reports for the month of june show a rising trend in the purchase of some domestic brands. our first 45 minutes this morning, your thoughts on recalls in the u.s., and if they

have changed her mind about purchasing a domestic car. here's a you can reach out to us this morning. ,emocrats, call (202) 585-3880 republicans, call (202) 585-3881 , and independents, call (202) 585-3882. if you want to make your thoughts on if the recalls in the u.s. had changed her mind about buying a domestic vehicle, you can do that on our twitter @cspanwj. the los angeles times in his tory in early june, to a look at the auto recall in the u.s.. he said it was too defective parts, and airbag inflator, and a faulty ignition switch high and the ongoing safety scandal. that was responsible for 70% of the 31.4 vehicles that have been recalled so far this year.

that breaks the previous record of 30.8 million vehicles recalled for all of 2004. the other key factors are the rush of recalls is the fear of reprisals. andacing billions and finds repairs for delayed action on safety issues, and totally onto already having paid billions, the industry has developed a hairtrigger sense of sensibility. they now issue large recalls more frequently. the national highway transportation safety and nutrition is come under fire as well, for lax oversight. the paper today says forget ugly sales figures.

general motors soldiers 1% more. taking a look at the recalls that have been issued in the united states, when it comes to domestic vehicles. have it -- has it changed your opinion? if you want to weigh in on social media, journal@c-span.org

is the e-mail, you can post on our facebook page, or make your thoughts on twitter, @cspanwj. if you turn to the papers that are based that of michigan, this is the battle we -- "battle creek inquirer." is a taking a look at detroit and how it is doing as far as autoworkers are concerned.

so, to the recalls, and if they have influence or would influence purchase of a vehicle. the numbers will be on your screen. this is jeff from philadelphia on our independent line. >> good morning. how would it have turned out if we had let them gone bankrupt and didn't deal with them? if bush and bail them out, we wouldn't of had this problem. if the republicans again, it's their fault. >> as far as the recalls are concerned? >> of course. >> you would've let gm die? >> look at all the other companies. where does this attitude come from too big to fail? it's silly. do you realize how much cheaper cars would be if they went to the process of bankruptcy? >> we are talking about recalls. as far as the news of recalls

goes, does it influence you one way or another is whether he would buy a car? >> absolutely. i would buy a foreign car. -- i think i, would buy a german. volkswagen or audi. >> bobby from michigan. democrats line. >> good morning. i work for general motors for 32 years. the problem here is that the parts the general motors are using are brought in from china. you can't make chicken salad out shit.cken >> that's bobby from michigan. you are welcome to make those thoughts on the line. chart take a look at the that usa today posted earlier today, taking a look at auto sales, as was a study that was released on july 2.

but showed some of the changeovers of sellers from 2013. gm showed a 1% increase with 200 to 7000 cars sold. take a look at chrysler. forward seeing a decrease. but it is all negative change. rd seeing a decrease. frankie, from north carolina. democrats line. >> how are you doing? >> fine, thank you. >> don't blame general motors for going -- for what is going on. income. making new

that's where the blame lies. before you go, as far as what you have heard about recalls and anything else -- if you had to buy a car in the next few months, would any of those recalls influence what kind of car you buy? >> i think it would. line,y cars come off the there has to be some bad ones. it wouldn't deter me from buying a car. >> a domestic car? car? you buy a ford device towould buy a car. >> that is frankie, from north carolina. >> he is making his thoughts on twitter. you can do that at @cspanwj. journal" makest

their thoughts known. starting more than a decade ago, the industry began recalling on average more vehicles every year than it makes. no cars and become more reliable. >> bob, from florida. democrats line.

i'm in the oil industry, i sell imports. everyone is missing the point. their sales are up because they have a market sitting in their sole -- sales rooms. of course they will pick up a certain percentage of new sales. they have the sale pit -- sales pitch down pat. gm products aren't any better, they just have more people coming into the showrooms. >> what you think about reef -- recalls? them are going, hey, it's an older car. people say toyota has gotten hurt the most on it because it has been a continuous -- it will be a while to see whether this is a short term from gm clearing up all their problems. people just look at it overall. they are expecting more recalls now.

>> do you think people pay attention to recalls overall if it's not there specific vehicle being mentioned? >> no. i think people aren't 90% of the news goes over there head. >> you mentioned toyota. it saw 3.3 increase from last year. -- 2100 andsales sales. >> toyota same increase for the same factor. room was coming in to replace faulty mats around the petals. just go with the same pattern on their. toyota had everyone coming into their showroom, they traded them out of the car they thought they had a problem with, and put them into something new. >> wayne, in virginia. >> my comment is this. the quality assurance is shot to hell.

we have 2000 cars recalled, and then you have the amount of people who have died. guys should have a failsafe. they have an obligation to make sure the assembly of those cars, that is what quality assurance is all about. you have inspections and checking those cars. the car dealer is making money off people who are dying. it shouldn't happen here. the united states is the grace country in the world, we should make a product that is the greatest project in the world. >> if you had to buy a car tomorrow, what kind of car would you buy? because i'm a unionist, it would be a domestic. it would be a domestic. if you push me, i would have to buy a foreign. >> that is wayne, from virginia.

the "detroit free press," this thoseg takes a look at buying the ford f1 50. >> from alabama, here is al, democrats line. >> good morning.

i'm just saying that, if i had to buy a car, has the recall change my mind about mr. cars -- domestic cars? certainly not. >> even in light of the recall news? >> most definitely. i have had recalls on one of the companies i would buy any time, and it would be a dodge. >> why would you continue to buy american? >> first of all, that is what i am it i believe in my country. i know we have done some things -- i know we have made american cars out of foreign steel. i know we have done these things. alabama, they had foreign steel sitting in the bay. we did some crazy things in order to make money. but i feel about my american cars -- i know is a person that

knows how to build things, i know that the structure of an american car is stronger than a unibody thing they call a foreign car. >> ron from michigan on our republican line. east of aouth and spend, and north and east of toledo. in monroe county. frome been doing this 1962, we have never built them better. i would buy them every day if i could afford it. the american public is getting the best vehicle on the road. there is no question that the savings the automotive industry was the most important thing that could happen in this country in the last 50 years. >> before you go home a what do you think the number of recalls of done? john is up next, a new jersey. independents line. >> good morning. in reference -- i have been the

automobile field for about 20 years. hello? >> best to keep talking on the phone, not listen to the tv. >> i have been working in the automobile field for over 20 years. brands. in reference to recalls, it's commonplace. even feel it initially, there will be a recall. have onice bulletins we new products, whenever a new product comes out. there will always be certain issues they have to deal with. if you take a look at a new the serviceaverage bulletins are sometimes three pages long on an individual item. they actually dropped down over time the. --the second or third year

in reference to the reference -- in reference to the ignition switch themselves, i was a technician looking at them in a dealership. the first thing a technician looks that is to see whether or not they can duplicate the problem. if they can duplicate the problem, it really cannot solve the problem. iny asked customers to bring their own to use, everything on the keys to try it. >> john, when you see a figure read from the "los angeles time,", 31 plus vehicles recalled this year. what does the public think about when they hear that figure, about a car that is being built -- particularly a domestic car? >> i wouldn't worry about it. the reports of accidents that happened with that scenario -- there was one accident that happened according to the news,

there was a head-on accident with a honda. honda,ple died, in the they had -- it depends on the speed of the situation. of full a lot tolerances in automotive fields. -- there isonsider a few tolerances put in as well. the vehicley does itself, it depends on who is driving, how they are driving, and what speed they are driving. >> that is john out of new jersey. >> we're asking people about the number of recalls taking place, asking them if they would change their mind about buying domestic. democrats, call (202) 585-3880, republicans, call (202) 585-3881

, independents, call (202) 585-3882. up next is jeff, in, on our democrats line. owner of two gm vehicles. for me, a car just like software. you buy a software product, it is going to have bugs in it. it is going to have to be updated. the good thing is, gm, just like software, unfortunately now, they're doing the recall thing. they should've done that a lot sooner. i'm pretty sure complaints have come up because of these recalls. the first gm car i bought was a cadillac. 2000 cadillac. it had the same issues. i drive, and it just cuts off on me. recently, i've heard that recall, and that the cadillac.

the other -- >> if you had to buy a car, would gm be off the table in your mind? >> not necessarily. the marketing campaign with gm is pretty ridiculous right now. especially the transformer movie this out. you have younger generation that is looking at the transformers. you look at bumblebee with a camaro. if i can't afford a camaro, living buy another gm vehicle. soon i'm saying? that's it for gm, but is a good for the consumer? host: as jeff from florida. hillary clinton making the rounds for her book. she sat down for an interview that without today. that airs tonight at 7:00, you can see it tomorrow night: 15. you can see host:

that interview tonight at 7:00. from rockford illinois, this is virginia. independent line. caller: i have been buying gm cars since the mid-80's. i have had five cars. i buy one every seven years. the last one i had was the cobalt. there was a recall on there. decidedt it in, and i -- it was seven years. i have a gm credit card. so i just went ahead and bought -- a chevynew spark. i have only had it a couple of weeks. i love the thing. i'm getting 44 miles to the gallon in town, with the nitro hydrogen tires.

