Transcript: I would ask America, “Why don’t you care more? Why don’t you care more about yourself personally?” Take care of yourself health-wise. You know, you only have one body. Why should you let your body get out of shape? You spend more time maintaining your car and your house. Why don’t you take care of yourself? And then, “Why don’t you take care of your family?” Why don’t you make sure that, you know, you do the best for your family? Be there for your wife or your husband. Be there for your children, and make sure your children know that they have to go into school; that they cannot really be the best they can be without an education. And then be involved in making sure that child gets that education. And then be involved with yourself and your business, your occupation, your profession. And if you don’t like what you’re doing, find another job. Make . . . make your life meaningful. Make your life, you know, be part of making yourself, your family, your community better. And that, it’s not tough. It’s not tough, but it’s common sense. And that’s what America’s gotta do. It’s gotta get back to basics. And you can’t be, you know, blaming the other guy. Every single one of us, it’s easy to blame somebody else. But the heavy lifting of good citizenship rests with each of us in our hearts, in our minds, and in our capabilities.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: If I was a benevolent dictator, I would want America and Americans to understand this country and to get involved. This is our government. I have so much difficulty with those pessimists; you know, the backbenchers . . . the ones that are always criticizing and blaming everybody. This is their country and they’re part of it! Don’t sit on the sidelines! Get out and support a candidate! I don’t care who the candidate is. I hope it’s me. Learn how to vote, you know? Keep your kids in school! They can’t do well without doing that. You know, you have a civic responsibility. You brought that child into this world. And whether you’re married or not married, you have a responsibility. Make sure that child gets an education. And make sure that child stays in school. And you Mr. and Mrs. Citizen of America, you have a responsibility. Don’t blame somebody else for your mistakes and your problems. You have to fess up that you’re part of this creation and part of this world. And you have to learn how to vote. And you have to vote . . . you have to participate in this great country we call America. And the only way we can do it is by all of us being involved. And every single one of us have a stake in how our country’s perceived internationally; how our country is doing domestically; and how we’re gonna become energy independent; how we’re gonna clean up the environment; how we’re gonna improve education; how we’re gonna transform healthcare; how we’re gonna win the peace in Iraq; and how we’re gonna develop better international relations. And every single person has got a stake in making this happen. I liken those people, you know, that are always on the backbenches, always criticizing you and me Tommy, as individuals who get up in the morning and eat grapefruit and suck lemons all day. I want people, you know, with a passion of doing good, of making America, you know, better! And make yourself better in the process. You know, do what is necessary to improve yourself and your family. And do what is better to improve your city, your state, and your government. You’re there . . . You’re on the earth for a short period of time. Make your time mean something.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: I . . . I wouldn’t go so far as to say “irresponsible”. Not well thought out. I think, you know, that we do have a . . . we do have one, because there was almost a 78% to 82% approval rating of the President of going to war and taking care of Saddam Hussein. Granted, we didn’t find the weapons of mass destruction, but we thought they were there. And it wasn’t just the Republicans. The Democrats did as well. It was prior administrations that thought that Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear capability. But the truth of the matter is they weren’t. But once you’re there, you’ve gotta be able to win that war and then have an exit strategy. We didn’t do that. We tried to do it on the cheap. You know, we tried to go in there and say, you know, “We can do this with 130,000 men and women. And we get in, and then we’ll decide when we get out.” We didn’t have . . . we didn’t do the upfront planning. So you know I fault a lot of us. I fault, you know, myself, because I was a part of the administration. I fault, you know, the Republicans and Democrats in Congress not having a better thought out plan. And I fault the Department of Defense. You know? They should’ve had a plan, you know, of going in there. Because they were told that there were just not enough forces to win the war and stabilize the peace. And we made lots of mistakes. And those mistakes, you know, it’s easy to look back and say, you know, we should’ve corrected them; but I don’t think we did enough upfront planning in order to carry out that war. But now we’re there. How do we get out of it? How do we stabilize the region? How do we win the peace?

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: He is a man of convictions. And people should give George W. Bush that credit. He is a very highly principled and highly passionate individual that believes in his cause. What I differ from the President is that he is too cloistered. You know, he is too isolated from, you know, talking to people and bringing in better ideas. And nothing is static in our world. And I think that’s where I differ with the President. The President can only see his way on the Iraq war, and there are . . . my way that I just laid out. There are other ideas out there. And he’s gotta bring in, you know, a tremendous transfusion of new people and new ideas to help advise him. The President cannot sit in the 1600 East Pennsylvania Avenue in his cloistered office and expect all of his decisions to be correct. He needs, like I did, with governor – I moved the Cabinet out into the dormitories on college campuses. I moved my own office as Secretary of Health and Human Services to every division in the department. I learned from that. I became a better Secretary. And where I differ from the President . . . I applaud him for his convictions; I question his advice that he’s getting from his inside circle of people. That circle needs to be expanded, and he needs better ideas coming from people outside of that circle.

