news reporter rg victoria stillwell looks at the overall health of the labor market. as always, we will take your calls. "washington journal" is next. host: good morning. congress is back in town this week. among the priorities, agreeing on a spending package before the deadline.

tomorrow will be the first and only debate in the runoff in the louisiana senate race between senator mary landrieu and bill cassidy. you can watch it live tomorrow beginning at eight eastern time. early voting is already underway. n ferguson, missouri, the police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old michael brown has resigned this weekend from the department. it is sunday morning, november 30. we are going to focus on the return of congress, race relations, and holiday shopping, but we want to begin with this question on immigration. for mmigration good or bad the us economy? you can begin dialing. 202-585-3880 for democrats. 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3882 for independents. the conversation already on our facebook page, or send us a tweet. good sunday morning to you. the t, let's look at headline this morning on the ren wilson, of dar

who says it is my hope that my resignation allows the community to heal. the headline, darren wilson resigns from the ferguson police department. some months after the michael ation with brown sparked protests. i am resigning, he said, on my own free will. i'm not going to let someone else get hurt because of me. it is his id that hope that his resignation allows the community to heal. details also available online at usatoday.com. the "washington post" is also writing about the issue of immigration. based on a new book looking at the diversity challenges facing country, the headline is -- demographic opportunities and challenges for the gop.

making this point that the rapid growth among hispanics , according to the book, are expected to double in size over the next 40 years. the result of immigration, higher birth rates among minority populations already and more interracial marriages. second is the declining growth rate in the rapid aging of the population, tthe result lower birth rates among younger white americans and the the baby boom of generation. by the vent sponsored heritage foundation -- they had jobs and the economy. [video clip] >> it is time for us to stand up. one thing you did not here last raise in american salaries.

the steady decline in wages that have occurred in this ountry. you hear the forces out there that say, well, it is just always good for america. well, that is not what the economic experts tell us. even in high-tech industries, wages have not gone up since 2000. in fact, large numbers of people with graduate degrees find jobs. that is a fact. read the articles documenting it. comments of jeff sessions. this is from richard on our twitter page saying, immigration is good for the economy. according to the congressional budget office. page, om our facebook there is this -- compared to what?

and jimmy olsen says, done right, immigration can be good for the country. is lop leslie, it destructive -- done lawlessly, estructive. john from sebring, florida. the conversation this morning. caller: i have a couple things here. first, i am saying a dictator sign this executive order. now are americans are without a country and run by illegal ens. they work under the table. they work on 1099 and they go to mexico and never pay their taxes. they have worked on stolen social security numbers -- i because they stole mine -- and they are going to destroy our social e and security system. host: john, thank you very much for the call.

202-585-3880 for democrats. 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3882 for independents. question we're asking -- is immigration good or bad for the country? of years ago we covered a hearing, posing this question to the then mayor of york city, michael bloomberg. specifically on jobs and the economy. [video clip] >> some people suggest that economy is terrible now -- host: we'll have more on that shortly. the question we have for you, whether or not you think immigration is good or bad for the country.

202-585-3880 for democrats. 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3882 for independents. fortune magazine also writing about this issue. why obama's immigration plan is for the us economy. first on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. the immigration winners are those on wall street. immigration is a cost, so, you at w, businesspeople know th drive down wage levels, than their profits will rise. and, unfortunately, most of our politicians are in the pocket of wall street. those are the people they respond to. are you know, the losers average working people in the united states because they have flooded the market with labor. any type of a labor shortage, the previous color nailed it, there would be rises wage sector -- caller

nailed it, there would be raises in the wage sector. but they are flat, and that is of high levels of immigration. host: ookay, thank you for the call. the headline that more immigrants entering the labor force and the actions potential increase mobility for immigrants to higher wage jobs will introduce competition. others think that credit could increase entrepreneurship and spending on higher end goods like homes and cars. those ships could have positive impacts on the job market and overall economy. the executive action could actually potentially help stop the reverse brain drain. available iece is

from "fortune" magazine. we will go to chris joining us on the phone on the democrats line. where you calling from? chris, good morning. caller: actually, you know a lot of people think that immigration iis all mexicans. they are not mexicans. they come from all over the world. i had a garage sale and a bunch of irish immigrants come in. bunch of people, hard-working. you have to give them a break. we all need breaks. everyone in this country needs a break. you can just not say no good for this guy, no good for that day. we have to have a heart. okay, thank you, chris. again, our question is immigration and whether or not hink it is good or bad for

the economy. let me just pull this is a new york from the times yesterday on exactly what the president did. saying obama pushed the fullest extent of his powers. white house aides . tested the legality of the immigration moves that were put in place here is more from the president. [video clip] >> one study a few years ago s start at immigrant more than a quarter of the united states businesses in the united states. another study found that and their children start over 40% of fortune 500 companies. think of that. a makes sense because being nation of immigrants ggives us this huge entrepreneurial advantage over other nations. to strike willing go to someplace new, build from scratch -- you have that willing to take risks and being able to build om scratch.r

you have that spirit. that is part of what the american spirit is all about. of what drove us westward across the frontier. not feeling like what is in front of you is the only thing that is possible, but that ossible.g else is p and because of those businesses started by immigrants, we all benefit. it means more jobs. it means more growth for everybody. host: the president defending his actions, saying that what he did will help the economy. in the "washington post", a the at one of the claims president has made in that his actions were similar to previous presidents. the piece bby the fact checker the "washington post" -- the impact of obama's action does not appear to be equivalent to steps taken by bush in 1990.

the issue is the numbers affected. the white house saying 1.5 million people were impacted by the executive action, when in ser to , it was clo 200,000 illegal immigrants. that was back more than 20 years ago. u can read this story also online. ray from o to leavenworth, washington. good morning, the democrats line. caller: good morning. you have a good show. make one ust like to comment about -- can you hear me? host: we sure can, ray. go ahead. caller: i just want to make one comment about immigrants who come into this country. everybody seems to have around because what happens is that they come here to work. and the people -- the people are causing this immigration are the ones that are hiring them. no one ever checks or does any checking on the employers.

the employers are the ones that do this. place where there -- we grow apples. millions and millions of pounds of apples here. all the mexicans do all the work. and most of them end up staying here. so, i mean, no one checks the employers. and these employers are living in large mansions, with all the mexicans doing nothing. they don't get anything. they live in shacks. host: thank you very much for the call. jim has this point on her -- it depends on the type of immigration. high-tech is good. low skill, low wages are bad. nothing approach on immigration, saying that he supports conference of immigration reform. the also talks about high-tech workers, saying that above all else, we need presidential leadership.

the president has thus far been unwilling to provide such leadership, bowing to pressure rom his base. easingly eated incr the economic bonds. specifically about those h1v1 visas, which, once again, refers to the so-called brain drain. again, that from politico.com. who is likely to be the next chair of the finance senate committee. don from myrtle beach, south carolina. the republican line. caller: good morning. the reason i'm calling is that -- confuse the issue. the way that you confuse the

or ue is that if it is good bad. the question can be separated. ere is a illegal immigration. illegal immigration is bad. legal immigration is good. to the issue by thing saying e one that immigration is -- is what this such a problem. because there is a difference and the different has to be explained. host: fairpoint. don, thank you for the call. can immigration -- wwhat can immigration bring to the economy, i should say. the loud ongoing debate often one very important impact for letting more foreigners come and live and he us.n t many researchers believe it is good for the us economy. the us economy can get all get -- use all the

help he can get. ray, joining is us from massachusetts. the independent line, good morning. caller: good morning. how you doing? host: i am good, thank you. caller: i have parents who came as refugees. and i was born here. jobs and all these the breaks to moving corporate headquarters outside of the united states. so they don't have to pay their fair share of taxes. know, like cbs -- aall these other countries moved to other countries so they don't have to pay their fair share. my family, we had 12 kids in

our family. you know? my father -- i worked at the age of 13, you know, to help my family. we all worked, we all supported ourselves. we grow our own food. we didn't take nothing from nobody, you know? the people that built this country was immigrants. you have to remember that. it wasn't -- the indians were here first, not us. thank you. host: okay, thank you very much for the call. on our facebook page, there is saying om roger, immigration is good. saying it viewers depends on the views of those coming to the us. our next color is rob from mid-well, ohio. the democrat line, good morning. caller: good morning.

every time we talk about immigration, we talk about labor. it is a labor problem. what i would like to say do these businesses that are hiring immigrants illegally -- paying them less than minimum which americans want to which is true -- i would like to see the president and the problem over to labor. over the e unions take immigration problem and see what they have to do to make sure that the people went to unions are legal -- they have to have a drivers license, social security number. then they would have to have a birth certificate. if they would do that, then would help the unions -- after what ronald reagan has done to them -- and put pressure on the businesses than to legitimately hire people who would be qualified to do the work. were required hey

to hire union labor and there was no place else for them to use mitt romney's idea of personal -- of sending immigrants themselves to their homelands. host: rob from ohio, thank you very much for the call. this point, it would be interesting to see if any of working with false documentation will come out to get one of those work permits. focusing on this issue. myths, ng some of the including this -- they do not pay taxes. collectively, t they are paid $6.6 billion. that is according to the institute on taxation and economic policy. a report on the impact of undocumented immigrants on the local and state governments cited the irs 50% to 65% ing that

of undocumented immigrants file pay taxes each year. michael from brooklyn, new york. our republican line. welcome back to the conversation, mike. caller: if -- if young people come to work -- if everybody comes to work, americans do not want to do these jobs. they do not want to clean up to ements, they do not want clean in mud. they have given us and they're back, not giving it properly. the country needs money. host: michael, where are you from, by the way?

to the democrats line. caller: everyone speaks of immigrants as if mexicans are ss only want to come acro the border. and i overheard someone denny's on veterans the immigrants come across, and then i think here, in rocky hill, where clinton brought over get them out e to of aaround bosnia and the war over there. and in every think about the ones that fly in. you know? i know it is because of the color of their skin. they do not think about the here, the polish ones from the ukraine. they do not think about those y have nts because the the white skin. and they don't want to help obama because he has the black skin. it is just crazy. the united states needs to get it together before it was all.

hill" newspapers say those are unsatisfied -- they are unsatisfied with the president's decisions this week. top business groups in washington thing that the undermined ay has any faint hope by going around congress to delay deportation. s, go next to massachusett brian is on the phone. independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i watch this immigration thing that he had an tv yesterday. there were about seven people ne on the stage, and only o person was against it. else was for it. the audience to ask questions were hispanic. i'm sick and tired of you guys doing that. them e-class workers, let

people come here -- in 80% of the people are illegals. i just got kicked out of the bank two days ago because everybody in there spoke spanish and english. if you don't speak spanish, they won't hire you. i'm sick and tired of it. i watched all the debates that when on this year between the congress and the senate. it is all these states that want to push waiting grains. they will sell all the factory jobs in order to do that. then they hire illegals. i heard a guy talk and c-span kids in school in nebraska are spanish. so we must be supporting families. i'm sick and tired of that. my kids cannot get a job!

