place in january. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation at facebook and twitter. washingt "washington journal" is next. ...

host: that was his assessment of the year, but, however, for the first forty-five minutes, we want to get your take on how the president did this year. how would you rate president obama's year? here are the lines. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. those are the phone lines, if know how you et us would rates the presidency are. us or send us eat a comment on facebook. the last press conference of the year before him and his headed to hawaii -- it found found on it can be

on our website at c-span.org. i am not done, says the piece. this is edward writing. the president said he promised that would be heavy on outreach of congress, but also his own - - rd on protecting healthcare and financial regulations. as the white house was a ut the run of good news, sense of turnaround - - they admit that they have gotten lucky in the timing. the climate deal with china, the booming obama care enrollment numbers, the teetering of the russian economy were all the results of ripened in ng, but

close succession more on their own timetable been due to any great plan to jampacked the last few weeks of the year. the "washington post" adds that where ely acknowledged the setbacks were. in luding the ongoing chaos syria and iraq, a country where the united states has spent in the an $1 trillion past decade. the islamic state militants took control of mosul, but they got no mention over the course of the hour. again, we are asking you about your assessment of the president. we're asking you how you would rate the year that the president has had. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. president made

several comments yesterday during his press conference. things he talked about was the issue with sony pictures and north korea. he talked about the sense of the polling of the movie, and how sony should have reacted. here's a little bit from that press conference yesterday. [video clip] >> again, i am sympathetic that tony, as a company, was worried about liability, etc., etc. i was they would have talked to me first. have told them - - do not get into a pattern in which you are intimidated by these kind of criminal attacks. being e if, instead of it a cyber threat, somebody had broken into their offices and destroyed a bunch of computers, and stolen discs. that what it takes for you

to suddenly pull the plug on something? so we'll engage with not just but the news stry, industry and the private sector around these issues. we already have. we will continue to do so. to i think all of us have anticipate that occasionally there are going to be breaches like this. to be conflicts. we take the with the utmost seriousness, but we can't start of behavior terns anymore than we stuff going to because they me might be the possibility of a terrorist attack. anymore than boston didn't run its marathon this year because the possibility that somebody mmight try to cause harm. so -- let's not get into that wway of doing business. host: that is north korea.

some other topics the president offering yesterday - - how would you rate the president year? again, you can let us know on the phone lines. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. let's hear from jim in chicago on our independent line. good morning, jim. caller: good morning, pedro. would say that this president is not only delusional, but he is pathetic. the economy is not getting better. he lost the house and the senate. people overseas are making fun of him. the guy has no accountability. the republicans are going to make a fool out of him. so i think the guy has made it worse. how can you say things are getting better in america when

you have unemployment -- the real unemployment over 20%, are on food stamps, and you have more people working part-time and full-time? host: on our democrats line, we'll hear next from debbie. debbie is from massachusetts. caller: thank you for putting me on. i have been trying for years. i think president obama did the right thing with cuba. i have thought about it for a long time. it hasn't been -- they haven't had any results from isolating is a first step. and i don't think it should be called a deal, either. host: that is cuba. what you think about the year over all that the president has had? caller: i think is great. out a k it has brought

lot of biased, you know, but i as nk he is going to go down a great president. host: thomas from virginia, you are. good morning, how are you? from virginia, are you there? caller: yes, i'm here. out of the fourteen presidents i have lived through, i would say he had a good and bad year. have had hat he mmay some accomplishments - - like the cuba deal. i was on the runway air force to e in reloaded up to go cuba in 1962. has done nk that he things, and, some you know, when you have a congress that can block anything you do, it is pretty hard to accomplish anything.

bill clinton was able to accomplish some things because some s able to work with members of congress. the current congress that we is dead set on obstructing everything that the man wants to do. so he has done about as well as he could do. host: so you labeled some good things. what about bad things, as you see them. what comes to mind on that topic? pretty good is a constitutional lawyer, but i that he understands in rule of interference other nations' business, such as the middle east. the middle east has been such an disaster in my entire lifetime, simply because the the french when in

and decided to is going to be in what country. so he can handle that situation over there. we might as well give up on it you get sorted out, we will be happy to join in. host: sso we're asking you at home about the presence year would read it -- president's year and how you would rate it. the "washington post" this morning has another story look at the conference for months, hat, walk resident has tried to and eloquent line between his principal and not alienating voters in conservative states who would help determine the fate of several moderate democrats. that calculation is now irrelevant, and obama seemed to be reveling in the new freedom.

he is hoping to cut deals that some members of his party do not like. this is john. john, thank you for calling. go ahead, please. caller: good morning. veteran, etnam selection earlier caller, i have quite a few presidents to go back and look at. to my friends on the other post a question mccain, look john at mitt romney. if either one of those had been elected, how much better would we be today than we are right now? of the ke all significant measurements tthat country uses - - the debt, the deficits, unemployment, stock market, etc., etc., etc. are out of that, we afghanistan. we have no more infantry boots the ground in syria and iran

- - not iran, iraq. war in - - did didn't go to war in libya - - stayed out of syria because there is nobody to support over there. whoever takes over that country will hate us just as bad. stayed out of ukraine. as much as we like to help people against the russians, we have stayed out of it. and the russians get to either kate now. so, on that basis, and just on no matter - - facts, nno tell r how you look at it, me - - how much better would mitt romney or mccain had been president?

caller: good morning, c-span. thank you for taking my call. i want to say that the president has done a great job. with all he had to go against, this man did it on its own with no approval from congress. human and. he went in and battled it back. and sung.t there this president said, this is what i want to do. and he did it. a damn good job. knowing get some credit for the gas prices coming down. no one gives him credit for putting us through multiple wars, giving us out of force. this new congress, the only thing i ask is that you work with this man. because we are a strong nation. can only get stronger. work with him.

god bless you, and anybody else who supports this president. i truly believe we will be followed by a romney oor a john mccain. twitter ads - om - president obama had a great year, only a physical is to destroy the democratic party. we'll hear next from curtis and our republican line. curtis, how are you? caller: pretty good. i don't think he has done well at all this year, or the previous years. some of these people are stating some opinions and they throw in a few facts, but they all be explained away. economy has the gotten better, as far as people because but that is the republican governors and the policies that they have implemented. the states - - the ones that have strong republican governors are doing

better, which is causing the overall picture to look at. and obama is getting the credit for it. the price of oil - - he has taken credit for the price of oil dropping. he has been an adamant opposer of anything. take keystone, for example, he will let them build keystone. he will let them do anything on any federal property. it is only because the state and private individuals have out and implemented fracking, and that has brought the oil prices down, and he is taking credit for it. when he came into office, the gas prices were a dollar sixty-nine a gallon. brought them down from where they were when he came into the office. the downturn in the economy lasted for eighteen months. this one has lasted six years. and, finally, six years later, it is starting to get a little bit better because of the

republicans. and they are taking credit saying, oh, everything is getting better. everything is getting better. host: that is curtis from alexandria. again, we are asking you folks to rate the president's year. caller mention keystone xl, a question that he was asked yesterday. [video clip] >> i don't think i have minimized the benefits, i think i have described the benefits. the issue of keystone is not it is canadian oil that is drawn other tar sands in canada. is being currently, shipped out through rail or trucks. it would save canadian oil

the canadian oil enormous amount of money if they could simply type it all the way through the united states down to the gulf. gets to the gulf, it is then entering into the world market. and it would be sold all around the world. i won't say no - - no - - there is very little impact. nominal impact. what the as prices - - average american consumer cares about by having this type i come through. host: again, that full press conference available for you on our website. we're asking you to give us your assessment of how you would rate the presidency or.

plainfield, new jersey. this is pierre. go ahead. obama at a ould put d in terms of a university professor. his impact does not have a direct impact, necessarily, on oil markets. as i have been traveling the u.s., i noticed a lot of fracking in north dakota. you can i get a hotel room, actually, because there are so many workers there. in terms of his economic grae it is very -- grade, it is very low. he has done nothing to reduce the deficit. the federal reserve bank has a lot to do with setting the economic policy. so if you look at the overall dollar worldwide

as a presidential have some ey can affect -- hhe can have some affect on foreign-policy. agree with the caller from virginia that congress does make it difficult for him to pass to certain agendas. last point - - a lot of the road projects, you see them coming to fruition now. host: the "washington post" has a look at cuba. the present making announcements this week about policies with cuba. senator rand paul and senator marco rubio are going back and the issues, as well. over cuba - - ap view of 2016, writing that rand backs president

obama's moves, accused senator marco rubio as being in oppositionist. he says he wants to retreat to perhaps, build , a moat. paul's comments came after cuban exiles n of who has stepped forward as a leading voice of resistance to obama's policy. here are some of the tweets. hey, marco rubio, if the embargo doesn't hurt cuba, why do you want to keep it? as well - - a treat the united states trade and with other communist nations, such as china and vietnam. so, marco rubio, why not cuba? joyce, hi. caller: hi. how are you? host: find, what you think about the president's year?

caller: considering that when he got into office - - as far as i am concerned - - things all screwed up anyway. i feel that he has done his best. it makes it so racial, aand i am not a racist person at all. i am african-american, but i'm not racist. it seems like everything towards this is so racist. you know, like the republicans. i don't hear too many african-american republicans come on this tv. i don't really here, i'm pretty sure other people don't, too. if we could all just get be ether and, you know, together as one and stop whining about, you know, democrat, republican, who is black and to his white. america would be a better country.

reading n is next on the presidents year. caller: what he has done since taking office is nothing short of miraculous. when he took office, i would head that we're taking a direction into another depression. southern republican until 1966, i was totally astonished at what has been accomplished. despite the committee for nonstop ires and attacks against him. this contest has been racist. it has been totally off-the-wall and unhinged. it has been the number one problem. situation ing at a where the democrats do not

stand up. they were so busy running scared this last race. host: jason is up next from pennsylvania. hi, jason. caller: hi. how are you today? host: i'm fine, jason. go ahead. caller: in the very beginning, i was not very supportive. but, you know, he has had a lot to deal with on his plate. his two terms, here. the ally feel as though republicans - - even though i am a republican - - that they could have done a better job to work with him in trying to get some of these issues resolved. particularly domestic issues. whether it is the border protection or the economy and so forth. also, we need more

good americans getting involved in the political circle. - - and in overall rating, done nk he has probably the best job that he could to work on who he had with and work against, if you will. he has u know, he -- really been called to the pulpit quite often. he really - - you know - - was truly guilty of. there was other people who should of taken up some fault with this. host: that is jason from pennsylvania. one of the things that the taking off id before for vacation was approve a federal pay raise for federal employees. the 1% pay raise guest: on their second mandatory wage increase in the past five years.

