatens, of course, our ally Israel.	0
183	MR. ROMNEY	And so seeing Syria remove Assad is a very high priority for us.	0
184	MR. ROMNEY	Number two, seeing a — a replacement government being responsible people is critical for us.	0
185	MR. ROMNEY	And finally, we don't want to have military involvement there.	0
186	MR. ROMNEY	We don't want to get drawn into a military conflict.	0
187	MR. ROMNEY	And so the right course for us is working through our partners and with our own resources to identify responsible parties within Syria, organize them, bring them together in a — in a form of — of — if not government, a form of — of council that can take the lead in Syria, and then make sure they have the arms necessary to defend themselves.	0
188	MR. ROMNEY	We do need to make sure that they don't have arms that get into the — the wrong hands.	0
189	MR. ROMNEY	Those arms could be used to hurt us down the road.	0
190	MR. ROMNEY	We need to make sure as well that we coordinate this effort with our allies and particularly with — with — with Israel.	0
191	MR. ROMNEY	But the Saudis and the Qatari and — and — and the Turks are all very concerned about this.	0
192	MR. ROMNEY	They're willing to work with us.	0
193	MR. ROMNEY	We need to have a very effective leadership effort in Syria, making sure that the — the — the insurgents there are armed and that the insurgents that become armed are people who will be the responsible parties.	0
194	MR. ROMNEY	Recognize I believe that Assad must go.	0
195	MR. ROMNEY	I believe he will go.	0
196	MR. ROMNEY	But I believe we want to make sure that we have the relationships of friendship with the people that take his place such that in the years to come we see Syria as a — as a friend and Syria as a responsible party in the Middle East.	0
197	MR. ROMNEY	This — this is a critical opportunity for America.	0
198	MR. ROMNEY	And what I'm afraid of is that we've watched over the past year or so first the president saying, well, we'll let the U.N. deal with it, and Assad — excuse me, Kofi Annan came in and — and said, we're going to try — have a cease-fire.	0
199	MR. ROMNEY	That didn't work.	0
200	MR. ROMNEY	Then it looked to the Russians and said, see if you can do something.	0
201	MR. ROMNEY	we should.	0
202	MR. ROMNEY	We should be playing the leadership role there, not on the ground with military --	0
203	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
204	MR. ROMNEY	— by the leadership role.	0
205	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We are — we playing the leadership role.	0
206	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We organized the "Friends of Syria."	0
207	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We are mobilizing humanitarian support and support for the opposition.	0
208	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we are making sure that that those we help are those who will be friends of ours in the long term and friends of our allies in the region over the long term.	0
209	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But you know, going back to Libya, because this is an example of — of how we make choices, you know, when we went into Libya and we were able to immediately stop the massacre there because of the unique circumstances and the coalition that we had helped to organize, we also had to make sure that Moammar Gadhafi didn't stay there.	0
210	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And to the governor's credit, you supported us going into Libya and the coalition that we organized.	0
211	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But when it came time to making sure that Gadhafi did not stay in power, that he was captured, Governor, your suggestion was that this was mission creep, that this was mission muddle.	0
212	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Imagine if we had pulled out at that point.	0
213	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That — Moammar Gadhafi had more American blood on his hands than any individual other than Osama bin Laden.	0
214	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And so we were going to make sure that we finished the job.	0
215	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's part of the reason why the Libyans stand with us.	0
216	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But we did so in a careful, thoughtful way, making certain that we knew who we were dealing with, that those forces of moderation on the ground were ones that we could work with.	0
217	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we have to take the same kind of steady, thoughtful leadership when it comes to Syria.	0
218	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's exactly what we're doing.	0
219	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor, can I just ask you, would you go beyond what the administration would do?	0
220	MR. SCHIEFFER	Like, for example, would you put in no-fly zones over Syria?	0
221	MR. ROMNEY	I don't — I don't want to have our military involved in — in Syria.	0
222	MR. ROMNEY	I don't think there's a necessity to put our military in Syria at — at this stage.	0
223	MR. ROMNEY	I don't anticipate that in the future.	0
224	MR. ROMNEY	As I indicated, our objectives are to replace Assad and to have in place a new government which is friendly to us — a responsible government, if possible.	0
225	MR. ROMNEY	And I want to make sure the get armed and they have the arms necessary to defend themselves but also to remove — to remove Assad.	0
226	MR. ROMNEY	But I do not want to see a military involvement on the part of — of our — of our troops.	0
227	MR. ROMNEY	And this isn't — this isn't going to be necessary.	0
228	MR. ROMNEY	We have — with our partners in the region, we have sufficient resources to support those groups.	0
229	MR. ROMNEY	But look, this has been going on for a year.	0
230	MR. ROMNEY	This is a time — this should have been a time for American leadership.	0
231	MR. ROMNEY	We should have taken a leading role — not militarily, but a leading role organizationally, governmentally, to bring together the parties there to find responsible parties.	0
232	MR. ROMNEY	As you hear from intelligence sources even today, the insurgents are highly disparate.	0
233	MR. ROMNEY	They haven't come together.	0
234	MR. ROMNEY	They haven't formed a unity group, a council of some kind.	0
235	MR. ROMNEY	That needs to happen.	0
236	MR. ROMNEY	America can help that happen.	0
237	MR. ROMNEY	And we need to make sure they have the arms they need to carry out the very important role, which is getting rid of Assad.	0
238	MR. SCHIEFFER	Could we get a quick response, Mr. President, because I want to ask --	0
239	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, I'll — I'll — I'll be — I'll be very quick.	0
240	PRESIDENT OBAMA	What you just heard Governor Romney said is he doesn't have different ideas, and that's because we're doing exactly what we should be doing to try to promote a moderate, Syrian leadership and a — an effective transition so that we get Assad out.	0
241	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's the kind of leadership we've shown.	0
242	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's the kind of leadership we'll continue to show.	0
243	MR. SCHIEFFER	May I ask you, you know, during the Egyptian turmoil, there came a point when you said it was time for President Mubarak to go.	0
244	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Right.	0
245	MR. SCHIEFFER	Some in your administration thought perhaps we should have waited a while on that.	0
246	MR. SCHIEFFER	Do you have any regrets about that?	0
247	PRESIDENT OBAMA	No, I don't because I think that America has to stand with democracy.	0
248	PRESIDENT OBAMA	The notion that we would have tanks run over those young people who were in Tahrir Square, that is not the kind of American leadership that John F. Kennedy talked about 50 years ago.	0
249	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But what I've also said is that now that you have a democratically elected government in Egypt, that they have to make sure that they take responsibility for protecting religious minorities — and we have put significant pressure on them to make sure they're doing that — to recognize the rights of women, which is critical throughout the region.	0
250	PRESIDENT OBAMA	These countries can't develop if young women are not given the kind of education that they need.	0
251	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They have to abide by their treaty with Israel.	0
252	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That is a red line for us, because not only is Israel's security at stake, but our security is at stake if that unravels.	0
253	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They have to make sure that they're cooperating with us when it comes to counterterrorism.	0
254	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we will help them with respect to developing their own economy, because ultimately, what's going to make the Egyptian revolution successful for the people of Egypt but also for the world is if those young people who gathered there are seeing opportunities.	0
255	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Their aspirations are similar to young people's here.	0
256	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They want jobs.	0
257	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They want to be able to make sure their kids are going to a good school.	0
258	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They want to make sure that they have a roof over their heads and that they have a — the prospects of a better life in the future.	0
259	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And so one of the things that we've been doing is — is, for example, organizing entrepreneurship conferences with these Egyptians to — to give them a sense of how they can start rebuilding their economy in a way that's noncorrupt, that's transparent.	0
260	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But what is also important for us to understand is — is that for America to be successful in this region, there are some things that we're going to have to do here at home as well.	0
261	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, one of the challenges over the last decade is we've done experiments in nation building in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.	0
262	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we've neglected, for example, developing our own economy, our own energy sectors, our own education system.	0
263	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And it's very hard for us to project leadership around the world when we're not doing what we need to do here.	0
264	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor Romney, I want to hear your response to that, but I would just ask you, would you have stuck with Mubarak?	0
265	MR. ROMNEY	No, I believe, as the president indicated and said at the time, that I supported his — his action there.	0
266	MR. ROMNEY	I felt that — I wish we'd have had a better vision of the future.	0
267	MR. ROMNEY	I wish that, looking back at the beginning of the president's term and even further back than that, that we'd have recognized that there was a growing energy and passion for freedom in that part of the world and that we would have worked more aggressively with our — our friend and with other friends in the region to have them make the transition towards a more representative form of government such that it didn't explode in the way it did.	0
268	MR. ROMNEY	But once it exploded, I felt the same as the president did, which is these — these freedom voices in the — the streets of Egypt where the people who were speaking of our principles and the — the — President Mubarak had done things which were unimaginable, and the idea of him crushing his people was not something that we could possibly support.	0
269	MR. ROMNEY	Let me — let me step back and talk about what I think our mission has to be in the Middle East, and even more broadly, because our purpose is to make sure the world is more — is peaceful.	0
270	MR. ROMNEY	We want a peaceful planet.	0
271	MR. ROMNEY	We want people to be able to enjoy their lives and know they're going to have a bright and prosperous future and not be at war.	0
272	MR. ROMNEY	That's our purpose.	0
273	MR. ROMNEY	And the mantle of — of leadership for promoting the principles of peace has fallen to America.	0
274	MR. ROMNEY	We didn't ask for it, but it's an honor that we have it.	0
275	MR. ROMNEY	But for us to be able to promote those principles of peace requires us to be strong, and that begins with a strong economy here at home, and unfortunately, the economy is not stronger.	0
276	MR. ROMNEY	When the — when the — the president of Iraq — excuse me — of Iran, Ahmadinejad, says that our debt makes us not a great country, that's a frightening thing.	0
277	MR. ROMNEY	The former chief of — chief of the Joints Chief of Staff said that — Admiral Mullen — said that our debt is the biggest national security threat we face.	0