I think his legacy is gonna be better than people are giving him credit for right now. I think a lot depends on the war on terror. I mean he’s taken on the war on terror. If he’s able to win the war on terror, or if he’s able to show the way to control terrorism in the future, I think the historians are gonna be kind to the President. If this war on terror gets worse or we can’t find solutions to it, I think the President’s history is not gonna be as bright.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: I think if we don’t do the steps that I’m asking people to do and really try and win that peace, it’s gonna be another Vietnam. America went in there, got beat, and split the American population – those that more for it and those that are against it. And we will not stabilize the Middle East. The Middle East is a tender box right now. You know, you’ve got Jordan. You’ve got Syria. You’ve got Lebanon. You’ve got Israel. You’ve got . . . You’ve got Hamaas and Hezbollah. And you’ve got Gaza on the West Bank. And then you’ve got the 800 pound gorilla. It’s Iran. What’s Iran gonna do? They’re building a nuclear power. And so you need it stabilized as much as possible. And I think the Democrats are making a big mistake by just cutting and running. You’re gonna have to have a stabilization force for a long period of time. And I don’t think they’re willing to accept that, but you’re gonna have to. And I think you’re gonna have to. . . and Republicans are gonna have to say there’s gotta be some changes, because the republic does not want continuation of the same old things and expect a different result. I think that’s the definition of insanity, is keeping doing the same thing and expect different results. And you’re not gonna have different results. And so you’ve gotta do something different. Do something like I’m advocating.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: And the second one, you know, we have to tear down this . . . this really animosity that the jihadists’ movement has against America. There’s people who hate America. And I have found that the best way to treat this severe hatred is build up a counter-force. And that’s through women and children and using medical diplomacy. I’ve traveled all over the world and I’ve been blessed by it. And I’ve had the opportunity in being Secretary of Health to see that there’s one common denominator: Whether you’re a Shiite, Sunni, Kurd, Hamaas, Hezbollah, Jewish member . . . everything revolves around how you’re gonna provide good health – good security, but good health for the family. And this is with women and children. And if you’re really able to tap into that, you’re gonna be able to start a movement across the world that’s gonna be basing themselves on good health conditions and good health for their family. And that’s what I wanna do through global medical diplomacy. And I’ve got a plan laid out, and really to develop that. And I think that is the kind of ideas and positive things that we have to do in this country to show the world that, you know, that we’re not this terrible country that’s trying to invade and be able to in any way change their way of life. We gotta show them that this is America; that we’re good, we’re positive, we’re strong, and we wanna protect you. And we wanna do what is right.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: And I would require the ________ government to vote. You know, they’re duly elected. Vote as to whether you “want the United States in our country”. We’ve been there for four years. We’re called invaders, and people that are there just, you know, to corrupt the system, and take over that system, and protect our interest in oil. But the truth of the matter is that is not why we’re there. I mean we’re not getting any of the oil out of Iraq whatsoever. And it’s cost us $8.5 billion dollars. So Iraq, you tell us whether or not you want us there, and tell us how we’re gonna win. And if you don’t want us there, vote that way and we’ll re-deploy our forces out of there over a period of time. And secondly elect state governments over the 18 territories that are there. And if you do that, the Shiites are gonna elect Shiites. Sunnis will elect Sunnis. Kurds will elect Kurds. You get rid of the civil war that’s been going on for 1,400 years and force the Shiites and Sunnis to live together that don’t like each other, you’re not gonna solve the civil war or bring peace! But if you have separate territories in which the Shiites elect a Shiite theocracy, Sunnis elect a Sunni theocracy, Kurds elect a Kurd theocracy, you’re gonna have an attraction for people of that religious . . . religious theocracy to move to those territories and get rid of the civil war.

