>> the author for books and ran for the presidency in 2020 and those decisions this week including leaving the democratic party. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. it's great to be here. >> as far as the decision to be the party itself so at what time did you know it was time to leave? >> i left because of the polarization unfortunately is tearing our country apart.

i like c-span because you really do present unfiltered politics and news. but if you look around we have these media institutions that are blaming tensions and polarizations in different ways. i got there was way in the media to help bring the temperature of our country down. that is why left the democratic party to become an independent which will be a unifying popular movement and then to respond to the reasonable among us and not the extremes. because right now if you look at the numbers those registered democrats and independents i'm sorry democrats and republicans almost two / one and yet we know that is often getting lost.

>> whatla part of being that party was inflaming to you? >> i didn't feel particularly inflamed. [laughter] i was a democrat 26 w years. ever since i could register to vote. right now we a see a dysfunctional system we cannot get anything done on either side and people who are watching this at home can relate to that. so why is it that our leaders seem so unreasonable relative to anyone else you can find? those are the incentive devices. you don't answer to 51 percent of the population so who do you answer to? between the ten and 20 percent of the most partisan voters who vote on the democrat or

republican in your district. 83 percent will either be very blue or very red. right now, the approval rate for congress nationally is only 20 percent people don't love what is going on or not going on. but for individual members is 92 percent. people when election over and over again because they are catering because when they come together they cannot get anything done. we are all frustrated and we are sold the bill of goods that is intended to work when iten is not designed to work. so it is a real problem i talked about in my book and that isn't just a democratic problem or republican problem but a systemwide problems led

to lead the democratic party. host: as a real problem you see elsewhere how do you identify that and how does the party remedy that? >> in the past i ran a business. have also been an entrepreneur. so people respond to incentives. if you reward them so one of the political incentives right now is to get up and make ideological inflammatory argument some people would love they will send you money or vote you back in again with very partisan primaries. 's we have to make it so just to get from over here or over here if we really go far maybe

even where the financial incentives are tied to the entire population.on this sounds very dramatic and almost too good to be true but it is entirely achievable. the way wee get there is to get rid of public primaries everything is determined at the state level so open primaries is not closed primary party were anybody can vote that is straightforward then to make sure you don't have any spoilers to make sure they don't automatically wins of any implement a process where voters can write their choices there is no spoiler affect. if you do these two things all

of a sudden the legislators will become reasonable and more productive overnight we can do this through ballot initiative around the country. we cannot wait for congress to get theirgo act together. that will never work. so to go to the communities around the country and say let's change the process. host: you give an example in writing about through that process. > i think they already made the change and that is alaska. now all alaskans have a say in who the representatives are. so what this means for senator murkowski she can exercise her independent judgment and then take her decisions to the entire state insteadst of having to go through partisan primary were ten or 20 percent will participate a lot. of people know exactly what i'm talking about. if you are in the minority

party and 83 percent of the districts around the country you know you don't have anything to say. that isin something we can change and alaska already made this change because of a lot of alaskans got together and said this is better. > is your up until 10:00 o'clock. >> but the thing that iin believe is there are good people in every political party is no party that has a monopoly.

[laughter] so many tremendous relationships to even change my voter registration. but it felt like the right thing to do if we are going to pull our country together. for that political alignment we love our fellow americans. we vote for the other side. and then have dinner together. >> more than 60 percent of americans while 57 percent there is a need for a major third-party you can't win races if you have capital structure financing and then to marginalize and then to say you are empowering their opponents and that you will lose friends who occupy every

position in the nation is nearly impossible with a third-party of the united states that's what you write in the book but then you start one. take it from there. >> immediately thereafter i talked about 57 percent of americans there is no time like the present particularly if you have candidates like myself that i am happy to say raise tens of millions of dollars for my presidential run and can speak to people of any party. so that is the catalyst for what i hope is a popular movement for registered democrats republicans are all welcome to join if you are watching this at home you are watching because you feel a responsibility but also license that most of you are

feeling some misgivings and despair. most reasonable americans with am not functioning very well but that's because it is designed tou fail. so when everyone acts rational we will lose on an epic scale so why is now the time it's because we have record highs and we need a solution and if millions of us can come together, then we all feel much better about the future of our country. p>> as far as the party itself is a sad vehicle for a future presidential run or to make these changes.

