c-span. today on c-span, "washington journal" is next with your phone calls. house returns at 10:00. at noon, they are back to work on a bill to impose sanctions on north korea. on c-span2, kevin brady and susan del bene talk about tax reform live at 8:00 a.m. eastern . a bit later, we bring you the onse energy and subcommittee emergency preparedness efforts during hurricane season. c-span3 and on c-span.org. coming up in about 30 minutes, california democratic congressman rowel rule as talks about the future of the affordable care act. then texas republican congressman jodey arrington on budget issues, tax reform, and

the ongoing nafta negotiations. meredith mcgee talks about ads oning political social media platforms. "washington journal" is live now. ♪ good morning. it is the washington journal for october 24. president trump will meet with senate republicans over plans for tax reforms. they will also work on passing the senate resolution on thursday. after that, changing the tax code with a house form of legislation which is set to be unveiled next week. we invite you in this first half hour to participate in the open phone lines. 202-748-8001 four republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. .ndependents, 202-748-8002

you can reach us on twitter at http://twitter.com/cspanwj, and you can find us on facebook as well. the los angeles times talks about what president trump is facing today as he meet with senate republicans. he will be confronted with a growing flank of senators who have distanced themselves from the president. that includes bob corker and others who are among the president's top critics. another cadre of senators are those who are being challenged in the primaries. there also remains the president's former campaign rivals. on taxty's hope is that

cuts, most republicans will agree on the president's plans to tax cuts after failing achieve much else on their agenda this year. in the washington post, the house side talks about house reform. the plan is expected to be released next week. find more on that story online at roll call. we have open phone lines for this first half hour. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. you can also reach us on twitter or facebook. tom in lake geneva, wisconsin on the republican line. you are first of go ahead.

caller: in your programming yesterday morning, you had to newspapers -- had two newspapers, and you went democrat, independent, democrat, democrat, and then you had two tweets from democrats. fairnessasking for is in your programming. you were obnoxious with your programming yesterday morning. debbie from flint, michigan on the democrats' line. last week, you put up a graphic that showed the tax points for trump. it was not broad enough for me to see all of it, but i only saw one thing.

as a middle-class person, i just retired, and i needed about 60 grand a year to retire. i saw four things right off the top not affect donald trump. if you will not show us his tax returns, i do not know why we would get in line for this tax plan. host: when you are saying there are four things that support donald trump -- what do you mean by that? caller: the alternate minimum on that 2005 tax page where he made $900 million, he paid $140 million in taxes. that is only about 10%. not have to pay anything on $900 million if there was the alternative minimum tax. the state tax is only for couples who make over $11 million. these people have to realize

yes, the rich people pay most of the taxes, but they take most of the income should host: -- of the income. that is all i have to say. thank you. host: that was debbie talking about tax issues. tax issues continue to be in the spotlight on capitol hill. from florida on the republican line, mark, hello. caller: hello. with thent to say that tax break, the rich are going to get richer, and the middle-class and poor are going to pay the price. congressman,ll our whether you are a democrat or republican, that these tax breaks are not going to be good for this country. withember what happened

president bush. jobssaid they would bring by lowering -- they would bring back jobs by lowering taxes for the rich, and it didn't work under president bush. up.: mark, you are breaking we will go to maryland. anthony, good morning. caller: good morning. jobs, that iss, the john boehner lie that republicans have fallen for. we are 10 months into the presidency, and no jobs just tweets. we were also supposed to enact the sanctions against russia for interfering with our elections. those were supposed to go into affect in early october, and we are now into november with nothing happening. that shows more russian collusion.

this firstphones for half hour. 202-748-8001 four republicans. for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. joseph dunford appeared before reporters at the pentagon to talk about events which took place in niger and that 12 member u.s. soldier patrol. you can see those comments this morning. the 12 member u.s. patrol did not anticipate being attacked. attacks rule prohibits -- prohibits missions when attacks are likely. the attack was characterized as complex and a pretty tough firefight. small arms,s used rocket propelled grenades, and machine guns. the press conference held yesterday with general dunford

also highlighted some of the timelines which occurred for those soldiers in niger. here is some of that timeline. guest: early in the morning, u.s. soldiers were a company a nigerian patrol on a reconnaissance mission. the consensus at the time was that contact with the enemy would be unlikely. toever, the patrol began take fire as they were returning to their operating base. one hour after starting to take fire, they requested support. within minutes, it remotely piloted aircraft arrived overhead. with in one hour, french piloted jets arrived on station. later that afternoon, french attack helicopters arrived on station. they were in a firefight. two u.s. soldiers were evacuated by french aircraft.

that was part of the evacuation plan in place for this operation. three u.s. soldiers were evacuated in the evening. at that time, sergeant ladavid johnson was missing. after 40 eight hours, his body was found and subsequently evacuated. in that time, french come a nigerian, u.s. forces remained in the -- french, nigerian, and u.s. forces remained in the area. we do owe you more information, and more importantly we know we are the families of the fallen more information. host: usa today picks up with a story about sergeant ladavid johnson. his widow speaking with good morning america. thatas quoted as saying the president said, "he knew what he signed up for anyway."

he also stumbled on remembering my husband's name, and that hurt me the most. was risking his life for our country, why can't you remember his name? ony is next from missouri the republican line. go ahead. liar , i think she is a mrs. johnson. i'm saying she is a liar because she is black. on.: we are going to move you cannot say that. we are going to move on to a next caller. caller: that lady was a piece of work. when is it the right time for protest if it is wrong to do it in the streets?

if you cannot do it in the field, you cannot do it in the streets, and do not do it if you are rich, because then you are ungrateful. you cannot protest if you are black. thank you, pedro. host: brian on the independent line. caller: thank you, c-span. i would like to comment -- do you remember the last time a -- four-starsident general advise the president? that was colin powell and george w. bush. with the weapons, we all remember how that went. within a year's time, these republicans better stock up on spoons, because they will have to stand in the soup kitchen for their daily bread. republicans,

202-748-8001. .or democrats, 202-748-8000 for independents, 202-748-8002. the president will be visiting the demilitarized zone in korea. however, they say that plan is unlikely. they say he is more likely to speak with troops at cap humphreys -- at camp humphreys. since ronald reagan, every president except george w. bush has visited the dmz. the trump administration has been divided over whether or not to send the president to the dmz admist concerns that such a visit would further inflate tensions with pyongyang. white house officials said that the president's personal

security was not a concern, but that there was just not enough time for the president to visit both camp humphreys and the dmz. our next caller on the independent line. caller: yes sir, i was trying to understand what you had a lady who spoke -- you had put up the tax break down in an earlier show, yet, yesterday, i watched the show, and there were some reporters being questioned about who was going to pay what. they said that not yet been released and that they could not get it. i am a little confused as to where you got your information from. host: the house initially put out and suppose when it came to tax reform, and that is what we were facing that on -- were basing that on.

there are details that have to be hammered out in the senate for the final passage bill. i do not know if that fully answers what you are looking for? caller: yes, that is exactly it. thank you. host: michael on the independent line. caller: hello. i can wondering why there is an absence of any criticism of the previous administration sending troops without authorization to mali. you never hear obama's name referenced in sending troops down there without proper support. wisconsin,appleton, paul on the line for democrats. caller: yes, i want to talk about the gop tax plan. for all of you people who voted for trump, they want to change it from 18,000 tax-free money

into your 401(k) that the 2600 a year -- down to 2600 a year. how is that for making america a great? that is a proposal, and i believe the administration has stepped down from that at this point. go ahead. caller: can you trust trump? he said the same thing about health care and medicaid and all that. you cannot trust him. that, but they are going to make it so that you cannot write off state taxes or property taxes on your federal income taxes which will cost the average middleman $5,000 more in taxes. people have to check into this. he is a scam artist. check into this before you vote for it. host: the house version of the tax bill expected to be released next week.

the house will focus on passing the senate version of the budget resolution which paves the way to talking about taxes and working on taxes. the vote is expected by thursday. the president visited senators on capitol hill to talk about tax reform. all of the topics are open and available for open phones. tom is up next on the line. caller: good morning. republicans, all they think about is capping social security , and now they want to cut the taxes. why don't they look at the presidents who have cut the taxes, and what the consequences for our country was? let's start with reagan. how many times did he have to raise taxes after he cut them? what about george h.w. bush? it is going to be the same thing, only more so this time.

asks carol off of twitter the question regarding a trial involving robin and does in new menendez trial in new jersey. was notin court that he specifically intervening on behalf of a security company that was owned in part by a wealthy friends. the testimony from former ambassador william brownfield followed testimony from three other witnesses in order to casef the prosecution's that he abused his office in exchange for this and political -- in exchange for gifts and political favors.

-- political contributions. todd leavitt, a state department official who attended that meeting, wrote in email afterward saying that the senator had threatened to hold a hearing if changes were not made on a number of law enforcement issues including port security. on monday, mr. brownfield wrote that the prosecution's interpretation of the email was not accurate. more about this at the new york morningebsite this regarding the trial for bob menendez. next caller on the line. good morning. caller: while republicans are pushing their tax cuts program, the chips program diet.

that was the children's health insurance plan. over 8 million children have no health insurance. none, zero, zip. they are not even taking it up or discussing it. all they want to do is get this tax plan so that the rich can get their money. in this proposal, they will do away with the estate tax. do you know who pays the estate tax? that tax does not kick in until over 5.1 5 million for one person and 11 million for a couple. how many average working people have that much cash laying around? for pointe tax is something of the 1%. they are going to have a $1.5 billion deficit, and they are

going to use some of the cuts from medicare and medicaid to help pay for the tax cuts for the rich. what are people thinking? who are these people who voted for trump? by the way, i need to tell you that republican party is the party of white supremacy. people just need to say it and get over it. host: that was doris calling from michigan. she was calling about the chips program. from illinois, the congressman there talking about congress' need to reauthorize the children's health insurance program. he says he is frustrated by the 9 million children who are down and out of health insurance due to the expiring of the program. it was first passed in 1997 as a way to provide health insurance for children who come from homes

with limited incomes. ohio is next. on the republican line, good morning. caller: good morning, america. i love all of you. i want to share this story that i kind of wish would go away, and it will soon about the gold star family's. i am a vietnam veteran, and i lost three are's over there. -- three close brothers over there. i went to their homes and visited their families. me, bute me and hugged one family kind of blamed me and was mad at me for not looking after his back. so, it is just a perspective of the people who you go to share your thoughts and condolences with how they receive it.

that is all i need to say. america, have a great day. god bless all of you. host: donald on the independent line. caller: yes, i was calling .oncerning the taxes we definitely have to make some changes in the taxes, but the problem is not the revenue coming in. just doesgovernment not have a bottom. the people spending the money are the democrats and republicans in washington. i heard somebody talking about all republicans being racists, and that is so far from the

truth. that is what they want us to think. host: when it comes to the process of tax reform, on what you would like to see happen, other specifics you are looking for as far as a final package on tax reform? caller: yes, i would like for it to be, instead of the cats and dogs which i consider the republican and democratic party, to have more independents. out of government people coming into balance their budget and would be in control of washington, so that they will really understand what balancing a budget is. ist tax relief actually instead of always fighting over whether the sky is blue or red. the sky is the sky. it just has to be done. they do not care if it is raining. they need to work together.

i just do not see it. -- years after iting,of nipping and b and now i see that you want to take on the abraham lincoln statue because he owned slaves. what is going on? people need to wake up. go to frank in california on the republican line. caller: i am very disturbed about these fallen heroes in n iger. have turning that we this into politics. these are heroes, and politics should never have come into it. i hear people calling on the lines and calling republicans racists. when does this go away?

