total disability. as always, we'll take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: they obama administration proposed new rules for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, known as drones, and commercial airspace. new rules have companies concerned because it limits how they can be operated. "usaay" reports the federal call center for healthcare.gov received 200 50,000 calls yesterday, the deadline to enroll under the affordable care act. according to theepartment of homeland security, john boehner says he is prepared for a partial shutdown. good morning, "washington journal" for february 16. president' =--- presidents' day.

tell us about your favorite president and why that person is your favorite president. here are the lines. republicans, 202-748-8001. republicans, -- democrats 202-748-8000. post on twitter facebook.com/cs pan or send us an e-mail at journal@c-span.org. in june last year, gallup took a poll of favorite presidents. here's how everything shook out. topping the list was bill clinton with a favorable rating of 64%. followed by george h.w. bush

with 63%. his son got 53%. jimmy carter 52%. at the time, barack obama with 47% as far as favorable rating of living u.s. presidents. other polls have been taken and we will share those. thoughts on your favorite president. maybe because of the person or a policy, the administration overall. your chance to weigh in on presidents' day. 202-748-2001 for republicans -- 202-748 8000 for republicans. our social media channels available as well. gallup conducting polls. bill clinton scored highest in

ratings for the sixth year. george w. bush in 2006 then president truman in 1950 with the lowest rating. these are available from the gallup organization. our poll will take your pulse of the favorite presidents. virginia beach, virginia republican line. thanks for participating happy presidents' day. who was your favorite? caller: my favorite was eisenhower because of the highways act. he was a great war leader during world war ii. host: talking little bit about them. first, the highways act, why is he important because of that? caller: that was a great piece of legislation done to advance the transportation in the

country for military and civilians alike. making our daily lives much easier getting to work, school and recreational activities. host: then when it comes to this management of the war what struck you about his oversight? caller: being a great war leader translates well into being the commander and chief of the country as a whole. host: that is robert in virginia beach talking about his admiration for president eisenhower. three lines this morning. new york, independent line, good morning. caller: good morning. my favorite president is president obama. why? president obama pulled this country from the deepest recession of our time. he is working with foreign partners in fighting terror. he is, in fact, after he goes

from the public scene we will see what he did now is going to be remembered for the next generation. no doubt about it. he has some flaws. africa, whatever. overall, he's the best president of our time. host: this morning the gallup poll put out ratings for president obama. it shows equal, 48% approval and 48% disapproval. why do think of those numbers and do you pay attention to those? caller: americans, usually at the current moment they forget the near past. if you go see what crisis obama has been through, america was in total chatters. people were hopeless. now people are getting some hope. i guarantee that before he ends his term, americans will have a different opinion about obama.

now, most probably, they are not really -- i can guarantee he is going to pull them out from this mess and he will be on top. no doubt. host: we are asking about your favorite president. kevin, stafford, virginia republican line. caller: good morning. my favorite is george washington. host: why so? caller: the main reason is that george washington was a very selfless, humble guy. the presidency was not about him. he largely in his documents used the word "we," unlike the current president that only uses the word "i." he also could easily have turned the first presidency into being a king. many people wanted him to be the king. he refused that. he did this for our country.

if not for george washington there would not be the united states. i don't see how else, the last gentlemen, yes, we are very shortsighted on not knowing our long-term history. if he thinks barack obama is the greatest president he needs to read some history books. host: before you leave, as far as washington's attitude, has any other modern day president captured that? caller: reagan was a very selfless. he was looking out for the country and not for his party not for his pet projects. he was looking out for the country. teddy roosevelt comes to mind. there is a long string of other presidents that tried to do social engineering. some of which might have worked

a lot of it has not worked. all the huge debt we have today goes right back to the great society and social security. these are things we can never pay for in the long run. that is why we have others debt -- all this debt. the mandatory social programs that give us all this crushing debt. host: kevin and stafford, virginia talking about his admiration of washington. ronald from michigan, democrats line. i believe he also says washington is a favorite of his. caller: hello? host: you are on. caller: hey pedro. host: who is your favorite president? caller: my favorite president is george our first and best, george washington. the reason -- i am sorry? host: go-ahead. caller: the reason why i say

he's the best president is because he brought peace with england. that was the world's superpower at that time and that was the greatest way to appease, to use ambassadorships, to use more of a liberal point of view instead of the hardheaded war, war mentality that a lot of people love to bang the drum about. which only produces paranoia and fear in people. and the main thing is you have got to govern the people. george was not only a great general, he led our army to many defeats before he got his victories. we have to suffer hardship before we taste rewards. that is the difference between the left and the right. host: from los angeles, california, republican line. we are asking about favorite presidents and why. caller: hello.

host: go-ahead. caller: i would say reagan. he was the best when it came to the economy. he understood the purpose of cutting government. government was not the savior of our country. it was the people. he understood that lower taxes lower spending and cutting programs was the way to go. and he was fundamental in bringing a lot of jobs. he was not punishing the makers. he was helping the makers make more profit and make more jobs. we have gotten away from the idea of that makers are good. we'er -- we're more on the liberal idea that taking is

good. host: dell, fairfax station virginia independent line. caller: like many former callers , i would say george washington. two reasons. number one, he had no real political party. so therefore he was looking out for the shaping of the country. it is often referred to as the american experiment or experience. we are still going through that today. make no mistake many times we have been on the verge of failing throughout our history. he had the greatest challenge of all. second of all, he had set the standard for all presidents that followed. until franklin roosevelt was elected a third then a fourth time did we set amendments so that could not happen. he set the precedent for many other presidents have followed

and was looking forward to what the country would be. often i am asked if you could sit down with someone famous who when you have dinner with? i always say washington. i would not want to ask him how he did it. i would want him to see the results and i would like to tell him what a great country we had he come to we had our shortcomings but i think he would be proud. good morning, c-span. host: there is a sampling of people who have told us about their favorite president and why on this presidents' day. if you want to participate, call the phone lines. 202-748 8001 four republicans 202-748 8000 for democrats and 202-748 8002 for independence p

on the talk shows yesterday, john boehner appeared. the question was what happens when the department of homeland security runs out of money. speaker john boehner is ready for that to happen. the house passed a bill that would keep the department it defines -- that would keep the department. here is a speaker john boehner yesterday on fox news sunday. [video clip] speaker boehner: the deadline is less than two weeks from now. you and congress are going to be out on recess for the next week. can you promise the american people at the terror threat growing they -- that you're not going to allow funding for the department of homeland security to run out?

speaker boehner: the house has acted. senate democrats are putting us in this precarious position. it is up to senate democrats to get their act together. >> i can ask again. speaker boehner: chris! one more time. the house has done its job. it is time for the senate to do their job. i have a tough job. senate democrats are standing in the way. they are jeopardizing funding. why don't they offer an amendment, offer ideas. >> what if homeland security funding runs out? speaker boehner: senate democrats are to blame. >> you are prepared to let that happen? speaker boehner: certainly. republicans have done their job. host: you can find out more information about that on our website, c-span.org. a couple tweets about favorite presidents and why.

"harry truman the man never forgot his roots." "john kennedy, he reminded us that we should do for our country not wait for our country to do for us." i posted that twice, my apologies. comment on twitter as well as call our phone lines and post on social media. from virginia, independent line, good morning. caller: a good place to start is not rushmore. i agree with everything that has been said about george washington. we live not far from mount vernon. theodore roosevelt is my favorite. the man in the middle on mount rushmore. i have been to oyster bay sagamore hill, i hold him in the highest esteem. roosevelt island is a wonderful

place. he had the integrity, the zeal the sense of purpose. he created the national park service, the forestry service. much of america, millions of acres are enjoyed by people because of theodore roosevelt. he did a lot more than that. a man of great integrity and energy. host: from mechanicsville virginia, independent line. caller: your request and not so much is who is my favorite, i would say the most important. i'd daresay, obviously, george washington. but also lincoln. he had to hold this country together. i would say it would be a tie between those two. both of them were instrumental. host: when did you know that these were your favorite? caller: i said most important. host: regardless.

caller: when did i know? i have always held it like that. i teach my grandchildren to rate the presidents, your top five. believe it or not, they are only six years old, but they do it and they give me reasons why. that is the way i view it. i guess the third, if i had to pick somebody in third place harry truman. harry truman was a tough nut. have a good day. host: atlanta, georgia, you are next. on our democrats line. go ahead. caller: i have been noticing a lot people saying george washington. as a black man, one of the worst was george washington. george washington owned slaves. george washington said his slaves were not to be free until his wife died. he was a slave owner.

as a matter of fact, we had five presidents who were members of the ku klux klan. my favorite would be obama clinton, and abraham lincoln. even though he fought the civil war to keep the south from splitting from the united states . that is why he did that. he did not really have that much love for black people, per se/ host: "the new york times" this morning. the story, iraqi chemical weapons or page a4. the headline, cia said to have bought and destroyed iraqi chemical weapons. they write, "the arms purchase plan began in 2005. the american military deemed a success. it led to the u.s. acquiring and destroying at least 400 borak

rockets. that was not accounted for by the u.n. spectrum mandated following the persian gulf war. many rockets were in poor condition. some were empty but others contained the nerve agent sarin which in analysis showed to be purer. an investigation found that the military had recovered thousands of old chemical orwarheads." ralph from new york, next on our democrats line. caller: thank you for c-span. i'm a uaw worker from upstate new york and my favorite president would have to be lyndon johnson forgetting the 1964 civil rights act passed through congress. the 1965 voting rights act.

medicare, headstart for children you name it. he submitted a balanced budget to congress in 1969. host: the president known by his initials. another president known by his initials, jfk. a favorite of eugene in michigan. hello. caller: mine is john f. kennedy. if a lesser man, or nixon, had been elected in 1960 2 thirds of the world population would have been wiped out in the cuban missile crisis. kennedy was strong enough to hold firm and avoid a war that would have wiped out two thirds of the world's population. no other president in my lifetime -- i am 80 years old -- could have done that. host: was adjusted the handling of the cuban missile crisis or were there other aspects about his presidency? caller: he was his own man.