it's just a great little car. host: so you're sticking with gm all the way? caller: oh yes. host: nothing would change her mind? recall.i did get a they replaced the ignition thing several years back, and then i got another recall. but i never had any problems with the car. host: would you ever consider a foreign-made model? caller: i have the gm card, so i charged up on the card for seven years. and i whine new car, i get $3500 off on the new car. on the trade and, i paid hardly anything for the new car just bought. on our newsmakers program, which you can see tomorrow, an interview with the canadian ambassador to the u.s., he talks about a variety of issues, including a canadian view on the keystone pipeline. he is talking about state efforts to move towards energy

self sufficiency in america. [video clip] excitingk it's quite what's going on in america in energy efficiency. both canada and united states worked on the same energy efficiency standards for cars. i think the president didn't get enough credit for it. i think we don't get enough credit in canada, getting these new higher energy efficiency standards for light vehicles. it is number one for being more energy efficient in north america. canada is about 53% renewables for electricity generation. we believe that is very important. number three is the development of a safe way of gas, the shale gas. think we have some technology in canada with some of the companies that are doing that successfully in our country. we know there is controversy here in the united states, and we respect the sovereign debate that is going on.

fourthly, the amendment of the constitution of mexico just recently -- a courageous decision by their read -- their leader. the development of gas in the exas.n, and the t it provides all of us the opportunity to have less dependent on the middle east. host: that's the canadian ambassador to the u.s. talking about not only energy issues, but other issues. you can see that interview in full, at 10:00 in the morning. this is out of the "financial times." agent.arrest a it was first reported in the german media, that the man works in the post room of the foreign intelligence service.

host: a couple of stories about a rack. the "washington post," looks at a rack -- iraq. the kurds need a reliable cash flow. baghdad controls the region's budget. host: a follow-up story in the "wall street journal," this morning. iraneadline says it ron --

strikes subtle balance in iraq. host: back to your thoughts on mindcalls would make your -- would change her mind about buying domestic. this is deborah michigan. democrats line. caller: i used to work in a factory. 13 or 14 years ago, they got rid of our jobs. can you hear me? host: go ahead. caller: they had our jobs shipped out, sent to china, and

what happened there was -- a port of the iron, then they put it on a ship, machined it, too good to mexico -- to get to mexico, and it was for a pickup truck. then they send it to the big three. gm wanted cuts on the constantly. concerned, i will buy afford -- a ford. i know what a differential is made like. you would buy a ford, would you buy an international model? caller: would your wiring harnesses, you would not believe for your wiring harnesses are made. they are made in mexico. it is not the american worker, it's when those problems get to the line.

it's assembled, the parts are assembled at the factory. they are not made at the factory. they are brought in. texasfred is up next from . republican line. bought foreign cars, and i have bought gm or domestic cars. i have bought them both. i've had no problems with the ones i have bought. i've had recalls on a foreign car. so far, none of them on a domestic car. but it would make a difference on me if i knew beforehand. thing when heg want to buy anything that you want to have your family in. people that are buying cars -- i would rather buy domestic.

but i want to go safety with my family. if it is a car that is on the recall list, i might have second thoughts. host: would you have second about the- obviously car, but the other cars the line, even if they are not the car directly associated with the recall? caller: that i wouldn't have a problem with. at the time, nothing has been wrong with them. if i heard something on the recall list, i would have second thoughts. the ones i had the art on the recall list, i would maybe favor that side. on aometimes, when you are car lot, you might not know that information. thingsly is one of those that you just hope you get the right car. foreign or domestic. either one. but it would affect what car i would buy if i knew about a recall. host: here's gilbert from

oklahoma, independent line. caller: this is oklahoma. it would never occur to me to buy anything other than a domestic car. i would never buy anything. the buick, i had to buick's. the last ford that i had was for 15 years without a problem. i believe in this country when it decides to do right here in look atuction here, what we are sending down to mexico. builtnot domestically rate it is out of mexico. not buy any kind of foreign car in this country. defense contract

industry is the subject of a piece in the washington post. is many defense contrast still go to sole bidders. the story about the f 35. this is the wall street journal. this is the most expensive weapons program. it has been beset by problems.

will from california is on the democrat line. caller: i would buy domestic cars. i own a chevrolet sonic. i enjoy my car. it has all kinds of options and it. once the american manufacturers start getting rid of some of the last big and cheap stuff and

started making a more aerodynamic approach, it was excellent. the technology is great. you get that domestic pricing is better. it the feel economy is better. i would suggest they build these to handle these crappy american roads. your cards at damage because of bumps and turns. some of the driving on these highways is a treacherous. people need to slow down. a car in one buy of those right to work states. they can fire people at will. ditto want to deal with negotiation. that is all i have to say. keep buying american. that is the only way to get out of this slump. have heard about the rise in self driving cars. try sure has a self driving truck.

michael from pennsylvania. i have a comment about the recalls. i have long thought to the recalls were very political in nature. from what they did to audi and toyota in the recall process for a religiously small factor and dragging them through the mud

compared to the way they have handled gm which is a government-backed union. they have handled them with kid gloves. i think it is very political on how they have responded to these recalls. tensile vein is in on the independent line. what do you think about recalls and buying a domestic are? for recalls would change my opinion. i am a 19-year-old. the fact that my girlfriend would drive a pontiac with airbags that would not deploy on interstate 81 is very alarming to me. especially when i sit in the airbagsr seat, if our

did not go off it could be in the end of our lives. is the national section of the new york times. it look to the fallout of what is going on in the senate.

will from pennsylvania. thank you for holding on. caller: i would like to say that i would definitely buy an american made car or in i currently own six gm cars. they are great cars. they are dependable. i would not be afraid to take them anywhere. my children drive them. i think it is important to i american vehicles and support the american worker. host: what about the number of recalls overall? caller: i think it is unfortunate. built in chinare

and mexico and all over. it is hard to tell where they are coming from. job to to do a better make sure that the components we use are dependable unreliable. the headline says that the president has no plan for new bank rules.

from pennsylvania, raymond is up next. caller: good morning. to answer a question with a question. one of my reasons i will not buy a domestic car is because of the uaw and its alignment with this president. this is quickly unraveling. they have made junk. made garbageakers 30 years ago. that is how your foreign cars

got a hold here. buy, i have a subaru and a toyota. that truck will outperform any gm or ford pickup at half the price. i have had it for 13 years. not one thing wrong with it. you're going to tell me i am going to buy a gm? defect. try to hide the calling and are must be supporters. i saw sales from last year.

this chart is provided by usa today. willie is from toledo. vying -- have been buying gm for 30 years. i will continue to buy gm products. years i bought a jaguar. it has the same problem with the ignition switch as the gm. i hit the switch with my knee and the car has turned off three or four times. i will continue to buy gm. host: i don't know if you heard people showing concerned about buying a domestic are because of recalls. most new cars have defects. they have to get the bugs out of

them. i would say 60% of the new vehicles have a manufacturers defect. they would've caught the problem with the ignition switch with gm earlier. i have been buying fords ever since i was in my 20's. i am two months from being 80. host: go ahead and keep talking. caller: i have buying fords ever since it was in my 20's. the main thingnd about any automobile is a maintenance. if you don't maintain your car, it is not going to continue running. about hisfellow talk

foreign cars. those cannot run any better than any other car unless you maintain the car. i have a 1996 cougar. this car has several hundred thousand miles on it. it has a v8 engine in it. it has not broken down. i do have to maintain that car. most of the problems are people do not get their cars met rob early minced. host: how do you -- how much do you spend on maintenance? caller: maybe $500 a year. this is included oil change and rotation of tires. is the last call. reginald is from new jersey. hower: and astonishes me

that nature of both the republican base. rootn the world can you against american-made products? you are talking about employing americans. they continue to bash this president and not give credit for the things he has accomplished. if they can find any reason whatsoever to bash them they will. these people amaze me. they are supposed to be religious but they are not. they are supposed before democracy and they try to suppress the vote. host: we are talking about the mastic cars. what do you think about that? i will buycourse american. that is not a problem with me. host: that is the last call we will take on the topic. we will change gears and look at decided by thes

supreme court. discuss ther will case later in the program. jobsll look at this weeks numbers with nicholas johnson from bloomberg. a focus on jackson, mississippi this weekend. you'll explore the history and literary life. booktv we will feature all the programming from jackson. aboutn hear the story mississippi in africa. >> >> we are at prospect hill

plantation. this is the nexus of the whole story of mississippi in africa. very few people know about it. it encompasses the united states and africa and free slave colonies. they immigrated to liberia. by as founded revolutionary war veteran from south carolina. in 1808to mississippi with a large group of slaves and freed blacks. some of the freed blacks had fought alongside him and the revolution. the slaves themselves were mostly of mixed race. they had come from several plantations in south carolina. he came here and established

this plantation and arranged for the freed blacks who fought with them to buy land in the area. this was a fairly egalitarian arrangement. i tell a story about how i is a threat to israel. my gender is male. my nationality is iranian. is persian.ity my culture is matter eastern. sends off about me all the warning signals for israel. the experience of an iranian american man trying to get through on the airport in the

reminder to is a everyone that despite the way globalization has brought us closer and has diminished the boundaries that separate us as nations and ethnicities, all you minutesdo is send a few trying to get to the airport to remember that those divisions and things that separate us are very much alive. he will take your phone calls on islamic fundamentalism. hours on booktv, part of a three-day holiday weekend of nonfiction books and authors. >> washington journal continues. amanda becker covers the

labor industry for reuters. the supreme court takes a look at a case concerning unions. about? the case fee paidt was about a by public-sector union members. essentially it covered negotiation and collective bargaining. it was called an agency fee. -- everybody a pays it. it covers with the union does for you. this case was challenging the payment of those fees in the state of illinois. host: what workers did the case center on? caller: these were home care workers. they are paid with medicaid funds. they are jointly administered by state or national government. this was a mother. she was caring for her adult

son. she was paid to medicaid. was taken out automatically. she thought this is problematic because she was not a union supporter. she was making free-speech arguments. a member of the union but was required to play the fee. caller: she was a member of the union. she did not want to be. she probably voted no when they voted to organize. to pay theserced fees unless you're in a right to work state. in 1977 by theed supreme court. they said this was ok. you would have a lot of people who are getting the benefits of unions without having to pay for the services. decide?at did the court

