you are the one, david. you are the one. hey, my friend. where was that out? -- at? have you been spending your time on in? >> no. >> it looks good. could deceive. -- good to see you. [inaudible] my daughter came in from out of town. >> i appreciate that. where is she coming in from? >> boston. >> i'm appreciating new coming out here to hear me out. -- you coming out here to hear me out. there we go. thank you so much. >> tony blair was talking that angela merkel, and she said what -- he said why was the german economy so strong, and she said that we still make things. what do we make any bar -- and the marquis margin our number one export happens to be airplanes. probably the largest exporter in the world. our manufacturing base is only 10%, and it was at 25% simon was born. we need to win back our manufacturing base. you winning -- you win it back by trading in an environment that is favorable to the dollar. we have a tax policy that is outdated. it is circa 1950. we never regulatory a five meant that s so far overreaching, the manufacturers are not able to do what they want to do so that find alternatives to. confine my financial problem. >> look at their tax burden in germany. but that the products and what they are paying their workers and they revel the make appeared >> if we can get our tax policy right in our regulatory regime right, if china falters economically and there will be political questions beyond that, but that manufacturing dollar will look for alternatives. we should position of our economy has been the premier market for manufacturing. >> can we deregulate ourself to compete with asia quarter margins and we have no choice. between dodd-frank and others, we need to build a manufacturing plant here. if that brings us johnson economics panchen which pays for schools and teachers what they're worth, allows our nation to fund those things from our research and development standpoint, that is what i didn't get -- as governor. we took our economy to #one. he created a flat tax and our state. the business that came in in the entrepreneurial activity that followed on to that was such that we were able to triple the rainy day fund, pay teachers what they were worth. >> while we do about the financial community? what about head fund managers? energy hedge fund managers? >> you have to find that balance. i appreciate that. thank you. i present that. -- i appreciate that. >> that sounds great. thank you very, very much. thank you so, so much ra. >> we will see you. good to see you. take care. >> republican presidential candidate mitt romney held a town hall meeting and huffington -- and hopkinton, new hampshire. new hampshire host the nation's first president to primary. -- presidential primary. >> i was told you have a government that lives here. >> you bet. hi, how're you. nice to see you. this way? how was it going? -- how is it going. but nice to see it today? good to see you. great. how are you? could deceive. hi there. hi there. how are you? thank you. nice to be here. governor, good to see you again. how are you? nice to be here. thank you, thank you. >> from michigan. >> whereabouts? right next door. that is where i was born. hi, how're you? >> new to the group. >> look at that. wonderful. is this your son? grandson. hi, how are you. how are you? how're you doing? good, thanks. nice to see. how's it going? mr. sheriff. [inaudible] >> i have got someone i want you to meet. [inaudible] >> a son or grandson. >> for those of you who do not know me, i am judd gregg. [applause] great to be in hopkinton. i went to first and second grade in hopkinton, so i'm a great fan. it is a great pleasure for cathy and i to be here tonight to deal with the man who we feel and hopefully you feel after this discussion should be the next president of the united states, mitt romney. [applause] " we need today is a leader who understands what made as great as a nation, that it is not washington that causes our nation to be great, but the individuals like you in this room who are willing to go out, take risk, create jobs, and produce prosperity and economic opportunity. mitt romney understands that. we have been mitt romney and individual who understands that our freedom, that we stand up for the world when it comes to those freedoms. and we must lead the world. it is a great honor and privilege to introduce to you tonight governor mitt romney. >> it is an honor to be here. thank you so much. sheriff, i appreciate you being here. do you want to say a word? >> this is how many times, governor? quite a few. we appreciate you having as. -- having you. >> if it is an honor to be joined by kathy and judd gregg, a great senator from new hampshire, and a fiscal conservative who was done a good job for the people of new hampshire time and time again. [applause] senator gregg, an extraordinary man, and i appreciate his support and his leadership. he has been guiding me around the state today and i will get a chance to answer your questions in a moment, but he will take one or two as well -- he is saying now. i thought i would talk about family for a moment. some values that we have in my family and get a chance to hear from you and answer questions. i was mentioning to the greggs that i was looking at buying a van sunday. we did not have many vans when my kids were burned up. we had station wagons. that was before seat belts, or before they were required, and we would just pile them in the backseat, in the back of the station wagon. my dad had a v commonan and he ad hady kids -- my di a van, and to my friends across the -- my kids across the country he did that five times. can you imagine being locked in a van with a group of 12-year- old to 13-year-old? when i was a boy, we went on trips like this with mom and dad with the rambler, that was the car that we had. but tween the parks, a mom and dad would read to us from a book called "man to match my mountain." it was written by irving stone, taken from maine poem written by public here in new hampshire, and he voted in the 1800's. bring the man to match my mountain bring the man to match my plane man with empires in their purpose and new eras in their brains empires of discovery and innovation, building, pioneers. new eras in their brain. these to the people that would come to america, with empires in their purpose, and come they did. from the very beginning of this nation, the founders crafted a country that welcomes people with empires in their purpose eras in their brain. they give as freedoms that are almost unheard of. the right to choose who would represent us in government, economic freedom, to