this marks the second year the president provided a raise for the federal workforce, after a three-year pay freeze. the 2014 increase was also 1%. rate the king you to presence year -- president's year. obama signed that the better fair pay act. five gop senators. you can add your own as you give your assessment of the year. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. kevin. kevin, go ahead. caller: thank you. at the end of the year, we should give out the silliest comments of the year.

the earlier republican caller should give t we the republican governors an award. that doesn't make any sense. who ge w. bush had people would ride shotgun for his plans. joe biden doesn't support obama at all. he is so timid. harry reid, when i hear him speak, he puts me to sleep. he should be reading children's books - - and i am a democrat. but we should stand behind this president. for example, after thirty-five years, i'm going out on my own to get health insurance. the affordable care act. a different situation, kevin, in congress next year. what do think next year will be like? caller: for the first time, out his going to break

veto pen because he they are going to push through things that he is not going to sign off on. he is not going to sign off by what one because, despite fox news says, it's going to create 30,000 jobs and lower gas prices by quarter. they keep changing the goalposts. it is not going to do any of that. you can tell by his tone, he is going to break out his veto pen. host: a republican senate and when the new ar congress comes in. we'll hear from incoming tom price of georgia, the republican. he joins us to talk about fiscal issues and the 114th congress. and whether the budget committee has the authority to repeal or alter the affordable care act. here are some of the conversation. [video clip] who don't know,

can you do something on the a photo care act to repeal it? >> as i mentioned, it was passed to the process of reconciliation. this is a give-and-take. it is a process that has to work through both the house and the senate, but also, the rules of both the house and the senate have to be adhered to. that we can le or improve eplace some things within obama care. whether or not we can repeal a e entire lot itself is point -- law itself is a point that is still under question. host: "newsmakers". you can see it tomorrow. that and other topics related to fiscal matters. am in the morning, and then again at 6:00 pm in the evening. petersburg, new hampshire.

joining affairs patrick. caller: hi, how are you? host: i'm good, thank you. caller: i just want to say that president obama year -- an a last for his last year, and basically overall. is working to - - he has can d to do the best he with the opposition. know, the senate leader who that his main int mission wwas to make sure that obama didn't get elected again. that is kind of a diversion from what the senate is supposed to be doing. host: so, patrick, you are giving him an a.

are there any specifics you you are t as to why giving him an a? yes, i think the affordable care act was passed before this past year. but i would deftly give him an a for that. and also for the way that he you know, handled the - - tthese situations with these other countries. like a lot of people say, he of these in some things, but like a previous color said, you know, we are not engaged in any wars or anything with these countries. know, the caller vietnam veteran

- - he said everything that i feel. and the one that made the what if mitt out romney, you know, what john mccain had been elected, with a have actually done a better job? host: angela from rocky mountain, north carolina. hi. caller: hi, how are you today? host: i am well, thanks. go ahead. caller: based on what i've seen over the years, president obama - - i would probably give him a b. because i'm a hard grader, first of all. but based on what he had to endure, he came in an inherited this from the beginning. he has managed to still make some things happen for us here. the unemployment rate is not as high as it was before. he has no support from congress. there is no unity.

- how can anyone - anyone be able to work a job if you have no support? it is not a one-man show. because there's so much division, iif we can just all together as a people, as a country, then i know that we can be able to see the great difference. of such a division, the country cannot grow. the country cannot be the great country that history books have said that we were. and yet we, as a country, as a ourselves - to ask - why are there so much division here in this country? mean, i - - i am not a racist, but all the racial wars the are going on within united states itself is something that needs to be addressed. host: if you're just joining us, we are asking you to rate the president's ear.

he is headed for a two-week vacation in hawaii. how would you rate it? the numbers are on your screen. the u.s. federal government is our rating system with colleges. saying the administration said friday it is considering a system, i should say, that would measure whether graduates can earn enough money when leaving school to be above the poverty level. they are weighing a proposal to set an earnings benchmark that it calls " substantial employment". that could be 200% of the level or a multiple of the full-time minimum-wage projected over a year. the department said that the information could be a basis

for rating a school's " labor market success". trying to ment is figure out whether former students are able to pay their bills, pay their student loans, and began to get on in life. " we are not out to measure colleges that make people rich", he said. good morning to patricia. go ahead. caller: good morning. i would just like to say that obama has done a wonderful job. and he needs to be more respected by the american people. i don't understand - - tries to do, e someone knocks him. and that is just not fair. so let's all work together and be as one people. and stop looking at each other on color.

let's forget about color. have a great country, and we can all stand together and be as one and love one another. host: james from tennessee. the independent line. good morning. caller: hi. my name is james. thanks for taking my call. i think the president has done a great job this year. and to be fair, when he came into office, he was called a lie from the beginning. and that came from the republicans. they haven't tried to work with this man on nothing. it is - - re what immigration, nothing. cuba? they blame him, but the pope set it up. so let's bring that. of t: from the front page

york times" - - the idea of how to respond to north korea, especially in light of the sony pictures attack. the president vows a response cyber attack on sony, saying that if he makes good on it, it be the first time the united states has been known to cyber attack or explicitly accuse the leaders of a foreign nation. until now, the most aggressive response was the largely indictment of the members of the chinese army earlier this year. president's determination turn t was a remarkable to in hollywood backbiting has the stealing of personal emails. story taking ow-up

a look specifically at sony. it features - - you may remember the former senator from connecticut, chris dodd. york ry in the "new times", as well, featuring his that it finally steps closely into the public spotlight, but the strongly worded condemnation of the hacking. christopher dodd, the chief executive, called to the assault a despicable, criminal act. disappointingly, the situation than a movie's release or the contents of someone's private emails. bronx, new york. joe is up next on our democrats line. caller: how you doing? host: fine, thank you. caller: pedro, please let me complete the statement.

first of all, i give this president an a plus. down to its lowest -- gas is down to its lowest. second, the unemployment rate is down to 5.9%. is at its market highest. i want this democrat to use this would in america again. when george bush took office, unemployment rate was 4.2%. if he had done anything close done in this man had six years, unemployment would be at least 2.0%. host: from our republican line, joseph. hi. caller: good morning, sir. thank you taking my call, sir. i would like to start out by the ng that, first of all,

president is called the leader of the free world. so in order to grade him, i would start off on his leadership. i keep hearing callers that are saying again and again that he had to help. he had no help. everybody was against him. leader, why doesn't everybody - - the house passed over 500 bills, and sent to the senate. the h, of course, democratic lead senate never brought them to the floor to even be heard. as a leader, shouldn't he have and said - - excuse me, can't we try to work together here? host: tthat is joseph from fort lauderdale, florida. you may remember back in 2001, series of anthrax mailings

here in washington d.c. there has been an analysis. - e headline of that - inquiry in anthrax had gaps, report says. it echoes earlier criticisms of the national academy of sciences. panel found expert did not analysis definitely demonstrate a from link between the mailed anthrax spores and a sample that was from doctor bruce ivan's laboratory. it was not as conclusive as the bureau has asserted. finding that the bureau's lacked several importing characteristics that could have strengthened its case. the y scientific gap, says seventy-seven page report, was the bureau's failure to samples ate whether it

of anthrax spores could naturally mutate enough to obscure their putative links to doctor ivins. how would you rate the president year? this is monique. caller: i just want is a really republican guy said that congress passed over 500 bills. were healthcare repealing bills. would give grade, i him an a. prices down, s more kids graduating from high school and going to college, stock market has doubled, affordable care act, employment the deficit is interest rates are low, break rant increase, tax for middle income businesses, immigration, cuba. they say that he was weak to

russia. look at the economy now. come on, seriously. host: marquez next from california, the independent line. hi. caller: hi, how are you doing? host: fine, go ahead. caller: i give the president a poor rating. from the way i look at it, i reelected how he got the second time. the problem is all the are hiring hat illegals - - iif the government wants to do something about it, enforce laws on employers who hire illegals, and that will secure the border coming to the country who can get a job. if you can get a job, can have money, you'll come here. host: so immigration is a top rating why you gave him a poor rating. are there other things besides immigration for your reasons? caller: well, you look at the

country itself - - as a commander in chief, i think he is doing a poor job. if the united states and christians in america really want to look at problems in the world, you have to look at north korea. if people don't have a freedom of choice and you are suppressing them to the point where they cannot even choose what religion they want, how this world, in modern times, go forward with our lives were these people are living in these poor conditions today? host: let's hear from joe. joe is in north carolina on our independent line. caller: good morning, how are you? host: good, thanks. caller: i guess i would have to give the president a poor rating, as well. have all ous colors our congress -- callers have all been upset with our congress and the president dealing with them. but i would like to remind everybody that we've had a democratic senate for the past

six years - - his entire term, thus far, has been a democratic senate. the house has been running with having gotten ily anything done. our congress hasn't gotten anything done. and, you know, a poor rating overall. again with that is he doesn't take a position on anything. at our foreign policy, our domestic policy - - he has not taken a position on anything. host: let's take one more call. from texas, kai. hello. caller: hi. i think the president deserves - - an a+.ting joseph said that the 500 bills he never signed, that was just up the healthcare act. you know, to repeal it. guy mark was saying that

the government has been suppressed by the president, and we should be looking to other countries. think that the president did a great job throughout the adversities he had to go through. is top - - what is top on that list, though, as far as accomplishments? caller: i think of the affordable health care act. i really do. i think i am grateful for him. host: that is kai from texas. we are going to change topics and talk about the use of executive action by the president. the white house says the cautiously used executive orders, but according a "usa today" analysis, he is also using something called presidential mmemoranda. gregory korte joins us to talk

about us. later on, we will learn about the loan industry. mike calhoun of the senate for responsible lending will join us for that discussion. as "washington journal" continues after this. >> here are some of the programs will find this weekend. c-span, at 9:30 pm on actor seth rogen discussing politics and humor at the harvard institute of politics. pm, ay evening at 8:00 author katie pavlich is what she sees as the liberals war on rhetoric.

and william deresiwcz says that universities are missing the mark on educating. tv visits west lafayette, indiana to visit several of the city's authors. history tv" on n at 6:00 pm day eastern, and talk about the soldier patrick cleburne and the battle of franklin. a 1974 investigative piece kron tv on cisco's polices brutality in neighboring oakland. let us know what you think the programs you're watching. call us, email us, oor send us a tweet. join the c-span conversation. like us on facebook. follow us on twitter.

this week on "q&a", katie pavlich on what she perceives as the hypocrisy of liberals. what is your problem of ted kennedy? >> well, this goes back to, like i said, where this idea the the book came from - - 2012 dnc convention where they were showing this tribute video because he had passed away. a women's ing him as rights champion, when he left a young woman to drown in his car. and if he had not gone back for nine hours to save his own behind, she would've probably survived. you can't do an entire video at claiming to be preaching and fighting the war glorify someone like that, wwhile not included as part of his life in a video about his women's rights record.