he was elected as a democrat but he was not a speaker for the party. he was for the american people. and regardless of party, he did what was best for the country. i do not know of any other president since roosevelt who has done that. host: here is alfred. alfred is from fort worth, texas. democrats line. hi. caller: yes, sir. lyndon baines is my favorite -- no. it is barack obama. barack hussein obama. abraham lincoln was one of my favorites. after him is john f. kennedy. lyndon baines johnson.

after that, william jefferson clinton. and now barack hussein obama. he is the smartest of all of those. plus, he is smarter than all the rest. he is smarter than all of them put together. host: why is he smarter? give me a specific about why. caller: because of all he has done. they give him a plate. when they gave him that plate it was full and running over. he has straightened it up and it is a gourmet meal. it is beautiful, what he has done. and they do not get off his back he has more gray hair than any president. it is beautiful what he has done. host: that is alfred and taxes. if you are just joining us it is presidents' day. we want to ask about your favorite president.

not only for you to tell us but also why. if you want to call us, 202-748-8001, republicans. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can post on social media as well. there's reaction from the egyptian government over the beheading of over 20 people by islamic state. this is a story from reuters. the islamic state released a video that showed the beheadings. speaking on national television hours after the release of the video, president sisi said cairo would choose "the necessary means and timing to avenge the killing's." the egyptian state news agency quoted the spokesman from the coptic church confirming that christians held by islamic state were dead. the beheadings could stiffen sisi's resolve.

egypt has denied reports that it has taken part along with the uae in airstrikes against militants based in libya. that is out of the middle east. here in the u.s., the president delivered his request for war authorization in dealing with isis. on sunday talk shows, defending that proposal was the white house chief of staff denis mcdonough. he said the request was a bipartisan chilling. he is. denis mcdonough: we put together what we think is the likeliest outcome. they will have hearings on it. we have given them a good place to start. what they should not do this time is what they did in 2013 when they took a pass on this issue. it is important in questions of war and peace for congress to be heard. the president has given them a roadmap to follow, they can take

that or come up with something else but they should not take a pass on this issue. host: that is from yesterday. your favorite president and why is our topic for today. 202-748-8001 republicans 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 our line for independents. comment on twitter and facebook as well. steve on facebook has this "the greatest humanitarian," in all caps, "is jimmy carter. lbj might be a distant second." @cspanwj is how you post on twitter. facebook.com/c-span. like u s too. the president will be joined by two governors at what is known in washington, d.c. as the gridiron dinner. it is a special event sponsored

by the media and closed off to the general public. another familiar tune. march 14, president obama is set to headline the event. marking only the third time in his tenure he has attended. the other guests, traditionally one republican and one democrat, wisconsin governor scott walker and virginia governor terry mcauliffe. new inductees will include susan davis, neil king, and michael scherer. that's on -- we are talking about our favorite presidents and why. caller: good morning to you. i'm voting for president obama. host: why?

caller: because he was -- host: go-ahead. i think he's left us. evansville, indiana. who was your favorite president and why? caller: barack hussein obama. host: why? caller: he can show us how quickly we can become to tyranny. we are no different from germany in the 1930's. host: yet he is your favorite? caller: yes. he has pointed it out. showing us how we can believe in anything. host: did you vote for him? what other presidents make your ranking or is he the top? caller: he is my favorite. he has pointed out that we are

fallible and we can slip into something less than a representative democracy. host: let's go to texas. democrats line. good morning. do you have a favorite president? caller: my favorite president as lbj. george washington does not make the list. when my kids were children i was angry they had to bring home silhouettes of george washington. many of them owned slaves. lbj, even being a southern man, stood up and did the right thing in terms of character. he did a lot of things for black people and he goes down in history as my favorite. he was a man of great character. he went against the south and he did the right thing. you cannot say the same thing for kennedy or quite a few of the other presidents. host: being from texas, that has some influence? caller: of course. host: hopewell, virginia, democrat line.

emily, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: my favorite president is president obama. because he is very diplomatic. he's very astute in foreign policy. he does not rashly make decisions. he seeks counsel and then he makes a move that will be beneficial to everyone. not just to our country but the world. also, he faces a lot of criticism. he does it with dignity. he does not lash out to accusers. he tries to make the best decisions even in the face of -- [indiscernible] i think he is a very honorable man.

he has very good family values. also he tries -- host: thank you. host: thank you for that. if you have not noticed, we are asking about favorite presidents. either modern day or previous. choose the one that best represents you. not only tell us about that president, telles might as well. we will continue with their calls. if you're holding on please hang on a little bit. "the denver post" has the headline that you will see this morning, talking about be drones and the faa. it says, "the faa regulations

and the white house order offers some basic rules of the sky on who can govern flying drones. the faa's s rules would make it so that anyone can fly small drones for work purposes. it was released yesterday, these proposals. the department of transportation secretary did a conference to layout the groundwork of these rules. as well. we will play them for you. you will hear the audio. here's what happened yesterday. [audio clip] likes the rules address to basic safety issues. one, keeping unmanned aircraft clear of other

aircraft. as result, we are proposing some common sense safety measures to keep everyone they've. there are things like not allowing flight of these aircraft near an airport, or more than 500 feet above the ground. if you are operating one, they have to be within your line of sight at all times. you have to be able to see them with your own two eyes, not with binoculars. the aircraft must weigh less than 55 pounds, and you cannot operate at night. this rule does not apply to recreational users. there are already rules in place for that. again, if you go to our website, you and you want to hear the whole conversation that took place, talking about rules for drones and how they are being used. there are some reactions this morning from commercial operators. you can do so on her website at c-span.org. your favorite president and why.

our independent line. caller: i used to call c-span a lot. i stopped calling c-span. i just called, 202-washington and talk to the people who represent us. anyway, most importantblacks, listen to what i will tell you. documentary is true about john adams john adams forewarned the american people the most important thing that we need to do when we form the declaration of independence was to recognize everybody. everybody. in addition to that, i'm related to robert you leave.

if you're really into robert you lead, not only is he related to obama, according to the internet, and bush. but, it goes all the way down to john adams. and quincy adams. and a lot of other presidents. host: tallahassee, florida, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes, you are on. caller: may favorite president was ronald reagan. i think he is only modern day leader that we have had. other than calvin coolidge at the regulars like washington and lincoln. i heard some comments is why the lbj. kennedy was a great guy. lbj voted against the voting rights act.

he only signed as president because he was under pressure from conservatives. i think ronald -- host: as far as reagan is concerned, why is you stand out? caller: now i am an independent. host: caller can as a question? ok, david from michigan. caller: good morning, pedro. ongoing use the verb "is" and not "was." what we talk about president's, we speak in terms of zeitgeist. what was the air of the moment. when you say modern day media and how fast news travels and how as we are sitting here discussing president's day, this bead of things that have been

and how gets to the general public, and how they handle it. how would abraham lincoln traveled this bead of information traveling as fast as it does. it probably would not have fared well. if we want to talk about our first president, george washington and this bead at which information traveled, when he had fared well? i think that back from a was to it is. i think president obama has an exceptional job, given the conditions as to how fast people talk and how fast information traveled. he is always under the spotlight. he has done an outstanding and exceptional job as president of the united states of america. i think historians will say the same thing. thank you very much. host: from farmers still illinois, republican line.

this is richard. go ahead. caller: my favorite president is grover cleveland. obviously a democrat. the reason why is because eb don't more bills than anyone else. there was a strike in chicago he was a pro union man but he sent troops and said it was in a national emergency and wouldn't allow it to happen. he stood by his principles no matter what. even if it was against the democrats. i voted democrat republican, even for gus hall in 1972. i'm sort of all over the board. grover cleveland is one of my favorites. host: does anybody in a modern day capture cleveland style as he handled the presidency? caller: believe it or not, i like to write eisenhower.

-- dwight eisenhower. he was elected when the korean war was going on he got us out of that. and only one troop was killed. he balanced the budget. he warned us about a larger and stuff. i think you is a great president. host: by the way, the portraits w have been showing you come from the national portrait gallery. we will go to robert from brooklyn, new york. independent line. hi. caller: my favorite president is richard nixon. not exclusively but mostly on the basis of three achievements. first, china. second during his campaign for office and during his ministry

should, he made environmental concerns and major factor. he established the environmental protection agency i got the clean air and clean water at pass. substance -- a subsequent presidents had followed up, we may not be in the same situation we are in now with respect to global warming. finally, third this is primarily a concern of younger males, jerry has a ministration, the malignant practice of conscription was terminated. i consider that to be the last of slavery. host: that was robber in new york talking about richard nixon. another nixon fan from minnesota, democrat line. caller: i just want to say, i can't believe someone else likes richard nixon. he always get such a bad rap. he got the cost of living in for

social security. something that would never happen today. he is definitely on the top of the list with . -- -- i like jimmy carter also. a great president. with job programs. i would probably have to put johnson third. those would be my top three guys. i'm not really a big fan of obama. hey, it is what it is. my favorites is nixon by far. host: when you have based expressions with others, and you bring up your admiration of richard nixon, what is the reaction? caller: most people cannot believe it. honestly. i love everything about the man. he loves his wife and family. of course, the vietnam war. every president has his war. he was really misunderstood.

