Congress. I made a few suggestions, and i have additional suggestions on how he could do that if he was serious about growing the economy. Drilling and leasing activities on federal lands is another. Educational choice. The reality is the president has a choice. I heard a question of whether he mention the minimum wage. Yes, he did, repeatedly. This president and the white house seems to be waving the white house of surrender. Now thea economy is minimum wage economy. We can do better than that. I think america can do better than that. There are things that he can do with executive action. There are other things he can do. We asked him about reining in regulation from the epa, adopt a repealory budgets, outdated relations. There are things we can do instead of waving the white flag of surrender, declaring this economy to be a minimum wage economy. I think we can do better. Until a few moments ago we were going down a pretty cooperative road. [laughter] let me say that we do not all oile that moving canadian through the United States is necessarily the best thing for the United States economy. That not to say we do not want to make sure that we are maximizing our access to american gas and american oil. There are clearly differences here, quite frankly, and many states, we do not get revenue from those oil substances. Lets be clear that there are differences here, and you just heard what i think ended up being probably the most partisan statement that we have had all weekend. Lets be clear. There are many people like myself who support the minimum wage and an increase in the minimum wage. We did this once in our state already this year. We have a plan to give it up to 10. 10. Not know what the reference was to a white flag. Clear that we have had a great meeting and we did not go down that road and it just started again, and we did not started. Thank you. I think i would like to respond quickly. If that was the most partisan thing he has heard all week, i want to make sure he is hearing a more partisan statement, and going back to the essential point i made. The reality is if we are serious about growing our economy, we should not accept a 3 economic growth. We should not accept allah sees like the minimum wage which the cbo says will destroy 500 thousand jobs. Obamacare will result in more than 2 million fewer americans working. America can do better. America cap can grow our economy. I want to say that president was gracious in meeting with us. He took our questions, and bipartisan does not mean we have to ignore our substantive, philosophical defenses. We think we can grow the economy, do better than a minimum wage economy. [indiscernible] i think we should invite ngarnor jindal to join the again. We are glad i apologize. We are out of time. As you have heard, there are issues we do agree, we agree to disagree. Yes, absolutely. Raising just say, if the minimum wage is going to is raising the, wage of economists who comment [indiscernible] also in washington, the National Association of business economics held a conference conference. Portion, the recent Administration Decision to to increase the federal minimum wage. I would raise the minimum stepsmaybe in a couple of , go to nine dollars or something first, and index it. That is the main thing. The reason the minimum wage is other wages, medium wages, now is that we do not index it, and we should. I would favor an increase and maybe some job loss at the but the job losses not nearly as important as the huge number of people that would be pulled out of poverty if we raise the minimum wage. I think this is silliness of the highest order. We raised the minimum wage during the great recession, and we have teenage unemployment over 20 right now. We have priced them out of the an enormousoing disservice. We could do it again and hit more low skilled workers if we want. The estimate is 500,000. That is a good estimate. What will we get for it . We get 900,000 out of the 45 million poor a mocha poor americans above the poverty line. That is a small payoff. Areincomes that redistributed in the process, only 19 go to poverty households. This is a terrible toll. It is not targeted on poverty. Unlike the itc, it harms job growth. The itc helps them get into jobs. The dividing line doing being poor and not being poor is having a job, the poverty rates we have understand why gotten this puny little policy at the center of a debate over the real phenomenon, because you would not change the fundamental trends in wage inequality that have been going on since the and haswhere the local fallen for a decade and a half now, stabilize, but at a ad level. Toilend it distressing suggest policies that do not address the real equity issues. That the earned income tax credit is by far the superior tool to raising the minimum wage, although i would go with a wage increase and then index it. And a conference for the foronal Association Business economics can be seen tonight on the cspan networks. John dingell announced that he will retire at the end of this current term. The 87yearold is the longest serving lawmaker in history. Here is more. Washington car spun it for the detroit news. A growing list of members theyng they have not are not running again. Why has he decided to call it quits . He has decided it is time for him to step down. He wants to spend more time with his family. But he has been suffering from nobility issues from mobility issues, a bad back, hip surgery. He has been upset with the way congress operates. He looks back to the time when there was bipartisanship and people got along in congress, and he laments it. During the shutdown, he took to the house floor and he was so angry he said the American People could get better representation from Monkey Island at the zoo, and that ignited cheers from the house. There is a level of frustration from him. Can you speak but his major compliments . Accomplishments . He has authored major pieces of legislation. Pass. Ped medicare airas part of the clean act, the endangered species