11:03 a.m.: NAM chair Mary Andringa: “Manufacturing means jobs!”

11:04 a.m.: Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad: Most important issue facing America is jobs

11:06 a.m.: Hearing from America’s manufacturing workers.  Over 12 million Americans work in modern manufacturing.

11:07 a.m.: Each candidate will answer questions from moderators Tom Hudson and Governor Branstad and audience.

11:08 a.m.: Gov. Rick Perry up first.

11:08 a.m.: Perry: Texas created 1 million net new jobs with Perry as governor.

11:09 a.m.: Perry hits EPA regulations.

11:10 a.m.: Perry: People have lost confidence to take risks.

11:10 a.m.: Perry: Way to create jobs is not by overtaxing, overregulating, over-litigating.

11:11 a.m.: Perry: Federal government needs to be completely out of the energy business picking winners and losers.

11:12 a.m.: Perry: Let states decide whether to offer energy incentives.

11:13 a.m.: Let private sector and market decide winners and users.

11:14 a.m.: Energy policy: Did you manufacturers consumer one-third of the energy output in the U.S.?  Affordable and accessible energy is critical to manufacturing’s growth.

11:15 a.m.: Perry: “All of the above” energy policy.

11:17 a.m.: Perry supports Keystone pipeline.  Knows that oil will go somewhere–why not the U.S.?

11:18 a.m.: Perry: create jobs in the energy sector; develop energy safely and cleanly and put people to work.

11:19 a.m.: Skills gap.

11:20 a.m.: Perry: College costs too high.  Consider new approaches to education that can give students the skills they need and help bring down costs.

11:21 a.m.: Perry has his flat tax postcard.

11:22 a.m.: Perry will take a “wrecking ball” to the corporate tax code and personal tax code as well.

11:23 a.m.: Perry: Let’s quit penalizing Americans for making money.

11:23 a.m.: Rick Santorum up now.

11: 24 a.m.: Santorum: Manufacturing has a great multiplier effect in the economy.

11:25 a.m.: Santorum touts the promise of manufacturing jobs.  Did you know the average manufacturing earns $77,186 in pay and benefits annually?  $20,000 more than average workers in other industries.

11:26 a.m.: Santorum has read the Manufacturing Institute’s and MAPI’s new cost study: 20 percent more expensive to manufacture in the U.S.

11: 28 a.m.: Santorum: GOP president would change attitude in DC and country.

11:29 a.m.: Santorum: Phase out energy tax credits.

11:3o a.m.: Santorum: Take advantage of Marcellus Shale in his home state of Pennsylvania.

11:31 a.m.: Santorum on infrastructure: Need for a federal role–in therms of interstate commerce.  Trucks go through PA without stopping.

11:32 a.m.: Santorum on Dodd-Frank financial bill: Repeal it.  I’m against “too big too fail.”

11:34 a.m.: Santorum: Dodd-Frank hurts small banks.

11:34 a.m.: Question from audience: What would Santorum do first?  Santorum: “Repeal Obamacare.”

11:35 a.m.: Santorum: Repeal the whole thing.  Not just waivers for states.  Job No. 1.

11:36 a.m.: Repeal health law–what replaces it?

11:37 a.m.: Santorum highlights HSAs.  Get consumers involved in marketplace with regard to prices and quality…  Consumer-driven health care.

11:38 a.m.: Next up: Rep. Bachmann.

11:39 a.m.: Bachmann: We need the federal government to get off our backs with regard to taxes.

11:40 a.m.: Bachmann: Taxes, regulation, tort, energy–need good policies on all fronts.

11:40 a.m.: Bachmann: 95 percent of consumers live outside the United States.

11:41 a.m.: Bachmann: Government is a cost of doing business.

11:42 a.m.: Bachmann: Grow our market share.  U.S. only negotiating one FTA among dozens around the world.

11: 43 a.m.: Businesses going to Canada?  Canada has reduced its corporate tax rate–soon to decrease to 15 percent.

11:46 a.m.: Bachmann: Let multinationals repatriate their earnings overseas.