>> increased tax credits for families with children. >> caller: if it's related to covid. again, we're adding in debt to our country that we don't need to add. >> so i guess -- go ahead. finish your thought. >> caller: a dollar used to mean something. it used to be the strongest money out there in the world. now you go out of the country, it's almost worthless in some countries. you have to go to third world for our dollar mean something again. >> thanks for the call from gilbertville, massachusetts, this morning. good tuesday morning to you, you can start calling in now. it's not every day we can put a price tag on the opening question but we can today. the difference between the biden plan and the so-called gang of

ten gop plan when it comes to money spent on direct stimulus, those stimulus checks, $245 billion. breaking down the two plans. this is the biden plan, the so-called american rescue plan. joe biden looks to spend $465 billion on direct stimulus payments. that would be 1400 checks to americans with eligibility for those checks phasing out at a $75,000 income level for individuals. $150,000 for joint filers. it would include $1,400 for children and adult dependents. the gop plan, the gang of 10 plan that would be proposed to the president yesterday by the senators who went to the white house, they have $1,000 checks in their plan. eligibility cap, $50,000 would be the cap for individuals, a hundred thousand dollars would be the cap for joint filers. they would include $500 for children and adult dependents. they would spend $220 billion on

direct stimulus payments. that's what we're talking about this morning, asking you if you were crafting these plans, what would be the qualifications that you would put to get the next round of stimulus checks from the federal government. as you're calling in, that group of senators went to the white house yesterday and met with president biden. afterwards they came out to talk about how that meeting went. they were led by senator susan collins of maine. >> it was a very good exchange of views. i wouldn't say that we came together on a package tonight. no one expected that in a two-hour meeting. but what we did agree to do is to follow up and talk further at the staff level and amongst ourselves and with the president and vice president on how we can continue to work together on this very important issue. all of us are concerned about

struggling families, teetering small businesses, and overwhelmed health care system, getting vaccines out and into people's arms and strengthening the economy and addressing the public health crisis that we face. so i think it was an excellent meeting and we're very appreciative that as his first official meeting in the oval office the president chose to spend so much time with us in a frank and very useful discussion. finally, let me just say that we have demonstrated in the last year that we can come together on a bipartisan package dealing with the covid crisis. in fact, we've done that not just once or twice, we've done it five times. and i am hopeful that we can

once again pass a sixth bipartisan covid relief package. >> senator susan collins of maine with that group of ten republican senators yesterday after their meeting with president biden and vice president harris at the white house. that was how she described that meeting. here's how white house press secretary jen psaki described the meeting after they left the white house. this was the statement that was put out by the white house. the president and the vice president has a substantive and productive discussion with republican senators this evening at the white house. while there were areas of agreement, the president reiterated his view that congress must respond boldly and urgently and noted many areas in which the proposal did not address. while he's hopeful that the rescue can pass with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a path to achieve that end. the president made clear that the american rescue plan was carefully designed to meet the stakes of this moment and any changes in it cannot leave the

nation short of its pressing needs. that's a statement from the white house yesterday. two paths forward right now. you heard the president -- jen psaki mentioning the reconciliation package in that statement. that would be the path forward for democrats alone to move their legislation, the budgetary maneuver that we talked about yesterday on this program, that would allow them to pass their legislation in the senate with just a majority. we'll talk more about that this morning. but we're asking you as we're doing it in this first hour of the "washington journal" if you were crafting the stimulus checks and the qualifications for them, what would be the qualifications? who should get the next round of stimulus. brittany out of tampa is on that line for those who make 30,000 or less a year. brittany, good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you? >> i'm doing well. who should get it? >> caller: i think -- i don't know, lower class, i guess, you would define it.