expectingeryone was this. biggerger it went, the everyone was expected to be. it had the potential to nationalize right to work. it did not happen. this is a very narrow ruling by justice alito. everyone expected him to write the opinion. the court divvies up opinion writing. this is the only case left and he was the only justice to have not written an opinion yet. he said they would not get to it. they were not government employees. they were partial ehrman employees. .hey did not have to get there were not public employees to begin with. host:? who brought the case caller: the home care workers

were backed by a conservative group that opposes organized labor. host: it was their intention to see a larger ruling for people who did not want to be members of the union. caller: yes. this is an interim victory. caseslan to keep pursuing that will get rid of the standard entirely. host: there was an op-ed piece in the near times. they said this about these fees. such fees now rests on shaky constitutional ground in the public sector. they are vulnerable to broader attack in the future. case?you see that as the caller: this is the second time justice alito has done this. he indicated that he did not

think this was good law anymore. he indicted somebody to bring another case. stata center that case very narrowly. this case accepted that invitation. paragraphsand has about all the problems he sees with the case that the court heard in 1970's. alito can't resist taking potshots at the ruling and the idea of these fees in general. i would expect to see another case sooner rather than later. host: is there one up bubbling up? seenr: not that i have that has been petitioned or accepted. roots of scholar

enough that was interesting. the roberts court has a tendency do narrow rulings on things a couple of times until he get to an overall issue and people think this is one of those cases. host: amanda becker is our guest. if you want to ask her questions, here are the questions -- numbers to call. if you want to send us a tweet or an e-mail. what was the reaction from labor unions? caller: they were disappointed. they were a little bit relieved. expected to be bigger which would've been bad for them. toy said they are just going

put more effort into organizing. they will still exist. they can still represent people. they won't be able to charge mandatory fees anymore. host: this is tonya from west virginia. caller: good morning. i worked in a city hospital in new york. was wonderful at her job. she had just come back from vacation. she tried to get me fired. i was able to get out of that office. get mental health care later down the road because i had made it into that union. there is another policy coming down. when the democrats first got in office, they turned on the

unions. toy did not do any thing promote the unions. are you part of the union? caller: i am not now. a lot of people like to talk about the mentally ill. when i was working in that house oh i was mentally ill. instead of getting fired i was able to go on medical leave to get the mental health that i deserved. host: when you were at the union, what fees did you have to pay? 59 now so i don't remember dollars and cents. is there a figure that sticks on your mind or an average price? caller: there are 26,000 of

these workers in illinois. they paid $3.5 million in fees. if you object to being a member of a union, you don't have to pay the full fee. that is what the fair share agreement is about. he only pay a portion of the expenses that benefit you like the bargaining process and not political activity or the nations. host: there is a dichotomy. if you pay the fee you are still getting the full benefit of the union even though you are not a member. caller: that is exactly right. exact free problem i was talking about. this country has gone through some terrible changes in

the labor market. we had a president recently that opened up the back door of the united states and said come on .nd work and except we will do anything to drive the price of wages down. the supreme court is stacked now to where they would make a ruling that says a corporation is a person. is people joined together. it is all for one and one for all. workbelieve in a fair days for a fair day's pay. host: what would you like our guest to talk about? caller: i would like her to talk whereas a hypothetical

would we be now in the united people?s far as paying these workers we are talking about are low-wage workers. a lot of them are providing 24/7 care for someone in their family. those who are not represented by a union say this has allowed them to get better wages. they end up making less than minimal wage when you divide the hours they are providing and what they are allowed to bill for or get paid for. one of the reasons illinois has tos program and allows them pursue collective bargaining is it would lead to a higher standard of care. it would raise wages for the work force. host: natasha is in a detroit, michigan. was in a bad car

accident. i had workers come in and help me. several of those months i was hardly able to walk. they are the most caring and underpaid people. they sent them here or there. they sent them to drive hundreds of miles. very seldom were they reimbursed for gas. their cars were rather old. i imagine a good portion of their money went for gas. i want to make a comment to the united states. i am in my late 60's. i have two brothers who were union workers. they were skilled laborers and they made a fine living.

think how america was back in the times when there was a good percentage of people that were union workers. they had good jobs. they had fair pay. they have a lot of benefits. the minute they started decreasing the number of people who were in unions, i believe this is one of the reasons why downorders are so porous, the street they were building a huge home and most of the laborers were mexican. not that i have anything against them. host: the homecare worker that helped you, did you know how much she made? caller: they made minimum wage. guest: that is exactly right. these are people who make a lot of money.

they are difficult to organize because they are in a hospital -- not in a hospital. theyhese are challenges have as workers. it is not easy to get together with other coworkers to look at working conditions. host: this was a partial public employee. will that lay in other future situations? guest: that will probably get sorted out in future cases. the could be other groups that come forward seeking a similar argument. they would not be covered by this medicaid homecare. i imagine that'll get sorted out. host: this is jim in florida. what i wanted to say is i was a union worker for almost 40 years. florida my wife

went to work for hasbro. florida is a right to work state. andboss did not do her job my wife was out sick for a. asked her boss if she wanted a letter from the doctor. she said don't bother. she went on vacation. she didn't say anything to a supervisor the took over for her. as a result, my wife got fired. if there was a union down here they would've fought it and she would've been reinstated. they fired her and that was it. it was a right to work state. that was the end of it. what is a right to work state? guest: i don't have a current count. more everyore and

year. you see this happening at the state level. it is essentially what they tried to do in this case. public employees cannot be required to join or pay union dues. host: illinois is one of them? guest: no. host: this is mildred in california. i do belong to the union. i am happy to pay the fee. daughters. i have two daughters. and she hasars old paranoid schizophrenia. my other daughter is 43 and she is complete care. i take care of them both.

the question i wanted to ask is 75, whenhildren, i am my children pass away i socialand there is no security. i am just left with nothing. why is that? host: tell us about the fees you paid. i pay $34 a month. is for wages. they help us with wages. host: is 34 dollars a month a significant part of your take home pay?

i think it's reason will. host: fahey. guest: that seems to be a typical fee from what i have heard. if you are a low-wage worker then your fee will be lower. host: you said it was hard to organize health care workers, is there an attempt? major there are two unions. one is the one that was involved in this case. the other represents public employees. i had some figures and wrote them down. homecare and childcare workers. , they havestimate

been trying to organize and have done so successfully. this is a growth area. they expected to keep growing. it represents a challenge if there is no workplace to picket at. there is a lot of door to door and reaching out to people individually. they are working in home settings. ont: amanda becker reports labor issues for reuters. we are looking at unions. there's a story on screen if you want to see it online. patty is from texas. thank you holding on. you just covered what i was going to ask. i saw this one lady on tv last week before the supreme court decision it. she was keep taking care of a disabled son.

i can't understand people who want to pay union dues when they are already strapped for money. why notis the case, charge every family union dues because mom is the caregiver. case that the the plaintiff made. she said i am a mom. she said she was not an employee. she said she as a mom taking care of her son. host: this is the reaction saying the ruling places at risk a system of consumer directed health care.

guest: i read that same thing but did not get very far. a lot of these groups than have to disclose their funders. host: james is in louisiana. good morning. caller: i would like to ask a question. there are union and nonunion members. if a nonunion member has a difficulty with his employer, does the union have to represent that nonunion member? guest: that is the issue i was talking about that represents a problem or challenge. it is the free rider problem. if they represent a workforce but a certain percentage don't theyto be part of it, declined to pay these fees going forward, they could still look

to the unions to work through grievances. any sort of contract will cover everyone. host: is that just the case for this industry or others covered by unions? guest: there are many workplaces in the private sector. it is an open shop versus a closed shop. in an open shop you can choose to join a union or not. covered by the contract and the conditions. host: that is a different field? guest: unless it is a right to work state. is why is itstion such a bad thing for them to pay a partial feed to the union? guest: they don't need the services. happy providing

care for a family member. they did not ask to join a union. host: don is in indiana. i was in the union. i was in the railroad union. all the railroads are union. everybody is in the union. we all pay dues for collective bargaining and political action. question is are the fees i am , are theythe railroad legal? guest: this decision is only about home care workers. there are 26,000 in illinois. only applies to

homecare workers. there could be other groups that make the same argument that they are not public employees. thehost: those would make full fee is saying that they are paying for somebody who isn't it this is mike. he is in wisconsin. good morning. union, they are governed by federal laws. why i don't understand is everybody complains about unions. the labor came into being, i know what is wrong with this country.

