entitlement reform. then a roundtable on entitlement reform with the american enterprise institute and the center for american progress. ♪ host: good morning, everyone. welcome to the "washington journal" on this friday, january 5. white house and republicans on capitol hill are eyeing entitlement reform. social security medicare, and medicaid could all see reforms this year. we want to get your thoughts on the program. if you live in the eastern central part of the country, (202) 748-8000 is your number. mountain pacific (202) 748-8001. join us on twitter or go to

facebook.com/cspan. if you are a medicare recipient, we want to know your experience with the program and your thoughts on possible changes. we will begin with house speaker paul ryan, who has during his legislative career eyed entitlement reform as a way to tackle the nation's debt. [video clip] >> when you talk about entitlement reform, one of the things you're talking about is obamacare. >> and then welfare as well. we have a welfare system trapping people in poverty, and paying people not to work. thinking about trying to do any reforms with social security or medicare? president trump has not seemed interested in those things. >> he has not shown as much interest. we are working on entitlements he is supportive of. you cannot use budget

reconciliation for social security. it is exempt from those rules. it is the health-care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt. that is where the problem lies fiscally. host: the speaker of the house thinking medicare is the problem with our nation's debt. what do you think? what is your experience with this program? dial in and let us know what you think. who is on medicare? yearsfor people of 65 and older. there are different parts of medicare. hospitalvers inpatient stays, skilled nursing facilities, home health visits, and hospice care. benefits are subject to a

deductible, $1300 in 2016. covers physician visits, outpatient services, preventive services, and some home health visits. there is a deductible of $183 in benefits aret subject to coinsurance of 20%. no coinsurance or deductible is charged for an annual wellness visit or for preventive services that are rated a or b. beneficiariesto that enroll in a private health care program. what has been your experience? how did you sign up? when did you sign up? do you want to see any changes? robert, you are our first phone call this morning. go ahead. caller: thank you. since i signed up, it has been

better, and it has been great. office,ama come into things was looking back. i think obama helped the poor people. obama gets a lot of hate, but obama did a lot for the poor people. thank god for president obama. host: in chicago, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i wasn't going to call, but when i heard about your topic and what paul ryan said, i became compelled and furious because i am a medicare recipient, and i went through open-heart, quadruple bypass surgery. at the time i was working, and i had insurance. when i turned 65, naturally, i became a medicare recipient.

it has been wonderful. this guy paul ryan, he sits there and says entitlements is a a taxm after they passed cut, not a reform, but a tax-cut to benefit those people, the billionaires and millionaires that don't need the money. then he says social programs is a problem, that they want to tackle it, that they want to take it away from the people that need it. i worked from the time i was 15 200s old until i retired in 3. i paid into the social security program. you are dam right -- damn right. i am entitled. i'm getting my money back that i paid. how dare he. he lives in gainesville, wisconsin. he is not suffering from one

dime, yet he gets a government insurance program. if he dares to touch social security and medicare, just hold your hats because we are going to unseat and detach every one of those mongoloid nitwits out of office. host: you said medicare has been great, how so? about, iecause i take would say about five to six top tier medications. also, i have some great doctors at the university of chicago hospitals. i have my cardiologist. aboutdiagnosed with copd a year or so after i had open heart surgery. i have my pulmonologist, my primary care. all of these people fall under the auspices of medicare.

i am extremely grateful to them for the wonderful care they have given me. if it had not been for medicare, those wonderful doctors at the nervous chicago, and by the way in january of 2016, i was attacked with bacterial meningitis. the university of chicago stepped in through medicare to save my life. i cannot find the proper words ryan and hispaul ilk. host: i just want to follow-up on something you said. into medicareked and social security, what you paid versus what you get. dick durbin institute runs numbers on this area. a two earner couple receiving an in 2010and turning 60

d 701 to dollars in social security and medicare, and would be expected to take at $966,000 in benefits. will be paid about one third more in benefits than they paid in taxes. a 60, theyired in would have gotten back more than eight times what they paid. becausefferences come their working life started before social security taxes began to be collected. i truly believe that retired people that paid into medicare,, and i have i appreciate the fact that when

i go -- a year ago i did not make demands on the system. i think it is an excellent program. i think you step medicaid for all. program?changes to the caller: no changes. host: what about more benefits? what does medicaid not cover that you think it should? caller: now i am on the low end of the spectrum. few because of my health. i don't need to make that many demands. i don't require, but other people require. how much are we paying for all those people in congress for their health care? host: what does medicare not cover that you wish it did or

that cost to out-of-pocket quite a bit of money when you are living on your retirement savings and social security? below $26,000. 50% have savings below $74,000. 36% of the medicare population has functional impairment. 34% cognitive or mental impairment. 30% have chronic conditions. air/poor health. 17% with disabilities. 13% of this population is 85 or older. we are going to keep getting your thoughts this morning from medicare beneficiaries about the program. what is it like for you to be in it? please keep calling in.

we want to hear more from you. before we get to more of those phone calls, here is a story on the front page of the new york times that you will hear a lot about today. michael schmidt reporting that president trump expected sessions to keep a leash on the russian inquiry. stop the attorney general jeff sessions from recusing himself in the russian investigation into whether the president and his associates colluded in the 2016 election. those orders were carried out according to two people. he was unsuccessful, and the present erected in anger in front of numerous white house officials, saying he needed his attorney general to protect him. histrump said he expected

top law enforcement official to safeguard him the way he believe robert kennedy did for his brother john f. kennedy. his formering for personal lawyer and fixer. the lobbying of mr. sessions is one of several previously unreported incidents that robert mueller has learned about. mr. mueller has also substantiated claims that mr. in a series of memos describing troubling interaction with the president before he was fired in may. it is a lengthy piece by michael schmidt. the new york times has also learned that four days before mr. khan he was fired, one of

asked aions' aides congressional staff member whether he had damaging information about mr. comey, apparently an effort to undermine the fbi director. he also reports that legal experts have said two primary issues mr. mueller appears to be investigated, whether mr. trump obstructed justice while in office and whether there is solution with russia, there is larger evidence tying the president to possible instruction. -- obstruction. it could be difficult that the president, with broad authority over the executive branch, had corrupt intentions when he took actions like firing the fbi director. said the evidence would be stronger if the president instructed officials to lie under oath.

it says that the pressure to make a decision about firing mr. -- sorry, the pressure to make the decision about recusing a report camehen that mr. sessions had met the russian ambassador during the campaign. it goes on to say that mr. trump's frustrations with the great rock to three weeks later the mr. comey publicly said fbi was connecting an investigation into links between mr. trump's campaign and russia. comey infuriated mr. trump

by refusing to answer questions about that at a hearing. [video clip] ouf ourbi as part counterintelligence investigation is investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign and the russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russia's efforts. as with any counterintelligence investigation, this will include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed. because it is an open, ongoing investigation and classified them i cannot say more about what we are doing or whose conduct we are examining. we have taken the extraordinary step in coronation with the department of justice of

briefing this congress's leaders in a classified setting in detail about the investigation. i cannot go into those details here. i know that is extremely frustrating to some folks, but it is the way it has to be for reasons that i hope you and the american people can understand. the fbi is very careful in how we handle information about our cases and the people we are investigating. we are also very careful about the way we handle information that may be of interest to our foreign adversaries. both of those interests are at issue in a counterintelligence investigation. please don't draw any conclusions from the fact that i may not be able to comment on certain topics. it is not fair to draw conclusions simply because i say i cannot comment.

host: if you missed that hearing, you can go to our website and find it there. on mayey again testified 3. that also made the president. as according to this article. the fbi director testified on capitol hill. he spent much of his time describing a series of decisions he made investigating hillary clinton's personal in. he refused to answer whether mr. trump was personally under investigation. another tidbit from this story today, at the end of the piece, politico reported last year that the president asked for jeff sessions' resignation. meeting, thefice

president said the attorney general had been disloyal for recusing himself from the russia investigation and told mr. sessions to resign. mr. sessions sent his resignation letter to the president the following day, but mr. trump rejected it. this story on the front page of the new york times this morning. onwill talk about it here "washington journal." also, a close associate of mr. comey's had his podcast last night where he talked with new york times reporter michael schmidt about the piece. one thing you alluded to in the story but don't say explicitly is that this sequence of events seems to be a matter

of active investigation by the mueller people. are you confident of that, that this sequence is something his people are actively looking at? >> these are all things that mueller has learned through documents provided to him by the white house office or through interviews with white house officials who were there through all of these events. these are things they have been questioned about and that investigators are asking about and documents they are looking at. that is how we got to where we were in understanding what robert mueller has and what he will have to look at. host: new york times reporter michael schmidt there. this is the banner on the liberal website huffington post, new signs of obstruction, referring to the report in the

new york times. for the first hour, we want to hear from medicare beneficiaries this morning about the program and your experience with it. some on capitol hill, including the speaker of the house would toe to see changes made tackle the countries spending and debt. what is your experience with medicare? caller: i became disabled from blocked coronary artery at 59.5 . i was not able to get social security and was too out of it to meet the deadline. turned 65ait until i to get it.

everybody should be on it, including babies. it should be 100%. i have a wonderful plan, plan f. it covers everything. it is worth the money. cr prescription part d is ummy. you only get about 25% paid, and they have tiers. they don't include armored thyroid. isre is no dental, and there no vision. host: how much does that cost you out of pocket, not having dental and other -- caller: i have to go to a clinic, a sliding scale clinic to get dental care.

it is very limited. you cannot get everything you need. you should have full coverage, just like the senators and congressional representatives have. there was an incentive by the health care industry because i worked for their lawyers to kill you off and deny treatment. they don't want to pay for experimental for someone who is going to die anyway. they want to hurry it up. california passed some loss to stop them from doing that -- laws to stop them from doing that. the guy who writes senators and congressmen in california. he bribes senators and representatives. host: what do you mean bribe? caller: i mean putting $100,000 cash in a manila envelope in a meetingshaving private

with senators and representatives and sending it by private courier. i am a fast reader. i eread everything. the hospital chains collude to prevent unions, to infiltrate unions, and to make sure that they get their bills through. host: we are going to stick to the medicare discussion this morning. what are your expenses with it? good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to address the rhetoric of one of your saids who -- callers who obama did a lot for the poor. i beg to differ because i have lived in three states, and what

i have met from the poor and homeless -- host: are you on medicare? caller: yes, i am. i want to tell you a story. please bare with me. i had to ask for the freedom of information act of medicare. ying me basice den diabetic supplies. ie department of justice, took them to court myself. i could not walk. they did not allow me. i presented my case. i am not a lawyer, but i know what i'm doing. it was a kangaroo court.