>> that's brittany, this morning. and wes from south carolina. good morning. >> caller: good morning. good morning from spartanburg, south carolina. our household income is between the 60 and the 100. my personal feeling is everyone should get this -- this isn't a stimulus. this is disaster relief. if anything, i would go bigger. i would give people $800 a month until we get out until the summer. the reason i say we should give it to everyone, including bill gates, it eliminates stigma. that's one of the problems with welfare. if anyone checked into the andrew yang campaign during this last election cycle, i think stigma is a big thing. i didn't need the last round of money, but i used it.

i gave to some charities that i like and helped out a local soup kitchen and i think that's the best way to go forward with it. but if i was them, i would go bigger. if i would negotiate anything -- i don't know if the minimum wage increase is a part of this package or not, but i don't know if i would go with 15. that would be a point that i could -- as a democrat, i would be able to negotiate with republicans on. i could put it -- it's some level, maybe, that makes more sense. $15 may just be too much for the whole country. >> the minimum wage, the $15 minimum wage included in the biden proposal, not in the republican party plan. spent a lot of time talking about that yesterday. your comment about go bigger, you would spend even more. are you concerned about spending in this country, the national debt right now at

$27,863,219,000,000 and counting. are you concerned about that number? >> sounds like a lot of money, doesn't it? but that horse is already out of the barn. i'm not sure that that really matters. i really don't. >> wes, thanks for the call. this is james out of spring hill, florida, the line between those who make between 30 and $60,000 a year. >> caller: good morning. i feel just like the previous caller that everyone should get the stimulus check. >> why do you feel that way, james? even folks who are making a million dollars a year, more than that? >> well, it's not all about the amount of checks. it's the -- the point is i think everyone has been affected by it as far as, you know, relief, the

stress of the covid. this is something that should have been, you know, as effective as last march. if they would have just sent everyone $2,000 a month until they realized that, you know, this is slowing down, but, you know, i think they waited too long, a lot of people were, you know, financially stressed out and that's why i think obviously people want, you know, more money, but at the end of the day, they would have took care of their -- i would say the beginning of the pandemic, that this wouldn't be too stressful. >> another way of looking at this is by the percentage of households in this country that would receive stimulus checks under the biden american rescue plan and under that republican proposal that we spent a lot of time talking about early this

week. the "wall street journal" with a breakdown of the numbers, 84.3% of u.s. households would get the full payment while 8.4% of u.s. households would get partial payments. that's according to a study out of the american enterprise institute. now to the republican plan. in addition to their smaller payments, they would reach fewer people. the full payment under the republican plan would go to 62.8% of u.s. households while 8.5% would get a partial payment. that's under the qualification levels, those phasing out level and is the caps under each one of the plans. asking you who should get a check, how much should it be? jimmy on the line for those who make under $30,000 a year. good morning. jimmy, are you with us?

got to stick by your phone. gainesville, virginia, the line for those who make between 60 and a hundred thousand dollars a year, good morning. >> caller: good morning, c-span. >> go ahead. >> caller: yeah, i have a couple of points on this. all the money that president biden is about to give away is borrowed money. if they had money like they do in china, a surplus, then we can be generous. that's number one. therefore, we have to be target to those who really need it. in that case, we had to make sure that people like jeff bezos and bill gates, that club, should not be getting this free money. there's absolutely no point. having said that, the third point is, a hundred thousand dollars in washington, d.c., area, where i live, is not the same as a hundred thousand

dollars in kansas city. that needs to be taken care of. cost of living is very high in the big city. that's a lot of factors. and the fourth factor is i would supported president biden to go ahead with the 1.9 trillion right away without being given the runaround by the republicans and i don't believe -- i think these ten people who came across are generous. when mitch was in charge of the senate, he didn't give an inch to the democrats. biden should act, should not run around like obama got locked down in 2009. he should do it when the country is in trouble. this is the time to give disaster money. >> on your last point there, democrats on capitol hill already setting the stage to go ahead and move that $1.9 trillion american rescue plan, the biden plan, through

the budget reconciliation process. it would allow them to avoid that 60-vote threshold that usually applies in the senate. yesterday senate majority leader chuck schumer was talking about how democrats will move that bill this week. >> the smartest thing we can do is act big according to treasury secretary yellen. so that is what the senate is going to do. act big. today speaker pelosi and i will file a joint budget resolution for the fiscal year 2021 totaling $1.9 trillion which is the first step in giving congress an additional legislative tool to quickly pass the covid relief legislation. the resolution, if passed by both chambers of congress, will provide instructions for the house and senate committees to begin work on a potential budget

