Ron Paul Wins Republican Leadership Conference Straw Poll in New Orleans

Ron Paul Wins Republican Leadership Conference Straw Poll in New Orleans.

If the primary election for president were held today, for whom would you vote? Please check the box by the candidate of your choice.

Bachmann 191 Cain 104 Gingrich 69 Huntsman 382 Johnson 10 McCotter 2 Palin 41 Paul 612 Pawlenty 18 Roemer 9 Romney 74 Santorum 30

TEXT CREDIT: RLC 2011 12232 Industriplex Blvd., Ste. 1 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809 p: (225) 300-4891 f: (225) 612-7099 info@rlc2011.com

VIDEO CREDIT: CongressmanRonPaul

John Hoeven Weekly Republican Address TEXT VIDEO 06/18/11

John Hoeven Weekly Republican Address TEXT VIDEO 06/18/11

U.S. Senator John Hoeven Delivers Weekly Republican Address
‘Free and fair trade agreements can help us create the kind of pro-jobs, pro-growth economy that will lift our nation up… Robust international trade can help us do it, and we can start by ratifying long-pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.’

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) released the following weekly Republican address.

Full text transcript of Senator Hoeven’s Address:

“Hi, I’m Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, and I’d like to talk to you today about our nation’s fiscal challenges – in particular, about the vital role that international trade can play to help us create jobs and reduce our deficit.

“Almost exactly one hundred years ago, at the start of another century, President Theodore Roosevelt launched a U.S. Navy mission known as the Great White Fleet on a voyage around the world.

“It was a show of American strength, but it was also a show of American goodwill and prosperity. That voyage would open the doors of trade with the vast, untapped markets of Asia, and help usher in what became known as the ‘American Century’.

“President Roosevelt’s leadership put the world on notice that the United States of America – with the freest, most dynamic economy the world had ever seen – was open for business.

“It’s a legacy felt to this day - but a legacy now in jeopardy.

“We’re all keenly aware of just how serious our nation’s current fiscal situation is. No American family could spend 60 percent more than it’s taking in and survive – no less prosper – but that’s exactly what our country is doing.

“The result is a $1.5 trillion deficit, and a $14 trillion debt that is dragging down our economy and burdening us and our children.

“To put all that in human terms, nearly 14 million of our fellow Americans are without a paycheck, and they have been for some time.

“To turn that around, our country needs the kind of pro-jobs, pro-growth policies that will help us live up to our vision of a strong, peaceful, prosperous America.

“We have an opportunity right now to advance that vision and jumpstart the nation’s economy. Robust international trade can help us do it, and we can start by ratifying long-pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.

“All of these agreements have been languishing for years, but with a 9.1 percent unemployment rate, and a spiraling deficit, the President can no longer hold these agreements back. Currently, he is holding them up in order to negotiate the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. TAA can be addressed separately in the context of Trade Promotion Authority, as it generally has been in the past since 1974.

“For the good of our economy – and our country – he needs to send these free agreements to the U.S. Senate for approval now, so that U.S. workers and businesses can begin to realize their benefits.

“You know, I recently had an opportunity to travel to South Korea with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and a group of senators to meet with President Lee Myung-bak and prominent Korean business leaders about the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.

“President Lee said he believes Korean lawmakers will approve the free trade agreement, but they’re waiting for America to lead the way.

“They want and expect us to lead the way because – to South Korea and nations around the world – America has always been a beacon of liberty and opportunity.

“Nearly everyone we spoke with in Korea – on the street or the meeting room – expressed their deep appreciation to the United States, and especially to our military and our veterans.

“They’re keenly aware that U.S. service members sacrificed so much to give them a free society and a free-market economy where they could pursue their dreams.

“South Korea is now a prosperous, modern nation, with a $1 trillion economy, and 49 million consumers, in large part because American service members won and now help preserve the peace. Korea is the 15th largest economy in the world, and our country’s 7th largest trading partner.

“Per capita income in South Korea today is more than $20,000 annually. In communist North Korea? Just over $1,000 annually. A free and open economy made the difference.

“Today, again, America needs to lead the way, starting with the President.

“The U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement will eliminate or reduce more than 85 percent of the tariffs between the United States and Korea, including the eventual elimination of a 40 percent Korean tariff on American beef.

“Just one project we’ve been working on in my home state, a new beef processing facility, could mean a $100 million investment in our economy and 500 new jobs. In North Dakota that’s a big deal.

“But these free trade agreements are an even bigger deal for America. The South Korean Free Trade Agreement alone will increase our nation’s exports to that country by more than $10 billion and create 280,000 American jobs. In fact, for every 4 percent increase in American exports, we can create one million new American jobs.

“The reality is that nearly 80 percent of the world’s purchasing power lies outside the United States, and if we don’t tap those markets, others will.

“Free and fair trade agreements can help us create the kind of pro-jobs, pro-growth economy that will lift our nation up. Good fiscal control and a legal tax, and regulatory environment that promotes private investment and business innovation, can help us to create jobs, grow our economy, and reduce our deficit.

“We need to build on the legacy of President Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet by ratifying these free trade agreements, so that instead of a debt, we can leave our children a bright, dynamic future.

“Thank you, and God bless.

TEXT CREDIT: United States Senator John Hoeven Washington, DC 120 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington DC, 20510 Phone: 202-224-2551 Fax: 202-224-7999

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: gopweeklyaddress

Jim DeMint Unionization Through Regulation: The NLRB’s Holding Pattern on Free Enterprise” VIDEO

DeMint Submits Statement for NLRB Hearing in South Carolina

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) submitted the following statement for the record for a hearing about the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Charleston, S.C. held by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Statement for the Record

Hearing on “Unionization Through Regulation: The NLRB’s Holding Pattern on Free Enterprise”
June 17, 2011

Thank you Mr. Chairman for holding this hearing today in Charleston. The NLRB’s unprecedented action against The Boeing Company is not only vitally important to South Carolina, but to businesses and workers in every state across America.

As an arm of the federal government, the NLRB has an obligation to not only protect union workers, but non-union workers as well. Americans must have the ability to choose whether to join a union or not join a union as a condition of employment. 22 states given employees that choice and the federal government must respect that. Companies also deserve the right to build and expand their businesses where they will have the best chance of economic success. Otherwise, there can be no such thing as free enterprise in this country.

This is why it is so shocking that the NLRB is pursuing a complaint against The Boeing Company for its decision to expand to South Carolina to build Dreamliner airplanes, a move that could create up to 3,800 new jobs in Charleston and allow them to export more of their high-quality American product.

Boeing is an American company creating American jobs. The government has no business dictating where it can build, or who it should employ. If the NLRB continues down this course, thriving American companies will have no choice but to go overseas, depriving Americans of future job opportunities. The government cannot be for jobs if it is actively working against job creators.

Boeing’s expansion should be celebrated, not the subject of a federal complaint. These new jobs in Charleston do not come at the expense of those at the first Dreamliner plant in Everett, Washington. In fact, the Everett factory has added more than 2,000 jobs since Boeing announced it would build the Charleston plant. But, because South Carolina is a right to work state, which does not force employees to join a union as a condition of employment, and Washington is a forced unionism state, which does, the NLRB is turning a commonsense business decision into a federal matter.

