on twitter. >> coming up next. your calls, tweets and comments on class in america. ♪ about a week ago, we received an e-mail from robert in new york. he wrote -- several days ago, c-span devoted an entire three-hour c-span journal on the topic of race in america. i am requesting you host a three-hour program to the topic of class in america. i watch every day and several times of year you have guests to discuss the issue of race and racism. you very rarely hosted guest to anduss class issues

economic inequality issues. why the censorship of this topic? robert, i hope you are watching. this morning, three hours discussion on class in america. we want to hear from you. we have divided the phone lines by income levels. you can see them. you make $25,000 and under and want to talk about class, income inequality, taxes, (202) 585-3880 is the number for you to dial. if you make between $26,000 and $50,000 a year, (202) 585-3881. to $100,000$51,000 . year, (202) 585-3882 if you may more than $100,000 a year, (202) 585-3883. cspanwj.send a tweet, @

you can make a comment on facebook. send an e-mail. from this morning's financial times newspaper. inequality rises despite u.s. recovery. recovery and growth failed to turn around one of the defining trends of the modern economy. according to a definitive source of data on inequality, the u.s. federal reserve's survey on finances, median family incomes fell 5%. the boom in the stock market and recovery in house prices fueled gains in the wealth of the richest, with the share held by the top 3% of households, rising in 2007 254.4ent

percent in 2013. in 2007, to 54.4% in 2013. it goes onto say, from the start the share of, wealth held by the top three percent has risen from 44.8% to 54 .4%. the next 7%ld by has changed very little while the share held by the bottom 90% 1989 toen from 33.2% in 24.7%.

the s&p 500 has rallied by more than 100% from its trough to trade above 2000. significantly, down by 20% for the median family, there was a big rise in student debts. young familiesof with educational debts is now 22.4 percented to in 2001, reflecting the rising cost of college and cuts to higher education funding at state levels. that is from this morning's financial times. here are the numbers. be prepared to be interviewed about how much you make, what kind of work you do, and education level, insert link, your views on class in america. if you make under 25,000 dollars (202) 585-3880.

50,000, (202) 585-3881 . over 51,000 up to 100,000, (202) 585-3882. $100,000, > (202) 585-3883. middle class, the proportion of americans who identify themselves as middle class has dropped. about as many americans identify themselves as lower or lower middle class and say they are in the middle class. identifyericans self as middle class. 40% identify as lower class. 15% as upper-class. the upper-class has dropped from .0% in 2008

lower has grown from 25% to 40%. we are going to begin with a call from damon, waldorf, maryland. damon, what kind of work you do? how much do you make? i make $65,000 a year working for the u.s. postal service. host: what do you think about class in america? caller: it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. i am in the middle class, but i say i am in the lower middle class in the area i live in. $65,000 does not get you far. it does not get you far at all. you need a couple making at least $65,000 to be doing well,

to be doing ok. is income inequality something the president has talked about quite a bit -- do you feel that is an issue that needs to be addressed? years, i think over the the years i have been working, 25 years, many of the things that used to cost a little now cost so much more. my check has not gone up that much more, so someone has to be making the money. take theago, mcdonald's workers. a big mac meal costs three bucks six or it costs seven. they do not make double or triple the amount they made back then. the money is going somewhere, it

is just not going to the lower or middle classes. host: when is the last time you felt mobile? first started at the postal service, back in the 1990's. from making -- i went to $50,000 in,000 five years. everything was great. around 2002, i felt like a, i am not making that much more money anymore. up, housing went up. as soon as i was ready to buy a house, houses went up astronomically. is there a legislative solution in your view? caller: i believe there is one.

it is going to be difficult to get there with the gridlock in washington. i do not want to blame any republicans or democrats for raising or not raising taxes on the wealthy, but they money has to come from somewhere. we would like to say -- cut foreign aid and this and that, but right now, no one wants to cut the military, not with the isil threat. people want to cut foreign aid, or you cut foreign aid, isil whoever will fill in the gap wherever you cut it. where do you get the money from? would you be willing to pay more taxes? caller: i pay a lot of taxes. i pay a lot. i pay, like, a lot of taxes. ical taxes -- i do not think

make a lot of money. would you go down south -- i tell my cousins i make 65 and they think i am rich. thank you for your time and for sharing information with us. angela, new york, on our $25,000 and underline. class inou think about america? about: i am going to talk my own personal experience. i have grown up with autism and disability.ainful it separates you and isolates you. there is also a lot of physical pain that goes with it. enough -- i always wanted to live in manhattan and i was given my apartment. i did not have to go through

anything, back in the days, on the lower east side. for the next 25 years, 9/11 farmhouse,e had a the man i was with for 12 years, that needed a lot of work. it did not have heat, all of this and that. they raised the taxes overnight to $3500. $600 in thewere all elderly court, who were weeping. isolated up in the woods. not many people who want to drive up into this remote area. died.my husband

his ex-wife sued me for life insurance policy while he was still in the morgue. i was the one who gave the funeral and buried him. from alcoholism. i will not get into that. host: we are talking about class in america. can you bring this to a -- caller: conclusion. was 2008oiled down to came. my house and land was not worth anything. i renovated the house to get it in livable condition. it takes about six months to rent it. know-how, no family. get back to my apartment, and in a month, i was so happy. was beyond me.

i got a notification they were not going to renew my lease. host: where does your income come from? caller: social security disability. it is $7,000 a month. i want to say something about the court systems. you have no rights. no one addresses it. host: we're going to move onto ryan, lawrence, kansas. ryan, what do you do for a living? caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a pharmacy technician. host: what do you think about when you think about class in america and some of those phrases? with a we are dealing warfare of economic that is absolutely unnecessary and it hurts us.

nothing against the upper income earners. what i have true angst against, and i will hold them -- hold their feet to the fire. do notin d.c. understand, on capitol hill, those who work on overtime, we who are required to work on overtime, i feel like we are being penalized for that hard work. this president says it is time to reward hard work. stop penalizing overtime pay. our money, to keep start putting your money -- start putting the money where your mouths are and do something about it. host: do you feel upwardly mobile? caller: not right now.

i had to start over about four years ago. it was through no fault of anybody. and i felt like i was going up. it got a little stagnant during these last four years, but i have a great job and it is something i am glad i am in it. i wish people in d.c., on capitol hill, like the guy two callers back. he said it all. host: that is ryan, in lawrence , kansas.

if you may 20 $5,000 and under, call (202) 585-3880. $25,000 up toer $50,000, call (202) 585-3881. over $50,000 to $100,000, call (202) 585-3882. over $100,000, call (202) 585-3883. statistics on inequality, the top 1% and redistribution. this was written in january of this year. president obama will focus the state of the union speech on addressing inequality and mobility in america. these issues will generate an amount of rhetoric on both sides. much of the rhetoric will not be supported by data or facts. in order to bolster the discussion with data, the tax

foundation summarized recent work on inequality and mobility id congressional budget office and irs. highlights include inequality. inequality today is slightly higher than the average of the past 30 days -- past 30 years, but less than it was during the last two years of the clinton administration. progress 70. it is as aggressive today as it has been at any t the past 30 years. the top 1%. they continue to pay a larger share of the federal income tax burden than the bottom 90% combined. with regard to redistribution. two thousand six data, the congressional budget office found that tax and spending policies combined to redistribution $1.2 trillion in income from the top 40 percent

of nonelderly households to the bottom 60% of nonelderly households. finally, mobility. thepanel data that tracked same group of taxpayers between 1999 and 2007 show that americans can move from one economic group to another fairly quickly. tax foundation. frank, new port richey, florida. wendy $5,000 and under. where does your income -- $25,000 and under. where does your income come from? caller: it comes from -- and part time jobs. host: how much do you make before taxes? caller: $24,000. $24,000 before taxes in new port richey, florida.

way.on the tv, by the listen through the telephone. us what life is like on $24,000 a year. caller: it is not too bad. isrida's cost of living cheaper than where i used to live in chicago. , sales tax isr cheaper. there is no state tax. the pay is a lot less. -- when you hear the phrase class in america, what do you think? caller: i think status. a lot of people retain their wealth or give their wealth away through inheritance, rather than hard work or innovation. host: is that a bad thing? in the old, traditional

way, it is not. in the new, modern way, it is. you want to strive to do something rather than hope someone gives it to you for free. incomeo you think equality or economic equality is a good goal, legislatively? caller: yes. there is a great deal of income inequality. thank you for calling in. randy, vista, california. what do you do for a living? caller: i am semiretired. i make around $100,000 a year. i am at the tail end of the baby boomers. host: semiretired from what? caller: when i was in my 20's, i save money and was able to put a down payment on six apartment units. i managed them and receive the

income yearly. congress is not looking out for the average american. when i heard about the income from the top 1%, and a tax decrease, it brought me to tears. the upper 1% are receiving their taxes off of the middle class. host: do you feel economically comfortable? personally,, myself, because my parents were from an upper-middle-class family. , but id me go to college made it on my own. i started out working at an hourly wage and work myself up to a corporate position, on my

own, no help. sorrow. lot of host: tell me if this is wrong owner,t as an apartment a real estate investor, do you get a lot of breaks in taxes and income taxes? itemize, iause i can can write off the expenses of unit,ting a vacant maintenance, and many other expenses, but i have to declare the exact amount of income that i do receive from the rents. host: do you think you pay enough tax? over $50,000

in taxes. thanke-home income is less $100,000. host: thank you. arlington, virginia. what do you do for a living? caller: i am an attorney. host: what class are you in? myself asthink of middle class, or upper-middle-class. others may see it differently. you are educated and make over $100,000? caller: yes. americau hear class in or income inequality, where do you go? , you look at the washington, d.c. area. there is affluence all around this area and a huge number of people making over $100,000 and

we are in that field. feel we are in a income area.d paye is a huge disparity of and is it worth it? are we worth what we are getting? i think the issue is education, that access to education is e's ability tot on that isecent living and pretty much how i feel about it. i think some issues need to be addressed at the government

to lessen the disparity. host: how would you address that? what legislative actions would you propose? caller: that is a good question. i am not sure i have an answer. say -- i don't know if i favor out right income thattribution, but i think -- i am not sure i really have an answer to that. host: do you feel upwardly mobile? caller: certainly. in my personal life, yes, i do. -- yes.e to i pretty much have a worry free life financially.