reconciliation bill which will be the vehicle for urgent and necessary covid relief. now, i want to be very clear. there is nothing in this process that will preclude it from being bipartisan. we welcome, welcome republican input. let me say that again. there is nothing in this process, the budget resolution or reconciliation, that precludes our work from being bipartisan. in fact, the senate has used this process no fewer than 17 times to pass bipartisan legislation since 1980. including to create or expand landmark programs like children's health insurance, the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, which together have lifted millions of americans out of poverty. covid relief too should be the work of both democrats and republicans. >> chuck schumer on the senate

floor yesterday. this morning a snowy morning here on capitol hill as we ask you about this plan, this specifically, the stimulus checks part of the relief plan. how would you craft it? who do you think they should go to? a few comments from social media this morning. this from ray saying i would limit the amount of stimulus based on the amount of federal income tax one with holds. this from anthony in riverside saying the gang of ten's caucus represents 40 million fewer americans. if you're income has not been affected by this lockdown, you don't need it. and one more this morning saying, stimulus checks should be for enough money to effect a substantial benefit to a family or an individual, a thousand dollars is not enough for people in need. the bigger the stimulus check -- a bigger stimulus check is needed. you saw chuck schumer there talking about how to move the

stimulus bill through the budget reconciliation process. that's the choice right now for the biden administration whether to go ahead on democratic support alone and whether they think they can hold all 50 democrats in the senate together to go ahead and move that bill or to go with that bipartisan plan, the gang of ten plan, get the ten senators, the republican senators and that plan on board and clear that 60-vote threshold. some commentary from today's newspapers about that choice for the biden administration, this from "the washington post" today, try for a bipartisan bill but republican senators should remain far from meeting mr. biden just halfway. the editorial board promoting an effort at least at that bipartisan bill and this from "the wall street journal." the republican proposal leaves the president standing between his two main opening round promises to take fast and big action on the coronavirus and to

foster more bipartisanship in washington. we'll see where the choice comes down. likely by the end of this week. gloria is next in indiana. who should get a stimulus check? >> caller: those who make less than $300,000. i don't believe they need it. but they may in new york and different places. really, they should start less than that. giving stimulus. and we should have had a thousand dollars stimulus check since this began, this virus began. everyone should have had a thousand dollars stimulus check per month. >> what's the difference -- what would be the difference for you between the biden plan, a $1,400 check or the gop -- the gang of ten plan, a thousand dollars check, what does $400,000 mean for you? >> absolutely a lot because i'm

a senior citizen. we -- we buy masks, hand sanitizer, and they think that we don't need it. we need different things that help us to get through this virus and they try to overlook us senior citizens. we've always been in the hole. >> that's gloria out of indiana. this is rick out of ohio. how would you craft this thing? >> caller: good morning. that's fine. $60,000 a year really isn't much anymore, you know, what i mean? and a lot of this money, it seems like we should -- i think we should be getting more than that. like she was just saying, 1,000 a month would be sufficient just to get everyone going. they should worry about the people than the other countries.

they should be -- everything should be centered around us until we're ready before they start giving money to other countries and all this other stuff. the people should be the ones who come first. >> rick, to the tune of how much? right now we're talking 1400 or a thousand dollars. is that enough? >> caller: no. that's not enough. you have people that, you know, if you got a $1,200 mortgage or rent, that will take care of your month but you have your electric, your phone, you got your all your other stuff just to live, gas and everything else. i say 2500 at least just a little bit and then a couple months after that, a little bit more just to try to get people going, you know? >> that's rick in ohio. back up here on capitol hill, chad the fox news capitol producer with the meetings on capitol hill today noting that the senate democratic caucus today will be speaking with treasury secretary janet yellen

about the coronavirus relief plan. we'll see what comes from that or if there's any news about what she tells the democratic caucus today. also noting that the senate votes today to confirm pete buttigieg as transportation secretary, alejandro mayorkas. also happening today, a committee hearing on the confirmation for president biden's pick for agriculture secretary, tom vilsack, will have his confirmation hearing. live coverage of that begins this morning at 10:30 a.m. eastern here on c-span. stick around a little bit after your program ends this morning for that confirmation hearing. normen is next out of monroe township in new jersey, the line for those who make between 60 and a hundred thousand dollars a

