Jon Huntsman in State of Iowa Archives

On Budget & Economy: I'm gonna do for the US what I did for Utah

A: The plan you will find on our Web site; it is coming. We have been in the race only for a month and a half. But here's what I intend to do: I intend to do exactly what I did as governor of the state of Utah. We took a good state and we made it #1 in terms of job creation. If you want to know what I'm going to do, I'm going to do exactly what I did as governor. It's called leadership. It's called looking at how the free market system works. It's creating a competitive environment. We cut taxes historically. We didn't just cut them, we cut them historically. And we maintained our AAA bond rating. When you look at me and ask, what is that guy going to do? Look at what I did as governor. That is exactly what I'm going to do, and it's exactly what this country needs right now

On Budget & Economy: I stood up for debt ceiling increase and against default

BACHMANN: That we have to raise the debt ceiling and spend money that we don't have is the wrong premise. [We should] have our balanced budgets and also have our spending priorities in order.

HUNTSMAN: I'm the only one on this stage who stood up for a deal, for the Boehner deal, against this nation defaulting. I know I'm a little different than everybody else in that regard. We are 25% of the world's GDP. We are the largest financial services sector by far in this entire world. And the thought that people would just let this nation default when we could have a deal that at least gets things going on cuts, raising the ceiling, gets us toward entitlement reform, gets us toward a balanced budget amendment. I thought Rep. Boehner should be complimented for what he did. This nation should never default

On Civil Rights: I believe in traditional marriage but also civil unions

A: I believe in traditional marriage first and foremost. I've been married 28 years, with 7 terrific kids. But I also believe in civil unions. Because I think this nation can do a better job when it comes to equality. And I think this nation can do a better job when it comes to reciprocal beneficiary rights. And I believe that this is something that ought to be discussed among the various states. I don't have any problem with states having this discussion. But as for me, I support civil unions.

Q: So why are your GOP opponents wrong?

A: They are not wrong. All I'm saying is this ought to be an issue that takes place at the local level of government, that's where these decisions ought to be made. I believe in traditional marriage. But I also believe that subordinate to that we haven't done an adequate job when it comes to equality. That is just my personal belief. Everyone is entitled to their personal belief too.

On Corporations: EPA's regulatory reign of terror prevents building in USA

A: Huntsman Corp. is a wonderful example of a family entrepreneurial success story: created jobs; left communities a whole lot better than they found them; created a wonderful Huntsman Cancer Institute. But let me tell you the real problem of what we're up against. If you want to build a facility in the US, you can't because of the EPA's regulatory reign of terror. We don't make things anymore in this country. We need to start making things in this country. And in order to do that, we need serious regulatory reform, [including] ending the EPA's regulatory reign of terror. We need to create a more competitive environment that allows our businesses to expand our economic base and create jobs.

On Education: No Child Left Behind has failed; we need vouchers

HUNTSMAN: No Child Left Behind hasn't worked for this country. It ought to be done away with. We need to take education to the local level, where parents and local elected officials can determine the destiny of these schools. Nobody wants their schools to succeed more than local elected officials and their parents. We need choice. We need vouchers. We need more technology in the classroom.

Q: [to Cain]: Would you return to the full enforcement of NCLB?

CAIN: No. I believe in education starting at the local. No Child Left Behind had some faults. I don't believe in unfunded mandates. I believe that the federal government should be out of the business of trying to micromanage the education of our children.

On Immigration: End patchwork of state laws & just secure the border

A: The thing we need to do most on illegal immigration--because there has been zero leadership in Washington., we've created this patchwork of solutions in the states, which makes for a very complex & confusing environment. When elected president, I'm simply going to prove to the American people that we can secure the border. That's what they want done. And I'm not going to talk about anything else until we get it done. We can finish. And I will talk to the fou border state governors and get verification from them that, in fact, we've secured the border. And once that is done, then we can move on. But this discussion has zero in the way of any intellectual credibility until such time as we secure the border.

On Principles & Values: If you love your country, you serve her

A: Chris, let me just say, I'm proud of my service to this country. If you love your country, you serve her. During a time of war, during a time of economic hardship, when asked to serve your country in a sensitive position where you can actually bring a background to help your nation, I'm the kind of person who's going to stand up and do it, and I'll take that philosophy to my grave. In terms of the stimulus you talked about, it was failed. And let me tell you what I talked about with respect to the stimulus. I talked about the need for more tax cuts in the stimulus. We didn't have enough of it.

On Technology: Cyber intrusion is the new battlefield, and an act of war

A: Absolutely. This is the new war field, cyber intrusion is. What we need in this country is to use this issue as not only an economic development tool, but also a national security tool. We need early warning capabilities and we need safeguards and we need counter measures. Not only have government institutions been hacked into, but private individuals have been hacked too. Listen, this is also part of a dialogue that has not taken place with the Chinese. We need a strategic dialogue at the highest levels between the US and China. That is not happening. As far as you can see into the 21st century, we are going to have to deal with the Chinese. We better get it right. I think it would be great thing to have a president of the United States who knew something about China.