Transcript: Read the Full Text of the Fourth Republican

Undercard Debate
time.com /4107675/transcript-read-the-full-text-of-the-fourth-republican-undercard-debate/
Ryan Teague Beckwith
More

Four Republican presidential candidates met for an undercard debate in Milwaukee, Wis., on the Fox
Business channel.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum
and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee all met for the fourth undercard debate.
The moderators were Trish Regan and Sandra Smith of Fox Business Network and Gerald Seib of the
Wall Street Journal.
Here is a complete transcript, courtesy of Fox Business.
REGAN: Good evening, and welcome to the historic Milwaukee Theater. Tonight, youll hear from 12
Republican candidates vying to become the next President of the United States. Im Trish Regan, along
with my co-moderators, Sandra Smith, and from the Wall Street Journal, Jerry Seib.
SEIB: This evening Fox Business is partnering with the Wall Street Journal to bring you the fourth
republican presidential debate of the 2016 campaign. For the next hour, four of the candidates will be here
answering the question voters want answered.
REGAN: Lets introduce them. New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie.
(APPLAUSE) (CHEERING)
REGAN: Former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee.
(APPLAUSE) (CHEERING)
REGAN: Former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick Santorum.
(APPLAUSE)
REGAN: And, Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal.
(APPLAUSE)
JINDAL: Thank you.
SMITH: Alright, this debate will last one hour. Each candidate will have up to 90 seconds to respond to
each question. One minute for each follow up. When your time is up, youre going to hear this bell.
(BELL SOUND)
SMITH: Alright, thats it, so lets begin with Governor Christie. Governor, economically, our country is

struggling with some of the anemic (ph) growth we have seen on record. More than 90 million Americans
are unemployed, or they are not in the workforce altogether.
The number of people now willing, able, and wanting to go to work is at a level that has fallen to a level we
have not been since the 1970s. For those that are working, wages arent budging while other things,
costs, like housing, remain high.
As President, what concrete steps will you take to get America back to work.
CHRISTIE: Well, first I want to share a story with you that relates to your question. I was in New
Hampshire last week, and a woman approached me after the town hall meeting and she said to me,
Governor, Im really concerned.
I said, What are your concerns?
And, she said, I dont quite how to describe it, she said. But, every month when my bills come in, I feel
this awful anxiety in the pit of my stomach that Im not going to have enough to pay them that month.
There are tens of millions of Americans living that way after the worst recovery from an economic
recession since World War II. And, lets be clear, if we do not change course, if we follow the Presidents
lead, and thats exactly what Secretary Clinton will do, were going to be in the same circumstance with
government picking the winners and losers.
So, let me be clear about what well do. First, Make the tax code fairer, flatter, and simplier. Get rid of all the
special interest deductions. You know, the American people feel like the tax code is rigged for the rich, and
you know why they feel that way? Because it is.
Well get rid of all those special interest deductions except for the home mortgage interest deduction, and
the charitable contribution deduction. Everyone will get lower rates, keep more of their own money, be able
to file their tax returns in 15 minutes, and, by the way, the good thing, Ill be able to fire a whole bunch of
IRS agents once we do that.
(APPLAUSE)
And, in addition, we need to get the government off of our backs. Dodd-Frank, all the different regulations,
81,000 pages of new regulation by this administration just last year it is suffocating small business, it is
suffocating the folks who are trying to make a living. I will do what I did in New Jersey
(BELL RINGING)
lift if off their backs.
(APPLAUSE)
SMITH: Thank you. Governor Huckabee, were here Wisconsin, a state that has seen the biggest decline
in middle-class households of any American state. With more than 120,000 manufacturing jobs being lost
in the last 15 years. As we move away from a manufacturing economy to a services based, technological
economy, how are you going to help the millions of Americans that are stuck in this transition?
HUCKABEE: Well, first of all, Trish, I dont know why we have to move away from manufacturing. The only
reason we have is because
(APPLAUSE)
we have a tax code that has punished manufacturing. I hear a lot of people talk about the plans to