host: okay, with all these discussions put together by academia and thing stinks here in washington dc. of efully over the course the program, you you'll get a cross-section, as we just showed you a little part the speech by jeff sessions. all weekend, every weekend, book tv focuses on books. number one this week is "41" by george bush. as we look at the rest of the list, we go to melvin from richmond, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. i must agree with what color that spoke earlier. there is a big difference. c-span, you make this error. there is a big difference

between an illegal alien and an immigrant. the problem is there are groups you and other groups -- tthe problem that we are aiding and abiding people who come here illegally. now, to the comment about the lady who will win support obama because he is black -- that is a bunch of nonsense. all must remember, like these other people -- let's remember this, number one, the immigrants were not the ones burning flags. the ones coming from russia. s coming from one south of the border. and obama giving amnesty to a of the aliens -- they keep saying that obama does because he is s black, then let's remember that obama has more power to give illegal aliens, but

no power to do anything for the black vote. have a good one. host: by the way, you're at the president who ventured out yesterday and went to politics and prose to purchase a couple books. in fact, 17 in all. we'll let you listen in on the exchange between the cashier. front page of the new york rning, all charges have been dropped. that decision from cairo, in criminal charges against mubarak. the court dismissed murder against the former president, for killing protesters demanding an end to his 30 year rule. charges that once inspired crowds to hang the president and gy from the lamppost

captivated the region. if normal legal procedures are mubarak could go free for the first time since 2011. from the democrats line. good morning. caller: hi, steve. first of all, the best of the holiday season to you. and to you, too. me just a you'd give bit more time, i would like to cover the issue of immigration. if you are talking immigration, you are talking about people. not just a word. are talking about capitalism, you are talking the business of making a profit. we have to k that

consider here is a good worker will throw away calendars and clocks because, you know, let's take the medical field. nothing written in has to hat says someone become ill during a weekday. but on a weekday, don't -- on don't get sick because hospitals and the medical field tend to do nothing. if you are talking about in a ng an average week restaurant or out on a farm that are where, people good workers don't know that it is sunday or saturday. they just work. to do, i we have

is somehow put together reality of c capitalism versus anything else -- t comes down the pipe like immigration -- and figure out what to do with it. host: thank you very much for the call. we appreciate it for weighing in on the issue. our listeners on c-span radio. we are coast-to-coast on xm channel 120. we're focusing on immigration and whether it is good or bad for the economy. this magazine focusing on the company of men -- why is it so hard to prosecute sexual assaults in the military? ory is what the cover st looks like. go next to tricia, joining us on the sunday morning from warsaw, indiana. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a couple comments to and the first comment is

that i would like to agree with one of the gentlemen that called and. difference g between illegal immigration and welcoming illegal immigrants who want to build a life for themselves and their families in this country. i think we really need to make that distinction. the people who are against not gal immigration are evil or hateful, they want to see our country upheld. in the second place, we have had experience in our family immigrants who have stolen a family member used l security number and it to obtain jobs. recent ve -- and the article you read said something about debarking myths. yeah. they do pay taxes. they pay into the system when they are getting paid, but at of the year -- the irs

comes in the play. owed to the at is irs -- that is not the illegal immigrant that is paying that money. the money is credited to person who is so security number they stole -- whose social security number they stole. that is a crime. i think we need to justify what is going on with these kinds of being committed. and there are victims in that kind of crime. it is a lot of stress on the people to try and have to sort all of it out. host: tricia, thank you for the call. we are going to move out to fayetteville, north carolina. about 10 minutes left. good morning. what is your take on all of this? caller: well, i support immigration policy. f immigrants.try o this is how we were built. we try to prevent immigrants from coming to this will stop our

growth. immigrants refresh this nathan. new blood, new ideas. they have moved to this nation forward. there is a reason while we are in the number one nation in the world. we go to alabama. your take on this. caller: good morning. immigration is great, but when you run into all the stuff like not being there -- there was a couple previous colors on social security. her's mily member had stolen by one. talking thousands of was stolen from her to get for her beneficiaries. is is one problem that is never addressed. it is always shoved under the rug. and the irs should be able to stuff onto other things. is that if er thing

the verification was done, this would go away completely. host: tthank you for the call, we go to robert in maryland. good morning. just want to say that i support with the president did. with immigration, i hear we are immigrants -- yes -- and we are a country of slaves, first. they built the country. immigrants -- i'm tired of hearing immigrants, immigrants. never been welcome -- from ireland, china, wherever. immigrants and slaves are two different things. thank you. host: thank you for the call. her oline has this point on twitter page -- aanother problem with illegals is that we are compelled to accept them of which hools, many

are already overburdened. next to go to the republican line in texas. caller: good morning, steve. don't live on the border like i do. i live right on the border here in el paso, texas. and the ss the border river is mexico. i am against them. they come here. the go to our schools. their babies are born here. and then they get on welfare. they pay taxes -- so-called taxes -- their about $30,000 in welfare, education, healthcare, and schools. go on to hese kids college -- the ones that and learn igh school english -- then they get a free education. like if somebody came from

massachusetts a washington state, they would have to pay tuition. but they come from mexico and don't pay in-state tuition. i want all those people who agree with the president to e on the border. come live here. you'll change your mind about gration.immi host: and you are from mexico, when did you come here? caller: my grandmother came here in 1910. 1910 when she was fleeing from the revolution in mexico. back then one part of you was back then when pancho villa wwas around. it took my mother 20 years to get her citizenship. a long to go through process -- a long process, you know, even though my dad was in the military. but it took 20 years for my mom to get her citizenship. host: thank you very much for the call. from the new york times sunday

we go after ere do ferguson. will be joined bby corporate king from the "washington post" just a few minutes. next is carol from shreveport, louisiana. the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: how are you this morning? caller: i am good. st: could you do me a favor on your on the volume tv set? caller: we were all immigrants at one time. and illegal immigration is not. i'm sorry, everyone should have to go through a process. we all have to go through a process to pay taxes, etc., etc. to the lady with the comment about skin color, i find it offensive. our president is biracial. his mother is white.

host: carol, thank you for the call. ton post", the ng lame-duck. the president is now officially a lame-duck. no more elections in facing ities in the house and senate. lessons ahead for the president in the next two years. aaron is joining us from bloomingdale, illinois. good morning, the independent line. caller: hi. the national terminal and one of the problems is that very single day, all day long -- you have people countries to ther visit here. and what happens is, they come while they are about six, seven, eight months pregnant. than they have their baby here. go back.y they take the baby back when it is born within a couple weeks.

so than the baby becomes a citizen here. i don't have a problem with people doing at the legal way. it is the illegal way that i have a problem with. need to get on the corporations about this. a have a friend who is manager at mcdonald's, and she said that they were telling her that they do not care if a social security card was fake. they don't care if it was taped onto something. accept it. our customs and our immigration enforcement agents with their hands tied behind their backs. and it is not their fault. host: thank you very much for the call. long his point -- so as we allow employers to hire illegals and pay them less than minimum wage, we continue tto have problems. and how america sees christie.

headlines from charlotte, virginia. about the ive article race case on the campus. tomorrow, it will be addressed by teresa sullivan. of course, she will be asked about the gang rape allegations. you can watch it live here on c-span at 1:00 pm eastern time. as we said at the top of the program, the final debate in the louisiana senate runoff mary landrieu, democratic senator, and bill watch that yyou can tomorrow night. next is joe from cleveland. the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. my point is that if this make the n is going to illegals legal, then why not let all the europeans who have come in as llegally well. we're going to let people come

in that are illegal and give them full citizenship. i think if you're going to do why not let them come in. this country can handle another hundred million people of no problem. doing the game right, and you're going to let people who aren't doing it right and give them passage, iit only t ems logical and fair to le do it right, t to then and be good citizens. thank you. host: "wall street journal" playing in on jobs. let's go back to that hearing two years ago -- a house subcommittee focused on jobs and immigration. [video clip] >> some people suggest that because the economy is terrible to improve fighting the economy, that it is a runtime to discuss immigration.

but your testimony was immigration actually saved new york. it was stimulation of the economy. can you briefly describe how that worked? cannot chairman, i speak with authority outside of any place outside of the five boroughs in new york city. but i can tell you that i think we have roughly 500,000 undocumented. they have a very low crime not want ause they do to go near the ins. 75% of them pay taxes. there is no place to send the refunds. the social security administration actually security that social will go bankrupt six years earlier if you didn't have the undocumented in this country. but the undocumented -- they pay social security, but they do not get any benefits. their typical young people come here to work -- they don't bring their children, so they use the schools -- there

are some exceptions, but generally that is true. work are not using the hospitals. people who are of working age that come here. we have ly, every study ever done says that they take hat nobody else will take. generally speaking, the undocumented are critical to our economy. and the fact that new york city's economy is doing better of the country -- our unemployment rate is now lower than the countries as a whole. expectancy is now higher in new york city than the country as a whole. we created 10% of all the jobs in this r country in the last 10 months. says that we are doing something right. that we have is attracted not just from overseas, but from the rest of who want ry immigrants the chance tto participate in the great american dream. that is the great strength of rk city.

i, for the life of me, don't understand why other people look at it and say they should try it. i'm not here to preach to them. i'm just telling you are to new york city. host: mayor michael bloomberg. that from two years ago testifying on capitol hill. that event online at c-span.org. a couple more minutes on your calls. you can agree or disagree with mayor bloomberg and his take on this. from austin, texas. the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. hello? host: yes, you are on the air. how long have you been in the us? caller: since 1996. ince 1996.n here s been am against -- i have

here since 1986. i come from west africa. and working here in texas is not easy for us. i have been struggling to find a job because i am black. me, it has become that if you are black, it is not easy to find a new job. at all. have -- you f you are from west africa, they never want to give you any job. do not have -- i any -- i was working when i came here.

are you doing now? caller: you don't want to give me a new job. i have not had job since 2006. host: so how are you living? caller: i have a degree in design. host: okay, thanks. one headline -- immigration action will boost wages and increase tax revenue. the is the assessment from white house on thehill.com. an independent line, good morning. caller: good morning, steve. i called back in 2008. i had aabout 8 to 11 people working. had ne of the homesites we

been working on, they let all the americans go. they had 30, 40 mexicans out doing all the work. i called in in 2008 to complain about that. now, it has got to the point where all the construction is pretty much foreign labor. you try to get some work, they are stare at you like you in a different country. and these people that think like for , i would them to go through what we have on the jobs. it felt like you are in a different country when you are on your own. people will not hire you because, i guess, cheap labor. it has gotten worse and it will get worse. get the last you word. fort campbell, kentucky. the republican line, good morning. want to say --

the first one here. everybody else seems to be in line for this country, but they are taking advantage of o erything that they want t take. there is nothing in return. buffet line for anybody. far as i see, it is kind of sad to see that. but no one is speaking out for those who were there before us. people who are people will gnize have seen the i of sident recognizing people the code talkers. a lot of people

that were recognized. yes, i'm against immigration. host: elise from fort campbell, kentucky. thanks for the call. and to all of you, you can continue the conversation online. this is the headline this from "st. louis post-dispatch" as wilson resigned. saying that he hopes his resignation will allow the community to heal. been focusing on other with colbert king -- we will be focusing on other race issues with colbert king. this is sunday morning "washington journal". rajiv shah will be joining us to talk about the us's efforts ebola in west africa.