some of his downfalls were due to his own behaviors. all in all, he is right up there with the top. maybe one day, someone will give him his recognition that he was a really top-notch gentleman. host: that was williams argument nixon. the second call in a row about nixon. the last caller brought up what he did during wartime, war being an issue particularly with isis. you heard from the white house staff talking about the presence requests for isis. the reaction from senate republicans yesterday on the show towards that request. that is bob porter appearing on "face the nation appear code talking about particularly skepticism. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> it is our goal to have a

process the number one determines the threat. and number two looks at what is the president's strategy especially in syria. i think there's a lot of skepticism. that creates a lot of concern. we will have the opportunity to look at that and what is happening in iraq. and hopefully, surely thereafter create language that can in fact pass in both houses. host: that was senator bob corker yesterday. daniel from georgia, independent line. a fan of lincoln, go ahead. caller: good morning, c-span. i like lincoln. when he came to office, the way he involves and by the time he was assassinated, he wanted black people to vote. i think if he would not have

been assassinated, the reconstruction of our country would have been a lot different. i also like jimmy carter. jimmy carter put -- in the white house in 79. host: one more call on this topic. that will be from by written in philadelphia, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. my favorite president would be roosevelt. he married eleanor. host: wide because of his marriage to eleanor? [indiscernible] again, asking folks about their favorite president and why. we will change years and talk

about the current president. president obama wants to receive credit for the improving economy before leaving office. we will be talking to john ward from yahoo! news. later, steve gonzales from the american legion. it is "washington journal" on this presidents' day. we will be right back. ♪ >> this presidents' day on the c-span networks. on c-span starting at 10:00 eastern -- >> to provide that today, i

probably announced my candidacy of president of the united states of america. quite a special presentation on presidential campaign announcement. from ronald reagan in 1970 92 [video clip] two barack obama. on booktv, c-span 2, finalist for the national book critics award. starting at noon, brian davis. at 1:30 p.m., elizabeth colbert argues that we are currently undergoing a mass extinction. at 3 p.m. elizabeth warren on wealth and inequality. on "american history tv" at 8:00 cartoonists.

at noon, an interview with herbert hoover discussing his life of . to mark the 150th anniversary of lincoln's assassination, later in the day. find our complete television schedule at c-span.org. let us know what you think about the programs you're watching. e-mail us at comments at c-span.org. or send us a tweet. join the c-span conversation. like us on facebook. follow us on twitter. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our first guest of the morning is jon ward of yahoo! news. he put out a recent story on how

barack obama was to be the ronald reagan of the left. good morning. before we get to the details of a story, talk about hot came to be. guest: it's funny to go back and see how these stories become ideas that you pursue. i was at a holiday party in december, two months ago. i had a conversation with a coworker's husband, and we had this conversation about obama and what his legacy will be. he ran through, and about 30 seconds, about how obama given in an economic recession, the economy has rebounded, and that is what he will be remembered for. i thought, this is interesting i wonder if that is how it will be. what is the argument as to how he will be remembered. i went on to report and thick about one what are the main factors that will play into that. host: you tired your story, this idea of one is you create -- of wanting to get credit for the

economic rebound. then you bring up ronald reagan. what is the parallel? guest: i used to work at huffington post. i was watching this interview that and eggs colleague was doing. he started talking about how obama was really ancients and worried there from the one in 2012, he would get credit for the way that the economy is rebounding. he went on to say that in their view since 1980, the economy rebounded under reagan, and that dictated the terms over political term over what is effective policy for the last three decades. that is the white house's view of the spirit their hope is that the economy rebounding under their administration will reset economic policy, and basically give more credence to liberal ideas on economics. in the same way that i guess you

could say trickle-down economics, and tax breaks was bolstered under reagan. host: even though some of the work was done under reagan, we believe in this country for a long time that less government and less taxes is good for economic growth. we have been battling that conception. democrats say, we want to change that field. host: that plays into the way tha obama sees himself as an iconic president. sort of a kennedy type figure. it will be more than a walk to the park to get s this credit. host: why also the concentration on the economy when he argued has health care on the list russian mar question? guest: a much more civil

metric is the economy, did people get jobs. host: this idea of comparing to reagan, what is the specific question mark how does that play out? guest: they hope that the economy does not have another recession. that there is no further pickups economically. i think after that, they will have to make the argument -- we go through some of the things that they will have to argue on. it is hard for them because they have done a time to spur a huge recovery. i think what they can say is that they came in, continue some of bush's policies, whether it is the stimulus or auto bailout . i think they can credibly say that they continue those things to keep the economy from cratering further, and created an environment in which the economy could recover. i think the question then is it

the policy since then have helped her slowed recovery. host: how ronald reagan wants to be the -- how obama wants to be the ronald reagan of the left. that is the story. if you questions about the president, his economic policies, how he spells e sales those, now's your chance to do so. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 745-8002 for independents. they get us known on twitter and facebook as well. we are showing you a bit of rhetoric, we have a speech from the president talking about reese economics. we will show that to you. [video clip] >> we have come a long way the past six years since we suffered the worst financial crisis since the great depression. this morning, we found out that american businesses added another 200 xt thousand jobs.

[applause] in 2014, our economy created more than 3.1 million jobs. that is the best. of economic growth since the 90's. all told, after the past 59 months the private sector has added about 11 million -- 11.8 million, almost 12 million jobs. that is the longest streak of private-sector job growth in our history. host: anything with context the want to apply the that? guest: whenever you talk about adding jobs, for the economy to keep going, on the way it is supposed to go, let's talk about 2-3% growth, you have to jobs to

offset those who leave the workforce. a large degree of the recovery has been cyclical. any time the economy doesn't die, it will come back at some point. the other thing -- there are a lot of people who have stopped looking for work. the true unemployment rate, people say it is much higher than the 5.7% that it is that right now. the pool of people looking for work has shrunk as well. that's as the number of people are working. the other thing, we can probably get to this later, born comes to the recovery, a big part of liquidity coming back into the market, and wealth in created it has been through the federal reserve policy. keeping it just rates low. that has allowed washington to do very well. for stocks to do very well.

the inequality has increased under this president because a lot of wealth has been going to the most wealthy in the country. host: does the president talk about specific such as spelling out the auto industry question mark are the direct parallels? guest: it is hard to argue that the auto bailouts, they did cost taxpayers money, but they also kept alive people and jobs. an industry is doing well the moment. the president will talk about those. he is not talking about them now. i think will be part of this larger argument towards the end of his presidency, and beyond. host: jon ward is with us. our first call is mark from ohio on the independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i just wanted to tell jon ward to make sure when he refers to ronald reagan --

host: go ahead. mark from ohio, are you still there? go ahead. caller: i wanted to make sure the jon ward was aware that president during his eight years, raise taxes on the american people of other times. he also was responsible for taking 2.5 trillion dollars from social security and leaving with an iou. he also, the last thing when he was in office, the national deficit was the third highest in american history. so, make sure that he gets credit for all those. guest: some of those numbers, i do not know they are exactly true. he did raise taxes. a big frustration among

conservatives with reagan is that he came in, talked about reducing the size of government, and cutting government, but government continue to grow. i think what dan pfeiffer in the white house are talking about is that obama did come in and cut taxes. the famous legacy of reagan is the last recur. he famously true on the back of a napkin, and talked about trickle-down economics, cutting taxes, giving more money to the taxpayer, and the money will trickle-down as business is allowed to grow and employ more people. that is sort of the theory. whether we are trying to mount if you raise taxes . that is the theory that dominate economic policy. host: our next caller from goose creek, carolina. democrats line. caller: i just have one

question. that is how do we compare the president, barack obama, with ronald reagan? i do not understand. guest: it's a good question. i think it is a straightforward answer. you have these presents. i heard some callers from the previous segment tiny about linda johnson nixon, jimmy carter. those are three great examples of the modern president in the of imagery. i think you do not want to be remembered as one of those presents. i'm not saying if that is right or wrong. i'm saying that is the weight of politics in washington, and our media culture has built up presence. they are remembered, often times in one word, or to ideas. you have kennedy and reagan. these of the kinds of presence

that president obama wants to be remembered as. and the national collective consciousness, just sort of the way you remember them at the job of a hat, they are thought of as great. these other presidents are not. there is a lot of debate. i'm reading a lot of jimmy carter right now for books i'm working on. he is a fastening guy -- fascinating guy. president obama is obviously fixate on how he is remembered. host: ultimately, this will go to messaging as far as how the presence of accomplishment are delivered. guest: that will be a large part of it. host: from maryland, and independent. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i think that the president's legacy will be remembered as a president that was very good for

this country. if you look at history under democratic and republican presidents just look at the empirical evidence and the economy and what has happened. also, the fact that we've had so much obstructions. i think that if he had had people working with them, the economy would have b spurted a lot faster. people say that democrats want all government, and republicans want to work which is the private sector and the rich, you need to have both. the government may not create jobs, but they provide the environment for jobs to be created. guest: that was a good argument.

i wouldn't know what to say to that except, when it comes to -- if there was less obstruction. i think the problem that thought is that the two sides have had such different ideas about what would spur, and will spur, and does burn economic growth. i think that is really the heart of the debate going forward. i think over time, we get a certain amount data that will help us reach certain conclusions. that is a frustrating element of this debate. it is so complex. people can take information to support their point of view. my cuts to health care and health care law when it comes to dodd frank, the financial regulation bill, a number of other policies, the argument

from the right is that there has been too much regulation and too much uncertainty in the tax code. all that has created an environment where businesses have not been hiring. from the left, there are theories on increasing demand on people were able to stay unemployed. this is a debate. we are already 30 seconds into the debate, at a level and which most people lose interest. i think that is why the messaging part of it will be a major focus. host: for the last couple of the weeks we have heard about middle class economics. is our way of civil find the message and helping to build a legacy on this issue? 's guest:'s he was the this term middle-class incessantly into thousand 12. obama had talks on equality

about one year ago and got away from it, and is now talking more about middle-class because for one thing, inequality has increased, but also middle-class is how most feel think about themselves. honestly, if we boiled down the debate to which words we use, we will not make much progress. we need people to engage more than that. i do think him using the term of the class allows him to broaden the appeal. host: jon ward from yahoo! news talking about president obama's economic policies. i from pennsylvania, republican line. caller: good morning. i think this is the niche is the point i would make is from senator donald patrick monahan who worked for these presents. he said, you cannot judge administration until at least 10 years until it is over. and then there are two criteria the account. did american interest increased domestically?