simplify the tax code. Ive got one better than any of the simplifications, its called a, Fair Tax, and it
eliminates all of the taxes on our productivity.
Heres what would happen. Wed get rid of taxes on peoples work, so, we wouldnt punish people for
working anymore. Yeah, weve lost five million manufacturing jobs just since the year 2000 160,000
manufacturing plants have close in this country, which means a lot of people that the governors talking
about, hes exactly right. They dont have jobs anymore.
And the reason they dont have jobs is because their jobs are in Mexico, theyre in China, theyre in
Indonesia.
Bring the jobs back. And with the fair tax, you do that, because you dont tax capital and labor and you
bring a real sense of equity to the opportunity so that people will not only make it easier to function, theyll
get the manufacturing jobs back.
And heres the best part. We dont reduce the IRS, we get rid of the IRS. We completely eliminate them
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: because the government has no business knowing how much money we make and how
we made it. Its none of their business. And thats why I believe that manufacturing is critical. If we cant
feed ourselves, fuel ourselves and fight for ourselves, we cant be free.
And by the way, fighting for ourselves means manufacturing our own weapons of self-defense.
REGAN: Thank you, Governor Huckabee.
(APPLAUSE)
SEIB: Senator Santorum, youre all obviously highly critical of President Obamas economic record. But
federal statistics show that payrolls have expanded by 8.7 million new jobs so far during his time in office.
All the jobs lost in the recession were recovered by last year. And in October, the economy added jobs at
the fastest rate since 2009.
So whats wrong with the Obama jobs record?
SANTORUM: The middle of America is hollowing out. All you have to do is listen to the last Democratic
debate and you would think there was a Republican president in office the way they complained about how
bad things are in America and how the middle the middle of America is hollowing out.
I agree with Mike Huckabee. I spent this morning in Chicago at Fabtech, which is a sheet manufac a
sheet metal fabricators conference. Thousands of people there explained the latest and newest
technologies.
You know what I was told?
I was told when I went to booth after booth that there are 250,000 welder jobs open in America 250,000
welder jobs paying anywhere from $50,000 to $70,000 a year, and if you want to weld pipe on a, you know,
for oil and gas pipelines, you can make $100,000 a year.
Every manufacturer I go to one every single week. In fact, I have with me in the in the crowd here
today a gentleman who is a supporter of mine from Rockwall, Texas, Ed Grand-Lienard. He runs Special
Products.

And he tells me he has jobs open in every skill that he he he could possibly hire for in Rockwall,
Texas, but he cant find people.
So the issue is, yes, we need a tax code. I I propose a 20 percent flat tax 20 percent on corporations,
20 percent on on individuals, full expensing, which will be powerful for manufacturing, a 0 percent rate,
initially, for manufacturers.
Were going to have a very powerful tax code. Were going to do something about regulation. Were going
to suspected every single ObamaCare regu Obama regulation that cost over $100,000 to the economy.
But we have to start doing something about training and employing people who are sitting on the sidelines
because they dont see a path. And we have a a bureaucracy in Washington and a president in
Washington and even among Republicans who think everybody has to go to college. People need to go
to work and we need to provide
(BUZZER NOISE)
SANTORUM: opportunities for them to go to work out of high school.
(APPLAUSE)
REGAN: All right, Governor Jindal, you have pushed Louisianas energy resources as a means to grow
jobs in your state. But as oil prices have plunged in recent months, so has jobs growth.
Louisiana now has an unemployment rate above the national average.
Will your energy-focused jobs plan for the country be subject to the same market ups and downs?
JINDAL: A couple of things.
In Louisiana, were actually a top 10 state for job growth. As we sit here today, we have more people
working in Louisiana than ever before, earning a higher income than ever before. Weve had 60 months in
a row of consecutive job growth in our state.
So the reality is, we have diversified our economy. Yes, Ive got an interview plan that says all of the
above, that creates good manufacturing jobs in America. Weve also got one of the fastest growing IT
sectors by percentage. We are growing Louisianas economy.
But let me get to the point that is, I think, the most important issue here tonight. Youre going to have
several hours of debate on the economy and were going to have a great discussion about energy plans
and tax rates. And thats all great.
The most important thing we have to do, we have a fundamental choice to make, folks.
Are we willing to cut the government economy so we can grow the American economy?
That is the most fundamental question weve got to answer.
We are on the path to socialism right now.
(APPLAUSE)
JINDAL: These are mutually exclusive. The hour is late, but it is not too late for America.
Though under President Obama, you asked about his economy. Weve got record dependents, a record