i have gained a certain amount of affluence by working hard and going to school. certainly, i do feel that way. host: thank you. from "the business insider," ceo's made 131 times more than made 330loyees in -- one times as much as their employees in 2013. the ratio has blown up in the last 30 years. in 1983, the average ceo made 46 times the pay of the average worker. would skyrocket through the boom years of the 1990's, with ceos making 455 times what workers made. after the tech boom receded, the ceo to worker ratio leveled off somewhat, but has risen little in the last few years.

called something executive pay watch. hart.is a c hours full-time minimum-wage employees would need to work to equal a single hour of ceos' pays. a full-time minimum-wage worker hours tod to work 1372 duke'sne hour of michael page. y. a worker would have to work 690 three hours to equal one hour of pay.l delon's

io.t comes out from the aflc don, bangor, maine. what about the phrase class in america, income inequality, upward mobility? i was calling for a question for your audience. taxes and things for -- they are charging me rain water runoff in the city. i cannot imagine it. month ofored $5 per

the rain. host: are you suggesting that you get taxed too much? caller: yes, i think i do. calling himyou for this morning. steve, noblesville, indiana, outside of indianapolis. steve, what do you do for a living? caller: my wife and i work two jobs. host: in what kind of jobs? caller: i have a business i run and my wife and i also drive school buses. host: do you feel comfortable economically? caller: yes, i do, but i do not consider myself independently wealthy, obviously. host: do you consider yourself middle-class? caller: that is what i would consider myself. host: does the term class in america -- what you think?

mindsetit reveals a that bothers me in this country. we are supposed to be a capitalistic nation and in my opinion, income equality says more of a -- has more of a socialist dimension to it than it does a capitalistic mentality. therefore -- therefore, i think expecting incoming quality is unless you want a system that does not reward people for the efforts that they put forth. host: you mentioned you have a couple of different jobs, one of them driving a school bus. noblesville is pretty affluent, isn't it? caller: it is in a county that is very affluent, yes. resent those who

may make more money? caller: absolutely not. do you feel upwardly mobile? mid 60's.am in my i am beyond that point in my life. if i were younger, right now, i feel limited in my upward mobility. host: what is your education level? caller: i have an undergraduate degree. you, sir.k we appreciate it. this is from the urban institute and the brookings tax policy center -- who pays taxes? projections 2014 since 2014 isn't over. if you may more than a million

dollars a year, and there is only about 400,000 or so tax filings at that level every year, 25% of all federal tax is paid by those who make over $1 million a year. over $75,000king and up, 78 percent of all federal taxes are paid by that income group while those making ofand under pay about 13.5% all federal income taxes. under 25,000 dollars, milford, connecticut. caller: good morning. theink we need to look at broader picture. you have to wonder how much a loaf of bread my cost if we had not created all of this technology. supermarketsg in -- you have one employee doing

10 work of what used to take . cell phones, atms, containerized shipping, satellite tracking. when i was a grammar school student, the picture of the future was bright. we would all be on the golf course and the robots would be doing all the work. if you own a supermarket and you of afford to buy a couple self-service checkout machines, you control the means of production to a point. sorry, i was just distracted for a moment. au have to wonder how much gallon of milk would cost of all of these things had not been invented. a lot of it is military technology paid for by taxpayers, studies in public universities. is the cause of our higher education going up so far.

another 20, 25 years, people are going to be priced out of the education market. it is only going to get worse. come up with some laborsaving technology that you should contribute something to give back for all of the jobs that will be eliminated. i am not anti-progress, there just needs to be some balance. they are not building railroads and bridges anymore. they are just providing services or shuffling information around. 25t: you are calling on the and underline. do you work? caller: i am afraid i am disabled. host: your payments are government payments, just disabled payments. caller: pretty much. have givene group, i up any dreams of travel or retirement. i would not even consider myself a normal consumer. host: thank you, sir.

gaithersburg, maryland. another d.c. area resident calling in at over $100,000. haver: i am married and two kids. about 15 years ago, i hit my $100,000 a year mark with salary. in the meantime, i had investments that were making that. at the tax situation, i was paying so much in taxes from i putge, i thought if more time in the investing end of it, maybe i could make it work. basically, 15 years ago, i stopped working and spend more time with an investment and my taxes went way down. that has worked. i have two kids in college and i told them, we have money saved for them, but look at it. both of them ended up going to

community colleges, got full rides and ended up continuing on in-state school. they had everything paid for. the money we save for them will help them get the down payment on a house. the whole thing was that i always thought you would really means, live beneath your -- i understand if you are making a certain amount of money, but no matter how much money i made, i always used that philosophy and it has worked for us. >> your income comes from investments? caller: that is correct. host: do you feel financially secure? caller: absolutely. are: do you think there class warfare issues in this country? caller: it is dividing us all. we are all in the same pot. everyone has to focus. i talked to my son's friends.

they are going to college. they are not focused on what they want to do. they are taking out all of these loans and they have no idea how to pay them back. graduating,ng to be 23, 24, and have 100 grand over their heads and the degree they will not be able to use. it is a lacking of the parents supporting the kids and guiding them from a young age on how to control money and if you go through the school system, they teach them everything. time teachingpend them some type of budgeting program. the new slavery is dead. if you can get away from the debt and never borrow, then you basically can enjoy life. if you have that debt over your head, it does not matter if it is a house debt or a card that, that is what controls you -- or

debt, that is what controls you. news you probably saw the nnell's protests that were happening. protests that were happening. unions want it their way. organized azers series of protests against fast food restaurants, demanding a doubling of the minimum wage to $15 an hour. want that,ot even without fries? in business to sell meals at the lowest possible price to suit families. these franchises are often owned by small business owner.

labor represents the greatest cost on the ledger. doubling that would turn the dollar menu into the $10 menu. nobody would pay $10 for a big mac. $15 ansinessman must pay hour to each employee, cutting the number of employees would be the only way he could hold down prices. in europe, mcdonald's has replaced thousands of cashiers was 7000 touchscreen ordering pads. there is no other way to make a profit in the european welfare state. the hourly minimum wage is raised to $15, 20 six dollars, or $50, teenagers with no experience will be hurt most and black teenagers most of all. a 34 .9% unemployment in the obama economy. atthey are not being hired

seven dollars 25 cents an hour, who can hire them at $15 an hour, to say nothing of what six dollars an hour. -- of $26 an hour. we have a problem in this country. -- if you do not have money, you cannot run for president. i lost my house, everything because i could not get any work. here is the problem -- the problem is the media. it is owned by the politicians. they fired dan rather's for --orting that george bush they fired dan rather for reporting that george bush never showed up for the national guard. not one democrat or republican said one thing about it. it was never on the news.

this is why the country is going down the tubes. they let millions of illegals in this country. they make trade deals that -- we pay a tariff to china and china doesn't pay anything. we have a trade deficit with mexico. a $400 -- a $400 billion trade deficit to china. host: tie that into your own personal situation. caller: that is the problem. the people running this country, all they care about is themselves. host: thank you for calling in. the president has spoken about , economic inequality several times. [video clip] >> it is not surprising that the american people's frustration is at an all-time high. frustrations run deeper than these most recent political

happenings. to make ends meet, to pay for college, to buy a home, to save for retirement. it is rooted in the sense that no matter how hard they work, the deck is stacked didn't them -- the deck is stacked against them. it is rooted in the fear that their kids will not be better off than they were. they may not follow the back and forth in washington or all of the policy details, but they experience, in a personal way, the relentless decades-long want to spend time talking about today. that is a dangerous and growing upperlity in the lack of mobility that has generalized middle america's basic -- great if you work hard, you have a

chance to get ahead. this is the defining challenge of our time. making sure our economy works for every working american. that is why ran for president. it was the center of last year's campaign. it drives everything i do in this office. this issueve raised before and some will ask why i raise the issue again now. i do it because the outcomes of the debates we are having right now, whether it is health care or the budget, or reforming our housing and financial systems, all of these things will have practical implications for every american and i am convinced the decisions we make on these issues over the next few years will determine whether or not our children will grow up in america where opportunity is real. host: there are the phone numbers on your screen. make underf you who

$25,000, dial the top number. over 100,000 dollars, start dialing and if you can get through. if you cannot, you can send a tweet. you can make a comment on the conversation going on on our facebook page. send us an e-mail. lori, sioux city, iowa. $26,000 to $50,000. how much money do you make a year? me and mytween husband, around $42,000, but now i do not have a job anymore. we do not have insurance anymore either. around $60,000 a 1990's. in 2000, i lost my job.

i got another job that only paid half of what i was making. , six years later, he lost his job. he was 60 at the time. he has been working seasonal, part time jobs. host: are you at an age where you can collect social security? he is. i am not, but he collects social security and works a seasonal job. i am 56. host: do you feel economically secure? caller: no. lifestylejusted our every single time and we have nice,ur house and lived but we do not take vacations. we watch every penny we spend.