13 colonies formed a union. i will listen to your response. host: wisconsin is an interesting case. they got rid of collective bargaining in the public sector in wisconsin. it was a really big deal. the union i mentioned earlier, their union dues dropped 60%. knows what is going to happen when a decision like this comes down to people don't have to pay something anymore. they can opt to do so. you don't know what percentage. one estimate said 60%. host: j is in georgia. i wanted to answer a

question and ask a question as well. the duty of fair representation came up a few questions back. simple issue. it simply means that the union has a duty to treat all workers in a collective bargaining union fairly and in the same manner. it does not matter if it is in a right to wait work state or a closed shop state. free -- sameet the benefits. that is my answer. has totion of the guest do with the descriptions of the collective bargaining unit in the question in the supreme court case.

collectivecribe the bargaining as it was presented in the original certification? guest: i haven't looked at the original certification. it is 26,000 workers who work in the home. many of them are caring for family members. this has to do with something the illinois governor did in 2003. the labor board in that state said these people were not public employees. the governor said that they were. were able to pursue representation. these are people being paid a medicaid funds through a state program in illinois. host: this is the reaction.

guest: alito did not get rid of the fees for all public employees. he indicated in his opinion for multiple pages that he is very skeptical of these fees overall. maybe he did not have the votes in this case to apply this to all public sector employees. it is clear that he would like to. again, how does it deal with this situation? first that was the challenge to these fees in 1977. it was saying the same thing. we should not have to pay these fees. the court said it was ok. if you're getting the services of the union, you should pay for

them. playing -- out for paying the partner goes to political activity. caller: the later that brought this case, she was only taking care of her son. include them?ate was this lady only receiving how doesm medicare, the union negotiate with medicare? guest: this was a mother. she gets the federal funds through medicaid. the a policy standpoint, reason illinois was interested wasn't allowed the state to deal with these workers is one group of people in terms of negotiation. they thought it would improve

working conditions. that allowed people to stay in their homes. they get better care. they remain with their families. host: body is in georgia. i want to get some facts out there. i wish people would get on this kick about knocking unions down. they are for the benefit of the people. founded as aas union. fundamentalon is a word for our country. i believe the whole supreme has been towards corporations and not people. thank you for taking my call. guest: if there is anything i

have learned, there are different viewpoints. this is an issue that divides people. there are people who think that unions are essential and people who would rather go it alone. covers laborst issues for reuters. frank is in indiana. caller: i would like to say first of all indiana is a right to state. i did belong to a union. i worked in a factory. everybody was required to pay union dues. duesad the option of your going to the union or you had an option to give it to a charity or religious organization. you had to sign off on that. say if this like to

applied to the public sector? ever since ronald reagan fired the air traffic controllers, it's been downhill for the middle class. conservative people are trying to destroy the unions so they can get the cheap labor. i will take my answer off the the air. guest: a lot of people would agree with you. for some people, they think that is the right direction. this is something that really divides people. thesesition is only about partial public-sector employees who are providing personal care in a home setting. you want more information about the supreme court's activity, you can go to our website. .hat is www.c-span.org

you can hear some of the arguments that took place before the supreme court. robert is from california. i was concerned about the fact that nobody gets to the real issue. corporations are not allowed to donate money to political parties, everybody would be happy except the politicians. campaign finance law number one is cop -- stop corporations and unions from donating and we would be better off. union.dy would join a unions would get what they need. we need unions. it is a sad situation. our politicians of let this situation go. this is a red herring.

a citizen is the only person who should fund the campaign. a citizen is the only person donating money. host: why is this a red herring? caller: that is not covering the dues. the reason people -- this happened is because they don't want this to go to a party that they are not aligned with. knowu are a republican you what your dues going to a democratic politician. it would solve the problem. that is why the unions became so popular. this is a counterweight to the corporations. we need unions more than the country needs money in the political arena. guest: public employees can

already opt out of paying the money that would go to a political party or a candidate or for a campaign. host: that is universal wherever you are. guest: they can already opt out of that. what they can opt out now is the other part of the dues. this is the idea that they are paying for their fair share of what the union negotiates for them. alreadyic employees can apt out. host: can the get pressure from the union for doing that? guest: they are not supposed to. it may happen. it is not usually the case. host: this is max. caller: i want to agree with the gentleman the called earlier. they are not serving the purpose it they originally were supposed

to serve, which was represent the employees in negotiations with the company. people don't realize that when you involve politics you raised the dues for the individual employee to pay for the politico activities. politicians screw up everything. boeing tot forced to move to countries that don't have unions. the plant down in tennessee, the volkswagen plant, they were going to build an audi plant across the street from the volkswagen plant in chattanooga. they decided to build that in mexico. if the unions represented the

employees and negotiated with the company's and get out of politics. he is right about chattanooga and the situation. organized labor devise the public and evil on capitol hill. lawmakers are very divided on this. they were very vocal about chattanooga. i don't think that is going to change. host: let me get your take on a story that came out yesterday. one in three public-sector workers is a union worker. the public sector is unionize at a much higher rate than the

private sector. is the union rate in the united states right now. it's only 6.7% in the private sector. the public sector is 35%. it is five times the rate in the public sector. this is an important thing for these unions. it is a huge pool of members. host: this is federal, state, and local government. this is andrew on the democrat line. caller: i was wondering if you can attribute the aging of the population to the rack of luck theecollection where corporations had free reign over the employees. we had to fight for our rights for nominal work week. we had to fight them or benefits. that,ple don't remember they're going to be making the

same mistake before. they allowed corporations to walk all over us. i am in a right to work state. head to raise our organize. i am an engineer. young people are a demographic that unions have been targeting. they are not represented at high rates. i am in my 30's. i don't know many people who have ever been a member of the union. when it comes to the next steps in this issue, look out for cases that deal with dues? guest: they are already anticipating what has happened. they are organizing and getting people to affirm that they will support the unions. see increased organizing activity to ensure that people keep opting in to pay some of these dues.

i would expect another case to come up to the court. becker covers unions for reuters. thank you so much. have a newwe unemployment rate of 6.1%. nicholas johnson from bloomberg news will tell us what it means. opportunitylooks at in america and who is likely to have it. we will go over the findings later in the program. "washington journal" continues. ♪ >> this is the largest for black

colleges. it is just shy of $600 million. vanderbilt is in our peer group. they are at $6 billion. harvard represents the pinnacle of the nation's endowment is that $34 billion. they have a $6 billion campaign going on right now. if we are going to aspire to have that kind of excellence and wese types of facilities, have to have that kind of investment. to gomy responsibility out and show that we expand those revenue streams. >> dr. wayne frederick on the challenges facing the predominantly black university. i tell the story about how i,

every aspect of whose identity is in one way or another a threat to israel. -- mind you soon ship -- my citizenship is american. my culture is middle eastern. sends off about me all the warning signals for israel. so, the experience of an ir man tryingcan single to get through ben-gurion airport in the 21st century is a reminder to everyone that, despite the way globalization has brought us closer and has diminished the boundaries that separate us as nations, ethnicities, peoples, cultures, despite all of that, all you have to do is try to spend a few minutes getting through

ben-gurion airport to remember those positions, the things that separate us them are still very much alive. >> best-selling author and professor reza aslan will take your calls on tweets -- and tweets live for three hours sunday at noon eastern on book a's "indepth," part of three-day holiday weekend. journal"ngton continues. .ost: you are hired these are the words that thousands of job seekers hope to hear every month. more of them are getting to hear it. according to the labor department, the economy added 288,000 jobs in june. here to dig into those numbers is nicholas johnson, the deputy managing editor at bloomberg news in washington. thank you for joining us.

these are big numbers. how significant is the progress that we actually made in june? guest: the numbers are good. they've shown consistent job growth long-term. the white house is touting more month for00 jobs per the last several months. unemployment is still high. part-time jobs are still a big part of this. there is a good sign in this. the stock market reacted very well. growth in the united states economy, but it is not sort of a home run yet. host: here is a chart from the white house that shows that 9.7 million private sector jobs were added in the past 52 months since president obama took office. you can also see another chart that shows you exactly how far the unemployment rate has fallen

since the peak of the recession, down to 6.1%. the broadest measure of underemployment is at 12.1%. how sustainable are the gains that we've been seeing? guest: i think we are seeing a pretty broad-based recovery right now. a lot of these job gains are pretty consistent and strong. i think it is unclear how much higher it will go and whether this will be something that will continue to increase in the future, but for the most part, the numbers are relatively good. host: to what extent do the numbers push the dow above 17,000 for the first time? guest: they did. the stock market loves it. if you own stocks, this is a good job recovery. oryou don't have a job you're underemployed, this has not been a great recovery. critics of the current policies would say that, for all the

topline numbers that are good, there is still a lot of underlying weakness. host: we want to hear from you as well. you can call our phone lines. (202) 585-3880, if you are employed. (202) 585-3881, if you are unemployed. , if you are82 underemployed. i want to read a tweet from jared bernstein, a senior fellow at the center for budget and policy. he said, "june's unemployment rate fell for the right reasons, people getting jobs, not more people leaving the labor force." can you explain? guest: that number is right. a lot of the unemployment numbers are people picking and choosing what data they want to use. he wanted to pick some topline numbers.

if he worked for john boehner, he would maybe be taking a different rate, which is at a historic low. he would pick of underemployment rate which is also very high, wage growth which is also lagging somewhat. depending on how you slice the numbers, you could say this is a great number or maybe not as great as it should be. host: where are the jobs being created right now? guest: it is roughly broad-based. a lot of service economy jobs. harphing everyone likes to on is that there are not a lot of manufacturing jobs, but that is more of a structural change in the economy. it gets to the same point, two sides of the same coin. if you're happy with what the numbers want to be, if you want to encourage him if you want to bolster the president, you can say these numbers are great. but if you don't, you can find numbers that work. host: you mentioned structural

changes. can you explain that? are we in a new normal? yes, i think so. over many years, we've seen increased trade, increased technology. the importance of education has changed the kinds of jobs available in the united states. you will not find a city where 50,000 people are working at a chrysler factory. the way uber is destroying the taxi industry. things are changing. the labor market is having difficulty adjusting. people who are not educated with the right kind of skills that have much difficulty getting jobs. or leaving the workforce, the number of people on disability is at record heights. that is another flip side the coin. there are many people who are sort of completely out of the workforce. part of that is structural changes in the economy. host: we will take our first

caller, bill, from georgia, who is employed. good morning. caller: good morning. i noticed that he works for bloomberg news in washington. they have a very unusual concept of the country. the comments about wall street .eing at 17,000 wall street is at 17,000 due to the fed policies of 0% interest rates. it has nothing to do with employment figures or how the economy is going. wall street was going great even when the negative gdp came out. wall street is doing -- is insignificant. as for the true nature of the employment picture, there are thousands of engineers, lawyers, new graduates, who just can't find full-time work, or what they are finding is part-time work. i think mr. johnson has a stilted view of the country because he lives and works for bloomberg news in washington.