number of Americans on food stamps, record low participation rate in the work force.
This is a fundamental choice. Sending a big government Republican to DC is not enough to fix this
problem. Its not enough just to beat Hillary Clinton. Weve got to change the direction of our country.
What that means is lets shrink the government, not slow its growth rate, but actually shrink the
government so we can grow the American economy. That is the fundamental issue we should be debating
here tonight.
REGAN: All right, Governor Jindal, thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
REGAN: Governor Christie, you have said that the Democrats message is one of, quote, free stuff. In
contrast, Republicans want to reduce spending. How do you win a national election when the Democrats
are offering free health care, a free or subsidized college education, and youre the party that is seemingly
offering nothing in the way of immediate tangible benefits?
CHRISTIE: Yes, sure.
(LAUGHTER)
CHRISTIE: If anybody believes the stuff they heard from that Democratic debate a few weeks ago, theres
nothing for free. What they forgot to tell was that theyre going to raise your tax rates to 70 or 80 percent in
order to provide all of that stuff.
But let me ask the folks at home one very simple question, do you want to give Washington more control
over your life? Do you think theyre doing such a great job that now lets have them control what our
corporations pay their employees? Lets have them control every aspect of our economy?
Is Washington doing that good a job for you right now? And the fact is that if you listen to Hillary Clinton,
she has made it very clear, she believes that she can make decisions for you better than you can make
them for yourself.
She believes that Washington, D.C., should pick the winners and losers in our economy, and in our life.
And heres what I believe as a Republican, I believe the greatness of America is not in its government.
The greatness of America is in the American people. And what we need to do is get the government the
hell out of the way and let the American people win once again.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
REGAN: Senator Santorum, a single mom with no job and two kids in New Hampshire, home of the first in
the nation primary, is eligible for more than $30,000 a year in benefits. Even if she could find a job, she
would need to find child care. And in many cases may conclude its better for her to live off government
benefits.
Senator, how do you help and incentivize her to go to work? And if youre the one thats going to cut her
benefits, why should she vote for you?
SANTORUM: Well, the answer is first that we need to do something about a tax code that doesnt
penalize. One thing that Im excited about our tax code, proposed changes, is its very pro-family.
You have a $2,700 tax credit, period, for every person in that family, so that family, you know, would have
about an $8,000 tax credit, which would be refundable. So every dollar she works, shes still only losing 20