>> sunday night at 8 o'clock eastern and pacific. to mark ten years of "q&a", we are hearing one program for each year starting december 22 at 7:00 pm eastern. >> "washington journal" continues. reporter gory korte, from "usa today", joins us today. do we know about this type of action, normally? gguest: it is lower order, but it is very similar to executive orders. and they are a form of executive action the president to accomplish things. host: so walk us through how it works. signed by they are the president and published in the federal register. the federal register is the

official proceedings - - and that is what gives it its legal weight. executive orders are usually used to organize the federal government. so for example, the president yesterday a just federal order granting employs a 1% raise next year. a memoranda is usually more regulatory in nature. uses them ent often to begin a rulemaking process. will tell an agency - - we need student own relief to people so that they don't have than 10% of their income on federal student loan payments. signed a presidential memoranda saying - - work out the details of that, but this is what i want you to do. in a state of the union speech a myra - , he proposed - a retirement vehicle for low income workers. he did that in a presidential memoranda.

so these are things that, while a e present to memoranda is little more low-profile, the connection have a huge impact. it sounds interchangeable with executive orders. guest: presidential scholars call these presidential orders by another name. they are used somewhat differently. if you're going to amend a previous president executive order, you are going to do that bby executive order. a you're going to counter previous executive memoranda, you're going to do that by presidential memoranda. so there are some nuance things about how they use them. host: how often does president obama used the memoranda approach, rather than the executive order approach? guest: so far - - we are coming six years - - he has issued 198 presidential memoranda's.

he has issued a couple this week. so one more memoranda - - i am working to the plurals of the language of this - - he has issued one more. and he is the first president, by the way, to have more memoranda and executive orders. has issued more memoranda's than any other president in history. used it more aggressively than any other president. host: is it transparent? could the average person go and find out what type of memoranda has been issued? know where to look. these are hiding in plain sight. covers the white house will get an email from the white house every time he issues one. all on the ey are public white house site, and federal d in the

register - - the formal place where all these things are published. talked about the frequency - - what does this about the president's power when it comes to using this type of approach? seeing well, we are president obama increasingly become a - - increasingly is the sort of unilateral action to get around congress. he came into office - - and skeptical ama, he was of the use of unilateral executive power. but he has now had six years of experience working with against - - for years a republican congress, and we're going into the next congress - - entirely republican. so he has become more comfortable with these forms of presidential power. can - - he's ttrying to work, he says, within the existing framework.

and executive orders give him al memoranda the discussion to figure out something. he is going within that framework to work on issues on issues ration, like cuba, on issues like gun safety. all these are areas where he has used his executive authority to accomplish something without having to go to congress. host: our guest: follows all these topics and more, and is here to talk to you about that. if you have questions for him, about the story from "usa today". 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. and ask our to call

guest, gregory korte. he talked about immigration, you talked about these big issues. go through a mally memoranda, or an executive action? guest: again, defining the terms. an executive memoranda are anything he can do himself. anything that is regulatory in nature, generally a presidential memoranda. so some of the more talk oversial thing to about - - when congressional republicans are criticizing obama for going alone or using his unilateral executive action, that has usually actually been in a presidential memoranda. the executive orders are things like sanctions. again, he issued one earlier this month to give federal employees the day after christmas off. these are important things

within the federal government, bbut the more far-reaching things are often done by presidential memoranda. host: and i suppose that, with a republican congress next year, we see even more of this type of action? guest: we could. all we have to do is look back at president clinton. president clinton started to memoranda very aggressively to prod agencies into engaging certain kinds of regulations that president clinton wanted done. the use of banning advertising with tobacco to minors. was something that president clinton did in a memoranda. and in the last two years of the clinton administration, called the mething podesta project, wwhere the white house was actually going and saying - cies - what can we do without going to congress so that the last two years of the presidency are not a complete waste? interesting to see

whether president obama follows that clinton model. a w he feels liberated, little less constrained. there is no more midterm elections. host: we will hear from callers. this is john from virginia beach, virginia. go ahead. caller: yes. that was - - that was his way to get around congress because congress wasn't doing anything. host: okay. our et around congress, is viewers - - i guess the white house would it look at it that way. or would they? guest: we heard the other day that the president is not shy in using executive action. he gave congress two years to get something accomplished on immigration. the senate passed a bill that he was very t said

patient with the house and the space they needed. that he gave rday them all the space they needed. i got nothing. so that is why i use my unilateral - - he set out congress, but ugh without that, i'm going to have to use tools like presidential memoranda to get something done. host: thank you for the segway a little bit of talk about the use of presidential memoranda. [video clip] generally speaking, presidential memoranda are often used with more technical issues. executive orders, therefore, are more sweeping. i would readily concede that this president has orders and ive executive memoranda to try and move the country forward as much as you possibly can. action on is taking climate change, fixing - -

adding some accountability to our broken immigration system, oor even relaxing some of the failed the restriction policies a relates to cuba, the president has taken a number of steps to move the country forward. i recognize that this is the thing done over objection of many members of congress. is , frankly, a lot of this done it because congress is refusing to act. host: anything to add to that? guest: he was characterizing executive orders as being at a level than presidential memoranda. the scholars that i have talked to say that that is not always the case. it can be the case, but it is not always. like at examples - - the immigration executive action he is taking is being done to present a memoranda. and those are just a sweeping

as any executive order. host: here is jasper, georgia. gary is on our independent line. caller: good morning. now that the president is using is hookedorders, he up with the 2012 videos, taking the dream away from the black people and giving it to latinos. will he be moving to brazil pretty soon because of the project he has going, and the epa -- will they give him control of the ocean, the next step in their playbook? guest: not one word of that question made any sense to me. i am sorry. host: michigan. independent line. caller: good morning to you. president obama has as many -- has the right to use as many executive orders as he wants to

simply because the do-nothing congress has the lowest rating for passing bills in the last 50 years or so and as far as executive orders go, president obama has not issued half as many as president bush, clinton, or previous presidents. here is the bottom line -- whatever president obama does, the congress is not going to go along with it. these next two years with them controlling the congress will be miserable for middle-class americans. the top 10% will continue to do ll. my advice is president obama issues an executive order whenever he feels it is necessary because congress will not do a single thing to help or assist him. it is that simple. to be point-blank, there is only one reason -- when you look at all of the other 44 presidents

that have been in office, 43 presidents, all of them have been white. the caller makes some points worth going through. one is he says president obama has issued fewer executive orders than any president in the last 100 years or so -- i think you have to go back to grover cleveland. that is actually true. when you talk about executive orders -- the number orders most of you are familiar with, executive order 11 030 is the executive order that dictates how executive orders are done. it has a number. we sort of know what they are. that is true. he has listed fewer of those than any president in the last 100 years, but presidential memoranda, he has issued more than any president in u.s. history, and when you combine those, as we discussed, they are

virtually indistinguishable, he is more active than predecessors. host: off of twitter -- congress randomly -- seldom used this in session. were memoranda available? isst: the interesting thing there is not necessarily a correlation of unilateral action when congress is not available. as a matter of fact, you see a spike of executive orders and presidential memoranda when congress is passing a lot of bills because the president has guidanceent, and give to executive agencies about how to do that -- he can do that in a signing statement, executive order, memoranda, or silently through back channels. we think a form of unilateral action is going around congress, but they can always be used going with congress. you often see a lot of them at the beginning of an

administration. why is that? a new president, especially a new president of a new party will go and undo the executive orders of his predecessor. we have seen this back-and-forth, most notably with the mexico city policy, the policy president reagan established, which said no u.s. foreign aid should go to any nongovernmental agency that provides abortion services. president reagan adopted that. the first president bush cap that. clinton reversed it. second president bush brought it back, and obama reversed it again. a phrase --id silent and back channel -- what did you mean by that? guest: executive orders and presidential memoranda are not the only way the president can get something done. he is the president. he can call the secretary of

education, the secretary of the interior and say this is what i want done, but presidential -- executive orders and presidential memoranda are as much political tools as they are executive tools. so, what will happen -- and we saw this on immigration -- on immigration the president announced something like 19 executive actions. some of them were pretty small bore. things them were department of homeland security were looking at doing anyway, relatively minor tweaks of regulations. done isgoing to be normally going to be done at the cabinet-secretary level. he also issued two presidential memoranda that were the umbrella policies of those, and those were the presidential actions. in addition to presidential memoranda, the president is not just saying it is a low-level regulatory issue going on, this

is the president making this policy and i stand by it. host: nick from tennessee. independent line. me start by saying -- if i may embellish one of the presidents remarks, i am one of bibles,at clings to guns, his wallet, and the constitution. let's go to the constitution. the president said numerous times he cannot go and do such -- such because it is a against the constitution and then he signs an executive order that defies his own words he was -- that he does all of the time because he is a student of saul linsky and he has al sharpton up there, who is a found. anyhow -- thug.

anyway, my problem is the media. they do not call him on this. they are in his pocket. it is dangerous. he can do no wrong. he can say no lie. he can say four brave men died in benghazi and it was because of video, and it is nonstop. sir, you and the media, you people need to get aggressive about this. the fair, of course. take it out on a republican. i have my issues with them, too, but the reason he gets away with this -- we are on the road to tyranny, and it started in 1913 with the federal income tax. host: thank you, nick. guest: i think it is fair to say that president obama's views on the use of executive action have evolved during his presidency. as a senator, he seemed to be

skeptical of president bush's use of executive power, particularly with torture memos and how he was using executive power to wage the war on terror. he has six years of experience and maybe that has colored his experience with congress. he is also a constitutional law professor, so maybe he has, sort of, figured out the nuances of this and has satisfied himself that he can work within the law. the second question is something i hear a lot -- the role of the media, specifically the white house press corps. my know, i will defend colleagues in the press corps. i think there are many of us who try to ask as many questions as , but asn as forceful respectful away as we can. be all of the answers are to found in a presidential news conference, and this is something -- what we are talking

about today -- is something the president does not always telegraph in a news conference -- this distinction between executive orders and presidential memoranda, but it is very important. so, what i try to do as a white house reporter is look at the output -- not just what the president says, but what he does. in my mind that is just as important for the media to look at. host: the topic of executive action came up yesterday. here is a little bit from the president. [video clip] >> the question is going to be if executive actions on areas like minimum wage, or equal pay, or having a more sensible , areration system important to republicans, if they care about those issues, and the executive actions are bothering them, there is a simple solution, and that is passed bills. work with me to make sure that i'm willing to sign those bills. both sides are going to have to compromise on most issues in

order for their initiatives to become law. i am going to have to sign off. that means they have to take into account the issues that i care about, just as i am going to have to take into account the issues that they care about. host: mr. korte? guest: the president is talking about his legislative role as the president. he has the power to veto and propose legislation. he has done both. what we are talking about here is executive action -- the things he does without having to go through legislation. what we are seeing here is the president using this executive action as a lever to try to get congress to do something -- to say, "look, if you do not want to pass an immigration bill, the alternative is not the status quo. i am going to make a different alternative. i will change the calculation to