here is a portion. [video clip] >> i think if you look across three endemic countries -- we have seen signs of real progress over the last two, three months. but we also know that this is fight to be a long-term to keep ebola contained and dealt with added source, sso that we can be safe and secure here at home. the needs are going to continue months into the future. in particular, we have taken a very data-driven approach. and we have seen some real results from that. we saw that 70% of transmission was liberia, for example, from family members touching, consoling, kitchen, washing the bodies of deceased people who had died of ebola. up these burial

teams. a huge messaging campaign aand the fact that we have 820 ebola treatment beds liberians who get sick have brought this transmission rates down dramatically. for more than 100 new cases a day to now 15 to 20 new cases a day. that is making a huge difference in transforming the state of that entire country. we will stay at it and be know that we we can see some real results. >> r transmissions falling the board -- are transmissions falling across the board? rate used nsmission two and tween 2% and

and a half and two -- that is a very steep reduction in liberia. sierra leone, we are -- we that there is probably just under 2000 active transmission cases. we hope that we can take the lessons we have learned in and help our british friends -- really leading the international part of that response -- to take what we learn in liberia and see success in sierra leone. >> "washington journal" continues. >> we want to welcome back to c-span colbert king. for more than two decades running for the "washington post" is a columnist. thank you very much for being with us. guest: thank you very much for having me back, steve. host: we want to talk about a first about s, but

wilson resigning. guest: his resignation will not heal the community, but it is take the next up. the civic community needs to come together on this. host: you wrote a piece about your hundred and two-year-old mother-in-law, and what she experienced growing up. you make the point in your piece in the "washington post" is also available in places like ferguson, the police represent what authority. explain. are 53 police three are - only african-american -- in a city that is predominantly african-american. the only contact -- the primary contact between blacks and whites in a town like that is the police department. the police department and represents authority. a larger way of

community. in a not to say that disparaging way. this is the authority that they encounter. they do not encounter it in other contexts. host: in the same essay, which was printed over the weekend, you talk about your hundred and two-year-old mother-in-law. her own experience that you we what happened in ferguson. elaborate if you would, please. went to okolona college. a so happens that they had little fun there where they raised animals -- farm there where they raised animals. and e's a martyr coming in killing the animals. workers at the

school discover the marauders a pack of dogs. owner of the dog -- a white coming -- retaliated by to the school and killing the employee. nothing happened to the farmer. it turns out, there is an actual news clip that confirmed her story. but the grand jury freed him. and, that -- i think of ferguson and what is happening down there. michael brown was shot at least six times. jury lso, the grand refused to indict the police officer who did the shooting. there are stories like this years of the system failing to respond in the case

of a white officer -- or someone who is white -- killing someone who is black. and you hear talk about black on black crime. everybody gets upset about black on black crime. get upset about it, but the differences -- places like washington dc and other -- the arresting officers are black. the prosecution -- black. of other words, those kinds being punished -- those individuals during the shootings are being punished. the system look at and they have consequence in the system. the reaction is killed -- one is african-american -- by white officer, and they do not see

justice. that is where the reaction comes in. there is a history of that in this country. back to okolona, mississippi in the 1920's up to ferguson this year. host: let me go back to reaction in ferguson after the announcement. michael brown's family urged for peace and calm, bbut his say burnt the building down -- burn the blank building down. a much uld say on smaller scale -- what we saw after the assassination of martin luther king. happened after ronnie king. it has happened in a lot of other communities. host: is there anyway to avoid that? that kind of violence?

guest: you can try to redirect that energy in some other way. there is sometimes an element come into the picture is bent on destruction for their own reasons. that is not represent the majority of the people who react to protest. but you have an element of that group that breaks off and and rob and llage destroy. that is when you have the ng up.s really lighti but that is not the majority. turn ly takes a handful to a peaceful demonstration into something that we saw the other night. host: the the media drive part of that? guest: i -- i don't think to the extent. of ere are a number contributing factors. the way to avoid it is to not have that kind of shooting take place.

lights, cameras, action -- what are you going to do? up for the camera and you know you are going to have people responding a certain way. media didn't start it. the media didn't exploit it. but the media was on the scene and had to bring it to you. host: our guest is, on this colbert king. -- elcome our listeners on our guest is columnist colbert king. we welcome our listeners on radio. the phone lines are open. let's go to bill and reading, pennsylvania. the republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, colbert. when i came here, i went to school that was nothing but black. okay?

me the word. but i made my friends with i grew up with. doesn't solve the problem. doesn't do anything except push problems in society. we -- if i was a black leader, making sure that black people are treated right and raised right. because what they're doing right now, they're creating hate. host: we'll get a response. thanks for the call, though. guest: i'm not sure i follow. i didn't hear him correctly. hate and king about

the violence. you look at the fbi statistics on hate crimes, most of the hate crimes have to do with race. and most of the victims of hate crimes are african-americans. i don't see how, based on what happened in ferguson, even with , that youce we saw can extract the late from that to all african-americans and therefore justify what people are justifying, hating african-americans. it does not follow. look at the question of race. we have to go way back in ferguson and look at the history in this country. and the legacies we are living

with as a result of race. >> let me show you carl jackson, a conservative blogger and pond and who wrote a piece, "black thugs are not lack euros." heroes." he said -- your response? attention is focused on young blacks.

i have written volumes about this. what. apart from what happened in ferguson? we have black on black crime. you see punishment, you see justice. people get arrested. he will get prosecuted. people get sentenced. people get incarcerated. when you have a case of a white killing in on unarmed you wait to see what will happen in those cases, when you see the process taking place in trial, judgment by , guilty sentencing, and incarceration. he look for that activity, you

don't see that, it is cut off, and you do not see justice, then you get that reaction. there is a context for that. we have seen it before. >> you think the officer darren wilson should have at least been charged? there wass to me basis for charging them. you can debate about that here but i think there was. host: connecticut, democrats line. caller: i totally agree with your guests. the chairman who spoke before me, i totally disagree with everything he said. i am african-american. i think this country has an violent. the white man brought all this and slavery. they are the most violent race of all, the white race. what happened in ferguson is totally disgusting. we up here in the north and all over the country are

flabbergasted over how that man was not arrested and held trial. that phony grand jury was ridiculous. -- my dad was cop 93 years old and i was talking to him yesterday here and he said to me if he is hiding, you better stay hiding. i do not care if he puts on every disguise he could possibly find. he will not live very long. it is sad. she came forward and acted remorseful and said, i am so sorry, but he does not show any kind of her morris. that is the most disgusting thing of all. lyingve that young child in the street. i talked to my son about it and my son said to me, if that had been his child, he definitely would have run to his kid. my son is legally allowed to carry a gun.

he said he would have taken a couple cops out with him and they would have killed him. >> i do not think taking the law into your own hands is ever justified. we see too much of that in our own country. my mother-in-law took the law into his own hands. the way we will make it as a society. the rule of law matters. even when we are disappointed sometimes with the outcome. the answer is to work on the problems you folks rightly identified. the problem of race in this country, we have to work on that. we do not work on it by firing off on people. we cannot solve the problem that way.

questioning is from michigan, good morning and welcome to the conversation. >> thank you very much. i want to say i really appreciate it was the views. despite the fact the brown situation was tragic, it is not necessarily mike brown. you have a history here in north america of injustices through the system. a judge ruled -- still on the books, though it is not exercised. you have the 13th amendment right now. the parlay has been duly convicted of crime. look at the prison

population, it is overwhelmingly african-american. that is a group of individuals i do not even want to deal with. do justice also said the black man has no rights that the white man is bound to respect. that was then. the law has changed now on the books. behind thetiment statement is sometimes still around in the minds of some people. that young man who was killed, who was described in the most her thick ways, as a robber, i a thief, a have an 18-year-old grandson. in my view.d

there is a perception of young as somehow a threat, a threatening force. that speaks to not only a prejudice, but also a lack of understanding and familiarity with that young man. mike. take mike. not a menacing figure that wilson described. look at wilson himself. you read the grand jury testimony, he said he was in an area that was anti-police. on ant into the situation high alert because he thought he was going into a hostile environment.

that mindset makes it possible for that kind of altercation to occur. african-american cops would not have all thought like that. joining us from virginia, republican line. caller: good morning, america. good morning, mr. king. i want to express my condolences to the brown family. here.a business imobile fitness facility carried to any organization that wants to have any gauging fitness experience starting with children as young as three or four years old. corners where there are other activities other aan health going on here in

will0 rig costs $140 and i walk in and every child in the community is welcome to come in with their guardian or friends and everyone is welcome. i have no disrespect. none of the violence that is shown on tv routinely in these neighborhoods. none of that. who a 51-year-old white guy has got a little bit of rhythm who engages these children with love and smiles. yet to have a partner with any police department in the city of richmond, and i have been beating on their door for 11 years. doing all these things together all this money and take each other's property, but they're not putting any of that money back into the children and

these communities. there are all profiteers making money on mr. brown's misery and the problem isa these folks are our neighbors. if you want things art -- to change, you will have to pick a fight with your neighbor. change until you say hey, i've known this kid since the third grade and he is becauserd work for me he respects me and i have been in his quarter long after the school has ended for him here it ,s other kinds of relationships collecting a lot of money but not for profit. none of them are measured and none of them are producing any thing that is changing these

neighborhoods. i am continuing to work to do that. i am extremely frustrated. i only hope the senator, who are finally got through two, will help me in richmond this winter. >> i will stop you there. guest: i think randy hit it right on the head. he approaches the community with respect and that is what he gets back in return. i want to give randy a shout out for the work with the fitness aspect. i knew someone who had randy -- someone like randy and her life, a fitness instructor. brian is his name.

but randy, i congratulate you for what you are doing. host: two d.c. related issues. --st one, this piece today it is referring to ben's chili bowl. you can see from this photograph, bill cosby, based on the latest allegations involving attacking women over a time of 40 years. any reaction? as long as ben's chili bowl stays there, i am fine with everything. you want to get a half smoked if you go there. i have is eating free, the only person you can still cost. i have to pay.