when i finally got the freedom of information from medicare, i was stunned. they refused to take any more complaints. i was stunned. i have the records now. it is recent, the last three years. medicare sided with anthem blue cross. medicare closed my face. -- case. i went into coma. they are killing us off. host: ok. caller in california. jim in fort lauderdale, your spirits with medicare. host: it has been -- caller: it has been good.

in regard to michael flynn and obstruction of justice, the one michaelu don't here is flynn was the director of military intelligence. host: let's go back to medicare. you said it is great. how much do you pay out-of-pocket for medicare? caller: i'm in the advantage program. i don't pay any more than what is charged in the medicare system, and then i have the coinsurances. i just want to say that donald trump is going to be the first president that actually does something about the cost of drugs in the medicare system and medicine in general. host: do you think that is where the republicans should focus on dealing with the price of prescription drugs? caller: they are going to touch medicare. they are going to save medicare by reducing the cost of medicare. democrats have this cap loewe

and fear ingrained in them -- themvian fear ingrained in that if anything he said about medicare by republicans, they are going to blow it up. nothing could be further from the truth. they're going to reduce the cost of drugs in the system. we have an eight secure that cure that costs $60,000 in the u.s., and over in europe, it costs $80,000. donald trump is going to tell these drug companies you cannot charge the americans more money than you charge europeans. if people are afraid of losing their medicare benefits, they should pray that donald trump is left alone and does what he is going to do to reduce the cost of medicare and prevent it from becoming two thirds of the

entire economic product of the united states. he is the only one that can do it. is he isn he can do it not owned by the pharmaceutical companies. he financed his own campaign. host: let's listen to senator bernie sanders, top democrat on the budget committee. here is what he had to say about cuts to entitlement programs. [video clip] >> mr. president, this is not just bernie sanders speculating. this is what the new york times said in a front-page article a few days ago. cut legislation passed by the senate hurtles towards final approval, republicans are preparing to use the swelling deficit, made worse by the packet, as a rationale to

pursue their long-held vision undoing the entitlements provided by the new deal and great society, leaving government leaner and skimpier for american society are. speaker paul ryan and other republicans are beginning to express their big dreams publicly, vowing that next year they will move on to changes in medicare and social security. president trump told a missouri rally last mr. president, let me take this opportunity to translate into english what phrases like "entitlement reform" or "welfare reform" really mean. what they mean in reality are massive cuts to social security,

medicare, medicaid, education, nutrition programs, affordable housing, and other programs desperately needed by a declining middle class. senator bernie sanders on the senate floor warning about entitlement cuts. what do you think about the prospect of changing medicare? we are talking with medicare beneficiaries only this morning. dial in. keep coming with the phone calls. we will continue until the top of the hour. kim in tennessee, you are next. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i would just like to talk to the when paul say that ryan and others speak of entitlements, it is not an entitlement to have social security. it is not an entitlement for medicare.

that is something that they have paid for, everybody pays for when they work. the welfare reform, that is an entitlement. the school programs are entitlements for children to be able to eat. medicaid, the one that people get for disability and the poor, is an entitlement. but the medicare and social security are not entitlements and medicare has been very good to my husband and all of his friends that have turned to be 65 and older. host: how has it been good to your husband? caller: they have picked up and they have paid all of their medical bills that they were with very little co-pay from out-of-pocket. but some have the other coinsurance to go along with it, which picks up what medicare doesn't, but medicare negotiates with the hospitals and the

doctors and then they usually pay almost 100%. do eithermuch time you or your husband spend on the phone, if at all, with doctors and medicare? do you have to do the negotiating? how much time do you have to spend talking -- >caller: no, we don't. we go through the doctors visits and we have recent hospital visits and they send us back our statements and we get bills, if we get the bills, we get them directly from the hospital of the doctor and then we pay those , but they are very little for medicare because my husband has a secondary insurance from his -- that he decided to keep. host: from his employment? caller: it was from his employer, but his employer was a government entity and say dropped all the retirees all at

one time and said, you have to find your own, but he stayed with the same company. host: i see. can you give me an example of a bill that you have received where you were shocked by how much the doctor or the hospital said it should cost and how much you paid? are you there? kim, i'm having trouble hearing you. all right. we will go on to debra in westchester, ohio. good morning to you. what is your experience with medicare? caller: it has been very positive. my husband was diagnosed with cancer and then died within months of his diagnosis, but he was 61 at the time and was never using social security or medicare. we applied for social security disability and received it immediately. with that particular government

situation, it was excellent. the other thing is for myself, i'm now 66 and on medicare and i have a supplemental policy and i use silver sneakers and there are so many things that i do in my life that changed my lifestyle and medicare is very supportive of positive lifestyle changes. host: give us an example, debra. caller: for example, like so over sneakers. with silver sneakers. host: what is silver sneakers? caller: that is a gym membership . it is a gym membership and it is only for people 65 and older. you can belong to any gym in the united states and they only charge your insurance. in my area, i belong to three different jams a -- gyms and i have several different friends g and they belong to differentyms.

-- and they belong to several different gyms. they have programs just for people in my age group. they have chair yoga, regular yoga, you can basically fit your abilities to any lifestyle in thesegyms -- these gyms. host: and medicare will pay for it? caller: that's right. and what my age group has to realize is that when you pick up a supplemental plan, you have to say, hey, i don't want any other plan except the one that covers silver sneakers. you have to be 65. the other thing, there are cognitive studies that show that exercise twice a week, especially strength training, does more for the brain in terms of maintaining our cognitive skills than medication. so, what i hope with the medicare entitlement change is tot we actually tie metrics

the programs. in other words, if you are a smoker, your insurance cost is higher. if you go to the gym and can show you go, if you change your diet, if you understand you shouldn't be eating dairy, let's take inflammatory foods out of our diet, let's take high saturated fats out of our diet, but monitor that, we should be tied to metrics. we should not be in a situation with any type of the medical program where we can have any lifestyle choice we want and all of our fellow citizens will pay for it because that is not affordable. u.n. i have talked, we spent $9,000 a year for person in the united states on medical costs. let's tie reforms to metrics and taken a look at how we can improve the program and reduce the cost by better health choices. host: deborah, before you go, why did you have to get supplemental insurance? caller: well, because, for one

thing, i knew that i could afford it. i had a career and i worked my entire life until i was in my 60's. i knew that it would pay, it would be worth it for me to pay $100 a month into supplemental to have the additional insurance in case there was a major medical issue. i felt responsible, if i could afford it, i felt responsible that i should do that. host: surely in richmond, virginia. caller: how's it going? happy new year. host: happy new year. caller: i'm a medicare recipient and i would like to send a message to the white house about my social security and my medicare. keep your hands off of it. we all work for our social security and medicare. i worked 38 years before i and i disabled

deteriorated. i started a job and they could not do it, so i had to go to the emergency room and when i signed up for my medicare, being that i had already worked from the time i was 15 years old until about 49, maybe, 50, they did not give me any problems to get the medicare. we have worked for our money. they got their social security and whatever they need in the white house. they are trying to take away our independence when they mess with our social security and our medicare. host: ok. as we said, it is folks like yeinger paul ryan who are e entitlement reform that could include medicare. the president campaigned on not touching medicare.

perhaps, the president more interested in looking at welfare changes. this morning, focusing on all of you out there who get medicare. what is it like for you? what has been your experience with the program? take a look at this overview from the kaiser family foundation of medicare revenues from 2016. billion is the total amount of revenue for medicare in 2016. 45% of that from general revenue. 36%, payroll taxes. 13% from premiums. 3% from taxation of social security benefits and then there are the other categories, as well. part a is funded mainly by a 2.9% payroll tax on earnings paid by employers and employees. deposited into the hospital insurance trust fund. pay a income taxpayers

higher medicare tax. part b is funded by general revenues and beneficiary premiums, the standard premium is $134 per month in 2018, the same in 2017. c, the medicare advantage program, is separately financed. they provide benefits covered under part a, part b, and typically part d in these benefits are financed primarily by payroll taxes, general revenues, as described. find more information on the kaiser family foundation website. caller from omaha, nebraska. medicare beneficiary. good morning to you. what's it like? caller: good morning. host: good morning. clots when i blood

was in my late 40's and it really helped me a lot because i needed something to keep me alive basically and get me back in shape. i did have private insurance before that, but they denied me for pre-existing conditions. i had been paying into that for years. thatld like to point out when you said the numbers for how much we put into it and how much we get back, if you adjusted that for inflation, i'm sure it would be well over $1 million that everybody has put in. host: do you think well over $1 million, that is people -- that is what people get back? they don't put in as much as they are going to take out? caller: i think they put in more

than they get back. if you adjust it for inflation. back in the day when a dollar was a dollar and you were , if youin that money adjust it for inflation, you would be well over that. i guess another point i kind of want to make is it seems as if the government does not really care about the overall health of our citizens. obama tries and look what is going on. they are trying to take everything away. i'm more concerned about our kids. what about our kids and grandkids? we need to put some pressure to help our future generations. i guess one more point, i do want to take up too much time, is that my doctor, i used to get

these prostate exams every year and but the way i do it is i and shee stool samples says i should stop doing that and get the normal one that will last 10 years, go to the doctor and do the whole procedure, she was not sure of its still be able to do that in the future. host: howard in lynchburg, virginia. good morning to read what has been your experience with medicare? caller: my experience with in like ias been i go had my gallbladder taken out and medicare paid 80%. by private insurance paid for the rest. that really saved me at that time. but most of the bills i get from medicare, if the doctor or hospital charges $1200, medicare

only gives them $300. of the $1200. there is one more thing i would like to ask. with the medicare program be if congress paid back the $2.2 trillion that they borrowed from it? host: howard in virginia. in other news, here is "the drudge report" website with a focus on the economy with a picture of president trump. warren buffett says years of growth lie ahead. billion repatriate $200 in foreign cash. they cite a poll of trump hitting a six-month high. ont economic news featured "the drudge report" website. that is also the headline on "the wall street journal."

the headline below that, many investors bailed out early. what is the biggest surprise is how many individual investors have run away from the rally. a record-setting period nearly unmatched in u.s. history, yet through the nearly nine-year surge, small investors have continued to yank money out of that on u.s. stocks. "usa today" in their money section has this story. "reaching for the sky, dow sales pass 45 thousand." many americans have not benefited is only 54% have fromted in stocks, down 62% before the 2008 financial crisis. there is this story related to this on "the washington post" front page. tilted economy on --un-tilted by trump."