cents.
The problem with the tax code today, because of all the different provisions, youre right, you go back to
work, you lose welfare benefits, youre losing money. Throw on top of that the even a bigger problem,
over 50 percent of children being raised in a home today of a single mom are raised in a home where the
father is born father is (sic) living at the child the time the child is born.
Now what does that mean? That means we have incentivized people not to marry. Weve incentivized
people to cohabitate instead of not marry, why? Because mom will lose welfare benefits if she marries
father.
Its not just mom going back to work, but its mother and father marrying to form a more stable family for
that child to be raised in a two-parent family.
So weve got all sorts of really corrupt incentives that were put in place, well meaning by the left. But we
need to remove those. We need to remove those incentives. We need to adopt a tax code that says were
going to be pro-family and pro-work. And thats what well do.
(APPLAUSE)
SMITH: Thank you, Senator.
Governor Huckabee, you have characterized entitlement reform as both political and economic suicide.
Taxpayers currently spend more than $600 billion per year on social welfare programs, with the intended
goal of getting people back on their feet and working again.
Today a record number of Americans arent even looking for work. Are our social welfare programs, while
well-intended, creating a culture of dependency? If so, how will you fix it?
HUCKABEE: Well, Sandra, first of all, let me mention the fact that I think theres a big difference between
welfare programs and what some people call entitlements. Namely, Social Security and Medicare.
I just want to remind everybody out there who has ever had a paycheck, the government didnt ask you if
you wanted them to take money out of your check for Social Security and Medicare. They did that
involuntarily.
Those are not entitlements and thats not welfare. Thats an earned benefit. And by gosh, you paid for it.
And if the government screwed it up, you shouldnt have to pay the penalty because of an incompetent
government. Thats different than the social programs that weve spent $2 trillion on since the War on
Poverty began exactly 50 years ago this year.
Now the reason we still have so much poverty is because it was never designed to get people out of
poverty. It was designed to make sure that there was an industry of poverty, so that the people in the
poverty industry would have a lot of jobs. But the people who are poor havent been benefited. Having
grown up poor, I know a little something about it. Nobody who is poor wants to be. Thats a nonsense
statement and I hear it all the time. Well, poor people ought to work harder. Theyre working as hard as
they can, for gosh sake.
But the problem is the system keeps pushing them down because, if they work, then they get punished.
They lose all the benefits. When we did welfare reform in the 90s, you know what we did? We said youre
not going to lose everything at once. Theres not an arbitrary threshold. So as you move up the ladder from
work and training, youll actually always be better off than you were before. Thats the American way.
SMITH: Thank you, Governor.

SEIB: Governor Jindal, Republicans have now 32 of the nations 50 governor seats. But, even while youre
doing very well at the state level, you keep falling short nationally. Youve lost the popular vote in five of the
last six presidential elections. Are Democrats simply putting forward a better national economic message
than the one Republicans are offering? And what should Republicans do about it.
JINDAL: No, I think right now theres not much difference between the two parties. The reason we keep
losing nationally is we try to be cheaper versions of the Democratic party. What if the Republicans, what if
Republicans actually embraced our own principles? So I earlier said if you want bigger paychecks, you
want more jobs, you want less government dependence, youre going to have to cut government spending.
Heres the dirty little secret.
Youre going to hear a lot of Republicans tonight in this debate and the next one talk about cutting
government spending. Its going to sound great. Theres only one of us thats actually cut government
spending. Not two, theres one, and youre looking at him. Weve got four senators running. Theyve never
cut anything in D.C. They give these long speeches called filibusters, they pat themselves on the back,
nothing changes. When they go to relieve themselves their cause and the toilet get flushed at the same
time, and the American people lose.
Weve got a bunch of governors running, weve got seven current former governors running. Im the only
one that has cut government spending. Everybody else can talk about it. If they havent done it in their
state capitals, what makes them thank that what makes us think theyll do it if we send them to D.C.
Look, when politicians talk, we need to look at what they have done, not what they have said. Otherwise,
its a bunch of hot air. Weve cut our budget 26 percent. Record number of Louisianans working.
If Republicans want to win national elections, lets be conservatives, lets be Republicans, lets not be a
second version of the liberal party, lets cut government spending and grow the American economy.
SMITH: Do you have something to add, Governor?
HUCKABEE: Well, Id just like to respond, with all due respect to, to the Governor, to the state just south of
me, I would say that a lot of us have cut things. And during the recession of 2001 to 2003, when 91 percent
of our state budget was basically three things, educate, medicate and incarcerate, we ended up cutting 11
percent out of the state budget through that recession so we didnt have to go in and raise a bunch of
taxes, and there were people who thought we should.
So its just not accurate to say that nobody else up here has ever cut. I believe every governor has
probably had to make tough decisions. Im, Im guessing my colleague Governor Christie has, as Im
tossing him the ball like Arkansas did to Ol Miss the other day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why dont, why dont we
JINDAL: Wait, wait, wait. I want to respond. He has criticized something I said. I want to respond to that.
Mike, with all due respect, I admire your social views, I share many of those views, your record as
Governor tells a different story. Was your time as Governor spending in Arkansas went up 65 percent,
number of state workers went up 20 percent, the taxes for the average citizen went up 47 percent. Thats
not a record of cutting. Im saying weve actually cut. We reduced the size of our budget. So wanting to cut
is one thing, actually cutting is a different thing. Facts dont lie.
SMITH: All right. Lets, lets bring Governor Christie in next.
HUCKABEE: Sandra, before we get too far away, he specifically brought out some things about the record
that I need to correct.