Acting on behalf of the International Machinists Union and Aerospace Workers, the NLRB’s General Counsel has made the baffling determination that what Boeing did is “illegal.” In reaching this conclusion, the taxpayer-funded NLRB spent a significant amount of time listening to the complaints of union members who have not lost their jobs and are not at risk of losing their jobs. The NLRB has not given that same consideration to non-union workers in Charleston, who will lose their jobs if the NLRB is successful.

Three of Charleston’s Boeing workers filed a request to participate in the lawsuit to make their concerns about job security heard. The NLRB lawyers denied their request, saying “their unnecessary participation…would merely delay and complicate these already complex proceedings.”

This denial stands in clear contrast of the NLRB’s mission to protect employees’ rights to act together, with or without a union, to improve working terms and conditions.

The federal government cannot treat non-union jobs as if they are less important than union jobs. All employees must have equal rights under the law and afforded the same protections by their government. The NLRB is not maintaining that balance.

I thank the U.S. House for taking its oversight duties seriously by holding this hearing to discuss the NLRB’s case against Boeing. Congress must have a role in making sure the NLRB is staying true to its mission.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Senate has not been given the opportunity to exercise its constitutional duty of “advice and consent” when it comes to political appointments made to the NLRB.

The NLRB’s Acting General Counsel, Lafe Solomon, was appointed to serve a full four-year term on January 2011. The Senate still has not been able to vet him. Mr. Solomon has not appeared for a Senate confirmation hearing, nor has he been subjected to a full Senate confirmation vote.

Craig Becker, a former lawyer for the Service Employees International Union and AFL-CIO, was given a recess appointment to become one of the five members of the NLRB’s powerful board over widespread, bipartisan objections in the Senate to his nomination. In fact, the Senate rejected his nomination in February 2010. Yet, a month later, he was recess appointed by the President.

Today’s hearing is necessary. I thank the Chairman again for his diligence and attention to this matter and hope the witnesses provide the public with more clarity about where the NLRB’s priorities lie and whether that is in the best interest of America’s workforce, union and non-union alike.

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: SenJimDeMint

TEXT CREDIT: United States Senator Jim DeMint 167 Russell United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-6121 Fax: 202-228-5143 Office Hours: 9am - 6pm (M-F)

John Boehner marking anniversary of Obama’s ‘Recovery Summer,’ urges the president to enact Republicans' A Plan for America’s Job Creators VIDEO

John Boehner marking anniversary of Obama’s ‘Recovery Summer,’ urges the president to enact Republicans' A Plan for America’s Job Creators

Washington (Jun 16) At a press conference marking tomorrow’s anniversary of the Obama Administration’s ‘Recovery Summer,’ House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and other House Republicans urged the president to change course and help enact Republicans’ job creation plan. A Plan for America’s Job Creators is designed to remove government obstacles to private-sector job growth – the kind of growth the ‘stimulus’ promised but failed to deliver. Below is the video and text of Boehner’s remarks:

“Job creation has been our focus of our new majority from the beginning. It started with the Pledge to America, and now we’ve built on that pledge with our Plan for America’s Job Creators. You can check out all the details at Jobs.GOP.gov. Our plan is designed to promote private-sector growth – the kind of growth that the ‘stimulus’ promised but failed to deliver. In fact, it turns out that federal regulators have been hiring at a rate more than three times that of private sector employers. So taxpayers are footing the bill for more bureaucrats while small businesses are afraid to hire. Washington Democrats say they own the economy. This is what their economy looks like.

“We invited the president to work with us on jobs, but instead he downplayed 9.1 percent unemployment as ‘bumps on the road’ and laughed off the ‘stimulus’ failure. Now here we are on the anniversary of his administration’s ‘Recovery Summer’ that started a year ago and Americans are still asking the question, ‘where are the jobs?’ The American people deserve answers, but when it comes this Administration it’s clear they don’t have any.

“You’ve heard me say before, it’s time to get serious. I hope the president will change course, listen to the American people and work with us to help enact real job creation ideas.”

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: JohnBoehner

TEXT CREDIT: Speaker of the House John Boehner Contact: H-232 The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 P (202) 225-0600 F (202) 225-5117

John Hoeven will deliver the national Republican weekly address on Saturday, June 18

Hoeven to Deliver National Republican Weekly Radio Address Saturday. Will Stress Need to Ratify Pending Free Trade Agreements to Create Jobs, Grow Economy WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven will deliver the national Republican weekly radio address on Saturday, June 18. He will discuss the importance of three pending free-trade agreements and the need for the President to send them promptly to the U.S. Senate for approval. “Our country needs the kind of pro-jobs, pro-growth policies that will help us live up to our vision of a strong, peaceful, prosperous America,” Hoeven said. “We have an opportunity right now to advance that vision and jumpstart the nation’s economy. Robust international trade can help us do it, and we can start by ratifying long-pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.”

Hoeven serves on the U.S. Senate Appropriations, Energy and Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Indian Affairs committees.

A copy of Senator Hoeven’s address and links to audio and video will be available Friday afternoon, embargoed until 6 a.m. Saturday morning.

TEXT CREDIT: United States Senator John Hoeven Washington, DC 120 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington DC, 20510 Phone: 202-224-2551 Fax: 202-224-7999

IMAGE CREDIT: By US Senate ([1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This United States Congress image is in the public domain. This may be because it is an official Congressional portrait, because it was taken by an official employee of the Congress, or because it has been released into the public domain and posted on the official websites of a member of Congress. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

Mitch McConnell Send Them to Guantanamo VIDEO

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday in a Senate floor speech that the two foreign fighters held by law enforcement in Kentucky who admitted to conducting attacks against U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq should be sent to the secure detention facility at Guantanamo Bay rather than being tried in a federal courtroom in Kentucky:

“Since the attacks on 9/11 and the very beginning of the War on Terror in 2001, most Americans have understood that we could no longer passively wait for the next enemy attack.

“In order to defeat, dismantle, and disrupt Al Qaeda, our intelligence, military and law enforcement officials would have to work together to defeat terrorist cells whether they’re in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan or here in our own backyards.

“And if some had begun to think, after the killing of Osama bin Laden, that we could now sit back and relax a little, the recent arrest in Kentucky of two foreign fighters who have openly admitted to conducting attacks against U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq shows how mistaken a notion this is.

“The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency stated in an open hearing on Capitol Hill last week that about 1,000 members of Al Qaeda in Iraq continue to fight us in Iraq. And now we know that at least two of them have left the battlefield there to live right here in the United States.

“The case of Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi shows us that terrorists continue to pose an imminent threat. And we owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who made sure they couldn’t inflict more harm on Americans here or abroad once they arrived here.

“Anyone who has read about the investigation into their activities can only be impressed with the courage, skill, and professionalism of those who were involved in this effort. And specifically, I want to thank the men and women from the FBI’s Louisville Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky, the Louisville Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Everyone involved clearly did their jobs and did them well.

