Innovation Agenda | Barack Obama | Talks at Google

Another great day at Google. So I want to welcome everybody to the latest installment of candidates at Google. For those of you who don't know me, I'm David Drummond, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, the company's Chief Legal officer. I'm very pleased and distinctly honored here to welcome back to Google Senator Barack Obama. I say welcome back because for those of you who were around in the summer of 2004, you may remember a TGIF in which I joined Larry and Sergey on this stage and introduced to the assembled Googlers. Then Senate candidate Obama. And Barack had been in the Bay Area and he wanted to come down and see what we were up to here at Google, see what this Google thing was all about. And he had a great visit. He came and did the tour. He saw the geo display of search traffic, and he saw the servers and everything we had at Google. We sat down with Larry and Sergey. We had a great talk about innovation, about policy. And he later wrote about that in his book, the Audacity of Hope. And I know all of you have a copy of that. And all in all, a great visit. And, you know, while it was a fantastic visit, I now realize that we made a grave error that day at tgif. We didn't let him speak. So, ladies and gentlemen, today we are going to rectify that error. We are thrilled that Senator Obama has chosen Google to unveil his innovation agenda. And you're going to hear that today. And we're very, very excited about what that means for the country. And I think you will be, too. Following that, Eric's going to come up on the stage and do a Q and A with Senator Obama. And following that, you'll have your chance to ask your questions. So without anything further, please join me in giving an enormous Google welcome back to Senator Barack Obama.