278	MR. ROMNEY	This — we have weakened our economy.	0
279	MR. ROMNEY	We need a strong economy.	0
280	MR. ROMNEY	We need to have as well a strong military.	0
281	MR. ROMNEY	Our military is second to none in the world.	0
282	MR. ROMNEY	We're blessed with terrific soldiers and extraordinary technology and intelligence.	0
283	MR. ROMNEY	But the idea of a trillion dollars in cuts through sequestration and budget cuts to the military would change that.	0
284	MR. ROMNEY	We need to have strong allies.	0
285	MR. ROMNEY	Our association and — and connection with our allies is essential to America's strength.	0
286	MR. ROMNEY	We're the — the great nation that has allies, 42 allies and friends around the world.	0
287	MR. ROMNEY	And finally, we have to stand by our principles.	0
288	MR. ROMNEY	And if we're strong in each of those things, American influence will grow.	0
289	MR. ROMNEY	But unfortunately, in nowhere in the world is America's influence greater today than it was four years ago.	0
290	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
291	MR. ROMNEY	And that's because we've become weaker on each of those four dimensions.	0
292	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right — perfect.	0
293	MR. SCHIEFFER	You're going to get a chance to respond to that because that's a perfect segue into our next segment, and that is what is America's role in the world.	0
294	MR. SCHIEFFER	And that is the question.	0
295	MR. SCHIEFFER	What do each of you see as our role in the world?	0
296	MR. SCHIEFFER	And I believe, Governor Romney, it's your turn to go first.	0
297	MR. ROMNEY	Well, I — I absolutely believe that America has a — a responsibility and the privilege of helping defend freedom and promote the principles that — that make the world more peaceful.	0
298	MR. ROMNEY	And those principles include human rights, human dignity, free enterprise, freedom of expression, elections, because when there are elections, people tend to vote for peace.	0
299	MR. ROMNEY	They don't vote for war.	0
300	MR. ROMNEY	So we want to — to promote those principles around the world.	0
301	MR. ROMNEY	We recognize that there are places of conflict in the world.	0
302	MR. ROMNEY	We want to end those conflicts to the extent humanly possible.	0
303	MR. ROMNEY	But in order to be able to fulfill our role in the world, America must be strong.	0
304	MR. ROMNEY	America must lead.	0
305	MR. ROMNEY	And for that to happen, we have to strengthen our economy here at home.	0
306	MR. ROMNEY	You can't have 23 million people struggling to get a job.	0
307	MR. ROMNEY	You — you can't have an economy that over the last three years keeps slowing down its growth rate.	0
308	MR. ROMNEY	You can't have kids coming out of college, half of whom can't find a job today, or a job that's commensurate with their college degree.	0
309	MR. ROMNEY	We have to get our economy going.	0
310	MR. ROMNEY	And our military — we've got to strengthen our military long- term.	0
311	MR. ROMNEY	We don't know what the world is going to throw at us down the road.	0
312	MR. ROMNEY	We — we make decisions today in a military that — that will confront challenges we can't imagine.	0
313	MR. ROMNEY	In the 2000 debates there was no mention of terrorism, for instance.	0
314	MR. ROMNEY	And a year later, 9/11 happened.	0
315	MR. ROMNEY	So we have to make decisions based upon uncertainty.	0
316	MR. ROMNEY	And that means a strong military.	0
317	MR. ROMNEY	I will not cut our military budget.	0
318	MR. ROMNEY	We have to also stand by our allies.	0
319	MR. ROMNEY	I think the tension that existed between Israel and the United States was very unfortunate.	0
320	MR. ROMNEY	I think also that pulling our missile defense program out of Poland in the way did we was also unfortunate in terms of, if you will, disrupting the relationship in some ways that existed between us.	0
321	MR. ROMNEY	And then of course, with regards to standing for our principles, when — when the students took to the streets in Tehran and the people there protested, the Green Revolution occurred.	0
322	MR. ROMNEY	For the president to be silent I thought was an enormous mistake.	0
323	MR. ROMNEY	We have to stand for our principles, stand for our allies, stand for a strong military and stand for a stronger economy.	0
324	MR. SCHIEFFER	Mr. President.	0
325	PRESIDENT OBAMA	America remains the one indispensable nation.	0
326	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the world needs a strong America.	0
327	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And it is stronger now than when I came into office.	0
328	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Because we ended the war in Iraq, we were able to refocus our attention on not only the terrorist threat but also beginning a transition process in Afghanistan.	0
329	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It also allowed us to refocus on alliances and relationships that had been neglected for a decade.	0
330	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And, Governor Romney, our alliances have never been stronger — in Asia, in Europe, in Africa, with Israel where we have unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation, including dealing with the Iranian threat.	0
331	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But what we also have been able to do is position ourselves so we can start rebuilding America.	0
332	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And that's what my plan does: Making sure that we're bringing manufacturing back to our shores so that we're creating jobs here, as we've done with the auto industry, not rewarding companies that are shipping jobs overseas; making sure that we've got the best education system in the world, including retraining our workers for the jobs of tomorrow; doing everything we can to control our own energy.	0
333	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We've cut our oil imports to the lowest level in two decades because we've developed oil and natural gas, but we also have to develop clean energy technologies that will allow us to cut our exports in half by 2020.	0
334	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's the kind of leadership that we need to show.	0
335	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we've got to make sure that we reduce our deficit.	0
336	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Unfortunately, Governor Romney's plan doesn't do it.	0
337	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We've got to do it in a responsible way, by cutting out spending we don't need but also asking the wealthiest to pay a little bit more.	0
338	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That way we can invest in the research and technology that's always kept us at the cutting edge.	0
339	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now Governor Romney has taken a different approach throughout this campaign.	0
340	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, both at home and abroad, he has proposed wrong and reckless policies.	0
341	PRESIDENT OBAMA	He's praised George Bush as good economic steward and Dick Cheney as somebody who shows great wisdom and judgment.	0
342	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And taking us back to those kinds of strategies that got us into this mess are not the way that we are going to maintain leadership in the 21st century.	0
343	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor Romney, wrong and reckless policies?	0
344	SYSTEM	(Chuckles.)	0
345	MR. ROMNEY	I've got a policy for the future and an agenda for the future.	0
346	MR. ROMNEY	And when it comes to our economy here at home, I know what it takes to create 12 million new jobs and rising take- home pay.	0
347	MR. ROMNEY	And what we've seen over the last four years is something I don't want to see over the next four years.	0
348	MR. ROMNEY	The — the president said by now we'd be at 5.4 percent unemployment.	0
349	MR. ROMNEY	We're 9 million jobs short of that.	0
350	MR. ROMNEY	I will get America working again and see rising take- home pay again.	0
351	MR. ROMNEY	And I'll do it with five simple steps.	0
352	MR. ROMNEY	Number one, were going to have North American energy independence.	0
353	MR. ROMNEY	We're going to do it by taking full advantage of oil, coal, gas, nuclear and our renewables.	0
354	MR. ROMNEY	Number two, we're going to increase our trade.	0
355	MR. ROMNEY	Trade grows about 12 percent per year.	0
356	MR. ROMNEY	It doubles about every — every five or — or so years.	0
357	MR. ROMNEY	We can do better than that, particularly in Latin America.	0
358	MR. ROMNEY	The opportunities for us in Latin America we have just not taken advantage of fully.	0
359	MR. ROMNEY	As a matter of fact, Latin America's economy is almost as big as the economy of China.	0
360	MR. ROMNEY	We're all focused on China.	0
361	MR. ROMNEY	Latin America is a huge opportunity for us: time zone, language opportunities.	0
362	MR. ROMNEY	Number three, we're going to have to have training programs that work for our workers and schools that finally put the parents and the teachers and the kids first, and the teachers union's going to have to go behind.	0
363	MR. ROMNEY	And then we're going to have to get to a balanced budget.	0
364	MR. ROMNEY	We can't expect entrepreneurs and businesses large and small to take their life savings or their companies' money and invest in America if they think we're headed to the road to Greece.	0
365	MR. ROMNEY	And that's where we're going right now unless we finally get off this spending and borrowing binge.	0
366	MR. ROMNEY	And I'll get us on track to a balanced budget.	0
367	MR. ROMNEY	And finally, number five, we've got to champion small business.	0
368	MR. ROMNEY	Small business is where — where jobs come from.	0
369	MR. ROMNEY	Two-thirds of our jobs come from small businesses.	0
370	MR. ROMNEY	New business formation is down to the lowest level in 30 years under this administration.	0
371	MR. ROMNEY	I want to bring it back and get back good jobs and rising take-home pay.	0
372	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, let's talk about what we need to compete.	0
373	PRESIDENT OBAMA	First of all, Governor Romney talks about small businesses, but Governor, when you were in Massachusetts, small businesses' development ranked about 48, I think, out of 50 states, in Massachusetts, because the policies that you're promoting actually don't help small businesses.	0
374	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the way you define small businesses include folks at the very top.	0
375	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They include you and me.	0
376	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's not the kind of small business promotion we need.	0
377	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But — but let's take an example that we know is going to make a difference 21st century, and that's our education policy.	0
378	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We didn't have a lot of chance to talk about this in the last debate.	0
379	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, under my leadership, what we've done is reformed education, working with governors, 46 states.	0
380	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We've seen progress and gains in schools that were having a terrible time, and they're starting to finally make progress.	0
381	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And what I now want to do is to hire more teachers, especially in math and science, because we know that we've fallen behind when it comes to math and science.	0
382	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And those teachers can make a difference.	0
383	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, Governor Romney, when you were asked by teachers whether or not this would help the economy grow, you said, this isn't going to help the economy grow.	0
384	PRESIDENT OBAMA	When you were asked about reduced class sizes, you said class sizes don't make a difference.	0
385	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But I tell you, if you talk to teachers, they will tell you it does make a difference.	0
386	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And if we've got math teachers who are able to provide the kind of support that they need for our kids, that's what's going to determine whether or not the new businesses are created here.	0
387	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Companies are going to locate here depending on whether we've got the most highly skilled workforce.	0
388	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the kinds of budget proposals that you've put forward — when we don't ask either you or me to pay a dime more in terms of reducing the deficit, but instead we slash support for education, that's undermining our long-term competitiveness.	0
389	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That is not good for America's position in the world.	0
390	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the world notices.	0
391	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let me get back to foreign policy.	0