"the wall street journal" editorial board has this to say about the dow and its soaring rally. "trump and doubt what he 5000, a dow 25,000." as ace greenberg famously put it , "stocks fluctuate, next question." a lengthy period without a major correction is highly unusual and it won't last. let's go back to calls on medicare. we go to carmel, california. good morning caller:, mary. high. this is mary -- good morning to you, mary. caller: hi, yes, this is mary.

excuse me. i'm a medicare recipient. i have nothing but great things to say about it. my son, who passed away last year, was on medicaid. california's medi-cal. i must say that was very challenging. hoping that the medicaid program lives on. medicaid you are talking about, not medicare? caller: i'm talking about both, actually. i have medicare, my son had medicaid. host: got it. caller: the medicare that i've i'm through, it has been -- 79. 65, i've when i was never had an issue overall that

time. what do you mean? explain that. caller: i've had a lot of illness in my later years. i was so thankful that i had medicare plus my supplemental insurance. i paid literally nothing. for surgeries that i had at cedars-sinai hospital. twoact, with the number vascular surgeon in the united states. think, if i had not had him, i would not be here right now. i think i had a $75 bill. one dosage ofor medication. host: do you know how much cost ifthat should have medicare had not picked it up? caller: you know, i can't tell you.

i'm afraid to say a number because i'm not sure of myself about that. but i will tell you from time to time with different things that have come up with me, i've been amazed at what not only medicare paid, but what was charged. i was told and i don't know how valid this is, i was told that the kind of up the numbers so the medical people do in order to get the most that they can, which still is not enough. host: ok, marry in california. from more calls coming up medicare beneficiaries. what are your thoughts on the program? we will continue through "washington journal" talking about the prospect of entitlement reform. we will hear from a capitol hill reporter about where the negotiations stand right now and who could be on board and who does not want to see any changes and we will also get two different perspectives, liberal

and conservative, about entitlements, what they are, when we talk about welfare, what programs are we talking about -- we are going to do a deeper dive. in other news, the book that was written by michael wolff, "fire and fury," has caught on fire and many people talking about it, including the president, tweeting out yesterday, "authorized is zero access to the white house, actually turned him down many time for author of phony book." "full of lies, misrepresentations, and sources that don't exist." that is what the president tweeted out next month -- last night. michael wolff, here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> one of the overarching themes is that everyone around the president, senior advisers, family members, every single one of them questions is intelligence and fitness for office. thatt me put a marker on

in the sand, 100% of the people around him. >> jared kushner, a ivanka trump question his fitness for office? i want to be careful about who i spoke to because the nature of this kind of book is you kind of grant everyone a veil, but having said that, ivanka injared and their current situation, which is a deep legal quagmire, are putting every thing on the president. not us, it is him. >> what are some of the ways the president was described to you by those closest to him? >> i will tell you the one description that everyone gave, everyone has in common, they all say he is like a child. and what they mean by that is he has a need for immediate gratification. it is all about him.

this letter, this , i still-desist letter have sources in the white house and i know everybody was going, we should not be doing this, this is not smart. he just insists. he just has to be satisfied in the moment. host: michael wolff, the author of the new book "fire and fury." the publisher after receiving the cease and desist letter decided to move up the publication date, so what will we -- it will be released today. ,ther fallout from that book the split with steve bannon. it is threatening his leadership of breitbart news website. bannon's longtime benefactors are actively distancing themselves from steve

bannon even before the expected release this week of the book. they and other breitbart news whether were debating to oust mr. bannon as chairman, with many supportive of the move. it goes on to say that rebecca mercer, robert mercer's., phoned the white house on thursday to affirm that robert mercer supports the president. she also released a rare public statement rebuking mr. bannon. so, that in the papers this morning. let's go to liz on medicare and

possible changes to it. prescott, arizona. good morning. caller: hi, am i on the air? host: yes. what do you think about medicare? caller: i have had medicare since i was 30 because i had lupus disability. it is actually overall been good. it has been harder and harder the last three years, things were taken away. , did not have to pay a monthly there was no payment, then the kind of increased it. then also they took away visual, dental, and also no psychiatric or counseling coverage. that has been hard. host: ok, bob in jacksonville, texas. what do you think about medicare? caller: thank you, greta, for taking my call. i am 82 years old. if i had not had medicare, there was no way i could have made it.

i would be in the poor house now or probably be dead. host: why do you say that? how often do you go to the doctor and month? caller: well, i have had several major surgeries. i don't go to the doctor that much, but i have had things happen to me. i have had serious back surgery. i had to have a pacemaker installed. just different things. i could not have afforded that without medicare. there's no way. i would like to make another couple more comments if i could. host: sure. caller: they are on the subjects. or yourlike to see you thing and show what all is entitlements.

it is not just social security and medicare and medicaid. there are a lot of other things. the way i understand it, anything that is written into law that is taking money from taxpayers and paying it out to other people such as government insurance for all government employees. host: bob, i hope you and others keep watching today, the program, because at eight: 30, we are going to have a roundtable discussion. caller: i will and i want to make one more statement. sweetie, i really like you. you are not being fair about staying on task. this was supposed to be an hour of calls for medicare and medicaid and social security, but we have talked about everything else. there has been over half the , showedt you have taken

clips of things that we have already seen, and they don't have a thing to do with medicare. host: what we are trying to do, bob, is balanced having a conversation with all of you, but also let you know what washington is talking about and what is in the papers. the michael schmidt story this morning likely to be talked about throughout the day, as well as other news that people are reading out here. the decision-makers in washington. it is a balancing act between having the conversation we are having on medicare and also letting you know what else is going on in the news. let's go to debbie in flint, michigan. good morning to you. caller: good morning, greta. happy new year, honey. is just rich somebody calling you to tell you how to run your program, but i digress. retired last february. when i turned 65, they

automatically put you on. i worked and had a union contract and was paying $150 a month for great insurance. when they forced me unto medicare, that insurance switched me to their advantage plan, which doubled the cost of half of my prescriptions. i'm so new at it, i really don't of whateal idea medicare is going to do for me. i think not much. i have some prescriptions. all in all, i'm very healthy. you've got to wonder, you pay and pay and pay into social security, i paid 50 years. then you get a social security check. , doalso pay into medicare you get a check to help offset your health care costs? no, they send you a bill. i'm surprised. i've been listening all morning and nobody has pointed out how many times president trump said that he was not going to touch

social security or medicare. i don't understand his definition of touching it when the first cost of living raise i get, he takes 98% of it to pay for an increase in medicare. this is just another bait and switch by donald trump. host: debbie in flint, michigan. before we wrap up our conversation with just medicare recipients, we are going to continue to talk about title meant -- entitlement reform. another story in "the washington times." after over 20,000 ballots were cast, recounted, and re-examined , the outcome of a deadlocked election that would determine whether democrats or republicans control the virginia house of delegates came down to a couple a ceramic bowl. in said one canister was a strip of paper with republican delegate david again see's name -- yancey's name.

shelley simon's name was in another. will you vice chair, ste the bowl a ir? >> the winner will be in the first canister. feist chair, pull your canister. -- vice chair, pull your canister. l is empty. the winner of house district 94 yancey.d host: the winner of the

delegates see they are handing power to the republicans weather was that tie-breaking process there and virginia. you can watch all of it on her website at c-span.org. let's go to oak hill, west virginia, beneficiary of medicare. what do you think of the program? caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i've had good success with it. but i have two comments. when i was first on social security, social security was not held from my paycheck starting in october, but then they realized that that was not then went tod social security being withheld from our paychecks the whole 12 months. my other comment is i'm wondering if ryan is going to

consider the pavemen payment ofd who pay into a fund for their health care after they retire. that is my other question. so far, i've been very happy with it. yes, i agree with other people when you read your statements with what items are charges and what the recipient or the doctor is reimbursing is very low. i've worked in health care for over 60 years. the other thing is i've only had $100 to a physician for services. i also have supplemental insurance. host: we will have to leave it there to go to gary from washington. good morning, gary. caller: good morning.

i love c-span and i watch every morning. i woke up 15 minutes after you started, but i'm glad the issue is medicare. i've been on it myself. i'm disabled. i'm an electrician and i got hit on a bicycle with no helmet on. it put me out of service. now and i've had this disability since it was 1996 . i'm getting up to an age now where i checked out on supplemental -- i was hoping to get part c in the supplemental plan, but it's hard to find 65.hing if you are under it really depends on each state. there's like 30 states in the united states that have supplemental insurance for people under 65. washington state is not included

in that. oregon is. besides myself and my family, i lost my sister at age 53 10 years ago. she had ms for 28 years. she had medicare and medicaid. ofwere talking millions dollars that was paid through medicare and medicaid. how it helped my sister. it helped her last a lot longer and being satisfactory. she was very fortunate that she was taking care of. besides that, in the state of washington, they have a program. she was the first one in the state to get 24 hour -- she had her own handicap apartment. if she would've been in a nursing home, she would not last

a very short time. i think god that she was able -- i thank god for the state of washington, except i wish they had supplemental insurance for people under 65 because if anything majorly happens for me, we are talking -- i looked at the medicare books. it goes past a certain period of time and you're pretty much gone. you'll be in a nursing home. host: gary's experience and thoughts there from washington state. we will continue to talk about entitlement reform and brought the conversation to social security, welfare. we will talk to political reporter seung min kim about changes to federal entitlement programs and then we will talk to to top experts about the prospects of entitlement reform.

