BIDEN: I will not make that happen. I do think that, in this moment of economic pain and strain, that we should be eliminating interest on the debts that are accumulated, number one. And, number two, I'm prepared to write off the $10,000 debt, but not $50,000.
I take issue with what everybody says about the division. The nation is not divided. You go out there and take a look and talk to people, you have fringes on both ends, but it's not nearly as divided as we make it out to be. There's so many things that we agree on that we don't focus enough on. And that's because we don't just condemn the things that are so obviously wrong that everybody agrees on. We have to be more decent and treat people with respect and just decency.
BIDEN: Sure, I've benefited just because I don't have to go through what my black brothers and sisters have had to go through, #1. But #2, growing up in Scranton, we're used to guys who look down their nose at us. People who look at us and think that we're suckers; they think that we're not equivalent to them. "If you didn't have a college degree, you must be stupid." If in fact, you didn't get to go to an Ivy school. Well, I tell you, it bothered me. When you guys started talking on television about Biden, "if he wins, he'll be the first person without an Ivy League degree to be elected president." I think, "who the hell makes you think I have to have an Ivy League degree to be president?" Guys like me, were the first in my family to go to college.
BIDEN: I think COVID safety is a problem no matter where people are if they don't have masks on. The context of praising people who protest peacefully, is--there was a question of right to speak, not to loot, not to burn, not to do anything that causes damage. The right to speak out makes sense, but there is a big difference between people walking, moving along, and people sitting down cheek to jowl, shoulder to shoulder, a thousand of them breathing on one another indoors.
BIDEN: I've condemned every form of violence, no matter what the source is. It is simply wrong to engage the military, in dealing with domestic unrest as a consequence of people protesting. We can take care of this. It can be taken care of-- we took care of in our administration. There's no need to escalate this.
BIDEN: I have laid out in detail what I'll do, and I'm going to see to it that I said we get to a net zero power grid by 2035. No president can [instantly] turn around and change what we're doing. We're going to get to net zero emissions by the year 2050 before. In the meantime, there's so much we can do and still make it better for people. We're going to invest in close to a trillion dollars over time in the near time for infrastructure. We're going to build green infrastructure. For example, I propose that we spend $100 billion on making sure our schools have the right the right ventilation, [to ensure that] your schools, in fact, are safe. Making sure schools are in a position where they are not generating the use of more energy. We're going to build back buildings that vastly cut down on the amount of fossil fuels that we use.
BIDEN: Yes, I do. I do. In addition to that, right now [there are] thousands of uncapped wells because a lot of companies have gone out of business, whether they're gas or oil facilities. We can put to work right away 250,000 people from iron workers and other disciplines, making union wages. Capping those wells that are leaking methane and their danger to the community.
Q: You said you won't ban fracking but did you wanted to gradually move away from it ultimately. Why should it fracking continue at all?
BIDEN: Well, fracking has to continue because we have transition, we're going to get to net zero emissions by 2050. And we'll get to net zero power admissions by 2035. But there's no rationale to eliminate right now fracking, number one. Number two, those jobs are out there, whether it's an iron worker, or a steel worker.
BIDEN: Oh, I don't think it's too much. Now, I have my own deal. I've laid it out in great detail. [The Green New Deal] was the Democratic Party's adopted platform. It requires for us to move in a direction to fundamentally change the way in which we deal with environment. I'm the guy that ran the Recovery Act which invested over $90 billion in bringing down the cost of renewable energy. So it's now more competitive than it is for coal, or for oil, or for gas. And by the way, before I actually went through the whole thing. I sat down with every one of the major unions, they all endorsed me. And I said, "look, this is good. It's not only good for the environment, it's going to provide jobs and you're not going to lose your jobs. Not producing the same energy producing different kind of energy."
BIDEN: On regulation that relates to fertilizer and water tables: In Delaware, we have a $4 billion poultry industry, and all the manure, a consequence of chickens, is polluting the Chesapeake Bay. We've invested a lot of money, and we found out you can pelletize this and take out the methane, so you can use that fertilizer without the damage that was being done before. The same way with horse manure and cow manure and pig manure. And we can create thousands of jobs in rural America as a consequence of setting up these small industries within communities. That's the way you'll be able to continue to farm without worrying about whether or not you're polluting, & be in a position where you're able to make money by what you do in the transition as well as be able to grow more.