prod you into action." host: california. mary is joining us on our independent line. go ahead. go ahead, you are on. but i: i am not mary, wanted to say talking about this immigration and this type of stuff -- they talk about social security, but i realize there are a lot of people in this country receiving social security that have not paid into the system at all. he did the immigration thing -- let's move on to michael, fredericksburg, virginia, republican line. caller: how are you gentlemen doing this morning? host: fine, thank you. no ahead. caller: i want to agree with the media where he said the

is dangerous. it is dangerous and it is utter bull shit. >> --host: you are next talking to a gregory korte. caller: i live in minneapolis and i have been a student of yearscs since i was 11 old and my father ran for office in a small town of diamond bluff and lost the election. , myself, and my brother are world travelers, world war ii veterans. -- gettingent obama into the cuba thing, and i can remember back to batista, and what's his name came into power -- i cannot remember everything because i'm getting over a tbi, but what happened was -- host: to the topic of the of executivese

action, do you have a question on that? caller: no, that i have a statement. host: we will leave it there. guest: cuba is another area where the president has used executive action. we have not seen what form that will take. there has been suggestions that we will see changes in how they issue licenses for people to travel to cuba, commerce legislation -- regulations, homeland security regulations. we do not know what form that will take. that is a somewhat different animal because we traditionally give the president more latitude on the conduct of foreign affairs. he has the power to appoint ambassadors. he has to do that with the budget congress gives him, so we will see an interesting showdown as the president tries to appoint an ambassador, to see if he can get the ambassador confirmed, and also located on

the see if the congress is not appropriate the money to do so. there are some constraints, but generally in foreign policy we do not see as much of this residential memoranda because the president has inherent power to conduct foreign affairs. host: can you walk us in the process of how presidential memoranda comes to be guest:? -- comes to be? guest: it is interesting to we think of it as coming down from the oval office, on stone tablets as an order of what to do. oftentimes, they come from the bottom up. agencies will want to do something, they will want the president to sign off, and sometimes it might be a turf war between two different agencies, a different opinion, and they want the president to break the tie. proposed by cabinet secretaries often. they go to the office of management and budget, they send them to the justice department

for legal review -- does the president have the legal authority in the constitution to do what he wants to do? then, the justice department will send it to the white house. the white house counsel will deliberate. senior advisers will weigh in. the president will either sign it or not sign it. it would be fascinating to know how much its proposed that we never even hear about because the president does not sign them. once he signs them, he will send them to the federal register to be published and that gives them the force of law. host: when he gets the document on his desk, is that the first time he is looking at it or has he had the heads up as to what is coming down the pike? guest: i do not know the inner imaginations -- i'm sure they know what is coming. a lot of times it is a back-and-forth. the president will talk to his cabinet saying what can we do on

immigration. we saw this play out earlier this year. he went to his attorney general and secretary of homeland security and said what can we do on immigration? so, he had advisers working this up. there was a lot of back and forth. it took all summer. he delayed it until after the election and he got a report on what actions he could take and send the presidential memoranda. host: gregory korte from "usa today" joining us to talk about presidential memoranda. betty. florida. democratic line. i am concerned about what president obama did about the cubans. he does not understand, the cubans run miami. people are afraid to go to miami. the same thing with immigration -- the drug laws over here. they sell dope, and they will shoot in a minute. i cannot understand why he did

not wait on that. it is like al sharpton, martin luther king, all of them, they were talking about education. well, when lincoln freed the slaves, we were promised five acres of land and we did not get any of that. why are they trying to get cubans and immigration, but they never say anything about the blacks. they gave the indians all of this money. host: we will leave it there. democrats line. dayton, ohio. yes, in my experience with the negotiation process, it is normally broken when you have to do a unilateral action. still, it is the right of executives to do that, but my question would be what do you think it says about the legislative process if the president has to frequently do these-- frequently do

unilateral actions? thanks. guest: it is broken. clearly we have an unproductive congress. we saw a spate of bills passed of thewaning days congress. the president signed, maybe, 50 bills this week. it is not the least productive congress in history, but relatively unproductive, and that is that -- that is exactly the reason why president obama says he is using executive action to get things done. he has two terms as president. eight years maximum to get something done. he cannot wait. he is now out of time. he does not have the luxury of another democratic congress to get anything done legislatively. he has to work with the republican congress or do it by himself. host: j sanders off of twitter asks what can congress do to stop executive action? guest: there are a number of things, none of which are easy. one is a resolution of

disapproval, which is sort of like a the dow, but it is a resolution that would have to be passed like any other law means the president could he tell -- i.to tif you get two thirds of each chamber of congress say we want to strike down what the president is doing, they could strike it down. that is just looking at the map, not going to happen. things, defund certain but it seems congress has a dilemma here because it is difficult to defund and enforcement. so, congress has passed a continuing resolution funding the government for the rest of next year except for the department of homeland security. homeland security, they have only funded through february because they do not want to give the president the money to enforce his immigration executive action. the problem there, it seems to me, is how du not -- if you do not think the president is informing -- enforcing

immigration laws strongly enough, how do you defund whatever enforce and passion for said he is doing? it is a difficult dilemma for republicans. randy from south carolina. independent line. caller: all americans expect the president to do what he can to move the country forward. why haven't republicans try to prove he was abusing his power? an executive makes order they say he is abusing his power, yet they do not try to prove he is doing anything illegal. i hear congressional republicans all the time say the president is abusing his power. you do not necessarily -- you really have to look at that on a case-by-case basis. so, a lot of we talked about is the sheer number of the presidential memoranda that the president has issued. that is not necessarily say anything about whether or not

they are legal, whether they are constitutional, pushing the envelope as far as what presidents are allowed to do through executive action. certainly, immigration is one republicans believe he is exceeding his authority. there are immigration laws, particularly on work visas, work permits. it is particularly problematic in that the law says how those are issued and the president cannot issue them in violation of the law congress passed. host: from ohio, farouk. independent line. you are on with gregory korte. caller: i want to tell you a few things about mr. obama's credibility. i am from the middle east. syrians dead,000 he 12 million refugees and

shot the gun on iraq without congress approval. in the majority of most of the middle east he has no credit and i feel sorry for any american soldiers to be used by him. according to cornell west, the back -- the black philosopher, he said president obama is the wall street president, and he is spying through national security on the chancellor of western germany. if you are my colleague, do i spy on you? host: thank you, caller. philip from kentucky. republican line. caller: hi. how are you? host: fine, go ahead. caller: i have two questions. the first question to mr. korte

is do you think there will be sle crossing by the democrats in spite of the action since the november election -- they are doing with a lame-duck president that might not help their best interest in congress. secondly, when you are sitting in the room with josh earnest and asking questions, or you hear others ask questions, do you ever wonder why there is not the logical follow-up question that comes from another reporter? that is it. thanks. i guess i will take the second one last. there is a lot of follow-up. reporters are able often to

follow up on their own questions, and you also have, very frequently, other reporters follow up on other reporters questions. we will try to attack it from a number of different angles, ask the question a number of different ways. you will see this especially in the front row where the tv networks sit. each tv network wants to have their question be the one they use on the nightly news. so, you will often get josh earnest getting questions from a number of different angles. josh earnest is also a very good press secretary in terms of reflecting the message his boss wants to express every day, so he comes in there with certain talking points, and he is very difficult to push off of those talking points. we can ask the. i think people expect a "perry mason" moment where the question will be asked to elicit the

emission that what they have been doing is all wrong, and in our political system it does not work that way. the best we can hope for is to get them to explain why they are doing what they are doing and why it is a good idea. as far as aisle crossing, it is possible. we've already seen on the keystone pipeline, we may see it on immigration, a number of areas -- democrats that are going to be up for reelection in 2016, democrats who may have higher aspirations -- on difficult issues you might have democrats in certain states that cannot support the president on a certain issue. the interesting thing is there are fewer and fewer of those democrats. we do not have as many conservative, southern democrats as we used to, and those were ckedones that most often bu president obama. back to press conferences

-- what do you think about yesterday, all female reporters asking questions? have gottenld not the chance to asking a question because of my dna, but i -- thed the congress press conference the president had after the november election, it was mostly, if not all, television reporters and i do not think there was a single print reporter able to ask a question in november. revenge of the print reporters yesterday. it is a friendly rivalry. we each have our different needs. my bias as a print reporter is to generally ask more substantive questions. sometimes it is not as much about the theater of the asking of the question, as much as much as it is with the tv reporters, who have their own needs and i

understand that. i thought it was perfectly fine. host: robert from maryland. independent line. i wonders, mr. korte, if you would feel the same way if a republican got into office and decided he did not want to enforce the affirmative action laws that are basically government-funded racism and he decided also if to say abortion was unconstitutional and suspended that action, and i wonder if you would have the nerve to ask that republican president that question. if you believe the cr youapp's you spit out -- this is not a monarchy. we do not have a king. he thinks is a congress -- king. why don't you say he does not make law? if this was a republican president, you would not stand

for this for a second. no question that both democratic and republican presidents have used executive orders and presidential memoranda. often times it is not about the tool the president is using, but the policy he is instituting. people who are opposed to president obama's policies are going to be opposed to the tools he uses to amend those policies. people who were opposed to president bush's policy were opposed to the tools he used to establish those policies. president bush did not invent signing statements, but use them aggressively in signing bills to express to the executive branch hech provision of that bill wanted to be in force in a particular way. these are all presidential tools. they do not belong to presidents of either party. point i will concede the

there is a real debate, a legitimate debate, i think, about the role of the president vis-a-vis congress, the separation of powers -- whose job it is to pass laws, to enforce those laws, but there is also a lot of nuance here. congress passes law, but cannot tell the president how to enforce. what we have on immigration is the president expressing his desire to enforce the law, use -- prosecutor told prosecutor discretion and you may disagree with that policy. there are many unintended consequences, perhaps, but that may or may not be a legitimate use of presidential executive action. host: ingrid from washington, d c, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my

call. i would like to ask would it have been possible for president publico implement a option health care for federal employees, and my comment is going back to earlier, i would has not a c, because he been bad, but across the board he has failed when he had the ability to really use his power. he fell short on the bank bailouts, on numerous things. i would say i have the opposite view of farouk on the middle east. i think whatever problems there are, they cannot be solved by fermenting violent conduct in both syria and the ukraine. guest: could the president use an executive order or other aecutive action to allow

public option for government employees? first, i guess the question does not make a lot of sense because government employees get employer-based health care benefits, just like you or i would through our employers. their employer just happens to be the federal government. care, weea of health have not seen executive orders on that. a delay in the employer mandate. that is a form of executive action. more thorny issue because that involves the power of the purse, and the congress does have -- i think, a smaller than perhaps a doing -- law enforcement .ill