year. good morning. >> caller: good morning. my plan is to give it to people that need it. we are -- the last time we got our check, we put it in the bank. we don't need it. if it went to people that -- whose electricity is turned off and can't pay their rent, we're -- my wife and i are in our 90s. we have no mortgage. we have sufficient money. our children and grandchildren have the money. if any money we get goes into the bank and there are people that are suffering. they're getting thrown out of their house, their electricity is turned off. if they gave it to people based on the need rather than just on

their income, maybe they could get more money. our disposable income is in the moderate to high six figures. we have no mortgage. what good is giving me the money? >> how do you determine need? will people have to show that they've been impacted by coronavirus? how do you do that? how do -- >> caller: okay. i'm sure there is a way. i don't know how. find out how people are living, how can they afford their electricity? can they afford their mortgage? can they afford their rent? there must be a way that -- give it to people that are more in need than -- i get the check. i put it in the bank. and it really bothers me.

i think what we have to do is be more realistic and just not look at the -- how much -- my income is about $65,000. i have no stock. just from when i retired in 1988. in that time, the interest rates was between 10 and 15%. we put our 401(k), we rolled it over to cds. our distribution got from -- we had both gotten -- we both worked for big companies and we got benefits. i get this check give to charity, but we can't -- we're not that wealthy that we could make a difference. >> thanks for the call from new jersey. there are some folks who have advocated putting more money in

the unemployment insurance programs to respond to this pandemic, pointing to that as the place where those who need it most could use it. these are the differences between the two plans when it comes to unemployment insurance, that gang of ten senate republican plan would provide some $300 a week for those who are unemployed through june. the biden plan, a larger amount of money and a longer window there, $400 a week through september. that's the difference between these two plans, again, it's the $1.9 trillion american rescue plan that you've been hearing about from the biden administration and then what we heard developed over this weekend and what was presented to the white house last night, that plan some 600 -- about $618 billion from that group of 10 republican senators who have been pitching that plan to the administration earlier this year. jimmy, you're next the line for those who make under $30,000 a year. go ahead. >> caller: can you hear me?

>> yes, sir. did you try to call in before? >> caller: yeah, yeah, i was. >> glad you got through. go ahead. >> caller: good morning to you. if we could find out a way of sending it to people, you know, getting medicaid and food stamps and stuff, they can find a way. but i would pick, you know -- i would pick. but thank you very much, sir. >> that's jimmy. this is arabelle from texas. >> caller: good morning. i think that they should give it to the people who make 100,000 or over because we're talking the middle, the lower middle and the upper middle class and they're greatly affected by this. >> how have you been affected?

>> we fall under the 75,000 joint, my husband and i. right now we're -- we're getting government assistance. we have s.n.a.p., we have kids living with us and stuff like that. but i feel that the middle class are the ones who always get the bad end of the stick, so to speak. they're the ones who are greatly affected. they're used to a certain income level. with job scarcity and stuff like that, they're the ones who have had to i ply for unemployment and had to wait so long to get the benefits from it. and i know that i didn't take us long, i didn't take my husband very long. i know there were several who are in the middle class who took them weeks before they event got ahold of somebody. >> you were making over a hundred thousand dollars before

the pandemic hit and you applied for these programs since, just so i understand? >> caller: close to the hundred thousand. we were more like around the 90, $95,000 range. when the pandemic hit, we took a very, very big full. my husband was out of work for a while. >> what kind of work did he do? >> caller: he works for the oil field. he drives the semis that move the rigs and stuff like that. i know several families who have taken a very, very big hit and we're struggle -- on a month to month basis to make ends meet. yes, he does have his -- he still has his job and he gets personal unemployment. sometimes it's not enough to make ends meet. >> it's coming up on 7:30 here on the "washington journal" on the east coast. a wintery morning on the east

coast. some of the scenes from around capitol hill, the fence line there, the new fencing has been set up around the capitol hill and the security continues to be high around the capitol hill. you can see the razor wire and the national guard troops. the fencing has been up since the january 6th attack on the united states capitol and continues to remain up and there's been calls for a permanent fencing around the capitol in the days as security reviews have taken place. and, by the way, speaking of that january 6th attack, tonight the late capitol police officer brian sicknick who died in that attack will lie in honor in the u.s. capitol rotunda and wednesday morning there will be a congressional tribute as well. he died of his injuries sustained during that attack. you can watch the ceremonies tonight at 9:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span and then tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. eastern is

when that ceremony begins. you can also watch online and listen on the free c-span radio app. back to your phone calls this morning asking you who should be eligible for the next round of stimulus checks. gary, brooksville, florida, on the line for those who make under $30,000 a year. good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you? >> doing well, sir. >> caller: i don't think anybody should get it. i think we're breaking the united states -- why do we have a flu virus this year? where did it go? we don't have a flu outbreak. usually we have a flu outbreak. we don't have one this year. where did it go? they should send everybody a million dollars and we could be like nancy pelosi and the gang of ten. it's ridiculous is what they're doing to this country. >> did you get one of the checks, one of the earlier rounds of checks?