week, our c-span cities tour as book tv and american history tv travel to springfield, missouri and explore the city's history and literary life. the mayor talks about the city and the challenges it faces today. [video clip] >> springfield is the third-largest city in missouri. their st. louis, kansas city, and springfield. springfield is located in the southwest portion of missouri. the city was founded in 1835. it's primarily a lot of scots irish that were founded here live to. here. it's been pretty consistent by that. it's also known as being in the bible belt, fairly conservative in terms of religion. in terms of diversity, that's an area that has been talked about for a long time and how do we increase the level of diversity? i think you find a real effort in our community to become more

diverse and more inclusive. i'm very concerned not only the city but nationwide about what i call the opioid crisis, the prescription drug abuse problem. thecurrent president of medical association is east of here from mount growth and he talked about how widespread this problem is. i wasn't tim speak to -- listen to him speak two weeks ago. it's a big risk that we run not only as a community but as a state animation. -- and a nation. minority is the only state -- missouri is the only state right now that has not passed a prescription drug monitoring program. if you look at our problems, certainly we have poverty issues. we have homelessness. that doesn't make us unique. we are very similar to other cities are size, but we

need to address these types of issues and it starts with prescription drug abuse and opioids. if we do that, that helps to start to solve some of the issues and skills gaps. that makes people who don't want a job want to find one that will pay a livable wage. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: seung min kim at our table this morning to talk about what congress might do on entitlement reform. you recently wrote of pete and it's ryan versus mcconnell on entitlement reforms. what's going on? guest: republicans have not laid out their legislative agenda just yet. that will start this weekend at camp david where you have the top republican leadership huddling with the president over what they want to get done this election year. we know speaker paul ryan has long been an avid proponent of

reforming these entitlement programs. mitch mcconnell not quite so eager on that front. clearly these two leaders have to get on the same page in terms of their agenda, but now they are definitely going into different directions. host: paul ryan sounds like he thinks it's doable and mitch mcconnell's response to the question was not so doable basically. they said in interviews last year at this time that we have to look at our entitlement programs. we have to look at the drivers of the spending and the deb t. this is not new for him but new in the context of this new republican congress and legislative agenda. we've asked mitch mcconnell repeatedly about those comments following the speaker's remarks and he said, look, issues like

entitlement reform and welfare reform have to be bipartisan. first of all, democrats -- it's difficult to see if democrats will be in a bipartisan mood especially on those issues. we are talking about health care here. at his ear and press conference, mitch mcconnell was talking about look at social security reforms of the 1980's between ronald reagan and tip o'neill. that's how you get things done that are lasting. he does not see that in this election year. host: a caller in our first hour this morning had this to say to republican leaders who are thinking about this. hands off my medicare and social security. politically is this feasible? guest: it be very difficult. you have an excited conservative base and republicans who truly believe spending on these programs are out of control. you have to deal with these one way or another. i was talking with senator jeff flake before the break about

paul ryan's proposals and desire to do it, but reform. jeff flake is excited to roll up the sleeves and get it done. we have seen how programs such as medicare and social security have been such consent just -- contentious issues. when paul ryan was a vice presidential candidate in 2012, democrats were eager to attack him over his vision of reforming the medicare system. host: are you referencing the ad with paul ryan? guest: [laughter] very much so. you will see how difficult it's going to be. democratic base is incredibly energized. we saw that with the various elections in 2017. you can see that energy increasing in 2018. the control of the house changing is definitely possible, potentially the senate as well. that is something republican leaders are going to be very cognizant about. host: what has the president said about the entitlement

reform and could there be a narrower path of changes that the white house would agree to? probablyere's something narrow that they would agree to, but as a broader message, donald trump as a candidate on the campaign trail said he would not touch these programs such as medicare and social security. going back to the medicaid issue, we saw and the repeated attempts to overhaul the affordable care act last year, that dramatically changed medicaid. obamacare expanded medicaid in some states. that was a major sticking point for senators like susan collins who is a critical swing vote on the affordable care act. we see how contentious touching medicaid is. if you open the doors to medicare and social security now, there are smaller changes they could support, but it would be difficult. host: the president is thinking that president trump is poised

to take action on medicaid requirements. the trump administration is preparing to release guidelines soon requiring medicaid recipients to work. the guidelines will set the conditions to add work requirements to their medicaid programs for the first time. guest: that could certainly be one way, but remember that everything in the senate requires 60 votes. we have a 51-49 republican majority and at least nine senate democrats to get on board with any proposal. you do have this reconciliation procedure always in their back pockets provided they get a unified budget together. that is thoseth measures can only be used for measures that affect -- that have budgetary effects. i'm not a parliamentary expert, but it certainly could be up for debate. host: let's see what our viewers have to say. dale in missouri, a democrat,

europe first. -- you are up first. caller: i got a couple things. for chrysler corporation from 1968 to 1999. when my social security kicked in when i was 62, i had to take -- or they took $1000 away from my chrysler pension and then they paid my medicare. i paid medicare plus i worked for 31 years and am still losing a thousand dollars to medicare . my other issue is all the immigrants that have come in since 1999 or since the 1970's whenever i was working, how much deterioration has that done to the retirements of people retiring now? just like i looked on the tv and they said at&t and boeing and all these other companies, they were paying them anywhere from

$1000 to $2000. $2000 is not much when you have three or four grandkids and you want to take them to disney world. whenever they cut my entitlements, i can't even go to branson, missouri and see the shows. me.ncially that hurts whenever social security takes away money from somebody who is fully retired, that is wrong. that's an injustice. if you could start putting on tv every monday morning or every first day of the month how much entitlements are going to the people that are not american thatens, is there some way we could compile the information to let the taxpayers know how much is being spent on their ,ealth care and transportation just like missing from the other

night on tv? host: if you're not an american citizen, you can't get social security and medicare. are you talking about people going to the hospital's or emergency care? caller: let me put it like this. i'm an american citizen. i was born in north carolina. whenever i came into the world, my mom brought me into the world and i didn't have these things that whenever the immigrants come in, how many benefits do they automatically get? host: we will leave it there. the first part of his comments -- what are your thoughts? guest: i think that does illustrate some of the issues and the impacts of this debate because so much of what gets emphasized when you're talking about overhauling these programs are taking away things that people had already paid into as part of their paychecks. working theirn entire lives and taking little bits out of their head checks for social security and medicare

and those programs are meant to be there to protect them. that's why this debate gets so difficult. we are taken to these programs as we speak, but at the same republicansts nor can ignore the fact that these programs are not on a financially sustainable path. there needs to be something done to make them stable for the future. host: where republicans may agree or get on board with reforms is wealth care -- welfare. that is what gary cohen said when he talked about this years legislative agenda. he brought up infrastructure and welfare reform. welfarey say reform, what are they talking about? guest: some of things talked about are having subsidies, food stamp programs. it would not be medicaid, but that is where some of the work requirement discussions come in. considering the population eight hits, it would be a very contentious political issue in these midterm elections. if you look at blue-collar

voters who may take advantage of these programs or other lower income people, it's a difficult issue. also again, i just keep looking at the numbers. 60 votes unless you want to do reconciliation and leadership in the house and the senate will have to figure out parliamentary jiu-jitsu to make that happen. host: we will go to tennessee, how, independent. caller: the fellow that just called was correct. you cannot have a welfare state and have open borders. you can at one or the other, but you can't have both. that's what he's talking about. let's go back even further. book "democracy in america," he said the american experiment would be over when one group can tap into the wealth of the other. the voters have figured out that if they vote for certain people that that politician will get their neighbors money through the federal government. c-spanbout recasting how

does their call lines on topics of this. people that are net takers see this topic completely different than people that are net producers. if i'm getting up early this morning and going to work and producing wealth that my neighbor takes, my neighbor is going to see this topic completely differently. if they get up and take more wealth than they produce, they are not going to want any of the welfare cuts. that hashe government the word trust in it, you can guarantee the money has all been stolen. host: all right, let's hear from mary in ohio, republican. caller: hello. caller:how are you? hello, everyone. been on social security now four years. congress,n is -- does

does the president, do all the government officials pay into social security, medicare like the rest of us working people have? and why are they exempted? reagan signed a document saying all government but yets will pay in, congress has their own retirement fund. they have their own medical fund while we, the working people, are paying for. host: seung min kim, do you know about this program? takes upery paycheck that's social security and medicare for these programs. caller might be referring to the fact that until the affordable care act, members of

congress have been provided health care coverage -- not medicare but health care coverage under a program for federal employees because they are federal employees. there were issues around the time of whether members of congress could continue to get subsidies basically to help pay for these issues. that is a contentious issue that has come up in the health care talks. host: this is from fact check.org. yes, ever since 1984, referring to what that caller talked about. congress have paid social security taxes and have done so since 1984. this information has been circulated in chain emails mostly on information that's been outdated for two decades. criticize this as overly generous. they did not pay social security

taxes and received no social security retirement credit for their time in office, but effective in 1984, they had to begin paying into social security. but get a richard in north carolina independent. -- let's go to richard in north carolina, independent. caller: i've to questions please don't cut me off. is do you know or could you tell me how many members of congress are millionaires? meber 2 -- could you tell of the how many members elector college -- electoral college are members of the african-american community? guest: those are pretty tricky. i can't speak to the electoral college question. on the wealth of members of

congress, it is a fact that members of congress tend to be significantly more wealthy than your average u.s. citizen. a lot of these lawmakers had built up personal fortune before they were elected to the congress whether through their own businesses. a lot of times they marry and to wealth. rollcall does a great list of the most wealthy members of congress. and their personal net worth can go to the hundreds of millions of dollars. host: on open secret star, you can go to the website and find out members of congress personal finances as well. diane in georgia, democrat. caller: i would just like to say sickwhat really makes me is paul ryan. you know his father passed away. rightly so, his mother was able to claim a benefit on him when he was still a minor, which i

don't see any problem with that. so he benefited from that. he went to college and benefited from that. then he had this right-wing professor. you always hear about these communist professors and all this stuff. i don't think so. they got him read it fine rant rand and heiayn was still benefiting from social security coul. he starts fantasizing about taking away from people. i think he needs to get therapy. host: let me leave it there. said,min kim, as you speaker ryan has had his eye on entitlement reform for many years. he says when you look at medicare, it's a major driver of this nation's debt. explain more of this rationale. guest: there are somebody