-- does the president we can? president builds on the toolbox he gets from his predecessors. signing statements, executive orders, every president inherits this toolbox. each president pushes the envelope a little more, and we have seen more and more power to the presidency. doesn't diminish him that he has to use these? hedoes it diminish him that has to use this? throughout history you have andslative presidents executive presidents. i think of lyndon johnson as a legislator president. the power lyndon johnson had was in strong-arming the civil rights act or medicare and medicaid through congress, not through his use of executive power, but he had a democratic congress to work with.

this president does not have a democratic congress to work with. he is left with the tools he has left and those are executive actions. host: gregory korte who covers ,"e white house for "usa today wrote a story about the use of presidential memoranda. thank you for your time. we will change topics and talk about short-term loans generally known as payday loans. it could seem a good idea, but michael calhoun of the center for responsible lending says there are things you could consider. in the new year there are changes to the u.s. postal service that could costs jobs. we will hear from mark later as "the washington journal" continues after this. >> here are some of the programs you will find this weekend.

actor and seth rogen discussing humor at the harvard institute of politics. sunday, katie pavlik on what she perceives as the hypocrisy of liberals with their war on women rhetoric. 10:00pan2 tonight at that the topument universities are missing the mark in education and students should learn lessons in how to think critically, be creative, and have a goal in life beyond the material. sunday, booktv visits west lafayette indiana to interview authors and toward literary sites. on american history tv on c-span 3, today at 6:00 p.m. eastern, history and damien shields talks about the life of irish american soldier patrick cleburne.

sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m., a 1974 investigative piece by san kron tv on the history of police who talent in neighboring oakland. find our schedule on c-span.org and let us know about the programs you are watching. 202-6 26-3400,- or e-mail us. join the c-span conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. thank you day, katie pavlik shot on what she perceives as the hypocrisy of liberals. >> what is your problem back to create number four, as you say, ted kennedy. >> the idea where this book came from, the dnc convention where

they were showing the tribute he hado him because passed away, and portraying him as a women's rights champion when he left a young woman to drown in his car, and if he had not gone back for nine hours to try to save his own behind, she would have probably survived. you cannot do an entire video at a convention claiming to be preaching on fighting about the war on women and glorifying someone like that well not including that part of his life in a video about his women's rights record. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. the 10-year history, we are airing one program each year starting december 22 on c-span. >> "washington journal" continues. us now is michael calhoun, president for the center of responsible learning -- the center for responsible lending.

tell us about the center and what it does. guest: we are policy groups have study consumer issues but we come at it from an interesting view because we are an affiliate of a community development lender that offers wide range financial products -- everything from checking accounts, small loans, mortgage loans, business we seeto consumers, so it from both sides. we understand what it is like to be there providing the credit and we generally support -- our goal is access to affordable credit for family so they can move ahead financially. by a it is supported single lender? our policy group gets funding from foundations. payday lending -- walk us

through what it is. guest: someone walks through one of the storefronts -- you see them around. there are more of them than mcdonald's and burger king's. to get a loan they will write a post-dated check dated to the next payday. for $355, theyck had a $55 fee, the average, but it is due on your next payday, typically two weeks from them, and the challenge is on your next payday, you have your check so you can pay them, but for most of the borrowers, it does not leave them with enough money to pay the basic necessities, so the payday lender says fine, no problem. andjust give me another $55 come back to weeks from now. weeks,fter a couple of people have dug themselves in so deep of a whole it is very hard to get out, and these loans

carried 400% interest. that is if you keep rolling it you --host: that is where keep rolling it over. where thet is business model is. almost 90% of the people that have a loan, it started off as done, buto do one and it turned out all of the money is in keeping people hooked up. there was a recent study that found most of the loans, it orolves people that had 10 more loans without a break at all. that is where the money is. you keep taking that heavy andrest out every two weeks what started as a quick fix becomes a long-term financial crisis. host: supporters would say you have the 400% interest, but if they are only for one or two weeks, you are talking about 15% on what you are borrowing. if it is only for two

weeks, but that is very few of the loans. the average borrower 69 or more loans out. -- borrower takes nine or more loans. host: who uses this service? guest: it is targeted with at people with modest incomes. interestingly, the payday members also targeted military members that are on relatively modest salaries. my son is in the military. he flies helicopters for the army. you go to one of these basis -- with and they are reamed payday lenders. congress steps in because it was affecting troop readiness and they put a cap. they said you could not charge folks more than 30% interest on these loans.

payday lenders came up with around the rule, so right now the department of defense is tightening of the rules to protect servicemembers. host: is this industry regulated? guest:guest: it is regulated, generally, right now, at the state level. they come into state legislatures, and they generally need to get an exception and they come in with this "it is not really interest, it is just a one-time fee," but processing loans gets people in traps where it becomes 400% interest. the average borrower is in this loan for more than half of the year. it is not a one and done model. states have started to crack down on it. also at the federal level, the new consumer bureau is looking at providing protections for all working families building on what is being done right now for military members. the topic is payday loans.

the guest, michael calhoun from the center for responsible lending. you have heard about how this lending works. you may have questions. here are the numbers us or send us an e-mail on this subject. if a person is involved in a loan, what happens if they default -- what happens if they never come back to get the re-up, yet they all money -- owe money? guest: they are holding a live check that they can keep depositing and even eventually it crashes and burns your bank account.

one version of these payday loans -- instead of taking a paycheck, they take a title to your car if you do not have another leaning on it, and they also take another set of keys. again, high interest, the loan do in a lump sum. then they come and take your car. for most people, that is how they get to work. that is the most problematic. detailsme of the include the typical interest criteria for the borrower, which means it not have to come with anything but a blank check in hand? you look at the advertisements on tv and they will say no credit check, you need an account at a bank or a job. one fourth of the people that get the loans are retired or on social security and they are vulnerable to getting caught up in this trap because those people are stretching the dollars trying to get by at that point. host: the typical borrow, four

loan. in fees for a $350 calhoun, you are backed by a consumer lending service. why not go to a typical bank for these kinds of loans? -- goodhere are did alternatives. a high-cost credit card is 1/10 of the interest rate and you get more time. community banks and credit unions provide these loans at much more reasonable cost. so do installment lenders. qualifyle who cannot for those, utilities offer installment plans. even a pawnshop is better because it is far cheaper and offers a way out. the thing they get people with is it is so easy. a bunch of them will say first loan free -- we will not charge you any interest on the first loan because they know and all

the studies show if they can get you in there for two were three loans, you will have a difficult time getting out of this. will regular institutions do loans as small as $300, $400? guest: credit unions will. credit cards you can buy in advance whatever it in nomination you want. this industry sprouted up in the last 20 years on the premise that they were not really loans, they were one and done, and that turned out to be not how it worked out. it has been a bad experiment and states have systematically been going back to putting protections on these because a lot of states try these out and since 2005 the states have said enough -- we are not going to do more of this, and they started to put protections on these loans. host: he will talk about how the federal government looks at this, but first calls. come. florida.

you are on for our guest michael calhoun. caller: good morning. how are you doing this morning? guest: well, thank you. caller: i am caught in this payday loan trap, if you will. sayrest rates are 400%, so i am getting $1100 a month on disability, and i am spending in interest application fees and loans and that payback stuff, if i were to recoup that -- how would that work? receipts andyour then you work to turn these things back into recoup losses? guest: i am sorry you are caught in that and you might be in the situation a lot of families find themselves -- they get far behind on one payday loan and they are so desperate they have to go to a second or third

payday lender at the same time to keep up with the first loan and every payday they are running from payday lender to payday lender. to be clear, these laws would be forward-looking only, so they would stop what they could do for future loans, but they would, unfortunately, not generate refunds for the people that have been trapped now. the best thing to do is find anyway -- a lot of charities will even work with people -- in fact, that is how this problem became known in many ways -- charity started to see a flood of people coming in, food --tries and things like that they find that payday loans drive a lot of people to them because you have to make the check good. you have to make the check good, it even if you cannot put groceries on the table, but whatever you can do, get out of them because they are financial quicksand and the more time goes on the deeper you get in. bruce in host:

alabama. caller: good morning. my question is what type of a tax base do these loan associations bring into the state, federal, etc. -- how did the states get any money out of them? at the state level they are regulated, and some pay some fees, there have been a number of studies to show that these companies actually vacuum money out of local economies. most of the payday lenders are they -- big wall street firms traded on wall street, publicly owned. a lot of these -- there are more payday lenders than mcdonald's or burger king across the country. and big conglomerates, pulling money out of local communities and leaving them worse off as well as leaving the families

themselves worse off. regularo harm businesses because they jump in the front -- you asked what happens to the person that cannot pay it back -- not only do they crash and lose their bank account, but they cannot pay their other bills to those playing by the rules providing goods and services, and that is why it is a drain on the whole local economy. host: democrats line. michael in pennsylvania. caller: yes, thank you for having us. i filed for bankruptcy because of this payday loan. i will tell you there were a couple of good things i had no problems with, but there was one, you are right, it was like 400%. i hope you guys can do something to help. families are struggling and something has to be done. now is a i say, right

particularly good time for you to have this program because a lot of people get caught in payday loans at the christmas season. you will look at ads on tv and they will say come in, maybe even first loan free, we will give you extra money to put more presents under the christmas tree, but these are financial timebombs they are putting amongst the presents, and it is really the worst thing you can do for your family right now. host: charles up next. charles is from lexington, kentucky, independent line. yes, i use these products and i also use overdraft protection with my bank and i get a lot of flexibility. i have found i have no problem with them. i use them maybe once a month, and i hope they would not restrict these so that i do not have options, and i ask mr.