we are going to be ok until i find another job. i got three rejection letters last night on e-mail. it is hard to find a job that , you know, to really make it. host: what kind of work has you done in the past? caller: i was just at a corporate office for a retail chain and i was in the accounting department, accounts payable assistant is what i was. and i worked there for 9.5 years. i worked under a supervisor for nine years that i worked really well with. she took a promotion and the supervisor they put in to replace her hated me for the

whole nine and a half years. things got really bad and i had to quit. host: would you consider yourself middle class, lower middle class? right now, lower middle class. i used to think we were middle class, but it is going down. know,ice of things, you they are really bad. aboutwhen you think income inequality, is it -- should it be a goal in the u.s. to try to make incomes more equal? caller: yes. host: why? caller: i feel like i worked -- theyard, but it was treat the people really badly and -- i do not know. you work for millionaires and

they just do not care about what it is like for other people. i think it is really bad. host: what are your politics? i usually vote democrat, but i do not agree with everything on all sides. there are some things i agree on both sides. right now, i am not really sure. host: thank you for sharing your story with us. dana, crofton, maryland. what do you do for a living? caller: i work for the social security administration. i know a lot about the disability benefits some callers have mentioned they rely on for their income. low class family. we barely made ends meet, but my parents never took any handouts from the federal government. be middle myself to

class at this point. i work very hard and have learned a lot of lessons in terms of credit usage and economics. one gentleman mentioned living beneath your means. that is something i try to tell as many people i can about. i also have a real estate license and have experience in properties. every client i work with, i cautioned them about living above their means. think ahead, in case life changes. relationships change, economic status changes. right now, i am lucky enough to have a good income. i received a promotion after trying for nine years. i have to say, part of that was because i am a recent graduate. while working full-time, i worked overtime to pay for my education because i did not qualify -- i could not get

loans. i could not afford to have loans because i was thinking ahead. i did not qualify for scholarships and stuff, so i saved my money and paid for my classes in advance. class, a lotining of people who went to college right away and did not worry about the debt that they were going to walk away with and they wanted to get the piece of paper, that piece of paper costs money. they were relying on getting a government job in some cases. some people also believed that they got the government job, the debt would be wiped off or wiped away. i have two children about to enter college, one is actually in college. i try to teach them about budgeting, how much it costs to live and pay rent.

areas,k at the gaithersburg and a d.c., you might be making more money, but the cost of living is much higher. line is that people are living above their means and with easier access to education, because it really is for lower income people, they need to be motivated to better themselves. that is one thing i have noticed in my children applying for college and paying for college is that it is easier to get an education when you have no money, your parents have no money. am not in favor of redistribution, i think that is done enough in taxes. the redistribution of assets and more federal and states handouts

-- even though there are many methods for those in a lower class to better themselves through education. also, the value of every employee is different. you mentioned inflation regarding mcdonald's. the value of a person doing specific jobs is lower, especially if you have no previous education or experience. you do not want to pay a high dollar salary to someone who does not have documentation of their work. the way that our society is right now, we need to think more and theseeconomics agencies that hand out money and , withintlement programs

the next two years, people on disability, they will not be getting what they get now. money is not there. that is another issue that needs to be addressed by our legislation. host: are you on your way to work? caller: i am about to walk in. host: we appreciate you listening to c-span radio. anks for sharing your story with us. cynthia, good morning. caller: i am calling because i want to share my story and also some thoughts about this issue. i am happy you are addressing this today. i grew up very poor and i have worked my butt off for years, getting myself my masters degree. i was a teacher for 18 years and

i am operating a business with my husband today. it is a small, but successful business. talking about money and redistribution of income is not the correct approach. peoplees the buttons of who are scared about the idea of socialism. and communism. it is a flashpoint. it makes people feel like we're going to turn into a communist country or we are going to become socialists, when indeed, we are a mixed economy with a lot of our programs. it is not about redistribution of income. to me, it is looking at how things have developed over the past 30 years and beyond that. a lot of people do not know or do not remember that under

dwight eisenhower, the tax rates for people like me was 85%. have an interstate system that was built during the cold war because people were paying high taxes. highwayshy, today, our , bridges are collapsing. nobody wants to foot the bill for maintainfrastructure in our. it is so interesting to me when i hear people talk about they are being taxed too much, they do not have enough. yourave to live below means. there is no way i could earn what i earn today, no way i could have what i have today if i had not worki used to have my, plus i would work in my business. now, i just work and my business because i can do that. you have to be willing to dedicate yourself to being successful for your entire life.

you cannot take out a lot of loans. work, put yourself through school, make it happen. on top of that, people need to accept the fact that we are going to have a disintegrating economy, a disintegrating infrastructure, everything in our country will continue to disintegrate, grow old, collapse, if we do not pay for it. payonly way we are going to for it is taxes on the individual. corporations, even though they are individuals under the eyes of the law, they are not paying their fair share. pay their fair share and corporations have to pay their fair share. host: do you feel you pay a fair share of taxes? caller: i don't think i pay enough. my corporation, because it is less than 5 million, i

have a very hefty corporate tax rate. my corporation is paying a high amount of tax. me as a person, i do not pay much at all. i get a huge tax return every year. this -- looku see at this chart if you have your tv on. this is from the national taxpayers union. they say in 2009, the top 1% of 37% ofpayers paid nearly all taxes. the top 5% paid 59% of all taxes. do you think that is -- the bottom 50% paid 2.25% of all taxes. do you think that is a fair distribution of taxes? caller: no. thethey do not need that much

money. they really do not. to think theys have to acquire. we are such an acquisition all society-- acquisitional that we believe the only success we have is through the acquisition of material goods. we do not take value in what we have in just being alive. instead of having so much money in your pocket so you can buy a and ago andcedes have -- and go around the world for two months every year, really, isn't it more about a community? isn't it more about helping our neighbors? it does not mean you're going to give them -- i'm going to give you $25,000 so we have the same income. what people think

redistribution of income is. that is not the approach we need to take. rightliticians on the have used this language in order to brainwash us into thinking this way. it is totally wrong. host: thank you for sharing. tweets we have been receiving throughout the morning. let's look at some of these. america's middle class is getting murdered by income redistribution. to the 1970's, someone in the bottom 20% more likely to remain in20%, than bottom whole life. system ofys our classes not sustainable as rich gets richer, poor get poorer, and middle disappears. rich destroys its customer base.

here is a report. the 1%al bailouts of since great recession have come at the expense of the 99 percent exacerbating class stratification in america. stella says dependence on government handouts had not helped. why work and contribute if daddy government will do it for you? >> chris in massachusetts. west yarmouth, massachusetts. chris, where is your income derived from? at don't have any income the moment. host: how do you survive? the r: i live off of savings. why do you not -- caller:

i was a dentist. destroyed by a corrupt licensing board. >> when you were a dentist, how making?e you >> about $50,000. it was really low. but i had a small practice and reinvesting a lot of it in the office and buying new equipment and things like that. right, so class in america. what does it mean to you? a huge factor. believe the middle class is shrinking more and more. much dental treatment, people have to pay out of pocket for it minimal.nsurance is so that had a big impact on my profession. my generation, i lost my license on the board blamed of me doing something by omething done by the board members. >> you lost your license to be a

den theist? i lost it because we didn't have office. the licensing board reneged on me.agreement with >> what's next for you. medicaid many cases, offices. patients don't show up. you don't get paid very much if it's on medicaid anyway. so if i don't -- if i'm working in an office and the patient up, that means i don't get what's set aside for that person. where iently left a job to to drive an hour each way get there. i'm driving an hour each way to work a half a day or less.

and the patient was minimal. to pay for malpractice, license registration and all the other costs. basically making nothing. i just gave up. that's chris in massachusetts. we appreciate your call. we're going to continue this on class in america and phone lines are pretty jammed right now. in there are the numbers case you would like to dial in. you can. as we attempt to continue this conversation for the next two hours on the washington journal. this weekend, on american tv, we tv and book travel to cheyenne, wyoming. it's part of the local content at some of the local areas, books and history throughout the nation. and this will air on book tv and on american history tv this weekend. c-span 2, 48 hours of nonfiction books every weekend.

48 hours of american history. every weekend. video that we're going to show you, here's the mayor of kayson, talking about the city's native american roots. >> cheyenne is known as the magic city of the plains. we're in the southeast corner of our great state of wyoming. we're the capital city. we are in the rocky mountain west. we are named after the great the cheyenne. we're named after the cheyenne the cheyenne sed area for the summer settings. and when they would come down from the mountains and everything else. population merican had a very strong history here in cheyenne in the 1800s. were lucky enough to be called with cheyenne and so one is known as ourse, cheyenne frontier days. here here in 2014, we will be

celebrating the 118th consecutive what we like to adady -- say, daddy of them all. a great tradition, a respect for western heritage where we have the world's number one award-winning outdoor rodeo. we have night show entertainment, country and yes, we throw some well.n' roll in there as parades. pancake breakfast. a great environment setting. home of union pacific railroad. because union pacific was going area, routing the transcontinental railroad in a main stop for the union pacific depot and has the largest active railroad yard in the united states. so those are just a few of the things that cheyenne is known for.

>> washington journal continues. host: this morning, race in sorry, class in america. that was a show we had on the radio show. class in america. income, equality, inequality, class warfare. the top 1 hkt. 99%.om you all heard the phrases and the terms. you want to get your thoughts on them. to hear your personal story. where you think you fit in the american economic spectrum. up next, tom in tolohoma, tennessee. do for a do you living. how much do you make? i'm a a manager and schoolteacher. somewhere in there. host: in tennessee, is that enough to make you feel comfortable? is, we have two kids in college, but it doesn't feel like it right now. you know, i guess you would ourthat we're living beyond

of the trying to give your kids a chance, a step up in the world and education is way to do it. but i really think that those eople in that capitol building behind you are playing games with the american people. and they are pandering to the wealthy. and manage those they've brought us down so hard, so deep, so hard. latest ooked at the book, he kind of explains how he justice system actually works against these people and under more penalty and more penalties. they're almost making a slave class out of them. what we're doing with the low-paying jobs and, you know, very good ability to have choices in life and what we're

economy.lly ruining our and i think we have some real problems with those people in capitol building right there in the back for pandering to the wealthy. tom, when you say pandering to the wealthy, what to see them do? caller: very rich should not be and pay with the same type of costs that the rest to pay.ve host: such as -- lawsuit. had a federal and the property i sued breaking the law. and the judges -- the judges my specifically planned in federal lawsuit for my federal lawsuit. political the manipulation and how these there ians in the back sell out so that the laws are not enforced against the very me it's just -- it's so corrosive.

most people don't see this side what's happening in washington. but those people in the back are away the opportunities from everybody else and concentrating it on the hands of very wealthy. the hat's going to reduce opportunity. i'm not talking about class equality. the alking about opportunity of my kids, your kids, everybody's kids to be to be upwardly mobile. typesen we had such sorry of politician, it pervades us country.he whole host: thank you, sir. publication line called vox. this article, the class war in over.can politics is and the rich won. chart and puts a median net worth of current members of congress in