392	MR. ROMNEY	Well --	0
393	MR. SCHIEFFER	Can I just get back --	0
394	MR. ROMNEY	Well, I need to speak a moment if you'll let me, Bob --	0
395	MR. SCHIEFFER	OK.	0
396	MR. ROMNEY	— just about education, because I'm — I'm so proud of the state that I had the chance to be governor of.	0
397	MR. ROMNEY	We have, every two years, tests that look at how well our kids are doing.	0
398	MR. ROMNEY	Fourth graders and eighth graders are tested in English and math.	0
399	MR. ROMNEY	While I was governor, I was proud that our fourth graders came out number one of all 50 states in English and then also in math, and our eighth graders number one in English and also in math — first time one state had been number one in all four measures.	0
400	MR. ROMNEY	How did we do that?	0
401	MR. ROMNEY	Well, Republicans and Democrats came together on a bipartisan basis to put in place education principles that focused on having great teachers in the classroom.	0
402	MR. ROMNEY	And that was --	0
403	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Ten years earlier --	0
404	MR. ROMNEY	That was — that was what allowed us to become the number one state in the nation.	0
405	MR. ROMNEY	And this is — and we were --	0
406	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But that was 10 years before you took office.	0
407	MR. ROMNEY	And we — absolutely.	0
408	MR. SCHIEFFER	Gentlemen --	0
409	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And then you cut education spending when you came into office.	0
410	MR. ROMNEY	The first — the first — and we kept our schools number one in the nation.	0
411	MR. ROMNEY	They're still number one today.	0
412	MR. ROMNEY	And the principles that we've put in place — we also gave kids not just a graduation exam that — that determined whether they were up to the skills needed to — to be able to compete, but also, if they graduated in the top quarter of their class, they got a four-year tuition-free ride at any Massachusetts public institution of higher learning.	0
413	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That happened — that happened before you came into office.	0
414	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor --	0
415	MR. ROMNEY	That was actually mine, actually, Mr. President.	0
416	MR. ROMNEY	You got that fact wrong.	0
417	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let me — I want to try to shift it, because we have heard some of this in the other debates.	0
418	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor, you say you want a bigger military.	0
419	MR. SCHIEFFER	You want a bigger Navy.	0
420	MR. SCHIEFFER	You don't want to cut defense spending.	0
421	MR. SCHIEFFER	What I want to ask you, we're talking about financial problems in this country.	0
422	MR. SCHIEFFER	Where are you going to get the money?	0
423	MR. ROMNEY	Well, let's — let's come back and talk about the military, but all the way — all the way through.	0
424	MR. ROMNEY	First of all, I'm going through, from the very beginning, we're going to cut about 5 percent of the discretionary budget excluding military.	0
425	MR. ROMNEY	That's number one.	0
426	MR. ROMNEY	All right?	0
427	MR. SCHIEFFER	But can you do this without driving us deeper into debt?	0
428	MR. ROMNEY	The good news is, I'll be happy to have you take a look.	0
429	MR. ROMNEY	Come on our website, you'll look at how we get to a balanced budget within eight to 10 years.	0
430	MR. ROMNEY	We do it by getting — by reducing spending in a whole series of programs.	0
431	MR. ROMNEY	By the way, number one I get rid of is "Obamacare."	0
432	MR. ROMNEY	There are a number of things that sound good but, frankly, we just can't afford them.	0
433	MR. ROMNEY	And that one doesn't sound good, and it's not affordable, so I get rid of that one from day one; to the extent humanly possible, we get that out.	0
434	MR. ROMNEY	We take program after program that we don't absolutely have to have and we get rid of them.	0
435	MR. ROMNEY	Number two, we take some programs that we are going to keep, like Medicaid, which is a program for the poor.	0
436	MR. ROMNEY	We're — take that health care program for the poor, and we give it to the states to run because states run these programs more efficiently.	0
437	MR. ROMNEY	As a governor, I thought, please, give me this program.	0
438	MR. SCHIEFFER	Can he do that?	0
439	SYSTEM	(Inaudible.)	0
440	MR. ROMNEY	I can run this more efficiently than the federal government.	0
441	MR. ROMNEY	And states, by the way, are proving it.	0
442	MR. ROMNEY	States like Arizona, Rhode Island have taken these Medicaid dollars, have shown they can run these programs more cost effectively.	0
443	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Bob --	0
444	MR. ROMNEY	So I want to do those two things that gets us — it gets us to a balanced budget with eight in — eight to 10 years.	0
445	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Bob --	0
446	MR. ROMNEY	But the military --	0
447	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let --	0
448	MR. ROMNEY	Let's go back to the military, though.	0
449	MR. SCHIEFFER	Well, that's what I'm trying to find out about.	0
450	MR. ROMNEY	Let's talk about the military.	0
451	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You should have answered the first question.	0
452	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Look, Governor Romney's called for $5 trillion of tax cuts that he says he's going to pay for by closing deductions.	0
453	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, the math doesn't work but he continues to claim that he's going to do it.	0
454	PRESIDENT OBAMA	He then wants to spend another $2 trillion on military spending that our military's not asking for.	0
455	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, keep in mind that our military spending has gone up every single year that I've been in office.	0
456	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We spend more on our military than the next 10 countries combined — China, Russia, France, the United — United Kingdom, you name it, next 10.	0
457	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And what I did was work with our Joint Chiefs of Staff to think about what are we going to need in the future to make sure that we are safe?	0
458	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And that's the budget that we've put forward.	0
459	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But what you can't do is spend $2 trillion in additional military spending that the military is not asking for, $5 trillion on tax cuts, you say that you're going to pay for it by closing loopholes and deductions without naming what those loopholes and deductions are, and then somehow you're also going to deal with the deficit that we've already got.	1
460	PRESIDENT OBAMA	The math simply doesn't work.	0
461	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But when it comes to our military, what we have to think about is not, you know, just budgets, we got to think about capabilities.	0
462	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We need to be thinking about cybersecurity.	0
463	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We need to be thinking about space.	0
464	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's exactly what our budget does, but it's driven by strategy.	0
465	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It's not driven by politics.	0
466	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It's not driven by members of Congress and what they would like to see.	0
467	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It's driven by what are we going to need to keep the American people safe?	0
468	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's exactly what our budget does.	0
469	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And it also then allows us to reduce our deficit, which is a significant national security concern because we've got to make sure that our economy is strong at home so that we can project military power overseas.	0
470	MR. ROMNEY	Bob, I'm pleased that I've balanced budgets.	0
471	MR. ROMNEY	I was in the world of business for 25 years.	0
472	MR. ROMNEY	If you didn't balance your budget, you went out of business.	0
473	MR. ROMNEY	I went to the Olympics that was out of balance, and we got it on balance and made a success there.	1
474	MR. ROMNEY	I had the chance to be governor of a state.	0
475	MR. ROMNEY	Four years in a row, Democrats and Republicans came together to balance the budget.	0
476	MR. ROMNEY	We cut taxes 19 times, balanced our budget.	0
477	MR. ROMNEY	The president hasn't balanced a budget yet.	0
478	MR. ROMNEY	I expect to have the opportunity to do so myself.	0
479	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
480	MR. ROMNEY	I — I'm going to be able to balance the budget.	0
481	MR. ROMNEY	Let's talk about military spending, and that's this.	0
482	MR. ROMNEY	Our Navy --	0
483	MR. SCHIEFFER	About 30 seconds.	0
484	MR. ROMNEY	Our Navy is older — excuse me — our Navy is smaller now than any time since 1917.	0
485	MR. ROMNEY	The Navy said they needed 313 ships to carry out their mission.	0
486	MR. ROMNEY	We're now down to 285.	0
487	MR. ROMNEY	We're headed down to the — to the low 200s if we go through with sequestration.	0
488	MR. ROMNEY	That's unacceptable to me.	0
489	MR. ROMNEY	I want to make sure that we have the ships that are required by our Navy.	0
490	MR. ROMNEY	Our Air Force is older and smaller than any time since it was founded in 1947.	0
491	MR. ROMNEY	We've changed for the first time since FDR.	0
492	MR. ROMNEY	We — since FDR we had the — we've always had the strategy of saying we could fight in two conflicts at once.	0
493	MR. ROMNEY	Now we're changing to one conflict.	0
494	MR. ROMNEY	Look, this, in my view, is the highest responsibility of the president of the United States, which is to maintain the safety of the American people.	0
495	MR. ROMNEY	And I will not cut our military budget by a trillion dollars, which is the combination of the budget cuts that the president has as well as the sequestration cuts.	0
496	MR. ROMNEY	That, in my view, is — is — is making our future less certain and less secure.	0
497	MR. ROMNEY	I won't do it.	0
498	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Bob, I just need to comment on this.	0
499	PRESIDENT OBAMA	First of all, the sequester is not something that I proposed.	0
500	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It's something that Congress has proposed.	0
501	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It will not happen.	0
502	PRESIDENT OBAMA	The budget that we're talking about is not reducing our military spending.	0
503	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It's maintaining it.	0
504	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But I think Governor Romney maybe hasn't spent enough time looking at how our military works.	0
505	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You — you mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916.	0
506	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets — (laughter) — because the nature of our military's changed.	0
507	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them.	0
508	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines.	0
509	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And so the question is not a game of Battleship where we're counting ships.	0
510	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It's — it's what are our capabilities.	0
511	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And so when I sit down with the secretary of the Navy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we determine how are we going to be best able to meet all of our defense needs in a way that also keeps faith with our troops, that also makes sure that our veterans have the kind of support that they need when they come home.	0
512	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And that is not reflected in the kind of budget that you're putting forward, because it just don't work.	0
513	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
514	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And you know, we've visited the website quite a bit.	0
515	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And it still doesn't work.	0
516	MR. SCHIEFFER	A lot to cover.	0
517	MR. SCHIEFFER	I'd like — (murmurs) — I'd like to move to the next segment: red lines, Israel and Iran.	0
518	MR. SCHIEFFER	Would either of you — and you'll have two minutes, and President Obama, you have the first go at this one.	0
519	MR. SCHIEFFER	Would either of you be willing to declare that an attack on Israel is an attack on the United States, which of course is the same promise that we give to our close allies like Japan?	0
520	MR. SCHIEFFER	And if you made such a declaration, would not that deter Iran?	0
521	MR. SCHIEFFER	It's certainly deterred the Soviet Union for a long, long time when we made that — when we made that promise to our allies.	0
522	MR. SCHIEFFER	Mr. President.	0