did american interest increased internationally. go i suspect that this administration will be remembered about the same way that the carter administration is remembered. some very good ideas that never came to fruition. i suspect that we are also going to discover the internal combat within the democratic party had an awful lot to do with how things rolled out. i will hang up and listen. guest: very thoughtful. i think is absolutely correct that there's so much that you do not know about how the president plays out that takes time for it to roll out. i alluded to this a second ago. there is so much data that we will have to see how it plays out in terms of the impact of some of these policies. the comparison to carter is an interesting one. it is one that has been made. basically, i think that the took

office, they do share some temperamental characteristics. they are both more pro-for soil -- more academic, and both have been hindered by a lackluster outreach to the hill. this president president carter never really clicked with washington in the hill. this president has not shown a ton of interest in reaching out to even member of this -- even members of his own party on the hill. host: james, you're next. caller: yes. mr. ward, i am baffled by your comparison. ronald reagan did not get the blowback that mitch mcconnell from the beginning put on

barack obama. just imagine. i ask you to imagine. had he been willing to reverse that statement, and say, yes, we will work with the president the changes that would have been made would have been phenomenal. had he not made the statement at the beginning of the presidency, please tell me how you would compare that with ronald reagan when he was open accept it with open arms as americans hero i both republicans and democrats. thank you. guest: it's true. tip o'neill, the speaker during reagan's presidency, they were together very well. it's true that mitch mcconnell made that comment, i think in 2009. saying that it was their job to make him a one term president. i think the critique of this president is that whatever the

degree of obstruction from the hill, there is still only one president in town. yes, it may be difficult. but coming up to where it takes to work together. it may be that i was never going to happen, it was impossible. i think the main critique has been that when it comes to really making maxim effort to make that happen, before saying that it is impossible, that maximum effort in the eyes of many critics was not there. it is interesting. people keep coming back to this. this seems to be an enduring observation about this time in washington. supporters for the present hobbies feel like this wasn a major impediment to his success. host: wait five economic recovery in your piece, once you talk about his oil. how does that play into a? guest: another thing about

thinking through this piece is i remember being in st. louis and june, 2012. i was covering mitt romney when he is running for president. there was a fundraiser the ritz-carlton in downtown st. louis. this was about the same time that his message was that the president was ruining the country and economy. all of the standard lines you hear from a challenger. he was quoting from a call and written by david nation us that road about how domestic energy reduction in u.s. was exploding. fast-forward a couple of years and we've seen that happen. domestic energy production has i think doubled. we are on track to become, some say the saudi arabia of the world in terms of our energy

production. due in large part to fracking. energy has played a huge role helping our economy gains steam. i was wondering when i started working on this, how much of factor that was. it turns out it is hard to quantify what role it has played in the recovery. i talked to a guy who has studied this and his estimate was about .5 points of gdp growth. it is significant, but not definitive. host: from stillwater minnesota, the independent line. up next is derek did go ahead. caller: good morning. i guess i'm a little confused about anything that i would see with obama and reagan next. it just does not look right. i guess my comment would be if i

were to play into theme, what do we have, i bet you the nation would have thought that reagan was the most trustworthy president. where do we look at our president today? he is probably the most deceitful when it comes to directly lines people to pass laws. as we know with the aca. he uses political capture gold -- political capital to tear up p apart and consolidate the health-care care industry. that was passed pretty much 100% democrats versus any other vote. the bipartisanship and the distrust that has been done here, he has not unify the country. reagan was so intention that he actually helped free people in

germany. this president indeed could, he would probably lock up 20% of the people in america. guest: it's striking to be how for a lot of people is hard to stomach, especially their conservatives or break in france, to stomach the idea of the comparison. i think would be helpful to say the comparison that i'm try to work with here is not one of qualities. you have to take it out of the realm of qualities and attributes. and look more towards the realm of impacts. that's what the obama white house is talking about. they are talking about impact. size and the way it which you are remembered in history. being a big figure in history.

i think if you have, particularly conservative ideas, and if you think obama has been an effective president, you don't have the stuff thinking that, but you have to set that aside in your assessment and try to see it from the way the white house sees it. in terms of impact. one thing that caller was pointing out maybe think of -- things generally in the 80's, after grim. in the 70's, were pretty positive. we did have a lot of success. that does color the way that reagan was remembered and perceived. i don't think you can -- this is not necessarily obama's fault, necessarily, but it has been a grammar. under him. -- a grimmer period under him. it has been difficult. host: will the length of this

recovery dictate how well this president is remembered? guest: that is a big part of this debate. did the recovery takes long because of his policies or was that the way that the recovery was destined to happen because of the depth of the recession? actually, there was a study that bill clinton cited, written by the same economist who came up with this study that has become controversial that says that debt had a great impact on economic growth. the name escapes the right now but they are very well-known economist. this study that they talk about said that, i'm summarizing, but it is we said that when the recession is so deep, that inevitably lengthens the grade of the uptake in the recovery. that will be the argument. host: from california, democrat

lie. line. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i listen to the first caller and he was exactly right. reagan raise taxes 11 times. i think the biggest thing that congress and the president needs to focus on is the middle class. for the last caller, when he said president obama has lied to america, i want to bring you back to the last president who lied us into the iraq war. after 9/11. more people died, more of our troops died in iraq then all the people who died in 9/11. not to mention millions of iraqis. i guess that's all i have to say. it really burns --

guest: i like how you look right at me. obviously, politicians are not always truthful. there is a debate over whether bush lied. i think that is probably not the correct way to say about the war. some people would say he lied about the weapons of mass destruction. that is a huge debate. there was a lot of intelligence that would say that they thought it was there, and they are wrong about it. as far as the aca and obama's truthfulness about that, i'm trying to think right now if there's ever been evidence -- i believe there has been evidence that they knew that there would be massive changes that they were not cheerful about. i think reducing everything to

this present life, this president does not lie, it probably does not help us have the most constructive debate. if you want to get into each subject, that is worth doing. host: let's talk about looking at 2016 and getting your thoughts on a couple of things in the papers this morning, if you do not mind. when it comes to the clinton campaign, someone will possibly be part of that came campaign. your thoughts on him joining the team. what it says about the seriousness of what mrs. clinton might do if she does run. and what it says about how she will badger campaign. guest: i think that quote is key.

that was a huge weakness of the thousand eight campaign. even though obama was a transformative figure. in all this talk of his legacy, one of the fee will be remembered for is being america's first african-american president. that is a bigger club is on his part and a big part of why he was a seminal figure that kind of overwhelmed hillary early on in 2008. after he overwhelmed her in iowa, there was a long drawnout primary. hillary's campaign was come completely -- was completely unprepared for a fight with delegates. unprepared and then fractures internally. i think both of those things will not be mistakes that she makes this time. of course, does not look like she will have much of a primary challenge. in terms of internal discipline

and internal focus and efficiency, that is a big part of what john podesta does. another piece is that john is of the left. he is certainly a progressive. he is not of the bill clinton new democrat, or conservative democrats goal. that is sort of interesting what we think about how hillary will navigate this path forward when it comes to the war and we never partied pulling her left, but with the need to stay moderate on some things. that will be adjusting. host: the piece also talks about how he is ruthless in the way he conducts things. sometimes that is not a quality seen as a democratic operative i am paraphrasing. guest: he does not come off as ruthless in person. he is certainly calculating. he knows -- he is sort of like cheney, in the sense that he is

been around washington for a long time and knows how to operate within and among the levers of power. host: jon ward with yahoo! news is our guest talking about a lot of things -- he has recently written on how the obama administration hopes to capitalize on the economic recovery and other things as well. yahoo! news. how long has it been a new sur news service? guest: i have not said anything about my yahoo! news history. it has been a couple of years. i came over in september from the huffington post. before the huffington post, i was at the daily called. before that, at the washington times. we have news constantly updated throughout the day. as well as a team at journalists here in new york -- a d.c. and york. who are working on, i would not

say investigator pieces, but enterprise pieces. hopefully things he could only find out yahoo! news. we are trying to leverage our experience and contacts. host: how are you accepted here in washington being part of a website? what is the acceptance level? guest: it has changed. certainly, there is no the area. for several years maybe even one decade, everything has been moving towards online. there are actually many weaknesses to having a product that you're freed from from being online. i would say two, two weaknesses of having print newspaper. i think there are great things about print newspaper. there is a coherence to a print product that does not exist online because you're moving from page to page. working out of print newspaper there are two things that are drawbacks in the modern news environment.

one is that you have a whole. our cinemathe you need to fill that requires you to write a story, and you might end up just tried to fill a space. that can take time and effort away from doing pieces, and spending another day or two on a piece that may be more distinctive. the other thing is the evening deadline. this is a quality-of-life issue. as a reporter, having kids myself, i'm not tied anymore to this idea of going back and forth with an editor between 5:00 and 7:00, sometimes later really dinnertime. i'm not tied to this idea of negotiating changes to the piece during that time. we can have -- we can publish whenever we want. as a reporter, i like that. host: jon ward of yahoo! news joining us. kevin is up next. they giver holding on. go ahead. caller: i just wanted to comment

that politics today is a lot more partisan than it was when ronald reagan was president. at the end of the day, ronald reagan would have drinks with others. they would take off their partisan hats. reagan also had a foreign policy -- he made it no secret to the soviet union that he would outspend the russians, and they would never be will to keep up with us. that's all about all he wanted to say. i don't see that from this presidency, nor from this congress, working together to get things done. host: has the president at times got to congress and ask for dinner, anything result of that? guest: not really. again, part of goes back to how vastly opposed ideas are. i think on foreign policy, the aumf debate is an interesting one.