different factors. -- so many different factors. there's a bigger population of the world getting older and aging into these programs . a lot of people talk about the need to get more workers into taxes to helpying keep these programs solid as a reason why you should immigration reform. there are a lot of factors why these programs are so sensitive and that's what paul ryan frequently points out and why he took on such a difficult and politically divisive task back when he was a house budget committee chairman. he was looking at premium support medicare changes. you do get backlash from voters who are saying i like this is system and i earned it. that's the uphill battle that republicans will face if they do truly take this on. host: john in pennsylvania,

republican. caller: yes, greta. i signed up for medicare, but i get most of my medical care through the veterans administration. i want to make a comment about paul ryan. i watched pretty closely on c-span when simpson bowles was on there and they were going through the debt reduction. republicanshree from the house and three from the senate and three democrats from the house and the senate. bowlesoted for simpson except for the three republican house members. that was paul ryan and i believe it was hence early and david cap. serling and david kemp. simpson was on your program and

he said he was pretty upset with ryan that he didn't vote for it and asked him why. ryan said he would not vote for it because he wanted a voucher system for medicare. ryan has everpaul wavered in that. he wants to turn medicare into a voucher system. quick,.ther comment. i watch your program a few years ago and he had a person on there from the democratic administration talking about medicare and a republican person talking about medicare. they disagreed a lot. the republican's name was skelly. i forgot what the democrats name was. they both seem to agree that medicare at that time -- it was $110 a month. they said that was $110 a month for basically an $11,000

insurance policy. it was a good deal for the people. thank you very much for taking my call. host: seung min kim. guest: the simpson bowles reference is interesting because even if it didn't get signoff from everyone in the commission, again, if congress wants to take this up, it does give congress sort of a relatively bipartisan framework to start off from. the members that i did talk to her interested to talk about this issue said we can look at those suggestions. we don't have to start from square one. again, very difficult. host: for more background on the simpson bowles commission, national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform established by presence will order of february 2010 included 18 members split between democratic and republican appointees. in december 2010, the

commission released its final report, which included dozens of proposals to cut discretionary spending, reform the tax code and social security, and reign in health care costs among other measures. that didn't happen because only 11 member supported it. three of the no votes were liberal. hobby adversary of california and jan schakowsky of illinois plus an and eastern. three were conservative republicans, all from the house kent,resentatives, jeff hence it went, and paul ryan. megan? caller: i would like to see some change with medicaid. not medicare, not social security, but medicaid. the reason i say this is because i'm a health care professional myself. when i was interning for so long

at different counseling centers, i noticed that a lot of the medicaid customers are great people, wonderful people. i would say 35% of the people that we serve came really late to their appointment. they know showed. they didn't take it seriously in the way that we did. we professionals were on our a game. we were young interns trying to make the world a better place. and i noticed my counseling director would say, wouldn't it be nice if there could be like a small donation like a co-pay? just something where there's a little bit more of a buy and on their end? i don't know if is something we could talk about. i do think we need to help each other. i'm all for social programs. host: megan, what about requiring work as the hill is reporting this morning that the

president is poised to release guidelines soon for requiring medicaid recipients to work? caller: i think that's a good idea. i do think it's going to be hard. as a mother of a child with autism, my son, i wonder how that would play out. are there positions of the workforce that they could have? we are fortunate that we have great health care insurance and hopefully it will never be an issue for our little guy as he gets older. i just wonder. there are people on the spectrum that are really high functioning and can do well. social skills may be too difficult. host: i believe that there. seung min kim. guest: the devil's in the details and i'm interested to see what the adventures releases. democrats have expressed concerns about the shape of the entitlement programs could get around, but medicaid is such a

contentious issue. the general structure of medicaid and how to affect it is a lot of the reasons why health care repeal tanked in the senate. host: let's get one last call from muriel in florida, democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: good morning. knower: i just want to that the retirement from the government and disability, why is it that we all have to pay taxes when that money has already been taxed? thank you. guest: i'm not a tax expert so i will caveat with that. i can't speak directly to that issue, but i'm just deferring to a tax expert. host: coming up next, we will speak to policy experts on medicare and medicaid and social security. we will sit down and get a liberal and conservative's perspective about entitlements

and the possibility of reforming. seung min kim, thank you for your thoughts and analysis and what's next from lawmakers. we will take a short break. keep those phone calls coming in about entitlement reform. we will talk with two policy ch ands, melissa botea tta from the american enterprise institute. we will be right back. ♪ >> sunday on c-span's "q&a," >> i propose action instead of words. i propose it for the sake of a better world, but i said again and again and again that i propose it for our own american self-interest. >> henrik hank meyer with his

book, "arthur vandenberg: the man in the middle of the market century." >> vandenberg finds himself in opposition when fdr is elected and they take the majority of the senate. in the senate for the next dozen years. to get anything done, which often meant resisting franklin roosevelt's initiatives, there needed to be a coalition. he had to reach across the aisle. >> "q&a" sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. sunday night on "after words," appellate judge john newman looks back at his career in his book "benched." he is interviewed by richard blumenthal. >> having gone from that active life of making decisions and

going to court and advocating a case to judge, was that a difficult transition for you and did you ever miss the life of advocacy serves speak? >> it wasn't difficult. it has been for some i've known. i've known people who became dislike theme decision-making process. i was an advocate alice glad to be an advocate. i found the decision-making process while it was different enormously challenging and satisfying. , liked being an attorney but i loved being a judge. the opportunity to resolve disputes, whether large or small , because they all matter to somebody. some had public significance and that is a very satisfying role. on book "after words" tv on c-span2.

saturday, american history tv on c-span3 takes you to the american historical association's annual meeting in washington, d.c. for live all the coverage a 30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. -- 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern. talk about watergate, the rise commemoratingp, civil war reconstruction, any new birmingham civil rights national monument. americanrage of the historical association's annual meeting saturday on american history tv on c-span3. announcer: "washington journal" continues. are back and continued our conversation this morning about entitlement reform. could it happen this year between capitol hill and this white house? rettaw is james cap

and melissa boteach. thank you both for being here. melissa, let me begin with you. how do you define entitlement? aest: i define entitlement as basic living standards whether it's retirement or health care or nutrition that if you are eligible for it, you're guaranteed to receive it. i think that's important because it sets a floor of income security under americans such that when we face the ups and downs of life whether it's unemployment or a medical emergency, etc. that there is basic living standards to support us. with things like retirement, that's an inevitability for all of us. host: the question is who should be eligible for? it? guest: my definition is similar to its a benefit conferred by federal law. if you meet the eligibility

criteria, then the benefit is conferred on you through several programs. i think that's generally the issue that we're now talking about. entitlement spending associated with that eligibility and rules are written into federal law. host: let's tackle medicare first because that's what we spent our first hour talking about because how much is the government spent on medicare? billion.rth of $500 i should've looked that up, but it's half $1 trillion or so. it's behind social security is our largest in sanford appeared -- largest entitlement. host: is it really driving our debt? guest: yes, the issue with entitlements is that you can't sustain the current structure that it is written now in productivity. it doesn't have to change

immediately for anyone on the current program. that's one of the biggest misunderstandings out there. i'm on social security and medicare. what's going to happen to me? that's not what the conversation is about. it's about who's going to be eligible in 2030 or towar 2040? it's on a trajectory now to the point where the debt will exceed 150% of gdp. right now it's 77% of gdp. that's the issue. it's really a demographic and health care problem and something has to be dealt with 15 or 20 years down the road. host: why? why are we on this trajectory? guest: it's the demographics and its health care. the country is changing demographically just like every other major industrialized country, many of whom have embarked on massive government reforms. -- entitlement reforms.

we are dealing with the fact that we have an aging population and fewer workers coming in for the number going into their retirement years. obviously there's an issue. you have more people taking up benefits and less people paying in. that's where you have a fundamental program. we have health care cost growing faster than the economy. when you have health care growth above economic growth, you need more resources to help. of those accommodation is the main issue behind our fiscal problems. that melissa, is it true on average people pay into less than a takeout? over the years of working and paying into medicare, in the end they will take up more from medicare than they have actually put into the program? guest: in some cases, yes, but i think it's an important point that health care spending is rising faster than inflation. yes, we have an aging population.

the question of whether or not health care spending is contributing to our long-term deficits, that's settled. the question is what to do about it? there's a senior protection plan that would allow you to address long-term health care spending without hurting beneficiaries because there's a lot of other places in the health-care care system you could find those kinds of savings. host: where? guest: you can reform the payment savings. if you spend more on prevention upfront, you're going to have fewer long-term health care chronic cost longer-term. the other thing i would say is that we just passed a tax bill that added $1.5 trillion to the deficit to give tax cuts to millionaires and corporations primarily. i think the turnaround now is it is senior's health care driver of the deficit without addressing the other side of the ledger. it's an important contrast to know. host: how do you respond to that? guest: with respect to the tax

bill, and fiscal terms, it's actually kind of small. it's about one half to a one percentage increase to the federal deficit. this is at the end of president obama's turn. he ran up huge deficits during his time in office. it was not solved so we had a massive fiscal problem prior to the tax bill. i would've preferred that the tax bill had been revenue neutral. the primary problem with countries facing and it's obvious in 2016 is slow economic growth. that's the issue. i don't care how much redistribution you have. you will never get wages up fast enough if growth is not accelerate. rate,had a 1.9% growth that is not enough wage growth to sustain. it's not enough to pay for entitlement programs. the tax bill is pushing in that direction. that was confirmed by the joint tax committee and the cbo. they agreed it would promote

growth. not as much as some people claim it would, but it would promote growth. it should of been fiscally neutral though. they should've done more to close loopholes and bring it down to neutrality. the fiscal problem is entitlement. that has been there for decades and will be there the next 20 years with or without the tax bill. we have a mas massive fiscal problem. host: social security -- what's the status of social security? what should be done about it? guest: one of the main drivers of social security long-term -- social security is not facing an immediate crisis, but it's rising income inequality. the more and more earnings that are concentrating among the wealthiest, which are above the payroll tax cap, the less income is coming to the system. andebruary 16 this year, millionaire will have completely pay their payroll taxes for the year. onyou are to lift the cap

the payroll tax side of things coming would solve enormous part of the social security shortfall. host: do you agree? guest: i don't think that's a particular good idea in the sense that if you pay into the system, the question is do you get a return on it? to hang benefits more more to people -- pay benefits more to people that are middle-class of billionaires? -- middle-class and billionaires? these can be very moderated changes in social security at the time. they just passed and the tax bill indexing of the tax brackets for a new measure of inflation that is probably more accurate. maybe they should do that for social security cost-of-living increases down the road. 10 to 15 to 20 years from now, that would save a lot of money and we should look at retirement age. we live a lot longer than we used to. should we recalibrate the

retirement age when people are expected to work until 68 instead of 62? that is also true for medicare. host: do you agree with any of those proposals? guest: no, anti-immigrant public doesn't either. the american public wants to expand social security and not to cut it. when you think about a lot of the people who are most going to be turning to social security, they are working in jobs that require some level of physical labor storytime age for them is not the same as a retirement age for a white-collar worker. here what oura viewers have to say. we will also turn our attention to possible changes to wealth care programs -- welfare programs. you are up first. a is veryr. cabrett disingenuous. this is not an entitlement program. i turned 66 in february.