SMITH: All right. Well, lets get the lets keep the conversation going. Lets bring Governor Christie in
here because were talking about national debt, climbing toward $19 trillion, Governor. Our federal
government employed nearly three million workers, our tax code is more than 74,000 pages long. If youre
elected President, Governor Christie, what concrete steps would you take to reduce the size of the federal
government?
CHRISTIE: First off, let me, let me just say this in response to this back and forth. For the people who are
out there right now, I want to guarantee you one thing real clearly. If you think that Mike Huckabee wont be
the kind of President who will cut back spending, or Chris Christie, or John Kasich, wait til you see what
Hillary Clinton will do to this country and how she will drown us in debt. She is the real adversary tonight
and wed better stay focused as Republicans on her.
Now Ive forward, I put forward an entitlement reform plan. We spend 71 cents of every dollar in America
on entitlements and debt service, and if you know, Willy Sutton used to say, when they asked him why
he robbed banks, he said thats cause thats where the money is, OK?
And where the money is in the federal government are these entitlement programs and debt service.
What Ive said is we need to get a hold of that. We cannot continue to go down the $19 trillion in debt.
So our plan will save over $1 trillion over the next 10 years and make sure that Social Security and
Medicare are there for those who truly need it and also make sure that we have money to be able to
reduce taxes and spend on the things we need to spend.
I will also, on my first day as as president, sign a executive order that says no more regulation for the
next 120 days by any government agency or department. We are drowning in regulations. Stop and then
well go out there and well cut and reduce regulation that small business owners across this country want
us to do.
Youll grow the economy then. More money will come into the system and well get more closer to balance.
But the bottom line is, believe me, Hillary Clintons coming for your wallet, everybody. Dont worry about
Huckabee or Jindal, worry about her.
(APPLAUSE)
REGAN: Governor Christie, thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
REGAN: All right, we are just getting started.
Medicare, Social Security and the future of ObamaCare that is all straight ahead, live from Milwaukee
and the Republican presidential debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
(APPLAUSE)
REGAN: Welcome back to the Milwaukee Theatre, and the Republican Presidential Debate. On to the next
round of questions, Gerry has the next question.
SEIB: Senator Santorum, were in the Upper-Midwest, heart of the American auto industry. The Auto