our greatest people in this country are called americans. as identified african-americans, caucasian americans, native americans, what makes us great is just being called americans. i am a decorated veteran, and we have all shades of people. what disturbs me, we talk about tax cuts or the 1%, but the 1% are thecountry military. that is the real 1%. we talk about the rich getting tax cuts. if we do not give them tax cuts, then how do we get jobs? taxld reagan was the last cuts that made any sense. we have not given this president a chance to do anything. no matter what he does, there is an issue of white supremacism or

racists. i thought we were moving forward as a nation. what frightens me and saddens me is what happened to these four fallen heroes. instead of honoring them, we have made them into politics. when you say making them into politics, who is responsible for doing that? caller: congresswoman wilson. that was a private discussion. host: all right, let's go to eric on the republican -- the democrat line in california. caller: good morning, america. this seems to be what we are dealing with here -- when we watch the president of the united states go and dance with the king in saudi arabia, this is the head of islam.

we are sitting here being hypocrites. we are sitting here dancing with the king of islam and then doing this. it is ridiculous. what about our soldiers in africa? i served in the army and in the navy. i am also serving my church. need tax-- we do not relief, we need debt relief/ . white out all the debt. all the debt. we are still fighting the korean war. this is ridiculous. president trump is dancing with a muslim, arab, and he calls himself a christian. caller on the independent line. go ahead. caller: hello.

thank you. pedro, are you ever going to invite someone on to talk about ricom, because isn't that why our country is in africa? i think it would be great if you on who does really great news. to one of the callers who said that the republican party is the party of white supremacy, i do not believe that is the truth. thank you. last call was the this warning. we have to members of congress joining us today to talk about health care, tax reform. we have a democrat from california next. later on, we will hear from

texas republican jodey arrington; . we will also have a discussion on nafta negotiations. more conversations when we return. >> the c-span bus is traveling across the country on our 50 capitals four. we recently stopped in frankfurt, kentucky to talk with folks about what is the most important issue in their state. >> hello, i live in frederick, kentucky. what are the most important issues in kentucky right now is public pensions. legislatures in kentucky are trying to call a special session to organize funds to take care of our pensions. it is important to all public sector workers and all of their families. we have a coalition called the kentucky public pension

coalition. that includes firefighters and various other members who have joined and are partnering with us. our coalition is try to fight and make sure that legislators here in kentucky do the right thing in finding funding for our pensions. >> one of the biggest issues in this state is the drug problem. rural kentucky, the drug problem is rampant. that is one of the biggest issues. >> hello, i work for the commonwealth of kentucky. the most pressing issue right thein the commonwealth is retirement. host: voices from the states on c-span. ♪ >> washington journal continues. host: our first guest of the

morning is a democrat from california who also served as a medical doctor. he is your to talk about, among other things, health care. good morning. guest: good morning. side,on the senate democrats are trying to stabilize obamacare. is it something you can agree with going forward on the house side? guest: it is a step in the right direction. i would like to see other things, but that is what a compromise means. as it stands right now, i am looking forward to voting on it host: -- voting on it. guest: what else would you like to see? guest: i with a dizzy more reinsurance programs set up. -- i would like to see more reinsurance programs set up. republicans have not brought that back up as a way to stabilize the markets. with this bill, there will be some flexibility that states can

to restart these reinsurance programs on a state-by-state basis. i think we need it throughout the nation. host: are you ok with a state of flux ability? -- of flexibility? the great things about this bipartisan agreement is that states will have more flexibility, and it will expedite waiver applications. the protections will remain the same. in other words, the essential health benefits, the comparable costs, so many of those protections that will not create a dual market of low risk and high risk will still be there. that is why i think there are some hopes that this thing will pass. one thing we do want for state flexibility is to design differences in health care delivery models. in some states, like california and others, would like to use

some of the funds to create more in-home, community-based social medicine programs which will overall increase patient satisfaction. i think that is a good way to prevent costs from going higher over the years. host: one of the aspects of the legislation will attack from catastrophic plans -- hits to health care. is that something you can get behind? guest: i think we need to move away from the tourist mentality and everyone getting exactly what they want, and we need to come together in a bipartisan way, because real americans are struggling. many americans are facing higher premiums and only one health insurance provider in the entire county. competition,crease to decrease overall cost, and we

need to get people some type of for its ability in determining the insurance that they want. you will pay less in premiums, but you will pay more in deductibles. it will cover things like emergency care. some programs will give you three primary care visits a year . that is something i would really be willing to look at in expanding those. in this bill, we have the cost .haring reduction subsidies there are a lot of misunderstandings. , for political reasons, what to call them help insurance company bailouts, but they are absolutely not a bailout. it was a bailout was george w. bush supporting wall street, was president obama supporting the car industry in detroit. these are industries which would have collapsed and have had ruling affects across the entire communities.

these subsidies go to the point of care meaning struggling americans living at poverty or below to help pay for their co-pays and deductibles. so, these are point of care support for patients, not health insurance a lot. when you remove these subsidies, thatre taking away support we are giving struggling americans to pay for their health insurance when they need it. does is that they recognized by removing cost-sharing reductions as the president has to clarity will do with his executive order, we are seeking to create stability in the health insurance market. otherwise, help insurance companies will increase their premiums even more and they will not remain in the exchanges, because their patients have greater difficulty paying for their product. my bill, which i would like to

was not included in its entirety, but the spirit of the bill was to further fund these cost-sharing reductions, and my bill would find them permanently and increase the threshold for middle income families of two 400% federal policy level which is about 46,000 four in individual. $46,000 a year which does not go very far in today's economy. which is not a lot considering how much premiums have been skyrocketing. now to ouran call in guest. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. you think previous money spent on this has been getting people on the rolls? guest: when you have the political will and the state legislators and the nonprofits

all working together to progressively outreach into the community to bring young and healthy here, and as many -- to and asoung, healthier, many people into insurance programs as you can, you see a decrease in the rise of premiums, and you get more health insurance reductions. when you have it administration that cuts the enrollment period, that does not fund the then you arerams, shortchanging the american to purchaselity health insurance, and you are excluding people on the market like the young and healthy. when you do that, you are left with only the sick and elderly who will then drive up the high and insurance pool costs,

that is when you get skyrocketing premiums. that is why this bipartisan bill recognizes that, and it will not only funded the enrollment and outreach efforts, but it will hold the administration accountable by requiring reports. right now, congress has appropriated money to go out in p people get health insurance. the administration has not used that money, and they have denied navigators and educate people on their health care options. exchange,rting the the affordable care act, and the american people for political gain. as a physician, i think that is shameful. host: our guest represents the 36th district of california. use all was that he is also a medical doctor by training. what is your speciality? guest: emergency disaster

response. host: our first caller on the independents line. go ahead. caller: my question is why do we need insurance in the first place aside from the catastrophic sort of insurance? deductibles are high and whatnot, but, in my view, we are decky just rearranging chairs on the titanic. the in shoe that's the real issue is-- the real the overall cost of care. i believe we are in this insurance system that has developed instead of having people take responsibility for themselves. the way i think you drive the costs down is to make people responsible for themselves. the one regulation i do think we need is that all health care providers need to charge the same price to everyone and publish their prices.

daryl, you hit the target right on the mark. it is the health care costs which have been going out of control, and it is that out-of-control we need to address. one of the way we can do that is transparency in the cost of care, medication, hospital space, and other things, so that the american people can be more educated in determining where they want to get their health care. one of the big proposals that president trump mentioned during the campaign that has not mentioned in office was allowing medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. that would help to bring down costs. the other thing we need to look at is, yes, we have to promote personal responsibility in health care come but we also note that only goes so far, because some people are genetically predisposed to getting certain types of illness. some people are limited by their

ability -- are limited by their environment to practice healthy lifestyles. they cannot practice healthy diet or lifestyle habits. we need to determine the social determinants of health, to help people practice healthy lifestyles. if they choose to live a healthy lifestyle, that they have the resources at their disposal. host: mary on the democrats line. go ahead. caller: yes, you for taking my call. i would just like to say that the affordable care act was sabotaged from the beginning because of politics -- because of partisan politics. the republicans labeling it as obamacare. the whole system is complicated, and no one understands the system. not even the congressman or the

current president. i think we need to get together as a nation and break it down into simpler terms and not try to the partisan. to do what is right for the american people. there are certain things that have happened which caused premiums to go up. analogy of a death by 1000 cuts. little changes here or there that have completely produced a different product. what we see is not what the affordable care act was intended to be when we started. there were two things in the obama administration that really changed the stability in the health exchange markets. one was the risk corridor or funding model that was ultimately changed by senator marco rubio which gave $.13 to the dollar for insurance stability programs.

at that point, health insurance companies were confused. you're changing the rules, and we need to change the cost by raising premiums. the other thing was the reinsurance programs that had occurred after six years of the affordable care act. the other thing was republicans deciding not to appropriate the funding please cost-sharing reductions, and the ensuing the obama administration -- and then suing the obama administration for continuing to fund them. now, president trump has used that as a threatening way of removing those caught sharing reductions -- those cost-sharing reductions. gone all theically way and saying he is not going to fund them. that is why this bipartisan bill is a good, stabilizing measure. this bill is the cardiac arrest

patient where you go in and provide life resuscitating support. after you stabilize the patient, you need to admit them and provide other measures like reducing overall health care costs and providing public options in different types of private and public options which competition to reduce overall costs and give people some relief out there. ultimately, like the caller said, there have been too much partisan politics. we do think about the american people, the patient's who are in the operating rooms, or even in their living rooms, trying to figure out if they are going to stay healthy. it is the people who need relief and need care when they get sick , some stability and peace of mind that if they get into that car accident, if their child is diagnosed with a terrible

disease, then they are going to be able to afford it and not go bankrupt. op-ed with put out looking at the cost of health care. he said, "for example, all physicians should receive salaries. in some of the best health care systems, physicians are paid a salary. payers such as medicare and major insurers could offer in this is -- could offer bonuses to help systems that put positions on salary." guest: i think that would be difficult to put that through with providers across the country. many providers do offer salary, because they are compensated for teaching and doing their time on research. it is important that they give them a lump sum annual salary. the affordable care act tried to

create incentives for value-based care, meaning that ultimately we should think about the end result of health care which is the health and productivity of a population. ultimately, that is what this conversation should be. is our health care producing the best outcome which is the healthiest population, the most productive population? is it doing it efficiently at the least amount of money to get the best product? saturday, compared to other statistics in other countries with similar incomes, we are not. we are actually one of the most inefficient and ineffective health care systems in providing a healthy population overall. what we are good at, and what we are the best at is our medical technology. our ability to take care of very sick patients to keep them alive

as long as we possibly can. that is what we are really good at. where we start to find our shortcoming is in the ability to keep healthy people healthy. host: patrick on the republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. even though i am republican, i have agreed with everything he has said. i do have a comment and i would like his response. in 2009, i work as a marketing program for a small group health care. it was for small companies between two and 50, and i had about 700 agents in 13 states who i called on a regular basis. they were involved in their most of themcause were small businesses in the area. in 2010, there was a forum in savanna, georgia, and the panel was made up of the leaders of

andtwo hospitals here, insurance specialist, two attorneys, there were like 12 people. all of the agents in their were other people who sold small group health or general agents health small group sellers. it was an hour and a half hesitation. eight -- it was in our and a half presentation. hours, i looked at what they identified as the reason why people cannot afford health care. at the very end, i will never forget, at the very end, someone early on said something about port reform. at the end, everyone started to gather and talk about the high cost of insurance that the doctors and hospitals have to pay because of no tort reform. guest: i think there is some