Thanks.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. What a. What a wonderful reception. I am so grateful to all of you for showing such interest in taking the time to be here today. I want to thank Larry and Sergei and Eric and obviously David for helping to set this up. I am extremely grateful to all of them for their leadership and their friendship. And I also want to acknowledge State Senator Elaine Alquist who is here. This is her district. And since I used to be a state senator, I always want to give her her props. So it's wonderful to see her as well. So thank you. Well, it is wonderful to be back. As David said, I was here about three years ago and had just a wonderful visit. It was such a striking visit for me. It made such an impression that I ended up writing about it in my book. And so it's always good to be back in Mountain View. And it's good to see that Google is maintaining its strict dress code. When you stop to think about it, there is something improbable about this gathering. After all, it wasn't much more than a decade ago that Larry and Sergei got together in a dorm room as graduate students with a big idea to organize all of the world's information into an accessible form. And at the time, I was an Illinois state senator doing my best to help people get a better shot at their dreams. What we shared is a belief in changing the world from the bottom up, not the top down. That a bunch of that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. We shared that. And we also shared a bunch of student loans that still needed to be paid off. And you would have found it hard to predict that Larry and Sergei would now be the co founders of one of the most successful companies in recent history, and that I would be standing on this stage today as a candidate for President of the United States. But this is where our improbable journeys have led. This is where the moment finds us. And I'd like to say a few words about what I believe we have to do together to seize this moment with a sense of purpose and a sense of urgency. We know how the first chapters of the Google Story have turned out. After all, all of you have good jobs. But we also know that the Google Story is more than just being about the bottom line. It's about seeing what we can accomplish. When we believe in things that are unseen, when we take the measure of our changing times and we take action to shape them. And that's why we're here today. That's why many of you decided to work here instead of someplace else. Technology and innovation have reshaped our economy and our lives at breathtaking speed. America has been fighting to figure out how to tap this awesome new resource that we have, and Google has helped to show us the way. But this story is far from over. Google's story is far from over. The story of how we shape our changing times is far from over. What comes next depends on the choices and that we make right now. At this moment, in this election, we could see the spirit of innovation that started this company be stifled. We could see the Internet divided up to the highest bidders. We could see a government that uses technology to shut people out instead of letting them in. Tax breaks Shuffled to special interests while the next startup, the next Google, can't get a fair shot. Challenges like health care and energy that hold our country back while competition from other nations picks up. That's one alternative. Another alternative is for us to unlock a new future of opportunity. Together, we could open up the government and invite all citizens in, while connecting all of America to 21st century broadband. We could use technology to help achieve universal health care, to reach for a clean energy future, and to ensure that young Americans can compete and win in the global economy. If America recommits itself to science and innovation, then we can lead the world to a new future of productivity and prosperity. That's what we can do. If we seize this moment. That's the choice we face. And as president, I intend to work with you to write the next chapter in the story of American innovation. That's part of the reason why I'm running for President of the United States. To seize this moment, we have to ensure free and full exchange of information. And that starts with an open Internet. I will take. I will take a backseat to no one in my commitment to network neutrality. Because once providers start to privilege some applications or websites over others, then the smaller voices get squeezed out and we all lose. The Internet is perhaps the most open network in history, and we have to keep it that way. To seize this moment, we have to connect all of America to 21st century infrastructure. As president, I will set a goal of ensuring that every American has broadband access no matter where you live, no matter how much money you have or don't have. We will raise the standards for broadband speed. We will connect schools and libraries and hospitals, and we'll take on the special interests so that we can finally unleash the power of wireless spectrum for our safety, our security, and our connectivity. To seize this moment, we have to use technology to open up our democracy. It's no coincidence that one of the most secretive administrations in our history has favored special interests and pursued policies that could not stand up to the sunlight. As president, I'm going to change that. We will put government data online in universally accessible formats. I'll let citizens. I'll let citizens track federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and lobbying contracts. I'll let you participate in government forums, ask questions in real time, offer suggestions that will be reviewed before decisions are made, and let you comment on legislation before it is signed. And to ensure that every government agency is meeting 21st century standards, I will appoint the nation's first chief Technology Officer to coordinate and make certain that we are always at the forefront of technology and that we are incorporating it into every decision that we make. And if you want to know how I'll govern, just look at our campaign. We've received over 370,000 donations online, half of which have been under $25. Nearly 300,000Americans have their own accounts on BarackObama.com they've created. They've created thousands of grassroots groups. They've offered up over 15,000 policy ideas because we believe that real change can. Can only come from the bottom up. And technology empowers people to come together to make that change. Because at this moment, I think we have to do more than get our house in order. The opportunity in front of us is bigger than that. Seizing this opportunity is going to depend on more than what the government does or even what the technology sector does. It's going to depend on how, together, we harness technology to confront the biggest challenges that. That America faces. Just imagine what we could do. If we commit ourselves to electronic medical records, Then we can lift up the quality of health care and reduce error and dramatically lower costs. If we take on special interests and make aggressive investments in clean and renewable energy, like Google has done with solar here in Mountain View, then we can end our addiction to oil, create millions of jobs, and save the planet in the bargain. If we make technological literacy a fundamental part of education, then we can give our children the skills they need to compete and ensure the next generation of scientists and engineers is being educated right here in America. We can do this, but we can't wait. Because Silicon Valley is not the only corner of innovation in the world. If America doesn't seize this moment, then we will face only more competition from Dubai and Dublin, from Shanghai and Mubai. So instead of George Bush's policy of undermining science, I intend to double federal funding for basic research and make the R and D tax credit permanent. To keep. To keep the door open for the next generation of startups. I'll enforce tough antitrust laws. And to ensure that America continues to attract the world's best and brightest, we need comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens permanent resident visas, like the H1B program. We need to make sure that the next success story, the next Google, happens here in America. The Google story is about what can be achieved when we cultivate new ideas and keep the playing field level for new businesses. But it's also about not settling for what we've already achieved. It's about constantly raising the bar so that we're more competitive. And so we use technology to reach ever Expanding horizons. You know, the first time I was back here, in 2004, Larry showed me the image that tracks all the Internet searches taking place in the world. I wrote about this in my book. I saw the Earth rotating on a flat panel monitor with the different lights for different languages marking all the traffic on this wondrous network. A network that didn't even exist when almost all of us here were born. Almost. But what struck me wasn't the light on that globe. It was the darkness. Most of Africa, chunks of Asia, even parts of the United States. The disconnected corners of our interconnected world where the promise of the 21st century is being eclipsed by peril. You and I must not settle for anything less than an America that replaces that darkness with a new light. Because the promise and prosperity of a new economy must not be the property of the few. It must be a force that lifts up our entire country and ultimately lifts up the entire world. We have the privilege to live in a transformational moment. A moment when an idea can change the world. A moment when technology empowers us to come together as never before, while letting each of us reach for our own individual dreams. A moment when we can finally progress and move beyond the huge challenges that have stood in the way of progress for far too long. We cannot and we must not look back and regret that we settled for anything less. And that's why I'm asking you to join me in seizing this moment. I'm asking you to join me in changing the world. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Eric, come on up. Brilliant.

Brilliant.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator, for such a strong message about innovation. Thank you, Senator Obama, the product of a Kansas mother and a father from Kenya, born in Hawaii. Your history, of course. Columbia, Harvard, State Senator, now Senator running for president. Welcome to Google.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

When you see yourself in the presidency in 2008, 2009, and for many years, what is it that you're going to do that's exceptional? What is your fundamental reason why you think this company, this country, excuse me, is going to be. Is going to be a great country? And by the way, is this the.