he is obviously a democrat. host: your comments. guest: yes. not my political beliefs, but takes a lot oft input. fed policy and monetary policy is a lot of that, not just employment numbers. can be good for the market depending on how investors view the reaction. i think what the caller strikes employed,f you are and you own stocks, you are having a great time right now. if you are unemployed and you don't own stocks, it is a different picture. the administration is happy to cite the we've had in norman's job growth, unemployment at lowe's since the financial crisis, but if you haven't been part of that rising tide, then it has been very difficult for you. you mentioned the problem of wage growth and that wages have been stagnant. we have a chart that shows jobs

created in 2014 and what they pay. wage jobs.verage does it feel like the recovery is not trickling down to main street? guest: i think that is true. if you are not in one of these growth industries, then it feels like the recovery is passing you by. if you are involved in the market or are involved in a growth industry that is doing well -- the flipside of that is where the friction is as far as, is it reaching enough people, is it reaching all people, is it broad-based? host: our next caller is from wind in salem, north carolina. he is unemployed -- from winston-salem, north carolina. he is unemployed. caller: why is it that when you the corporatejob

folks don't want the union to come in, and if the union does come in, the first thing they want to do is say close the doors or restructure? there are plenty of jobs out here for non-skilled workers, but the older sector like myself, 62 years old, near retirement, but still wants to work a quote-unquote, "good-paying" job, everybody wants to start you off at minimum wage and it sucks and it is not fair. guest: i think we will get a lot of calls that explain exactly the disconnect between people who are benefiting from it right now and people who are not benefiting from it right now. if you are low skilled looking for jobs, it is still a hiring --ket, an employers market employer's market.

the demand is there for them not to be as receptive to increasing wages, which we saw in some of the stats. we are right back to where we were as far as the numbers look good on the top level, but there are still a lot of problems within the numbers. on the lineis next from livingston, new jersey. she is underemployed. good morning. a job: i recently started may 31. it was a new store opening. they hired lots of people on a temporary us. at the end of those 10 days, they hired you. they made the impression on the application that you had a choice, part-time, full-time. get in and it is under 35 hours. i've made 560 five dollars for 70 hours worth of work. i get no benefit, gnosis time, no vacation.

i'm not eligible for retirement until 1000 hours. they keep different hours, they keep changing your hours so that you cannot even try to find another job. i have another job on wednesdays. i drive seniors. that pays better, but there is no clientele. i'm working two jobs and i don't even clear enough to pay one verizon bill, between the wireless and the internet, and just how -- on the associate handbook they is, weu, the second page have an open door policy. please don't discuss unions, you don't need a union, but my conditions say that i do need a union. host: we have a chart from the bureau of labor statistics that shows a significant rise in the number of part-time work just since the end of last year. to what extent might a broader recovery or a faster recovery help these people find full-time work? feel moren companies

comfortable about the economic growth, they will transition more of these employees from part-time to full-time, from temporary to more stable contracts. iss -- her employer realizing there is greater need for employees but hasn't yet made the full decision to bring them on as full-time. that is a process that is beginning and growing stronger. things are moving in the right direction, but i think we've heard three colors in a row, it is not there yet -- three callers in a row, it is not there yet. host: there is a political ramifications are these numbers as well. president obama spoke thursday at a tech startup in washington, d.c., where he celebrated the numbers, but urged congress to do more to improve the jobs picture. [video clip] has beenh progress as made, there are still folks who are struggling. we have not seen as much

increase and -- in income and wages as we would like to see. a lot of folks are still digging themselves out of challenges that arose out of the great recession. historically, financial crises take a longer time to recover from. we've done better than the vast majority of other countries over the last five years, but that drag has still meant a lot of hardship for a lot of folks, and so it is really important for us to understand that we could be making even stronger progress. we could be growing even more jobs, we could be creating even more business opportunities for smart, talented folks like these , if those of us here in them,gton were focused on focused on you, the american people, rather than focused on politics. host: i want to also read a statement from house speaker john boehner on the same issue.

he said, "the house has passed dozens of job bills that would mean more paychecks and more opportunities for middle-class families, but in order for us to make real progress, the president must do more than criticize. from trade to workplace flexibility, there's no shortage of common ground where he can push his party's leaders in the senate to work with us." nicholas johnston, how might this -- this play out in the elections? guest: both sides are passing the plate onto each other with an eye on midterm elections. there are things the administration would like to pass if only house republicans would not block it. house republicans say, if we hadn't passed obamacare, then unemployment would be much lower. those sides are able to use this in the midterm talking points. host: is there one party that might benefit the most from an improvement in the economy? tough political

question. if i knew the answer to that, i would be making a lot more money at a political consulting firm. i think a growing economy probably helps parties in power. it helps the administration. it helps democrats. i think you see that republicans in the house tend to harp on negative numbers as a party in opposition. growing the economy probably helps democrats, but i think there is plenty of ammunition to go around. host: we have a tweet that asks, "in the numbers can self-employed be measured? is it rising or falling?" ,uest: i haven't looked at that i think it is part of it, but i haven't seen it as a broad trend one way or the other, speaking to the underlying numbers. host: we will take another caller, joey, from lincoln, nebraska, who is employed. you are on the air. have one full-time job

and i have a part-time job just to meet the bills and whatnot. a shorthelped out for time here in lincoln, nebraska, collecting signatures. we have statewide petition drive to increase minimum wage. it just past. that means it will be on the november ballot. happen.t guaranteed to just to get on the ballot in november. it was quite a wide margin. we only needed something like 90,000, 80,000. lus, so it is ap wide margin. i want to remind people who may be complaining -- by the way, we are trying to bump it up to $9. as people are complaining, if we increased major -- minimum wage, that will make everything more expensive, let's not forget

about the ceos, the cfos, the get sign-oney bonuses in addition to their salary and their golden parachute, and everything else they get. thank you for your time. point.fair the disenchantment with the economy right now is that if you are doing well, you are doing very well. if you are not doing well, it is unfortunate. that's what we've seen in d.c., maryland. you've seen pushes to increase minimum wage to try to address some of these salary issues. if they are getting a part-time job or low income job, what is the solution? host: does an improving job market help or hurt the debate over minimum wage? guest: that's a tough question. i think the improving job market -- the more people that have jobs, i think it makes it less of an

issue in some instances. it is always an issue. we get back to the point of this bifurcated economy. if you are doing well, you are doing well. if you are not doing well, you are not doing well. if you are on the low end of that spectrum, there will always be an issue. how much money are you making? that will remain an issue. host: you can join the conversation by calling him. -- in. (202) 585-3880 if you are employed. if you are881 unemployed. (202) 585-3882 if you're underemployed. our next caller is mike from pennsylvania. caller: why do they always include retirees in the group with people dropping out of the workforce? as though it is some sort of a bad thing.

because just because you're retiring doesn't mean you are dropping out of society. you still have an income. you are still buying goods and server is provided by society -- and services provided by society. answer. don't know the the unemployment number is supposed to represent people who are doing work. if you are retired or living off savings or living off some sort of trust fund, you are not employed. the number is what the number is. i think what economists do is look more in-depth to the figures you are thinking of to figure out things more broadly. all i have in front of me is people who have jobs. host: this brings up a good point -- the size of the workforce, which seems to be shrinking. what does that mean for the economy and why is it getting smaller? guest: that is a structural concern. if you're unhappy with the policy of this country right now, that is a number that you time.very single labor workforce participation has fallen dramatically from

highs in the century. that is a concern. if you are a republican in the house right now, what you're pointing to is not that unemployment figure. workforcee not in the , and that is a big concern. host: do you think these people might start looking for work again? guest: it will be a really amazing number to see. when that starts to pick up, the labor workforce participation number starts going in the other direction, that will be remarkable. host: our next caller is from florida. he is employed. caller: good morning. there's a few things i would like to address. all the talking heads in the media are touting how great this unemployment number is. the fact is there were 500,000 full-time jobs lost during that toiod and there were close 800,000 our time jobs created.

that's how you get your addition of close to 300,000 new jobs. that is a very confusing factor for most people to understand, and it is disingenuous in many ways because we are creating more part-time jobs. obviously, the reason for that is obama care. guest: you nailed it. this is a political argument. like this gentleman, most likely a republican, you are saying that obama care is driving the economy down. the president would have a different position. if the house were to pass more of his spending bills, then unemployment numbers would be better. to the second point, 6.1% is the lowest since 2008. but if you dig into the numbers, there are a lot of things. specific there policies being debated right now that might make a difference in terms of how many jobs are being created? guest: in a midterm year? anything passing a

house or getting to the president this year on any of this. see next year -- we will see it next year. host: thank you for calling. caller: good morning. first of all, i am on disability. i've been trying to find a part-time job to supplement my income. my fiancé is a student trying to find a part-time job to help a for expenses. we live in a very rural area. walmart, a couple of fast foods -- fast food companies. of course, the fast food employees high school students. the local walmart -- they've got employees, but they don't have -- you can't

