2011 GOP primary debate in Manchester NH: on Government Reform

Herman Cain: Yes, federal government should be doing food safety

CAIN: Yes.

Q: You see the E. coli scare that's going on in Europe right now. You're trying to cut money. The FDA, other agencies that get involved in that are in front of you. What do you do?

CAIN: You look inside the FDA and determine whether or not it needs to be streamlined, and maybe it does.

Q: But should the federal government be doing food safety inspections?

CAIN: The federal government should be doing food safety, yes.

Herman Cain: Government shouldn't pick winners & losers

PAUL: There shouldn't be any government assistance to private enterprise. It's not morally correct; it's illegal; it's ba economics.

Q: Mr. Cain, you initially supported the TARP program?

CAIN: I studied the financial meltdown and concluded on my own that we needed to do something drastic, yes. When the concept of TARP was first presented to the public, I was willing to go along with it. But then when the administration started to implement it on a discretionary basis, picking winners and losers and also directing funds to General Motors and others that had nothing to do with the financial system, that's where I totally disagreed. The government should not be selecting winners and losers, and I don't believe in this concept of too big to fail. If they fail, the free market will figure out who's going to pick up the pieces.

Ron Paul: Government investment in ANY business is malinvestment

PAUL: There shouldn't be any government assistance to private enterprise. It's not morally correct; it's illegal; it's bad economics. It's not part of the constitution. If you allow an economy to thrive, they'll decide how R&D works or where they invest their monies. But when the politicians get in and direct things, you get malinvestment. They do dumb things. They might build too many houses. And they might not direct their research to the right places. So no, it's a fallacy to think that government and politicians and bureaucrats are smart enough to manage the economy, so it shouldn't happen.

CAIN: The government should not be selecting winners and losers. The free market will figure it out.