i did not retire at 62. most people don't until their 66. by raising the cap and paying into the program all year, millionaires not having to pay off until february, it would add an increase of the program. the medicare program -- the way to fix that is to get a single-payer across the country from birth to death. when you have everyone paying into this programs, billions of dollars will be added to the program. congress should be doing things about the cost of medicines and prescription drug coverage. if they were really genuine about wanted to make changes in what is going on with the middle-class workers, that's what they would be looking at. host: james, a response? guest: there's a lot there.

you talk about the health care problems of single-payer versus a bigreforms, there's problem the united states and health care and how to make it more efficient overtime. a single-payer system would move people a lot out of insurance arrangements. single-payer would move all them sponsoredernment insurance system. that's a lot of displacement and cost and a lot of movement of private premier money into the federal government. i'm not sure that's a good idea. is that really the answer to the problem? for people who are very big advocates of single tear, they should read the stories of the u.k. about the national healthcare service which has features that are commendable, but there are problems when you have totally government sponsored insurance. they have massive problems right now. have a lot of this location and a lot of waiting because they have been overwhelmed with

sick people during a bad winter season. it's not a panacea. theseare trade-offs with things for the real question with health care is how to make it more efficient overtimes? government to make it more efficient overtime or do we need other incentives. ? the will always have a mix of private pensions and the public role in health care. let's get it right and make sure we get the incentives right. host: let's hear from mary, who is a republican in pittsburgh. programif the medicare is not sustainable, it could have been if president obama had not taken $760 billion. it just blows me away how much he took out of medicare to start the aca. it should've actually been illegal. the democrats say they won't touch our entitlements as they call it, but they did when they voted for daca.

aca.e if we didn't have the money, why was he a lot to give $200 million to palestinians as he went out the door? i really feel sorry for the younger people. they are paying into it. they are never going to get it. i do have medicare and it has been very good for me. i'm nine years old. -- 90 years old. i'm worried about last long enough for me. host: i want to take your question for melissa. talk about the aca and what the affordable care act said. guest: i think she's referring to changes that were made to save money for medicare. when she said the president it, was she mistaken? it was not going to affect anybody's ability to finance health care.

it is about finding efficiencies in the system. the aca helped millions of people gain health insurance and in addition it really expanded medicaid so that a lot of people had better health during their working years and better health .s seniors i disagree with the notion that medicare recipients will be worse off because of the ac. a. host: i think the caller is referring to the fact that they cut the medicare program quite substantially in the affordable care act. she's right around $700 billion that they cut on hospitals and medicare advantage plans. they use the resources of that to increase subsidization of people in the affordable care act. does that hurt medicare beneficiaries? not necessarily. depends on how one views the changes. i would say that the cuts that are made though -- there's a lot of talk about how we did payment reform. that's not really what happened.

, theyhey did was basically lowered the payment rate for hospital admissions by a lot. they did that on a permanent basis. while that harm access to hospital services overtime? the actuaries who look at the numbers for the medicare program believe that there will be access problems. not immediately but in 10 or 15 years. host: part of this conversation about entitlement reforms is the economy and will the economy grow and by how much? the employment numbers for december are out. rate andployment 140,000 jobs added. your reaction to those numbers? --st: right now, the economy we are in an economic expansion. the problem is not necessarily that there's not enough jobs. the problem is that wages are terrible. they are flat. a lot of workers have not seen a raise in you years.

every day workers are not seeing the gains from it. the other pieces that there are people who are facing barriers to work that are not addressed. for example, child care, a criminal record that extends from them being considered for jobs. there are people facing enormous barriers that our policies are not addressing. host: one thing we have to realize in our country is that we are having good growth. there is demand for labor. there's a lot of people sitting on the sidelines of the labor market that should beginning back in the labor force and are outside the labor market for a variety of reasons. we need to address some of those issues. i think that's a big part of our problems these days. the economy is growing very strongly and witches did go up to 20 and are likely to have gone up in 2017 and likely to go up and 2018 because the economy is that strong. we should be grateful at the moment that we are in a very strong expansion. host: let's hear from ed in

tennessee. your question about entitlements? caller: i wanted to comment on what mr. capretta said about great britain. they don't put enough money into their system and i would rather wait in line and i. let me give you these facts and let me see what you think. this is from warren buffett. in 1960, corporate taxes were 4% of gdp. now that they are at 2%. health care was 5% of gdp and now with 17%. $3.2 trillionnd on health care and $.33 of every dollar is wasted? if we could capture this money and these paradise papers and raise the taxes on the corporations and the wealthy because they never done so good, we would have more money that we could cover everything. can you debunk that? warned that fit -- warren buffett said health care costs

would take over the american economy. the employer insures these people. that is where the money will go. apretta?. c guest: i would say the caller is right. there is massive waste in american health care. one third of all the resources poured into our health care system are really low value coul., how do you capture that? it's a very difficult proposition. if we knew which dollars were wasted in advance, we would stop them in advance. the country is twisting between. we don't have a fully government run health care system like other countries, but we don't really have a private system with incentives lined up right. we have to straighten that out. the country may have to choose one way or the other. maybe we will do something like the cap but thehave downsides,

government cost could be controlled better. it's a big country and i doubt we will ever go that route. we better get the incentives right along with public oversight to get the cost down. i agree with the caller on that point. with respect of the wealthy and who's paying taxes, the issue is -- first of all, corporations don't really pay taxes. the taxes that corporations pay will be passed on to the shareholders, the employees of the firm, the consumers of the firm, or the workers of the firm. that's the universe of people who will pay. a lot of economist have looked at this and say what you have high corporate taxes, it hurts workers quite a bit. there's a reason why our." to countries are lowering corporate taxes. investment that goes up and you have more investment and job growth. it's not that hard to figure out.

it would be good for workers. guest: just the push back a little on that, you had corporate ceos basically admitted during the tax fight that people who were going to benefit from the tax cuts were shareholders and not their workers. looking at the jobs numbers, does not appear that what corporations really needed was another huge tax cut at this point. the fact that many publicly admitted that it's not going to be used to raise wages or two great jobs -- to create jobs, but make investments to offshore jobs because there were incentives based on that front come i don't think that's a fair characterization. the other thing that i want to note about the economy that we missed earlier is that there's been a lot of changes to not just wages but worker protection. it basically disappeared -- guaranteed pensions. and social security for a lot of people is the only thing that

they have to turn to or comprising a very large share of their retirement. if we are not thinking about the economy during peoples working and what those changes we are doing to entitlements, particular for retirement, i think there is a big mismatch in terms of your going to see a lot of senior poverty going up if you touch these programs in a way without addressing the front. ist: melissa boteach our guest here. also at the table is james cap retta. hourproach the top of the talking about entitlement reforms and the prospects for it this year. mike in wisconsin, your next. caller: my question is -- it that entitlements and the wealth care all seems to bother me.

guest: as i said, entitlements are things that you are guaranteed. their basic living standards whether it's retirement, nutrition, health care. i don't think characterizing them as welfare or most of these programs as welfare is a fair characterization. if you're looking at traditional welfare, 1% of americans get that. think about it, we are all paying taxes throughout their working years. and so when we fall on hard times when our wages are cut or hours are cut or we have a health crisis, programs like nutrition assistance and medicaid are there for us. 70% of americans are going to turn to means test the program during their working years. these are not for other people. these are for all of us.

do to them apart that we pay into and the ones that we painted indirectly through a texas. -- hey into and directly through our taxes. host: when we talk about entitlement programs, what are we talking about? guest: we are talking about people with incomes below a certain threshold. there certain things like the block grant program that goes to states to support people without earned income. it would be the snap program for people that have certain incomes that they can get assistance for food purchases and housing s.ucher the supplemental security income program for low-income disabled people, those are the big ones. the earned income tax credit is not really a welfare program per se. it's an additional wage supplement fed through our tax system, but it's income tested. those are sort of the big universal programs that mainly

with comprise welfare. changeslissa, what would you like to see or if any to these welfare programs? the president, according to "the hill" newspaper looking at work requirements for medicaid. guest: taking away someone's health care when attrition or housing is not going to help them find a job any faster. gettinge interested in people to work and that's your goal, you focus on creating jobs and energy because we know that when people don't have access to enough food that their cognitive are suffering. i think it is important to note are work requirements really just a code for cutting and for kicking struggling are down.en they host: next phone call comes from

independent. time,: -- during the same the republican was fighting against him, he brought down -- he was bringing it down. we need to stop saying this secondly, what is the clinton says social name, y, what is the george w. bush drained, he took trillion dollars from social security. on.s is what has been going -- damage this because they don't want it. republicans hate this stuff and they hate this stuff. host: don, let's get a response.