act. He was one of the original authors of the Affordable Care act. His father whom he replaced was a huge advocate for universal health care, and john dingell made this his prior date throughout his his priority threat his career. He has been called the dean of the house. Why did he have that title, and did it come with any house leadership responsibilities . Leader, the longest serving member of the house, and he did have a leadership responsibility with the energy and Commerce Committee from 1981 until the 2000s. He was either the chairman or the Ranking Member of the energy and Commerce Committee, and he was worried powerful and was able to use that position to usher in some of this legislation. He was first elected to the house in 1955 and succeeded his dad. What impact did his parents have on him in becoming a member of congress . He talks about his dad often. His dad was a new deal immigrant, and he really new deal democrat, and he really believed in public service. When john dingell took over, he carried that with him. Mentioned earlier health care his dad really wanted universal health care. John dingell made that his legacy as well. Leaving, has he revealed what his plans might be after he leaves the house . He wille a feeling still be involved. He has many supporters in his wife, deborahhis dingell, is interested in the seat, so i have a feeling he will be very much involved in politics and public service. He currently represents michigans 12th district. Ann arbor and dearborn. His wife is expected to run to succeed him. Why is that, and what is their political relationship like . They are 18, a really powerful political couple. Is always at his side. She is with him at events and fundraising, meeting with local community officials, and she is his confidante. It is expected that she is interested in the seat, i imagine that she would run for the seat, and john dingell would do everything in his power to help her win that seat. Thanks for joining us. Thank you very much. Completed, ial is think it puts comcast at the nexus of every major media policy debate we are going to have weird i do not think the fcc shouldhink the block this merger. I think for most americans, if you like this seems unthinkable and that we have it has gotten this far, that is being debated, he has said a lot, but there is no condition that is good enough to let a deal like this go to. Transactions are frequently used as a way to shape our kids. To shape markets. That trolley, a lowcost offering, perhaps a buildout to schools for the president s initiative, there are a whole host of things that are similar to the conditions that comcast agreed to a little over three years ago when it bought in bc universal. L. It bought Nbc Universal timee impact of a Comcast Warner cable merger, tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan2. Dartmouth go to college for debate about what is so great about america. You will hear from Dinesh Dsouza, and bill ayers. From New Hampshire, this is about two hours. [applause] good evening, and welcome to tonights feature debate between Dinesh Dsouza and bill ayers. Im a junior at dartmouth and the current editor and chief of the dartmouth review. It is my privilege to serve as moderator and introduce you to the topic. Before we get underway, i would like you to locate the nearest emergency exits and silence all cell phones. Please note that flash photography is strictly prohibited, but our participants would like to encourage you to take photos and share what you are seeing on social media sites. When individuals like bill ayers and Dinesh Dsouza get together for an evening of discussion, theres sure to be much to talk about. The focus of the debate tonight has to do with the nature of america and its meaning in the world today. We will be asking our participants for what their thoughts are on what makes america unique and how it has succeeded and failed in living up to its own ideals. The wording of the resolve have been left purposely vague. Our hope that we can take up the central question fully and explore its social, economic, and political forms. Part of what will make the discussion unique is the background of its participants. You would be hardpressed to find to americans whose career in politics are more different. On the right, we have Dinesh Dsouza, a critically acclaimed author and political commentator. Born in mumbai, india, he had a 30year career as a public intellectual and has been called one of the nations most influential conservative thinkers by the New York Times magazine. Since the 1990s, mr. Dsouza has published 12 books. One of them was the second most successful political documentary and of all time. On his left is bill ayers, one of the nations premier theorists on Elementary Education and a former leader of a Counterculture Movement that opposed the vietnam war. Born in the chicago area, he is best known for his involvement in the political activism of the 1960s, and the leader of a weather underground, a selfdescribed communist underground group that conducted group that conducted a public Bombing Campaign in the 1970s. He has had a distinguished career as a professor. He has written about social justice and characterized education as an ethical enterprise. To have two individuals of such distinction with us tonight is no small feat. We owe their presence to the tireless work of our supporters. We would like to thank the Young Americans institution. Their dedication to the ideas of liberty and the sporting apparatus of liberal debate will be displayed in full throughout tonights discussion. We like to acknowledge the efforts of the College Republicans and libertarians whose efforts on the campus were instrumental to make sure the debate could take place here. We also want to thank the campus, and we hope our ideas tonight can positively impact our own discussions after the debate has ended. I will now turn the floor over to mr. Bill ayers. He will have 18 minutes for his opening remarks. A question and answer session