truth to the fact that doctors change their practice because of the constant fear of being sued. done are more tests being despite the probability or risk associated with patient care, because they want to mitigate that risk of being sued. that is a component of dr. and patient care right now. we also know that our country has the best delivery of that type of care when patients are in hospitals or are sick, because patients can hold those doctors accountable for a mistake. doctors who tend to get sued more are doctors who perhaps do not have the best bedside manner. to thes some benefit fact that patients are protected and have some rights to hold

doctors accountable, but i do agree that it has been taken to an extreme, and we do need to look at medical tort reform. we need to look at the way we ind doctors accountable increasing quality care to make sure that there are less frivolous lawsuits and more legitimate lawsuits in order to help patients. presidentaw the signed an executive order which allows for help insurance purchase across state lines. is that a good or bad idea? guest: it is the way he did it that is not a good idea. in the affordable care act, states can create a multistate insurance plan. it is already there in the affordable care act. we want to do is expand the ability for more people to enroll in certain health insurance plans, because, by bringing more people in, then

you reduce overall costs, because you will have low risk, young individuals who helped everyone's premiums go down. the way the executive order is designed is that these multistate plans will not have protections. be allowed will also to charge people with pre-existing conditions even more. if you create a market that completely abolishes the protections for patients that the affordable care act is trying to create a standard for consumer protection, then you will have people, who consider , becauses low risk everybody is at risk for a car accident or a misdiagnosis may anyr expected, but individual they consider

themselves low risk will have a lower premium cost that no protections, because they do not think they will get sick. however, they will pay more in co-pays and deductibles. the metric american people should use in determining cost of health care is not just premiums. it is out-of-pocket costs. co-pays, deductibles, and premiums for when they do get sick. many times, these different republican plant where they want to reduce premiums by eliminating these protections and allowing a health insurance company to basically sell you a policy.icy. -- a junk it requires them to pay out-of-pocket costs that the interest is not cover like mental health or maternity care or even their medicine.

host: chris on the independent line. go ahead. caller: can you hear me ok? host: we can. go ahead. caller: i called back in 2009 when obamacare was being formed, and i spoke with congressman andrews. he was one of the architects of the obama care policy. we spoke about funding in particular. only into funding for the health care legislation, but funding for the entire federal government and things of that nature. admitted that if we did not do something to , then we could potentially have a situation where we have a treasury bubble that bursts and could severely

hurt our economy. , as a member of , what are you going to do about the special interests? obviouslyike we have, medicare for all is not feasible , but, as a member of congress, what are you going to do about private insurance companies which have a great on -- have a grip on the marketplace? it is true that the

current debate on our health care is based on different industries wanting the most for their specific industry, and they are trying to place the blame on others. and so it goes. before i came to congress, i was in emergency management position. training.er 17 years i grew up in a trailer park with farmworker parents. i did not grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth. my life mission was to reduce disparity that we see in low income communities versus he -- versus high income when it comes to health care. i trained at harvard, and i came back home, in my entire life has been based on looking out for and caring for people. that is how i view policies when i talk with people who represent other industries. i always keep in mind the patient i saw in the emergency department, and i asked what is best for that patient. when i am up late, at their

bedside, i wonder if they are my mom or my dad or my uncle, what if this gentleman was my brother , what would i do to take care of them in the emergency department right now? that is how i view policy. i look at the patient from a patient perspective. what we lack is a decision that will improve patient satisfaction, reduce costs, and have better health outcomes. so far, from what i am understanding, we need to develop a vision for 20 years from now. the literature in the public health community sees that if we look at home-based, community-based care where we give that attention especially to those who are complex, chronic illness, who really need that care and we give them that

attention using technology like our iphones or ipads or whatever type of phone you used to have real-time monitoring and information, and you provide care in their community, then you had better patient satisfaction. patients love it because it is a culturally sensitive and appropriate way. you have better health outcomes. patients are better able to make those better choices. use whatbetter able to is at their disposal to make better choices, and overall health care costs go down, because they are healthier, and they do not have to go to the emergency department or the icu or the hospital or the expensive care is mostly conducted -- or the hospital where the expensive care is mostly conducted.

if we can imagine a health care system were individuals in their living room can tune into mental health counseling be visited by a health professional such as a nurse or doctor or family physician, and they can do monitoring in their living room and haver family health education programs, and we can get them involved in two health -- get them involved in health programs in their neighborhoods, then you will increase satisfaction and reduce costs. i am trying to bring in stakeholders right now to help me figure this out and create a vision for a healthier america. host: a viewer on twitter says, "quit fighting and move on already. we heard a previous caller single-payery that health care would not work." who is right?

up healthcould open care for people to pay into it at a low cost which would normally be the low risk, younger individuals. that will contribute to the sustainability and long term cost of medicare. another option would be to allow individuals to use their federal employment health benefit programs which then contracts with private health insurance companies. they will get a really good deal, because they will have the population pool to bring down those costs. by doing it in a gradual way, we can open up the idea that we can provide health care in a reasonable fashion. with the individual on twitter is absolutely correct is the value behind the idea where people say that single-payer is necessary. that is the value or the idea that health care is not a commodity.

if you look at the understanding , republicans want to say that we should leave it to the free market. let the suppliers and the consumers decide on a set consumer price. that is with a fundamental understanding that if you are able to afford that price, then you if you are not able to afford it, then that diagnoses that you get, you're on your own. many people throughout this entire globe have come to the health carethat is not a commodity. health care is a humanitarian n social and common good. when an individual gets sick and we have the means to take care of them, we should morally treat them. you can talk to any physician out there. what we took an oath to do no harm and we took on that

extraordinary and awesome responsibility to save a life or relieve pain and suffering, we will do so for an individual regardless of who they are or where they're from because it is an art and eight nature to want to take care of that person as a human being. host: let's go to miami, florida, republican line. caller: good morning, dr. philippines.he doctor, ok, and i'm a lawyer. sonhave a son -- we have a who went to college. after working for years, he was disabled, ok? we have been a democrat for 40 years.

now,n is a democrat right but we are taking care of our son. my wife is a doctor for 30 years. we served this country. when we moved to this country, we signed papers that we are not ,oing to be a burden to america so my wife is pregnant. $200 and i have to work. host: we are running short on time. caller: i go to the point, ok? medicare, ok?on help. need some extra , but we and tried

cannot get anything. host: we are running out of time. do you want to take anything from that? guest: i want to say on very sorry for the condition that his son is facing. i know it's difficult to take care family members that have mental health issues. caller andake the his wife are serving the military and the capacity as a physician. we do have challenges and medicare. we want to be able to provide comprehensive care, especially mental health services for individuals who are incapacitated, to go out and live a productive life. that includes home-based care to fund rehabilitation services for .hem the sad part is that we are constantly under the threat of fighting to protect those types of guarantees in care and

committees when the other side wants to keep cutting those. quite honestly, my sense that i'm getting here, which is absolute the reality and the reality i see in my own family, coming from hard-working families, is that people are struggling. people are concerned and their fed up with the partisan bickering. they don't care about ideology. they don't care about the government, small government. they care about their insulin so they do not have to suffer comas.ycemic they're worried about their son getting help so they can take care of their children. they don't care about partisan ideology. they care about the treatment. they care about feeling better at the end of the day and leaving behind a legacy and some financial security for their children and their family. host: as far as going back to the health care proposal on the senate side, what do you think

is the likelihood that house republicans will pass what has been proposed in the senate? guest: it is all political will. there's enough votes in the senate, ok? we have seen leader mitch mcconnell has said the president will sign it and he will bring it up for a vote. it is political will and right now the two key people to look at his president trump and speaker paul ryan. if president trump says yes, i will sign it, then the one person responsible for allowing us a vote of the house the speaker paul ryan. it is all political will based on these two individuals whether or not the american people will get some relief from what is happening. from old have heard ruiz. coming up, we will talk with texas republican jodey arrington. later on the program, meredith mcgehee on efforts that

would mandate greater disclosure of clinical ads that run on social media platforms like facebook and twitter. we will be right back. ♪ >> the c-span bus is traveling across the country on our 50 ur.itals to we recently stopped and frank fricke, kentucky, asking folks what is the most important issue in their state. >> one of the more important issues in kentucky is public pensions. are in kentucky getting laid to start a special session to fund our pensions. it is very important to all the public sector workers and our families. thatve a coalition includes five firings, state workers, and various other members that have joined us and

are partnering with us. it is very important and our coalition is trying to fight and make sure that the legislators here in kentucky do the right thing and find the funding source for attention. >> my name is jerry freeman. one of the biggest issues in the state is the drug problem. even in rural kentucky, the drug problem isramco. rampant. that's definitely one of the biggest issues. >> my name is dd and i work for the commonwealth of kentucky. the most pressing issue right now in the commonwealth is the employees retirement. >> voices from the states on c-span. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: our next guest is representative jodey arrington, republican of texas and member of the budget committee. here to talk about issues related to the budget and tax

reform. guest: good morning, pedro. host: the house is expected to vote on the senate budget resolution. what happened in the senate as far as the budget resolution is concerned? guest: mixed feelings, but encouraged we have a chance to take on historic tax reform. we have to grow this economy. we have to improve the quality of life for middle-class and working american ss. wages have been stagnant. we all know gdp has been less than optimal over the last several years. there's tremendous opportunity there. i was very proud of what we did as a member of the budget committee and this being our first budget process. the house budget took on rebuilding the military. it took on reducing deficit spending and was going to tackle the national debt, which i believe is the greatest threat to the future of our country. and just prioritized in a way

that i thought was good for america. the senate budget, i'm still working through. it does not do some of those things. it does not balance in 10 years, although it reduces spending by $5 trillion over 10 years. we are $20 trillion in debt. we have to cut a whole lot more if we are going to get our arms around the spending problem. again, i can be critical of the budget side where it did not live up to the expectations of what we produced in the house. at the end of the day, the choice is going to be -- do you want a perfect budget option or d what the opportunity for tax reform? host: even if it comes to the expense of debt and deficit? guest: i believe that is what it will come down to unfortunately. i like to keep babbling for greater spending control and the mandatory side is where the debt drivers are. we all know that. 70% of the entire budget is on ido autopilot.

if we are not serious about getting the debt and budget under control, we did not do that in the senate. i would like to keep pushing and battling, but i think we will be forced to make a choice again between a solid budget that balances and really reduces deficit spending and tax reform. i want to take on this tax reform opportunity. it has been 31 years since ronald reagan and the american people are suffering. if we are going to solve the debt crisis, we are going to have to also improve the economic situation where we increase revenues. 1% gdp growth will bring in $3 trillion in revenue. we've got to cut spending, but we have to grow the economy. at the end of the day, i think you will find out the majority of republicans are going to say let's get after tax reform. let's deliver on a major legislative initiative that we have all talked about and made

commitments to the voters went running our races and then we will take another bite at the apple. through thet go normal process of taking the senate and house bill and trying to reconcile them? guest: i would love to do that so we at least get have some on mandatory spending reduction. you are only serious about the national debt if you go after mandatory spending. i like to see that. i don't know if that is going to happen, pedro. we are working now at the house conference and we will be meeting this morning. i think what will ultimately be the choice before us is the senate budget up or down and that's the vehicle for tax reform. as they told me as a freshman, you get to hit three buttons -- yeah, day, or present, but not perfect. this will be imperfect, but a good opportunity on tax reform.