, they havebut anyway an abundance of applications. host: nicholas johnston? guest: it is a great talking point. if you are in a community like that, it is very difficult. there are some places where employers are struggling to find ,ork, but in some rural places it is incredibly difficult to find employment. that is exactly the sticking point we've been talking about this entire morning, as far as -- which side of this debate are you on? "untilichael tweeted, there is a perceived political cost to the parties, there will be no change in washington no matter what the mainstream media reports." is part of the problem that things aren't worse, actually? guest: that's actually an interesting point. that is possible. if the dow wasn't at 17,000, if

it plunged like it did during the financial crisis, there would be much more interest to reach across the aisle and get things done. but 6.1% unemployment is not a catastrophe. it is a good, topline number, which means i think it is easy for people to argue about it and wait for november. host: the job market is also an important consideration for the federal reserve. can you explain a little bit about the interplay between how the fed makes its policy decisions based on the labor market? guest: what the fed is looking for is broader-based improvement in the economy for you to begin changing its policies and running back its quantitative easing. it was a number that would lead its fed -- the fed in its current course to reduce that. these are all numbers over the last many months that show the economy is improving. is it improving as well as you want it to improve question mark is it improving as well as it could? as you wanted to improve?

is it improving as well as it could? i think the answer is probably no. host: is this a concern? guest: not yet. -- theywhat people stare at bloomberg terminals all day long terrified. what decision will the fed may? i don't think they are -- the fed make? i don't think they are seeing that happen sooner. it is certainly a possibility. host: we are joined by mark from huntsville, alabama. he is underemployed. you are on the air. caller: good morning. i'm not sure if your guest can answer this question or not. i'm going to give it a shot. week.orking 40 hours a i will not say the name of the place where i work, but when i hired on, they called it part time, temporary. months, theyy 10

run you off for a week and then they hire you right back, but since you are considered part-time, temporary, they don't have to give you any benefits or days, care, no paid sick none of that stuff, but i'm still working 40 hours every week. as far as i'm concerned, if i am working 40 hours a week, i should be full-time. they do have full-time employees get in benefits and everything workingt we are still 40 hours a week and getting nothing for it. i don't know if this is in your field or not. is that even legal? guest: i don't know if i can answer the legal question, but statistically, when you are working 40 hours per week, the government views you as a full-time worker. the week when you are not, you are unemployed. legally is outside of my field

of expertise, unfortunately. host: i want to bring up some statistics that show the unevenness of the recovery. the jobless rate in june of 2014 women, was 5.7%, for 5.3%, for teenagers, 21%. we have some demographic breakdowns that show, for whites, it was 5.3%, blacks, double that, hispanics, 7.8%, asians am a 5.1%. to what extent do demographics play a factor in the labor force? guest: i think it comes down to skill set. teenagers may not have the skills that you need to be successful in the economy. but then we are getting into very fundamental policy arguments about some of the nature of this country, as far as the extents -- expensive education and training and if that reaches all groups in society. what they do speak to and back to the original point is that, if you have a skill set, you can

do very well, and if you don't, it can be very difficult. host: our next caller is from maryland, and is employed. caller: good morning. i have a question and a comment. when the job report comes out how do they bring these numbers together? some people who do two or three jobs -- -- do they secondly, the question is, i work for the state government. we are being forced to join the union. most of us don't want to, but we don't have a choice. and you are an individual you have a problem with your place of work, they are not supposed to be on your side. [indiscernible]

the issue is before the supreme court right now. that is not exactly statistical but a political and policy argument. as far as the date of completion, it is conducted using household surveys and company surveys to figure out how many people are working and what sort of jobs they are doing. i think it is done monthly. you mentioned earlier there are several measurements. can you talk about the difference between the two. of us focus on the big number but you can slice and dice it many different ways as you are working. you have to look at the underemployment, those who wish to be doing full-time work and they are doing part-time work. this gets back to the original

point as far as part-time numbers. .hat is great unemployment is great but when you dig down into the data, there are all sorts of places that is not as strong as people would like. next caller in georgia. under the -- underemployed. caller: yes. i was calling because i am one of the people that lost their unemployment in the last year. ever since then i have been fighting as well as a lot of people. questions -- the question mostly asked is why is the media not talking about all these people losing their homes. people that lost everything i have owned. i have had to file bankruptcy. they doc-span because

keep me posted about what is going on. other than you all, there is no other media speaking about these people out here baking for assistance with unemployment and losing their home. why isn't the media saying more i do not understand it. it is confusing. guest: i am not a media critic but it does raise the problem of extension unemployment. the nature right now of legislating the united states where there is disagreement over how to extend it and how to pay for it. so i think this is part of the outcome of that. people have lost their benefits because the emergency benefits have not been extended. employedhird of the today are those that have been under him -- out of employment for six months or longer.

can you factor -- talk about how that factors into wages. this is a number we have not talked about yet either. there is a lot of data that suggest once you hit a threshold of being out of the workforce, you will not get back in. that is an intractable problem as far as getting people back into the labor force. that is a structural thing happening in the economy. 6.1% unemployment is a great number but you dig down and find the long-term unemployed. any sense or worry they will lose skills? guest: that is exactly what it is, the longer you are out of the workforce coming you lose your skill set and the ability to rejoin the workforce. so high-level of the long-term unemployed has been one of the big problem the unemployment figures. from billill hear now in north dakota.

he is underemployed. good morning. >> good morning. just have a couple of comments. one thing, this is not a political party issue. i am so tired of hearing that. does not matter who wins the election, and it matters who has a job and can pay the bills. one quick question. i've been asking the same question for 20 years, what effect do the illegal immigrants have on the rate of pay, and how many americans do not have a job because somebody would he -- somebody will hire an illegal philip -- anger meant for half the money that the other person was getting paid before they lost their jobs at? >> i don't know. there are a lot of studies looking at the impact. people who favor more immigration say these people are needed to fill these kinds of jobs. people who oppose it make that time kind of argument. i do not know the answer to

that. next caller in pennsylvania. you are employed and on the air. i am a senior and unemployed. --biggest worry my question is, what is going to happen in the next few years, especially in the red states, and this is not really a political question, in the red states where people cannot find stayed in thee social security system but do not qualify with social security. that means if they cannot find a job, they can only qualify for medicaid. if they qualify for medicaid,

people in those states will be in a lot of trouble. with the steels industry. if we approve the jobs to rebuild the roads and bridges, we can use american steel only. we would provide a lot of jobs, taxes, unemployed people. we pay insurance. i played insurance -- paid insurance for 40 years. i have drawn unemployment for maybe three or four months top. this woman could be a speechwriter. you can use american supplies, american steele and fix roads and bridges. this is the argued the administration argument and the argument republicans say no, because where'd you find the money to pay for that? i want to bring in a chart

that speaks to the issues callers have the talking about this morning. this is from the wall street journal. it shows the monthly change in payroll numbers, 288 thousand in june. shows temporary retail and bar drops created, 80 3100 in june. shows the average hourly earnings since the end of the recession if they had risen with inflation they would be 26 .99. instead the actual hourly wage is 24.45. to theart seems to speak concern many callers raised. guest: we could do this all day long. for every great headline we could pull something out of the detail that shows it is not that great. 200 88,000 new jobs is great but let's dig in and you will see a lot of things that do not add up.

callerhirley is the next . she is looking for a job. caller: i just had a comment i wanted to make. there is an easy solution for the problems we are talking about here, and that is when november comes, if we all go out and vote for the democrats, obviously they will pass the job bills, put up bridges and roads and do everything they clamoring they want to do. will voteple republicans again, we will just go deeper in the hole. open up your eyes, it is obvious. we have two choices. on the right-hand side, republicans are on the side of business so they will not provide jobs, let the president do anything good for the country. we should have someone call in and say the exact opposite. that is the argument of infrastructure investment.

this is the democracy. . -- what people argue about. charleston. underemployed. thank you for calling. i am calling into basically back up the lady who talks about the numbers not being reported. i do not pretend to be up on the statistics because every time we turn on the news there is something different. i am out in the streets dealing with real people. to it outxpect them and meet and shake cans of everyone, but in reality, i am out here in seeing thousands of people overwhelming food banks, and i am pretty sure not all those people are out trying to get handouts.

the media is not reporting the truth. what we're is talking about right now. 6.1 looks good but there are a lot of numbers under him -- that are not reported. these are things he is seeing. i think that is the dichotomy we are looking at right now. what exactly is underemployment? guest: looking for full-time work but not working full time. the cut off his 37 hours. if you are working 34 hours and wonderful time job, your underemployed. from next caller is james texas. you have a job and are on they are. air.r-- on the caller: i maintain hud properties for the elderly and less employed. i am 60 years old and had two jobs.

i pay taxes that are cut in half due to insurance. i do not have no pay subsidies by the government. the payments on utilities and limits on the earnings give them incentives not to work. a lot of them do not work. that is just of observation on my part. this guy is the counterpoint to the lady who called in about infrastructure investment. he raises points here that are made in congress as far as how to the benefit programs, this impacthow does labor force participation? these are the arguments we pay politicians to have. host: an individual tweets to us -- yes.: absolutely.

if you look at people in the later stages of their career, it is not but if you're 50 years old and laid off you can go back. that leads to some of those people directing out of the labor force, which i think is very concerning to the economist. when they leave the labor force, what might they be doing? guest: you can retire early. take a cut in social security benefits. live off of your savings. go on disability. i think that is a record high. many people who have left their work or certain entirely. these are some of the structural issues that need to be solved. host: last caller this morning is chris from new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i am looking for work. for some all, thank you. am unemployed.

yes, i am unemployed. for the older people that are still looking for work? i am 50 plus and still want to look for work. give the ones that need help to get back on their feet. that is not my job but the capital across the street. i think that is what this election is about. the policy steps that the government should take to address the underlying weaknesses in the economy. i can't figure that one out. thompson, thank you for joining us this morning. next, we will talk about a

related issue, how much opportunity is there in america? we will speak to patrick nolan uyer with the social science research council. stay tuned. >> now you can keep in touch with current events using any phone, anytime with c-span radio on audio now. you can hear congressional coverage, public affairs firms in today's washington journal program. every day listen to a recap of the day's events on washington today. you can hear audio of the five network sunday affairs programs. c-span radio on audio now. long-distance or stone churches may apply.