523	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, first of all, Israel is a true friend.	0
524	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It is our greatest ally in the region.	0
525	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And if Israel is attacked, America will stand with Israel.	0
526	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I've made that clear throughout my presidency.	0
527	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And --	0
528	MR. SCHIEFFER	So you're saying we've already made that declaration?	0
529	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I will stand with Israel if they are attacked.	0
530	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And this is the reason why, working with Israel, we have created the strongest military and intelligence cooperation between our two countries in history.	0
531	PRESIDENT OBAMA	In fact, this week we'll be carrying out the largest military exercise with Israel in history, this very week.	0
532	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But to the issue of Iran, as long as I'm president of the United States, Iran will not get a nuclear weapon.	0
533	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I've made that clear when I came into office.	0
534	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We then organized the strongest coalition and the strongest sanctions against Iran in history, and it is crippling their economy.	0
535	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Their currency has dropped 80 percent.	0
536	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Their oil production has plunged to the lowest level since they were fighting a war with Iraq 20 years ago.	0
537	PRESIDENT OBAMA	So their economy is in a shambles.	0
538	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the reason we did this is because a nuclear Iran is a threat to our national security and it's threat to Israel's national security.	0
539	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We cannot afford to have a nuclear arms race in the most volatile region of the world.	0
540	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Iran's a state sponsor of terrorism, and for them to be able to provide nuclear technology to nonstate actors — that's unacceptable.	0
541	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And they have said that they want to see Israel wiped off the map.	0
542	PRESIDENT OBAMA	So the work that we've done with respect to sanctions now offers Iran a choice.	0
543	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They can take the diplomatic route and end their nuclear program or they will have to face a united world and a United States president, me, who said we're not going to take any options off the table.	0
544	PRESIDENT OBAMA	The disagreement I have with Governor Romney is that during the course of this campaign he's often talked as if we should take premature military action.	0
545	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I think that would be a mistake because when I've sent young men and women into harm's way, I always understand that that is the last rest, not the first resort.	0
546	MR. SCHIEFFER	Two minutes.	0
547	MR. ROMNEY	Well, first of all, I — I want to underscore the — the same point the president made, which is that if I'm president of the United States, when I'm president of the United States, we will stand with Israel.	0
548	MR. ROMNEY	And — and if Israel is attacked, we have their back, not just diplomatically, not just culturally, but militarily.	0
549	MR. ROMNEY	That's number one.	0
550	MR. ROMNEY	Number two, with regards to — to Iran and the threat of Iran, there's no question but that a nuclear Iran, a nuclear-capable Iran, is unacceptable to America.	0
551	MR. ROMNEY	It presents a threat not only to our friends, but ultimately a threat to us to have Iran have nuclear material, nuclear weapons that could be used against us or used to be threatening to us.	0
552	MR. ROMNEY	It's also essential for us to understand what our mission is in Iran, and that is to dissuade Iran from having a nuclear weapon through peaceful and diplomatic means.	0
553	MR. ROMNEY	And crippling sanctions are something I'd called for five years ago when I was in Israel speaking at the Herzliya Conference.	0
554	MR. ROMNEY	I laid out seven steps.	0
555	MR. ROMNEY	Crippling sanctions were number one.	0
556	MR. ROMNEY	And they do work.	0
557	MR. ROMNEY	You're seeing it right now in the economy.	0
558	MR. ROMNEY	It's absolutely the right thing to do to have crippling sanctions.	0
559	MR. ROMNEY	I'd have put them in place earlier, but it's good that we have them.	0
560	MR. ROMNEY	Number two, something I would add today is I would tighten those sanctions.	0
561	MR. ROMNEY	I would say that ships that carry Iranian oil can't come into our ports.	0
562	MR. ROMNEY	I imagine the EU would agree with us as well.	0
563	MR. ROMNEY	Not only ships couldn't, I'd say companies that are moving their oil can't, people who are trading in their oil can't.	0
564	MR. ROMNEY	I would tighten those sanctions further.	0
565	MR. ROMNEY	Secondly, I'd take on diplomatic isolation efforts.	0
566	MR. ROMNEY	I'd make sure that Ahmadinejad is indicted under the Genocide Convention.	0
567	MR. ROMNEY	His words amount to genocide incitation.	0
568	MR. ROMNEY	I would indict him for it.	0
569	MR. ROMNEY	I would also make sure that their diplomats are treated like the pariah they are around the world, the same way we treated the apartheid diplomats of South Africa.	0
570	MR. ROMNEY	We need to increase pressure time and time again on Iran because anything other than a — a — a solution to this which says — which stops this nuclear folly of theirs is unacceptable to America.	0
571	MR. ROMNEY	And of course, a military action is the last resort.	0
572	MR. ROMNEY	It is something one would only, only consider if all of the other avenues had been — had been tried to their full extent.	0
573	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let me ask both of you, there — as you know, there are reports that Iran and the United States, as part of an international group, have agreed in principle to talks about Iran's nuclear program.	0
574	MR. SCHIEFFER	What is the deal if there are such talks?	0
575	MR. SCHIEFFER	What is the deal that you would accept?	0
576	MR. SCHIEFFER	Mr. President.	0
577	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, first of all, those were reports in the newspaper.	0
578	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They are not true.	0
579	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But our goal is to get Iran to recognize it needs to give up its nuclear program and abide by the U.N. resolutions that have been in place, because they have the opportunity to re-enter the community of nations, and we would welcome that.	0
580	PRESIDENT OBAMA	There are — there are people in Iran who have the same aspirations as people all around the world, for a better life.	0
581	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we hope that their leadership takes the right decision.	0
582	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But the deal we'll accept is, they end their nuclear program.	0
583	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It's very straightforward.	0
584	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And you know, I'm glad that Governor Romney agrees with the steps that we're taking.	0
585	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, there have been times, Governor, frankly, during the course of this campaign, where it sounded like you thought that you'd do the some things we did, but you'd say them louder and somehow that that would make a difference, and it turns out that the work involved in setting up these crippling sanctions is painstaking; it's meticulous.	0
586	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We started from the day we got into office.	0
587	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the reason it was so important — and this is a testament to how we've restored American credibility and strength around the world — is we had to make sure that all the countries participated, even countries like Russia and China, because if it's just us that are imposing sanctions, we've had sanctions in place for a long time.	0
588	PRESIDENT OBAMA	It's because we got everybody to agree that Iran is seeing so much pressure.	0
589	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we've got to maintain that pressure.	0
590	PRESIDENT OBAMA	There is a deal to be had, and that is that they abide by the rules that have already been established; they convince the international community they are not pursuing a nuclear program; there are inspections that are very intrusive.	0
591	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But over time, what they can do is regain credibility.	0
592	PRESIDENT OBAMA	In the meantime, though, we're not going to let up the pressure until we have clear evidence that that takes place.	0
593	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And one last thing.	0
594	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I'm — just to make this point: The clock is ticking.	0
595	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We're not going to allow Iran to perpetually engage in negotiations that lead nowhere.	0
596	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And I've been very clear to them, you know, because of the intelligence coordination that we do with a range of countries, including Israel, we have a sense of when they would get breakout capacity, which means that we would not be able to intervene in time to stop their nuclear program, and that clock is ticking.	0
597	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
598	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we're going to make sure that if they do not meet the demands of the international community, then we are going to take all options necessary to make sure they don't have a nuclear weapon.	0
599	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor.	0
600	MR. ROMNEY	I think from the very beginning, one of the challenges we've had with Iran is that they have looked at this administration and — and felt that the administration was not as strong as it needed to be.	0
601	MR. ROMNEY	I think they saw weakness where they had expected to find American strength.	0
602	MR. ROMNEY	And I say that because from the very beginning, the president, in his campaign some four years ago, said he'd meet with all the world's worst actors in his first year.	0
603	MR. ROMNEY	He'd — he'd sit down with Chavez and — and Kim Jong-Il, with Castro and with — with President Ahmadinejad of — of Iran.	0
604	MR. ROMNEY	And — and I think they looked and thought, well, that's an unusual honor to receive from the president of the United States.	0
605	MR. ROMNEY	And then the president began what I've called an apology tour of going to — to various nations in the Middle East and — and criticizing America.	1
606	MR. ROMNEY	I think they looked at that and saw weakness.	0
607	MR. ROMNEY	Then when there were dissidents in the streets of Tehran, the Green Revolution, holding signs saying, is America with us, the president was silent.	0
608	MR. ROMNEY	I think they noticed that as well.	0
609	MR. ROMNEY	And I think that when the president said he was going to create daylight between ourselves and Israel that — that they noticed that as well.	1
610	MR. ROMNEY	All of these things suggested, I think, to the Iranian mullahs that, hey, you know, we can keep on pushing along here; we can keep talks going on, but we're just going to keep on spinning centrifuges.	0
611	MR. ROMNEY	Now there are some 10,000 centrifuges spinning uranium, preparing to — to create a — a — a --- a nuclear threat to the United States and to the world.	0
612	MR. ROMNEY	That's unacceptable for us, and — and — and it's essential for a president to show strength from the very beginning to make it very clear what is acceptable and not acceptable.	0
613	MR. ROMNEY	And an Iranian nuclear program is not acceptable to us.	0
614	MR. ROMNEY	They must not develop nuclear capability.	0
615	MR. ROMNEY	And the way to make sure they understand that is by having from the very beginning the tightest sanctions possible.	0
616	MR. ROMNEY	They need to be tightened.	0
617	MR. ROMNEY	Our diplomatic isolation needs to be tougher.	0
618	MR. ROMNEY	We need to indict Ahmadinejad.	0
619	MR. ROMNEY	We need to put the pressure on them as hard as we possibly can, because if we do that, we won't have to take the military action.	0
620	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Bob, let me just respond.	0
621	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Nothing Governor Romney just said is true, starting with this notion of me apologizing.	0
622	PRESIDENT OBAMA	This has been probably the biggest whopper that's been told during the course of this campaign, and every fact-checker and every reporter who's looked at it, Governor, has said this is not true.	0