>> go ahead you are on. >> good morning. and good morning america. if you get those folks that have been there for so many years you know who i mean. what do you think about term limits?

can you comment y on that and i am an independent so i fully support you. thank you. >> that means the world to me. thank you. we need term limits in congress 75 percent of americans agree with that. we should go to washington to spend the rest of your life. but then no term limits on members of congress go to dc do the work and not see it as the new ultimate destination if you agree with that forward party.com it is common sense it is a sign of the corruption on —- corruption in our system. host: democratic line. to new york. >>caller: and props to brian

lamb. andrew you are a members guy. you are a numbers guy. i should say that for seven and a half years now i asked people when i find them alone you are a numbers guy. that is a lot of people. my results were so what do you think other people think? and that made it very interesting. nobody was mean or nasty to me it is a total big positive if everyone has computers in their pocket.

and forse somebody to confront them and with a provocative question. and i am amazed at your ability that both sides are out of control. and with the testimony yesterday about to the point of no return. host: thank you very much. >> i want to speak to that because it comes up that link then my book. we are being manipulated. you have political incentives that will manipulate us like please send me money or the role that come to an end.

but then you have media organizations c-span excepted were they identify an audience but withth the information and polarization and you hit the nail on the head the social media is the whole thing. it is terrible for any semblance of rational discourse or negativity. and spread six times more quickly on social media. so how do you let that come together? so you are all watching and calling into c-span because you see that as an antidote.or and we should be doing much more for local journalism to bete much less political. 2000 local papers have gone out of business. it is a crime.

>> there s are some obvious problems that are driven by the paper capitalism. and any chance to be able to come together to have a rational conversation. i love c-span. keep it up. but i understand what you are saying. we are being manipulated and that's what we have to stop. host: you mentioned facebook specifically the more data set the company has the more valuable it is yet even have to be on the facebook app itself we are not the client or the end-user anymore we are the product now we are being o sold with the means to buy access to every detail of our ybehavior and it shapes what we do next. so what do you think about that testimony on capitol hill

of the whistleblower? >> i was entirely unsurprised by everything that was said. but people know this is going on. washington dc. truly you can line up most adults are certainly anyone and they would say yes. anybody knows that facebook is dissembling ofss the effects because it is a 1 trillion-dollar franchise. and the surprises nobody's so the leaders in r washington are decades behind the curve. decades. do you know why? but have been in washington dc for too long. we need term limits and people yorotating in and out. and then to say this is a problem. >> is there a ford party not

only for the party itself but how changes should be made quick. >> our data right now is sold and resold by the way for hundreds of billions of dollars do you see that? know. mark zuckerberg and facebook seesrb it. it is something like a human rights issue if our data is sold and resold and we are manipulated, don't you want to stop that? and then to share that with the tech company and we need to know what is going on. and then we should be getting some of that money those are straightforward rules. >> independent line. safe to —- st. joseph missouri. >>caller. so the elections have the

money there's no way a lower-class person can competef you have to be a millionaire or have access to millions of dollars so what we need to do away with that and to have the states have an election website where all the information of the candidates that they have that is required to be on the ballot they have to fill in the forms to say their position. right now they rely on a 32nd tv commercial that's why we get such bad candidates. i think third parties would be

and enhancer and that would just add confusion to the long drawn out process. we should just have a conservative party and then a liberal party the other groups and parties have to go in and be on the ballot. >> i want to talk about the point of money and politics. heag is correct the average congressional campaign cost over one.$5 million. so who can get that kind of money? so how do you change that? now the ideal solution and what i propose is that every american gets $100 of democracy dollars. 10000 people get together now you are competitive.

right now it's very difficult to get anyone to donate to a political campaign because who has that kind of money? if you give them democracy dollars it would be a huge effort but you do have leaders to all come from the same financial background. host: kentucky republican line. >>caller: hello. i have a comment. a couple comments. the first one is there is too much corruption in politics no investigations but the other comment that i got is his idea on primaries. the situation he talks about supports where a democrat gets elected year after year.