“That said, I think it’s safe to say that a lot of Kentuckians, including me, would like to know why two men who either killed or plotted to kill U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq aren’t sitting in a jail cell in Guantanamo right now. When it comes to enemy combatants, our top priority — as I have said repeatedly — should be to capture, detain, and interrogate. That wasn’t done here.

“These men are foreign fighters — unlawful enemy combatants who should be treated as such.

“Alwan is on tape admitting to have procured explosives and missiles in Iraq and to using them daily to conduct strikes. He said he had personally used Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, hundreds of times over a period of several years. He’s talked about using them against U.S. troops and the damage he’s done to U.S. military vehicles, like Humvees. He told undercover agents he was, `very good with a sniper rifle,’ and, in a reference to attacks on U.S. troops, he said his `lunch and dinner would be an American.’

“He admits that he `collected everything — TNT, electronic detonators, tank explosive detonators, IED detonators, mortar shells, and rocket propelled grenades.’ He also said that he `often placed IEDs after curfew, and that it was this activity that led to his being asked to formally join the Mujahidin’ He even tried to demonstrate his expertise as a foreign fighter by `drawing diagrams of four types of IEDs, explaining how to build them, and discussing various occasions in which he used these devices against U.S. troops in Iraq.’ In describing one particular type of IED, Alwan said, `that anything lethal could be stuffed in it, such as ball bearings, nails, gravel, and whatever item that kills.’ Alwan’s fingerprints have also allegedly been found on IED’s in Iraq in an area where he’s known to have lived.

“Once Alwan made his way to the U.S., he’s alleged to have recruited Hammadi to continue his fight against Americans in Iraq by burrowing himself in a community where he thought he would go undetected. Like Alwan, Hammadi was an experienced insurgent fighter in Iraq. He too had participated in IED attacks and was part of an insurgent group that had 11 surface-to-air missiles.

“Together, these two men organized shipments of money and weapons, including rocket grenade launchers, Stinger missiles, and C4 explosives that they thought they were sending back to the war zone in Iraq.

“Anyone who has taken up arms against U.S. forces in the field of battle is an enemy combatant pure and simple, and should be treated like one. They should be hunted and captured, detained and interrogated, and tried away from civilian populations according to the laws of war.

“Unfortunately, since the earliest days of this administration when the President signed a series of executive orders which directed the closing of the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and limited the ability of the military and intelligence community to detain and interrogate prisoners, a higher priority has been placed upon prosecution than on executing the War on Terror.

“But I can say with certainty that Kentuckians don’t want foreign fighters who’ve bragged about killing and maiming U.S. soldiers in a combat theater treated like common criminals in their own backyards.

“They don’t want foreign fighters to be afforded all the legal rights and privileges of U.S. citizens.

“They don’t want foreign fighters to have their interrogations curtailed. And they don’t want their fellow citizens subjected to the risk of reprisal that is associated with these kinds of cases — reprisals against civilian judges, jurors, and the broader community in which civilian trials are held. That was one of the many reasons that residents and lawmakers in New York City rebelled against the administration’s equally foolhardy plan to try Khaleid Sheikh Mohammed in a courtroom in New York.

“And that’s to say nothing of the security costs and the disruption that civilian trials for terrorists create.

“We have first-hand experience of this from the 2006 murder trial of Zacarious Moussaoui in Alexandria, Virginia.

“Despite all this, however, the administration seems fixated on the idea that once we’ve caught terrorists, the goal isn’t to get as much intelligence out of them as quickly as possible to prevent further attacks on soldiers and citizens, but to prove that we can treat them the same way we treat everybody else.

“Well, my response is that maybe we can.

“But why in the world would we want to?

“The administration likes to tout its confidence in the U.S. legal system. Well, I don’t believe the American people need to try enemy combatants in our towns and cities to prove that our court system works.

“Prosecution is important. But let’s be clear: prosecution is not our ultimate goal in this war.

“Our goal is to capture or kill those who want to kill us here and abroad and who are plotting even now — as this case clearly proves — to wreak havoc on our troops overseas. This is very simple: those we capture should be interrogated and, if necessary, indefinitely detained and tried in a military setting. Through these interrogations additional intelligence can be derived that leads to additional targets thereby weakening Al Qaeda and other associated terror groups at a moment when they are vulnerable.

“The good news is, we already have the perfect solution for a case like this. These men don’t belong in a courtroom in Kentucky. They belong at the secure detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, far away from U.S. civilians.

“Sending them to Gitmo is the only way to ensure that they will not enjoy all the rights and privileges of U.S. citizens.

“Sending them to Gitmo is the only way we can be certain there won’t be retaliatory attacks in Kentucky.

“Sending them to Gitmo is the only way we can prevent Kentuckians from having to cover the cost and having to deal with the disturbances and disruptions that would come with a civilian trial.

“And sending them to Gitmo is the best way to ensure that they get what they deserve.

“So today I’m calling on the administration to change course — and get these men out of Kentucky.

“Send them to Guantanamo where they belong.

“Get these terrorists out of the civilian system — and out of our backyards.

“And give them the justice they deserve.”

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: RepublicanLeader

TEXT CREDIT: U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell: 317 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499

Andrew Cuomo submits bill to bring marriage equality to New York state Marriage Equality Act FULL TEXT PDF VIDEO

Published on Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (http://www.governor.ny.gov)

Home > Printer-friendly. Governor Cuomo Proposes Marriage Equality Act [1], [1]

Albany, NY (June 14, 2011) Marriage Equality Act FULL TEXT in PDF FORMAT

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today submitted a program bill to bring marriage equality to New York state. The Marriage Equality Act permits all couples to enter into marriage in New York state, thereby removing the current barrier same-sex couples face in recognizing their relationships, protecting their families and obtaining essential benefits.

Specifically, the Act grants same-sex couples who seek to marry equal status under the law as well as hundreds of rights, benefits and protections that are currently limited to married couples of the opposite sex.

"From the fight for women's suffrage to the struggle for civil rights, New Yorkers have been on the right side of history. But on the issue of marriage equality, our state has fallen behind," Governor Cuomo said. "For too long, same-sex couples have been denied the freedom to marry, as well as hundreds of rights that other New Yorkers take for granted. Marriage Equality is a matter of fairness and legal security for thousands of families in this state – not of religion or culture. When it comes to fighting for what's right, New Yorkers wrote the book, and Marriage Equality is the next chapter of our civil rights story."

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the freedom to marry is "one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free people." Further, the state assigns hundreds of protections, benefits and mutual responsibilities in a variety of areas to couples who marry, including health care and hospital visitation rights, child custody issues and financial matters.

However, in New York, many individuals who currently seek to exercise the freedom to marry their partners may not do so solely because they are of the same sex.