BIDEN: Two ways. Number one, we should provide for your ability to make a lot more money, as farmers, by dealing with you being able to put land in land banks, and you get paid to do that to provide for more open space and provide for the ability of you to be able to be in a position that we are going to pay you for planting certain crops that in fact absorb carbon from the air. That's part of what my plan relates to, in terms of agriculture and the environment. But if you are talking about regulation that relates to fertilizer and water tables, that's a different thing [and requires regulation].
BIDEN: Putin knows me; the reason he doesn't want me as president: he knows I mean it [when I say that Russia] attempting to interfere with our election is a violation of our sovereignty. I don't mean war. But they'll pay a price. They'll pay a price for it, and it'll be an economic price. I've made it clear, early on, there will be a price to pay. And if it's done again, which it appears to be being done, there will be a price to pay.
Q: Can you be more specific? What is the price to pay?
BIDEN: It wouldn't be prudent for me to be more specific. But I assure you, they will pay a price.
Q: Do you believe Russia is an enemy?
BIDEN: I believe Russia is an opponent. I really do. Putin's overwhelming objective is to break up NATO, to fundamentally alter the circumstance in Europe, so he doesn't have to face an entire NATO contingent, any one country he is stronger than.
BIDEN: I believe Russia is an opponent.
Q: Do you view China as an opponent? The President says you've been too cozy with China, too accepting of them in the international community.
BIDEN: I'm not that guy. We now have a larger trade deficit than we've ever had with China. [Trump in a negative way] keeps going on about the World Trade Organization; they just ruled that his trade policy violated [WTO rules with its tariffs on China]. In our Administration, when the WTO [was dealing with China], we sued. We went to the World Trade Organization 16 times, 16 times.
Q: Do you view China as an opponent?
BIDEN: I view China as a competitor.
Q: Competitor?
BIDEN: A serious competitor. That's why, I think, we have to strengthen our relationships and our alliances in Asia. As you may recall, when I was in China, I said to Xi, "We're going to abide by international norms. That's what we're going to do and insist that they do."
BIDEN: I would make it clear, just as we did in our Administration, that when they use state-owned enterprises, which is what they're doing, state-owned enterprises, to undercut the price that they can charge, to be able to come and compete with American manufacturing, that they would be denied that opportunity. I would also make it clear that if any of that is being purchased by any government agency, that we will not purchase anything that is not made in America, including the downriver line of what has to be done, all the parts.
Q: What would you do differently from President Trump?
BIDEN: You can't do where he's given a tax break to companies that go overseas, and then import the product back into the United States, even though their headquarters is here, the chain goes overseas, and they bring it back in cheaper, than you being able to produce it. I'm going to make sure that it's made in America.
Yes, it's true. Some examples:
BIDEN: One of the things we have to do is make sure that we investigate exactly what involvement there has been in our election and to protect against it. One of the things we have to do as well is provide the states with the wherewithal to be able to upgrade their [voting] lists, their machinery, and to make sure their encryption is safe for the voting rolls, and makes it more difficult to have cyber intrusions into anything that's being done. That requires money. There is a plan that's been put together in the Senate, by the Democrats, and I would push that plan. But it requires us to help states provide for the wherewithal to change the nature of the machinery. And I think we have to be able to be in a position where you have a paper ballot left after what happens with regard to the actual counting and the voting machine.
BIDEN: I would not throw into question the legitimacy of the election. I would make sure we have early voting, same day registration. And you're automatically registered once you become 18 years. And go to iwillvote.com to figure out when you're going to vote, where you're going to vote, what your polling place is, so you're ready, plan now.
BIDEN: We should have national standards laid so people can go to work safely. That requires us to have rapid testing, the protective gear, some Federal funding, particularly kids going back to school, making sure there's testing and tracing. There's a whole range of things we should have done. The President disregarded it. So there's a lot of empty chairs, and it's got to stop.
Q: Could you see a scenario where you downplayed critical information so as not to cause panic?
BIDEN: Not at all. If he had just acted one month, one week earlier, he would have saved 37,000 lives. But he knew it. He knew it and did nothing. It is close to criminal.
BIDEN: Wearing this mask is about making sure no one else gets sick. It's not to protect you so much is to make sure you don't infect someone else. I call that a patriotic requirement. Did you ever think you'd hear an Attorney General say that following the recommendations of the scientific community to save lives is equivalent to slavery. You lost freedom because you didn't act. Freedom to go to that ball game, the freedom of your kid to go to school, the freedom to see your mom or dad in the hospital.
BIDEN: First of all, in the middle of this pandemic, what is the President doing? He's in Federal Court--Federal Court trying to do away with the Affordable Care Act. What I would do is reinstate the Affordable Care Act and add a public option. So would go without being able to be covered for what they need. Healthcare is an absolute right.