>> james in las vegas, democrats find. good morning. i just want to make a guests earlier, he wanted to know, why do we devolve into violence when we get mad. it is because we never have no justice. i guess three sons myself and i'm scared for them everyday. i'm hurting her years old. i have been in prison, i been so far, but when i look at stuff like this, over it does and over again, bring up some type of alert. for example, i got pulled over

last week. air, my hands up in the like i am the officer will shoot me or kill me. guest: without hearing more about his personal circumstances -- i know the general concern he expressed in the kind of climate we are in, but i just want to make another point on this question. during his own participation there as a person who has been incarcerated, if you go back to a majority african-american community, participation is way down. way off. not participating in the system gives you a system you do not relate to.

you have an opportunity and an to become part of that community. one of the ways is to be part of the franchise. a hard-won franchise. use them of the services, the majority isn't african-american community. they could be you go out and vote for a white candidate here that is fine. but to not participate in the system means you have turned the system over to somebody else. is one of the remedies you have to have a basic ferguson -- act to participation in your life and community, and that includes voting for people who are a -- who will represent you. >> our guest, a graduate of howard university. executive vice president of the national bank and watched in bc

and the world bank as well as the treasury department. he has received a number of awards, including the pulitzer prize for commentary. he has been of the washington post for two plus decades. you can check out his column online. bill, good morning, independent line. caller: thank you. i do not see this as anything to do with race from a police perspective. this is not a race issue. you cannot, as a grown man -- he's a grown man and not a teenager or a boy -- he is a grown man and you cannot have a grown man get high on drugs, robbery store, walk down the street for no apparent reason other than to be destructive, when theh the police police tells them to all, sidewalk like a normal person would, and then attack the

police and then try to take his gun. anybody does that, bad things will happen. it is just common sense. guest: you call him a grown man and i call him a teenager. he is 18. charged with anything were convicted of anything. i do not know how the altercation started in the middle of the street. happened,as to what michael brown. we do not have the full story there. prepared to say michael brown -- i am not saying he tried to take a gun.

they had an altercation. i know the gun was fired. . know he hit him with a bullet i know brown walked away but was shot, turned around and was wounded. do that testimony from a number of witnesses as to what happened next. witnesses say brown charged the thing, heared another took a step forward. others say he tried to raise his hand. i do not know what the truth is. based on whatred we know thus far, that officer will send conducted himself in that way. on twitter -- i understand that line of

argument. e-mail responses as well;. officer wilson himself tossed that the community, talks about the community being anti-police. he talks about hostile community. he describes brown not in terms of race but all the caricatures that come along with a description of a black man menacing, a whole cogan, that kind of thing. he really reflects a kind of some officers have going into a community where they know they are not of that community. and they welcome it with fear.

one time in my life, my hairline was down to hear. i was a special agent with the department. i know what it is to have the anxiety of going into a situation where you are uncertain and you have a weapon on your hip. that is very stressful. it also means you have to be very careful in selecting people to serve on a worse. i just do not know what would've happened if that person behind the wheel of the car had been african-american. i do not know what would have happened. something tells me we might've had a different outcome because the mindset would have a different. might have seen him as he

have the teenager. >> he was ordered to stay down. if you followk those orders, he would still be alive today. after the first shot. guest: but he had been shot. i cannot imagine what my reaction would be if i had been shot by somebody. yought have said, why did shoot me? he is not thinking the way you would think if you're been shot. he is still in the pain of that shot here's someone says stand down, then all of a sudden he stops, but he is been chased as well. where was his state of mind?

not talking to somebody who just happened to walk into the drugstore, no, this kid was in pain. he was shot. go to theill republican line. my initial comment would be about assaulting police officers and getting in trouble. but the gentleman made a comment about the police officer not being a part of the community. which community? the ferguson community or the black community? >> he described as anti-police community. his words, not mine. host: we will go to justify new

mexico. democrats line. caller: good morning. i really miss you on inside washington. that was a tremendous show and you guys are great. go to theto ferguson, prosecutor, the way he had a grand jury, it seems like he was trying to excuse himself from and the way the laws community, multiple to reachall the action a verdict to indict this man.

the deck was stacked against him. i enjoyed inside watching you come back on television with that show again. i am 71 years old and i've been around. i had a police officer tony one time at a car wash, [indiscernible] host: thank you, joseph. you were breaking up. guest: i have a cadillac is well, joseph. that is it. will go to another piece you wrote, marion barry.

dc and theshington d.c. council member who passed away at the age of 78. you write about his intricate path to d.c. history. your assessment of his life and legacy. marion barry was able to speak for a segment of the that felt voiceless. he was able to use words they could not use to speak to authority. he never didn't live up to his or as aas a legislator mayor. it is because at critical points aring his time as mayor, point -- important decisions to be made affecting the health of the city.

he always caved because he did not want to create the pain but i understand that. a leader also has to make tough decisions. what he did and the way he governed hurt the city financially. barry. under marion congress had to step in and and put it back on a sound financial footing. on the other hand, i give him credit for the way he started out in the civil rights movement. he stepped in and got involved when we do not know where the where was going to go. he stepped in. i will always admire him for what he did as a worker.

i felt he had himself as a young activist that was good in that he mobilized will who were left toward the end, he was a politician who took care of and he was explicated in that sense. florida, debbie, the washington post -- debbie, you are with colbert king of the washington post. caller: i am 70 years old and i am a white woman. i live in florida now. it was not just ferguson. i thought the police were very disrespectful.

we had people coming in the town and the place. when asked them what they're doing there. they spent a hard day working and were just trying to get home. to look at them and do the i am, take away almighty. >> thank you for the call. we are talking about police community relations. one thing i will say on behalf of the nation pauses capital, we have had police leaders, choose who have been very sensitive to

the interaction to the citizens, much better now that we have diversify the police force, the current chief faces great emphasis on relationships with the community. the communityith all the time, speaking to troops what he does. without that kind of interaction and thelaw enforcement people who are the citizens, you will have bad encounters. that is not automatic. you can change that. this may be one of the things that will come out of ferguson that will be healthy. start working on that. of thingvoid the kind

that happened. i think it can be avoided. withby the way you work citizens, but the linear trained and selected. a lot of strong opinions on our twitter page. is talking about what michael brown was thinking. others talk about is a criminal, a thug, and a eighth. the police officer is just doing his job. >> i can ask for those conclusions because i have not seen evidence to support that. what wilson said is in dispute. michael brown for his friend who m said, allegedly,

in a way out considered to be provocative. i will not quote on the year , but it is the kind of thing that would get a strong reaction from any citizen. using profanity as was alleged. know all the facts. one reason is because somebody who could help provide some of that, michael brown, is dead. florida.will go to. in i want to start off with something foundational. what kind of skin color does a racist have?

if you were identify somebody? i would like to stay here and ask a follow-up lesson. but what color is a racist? i think you trying to get me to say something. i don't know. i look at the act itself. act?is the -- would cause you do i consider what you said racist? guest: what i just said to you is racist? you have saidat so far. it seems like you are either willingly looking a different you seem to only

stand up for black people. a couple days after ferguson, a black cop shot a naked white boy unarmed and may -- in a parking lot. seeing -- whater i'm getting from what you're saying is that in ferguson, only a black cop or a black citizen, only a half back and half white cop can pull over a half white citizen. so far, thesaying answer to racism is not more racism. all the stuff you're saying is so devoid of fairness, that you try to act like you are looking -- you do not seem to want it. i will stay on the line and i would like to respond. on bute have to move for calling.

we will get a response right now. -- moreric, we probably of an exchange than this. it may seem unfair, but this is not a question of taking on white people were saying that white officers cannot make arrests. my second second son is a federal prosecutor. he prosecuted people in regards to race and he got a lot of convictions. i did not carry a weapon looking for the race of the person i was protecting. who is goingmebody to possibly commit a crime or harm an individual. that was my focus. not the race of the person. is fromr last caller washington, democratic caller. just say i have a

17-year-old wife -- white boy and i was treated as if it was a joke why the white cop. i do not see that happening to an african-american. i think the caller before me is full of shit. host: we will stop there. me make a general comment. i do not think we have to chris each other. i really don't. -- curse each other. i really don't. you start to characterize a person might the last caller did, and i know your sentiment, that is not the best way. it does not take it to the next step of really being able to

talk. that stopped the conversation. this has created a new conversation on race issues on a very old issue. let me go to my earlier point. how do we move forward on this? there is no national answer, but it does require communities there it for the specific community to step up and get into this, it is interesting when you talk about something like race. churches are probably the least other places to meet each . the least likely. it should be just the opposite. churches don't even affect the neighborhoods located these days, especially white churches.

so we have to start at a really very low -- local level. all the specs it -- all the specific actions involved for the business community, the labor community, the churches, political leaders, community ,eaders, not just activists many readers talking about their community, all communities are not the same. everybody's not like ferguson. the district of columbia varies from place to place. different actors about different issues. itself in more than just police community relations. labor force, the jobs, the school systems, the teachers, the quality of the political people we have.

all of it has got to be with that. host: we will conclude on that note. colbert king, thank you for being here on this sunday. we appreciate it. thisess is back to work week. what can we expect, especially as lawmakers need to move ahead on a spending package before the december 11 deadline? here andlper will be we'll talk about his latest hook . l will bectoria stilwel with us. we are back in a moment. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] bullets are prize-winning

reporter and officer james on how we waste billions of taxpayer dollars on the war on terror. stewart was really the only u.s. official who tried to investigate what happened to all the united states tried to send to iraq. there are different estimates. billion of the roughly 20 billion in iraqi money that the united states sent back to and was unaccounted for what investigators found was nearly 2 billion in cash and $100 bills was stolen after it was flown from the air force , powered bydad powerful iraqis and being hidden in a bunker. eastern.t at 8:00 p.m.

presidents from gerald ford to barack obama won't we talk about and, who recently retired after four years as a white house correspondent for abc news. >> monday night, peter. theme of theching book is that people should rethink competition. most tell you how to compete more effectively. mine tells you that perhaps you should not compete at all. always aim for something like a monopoly, such a breakthrough that you have no competition at all. >> monday night at 9:00 eastern on the communicators on c-span2. >> washington journal continues. host: we want to welcome daniel forer, the online editor

the weekly standard, and the author of clinton inc.. we will talk about the book in a couple of minutes. we will talk about congress, back this week there it what can we expect? >> the current spending system ends on december 11. they have to decide if they will do a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open, or will they try to pass something substantial for about a year to keep it open another year? that is a debate going on currently on capitol hill, or it will be when they return from thanksgiving break. they have to make a decision also on how they will deal with president obama's immigration reforms, the executive amnesty, as they are calling it. i think that is the more complicated decision and it affects how they will think about the ending though. they have to keep in mind is that house republicans will pass something, and they have to worry about it

passing in the senate, currently controlled by democrats come down -- come january. they might want to do something short-term, so they can come back and do something with both the houses of congress the jewel by republicans and men try to go from there. >> that gets to the larger issue . the house and the senate, both in republican hands. on some big issues, tax reform, for example. does the president's action on immigration, poison the well on some of the big issues, or do they move beyond that and a tackle tax reform as one issue? well but mighthe also liberate them in some way. before, they might have thought we can work on tax reform and we will include president obama in nownegotiations, they might

say, president obama is not honest as a broker, not doing government the way government is intended to work, and so they might go at it alone and then to seem a bill and try whether he wants to pass or fix it in that way. it might be liberating in a way, but it creates further problems and tensions between republicans and president obama in washington. >> on the issue of arab nation, the white house says, the senate passed a bipartisan immigration bill and we have been waiting 15 months for this -- for the house to pass it, and the time is up. >> i think that is bad news and here is why. last week, president obama was in chicago and he was heckled by immigration activists, as they have been doing over the course of the last year or two. president obama was heckled for a couple of minutes and said, you are heckling the wrong guy. i changed the law. thatis an admission congress does not want to hear,