And third, like we do in Alaska, split the oil revenues one-third to the federal government, one-third to the state governments, and one-third to every man, woman and child! And if you’re receiving a check from the government from those oil wells, you’re gonna make darn sure that they keep producing! Whether you’re Shiite, Sunni, or Kurd, that’s money in your pocket. And too, you’re gonna take that money and you’re gonna build businesses. You’re gonna build something with it, you know, for yourself and your family. Build a better tea house, a better gasoline station. You know, a shop that you’re gonna do it! And I’ve been there. I’ve seen the Iraqi people. They’re great entrepreneurs. They’re gonna use that money to better themselves, but in the same process build their country. And that’s how you win that peace over there and make Iraq a stable, Democratic country. It’s gonna be . . . It’s gonna be Shiite dominated, because the Shiites control most of . . . most of the territories. But Sunnis are gonna have their territories that they’re gonna feel comfortable with. And that’s how you win the peace. And I laid this out as an idea to solve the problems, and all you hear back is, you know, “Do you support the surge, or don’t you support the surge?” Either there or withdraw. Nobody’s laid out a plan like I have to win the peace. And that’s what differs . . . that’s what differentiates me from the other candidates. And I offer that as just one solution to the many that you’re talking about. And these are the big ideas that we have to do.

I would say number one, I would ask the ________ government to vote right now whether or not they want us there, and how they’re gonna . . . if they want us there, how they’re gonna help. If not, let’s redeploy. You know, over the next six months so you don’t do it dramatically so that everything goes wrong. Do it in a systematic, stable fashion.Two, I would make sure, like I’ve said, have the governments elect state governments and get rid of the civil war. There is a better way. I mean if the Shiites are in Shiite territories, they’re not gonna be so willing to blow up. And Sunnis . . . let’s be smart about it. I mean these territories have been set up since 1921. Let’s have elected officials and allow the Shiites and the Sunnis to have their own territories along with the Kurds. And you’re gonna stabilize that area much better. You’re never gonna be completely stable, but it’s gonna be much better than it is right now. And that’s what this . . . And then I would tell the American people, “This is what we need to do.” And you gotta trust. And this is my plan. We have no plan out there. You know, people are war-weary. People get very war weary in America. They did in Vietnam, and they did in the Second World War. And this has gone on longer now than the Second World War. So you gotta understand the fatigue of the people in this country. And you’ve gotta do something different than what has happened. And that’s what’s really frustrating people. They don’t see any change. They just see American men and women getting blown up, and shot, and wounded and killed. They want a . . . they want an end game. And as Collin Powell said . . . I adhere to what Collin Powell always said talking about going to war. Number one, have a reason to go to war. Number two, go with overwhelming might and superiority and win the war. And then three, have an exit strategy. I don’t think we did two and three.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: I see the fact that 9/11 changed all of our way of thinking. It made us realize that we are no longer an island in the world. It made us realize that we are part of this whole universe, much more so than ever before; that people can harm us; that some people don’t like us. Some people out there really despise America – our way of life, our value systems. And what we have to do is we have to show the rest of the world that our value systems and our beliefs are good; and that people may not want to adopt them, but they should look at them and try and emulate some of the greatness of America. And I believe, you know, the way forward is to do what I’m talking about. Medical diplomacy, winning the peace in Iraq. And you know, you’re never gonna solve this problem without really winning the peace in Iraq.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: The dynamism is right now! I mean we are living in the most expensive, exciting times of our life! I mean the mapping of the genome in 1998 set science completely apart from what it’s been for the last 200 years in America! There have been more medicines, more therapies, more results in the last five years since the mapping of the genome than ever before! There have been more new discoveries in the last five years than there has ever been in the last 50 years! Look at the computer! Look at IPod! And this is the exciting times. Can you imagine that 50 years ago, we were all still using land lines. I mean landline telephones are going the way of the dinosaur. We’ve don’t . . . we got Palm Pilots. We’ve got mobile phones, and they are changing dramatically. And we are dramatically changing the face of this world, you know, with science breakthroughs and with new types of technology. Up until the mapping of the genome, there were only 500 points in your body that scientists were looking at for cures, and for medicines, and for therapies. Since the mapping of the genome, that has gone from 500 points in your body to 14,000. And can you imagine what’s gonna take place in the next five to 10 years of coming up with remedies and solutions and so on? So I don’t agree with, you know, “The great times were in the past.” The great times are now! I don’t know anybody that wants to go back and give up their cell phones, their computers, their Palm Pilots, their IPods . . . you know, their GIS geographically finding on their cars. You know we can . . . we’re . . . we are discoverers in America . . . in the world. And so I think the time is right now. And this calling out for great leaders . . . this calling out for the Tom Jeffersons in us to come to the forefront and lead this country with new ideas and new opportunities and new visions. And I am just excited about what’s gonna take place tomorrow rather than what’s happened yesterday.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: Sure. It is doing good, and doing as little harm as possible. But looking at the overall good and finding ways in which you can make things better. I’m driven by . . . by results. I’m driven by ideas. And you know I think that is what is failing in American politics right now. Because right now we have . . . I’m a builder, and right now we have people who want to tear down. Democrats hate Republicans; Republicans hate Democrats; everybody hates the Independents. And nobody wants to cross over and say, you know, “Who cares who gets the results? Who cares who gets the credit? Let’s get the results, and let’s change the system for the better.” And that’s what drives me. I wanna . . . I wanna make the system stronger, be more healthy, and make things better tomorrow than they are today. And that’s what I think should drive every person that puts his name or her name on the ballot. They should be smitten with the passion to make things better for the people that elect them.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: Well I think . . . I don’t think there’s one. I think there’s probably four that stand out. The first thing, you know, that everybody knows me by is that I am the father of welfare reform. I wanted to help poor mothers in the state of Wisconsin – which turned out to be the country – to be able to have a better life. I just thought it was really sad that we’d send them a check and not expect anything from them . . . and never expected them to work. You can’t get out of poverty without having a job and being able to work, and being able to have the American dream. And I talked to them. I brought them in and had dinner with them. And I found that, you know, most welfare mothers had the same aspirations that everybody did. They wanted the best for themselves and their children. They may have had some mistakes. They may have had a lot of bad luck; but they wanted . . . they wanted to work. The vast majority of them. And I gave them the tools in order to do that. And that was . . . That was really the . . . sort of the major change in social policy in the last 50 years in America, and I started it over the kitchen table with welfare mothers talking to me how we could do a better job for them.