BIDEN: The idea you're not making a minimum of $15.00 an hour is wrong. No one should have to work two jobs to get out of poverty. I view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue. All that Trump could see from Park Avenue is Wall Street. We have to make sure healthcare workers are paid a decent wage, and 15 bucks an hour isn't enough.
BIDEN: The idea you're not making a minimum of $15.00 an hour is wrong. No one should have to work two jobs to get out of poverty. I view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue. All that Trump could see from Park Avenue is Wall Street. We have to make sure healthcare workers are paid a decent wage, and 15 bucks an hour isn't enough.
BIDEN: The next President is going to inherit two things, a divided nation and a world in disarray. I was roundly criticized during the primaries: I plan to unite the nation. I'm running as a Democrat, but I'm going to be everyone's President. I'm not going to be a Democratic President. I'm going to be America's President. I have made my whole career based upon bringing people together and bringing the parties together. I've been relatively good at doing that. COOPER
Q: Do you think it's still possible to reach across the aisle?
BIDEN: Yes, I do. A group of Republicans said they're prepared to work with Joe Biden if he's elected. It was recently published, in "The Hill." I'm a Democrat, proud of it, but America's President.
Q: You think you can...
BIDEN: I'm confident I can. I'm confident that with President Trump out of the way, there are going to be Republicans who are ready to get things done.
BIDEN: Not at all. If he had just acted one month, one week earlier, he would have saved 37,000 lives. But he knew it. He knew it and did nothing. It is close to criminal.
We checked, and no, it's not even close to true. Rasmussen College published "U.S. Presidents with College Education: From Learners to Leaders," on 4/24/2013, including the following list. Of recent presidents, the list is split evenly into 8 Ivy Leaguers and 8 not:
BIDEN: Yes, I would. It's now public knowledge: I was opposed to the significant increase in our presence, at the time [of Obama's "surge"], in Afghanistan, and because I thought the only presence we should have is a counterterrorism presence, not a counterinsurgency presence. The idea that we're ever going to break up the counterinsurgency network in Western Pakistan is just not going to happen. But we have to be in a position where we can make it clear that if need be, we could respond to terrorist activities coming out of that region, directed toward the United States. It does not require a large force presence. We got that presence down to lower than it is now. This President is the one that has increased the number, not reduced the number.
BIDEN: I would restore all the cuts this president has made in the Affordable Care Act, across the board. I add what they call a public option, and that is a Medicare-like option. If you wanted to buy into that option or if you didn't have the money, you would be able to get it for free. So it's Medicare if you want it. If you qualify for Medicaid and you don't have it in your state, you're automatically enrolled. There is no waiting for anything.
Secondly, we make sure we reduce drug prices, as well, allowing Medicare to be able to negotiate with the drug companies the cost of drugs. And I would invest over $50 billion to focus on the diseases that cause the most damage and cost the most--cancer, Alzheimer's, and obesity.
We should have a department that says what we're going to do is spend the money needed that the drug companies are unwilling to spend or unable to spend to make sure that we find cures.
BIDEN: Barack knew my position. Back in 1963, my dad drove me [to a downtown city] and two well-dressed men kissed one another as I was opening the door. And I hadn't seen that before. And I looked at my dad, and he looked at me and said, "it's simple. They love each other. It's just basic. There is nothing complicated about it." That's how I was raised, for real. And Barack knew that. And he knew that if I was going to be a good boy until the administration moved unless I was asked--no one ever doubts I mean what I say. The problem is I sometimes say all that I mean.
BIDEN: We have to pass the Equality Act. That's important because it would change a whole range of things. This is a civil rights issue, protected by the Civil Rights Act, and we should focus on how to enforce that. My Justice Department will do that. Lastly, I think that it's important we start early and educate the population.
BIDEN: If I were president, you would not have to choose. The fact of the matter is transgender men and women should be able to do anything anybody else can do. There should be no difference.
BIDEN: In my State Department, we will have a special office that's devoted directly to promoting LGBTQ rights around the world. I would curtail aid to countries that engage in that kind of behavior.
Q: Saudi Arabia?
BIDEN: Saudi Arabia, same thing.
BIDEN: Under the Affordable Care Act, there is a provision that by 2021, it will be available to anyone who has insurance, and all will be eligible for insurance. It will be available and the insurance companies must pay for it.
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The above quotations are from 2020 Presidential Primary CNN Town Halls.
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