deficit, the president putting the two wars, president obama, under the bush books?tration on the guest: there is a lot there. the n, look, i mean, president obama inherited deep went up and debt because we had a very serious 2007 and 2009 en and debt ran up during those years. the economy has been expanding since 2009, slowly. a lot of opportunities politically to address the between 2010 and 2016, when he left office and candidly much.t do he tried with speaker john boehner, they didn't come to an kicked the can down the road and dealt with other issues, which is fine, i'm we inherited the fiscal mess and president obama didn't solve it. respect to president bush, he did not drain social

security, there were deficits, there was recession when president bush came into office, a lot of expenses ssociated with conflicts abroad. this is not a foreign policy debate. guest: i was going to say, republicans have in some ways seeded concern about the deficit passing a $1.5 trillion tax ut for millionaires and corporations that added to the deficit. i mean, all this deficit has the years about medicare and medicaid and health one of the first big legislative accomplishment during a unified republican of government is a tax cut for primarily wealthy deficit.ut add to the host: sandy in carrie, north carolina, independent. you, c-span, for having this debate. i appreciate it and i appreciate views. i'm a s registered nurse, i see people

areas from poor to upper class. requirements would be good for people to encourage them to them togoals and enable have behavior of regular working schedule, but they also need and a care and food decent place to live. i'm a registered nurse with a masters degree and it's hard for me to live a decent middle class life. ousing increased, food has increased, taxes has increased. social you take away my security after i've been working it just seemsars, like people need to know the ich are getting richer and we are being -- getting poorer and poorer. host: sandy, may i ask how old are, did you say? caller: i am 53. host: 53. james capretta. guest: when i hear people say they are worried about social away, ty being taken nobody's security is going to be

taken away, never going to not even a is possibility. the rhetoric around these things, way, way different from the reality. question is, how do you adjust the program so that the amount of revenue coming in will for benefits promised over the next several decades? it is short several trillion dollars. okay. the question is how to close gap, that can be done in a oderated way by slightly adjusting future benefit eligibility for people, especially on the high end. should get ople less. the benefit should be flattened more than it is, rate of return the high wage people goes down modestly and other way.stments along the i mean, i think the -- there is inflated concern about people taking away social security. it's not going to happen. host: explain how it works for high-income earners right now. uest: well, high-income earners, as noted already, pay

social security taxes up to a tab, $125,000 a year right now. 85% ofovers, by the way, total wages in the united states. it is not that much wages, it.pt from and so they pay taxes on that their entireo that working life, rate of return they get for their highest wages like 15%, for people at low end, the rate of return, that is quite the right way to put it, but return is 90%. regular hrough the social security formula redisstributed. relative to wages paid in, relative to people on the low end. for: is there room, though, more? guest: of course, we should probably make it more would, so thatd i it is better protection on the low end, flatter benefit, everybody would be protected if their income fell, but people that are upper middle class and really don't need to run

their resources through the social security system. they have plenty of opportunity. we don't have retirement crisis in this country. we have more people participating in employer-sponsored retirement did decades an we ago when dominated by defined goingns, which are mainly bankrupt. people have more secure retire and other ) government-sponsored through state and local government and federal government, they are defined contribution plans and returns on it are very good. so, i think we should be careful about saying we want to go back pensions, benefit that was disaster, didn't work, was unaffordable and bankrupted companies and so we need to make the current system even better. host: okay, there is a lot there. payroll taxall, the cap, used to cover 90% of wages wages. 83% of if you were to actually go back,

but coverift the cap, the way it used to, 90% of ages, as reason it has fallen, rising income inequality driven more people income and wealth above that cap. have 1.1 trillion more in social security and be on way solving fiscal crisis without lifting the entire cap. want to reemphasize the problem here is rising income inequality and increasing share income is escape anything payroll taxation and therefore we're getting less in out benefits. socials of means testing security, social security is universal program, something we all pay into and all get i think it t of and is dangerous, the idea of saying all of a sudden that contract made is not going to be there for people at the top -- the wealth sne guest: it erodes support for the program. social security is as it is, all of us have a stake in

it. wanda, millington, michigan, democrat. caller: hello? wanda, you morning, are on the air. caller: yes, i'm a retired state of oyee for the state michigan and i worked in state mental institutions for 31 years. there are jobs out there that 55 or 56 work beyond because they're so demanding physically. me to be on the front line working with unstable attack you at d ica -- ent unprove unprovocated. now they want to raise the cap, ake the cap off, the rich can afford it, the poor can't. not everybody can work until they are 70 years old, if they have a job like i had. i mean, i got beat up, i got cut bit, i got kicked. you tell me i could do that job

old, show me years someone who could do that job at a years old and they deserve medal if they can do it. newcastle, in delaware. hi, anna. caller: the $717 billion from and thenfor obamacare, they also took $700 billion from to the ecurity to give refugees. i said, they didn't work for it, but certainly we did. and i said, my husband worked and collected very little and went to the hospital -- edicare when he was because our employer paid our said, so urance and i i didn't -- until 71. only time and that is he used it when he was dead and hospital, im to the said that he was dead. worked on him a little bit.

feel that every time we hear anything about and medicare y going down, they never say the damn welfare people are living on for the years.0 after all those years, did they go on social security? anna, james ght, capretta, your thoughts. guest: i'm not sure how to react one.hat social security hasn't wasted refugees, not n sure where that estimate came so,m, that is not accurate. the social security program, it is true people pay into social return and they get a on what they pay in. there is, however, a lot of redistribution in social security, so people should understand the amount they get equal to sn't always the amount they paid in. a lot of people pay in, get out in and some people pay get a lot less. quite a bit of unfairness in

that, by the way. lot of low income people pay in and don't get it out because before they pass draw all benefits. so there should be some looking to make it well, more fair in terms of everybody who gets -- how much do you get how much you pay in. the big issue here is medicare. eople have this thing they pay to medicare and draw out basically what they paid in. that is not true. two parts to it, second part called part b, and cian services outpatient care. 75% of it, 75% is paid by taxpayers, okay, not paid for by recipients, not paid when you p pay a payroll tax. by income taxpayers, who are mainly upper income people. on the a lot of people medicare program getting heavily saying that is wrong, people's understanding, i

paid for this, it is not true, for it.n't pay host: and 23% paid by premiums? compare to part a and what is part a and how is for? paid guest: part a paid for through payroll tax, quite progressive uncapped, so t is even people, no matter how high you pay it. so millionaires do pay it. nd there is also surtax that applies to people above 250,000 year enacted as part of the affordable care act. that is more or less self-financing at this point, awful lot of redtrib ugz. this is for hospitalization and institutional care. yes. host: scarlet, democrat, hi, scarlet. good morning. host: good morning to you, go ahead. caller: thank you very much. i am watching and i watch c-span and thank you very uch, i am updated on most of

he information that is shared and the international and at the national level. and thank you. hat i'd like to say is that i work with native american socia and reservation for 30 years and i'm getting medicare. i'm very happy with the services i'm getting. my same time, on behalf of navaho people, those that have limited education, those that have the formal schooling for whatever reason and the '40s the 50s, we still have area in whichthat very medicaid is important for them. host: okay, scarlet, melissa boteach. guest: really important point. there is a lot of people who to benefit n able from the economy in the past

several years, they either are unemployed, they have low-wage jobs, they are facing other barriers, whether child care, transportation, unstable housing, substance abuse or etcetera. when we talk about entitlement hard to divorce that from what is going on in the overall economy for people hard for particularly low-income people, people of and ethnic l disparity as well as hispanic african american community. when we talk about we need to reform isorm welfare, often code for cuts. and what i'd like to note, if to raise the minimum wage just $12 an hour, you would food stamps.ion in you know, three quarters of people turning to programs are working families and so maybe we ead of focusing on how reform programs such that we are

taking away benefits from should be talking about policys that create jobs and fair,ake the economy more less of need to turn to programs in the first place. fresno, california, independent. caller: hello. host: good morning, jim, you are on the air. caller: yeah, okay, i'm on the air now? host: you are, we're listening. is the okay, here problem. i think what you are doing is it, you know, way i see c-span is a pacifier, people that, they think they will get what they say out there. here is what you do. are doing what you and give more, not less to the happen, n, what will recession, but more offered and therefore that will take care of people, one thing happen when we have too much in the housearents give too much to children and they are controlled by their way, ren. but the other they are not controlled automatic, they will say, we don't have any money, we have to

cut back. tougher, but not to the degree end, huge the recession or depression and that more t relating to, give and recession come in more often and take care of itself, you -- t have to demonstrate it host: okay, jim. republican.a, hi, paul. caller: hi, how are you guys? quick observation. i signed up for social security. i was 70, i'm a former employer and i can't nation how generous this is. -- i had a couple things yesterday reflecting that. $3000 a iving almost month and unbeknownst to me, my is rel jibl for $1000 a month to collect off of me. believe we're that generous. likewise, justice i was with my

the large boxe of stores in des moines, iowa, and got held up in line because in of me was a man and a oman, they were clearly immigrants, which nothing, i believe in immigration, however, they had over $200 worth of stamps s and their food wouldn't qualify them for all of this. capableh looked clearly of working, as somebody that employ people. i stood in line for 10 minutes while they argued and tore apart to get it n order down below what their food stamps would allow them. generous nation we are. i don't know how much longer we can afford that. call.all right, our final your final thoughts? uest: so in response to the sort of anecdote, the plural of is hard is in data, it to respond to a story specifically, but in this case,

you know, i think there is a lot of unknowns. these people, who are in front f you in line, very possible they are working because most food stamp recipients are disabled, children or working, that is the vast majority of food stamp recipients. you were to raise minimum you would save $53 billion over years, underscores going to rograms are people who are working, who their wages are simply not to make ends meet. second of all, in terms of immigrants are paying taxes into finance these programs, not like they don't payroll taxes or things like that. they are paying taxes to finance and they could have been citizens. just because somebody has accent struggling doesn't mean they are not a u.s. citizen. host: james capretta. an t: the caller makes interesting point, he clearly

was trying to signal he's benefit, large probably didn't need it and he paid into the social security life and probably earned pretty good wage, saved for retirement, that is the for reducing ion size of social security deficit. e probably could scale back a benefit for someone like that a tad, not totally take it away solve the problem. you know, he's pointing for the solution here. make k the other point to is that the country is writing a for a lot of different reasons. we are a pretty big and generous be done it could better, should be. when people have this argument united states doesn't have a social safety net, that is really not true, we've always in need of always improvement and refinement and needs to ntry really think about what do we need to do to have affordable safety net fair, proper work incentives, it is pro-growth and

affordable. and that can be done. host: james capretta, resident fellow for american enterprise institute. melissa boteach, vice president of the center for american to prosperity ty program. we thank you both for the conversation. appreciate it. break, when short we come back, open up the phone ine, get your thoughts on many of the news stories in today's paper and on the television you're hearing about. first, before we get to that, this week's newsmaker democrat d senate campaign chair senator chris anholland, democrat of maryland, airs sunday, 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. eastern time, here is senator talking about the democrat's approach to the mid-term election. >> senator, when you are making priorities for the dscc, is your to be defending these 10 democratic senators up trump election in the days or going on offense when

arizona, e nevada, texas and tennessee, where you -- look, we think we our o both, look at incumbents, you have battle-tested incumbents, they been successful, sometimes in politically difficult states on use they have focused peep nel their state, that has been their north star. very 're going to work hard to help them. most of all, it's -- knowing do in their states. we'll look for every pickup opportunity that is out there. pickup e a number of pportunities and this is also cycle where in the case of safe for o state is republican senate. > following up on that, where can you expand the race? > well, look, there are 33 senators who are up this time, 25 of them are democrat

senators, we've got to work hard to make sure they continue to succeed. are eight republican seats. alabama, of course, was a seat recently picked up and all of those eight are in play. candidates today in every one of the eight seats with the exception of talking to we're very strong candidates, so all potential strong states. now, having said that, obviously is a big of nevada pickup opportunity for the democrats. arizona, very much in play. but i wouldn't discount the other states. we have really good candidates them.l of phil bretisson, two-time governor of tennessee, of course there.g always governed, you know, based on pragmatic governing approach, trying to address issues that were important to people of party. >> "washington journal" continues.