And then I did the same thing for private school of choice. I wanted poor children in the city of Milwaukee to be able to have an opportunity to choose the best school for them; that they would learn to stay in school, get a high school degree and be able to do whatever they wanted to do . . . to have their dreams.

And the third thing, I changed the state of Wisconsin from being a highly anti-business state to one that was very pro-business. And one that was really, you know, developing things for business community so they could create jobs. I wanted . . . I wanted businesses to feel like they had a chance to make it in Wisconsin. And with that, they had a . . . they had a concomitant responsibility to Wisconsin to create jobs for young people, and for people to have a good paying job. And that’s, you know, was economic revitalization, social revitalization, education revitalization.

And then I took on healthcare because I wanted poor people to have healthcare. I could never understand, you know, the philosophy of not having poor people to be covered. When I left the state of Wisconsin, I had reduced welfare caseload by 93% – more than any other state ever in America. I was able to start the only really progressive school of choice program for poor children – poor minority children in Milwaukee. I was able to . . . to help the business community create 800,000 jobs and was able to drop the unemployment down to 2%. And then I was able to get more people covered by health insurance so that we were the lowest in America as far as uninsured. I couldn’t understand, you know, having uninsured that end up going to an emergency ward, which is the most expensive healthcare . . . making sense out of that. It just didn’t to me. So I wanted to have poor people have healthcare so they could go and get their preventative tests and stay out of the hospital. It would save money and give them a better chance.