will continue for 30 minutes until the debate ends. We ask that audience members reserve all the questions to the time allotted and they present their questions clearly and directly as to give others around him a chance to speak as well. We hope that making this event responsive to issues that interest you that we can create an evening of debate and as enjoyable as it is memorable. Without further ado, i yield the floor to mr. Bill ayers. [applause] thank you all for coming. This keeps being called a debate, but i dont know who the pro or con is. When a dialogue was first proposed, on my what is great this, chicago. That is right because it is my hometown and i know it well and because it is one small piece in all its outsized and crazy complexities of america itself, the city of big shoulders. Chicago is one of the things that is so awesomely great about america. Musical, the blues brothers, corrigan, quindlen brooks brooks. Wlyn described as ae beautiful woman with a broken nose. Sameuld have said the thing about america. So great, and there is more. Make michigan, the vast inland sea now under siege from climate change, the mass of prairie that , and the imagination chicago cubs, who teach us humility and perseverance. Abroadr i have traveled and inside the United States, the name evokes a response. Four years it was our opponent, rep that tat, and then jordan,ngly, Michael Michael jordan. Someone asked me if i knew oprah. Of course it is a small cap town it is a small town. Today the universal reaction is the single word, obama. Yes, chicago is home to brock barack obama, the first black president in u. S. History. During the heat of the battle in candidate asked which he thought Martin Luther king jr. Would support, senator obama responded without hesitation. Reverend king would not likely endorse any of us, he said, because he would be in the streets building a movement for justice. It raisesy true, and interesting points. It tells us about what we ought to be thinking about our own activity. One point it raises is that if you take a brief glance at history, you recognize it is building movements that changes things. Lyndon johnson was never part of the black freedom movement. Franklin roosevelt was never part of the labor movement, and Abraham Lincoln never belonged to an abolitionist party. Though three president s are remembered because of fire from below, and that is what we ought to be concentrating on. When you think about political power, often you think about the white house or the pentagon, and we think, that is where power lies. There is power in the neighborhood, the factory, the mill, the classroom. Power is there, and that is the power we have access to. Too often we stare at the sites of power we have no access to. In a democracy, we cant wait passively, wondering what the king has in mind for us. We are not his subjects because we are the sovereign, the collective authority. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to enact our sovereignty every day. Jane addams acted on her his citizen responsibilities every day and she is part of what is great about america. Socialist, feminist, lesbian, pacifist, adams established whole house and went to start the first Juvenile Court in the world was freed children from prisons and for houses, the first public kindergarten in america, and end to child labor and a thousand other projects. She argued that Building Communities of care and compassion required more than doing good, more than volunteerism, more than the ultimately controlling stance of a lady bountiful. It required a radical oneness with others in distress. When she opened her settlement house with her sister activists and lived there with an open, unlocked door in the heart of a poor, immigrant neighborhood, with families in crisis and need, and she pushed herself to see the world through their eyes and fighting for their humanity, achieved her own humanity, as well. J. Edgar hoover, the gman wizard of oz, had called jane addams the most dangerous woman in america shortly before she became the First American woman to win the nobel peace prize. 50 years later, at the helm of the fbi, he bestowed that same honor on my partner, bernadine dorn, and it was possibly the only time we agreed. There are countless women and men sweating out jane addams hopes all over america, naming circumstances and situations as unacceptable, working to right wrongs, fighting for more peace and more democracy, more joy and more justice. These men and womens propel themselves to act in solidarity with, not in service to, the people with whom they work. They are what is so great about america. What else . My list contains multitudes. First, the spirit of democracy. He precious but fragile ideal that every single human being is of incalculable value, using faith in the biblical sense of faith of things unseen. The conviction that people me know kings, queens, or rulers of any kind and we are capable of aching the decisions that affect our lives and that the people what the problems are also the people with the solutions and with the wisdom and energy of ordinary people is our most precious reality. Second, the inspiration of liberty. The aspirations toward liberation, the belief that all human beings ought to be free to invent and reinvent ourselves, to shape our identities and every sphere of our existence without the traditional constraints of king or court or church or howling mob, and whether we are concerned with our social character or our politics, our manners or sexual practices, we can resist convention and strike out in a path of our own choosing or own making. Third, the pursuit of social justice. Like any compelling term, social justice is not easily defined because it is not so much a point of arrival for a specific destination as it is a longing, a journey, a quest. It is a ceaseless striving by human beings in different places at different times under vastly different circumstances and pursuing a range of strategies and tactics and tools for grea