>> our endowment is the largest amount historically and pretty healthy, just shy of 600 million. to put that in perspective, vanderbilt is in our group and that 6 million. theard, which represents pinnacle of the nation's endowment is at 34 billion and have a $6 billion campaign going on right now. if we're going to aspire to have excellence, those types of facilities am a we have to have that type of investment. so it is my responsibility now. will be the 17th president responsibility when they are weed to go out and ensure expand. >> howard university and to run president wing fredrik on the

challenges facing the predominately black university. host: our next guest is patrick nolan guyer. chief statistician at measure for america. he put out a report recently with a group called opportunity nation that tries to quantify the amount of opportunity there is in america with somewhat disturbing sighting. he is here to talk about it with us today. good morning. to start withlike the finding what is opportunity. how you guys decide what that means. question.reat what we were looking at in the historical report of opportunity, which my organization produced with our long-term partners opportunity nation was to look at the factors in america's communities

that either constrain or enable opportunity and upward mobility for people who live in those communities. looking at the community factors that either open doors to opportunity and upward more ability or keep them shut. -- upward mobility or keep them shut. we looked at jobs in local economy, education and community life. short -- chart that shows how they have evolved over time. from the 19 70's to 2010 that education has increased dramatically but the index for the economy has declined as well. measures are more muted and opportunities have leveled out since 2000. theseu talk us through different areas and why you chose them to go into the index.

guest: let me talk indicator levels. income inequality and the poverty rate. education looking at post secondary degrees among adults, those who completed an associates degree or credential. we are looking at preschool enrollment and on time graduation rate or percentage of high school freshman who are successfully completing and graduating in four years. then in the healthy community dimension licking of violent crime rate i disconnected youth that are the share of 16-24-year-olds not enrolled in school and not working. finally, access to medical care by the number of doctors per 100,000 residents. some of the trends you pointed out are right on. the good news is overall a historical opportunity score for the nation as a whole has

increased since 1970 but not robustly as we would like. so we see the historical up about 13%. certainly the bright spot there is education. that is fueled by a couple of innings. for one, the share of adults with at least some post secondary education has more aan doubled since 1970 so tremendous advance. is the very bright spot percentage of preschoolers or preschool-aged children enrolled in preschool has also increased and in that case has tripled. so those are two very good things. another factor influencing the upward trend in the community is that america has become a lot safer. had an out-of-control growth in the violent crime rate from earlyd-60's to the 1990's. fortunately we have seen the violent crime rates come down

almost across the board since the early 1990's. america is a much safer place than it has been in the past. a very good trend. the area where we see the most stubborn challenges with jobs in the local economy. , the biggest drop and that is certainly a decade from 2000 to 2010. part of that attributable to the great refreshing -- great recession. that is not the only thing driving that. see, the positive change in that dimension was pretty anemic am even decades prior. we see some things like income inequality that has been getting worse in almost every state and decade, across almost every decade since 1970. there were troubling trends before this. >> bottos.

host: the bottom-line things are getting better or worse? guest: bottom line is things are getting better. an important take away is the positive progress we have seen is pretty uneven, and when we look at the state-level details we provide in the report, we have data or all 50 states and the district of columbia from the 1970 every decade of 22010, there is a lot of volatility. some states show more rapid progress. a few states have gone backwards. that is a very troubling sign. host: we want to hear from you and your experiences. we are changing up the phone lines to be a little bit different. we will divide them by age.

we would love to hear your thoughts on how opportunity has evolved over time in the country. tell us a little bit about your organization and why you decided to take on the project. chief i am the statistician for measure america . our work looks at mentoring -- measuring in a rigorous the distribution of opportunity in well-being in the united states and have been around for a couple of years now and produced a number of products. the historical report for opportunity is in addition to that work.

so our partner opportunity nation is a bipartisan national campaign comprised of nonprofits, higher educational institutions and business groups working on expanding opportunity and economic mobility in america. to presentry pleased this work with them. anyone interested in the historical report of opportunity we would encourage them to check out the work of both of our organizations, and we produced an annual opportunity index year on year. we have done that since 2011. so if you're interested in more findlar detail, you can that on opportunity nation's website. you mentioned that overall opportunity has increased and things are getting better but the pace has changed dramatically over the decades. theave a chart that shows change in the opportunity score by decades.

1990 22 thousand, a huge jump before declines again. what was driving the increase in the 1990's and why hasn't it carried forward to the second? guest: great question. 1990's are seeing in the , the 1980's showed progress across the board, but really the 1990's where you sell the big jump. that increase was more than 10 times the increase in historical opportunity score with saw in the decade of the 1980's. so what of the things driving that? in general, the 1990's were a time when the economy was pretty strong. there were hiccups and the recession early in the decade. in general that was a decade when economic growth was strong, unemployment relatively low, especially by contemporary standards. this is a time when jobs were relatively fanciful and a lot of

people were able to enjoy some of the prosperity. fact, we see that in the numbers. as i mentioned, the unemployment rate was pretty low. household incomes increased significantly over the course of the decade, so that was a very good sign. in education we saw big advances in post secondary agreement and preschool enrollment. also, america became a lot safer in the 1990's. the violent crime rate really peaked early in the 1990's. we saw the first decline over the course of the decade. the beginning of their it -- of the very positive reduction. those are some of the things that dramaticfor increase. that is not to say everything was changing in the direction we would want. another thing also happening was

even though the economy was strong and most people that wanted a job can find one, income inequality increase in almost every single state. economic growth of not mean the benefits of the growth would equitably be distributed. another troubling sign was the percentage of this connected people between the ages of 16 and 24 not working and not in school inched up a bit over the decades, despite expanding access to higher education and pretty strong economy. that is also a troubling trend. first caller now. between the ages of 25 and 39. i am calling because i am so emotional with this opportunity thing. the commonwealth, and i think most of the things are think thedo not

things done here are for the common health of the people. they have a lot of jobs here where they are offering a job with no benefits and no opportunities. people areunger working. i do have a degree. i am underemployed. at least that is the way they put it. that are a lot of people do a lot of statistics and all of these things. becausengs go into it there is no money. there is a lot of crime here. our city look so much different now. was younger it was a beautiful place. now we have guns a blazing. a lot of robberies and crimes --

things we have never seen on a daily basis. it is just so bad. well, i am sorry for to hear from the caller that conditions in her community are not improving. it is important to note with the data we are able to present, these are aggregates and averages. so even though on the average things have been improving, the trend is upwards. there are still outliers on both sides of places that are improving a lot more and a lot less or even going backwards. i think this does come back to one of the rationales of doing this kind of research in the first place. we need to look at the community fabric center restraining the opportunity in the first place. the caller mentioned ways in

which it is closed. jobs that do not pay enough and provide the kind of benefits people need to live a life of dignity. tose are things we're trying capture. absolutely highlights the importance of doing the work in the first place. we need to measure these to ensure something gets done and need to measure these in order to see if the interventions making and decisions we're making as a society are either helping things improve or letting them backslide. the proponents of the index includes the economy, education, community and the sub thecators within each of different categories. can you tell us about how you weight each of these different factors?

obviously whether it is violence or the job situation, people will feel one more acutely than the other. we have decided the best way to approach this is to wait the dimensions equally. in local economy has four indicators. dimensionsse three of theed one third historical opportunity score. essentially what that means is all of these things are important. to make be on thin ice undue assumptions about which are more important than any others. certainly what we want to see and have not seen enough of his all of these indicators moving in the same direction at the same time. in the 1990's still some

indicators we're moving backwards. more young people were more out of school. income inequality was getting worse in some states. that gives you a bit of a picture of how these things can move in a different direction. ed in california. between ages of 1660 and 64. good morning. i am very ross perot and my politics. i believe in truth, fax and result. you have to look at what was the cause to understand the effects. back in 1986 when reagan said sexily -- successfully move the textile manufacturing overseas. one guy said can you imagine if they started moving manufacturing out of the country

? wages would stagnate and we would have high and employment. well, i believe what we need to do is go back to taxes and way we did things back in 1979 and undue reaganomics. the answer staring us in the face between opportunities in this country, up until the 1980's this country was a very protectionist company and try to protect american jobs. i am a little nervous. we need to adopt the same trade policy. we need to adopt the same trade policy chinese -- china has, korea has and mexico still has. if you don't make it here, you cannot sell it here. >> what do you think of that? all of the things the caller just mentioned are part

of the equation. what determines changes in the job and local economy does depend on changes in the global economy, changes in the national economy and the type of policy conditions that influence those things. that said, the type of policy prescriptions for what to do about this in the future is beyond the scope of this particular report. i will not go into specifics about some of the detailed things the caller mentioned. i think it is interesting to note some of the states that showed the biggest declines an opportunity particularly the jobs in local economy dimension are some that have been particularly buffeted by changes in the economy and the shift from manufacturing economy to knowledge-based economy. this has impacted the nation as a whole. michigan is a few state where median household incomes are lower today.

this is true to her greater or lesser extent of the other states as well. that is at least partially emblematic of just how difficult it has been for many economies across america to ways our economy has changed in the global economy has changed. host: we have a chart that illustrates the statistics you are talking about. community trends up by state. statementgreatest opportunity in virginia. the declines were in nevada and michigan. highfliers, connecticut, new hampshire. is it the economic portion of the index of is driving the disparity between opportunity and availability in the states or something else at work here?