Kind of interview that you guys went through?

And your book is really extraordinary. Its title is the Audacity of Hope.

Yeah. Well, Eric, first of all, thanks. Thanks for letting me be here. And the reason that book is called the Audacity of Hope is it captures an idea that got me into politics in the first place, which is that part of what has been great about America is there's a certain audacious quality, this belief that this ragtag bunch of revolutionaries can overthrow the greatest empire on Earth, start a government that we've never seen operate before, spread across a continent, create the greatest economy and the greatest democracy in our history, and then overcome barriers, both internal and external, that would prevent us from making progress. There's a certain confidence and boldness to the idea of America. And the reason I'm running for president right now, because oftentimes people ask me why. Now, if I waited 10 years, I'd still be younger than most of the other candidates. That's true, Is because I think we are at a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war. The planet is in peril. Ordinary Americans are working harder for less. They feel as if the dream the generations fought for is slowly slipping away. Their costs for everything from health care to college have gone up. They're finding it more difficult to save, difficult to retire, and they don't feel as if anybody in Washington is listening to them. And when I made the decision, I sat down with my wife and I asked myself three questions. One, could my family survive the rigors of a presidential campaign? And because my wife is exceptional and my children are above average, we have figured we could do, and they've been great. That's also true. The second question we asked was, could we win? And we determined that we could. But the third question was I asked myself the question you asked, because I think so much is at stake right now that running for president can't be about just ambition. This time. There's got to be a rationale. And what I concluded is I believe I can more effectively bring this country together to solve problems than any other candidate. And we have seen a gridlock where 45% of the country is on one side, 45% of the country is on the other. You've got 10% in the middle. They all live in Ohio and Florida, apparently. And so political contests just become beating down the other side and eking out a victory one way or the other. But you can't govern. And the problems we face, whether it's climate change or health care or our standing in the world, are so enormous that we have to govern. We have to make good decisions. So that's number one. Number two is I have taken on the special interests in the past and have won. And I've got an instinct, a bias, to push against the status quo, which I think is really needed right now because Washington has become captive of Special interests that are making decisions not based on reason, not based on competition, not based on innovation, but all too often based on who's got the most juice, who's got the most clout. And that has to change. And the third thing, and this is the last thing, is you mentioned my background. I was shaped by a new global perspective. I grew up in Hawaii, I lived in Indonesia. I have family all around the globe. And the damage that's been done over the last seven years in our standing in the world is so significant that we have to have the next president engage in a level of personal presidential diplomacy that I think is unmatched, at least since World War II. And I believe that the day I'm inaugurated, not only does the country look at itself differently, but the world looks at America differently. And I'm able to go to Africa and speak to them about development and problems of corruption and our obligations towards that continent. And I can say I've got a grandmother in a small African village without electricity or running water. So I have a level of credibility that no other president could match. If I go to a Muslim leader, I can speak to them. I can say I am a Christian, but I lived in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. And. And so I don't assume a clash of civilizations. I think that there is something we have in common that we can potentially build on. And I have a level of credibility that no other president has. That I think is what's going to be necessary to lead us out of the problems that we're in right now.

Now, Senator, you're here at Google, and I like to think of the presidency as a job interview. Now, it's hard to get a job as president and you're going through the rigors now. It's also hard to get a job at Google. We have questions and we ask our candidates questions. And this one is from Larry Schwimmer. What you guys think I'm kidding? It's right here. What is the most efficient way to sort a million 32 bit integers?

Well.

Maybe. I'm sorry, maybe.

No, no, no, no, no. I think that's not a. I think. I think the bubble sort would be the wrong way to go.

Come on, who told him this? Okay, I didn't see computer science.

We've got our spies in there.

Why not? Okay, let's ask a different interview question. Obviously more serious. You're not notable in this campaign for your steadfast opposition to the Iraq war on the assumption that you're elected president. On day one, you'll walk in and the war will probably still be on. And we know your view that the war was a mistake, but here it is. You're at the desk. What are you going to do?