>> caller: i don't want the damn checks. >> what did you do with it? >> caller: spent it. it's free. but why are you sending people money? get a job. the coronavirus -- the flu virus is down. this coronavirus took over the flu, i guess. >> gary, if you want to talk flu virus, stick around. later this morning in our 9:00 hour -- actually, 8:34 a.m. eastern, we'll be joined by an author who wrote the book on the 1918 flu pandemic and we'll talk about some of the comparisons between that pandemic and what happened now. charles, jacksonville, florida, the line for those who made between 60 and a hundred thousand dollars last year, good morning. >> caller: hi, there. >> go ahead, charles. >> caller: i was calling to endorse the 60 to hundred

thousand. i appreciate pointing out that walls work and i would like for you to inform -- that if the democrats pass this bill through reconciliation, there will be cuts for medicare and medicaid because of it. thank you much. >> charles, if democrats move this bill through the reconciliation process, they would have to hold together all of their votes in the senate to do it and that's not exactly assured. here's what "the washington post" has to say about this topic this morning. it would mean they wouldn't be able to lose a single democratic vote in the senate and joe manchin of west virginia, the democrat considered the most conservative senate democrat, in

particular "the washington post," his office has expressed concerns about approving more money before the funding approved in prior relief packages has been spent by the federal government. that, again, according to the people that the "washington post" talked to about this spending and the senator's thinking. when it comes to west virginia, it was yesterday that republican governor jim justice was asked about these two competing relief packages which he would support, some interesting comments from him in that exchange with state reporters. here's a little bit of it. >> if it comes down to an either/or of the 1.9 trillion american recovery plan or the $600 billion republican alternative, governor, which of the two plans will you endorse? >> well, phil, i would say, you know, let's be perfectly honest and perfectly truthful.

i have not had the privilege to see either plan and i really am not versed well enough to know how much dollars are really needed. but i have got to tell you that there is a tremendous difference between 1.3 -- or 1.9 trillion and 600 billion. and, really, how i would feel is just this, i don't think that america can go wrong being too high. i really don't. i think today america's got to go to the higher number. >> republican governor jim justice of west virginia yesterday. back to your phone calls, charles jacksonville, florida, the line for those who make between 60 and a hundred thousand dollars a year, go ahead. >> caller: yes, sir, i don't see anything wrong with giving money back directly to the american people when they spend it

everywhere in the world. like i say, the important part is how they pass spending it. if they go through reconciliation, they have to, by law, cut medicare and medicaid in equal proportional amounts. >> did we chat with you already? >> caller: we were talking, yes. >> got your point. thanks for making the point. i left you hanging on the line there. thanks for making your point. got a bunch of other folks waiting to chat as well. jim in frederick, maryland, the line for those who make over a hundred thousand dollars a year. >> caller: thanks very much for your time. i think that focusing on something that is undoubtedly the people that are most affected, the people who have applied and accepted by unemployment. you asked about the first stimulus check and the second. my wife and i both were

unemployed in 2020, not '19. and for some reason, the checks in the first -- or the first checks, even though we filed our taxes for 2019 and we made under $175,000 or more and i don't remember exactly. but point is, we got a check. it made absolutely no sense. we got it. then in 2020, my wife lost her job halfway through the year during coronavirus, and i was unemployed as well. we haven't filed our 2020 taxes and yet the second check that went out, we didn't get. so i guess what's my point, my point is that the federal government is very disorganized. and i think they're trying to throw a blanket all over it. i agree it's helping those, but it's also helping the people who don't need it. i think focusing on people that are accepted for unemployment in the state's unemployment and changing that in a way that they -- right now the federal government provides a flat -- i