i'm not sure exactly with the white house is up to. they say they don't need it, but they are coming to congress anyway. there is some theory that he wants congress to own rejecting it, so that he can be blamed. there is all this talk of politics about it. within the republican party there are people like rand paul who won a very limited authorization. then there are things like bob corker or ma marco rubio who was a very expensive authorization. really, the wave hit the islamic state in iraq and syria is dominate headlines right now, it is elevating the way that we perceive the threat right now. there's definitely a lot of mayhem happening over in the middle east. i think it is a lot -- the caller earlier talks with his comparisons carter. i think there is a lot this that is

left to play out from this president on foreign policy. it will probably take time on how indexes presidency. there's a lot of time left on the clock, and a lot happening. host: here's jimmy from your he pennsylvania. democrats line. good morning. caller: yes jon. you're not mention yet have a thousands of jobs were lost under george w. bush. 60,000 jobs. reagan was a union buster. he had a hundred thousand -- 100,000 jobs that he took. most factories are gop run. that is how i feel about it. the national debt, with over $4 trillion under ronald reagan, he is not the end-all as far as i'm concerned. obama has done a great job. he has had an uncooperative

congress. you and i both know it. mentions something about the jobs that have left this country. you never mention the jobs. i take the tv whenever people do not mention how may thousands of factories have left the united states during this. . period. guest: it sounds like the caller time outsourcing. that has deftly been a controversial issue over the last two decades, probably. bill clinton passed nafta, lot of people feel like that outsource jobs. my personal opinion, having looked at this a little a bi bit, in a globalized economy, you will have jobs moving around unless you want to be totally isolationist. that is a huge transition that we're going throughout the country still. i think a lot of smart people on the issue of what kind of jobs we need to fill in this

country, are saying that we need to move away from this idea of manufacturing, even though energy production here is helping us do a little bit more manufacturing. wages and other countries are so much lower that we are going to have a hard time competing on that level. this gets to the education piece, we need to work on enhancing and modernizing our education process so that we can have people to fill more high technology jobs. it is a real challenge. host: there is a piece in "the washington post" this morning on gubernatorial history. talk about what they will bring to this race. i know we have seen this before but have we ever seen such a great amount entering the prey? guest: i have not done it a

count. it is a good question. there is a governor out in ohio, an interesting figure. somebody like rand paul, or marco rubio they are little disadvantaged against a guy like scott walker. scott walker somebody who is just as conservative as marco rubio or some of the other guys. then, you bobby jindal who is going far to the right. these governors have an argument to make to say, i am just as conservative as ted cruz. this is what jindal is doing. certainly, bobby jindal's record has been critique and a lot lately. you are an executive. you have made calls. you've actually implemented policies. anybody able to see them play out. that is an age-old argument on behalf of governors. i think it will be a strong one.

i don't necessarily think it will win anyone the nomination. it will certainly be a big part of what they tell voters they should be voting on. host: one more call. doug from california. caller: i think this president was elected -- i am caucasian, i think a lot of people thought there would be improvements in race relations. i think he has used race for political advantage. i do not think that is right. that's all i have to say. guest: i look forward very much to the books that will be written on this topic over the coming years. i really do. i think it is a complex, touchy sensitive issue. i'm as disheartened as anybody at the fact that race relations -- demonstrated by the events in ferguson and new york --

advertise them very negative. that is not good. i don't begin by like that. the president has had a difficult, very difficult role to play in this. he has spoken out on race going back to his first campaign in 2008. he as been very cautious and conservative on this issue in a lot of ways. i think he will have interesting things to say once he is out of the white house. i think there will be an in just the debate once people -- once we can all step back and look at it somewhat objectively. i think ob and interesting part of his post-presidency. host: jon ward wrote the piece on how barack obama wants to be compared to ronald reagan. he writes for yahoo! news. how often do you write? guest: a couple times for a week. host: your you are also working o a book on jimmy carter.

what inspired it? guest: i thought this was an overlooked part of history and a great story. it is also great chance to reevaluate teddy kennedy and jimmy carter. some overlooked figures in some respect. with a lot that has been underappreciated or overlooked. host: when will be out? guest: 2017. host: jon ward, thank you for joining us. we will change gears and talk about the programs designed to help veterans transition to civilian employment. steve gonzales will be next. "washington journal" continues after this. ♪

>> while congress is in recess book tv in american history tv are in prime time. c-span 2's book tv features topics like the war on terror. on wednesday world affairs talking about china's plans to replace america as a superpower, the crisis in europe. on thursday, david axelrod, mike huckabee. finally, biographies and a look at pakistan through the eyes of a woman raised in karachi. interviews from a pow.

on wednesday the 100th anniversary of the re-lease of the birth of a nation. thursday, historians debate social changes of the 1970's. friday japanese american internment during world war ii. this week on c-span and prime time, three nights of tech. >> it should be a bentley or something, but it is just a taxi. for that, for the privilege of leasing that car for 40 grand a year, he gets to be impoverished.

>> here from insiders at facebook and pay pal. >> israel probably the top high-tech country in the world when digital first, gdp growth job creation, health care education. >> three nights of tech starting on tuesday. "washington journal" continues. hubble the assistant directionor from --. guest: you have many issues where the skill sets acquired in the military can become barriers

due to the fact that employers do not understand what have you learned and what have you obtained in the military and how is that applicable to the civilian workforce. you have the whole translating of what you learn and how does the civilian workforce except in house that applicable and have it they know where to put you into the respective workforce. host: do they help sell the skills to the employers? guest: it is considered the transistor and dusty transition assistance program. that is the program that was initiated at least 20 years ago to help an individual transition. now that you have a robust

military, which has acquired heavy skill sets and multiple professions, many equate to the civilian sector. they have evolved into having additional programs to help servicemembers transitioning. programs allow individuals 180 days out to be able to go into the apprenticeship program to add on to the current skill set they have learned. now you have a multifaceted agency that has come together to help dod. host: do divisions like yours help? guest: yes, we help with job fairs, job resume type events

we work with helping dod to make sure we can evaluate and assess the programs to make sure they are meeting the needs of our servicemembers and the needs of the spouses. it is the holistic approach for organizations like the american legion. host: as far as your specific organization, you're holding a credentialing program. guest: we say credentials. that can be anything from your license, if you're a lawyer, you have to obtain a degree before you can take your bar exam. if you are a plumber, you go through an apprenticeship program.

someone is brain stakeholders together to have conversations of what is innovative out there what programs have created to help on a state, local, on a federal level. as much as they country came together to fight a war, we are trying to make sure we can get the country together and the stakeholders to work together with the help of the readjustment of those individuals back into society. home well if you want to ask questions, republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you are a veteran, and you wish you talked -- and you wish

to talk, 202 caller:748 caller: 8003 -- 202-748-8003. guest: my transition was different than those. when i got out, my transition was more along the lines i had a foundation that would help me transition and understand my benefit and understand where i needed to go. the marine corps was a stepping stone. for me it was more, you're going to college and you're going to get this credential. hopefully it will allow you to become successful.

i had support. what we are trying to do is not just help those individuals but what about the individuals who do not have support structure making them understand what is there for them. whether they decide to be a faulkner -- a farmer or go into nutrition. had we give them options and work with stakeholders to make sure what they have learned we are able to ensure that they are getting the proper employment. one thing i would add to that, what people do not understand, there is a law, if you're transitioning out of the military and you are considered unemployed human they will play unemployment -- they will pay

unemployment benefits. host: if a soldier has been involved in direct conflict, talk about their transition. guest: their transition can be a lot different. in those cases, what you have learned could be different than those who have not seen combat. a navy corpsmen who went to the same school, learned the same thing, after school, one might go into a medical hospital, that corpsmen might have seen totally different experiences, different skill sets, that when they transition now, how did they transition that and put it on paper to make sure they had the right certification and credential. it might lead them to an lpn

type of profession. how do we evaluate that and assess that to make sure whatever path they choose is successful. how do we assess both skill sets? one of the biggest barriers is the employers do not know what i have done or how do i go back -- how do i go about translating these skill sets. you have individuals who can help you evaluate help you

write it into the civilian lingo. ensure that employers understand what you have learned. we also ask the employers to go to job centers. it is a way for them to work with job centers to find those veterans that me what they are looking for. it is the whole barriers of what i have done, how do the civilian sector receive me, how do they accept those particular skill sets. host: the first call is from richard. go ahead. caller: good morning. can we talk to the department of navy and get rid of -- and change it to emt or paramedic. i was in the navy. it does not transfer out like

the army does or the air force does. when you come out of the military, you have a job and certifications and you can just go get yourself a job. if you join the navy and got ac training you get your certification and licenses and you can get yourself a job. guest: all the service branches have come together to begin to ensure that every individual has the ability to take the certification test. a bulk of states will recognize certification. we do not want to pigeonhole individuals.

we want to make sure every individual depending on what they have obtained and learned how do we assess that competency. how is the civilian sector take that information and apply it to a particular profession? you might gather enough information that you might be eligible to be an lpn or you might have a small gap. we want to assess each individual and had a we convey that and convert that to civilian. host: gregory, north carolina, go ahead.

caller: my feeling is regardless of what you have done, if you have gotten out of the marine corps or the army, they had a program that was pretty good. they got lost in the whole thing about the skills that were needed at the time, but it did not go over two years. someone who had a two year

degree already, that is what you were limited to. guest: is a program created for those individuals, it was a two year program. all we are currently doing is figuring out how do we work with congress to make the program sustainable or how we continue the program in a way that we can fix the tweaks that might have -- due to the fact of the crime limitation that the rap actually was applied.

host: there was a piece about the higher more heroes act. he makes one statement americans may be shocked to learn there is no unemployment crisis. what ends up happening, we are one of the most transient parts of the population. you have individuals falling off who stopped looking for work. most reservists are not calculating the reservists. haven't we defined them tie them

into the numbers. if you are talking about the older generation, some have unemployment rates. when you are talking about figuring out new redeployments and going back into iraq as we continue to get deployed, you get pulled out of school. when you expect to come back that is a whole another conversation. there are too many variables in place to come up with a number regarding the employment rate.

the bill calls the veterans heroes and would allow them to circumvent some aspects of the aca. guest: we consider them individuals. the name itself might be a catchy name. i do not know why the name was given separate legislation. it is a way to -- congress passes laws all the time. how do we make a law stand up and make companies want to feel good about themselves and make them enticed.