623	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And when it comes to tightening sanctions, look, as I said before, we've put in the toughest, most crippling sanctions ever.	0
624	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the fact is while we were coordinating an international coalition to make sure these sanctions were effective, you were still invested in a Chinese state oil company that was doing business with the Iranian oil sector.	0
625	PRESIDENT OBAMA	So I'll let the American people decide, judge who's going to be more effective and more credible when it comes to imposing crippling sanctions.	0
626	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And with respect to our attitude about the Iranian revolution, I was very clear about the murderous activities that had taken place, and that was contrary to international law and everything that civilized people stand for.	0
627	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And — and so the strength that we have shown in Iran is shown by the fact that we've been able to mobilize the world.	0
628	PRESIDENT OBAMA	When I came into office, the world was divided.	0
629	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Iran was resurgent.	0
630	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Iran is at its weakest point economically, strategically, militarily than since — than in many years.	0
631	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we are going to continue to keep the pressure on to makes sure that they do not get a nuclear weapon.	0
632	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's in America's national interest, and that will be the case so long as I'm president.	0
633	MR. ROMNEY	We're four years closer to a nuclear Iran.	0
634	MR. ROMNEY	We're four years closer to a nuclear Iran.	0
635	MR. ROMNEY	And — and we should not have wasted these four years to the extent they've — they continue to be able to spin these centrifuges and get that much closer.	0
636	MR. ROMNEY	That's number one.	0
637	MR. ROMNEY	Number two, Mr. President, the reason I call it an apology tour is because you went to the Middle East and you flew to — to Egypt and to Saudi Arabia and to — to Turkey and Iraq.	0
638	MR. ROMNEY	And — and by way, you skipped Israel, our closest friend in the region, but you went to the other nations.	0
639	MR. ROMNEY	And by the way, they noticed that you skipped Israel.	0
640	MR. ROMNEY	And then in those nations and on Arabic TV you said that America had been dismissive and derisive.	0
641	MR. ROMNEY	You said that on occasion America had dictated to other nations.	0
642	MR. ROMNEY	Mr. President, America has not dictated to other nations.	0
643	MR. ROMNEY	We have freed other nations from dictators.	0
644	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Bob, let me — let me respond.	0
645	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, if we're going to talk about trips that we've taken, you know, when I was a candidate for office, first trip I took was to visit our troops.	0
646	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And when I went to Israel as a candidate, I didn't take donors, I didn't attend fundraisers, I went to Yad Vashem, the — the Holocaust museum there, to remind myself the — the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable.	0
647	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And then I went down to the border towns of Sderot, which had experienced missiles raining down from Hamas.	0
648	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And I saw families there who showed me where missiles had come down near their children's bedrooms, and I was reminded of — of what that would mean if those were my kids, which is why, as president, we funded an Iron Dome program to stop those missiles.	0
649	PRESIDENT OBAMA	So that's how I've used my travels when I travel to Israel and when I travel to the region.	0
650	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the central question at this point is going to be, who's going to be credible to all parties involved?	0
651	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And they can look at my track record — whether it's Iran sanctions, whether it's dealing with counterterrorism, whether it's supporting democracy, whether it's supporting women's rights, whether it's supporting religious minorities — and they can say that the president of the United States and the United States of America has stood on the right side of history.	0
652	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And — and that kind of credibility is precisely why we've been able to show leadership on a wide range of issues facing the world right now.	0
653	MR. SCHIEFFER	What if — what if the prime minister of Israel called you on the phone and said: Our bombers are on the way.	0
654	MR. SCHIEFFER	We're going to bomb Iran.	0
655	MR. SCHIEFFER	What do you say?	0
656	MR. ROMNEY	Bob, let's not go into hypotheticals of that nature.	0
657	MR. ROMNEY	Our relationship with Israel, my relationship with the prime minister of Israel is such that we would not get a call saying our bombers are on the way or their fighters are on the way.	0
658	MR. ROMNEY	This is the kind of thing that would have been discussed and thoroughly evaluated well before that kind of action.	0
659	MR. SCHIEFFER	So you're saying just what --	0
660	MR. ROMNEY	I'm — that's — that's --	0
661	MR. SCHIEFFER	OK.	0
662	MR. SCHIEFFER	But let's see what — (inaudible) --	0
663	MR. ROMNEY	Yes, but let me — let me — let me come back — let's come back — let's come back and go back to what the president was speaking about, which is what's happening in the world and — and — and the president's statement that things are going so well.	0
664	MR. ROMNEY	Look, I — I look at what's happening around the world and I see Iran four years closer to a bomb.	0
665	MR. ROMNEY	I see the Middle East with a rising tide of violence, chaos, tumult.	0
666	MR. ROMNEY	I see jihadists continuing to spread.	0
667	MR. ROMNEY	Whether they're rising or just about the same level hard to — hard to precisely measure, but it's clear they're there.	0
668	MR. ROMNEY	They're very, very strong.	0
669	MR. ROMNEY	I see Syria with 30,000 civilians dead, Assad still in power.	0
670	MR. ROMNEY	I see our trade deficit with China larger than it's — growing larger every year as a matter of fact.	0
671	MR. ROMNEY	I look around the world and I don't feel that — you see North Korea continuing to export their nuclear technology.	0
672	MR. ROMNEY	Russia's said they're not going to follow Nunn-Lugar anymore; they're (back ?)	0
673	MR. ROMNEY	away from their nuclear proliferation treaty that we had with them.	0
674	MR. ROMNEY	I look around the world, I don't see our influence growing around the world.	0
675	MR. ROMNEY	I see our influence receding, in part because of the failure of the president to deal with our economic challenges at home, in part because of our withdrawal from our commitment to our military and the way I think it ought to be, in part because of the — the — the turmoil with Israel.	0
676	MR. ROMNEY	I mean, the president received a letter from 38 Democrat senators saying the tensions with Israel were a real problem.	0
677	PRESIDENT OBAMA	No.	0
678	MR. ROMNEY	They asked him, please repair the tension — Democrat senators — please repair the damage in his — in his own party.	0
679	MR. SCHIEFFER (?)	All right.	0
680	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor, the problem is, is that on a whole range of issues, whether it's the Middle East, whether it's Afghanistan, whether it's Iraq, whether it's now Iran, you've been all over the map.	0
681	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I mean, I'm pleased that you now are endorsing our policy of applying diplomatic pressure and potentially having bilateral discussions with the Iranians to end their nuclear program.	0
682	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But just a few years ago you said that's something you'd never do, in the same way that you initially opposed a time table in Afghanistan, now you're for it, although it depends; in the same way that you say you would have ended the war in Iraq, but recently gave a speech saying that we should have 20,000 more folks in there; the same way that you said that it was mission creep to go after Gadhafi.	0
683	PRESIDENT OBAMA	When it comes to going after Osama bin Laden, you said, well, any president would make that call.	0
684	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But when you were a candidate in 2008 — as I was — and I said, if I got bin Laden in our sights, I would take that shot, you said we shouldn't move heaven and earth to get one man, and you said we should ask Pakistan for permission.	1
685	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And if we had asked Pakistan for permission, we would not have gotten it.	0
686	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And it was worth moving heaven and earth to get him.	0
687	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, after we killed bin Laden, I was at Ground Zero for a memorial and talked to a — a — a young woman who was 4 years old when 9/11 happened.	0
688	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And the last conversation she had with her father was him calling from the twin towers, saying, Peyton (sp), I love you, and I will always watch over you.	0
689	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And for the next decade she was haunted by that conversation.	0
690	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And she said to me, you know, by finally getting bin Laden, that brought some closure to me.	0
691	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And when we do things like that, when we bring those who have harmed us to justice, that sends a message to the world, and it tells Peyton (sp) that we did not forget her father.	0
692	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
693	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And — and I make that point because that's the kind of clarity of leadership — and those decisions are not always popular.	0
694	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Those decisions generally are not poll-tested.	0
695	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And even some in my own party, including my current vice president, had the same critique as you did.	0
696	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But what the American people understand is, is that I look at what we need to get done to keep the American people safe and to move our interests forward, and I make those decisions.	0
697	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
698	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let's go — and that leads us — this takes us right to the next segment, Governor, America's longest war, Afghanistan and Pakistan.	0
699	MR. ROMNEY	Bob --	0
700	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor, you get to go first.	0
701	MR. ROMNEY	You can't — you can't — well, OK, but you can't have the president just lay out a whole series of items without giving me a chance to respond.	0
702	MR. SCHIEFFER	With respect, sir, you had laid out quite a program there.	0
703	MR. ROMNEY	Well, that's probably true.	0
704	SYSTEM	(Chuckles.)	0
705	MR. SCHIEFFER	And we'll — we'll give you --	0
706	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We'll agree (with that ?	0
707	PRESIDENT OBAMA	).	0
708	MR. SCHIEFFER	We'll catch you up.	0
709	MR. SCHIEFFER	The United States is scheduled to turn over responsibility for security in Afghanistan to the Afghan government in 2014.	0
710	MR. SCHIEFFER	At that point we will withdraw our combat troops, leave a smaller force of Americans, if I understand our policy, in Afghanistan for training purposes.	0
711	MR. SCHIEFFER	It seems to me the key question here is what do you do if the deadline arrives and it is obvious the Afghans are unable to handle their security?	0
712	MR. SCHIEFFER	Do we still leave?	0
713	MR. SCHIEFFER	And I believe Governor Romney, it — you go first.	0
714	MR. ROMNEY	Well, we're going to be finished by 2014.	0
715	MR. ROMNEY	And when I'm president, we'll make sure we bring our troops out by the end of 2014.	0
716	MR. ROMNEY	The commanders and the generals there are on track to do so.	0
717	MR. ROMNEY	We've seen progress over the past several years.	0
718	MR. ROMNEY	The surge has been successful, and the training program is proceeding apace.	0
719	MR. ROMNEY	There are now a large number of Afghan security forces, 350,000, that are — are ready to step in to provide security.	0
720	MR. ROMNEY	And — and we're going to be able to make that transition by the end of — of 2014.	0
721	MR. ROMNEY	So our troops'll come home at that point.	0
722	MR. ROMNEY	I — I can tell you, at the same time, that — that we will make sure that we — we look at what's happening in Pakistan and recognize that what's happening in Pakistan is going to have a major impact on the success in Afghanistan.	0
723	MR. ROMNEY	And — and I say that because I know a lot of people just feel like we should just brush our hands and walk away.	0