2012. worth was net $1,800,000. the senate, $2.8 million. epublicans, about $1 million average, an increase of 10%. $1.1 million average, 11.6%.rease of and they have a class war in politics, you need two sides but those political institutions. on the say that millionaires have a 5-4 majority on the supreme court and a man too.he white house again, this is from vox, if you'd like to read, it's the lengthy article. if you would like to read that, vox is the name of the website. here's the front page of this morning's richmond times dispatch newspaper. big news, guiltyals you can see,

headline. bob mcdonald and his wife, maureen mcdonald found guilty on counts. and down in the virginia beach southern south eastern virginia, large metro pilot is theginian largest newspaper down there. here's their front page. he virginia pilot, a global fight against jihadists as their headline. cdonald's case is down here, lower left, front page. by bill size tten more. staff writer for the virginian pilot. joins us from richmond. mr. sizemore, what was it like that courtroom yesterday where the guilty verdicts came through? >>en amazing scene. for hole trial went on almost six weeks was an amazing scene.

former governor, mr. mcdonald, was clearly, it seemed to me, not expecting this verdict. as the -- as the verdict was read, he slumped in his seat. he -- he held his head in his began to sob. his whole body was shaking. out,was a man, day in, day dragged along. chipper on the way out. of the court. of ys stop and had a couple comments with reporters. optimism that d exonerated.g to be

he was unprepared when the verdict came. 11 counts of guilty, correct? that's correct. 11 out of 13. all of the core counts of the indictment. prosecutors got almost everything they wanted. he was only acquitted on a secondary charges involving falsifying bank loan applications. cdonald, what m was your reaction. what did you see in the courtroom? guest: she maintained composure better than her husband did. stared straight ahead as the verdict was read. nd then after the court adjourned. tearful.e became very her family -- their family -- five children. they were friends. they were all distraught.

sobbing.s much, much it -- it was -- it was just a very, very emotional scene. host: you're from the virginia area. that's governor mcdonald's. kind of a little bit of a home base. do you know him well? have you covered him for a long time. guest: i covered him over the years. got the start. he ran for the state house and elected 8 together in office for 22 years. attorney general before he was governor. nd he -- he presumably had a very bright future, not only naturally, he was entioned permanantly as a

potential vice presidential for mitt romney in 2012. is a s quite -- this precipitous fall for him. and by the way, this is the first time anything like this happened in virginia. and, you know, in 400 years of we've never had a governor convicted for crimes in office. offered a he feels deal at one point, wasn't he? report a cording to a few months back in if "washington post," yes. had reported that he accepted one felony fraud count. he'd plead guilty to that, he have a fairly minimal sentence and his -- and his wife not have, you know -- would not have been convicted.

but he rolled the dice. and he lost bigtime. host: you were in the courtroom throughout this trial. what was your feeling? did you -- if you had been adjourned. reporter in that position. but when you heard what you what in that courtroom, did you think? this.: well, i'll say i was increasingly convinced as that the jury was going to convict then. the -- there was a lot of evidence, the prosecution, i job ht, did a really good of amassing just a huge kwauptty evidence. and the defense gave it their best shot. they put on an actually very

novel defense. if not unique. was that ary argument despite seeming a couple in public were actually quite estranged behind closed doors. that, in fact, their marriage is so broken, their communication they strained that wouldn't -- it was impossible to -- to o conspire settle at the office of the governor. very unusual defense. jury clearly didn't buy it. host: bill size more. two more things. we just showed the ront page of your newspaper's there is going to

be an appeal by the lawyers. how does that process work? he going to keep the same law eam, the same with mrs. mcdonald as well? uest: yes, they have separate legal teams. both have said they will appeal. to the als would go court of appeals here in richmond. the judge presiding over this sentence them on january 6 and presumably the have been filed by then.

prisoner sentenced will be taken into custody. they will see mr. and mrs. go to prison in january. realistically how much time may they be sentenced. guest: hard to predict. maximum sentence under the law for these corruption charge they're not bound by the guidelines. a complicated formula. will be much arguing back and the prosecution

and defense over that calculation. realistically, the people i talk community say even more. host: a bush appointee, isn't he? reagan appointee. he's a former federal prosecutor. very no-nonsense judge. nd, again, people i talked to seem to gal community feel he's not going to be mercy.d to show he'll probably follow the uidelines but might well announce a sentence to the somewhere in the upper end of range.

least affluent family incomes are declining. fed survey shows economic growth recession has improved. the portions of the most affluent americans even as the in wealth and most american families continues to decline. 10%, the st affluent average incomes rose by 10% from 2013 for the rest of the population, average incomes were flat or falling. families haveuent average st decline incomes dropped. families report in the triannual surveys, one of the ost comprehensive sources of

data on the financial health of american families. the new report broadly the stent of the data on aftermath of the great recession underscores why so many economy thinks the remains in poor health while the are as grown, most people getting smaller slices. that's from "the new york times" morning on the washington journal. we're spending three hours talking about class in america. received an e-mail from robert in new york. i think it was the last week, swefed this. we did a three-hour show on race in america. a show on class in america. seeing this ie are morning. $25,0003880 if you make or under, between $25,000 and 202-585-3881. if you make over $50,000.

202-585-3882. 3838 for those making over $100,000 and the social media sites as well. if you get through, chances are going to ask you how much you make, what do you do for a living. little reaction to some of the economic issues facing the country, facing you personally as well. bill in canton, illinois. what do you do for a living, how much do you take? retired at this time. i make $45,000 a year. >> where is that income derived? > from investment, from pension, and from disability pay. you old enough or do you collect social security yet? security.t is social host: oh, it is. do you feel economically comfortable? guest: no. would -- i mean, my monthly income, yes.

disabled re of two parents for many years and had to pay medical bills which wiped out the savings. host: so if you hear the term economic are, inequality. we talk about class in america, what's your take? me, it's more like a one e-rouser trying to get the population in the united states to agree with their point of view which is totally wrong.

y mom said it's not what you make, it's what you save of what you make. look at someone's home, they have all of the appliances of a middle class. talked about debt. he was right. i realize that's almost impossible to do now. for the first 35 years of my loan. i never had a very fortunate that i could do that. so if you look at what people it's very day, misleading. insurance subsidized by the government, housing, food go there. can they get food stamps, free cell phones. if you add that all to their they're actually bordering middle class status. i mean, you know, to be honest. and the one thing i'd like hough say is, the minimum wage problem in the united states raised.s, it should be

but a person just starting out could not get the high increase. it should get progressive increase where once you do your work d you have a good that you record, should get that pay progressively. you take a lady as a cashier at kroger's, how is that fair that here comes a high school minimum wage is $15. so you're getting paid $15. you're not rewarding the and skills of the person who's been on the job for 25 years. read abill, i'm going to tweet reacting to something you said. we'll put it on the air. t will be on your screen in a minute. this is dana. dana writes in, no reason a child needs to pay for elderly parents' medical payments. not a very smart guy.

right. she's exactly i ran a ened was -- business in the state of washington, aerospace business. had partners for several years. i had no idea that putting my parents' medical care conch on cards, i would have been responsible for it after their death. that. was ignorant about but back in that -- there's no way that my parents immediate all bills would have been covered by the government or anybody. host: mike from michigan makes under $25,000. to listen in, see if you hear anything you want to to.pond caller: okay. host: mike in michigan. mike, good morning, tell us your

story. tell us about class in america. good morning. i'm a veteran, got a bad back. any pensions i had coming were gone. host: why. caller: a few years back, i called the place in washington, -- i don't know, the pension guaranteed fund or whatever. host: egbc corporation? caller: yes. so much told me it was money. but if i waited, i could draw the money. last year, and nobody has even heard of my name now at the place. that said, mike, what do you think about class in america?

hat do you think about income equality or inequality. caller: the money should go to the workers. they created that man's job. the workers didn't do it correct lip, he wouldn't make any money is the way i see it. rent.aid $270 in

a great help. government job programs. 'm like two or three times i .ried to get a job be unemployed to get a job. for me, that's wrong. would have left a job behind for someone else. that's not the way they do it. host: thank you, sir. mike in michigan. bill, hang on, we'll take one more call and get your reaction to what the two callers had to say. jerry down in crystal $100,000.orida over jerry, good morning. what do you do for a living? aller: good morning, i'm a technical trainer. host: what does that mean? caller: that means i go around country to industrial facilities and i train on things pumps, looking to fundamentals of electricity.