think it's 300 per month. they don't rate it based on the number of people that it's covering. a family of three, family of five, family of one all get the same amount. they should rate -- they should adjust it based on needs. >> you're saying that targeting that money to unemployment insurance is less wasteful, i guess, is that what you're saying? >> i think -- yeah, i think it's less wasteful and it's -- it will be most helpful to people. let me say one other thing about that. it's really targeting people that have demonstrated in a way that is -- it's difficult for people. it's embarrassing for people. for example, food banks. i believe some of the money that's going to be in this 1.9 or 600,000 -- >> 600 billion. >> caller: putting money towards people -- it's very obvious they need it. people are going to a food bank. i can't imagine that. but those people need it the

most. people that are unemployed, i can't imagine needing that. >> jim -- >> caller: we probably don't need it. but if we get it, i would be embarrassed. it's just not the right thing for us to do, is what i'm trying to say. >> let me show the viewers these two charts today and the difference in spending between stimulus money and money targeted at unemployment insurance programs in this country. under that biden plan, it's the $1.9 trillion plan, $465 billion, that darker square there, is the money that gould to the stimulus, the direct payments impacting something around 85% of american households would get some or part of those stimulus payments. the biden plan also has $350 billion for unemployment insurance. so a lower number than what would go to direct stimulus payments. bring you down to the republican

plan. that $618 billion proposal. you want to come down a little bit more than that if the camera can follow me down. direct payments. they have $220 billion for direct stimulus payments and when it comes to unemployment insurance, $132 billion. a lower number but both of those numbers lower than the stimulus money and the unemployment money that would be in that larger biden plan. that's what we're breaking down these two plans and asking you if you were crafting it, how would you target the money? who should get a stimulus check, a third stimulus check? frank is in west virginia. the line for those who make under $30,000 a year. good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you doing? >> doing all right. >> caller: i'm on social security so 2020 i made $15,691.20. i had a heart attack in

february, last february, i have two blood clots. i'm going to take -- i'm going too take the $1,400 and buy me a mercedes? if a person is on a fixed income, it should be done to where they should have been giving people money every month if you're on a fixed income, at least, and if you're unemployed, the same thing. if you've been working all the time paying into the system, you should -- you should have gotten paid all the time. it's tough out here. in west virginia, it's rough. that guy from florida saying things about $30,000, come up here. give it a shot on $15,000. >> frank, what did you -- did you hear the jim justice clip that we played? >> absolutely. there's not -- he and i don't see eye to eye. i've worked on a lot of elections for joe manchin.

my dad was totally politically involved. joe manchin is wrong. jim justice is right. i'm a registered independent. but, you know, it's -- it's different in different places. you know what i'm saying, john. if you're living in california, i understand all that. i live in west virginia. west virginia and mississippi take turns at being the two poorest states in the united states. but when you're making -- like i said, i was making $15,691, can you imagine that, john? can you imagine living on that? and the furnace went out, i had to go borrow $6,000 to get my furnace worked. now i have a mortgage and another payment. thank god that i was able to do that. but, you know, they got to help the people out here. forget about throwing money to

the los angeles lakers and amazon and all that kind of stuff. the people, the people, us. thank you, john, you all have a good day and god bless. >> thanks for calling in. it's been a year since your heart attack, right? >> caller: yeah, my heart attack was last february the 13th. i got to go to the doctor this thursday. me and the dog live by myself. it's tough. it's tough. >> i'm glad you're doing better since then. let's make sure we talk each february going forward. hope you continue to stay well out there in clarksberg. >> jim from iowa, good morning. jim, are you with us? then we will go to charlie in ohio. that line for those who make between 30 and $60,000 a year. go ahead. >> caller: yeah, i just called

to say, i understand people need the money and everything right now. they need to go figure out who needs it the worse and quit giving it to all these other countries. in the last package, they had money going to a place that -- that kennedy museum. who needs a museum when you can't eat? you know what i'm saying? they need to get down, figure out where the money needs to go, which is too the american people, not other foreign countries that want to do any kind of checking on their race or anything else. it goes america, people, nowhere else. >> we've been talking specifically about the stimulus checks and the money in these plans for direct stimulus payments. let me break down the rest of what's in those plans starting with the biden -- the american rescue plan, the $1.9 trillion plan. we talked about the $1,400 stimulus checks.