that he has gone beyond his go been into the scope of congress, and he has the legislative action by his pen instead of through the normal process of a bill passing both houses of congress, and arriving on his desk so he could sign it. hear that line come up again and again as soon as congress is back this week, about how president obama even says himself he changed the law. >> you picked up on that point and it is available on your blog. i want to ask you about how the president sits down with mitch mcconnell and john banner. boehner. can they sit down together? >> they probably can more than when harry reid was in the picture. the last congress got the reputation of a do-nothing congress. a lot of that is true, but the house of representatives have

been far more productive than the senate. the senate has not passed many bills or taken on many bills that harry reid has passed. harry reid has tried protect his interests and his constituents, as in the democratic senators, and president obama. i think now we will see more bills pass congress and arrive on the president's death come -- think that gives a slightly more balanced footing as they approach the debate and it is president obama a clear contrast as to what you're dealing with and what republicans are offering. a quiet week in washington but senator chuck schumer spoke what is next about -- for the democrats. he spoke about before the care act. here's a portion of what he had

to say. passing the stimulus, democrats should have chosen programs to build on a partial success of stimulant -- of the stimulus. but democrats blew the opportunity the american people gave them. we took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem. health care reform. the plight of uninsured americans and the hardships caused by unfair insurance practices certainly needed to be addressed. but it was not the change we were hired to make. americans were crying out for the end to a recession, for better wages and more jobs, not changes in health care. did his comments surprise you? guest: they did. i think it surprised a lot of people in washington. bigately and publicly, a proponent of the affordable care act. it is surprising he would come

out now and seek separation. one thought is that he has got an eye toward 2016, not just as a presidential candidate, but also for himself, creating a little separation for leadership. i think that is important as the democratic party tries to move on. if we look at the last election and we look at that in conjunction with president obama's first conjunction, we can see the obama coalition splintering. even president obama reelected, he was not reelected with the same number of people who came out to the polls. democrats are showing tried to think outside the box and be more creative and have a little separation from president , at of 2016, at of the next election. >> senator schumer said democrats blew the opportunity the american people gave them and you pointed out many of the president's beach writers were quick to point out, in your

, no one said anything to them when they were putting the legislation together or one that president was speaking about it. >> right. we are seeing a lot of democrats sniping at each other. common six years into a presidency, someone trying to seek separation the way schumer is. out, of what i pointed long time obama spokesman and speaker -- speechwriters, respectively, they tried to publish a -- publicly pushed back against schumer, a powerful democratic senator, you do not really do that publicly unless it hits close to the bone. i think schumer's comments frustrated a lot of people at the white house. host: writing about the infighting taking place today. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to ask your guests, he is saying the democrats

pushed back against schumer and other topics. is trying to -- but you have got to remember, the democrats did not lose because of obama. they lost because the young voters did not stand tall. the hispanic voters did not stand tall. some of the african-americans did not stand tall. law heldh-care republicans and democrats. the obama legacy has helped both parties. the republicans have been obstructionists since obama came into office. america's not blind or dumb. minorities are not done. -- are not dumb. we see this clearly.

host: thank you for the call. to that point, the lowest turnout in 70 years. >> correct. the caller said, they did not stand tall here it why didn't they? why didn't they show up for president obama the first time around? at all? there a lot of it is the reflection of the leader and the person at top. there are multiple factors in different states and we can break it down in each state and look at what the issues were he was arguing about what, but ultimately, i think a stronger presidential leader would have brought more people to the polls and would have made the democrats case a lot easier. it would have made their success something it was not. host: welcome to the program. caller: good morning.

i was going to ask, do you think you could get something passed that i know for a fact, avalon -- along with a lot of my friends, that the democrats would not try to get past? here it goes. that we randomly select jurors for guilty or not guilty, and the process they go through, what is wrong with randomly selecting an independent, a democrat, and a republican american from each and every one of our states in our union to sit in the seats of the white issues ourote on the representatives think that we want to pass, and let the american people vote on those issues, laws that we all have to in place byd be put the people, for the people, when

the american people realize that we need each other, we end and all the problems we have in our society, within our nation. host: to your point, isn't that the job of congress? representatives? caller: no, they're supposed to represent us and pass things that most of us want. how do they know what we want? if they do not let us vote on the things they think we want? host: thank you for your call. guest: we elect people who then come to washington and then represent ourselves and our interests. if they do not do a good job, we vote them out for people who would do a better job. i'm not quite sure i understand the caller's proposal. i have not heard it be talked about as a bill in washington. ofo not think the likelihood

it being implemented is anything to speak of. to bems to me if you want more involved, call your representative and try to get involved at a local level and tried to encourage your representative to vote the way you think you should vote. he or she is representing you. that is how the system is designed and how it more or less works. host: our conversation with of a newlper, author book, a graduate of tufts university. the morning, democrats line. caller: good morning. canuld like to ask if you guess how many bills that john boehner disallowed to come to did?ouse like harry reid guest: i do not have a number off the top of my head. the most famous bill john boehner did not allow to come to

the floor is this immigration bill amps up -- as we discussed earlier. i think it's because the majority of his caucus did not want it to go to the floor. they would have been unhappy with him had he bought it to the floor, even if it might have passed on a majority vote that would have included a lot of democrats and some republicans in the house. i think president obama has expressed a lot of frustration at that and so has a lot of democrats. by and large, the house republicans have passed the majority of bills that the democrats in the senate have not taken up. congress the new picked up a similar bill, do you think things would have been different or would speaker dinner still have blocked it? guest: i think the new republican-controlled senate, which is why president obama want to do it earlier, so he could make the argument that it

passed the senate by a bipartisan majority. it would not pass the senate that just got reelected. one of the frustrations republicans had about this is a lot of people, immigration is is aicated, but there solution a lot of people see that i think could work for many people, and that is basically, secure the border, so you do not have a reoccurring problem of having illegal immigrants, and then create a back of the line and misty type program. a lot of republicans will not say like that, but more or less, there are no big calls for deportation by anybody i have heard. what will you do with these people? you will eventually allow them to be legal. but he will put illegal immigration first and foremost and give them preference. the linee tried to cut by doing it illegally. how long do you think

nancy pelosi will stay in charge of democrats and harry reid among senate democrats? guest: a good question. i would have expected them to resign already. there is precedence when you lose power the way nancy pelosi did a few years ago and the way harry reid did to step out. the speaker of the house resigned. think theyi do not are serving their caucus particularly well. i've never seen them as strong or clever or interesting leaders. so personally, i cannot see why they keep getting reelected. but people like them and they are good for fundraising and they understand how washington works. has not been a resurgence. back to chuck schumer, perhaps one of the reasons he made the comments is he is trying to position himself as a leader in the democratic party. those are not comments that harry reid endorses or made. he is trying to boost his own case against mr. reid. harry reid's chief of

staff was very quick to criticize the white house and an extensive piece in the washington post or one can assume senator reed new that those comments would be published. guest: that is correct and the new york times today follow-up and harry reid did not try to distance himself from the comments and basically said that they were true, the comments being that the white house was not helpful at all. that is more of an electoral argument and not necessarily substance. president obama is not popular, and he was meant to them favors, that is more of a strategic difference than a policy difference. host: from florida, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. virginia. i am sorry. my question is it seems like the republicans were put in office policies,obama's's

like some of the news commentators have said. if they do not oppose his policies, what is the possibility of the republicans losing power come 2016? also, with harry reid, like you said, being an -- and obstructionist in the senate, why didn't john boehner call him on his inability to get things done? i will take your comment off the air. guest: thank you. i think he touches on an interesting point, one that seems to be largely forgotten or perhaps overlooked. when the republicans won a lot of the emphasis, what are you going to do, how are you going to work with obama?

part of the reason republicans were elected was to oppose obama. granted, people want more than that and people want productive ideas in place the president obama, but part of it is to oppose president obama. i think republicans would be good to stick to that, certainly when there is friction between the two conditions and to try to come up with creative, better solutions to some of the problems. caller: good morning.

i wanted to know from your speaker if he is aware of republican plans to do things like improve our educational system. as you know, the u.s. has slipped behind most of the wealthy developed nations as far as educational performance of its students. what are the republicans going to do to make sure that everyone has access to opportunity? as you know, wages for the middle class have remained stagnant and have actually declined over the last few decades while people in the upper, you know, let's say role, we can say the upper 1%, have profited tremendously. so, you know, what are the republicans' plans for, you know, boosting the economy for the benefit of medical class people as opposed to, you know,

the 1%? and, also, what are the republicans' plans to bring tax dollars that companies are harboring offshore back to our national coffers to the benefit of the public good. host: okay. caller: i will take your answer off of the air host: thank you. guest: i think one of the sleeper issues in the last election but was presents if you went on the campaign train was common core. i think it hurt president obama, his support of common core. granted many republicans supported it, when it came in, and realized later that it was creating through these national standards. so, i think education is a big issue. i think the republican solution is: let's get the federal government out of it, and let's

let states and the localities decide on what's the best way to educate their own local youth. and i think it's not -- so in a way, you are not going to see any big bills, i don't think, regarding education, except, perhaps, some sort of tweak or repeal to common core, and i think that will come up more in the 2016 election. but i don't think that -- i obviously don't think poliresid obama will sign something like that. but i do think it's an ever-present issue. i think the republicans' position of let's get the federal government out of it has gotten a certain amount of traction, whether or not it's enough to actually do anything substantial, we will have to see about that. as far as what the republicans plan to do for the tax reform and all of these other issues, tax reform is a big issue. i think both the corporate and the, you know, and the local individual tax issues, i think, people would like reform. i think i know personally, i

find taxes occasion cruciating and just -- excruciating and hard to do. a lot of people feel the same way. republicans have long believed tax reform should be simplified and so has president obama. he has explicitly said so. can they agree on which loopholes to cut and can they agree on an overall system? well, we will see. hopefully, they can because i think a lot of people do want something like that. host: with everything you have eptouched on, will the president use his vet 0 power? will republicans pass any laws? guest: i think republicans will pass a lot of laws. i was talking to capitol hill staffers last week, and they were all ramping up for a very busy january and february. they want to get off to the races and pass a lot of things. whether it's things -- are they passing things that president obama can sign? >> -- that's another question. it's an unanswered question, and we will have to see what they

focus on. i think they want to focus on certain to weeks to obamacare. they want to get rid of the employer mandate for obamacare. will he allow any changes to obamacare? he resisted all of them up until this point. but if there is a clarion call for these changes, he will have to do something. at least they hope so. >> we will go to lynn in beaver creek oregon. welcome to the conversation. caller: yes. i just had a comment that i wanted to make, and i haven't heard anybody say anything about it. i w with regard to immigration. if americans are always trying to change and make thinks better in the united states, why haven't all of the illegal people that are here, which i keep hearing 11 or 12 million, do the same thing in their own country, make it a better place to live? and with 12 million illegals back in their country, making it

a better place to living they could change their whole country and have a place to live in that's like the united states. guest: i think you can see the appeal that america is the best place on lover. there are tons of opportunities despite the problems we speak of in politics every single day, there is more so than any other place in the world. you can start a business. you can do whatever you want within sort of the loose confines of america. i think that's a great thing, and you can see why people want to come here. but, of course, you want to do in a legal process. you don't want people could capitol hill saying, you know, don't follow these laws because we don't agree with them or worse, the president of the united states doing that. so, i think that's one of the problems when it comes to immigration is you just have elected officials undermining their own position by telling people not to follow the law, that they have the power to change, themselves, and

i think that breeds distrust in the system and i think overall, you need to change it so that it's something people can agree on and something that works for many people. host: we will go to judy, townsville, north carolina. republican line. caller: good morning. i thank you for taking my call. host: sure. caller: my comment is: don't you think it's time that the republicans have taken the house and the senate that, that turnaround is fair play in obama can tell the republicans, i am not going to talk to you because i am not giving you what i want. isn't it time for the republicans to tell the president are -- and i would use the term loosely: we are not going to deal with you, because you are not giving us what we want? i am tired of hearing about the republicans being put down. the president is the one that keeps breaking all his laws. if we break the law, we get put in jail.