We will call in. I will call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, my Secretary of State nominee, my National Security Advisor nominee, and they will have a new mission which is to end this war. And it appears, based on the advice that I've gotten from military commanders, that we can safely bring out one to two brigades per month. At that pace, we will have our combat troops out in 16 months. The only mission. We will not have permanent bases in Iraq and we will not have combat operations in Iraq. The only mission that I will allow will be to protect our embassy and our civilian personnel, diplomats, humanitarian workers, and we will have a narrowly targeted mission of if there are terrorist camps that are amassing in Iraq, that we have a strike capability. Now, it is important during those 16 months that we are redoubling our diplomatic efforts. The reason that it is so important, I believe, to start getting our troops out is because the Iraqi government has declined to negotiate with the various factions. The Sunni, the Shia, the Kurds have not come together and arrive at the political accommodations that are necessary to solve this problem. And we have not reached out to the regional powers, including Iran, Syria, so not just our friends, but also our enemies, to arrive at a workable and stable Iraq. And this is an argument that I've had with some of the other candidates, including Senator Clinton, in this race. And I think it's part of what signals a break from Bush, Cheney diplomacy, the willingness to speak to our adversaries. President Kennedy once said we should never negotiate out of fear, but we should never fear to negotiate. And the notion that not talking to leaders we don't like makes us look tough is fundamentally flawed. It makes us look arrogant. And it sends a message to the world that we're not listening. And if we change our diplomatic approach, led by me, the President of the United States, that I think will allow us to shift not just the situation in Iraq, but change the climate in the Middle east, around the world, it will give us more leverage then to deal with terrorist activity that's taking place in Afghanistan, in the border areas around Pakistan and elsewhere in the region.

Let's ask about. Let's ask about Iran, Guantanamo, Pakistan. Give us your sense as leader, what you would do with all of those issues.

I will talk to Iran directly. That does not mean that we will be conceding any positions with Iran. It Means that we will listen and see where we can find common ground. I think Iran is a grave threat to security. If they develop nuclear weapons, they could trigger another arms race in the Middle East. It is indisputable that they have assisted Hezbollah and Hamas in terrorist activity. And their language when it comes to Israel is unacceptable. But what is also true is that we have repeatedly rebuffed gestures that might allow for some resolution of these conflicts in a non military way. And so for us to say to them, you stand out on the nuclear issue and you may be able to join the World Trade Organization, you stop supporting terrorist activity. We are in a position to start normalizing relations. Having those conversations face to face are important. It may be Ahmadinejad rejects them, but it will send a message to the Iranian people that they are not our enemy. And it sends a message around the world that we are doing business differently. Sarkozy. President Sarkozy, I know you just met with Eric. He was quoted in the New Yorker a while back and he said he was asked what's the most important thing America could do to help you? And he said, be more liked. Be more liked. And he wasn't joking. Because when our standing is low, it gives us less leverage. We can't negotiate and maneuver. Many people are concerned, probably here about the genocide in Darfur. We would be in such a stronger position to ensure there was a protective force on the ground and to save people's lives if we had more credibility and more trust so that people, so that the Khartoum government couldn't say that, oh, we're just trying to invade another Muslim country. So that's on Iran. Pakistan is in a difficult situation right now. And in some ways we've got the worst of both worlds. We've got a military ruler who has locked up political opposition, instituted an emergency rule. So he's violating human rights in Pakistan. And he also has not dealt with terrorist activity inside his borders. We need to reverse course. I've already said that we should suspend military aid that's not related to directly to hunting down terrorists. We should suspend that until emergency rule is lifted and prisoners are released and they can proceed with what the constitution of Pakistan has called for. This is a mistake we repeatedly make. We think somehow, and we made this all throughout the Cold War. We think that by latching onto non democratic authoritarian rule, we somehow contain, in this case, Islamist extremism. It doesn't contain Islamist extremism. It makes people believe that somehow the United States is opposed to their liberty, opposed to their democracy. And that's not the side of history that we want to be on now. We have to make sure that the nuclear weapons in Pakistan are secure. And that has to be our number one priority and will be my number one priority as president. But understand Pakistan, the democratic elements in Pakistan. A big chunk of this movement is secular. It is middle class. And what they're seeking is for the kind of political liberty that we hope for. Last point, Guantanamo. That's easy. Close down Guantanamo. Restore habeas corpus, Say no to renditions, no to wireless wiretaps. My job as the next president is to break the fever of fear that has been exploited by this administration that we're told, We're told that we should be afraid of terrorists and immigrants and each other. And it becomes the means by which our civil liberties are subverted. Our values are distorted. We start hearing our attorney general nominee not being certain as to whether simulated drownings are torture. That's not who we are as Americans. And sometimes I'm accused of being this progressive. Far out. I'm conservative in the sense that I want us to get back to those values that were essential to building America.