i teach those skills. i have a unique perspective. called in. living with my mother and aunt after i graduated post great relate session in a house hold less than $25,000. and worked my way up with a lot am rightork to where i now. asking d me -- you're call hertz about what they think about class in america. most of the world looks at most of america and they would say class. even when i was in much more what weshed conditions, would consider lower class in america, we lived like upper class. mean is we had air conditioning. that's what the pharaohs of envious of.be we were hungry but we

food if e to go to get we really wanted it or didn't what was sarily available. everybody called in today has a phone line they can call in on. something our founding fathers would have been jealous of, the ability to throw your all the way from florida up to washington, d.c. by button. a so i think in general, most of here in america. having said that, you know, i little luck and hardwork to get where i am today. baseline intelligence and hardworking. but to the poor people out there who are financially poor, who are looking for opportunities. you make your own luck by going to a place like north dakota,

over the e all country. you know, i started making years ago.ew off because my -- the closed. was working at i went out but i believe the opportunities are there. the american dream is still there. but we can do more on the policy side in america to make that happen. the policy issue is basic. you encourage what you you discourage what you tax. we tax earned income more than income in ype of america. the earned income tax credit. great ideas to get more jobs. simpler tax code, you know? tax things like, you know, have retail sales tax that taxes consumption. don't tax necessarily labor. you know? simpler tax ht-up

code that's not so complicated that doesn't have -- a few callers have mentioned the between whether you dividends or y on capitol gains or whether you make it through earned income. lastly, the most important thing in this country if you ask education.ancial too many people are not financially literate. people often think they're poor ecause of all of the advertising that's done in this country and because they feel needthey need this or they this or they need that. when really, with the right education, you may not be buying things on credit, you might not be paying interest on things. you know? and so there's a lot of people, upper middle class, who will call in and say they poor. feeling poor is more a reflection of our society than living r standard of today. host: jerry, crystal river,

florida. in illinois.tioned you listened to the last two allers, one making less, one making more. any reaction to what they had to say? you know, there are things that are an exception to the rule. physically ome disabled, there's nothing you can do about that. fortunate that this government tries to help people some type of monetary income. to the second caller, he was right on the money. in 1982, i worked at caterpillar. supervision. i had to move to state of washington because in illinois, was so high.ent my first job, i started out, i i think that a lot of people

don't understand that, you know, they look at the corporate heads and everything. the reason that they're paid so uch money is because they're keeping the companies floating keeping re -- they're them -- they wouldn't be there if they weren't the experienced that company, you know, above water. host: thank you for your time this morning as well. we're going to move on to jerry. moving on to re brian in dubuque, iowa. hi, brian, tell us your

situation. caller: hi. make a comment about social security disability. in quite a while ago from new york, a woman -- i believeid she she said she was autistic and was receiving social security disability. host: right. guest: i think she said she was in iving $7,000 a month social security payments? i know seven people different people including who receive social ecurity disability due to having a mental illness. and not all of us make less than $1,000 a month. host: i think she probably meant $7,000 a year. caller: i think she meant $700 a month. host: yeah.

yeah. caller: if i was getting $7,000. would. i think we all brian, as somebody who survives $25,000 and under and has government-sourced income, when you hear the phrase "class in america," what do you think about that? aller: well, that's a tough one. because i don't begrudge almost nyone, you know, certainly earning a living and making a good living. dream.the american for me to comment on. grateful for our assistance i receive, i tell you that.

caller: if anyone thinks people on disability payments is living cushy life, they're mistaken. grateful to the government for the help i get. host: thank you, sir. in livingston, texas. 26 to 50. dee, the phrase class in warfare.class what do you think? aller: we got the class part wrong. it's not whether you have a lot of money, it's about if you're a or a lady, you care about others, take care of family, your neighbors. you don't gripe because you have pay your taxes.

ust class is not -- it's a personal thing. nd i am a retired federal employee and i worked from a which is nothing up to being the administrative officer at the division. working ard work and part time, paying social security. the people who make a lot of money should pay more taxes. are protected by our family. they don't participate, mostly. roads and on our ridges and enjoy our parks and whatever. nd they should be paying more representative part of the cost of those things. wrong?t

i hope not. ost: well, we appreciate your sharing your thoughts. on all of these issues. america.n, class in this is mike in douglas, massachusetts. mike, how much do you make a year? what do you do? aller: i'm a mechanic, i make little over $50,000. combined income, we make a $100,000?er host: you feel you're a member of the upper class, middle class? caller: lower or middle class. host: i'm sorry. middle class. $100,000 in income? caller: absolutely. i think with the richest economy seeing that i'm my financially secure for future, i have a little bit of a to be , but that seems attacked every time i turn around.

cost of living keeps going up. pay doesn't compensate that. so i think we could do a lot as a country. ost: you look for a large corporation as a mechanic? aller: no, i work for a city bus company. host: all right, what your politics. caller: again dept, independent. issue-by-issue. i think there needs to be a labor party in this country. i don't think the democrats support the worker more than republicans do. but i don't think it's enough. host: what kind of legislative solution would you come up with. putting words in your mouth. forgive me if it's the wrong words. to ensure economic stability. or economic -- yeah, economic everybody. for

caller: well, i think we should look at the cause of inequality. think it has though do as cuts to the tax clinton's glass steagall hurting the pensions. two things that would be help and also single payer as health care. i don't think with the richest economy in the world we should have to worry about if we're to take lose our homes care of our mothers or ourselves loved ones. i think those three things would be a start. do you feel economically upwardly mobile? caller: absolutely not.

our kids are playing for their own colleges. it's a struggle. have say that we should utopia and everything should be i don't think we put enough emphasis on having the itizens to get a higher education without the high cost or be able to go to the doctors risk of losing our homes. thank you, sir. kathleen. day ton, ohio. under $25,000. caller: hey, great program, smart people. definitely think there's serious classism in the u.s. mobile by choice at 62. i raised three kids. 45.an income from 35 to top p.e. and rentals at this

point. i chose to live a simple life. and so never took a dime from the state. taxes. but here's what i've seen. the last seven years in in day ar, i grew up ton, ohio, a manufacturing town. a union family, and also family members at wright patterson air force base. it is -- there are nurse's aides, i've been dealing with a of aging apartments, urse's aides making $9 an hour working their tails off with no education. higher and these private for profit -- you know -- you know, making buku bucks. patriots.the economic i don't begrudge people for going and making millions of allars, but they need to give fair share to the working class.

host: do you feel you were werey compensated when you working at a p.e. teacher, etc.? did, i did feel it was a kids'dt things by choice after a while. again, after i raised my kids, scholarships to small private schools. small private schools give the best scholarships. where you get the best education and best deals. but could this -- i just -- like up at the last democratic convention. e used the term economic patriots. where are the executives those g the tosh share billions of dollars? i'm going to give an example up in ohio like the education system. i'm basically, i'd say, on fair wages, access to quality health care.d

i'm sorry if your parents beat you. that's not fair. need those three basic ools to access what we're all promised. in ohio, for instance. you know, in one county, last i checked, in one county because f the tax base, one kid will have say $8,000 put on him a year. nd in a rich district, say arlington, ohio up near columbus, you know, they have spent on them per year. that's not fair. you know? want -- again, how do we apply compassion to those less fortunate? wages?we -- fair host: do you know what? stay on the line, let's thereon and i want callers to get your reaction to what they said. okay? so just hang on the line there, kathleen. we're going to hear from stephanie in highland, california. what's your personal

situation. what do you think of the phrase, warfare"? caller: hi, good morning, steve, watchers/listeners. i am a government employee and i have been with the government for 25 years and haven't seen a raise in eight. i do believe that there's class warfare. there is a that policy that can be changing congress, several, actually, that can help the middle class and the poor. trade policies, nafta -- we need to get rid of nafta. disaster for a the middle class. nd i think we cannot pay corporations to take jobs or give them tax breaks to take overseas to sell -- to determine if the product for a they're ice while making a high profit. i believe that the corporations say that there's a lot of

education. education for some of the jobs. well, why don't the corporations in the colleges and then schools to train people for those jobs. o i think there's a lot of names that -- host: do you have student debt? caller: i do not have student debt. i paid my student debt off. -- i sure that i did not gave myself a certain amount of money that i was willing to pay off. but it did take me about 10 years to pay off my student debt host: do you feel fairly compensate? caller: i do not. i said,point, i -- like i vice president seen a raise in ight years and my income is going -- is dwindling. higher gas prices. there's -- you know, the food are higher.

trying to goadults to school. they have raised their families. i'm helping them and struggling with them. so, no, i don't feel that. feel like i have the opportunity to progress as i have. host: thank you, ma'am. agree with the last two caller -- the caller in massachusetts was spot on. agree with the ohio -- teacher fromthe pe ohio. >> thank you, stephanie. and kathleen, just hang in there. call i want more to have you listen to and get your reaction. phil in miami beach, over $100,000. do for a living? aller: an attorney plus fuel spending investment. host: would you consider yourself wealthy? i have most of my life, not been wealthy. i'm in the poor range most of my life. wealthy, i consider that to be in mind.

i live in the upper class, but lower income for the class most of our lives. so it's what you consider. upward ee where there's mobility and where it's being crushed. now, looking that we had to bring up the incomes people.lower income we're doing it. unfortunately, we have the massive influx of foreigners that are coming in to this nation and completely destroying the income base of lower level of the society. and right now we have people coming in that are not even be considered for deportation for four years. class' rushing the lower income-making availability. it's intentional. that's the intentional position of people who have power. enforced.re not being

citizens are not being taken care of. jobs are going overseas. crushed.eing they're bringing a range, how will it be resolved. left.obs are the people are not taught to how to live within their means, how to be responsible. just a complete destruction. if weot going to end well don't do something right. host: do you think there's class warfare, class inequality it should bery and a legislative goal to make it more even? caller: not like a legislative goal. proper ly ly by there can be done.n that there is legislation that could be done to make sure that people get too great of a

advantage over pooerm. one of the advantages is have educated, secure in what they're doing. people not taught to want so that they really don't need. getting this by country back into production. cannot have a powerful country to do things if we don't have production. onre spending $6,000 a month somebody who just came in illegally. for each spent person, we could build a whole illage for family down in another country. up fortunately, it runs in the problem of corruption. allow that, you do something like that, the risk of the rich or the power down there it ever gets fore to construction. and we have that problem with corruption. we have it here in this country. it in the rest of the

world. host: going to have to leave it there. appreciate your comments. you've listened to stephanie and beach. miami caller: you have so many ntelligent, well informed callers. stephanie made great points. he talked about the government employee. my exposure to government employees, generally make a good wage. there's the fact she hasn't had a raise in eight years, that's course, people's income should be set to inflation. some great he made points, but, again, i don't employees government make great money. she did talk about corporations as phil.erseas as well he made some of the same points. being, again, in day ton, a town, you know we're there across the nation.

but the city has crumbled for the movement of the corporations first down south because they were fighting unions up north. then overseas. think the focus should be on appropriations, the profit margins. family members making, what, 150 million middle lass americans make -- that issue needs to be looked at very closely. again, and's term, economic patriots. where are they? when is it going to come up to the plate? both parties stole unions down the pike. grew up in union families. supporters made mistakes. created our middle class. i think they really need to look that closely. series to see a whole of the history of unions. the public needs to re-evaluate closely. host: thank you for your time

this morning, from the u.s. bureau, how census measured poverty is this report. in 2012, there were 26.5 million in the united ty states. you can see here, the poverty the census s by bureau. in 1959, the poverty rate, 22.4%.me, it goes down throughout the 70s 80s.he hen here in 2012, i want's about 15%, 16% is when they add some other facts and figures. here is the poverty rate and figure.er fact and the different colors here is the spm. supplemental poverty measure every year since 2010. released to has report the spm. official poverty

measure by taking account the government benefits and expenses like taxes that are not in the official measure. so if you include them, all people, 16% of the poverty rate of age. under 18 years 18% are in the poverty zone. in 18 to 64. and finally in the 65 and older, about another 15%. and here is the 2012 official threshold. 23,283ults, two children, in income. rubio in tor marco florida spoke about the war on poverty. and the way government could help. this is from earlier this year. offive decades and trillions dollars after president johnson first announced the war on poverty, the rules of the big government approach are in. here's where they are.