they have an aging workforce. how you take a new war workforce to find a transitioning veterans to come into that workforce? caller: as a veteran of 24 years, a lot of these veterans i run into do not get information when they transition or they completely do not pursue things. a lot of the schooling in the navy, you have to make sure they

can challenge the nurse exam and pass it and get their board certifications. a lot of veterans i run into they do not have a clue of how to apply, what to do. it is sad to see veterans eligible for benefits get the right information so they can apply for them. guest: working with our partners, we have taken up the initiative of educating the service member. some of them are more far along. navy service members are aware of the credentialing online school.

that assists you with understanding what is your current occupation and what additional type of credentials you would need. there are different eligibility criteria to be able to adapt and apply, the navy working with the legions, trying to educate as many servicemembers as possible that we have access to basis. host: frank, mississippi, hello. caller i have two qwik points. i was a veteran. i served in the army back in

1977. i was in germany when terrorists were over there. my points are, as far as jobs go do you run across where, i work for the government. then there about five years. full-time jobs come open, they look over the seasonal workers and give it to a non-veteran. that is my first point. the second point, dealing with obama care, if you are already a veteran, you still have to sign up for obama care. guest: about the full-time openings and not being available to that veteran there is the veteran preference. what -- the question is

hopefully that veteran is applying when that addition becomes available. if they are not, hopefully they have a legitimate reason why they are not. if that veteran is applying, they should have preference outside or against any peers applying for that job. if they are not being hired for any reason, i would suggest coming to us with the issue so we can address it. we are exempt due to the fact of the access to hospitals across the country. that is outside of my lane. i work on the economic

component. if you want to know more about that or any veteran contact the american legion. i am sure we can connect you with our medical department, who deals with that and can give you a detailed information on what is going on and how you are exempt. host: the lines are republicans independent, democratic. also a line for our veterans. caller: the biggest problem i see is marines and soldiers will deploy and deploy.

when they have time to get out they haven't done a thing, they have been wasting away. i do not agree with asking for handouts when they have not done anything for the past four years. guest: that is the reason the department of defense instruction the apprenticeship and internship is giving the particular commanding officer the authority to allow servicemembers to go into those type of programs. to allow them to build off what they have learned in the military, with the hopes that when they transition, something might be waiting for them, and

if not, they have a skill set that allows them to be more marketable than they have coming out of the military. making sure they have all options available to them that would allow them to be successful. host: a viewer asks about the g.i. bill's role in all of this. guest: it is a transition tool. it allows an individual to help cover the cost of the transition. the component is to allow you to become what you should have became.

it is a big component. it pays for quite a bit of programs and scope that allows you to use different -- outside the military. caller: ima federman of world war ii. -- i am a veteran of world war ii. manufacturing has fallen to 10%. the reason it has moved out people that own the manufacturing are making obscene profit on it.

that is one of the basic problems. there used to be 20% of our economy. it has fallen to 10. that is where a lot of good jobs have gone. something has to be done to bring those jobs back to this country. it may be too late. guest: thank you for your service. manufacturing is making a resurgence in this country. they're are working with the department of defense to get more into manufacturing. it is different than what we consider manufacturing were

minor taking you 10 to 15 individuals to get one piece together or to assemble a particular product. the 3-d printing types of professions takes one or two people to run and operate a particular piece of equipment. that individual has to have a higher skill level or skill set to operate the new types of machinery and get these products out the door. how do we get those individuals the right credentials? it can be an actual four year degree and ensuring that they can transition into those high demand jobs and we can go into a

conversation of getting more people into the i.t. industry. these things are getting folks into industry that are making a comeback within our respective country. in most cases, you have, when people think veteran, they think of the 1924 -- the 19 to 24 age group. those veterans have more options. they have an option to go back to school. they can go back to school, and

they transition out. sometimes, you have this misconception society itself is you got out, you're going to be taken care of. we don't have to worry about you. we have to worry about the 24-year-old. we have to worry about all of them. how do we assist them with readjustment still entering a work force and still being able to be in the workforce? we should not discriminate against them. haven't we help them. ages range -- and from someone who might be in their 60's. how do we help them and make

sure they are part of the workforce. how do we help them adjust and enter the workforce? you have to take it into consideration. they have greater experiences that they can add to a particular workforce and help that company. caller: i have a question. i have a degree in political silence and took one course in public personnel administration. i felt that it was a dead-end after i can only get my bachelors degree with my veterans benefits. we did contact 10 kennedy -- ted kennedy at the time and he extended some of these benefits

for veterans getting through to their bachelors degree. i have property i manage. i think i could contribute something and i just wanted just i just wondered if there was anything to get a masters degree, because it seems like a dead-end if you do not get a masters today. guest: we are trying to concentrate on all veterans. thank you for your service and the road you have paved for our generation. if you are trying to get a masters degree, depending on the program you are trying to enter into or the type of the degree are trying to obtain, contact

american legion. go to the national resource directory. it is run by the department of veteran affairs. it will give you a listing of all different types of scholarships on a state, national, federal level. hopefully you can identify scholarships within there. hopefully you can maintain scholarships and grants that will help you further your education. go to the jobs the center, not just for jobs. you might find a employer willing to pay for the education. that is a robust way, but if you contact american legion, we would be more than happy to walk you through that.

host: david, massachusetts. caller: thank you for taking my call. the education factor after service is a wonderful thing. the dod is really failing its servicemembers. you have all of these mos' that should be fine tuned and nailed down to what the requirement is in the civilian world and when someone is in the service, if they are sure on a couple of skill sets they should know that while they are in the military so they can take a couple of courses so when they get out they have that master mechanics license that says yes i can do this, or they have the lpn.

there are so many mos' that this could work with. guest: it is a military occupation -- in their respective branch. back in 2014, working with senator kaine, as well as many other colleagues, a law was passed that instructs all service branches to educate servicemembers and workforce depending on the job occupation you have. it educates you on what else might be needed with the hopes that you might be able to obtain while in the military are what you might need to obtain when you transition out of the military.

the g.i. bill being the readjustment tool. they are making a conscious effort when a service member transitions out and is unable to find unemployment, it falls under dod to pay for the unemployment benefit for as long as an individual, they have to cover the cost. the department of defense has every interest in making sure that individual is transitioning into employment.

we come in with the skill bridges, what is missing, and hopefully, while you are in the service, you might have the opportunity to obtain additional skill sets or when you transition out, understanding and being educated, what is your skill gap. the g.i. bill can help you obtain that skill to ensure you can find employment. caller: thank you for taking my call. i got out of the service in 1958 . i moved to florida. i have been down here about four years and i was getting free medicine. i went back and turned in the forms to the lady and it took seven months of my disability check to pay for the medicine because they said i never turned

them in. they need to get rid of them people. contact the american legion. we have dedicated staff that will help you with addressing whatever concerns you may have especially the medical side. you can find this on the web. we will help you identify how can we assist you in making a wrong a right. caller: we always say the problems are being fixed, but they are not. i have been waiting for 14 years for my problems to go through.

i would like to know if secretary mcdonnell can make a direct line for us to call in our complaints. we do not speak to anyone that can help us. we get a status line. no one can direct you or help you. it is a bureaucracy. it is a problem. guest: contact the american legion. they can help you walk through this process. what might occur might be different and how we can assist you in that front, which would

be different then the rules and regulations that the department of veterans affairs might be a benefit that you have earned with them, but until we can know more about the situation and who you're dealing with, or if you are dealing with both agencies, how can we make sure what might have been a wrong will hopefully be a right. caller: i have a stephen i would like to make concerning the american legion. i am a vietnam era veteran. i remember the american legion would take applications dealing with the anon veterans.

i am from indiana and you are -- and your legion headquarters is across the street grid after i got out of the military, i have been trying to work with the american legion to bring in more veterans and they have refused. we are trying to recruit new veterans. the gentleman on the tv is not telling veterans for truth about the american legion. guest: as far as american legion goes the biggest percentage of our membership is via nonveterans. they are some of the veterans who are in the leadership themselves. i apologize if you have had a bad experience.

you can call us and we well hopefully make a wrong a right and make sure you are taking care of, regardless of the generation you come from. host: if they know they're going to be out in six months, what should they be doing? guest: networking, looking at 180 days out, how can they use current policies in place to be able to enter these types of programs way before. star looking at colleges, what you want to do in the future the next two years, start making a game plan. you do not want to because

trying to figure out what you're going to be doing with your life and be out in two weeks. host: thank you for your time. coming up, the social security administration spent $140 billion for those who have total disability. up next, stephen ohlemacher with the associated press. president obama signed -- clay later committed suicide after receiving 30% disability rating for his ptsd. president obama notes the effort that led to the act becoming a law.