if he breaks the law, he gets to keep on breaking laws. he needs to be taken out of office before we have world warr iii. qwe guest: the republicans could do what you are saying and say we are not going to work with you, but then, i think, people would be kind of frustrated with them and say, what are you doing? you need to do something. you are not able to pass anything that gets signed into law. so there is a balance, of course, and i think republicans are trying to achieve that. oh, my goodness /* obviously, as this plays oution, we will be is able to determine whether that works. one of the ways republicans is fighting back is through lawsuits. they want the courts to decide on what is legal and what is not, and president obama, there is a big supreme court case on how big, which is determining whether or not subsidies can go to individuals who buy their

obamacare through the federal exchanges. as the law is written, you can only get subsidies if it's given through state exchanges, as this obama care architect jonathan grubber said, it was intentionally designed that way so that states would create their own exchanges. now, something like 36 states did not create their own exchanges and they are going through the federal exchanges. yet these people are getting subsidies. the court, i think, will play a key role on determining what's constitutional and what's not. there is some question as to whether or not congress has standing on some of these issues. i guess we will let it play out. i do think it could be an effective way to determine these constitutional issues. hoecht. host: i want to dom back to these points but i want to talk about your book "clinton, inc." which came out this last officer. any reaction from clinton operativetiv operatives? guest: it wasn't favorable. they said everything in there was a lie and i should go on

national t.v. and have a polygraph test to determine, you know, thattists lying. but they didn't find any errors in the book. i think the book was carefully reported and carefully research researched. i talked to a lot of people and hemmed track how the collin topics came back. bill clinton left after a cloud of impeachment and scandal. here they are. they are returning, and they look stronger than ever as hillary clinton ramps up for the 2016 election. how do they get from that low point to the high is what i cover in my book, and, you know, i think it's useful for understanding how politics works today. host: 40e69 in this review from the wall street general available on line at the core of "clinton, inc," is the history of the family business. the collin topics have built a power bloc within the democratic party and enriched themselves personally and launch add complex set of foundations n 2012, the revenues for the flagship clinton foundation, an

estimated $214 million brought in. focuses on health, security, economic empowerment. one of the projects with its conferences have put the collintons in touch with world leaders with the mixing of fu fundraisi fundraising, hob knocking, do-goodery and political ambition. guest: i thought it was an accurate review that craptured what i was trying to get across and i was grateful for it. host: have any news organizations denied you access to coverage because of the book? guest: yes, i was scheduled to go on some cable news and was cancelled. host: which one? guest: morning joe and fox news had me on a couple of shows to talk about the book, and i am incredibly thankful for those who did have me. host: what did cnn tell you when they invited you and disinvited you?

guest: they told me live news was breaking and they had a tentative slot of news. they told me a week before i was scheduled to go on, live news was interrupting the program or breaking news was interrupting the program. perhaps that's true. i don't have any inside knowledge, but it was schedua scheduled event that the got cancelled. of course, the networks, abc, cbs, nbc ignored the book completely. host: one of the takea ways is that clinton operatives had gone to cnn and said, hey, don't put this guy on. guest: there were other things that happened that were strange when the book was published. 10 days out, the bheebling was leaked to a series of reporters. it was leaked via e-mail and it was basically each page was scanned and sent along to a series of reporters and big reporters. i mean like producers and bookers at ms

2346789 bc and a good e-mail list, and my book was embargoed so you could only get it if you signed a non-disclosure agreement the obviously somebody broke it and scanned the pages and sent it out. one of the reasons i think they did it is to make it so when my book was -- did come out a week and a half later, it was old news. and why, as a journalist, why are you covering old news that's been out for a week and a half? and so i think a lot of people ended up passing on the coverage of the book. host: bottom line: what one thing surprised you the most when you researched this book? guest: i think the personalities of bill and hillary clinton i found surprising. hillary has a persona of being cold and calculating and bill, of course, greg garous, emotive figure everybody wants to hang out with and grab a beer with, and i think on the personal levels, people who know them best tend to think that the opposite is closer to being

true, bill clinton tends to be more cold and calculating and hillary clinton tends to be more likeable and people who have worked for her find her to be loyal and trustworthy and nice and, of course, her political limitations -- and i think she has plenty of them -- prevent her from showing this side of her in public, and i think that is a limitation. host: talk with daniel halper, his book, "clinton, inc." featured on c-span book t.v. watch online at booktv.org. bill is on the phone from fair borne, georgia. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: sure. caller: i have a comment and a question, and i hope that the question gets answered. a few callers back suggested something about the people being the ones to vote on the bills. and i think that would be a great idea. i think whatever bills come up, the people should be able to

vote on them by ballot because our representatives are not representing the people. they are representing the lobbies and themselves. so they are not really doing what we, the people, want. and that's my comment. i mean the question i have is: everybody is screaming about this mandate in the affordable care act. i want to know. i am under a mandate for the prescription drug bill that president bush voted in. i am told i will have to pay this penalty for the rest of my life. i am wondering: why is there such a big to-do about the man data in the affordable care act, and this one was okay host: okay. we will get a response. ca guest: i think to your previous points on everybody voting for every bill that comes up, i would just remind people that in the last election as president obama reminded everybody, two-thirds of americans did not vote in the election. just imagine if we had elections, what?

every week? every day to vote on these bills that congress is voting on. i mean the turnout would be nothing. so you would have 5%, 10% of the american people voting for bills that -- that affected everyone. and i think -- i think that's one of the strengths of a representative democracy is that we empower these people to make these decisions, themselves, because we can't really fall the intricacies of the law. we can't -- we can understand it if we take the time, but a lot of us who don't work in politics are busy and have lives and have kids and have families and have, you know, everything to do, and it's a little unfair to have these massive decisions i am packet their lives so dramatically. host: we will go to michael joining us from bristol, england listening on a sunday afternoon, the bbc parliament channel. good morning. caller: good morning to you in the u.s. i hope you are well.

i want to put a question out there. the republicans in congress, one of the things i think you guys in the united states really need to take a look at here is what are the plans for the republicans and actually trying to push through deficit reduction? $23 trim yon dollars in debt? a lot of your callers talk about healthcare and immigration and this, that, and the other. they are all local issues in that respect. they are all regional issues. but in the united states isn't dealing with its national debt, which neither democrats or republicans seem to want to actually talk about the really important things, you know, what's to stop you guys defaulting on any international debts? and what would that do to the international market? and the sort of effect that would have not just in my country but, also, your own,

would be absolutely devastating. i would like to know what the republicans in congress are actually going to do about your national debt. i mean that's really, really important. host: we will get a response but let me ask you this question because experts say to cut the debt, we need to cut spending and/or you need to raise taxes or possibly a little bit of both. do you think the political environment to do here is? caller: you have the petro dollar. we have dealt with our and or dealing with our debt. so to me, it would seem that you could use the petro dollar to counteract your national debt instead of this almost -- it's almost like an addiction to gos spending. you need to use that while you've still got it to get rid of your national debt. if that petro dollar comes to an ends, if you have a clean sheet and you are in the black in the bank so you can live without

that and start living without that. host: okay. we will get a response. thanks for the call. keep track of where we are in deficit spending at this website: debtclock.org. how do you respond to michael's sentenceiment? guest: the debt is a little bit less than michael said, just a couple of trillion. of course, we are headed to where he said and i would also point out some of the foreign-held debt is a much smaller than the debt writ large but regardless, that needs to be taken care of. it's something lawmakers need to get serious about, given our just the global but, you know, our own financial security here in america. i think we are going to see a bill, a budget in congress that deals with this more dramatically than has been dealt with the last six years. i think you are going to see a house budget that can -- that tries to take care of this within a 10-year window. granted it would just get us to

be a balanced budget via projects in 10 years, but that's how bad the problem is now. and that's how severe it is, is that it's going to take at least a decade until we are able to manage this, and that's where it stands now, assuming that it doesn't get any worse. the problem with debt as a political issue, i have found, is that people don't really -- it's a looming crisis, but it isn't -- we haven't defaulted yet. you know, it's not a present crisis. and i think getting people to say, okay. well, we need to cut back some of the social welfare programs. we need to form some of the entitlement programs. we need to reform various government entities that are helping people or perhaps people are profiting from. i think get strong resistance because it's not a present problem. so, it will take strong leadership from both parties. it will take the president of the united states to deal with it and to come to terms with it. whether president obama is there, i think, we will see whether or not he signs the

republican budget and, and we will see whether or not it becomes -- and i predict it will, a imagine issue in the 2016 election. >> voter turnout seems to be trending right now if you want to join the conversation on the twitter page at c-span wj. 641% of the complaints fall on deaf ears. quick comment? guest: look, one of the beauties of america is that you can -- you have the right to vote. you have the ability to vote but you don't have to vote. and people made a conscious decision just as they did -- all elections and the previous elections that they weren't interested or they didn't like the candidates that they had, you know, election is our choice. you choose between one or two people and you choose which one is your favorite of those two, perhaps three, sometimes four candidates. it's not a great choice, but that's how the system works, and people can decide not to be a part of it, but everybody, of course, loses tas a sequence.

host: jim, good morning from sparttanburg, north carolina. the last question with d. caller: you played an obama speech earlier on immigration and you said president obama said immigrants create jobs and they create companies. but yet, obama and clinton are on record for saying that people don't create jobs and that people don't create businesses and i guess the government does it. so, it's sort of a very good hypocracy, if you will. but secondly, since congress controls the purse y doesn't the senate and house create a bill and if obama fails to sign it? why don't they just create and say that it's law like obama is saying that immigration, just say, hey, he won't act on it. he won't do anything. he is not helping us. so we are just going to say that this is law. earlier, you said that to another caller that they -- that he could not -- or they could not do that. so there is a perfect example of how they could point him out as

obstructionist and say, hey, this is law, and if you are going to act unilaterally, then we are going to, too. host: hot that would take a 2-thirds majority to overturn a president veto noin order for tt to happen. jim? guest: i think jim is suggesting they pass the law and say these are the laws of the land. look, there are a lot of ways democracy can fail. >> that's one of them. and part of the democratic system that we have is -- and part of the reasons it's been so -- it's worked so well and lasted this long is because various politicians have had temperance and they have said, okay, perhaps i could get away with moving my authority a little further to the right and getting a little more power here and snagging a little more power there. but that's not how the system works, and it requires, i think, for our system to keep on working, it requires a little self preservation on the part of

politicians and understanding that the system only works if people play by the rules, which is also why president obama's immigration amnesty, executive order, whatever you want to call it, it's so damaging because -- and he's made various decisions on obamacare and things like that can as he wants the law to be written and not as the law is. and i think president obama would be wise to show a little restraint and he can be as frustrated as he wants, but we have a system and as long as politicians can play within the system, then the system will continue on and will continue working for years to come. if they try overreaching, they try ignoring the way the system works, then i think we have problems. host: daniel halper of the qua "weekly standard," thank you for stopping by. guest: it's been great. host: his book, coll"clinton, " featured online at booktv.org.