4 million americans have been out of work for six months or more. we have a stack of 49 million americans living below the line.y we have over twice that number. get 100 million people who some sort of form or food aid from the federal government. labor le, the participation force is at a 35-year low. children raised in the bottom of 20% of the national income have 42% chance of being stuck there for life. now our current president and allies.ral what they propose to address, more on posal is spend the programs and increase the minimum wage to $10.10. -- this is their solution? to what the president called the time.ing issue of our raising the minimum wage may poll well. an raising the wage to $10 hour is not the american dream.

our programs offer at best only a partial solution. they help people deal with poverty. but they do not help people poverty.rom the only solution that will lasting eaningful and results is to provide those who are stuck in low-paying jobs with the real opportunity to to better paying jobs. the war on pover tiff accomplished neither of the two things. these two issue goals. first, we have the single of upward gine mobility in human history in our disposal. the american free enterprise system. host: as we continue to take your calls on class in america. the reason to do it. robert in new york. an e-mail last week,

talking about the need to have a economic on inequality and class issues in the united states. robert, i hope you're watching. for three hours here. we're doing your views, john, raymond, washington, you're on air. john, what do you do for a living? caller: had a heart attack. disabled. host: income and where does it come? caller: on social security. nonstarter.is a i own my own home. the only thing is with my health bad, it hen it goes so doesn't matter how muchoff make. you don't have enough, you know, ability to actually spend it. host: so you feel that we're in a class warfare here in the u.s.? caller: i live in a small town, the small thrown is dying. populated byown is

people who have lived here all of their lives. most of the jobs are of city, staflt, you know, county, and federal government jobs. those are all owned by people who have grown up here. now, we do have some factories here. those people are immigrants that have moved into else.and everywhere they're increasing in town. and they're -- they're the only the that are working in low-paying jobs. and there's no chance of them a -- had three schools. like the the people immigrants or everything else, cast off to one school. the two towns together represents like 5,000 people. schools.three high you know? and if you lived in the big schools for igh less than 2,000 kids or 1,000 kids is unheard of. have three fully

functioning high schools. host: so let's go back to our morning.is class in america? caller: yes. -- : can i get to caller: it's a caste system poor people f the are shoved off to certain lower schools. they're not allowed into the better schools. host: thank you, sir. rick in fairfax, virginia here suburbs. not push the right line. get the right line. line.we'll get the right here is rick, fairfax, virginia; $50,000.to good morning, what do you do for a living? how old are you? your education level? caller: 50 years old, a bachelor's in business. retail in fairfax. underemployed. caller: pretty much, i'd like to start a business. host: how long have you worked fairfax?n caller: long time, ten years.

host: okay, why? oh with you, ie honest study the economy. study politics a lot. i want to make a few points. congressional e budget office, overall federal taxation is on average effectively progressive. ceo effective gle tax rates and they'll see -- they'll see -- they've done 10 reports on that over the years. econdly, the incomes -- the shares of incomes have not really changed a whole lot. you include the government also alan ion and reynolds of cato and others have looked at that. total l problem is which ent-related cost s

reating $8 trillion per year, $5.5 trillion of the spending. bout $2.5 trillion of regulations and other indirect costs. ost: you've thrown a lot of figures out here. what point are you trying to make? caller: i'm saying that the problem is the waste within the $8 trillion which is about in my estimation $2 trillion per year. than the ore accumulated wealth of the bottom 50%. we waste more in my opinion in ne year than the total accumulated assets of the bottom 50%. meaning to 've been ask this question -- what i've

is s-- trying to do, set up a new kind of forum, inaking of the class problem america. i've been talking to the organizations in dc. in trying toowhere set up like an independent like blogger forum. a what i wanted to ask you to could c-span potentially sponsor a forum. who rick, as someone watches c-span on a regular basis. you know we don't sponsor cover events that are being held at various think tanks, organizations, hearings.nal of course, we don't put on the hearings, necessarily. our best bet would be to see the proposal in full. send it to the e-mail that we here on your screen.

the al@c-span.org and at washington journal, we can take a look at that. now, we've got about 15 minutes our program this morning. at 10:00 a.m., we're going to go live to the nebraska supreme court. there's a court case hearing in the nebraska supreme court on pipeline. we're going to bring that to you a.m. this morning. but going to continue to talk about class in america, all of the various issues that go along with that. and hearing your experience, here are the numbers to dial in on. divided them by income level. f you can't get through on the phone numbers, you can get on social media. @c-spanwj the twitter handle. facebook.com/c-span and

#journalat c-span org.

host: in georgia is randy. randy makes between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. do you do to make that money? >> how are you? host: i'm good. good.r: i've got a couple of points.

my biggest statement is to the people calling in and complaining about the salaries eos and cfos, i wish you would ask them about what they think about the salaries and entertaine entertainers. ceos, very few people can do knot iebdz of work, about the same ballpark as an athlete and an entertainer. what do you do? accounting manager? yes, sir. host: what does that mean? caller: i'm over accounting people. host: do you enjoy your work? a lot. yeah, i do host: do you feel you're a member of the middle class? caller: oh, yes, i am. definitely a member of the middle class. and do you feel

fairly ally, compensated? caller: i did until my daughter college two years ago. now we're taking out all kinds that in the ay for return on investment for what she's doing is going to benefit all of us. do you aspire to make more money? caller: oh, yes, i feel good at i t i do and the people report to, you know, feel that prosperous for my company and myself. host: you talked about athletes. a middle e-mail from class computer consultant, $25,000 to $50,000. he or she -- i want to get your reaction to the e-mail.

the earlier caller's comment about greedy compensation. overpaid, but so are football players and movie stars. in this country, corporations in the highest tax rate world. the real disconnect people on the left have when they want higher taxesto pay who pays the tax. caller: i disagree. and cfo -- there are only a handful of people in the orld that can run a corporation. same as the top athlete. you can't just throw out a high school pitcher and expect him to the world series. are paid these people because they are qualified, more qualified than anyone else for that position.

thank you for your time this morning. caller: another point i wanted caller is an earlier said he was on disability. he's just sitting his life -- he's on a fixed income. he's never going to be able to lot ofvacation or have a the things that a lot of people might have. i know a lot of people on on there because it's the easiest way to go. i'm sorry to say that, that is. they got a job, climb the corporate ladder, they would have so much more. georgia.kron, where is that? suburb of atlanta? caller: yes, north. host: thank you, sir. new hampshire.r, what do you do for a living? how much do you make? caller: over $150,000 in a small company? host: does that mean you make airplanes?

caller: yes. host: and business is good? caller: it hasn't been but it's getting bert. all right, so when you hear the term "class in america" warfare," what are your thoughts, someone who makes over $150,000? caller: i want to thank c-span. makes never -- my wife me turn off tv because i get so angry. news.ially at the so refreshing and so great for this a to know that dialogue is available. celebrate you and c-span for keeping america sane and you know there are a lot of people out there that would like to make hange with ideas and things right for america. so, i thank you for that. of : what about the issue class warfare? conomic inequality in this

country? caller: four issues. one, policies. a wolf in sheep's clothing. what they say and what they do completely opposite. the federal recertain right now, the dollar is at the lowest point. subsidizing wall street, not main street. if you look at all of the companies, did not even make revenue number this year. and what happened? the stock market is as high as it's ever been. in hey say one thing, another case, they do another. he press don't tell a success story like mine. that doesn't sell papers. want to they always step down and god forbid things happen in your life, they happen in mine many times. to tell thatt want story. third, for me, education. exorbitant, for any family

member, anybody, it's out of control. et, we have the biggest social media revolution, education can't be done on-line anymore. it should be ut vastly expanded. won't let that happen. they're upside down. they can't do it. it's going to -- marco rubio had it right. if you listen to him earlier, earlier, lked about marco rubio, he was exactly on. in any way to trend, business, you look at trends. and you trend -- our trend is up.g down, it's not going why would you keep doing something if your trends are going the other way. it's good business. good business says if the trends turn around and get it going the other way. that's not what's happening chlg. that's all i have to say. taxed do you feel you're fairly?

taxed fairly and obama care for us is very frustrating. because i felt we were taxed again. taxed on income not only that i ake but also income that's earned. a real problem for me on obama costs went uply's 30%. our value went down about 80%. for every little thing now, more and more. gas is not included in the statistics. in food is not included inflation. so the other thing is spread numbers the inflation lie to us. nobody is talking about it. it's so frustrating. the details.in no one likes the details. hyperbole.ikes the caller: thank you, sir. host: the jobs numbers came out. 6.1% is the unemployment rate.

