Oct. 9 Republican debate transcript

Participants: Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS); Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee; Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA); Senator John McCain (R-AZ); Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX); Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney; Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Ca); Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson

Moderators: Chris Matthews, MSNBC; Maria Bartiromo, CNBC; John Harwood, CNBC; Gerald Seib, Wall Street Journal

Location: Ford Community and Performing Arts Center Dearborn, Michigan

Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Chris Matthews: And good evening from me. I'm Chris Matthews of MSNBC. Joining Marie (sic) and me in questioning the presidential hopefuls this evening will be John Harwood, chief Washington correspondent for CNBC, and Gerry Seib of the Wall Street Journal.

We have a lot of ground to cover today, so in the interest of time, let's get right to it. Maria.

Maria Bartiromo: Okay, Chris.

Senator Thompson, this is your first debate in the election. We welcome you --

Fred Thompson: Thank you.

Bartiromo: -- and we kick it off with you.

Thompson: Thank you.

Bartiromo: The economy is America's greatest strength. In a recent poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, two-thirds of the American people said that we are either in a recession or headed toward one. Do you agree with that? And as president, what will you do to ensure economic vibrancy in this country?

Thompson: I think there is no reason to believe that we're headed for a recession. We're enjoying 22 quarters of successive economic growth that started in 2001, and then further in 2003 with the tax cuts that we put in place. We're enjoying low inflation. We're enjoying low unemployment. The stock market seems to be doing pretty well. I see no reason to believe we're headed for -- (pause) -- for economic downturn.

As far as the economic prosperity of the future is concerned, I think it's a different story. I think if you look at the short term, it's rosy. I think if you look at a 10-year projection, it's rosy. But we are spending money we do not have.

We are on a mandatory spending lockdown that is pushing us in a direction that is unsustainable. We're spending the money of future generations and those yet to be born. That has to do with our mandatory spending problem. Everyone knows that we have to address that, and it's the fundamental and foremost challenge, I think, facing our country economically.

Bartiromo: Senator, you've painted a very nice picture. The Dow and the S&P 500 today at new highs tonight, record numbers, and yet, two-thirds of the people surveyed said we are either in a recession or headed for one. Why the angst?

Thompson: Well, I think there are pockets in the economy. Certainly they're having difficulty. I think there are certainly those in Michigan that are having difficulty. I think you always find that in a vibrant, dynamic economy. I think that not enough has been done to tell what some call the greatest story never told, and that is that we are enjoying a period of growth right now, and we should acknowledge what got us there and continue those same policies on into the future.

Bartiromo: Governor Romney, here in Detroit, Michigan, alone, one in every 29 homes went into foreclosure in the first six months of the year. Whose job is it to fix this problem, the government or private enterprise?

Mitt Romney: It's everybody's job. It's inexcusable that Michigan is undergoing a one-state recession, that the rest of the country is growing and seeing low levels of unemployment, but Michigan is seeing ongoing high levels of unemployment, almost twice the national rate. Industry is shrinking here, jobs are going away.

This is just unacceptable, and therefore, everyone's going to have to come together to solve the problem. And that means from the president's standpoint, the president's going to have to stand up and say: You know what? -- to the auto industry -- the door's always open. We're going to work with you and make sure that you have a listening hear and someone who will participate with labor and with management.

Number two, we're going to make sure that we invest in technology and research -- a lot of that relating to energy, fuels; automotive research like material science to help boost Michigan once again. We're going to have to fix the schools; as Newt Gingrich pointed out, 22 percent of Detroit kids don't -- or excuse me -- 22 percent graduate from high school. That's unacceptable. We're also going to have to do a better job keeping our taxes down. Jennifer Granholm has made a big mistake by raising taxes. I was, frankly, a little nervous to -- by being here tonight. I figured that she was going to put a tax on the debate before we got finished. (Laughter, applause, cheers.)

And we're going to have to go work, as well, to make sure that there's a level playing field around the world as we compete, to make sure that American goods are pushing into other markets; that goods coming overseas aren't getting an advantage as they do now with embedded taxes. There's a lot we can do to strengthen Michigan.

And in some respects, what Michigan is seeing the entire nation is going to see unless we take action now to get Michigan stronger.