The Marriage Equality Act would remove these barriers by amending New York's Domestic Relations Law to state:

------------------------------------------------------------

2 Republicans have announced support for the bill:

On Monday, Senator James S. Alesi of Monroe County became the first Republican senator to declare support for the bill,

Senator Alesi explains support for same-sex marriage: Sen. James Alesi, R-Perinton, said he would support the legalization of same-sex marriage if it comes to the Senate floor. Video by Joe Spector

On Tuesday a second Republican state senator Roy J. McDonald came forward to support the measure, Will NYS Senate pass gay marriage bill?

Republican senators who had previously voted against same-sex marriage are now undecided, including Mark Grisanti of Buffalo, Stephen M. Saland of the Hudson Valley and Andrew J. Lanza from Staten Island.

VIDEO and TEXT CREDIT:

• Sen. James Alesi backs same-sex marriage in final week of session | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com
• Roy J. McDonald Will NYS Senate pass gay marriage bill?

TEXT RESOURCES:

• Marriage Equality Act bill memo FULL TEXT in PDF FORMAT
• Marriage Equality Act FULL TEXT in PDF FORMAT
• Governor Cuomo Proposes Marriage Equality Act
• 2d G.O.P. Senator Backs Gay Marriage in New York - NYTimes.com:

Jon Stewart The Daily Show shows love for Sarah Palin VIDEO

Jon Stewart The Daily Show shows love for Sarah Palin VIDEO

Pmail: News outlets provide full team coverage of the arbitrary release date of Sarah Palin's non-urgent e-mails. (06:27)

Tags: Sarah Palin, Alaska, Republicans, mail/e-mail, 24-hour news, media, potty humor, candidates, elections, Indecision, Indecision 2012.

TEXT and VIDEO CREDIT: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Republican presidential debate New Hampshire 06/13/11 FULL VIDEO TEXT TRANSCRIPT

UPDATE: 10/12/11

Republican GOP Debate Hanover, New Hampshire 10/11/11 FULL VIDEO

GOP presidential candidates debated the issues in New Hampshire 06/13/11 at 8:00 pm ET. Republican presidential debate FULL VIDEO.

Republican presidential candidates debated the issues on the campus of Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Republican presidential primary contenders faced off Monday, June 13 in the first New Hampshire debate of the season presented by CNN, Hearst Television’s WMUR, and the New Hampshire Union Leader, voters had opportunities to question the candidates in person and online.

The debate featured questions from New Hampshire voters inside the debate hall and from town hall locations in Hancock, Plymouth, and Rochester, New Hampshire. In addition, CNN solicited comments from its users on CNN.com as well as questions via Facebook and Twitter.

The following Republican candidates participated in the debate: Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

The debate, which will aired live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, was be moderated by CNN anchor and chief national correspondent John King, with questions from WMUR-TV’s Jean Mackin, Josh McElveen and Jennifer Vaughn and New Hampshire Union Leader’s John DiStaso and Tom Fahey.

Viewers watching on television and online were invited to comment or ask questions by posting comments to CNNPolitics.com, by logging on to John King, USA’s Facebook page and by using the #CNNdebate hashtag on Twitter. New Hampshire voters watching the debate at the Rochester town hall were hosted by CNN correspondent Tom Foreman and were equipped with handheld dial-testing devices to register their reactions during the debate.

Republican Debate Aired June 13, 2011 - 20:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, and the first Republican presidential debate in this first-in-the-nation primary state. Behind me on this stage, the Republican candidates for president appearing together on the same stage for the first time tonight.

And tonight's debate will be different than any presidential debate you've ever seen. Over the course of the next two hours, in addition to questions from myself and journalists from our partners, WMUR and the New Hampshire Union Leader, the candidates will take questions directly from voters right here in Manchester, as well as from voters at town meetings taking place tonight all across New Hampshire.

So let's get right to it and meet the candidates. Now, we've asked for no opening statements. However, we will continue a tradition from our past New Hampshire debates, to ask each candidate in one short sentence -- hopefully, five, maybe six or seven seconds -- to introduce themselves to the voters of New Hampshire and the United States of America.

Let me begin with an example. I'm John King with CNN. I am honored to be your moderator tonight, and I am thrilled to be back in Red Sox nation.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, let's start at the edge of the stage with Senator Rick Santorum.

FORMER SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Hello, New Hampshire. I'm Rick Santorum. I served 12 years representing Pennsylvania in the United States Senate, but I also have substantial executive experience making the tough decisions and balancing budgets and cutting spending. Karen and I are the parents of seven children.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: Congresswoman?

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: Hi, my name is Michelle Bachmann. I'm a former federal tax litigation attorney. I'm a businesswoman. We started our own successful company. I'm also a member of the United States Congress. I'm a wife of 33 years. I've had five children, and we are the proud foster parents of 23 great children. And it's a thrill to be here tonight in the "Live Free or Die" state. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: Mr. Speaker?

FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH: I'm Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House. And when 14 million Americans are out of work, we need a new president to end the Obama depression.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: Governor?

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), MASSACHUSETTS: I'm Mitt Romney, and it's an honor to be back at Saint Anselm. Hopefully I'll get it right this year. And appreciate the chance to be with you and to welcome my wife. And I have five sons, as you know, five daughters-in law, 16 grandkids. The most important thing in my life is to make sure their future is bright and that America is always known as the hope of the Earth. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: I am Congressman Ron Paul. I've been elected to the Congress 12 times from Texas. Before I went into the Congress, I delivered babies for a living and delivered 4,000 babies. Now I would like to be known and defend the title that I am the champion of liberty and I defend the Constitution. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: Governor?

FORMER GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: Good evening, I'm Tim Pawlenty. I'm a husband. My wife, Mary, and I have been married for 23 years. I'm the father of two beautiful daughters, Anna and Mara. I'm a neighbor. And I'm running for president of the United States because I love America, but like you, I'm concerned about its future. I've got the experience and the leadership and the results to lead it to a better place.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: Mr. Cain?

HERMAN CAIN, GODFATHER PIZZA CEO: Hello, I'm Herman Cain. I am not a politician. I am a problem-solver with over 40 years of business and executive experience, father of two, grandfather of three, and I'm here tonight because it's not about us. It's about those grandkids. Happy to be here in New Hampshire.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: All right.

Our thanks to the candidates. You'll get to know them better as the night goes on. Our rules are pretty straightforward. Each candidate will be given one minute to answer our leadoff questions. At my discretion, I may ask other candidates to weigh in on each topic. Now, candidates would get about 30 seconds to answer those follow-up questions. I say about 30 seconds, because we're on the honor system tonight, no bells, no whistles. You won't see any flashing lights up here.

If they're running over time, I'll try to gently remind them it's time to move on. And we're hoping some of the answers will be as short -- maybe a sentence, maybe even just one word. We can hope, right?

We've also asked the candidates to answer the questions that they're asked, rather than the question they might have wished to be asked.

That's enough -- uh-huh -- that's enough for me tonight. Let's get straight to the people of New Hampshire. Now, our first question comes from a voter up in Plymouth. Also there is the New Hampshire Union Leader's Tom Fahey. Tom?

(APPLAUSE)

JOHN FAHEY, NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER: Thank you, John.