So actually, I’ve had four really cultural, conservative revolutions that . . . from my state that have made complete change. And then at the Department of Health and Human Services, I was able to get the Congress to pass, you know, pharmaceutical coverage Part D drug coverage for seniors. It was, you know . . . Democrats and Republicans had worked on it for 12 years before I became Secretary, and I was able to get it passed. Of course the President commissioned me to do that, and I had a lot of help from the White House. But the truth of the matter is it was the Department’s responsibility to get it passed and we did that. So I’ve had, you know, tremendous successes. And that’s what, you know, I think sets me apart from a lot of the candidates that are currently running for President.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: Well there are certain things, you know, that I live by. I first believe that you are elected by the people, and that you elected by all the people even though they all didn’t vote for you; and that you represent all the people. So no matter if you were my biggest opponent or biggest enemy, if you had a problem I was . . . I felt I was responsible of helping you solve that problem. And secondly, answer every telephone.Third, answer every letter. And most individuals in elected office don’t do that anymore. These are the kind of things that I was really, really very much involved in. I wanted people to understand that I expected them to write, and they expected that if they write to me, they should have a response. And if they call me, they definitely need to hear back from me. And so I was very open and requested that. And I also believe very much that a legislator or a governor should spend his time out amongst the people. I always got my best ideas from people. And you know, I’d be talking to people and something would click. I’d hear a problem and see a problem and wanna do it.Fourth, I always felt, you know, that people that really didn’t have much deserved the most of my time and support. And so I loved going into areas where people were really hard up and needed a lot of help. And I felt, you know, I could really bring, you know, some happiness to them if I was able to do something for them. And these are the kind of basic principles I lived by when I was elected, and I did the same thing when I was State Legislator, and when I was Governor, and when I was Secretary. When I was state legislator, I went to every community every single year in my state assembly district and met with the people whenever they wanted to. My wife, of course, had difficulties with that in having a young family. But then when governor, I did something that no other governor ever did. And now most governors follow through on something I started. I moved the government out of Madison – which is the capital city – to college towns and set up my whole Cabinet in college dormitories every single year . . . probably twice a year. So I forced my Cabinet officials to live in college dorms for a week! And then we went around that particular area all over the state of Wisconsin. People loved it! The Cabinet officials at the beginning thought it was pretty hokey, but they learned to like it! And then we were able to have a bonding. And the Cabinet officials really learned a great deal from each other and learned how to work together. So they were a much more efficient, effective Cabinet for me and for the people of the state of Wisconsin. And we learned the problems all over the state just weren’t isolated to what was brought to us in Madison. We went out and found things. And the other thing is when I was Secretary I did the same thing at Health and Human Services. I went out, and there were several divisions in the Department of Health and Human Services. I went out into each division and ran that division as the Division Head for a week at a time in every division. And no Secretary has ever done that before. No Secretary has done that since. But it really got me a . . . a learning experience about what was happening. And it made me a better Governor and a better Secretary. And that’s what . . . something that I like to tell people because I brought an opportunity for people to become close to me and bring me their problems. Because I want people, when I’m out there, to come to me with their ideas, and how they figure they can help me do a better job of running that particular agency.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: My mother always taught me, “Always say hello. Always have a smile on your face. And always be nice to people.” That was my mother’s way. She said . . . She was very outgoing and she was involved in everything in the community. Everybody knew my mother. My father was on the county board, so all the people from . . . from the city would come in on Friday night. The grocery store stayed open seven days a week in order to make a living for the family, and the business community would stop into the Thompson Grocery store on Friday evening and talk politics – local politics. And my father was on the county board. So they came in to talk about roads being . . . if they needed snow plowing or if they needed grading . . . upgrading. And they always came in and discussed those kind of current events with my father. And I was absolutely enthralled by these kind of Friday night meetings, and I think it really got me interested in politics at a local level; but more, it whetted my appetite to get involved in politics. And my father also had a saying. He said, “You have two ears and one mouth, Tommy. You use them in that proportion and you’ll get along just fine.” So my mother was the outgoing. My father was the more disciplinarian, and an individual that was much more on task. So I had the . . . I had the best of both worlds. I enjoyed life, but at the same time learned how to work very hard. And these are the kind of things, you know, that brought me, I think, to the forefront. Because all of my elections – every single one of my elections that I ran for – people said I couldn’t win. And I always outworked my opponent and always had a way of getting along with people. And people liked me. And so even though the political pundits said I couldn’t win when I ran for the state assembly at the age of 23 . . . the youngest person elected to the state legislature that year; and when I got elected as governor at the age of 43; and even when I went away to Washington everybody said, “It can’t be done.” And I always have been able to measure up and actually defy the political pundits and do well.

Recorded on: 7/6/07

Transcript: My name is Tommy G. Thompson. I am former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for four years, and former governor of the great state of Wisconsin for 14 years. So I’ve been in the elected officials and appointed positions of the highest levels of the federal government for the last 18 years. And I guess the easiest thing to call me is either “Tommy” or “Governor”.

I think you formulate all your really basic thoughts and premises and philosophies from where you come from, and from what your taught by your parents, and your siblings and your neighbors. And then also what you learn in your . . . in the school systems, both K-12 and university. I grew up in a small community – Elroy, as you know – population 1,500. Elroy is a community that is such that you know everybody in the community, they know you, you know the problems; but you also know how to help people. It’s a great learning experience. I think it’s a wonderful experience to grow up in a small town, in a small, rural farming community like I did. And I didn’t realize I was poor until I went away for university. My father had a small grocery store, and my mother was a school teacher as you said. And we also had a farm. And so I grew up on a farm as well as in the grocery store. My mother was Irish, and she was very compassionate and quite emotional. My father was more . . . more of a conservative and more of a hard-working German. And he believed that everybody should work. And so growing up, my job at the age of five . . . When I went in to see if I could buy a bicycle he said, “Sure. I’ll put you to work and you earn the money and you can buy it.” And so my first job at the age of five . . . now most people are still learning how to walk and talk. I was polishing eggs. Farmers would bring in eggs to trade at the grocery store for groceries, and I would have to sandpaper them and clean them. And to this day I have a very strong distaste for eggs. I think it was the fact that I’ve cleaned so many in my life and I’ve had so many explode on me. So I grew up there. And then I worked on the farm and I also worked in construction. And then I went away to the University of Wisconsin where I started my college career.

Recorded on: 7/6/07