Let's talk a little bit about America. And the America that you see today is one of extremes. And in your campaign, you've talked a lot about the people who are not the economic winners, the educational winners, whatever. And many people are responding very strongly and positively to that message. Take us through. What would be different? What are you going to do? How are you going to deal with the very serious economic problems, educational problems, societal problems that we face here in the United States?

Well, let's start with acknowledging that our economy is out of balance. We have seen extraordinary economic growth. And obviously Google is a symbol of one sector of our economy that's just been extraordinary, innovative, creative and lucrative. But there's a whole other part of America that has been left behind. If you look economically, all the growth over the last two decades has essentially been captured by not just the top 5%, but really the top 1%. And the average American workers wages and incomes have flatlined. They're not making progress and they feel anxious about it. And because they feel anxious about it, they are afraid of globalization. And that fear has been fed by our politics. Now, my strong belief is, is that globalization is here to stay and it is a powerful potential tool for good. But we've got to. But we have to make sure that everybody has the ability to access what's good about globalization. And right now, people are locked up. So very specifically, what would I do. I would transform our education system. And that means that we invest in early childhood education to close the achievement gap that exists right now. And that's not just prekindergarten. I mean, it's zero to three from the moment a child is born. If they're born to an at risk parent, we're going to that parent and we are helping them. If that parent can't read, we will teach the parent to read so they can read to their child, but make sure they're prepared for school. That's step number one in terms of K through 12. We know that the most important element other than the parent in the child's learning is the teacher. So I will be a president who stops talking about how great teachers are and actually starts rewarding them for being great by paying them more money. We need to pay them higher salaries. We have to give them more professional development, especially in their early years where they start. And we have to change how we assess progress for teachers because no Child Left behind has created a situation where people are being taught just to standardize, test. They're not being taught art, they're not being taught music. It is stifling for the teacher and for the student. Now we have to have high standards, but those standards have to build on what is best about the American education system, which is innovation and creativity. So that we have to take care of. We have to make college way more affordable. And one way I will immediately do that is get banks and financial institutions out of the business of providing student loans. You can take billions of dollars of profits with a direct loan program. So that's on the education front front. We have to make investments in broadband line and infrastructure so that we are competitive. There has to be lifelong learning available so that people can continually retrain. I mean, I will steal a phrase from, I think it was Tony Blair who said that we can't guarantee employment for everybody, but we can guarantee that everybody is employable. And that means that people have to be able to constantly transition in terms of their ability to adapt to new circumstances. And technology can play a critical role in that, but we've got to make sure that it's accessible and available to every person. And the last point I would make is that we've got to rebuild our social safety net that has not been adapted since fdr. So we've got to make sure that health care is available even when you lose your job, that you have a retirement account that follows you with the job. Part of the reason we're an innovative Society is that we've always felt that, you know, what if we take a risk and we make a misstep, that there's some cushion there for not just us, but for our families as well. And that's why universal health care is so important. That's why creating new systems to help people save is so important, so that we'll actually spur on people's willingness to take risks in the marketplace. Right now, they don't feel as if they're able to do so.

A couple final questions from me and then we'll ask some audience questions. I had the privilege. I was watching 60 Minutes and I saw an interview with yourself and your wife, Michelle, and there were a number of questions to you. And then they asked your wife and excuse, this is a relatively personal question. It's a question about race. How did she feel about race, the dangers of presidency and so forth. And she looked straight in the camera and she said, I worry more about my husband walking down the street in the Senate from the Senate than anything else. At that moment. I understood the gap in perception between people of racism in America. And it was made vivid to me how different her view. My view would be same question. Can you talk a little bit about that issue in America?

Absolutely. Look, W.E.B. du Bois said the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line. And if you expand that, the problem of the 21st century is the problem of the other people who are not like us, whether it's in religious terms. If you go to Sri Lanka, it's what's been fueling a vicious civil war there, even though everybody looks exactly the same, same in Northern Ireland, or it manifests itself in this country in racial terms. And it has always been a nagging problem. There have been reports just this week that African Americans feel more pessimistic than they have in a very long time. And there's statistics that bear out how they in fact, have not kept pace when it comes to economic growth in this country. The virulent anti immigrant sentiment that we're seeing all across the country is something that has been striking. I mean, just in the last two years, you've seen a shift where I fought for comprehensive immigration reform two years ago and we didn't succeed. But there wasn't this raw anger about it that you see now, even when I'm campaigning among Democrats sometimes. So part of what I believe I bring to this office is somebody who sees the world through a variety of different races. My mother was white, my father was African American. I grew up In Hawaii, I've got a sister who's half Indonesian. She's married to a Chinese Canadian.