the 00 jobs were added to u.s. economy. this comes out at 8:30, the of every month reporting on the previous month. christopher, ft. oglethorpe, $26,000 to $50,000. tell us about yourself. caller: hey, i'm excited. think i would come through. and i just hit the button and here i got through. i'm excited. 23 years old. veteran, i got out a year ago in 2013. i was a hostile foreman. medical work in the navy. the aircraft carrier. out in know, was california for a little bit. now back here in georgia. for a what are you doing living? guest: emt, nationally, i suppose. i got my emt hat,

license in california. nothing that transitions. i had to do it for myself. interest in it. so anyway, i got my emt license n california, moved back to georgia. my wife did not have a job. so the first thing i -- i moved with family, you know, making no money to begin with. i didn't want to do that. i needed to eat. stamps. food i got on food stamps. i wanted to get a job as an emt. myself going. i got my georgia license. it turns out in georgia, you couldn't find a job in georgia. i live next to tennessee. trying ing with family, to live off of money and this, that, and the other. license and my tennessee and i started looking now an in tennessee and

merge medical technician doing that. host: do you feel economically mobile? caller: i am upwardly mobile? absolutely. i think unless you go -- i go to people's houses. o in, see how they live, this, that, and the other. i go to rich, wealthy people's people'snd i go to poor houses. and i really think it really attitude. your about what you can do. i want to say something to the a few callers a ago. he said something about the disabled guy, you know what? get a job.guy can't you don't know that. representingnt him georgia as a whole. do you think there's economic warfare. is there a class system in america? aller: i wouldn't say a caste

system, i would say the poorer houses i go to. poorer.ng they have food in their house, driveway.in the and i want to say warfare. i would say it depends on where you're at. me, i'm 23 and i can move upward, you know, because i can go back to school. i'm willing to take out loans so i can become a paramedic. there are small businesses. i work for a small company. guy, he built his company for scratch. i'm sure he has more taxes, more i am. more thane making way i am. he built the company from the ground up. more power to him. is reason i have a job because he's successful. it's such a raw term, you know?

and -- host: that was fine. appreciate your participating this morning in our conversation. on class in america. up next, nathan in new baltimore, michigan. morning, nathan. caller: good morning, how are you? host: tell us about yourself? years old, make well over $100,000 a year. open and run and failed a few myself throughout my short life span here and have aten ramen noodles on the coffee makers and have done it all. my mama raised us in washington burke, virginia. never made more than $45,000 a airlines.ng for the she taught us how to be strong. we didn't have everything that had.y friends rich kids and the poor kids. the purpose ofut the attitude.

government wants to -- everybody wants the governments to help them and provide for them. aty want to point the finger the government, when the government doesn't do what it's supposed to do. couldn't college and afford it myself because my mom -- i didn't get scholarships. i set out to run a business. i made a ton of money. i didn't know what i was doing in the early 20s. i ran it to the ground, spent more money than most kids would have. living in an apartment with four or five people. build a ed that to company again and -- host: what kind of company did s.u create in your 20 now? company do you have caller: a product distribution business. i literally sold products out of trunk door-to-door. i built it up training people to do the same thing. suppliers, manufacturers, i taught them how o manage facilities and invested to open it up in a facility and the leadership

training programs. help people who never made more than $8 an hour and taught and how to run a -- run build a multimillion dollar business. got ahead of my time. ego got bigger than anything. i had to close it down. my attitude changed about my and attitude is everything. been sold rica has this nightmare poor that you're poor. if you label yourself poor and you're going to stay in poverty. if you're going to find excuses for why you can't do something, kind of attract what you believe. s so i just always believed i was going to be successful. in my wallet. i believe i was going to be a millionaire. ot a millionaire yet, but it's going to help my situation.

the policy that needs to change, everybody talks about big businesses. i have employees now. we have a consulting firm. areas that we struggle with and help them become more profitable. you of what we see is, know, a business pays an immense mount of money to have an employee. i don't think employees ever see a company gets taxed the same pays.s the employee so to pay an employee, they pay 20% in taxes, the company has to same 20% in taxes on top of it. people don't realize, running a easy, s, if it were so everybody would do it. no one would be in the position they're in. i do feel bad. consult disabled and they run business and they do very well.

a lot of it is attitude. of callers ago, they said everybody could afford to and goll phones and cars in to debt to finance false prosperity. prosperity.ot a $350,000 home and their credit is maxed out. they're on the brink of going bankrupt. but they wanted that $350,000 house instead of me -- i bought house that needed to be fixed up and i saved a lot of money somebody t -- i wish taught me how to be financially at money how to look in a different light when i was younger. host: do you think we're a have-notes?ves and caller: i think -- i think this rich get richer and the poor get poorer to me is absolutely insane. a lot of people that i

heard all of these callers call saying they built their business from nothing. they were poor. i think everybody wants to have. here are people -- there's the perception that the people have stuff that they have it for some reason. ut they used to be people who used to have not. and they wanted to have. i said, people finance false prosperity, meaning that because you have things a lot of times the people are in debt, they're up to their their mortgage, the credit is maxed out just to possessions nd the own us. can you hang on the line for a minute. listen to other callers and see to add to this conversation. do for a t do you living? caller: retired. in social services, in a jobber for my whole life. had some time in the military.

running for political office. host: what do you think? in the a class warfare u.s.? caller: with people with resources want something more, a of the pie, we call it class warfare. the super hot rich kid gets more money, it's called sound economic policy. the low-income person wants for their help, we call it welfare. nd when a large corporation gets subsidies from the overnment, it's called sound economic policy. the class warfare is going on. the middle class is losing. what's strange about it to me is more people in the than there is my in the top 1%.

wake up and vote, for example, and get more active in what's going on in their make ity, maybe we could some changes. host: what political office are you running for? caller: legislature. host: and what party? caller: democrat. what district? caller: 17. a new district they formed. host: state representative district. thank you, sir. stella in new jersey. morning, can you hear me? host: we're listening. tell us about yourself. caller: i think nathan was on when he feels talking about success and the every conversation we had, even the conversation that morning has tois money and not principle and not being able to think

chully.on defining what we mean by an ducation and how we are educating our children to be citizens of a constitutional republic. hese are the things that we need to focus our attention on. of a e it's those people character. certain o look at concepts of achievement. has little to do with money. it has a lot to do with who you a person. when when he talk about class in america, we have to consider the that america is good. because the question is, are we still a good people? what's your answer? caller: well, that's the

uestion i think should be a topic of serious discussion. new what do you do in milford, new jersey. caller: well, i'm a retired educator. thought it's important -- i was a special ed teacher for many years. i became a special ed teacher because the focus was on individual. an individual accomplishment. for me was defined as a process of becoming in self-determination. self-actualization and realization. arnold, ne more call in tennessee. we lost our friend, nathan. sorry about that. arnold in smyrna, tennessee. hi, arnold? doing this are you morning? host: good. caller: before i get to what i

c-span here on the internet. it's telling me i have to log on provider in ision order to view the c-span live stream? c-span, who iset your provider? caller: direct tv. this is a process called "authentication." consumer of 're a it's not problem for you to log on. you just have to get in touch your provider and they will what the pass h word is. it's not a problem for you to on-line at all being a consumer of direct tv. caller: this is the first time that.een host: it's something that we're doing. we're calling it authentication.

it's authentication. watching direct tv or a s, you say yes, i'm customer. one thing i want to point out is ome of the things on the website are limited to just -- ome of the things are just limited to the cable etc. customers, all of congress, all the e president, all of courts, those things are still outside. on-line.atch them i think that the washington journal is one of the programs it is 've made sure that accessible to everybody, not just the cable company. cable customers that pay or words. sorry about that, arnold. go ahead with can comment or question. comment to like to

his from a spiritual or a biblical standpoint. the bible has a lot of verses in it that talk -- you know, that arn the rich man or the rich people to be very careful that trying to get rich, you do not lose your own soul. here's a verse that says for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his own soul. can i read you a couple of that i found. host: you know what? think a lot of people are probably familiar with some different biblical verses that talk about that issue. us quickly u tell about your own experience. what you make, how you get your if there's a class warfare or what do you think ant you hear merica when that phrase? on er: yes, there's a war the middle class.

it's been going on probably before reagan. it started to pick up under reagan. reagan, we got the slogan race to the bottom was downsizing. the downsizing started under rona and a lot of unions, the first heard the phrase, "this by a union president," i voted unite steelworkers, i'm from bridgestone firestone, i worked there 26 years. pension. i have a i'm one of the few people, you i've heard that still has a pension and i also draw a little social security. i can live fairly comfortably on that. a lot of people have just under the bus with

vm capitalism is hurting. few 's a quote i found a lenin.go by vladimir fascism is capitalism in decay. don't -- you know, capitalism -- i -- we're going to have to have some new forum capitalism if there is to continue -- it's going to have to be based on love. your point.t we appreciate you calling in. front page of the journal star. pipeline ticle on the law dealing with keystone xl pipeline. an energy ger, reporter with reuters. he's joining us to talk about

happen today in the nebraska supreme court. what's hatching in the supreme state?of that guest: good morning, yeah, this morning -- this is the latest years or more long where the keystone xl pipeline should be built, if at all. it's supposed to jot through nebraska. that.s been opposition of there has been opposition it would pass over sensitive aquifer. ther concerns about local community. environmentalist concerns have ome through about climate and whether or not the pipeline skufrpgs of fy the oil and gas. so anyway, back to nebraska. what happened today is the to hear ourt is going two arguments. i think you're going to broadcast this. the side of om

landowners who are opposed to pipeline crossing the state. you hear from lawyers from the who insist the process they use to clear away this pipeline is proper and that it should go ahead. ost: when will the court decide? do they have judgment in whether or not it will happen? you've seen in the last few years, trapps canada, this mpany that's built pipeline has been maddening which is a jurisdictional the u.s. stateen department, which has the right in a broadway to approve and more he pipeline and then local question of how it should move to nebraska. o what will happen is it will rule by the end of this year, let's say january, if it rules in avor of the governor

canada. they could conceivably, they'll to go back to the state department. the court decides the governor was wrong, he'll overstep the process he used to pipeline, look at another seven months, the pipeline issue in nebraska would another june or july of next year. host: what about oklahoma? north dakota, montana, some of the other states this may pass to? the last few years, those concerns have mostly been delayed. or just the way the structure approves or the process doesn't create the problems. they really are down to nebraska at this point. host: are you based in lincoln? are you out there for the case? no, in town here in washington. we have in nebraska and watching the of your viewers

proceedings on that. xl pipeline case in in nebraska supreme court is 10:00 a.m. this morning. about 20 minutes from now. it on c-span. jennifer in westminster, aryland, back to your calls in class in america. jennifer, go ahead. aller: calling in, a 35-year-old mother who's unmarried and been on my own -- out of my parents' house when i was 18. undergraduate an degree. i'm still working on mine. hen i moved out at 18, i had five jobs, i didn't have a car. i walked to all of my jobs. myself throughng school. when i had my apartment, i lived on my own. tv, cable, e internet, anything like that. really hard.