when republican or independent party has a better idea of what to do and then to get elected in the opposite party can cross lines at the primary and that is changing the election. but that changes it for the bad in my opinion. up>> right now the party designation destroys everything because it makes to statement a strategic decision how they will be elected a lot of people it depends on which will help them when and out which ones that they generally line up with and that's why open primaries but help then those that want to support

you. and then you can have a chance to win. so corruption is rampant we are sending literally billions of dollars and they all go togh washington then they all come back really wealthy. [laughter] your salary is not that high how is it somehow you made a million dollars? that's one reason why you need term limits so people cannot go and enrich themselves in various ways. if you're in the club and someone screws up it is a lot. it is unfortunate that is what is happening right now but we know it's happening. host: there is current debates on the both sides of the debt level passing the president's agenda so what is a way to

compete with these ideas with a solution to go forward with the best t of both ideas? >> the forward party principles are on full display right now in washington and then you have two senators that are controlling the entire agenda that is a function how broken of the system is. makes both sides more prone to talking to each other to compromise so frankly you are responsiblee to voters of every political party when you go for reelection. and then maybe we get a few people elected that represented to be a bridge. people talk about the forward party it will be great in support open primaries that if you been a few races you can

do a lot of good. you don't need to win in this example if you are to win one or two races it could be a game changer for the entire country. >> what agenda could be done. >> and went to the constitution there's nothing about the filibuster. >> it turns out they thought that they would lead to factionalism but if they were to political parties but that is the worst nightmare. and then they have to ask why. host: democratic line you are

on the air. >>caller: good morning c-span. longtime listener. first time color. i would like to know what he thinks of the job senator sanders is doing? i personally think he is the epitome of a true public servant and i am curious as to what he thinks. >> first time color and calling on behalf of that question which i love by the way.me with bernie sanders in the 2016 primary. meeting him on the trail was a privilege when he said something about me and to me i felt extraordinarily proud like a long - - like an uncle. he is not corrupt in the least he is ap or public servant and

with much of his vision he is fighting like mad until the day he dies. host: reasonable people how we have the way to a new party open and how can that decision help? >>ho . >> so if you do anything independent that would hurt democrats. if you look y at the numbers there is a higher desire so if you draw that out you are more likely to have voters from the republican party then you are

democrats running for president as a democratic candidate even there they were sure it was the democratic nominee. so those with every alignment and structurally they are more likely to draw more independence and democrats. host: you wrote the recent op-ed about the day in and day out of the campaign so can you talk about that? >> i call it a reality tv show on the debate stage. so if you really want to know what is like to run for president that the act of running for president is they have make up on their face and shooting tv ads and surrounded by staff all the time to take

you from event to event and everywhere you go you give a speech are talk. it messes with your brain. it makes you less and less normal person. but over time it also makes you less sympathetic. [laughter] that's why we need term limits. because if you are in the vortex of attention in many and there have been studies that show that your brain changes the longer you have power. and i didn't have power for very long. in for it period of time even that was enough to into on —- influence. so i talk about the reality of running for president and see getting in front of a tv camera as an active leadership

necessarily. that is what you do interpersonally for those who are working on your behalf. that is not what politics looks like.

certain kind of personality. you would be much more likely a financial background. i am an introverted guy and growing up io just wanted to rd books. running for office was a very unusual thing. but they would suspect there might be something wrong with the folks that do this for a living. [laughter] there might be a way to treat the process and also you don't have people's tendencies

elevated over time. >> john on the independent line. >> i wanted to hear your thoughts on instead of creating a new party because you start a new party with the same issues everyone is with the party until it is something they are not in a grievance with and then they are stuck with of the party. instead of starting a new party, what are your thoughts on an alliance of congressmen that will agree to disband the party system altogether so you ban allegiance between incumbent

congressman that once they are elected in office so they will agree to disband the party system and just have no party because the system we are in now, people go up and down party lines there's no reason even campaigning on policies because people are going to vote on party lines. >> this is a fun and fascinating argument. it's intentionally very broad. we love our fellow americans. the system is manipulating us and turning usac against each other so we are not taking stances on dozens of issues. we are trying to focus on a main

problem which is the structure itself. if members were to come together and say let's get rid of our party, i would love that, but one of the realities you see is that you need at least some kind of team because there are no organizing groups and it's difficult to operate so if you look around the world, they have systems they have more than two parties. if you look at something in the uk that has five parties and a place like sweden that has eight i'm going to suggest that would be superior being against each other all the time you have a set of coalitions where i agree

with you on this or i don't agree on this. you probably need some parties to help organize activities. i think that you just have many more than two. what is the ideal number i think that it should be an odd number. to help make tiebreakers more feasible. but i love what you're arguing and if members of congress were to say let's have term limits, this duopoly is in the way to go, that would also be phenomenal. >> the author of forward, the future of our democracy with us until 10:00. what is venture for america? >> in nonprofit that helps train youngnp entrepreneurs. i started venture for america in