host: jodey arrington is our guest, representative from texas. for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, an independents (202) 748-8002. when it comes to tax reform, what does it do went proposals for state local taxes or 401(k)s , when they are shifting positions on this, what does it ultimately do for some type of final bill? guest: a lot of details to be worked out as you mentioned. there are all kinds of tax credits and there are benefits for different industries. we need to clean it up and we need to simplify it. close loopholes. in order to offset some we don't accelerate the deficit, we need to assume growth. that is the dynamic scoring peace and that we need to support fire the code. whether it's state and local tax deduction or some other provision, we are going to have

to find offsets ultimately. the goal is reducing the tax ,urden on the american families on working and middle-class folks in particular. , theu noticed the brackets fourth bracket goes from 10 to zero. that was lost on a lot of people because they saw the three numbers of already 5, 25, and 12. some people thought it went from 10 to 12. they went from 10 to zero. the lower income folks are going to benefit the most. if you give the american companies and opportunity to compete an incentive to bring their capital back here instead of overseas, because capital is efficient and smart, it's not like government money. they goes where it can produce. if we give them an opportunity to produce because of lower regulations, we will expand job opportunities. we want to say we want you to keep your hard-earned money. no, we want you to have a better

job and a higher paycheck. we want your quality of life to go what. we have seen that into these's tax cuts, reagan's tax cuts, and bush's tax cuts. when we do that, we create millions of jobs and improve the quality of life for all records. host: the president sent out a tweet that the menotti changes for those who want to contribute to their for a one k accounts. be changes forot those who want to contribute to their fo 401(k) accounts. guest: i think it's good to incentivize home ownership. ownership is an important principle for me. the more we have ownership over the society, the better outcomes on elections, the better policy outcomes and so forth. i think 401(k)s are good for middle-class families to again save money.

the president took it off the table. i'm saying nothing is off the table. we said charitable deductions, mortgage deductions. i think those are pretty safe in terms of keeping those. i think everything else should be on the table because we have got to lower rates for everybody. in order to do that, we have to look at all deductions and look at the tax breaks. host: we have a call lined up for you. the first one is from houston, texas on the independent line. guest: houston strong. caller: i appreciate that. thank you very much. my question to you, congressman arrington, is what about the black budget? we have trillions and trillions of dollars that have gone missing throughout the decades. we as the american people are shareholders in that money. i want to know where that money

utilized.it's being is there some sort of secret space program? what are the defense agencies doing with it? host: mike, thanks. guest: first of all, god bless texas. my friends in the gulf coast, i was down there recently and am very proud of how my state and the folks in the gulf coast have responded to helping each other. i've been committed throughout the last emergency funding packages to stand with you guys and our fellow americans in florida and puerto rico. the black budget -- i've never heard of that. i would say that in that same sort of vein that you described as the black budget that those moneys that have gone missing, there are hundreds of billions of dollars that we spent on

improper payments. $700 billion of those -- and that's just half that we were going to cut and the house budget. $140 billion annually, most of those improper payments are going to overpaying, paying somebody who is no longer qualified for the entir entitlement or somebody who is even passed away. abuseremendous waste and and the spending on moneys on all caps of programs. that was something we included in our house budget. there are untold ways that the federal government has spent money in the same sort of black budget principle that you described. that one is one that stands out to me that we need to get our arms around and we certainly made a priority in our house budget. host: bruce at winter haven, florida, go ahead.

caller: yes, i want to agree with everything mr. arrington has said that the last couple of minutes. obamaed to know why when gutted the national debt, nobody from the democratic side was crying out about that, but everybody is all up in arms about renegotiating the tax brackets and saying that's going to increase our national debt. thank you very much. guest: thank you, bruce. i campaigned saying i have three young children, 6, 4, and two. the issue that looms the largest in terms of the challenge for keeping america exceptional and great is the national debt. if we ever get in a puerto rico situation for a greece situation where we have a sovereign debt crisis, all bets are off.

forget funding the food supply and the infrastructure. i think we have got to rebuild the military. under the obama administration, we have seen a decrease in military spending upwards of $150 billion. that's about a 15% cut. i can tell you that the threat to our country's security and our interest and our allies has not reduced 15%. i have an air force base in my district. we have the oldest and smallest air force that we have ever had in the history of the united states air force. we get into a sovereign debt will not begain, we able to send a bottled water to puerto rico because we will be reeling from trying to figure out how we are going to crawl out of this when we cannot borrow money from china and other places. that is why i was so excited about this house budget that we passed.

because again in 20 years, we to mandatory cuts spending like we did out of the house budget. that is where the debt is being driven. 70% of our budget is on autopilot as i described before. i'm not crazy about the senate budget. back andike to push see if we cannot get some compromise on mandatory spending cuts and live within our means like every other american. i would like to have a balanced budget because we have that in the state of texas and it works. there is fiscal discipline here in washington, d.c. we have exploded beyond our constitutional core mission and there's just no restraint. i could be critical about the budget caps and the sequestration, but at least it has been one tool that has helped us show some semblance of fiscal restraint.

i am with you. we have got to do both. we have to cut reduce spending and we have got to grow the economy. we do that, we will truly have this country that are instructed that we found it. host: alfred, democrats line. caller: yes, congressman. my question is about the death tax. from my understanding, the death over- you have to be like $11 million before it even goes into effect. how many people in america does this actually affect? why do you guys want to eliminate it when it's only a small amount of people that is affected in america? on wealth from generation to generation like that. you have billionaires passing on their billionaire fortunes to their kids and everything. we do not do that.

that theso important death tax be eliminated? guest: alfred, thank you for that question. the estate tax and the elimination of the state tax is one, pedro, that you found in both the president's proposal and the house proposal and we have got agreement across the board. you are going to see that. i would fundamentally say that the estate tax or as we refer to it in texas, the death tax, is just fundamentally unfair. to attack somebody their entire lives on their property and their assets and then to turn around and tax them again when they die, are you kidding me? the threshold is about $5 billion not $11 million. there are plenty of farmers and ranchers. i come from the fuel, food, and five are capital of this country , rural america, and these farmers are cash poor.

most of them are operating in debt because of low far income -- farm income the past few years. the biggest inclined we have seen since the great depression. they are cash poor, but they may have enough assets to reach that threshold. if they die and pass that on to the next generation, those kids in grade kids have to consider selling the farm just to pay the taxes. that happens in small businesses as well and it's wrong and we need to fix it by illuminating the death tax. host: jodey arrington is our guest. he is a member of the budget committee. have you heard anything specific from the ways and means committee about what we will ultimately see? guest: lots of discussion. chairman brady has done a great job as has speaker ryan of just an open process and everybody has given input. some of the states like new york as an example, when you talk

about taking away the state and local tax deductions, that's a big one for them. states like texas don't have an income, but we have property taxes. everybody has given their perspective. host: have you seen the final document? guest: haven't seen a final document. i think the core principles are all on board. look, reduce taxes for individuals, for families, especially the lower and middle or what i call the working and middle class families. reduce taxes so that we are competitive. right now we have the highest corporate income tax in the oecd community, the industrialized world. we cannot expect that our companies are going to invest here when they could have a much lower cost investment otherwise. we need to bring the trillions of dollars in capital and put them in play here and make america competitive again and create better jobs some we don't just keep more of our money. we have greater opportunities.

wages go up. household income goes up and the quality of life improves. fundamental concepts of lowering taxes and civil fine the tax code and reducing the power of the irs and making it so that nine out of 10 americans can fill their income tax on essentially what would be a postcard, those are things that we are all four. r. i don't see a lot of discrepancy between the members of the republican conference and i think we will push this through. at least we will get it out of the house this year. host: it's expected to be revealed next week? guest: that's my understanding. host: as far as getting it done this year, there are hearings. we will not have that this time around? guest: we have had hearings we have had roundtables. we have had small groups. in a way, this way that tax framework has been bandied around for years.

it's like repealing obamacare. folks in the senate, mainly -- senatorey came mccain, said we need more time and was not happy with the process. we know what we need to do to get this economy going. kennedy got 12 million jobs and in play and grew the economy and gdp 6% over the long-term. that was president kennedy. reagan after tax cut in 1981. 14 million jobs. with bush, 8 million jobs. we know what history teaches us about reducing the tax burden on our economy and the american people. we will grow and we will all the challengeding of our national debt in terms of bringing in more revenue. it is a win win win. host: let's hear from bill and georgia on the democrats line.

caller: congressman, i'm having a big laugh with your hand gestures. win-win is really far-fetched. you guys need to stop using the obama card and all of your conversations. you pass any legislation on taxes, you need to have donald trump show his taxes. that we might be able to agree that you can make tax changes in the country. thank you. guest: i'm going to speak directly to you and i'm going to use my hand motions since he liked them so much. it is a win win win. i will tell you why it is a win win win. this is a triple threat. you have 10% to zero as the lowest income bracket so that lower income folks will benefit the most, but they also benefit not with just a personal income tax lower, they get corporate and business incentives to

create better jobs so these guys have a better opportunity at a better job. there are some stats that came out recently of the council of economic advisers with a 20% corporate tax rate, you will have an average of 4000 to $9,000 that american households will keep you that i. that is real money. if we had a 20% corporate tax rate in 2016, we would've brought back $140 billion back to this country. u.s. are profits from copies overseas that won't come back because it's not efficient. like i said, capital is smart. it will be in play where it can generate the greatest return. of foreign profits by u.s. companies were left off shore. this is a win win win and we need to do it and we are committed to it and i believe

this is one, unlike obamacare where the senate squandered a historic opportunity, this is one i believe we can pass both happen senate -- house and senate. we can show the american people, especially voters from conservative districts who put republicans in office, we can govern and we can lead and we can make good on promises. host: san diego, california, republican line, james comer hi there. caller: this is great. let me ask a question about the issue of flat tax. why can't we have a simple flat tax what we have over 45% of the population paying zero tax at all? if we have everybody pay a little bit, that the deficit will go down and we will have more moneys and the revenue. guest: he cannot be more right. , that wasl you, sir one i brought up a number of times. i think that too few people are paying nothing into the system.

i will liken it to obamacare. and medicaid. spendingswe have seen upwards of $2 billion on unnecessary trips to the emergency room. why? because there's no skin in the game. there's no personal responsibility, no ownership. that's what i was talking about, pedro. we have to have more people of the society, this country, and its future. flattening the tax code as we simplify it and make it fair and close loopholes, etc., but it is not appear flat tax. you are right. too many people not paying into the system. that is frustrating to me. we are not going to solve every problem that exists with the tax code. that is a priority of mine. i think it may be a bridge too far to do that in this reform,

but it is a drama i've been on all the time. i really appreciate you bringing that up because i think it's fundamentally better for our country when more people have skin in the game. also as you said, and would help would help us with the national debt and bringing revenue. host: talking about larger issues of the deficit, representative mark walker said this. he said, "it's a great talking point when you have restriction that's democrat, but it's different now when you have republicans in both houses administration." what's the potential the other republicans might stop the effort or complicated effort of passing this? guest: i contemplated complicating the effort quite friendly just to be very candid. host: to come out against it? guest: to push it back and say why not conference it? and see if we can take the $200

billion in mandatory cuts. i want something. when i tell people this is the biggest threat to the future of my children and your viewers ran children, i either believe it or don't believe it. i'm convinced that you cannot solve every problem in one piece of legislation and through one budget process. this is becoming a vehicle for tax reform. we have not done it and 31 years. he even have the freedom caucus leadership saying that we have got to seize the moment here. you have mark walker from the republican study commission seize the moment. the president has talked to us directly. rallying to deliver on this tax reform because again, we are going to have to buite the apple every year.

i do not know if we will have a shot if ever on tax reform. i think it is one that you just say that i will vote for an imperfect budget and i will vote for an awesome opportunity to generate economic growth of this country and make sure that we stay the economic engine and envy of the world. i think that is ultimately going to be the choice before us. host: let's hear from jeff in ohio. caller: thank you for taking my call. good morning. i was wondering. the budget and tax reform is all good in everything, but there such a large portion of the economy that's wrapped up in the federal reserve and there's no oversight of the federal reserve. you talk about personal ownership quite a bit. with the federal reserve taking up such a portion of our economy , it is taking so much money out of our own hands and we have no oversight over that. can you please speak to that? guest: i agree.