Alliance says the state of Wisconsin, where we are tonight, is home to 176 auto supplier companies. Back
in 2008, you opposed the use of federal bailout funds for automakers as proposed then by the Bush
administration. The automakers survived. In retrospect, do you still think that was the right position.
SANTORUM: Absolutely. Im a capitalist, not a corporatist. Im not someone who believes we should be
bailing out corporations whether their auto industries, or banks.
(APPLAUSE)
And, it is simply a matter that theres auto industry the auto industry would have survived, it would have
survived through a bankruptcy process of instead of Washington picking a winner and a loser. And, in
this case, the losers are the bondholders, and the winners were the unions. Thats fine. They did it, the
unions the unions survived. We we have not survived in continuing to grow manufacturing jobs. We
have a we have a president, and an economy right now, that is killing choking our ability to be able to
compete.
Im one of the few people up here who actually believes that we need a level playing field when it comes to
manufacturing. That means a good tax code, a good regulatory environment, low energy prices, better
opportunities for workers to get training, and, also, Im a supporter of the EXIM bank. Everybody else on
this stage, everybody else, I think, in the entire field, is opposed to it.
Why can you how can you come out and say Im for manufacturing when a majority of republican
congressmen and senators supported the EXIM bank because it means jobs for American workers here in
America. The fact is that weve seen already G.E. lose jobs here in America, and just move those jobs to
France and Hungary. We have a right as a country to compete with other countries that have export
financing.
Every major manufacturer, 60 countries, competes against America, wants to take our jobs, and we have
every Republican candidate you want to talk about communicating to workers here in Wisconsin?
(BELL RINGS)
Ask them why were tying one hand behind our back and saying go out and compete.
(APPLAUSE)
SEIB: Thank you, Senator Santorum.
REGAN: Governor Huckabee, you differ from many of your GOP opponents on the stage tonight over
accepting Syrian refugees into this country. You have said, We dont have an obligation to just open our
doors.
As the Islamic state continues to expand, slaughtering and crucifying Christians, including women and
children, refugees continue to flee their land by the thousands. Should America open its doors to accept
any refugees in this country? If so, how many?
HUCKABEE: Sandra, Ive been concerned that this administration has not done anything to help stop the
slaughter of Christians. We didnt help the Kurds, we said we would. But, the idea that were just going to
open our doors, and we have no idea who these people are what we do know is that only one out of five
of the so called, Syrian Refugees, who went into Europe were actually Syrian. Many of them, we had no
idea who they were. They werent Syrian.
Are we going to open the doors so that the ISIS people will come on in, and well give them a place to say,
and a good sandwich, and medical benefits? My gosh, we have $19 trillion dollars in debt, we cant even

afford to take care of Americans.

So
(APPLAUSE)
If were going to do something for the Syrians
(APPLAUSE)
lets find out who they really are, and the ones that are really in danger, lets help build an encampment
for them, but closer to where they live, rather than bringing them here when they dont know the language,
the culture and, frankly, if weve got as many homeless people as we have, Im not sure this makes any
sense.
So, lets do it where we can best help them. Send them some food. But, lets ask the Saudis to step up.
Im really tired of Americans being the only ones asked to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to charity,
and, quite frankly, my number one concern right now is taking care of the fact that Americans are taking it
in the gut without jobs. Many of them working two and three part time jobs. And, if America wants to do
something great, lets get our economy growing again, stabilize the dollar, and well be in a much better
position to help people around the world.
REGAN: Alright, Governor Huckabee, thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
SMITH: Governor Christie, China is stealing our technology. China is pirating our intellectual property, and
Chinas hacking into our computers, spying on American corporations, and spying on our citizens. China
also slaps tariffs on U.S. goods, making it harder for us to sell our products. How are you going to stop
them?
CHRISTIE: Well, lets start with this, remember why were in the position were in with China, because an
absolutely weak and feckless foreign policy that was engineered by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Thats why were in the position were in
(APPLAUSE)
CHRISTIE: because (INAUDIBLE) the Chinese
(APPLAUSE)
CHRISTIE: the Chinese dont take us seriously and why should they?
Why should they?
They hacked into the American governments personnel file and took millions of records in cyberwarfare
against this country. Im one of the victims of that hack. They took my Social Security number, my
fingerprints as a former United States attorney that was on file in there.
And what has this president done?
Not one thing.
Let me be really clear about what I would do.