724	MR. ROMNEY	And I don't mean you, Mr. President, but some people in the — in our nation feel that Pakistan (doesn't ?)	0
725	MR. ROMNEY	— being nice to us and that we should just walk away from them.	0
726	MR. ROMNEY	But Pakistan is important to the region, to the world and to us, because Pakistan has 100 nuclear warheads, and they're rushing to build a lot more.	0
727	MR. ROMNEY	They'll have more than Great Britain sometime in the — in the relatively near future.	0
728	MR. ROMNEY	They also have the Haqqani network and — and the Taliban existent within their country.	0
729	MR. ROMNEY	And so a — a Pakistan that falls apart, becomes a failed state would be of extraordinary danger to Afghanistan and us.	0
730	MR. ROMNEY	And so we're going to have to remain helpful in encouraging Pakistan to move towards a — a more stable government and — and rebuild a relationship with us.	0
731	MR. ROMNEY	And that means that — that — that our aid that we provide to Pakistan is going to have to be conditioned upon certain benchmarks being met.	0
732	MR. ROMNEY	So for me, I look at this as both a — a — a need to help move Pakistan in the right direction and also to get Afghanistan to be ready.	0
733	MR. ROMNEY	And they will be ready by the end of 2014.	0
734	MR. SCHIEFFER	Mr. President.	0
735	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, when I came into office, we were still bogged down in Iraq, and Afghanistan had been drifting for a decade.	0
736	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We ended the war in Iraq, refocused our attention on Afghanistan.	0
737	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we did deliver a surge of troops.	0
738	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That was facilitated in part because we had ended the war in Iraq.	0
739	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we are now in a position where we have met many of the objectives that got us there in the first place.	0
740	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Part of what had happened is we'd forgotten why we'd gone.	0
741	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We went because there were people who were responsible for 3,000 American deaths.	0
742	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And so we decimated al-Qaida's core leadership in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.	0
743	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We then started to build up Afghan forces.	0
744	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we're now in a position where we can transition out, because there's no reason why Americans should die when Afghans are perfectly capable of defending their own country.	0
745	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, that transition's — has to take place in a responsible fashion.	0
746	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We've been there a long time, and we've got to make sure that we and our coalition partners are pulling out responsibly and giving Afghans the capabilities that they need.	0
747	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But what I think the American people recognize is after a decade of war, it's time to do some nation-building here at home.	0
748	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And what we can now do is free up some resources to, for example, put Americans back to work, especially our veterans, rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our schools, making sure that, you know, our veterans are getting the care that they need when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, making sure that the certifications that they need for good jobs of the future are in place.	0
749	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, I was having lunch with some — a veteran in Minnesota who had been a medic dealing with the most extreme circumstances.	0
750	PRESIDENT OBAMA	When he came home and he wanted to become a nurse, he had to start from scratch.	0
751	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And what we've said is, let's change those certifications.	0
752	PRESIDENT OBAMA	The first lady has done great work with an organization called Joining Forces putting our veterans back to work.	0
753	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And as a consequence, veterans' unemployment is actually now lower than general population, it was higher when I came into office.	1
754	PRESIDENT OBAMA	So those are the kinds of things that we can now do because we're making that transition in Afghanistan.	0
755	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
756	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let me go to Governor Romney because you talked about Pakistan and what needs to be done there.	0
757	MR. SCHIEFFER	General Allen, our commander in Afghanistan, says that Americans continue to die at the hands of groups who are supported by Pakistan.	0
758	MR. SCHIEFFER	We know that Pakistan has arrested the doctor who helped us catch Obama's — bin Laden.	0
759	MR. SCHIEFFER	It still provides safe haven for terrorists, yet we continue to give Pakistan billions of dollars.	0
760	MR. SCHIEFFER	Is it time for us to divorce Pakistan?	0
761	MR. ROMNEY	No, it's not time to divorce a nation on earth that has a hundred nuclear weapons and is on the way to double that at some point, a nation that has serious threats from terrorist groups within its nation — as I indicated before, the Taliban, Haqqani network.	0
762	MR. ROMNEY	It's a nation that's not like — like others and that does not have a civilian leadership that is calling the shots there.	0
763	MR. ROMNEY	You've got the ISI, their intelligence organization is probably the most powerful of the — of the three branches there.	0
764	MR. ROMNEY	Then you have the military and then you have the — the civilian government.	0
765	MR. ROMNEY	This is a nation which if it falls apart — if it becomes a failed state, there are nuclear weapons there and you've got — you've got terrorists there who could grab their — their hands onto those nuclear weapons.	0
766	MR. ROMNEY	This is — this is an important part of the world for us.	0
767	MR. ROMNEY	Pakistan is — is technically an ally, and they're not acting very much like an ally right now, but we have some work to do.	0
768	MR. ROMNEY	And I — I don't blame the administration for the fact that the relationship with Pakistan is strained.	0
769	MR. ROMNEY	We had to go into Pakistan; we had to go in there to get Osama bin Laden.	0
770	MR. ROMNEY	That was the right thing to do.	0
771	MR. ROMNEY	And that upset them, but there was obviously a great deal of anger even before that.	0
772	MR. ROMNEY	But we're going to have to work with the — with the people in Pakistan to try and help them move to a more responsible course than the one that they're on.	0
773	MR. ROMNEY	And it's important for them, it's important for the nuclear weapons, it's important for the success of Afghanistan, because inside Pakistan you have a large group of Pashtuns that are — that are Taliban, that they're going to come rushing back into Afghanistan when we go.	0
774	MR. ROMNEY	And that's one of the reasons the Afghan security forces have so much work to do to be able to fight against that.	0
775	MR. ROMNEY	But it's important for us to recognize that we can't just walk away from Pakistan.	0
776	MR. ROMNEY	But we do need to make sure that as we — as we send support for them, that this is tied to them making progress on — on matters that would lead them to becoming a civil society.	0
777	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let me ask you, Governor, because we know President Obama's position on this, what is — what is your position on the use of drones?	0
778	MR. ROMNEY	Well, I believe that we should use any and all means necessary to take out people who pose a threat to us and our friends around the world.	0
779	MR. ROMNEY	And it's widely reported that drones are being used in drone strikes, and I support that entirely and feel the president was right to up the usage of that technology and believe that we should continue to use it to continue to go after the people who represent a threat to this nation and to our friends.	0
780	MR. ROMNEY	Let me also note that, as I said earlier, we're going to have to do more than just going after leaders and — and killing bad guys, important as that is.	0
781	MR. ROMNEY	We're also going to have to have a far more effective and comprehensive strategy to help move the world away from terror and Islamic extremism.	0
782	MR. ROMNEY	We haven't done that yet.	0
783	MR. ROMNEY	We talk a lot about these things, but you look at the — the record.	0
784	MR. ROMNEY	You look at the record of the last four years and say, is Iran closer to a bomb?	0
785	MR. ROMNEY	Yes.	0
786	MR. ROMNEY	Is the Middle East in tumult?	0
787	MR. ROMNEY	Yes.	0
788	MR. ROMNEY	Is — is al-Qaida on the run, on its heels?	0
789	MR. ROMNEY	No.	0
790	MR. ROMNEY	Is — are Israel and the Palestinians closer to — to reaching a peace agreement?	0
791	MR. ROMNEY	No, they haven't had talks in two years.	0
792	MR. ROMNEY	We have not seen the progress we need to have, and I'm convinced that with strong leadership and an effort to build a strategy based upon helping these nations reject extremism, we can see the kind of peace and prosperity the world demands.	0
793	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, keep in mind our strategy wasn't just going after bin Laden.	0
794	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We've created partnerships throughout the region to deal with extremism — in Somalia, in Yemen, in Pakistan.	0
795	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And what we've also done is engage these governments in the kind of reforms that are actually going to make a difference in people's lives day to day, to make sure that their government aren't corrupt, to make sure that they are treating women with the kind of respect and dignity that every nation that succeeds has shown, and to make sure that they've got a free market system that works.	0
796	PRESIDENT OBAMA	So across the board, we are engaging them in building capacity in these countries and we have stood on the side of democracy.	0
797	PRESIDENT OBAMA	One thing I think Americans should be proud of — when Tunisians began to protest, this nation, me, my administration stood with them earlier than just about any other country.	0
798	PRESIDENT OBAMA	In Egypt we stood on the side of democracy.	0
799	PRESIDENT OBAMA	In Libya we stood on the side of the people.	0
800	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And as a consequence there is no doubt that attitudes about Americans have changed.	0
801	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But there are always going to be elements in these countries that potentially threaten the United States.	0
802	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we want to shrink those groups and those networks, and we can do that, but we're always also going to have to maintain vigilance when it comes to terrorist activities.	0
803	PRESIDENT OBAMA	The truth, though, is that al-Qaida is much weaker than it was when I came into office, and they don't have the same capacities to attack the U.S. homeland and our allies as they did four years ago.	0
804	MR. SCHIEFFER	Let's go to the next segment because it's a very important one.	0
805	MR. SCHIEFFER	It is the rise of China and future challenges for America.	0
806	MR. SCHIEFFER	I want to just begin this by asking both of you — and Mr. President, you go first this time — what do you believe is the greatest future threat to the national security of this country?	0
807	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, I think it will continue to be terrorist networks.	0
808	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We have to remain vigilant, as I just said.	0
809	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But with respect to China, China's both an adversary but also a potential partner in the international community if it's following the rules.	0
810	PRESIDENT OBAMA	So my attitude coming into office was that we are going to insist that China plays by the same rules as everybody else.	0
811	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And I know Americans had — had seen jobs being shipped overseas, businesses and workers not getting a level playing field when it came to trade.	0
812	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And that's the reason why I set up a trade task force to go after cheaters when it came to international trade.	0
813	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's the reason why we have brought more cases against China for violating trade rules than the other — the previous administration had done in two terms.	0
814	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we've won just about every case that we've filed, that — that has been decided.	0
815	PRESIDENT OBAMA	In fact, just recently, steelworkers in Ohio and throughout the Midwest, Pennsylvania, are in a position now to sell steel to China because we won that case.	0