I'm here with Mr. Marquez-Sterling. He is a retired professor from Plymouth State University, and he's got a question about jobs. FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT

TEXT IMAGE and VIDEO CREDIT: CNN Observations :: Home:

Michele Bachmann: I'm Running for President VIDEO

Michele Bachmann announces on June 13, 2011 that she is running for President of The United States of America.

Manchester, N.H. – Minnesota Congresswoman, and conservative leader, Michele Bachmann announced today she has filed the official paperwork to run for President of the United States. Rep. Bachmann made the announcement during the first major 2012 Republican Presidential Debate in New Hampshire at Saint Anselm College.

"Our country needs a leader who understands the hardships that people across America have been facing over the past few years, and who will do what it takes to renew the American dream. We must become a strong and proud America again, and I see clearly a better path to a brighter future," said Rep. Bachmann. "For these reasons, earlier this evening I instructed my team to file the necessary paperwork to allow me to seek the office of President of the United States."

The Bachmann for President campaign filed official candidacy paperwork Monday afternoon, and are gearing up for a campaign announcement tour in the coming weeks in Iowa. With the filing, Rep. Bachmann suspended her Congressional campaign and is no longer actively seeking re-election in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District.

TEXT CREDIT: facebook.com/teambachmann

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: teambachmann

Republican presidential debate New Hampshire 06/13/11 LIVE STREAMING VIDEO

UPDATE 10/11/11:

Live Video Stream: Republican GOP Debate in Hanover, New Hampshire, October 11, 2011

UPDATE 06/14/11: Republican presidential debate New Hampshire 06/13/11 FULL VIDEO

Saint Anselm students stand in on the debate stage

GOP presidential candidates debate the issues tonight 06/13/11 at 8:00 pm ET. Republican presidential debate LIVE STREAMING VIDEO. Republican presidential candidates debate the issues on the campus of Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Republican presidential primary contenders face-off Monday, June 13 in the first New Hampshire debate of the season presented by CNN, Hearst Television’s WMUR, and the New Hampshire Union Leader, voters will have opportunities to question the candidates in person and online.

The debate will feature questions from New Hampshire voters inside the debate hall and potentially from town hall locations in Hancock, Plymouth, and Rochester, New Hampshire. In addition, CNN will solicit comments from its users on CNN.com as well as questions via Facebook and Twitter.

The following Republican candidates will participate in the debate: Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

The debate, which will air live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, will be moderated by CNN anchor and chief national correspondent John King, with questions from WMUR-TV’s Jean Mackin, Josh McElveen and Jennifer Vaughn and New Hampshire Union Leader’s John DiStaso and Tom Fahey.

Viewers watching on television and online are invited to comment or ask questions by posting comments to CNNPolitics.com, by logging on to John King, USA’s Facebook page and by using the #CNNdebate hashtag on Twitter. New Hampshire voters watching the debate at the Rochester town hall will be hosted by CNN correspondent Tom Foreman and will be equipped with handheld dial-testing devices to register their reactions during the debate.

TEXT CREDIT: CNN Observations :: Home:

Mitt Romney Bump in the Road President Obama's failure to create jobs VIDEO

This video shows President Obama's failure to create jobs for millions of unemployed Americans and shows that the unemployed are not just economic statistics, but are real Americans looking to support themselves and their families.

VIDEO and TEXT CREDIT: mittromney

Steny Hoyer and. Paul Ryan Weiner should resign Face the Nation 06/12/11 VIDEO

Rep. Steny Hoyer and Rep. Paul Ryan spoke with Bob Schieffer on if they feel Rep. Anthony Weiner should resign after his inappropriate actions sending lewd photographs of himself over social networks.

© 2011, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. PLEASE CREDIT ANY QUOTES OR EXCERPTS FROM THIS CBS TELEVISION PROGRAM TO "CBS NEWS' FACE THE NATION."

TEXT IMAGE and VIDEO CREDIT: Hoyer: Weiner should consider resignation - CBS News Video

Rick Santorum Meet the Press 06/12/11 VIUEO TEXT

MR. GREGORY: We are back, continuing our Meet the Candidates series with Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum. Welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.

FMR. SEN. SANTORUM (R-PA): Thank you, David.

MR. GREGORY: Good to have you here. You announced just this week, in your home state of Pennsylvania, that you're running, and this was a portion of what you said in your announcement.

SEN. SANTORUM: Americans are not looking for someone that they can believe in. They're looking for a president who believes in them.

MR. GREGORY: As we know, elections are about choices. And I wonder exactly what you mean, talking about President Obama there. Do you believe that he does not believe in America? Does not believe in the American way?

SEN. SANTORUM: I think if you look at his policies, his policies are all oriented towards centralizing more power in Washington, D.C., taking freedom away from the American public, not believing that Americans-- for example, let's just look at Obamacare. He doesn't believe Americans can actually make decisions for themselves, that he has to tell you how much money you're going to, you're going to spend on health care; you're going to -- what plans that you're going to be qualified for. And I'm not talking about people who are poor, people who are seniors. I'm talking about working Americans. He's going to tell working Americans who are out there providing for themselves, paying for their health insurance, their employers are doing it. He's saying...

MR. GREGORY: And they're better off with the freedom that they've got in the vagaries of the private insurance market?

SEN. SANTORUM: Do we need to make some changes in the health insurance markets? Absolutely. But we need...

MR. GREGORY: But you'd repeal the president's healthcare plan totally.

SEN. SANTORUM: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.

MR. GREGORY: Even covering pre-existing conditions, which most Republicans agree with?

SEN. SANTORUM: My feeling is that we need a bottom-up system, not a top-down system. We need to believe in free people, we need to believe in markets. What's happening under, under President Obama, you're seeing, you're seeing it in his Obamacare, what he's done with Medicare. He put in this independent payment advisory board, 15-member board, that's going to go into place on -- right before the implementation of Obamacare in 2014, that's going to put, put price controls and controls on -- top-down controls on Medicare. We've never had that before. We've never had a independent board created by the government to put price controls on Medicare. You hear the Democrats saying we're going to push grandma off a cliff because of what Paul Ryan suggested on Medicare. Grandma's already headed down because Barack Obama's put a, put a price control plan in place and it's top-down. What Ryan and I support is giving seniors the choice to participate in economic decisions...

MR. GREGORY: All right.

SEN. SANTORUM: ...and make those decisions about the access to care...

MR. GREGORY: I want to...

SEN. SANTORUM: ...and quality of care by themselves.

MR. GREGORY: I want to talk a little bit more about Medicare in just a minute, but I want to ask a little bit more about your announcement and your, and your place in the field. The last time you were up for re- election, you were handily defeated by 17 points in your run for the Senate. I wonder how you think you've changed professionally and personally since that defeat, now that you're standing for president.

SEN. SANTORUM: Well, a couple of things. First off, one of the things I learned from that race is that losing isn't the worst thing that can happen to you. That standing up -- not standing up for what you believe in and fighting for those things is the worst thing, and I think if I go back and look at my race, did I make mistakes? Sure. But one of the things I think I was -- where I ended up on the short end of the stick is I was out there talking about Social Security reform in 2005 and 2006. When George Bush said, "Charge," after the 2004 election, "we've got to take on Social Security." Jim DeMint and I ran to the floor of the United States Senate, and I did town meetings all over Pennsylvania. I turned around and there wasn't anybody behind me. I mean...