If the Chinese commit cyberwarfare against us, they are going to see cyberwarfare like they have never
seen before. And that is a closed society in China
(APPLAUSE)
CHRISTIE: where theyre hiding information from their own people. The information we take, well make
sure all the Chinese people see it. Then theyll have some real fun in Beijing when we start showing them
how theyre spending their money in China.
(APPLAUSE)
CHRISTIE: And one last thing.
One last thing. I will tell you this, theyre building those artificial islands in the South China Sea and the
president wont up until recently, wouldnt sail a ship within 12 miles or fly a plane over it. Ill tell you this,
the first thing Ill do with the Chinese is Ill throw Ill fly Air Force One over those islands. Theyll know we
mean business.
(APPLAUSE)
SEIB: Governor Jindal, theres a new trade deal the Obama administration has completed with 11 other
Pacific nations. The U.S. Trade Representatives office says that deal will cut 18,000 different tariffs on
American goods sent to the Pacific and will cut tariffs on goods made in your state of Louisiana by as
much as 40 percent.
Even a skeptical about a skeptic about this deal, now that the details are public, are you going to be for
it?
JINDAL: I was absolutely a skeptic of giving this president more power. He negotiated a bad deal with
Iran. He breaks the law routinely. I dont know why Congress would want to concede more authority to him.
Look, this trade deal is 6,000 pages long. Unlike ObamaCare, I think we should read it before we decide
whether we would vote for it or not vote for it.
(APPLAUSE)
JINDAL: I am for trade deals, but I want to make sure they are fair trade deals.
I want to come back to something that Chris had said earlier. Look, I absolutely agree weve got to beat
Hillary Clinton. But just sending any Republican is not good enough. Weve had a Republican majority in
the Senate and the House.
What has changed?
If we send another big government Republican to the White House, we will not do enough to fix what is
wrong in this country.
Chris, I think records matter. I think the way we govern matter.
Under your leadership in New Jersey, your budget has gone up 15 percent. Its gone down 26 percent in
Louisiana.
It has gone up $5 million in New Jersey. Its gone down $9 billion in Louisiana. In New Jersey, youve had
nine credit downgrades, setting a record. Weve had eight credit upgrades in Louisiana.

My point is this. If politicians say theyre going to be conservative, they say theyre going to cut spending
but they dont do it, why should we send them to DC?
It gets harder, not easier, when we send them to DC. Lets not be a second liberal party. Lets actually cut
government spending. Lets grow the American economy. Lets not just beat Hillary, lets elect a
conservative to the White House, not just any Republican.
SEIB: Governor Christie?
(APPLAUSE)
CHRISTIE: Ill tell you, Gerry, its interesting, if you go to New Jersey, theyll call me lots of different things.
A liberal is not one of them. Um, and
(LAUGHTER)
CHRISTIE: I would say this. I have great respect for Bobbys record in Louisiana. I think hes been a
wonderful governor and I think hes provided outstanding leadership for that state and I respect him for
what hes done.
And I think that all of us deserve that same level of respect.
And my point is this. You know, the differences between me and Bobby Jindal, we can talk about those,
and obviously, Bobby wants to spent a lot of time tonight talking about that.
Ill tell you what I want to talk about. I want to talk about whats going to happen to this country if we have
another four years of Barack Obamas policies.
And by the way, it will be even worse, because Hillary Clinton is running so far to the left to treaty to catch
up to her socialist opponent, Bernie Sanders, its hard to even see her anymore.
The fact is the fact is that wed better be focused on it. And Ill tell you what Ill bring to the table, the fact
that Ive won in a blue state, that Ive won in a state that has 750,000 more Democrats than Republicans
(APPLAUSE)
CHRISTIE: that I won in a state for reelection after governing as a pro-life conservative
(BUZZER NOISE)
CHRISTIE: and got 61 percent of the vote. Thats the person you want on the stage prosecuting the
case against Hillary Clinton.
(APPLAUSE)
JINDAL: But wait a minute, records matter.
(APPLAUSE)
JINDAL: Records records matter. Yes, weve got to
CHRISTIE: I dont
JINDAL: beat Hillary Clinton. But Chris, its also true that you expanded food stamps at a time that
weve got record numbers of Americans on food stamps. Its also true you caved into ObamaCare. You
expanded Medicaid.