we will turn to the economy and jobs. just how much money are you earning and how much are you spending or will you spend during the upcoming holiday season? victoria stilwell of bloomberg news will be here. but first, a look at the other sunday shows which can be heard beginning at nooning eastern time on c-span radio. as always on sundays sundays, nancy calo keeping track of the guests and topics. >> today's topics on the sunday talk shows include race relations in the united states, immigration reform and politics and you can hear the rebroadcast of the programs on c-span radio. it begins noon eastern time with nbc's "meet the press." guests include duval patrick, arkansas republican senator tom cotton and cheryl eifel of the naacp legal defense and educational fund. at 1:00 o'clock, abc's "this week" with antonio french, ray kelly, former new york city

poli police commissioner and jeloni could be. at 2:00 p.m. eastern here "fox news sunday" with mark moriel, president of the national urban league and former new york city mayor rudy giuliani. former nypd commissioner thomas magger and vice president of, police executive research program, malik aziz, dallas deputy police. and the chairman of the police association and james craig. at 41 p.m., "face the nation" from cbs with michael brown, family attorney, benjamin crump and senators elect, tom 'til is and gary peters, a michigan democrat. the sunday network t.v. talk shows are on c-span radio and they are brought to you as a public service by the networks and c-span. again, the rebroadcast of the shows begin at noon, eastern,

and you chear them all on c-spa radio at 90.1 fm here in the washington, d.c. area. across the country on xm satellite, on channel 120, you can download our free app for you're smartphone or go online to c-span .org. monday night on "the commute caters, peter keil. >> i would say the single overarching theme of my class and of the book is that people should rethink competition. most business books tell you how to compete more effectively. mine tells you, perhaps you should not compete at all and that as a founder or entrepreneur, you should always aim for something like a monopoly, a company that is such a break through that you have no competition at all. >> monday monday night on "the communicate orders" on cspan-2.

> "washington journal kudz host: we will to will come ms. stilwehl? >> thank you for having me. >> we are dividing our phone lines. those of you earning under $20,000 a year, call in: for those earning between 20 and 50,$000 a year, that number is 202-585-3881. and for all others earning above 50,000 a year, 202-585-3882. we will continue to have those numbers on the bottom of the screen. how much are we earning? and how much are we spending this holiday season? guest: since you asked, the different measures that economists get say different things. one conclusion is that most are coming to is that the labor market is getting better. some are already seeing it. if you look at the employment cost index, we are seeing a little wage pressure there. however, if you look at an index

like average hourly earnings, it's a little stagnant. people are working more hours. the work week is getting longer. they are their pay checks are at least getting a little bit bigger, not shrinking. plus gas is super cheap right now. >> should help a lot heading into the holidays and when it comes to spending especially. host: let me share two stories. you and your colleagues writing about u.s. retailers seek to go sustain the holiday shopping momentum. many stores open okay thanksgiving day, which is unprecedented. guest: yes. host: some opening at 6:00 o'clock, others all day on thanksgiving. there is a story that as they open doors on thanksgiving hoping for a jumpstart on the economy, black friday sales were down compared to last year. what's the biggest challenge facing retailers? guest: i think they have kind of a challenge, first get people out of the house, offline and in their stories, make sure they are not going to places like

amazon, et cetera and using stores as a showroom basically to find the cheapest cost for a product. but, also, it's kind of convincing them that they can get out of this recession mindset. right? so many people have been kind of sticking to just what they can buy, just what they need to do to get by in terms of when they go out and shop. but i think the real challenge is convincing people that, okay. it is okay to spend a little more now. you know, the -- the economy is not going to go into, like, a sudden downturn. you can pick up that t.v. you wanted or maybe it may be as simple as something like you can order pizza tonight. it is a little bit more money to go around. so, i think that's kind of a challenge that a lot of retailers are facing is getting people out of that mindset. host: what about the future of the big-box stores, the mega shopping maulds where people have to park and all of the hassles of that versus, as you mentioned, point and click and get free shipping and don't

leave your home or office? guest: i think that's going to be something that retailers have to address head-on, especially in the years and months ahead. and it's just so easy to not get out of your pj did, sit on the couch, find something cheap on amazon and buy it. there is no cost involved. there is no driving places. there is no gas. there is no lines. and so retailers don't find their own slushingsz if they don't get people the really fast shipping they want action don't broaden their election online, that's going to be a huge hurdle. >> could hurt them. host: joyce stilwell, a graduate of unc chapel hill, we will go to donna from institute, west virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. my comment is that even though the job market seems to be improving, whether it's improving with this minimum wage jobs, which is not going to add anything to this economy. the problem with the economy is,

is that the minimum wage should have been $15 an hour 15 years ago. we are stagnating the people who are earning the monies. we are giving huge tax breaks to companies that come in to our state to work and set up businesses, and we are depending upon those little paychecks. okay? to be the tax base in which we operate on. it is mind-boggling how many times america opens their doors to foreigners making encloses over 50k host: let me go back to some of your reporting and show our audience just how much those income areas have seen increases for those earning 20,000 or less in the third quarter, you are reporting income has been increasing about 5.41%. that was between 20 and 50,$000

a year, seeing an increase of about 5%. those above 50k about 41.3%. to those numbers and to the caller from west village, your response. guest: the caller does have a good point. minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation. most economists would definitely agree with that. the debate in terms of where you have some people who say are people not being paid more because their work isn't worth more, basically. or do companies have such power, such, i guess, pricing power when it comes to wages that they can artificially suppress them, basically. to address that and the lack of momentum on a federal level in terms of raising the minimum wage, a lot of states and cities have taken this into their own hands. we have seen a good number of measures boost the minimum wage in parts of the country. >> should be especially helping out this lower-paid, lower-skilled workers and the

economy. it should help them going forward. but i do think the numbers you point out, we have seen some improvement, and i want to stress that it has been very gradually, and it is nowhere near the pace that anyone wants to see. but it is for the first time getting a little bit better, and i do think that is something to be optimistic about. and hopefully, if the labor market continues to improve, we will see some more of that. host: do you know percentagewise how many americans own the minimum wage? guest: i think it's around 10 to 15%. it's a pretty small share, i am pretty sure. host: to thomas, next from berlin, wisconsin. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. host: how much do you make a year, tom? caller: between myself and my wife -- i am retired. my wife is still working. we are under 50 of the,000. host: okay.

caller: my comment to your guest is that very few people realize the fees and the services that you -- that are provided are gradually going out everywhere you look. and i mean the lights and things, now, the latest is the energy here, the citizens utility board granted an increase to two energy companies because the people -- and this is the way they stated it -- that are conserving and doing things properly now have not -- now that they are not paying their fare for the infrastructure. so the more you save, the more you conserve, the more you are going to be charged. guest: well, energy costs have been kind of all over the place recently, but i think if you want to look at the broader scheme in terms of especially gasoline, hopefully, the cheaper gasoline will help offset some of those costs that, you know, certain neim certain parts of the country are facing as they

conserve more. i think that was one of the critiques of the epa's carbon program when they introduced it is kind of: what will that proposal played in the conservation argument an especially in terms of energy-saving appliances? and would any other costs be passed on to consumers? anything that is a big concern? i think for the opponents. >> that's something to keep a close eye going forward. host: the you know employment rate is two or 3% in north dakota, national average about 6 or 7%. what does the fed consider to be full employment? guest: there is a tendancy, feds see as what they see the long-term rate is between 5.2 and 51/2 %. theoretically as we approach that range, as things tighten up, wages should start rising

and people should be seeing bigger paychecks. host: hot cot from belmont, michigan, good morning. caller: good morning. host: yes. good morning. caller: hey, i'm sorry. i am a little nervous. host: we hear you. caller: if i can get -- host: host: scott, i will put you on hold. we will go to daryn joining us from york, nebraska caller: how are you this morning host: fine, thank you. caller: i am call to go say i have lived in nebraska for roughly 20-something years and in that 20-something years, i have seen about 1 to $2 tops and your higher polka-dot jersey ceo and owners of these companies. we have avengo a&m ikogen in nebraska and they keep bringing in these companies for the gas,

and try to lower costs and stuff. all i have seen is it stay the same or actually increase. i do know gas prices have dropped but what are they going to increase next? i am concerned about this. i have been at the same wage, about $10 an hour or less for the better part of 20 years. i think a lot of it is our education. we need to get these people educated so they can do these new jobs and if you will fill the requirements of these companies. host: thank you very much. we will get a response. guest: i think the education component of this is really important. it's a point of stress between the educators, the people, themselves, and companies. a lot of times, people have this expectation that their workers should come in trained and bear basically the financial brunt of getting this training whereas, educators and workers are more likely to think that the company should be paying for this education for any sort of

training that they need, and there has been this real shift. it used to be that way. you used to be able to walk into a place and get a job, and they will teach you how to do it. now, we are seeing companies that really, really want people who already know what they are doing. >> makes it hard for a lot of new entrants into the labor market to get a foothold. it makes it hard for people trying to switch careers so that they can make more money and it makes it hard for, you know, places where certain industries have been totally wiped out and people only have one skill set and other companies and other industries aren't really willing to hire them unless they can basically foot the bill for their own education. for those that require more than a high school degree but less than a bachelor's degree are a huge, huge opportunity for these lower-skilled workers to be able to make more money. but the key to that is, you know, maybe a six-week certification course. a lot of these people have no idea, you know.