816	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We had a tire case in which they were flooding us with cheap domestic tires — or — or — or cheap Chinese tires.	0
817	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we put a stop to it and, as a consequence, saved jobs throughout America.	0
818	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I have to say that Governor Romney criticized me for being too tough in that tire case, said this wouldn't be good for American workers and that it would be protectionist.	0
819	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But I tell you, those workers don't feel that way.	0
820	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They feel as if they had finally an administration who was going to take this issue seriously.	0
821	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Over the long term, in order for us to compete with China, we've also got to make sure, though, that we're taking — taking care of business here at home.	0
822	PRESIDENT OBAMA	If we don't have the best education system in the world, if we don't continue to put money into research and technology that will allow us to — to create great businesses here in the United States, that's how we lose the competition.	0
823	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And unfortunately, Governor Romney's budget and his proposals would not allow us to make those investments.	0
824	MR. SCHIEFFER	All right.	0
825	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor.	0
826	MR. ROMNEY	Well, first of all, it's not government that makes business successful.	0
827	MR. ROMNEY	It's not government investments that make businesses grow and hire people.	0
828	MR. ROMNEY	Let me also note that the greatest threat that the world faces, the greatest national security threat, is a nuclear Iran.	0
829	MR. ROMNEY	Let's talk about China.	0
830	MR. ROMNEY	China has an interest that's very much like ours in one respect, and that is they want a stable world.	0
831	MR. ROMNEY	They don't want war.	0
832	MR. ROMNEY	They don't want to see protectionism.	0
833	MR. ROMNEY	They don't want to see the — the world break out into — into various forms of chaos, because they have to — they have to manufacture goods and put people to work.	0
834	MR. ROMNEY	And they have about 20,000 — 20 million, rather, people coming out of the farms every year, coming into the cities, needing jobs.	0
835	MR. ROMNEY	So they want the economy to work and the world to be free and open.	0
836	MR. ROMNEY	And so we can be a partner with China.	0
837	MR. ROMNEY	We don't have to be an adversary in any way, shape or form.	0
838	MR. ROMNEY	We can work with them.	0
839	MR. ROMNEY	We can collaborate with them if they're willing to be responsible.	0
840	MR. ROMNEY	Now, they look at us and say, is it a good idea to be with America?	0
841	MR. ROMNEY	How strong are we going to be?	0
842	MR. ROMNEY	How strong is our economy?	0
843	MR. ROMNEY	They look at the fact that we owe them a trillion dollars and owe other people 16 trillion (dollars) in total, including them.	0
844	MR. ROMNEY	They — they look at our — our decision to — to cut back on our military capabilities — a trillion dollars.	0
845	MR. ROMNEY	The secretary of defense called these trillion dollars of cuts to our military devastating.	0
846	MR. ROMNEY	It's not my term.	0
847	MR. ROMNEY	It's the president's own secretary of defense called them devastating.	0
848	MR. ROMNEY	They look at America's commitments around the world and they see what's happening and they say, well, OK, is America going to be strong?	0
849	MR. ROMNEY	And the answer is yes.	0
850	MR. ROMNEY	If I'm president, America will be very strong.	0
851	MR. ROMNEY	We'll also make sure that we have trade relations with China that work for us.	0
852	MR. ROMNEY	I've watched year in and year out as companies have shut down and people have lost their jobs because China has not played by the same rules, in part by holding down artificially the value of their currency.	0
853	MR. ROMNEY	It holds down the prices of their goods.	0
854	MR. ROMNEY	It means our goods aren't as competitive and we lose jobs.	0
855	MR. ROMNEY	That's got to end.	0
856	MR. ROMNEY	They're making some progress; they need to make more.	0
857	MR. ROMNEY	That's why on day one I will label them a currency manipulator which allows us to apply tariffs where they're taking jobs.	0
858	MR. ROMNEY	They're stealing our intellectual property, our patents, our designs, our technology, hacking into our computers, counterfeiting our goods.	0
859	MR. ROMNEY	They have to understand, we want to trade with them, we want a world that's stable, we like free enterprise, but you got to play by the rules.	0
860	MR. SCHIEFFER	Well, Governor, let me just ask you, if you declare them a currency manipulator on day one, some people are saying you're just going to start a trade war with China on day one.	0
861	MR. SCHIEFFER	Is that — isn't there a risk that that could happen?	0
862	MR. ROMNEY	Well, they sell us about this much stuff every year.	0
863	MR. ROMNEY	And we sell them about this much stuff every year.	0
864	MR. ROMNEY	So it's pretty clear who doesn't want a trade war.	0
865	MR. ROMNEY	And there's one going on right now that we don't know about.	0
866	MR. ROMNEY	It's a silent one and they're winning.	0
867	MR. ROMNEY	We have an enormous trade imbalance with China.	0
868	MR. ROMNEY	And it's worse this year than last year.	0
869	MR. ROMNEY	And it was worse last year than the year before.	0
870	MR. ROMNEY	And — and so we have to understand that we can't just surrender and — and lose jobs year in and year out.	0
871	MR. ROMNEY	We have to say to our friends in China, look, you guys are playing aggressively, we understand it, but — but this can't keep on going.	0
872	MR. ROMNEY	You can't keep on holding down the value of your currency, stealing our intellectual property, counterfeiting our products, selling them around the world, even into the United States.	0
873	MR. ROMNEY	I was with one company that makes valves in — in process industries.	0
874	MR. ROMNEY	And they said, look, we were — we were having some valves coming in that — that were broken, and we had to repair them under warranty.	0
875	MR. ROMNEY	And we looked them up, and — and they had our serial number on them.	0
876	MR. ROMNEY	And then we noticed that — that there was more than one with that same serial number.	0
877	MR. ROMNEY	They were counterfeit products being made overseas with the same serial number as a U.S. company, the same packaging.	0
878	MR. ROMNEY	These were being sold into our market and around the world as if they were made by the U.S. competitor.	0
879	MR. ROMNEY	This can't go on.	0
880	MR. ROMNEY	I want a great relationship with China.	0
881	MR. ROMNEY	China can be our partner.	0
882	MR. ROMNEY	But — but that doesn't mean they can just roll all over us and steal our jobs on an unfair basis.	0
883	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, Governor Romney's right.	0
884	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You are familiar with jobs being shipped overseas, because you invested in companies that were shipping jobs overseas.	1
885	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And, you know, that's your right.	0
886	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I mean, that's how our free market works.	0
887	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But I've made a different bet on American workers.	0
888	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, if we had taken your advice, Governor Romney, about our auto industry, we'd be buying cars from China instead of selling cars to China.	0
889	PRESIDENT OBAMA	If we take your advice with respect to how we change our tax codes so that companies that are in profits overseas don't pay U.S. taxes compared to companies here that are paying taxes, now, that's estimated to create 800,000 jobs.	0
890	PRESIDENT OBAMA	The problem is they won't be here; they'll be in places like China.	0
891	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And if we're not making investments in education and basic research, which is not something that the private sector is doing at a sufficient pace right now and has never done, then we will lose the lead in things like clean energy technology.	0
892	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Now, with respect to what we've done with China already, U.S. exports have doubled, since I came into office, to China.	0
893	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And actually, currencies are at their most advantageous point for U.S. exporters since 1993.	0
894	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We absolutely have to make more progress, and that's why we're going to keep on pressing.	0
895	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And when it comes to our military and Chinese security, part of the reason that we were able to pivot to the Asia-Pacific region after having ended the war in Iraq and transitioning out of Afghanistan, is precisely because this is going to be a massive growth area in the future.	0
896	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we believe China can be a partner, but we're also sending a very clear signal that America is a Pacific power, that we are going to have a presence there.	0
897	PRESIDENT OBAMA	We are working with countries in the region to make sure, for example, that ships can pass through, that commerce continues.	0
898	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And we're organizing trade relations with countries other than China so that China starts feeling more pressure about meeting basic international standards.	0
899	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's the kind of leadership we've shown in the region.	0
900	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's the kind of leadership that we'll continue to show.	0
901	MR. ROMNEY	I just want to take one of those points.	0
902	MR. ROMNEY	Again, attacking me is not talking about an agenda for getting more trade and opening up more jobs in this country.	0
903	MR. ROMNEY	But the president mentioned the auto industry and that somehow I would be in favor of jobs being elsewhere.	0
904	MR. ROMNEY	Nothing could be further from the truth.	0
905	MR. ROMNEY	I'm a son of Detroit.	0
906	MR. ROMNEY	I was born in Detroit.	0
907	MR. ROMNEY	My dad was head of a car company.	0
908	MR. ROMNEY	I like American cars.	0
909	MR. ROMNEY	And I would do nothing to hurt the U.S. auto industry.	0
910	MR. ROMNEY	My plan to get the industry on its feet when it was in real trouble was not to start writing checks.	0
911	MR. ROMNEY	It was President Bush that wrote the first checks.	0
912	MR. ROMNEY	I disagree with that.	0
913	MR. ROMNEY	I said they need — these companies need to go through a managed bankruptcy, and in that process they can get government help and government guarantees, but they need to go through bankruptcy to get rid of excess cost and the debt burden that they'd — they'd built up.	0
914	MR. ROMNEY	And fortunately the president picked --	0
915	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor Romney, that's not what you said.	0
916	MR. ROMNEY	Fortunately, the president — you can take — you can take a look at the op-ed.	0
917	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor, you did not --	0
918	MR. ROMNEY	You can take a look at the op-ed.	0
919	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You did not say that you would provide, Governor, help.	0
920	MR. ROMNEY	You know, I'm — I'm still speaking.	0
921	MR. ROMNEY	I said that we would provide guarantees and — and that was what was able to allow these companies to go through bankruptcy, to come out of bankruptcy.	0
922	MR. ROMNEY	Under no circumstances would I do anything other than to help this industry get on its feet.	0
923	MR. ROMNEY	And the idea that has been suggested that I would liquidate the industry — of course not.	0
924	MR. ROMNEY	Of course not.	0
925	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Let's check the record.	0
926	MR. ROMNEY	That's the height of silliness.	0
927	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Let's — let's check the record.	0
928	MR. ROMNEY	I have never said I would — I would liquidate the industry.	0
929	MR. ROMNEY	I want to keep the industry growing and thriving.	0
930	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor, the people in Detroit don't forget.	0
931	MR. ROMNEY	And — and that's I have the kind of commitment to make sure that our industries in this country can compete and be successful.	0
932	MR. ROMNEY	We in this country can compete successfully with anyone in the world.	0
933	MR. ROMNEY	And we're going to.	0
934	MR. ROMNEY	We're going to have to have a president, however, that doesn't think that somehow the government investing in — in car companies like Tesla and — and Fisker, making electric battery cars — this is not research, Mr. President.	0
935	MR. ROMNEY	These are the government investing in companies, investing in Solyndra.	0
936	MR. ROMNEY	This is a company.	0
937	MR. ROMNEY	This isn't basic research.	0