the $400 a week in unemployment insurance. that would go through september. also, an eviction moratorium through september. $400 billion to fiegtd coronavirus and reopen schools. we talked yesterday on the program about the inclusion of $15 an hour in a federal minimum wage raising more than doubling the minimum wage in this country. having a provision to do that. expanded paid sick leave for workers and increased tax credits for families with children. that's all the biden plan, that $1.9 trillion plan. this other plan we're hearing about, the $618 billion plan from that gang of ten, the republican plan would be a thousand dollars stimulus payments, we've been talking about that. the $300 a week in unemployment insurance supplement, that through june, $160 billion for vaccine distribution and testing. $50 billion to add to the ppp program for small businesses, $20 billion to reopen schools,

$20 billion for childcare and development bloc grants, $12 billion for food aid, $4 billion for mental health. that breakdown from "politico." you notice the money for state and local governments, that not included in the gop plan. also not included the $15 an hour minimum wage. that's a breakdown of the two plans. they're focusing on the stimulus checks. frank, when it comes to those, who should get stimulus checks out of florida on the line for those who make between 30 and $60,000 a year. >> caller: hi, good morning. i absolutely agree that help is needed for people who have been affected. and in my opinion the aid should be targeted more through unemployment programs and programs to help small businesses like ppp so that

maybe these businesses who really been affected can retain their employees and continue to pay their employees. what i think is -- one of the shortcomings of, you know, just saying, well, let's give it to, you know, anyone who is making under $75,000 and not to anyone who's making -- who made over 75,000 is that you're looking at numbers that were -- income that was generated actually in 2019. this information is already outdated. it's already outdated. someone who -- a couple who made $200,000 in 2019 filed their taxes in '20 and lost their jobs, like -- you're not working with the current situation of

people. if you channel this through unemployment insurance, it should have a more direct effect, a better targeting, i think -- >> frank, the -- as we showed before, there's more money directed towards stimulus payments than unemployment insurance. i wonder, do you think that's because people like getting checks from the government and democrats and republicans have both found that to be something that their constituents want? >> caller: everyone likes getting money, but in this situation -- we're in a crisis. not everyone deserves money. look, i don't make over a hundred thousand dollars and neither do my kids. but i can honestly say, we don't need to get a check in the mail. we don't. give it to the people who have lost their jobs, who are really, really struggling. and if helping those people by

supplementing the unemployment insurance or give them a bigger check. what i absolutely positively object to are the programs and special interests that they slip into these packages. that shouldn't be there. things that have absolutely nothing to do with covid. >> frank, let me get your thoughts on this one. this one from today's washington times. a group of democrats is demanding that the upcoming debate on the coronavirus bill includes a provision offering citizenship rights to 5 million illegal immigrants. it throws a new wrinkle into the negotiations. the caucus is proposing citizenship for those in the u.s. under the obama era daca program and the protected status designation and those who claim to be essential workers. they calculate that would total

5 million people. >> caller: you know the immigration issue is something that absolutely positively should be addressed, but it's separate and apart -- in my opinion it's separate and apart from what is going on right now with covid relief with helping people who are struggling. i get it. the immigration problem is a problem. why -- again, this is what complicates these bills. and this is where people don't really know what it is that they're -- you know, voting for or voting against. i think it's wrong. i think it's wrong to include that into this bill. immigration is a separate issue and it should be discussed separately. >> frank, got your point.

appreciate the call. several more calls. about ten minutes left in this segment. john in virginia has been waiting the line for those who make 60 and a hundred thousand dollars a year. good morning. >> caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. thank you for all of those who are participating in this american debate and have something to offer and a part of the solution quickly. i support 65 to 100 and the reason why is that i think that this stimulus portion, the cash portion, the check that goes out to the people, should be based somewhat like housing programs. i'm in the housing industry as a realtor. and i've served in the military for over 20 years. and housing programs are based on the income and the cost of living in the area. we have the ability to target these payments in a similar way.