michael calhoun, does he want to put these people out of business and what would he do with overdraft protection? host: how much are these loans you typically get? generally $300, and i pay about $45 and a fee. it protects me from bouncing a check or having my utilities turned off. i do not get paid once a week. i get paid twice a month. host: do you use regular banking services? caller: yes. guest: have you ever thought about going to other institutes to get these types of loans? caller: they are not interested in small amounts. antimatterd $5,000 stood in that. host: the cost of bar --guest: the cost of borrowing with a credit card would be about 1/10,

put it is common sense -- making them affordable so people get caught up in these long traps where they do not have the ability to pay it off and get on with their lives. the way, as i say, for service members -- congress has cap the interest rates on these loans at 36% and put other protections in, and that is another states are looking to do as well. one person who supports these services is a german named william isaac, -- a gentleman named william isaac. he says the cost pales in comparison with the lost income of one a car is out of commission. when payday lenders disclose their conditions, and moreover they are regulated by state agencies and the consumer financial protection bureau -- he had my firm has worked with compliant, them

applicable with banks. guest: they are still charging 40%, and we have quotes from the sea -- 400%, and we have quotes from the ceos saying we have to get people trapped. 26ers,fer to them as people that come in 26 times over the course of the year and it is just a moral to be taken advantage of people this way. we work with faith-based leaders from across the country, across denominations -- everything from southern baptists, national evangelicals, to the methodist the catholics -- these are just against american values. every american colony that united states had limits on interest because interest at these outrageous rates can put people in a

long-term trapped they cannot recover from. it is not right, and it is also not good for our economy and the whole country as well. we drive people to the food shelter because they get stuck in payday loans. host: are these types of businesses competition to the lenders that support your organization? guest: there has not been as much competition there. you are now setting to see some products. credit unions offer similar products. one offers it at 28% rather than 400%. another in north carolina, where we are headquartered, offers it at 11% interest. you can do this. he just do not need to charge 40% interest. host: charles. new jersey. republican line. caller: isn't the answer to this competition? you just touched on this slightly before i took the phone here, but i am sure there are

some companies out there that would love to have 200%, 100%. so often you hear about is attractive interest rates from banks, but they are so afraid to lend these days because of the previous debacle that we went through that you cannot get those loans. isn't the real answer competition, opening up an industry to people who could not normally lend the traditional ways? i mean, for crying out loud, we mentioned earlier for someone who is going to take a loan out 26 times, they are trapped, but there are those people out there who may just borrow one or two times. what about those people? they are getting caught up in the broad legislation. for example, new jersey has completely outlawed this type of lending. it is insane. speak to that issue. host: mr. calhoun? guest: certainly.

again, there are lots of alternatives out here, and when you have this 400 percent interest model in play, it tends to dominate the market because they can get people trapped and that is what they are really look -- looking for. would bele, and this something i would encourage viewers to watch out for -- you will see these ads on tv for the payday loans. it is how those really work when you look at the fine print -- they do not provide the loans. they try to hook you up for payment to them with payday lenders, and they actually auction off your most sensitive and vulnerable financial information. they take your name, social security number, and your bank account number, and auction it off to people, and people will pay the typical rate in today's market. they will pay $100 to get a lead for a payday borrower.

now, if the fee for the loan is only $50, that says a lot about what they expect and how they are going to make their money. the borrower who only takes out two or three loans a year, that is a loss leader for this industry. washington state said let's try to cut out the worst abuses. let's stop the loans after eight loans a year per borrower. that taught out over three cut out over three fourth of the lending in the states. people could still get the loans but not get trapped in the 15, 20 loans a year. there are places where you could leave credit available, but something needs to be done. i worked with base commanders in the states, such as down in georgia, where the base commanders came to the state legislatures and to congress -- that is how these laws are getting past -- and said this is destroying our readiness without

troops. we have service members caught in this trap who then lose their security clearance. again, this has been a bedrock principle. -- religions in our country you do not put people in 400% loans and keep them there, and push them deeper and deeper in debt. host: you had listed alternatives. off of twitter -- how do poor get a with bad credit loan or a credit card? how do you respond? studies show these borrowers have used a lot of credit and many of them are in trouble, but there are a wide variety of credit and noncredit products. if you have a credit card, use that. get an installment loan. even a pawn loan has an exit strategy. host: let's assume people who walk in the door at a payday do not have access to those types

of services and this is all they have guest:. pawn -- have. guest: on lenders will lend to isost anyone because there an asset. utilities will work with you. a payday loan is the worst because it appears -- it is a whole business model. it looks like the quick fix. they know it will catch a lot of people in this very long debt trap. host: marcy from humble, texas. independent line. caller: hi, mr. calhoun. i was calling because in the 1980's they had a big savings theloan scandal, and limited liability laws were then -- lender liability laws were then established that required lenders to do due diligence. they had a duty. i was thinking why couldn't lenders be required to do

a cash flow projection -- they could even get a cash flow projection for borrowers, and this would allow people to not be restricted from using it if it would not have a problem and theyflow. these contract workers have problems. they cannot pay things off. there would have to be something written in four people like that. guest: that is a good suggestion. a lot of federal regulators are doing that. the beginning of this year, the federal banking regulators got together and did two things. they encouraged banks to offer these products. special incentives. second, they said if you're going to offer -- particularly any of it if they have the potential to roll over -- that you have to look over and see people have enough money in

their bank accounts coming in and out to be able to pay them. giving people a high cost loan that you know they cannot afford. it is taking abuse and advantage of them. it is not doing anyone a favor. host: the cfpb, what is the interest? how far will they go in terms of regulating? guest: it is a new federal consumer bureau as part of the wall street reform. , forput in reductions example, in credit cards, that make people agree that it is safer and more widely available. they're looking to do something similar with payday loans. how do we make sure credit is still available but that people can afford the loans and do not get caught in this long-term debt trap? they announced they will issue proposed rules that will be out there for everyone. for consumers to comment on. they will develop the rules over

the course of the year. host: uses the -- do you suspect that that might drive out business? guest: it would change their business model as to who gets payday loans and also, what we have seen and other states, is when the payday lending has been construed did, more people receive loans from traditional lenders that have the usual safeguards. we have worked with state. in georgia, we worked with installment lenders who said we want to provide ease loans -- these loans. compete with someone who charges 400% interest. high -- hi.at line, caller: the reason i started the payday loans is because i was on disability after my job. they paid me for my carpal tunnel but not for my back.

to understand. -- i had three doctors died, and two doctors revived from my back. i could not get a lawyer. they scared me because i felt that the lawyers on the other me, andld try to kill the money they did give me, i gave it away because i thought i was going to die. living andi started stuff, i was always trying to get money from my bank, my bank was charging me up to 2700 -- 2750. i would bounce about five or six checks, because the $400 they left me with -- i just did not

have enough money to pay for my medicines and different things. the credit union i am going to is just as bad. they told me to do like you guys said -- borrow money. then when i try to, i could not because i was deeply in debt with hospital bills. i am still doing the 27 hundred dollars, because i did go to the lending places -- they were cheaper. bank,en i was doing the too. i was in such a big mess. i had to have someone help me. sometimes, i really had a lot of problems. host: thank you for calling and sharing. guest: sorry you got caught in that. these other alternatives, these

payday loans will push you into in termsst debt area of alternatives, one interesting proposal that came up is the u.s. postal service used to offer banking products as late as the 1960's. you could get bank accounts, not just many or -- money orders. in many countries, it the postal service offers small loans. there is debate to start that again in the u.s. that could provide another way for people to get safe alternatives to these dangerous and harmful payday loans. host: good morning from has a vignette, democrat line. caller: good morning. again, on both sides of the debate. i thought it was ridiculous, that is because i was working and making a lot of money. all the way up to the point where 30 years later, i get

all ofnd i have to spend my 401(k), two pensions, and try to pick it up. know -- exactly why, but -- well i know why, i was in the banking business, but if they are never going to give that up. revenue stream, they will never give that up. their revenue stream now is you bounce a check. you bounce it, they are getting $35. if you bounce a check for $30, they can charge you $35. how much interest is that? as far as these people going and -- i am not fortunate enough to do that, because now i cannot work. i dide thing is, because

not work for the last 10 years, i cannot qualify for social security disability. i was a caretaker. it is almost like you cannot have your cake and eat it too. there are many places where people are trying to take advantage of folks who are struggling with these hard times. the overdraft fees, i totally agree, are one of those. there are -- they are unjustified. the worse are on debit cards. theyk cost you nothing if earned it down. our organization has published a lot of studies highlighting the abuses. -- the consumer bureau we talked about today -- has announced they will also address these overdraft fees. it is coming up this from a copper hands of basis of trying to behind -- provide a more

competitive credit market across all these different ways. you are right, these different products all interact and can cause problems for people. the consumer bureau has made great strides in credit cards. they used to have hidden back fees that would reprice your entire credit card bill and raise the rates. those have been restricted. credit card companies can still make money, but they are have to play by their rules -- they are rules -- fair rules. when they rules were quite -- right, it works better for it economy.mers and the for most industry members, that is not their business model, and we need to support them as well. host: you mentioned other people trying to step in between the pay lender.

joe from twitter mention that walmart was trying to do the same thing. but regulators resisted. keep: they are trying to the amount, but walmart has come in and lowered check cashing fees. we will see what other products they tried to work. they were concerned that 36% interest was too high. they want to come in with something below that. there is historically were these interest rates have in. this is not a new thing. historically, interest rates are much lower. most people think 36% is too much. host: robbed from kansas, you are next on the democrats online. you often hear, even on c-span, people calling in and talking about the big that central government and just let the states do their own thing. these financial matters and lending, this does not work, so they should take

this job away from the state and give it back to the federal government. let them regulate this type of lending. hopefully this will be fixed. what is the power of these type of lenders? at the state level, what kind of money do they doled out to the senators and congressmen to stay where they are? this and question is, is uniquely american thing in the western world, where we had these loan sharks lending money to people under state regulations? does this exist in other western nations? host: -- guest: to questions that are very good. the payday lenders give huge amounts of money. to politicians. one of the founders of the , was famouslyy quoted in the press that he had never met a politician he could

not buy. when we work and states, they have as many as 75 lobbyists working in one state, pushing for these high-cost loans. that is similar to the whole financial services world. there was a report recently that last year, financial services that $2.5 million in lobbying and political contributions for every member of congress in one year. you have got it right. this consumer bureau will come in with a race line of protection -- a baseline of protection that the states can build on. the states can adjust that, provide additional protections that they may need in their states are we believe that is the right approach. we think it will make a big difference over the next year or two. host: a twitter user asked if

you address the user a law -- u sury law? religion, andy usury isigious works, charging excessive interest, particularly to the poor. considered a horrible act to commit, because it is using a loan to entrap people in an unfair way. typically play cap on what can be borrowed? state historically every has had that. a few have lifted them in an experiment in recent years. you can see interest rates well over 1000%. you have also seen internet companies tried to get around those state laws. they set up operations in one of

these states that allow unlimited interest rate and tried to sell loans to people in states. it is illegal and against the law. two people in states to do have protection area people have to watch out. there have been actions to crack down on that. host: is there a federal action to crack down on the federal usury rate? bills inere have been congress that would have a 35% interest rate, it which is in effect for the military, to make that effective for everybody. host: this is john on our independent line. caller: this is no different than what was happening 50 or 60 years ago when it corporations get into government. they get deals with the government saying they will help the american people, and they pull out ponzi schemes, like the collapse of the wall street. he used to have standard oil that belonged to the

rockefellers, who with the formulator they had, was able to have hitler five airplanes. -- fly their planes. international terrorism by their own government members because they are being bought by international corporations that do not have to say they are american. these corporations have so much money overseas that they can basically lend to themselves. the american people have to wake up. do not be sheeple. the sheepherder never sharpens his blade in front of the heard. you have corporate terrorists that are not just racist, they are attacking minorities all over the country. guest: u.s. about the international parts and so did one of the previous callers. you're right about the connections. one of the largest payday lenders in the u.s. recently sold itself to a mexican company that operates in many countries

around the world, charging -- trying to charge high fees. you asked about what other countries are doing. england went through this recently. they tried allowing these payday lenders established there, and over the last two years, and a bipartisan effort there, there was an agreement this was not working well. that would put significant protections for borrowers that have genetically chain -- dramatically changed that. host: one merkel, glenn from nevada, independent line. caller: i was looking about nonprofit agencies that operate the stores. they have been able to get into the payday business and offer financial literacy classes to our wars, where if they succeeded in the class, they would get a lower interest rate.