2011 after i had some success and i thought about how hard it was to become an entrepreneur. i thought we needed more entrepreneurs in places like detroit and birmingham and baltimore. so i spent a number of years running that organization. i'm proud to say that it's created thousands of jobs around the country. i was honored by the obama administration and it was during that time that i traveled and realized that the economy was beingg transformed by automation and we eliminated millions of manufacturing jobs in the combination of automation and that is when many of you met me when i decided to run for president on universal basic income in response to the technologicall decimation of american jobs. but i learned that through my

activities over six and a half years running a nonprofit organization thatof helps to trn young entrepreneurs. >> this is elizabeth on the democrats line. >> caller: i believe we have a platform and i was wondering if the platform includes the elimination of education by zip code. my son had an education with five years on the civil war and one other thing is because i live in a rural community and see a lot ofe things here if there is such a thing as

affirmativehe action for the so-called deplorable's. thank you. >> guest: there are massive inequities in the system because of the way that it's built around property taxes. i do think one of the great and balances isnd that we are overlooking the communities and operating as if only people of certain backgrounds or overcoming struggles. the fact that it's rampant in these interviews should be considered in the same light. >> host: tony from santa fe on the independent line.

>> caller: good morning. i believe term limits is the solution. for me it is the nullification of citizens united or corporations united where because i'm a john adams independent, i believe that there's nothing more than the two party system, two parties acting in concerned effort in opposition to each other. in other words, they've been playingal us all. does independence outnumber the democratic and republican party. [inaudible] trina sinned and usurped our constitution. >> host: thanks, tony.

>> guest: i 100% agree we need to overturn and i say that in my book, but the problems predate citizens united and if you were to be able to overturn citizens united, which by the way would be difficult in the current structures that the money would find other ways even if they couldn't do it directly as united enabled. citizens united isn't that old of a decision. we should be overturning for sure, and you are completely correct. i think that independents should get the other. i think that republicans and democrats should get together and i hope that you will all check it out and consider helping moving the country

forward. we are being played and manipulated to tony's point. >> host: you had mentioned your idea of universal basic income andou how you talked abot that in the campaign as a concept that played out in yireality with cities and states and especially what we saw for the stimulus payments being delivered to americans, plus childcare tax credits now. is that a concept that could work and be tested? >> guest: if you are watching this and got a check for your child [inaudible] [laughter]ou over the last couple of months and thought thisho is great. they designed a letter saying we should keep it forever.

it's got to school supplies and people in better positions to actually learn with their families and the way they want. now they say we should have the tax credit going on indefinitely and i'm pleased itam might have played a role in augmenting they would do something positive were the family is concerned. >> host: on the republican line for andrew yang. go ahead. >> caller: good morning. i would like to know what he thinks about the current path joe biden is taking down socialism and marxism and in lieu of capitalism.

>> thank you for the question. my outlook on this is a little bit more like the two sides and socialism, capitalism and the reality is in america we have a system that in some ways is too generous a corporation. we saw that certainly with wall street not that long ago so now we have the worst of both worlds, socialism for the rich and powerful countries and by the way very low taxes then for individuals the conversation to

to be tweaked to figure out who we are talking about and what the goals are but i'm going to suggest this conversation is manipulation in the way that i can make you upset is by saying the other people are pushing for socialism or whatnot. most people watching this right now would agree drug prices are too high and we should get them high. is that socialism on behalf of millions of americans it would be sensible. why would you spend extra money on drugs for peoplee and so you have to distinguish between the goals and these big labels that in my mind sometimes end up

leading us in the wrong direction. >> the first step to change the commission i propose any candidate that is to mathematically win the electoral college should automatically be included in the presidential debates. >> this is one side of the duopoly. it's made it impossible for anyone else to run for offices around the country right now the threshold is 15% which is extraordinarily high to this person's point. we need to open it up and this