accuse our course in life, and by virtue of those freedoms, people all over the world wanted to come here. every pioneer, every freedom saker, wanted to come to america. if you want to know why america has out competed the nations of europe from which we sprang, and the more populous nations of asia, it relates to our freedom. it relates to the fact that three people came here, free enterprise was opened here, and promoted here in such a way that our economy began to become stronger and stronger. we became the most powerful nation in the history of the earth. it is who we are. what worries me is that we have in washington had class of lifelong politicians who do not understand what makes america america. they do not understand the power of freedom, the power of the free enterprise system, and so the attempt through government to guide the economy and our lives. government has never been the source of america's greatness. it's free people choosing their own course in life makes us who we are. this president has never spent any time doing what you do, working in the private sector. he has not had that experience. one thing was not going well in the economy, what did he do? he expanded government. how did that work out? not so hot. you get 25 million americans out of work today, or stopped looking forward, or only getting part-time work because they need full-time employment for you have a home that is going down. i saw an article in the "new york times," i shocking number, the median income of americans in the last 10 years has dropped by 10%. i think it was 9.8% to be exact. 10% decline in the median income of american families. at the same time, gasoline prices have gone up, food prices have gone up. the median in time down 10%. this president has not worked. when he was a newly elected president, he went on the " today" show. he said if i can i get this economy running in three years, he would be a one-term president. we are here now to collect. [applause] this gentleman says with interest. exactly right. we are here to collect. take it back, that is what we're going to do. we have to take it back. occasionally people ask me why do you think he has been so ineffective? why has he failed so badly? waldo?""wheree's economy. you would be easier to find waldo and one of those books that a good job. ronald reagan said, it is not that liberals are ignorant but that what they know is wrong. and this guy has proved that. but the president takes his political insights and inspiration's from the social democrats of europe to think that government knows better than a free people how to guided economy, at a live your life, how to build your business, how to grow it, and i believe that president is wrong. it is now working in europe and it is certainly not going to work here. i believe in america. i believe that we got it right and they got it wrong. i believe the principles of economic freedom and political freedom which we enjoy here are principles that will keep us strong, not just today, but over generations. it has always been the characteristic of america's heart to know that the future is brighter for kids like you that it is for us, and today people question that. no question in my mind. the american people have everything necessary to continue to lead the world and have an economy so strong we can provide for ourselves and the coming generations and for sure defense. but we cannot do that if we turn our economy and lives over to our government. so i intend to take back our country from our government and make sure that free people and free enterprise can once again lifts the american people. i intend to draw on the greatness of america. [applause] and i am convinced that as the most patriotic people and work -- the only people who put their hand over their heart and the playing of the national anthem -- if we have leaders to tell us the truth and know how to lead, and actually have some experience in the private economy in know what it takes to make america the most attractive place for enterprise and investment and job creation again, we can keep america strong and the hope of the earth. i intend to be one of those leaders with your help. thank you, guys. we appreciate your help. [applause] that you get as the questions that you would like to ask and i am going to go round the room and say, yes, you got it right here in the front row. you're going to read it. it means it is a scary question. [laughter] >> when you commit to putting 6 million people a life-saving medication with hiv infection? >> i will look at that but i will not pledge how we will spend money budget by budget item. i'll take our discretionary accounts and bring them back to the 2008 level. i'll take obamacare and repeal it so we stop spending that trillion dollars. [applause] i am going to take that multi- multi-billion dollar medicaid program and give it back to state said that they can craft their own program to care for their own corporate and finally i will shrink the size of the federal work force and now will allow us to balance our budget. those other things, the humanitarian effort around the world and rna, i am going to look at them one by one to make sure that they work for america and we can afford them. i have to tell you, i want to be very careful -- when you pay for something by borrowing money from places like china, you have to ask, is this really essential to be spent? i am going to be very careful, very careful in how we spend our money, and my priority is to care for americans and preserve our freedoms and be able to stand up and defend ourselves and our friends around a war. thank you. yes, sir. [inaudible] >> i want to thank new hampshire for being so welcoming. >> if they had known you're not from here -- [laughter] >> [unintelligible] more than anything else, but we need a president right now -- my brother took your side [inaudible] herman cain is having a surge in the polls. i would like to give you a chance -- [laughter] >> herman cain is a terrific guy. give him a good look. i am not going to convince you that my private sector experience is better than his. i will tell you what i did and then you can look it his background and experience and make that decision. the key thing is that both herman and i spent our careers in the private sector. so i think that is one of the reasons both of us are doing pretty well in terms of public support, because we have not spent our lives entirely in politics. we do understand how the economy works. by virtue of that, people are saying let's let someone as -- let's elect someone as president to know something