MR. GREGORY: Is that a problem now, by the way? I mean, look at what Paul Ryan's trying to do on Medicare.

SEN. SANTORUM: Yeah.

MR. GREGORY: Do you worry about that?

SEN. SANTORUM: I do worry, I do worry that...

MR. GREGORY: You support his plan.

SEN. SANTORUM: I...

MR. GREGORY: You want to go further.

SEN. SANTORUM: I do worry...

MR. GREGORY: You say that even if you're over 55, it should change now.

SEN. SANTORUM: Well, I do because we've had -- we have a plan in place right now called Medicare Prescription Drugs, which is identical to the Ryan plan, the seniors like and by the way came in 41 percent under budget. So we know...

MR. GREGORY: Premiums have gone up under that program.

SEN. SANTORUM: But -- of course, premiums are going to go up. Premiums go up on -- in the private sector, too, if you don't control costs. We need a more comprehensive plan where seniors and individuals are involved in controlling costs. And you have government now controlling well over 50 percent of medical care, and they're not doing a very good job controlling costs.

MR. GREGORY: On Social Security, would you raise the retirement age?

SEN. SANTORUM: I proposed that back in 1994. I think that's an option that has to be on the table. I think the one thing that we should do is to deal with the cost of living increase. The cost -- I asked a senior everywhere I go, Iowa, New Hampshire, I say, "Should we -- what should the cost of living increase be tied to?" And the answer is always, "Well, it should be tied to the prices that we pay for goods and services." Well, it's not. The cost of living increase in Social Security is tied to wage inflation. Why is this, why, why, what does that have to do with cost of living for seniors?

MR. GREGORY: Hm.

SEN. SANTORUM: It doesn't. And so what we need to do is change it from a wage inflation index to a price inflation index. If we do that, you solve anywhere from half to three-quarters of the short in Social Security over time. So that's one thing we can do. We can do it now. We'll have minimal, minimal effect on anybody at or near retirement, but long-term it creates sustainability for young people who are sitting out there who don't believe Social Security is going to be there for them.

MR. GREGORY: What space do you occupy in this race? Who are you? Are you the true conservative? Are you the truth teller? What are you?

SEN. SANTORUM: Yeah, I'm someone who's been out there for 16 years, having the courage to lead on a variety of conservative issues when they weren't popular. I was leading on entitlement reform. I was the guy that wrote the contract with America Welfare reform bill when Welfare reform was seen as throwing, you know, throwing grandma out on the street. And I was out there leading that charge and was able to be successful in the United States Senate in getting 70 votes to end a federal entitlement. Something that we have to do in this city right here is to do something about entitlements. You have someone in the race who's actually taking it on and been successful. I've lead on national security issues, particularly in the Middle East. I have two major pieces of legislation where I actually fought President Bush. He eventually signed both, but he opposed both when I first proposed them, one on Iran and one on Syria. And I've also been a leader on moral cultural issues. So you, you take any issue area, I've had the courage to go out on controversial issues and take leadership roles, and I've been successful.

MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about being a Christian conservative in the race. Do you think that Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, will have a problem in this race in the primary as Mormons?

SEN. SANTORUM: I hope not. I hope that people look at the, at the qualities of candidates and look at what they believe in and look at what they're for, look at their records and make a decision.

MR. GREGORY: Are they true conservatives in your eyes?

SEN. SANTORUM: I think they've held positions in the past that have not been conservative and I think they have to account for those.

MR. GREGORY: And do you think that ultimately that impacts their ability to beat President Obama?

SEN. SANTORUM: Look, I think what people are concerned about and what they saw in Congresses in the past and presidents in the past who are Republicans, is that they say one thing when they -- they're really conservative when they run in Republican primaries, and then when they govern, they don't govern as conservatively as they've talked. I think one of the things you can look at with me is I represented Pennsylvania, a state with a million more Democrats than Republicans. Yes, I lost my last race, but my first three races I ran against -- I was faced up against Democratic incumbents in two House districts and a Senate race, and then in my fourth- -and I won all three -- in my fourth race, President Bush lost the state of Pennsylvania by four points, I won it by five. I was the only conservative running in 2000 who won a state that Bush lost. So I think if you look at the record of when there were competitive years to run in, 2006 was probably the worst year for Republicans in Pennsylvania in recent history. If you look at those competitive years, I've been successful because I've been principled. People don't always agree with me, but they know where I stand and they know I'm going to stand up for my convictions.

MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about the debt and taxes. You have said, you just said it recently, you've got to tell the American people the truth about what government can and cannot afford.

SEN. SANTORUM: Yeah.

MR. GREGORY: But back in 2002 in a, in a parallel situation to what we face now, you were on this program, and this is what you said about deficits.

SEN. SANTORUM: I think we're going to be in for deficits for the, for the, for the next few years to come. We're in a recession or just coming out of a recession, and secondly, we're going to be fighting a war, a major war on terrorism, and potentially a war in Iraq. The last thing we need to do when we are concerned about the national security of this country is to be concerned about deficits.

MR. GREGORY: We're coming out of a recession, we're fighting two wars, it's 2011. Deficits didn't matter then, but now they're everything to Republicans now.

SEN. SANTORUM: Well, let's, let's look at -- I think scale matters, David. I mean, we were -- we -- prior to 2001, we were in a surplus. We were talking about deficit I think at that point of $100 billion to $200 billion, not $1.5 trillion. Not something that is, that is grinding our economy down. Also, as you know, you mentioned 2002. That was right after the attacks of 2011and we were pretty much, you know, worried about the security of our country immediately as to whether we were going to be attacked again and, and trying to defeat the, the forces that had just attacked us. So, of course, when you're responding to an attack like that, you worry about stopping the enemy so they don't hit you again. And that's, that's -- the context is important in that, in that statement.

MR. GREGORY: So deficits mattered even to you then?

SEN. SANTORUM: Well, of course they did. I mean, I'm, I'm someone who's, again, you know, fought to end entitlements, fought to, to cut spending. For years I was someone who introduced more original spending bills to cut the deficit than anybody else. I believe that we need to, we need to get our fiscal house in order. I have been a strong fiscal conservative throughout, and I'll continue to be.

MR. GREGORY: Why is it -- if everything worked the way you and other conservatives would like it to, you could cut taxes, you could do some of the things that you'd like to do for the economy. Why then even during boom times for the economy have you not seem much improvement, particularly for the middle class wage earners?