we need more oversight of the federal reserve. it's an independent agency. i was chief of staff at the ftse during the bush years. -- at the ftse during the bush years. fdic during the bush years. as a defense between making monetary policy and having congressional oversight. has -- the pentagon pendulum has gone too far between attitude and lack of oversight for the federal reserve. this president is considering the chairmanship of the leadership of the federal reserve. as a member of congress, i have to tell you have to course correction and more accountability at the federal reserve. i couldn't agree more, but we don't want to politicize the federal reserve either. we need some independents and are monetary policies -- independence in our monetary

policy. we are out of balance and i would rain into the extent that you mentioned. host: budget committee member jodey arrington joining us for this conversation. thank you. next funds for the half hour -- open phones for the next half hour. (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, and independence (202) 748-8002. we will be right back. ♪ , executivelummis cap director for the texas folk festival. we are super excited to have the book festival in and around the state capital in downtown austin. we will be welcoming over 300 authors for over 150 panels. we are expecting a huge turnout of 50,000 on saturday and sunday. >> join book tv for the texas book festival live in austin

saturday and sunday, november 4 and fifth on c-span2. for more information, visit our website at book tv.org. >> c-span -- or history unfolds daily -- where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a your tell the by service companies. today it now provided by your cable or satellite provider. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: this is open phones. you can reach us on the phone lines if you want. you can send us a tweet at c-span wj. our facebookon page at facebook.com/c-span. john in new hampshire, you're up first on this open phones. good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro. i love c-span. reform, ifto tax

anybody looked at the budget, tax and budget cuts had to do with cutting social security, medicare -- i mean medicaid excuse me. to pay for some of the tax reform bill. , i also the tax reform bill think the bush tax cuts leave the giant hole. there was $2 trillion over 10 years. what then't understand republicans are trying to accomplish. it's just a repeat of the bush tax cuts. cutbudget itself is just a to the entitlements. that's all i wanted to say. i appreciate your time. host: john is next from marcel, north carolina. jane from this is

north carolina on the defendant line. -- independent line. caller: thank you for my call. i'm calling in response to jodey arrington. i think it will be beneficial for the american public if they received letters of commitment or confirmation from these corporations that they think are going to bring back the money into this country and create all these jobs. just anothers is example of trickle-down economics that has not worked in the past. host: what do you think the corporations are going to do with these incentives or tax cuts should they receive them? caller: pocket them and give them to their stockholders. host: you would say get some type of commitment to say they would be used in the investment of the company or creation of jobs? caller: correct. host: michael in virginia, republican line, go ahead. caller: i've heard a lot of suggestions, some which i

with and some that i don't come about what i've not heard is to move to a file free system. it is something both sides of the aisle, at least the voters could get behind. if this is supposed to be copperheads of tax reform, why hasn't this been out of the conversation? host: why do you think that is? caller: why do think what is? host: that it hasn't been part of the conversation yet? caller: if you read about it, you will hear the big tax companies like turbotax and h&r block are donating money to keep it from being part of the conversation. i was curious of the speakers position. massachusetts on independent line, your next up -- you are next up. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. i was hoping to talk to the

congressman, but however, i'm we at how these guys can come on television and speak their propaganda. i caught the tail end of it and i was just curious if anybody talked about kansas and how reducing taxes and cutting taxes in kansas by brownback -- how is kansas doing as far as this tax reforms and economic growth that that tax reform created? host: so people don't know about kansas paul situation, what is happening there? caller: they had to raise taxes. it was a republican legislature. they actually had to override sam brownback's veto of tax raises. legislaturelican had to raise taxes because they do not have money to pay for schools. schools were closing early. these are the creations that you will create and jan sits of america. in the uniteds o

states of america. it's crazy to turn on tv and learn about the propaganda that these people tried to sell to the public. host: democrats live. caller: i wish i had an opportunity to have spoken with the representative from texas because my thing with this new tax reform is normally i itemize every year. i still pay at a rate of 17%. a lot of ourut out current deductions like your mips and your medical deductions, then that means i'm going to pay more taxes because i'm going to get an increase in my pay, so i'm going to end up paying more than the 17%. i just wish i had an opportunity to ask him.

cutting out all the deductions that may be going to a postcard size is not really going to help me. to see whatever they get from the increase, they need to save it. versushy do you itemize the other ways you could do your taxes? why do you spend the time to itemize? caller: because i can get a better rate and save money if i itemize. i have enough deductions to go ahead and itemize rather than take a standard deduction. host: that is in florida where maxine lives. it's open phones and you can talk about the previous topic of tax reform or other things happening on capitol hill. the president heading to the senate to talks about tax reform was senators there. one of those southerners likely in attendance is john mccain. he is the subject of much news, starting with an interview he did on this network.

"the new york times" picks it up this morning. just to give you a sense of what he said, the author of the story mccain "senator john condemns the way in which wealthier americans avoided serving in the vietnam war that insisted on monday that he was not talking about president trump when he did so. on c-span sunday, president mccain used bone spurs as a condition that allowed some to avoid being drafted during the conflict." you can see the whole interview on a website at c-span.org. here's a portion of the interview done on sunday. [video clip] >> it was a very gradual escalation, which then that only did not harm the enemy, but it strengthen their resolve. that led, of course, to all kinds of implications and -- the new age, the use of drugs, demonstrations right out here on the small.

it was a million people or how are many it was. it really split our society in a way that we sometimes forget. arrests with demonstrations in chicago that all of us look back and see on c-span. time -- a mulch was tumultuous time and most of it was bred by the conflict. one aspect of the conflict by the way that i will never countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of america and the highest income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur. that is wrong. that is wrong. if we are going to ask every american to serve, every american should serve. host: that was the interview that aired sunday. storyhe new york times" says that mr. mccain did not

mention mr. trump in the interview but used bone spurs as an example. it was on monday that mr. mccain appeared on "the view" and repeated his comments. while he insisted that mr. trump was not a draft dodger, the system had been broken. interview.ips from [video clip] i feel like the system was so wrong that certain americans could evade their responsibilities to serve the country. finally did, as you know, we went to the all volunteer force. that's fine. if someone wants to serve, they should be able to. either way, that is now down to 1% or 2% of the american public. >> is that galling when he cast aspersions on your service? when he got out because of bone spurs? that ticks me off. >> i think the important thing is for us to help those veterans who need help.

host: if you want to go back to that c-span interview, it is available for you at our website at c-span.org. ron in virginia from vermont on the independent line. hello. caller: good morning, pedro. when representative arrington was on, i tried to get on. i called his office and his office voicemail is full. needs to hire somebody or maybe they laid somebody off. my comment is that secretary tom price, who used to be in the house, recently lost his job because he spends about $1 million flying around on private air or military aircraft. he only get that $50,000. there is our tax money at work. before they do any kind of tax reform, i think they should go after any kind of abuse like that. he conveniently only talk about medicare fraud or something like that. nprmore thing -- i heard on

that they were talking about the soldiers in africa and they were talking about that afrikaans and they are dealing with a low budget. they don't have enough money to do what they need to do, whatever that is. i think that basically are politicians are wasting money and it's hurting our military. if they are over there doing something that even congress doesn't know about, but that's part of the black budget that another gentleman mentioned. host: linda in florida, good morning to you, republican line. you are next. always asked pretty good questions. but i will like to know on tax keep askingat i quer and i don't hear as a senior now if they are going to take the standard deduction and double it? what happens to seniors? what also eliminate the personal exception? if you take the standard

deduction and the extra amount that you get is a senior, you are to $11,950. the fact that you double it, it's only $50 difference. where is this when when when? i don't see it. the other thing is all the brackets. i know they about determine what the brackets are going to be, but when they say there is going to be for rates, does that mean whatever the cutoff is, if someone is in the 25% bracket or the 12% bracket or wherever that is, that those people pay that exact amount or is it going to still be progressive like up to 12,000? be at the lower rates and then once you are at the $25,000 rate, is it all going to be taxed at the 35% rate? , youu could ask them

always asked good questions. i would like to be able to address that. i don't care when i listen to. no one ever brings that up. version of the legislation is supposed be out next week and. when that comes out, i'm sure we will talk to legislators to put that into the conversation. from fort worth, texas, democrats line, betty, hello. aller: i'm sorry i do not get chance to talk to my texas congressman. he says that texas has balance its budget. it sure did. it did it on the back of poor people. host: how so? caller: we have unfounded , fortes for a pensions police, for firemen, for teachers. would you believe that i have not had a raise since 2006? host: what is your profession?

caller: i'm a retired teacher. up.everything has gone if they take my health care the directions away, that is where most of my money goes. i'm an octogenarian. i have lived in texas all my life. i know these politicians. they have been talking about that post card, filling it out on a postcard. if you buy that come you will buy anything. as i see it, i'm going to lose money. i'm going to have to pay more taxes. host: let's hear from steve in north carolina, democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. i would like to address the situation about farming. there is a guy that farms in our county. the past five years, he has got $1 million in subsidies from the

government and he takes that money, goes down the next county, and buys up more land, farms it, gets a bigger subsidy, buys more land, farms it, gets a bigger subsidy. this whole idea about these poor farmers is just more republican spin. and the lady from texas -- i'm a retired teacher. if you have a balanced budget, the budget is balanced on the backs of teachers and state employees. i just want to throw that out there for the public. post athe usa today" picture of a weather balloon from alphabet. as part of what is being done to provide internet service to puerto rico, google's parent company has a project to deliver internet service and the remote

area where cell phone towers were knocked out by hurricane maria. two balloons are hovering over puerto rico, giving at&t customers with phones that use the lte network cell phone service and limited access to the web. several more balloons are on the way from nevada and will send more balloons to the hurricane ravaged island. able to provide service to an area 5000 square kilometers. it also says of the story that the project beams the internet from altitudes twice as high as commercial aircraft and helps global operators extend wireless networks into more sparsely populated or remote terrains without running fiber optic cable or building cell towers. the windsor salud powered and have batteries onboard, but service at night is limited. from georgia, we will hear from herbert on the democrats li ne. caller: good morning, pedro.

how could a person who talks about he is so patriotic to criticize a person who has shown that patriotism to america? my daughter was in iraq. my daughter went to iraq and got out in 2006. i got drafted in 1968. you realize that this person could discredit people. people keep going along with it. the thing is that it's an appropriate action. you know what, pedro? you cannot have sympathy unless you are apologetic. if i say something to you, my sympathy should come in whether i upset you are not by saying i apologize, just being a man. the contents of a good person's character -- i did not grow up around a donald trump, but i've a person of character myself that i built. if i'm wrong, wrong as a man. stand upple need to

and the media needs to stand up as men and say let me tell you something. old and i've not seen no money come from a democrat or republican for my children or nothing. i know one thing about the content of my character because i'm getting old. i have to depend and rely on people and i treat people as a want to be treated. donald trump is going to get old. said, whoever wants to be first has to be a servant of all. it's not to be served. remember when jesus washed the disciples feet? this man once people to be loyal to him and he wants to be served. he doesn't understand the presidency of the united states. you have to represent every person regardless of what nationality they are or religion they are. you're the president of

everybody, the ones who don't like you and the ones who do like you. host: the front page of "the washington post" features a photo that shows the president bestowing the nation's highest military honor, the medal of honor, on retired army captain gary rose. he was injured himself and maneuvered through intense and the fire -- enemy fire during the battle of laos in 1970. as the front page of "the washington post." let's go to sam and tennessee on the independent line. caller: everybody talks about trump being a draft dodger. 1970 and i didn't know anybody who wanted to go. jump off the chair to get the flat fee. i knew someone who blew their toe off so they didn't have to go. i know two guys who were given the choice to go to the military

or reform school, then went awol to keep from having to go. everybody who could get out of it got out of it. everybody went to college is went to colleges. i sure got lucky when i turned 19 that they quit drafting. they were pulling trip south. -- pulling troops out. i didn't know anybody want to go. host: kansas is next. we will hear from rick on the independent line. caller: can you hear me? host: you are on. caller: i want to speak earlier about the kansas budget and the deal toof brownback's promote the economy. it's bankrupting our state. they have to to raise taxes because we can't pay for schools. this meant the cigarette money and all the social programs are being kept. i'm hoping we don't do this at a federal level because i think that is what we are going to get. i want them to understand that.