938	MR. ROMNEY	I — I want to invest in research.	0
939	MR. ROMNEY	Research is great.	0
940	MR. ROMNEY	Providing funding to universities and think tanks — great.	0
941	MR. ROMNEY	But investing in companies?	0
942	MR. ROMNEY	Absolutely not.	0
943	MR. ROMNEY	That's the wrong way to go.	0
944	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor, the fact of the matter is --	0
945	MR. ROMNEY	I'm still speaking.	0
946	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well — (chuckles) --	0
947	MR. ROMNEY	So I want to make sure that we make — we make America more competitive --	0
948	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Yeah.	0
949	MR. ROMNEY	— and that we do those things that make America the most attractive place in the world for entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses to grow.	0
950	MR. ROMNEY	But your investing in companies doesn't do that.	0
951	MR. ROMNEY	In fact it makes it less likely for them to come here --	0
952	PRESIDENT OBAMA	All right, Governor --	0
953	MR. ROMNEY	— because the private sector's not going to invest in a — in a — in a solar company if --	0
954	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I'm happy — I'm — I'm — I'm happy to respond --	0
955	MR. ROMNEY	— if you're investing government money and someone else's.	0
956	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You've held the floor for a while.	0
957	PRESIDENT OBAMA	The — look, I think anybody out there can check the record.	0
958	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Governor Romney, you keep on trying to, you know, airbrush history here.	0
959	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You were very clear that you would not provide government assistance to the U.S. auto companies even if they went through bankruptcy.	1
960	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You said that they could get it in the private marketplace.	0
961	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That wasn't true.	0
962	PRESIDENT OBAMA	They would have gone through a --	0
963	MR. ROMNEY	You're wrong.	0
964	MR. ROMNEY	You're wrong, Mr. President.	0
965	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I — no, I am not wrong.	0
966	MR. ROMNEY	You're wrong.	0
967	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I am not wrong.	0
968	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And --	0
969	MR. ROMNEY	People can look it up.	0
970	MR. ROMNEY	You're right.	0
971	PRESIDENT OBAMA	People will look it up.	0
972	MR. ROMNEY	Good.	0
973	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But more importantly, it is true that in order for us to be competitive, we're going to have to make some smart choices right now.	0
974	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Cutting our education budget — that's not a smart choice.	0
975	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That will not help us compete with China.	0
976	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Cutting our investments in research and technology — that's not a smart choice.	0
977	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That will not help us compete with China.	0
978	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Bringing down (sic) our deficit by adding $7 trillion of tax cuts and military spending that our military's not asking for before we even get to the debt that we currently have — that is not going to make us more competitive.	0
979	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Those are the kinds of choices that the American people face right now.	0
980	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Having a tax code that rewards companies that are shipping jobs overseas instead of companies that are investing here in the United States — that will not make us more competitive.	0
981	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And — and the one thing that I'm absolutely clear about is that after a decade in which we saw drift, jobs being shipped overseas, nobody championing American workers and American businesses, we've now begun to make some real progress.	0
982	PRESIDENT OBAMA	What we can't do is go back to the same policies that got us into such difficulty in the first place.	0
983	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And that's why we have to move forward and not go back.	0
984	MR. ROMNEY	I couldn't agree more about going forward, but I certainly don't want to go back to the policies of the last four years.	0
985	MR. ROMNEY	The policies of the last four years have seen incomes in America decline every year for middle-income families, now down $4,300 during your term, 23 million Americans still struggling to find a good job.	1
986	MR. ROMNEY	When you came into office, 32 million people on food stamps — today 47 million people on food stamps.	0
987	MR. ROMNEY	When you came to office, just over $10 trillion in debt — now $16 trillion in debt.	0
988	MR. ROMNEY	It hasn't worked.	0
989	MR. ROMNEY	You said by now we'd be at 5.4 percent unemployment.	0
990	MR. ROMNEY	We're 9 million jobs short of that.	0
991	MR. ROMNEY	I've met some of those people.	0
992	MR. ROMNEY	I've met them in Appleton, Wisconsin.	0
993	MR. ROMNEY	I — I met a young woman in — in — in Philadelphia who's coming out of — out of college, can't find work.	0
994	MR. ROMNEY	I've been — Ann was with someone just the other day that was just weeping about not being able to get work.	0
995	MR. ROMNEY	It's just a tragedy in a nation so prosperous as ours that these last four years have been so hard.	0
996	MR. ROMNEY	And that — and that's why it's so critical that we make America once again the most attractive place in the world to start businesses, to build jobs, to grow the economy.	0
997	MR. ROMNEY	And that's not going to happen by — by just hiring teachers.	0
998	MR. ROMNEY	Look, I — I love to — I love teachers, and I'm happy to have states and communities that want to hire teachers, do that.	0
999	MR. ROMNEY	I — by the way, I don't like to have the federal government start pushing its way deeper and deeper into — into our schools.	0
1000	MR. ROMNEY	Let the states and localities do that.	0
1001	MR. ROMNEY	I was a governor.	0
1002	MR. ROMNEY	The federal government didn't hire our teachers.	0
1003	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor --	0
1004	MR. ROMNEY	But I love teachers.	0
1005	MR. ROMNEY	But I want to get our private sector growing, and I know how to do it.	0
1006	MR. SCHIEFFER	I think we all love teachers.	0
1007	SYSTEM	(Laughter.)	0
1008	MR. SCHIEFFER	Gentlemen, thank you so much for a very vigorous debate.	0
1009	MR. SCHIEFFER	We have come to the end.	0
1010	MR. SCHIEFFER	It is time for closing statements.	0
1011	MR. SCHIEFFER	I believe you're first, Mr. President.	0
1012	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Well, thank you very much Bob, Governor Romney, and to Lynn University.	0
1013	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, you've now heard three debates, months of campaigning and way too many TV commercials.	0
1014	SYSTEM	(Laughter.)	0
1015	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And now you've got a choice.	0
1016	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, over the last four years, we've made real progress digging our way out of policies that gave us two prolonged wars, record deficits and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.	0
1017	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And Governor Romney wants to take us back to those policies: a foreign policy that's wrong and reckless; economic policies that won't create jobs, won't reduce our deficit, but will make sure that folks at the very top don't have to play by the same rules that you do.	0
1018	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And I've got a different vision for America.	0
1019	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I want to build on our strengths.	0
1020	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And I put forward a plan to make sure that we're bringing manufacturing jobs back to our shores by rewarding companies and small businesses that are investing here not overseas.	0
1021	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I want to make sure we've got the best education system in the world and we're retraining our workers for the jobs of tomorrow.	0
1022	PRESIDENT OBAMA	I want to control our own energy by developing oil and natural gas, but also the energy sources of the future.	0
1023	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Yes, I want to reduce our deficit by cutting spending that we don't need, but also by asking the wealthy to do a little bit more so that we can invest in things like research and technology that are the key to a 21st century economy.	0
1024	PRESIDENT OBAMA	As commander in chief, I will maintain the strongest military in the world, keep faith with our troops and go after those who would do us harm.	0
1025	PRESIDENT OBAMA	But after a decade of war, I think we all recognize we got to do some nation building here at home, rebuilding our roads, our bridges and especially caring for our veterans who've sacrificed so much for our freedom.	0
1026	PRESIDENT OBAMA	You know, we've been through tough times, but we always bounce back because of our character, because we pull together.	0
1027	PRESIDENT OBAMA	And if I have the privilege of being your president for another four years, I promise you I will always listen to your voices, I will fight for your families and I will work every single day to make sure that America continues to be the greatest nation on earth.	0
1028	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Thank you.	0
1029	MR. SCHIEFFER	Governor.	0
1030	MR. ROMNEY	Thank you, Bob, Mr. President, folks at Lynn University — good to be with you.	0
1031	MR. ROMNEY	I'm optimistic about the future.	0
1032	MR. ROMNEY	I'm excited about our prospects as a nation.	0
1033	MR. ROMNEY	I want to see peace.	0
1034	MR. ROMNEY	I want to see growing peace in this country, it's our objective.	0
1035	MR. ROMNEY	We have an opportunity to have real leadership.	0
1036	MR. ROMNEY	America's going to have that kind of leadership and continue to promote principles of peace that'll make a world the safer place and make people in this country more confident that their future is secure.	0
1037	MR. ROMNEY	I also want to make sure that we get this economy going.	0
1038	MR. ROMNEY	And there are two very different paths the country can take.	0
1039	MR. ROMNEY	One is a path represented by the president, which, at the end of four years, would mean we'd have $20 trillion in debt, heading towards Greece.	0
1040	MR. ROMNEY	I'll get us on track to a balanced budget.	0
1041	MR. ROMNEY	The president's path will mean continuing declining in take-home pay.	0
1042	MR. ROMNEY	I want to make sure our take-home pay turns around and starts to grow.	0
1043	MR. ROMNEY	The president's path means 20 million people out of work struggling for a good job.	0
1044	MR. ROMNEY	I'll get people back to work with 12 million new jobs.	0
1045	MR. ROMNEY	I'm going to make sure that we get people off of food stamps not by cutting the program but by getting them good jobs.	0
1046	MR. ROMNEY	America's going to come back.	0
1047	MR. ROMNEY	And for that to happen, we're going to have to have a president who can work across the aisle.	0
1048	MR. ROMNEY	I was in a state where my legislature was 87 percent Democrat.	0
1049	MR. ROMNEY	I learned how to get along on the other side of the aisle.	0
1050	MR. ROMNEY	We've got to do that in Washington.	0
1051	MR. ROMNEY	Washington is broken.	0
1052	MR. ROMNEY	I know what it takes to get this country back.	0
1053	MR. ROMNEY	And we'll work with good Democrats and good Republicans to do that.	0
1054	MR. ROMNEY	This nation is the hope of the earth.	0
1055	MR. ROMNEY	We've been blessed by having a nation that's free and prosperous thanks to the contributions of the Greatest Generation.	0
1056	MR. ROMNEY	They've held a torch for the world to see, the torch of freedom and hope and opportunity.	0
1057	MR. ROMNEY	Now it's our turn to take that torch.	0
1058	MR. ROMNEY	I'm convinced we'll do it.	0
1059	MR. ROMNEY	We need strong leadership.	0
1060	MR. ROMNEY	I'd like to be that leader, with your support.	0
1061	MR. ROMNEY	I'll work with you.	0
1062	MR. ROMNEY	I'll lead you in an open and honest way.	0
1063	MR. ROMNEY	And I ask for your vote.	0
1064	MR. ROMNEY	I'd like to be the next president of the United States to support and help this great nation, and to make sure that we all together maintain America as the hope of the earth.	0
1065	MR. ROMNEY	Thank you so much.	0
1066	MR. SCHIEFFER	Gentlemen, thank you both so much.	0
1067	MR. SCHIEFFER	That brings an end to this year's debates.	0
1068	MR. SCHIEFFER	And we want to thank Lynn University and its students for having us.	0
1069	MR. SCHIEFFER	As I always do at the end of these debates, I leave you with the words of my mom who said, go vote.	0
1070	MR. SCHIEFFER	It makes you feel big and strong.	0
1071	PRESIDENT OBAMA	That's great.	0
1072	MR. SCHIEFFER	Good night.	0
1073	PRESIDENT OBAMA	Thank you.	0
1074	SYSTEM	(Inaudible.)	0