guest: all of the indicators we look that are important. just to name a few things driving the changes in the state to have just engine, i just spoke a little bit about michigan and how that is one of only two states, michigan and nevada only two states that ended the historical series with the lower historical opportunity score than they started with in the 1970. in michigan, a good part attributable to a real defined in median household incomes. other factors are a place as well. in nevada, a very different story. we have seen them backslide and some of the educational indicators. another big part is violent crime. we have positive trend seen nationwide is since the 1990's the violent crime rate has declined tremendously. to45% from the early 1990's

2010. tremendously good news story for communities across the nation. nevada a little bit different. it is one of relatively few states that saul violent crime saweased between 2010 and the highest increase among the states that did see a decrease between 2000 and 2010. contrary to the national trend and very troubling development for people living in that state as well. host: you can join the conversation by calling into her phone lines. we have divided them by age. our next caller is david from auburn, new york. he is over the age of 65.

good morning. morning.ood there are lots of things you could address. i would mention new york has urban areas out of the bottom 10. [inaudible] my pet peeve is property tax. the property taxes are constantly going up to support the government to a spending is out of control. that is one aspect of opportunity. there is no return on investment. but the time they're done texting over 25 year. twice what you pay for

the house to begin with. i would say this. that ran its course. that is another discussion. thank you very much. [indiscernible] i also want to bring in a tweet. how much does inheritance and death tax affect dimly social mobility and property tax as well? guest: a couple of good points to be made between the last caller in the tweet. a couple of things i want to say in response. one is with respect to local tax

weicy and local decisions, see a tremendous diversity in states that have done well in the states that have done less well. this has led us to the that lead to increased opportunities gores and the historical report. we see states in very different parts of the country with very different economies and local kindses led by different of policy makers that have made progress and others that have made much less so. i do not think there is any magic recipe for creating opportunity. that said, i think there is a lot he can learn by looking at the states that have made the most progress to see what of that we can distill that might be of use to other states and communities elsewhere in the country. another point, the investment.

that begins with high-quality preschool programs for kids before they go into kindergarten that continues with quality pre-k and continues with investments to make higher education affordable. we have seen tremendous changes in what the economy demands of workers. and we started the historical series looking back in the 1970's, that was a time when there were a lot more opportunities available economically. that changes with new jobs being reported. that is why we have included that as an indicator and mr. urkel series. finally, i want to talk about the relationship with the growth andaw in the 1990's decisions that have been made

about the macro economy and governance of that. certainly the economic boom in the later part of the 1990's come increases in median household incomes, during that time we are a very important part of that positive story with the historical opportunity score in the 1990's but that was not the only thing. there were a lot of other things, too. all of these things are related. i do not think you can judge or cause a line between all the bit things related to the economy. the reason we are looking beyond economic indicators is because usnomic indicators tell about how the economy is doing

that bearing on how people in the communities are doing but do not tell us that explicitly. that is why we need additional measurement tools like the american human development index to look at how people are doing and how communities are doing. earlier that educational assessment is one of the best a community can make. seems like with education improving, economic opportunity has not tracked along with it. guest: what the economy demands of us a new jobs are requiring of jobseekers and new entrants into the workforce is a higher double of skill than was once required. in the 1960's or 70's, if you had a high school degree or ged that might be all you need to find a job that would provide

her -- provide your job with a solid middle class standard of living. by and large, not the case any longer. if we look at medial earnings -- your highestgs if level degree attained is a high school diploma and. is 20 $7,000 per year. if we look at people with an associates degree that goes up to 32,000. 0. the median is $27, 00 so these are statistics that come from the u.s. census bureau. talking about a $22,000 per year medians premium in the earnings of workers with only a high school diploma compared to earnings of a bachelor degree or

higher among adults 25 and older. so there is still a premium to .e more highly educated we know the jobs today and those to be made in the future will expectingngly be workers to have at least an associates degree if not a higher degree. so that is why we are putting this indicator in the historical reports to highlight the importance of having -- having more training is to connect with the jobs of today and tomorrow. hearing from sam from champaign, illinois. between the ages of 18 and 29. go ahead. morning.ood you were just talking about in the report some of the non-economic factors that have led to higher or lower opportunity scores. one of the real hot button issues this week in the news and specifically on this show has

been immigration and illegal immigration. , is thatestion something that has been studied? something that can be studied. can you look at level data? what are some of the methodology: problems or difficulties in trying to do that? very goodt is a question but unfortunately not my area of expertise. one thing in general that people that work with survey data generally take as a given is that looking at people who are undocumented is very difficult to do because by virtue of hugh the community is our heart people to reach and identify. virtue of how the community is. data looks at the resident population, everyone who is here.

everyone here at the time of the survey. looking at the group very hard group to study. that is really outside my area of expertise. i am i cannot tell you much more than that. ann ine next color is oklahoma. to say thank god. god is good and blesses the world, not only america. this is a good time for history. but i want to talk about immigration. you know, they always talking about mexicans or guatemala or el salvador. but what about the other people? what about the people from asia? what about them people? you are only focused on mexican.

guest: immigration is a factor. we are a nation of immigrants. in general has been very positive for the history of the country, but generally not something we addressed specifically in the report. so i think i will leave it at that. host: next caller is edward and georgia between the ages of 50 and 64. caller: i tried to call in on the 65 and older. it was wide open two or three times. i would like to say thank you for c-span and want to present to ideas. has tost is that youth

get involved. secondly, what about the idea of passing a bill that says any american company that moves to a foreign country, they must pay money -- any of the employees the same rate they would get in the united states. immigrant that move from another country would only get paid the amount they would be getting paid and the country they came from. i mean, i heard another guys say it is not the products. that will not be feasible. companies inte this country. we would stop immigration altogether. people would not be coming across the border if they thought they would be paid the same amount of money they would get in their homeland.

guest: i think what the report of historical opportunity have highlighted jobs and the economy are where we have seen the most challenge in making progress. think there are a variety of policy prescriptions that we could take from some of the states that have better experiences on those indicators that might help us figure out the way forward for individual states in the nation. , oneto mention one thing of the states that has made some of the greatest progress, we mentioned earlier virginia was one of the states that has made the greatest absolute progress between 1970 and 2010. a good chunk of that was due to real increases or increases after adjusting for inflation in median household incomes. the typical household in virginia has $20,000 of income extra in 2010 compared to what

the typical household had in 1970. that is one of the better increases across the board. thatere are some states show positive examples. i think we should look to see what is happening in some of the states to see what experiences might be applicable to others. host: i want to bring in a tweet -- guest: great question. some level of income inequality is a great level. it fosters competitiveness. we're really trying to highlight is extreme income inequality and growing income inequality is a bad thing for a number of reasons. or one thing, and extremes of income inequality mean new wealth generated by the economy, the benefits are not widely

spread. some research that has come out recently has suggested 95% of income gains since the end of the great recession have gone to just the top one percent of income earners. i think this really helps us understand a little bit about why the return to growth following the recession has not really been felt in so many communities and so many people throughout the country. even people who are in jobs. we had seen the median household income and earnings decline over the past decade. evenhow a lot of growth since we have been back to a wee another important thing see in the global experience of income inequality is extremes of income inequality undermine public trust in and it -- institutions. that may even be something contributing to the political polarization we see in our country today.

the final thing if i could reference excellent research done by colleagues at harvard they look at income and ability that a person growing up in a low income households as an adult will enjoy a higher material standard of living than their parents did. they find that correlates very strongly with the number things ofoss the community core america. one thing is income inequality. communities with higher income inequality have lower generational mobility. i think this supports the point that when we are talking about economic mobility as climbing the economic ladder come it is a lot harder to climb the ladder when the wrongs get further and further apart. i think that is at odds with how we like to think of ourselves as a nation and society, a place where people who play by the rules and work hard can better

themselves economically. when the extremes of income inequality are getting wider, that means climbing the economic ladder is harder and harder all and have a lot less upward mobility than we would like to think of ourselves as having. that has increased and has been troubling news indeed. host: next color is roger and alabama. caller: thank you for taking my call. on thed to reflect historical part of this. i got my tv turned down so i cannot hear you said.

number one was a useful jobs number threerity with their prices. number four was trade free of monopolies. number five was homeownership. number six was medical care. number seven was protection of old age. it looks like we're getting further away from that. i really appreciate the information you have given to me mama because i have been thinking the same thing. on a personal note, i used to who was ad friend swim coach. wonder if you were related to i don't believe so. thank you for your call and comments. i think there are a lot of different stories with the historical report of

opportunity. i wish we could go back further. i wish we could go all the way back to the 1940's and 1930's to see what has changed since then. there are just too many challenges to finding the data and having that be comparable. overall this is a good news story. the historical opportunity score for the nation as a whole has increased since nine 1970's. we are up about 13%. as i mentioned throughout, there is a lot of volatility in that score. some decades we've seen progress, some we have seen backslide. preschool enrollment is just under half of three and four-year-olds today.

one indicator we have not talked about is access to medical care. a big policy issue in the past couple of years. if we narrow in on one indicator, the number of medical doctors per 100,000 people that has increased steadily every decade since the 1970's. last caller. raymond from waco, texas. between the ages of 18 and 29. good morning. caller: we have had presidents in the past that have tried to do good with signing treaties and ronald reagan. free market trade. that we would have a backlash on that.

requiring the monetary market and stuff. a lot of cities and states. brief comments. guest: all of these things have bearings on the progress for opportunity. we encourage people to look into the report, dig into the data for all 50 states and tease out what some of the factors are. that is certainly where we hope to take the research of the future. i want to mention anyone who wants to look at the data themselves have an excellent app that will allow you to do that.

america has an interactive mapping program with over 100 indicators with the state and county level. you can them -- explore all kinds of data and find that as a measure of america. host: thank you so much for joining us. chief is a statistician at the center for america social sciences center. that concludes the show for today. we will see you back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern time when washington journal continues. have a great weekend. ♪

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