look at kansas and what it's done for our economy and what it will do at a federal level. times" has ark story focusing on the justice department. the department will limited its use of secrecy orders that prevent internet providers from telling people that the government has obtained a warrant to either email. as a result of the change, microsoft which it taken the lead of challenging the apartments practices would drop a lawsuit filed against the government last year. in a blog post monday night, changed smith called the "another important step of ensuring people's privacy rights are protected when they store their personal information in the cloud." microsoft and other companies raise the concern that the government was using a gag order statute in a way that violent principles of the first and fourth amendments.

the first amendment gives companies the right to speak to their customers and the fourth amendment gives people the right to know if the government has searched or seized the property. from pennsylvania, jim is next on our line for republicans . caller: which former president recently ran a way to avoid the draft? it is william jefferson clinton. sayingple calling up and that about trump? there's the upper class, the middle class, the working class, the onesast class are hurt the most. host: one more call from roger in michigan. caller: good morning. i have a couple of comments. one of which is basically an observation. maybe 10 once a time

or 15 years ago the happened to be watching tv and saw a study about what people will not tolerate about our politicians. and the number one thing at the time that people would not tolerate is arrogance or was arrogance. arrogances so much it's unbelievable. in the 1970's, i was an apprentice carpenter in the area here. we used to have a joke when contractors would not pay their subcontractors. you have been trumped. it was common knowledge around this area. you have been trumped. message to this man

who sits in the oval office. shoutsmp, what you are so loud i cannot hear what you say. that is basically it, pedro. host: last one on the set of open phones. up next is from issue one, meredith mcgehee. she would talk about efforts in congress that would mandate rate or disclosure on political ads that run on internet platforms like facebook and twitter. you'll find out more when this conversation continues after this. ♪ >> the c-span bus is traveling across the country on a 50 capitals tour. we recently stopped in frankfurt, kentucky, asking folks what is the most important issue in their state. >> my name is gerald atkins and i live here in franklin,

kentucky. one of the more important issues in kentucky right now is public pensions. legislators are here in kentucky getting rid to call a special session to try and fund our pensions. it's very important to all the public-sector workers and all their families. we have a coalition called the kentucky public coalition and various other members that have joined us and our partnering with us. it is very important and our coalition is trying to fight and make sure that the legislators here in kentucky do the right thing and find the funding source for our pension. >> my name is jay freeman. one of the biggest issues in the state is the drug problem. even in rural kentucky, the drug problem is rampant. that's definitely one of the biggest issues. and iname is dd mccroskey work for the commonwealth of kentucky. the most pressing issue right now in the commonwealth is the

employees retirement. >> forces from the states on c-span. -- voices from the states on c-span. announcer: "washington journal" continues. our next guest is meredith mcgehee of the group issue one. and she's talking about this legislative proposal, taking a look at facebook and twitter. please remind folks what issue one is in what you are about. it's a nonprofit that focuses on a bipartisan effort to fix our democratic dysfunction. host: what does that mean in your day-to-day workings? guest: we are talking to democrats and republicans and independents to try to find common ground on where you can start to make changes on everything from ethics to accountability to the way our campaigns or finance. our really tried to make democracy work better for the

inactive people. -- for the amazing people. host: one of the things that you were talking about this facebook and twitter when it came to ads. what are you talking about, especially this legislative proposal in congress? guest: there came a time when the information came out about the online political advertising that was being funded through a russian troll farm. the reports that $100,000 was spent as a minimum we know of to place these political ads on google, facebook, twitter, etc. there has been long-standing law to prohibit foreign entities, meaning governments or anyone really, from interfering in american elections. that has been the law of the land for many years. russian troll farm's were successfully placing these ads very specifically targeted. the question that arose was -- what is the appropriate step to be taken

host: it's known as honest-as senators, ored by democrat of minnesota and virginia. comes to the principles of the honest-as act, require platforms 50 million monthly viewers to create a political adse of by personal group who spends $500. a public lso create file and in which the ad, a description of targeting audience, views generated, time and date it ran and contract information for the purchaser. do you think if the things were set up, what would it do or accomplish? guest: the goal is to provide for national security, a tool

to protect sure national security. that was the frame of all the iscussions when this deal was being crafted, the goal the sponsor set up and i would note, house version, that is bipartisan, introduced by a washington and a republican from colorado. so the whole conversation that protect as, how do we our national security, what are the tools we can use that we have in law, there are long-standing laws on political dvertising for television and radio, long-standing laws in federal election laws that deal by candidates and outside groups, so the goal modestply to say, take a step forward and include social such as appropriate and as that particular platform. that was the goal here and i tool is disclosure probably the best tool, it is not seeking to ban anything provide disclosure. the ban has existed in

ong-standing law, that is on foreign interference. host: our guest is with us, to ask questions about the proposal, 202-748-8001 for republicans. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. one of the criticisms that came out of this legislation came bloomberg, he writes this honest-ads act,e john ses jane doe or smith based at random location would buy and run any political from the outskirts of st. petersburg. he transaction is recorded under a fake name and stored in the archives and an investigator anything of to find value s. that a fair criticism? guest: you can criticize a lot advertising on television, on radio or on the internet, if people work hard to mask their identities, any of those media, they can do that. effort to try

and mask where it is coming from. provision in federal communications regulations, that talks about getting to the true the source of funding for ads. hat applies for television, radio and we want to ensure that online ecessary cases of paid political ads. let me emphasize this once again. is not trying to solve all problems of troll farms, all the problems of expressing views on the internet, no intent to reach at that. is very narrowly tailored to look at online, paid political advertising. and there is language in this ill in the honest ads act that uts obligations on platform to ensure foreign money does not come into the election. compile ra work to databases. guest: there is so much information already, most shocked leveld be

of granularity of the detail they already have and in this the when it comes to online paid political advertising, we're not talking sitting there blog og their own or sharing views, we're talking about paid advertising, they are making money hand over fist in this area and so i think this is a burden that television and radio stations currently have, ensure t a big ask to the online platforms have the obligations, but tailored for the nature of an online platform. senator it significant mccain signed on to this? guest: absolutely. armed serviceshe committee and i would note mr. of the s vice chair intelligence committee and what to ly is the point here is say why does our government not ave the tools to protect against foreign interference, how can we create these tools and i think the fact you have chair of intelligence

and the chair of the armed services committee shows how tools are for protecting national security. host: there are free speech as political r speech is concerned about having this type of database or layer internet? guest: i am actually a fan of justice preme court scalia, who, when faced with uestions about disclosure on campaigns, talked about the home of the brave. and in this case, this is not of restriction in terms of extra layers, it's simply disclosure. federal communications commission, many years ago, back s, wrote 0s and '60 about listeners are entitled to now by whom they are being persuaded. this is simply a tool for the government to ensure that entities are not coming in and most importantly, for so zens to have information they can make up their own mind. disclosure has been upheld by court repeatedly, i

would note, many people forget n the citizens united decision by 8-1 vote, supreme court repeatedly in re terms of political campaigns and elections. all of a, not in politics, but when it comes to campaign and elections, they the notion bought that sunlight is the best isinfectant and we need to arm our citizens most importantly, to be able to have this then we can nd really start to have a good obust discussion, but know who the speaker is. host: first call this morning from david in clinton township, michigan, democrat's line, on with meredith mcgehee of issue one. go ahead. thank you. i just have one question. the wondering, could twitter site at real donald be russian troll site? honest answer to

that is that really relies on to determine where they -- how they verify where the sites are. think in this case, the seem to be coming from the president, who confirms he's tweeting. that this legislation we're talking about here doesn't get into what these individual private companies do, this is about paid political media.sing on social and at real is the lane this bill is staying in. host: new york, democrat's line, rob is next. hello. for c-span.k you why doesn't the government have the tools to combat this problem? follow the money. remember the old phrase, follow campaign follow the finance money, the campaign money is the root of all evil in american politics. and unfortunately, i love this does and how she

she speaks and what she's many are going to write her off and the research she's done as fake news. perhaps the president should show us his feet, his bone spurs, because let's get to the bottom of that real news that he he had these privileged draft deferments. you. host: rob, sorry about that, thank you. go ahead. guest: the legislation we're alking about does have bipartisan support. these were efforts that reached mr. o a number of members, ofman of colorado deserves great credit for coming on this bill. thisr tried hard to ensure was a bipartisan effort on the house side and i would note that clobashore and warner did the same on the senate side. aree are other senators who

interested in the legislation and simply want to have hearings first. think, i'm hopeful, the senate will in fact hold hearings and ads act will be the basis for hearings. to explore some of these issues how do you fine an online platform that should be covered in this instance? what kind of money? i saw a story from a magazine, reported that 50% of these ads that were run by the russian troll farm cost $3 or less and 9% of those ads cost under $1000. yet they were very effectively cases, i nd in many think really sought to find the ersuadable they felt could be most influential. these are some of the issues hearing should look at and the honest ads act should be the subject of those hearings starting point. host: one reaction came from politics competitive

put out a statement that reads this from the president david keesk keting. may stop advertising at lower ollar amounts, shut off outlet for small groups to get their message out. the senator claims the same to broadcast media should apply to all media. dvertising and handles are not regulated in the same way. guest: they are not regulated in exactly the same way and that is say these are similar standings. note a couple things. there is built into this legislation. so if you're on one of these platforms and the current definition is 50 million and e visits in a month, then to actually be covered by his disclosure, you have to aggregate to $500 just to be covered. anything under that, if you are of these giant online platforms, you wouldn't be covered. would noteoint and i

center for competitive politics putting themosure, on a far extreme of most scale of where most americans are. trying to set here similar standards and that is why there to simply say ot treat online advertising exactly he same as television radio because they are different platforms, but what this bill in a very carefully considered way is say what is be onable expectation to able to get the information we need to fight this foreign be too ence, not burdensome and at the same time, nsure that we have this information available and that really was the balance that was part of the discussion and i good job bill did a of achieving balance. ost: on the independent line, perry from maryland. caller: yes, i want to thank and yourself ion and eing on the job here

looking into this. couple quick things. understand facebook records that 016 concerning their business with different people. that was in the newspaper. the tennessee situation in which the in blican organization tennessee was used as a front celebrities for very bad stuff, that was in the newspaper also. hen the most important question, for the virginia race races, do you expect the russians and other oreign countries might be involved in those? again, thank you for your service. you very much. i appreciate the questions. many questionsat twitter t facebook or

or google or others have bligation on themselves to arere that foreign entities not in the business of influencing u.s. elections, that ould be the case for any private entity, there has to be some level of due diligence. diligence applies to other private companies like banks who have some level of esponsibility, when they're trying to fight against drug traffickers, laundering money. there is no doubt there is going to be efforts, there are going efforts by russian troll farms, but others, who may not ave the best interests of the united states at heart, trying to influence politics, this kind propaganda and disinformation has been around for years. that the ence here is tools have changed, the ability when you might see someone with churning out fliers is you could nt, now