Weve got a choice in front of us. This is an important debate. This is not about comparing Louisiana to
New Jersey or Bobby to Chris. This is an important debate for the American people.
This is supposed to be an economics debate. Lets have a debate.
Do we want to grow government or do we want to grow the American economy? Do we want to grow
dependence on government, or do we want to grow good paying jobs in the private sector
SMITH: Alright
JINDAL: you dont grow the economy by putting more people on food stamps, more people in Medicaid,
you grow the economy by cutting government, cutting spending. Thats what weve done in Louisiana, you
havent done that in New Jersey
CHRISTIE: ..Let me
SEIB: Guys
JINDAL: We need a conservative, not a big government republican in D.C.
SEIB: Governor Christie
CHRISTIE: Let me just
SEIB: last word, briefly
CHRISTIE: Sure.
(APPLAUSE)
CHRISTIE: Its interesting. I complimented Bobby, imagine how much time hed want if I actually criticized
him.
(LAUGHTER)
CHRISTIE: You know, the fact is, hes done done a nice job down in Louisiana, and I dont have any
problem with the job hes done. Ive cut spending $2 billion dollars, except for our pension and health care
in New Jersey, which was driven predominantly by Obamacare. We have reduce the number of
employees we have on the state payroll by 15%, but, you know what? The people out there dont care
about any of that.
You know what they care about? They care about whos going to be able to beat Hillary Clinton
(BELL RINGING)
Whos going to keep their eye on the ball? Im going to keep my eye on the ball.
(CROSSTALK)
SEIB: Thank you both, Governors.
(APPLAUSE)
REGAN: Next question to you, Governor

JINDAL: This is how we.

REGAN: Next question to you, Governor
JINDAL: This is how we move our country forward, look, this is not about between me and Chris
HUCKABEE: Id like to get that opportunity to go
JINDAL: This is about
(CROSSTALK)
JINDAL: are we going to be the party
REGAN: let me get in
(CROSSTALK)
REGAN: Let me get in here, because the next question, its to you, and its on Obamacare. It is still
unpopular with the American people. Youve seen the polls, theyve shown nearly half the country still
opposes this law. You have been critical of your GOP opponents, some of them standing on the stage
tonight, others later. Notably, Ted Cruz, for not having comprehensive plans.
You say you do. What specifically makes your plan to replace Obamacare better than the opponents,
some of them standing next to you.
JINDAL: Well, look, only one other opponent, actually, one other candidate, actually, has a plan. Thats Jeb
Bush, and he creates a new entitlement program. My plan actually gets rid of all of Obamacare, its great
that Senator Cruz will shut down the government over Obamacare, but he still hasnt given us his plan to
get rid of it. Its great that other republicans talk about getting rid of it.
You go to a town hall in Iowa, or New Hampshire, ask them how theyre actually going to get rid of it my
plan has been online for over a year. It gets rid of all of Obamacare, it reduces the cost. It actually puts
Americans, their patients, their doctors back in control. And, it actually helps those that really need this
help but, this is one of the most critical issues we face domestically.
I think I look, right now, I think I am the only candidate running that refused to expand Medicaid. Im the
only one that turned down that did what we could to fight Obamacare. This is an important point, and,
look, I appreciate Chriss nice compliments to me. And, Chris, you look to me very well, I love Mary-pat, but
this isnt about me and Chris. This is about the country, and this is about what direction this is the most
important election in our lifetimes.
Folks, a couple of years ago they told us give them the republican majorities in the House and the Senate,
theyd stop Obamacare, and amnesty, and the bad Iran deal nothing changed. If they fooled us once,
shame on them. If they fooled us twice, shame on us. Dont let them fool us again.
Chris, look, Ill give you your ribbon for participation, and a juicebox, but in the real world, its about
results
(AUDIENCE REACTION)
but, in the real world its about results. Its about actually cutting government spending, not just talking
about cutting government spending.
REGAN: Governor Jindal, thank you.

CHRISTIE: Yeah, listen. We stopped Obamacare in New Jersey because we refused to participate in the
federal exchange. But, heres the bigger issue. What do you thinks going to happen when Hillary Clintons
elected president of the United States? The woman who tried to impose healthcare on this country over 20
years ago? And, she was stopped then by a strong group of republicans, and an American public that said,
No, thank you.
What she will do what she will do is move us towards a single payer system. She will completely
nationalize the federal health care system. Thats what she wanted to do 20 years ago, and I guarantee
you thats what shell do if you give her the keys to the White House one more time.
"