locking out of the point of view you can say is the most egregious at the residential presidentiallevel but it's equas at every other level. asking if you plan to run for president.fo >> i am focused on trying to make the system work better for us and that starts in 2022 like we don't have any time to waste. >> my question is why do the democrats continue to try to work if they are extending the way of progress. doesn't the 14th amendment give them the opportunity to replace them with someone that can get progress done because they are

working for lobbies or someone else. >> i'm not aware of and ability for them to have that expelled. the only accountability that i know of is the voters in west virginiaia and arizona would decide that they are not fans of their leadership and i think that is going to take a little while. it is a sign of the difficulty of having only two labels where someone spoke the other day. i would like to see things get done in washington and i hope

that the senator cinema and senator manchin are able to see what it would take to get to the table and get something done. >> host: tampa florida, independent line. >> good morning. thank you for taking my call. left and right, i watch the republicans on their side, the democrats on their side, i watch cnn, fox. i don't know how anybody knows what to choose any more. we are all raised with certain values. my father worked three jobs when i was a child to put food on the table. if we are going to hand money to people that f doesn't seem as a valuable thing to do but my mind is different than your mind.

everybody values differently. who is right and who is wrong. and i they fight like children. it's all ridiculous we need to be responsible and accountable for our own action because we are in these strange information the silos i do think that is a counterweight to that. i love work and jobs and people having a place toeo go where thy will interact with other people

and dole something that contributes and makes them proud when they go home at the end of the day and feel that they did something for themselves and their families. to me the biggest phenomena the labor force participation rate is low and i think you know that and we all know that so you look around and say how do we get more people working and create more jobs. there's different ways you can go about it but i'm going to suggest if people have more money in their pockets they are going to go to a local restaurant or business or hardware store that is something the government can deliver on if i were to say the government is going to create a job in a another way, maybe or maybe not. i am 100% with you i am a parent d.and i want my kids to work ha.

weho are on the same page. >> i think that this conversation is something you can only feel in the abstract. if youou were to go to montana r wyoming and say how would you like to decrease your influence of course they would say no. in order to eliminate therd electoral college, you would need a super majority essentially of states and representatives and no one is going to do it. it leaves you in a direction it ends up furtheringng the divide. unless you can bring senators

they set up for a very legitimate reason which is they didn't want certain more popular areas to dominate. if you were to have a presidential election where it isio popular vote they would ner step foot in any rural area we would go to major population markets to get on tv, new york, la. so the entire thing to me is not something we should be using unless the less populated states should themselves in the foot which we are not going to do. we should focus on a way that we can actually fix. and it's in our interest. that'son where i am.

let's focus on solutions to help the country right now. >> caller: i know you are getting to the end of the show so i will try to be quick. i am a trump supporter and if he went to an independent party, i would follow him. what i want to say is i appreciate the fact that he is an outsider of washington and i think that's wonderful. there are too many people inside ofst washington. my question i will take it off-line did you expect to joe biden to be the winner and harris to be the vice president because of politics or and did

you not think that in running, was it already predetermined? >> thank you for the kind words. they do mean a lot to me. i think there was a residence to the message because people are sensing that it's not working. thank you. we are all americans and we should all be able to see the commonality. when i was running as a nominee against them if you remember there were tough times so i'm

not suree i would have called it at a certain point in the race. did i think that they were going to defeat trump, i thought that they would get more votes. i thought that would happen because in part i thought they were struggling at that time and people would be looking for a different approach. good morning. i am so excited that you are doing this. i was just so tired of the lies so i'm excited that we are doing this. go ahead with your question or comment.t. >> caller: i'm just happy that he's running.

it's going to get worse, not better. let's be positive and do it in a way that unifies the country. if you get somebody to talk to you, lovely. on every background and environment,ub rural, suburban e can get along but we are being set up and it's not working so we've got to turn it around.

>> what is immeasurable as the fourth party how would you measure success? >> by how many states we can unlock from the partisan primary system. hopefully in 22 we will set the process change. >> host: the head of the and notes on the future of the democracy. thank you for your time today. >> guest: this was fun. i love talking to americans. have me back. >> host: the senate has been in recess since about 3:30 this afternoon as leaders negotiate on legislation to suspend the debt ceiling there will be reached later this month. reportedly the minority leader mcconnell offered a short term suspension which doc