English version of the second debate of the 2012 US presidential electionSecond Presidential Debate in Hempstead NY October 16 2012 CANDY CROWLEYGood evening from Hofstra University in Hempstead New Y

I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I will have little chance to get employment. Can you tell me what you plan to do to help me and other students who are about to graduate?

ROMNEY: Thank you, Jeremy. I appreciate your question. And thank you for being here this evening and participating in this process. And congratulations on getting into college. That's a big deal. I know the President's been trying to do that for years. (Laughter.) He's still trying to get it done. But I care about this issue deeply because I'm someone who has lived in the world of business. I had the chance of starting a business from scratch and growing it. And I know what it takes to create jobs. And what it takes to create jobs is a strong economy, an economy that's based on the principles of free enterprise, that lets businesses thrive and grow. And that's what I'm going to do as President. We're going to make sure that we have trade that works for us, not against us; we're going to make sure that in our training programs, we're giving people the skills they need for the jobs of today; and when it comes to our tax code, we're going to make sure that anybody who wants to start a business, or grow an existing business, has the incentives to do so. But ultimately, to make sure that people have jobs, it's going to come down to something I've talked about for a long time, and that is we're going to have to have a President who can work across the aisle. I was in a state where my legislature was 87 percent Democrat. I learned how to get along on the other side of the aisle. We've got to do that in Washington. Republicans and Democrats both love America. But we need to have leadership -- leadership in Washington that will actually bring people together and get the job done and could not care less if -- if it's a Republican or a Democrat. I've done it before. I'll do it again.

CROWLEY: Mr. President, please respond directly to what the governor just said about trickle-down -- his trickle-down approach.

OBAMA: Well, let's talk about what we need to do. First, we've got to improve our education system and we've made enormous progress drawing on ideas both from Democrats and Republicans that are already starting to show gains in some of the toughest to deal with schools. We've got a program called Race to the Top that has prompted reforms in 46 states around the country, raising standards, improving how we train teachers. So now I want to hire another 100,000 new math and science teachers, and create 2 million more slots in our community colleges so that people can get trained for the jobs that are out there right now. And I want to make sure that we keep tuition low for our young people. When it comes to our tax code, Governor Romney and I both agree that our corporate tax rate is too high. So I want to lower it, particularly for manufacturing, taking it down to 25 percent. But I also want to close those loopholes that are giving incentives for companies that are shipping jobs overseas. I want to provide tax breaks for companies that are investing here in the United States. On energy, Governor Romney and I, we both agree that we've got to boost American energy production. And oil and natural gas production are higher than they've been in years. But I also believe that we've got to look at the energy sources of the future, like wind and solar and biofuels, and make those investments. So all of this is possible. Now, in order for us to do it, we do have to close our deficit, and one of the things I'm sure we'll be discussing tonight is how do we deal with our tax code, and how do we make sure that we are reducing spending in a responsible way, but also how do we have enough revenue to make those investments? And this is where there's a difference, because Governor Romney's central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut, on top of the extension of the Bush tax cuts, so that's another trillion dollars, and $2 trillion in additional military spending that the military hasn't asked for. That's $8 trillion. How we pay for that, reduce the deficit, and make the investments that we need to make without dumping those costs onto middle-class Americans I think is one of the central questions of this campaign