Sounds like Google.

Yeah, yeah. Family would fit right in here, no doubt about it. But people talk about our federal budget deficit. We have an empathy deficit. We aren't able to, to see the world through other people's eyes. And that's what I think I can provide now, very concretely, what we need to do. When it comes to issues of race, I think a lot of the tensions are tied to economics. African Americans and Latinos are much more likely to be unemployed, employed in lower wage jobs, not have health care, be in substandard schools, drop out of school. So on every indicator, they're doing worse. And that contributes to that gap in perceptions that you're talking about, because the glass often looks half empty to a lot of African American and Latino children. And so part of our job in investing in early childhood education or making sure that they're going to outstanding schools, or ensuring equality of opportunity when it comes to employment, enforcing our civil rights laws, investigating crimes like nooses being hung in classrooms, all that contributes to a sense that these kids matter to us, that they're not those kids, they're our kids. And when we can have a culture of and a government that perceives every child as mattering, then they will respond differently. And I think we will start stitching together the kind of America that all of us hope and dream for.

Let's get a couple questions from the audience. I've also got a. Why don't you go ahead and I've also got some that were submitted that we also rank. So go ahead.

First of all, thank you so much for coming. Your words are really inspiring. I really appreciate it. You know, I've been voting for quite a few years. A little older than the average Googler.

And yeah, you know, you look like you might almost be my age, maybe a little older. Yeah.

And you know, Bill Clinton is the only Democrat elected in the last 30 years and he's the only Democrat elected twice since World War II.

Right.

I'm tired of losing.

Right.

So what, what have you learned from Clinton that is going to make you win? What are you going to do differently? And what have you learned from, from Gore and from Kerry and all those guys that you're going to avoid so that history doesn't reoccur?

Well, first of all, I think there is a lot of to learn from Bill Clinton. I mean, one of the things that Clinton did, I think, was recognize the moment we were in a particular moment in 1991, 92, when the Democrats had not wrung out the excesses of the 60s and early 70s, we were still deeply invested in identity politics, in interest group politics, and the Democratic Congress wasn't showing itself adaptable and shaking off some of the orthodoxies of the past. And he came in and he said, you know what, I'm a different kind of Democrat and I'm willing to do things in some new ways. And that was a powerful message for that moment. The reason I'm running and the reason I believe I'm going to win is because we are in a different moment. So you can't just copy what Bill Clinton did, but you have to take the same approach. What is it that's needed right now? And I believe that what's needed right now is the capacity to bring people together, to think in practical, reasoned ways about big problems that we face, to be straight with the American people and honest with them about the challenges that we face. So. So part of what our message is built around is that we are in this defining moment and we can't keep doing the same things that we've been doing that haven't been working. So that's point number one, what I've learned in terms of how Democrats lose. Democrats lose when they are not clear about what they stand for. Democrats lose when they are attacked and because they don't know where they stand, they end up getting defensive instead of going on the offensive. So let me give you a very specific example. I am looking forward to having a debate with whether it's Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney, about the fear mongering that has dominated the Republican debate of late, where they say I'm going to double Guantanamo or I'm going to, I think torture is okay, or at least we'll redefine torture. So torture is not okay. But these things that look an awful, like a lot like it are okay. Or we need to do whatever it takes to read people's emails. And I am looking forward to having that debate. The problem we have is when we get defensive and we're not sure about our beliefs and our convictions and so we start trying to sound a little bit like them. And that is a profound mistake. One of the things that my wife and I, we said to ourselves when we got into this race is if we start sounding like everybody else, then what's the point? I should go work for Google.

You answered the question, that'll be more fun.

And I did answer the question correctly. So making sure that we're clear about where we stand honest with the American people. Seizing the moment and recognizing that we have to deal with climate change now. We have to deal with health care now. We have to revamp our education system system now. We have to double our investment in research and science. Now, understanding that we don't have a lot of time to waste. That, I think is going to be a compelling message for the American people.

Thank you very much. Senator, we have an electronically submitted question dealing with federal deficit. What concrete steps will the Obama administration take to address the federal government's deficit and debt? What specific tax measures and or program changes will you recommend to Congress?