spend a thousand dollars and of people.ands it is very important that our laws change. we have 20th century laws trying deal with 21st century reality. get is what we're trying to at here. i would note this legislation is imply aimed at online paid political advertising. it does not try to solve the problem of the troll farms sitting in people macedonia, or some country liking of people things, posting things, doing that kind of activity. this legislation does not to solve that problem. i think largely because we don't about the best means to trae address that. resident overreach, choice made to be conservative here, online eans to paid advertising. i would note, when you have paid advertising, even in newspapers, it's paid for by a political too, have they,

disclaimer responsibility. this disclaimer responsibility has been in u.s. election law many years and works well. again, the notion here is that americans should have the so they can make up their own mind. it is not the government telling think, it is not them saying anyone -- simply is who is speaking, if it is a foreign entity, that under allowed long-standing law f. a regular domestic entity, you can make up mind about how you been that speech. host: next from guy in fall democrat's gton, line. caller: yes. the panel on c-span kansas fcc. give folks history repeal the -- ey

the purpose of the fcc was pretty much eliminated back in '80s. guest: well, i would note the fairness doctrine is very issue that has divided republicans and emocrats, conservatives and progressives since inception and since it was put into place and as fought hard by many folks, particularly during the reagan administration, who wanted to ave the fairness doctrine eliminated. let me quickly explain what that is. i want to move forward quickly, as well. is not what we're talking about today. the fairness doctrine was put in broadcasters and radios, television and radio have to present both sides of an issue, as public trustees and so concerns bya lot of folks who felt like it was not oing to be an appropriate

obligation for praudcasters, it '80s et aside back in the and this is really some people lemonading it gave rise to conservative radio, etcetera. note the federal communications commission still has enormous amounts of ability that the kind of disclosure that have been in ongstanding law, back to the days of piola, this is not from the days of political campaigns, to ensure appropriate ponsorship identification, and that is really the issue here, which is not the issue of the fairness doctrine. sponsorship ook at identification, this has been at he heart of the communications act, even back to the radio days rose by cacophony that rose when the titanic sank. hope folks will focus on the

notion the tools to best protect national security are what we're for g to put in place here online paid advertising. and have a robust discussion, an issue, y sides to let's not have the russian or other hostile foreign powers be the discussion. host: it may not surprise you nline platforms pay a lot for lobbying there is a story in the "washington post" about facebook $2.8 million saying art of the amount dedicated to lobbying officials in the white house and congress on online transparency effort. how much voice do they have to not keep this legislation from happening? dpeekt i think enormous amounts total r, partly because emerge into the culture and town space, you know, it used down, much is online and they have enormous of sway up on the hill.

they obviously are going to lot a lot of money and a of time lobbying, but i'm with effort they realize here that it is not in used by erest to be foreign powers, particularly hostile foreign powers and the here is to achieve that balance. everyone has a robust first right to lobby and lobbying is a great thing. i've been a registered lobbyist 1980s and i think as often gets a bad name, the uestion here is, how do you ensure that lobbying is arriving into the offices and that the the political officials so they have a full and robust all the issues are and i'm hopeful that the house and oth on the the senate side are trying to isten to all sides, that the hearings will provide an avenue for many of these companies to speak out, but also for others heard.

so i say, bring on the lobbying, his is a good thing, not a bad thing, more information is a good thing. ut let's also make sure that the public interest and policy decisions are first and foremost minds.public officials host: meredith mcgehee with the group issue one, talking to us legislative effort on facebook and onlinads, articularly when it comes to election. debbie in albuquerque, new mexico, independent line. hi there. hi.er: good morning. i'm just -- i haven't called in long time, but the idea, watchedy stood back and zuckerburg make this. come along and say, anybody can post anything they want and uneducated because people believe this. so you're going to regulate

people aren't e educated enough to say, gee, maybe this isn't true? that is your logic behind this, instead of bolstering education look at other sources? i'm on facebook, the idea i get on facebook i find hysterical. people post all sorts of stuff of it, but kick out set idea that you're up set america isn't smart enough to figure out, maybe this isn't real, you regulate public slam book called facebook because you things turnede way out because basically as a country we're not that smart anymore. host: got you, debbie. let our guest respond. guest: first of all, i want to say hello, i went to high school albuquerque, new mexico, my folks are still there. i have great fondness for the of new mexico, land of enchantment. caller, o note for this that what we're talking about here is not the posting or any facebook teractions on

or any intelligence level of the american people. paid political advertise suggest toated in a very similar way the way paid political advertising is treated on to someon and radio and degree other public media that narrow question and it is actually to the caller, somewhat the opposite of what you are saying. we're actually saying if you have disclosure and you have the the mation as an american, american public, smart enough to make up their own minds when information. this is a tool to provide that information, a tool to ensure entities are not paying for ads. report, i've s a heard several people now talk the up on the hill, the

$100,000 spent on ads on was rubles, that should be a tell-tale sign of the ads. caller, i'm agreeing with you in that, give the american people he information, make sure it's accurate as you can, and then i trust the american people to minds based onwn that accurate information. host: independent line, woodbridge, virginia, brian, go ahead. caller: i want to commend you on work of bringing -- you are bringing legislation, going to be legislation proposed to congress? yes, it's been introduced. caller: great. i really hope the congressmen this because in age of information, you can't democracy or any kind of intelligent decision-making when confused.are and just like yelling fire in a an airplane, b on ou know, former caller had a

point, debbie, but when you get fire, in a ls craweded theater, you don't have the rules to become a private where is or to say, the smoke. you got to say, is this true, do you for the nearest exit, know? age of information, sometimes nformation is being classified confidential, you have to do your own private investigation. is right. which even as a very educated person with a lot of common sense, when have so much misinformation out there -- host: thanks, brian, thanks. the : common sense that caller talked about is what this legislation actually recognizes. sense to say paid ads run on social media to be in ted similar to paid ads other media. to me, that is a pretty common-sense approach here. the legislation is bipartisan legislation by cam ral tries to take that

common-sense approach. doesn't solve every problem, to overreach, but if -- don't give either the don't put in place the tools here, in this case, disclosure, going to have er the ability to go and find out f foreign entities are in fact making this effort. i think the caller hit the nail on the head about being common here. there is absolutely no reason for us not to have 21st century cover the reality of what we have now with social media. suzanne ublican line, in skylar, virginia. caller: good morning. is a k what you're doing wonderful thing. and the reason i think that, i i've know how many times seen people take for dpranted posted on that are facebook are true. it is so easy to research and these things hat are completely taken out of downrightr really just

lies and so i think that if you do this and we can see who things, s backing these it would be very good. president k back, obama had said to president to p, that he was foolish believe that the russians were election and so it seems to me if former obama really believed that, that we really truly need information from people who can support what they're saying. thank you very much. uest: well, i think the caller talked about the importance of facts. his legislation is actually trying to seek facts and disclose them. is the re, i think, important part here. there are those who have said disclosure, you know, is

squelc an efforts to these and the opposite is true, what you are trying to do with provide people with tools so they have accurate, factual information a robust ve discussion. it is not an attempt to get the under the tent on to further regulation here, that think what is going on, i folks will talk of scare tactics to make this seem to be part of bigger effort. i would note that when you talk itut disclosure here, again, is important to realize that in the context of campaigns and elections and paid political ads, the supreme court has that disclosure is an appropriate tool to be used in this context. mean disclosure is appropriate for every political -- every context, for issue that applies, but when it comes to our campaigns world,ections and in this

in fact, it is the appropriate comes from hat long-standing decisions the court changed over times. from one more call oakland, california, democrat's line, dimitri, hello. hello, good morning. had established the national union party after ending of slavery. he put in a one-party system. is on one ballot and everything. you think about us and it ted that way eliminates all the problems that we face today. having ell, i think robust political parties is a our nation.or and because they should be a political party should be the average american can engage in the political process. i would say, actually, i think

of the problems we have now in our current system is that olitical parties have become hollowed out shells, with large amounts of money are launched in high levels and the ability of your average american feel like their engagement, whether republican or democrat r independent, has meaning there at the local level. 100 or 1000 50 or they give of hard-earned money a context ning in where there are individuals on both sides of the aisle, that ican and democrat, are giving millions of dollars. be olitical parties should about how individuals can engage people to inded support candidates and ideology they believe in. is not what that political parties have become and they seem to be at this engaged in either holding on to power or having of e amounts and millions

dollars come in. day, opic for a different we're an online political advertising -- paid political i hope ing today, and that people will have -- take he opportunity to look at this legislation, to contact their members of congress, republican and be cratic alike, part of that bipartisan effort we ind common ground, where can find solutions. you know, for many years, people didn't cerned that we know what to do. i think what we need to focus on are the s are where solutions, the american people shouldn't be dissuaded solutions exist, give our leaders political will to make sure the enacted.s actually get host: meredith mcgehee, issue issue1.org, to check out yourself. thanks for your time. up, another round of open phones until 10:00 when the house coming in. 202-748-8001 for republicans.

democrats, 202-748-8000. and independents, 202-748-8002. we'll be right back. >> the c-span bus is traveling across the country on 50 capitals tour. stopped in frankfort, kentucky, asking folks what is the most important issue in their state. >> hi, my name is gerald frankfort, ive in kentucky. an important issue in kentucky right now is public pensions. legislators are here in kentucky getting ready to call special fund our try to special -- excuse me, our pensions. it is very important to all the sector workers and all of their families, we have a kentucky public and tion, police officers, various other members that have joined us and are partnering with us. very important in our coalition is trying to fight and

make sure that the legislators kentucky do the right thing and find a funding source for our pension. my name is jerry freeman, one of the biggest issues of this problem.e drug even in rural kentucky, the drug rampant, so that is definitely one of the biggest issues. didi, i work e is for the commonwealth of kentucky issue most pressing right now in the commonwealth is retirement.s >> voices from the states on c-span. >> wash journal continues. ost: conversations take place on our facebook page. twitter feedon our at c-span wj, and the phone ines for last round of open phones on the senate side today. the president of the united

states expected to meet with issues of to talk tax reform, leading up to that eeting a back-and-forth exchange between president trump and senator bob corker. his is the president's tweet, bob corker helped president obama give us the bad iran deal elected dog get catcher in tennessee is fighting tax cuts, that was the from bob a response corker, same truth from utterly untruthful president. hashtag, alert the daycare staff. that is some of what is expected into this meeting. that is the twitter exchange to the larger meeting of the senate t with republicans talking about issues of this health care on the house work on passing the senate budget resolution and an effort their process on healthcare that is on open phones. the phone lines are on the screen. out of the museum papers we get from across the country. is the headline about melania trump's visit to

the oakland ers in press this morning saying the first lady made a surprise stop bloomfield on monday to talk about inclusion with cafeteria full of middle schoolers accompanied by secretary of education, betsy importance of kindness among peers after circling the lunch room, taking selfies with the students. the school was chosen for the the out of 1500 around nation that participate in "no ne eats alone program," trump inspired according to cnn, prevention month. i encourage you to find a new friend and eat lunch with a new she said to the seventh and eighth graders. or obody becomes sad stressed and everybody feels included. democrat. missouri, go ahead. caller: week before last, 30 in chicago.d, shot this weekend, nine shot.