without be viable to try to educate the consumer in that fashion? is a goodhink it suggestion. it would be helpful. but people need a race line of protections out there. consumers do have responsibility to watch out and take action, protect themselves. baseline of protections that people can work off of. lenders who are trying to charge reasonable fees get pushed out by the people charging 400%, because that is the more profitable is this model. .ust like the credit cards some companies tried to do the right thing, and they find they were losing business to people who would offer what looked like good credit cards but had fine print. if you ever tried to read one of the agreements, good luck. --y piled on hidden feeds fees.

good, asestion is very well. guest represents the center for responsible lending. .e are joined by mike calhoun will bringnew year some changes to how the u.s. postal service operates. art next guest is mark dimondstein, who will join us next. [music playing] here's a look at some of the programs you find christmas day on the c-span network. holiday festivities start at 10:00 eastern with the lighting of the national christmas tree, hollowed by the white house

christmas decorations by first lady michelle obama and the leading of the capitol christmas tree. celebrity activist talk about their causes after at around 11:00. follow that, the bill of rights. c-span, venture into the art of good writing with steve pinker at 10:00. as shellow jill lepore explores the history of wonder woman. on american history tv on c-span3 :00 eastern, the fall of the berlin wall with c-span footage of president torch bush and bob dole. at noon, fashion experts on first lady fashion choices and how they represented the times of the live -- the times they lived.

after that, tom brokaw. that is christmas day on the c-span networks. for a full schedule, go to www.c-span.org. >> this month is the 10th anniversary of our sunday primetime program q&a. we are fromg an encore program -- q&a each year, from 2005, the 9/11 victim victim compensation. from 2007, robert novak on his 50 years of reporting in washington. 2008, the value of higher education in america area 2009, considerate commentator. q&a at 10:00, a decade of q&a at 10, a decade of compelling conversations. >> washington journal continues.

host: joining us for our last segment, mark dimondstein of the workers union. who do you serve? guest: we serve the postal workers and proudly the american people. please serve the people in retail area the people who keep the machines in the buildings running and clean. we serve the clerks who assert -- who sort mail all night long so i can be delivered the next day. a lot of people who are invisible to the public but are critical to the mail flow. host: what about letter carriers? guest: there are three other postal unions. we work closely together area -- together. to,houses they know to go and the order it is done is not by the clerks that sort the --

is done by the clerks that sort be male. there is a lot of intersection. because of your nature, the people you represent, there is changes in the new year that. january 5. what are those changes? guest: on january 5, the postal service is landing -- we hope they reverse it -- they are planning to him, a change in the way the mail is processed that will slow down mail. right now, you have overnight delivery for first class mail, periodicals. between cities, it is two days. with the service standard, how long a goes down from one click the -- be, all it does not affect jobs, it also affects every postal customer.

whether they get medicals through the mail, periodicals, paying the bills and so on. greeting cards, birthday cards. that will all be slowed down. that is how you can get a more -- host: so is that only in certain areas? nationwide. it is not just where processing plants may close. many have been closed already, over 150. there are 82 more on the chopping block. the mail deeply affect and those cities, and living wage jobs. less tax based in those cities. the change in the mail will affect every customer, whether they are in a city with a processing plant to be close or not. host: what is causing this?

general,e post master ajit donahoe, and the board has made the decision. the lordk donahoe, and has made the decision. it is a slash and burn mentality. cut, cut, cut. people get their treasured mail service, it is harder and harder. in many cases, lines are too long, mail is slow. that is not the way it should be. the american postal workers union what people to get the best service they should get. host: -- it is the truth that first class mail is down. we do not think it is the truth that that should lead to plant closings. those are down because of the internet area did we save the internet taketh and it giveth.

of the people in the country still pay their bills, putting a stamp on a letter. but packages and deliveries have exploded, and the internet have caused that. my adult trojan probably do not pay their bills like i do and put a stamp on a letter, but they shop online, which i do not. when they shop online, it creates a package. seen pricesice have of 12% in package delivery. , and howhat deeply important the postal service is to the country during this holiday season. host: even the inspector general said that first class mail drop. they said it was the digital age , how they claimed it, that is cutting the volume of the project that contributes more than half of the funds that holds up the current network.

what does that mean for the future? what does it mean as far as jobs? jobs, whenerms of processing plants close, jobs are eventually lost. this is a. where people talk about this tremendous income disparity. are good, living wage jobs. there is no good reason for it. the post office is changing, but it should be vibrant for generations to come. the post office is public. the infrastructure is public. there are many things we can do. we may be able to get in, later in the show, the previous speaker was talking about the post office providing financial services. they are at provide some, it could be a great opportunity. there could be notaries, licensing. all of those things could be done in a trusted environment of the united states postal office.

mark dimondstein is the president of the american postal workers union. (202) questions, call 737-0002 for republicans, call (202) 737-0001 four democrats, and call (202) 628-0205 for independent. you can also make your thoughts -- on twitter and facebook known on twitter and facebook. what things would you advocate within the postal service itself that accommodates for changes you are seeing? what would you support? guest: we think the post office array ofovide a larger financial services. some postal banking. many countries do it today. the postal service used to do it in the u.s. all the way to the 1960's.

about 68 million adults in the country that do not have access to a traditional bank. 38% of the zip codes in the company do not have a bank. another 20% only have one bank. a worker who is earning $25,000 a year who get stuck in this payday loan cap -- check-cashing -- we call it legal loaning pays a $2500y -- and the network the previous speaker was talking about. eighth study of the office of the inspector general last january. the study said the post office had 10% of that business. gettingople were not stuck and the modern day peonage.

could bring in another $9 billion in revenue. why is the. is not doing that instead of the post- why is office not doing that instead of closing lance, driving away customers and revenue and making it more difficult on the people in this country6 -- country? what they are doing in terms of packages, they are out surveys -- outsourcing to staples as part of the united states. --le you resistant to that why are you resistant to that? guest: staples is not the post office. that mail is not protected under the law. there is no sanctity. no guarantee of privacy. when it is taken to the post office, your mail is u.s. mail and is protected. it is the transfer a living wage jobs as well for low-wage jobs. we have nothing against staples

workers. we want them to make a living wage. but none of our communities will survive if living wage jobs are consummate disappearing to low-wage jobs. the third thing is, when public service -- this really is a public service -- it is not supposed to be a money making or profit-making machine. that happens, whether people get mail, when they get mail, at what cost to get the mail, is going to be determined by whether someone can make a bottom dollar. that jeopardizes the entire public system. staples is already planning on closing to -- 200 to 400 stores. if they close, where do we go? host: and that is staples employees -- guest: our union was willing to try a project like this, with

the exception it should be done with united states postal service employees. we were rejected, so we are in conflict with the postal service and staples. we think it is a dirty deal. we have asked customers all over the country to take their business elsewhere from staples until this ends. host: because people could lose jobs. guest: it is a transfer of jobs, but it is also the public right to public service. when they get into the private sector, they can open and close and people could be left with nothing. we are very concerned about that. this is a form of privatization. that is not help the people of this country. host: market was seen with the american postal workers union, he is their president. first call for him, todd from 10

-- kentucky, independent line. caller: good morning. i am interested in how you would assess the cost of providing these services. the postal service is not, as you said -- it is a break even institution, it is actually losing a great deal of money in terms of getting additional substitute these -- subsidies from taxpayers. i would like you to discuss that. service runsstal on zero tax dollars. that is important for people to know area -- to know. it operates by the user paying postage. it is a system that is working well. in terms of assessing costs of new products. the postal service does sell money orders.

they talk on a small fee, i cannot tell you what is right now, i feel like it is $1.35, they can be small reasonable fees attached to financial transactions if the post office was to go into the postal banking. transactions would be fair to the customers, as these money orders are, and it would ring revenue to the post office. they would be performed by workers who are highly trained, protect e-mail, and make a good living wage. the cheapest postage in the industrialized world, we have it. it would provide a great service and at the chain -- same time, our source of good living wage jobs for everybody who works there. a lot of veterans. equal pay for men and women, no

matter what race we are. work.nances it is a reasonable product. zero tax dollars. we have change, which should mean expanded and grabbing those opportunities of e-commerce. e-commerce is growing 20% a year. tons of packages and mail. tons that the public wants. this is one thing the post office that we are supporting. in some cases we are going to which is notivery, what the postmaster general is advocating, which is losing saturday delivery. delivery, expanded even to places like staples, as long as they are done by postal employees. we want the people to have the best of services.

staynt post offices to open later, some to open on the weekends, and want this to keep going. host: here is john from vermont, democrat line. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. around 2011thing that the united states postal -- and theyhe employee a lot of veterans. they are the company that employs the most of veterans in the united states. deservee our veterans the best life quality we can afford to offer. i just wanted to share that. postnot like to see these offices close, because that is one less opportunity for someone who was willing to give his life to perfect -- protect our quality of life, who will not be

able to as readily erred in a living. thank you. thank you. you're absolutely right. the postal service is the largest employer of vets outside , which alsoary employs a lot of civilians. although not as high now and it is going down which is concerning to us -- at one point, 25% to 30% of the postal service for veterans. many of them were disabled. it is another reason to defend good, living wage jobs and not have the post office privatized and turned into staples. host: republican line from alabama, here is ill -- bill. caller: one of the great indicators when you talk about living wages, if you close a

post office, these postal service workers have to look for work. what they will earn is half of what they earned at the post office. does not -- does that indicate that they are overpaid? is payinge sector people on how much their value is in the society. if they are being paid twice as much to do similar work, it appears to me that they are being overpaid. answer to your question, it may also indicate that a lot of people are being underpaid. we have a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. pace with if it kept inflation, it would be around $13.50. we do not want any workers having less purchasing power every year. if you had good living wage jobs, a reasonable service -- a

good service at reasonable cost, why would anybody argue with it pay and benefits to go along with it? that spins off into the community and small businesses. people can afford to eat at restaurants and shop at stores. it helps build up the tax base. neighborhoodentire , city, community, and country. host: on average, the host of service gets paid around $25, is that right? guest: yes. that is able to be done. it costs $.49 to take a letter from washington dc to alaska, california, florida, or texas. askeda beer for twitter how much does retirement benefits caustic postal service? guest: i do not know the exact question to that and how much

the retirement benefits cost. but we are under the old civil service and was called first, underfunded. also askeds caller about the post office losing a lot of money, that is not true. made $1.4ffice has billion. the loss of the money we constantly hear is based on a crisistured financial from 2006, where congress demanded the postal service to pre-fund retirement health care benefits. 75 years into the future. we are already half funded at about $50 billion. this is for people not even born yet, or even work at the post office. $5.5 billion a year. the post office cannot make

those payments. in the news, we hear they are bleeding money, but what is really doing is using the postal service as a cash cow to the federal treasury. it is being used to choke the post office. they say it is not working, so we have to make draconian cuts. host: is a truth it postal service defaulted on the payments? guest: some. no other company has this. huge companies like exxon mobil, verizon, they are funded through future retiree health benefits at less than 10%. the post office is already funded at 50%. in the past, it was pay as they go. this is a hoax. it is being used for enemies of this kind of topic service to -- turn it to the the private sector. host: can congress change that? guest: yes.