a lot of workers have no idea how to even go about that. there are some initiatives out there trying to help bridge those connections. they are trying to kind of reach out to workers who want to move up the ladder. but it can -- when you are in that moment, when you have been stuck at, you know, less than $10 an hour for the last 20 years, can be really, really hard to find those places. host: we should clarify, there is the federal minimum wage which is probably about 41 and a half to 5% of the workers get the federal minimum wage and then you have state or ciminimu wages often higher like in new york, here in washington, d.c. massachusetts has a higher minimum wage than the federal m minimum wage. let's go to scott from belmont, michigan caller: how are you doing host: we can hear you now. go ahead caller: i am calling about policies. would you do us a favor and do segments on trade policies and tariffs? i think the american workers have been basically left out of

the global economy. i have you have stages in the world economy but the basic manufacturing in our country is are out of it. we have none with japan, the third largest country in the world, they basically have left this one out of it. they all charge us $0.35 tariff for stuff we send there. they send stuff here, 33, zero, i think this is the stuff that needs to be looked at. i think this is all something that's been going on for quite a long time. it's affected president workforce in the united states. i worked in manufacturing for 25 years of my life. and i basically had to get out of it because i didn't feel i had any representation at all. i felt my job was on the line at any day, it could have been gone. host: okay. part of the post-fafta debate. guest: i think we are living in a really interesting time because some industries in the u.s. are seeing this re-shoring movement where they did, you

know, ship a lot of jobs overseas and for whatever reason, sol of it being lower energy costs here, some of it being, you know, it became not as cheap to use workers elsewhere as standards there rose, so a lot of industries are bringing jobs back to the u.s. i don't think it's anywhere the share that we lost. but that is -- that is one sign of hope that i think some people are starting to see. we are seeing a lot of it in, you know, oil, places that use any sort of energy resources, natural gas, oil, et cetera, and it may be cheaper for them to do business here where there is a lot less cost, and a lot of their customers are here in the first place. we are seeing allegations of development on that front. host: to take a headline from with bloomberg that wage growth is accelerating. it is accelerating but what? guest: from a very, very, very slow pace. it's accelerating but it's like i said earlier, it's nowhere

near what anyone wants to see yet. it's very, very nacent. it's very, very early stages. so i don't want to be overzealous about this. it's not like, you know, everyone is seeing their pay checks go up like 5,000 a year. but we are seeing kind of the very, very beginning stages of this, and it's for the first time that, you know, before pay checks went like this, like the last 41 here basically, and now, they are starting to be like this little bit. so a good size. host: our guest is victoria stilwell, bloomberg's economics reporter. bill joining me on the phone. caller: good morning. what's the domino effect of doubling the minimum wage? wouldn't all experienced workers have had, say, five to 10 years? wouldn't they want their wages to rise as well and all the way up the ladder to the ceo?

guest: there is an argument that proponents of the minimum wage increase point out as a good thing. not only do you have this like relatively small share of people who earn the minimum wage that would get their -- see their pay increase, but you would have the people kind of around the minimum wage that would also get a pay increase. like you pointed out, the ladder kind of moves up a notch. i am not sure if we would he would see that all the way to the ceo level, but it's interesting that you point that out because it's one of the -- it's one of the arguments that proponents use, that they say it would help a bigger number of workers in the u.s. economy. so we would entry some sort of domino effect. host: let's go to nathaniel from naples, florida. caller: i am call to go ask about how we are supposed to trust that these companies have our best interest in mind. we see that the furthest, most growth in the economy always comes from the middle class, and with all of this money going to

the manufacturers, it seems understandable that they are going to have to increase the wages. but if everybody's wages are increasing aren't the prices going to increase as well, where it's just going to balance out and really be no net gain for anything anybody? how are we supposed to trust these companies aren't putting on a facade host: okay. are you still with us, nathan yellow? caller: yes. host: how much did you earn this past year? caller: i am a student right now. host: you are not working at all? caller: i am going to be. i am trying to get my degree so that i can hopefully get a job. but you are seeing obviously now that the inflation is such that the amount of jobs are such that i might not even be able to get a job. host: what is your field of 12udy? caller: psychology. the psychology of the individual

because we seem to be caring so much about the success of the united states as a whole that we are ignoring what is going on behind the scenes in these companies. host: okay. thank you for the call. guest: i think that companies, you have to -- it's interesting because it's looki at kind of te level of alt ruiz m, what level do they have? it's an interesting question. for a lot of companies, maximizing profits for shareholders is hugely important goal for most companies, i would say. they are going to raise wages either when they have to beg for workers, when there is a small supply and they need to fill a job and the level of wages that they were offering for that position is no longer adequate to find someone for that role. then they will be forced to raise a wage. you want to look for signs like that that wages will be increasing. but i mean you do raise an

interesting point, but i am not sure how to answer that. host: to the earlier point from one of our viewers: no one is going to shop until they have a living wage, affordable college, and reliable retirement: the basics. guest: it's the american dream. right? it's this idea you should be able to live well. you should be able to put your kids through school and they should be able to go out and do whatever they want. i think that's been a source of frustration for soo many americans, especially coming out of this recession, you know, college, tuition keeps increasing much faster than the overall pace of the inflation and when a lot of these kids do come out of college, they can't find jobs and, you know, they are stuck in maybe lower paying or skilled jobs that they feel that they are over qualified for. i do think that's been a huge, huge tension points for many americans. host: which is what he hadwin says: my wages have not changed for years. however, prices have increased

substantially. i will not be spending much for the holidays. guest: it's interesting because inflation right now, if you look at the government measures, it's actually been very muted over the last few years. >> that's been kind of a problem spot for the fed is it's not really in their sweet spot of 2% year-over-year, so it's run can at about, depending upon which measure you look at 1 and a half, 1.6%. we are kind of seeing it. it's an interesting point because wages haven't been increasing but if you look at historically, inflation hasn't been doing a whole lot either. so that's a little bit better than it would have been if, you know, they were at 3% and still not seeing wages rise, that would be hashed for most people. host: you indicated gas prices at record low levels guest: 2.80 and that's the low

event eleven level in about 40 years. pretty good. host: edwin from manchester. good morning. caller: good morning, america. i don't want to make this too long, but it's something important that has to be said. an order -- in order for all of us to have a better quality of life in america so that our nation can be a good example for all of those from other nations coming here to visit our nation and see how united we are as a people and how well off we are together as a whole nation, so that they can go back home to their nations and it may be wake up on their dictate ors doorstep and knock on the door and say, hey. we need to talk, in order to be that america, americans have to be in charge of their nation.

in order to be in charge of our nation, we need representatives that represent us. it's common knowledge why they don't represent us anymore. so what we need to do is replace the system with a system where the american people are randomly selected just like jurors are in our justice system. host: okay. we had that comment earlier as well. guest: i am not sure i have economicwise i would add. host: add off from arlington, tennessee. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, america. my question is or my curiosity is that i am presently in a position at my employment where i have performed a job that requires the equivalent of a college degree based upon what i

do. i have basically done this job for 20s years. it's an engineering position. there is a downsizing where i presently work at. and i put out quite a few resumes. they state all of the experiences that i have, all of the different trainings and schools that i have gone to, but yet, i can't find a job because i don't have that bachelor's degree even though i do the equivalent as far as experience in the job that i am in. host: is this story common or unusual? guest: i think it's pretty common unfortunately and it's a symptom of the labor market we have had for the last few years. we have had so many people looking for jobs who do have a bachelor's degree. companies can kind of take their pick of the litter so to speak, and that contributes to wages staying low, too, when you have so many people lined up to do a

job. like they were looking for a blue-eyed unicorn. this is how much you are going to earn, and don't ask for more. i think that unfortunately is very common to a lot of workers in the u.s. host: laura says you get a 2% increase and see healthcare people grumz go up 41%. you end up going backwards. guest: yeah. you can't just take the increase in wages. you have to look at what's going on all around it host: denise from raleigh, north carolina with victoria stilwell of bloomberg news. caller: good morning. i have a comment and a question. caller: i recently retired. i stayed so long because the attitude of the new people coming into the workforce they don't have that attitude today of being a team player.

would you please help out here? >> not my job. i wasn't hired to do that. now, companies look at this, and they are not going to increase your pay if you are not willing to be a team player and not only take on your responsibility but the responsibility of someone else if they are absent, and my question to the young lady: what can be done that young people today coming out of college or coming out of high school looking for it employment, what is the remedy for training and the mentality that when they come in to the workforce, they are coming in to the workforce to work, to make that company a better place and to be productive host: denise, thank you for the

call. guest: i hate to generalize all young workers because we have a lot that would take any job if they could just find one and would work really hard but i think to your point, it kind of goes back to that training conversation that we had a little bit earlier, kind of where this job readiness, very practical stills and -- skills and information on how to succeed in the workplace? who's responsibility is that to give workers? is it school's responsibility or the company's responsibility? and i think that until we get a firmer solution on that, we could continue to see some friction there. >> next caller from belmar, new jersey. bob, good morning. how much do you earn? how much did you earn this past year, bob? caller: i earned $30,000 a year doing roofing, and i am 52 years old. you can break it down. it's about $830 a week. now, i know the capitalism is

forced alt ruiz m. you do something for me, i do something for you. well, i am on a construction job right now where i am going to be laid off next week because we got a bunch of costa ricans and brazilians, guatemalans and they are driving the wages down. so, if the restaurant people want 15 bucks an hour, where do you think these people are going to bump me out of my job want? you can't price yourself out of the box. ut shut china don't. start making just what they made in trenton. remember? trenton, the world made, trenton makes, the world takes. no wants to make nothing anymore. they want to squash innovation. host: thanks to the call. goes back to our earlier question on the impact of immigration on jobs and the economy. are have you been follow that aspect of the story? guest: i have not as closely as i wish i had time to but it is

an interesting debate because it goes back to the whole kind of supply and demand issue for labor. and i mean you had a point that if you have, you know, people who are willing to work at a lower wage, there may be, you know, companies may have a little more pricing power there when it comes to not giving the increases essentially. host: one figure from your report at bloomberg news, reporting about 140 million of us shopping between thanksgiving evening through cyber monday. when did we start, by the way, with cyber monday? guest: gosh. i wish i knew. host: in ogden with victoria stilwell, with bloomberg news. caller: i want to tell victoria, thank you. you have done a good job. when people talk about inflation, they always take the price of food out of it. i know for a fact that ground

beef went from a dollar 99 to 3.98 within a year. >> that's an extreme increase. >> that's what really, i think, is hurting the middle class: price of food. gas might have dropped but food has gone up. thank you, victoria. guest: yeah. i think that's an interesting point. a lot of people look at inflation, food, and energy, and a lot of people raise the point that you just did. we can't really strip out those things because that's what people buy, you know. and we have meat prices have moved up in the last year host: victoria stilwell i want to share this. the obama go book shopping. as malia and sasha went to politics and prose here in washington, d.c. let's listen in:

>> how are you? >> okaying. >> good? >> pretty good. >> all right. >> do i get a discount for that? >> visitors discount. >> all right. >> good for you. >> hi. >> look at that. host: the president looking at the book cover of chuck todd who wrote about president obama. this is part of small business saturday. victoria stilwell, a new

phenomenon guest: corporate involvement. american express offered some card members discounts if you shop small on saturday. it's a good way of kind of re-focussing on those small businesses that indo interject such a big part of our economy. host: your work available online at bloomberg doming. we will continue the conversation tomorrow morning as we do every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern time, 41:00 o'clock for those on the west coast. among our guests will talk about spend with david french of the national retail federation and carmel martin for the center of american progress on the political agenda for the next year and next congress and kevin cirilli to talk about taxes and the tax end tender legislation. some of the guests in the topics tomorrow morning. tune in or listen on c-span radio. thank you for joining us on this sunday. i hope you enjoyed the rest of your weekend. have a great weekend.