[video clip] >> all the veterans that fall for this law and advocated for those who have served, we think all of the military families who have lost a loved one, families who channeled their grief into helping others. they believe that we have to end this tragedy of suicide among our troops and veterans. i want to thank the members of congress, republican and democrat, who worked to get this done. i want to give a special acknowledgment to someone who knows a little bit about service, senator john mccain. [applause] jeff miller, my homegirl from

the chicago area, could not be prouder of her. [applause] tim, thank you for the great work. just to be clear about the bipartisanship, this is an area we cannot have an argument. clay's parents are texas republicans. they worked with this entire spectrum and that is a reminder of what we can accomplish when we take a break from the partisan bickering that often

dominates this town and focus on what matters to the american people. i wish i had gotten the chance to know clay. in a way, i feel like i do. there are a lot of men and women across this country who, like clay love their country and want to serve. host: if you want to see that in full, go to our website. every week at this time, we focus on your money. this week, we are focusing on the social security disability insurance program. thank you for joining us.

can you explain a little bit about this program and what it does? guest: you often think of the retirement program. that is the larger part of social security. there is also a sizable disability program. the program was expanded to include disability in 1956. if you become so disabled that you are unable to work, you can apply for benefits and that will help you get by. host: is as partial disability? total disability? guest: the definition a strict. your supposed to have a disability that lasts at least one year, that prevents you from working anywhere in the economy.

in his not so much that you cannot do the job you have now. the definition says you are not supposed to be able to do any job. host: as long as you qualify for that, you can get the benefit about a thousand bucks a month. $140 billion spent last year on this program. guest: the retirement program paid out $672 -- $672 billion last year. in the average monthly benefit it is a little more than a thousand dollars. host: is just the person

disabled qualified or do other people qualify under this? guest: spouses might be able to qualify. we also have surviving children. your children could get benefits. host: what happens if a person is total disabled and they recover. do they stop being on the program? guest: there are in, requirements. you are not allowed to make much money at all. if you recover and you get a job, then you should go off of the roles. you have a disability, it will be a disability for life and you will never be able to work again. others may have a disability where you can go back to work. they call them continuing reviews.

the social security administration is supposed to check in on you and see if you are still disabled. the social security administration, there have been complaints there is a backlog of the reviews that they need to do. back in 2011 congress passed a budget reduction package. as part of that, they increased lending for doing more of these reviews. if you increase funding for doing more of these reviews, you save more money by having more people move off the rolls.

host: if you have questions for our guest, here are the numbers you can call. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. i bring up those lines because they republican god himself in a little bit of trouble for making same it's about the program. he said back in january, over half the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts. can you give some context? is he right? guest: not exactly. one of the things that has happened as there are a growing number of people who are on social security disability for mental issues. there is also the other broad category, muscular skeletal. people with back pain, other joint pains.

sometimes, members of congress look at the rise in the numbers and say there is potential for some people that don't deserve benefits to actually get on. men represent just over 50. when it comes to mental disorder, it is diagnosed for about a third of cases. host: it is so much of a mental disorder it keeps them from going to work altogether. guest: that is what the law says. host: when it comes to issues with fraud, is that a problem? guest: i believe so. there have been a couple of cases in november, they came

out with the report. when you think about folks who apply for disability, they get about 2.5 million applications a year for disability benefits. only about 30 2% of applications were approved. when you apply for disability benefits, you go to a state agency affiliated with social security, you apply for benefits. you can ask them to reconsider the decision. after you have been declined usually twice, you can appeal the decision to an administrative law judge. this is a judge employed by the social security administration. they are supposed to be an independent arbitrator that you can present your case to about whether you should get benefits or not. it is a lengthy process.

it has been up over 400 days well over a year since you applied for benefits. there has been concern in congress about some judges who have been approving disability claims that are very -- at a very high rate. the concern is they have been denied twice. why would these judges be approving them at a high rate? last year, they found judges who approved applications that came before them. they determine that they had approved over a seven-year period, 25,000 claims that they felt were improper and that people should not have received benefits. it was about $2 billion over seven years.

$2 billion is a lot of money over seven years. the program pays out $140 billion in one year and benefits. even if you were to go in trying get at some of the fraud and some of the improper payments, it might be a significant amount of money, but the overall size of the program makes it difficult to rain that in. host: sam, independent line, good morning. caller: i would like to know the disability, i have worked all of my life as a crane operator. i was making 67 a year. now i'm getting 64. i have watched people that have never worked three or four years in their life, getting disability and we are missing a big part of the problem is the

lawyers. what kind of money is going out to the lawyers? guest: every time i write about social security disability, i hear from two different sets of people. usually people call reporters when they have a story and want to complain about the system. the broad groups of people i hear from our people who have a family member who has a disability and they spent years to get benefits and they cannot get on and they are frustrated. the other people i hear from is someone who has a neighbor. i know a guy who is getting disability and icm out mowing the lawn doing sporting events and things like that. you hear about that from both sides. host: do you have to work a certain number of years to apply for a benefit? guest: yes. you have to work 10 years.

for disability benefits, it depends on your age. the older you get, the more years you have to work to mollify for benefits. for people who qualify at a young age and have never worked and paid into the system, you cannot get social security disability. those folks get supplemental security income. it is related and run by the social security administration. host: here is harold, republican line. caller: i think he answered my question a little bit. my question is, if a person has never put any money into social security, can they take money out of it. is it open to people who are not citizens of the united states? guest: if you have never paid

into it, you do not qualify for benefits. say you are the surviving child of a worker who got benefits and died. that person could get benefits. as far as immigrants, you have to have a social security number to qualify for benefits and pay into the system. there are legal immigrants in the country who get social security numbers to work. they pay into the system and they can qualify for benefits. if you are in the country illegally, you cannot qualify for benefits legally. host: michael, minnesota. caller: i have a different kind of question. i am on workmen's comp.. i hired an attorney. he wants me to get on social security disability after my workmen's comp. is done.

i was in a semi accident last april 30. i had a traumatic brain anyway, i was wondering, can you collect both at the same time #or one or the other? guest: to be honest with you i'm not sure. i don't know if you can get worker's comp. at the same time. i know the application process for social security can last a while. there is a fair chance that by the chance time interview -- by the time your application goes through, you would have artie got in worker's comp.. there are also benefit restrictions. host: is there a big legal industry dedicated just to the stopping of disability? guest: yes there is. if you can imagine, think about this process. going to a state agency, going there twice, appealing to that

agency, it can be difficult. there is an agency dedicated to this. if you have a disability, they know how to work the system, they know which definitions of the symptoms you must have to get through. however, it does raise the potential for fraud. host: from congress, texas regina is up next year good morning. caller: good morning. i work in a doctor's office. there are several of these offices around the city. we are inundated with people bringing in paperwork to be filled out for its ability. not warranted. specifically because just because you are ages about the biggest not been your disabled. the other thing i like to say is i find it very ironic, and i think the guy from kentucky,

paul, had it right. in his state, mitch mcconnell state, there is one county there that has about 99% of the people on some kind of disability. i'm almost positive that has to do with drugs, and that's what we get on a lot of art stability obligations to. a lot of people ruin their life by drugs of a want to take care of them. i find it appalling and discussing. guest: that's why a lot of applications are denied each year. like a said, last year, 2.5 million applications for application benefits. only 32% were approved. there is a very high standard to get benefits. host: do you need a doctor's note to start the process? guest: sure. you need documentation. the documentation must show you have a disability that prevents

you from working in the u.s. economy. the disability will last at least when you're or result in death. host: as far as social security, isn't someone actually looks at the new and looks at you question liky? guest: you go to state agency and they would essentially review your file. caller: how are you doing today? i know that everybody is concerned about how much money is being spent on disability. people taking advantage of the system. i would like to take this time to remind people that we spent a lot of money for other things. other than social security. ever since it was in situ way back when i started changing laws, and said, there is is

piled money than we can tap into for other benefits. thank you. guest: this is a good point. sort of a social security financing 101. back in 1983, the last time that congress overhaul social security they raise taxes, cut benefits delayed the age for receiving full benefits. they set the system for r generating more money and it created a surplus. this money was built up over time in preparation for the baby boomers, who are aging and at retirement or near retirement now. the way the system was set up was this trust fund would grow and that it would start shrinking. the retirement fund is still going a little bit, mainly on interests. the disability program is shrinking. the action started to pay out more in benefits than they took

in into the five. right now, currently there is about 2.7 trillion dollars in the combined trust fund. about 90 billion outside his disability. you can see how much larger the retirement program is. two point $7 trillion. how does that work? what is that money go? that money comes into the treasury and they invested in treasury bonds. it seems like a fairly reasonable thing to do. i've often referred to this as the retirement of an entire generation. treasury bonds to be the most safe investment that there is. the rest the government has been running deficit for several years. they take that money, after they give those treasury bonds to social security, and they take that might to spend on other things. as opposed to there being a pot of money of $2.7 trillion city there, there are $2.7 trillion

in treasury bonds that social security is holding, and as long as there is a balance in those trust fund, social security has the legal authorization to pay full benefits. host: i viewer says, can you explain what happened in congress because they did not change the way money could be moved around in social security? guest: this brings us to where we are today. we have these two trust funds. one supports a retirement program and one supports the disability program. back when congress set up the taxes that support social security, called fica taxes. you may see the on your pay stub. it stands for the federal insurance contribution act. the assistant -- these social security taxes 12 percent of your wages. half of the taxes paid by you, straight out of your pay, the other half is matched by your employer. most of t that tax money goes

to the retirement program, because it is much bigger. you have these two trust funds. technically, they are operating separately. as i said before, they were building a money, reserves were growing, and fact, they're still slightly growing, and they start to deplete as the baby boomers reach retirement age. the retirement program is scheduled -- in fact, the trust fund that supports the retirement fund is scheduled to run out of money by 20 24. the disability fund is scheduled to be completed next year. president obama has proposed as congress has done numerous times in the past, 11 times, funds from these funds have been transferred back and forth. essentially, you would reallocate funds from the

retirement program to the disability program. it has weaken the finances of the retirement program, just a little bit. instead of running out of money in 2034, we would run out in 2033. this would bolster the disability program and have the money in their last until 2033. this is important. by law, the social security should be self-funded. if disability fund runs out of money, they still have money for benefits, but they only collect enough to pay 81% benefits. so, unless congress acts by law, there would be a 19% cut in benefits. host: jackie from idaho is next. jackie, are you there? caller: i am here. i was wondering -- i paid into

social security for 44 years. can you hear me? host: yes, you are on. caller: i am a civil servant. i was. my job was very -- it had to be reconstructed. i am eligible for the regular social security retirement. am i going to get about the same amount? i can't get an answer from anybody on this. guest: for retirement benefits, depends on when you retire and when you apply for benefits. right now, the retirement age for full benefits is 66 years old. it is increasing to 67 years old eventually. you can apply for early benefits at 62 years old. these are reduced benefits. you don't get the full amount. some people do this -- this is a

very personal and important retirement decision that people have to do. am i willing to take reduce efforts at 62 years old, with every better for me, or joint want to wait until 65 or 66? that's a decision the have to make related to how long you plan to live. host: from wisconsin is brad. hello. caller: my senator, paul ryan he wants to cut our disability by 19%. that would be that i would only get about $10,000 per year. i have copd, a terminal disease. why would like to find out is have any of them ever thought about to get cut on their own wages or their own retirement? host: how long can be currently receive disability question mark

caller: i've been on it for seven years. host: is there time expiration date? guest: no. you get it as long as you meet the qualifications for getting disability payment. you can't work anywhere in the u.s. economy. you can continue to receive the for the rest of your life. actually, what happens is as you get to the retirement age, you would shift over to the retirement fund. host: as far as other disability pulls up money, are they available to anyone who receives medicare, or one of the other programs? guest: soon after you start receiving social security disability payments, you qualify for medicare. that is the federal health insurance program, generally for older americans, however some younger people on disability get it as well. host: from florida, john is up next. caller: i have two questions for you. i heard on the news a few month

ago, that these illegal evidence for getting disability because they cannot speaking less. are you there? the second one is i listen to judge judy about six months ago, i the asked a girl where she works, and she said she was on ssi, and they asked her what was wrong with her, and she said they seek i have arthritis in my head. how can you get on disability in view of art -- if you have arthritis. guest: if you are not a u.s. citizen and you're in the country illegally, you cannot legally qualify for disability. as far as elements, the legal threshold is a high. host: from new york, joseph.