they created the law. they can do is comprehensive post a reform that will can of the crisis or doing the law. everyone agrees it should not be done -- should not have been done. but congress has not found the will to legislate that. in the lame-duck session, hopefully it will come back because they did not do it erie it there is no honest observers that think the pre-funding is right, fair, and should not be fixed. it should be fixed. congress has the right to fix it. host: from north carolina, are democrat line -- our democrat line. caller: good morning. guest: good morning, how are you. caller: thank you, i have questions.

with the postal service have internet operations and where do you see it in 20 years? guest: let me start with the second question. in 20 years, the postal service relevance, and tons of first-class mail, periodicals, catalogs -- it will growth in the package, delivery side. i could see the post office at seeing -- being open longer hours, serving the people better. seven day a week mail rather 3, which enemies of the public service have spoken of. i see people working for the post office, who can continue and should continue to make a good living on a basis of equal pay for equal work. for everybody. would stand if we

-- we talk about the private side, the post office takes and $68 billion a year of revenue on zero taxes. people want their hands on that to make a profit. as long as it is in the public to maine, they cannot -- domain, they cannot. about the internet, there are a lot of services the internet -- the post office could do on the internet. the post office in small towns and neighborhoods is already kind of a community center, so to speak. there is no reason that cannot be internet services, and no reason they cannot expand to the many digital services, including financial. i think it is a good idea, but you need visionary people leading the post office. we have not had that. we have people who want to slash

and cut rather than expand. host: john from florida, independent line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. you are talking about the post office making cuts, and you disagreed -- what suggestions have you made about cutting costs at the post office to management? if not, why not? guest: thank you. we think the main way to deal -- again, it is a made up financial crisis -- we think the main way the post office should be dealing with it is to expand and enhance services. financial services, according to general,e of inspector this is not mark dimondstein officethis, the post could agree on another $9 billion per year by capturing 10% of the market. that is the way to go.

so we continue to keep post offices open for every community, large, small, rule, urban. givenstal unions have large concessions to the post office. that have saved money. we could argue on another show whether that was right or wrong, but that was done. many large percentages of the workforce start a much lower pay. way,inly in an objective that has saved money. would rather not have the money having good living wage jobs becoming medium living wage jobs. but i have -- that is the way it is since my one year in time here. but our operation is amazing. you put a letter in the mail box, but all of a sudden

disappears and gets delivered to your mom, daughter, son, loved person, person in uniform. it works. the ideal constantly saving money -- it is making money if not for the pre-funding crisis. it made $1.4 billion and operations last year. waste money,nt to but we do not think good, living wages is a waste of money. host: dan from ohio, democrat line. caller:. good morning. . i am baffled at the sleepwalkers -- which they call it -- they are so against people making a living wage. i see nothing wrong with making $25 an hour. the cost of living has gone up. every year.

i was watching the tv series, a couple days ago. this is from the 1980's. the guy was saying, i am making some dollars $.50 an hour -- $7.50 an hour! my son bailey makes night -- my sun barely makes nine dollars an hour. i am baffled that people think that is ok at this time, 2014, almost 2015. the cost of living has constantly gone up. i think everyone should think twice when they call. think about the future of this country, that you will have this gap that has already occurred between the have and have-nots. guest: i agree 100%. that is one of the reason our

union and other unions are standing with fast food workers demanding $15 an hour. people are stepping up. they are not and should not take it. there is nothing more important to a family that a good, living wage job. not just any job, but it good, living wage job. our families,or futures, and communities. thank you. host: kentucky, democrat line. you are on, go ahead. several calls back, you are talking about the -- in 2006 when congress passed the law for the postal service to fund future health care. year -- orion a maybe $50 billion a year. they are using that money to

take care of the war in iraq and afghanistan. i do not think the u.s. postal service should be leading the bill when the u.s. postal service is an entity by itself. it self sustains itself. i do not think the postal service should be helping congress put the bill -- foot the bill. guest: it is a point well taken. like i said earlier, the postal service is being used as a cash cow to fill up the federal treasury. you're right. a lot of the treasury has gone to the wars that the majority of people do not support. host: the postmaster general will get a new person, megan brennan. tells what you think she brings to the table and what you may have as concerns in terms of what she may want to do? guest: that is a good question.

we welcome a change in the postmaster. the previous postmaster, nothing , weonal, patrick donahoe think he had the postal service on the wrong side of the cutting and slashing and this downward spiral. wasaid that postal banking not in our wheelhouse. $9 billion a year. instead of that, he said slow down the mail. that is wrong. megan brennan has been the number three person in the post office. she worked with patrick donahoe four years. it does not mean she has the same person -- she is the same person or has the same policies. host: she has a history of streamlining and consolidating? guest: yes. she has been the head of operations. we are hoping that she will reserves -- reverse the policies to previous postmaster

general had or at least hit the's button -- pause button. sit back, take a look. 51 senators asked for a moratorium on this service standard change coming in on january 5. slow downs that will the mail. almost the majority of the house, except the letter was signed when they were in the field in august. the gao has raised concerns. about the pace of the changes. the office of the inspector general has raised concerns. there has not been enough community input. she has many reasons to take a deep breath,'s, not put in these service standard changes, not closely plants, and reanalyze. they need to look five dollars and 10 -- five years and 10 years out. where will these packages go? who will process it?

we cannot just look at the moment. we have asked her to get the pause button. she does not come in until february 1. host: have you talked to her directly? guest: yes, in person and on the phone. we offered our congratulations and concerns. host: was her response? guest: i am not postmaster general yet. had frank exchanges and will continue to have them. i told her when we have disagreements, it is not personable -- it is not personal. publicssionate about the service. we consider the postal service a national treasure. people use it differently. in a small town, it is almost a community center. in another area, it is young people getting their packages. but it is ours.

we are very passionate about that. we are passionate about defending good, living wage jobs. we will have to see if -- how it goes. we are hoping there will be a change. host: clyde from new york, independent line. caller: good morning. -- symbiotic relationship between a customer and the worker. we know that. the management comes up with crazy ideas to try to improve what we know works. and they do not. why is not someone saying something to management to make this work? better -- work better? they need to talk with us. we deal with the people and the people deals with us. we know

what works. host: are your postal worker? caller: yes. host: what is your job? caller: i drive trucks. i used to do collection. -- dropsjobs in relays and relays. host: says you are on the front line, what suggestions would you make? caller: i will not get into that because you know who i am and i do not want the repercussions. but management is sabotaging this job. outright. they have meetings with us, we all know it will not work. we look at each other and think, here we go again. another crazy plan, here we go again. it is not board to work, and we just sit there and say ok, if you want it done, we will do it. guest: just a quick comment.

you are correct. .he workers know what is best they have a relationship with the customers, and know what processes are best. it is a shame when the workers postalking harder, and management in many times is an obstacle to that. you are also right that at least under the last administration and the post office, they had little inclination to listen to the union, which is listening to the workers. we hope that will change with a new postmaster general. international negotiations in february, representing the 200,000 people that are under our union. we plan to make proposals. how to make this work better for the customer, expand services, hours.

what else the post office can be doing to be more vibrant. maybe that has not been done in the past. , andpect the post office will try to demand the post office, listen to those things and meet the needs of the people of the country and of the postal workers. we appreciate you calling in. host: republican line, tony, hello. is --: my question i am trying to think here. will put you on hold for a second and go to paul in ohio. paul. paul from ohio, good morning. i think we have --

deadline. 5 is the do you assume that is going to happen as far as when it hits that there will be no changes made? guest: i am in optimist. we certainly hope that the post office's upper-level management will do the right thing and humpty dumpty is not pushed off the wall. even if they are, congress can change service standards back to where they were. bill was a senate to -- that we were tarred on in the lame-duck session. we did not make it, but it would've had a three year or so protection. congress may still legislate early on in the coming year. there is a lot of pressure from the senators, people in the house. certainly the postal workers themselves, the unions. i have left out some of the

business community. peoplethat represent with periodicals. can you imagine a small-town periodical that him out every day and i will come a day late? it does not work. or about the church, synagogue, mosque will attend that -- talks aboutat activities for the weekend but comes in on monday when it is done? in there actually many business community who do not want these standards to go into effect and do not want the plants to be. closed. this infrastructure is what is needed areas even fedex and ups, the they have almost half a billion packages through the post office because of the fantastic network that gets to every address and has to deliver to every address by law. which you do not get in the private sector. host: so that is in january. what is at stake at the

negotiations? is the well-being of 200,000 postal workers, which has an impact on the well-being into our communities, how well other workers do, and so on. the other thing is, how we can best protect the service and expand and enhance that service to the people. that is an intersection between good service and how our members are doing. we can provide good financial services, i call it, rather than big to big to fail, too jail public banking service we have. business oferve the the people and our members. there would be more jobs, opportunities, job security. host: mark dimondstein with the american postal workers union. inc. you for your time.

-- thank you for your time. tomorrow, we are joined with a writer for the washington post. we also hear from the author of the end of greatness, and he examines what makes the presidents great and have the u.s. is affected by that area we also take your calls and look at the newspapers as well as washington journal comes your way tomorrow. [music playing] [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] >> coming up, british prime minister david cameron discussing climate change and efforts to combat extremism.

nationsted secretary-general ban ki-moon. later, a discussion about the future of u.s. foreign-policy. british prime minister david cameron discussed the u.k. climate change priorities and combating extremism. the prime minister meets with this committee made up of the chairs of the house of commons committees three times a years. this is about an hour and. -- this is about an hour and a half. >> welcome, prime minister. we have two things to ask you about. the first is climate change. the second is radicalization. >> before we start, i think it might be right after the events of yesterday -- >> i was going to give you time at the end, but my like to do it now.