CRAMER: No, not yet. Now, because you've been in the discussion about NAFTA, I have to tell you, I do a lot of work from the bottoms up with companies.

There's a $1/2 trillion in business that the two states--Ohio and Texas--are doing overseas. I, as someone who worries, bottoms up, about companies fear that any tinkering with NAFTA, any suspension of NAFTA will risk one of the greatest Renaissances we've ever had in this country, which is our American companies, Ohio and Texas, doing business overseas. Won't they shut us out if we walk away from NAFTA?

Sen. CLINTON: No, I don't think so, Jim, because, you know, there is an opt out provision in the agreement. I don't think that will be necessary. If you talk to people from Mexico and Canada, they have their complaints as well.

You know, this has been the books now for 14 years. Times have changed. We need to take a hard look, see how it can be improved and fixed. That's what I am proposing. You know, obviously, we've got parts of our economy in every state that are thriving, and we've got many places that have really been neglected and left behind. So the key here is how do we have balanced growth, shared prosperity, get everybody back into the, you know, jobs, you know, possibilities that are out there. And I think we can do that. I think we can be smart about it.

CRAMER: Senator, you mention inflation. Half of inflation's coming from oil, the other half is coming from food. Do you believe that we should continue to burn food in this country? Poor people cannot afford what we're doing with our ethanol strategy. We're raising the price of the staples that they eat.

If we scrapped ethanol, half of our inflation would go away. Why are we allowing the ethanol lobby to destroy the affordability of people who want to eat chicken and beef?

Sen. CLINTON: Well, I think it's a little more complicated, Jim, because I think the increase in the energy prices generally have contributed to food inflation, although you're absolutely right that, you know, the rising cost of corn and soybeans, which are--you know, ubiquitous in our food supply, have certainly, you know, contributed significantly. But we're in a transition period. We need an energy policy that does focus on home grown energy. And that has to be a broad-based set of energy alternatives. You know, ethanol from corn is not the most efficient way to produce it, but it's what we're doing now as we move towards cellulosic, as we look at how we're going to, you know, incentivize wind and solar, and you know, I think we should be looking much more at new forms of energy for our cars. You know, the internal combustion engine looks pretty much the same as it looks when Henry Ford, you know...

CRAMER: Right.

Sen. CLINTON: ...rolled it out. What are we going to do to have more hybrids, more electric plug-ins? So this, I view, is kind of a transition period.

CRAMER: OK.

Sen. CLINTON: But it's important to get our plow in the ground so that we can figure out how we're going to work our way out of our dependence on both foreign oil and carbon-based fuels.

CRAMER: Senator, one last question. Are you going to eliminate the good, creative, I believe, low taxes on dividends on stocks if you become president?

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