go ahead. caller: big for taking my call. i have a question. actually a couple for the social security prison here. host: he is actually a reporter but go ahead. caller: i have a few friends. i am retired military, they ha had to have surgery. they try to get social security on top of whatever to get for military. they did not get any approval for three years. now, why do these illegal immigrants from russia -- all the people here who walk around, they get these social security disability benefits, and all the cash that they want. they never report one dime in the system. yet, this person fall for the country. number three why does it take

so long for social security -- for a person who owns their money, and the blacks and all the others go on it just like that. guest: it is an issue on how long it takes to get benefits. what a majority of people who first apply for benefits get the client, you can declined again you go through this process this whole process can take -- the average of longer than 400 days to get benefits. that is an issue. it is an issue they've been trying to work through for several years. host: a second, new york. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for being there. i would also like to thank all the c-span staff behind the cameras and in the office that help every day. this is pastor michael. for 25 years, i have pro bono

served for basic necessities for people. one world by systems. you can go look that up. i have lived with disability since the decision of 2006. like the gentleman who said, it's a good over three years getting rejected it, and in getting approved. by federal law, one does not have to state what once disability is. i have post-traumatic stress from being raped in the new york seminary. i live with terrible varicose veins where the same possibility save hillary clinton save my life. what i want to bring up is to expand the view of nativism. a lot of people are not thinking at so-called immigrants, or others. or any of us who are disabled. any of us is a human being.

every person is guaranteed life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in this country. guest: there is an issue here. the president assad several executive orders differing deportation proceedings against i think about 4 million immigrants, who had been here illegally. some of them were children when they are brought here. others are parents of children to our u.s. citizens. those posts will get social security numbers. if they are here long enough and painted the senate -- and pay into the system long enough, they will get benefits. host: you talk about congress and moving money around. is there a sense that congress will debate this soon? and if we are approaching 26 deadline, so to speak. guest: yes, in fact, there is a showdown coming up. it would have to come before 2016. the house republicans put in a

pool for this current congress the you cannot simply take money from the retirement program to bolster the disability program. unless, you do something that improves the overall finances of both funds. technically speaking, this is a rule in the house rules. anyone that brought a bill that simply transferred money from the retirement p program to the disability program, a member could bring up a point of order. they would roll, if the bill is against the house rules. there could be a vote on not. the beauty of the house of representatives is at any time the rules are what the members say the rules are. they can overturn the rule or vote to disregard the rule. however, in a dusting the rules of the house republicans have put in place, they've stated that it is there position that they will not allow money to

simply be transferred from the retirement program to the disability program, unless it is a copy by something that improves the overall finances of the system. host: democrats generally react how? guest: democrats accusing republicans of figuring trying to figure out a way to cut benefits. social security is a very polarizing issue on capitol hill. democrats until you accuse republicans of trying to undermine the system and cut that if it's. if you asked republicans, they do have a situation you -- a solution yet. they are trying to find ways to shore up the social security program, i've yet to is her hear any republican say that includes increasing taxes. it would have to reduce the amount of payments or change the system in general.

host: that might make more stringent requirements of the who qualifies, or? guest: there's a number of things that people can do. there's been criticism of how the system is set up. when you get to the level of appealing. a judge sits there by themselves, it's not an adversarial process. essentially, you just have the person appealing before the judge, and the judge makes the decision on their own what to do. there's been some talk as to creating an adversarial program. this would take a broad overhaul of the entire system which probably would take longer than one year to do. this is what the obama administration is that is the issue. yes, there are problems with the disability program. yes, there is waste, fraud, and abuse. there is no real way to change the way these benefits are administered in time to prevent that bond from running out.

even if they were to do a broad overhaul of the disability system they would have to figure out a way to transfer some money, at least in the short-term term, from the retirement fund to prevent it from being depleted. host: gal from california. go ahead. caller: good morning. i had the disease in my 30's, i quickly received a transplant. my medical coverage insurance, kaiser one in need to sign up for medicare part b. i cannot afford at the time, although i was working, and continue to work throughout dialysis. i was covered for the chancellor. i now 56 years old. my question is if my transplant were to fail, would i have to pay fees in order to get medicare coverage?

guest: i'm not an expert on medicare. i do know that if you qualify for medicare -- medicare part d is the prescription part of medicare. you still have to pay premiums to get prescriptions through that. i really don't know anything about penalties on medicare. host: ernie from ohio. caller: good morning. when i was 54 years old, i got copd chronic obstruction pulmonary disease. i had to fill about 20 or 30 sheets of paper work out and they gave me a case manager. this case manager was on the ball. i was scheduled to go see a state dr.octor.

they saw how bad my copd was and i got my social security disability within four months. another question, is it taxable? i don't think social security disability is taxable. guest: generally speaking, there are some social security benefits that are taxable. i depends on your other income. if you receiving social security disability it is unlikely the disability benefits would be taxable. generally speaking, what people get social security benefits they are taxable because they have other income. the other income pushes them into bracket in which their benefits are tax. in order to get disability insurance, you have to meet

requirements that are pretty low. it is unlikely, i don't know your case, but he is unlikely given those income restrictions that a disability benefit will get you to the level where would be taxable. host: brian from texas. think for calling, go ahead. caller: i was just calling in to ask a question. i was when over last year. i had to fracture vertebrates. some pins and needles in my pelvic and right leg. i was wondering if i would be eligible for disability. guest: again, that depends on whether you can work. the legal definition to qualify for benefits is that you are unable to work anywhere in the u.s. economy, that means doing any job. your disability is expected to last at least one year or result in death. host: is there an outside body that oversees this?

guest: it is overseen by the social security administration. the outside bodies are the agency's apartment was social security, and then if you're rejecting at that level, you go to a judge. administrative law judge employed by social security. if you are then denied then you can soothe them in court. if you're going to take them to court to get benefits, you are probably talking at least several years before you get to that point. host: and a great cost of the person if they hire a lawyer to do it. guest: it certainly can be. a lot of these law firms will offer to fight for you to get benefits, they don't take payment unless you get benefits. then, what happens is when you get the benefits, they will take a piece. they can do this because very often, if in fact you when benefits, they will say, you have been disabled for. of time -- let's say one year,

or whatever it is, and then you get back benefits. you might get a lump sum at the beginning. a lot of these firms, as part of their fee, because they do not work for free, they will take a piece of that sum. host: from new jersey, charlie is next with our guest, stephen ohlemacher of the associate press. caller: good morning. thank you c-span. my understanding is that funds between disability pot and the retirement have been transferred back and forth. over the last 30 years, moneys have gone from the disability fund to the retirement fund. i'm seeing now that this is turning into a political issue. now, it is turning into a real political issue. i was wondering whether the reporter would speak to that. guest: he's right. money has been transferred back and forth between funds 11

times. the last time congress authorize this was in 19 a four. in fact, they authorized three separate transfers. this has happened in the past. and has not always been coupled with reforms, or changes, to help bolster the finances of the system. it has in fact become a political issue because of the rule that house republicans have put in. i thought to the sponsor that provision. he is from new york. he told me, quite sincerely sibley transferring money from the retirement program to the disability program is nothing but a band-aid. the american people deserve more and we need to tackle the long-term problems with this program. i hear this a lot from members of congress to get here. members of congress generally get to washington because it

want to do things. they get here, and they realize that they don't do much. they lurch from crisis to crisis and the leadership directs what goes on. congressman tom reed wants to do something. he wants to address the longtime finances of the disability program. host: is is the first time that this type of rule has been put in place to make is that the changes? guest: as far as i know, it is the first and i rule has been put in place is visibly for the social security disability program. they're all kinds of rules that the house passes. every congress says is, , you can't do that. host: as part of our "your money " series, stephen ohlemacher. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: coming up tomorrow on our

program, a lot of emphasis on president obama and his request for the aumf. daniel news house or -- daniel neuhauser will be here at 7:45 a.m. stephen blahnik and charles stimson was aqua isis war authorization. then we continue on with our series on black colleges. i'll me remind them will join us at 9:00. that and i look at the papers. "washington journal" continues tomorrow. we will see you then. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> february is black history month. the c-span buses on the road visiting the top historically black colleges and university's to highlight their role in the american education system. on tuesday morning during "washington journal" we will be at florida a&m university in tallahassee and talk to president. on wednesday, we will meet with the president of tuskegee university, brian johnson. on friday, we will be at xavier university. >> it is presidents' day. as we did on "washington journal" we will be asking throughout the day who is your favorite president and why. sean po

coming up in a few moments, and lasting until about 3:30 p.m., we will show you presidents presidential campaign announcements. by the way, all the speeches are v available, video and text, on c-span.org. kicking off our series is ronald reagan's 1979 announcement officially challenging jimmy carter. i will be followed by bill clinton announcing that he was running against