thing over in africa out of proportion and i the that may be part of complex. thank you, c-span. tnap a valley senator, follow-up about the wildfires. the aid going on in rebuilding. county supervisors tuesday will discuss regulation to ease for people who lost and businesses to the recent wildfires. severely damaged more than 700 structures ranging from units of econd wineries, records show 37 suffered damage that limited their use. are in the unincorporated count and he within the jurisdiction of county supervisors starting the rebuilding conversation last week, "let's as much as mline possible," that was supervisor perzora. there are exceptions to the county rule, rebuilding

exceptions ark ply to victims of fires and victims of future county declared disasters flood or re, earthquake. the paper is nama valley register. go to richard from iowa, republican line. caller: yeah, i just call in and you're talking about those fires. i think they need to have more guess led burns and i they don't let them do that anymore. these fires is why that are going on are getting so there is so much brush and trees that should be gotten rid months ago. they just -- years ago, they prettyowing and growing, soon you do have a fire, nobody can control it. hat is about all i have to say on what you just talking about there. host: open phones until 10:00. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats.

independents 202-748-8002. situation, g one miami herald talks about the irma, after hurricane particularly when it comes to biscayne bay. irma released around miami dade looked bad on shore, worry the damage could be more long-lasting and difficult to fix. during and after the storm, foul the mainland om and beaches poured into the bay, carrying pollution from oil-stained streets and leaky sewers to struggling with sea gulls, die-off, and algae bloom. miami-dade has four chloraphyl all over the bay and troubled north end, miami-dade ongoing die-off it spiked the bed, higher, sign that increasing nutrients from pollution are feeding the sea grass, smothering algae.

this is open phones. brian is from michigan on the independent line. brian, you're next. caller: yeah, hi, thanks. can you hear me? ahead. can, go caller: okay. i did a little study on my own over the last year. watched the white house press briefings, now with sarah. i looked at cnn, in particular, but i think it applies to a lot broadcast journalists, the people that they send to the press, do not even have a degree journalism. in other words, they're not even ware of the who, what, when, where and why and all the things aspire rnalists should to. i'm just wondering, why don't we just sit the bar higher at the white house level, where anyone hat comes into the room actually has to have a degree in print journalism?

there, i an go from think it would help the whole nation. host: so how did you determine of the ground journalists? did you investigate them independently and see what their backgrounds were like? caller: you bet, it didn't take long. guy, but the computer world is a great tool. when you use it properly, the there.ation is accosta f you look at t goes doup the line, who cnn, in particular, jay tapper, dana ass, none of these people have a degree in print journalism. they have associates and other degrees, but it's not in print journalism, i think that is the standard, where we should be at and it wouldn't cost us a penny. discriminatory against anyone. we need to set the bar. if you to work, have someone work on your car, you want them to have

-- the proper training. they do not have the proper training. you can take it further with cnn, if you take a look on the backgrounds. ccosta, tapper and many others actually have bias in their resume, where they supported, in democratic party at times. so this is basic knowledge we hould be looking into and i guess i'm just not getting it. host: okay. albans, new york, democrat's line. morning.ood host: go ahead. -- and i'm calling about all those in california. hen are you going to bring on -- these things to you? because media, what he's been don't see nothing he's been saying in the media. redicting all these things and told you what is going to happen if they don't change th ways.

thank you very much. host: atlanta journal constitution has a story, the front ry from page, dealing with phony tax returns. he state blocking $100 million returns saying despite major data breaches such as the one at agencies, including georgia department of revenue reporting increasing success in returns from turning into big money for crooks. department of revenue said the blocked 108 million worth of fraudulent returns so far, up ago when 19 s million worth was stopped by the agency, "encouraging to see involved in the filing process working together to ombat fraud, it appears collaborative effort led to detering and detecting tax fraud. story is available at the website of the atlanta journal constitution. ajc.com, is how you reach that. east hampton, connecticut, go ahead. caller: good morning.

ad morning and thank you, c-span. i want to call in and talk a ittle bit about environmental issues with everything else that is going on, it seems like gotten lost a little bit and i've noticed that locked ng seems to get into climate change and then the climate change deniers just say, oh, that's not true or humans aren't responsible or whatever. that when on is people talk about environmental specifically k about the issues, like ollution, like deforestation, like the rights of indigenous people. those things because those things are real and those things are true and we actually see them. so that is why i called in and i eally enjoy the open phone lines because you get to hear a lot of different issues and a of different opinions and everything else, thank you very

much, c-span. chicago tribune has a story picked up in other papers, as well. the government accountability office, gao, new report expected out today, at climate change cost, those in the billions according to the report. dog says l watch climate change is costing taxpayers billions of dollars, expected to rise as devastating storms, droughts and more frequent e in coming decades. government accountability office the federal government spent $350 billion over the last decade on disaster programs and losses from flood and crop insurance, does not include massive toll this year's three major hurricanes and wildfire expected to be among the most costly in nation's history. the reports predicts costs will grow in the future, potentially budget busting 35 billion a year by 2015. the federal ys government doesn't effectively -- for the loss,

as "high lated cost risk." that is from the gao, putting there.e report gao.gov, to see the report, if you want to read for yourself. next 15 minutes, you have the opportunity to phones.ate in open it's 202-748-8001 for republicans. and 48-8000 for democrats independents 202-748-8002. talking points memo this morning, features a story taking senate minoritied weller, chuck schumer of new making a speech yesterday about legislative effort in the senate to stabilize those companies within the affordable care act, they write the bipartisan bill stabilize markets restore ensure as to cover low income patients and restore but while 60 senators are lined up to cast vote ecessary favor of the bill

hammered out over months of bipartisan negotiations, senate ajority leader mitch mcconnell refusing to allow a vote until president trump gives the bill his blessing. face of blockade, the minority leader chuck schumer ook to the floor monday afternoon to plead with the president. here is part of that speech from yesterday. >> make direct appeal to the president. mr. president, come out and alexander-mur ray bill. ou called it "a very good solution," already, announce you will support it and it will pass senate soon after. now the president's only stated concern was that the alexander-murray bill bailed out insurance companies, but i can ssure the president that senators alexander and murray took great pains to make sure would urance companies not get one extra penny from this deal. i've read the language, i've with them. it's good, it's strong.

they have included provisions in bill to prevent insurance companies from double-dipping on the cost-sharing program and that money goes precisely to where it is intended, to keep of pocketnd other out osts down for low income americans. if the president wants even reater assurances, we can work to remove back the start of enrollment one month. e may be able to do that administratively, if not, that is something both senator murray er and senator wanted to do to ensure new and the rates would be looked at as if cost-sharing but the white house blocked it. so if the white house and the it even want to make stronger, and i think it is then we ough already, can do that. and from what i understand, the resident might be able to do that administratively.

that the president isn't supporting this because he oesn't want the insurance companies to make money on this, whi -- well, it's wrong. there is some other reason he done.t want it maybe he doesn't want a bipartisan bill. he wasn't because involved. maybe it's because on issue fter issue the hard right freedom caucus people say, don't o it and he's afraid, he's not showing much leadership when they stand up to him. joan in minnesota, democrat's line, you are next. make a i want to comments what the gentleman that talked about the education of journalists about two people ago. i just wondered if he had checked also on the the people on the fox network, like rush limbaugh,

hannity, whether they have the ame credentials that he expects. excellent, excellent people that have. c-span they may not have the education, but they sure have knowledge of the world ng on in and i applaud them greatly. is kind of a different it of a call because doesn't address any of the big issues of the times, but i think is an important thing for the people to respect people that they listen to. host: open phones is open hones, joan, appreciate the call this morning and for the next eight minutes we'll take on open phones. virginia, west republican line. hi. caller: hey, good morning, pedro, thanks for taking my call. i have a couple comments. gun n the bum stocks, the control. we hear that the constitution

right to own any kind of weapon that we want. look back, i'm quite sure that automatic weapons, things like that didn't even exist when the constitution was written. existed, i'm sure they would have made provisions that people outside the military not own these. so i'd like personally to see regulate them, and my taxes.comment is on rand paul was on one of the channels and he was saying he wants this and this and that to o with tax cuts and he ended the interview by saying, but, he would settle for just no tax on the middle class, so i think middle class people can tax cut goodbye and we'll probably get an increase. like to i would comment on the harvey weinstein

problem. there was a commentator on fox news that said three or four row, she didn't know what a casting couch was. casting couch a was since i was a child. don't even have to be in hollywood to know what that is. soft porn that hollywood the rning out is part of problem with -- it's reflection mindset, the minds, elite in hollywood that think do all this and it the kids of our country. host: okay. sharon in west virginia. the "new york times" has a story temming from the secretary of state's trip in iraq, in the nistan, features marshall from kabul, in

afghanistan. afghanistan, doctored photograph many questioned. and it it was kabul, wasn't. there was a clock and there wasn't a clock. after a visit by the secretary monday was publicly disclosed, the american embassy president's office made statements about the protected meeting in kabul. meeting was s the ot in kabul, but in bagrum, a 90-minute drive away. the misinformation meant to venue detrayed in similar photographs released and the ericans afghans, both show mr. tillerson gandhi in the room and a coffee table between them with a bottle of water. the delegations sat across from each other. the version released by the erased tan government the large digital clock showing universal time and a red fire alarm blind mr.

tillerson and mr. gandhi, a giveaway it was an american military facility. the office querys about nd to why its version of the photo was different and mr. tillerson said traveled to iraq after leaving afghanistan did not immediately respond. pictures of the two side by side. the clock and the fire alarm are afghan in the photograph, just to show you that, read more at the website of the "new york times." eric in new hampshire, independent line. pedro, i ood morning, just want to mention the previous caller, who was talking about -- excuse me, previous speaker, talking about the red erring, about the russian facebook influence on the election, blah, blah, blah. you know, it is amazing, they spent billions of dollars on facebook advertising during the elections and they have thousand hundred dollars of ads, you know, i

ads and 're stopping on there are elephants running through the building. like why do we focus on such small issues when there is so much larger issues we should looking at and they say, well, let's say this, if the russians wanted obama to be in office, it was because he was and a learned individual he's so stable. i guess we all pick and choose our team. from washington state, democrat's line, here is debbie. caller: yeah. wanted to speak to the thought that cnn journalists didn't have good credentials. i'd like you to check into not nly fox, but i'd like you to check into sarah sanders' least the . at journalists tell the truth, often doesn't and doesn't answer questions. host: c.e.o. of the girl scouts

ed, in "u.s.a. today," taking a look or talking about scouts to on by boy let girl necessary some programs. we are disappointed boy scouts open to girls and contro vention of the charter rather than focus on the 90% of boys not being served by the boy scouts. safe all-girl friendly environment girl scouts provide. at girl scouts, girls aren't the ancillary tag-along, the central character, for more than a century, girl scouts delivered unparalleled experiences that llow girls to discover their passion, develop leadership, people skills explore their on new d embark adventures. models show they can be anything be.y want to the house is just about to come bueno 'll go to al, in park, california, republican line. caller: i want to share with verybody this morning, i got my -- affordable care exact it 28%, which is now going

to be $24,000 a year. year it was $19,000 a year, $24,000. host: and so is that the largest jump you have seen as far as paying? are caller: in 2010, my insurance $4000 -- $00 for me and my wife. last year it was 19,000. the year before that, it was $15,000. the year before that, $12,000, it's getting so ridiculous, we to pay it no more. e and my wife, $73,000 a year, and that is for the silver plan. host: what is your deductible premium?you pay caller: $6500 a year. so that is al in bueno and affordable care act what he's paying. topics of health care coming up

the house te side on side, topics of taxes, both sides deal with the issue of go on before eeks the end of this year and end of the legislative session, speaking of legislative session, the house of representatives just coming in today. we'll take you to them now. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lay b.c.s. hot us a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. october 24, 2017. i hereby appoint the honorable trey hollingsworth to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, paul d. ryan, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2017, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the