1、The Second Presidential DebateThe Second Presidential DebateFollowing is a transcript of the second presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama in Nashville, as recorded by CQ Transcriptions:BROKAW: Good evening from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Im Tom Brokaw of
2、NBC News. And welcome to this second presidential debate, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.Tonights debate is the only one with a town hall format. The Gallup Organization chose 80 uncommitted voters from the Nashville area to be here with us tonight. And earlier today, each of th
3、em gave me a copy of their question for the candidates.From all of these questions - and from tens of thousands submitted online - I have selected a long list of excellent questions on domestic and foreign policy.Neither the commission nor the candidates have seen the questions. And although we wont
4、 be able to get to all of them tonight, we should have a wide-ranging discussion one month before the election.Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to a common question, and there will be a one-minute follow-up. The audience here in the hall has agreed to be polite, and attentive, no chee
5、ring or outbursts. Those of you at home, of course, are not so constrained.The only exception in the hall is right now, as it is my privilege to introduce the candidates, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator John McCain of Arizona.Gentlemen?(APPLAUSE)Gentlemen, we want to get underway immedi
6、ately, if we can. Since you last met at Ole Miss 12 days ago, the world has changed a great deal, and not for the better. We still dont know where the bottom is at this time.As you might expect, many of the questions that we have from here in the hall tonight and from online have to do with the Amer
7、ican economy and, in fact, with global economic conditions.I understand that you flipped a coin.And, Senator Obama, you will begin tonight. And were going to have our first question from over here in Section A from Alan Schaefer (ph).Alan (ph)?QUESTION: With the economy on the downturn and retired a
8、nd older citizens and workers losing their incomes, whats the fastest, most positive solution to bail these people out of the economic ruin?OBAMA: Well, Alan (ph), thank you very much for the question. I want to first, obviously, thank Belmont University, Tom, thank you, and to all of you who are pa
9、rticipating tonight and those of you who sent e-mail questions in.I think everybody knows now we are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. And a lot of you I think are worried about your jobs, your pensions, your retirement accounts, your ability to send your child or your grandc
10、hild to college.And I believe this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild, and prosperi
11、ty would rain down on all of us.It hasnt worked out that way. And so now weve got to take some decisive action.OBAMA: Now, step one was a rescue package that was passed last week. Weve got to make sure that works properly. And that means strong oversight, making sure that investors, taxpayers are ge
12、tting their money back and treated as investors.It means that we are cracking down on CEOs and making sure that theyre not getting bonuses or golden parachutes as a consequence of this package. And, in fact, we just found out that AIG (NYSE:AIG) , a company that got a bailout, just a week after they
13、 got help went on a $400,000 junket.And Ill tell you what, the Treasury should demand that money back and those executives should be fired. But thats only step one. The middle-class need a rescue package. And that means tax cuts for the middle-class.It means help for homeowners so that they can stay
14、 in their homes. It means that we are helping state and local governments set up road projects and bridge projects that keep people in their jobs.And then long-term weve got to fix our health care system, weve got to fix our energy system that is putting such an enormous burden on families. You need
15、 somebody working for you and youve got to have somebody in Washington who is thinking about the middle class and not just those who can afford to hire lobbyists.BROKAW: Senator McCain?MCCAIN: Well, thank you, Tom. Thank you, Belmont University. And Senator Obama, its good to be with you at a town h
16、all meeting.And, Alan (ph), thank you for your question. You go to the heart of Americas worries tonight. Americans are angry, theyre upset, and theyre a little fearful. Its our job to fix the problem.Now, I have a plan to fix this problem and it has got to do with energy independence. Weve got to s
17、top sending $700 billion a year to countries that dont want us very - like us very much. We have to keep Americans taxes low. All Americans taxes low. Lets not raise taxes on anybody today.We obviously have to stop this spending spree thats going on in Washington. Do you know that weve laid a $10 tr
18、illion debt on these young Americans who are here with us tonight, $500 billion of it we owe to China? Weve got to have a package of reforms and it has got to lead to reform prosperity and peace in the world. And I think that this problem has become so severe, as you know, that were going to have to
19、 do something about home values.You know that home values of retirees continues to decline and people are no longer able to afford their mortgage payments. As president of the United States, Alan, I would order the secretary of the treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in Americ
20、a and renegotiate at the new value of those homes - at the diminished value of those homes and let people be able to make those - be able to make those payments and stay in their homes.Is it expensive? Yes. But we all know, my friends, until we stabilize home values in America, were never going to s
21、tart turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy. And weve got to give some trust and confidence back to America.I know how the do that, my friends. And its my proposal, its not Senator Obamas proposal, its not President Bushs proposal. But I know how to get America working again, restor
22、e our economy and take care of working Americans. Thank you.BROKAW: Senator, we have one minute for a discussion here. Obviously the powers of the treasury secretary have been greatly expanded. The most powerful officer in the cabinet now. Hank Paulson says he wont stay on. Who do you have in mind t
23、o appoint to that very important post?Senator McCain?MCCAIN: Not you, Tom.(LAUGHTER)BROKAW: No, with good reason.MCCAIN: You know, thats a tough question and theres a lot of qualified Americans. But I think the first criteria, Tom, would have to be somebody who immediately Americans identify with, i
24、mmediately say, we can trust that individual.A supporter of Senator Obamas is Warren Buffett. He has already weighed in and helped stabilize some of the difficulties in the markets and with companies and corporations, institutions today.I like Meg Whitman, she knows what its like to be out there in
25、the marketplace. She knows how to create jobs. Meg Whitman was CEO of a company that started with 12 people and is now 1.3 million people in America make their living off eBay. (NASDAQ:EBAY) Maybe somebody here has done a little business with them.But the point is its going to have to be somebody wh
26、o inspires trust and confidence. Because the problem in America today to a large extent, Tom, is that we dont have trust and confidence in our institutions because of the corruption on Wall Street and the greed and excess and the cronyism in Washington, D.C.BROKAW: All right. Senator McCain - Senato
27、r Obama, who do you have in mind for treasury secretary?OBAMA: Well, Warren would be a pretty good choice - Warren Buffett, and Im pleased to have his support. But there are other folks out there. The key is making sure that the next treasury secretary understands that its not enough just to help th
28、ose at the top.Prosperity is not just going to trickle down. Weve got to help the middle class.OBAMA: And weve - you know, Senator McCain and I have some fundamental disagreements on the economy, starting with Senator McCains statement earlier that he thought the fundamentals of the economy were sou
29、nd.Part of the problem here is that for many of you, wages and incomes have flat-lined. For many of you, it is getting harder and harder to save, harder and harder to retire.And thats why, for example, on tax policy, what I want to do is provide a middle class tax cut to 95 percent of working Americ
30、ans, those who are working two jobs, people who are not spending enough time with their kids, because they are struggling to make ends meet.Senator McCain is right that weve got to stabilize housing prices. But underlying that is loss of jobs and loss of income. Thats something that the next treasur
31、y secretary is going to have to work on.BROKAW: Senator Obama, thank you very much.May I remind both of you, if I can, that were operating under rules that you signed off on and when we have a discussion, it really is to be confined within about a minute or so.Were going to go now, Senator McCain, t
32、o the next question from you from the hall here, and it comes from Oliver Clark (ph), who is over here in section F.Oliver?QUESTION: Well, Senators, through this economic crisis, most of the people that I know have had a difficult time. And through this bailout package, I was wondering what it is thats going to actually help those people out.MCCAIN: Well, thank you, Oliver, and thats an excellent question, because as you just described it, bailout, when I believe that its rescue, because - because of the greed and exces