This has been the fiscally most irresponsible administration that we have seen. I mean, we have increased the national debt, almost doubled it since George Bush took office. It is now over $9 trillion. And that is money that we're all going to have to pay back. So the first thing that we have to do is to bring an end to this war in Iraq. We're spending $10 to $12 billion per month. The latest request for both Iraq and Afghanistan are $196 billion for next year. One year, $196 billion. That is money that could be providing health insurance to all Americans. It could be rebuilding our schools. It could be providing higher teacher salaries. It could be providing scholarships for every American young person who's going to college. So we are using our resources in a way that's not sound. We can recapture some of that money. Some of it will go to taking care of our veterans. Some of it should go to social programs. Some of it should go towards deficit reduction. Second principle. There's a very simple principle called paygo. If you want to cut taxes, you've got to cut spending. If you want to raise spending, you've got to raise revenue so that you have honest accounting. Right now, the federal budget is not honest. And unless we have good numbers, we can't end up dealing with this budget issue. Now, the biggest problem we have in terms of our budget, though long term, and look, I want to eliminate no bid contracts. I want to scrub the federal budget free of earmarks and pet projects that are not based on our national priorities and that requires transparency in government. I talked earlier about the power of technology. One of the things that we've done. You'll be pleased to know that we call this the Google for government bill.

And Google is in favor of it.

Yes. And what it does is we're going to set up a searchable database for every dollar of federal Spending so that we can track it, which means that we'll be able to journalists and ordinary citizens and think tanks and advocacy groups will be able to see if money is going to a bridge to nowhere instead of going to a bridge to somewhere. We'll be able to challenge it in real time. And that's going to be important. But the last thing I was going to mention, and this is probably the biggest problem we have with the federal budget, is health care spending. Medicare and Medicaid, that's the big budget buster. That's the scary thing out there. That will be like the blob. It will just consume everything unless we do something about it now. And again, technology is part of the answer and innovation is going to be part of the answer in reducing these costs. The reason that health care costs are skyrocketing, it's not so much that the population is getting older that contributes a little bit to it. But the main problem is health care inflation goes up 6, 8, 10% per year. It's unsustainable. And so, for example, if we use health it simple stuff, making sure that everybody's medical records are in a digital form so that when a nurse pulls up somebody's chart, they can actually read the writing and they're not administering the wrong drug, making sure that billing is all electronic, that can make a huge difference. Investing in prevention so that children are going getting regular checkups instead of having to go to the emergency room for treatable illnesses like asthma. That makes an enormous difference. That will probably be the biggest savings item for our federal budget if we do it right. And people like yourselves can be a part of that process.

Thank you, Ethan.

Thank you, Senator Obama, for coming to visit us. We're really pulling for you out here in the Bay Area.

Thank you.

I'm a big supporter and a vocal supporter. And the biggest issue that I constantly hear brought up about you is the lack of experience, the inexperience issue. And I hear it amongst my friends. You read about it in the press. I'm sure you've had to answer lots of questions about it without getting into. Frankly, I guess you can, but without getting into whether experience makes a difference or not. But what are you actually going to do to address this perceived weakness and allow a lot of voters that want to get behind you and want to support you to get past this issue of inexperience?

Right. Well, look, first of all, Sergei and Larry didn't have a lot of experience starting a Fortune 100 company. And it, I suppose when they came in and were talking to Dave Drummond about incorporating Google, he could have said, eh, these guys don't know what they're doing. But what we're looking for, I believe when it comes to leadership is judgment, vision, character. And that's what I bring to bear in this race. I have the experience of bringing people together to get things done that I would put up against any candidate in this race. When I was in Illinois, I expanded health care to Illinoisans by getting Democrats and Republicans to to agree and work together. We were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken by getting law enforcement and civil rights advocates to agree on things that people said were impossible. But I was able to get it done partly because I'm pretty good at listening to people and finding common ground. I've also got the ability to stand up for what I believe in, even when it's unpopular, which I think is the quality that the next president has to provide. I mean, part of the reason I was opposed to the war, I was opposed to the war in Iraq back in 2002 when George Bush was at 65%. I didn't just stumble into that. It was based on having thought through what the consequences would be. Understanding that I was running in a U.S. senate race and I might lose my race. But I thought that it was important to speak out forcefully on what I believed in. I think that's what the next president has to offer. And I know how to choose talent and get smart people around me who are capable and independent and bring together a variety of different points of views and then set a vision and move in the same direction. That more than anything is what we need. We're not looking for a chief operating officer when we select a president. What we're looking for is somebody who will say, will chart a course and say, here's where America needs to go. Here's how we need to solve our energy crisis. Here's how we need to revamp our education system and then gather the talent together and mobilize that talent to achieve that goal and to inspire a sense of hope and possibility. So one way to answer this question is to say, look, the guy has been in public service for 20 years. He's a constitutional law professor, he was a civil rights lawyer. He did X, Y and Z in the state legislature. He's done all these wonderful things in the United States Senate. But I think the main way to respond is to say this is all about judgment and character. And also I think, a little sense of impatience. Because part of the reason I'm running is I'm impatient with the status quo. And what we've seen out of Democrats and Republicans, What we've seen from Democrats and Republicans is a certain willingness to tolerate what I consider to be an intolerable status quo. And I think the American people feel that same frustration. Thank you.