SEN. SANTORUM: Yeah, I think one of the things that I -- that, that's been a missing ingredient -- and I come from Pennsylvania, and I always say, you know -- I come from Pennsylvania, we still make things there. And it's -- manufacturing economy is, is really important. And I think what we've had is, we've not had a policy that's focused on trying to create those kinds of jobs. Because I grew up in a, in a steel town, Butler, Pennsylvania, and, you know, I used to go in -- take the bus in to school and we'd go by the, go by the mills. And if you could smell the smoke you thought, ah, people were working. That was a good thing. Well, we don't want to smell the smoke anymore, but we want those people working. And we don't have policies, whether they're policies from tax -- from a tax perspective to encourage manufacturing here, from a innovation, from research and development and patents and things like that, improvements that we need to make there. We have to also do, do some things on the regulatory side. What, what this president has done to regulate and drive manufacturing out -- the NLRB and what they've done in South Carolina to basically say to any company that, that is in a state that's not a right to work state, if you want to expand anywhere in the U.S. outside that state, you might as well go overseas. Those are the kinds of policies that hurt our manufacturing base. I'm going to be putting forth a plan in the next few weeks that's going to focus on manufacturing. Why? Because that is where the great middle of America works and can -- has this huge multiplier effect that takes the money from those who innovate and brings it down to those who work in those factories.

MR. GREGORY: Well, quickly, on taxes. You've got so many American corporations sitting on a ton of cash right now.

SEN. SANTORUM: Yeah.

MR. GREGORY: Do they really need additional tax breaks?

SEN. SANTORUM: Well, the -- well, one tax break they need is they have about a trillion dollars sitting overseas right now that they don't bring back because they have to pay the, the top corporate rate on it. We need to, we need to slash that, that rate down so that that trillion dollars come back. We did it in 2004.

MR. GREGORY: But the question is, again, you're sitting on so much capital, why do you need additional relief from the government? Can you understand why a lot of people asking that?

SEN. SANTORUM: Well, what -- yeah. Well, what you have to do is you have to look at your return on investment. I mean, and, and the government is -- makes it very, very expensive because of the, the regulations and because of the taxation to have a reasonable rate of return. You're going to risk capital, you want to make sure that you have a, a, a reasonable chance to make a profit on it. And, and so they're sitting on it. You're right, they are sitting on it because they don't believe, under this climate, that they can be successful and profitable.

MR. GREGORY: I've just got a minute left. I want to pin you down on a couple of quick issues, if I can. One is education. This is something that you wrote in your book, "It Takes the Family" back...

SEN. SANTORUM: Right.

MR. GREGORY: ...in 2005 about public education vs. homeschooling. I want to put it up on the screen, it caught my eye. "It's amazing that so many kids turn out to be fairly normal, considering the weird socialization they get in public schools. In a home school, by contrast, children interact in a rich and complex way with adults and children of other ages all the time." You want to be president of the United States, public education's one of the foundational parts of our country, and yet you say the weird socialization is kids being in school with kids their same age?

SEN. SANTORUM: Yeah.

MR. GREGORY: How is that weird socialization?

SEN. SANTORUM: Where else is that -- where, where else in, in America, outside of school, do kids go to a place where they sit with people basically the same age, same socioeconomic group, and interact for, for a defined period of time? That's not what life is like. Life is very different than that. You're dealing with a whole bunch of different people. And I think, you know, the one-room schoolhouse was the example of how you had interaction, you have sensitivity. I can see it in my, in my own family, I see it in other children who deal with children of different ages, respect for elders. This -- what I'm saying is that the -- that we need to transform public education to reflect more of what the dynamism is in the private sector. And, and that includes a whole, a whole way of infusing parents into the system, a dynamism of having not people stuck in classrooms. They -- the sort of the old factory model of how we educate people...

MR. GREGORY: So you'd fundamentally overhaul public education and how, how it's done, how they congregate in schools?

SEN. SANTORUM: Well, first off, first, first off, I would say that it's not the federal government's job to overhaul public education.

MR. GREGORY: Right.

SEN. SANTORUM: What I would do is talk about how we need to make some transformation, but it should be left to the states and localities to do that.

MR. GREGORY: One more question on abortion, an issue you care deeply about. I, I want to be clear on this. Do you believe that there should be any legal exceptions for rape or incest when it comes to abortion?

SEN. SANTORUM: I believe that life begins at conception, and that that life should be cut -- should be guaranteed under the Constitution. That is a person, in my opinion.

MR. GREGORY: So even in a case of rape or incest, that would be taking a life?

SEN. SANTORUM: That would be taking a life, and, and I believe that, that any doctor who performs an abortion-- that -- I would advocate that any doctor that performs an abortion should be criminally charged for doing so. I don't -- I've never supported criminalization of abortion for mothers, but I do for people who perform them. I believe that life is sacred. It's one of those things in the Declaration of Independence. We are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, and the first is life. And I believe that that life should be protected at the moment it is a human life. And at conception it is biologically human, and it's alive. It's a human life, it should be a person under the Constitution.

MR. GREGORY: All right, we are going to leave it there. Senator Santorum, thank you very much for sharing your views.

SEN. SANTORUM: Thank you, David.

FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT: Meet the Press transcript for June 12, 2011 Priebus, Wasserman Schultz, Santorum, roundtable

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: Meet The Press: One-on-one with Rick Santorum:

Republican New Hampshire debate Union Leader, CNN and WMUR 06/13/11 Preview VIDEO

CNN Press Release: While Republican presidential primary contenders face-off Monday, June 13 in the first New Hampshire debate of the season presented by CNN, Hearst Television’s WMUR, and the New Hampshire Union Leader, voters will have opportunities to question the candidates in person and online. The debate will feature questions from New Hampshire voters inside the debate hall and potentially from town hall locations in Hancock, Plymouth, and Rochester, New Hampshire. In addition, CNN will solicit comments from its users on CNN.com as well as questions via Facebook and Twitter.

The following Republican candidates will participate in the debate: Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

The debate, which will air live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, will be moderated by CNN anchor and chief national correspondent John King, with questions from WMUR-TV’s Jean Mackin, Josh McElveen and Jennifer Vaughn and New Hampshire Union Leader’s John DiStaso and Tom Fahey. The debate will be broadcast live throughout New Hampshire on WMUR-TV and nationally on CNN, CNN en Español, CNN.com, CNN Radio, WMUR.com and UnionLeader.com. The debate will be available via live stream in the CNN Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.

Viewers watching on television and online are invited to comment or ask questions by posting comments to CNNPolitics.com, by logging on to John King, USA’s Facebook page and by using the #CNNdebate hashtag on Twitter. New Hampshire voters watching the debate at the Rochester town hall will be hosted by CNN correspondent Tom Foreman and will be equipped with handheld dial-testing devices to register their reactions during the debate. CNN.com/live will offer streaming video of the live dial-testing results in addition to a live stream of the debate in its entirety.

CNN’s political team will live blog the debate on the CNN Political Ticker, which will also feature a live feed of debate-related tweets. A new interactive feature will debut Monday night on CNN when at the beginning of the debate, a QR code (a square digital barcode) will appear on screen. Viewers with smartphones will be able to scan the QR code to access exclusive content on CNN.com including a column penned by Wolf Blitzer, a quick vote poll and a behind-the-scenes photo gallery.

CNN’s coverage surrounding the debates kicks off live and on location with John King, USA on Friday, June 10 at 7 p.m. and will continue through Monday featuring anchors Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, John King, Don Lemon and Christine Romans with national political correspondent Jessica Yellin and chief political analyst Gloria Borger.

