the middle class made permanent? it has to do with the priorities of the folks who wrote the legislation. their job is to represent multinational corporations, not working families. >> for more on congress and the tax reform bill, we talk with a reporter on "washington ate student loans do not. joining us is bernie becker who has been following this for "politico." walk us through the schedule this week. what can we expect? guest: we expect the house to take this up on tuesday. after that, it would move to the senate. president trump hopes to sign this by the middle of the week and by all accounts, it looks to be on a pretty good allied path. -- glide half. host: let me share what paul ryan said. >> if you look at the polling

that was done in ronald reagan's signature 1986 tax reform a month before it passed, 18% of the people polled thought they would benefit. this is the nature of the debate on things this big like tax reform. you have pundits and spinsters confusing theers public, so that is what is happening with tax reform, like any large piece of legislation. what comforts me as the results will produce fantastic results that improve the lives of hard-working taxpayers in this country. i am convinced it will repatriate capital, launch investment in businesses and workers. i am convinced it will give bigger paychecks, a simpler system. doubling the standard deduction means nine out of 10 people can fill out taxes on a form like a postcard.

the results will be what sells this will, -- bill, not the confusion before it passes. host: bernie becker, i want to share this headline from the new york times. speaker ryan saying many americans could fill out their taxes on a postcard. is that the case? guest: no. i think you could argue they went for a tax cut rather than tax reform. speaker ryan is right, the vast majority of people would see the tax cut early on but there's the question of how long they would have the tax-cut. in the end, this is more of a tax cut and in the end, his bet is this will work and people will see that reduction and it will become more popular overtime, but they also rushed this through. it is not surprising there would be confusion about a bill this massive going through in that amount of time, what its impact

would be. host: let's explain how we reached this point, based on two headlines and stories you wrote, beginning with the election results in alabama. did that speed up the process or put more of an impetus among congressional republicans to get it done before a democrat is seated? guest: they would say that doug jones was not going to be able to be seated until probably the new year anyway. they had this christmas deadline. you can argue it re-energize them, or they understood why they needed to get it done so quickly even more. i do not think it changed their thinking at all, but it did move them even more than i might have otherwise. lawmakersublican struggle to close the gaps in the tax plan." what happened from monday until friday? guest: this is something that

kind of always happens with big pieces of legislation near the andy. -- end. certain severed -- senators have leverage. marco rubio one-a-day further extension -- wanted a further extension of the tax credit. he got that. other senators and lawmakers got last-minute things they wanted as well. all republicans really wanted to vote for this. when you have that as a unifying principle to start with, these objections can fall into line ofe easily than in the past other big pieces of legislation for the gop. host: what is the headline this week as the house and senate moves on this tax bill, and what does it mean for 2018? guest: this is a massive moment for republicans and the conservative movement. this is something they have been searching for for decades. one of the questions we will see moving forward, as the tax cuts

that start in 2018, how soon will voters see that? a lot of voters see this as more of a corporate-based tax cut than for them. we really do not know how voters will respond to this in 2018. we know republicans needed to have something like this to run on. we do not know whether it will work. host: a number of house republicans from the so-called blue states will vote against this will. -- bill. nothing changed in terms of the high tax states? guest: you can now deduct property taxes or income taxes. before it was just property taxes. for folks in those blue states, high tax suburban areas, it was the $10,000 thing that for them, that probably is what one subset of the taxpayers that may see an

increase in the next years. for them, it was not enough to get the yes. host: >> c-span's "washington journal" of everyday with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up monday morning, we will talk about the week ahead in washington with an edgerton and a white house reporter. then, the state of race in america and its implications for minority education with robert woodson. c-span's "washington journal" live the getting at 7:00 eastern monday morning. join the discussion. next, "q&a" with gordon wood, talking about the relationship between john adams and thomas jefferson. theresa may takes

questions from members of the house of commons. then, a look at what is in the tax reform bill. ♪ announcer: this week on "q&a," professor and historian gordon wood. he talks about his book, "friends divided," about thomas jefferson and john adams. ♪ brian: gordon wood, as a longtime historian, what impact does it have on you that you were born in concord, massachusetts, grew up around boston? what has it done to your