i feel like if you work hard, you can still make it. i work d my business, full time. i love having my own business young children. option is within yourself. host: that's jennifer in westminster, maryland. catonsville, maryland. hi, bill. caller: hi, good morning. a married physician's assistant who has two children. i was raised on a farm in america. y father worked two jobs as an engineer and as a farmer. and i was taught from an early work ethic is very important and maintaining that hat -- it's something that helped me survive. that i wantedints

worked in a that i corporation. see oh that -- seem to be salaries much larger in the recent past. to be a seems discrepancy or between the ceo ooze salary salary s and the staff increases. for workers. i can understand it to a point. they're extremely well educated. are extremely demanding. but i think that green in this

issue they need to deal. country is that people to have everything that they see on tv. to live above their means as their to living below means as someone pointed out earlier in the show, i think the country.m for also see working with men education is very important. not surprising that not get a e proceeded to people degree that some are really to work and find

areas where they can -- with a job that with an opportunity country. and unfortunately the jobs had basically lost over the past. host: i appreciate your calling in. this is john in westchester, pennsylvania. $25,000 and under. john, what do you do? caller: i'm retired. host: from -- caller: i don't do anything. retired from what type of profession, sir? caller: i was an engineer. host: how much did you make as an engineer? caller: less than -- around $50,000. host: all right. so, when you think about class what do a today, sir, you think?

the r: i think i just saw salaries for ceos at comcast and fedex and they're 50 times more president e pay the of the united states. and i think that's ridiculous. because -- host: why? caller: none of that money gets to the economy and it's reinstate the 34% use some of and that money to rebuild the infrastructure, help if we're going be fighting wars all over it costs a lot of money to fight a war. when you hear the term "class warfare," did you think us versus them type of situation in this country? caller: a what? versus them type of situation. caller: definitely.

host: thank you, sir. another john from alexandria, virginia right here in the suburbs. $100,000. john, do you consider yourself middle class. caller: yeah, i guess so. do you do? caller: a producer for a video game company. host: near the washington area. caller: yes. host: what does that mean that you do? caller: we make video games. i work for a startup. host: okay. all right. class in america. go ahead. i wanted to comment on some of the earlier calls and wo calls back about the manufacturing jobs and lost all the country. in and i -- and past office because have this technological the next 10, in 20, 30 years down the road where have robotics, we have all of these technologies coming out that are

human o make manufacturing completely obsolete. and trying to save these jobs is just not sustainable. we have to focus on education. we have to focus on training. and if we don't do that, then we're just going to -- our is already apacity low and it's going to get worse. john, how old are you? caller: 28. you feel upwardly mobile? caller: of course. host: what's your education? of history chelor and economics. host: what do you want to -- where do you want to be five, years from now? caller: still probably in the i'm in now. open up my own startup video game company. do you feel like the oyster at this point at 28. caller: paid my dues, started in companies.of my working up. it's not just going to open up for me because of circumstance.

takes a lot of hard work and building on scales. one thing i wanted to talk about personal finance education in this country where people do not get that education. i was lucky enough to have a father in wealth management. he taught me about spend and retirement saving and planning. and most people just don't get that. the don't know what solution is, but we need to have we have forced because this -- like the other callers, want.lture of host: a lot of people just heard "my father is in wealth and wept, oh, enough about that. coming where you're from. so, is it advantageous to have a family where wealth management was a career choice?

education course, an that can be glitch to people other than people with a father wealth management. it's education. i didn't get a dime from them. everything is on my own dime. did have -- i own a nice house nice schools. but the -- the problem with a people are lot of they just don't have that due tion of how do i make with what i have? no one teaches them that. host: i apologize. on you.picking but you grew up wealthy, is that fact? or privileged? caller: privileged. yes. host: you had opportunities. caller: of course. host: went to good schools. caller: yes. host: supportive parents, parents. caller: exactly. host: looking at your life, you in a class system in your p and is there

view this class system in class warfare where we're -- caller: i think we're beginning that, yes. i think if you look at countries like england, it's way worse. a much more social ly accepted class system that's entrenched. entrenched yet. maybe we're moving towards that. grow ugh up. that it's only become a thing of the past 15 years for me. host: john in alex andry yeah, virginia. this iate your time morning. wade in edgefield, south carolina, $25,000 and under. think about you this discussion we had this morning. wade is gone. we're going to move on to jarrell in adamstown, maryland. over $100,000. a living?u do for caller: i'm a physician.

yourself you consider upper class? caller: i wouldn't say upper i consider myself middle class economically. ost: tell me -- caller: i strive to live well within my means. i don't like living on credit. dailya credit card for my expenses but i pay it off at the end of every month. country nk in this people have to realize that if you get an education. your live well within means, and you're personally responsible, you can and you will succeed. i do believe that. ost: so, did you come from a background of money and education and some privilege as well? our last caller? caller: no, sir, i did not.

city, from er philadelphia. two-parent house hold. parents, college grads. both of them worked. we were not wealthy. we're not wealthy. but what i will say is that i did witness my parents overspend. even though they were educated time jobs.l they overspent and never had -- myself as a young live well d always within my means. the one principles, along with ducation, hard work, and dedication allows me and my family to prosper. do you think there's income inequality in the united states. nd do you think it's part of the system, or do you think it's omething that should be rejiggered? caller: i think there's income inequality. but there's income inequality for the reason. taken ks at the top have

on the risk, they take on all of the risk. hat's why they make the large incomes that they make. the folks at the bottom, unfortunately, are -- as i all the my children time, you cannot be lazy in this society and expect to sung seed. either you're physically lazy or intellectually lazy. choose not to put your brain at work, describe for a living, then you will always struggle. and you'll harder make much less because you're intellectually lazy. all, but many. there's income inequality. ost: so did you take out student loans for your medical education? caller: i did not. i would have, but i was fortunate enough to have a scholarship so i earned a military scholarship and had to pay that back with time served. host: doctor, thank you for this morning.

charles in kinear, wyoming. charles, you make $50,000 to kinnear, wyoming. do you feel the middle class throughout? caller: i would be considered middle class. i sure don't feel middle class. host: why not? caller: well, if i were to work i would be making roughly $50,000 and $60,000 a year. i have to work my butt off just to get to about $90,000 a year. i'm a single dad raising two kids by myself. f i had to work absolutely no overtime at all, we would be barely able to -- to -- you food on the table, hardly. i mean every year, we have to eep on making adjustments for inflation. and every inflation, and every really u know, we can

afford less and less. for people who want to the class say that warfare doesn't exist, well, if at how many companies are sending people -- jobs cheaper and cheaper labor, you know? they're tired of -- they're -- they don't feel like they can afford the employees nymore here in america, but they don't think about how the employees here in america feel trying to afford life anymore, you know? you know it's -- inflation keeps going up. keeps saying the same. they're saying they don't stops and thinks hat, you know, we were able to afford less and less each year. no one takes into consideration

a single kes for parent just in child care. thinking probably anywhere between, you know, just baseline base setting with no overtime, i'm month.g $1,000 a if i pay more overtime, i'll be $2,000 a month for two kids. host: what work do you do? caller: a coal mine welder. host: would you say his business is healthy right now in lot of e of a opportunities for that overtime. right now it's sketchy because the coal production is high. oh, yeah, i try to get every bit as i can get. the production is low. fluctuates. sometimes it just isn't. host: if you were going to from to your two senators

wyoming or your congresswoman and suggest something when it class in conomics and america, what would you -- would you have a suggestion for them? caller: well, i have two highly onservative senators here in wyoming. so they're -- you know, they're probably not going to -- you they pretty much have the opportunity that, well, you're ot -- you're just not living within your means. and it's like, well, they don't seem to listen to someone who well, i'm living well within my means. know? i may have to stop and take a look at how much -- how much to -- costs just to own a house. you know? ago to now.s it's all the way up to about know,00 just for a -- you for a crummy little home? and i'm living in trailer house just barely able to afford that. what would harles,

be your solution to this? tell you u know, to the honest truth, i really don't know what the solution would be. to see more whole production here in the -- here wyoming. you only have two senators struggling really hard. that's not fair to us who don't in this industry at all. host: how often do you watch c-span? caller: every day. is the first time i've gotten through. host: we appreciate you trying. have you tried to get through before? caller: most of the time, a busy signal. sometimes it rings and rings, it can get lost.

so -- caller: yeah. host: we apologize if we hung up on you, we do. host: what do you do, jacob? using a 'm a student, gi bill to go to school. host: what do you do to make the 25? work at all? caller: no, i don't work yet. living ill covers expenses. not much for going out and things like that. host: what are you studying? importantc -- is that to you? caller: making a lot of money is not important to me. financially secure is important to me. f i make that money work but i recently had a car issue. nd so -- so i kind of had to

scramble and get some help from my family and all. so just a little security would be nice. host: all right. what do you think about class america?or class in what do you think about when you hear that? caller: i think it's a sensationalist term. there's no league of fat cats out there getting together and figuring out how to keep people down or anything like that. but i think that there are some a capitalist s of country that make it very difficult for a lot of people. and i agree completely that a work and ude and hard education can help you with it's still very difficult. and at the end of the day, no, not everybody can do it. at eed people to work low-paying jobs and it's not --

fair to ask them to -- o struggle in their daily life while doing it. because when we do make a lot of we y, the -- the things enjoy doing with that money, we depend on those very same people able to do it. the other thing i wanted to ask philosophy of an unregulated climate is appealing me. you don't have to imagine how be.t might there have been times in this country that are close to that. through time, k there were terrible things that appened to the poor laborers and everything from the shirtway fanthry and guards and all the inngs that you read about