The following programs will originate live from Manchester, New Hampshire:

Saturday, June 11

5 p.m. – 6 p.m. CNN Newsroom with Don Lemon
7 p.m. – 8p.m. CNN Newsroom with Don Lemon
10 p.m. – 11 p.m. CNN Newsroom with Don Lemon

Sunday, June 12

9 a.m. – 10 a.m. State of the Union with Candy Crowley
6 p.m. – 8 p.m. CNN Newsroom with Don Lemon
10 p.m. – 11a.m. CNN Newsroom with Don Lemon

Monday, June 13

6 a.m. – 9 a.m. American Morning (split show from NH and NY)
5 p.m. – 7 p.m. The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
7 p.m. – 8 p.m. John King, USA
8 p.m. – 10 p.m. CNN/WMUR/New Hampshire Union Leader GOP Primary Debate
10 p.m. – 11 p.m. AC 360° with Anderson Cooper, Tom Foreman will also be reporting from the Rochester, New Hampshire town hall
11 p.m. – 1 a.m. CNN/WMUR/New Hampshire Union Leader GOP Primary Debate (replay)

TEXT and VIDEO CREDIT: CNN Observations :: Home:

Adam Kinzinger Weekly Republican Address TEXT PODCAST VIDEO 06/11/11

Podcast of the address: Download MP3 for PODCAST || FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT BELOW. || Download Video MPEG Video || MP4 Video

Washington (Jun 10) Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) highlights “A Plan for America’s Job Creators,” which builds on the Pledge to America with measures designed to remove government obstacles to private-sector job growth – the kind of growth the ‘stimulus’ promised but failed to deliver. Republicans have urged President Obama to change course and work together to enact this job creation plan, an invitation Rep. Kinzinger renews here. A member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Kinzinger is in his first term representing Illinois’ Eleventh Congressional District. Following is the full text of the address. Audio of the address is available here (Podcast of the address 4.2 mb: Download MP3 for PODCAST). Video will be available here for viewing and downloading once the embargo is lifted tomorrow 06/11/11 at 6:00 a.m.

“Hi, I’m Congressman Adam Kinzinger. I’m humbled by the opportunity to speak to you today as the representative of Illinois’ 11th Congressional District.

“There’s been a lot of talk this week about how our economy isn’t creating enough jobs. I can tell you that here in the president’s home state, every day, we hear about a company that’s looking at leaving or is already on its way out the door. And why? Because taxes are too high, regulations are too burdensome, and the government won’t stop spending money it doesn’t have.

“My constituents have the same questions many Americans do: where are the jobs? What happened to the ‘stimulus’ we heard so much about?

“Like you, I remember the chart the president’s economic team put out, you know, the one projecting that - with the ‘stimulus’ - unemployment would never go higher than eight percent. I remember the press conference where the president said 90 percent of the jobs created by the ‘stimulus’ would be private sector jobs. And there was that interview on CNN where one of the president’s top economic advisers said that jobs would be created ‘immediately.’

“None of those promises panned out. If anything, things have gotten worse. Unemployment is over nine percent. And the share of Americans out of work for more than six months has surpassed Great Depression levels.

“These broken promises speak to a much bigger problem, and that is a government arrogant enough to think it can simply spend, borrow and tax our nation back to prosperity and job growth.

“We can’t continue to follow the same failed agenda that has driven job creators further into doubt and uncertainty. The road to refueling our economy and creating jobs means tackling our debt head on, simplifying the tax code, reining in Washington's red tape factory, passing pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, and increasing domestic energy production, making our nation more energy secure, which would help lower costs at the pump and create jobs here at home.

“These are some of the steps we need to take to get government out of the way and let our economy grow and get back to producing jobs.

“All these solutions are contained in a job creation plan Republicans put forth not too long ago. This blueprint, which we’re calling ‘A Plan for America’s Job Creators,’ builds on the Pledge to America, a jobs-focused governing agenda that Republicans in the House have been working to implement since Americans entrusted us with the majority. You can check our jobs plan out for yourself at Jobs.GOP.gov.

“When House Republicans met with President Obama at the White House last week, we invited him to work with us to enact our job creation plan. Today, we are renewing that invitation.

“We've also made clear to the president that under no circumstances will Republicans support irresponsible legislation which increases the federal government's credit limit without any spending cuts or budgetary reforms. It is high time that we cut up the government's credit cards and draw a hard line to stop the government from overspending, which is hampering our economy's ability to grow and thrive. We must get the government to stop spending more money than we take in and focus our efforts toward growing the private sector, where jobs are created.

“We live in the greatest country in the world and we refuse to accept second best.

“That’s what our jobs plan is all about. Again, you can learn more at Jobs.GOP.gov. Thank you for listening.”

IMAGE CREDIT: Congressman Adam Kinzinger

VIDEO CREDIT: HouseConference

TEXT CREDIT: Speaker of the House John Boehner Contact H-232 The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 P (202) 225-0600 F (202) 225-5117

AUDIO / VIDEO FILES CREDIT: The House Republican Conference - Digital Communications visual.media@mail.house.gov 202-225-5439

Highlights from Mitt's New Hampshire town hall - Manchester, NH VIDEO

Highlights from Mitt Romney's New Hampshire town hall - Manchester, NH VIDEO

Mitt Romney today welcomed the support of Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman.

“I am proud to have the support of Governor Dave Heineman. In his seven years as Governor of Nebraska, he has fought for lower taxes, strong incentives for business, and high academic standards for Nebraska’s children,” Mitt Romney said. “Governor Heineman shares my principles of promoting job creation and getting our exploding deficits under control.”

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: mittromney

TEXT CREDIT: Romney for President

Rick Perry made the following statement regarding Internet sales tax language included in Senate Bill 1

Gov. Rick Perry made the following statement regarding Internet sales tax language included in Senate Bill 1, the omnibus fiscal matters bill, which is set to be debated in the Texas Legislature:

"I urge lawmakers to remove the Internet sales tax language from SB 1. I believe this provision risks significant unintended consequences, including a loss of Texas job opportunities and weakening of our state's competitive advantage. I will not put Texas job creation efforts in jeopardy, particularly as we continue to feel the effects of a challenging national economy. In the debate between jobs and taxes, I side with jobs.

"As I said when I vetoed similar language in a stand-alone bill, my strong preference is to conduct a thorough policy discussion with Texas lawmakers, consumers, retailers and technology experts - and with other states and even the federal government - about interstate commerce and the structure of state sales taxes in the 21st century."

"This conversation is underway, and I believe a consensus can and should be reached that balances competing interests, respects federalism, and is fair and equitable. I call on the Legislature to review this issue further before changing Texas tax policy, while we reach out to our federal delegation and friends in other states to build consensus on the appropriate way to address this issue."

TEXT CREDIT: Office of the Governor • P.O. Box 12428 • Austin, Texas 78711 • (512) 463-2000

IMAGE CREDIT: Texas Governor Rick Perry on Flickr