about the economy and about jobs and how we compete internationally. my experience was this. i finish my education. i went to work in a consulting firm. i thought, i did not know what a consulting firm was when i came out of college, but after my advanced degree, i understood. we would go to companies like ford motor company or like cvs and we would provide advice on how to make it more successful. i did that for 10 years and worked up to be the head of that enterprise. it now has 25 offices around world providing advice to people all over the world. i learned how to compete around the world in various industries that i consulted to. then i got one of my clients -- what did you go out and put your money where your mouth is? start your own business. so i did. that business called bain capital is one of the world's most successful in starting businesses and also in buying businesses in trouble trying to make them better and more successful. i did that for 15 years. it is one of the largest and most successful -- and by the way, in my party we celebrate success. we do not attack success, we celebrated. and it was successful. [applause] and then after i had done that, i got asked by the people in utah if i would go and take the reins of the olympics because they were in trouble and see if i could turn around those games. we are able to do that because i had done that in the private sector. then i was asked to come back and run for governor of massachusetts. that was interesting, because i took private sector experience and applied it in government in that work. i was able to find ways to use my skills in the public sector setting. that is something that, if i were herman, i would wish that i had that, too. you do not want to necessarily learn that for the first time as the president of the united states. we have our own experiences. he is a great guy. vote for either one of us and you will be happy. >> on second amendment rights? >> i believe in the second amendment. i like the constitution. i love all the amendments. i will preserve and protect the right of an individual to bear arms, whether for hunting or personal protection or any other legal purpose. that is my own view. thank you. yes, sir. >> median income is down 10%, but corporations are turning bigger profits than ever. >> some of them. >> with the protests on wall street, a top 1% of americans, compared to the 99%, though well crap is growing -- the wealth gap is growing. do you have any plan or idea how to close that gap? >> i do not worry about the top 1%. i did not stay up at night figuring out how to help them. they are doing just fine by themselves. i worry about the 99% in america. i want america to be the best place to be middle-class. i want a strong and vibrant and prosperous middle class. i understand how those people feel. with median income down 10%, with unemployment at nine%, with the president running to keep unemployment below 8% if we let him borrow almost a trillion dollars and then having failed to do so, with chronic unemployment worse even than during the great depression, the people in this country are upset. and i understand americans saying, what is going on? this was not the deal. how can this be? a lot of people are looking for the answer. the answer is to make america the best place in the world for all those companies and entrepreneurs and people with that empire spirit in their purpose to invest and grow here and i go elsewhere. -- not to go elsewhere. putting walls around the country, that will not work. money goes over walls. wire transfers anywhere, people will invest where they think is best. we need to make america the best place to build factories, to hire people, to educate people, and to live. i have put together a plan to get the economy going again. and it is not two or three things, but you will laugh, it has 59 steps that i will take. but to get the economy right again, we will fundamentally change the relationship between governments and citizens. we have to crack down on those who do not follow the rules. one of them by the way is china. i have seven things that i would -- [applause] i have seven major topics and one of them is trade. it is a good thing to be able to sell what we made to other people. that has to happen. we are productive nation that can compete with anyone. but china chiefs and they have -- china keeps, and they have -- cheats, and they have been cheating for years and they are killing our jobs and our employers by doing so. on day one, on day one, i will file -- through executive order, i will label china as a currency manipulator allowing us to cut -- put tariffs on their goods that are coming into our country and killing jobs. if we will have to get serious about china. thank you. please come in here, in the blacktop. >> [inaudible] >> i think the ideal setting to raise a child for a society like ours is between a man and woman in the marriage. i think as a society, we are wise to encourage marriage between a man and a woman for the purpose of raising our kids. [applause] >> yes, sir. >> about debt reduction. the american people favor a combination of increased taxes and reduction in spending. my understanding is that you do not want to increase taxes. can you discuss to us why you do not want to increase taxes in a combination of spending cuts and increased taxes to reduce the debt? >> if goes back to the scale of government. a few of us remember john f. kennedy. he was in your political memory. i am one of those. when john f. kennedy was president of the united states, government at our level -- all levels, it consumed 27% of the total u.s. economy. that is how big government was very today consumes 37%. -- today it consumes 37%. and today they want to raise taxes a little bit more. i have seen that movie before. i have seen it in california where they raise taxes higher and higher and their income tax in california at the highest level is 10.5%. and they're still not able to balance the budget. they just need a little bit more. government will spend whatever you give them and then some. my view is to not take more of the money of the american people. let's talk about living within the means that have already been provided to you. the other challenge is if you take money away from people, it now government can use it, except those people could also use it. what would they use it for? in some cases, the start businesses to open shops, hire people, or buy stuff. in which case, they would put people to work. and you take away from those people and give it a government which is putting in place another stimulus program.