Why don't we have our. We're going to have to have our. Unfortunately, our last question. So why don't you go ahead?

Senator, you said you had a bias to act against special interests. Yeah. But if special interests are having a perverting influence on the entire legislative process, what can you propose as president that can make it through that process intact? It's the classic question of how do you get insiders to fix a system that they're benefitting from? And it's hard. You have to use shame. No, And I mean that. I'll give you an example. Last year, I passed the toughest ethics reform legislation since water. And I worked with Russ Feingold. We eliminated corporate gifts or gifts from lobbyists, meals from lobbyists, corporate jets from lobbyists. We required the disclosure of campaign contributions that were bundled from lobbyists. And I'll be honest with you, when we first started, it wasn't just resistance from Republicans. There were Democrats who didn't want to see this happen either. But what I knew was that if you stuck with it and you got it to the floor where people had to vote, then it was going to be hard for them to vote against it. So part of the key for any reform is going to be getting the American people to pay enough attention that members of Congress start worrying, you know what, the American people are looking at us. And so we better change how we behave. That's why this Google for government is so important, because that's why transparency generally is so important in this entire process, because the more American people know, the more government is going to be held accountable. And I'll give you just one very specific example around health care. I mentioned that I want to set up a system where every American has health care that's at least as good as the health care I've got as a member of Congress. And if people want to, and if you're interested in the details of the health care plan, you can go to my website, barackobama.com but people ask me, well, why do you think you can get it done and overcome the insurance in the drug companies that spent a billion dollars over the last decade preventing reform from happening in lobbying and campaign contributions? And what I tell them is I respect what the Clintons tried to do in 1993 in moving health reform forward, but they made one really big mistake, and that is they took all their people and all their experts into a room and then they, they closed the door and they tried to design the plan in isolation from the American people. And during that period of time, the insurance companies and the drug companies and the HMOs, they mobilized. And by the time the Clintons announced their plan, you already had these Harry and Louise ads out. You guys don't remember this. You weren't born. Maybe I'm teasing, you were six. But these ads were out there that convinced the American people they should be afraid of health care reform. Now, I will do it entirely differently. Within the first hundred days of my administration, we are going to have a big table and everybody is going to be labor, employers, doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, patient advocate groups, the drug and insurance companies. They'll all get a seat at the table. They just won't get to buy every chair. And we will work on this process publicly. It will be on C Span, it will be streaming over the net. And every time we hit a glitch where somebody says, well, no, no, no, we can't lower drug prices because of the R and D costs that drug companies need, well, we'll will present data and facts that make it more difficult for people to carry the water of the special interests because it's public. And if they start running Harry and Louie's ads, I'll run my own ads or I'll send out something on YouTube. I'm president, I'll be able to. I'll let them know what the facts are. He'll One of the things that you learn when you're traveling and running for president is the American people at their core are decent people. There's a generosity of spirit there and there's common sense there, but it's not tact. And mainly people are. They're just misinformed or they are too busy. They're trying to get their kids to school, they're working. They just don't have enough information or to. They're not professionals at sorting out all the information that's out there. And so our political process gets skewed. But if you give them good information, their instincts are good and they will make good decisions. And the president has the bully pulpit to give them good information. And that's what we have to return to, is a government where the American people trust the information they're getting. And I'm really looking forward to doing that because I am a big believer in reason and. And facts and evidence and science and feedback. Everything that allows you to do what you do. That's what we should be doing in our government. I want people in technology. I want innovators and engineers and scientists like yourselves. I want you helping us make policy based on facts, based on reason. One of the favorite stories I have from Washington is Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He was a giant of the Senate and a very towering intellect, and he got in an argument one time with another senator, and the other senator apparently was losing the argument, and so he got kind of huffy, and he said, well, Pat, you know, you're entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine. And Moynihan says, you are entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts. Facts. And part of the problem that we're having and special interests exploit this is we constantly have a contest where facts don't matter. And I want to restore that sense of decisions being based on facts to the White House. And I think that many of you can help me, so I want you to be involved. Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you.

Thank you very much.