the information is there in my opinion. if it's not, we need to work on a better system. this is not our last rodeo. this is not our last stimulus needed. this is not our last pandemic. we need to get smarter on it. i know that we have to deal with where we are right now. the 6.3 trillion package that went out went largely to business and people who didn't need it in my opinion and they didn't get to the people, the last point here is, if you lost a job, that's important to get to -- to help those people. but we don't really talk about those people who have been out of work and who don't really appear in the weekly and monthly job numbers because they've been out of work so long. how do we affect those people, whether in west virginia or west los angeles or southern maryland or northern virginia. >> let me ask you before you go, how is the real estate business during a pandemic? >> caller: thank god, praise god, the real estate business is booming. but you have to have money to

buy a house. we didn't take care of the pandemic problem. nobody's -- businesses aren't traveling. interest rates are down so low that everybody is a buyer who -- if you can fog a mirror. and that's a blessing for the -- that's a boom to the real estate industry. >> what's the rate today for a 30-year fixed? >> it's in the low twos. if you have excellent credit, it's in the low twos. another challenge so i believe that helping people stay in a house, helping people eat. some of the people who need help, they make 65,000 in northern virginia right at the doorsteps and their service provider to congress if they work in the capitol, they work in the senate as a support person as a capitol policeman. they live in northern virginia, very likely, and they may live 17 to 45 miles away and travel an hour and a half on a bad traffic day to get there.

and so the 65, the 55, the 30,000 a year, $15 an hour, it doesn't -- i mean, even if you work two jobs and you make 60,000 a year because you get $215 an hour jobs, you can probably buy a house then. but the cost of a house here averages over $500,000 in northern virginia. >> john, thanks for the call. joy in marysville, kansas. good morning. >> caller: i disagree on it. >> and why is that, ma'am? >> caller: i disagree on it -- on the stimulus checks and the unemployment. are you there? >> yes, ma'am. >> caller: i disagree on it because the more you give people, the more they want. there's jobs out there. they can go to work. the bars and the cafe are open.

and people lived on 600 or $800 a month before they had this. they want it now. get your priorities in order. i think everybody should get it because it's the people that's working is the ones that's paying for this. it's not the ones that's not working. and you have all of these people who don't do nothing all their life, they get all this money, why is that fair? they don't pay rent or food. they get all this money. i don't think it's fair. >> that's joy in kansas this morning. a few more comments from twitter and facebook. this saying every taxpayer should be eligible for stimulus money and there should be no reduction on children regardless of income. bill gates and jeff bezos are american taxpayers and should be treated no less than any other citizen. this from dana saying there's no way the feds could legitimately figure out who is in need. i have a niece and nephew with

two kids who have done well during covid and will earn $4,000 a year when it comes to the question about targeting those in need. and laura saying they keep forgetting about those of us who have adult dependents. they're still dependent upon somebody else for 50% of their support saying she has a disabled son who makes barely over minimum wage and her dependent. when it comes to dependent children, for children and adult dependents, both these plans we've been talking about includes money for them, the biden plan, the american rescue plan would be $1,400. that same amount would be for children and adult dependents when it comes to the gop plan, that amount reduced to $500 for children and adult dependents. that's the difference between those two plans. tracy, akron, ohio, the line for those who make under $30,000 a year who should get a stimulus check? >> caller: hello? hello?

>> go ahead, tracy. >> caller: oh, hi. i was calling -- i haven't received the second one, the second check. i don't know where it went. every time i call the irs they don't answer the phone. it's just -- i disagree with anyone that's making 60,000 or more don't deserve to get no stimulus checks at all. it should be people that is under 30,000 or up to 30,000 to 50,000, they should get the stimulus checks. anybody over that, they don't need the check at all. people that are unemployed, they need to do that better. they need to work on that much better because there's a lot of people that don't want to work because they're getting that check. and there's plenty of jobs online. they need to just find a

different way of how they're going to pass the amount. but i haven't even received my stimulus check, the second one. >> that's tracy in ohio. this is wendy out of millville, new jersey, the line for those who make over a hundred thousand dollars a year. who should get the next stimulus check? >> caller: hi. i agree with the caller before the last. i worked pretty much through the whole pandemic. i was laid off for two months. and i see people that have actually been on unemployment prior to, you know, the covid and they're making more money than they ever have. they don't plan on going back to work. and they're also not paying their rent here because, again, what they just did was create this big bubble, again, for the housing market. these people are getting checks and refusing to pay their rent. i don't know what they think --