host: and we're back for the today's program, turn to open phones, get your thoughts on what you are hearing lately.ews front page of "new york times," michael smith's exclusive story, expected sessions to keep leash on the russia inquiry. resident trump gave firm instructions in march to the white house top lawyer, stop the sessions eneral jeff from recusing himself in the justice department investigation trump's her mr. associates helped russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election. public pressure was building for mr. sessions, who had been a senior member of the trump step aside. the white house council carried out the president's orders and mr. sessions to remain in charge of the inquiry, according to people with knowledge. mr. mcgahn was unsuccessful and the president erupted in anger he needed his attorney general to protect him. mr. trump then asked, where is code, he was referring to his former personal lawyer and

had been a top aide uring the investigation, who died in 1986. he lobbying of mr. sessions is an unrepassported episode that robert mueller learned about as whether mr. es trump instructed the russian inquiry. mr. mueller substantiated claims mr. comey series of memos describing troubling interactions with the president may.e he was fired in the story talks about mr. trump's trying to fire mr. comey times, but he was angered that mr. comey and his estimony on capitol hill in march and in may refused to say is icly whether mr. trump personally under any investigation. by it says in this piece michael smith in the "new york times" that the attempts to stop mr. comey rom firing were successful until may 3rd,

when the f.b.i. director once testified on capitol hill. he spent much time describing during f decisions made the bureau's investigation into illary clinton's personal e-mail accounts. r. comey refused to answer questions about whether president trump was under investigation. updates were given throughout, comey's him of mr. refusal to clear him. mr. trump unloadod mr. sessions that s at the white house day and criticized him for recusing himself from the ruzia investigation. his loyalty and said he wanted to get rid of mr. comey. his is part of the former f.b.i. director, on may 3rd, on capitol hill. >> with respect to the i'm going to the rump associate's ties to the meddling. has the white house cooperated? >> with the investigation? >> correct. will comment ng i on. requests forad any immunity from common potentially

of that investigation? >> i have to give the same answer, senator. would you tell this committee if there is a lack of of the ion on the part white house? commit to that. host: you can watch that entire hearing if you go to c-span.org. that is former f.b.i. director on may 3rd, lengthy the "new york times" this morning outlining the president's reaction to that well as the -- mr. comey's testimony on march 20. cameras and with covered both. if you want to go back, go to can find it ou there. o to joe, in detroit, joe, democrat. good morning, what is on your mind this morning? caller: good morning. this opportunity to call. i've been trying to call for seven or eight years and finally got through, thank you for is this outlet, it is informative

nd helpful to every person who lives in the united states. i am 60 years old and i receive a ssi benefit from medicaid and it copd.r i dealt with it for three years 2010 to 2013, before the finally able to get medical treatment that i needed. my mother and father, my mother registered nurse, my father retired from the city of did detroit. into the system since i was 49 and i'm 60 now, as i said. have out of college, worked for the united states postal service, trove for public of sportation for the city detroit, also for suburban region tation for this and as well as that, i drive, around the country. it that up until 2003, and took care of my parents until

they died. i received the house and all. i paid into the system. i did income tax, i didn't was able to ever i give was less fortunate i was is how this d that country should be. we re a nation under god, have giving hearts, we don't have oppressive hearts. tonk you, that is what i had say. host: jill in michigan. jose, republican. caller: yes. how you doing? think sessions is basically clueless because he has recused failed tod yet he has look at conflict of interest in he uranium 1 deal with the clinton foundation, refused to look at conflicts of interest of mccabe, and his wife, ith the so-called golden showe showers -- recall golden showers thing that they took to the

to get some kind of -- whatarrant to search is his name? the president's campaign. i mean, i can't believe that nobody is looking into the fact that it was hillary clinton and dnc that paid for that dosier, no conflict of interest -- partly they paid -- partly hey paid for it, jose, it was initially paid for, the client as the washington beacon, conservative newspaper. was paid t dnc money into that dosier, okay. they received money. there is even that the out, . continued to pay that hasn't even been investigated. what i'm concerned, we have all conflicts of interest and yet it seems like he's more with marijuana than the real conflict of interest

uranium 1 deal and clinton foundation. what happened to the classified leaks, charles grassley, the senator, just stated in he leaked times that classified information to the "new york times." bringing up ou are a lot of headlines, i can share newspapers in the today and on websites. daily beat. look intoing hillary clinton's e-mails again, the most of allized e-mail server time, they write. officials are taking fresh look clinton's use of private e-mail. who is familiar with the thinking of justice department washington headquarter described it effort gather new detail on how clinton and her aides handled classified material. questions include how much classified information was sent over clinton's server, who put information into the unclassified environment and how and which investigators knew

when.the matters and the sessions also said officials question body immunity clinton aides may have made. then you have this piece this washington examiner, mark meadows and jim jordan, it is time for jeff go, as shown by the latest f.b.i. leak. first year of trump close,tration comes to a one can't help, but look back on how allegations of russian dominated headlines almost every news agencies. saturated omb shells media, coverage after the 2016 presidential campaign concluded. sadly, manufactured hysteria on the issue throughout the 2017 as frequently masked substantial accomplishment of president trump's administration. has surged. these are just a few examples, et despite rampant headline, speculation overshadowing of accomplishment, simple truth evidence of collusion between the trump

campaign and russians, not due examination, six different investigations on the collusion. we put aside what should be on automatic mistrust of the motive behind anonymous investigation here are two critical problems with the story. irst, disregard series of fundamental questions and they go through those questions. meadows, ece, by mark represents 11th district, chair and jim use caucus jordan, republican from ohio, represents fourth district and he's a member of the house caucus and serves as first chairman. sessions general jeff recused himself from the russia investigation, it would appear e has no control of the premiere law enforcement agency in the world. it is time for sessions to spirit of transparency to bring behavior to light and top further violation, if sessions can't address the issue immediately we have one final

when is it time for new attorney general, sadly it seems the answer is now. resident trump also just tweeting out here this morning. well, now that collusion with total has proven to be hoax and only collusion is hillary clinton and the f.b.i. russia, the phony new book are hitting out at every new front should try they winning an election, is what the president had to say. of the book that the president is referring to is "fiery and f of fury," the book coming out moving up the r date. he sat down with the today show for his first interview. published as of 9:00 this morning. threatened list legal action against you and the publisher to which you say? >> they sent that yesterday, they actually had read he book, but actually what i

say is where do i send the box of chocolates? >> you think he's helping you books? >> absolutely. not only helping me sell books, point ping me prove the of the book. i mean, this is extraordinary united resident of the states would try to stop the publication of a book. not doesn't happen, has happened from other presidents, would not happen from a c.e.o. company.size >> the president, obviously tweeted about you last night, he access to orize zero the white house, turned you down many times says he never spoke it is full he book, of lies, misrepresentation and sources that don't exist. to start as any. did you talk to the president? he hat was i doing there if didn't want me to be there? >> did you talk to the president, did you interview him for this book? i absolutely spoke to the president, whether he realized not, i n interview or don't know, it certainly was not

off the record. to him at the white house after he was sworn? > i spoke to him after the inauguration, yes, and i spent about three hours with the of thent over the course campaign and in the white house. into donald trump is pretty significant. host: michael wolff, on the today show, first interview "fire the publication of and fury," that is on the table for open phones. democrat.linois, good morning to you. caller: how you doing this morning? host: doing well. caller: glad you took my call. simple revolution that for that would possibly, you know, help solve the medicaid s far as the part. i'm guessing even republican democrats, they don't understand how medicaid works. illinois.te of the $4.90 for ay of

doctor's visit, no co-pay for emergency room visit. it is a simple problem to solve. co-pay for the medicaid. o instead of paying $4.90, say e raise to 7, po visit your doctor. you go to the emergency room, instead of paying $0, have $25 co-pay, so it is not driving the up, it, medicaid deficit just solving the problem. and i'm guessing that a lot of and democrats, they don't even know what states are in for doctor's co-pays or paying anything for emergency visit. it is simple solution. i wish the president was listening. sometimes he does, rick. allen in alabama, republican. you?r: hi, how are host: good morning to you.

aller: i just couple of quick things. i sit russian collusion, and listen to you read the highlighted things you are reading. understand what the reasoning behind reporting, not o you, but reporting all of that because i mean, it proves again.g, and real quick, the guy, you book, the about the guy spent three hours with the president and writes a book and understanding that, either. host: he said he conducted 200 inside the access white house to many people, including the president and he interviews. caller: okay. you know, that is his interpretation, i guess, he's -- i'm not -- i haven't read the book, i can't be too critical. he said he spent three hours with the president and that, you

now, how can you write a book on three hours spending time that is now president of the united states and write a book about it, i'm understanding that? host: do you think you will buy the book? to buy no, i'm not going it. i can't, so much negativity against the president, i don't what to believe anymore. you know, everybody hates his tweets, nd without his we don't know what is going on. host: okay. aller: mental, it is just incredible. host: well, about michael wolff, "new york his book, times" piece o. thursday mr. threatened to sue mr. wolff, if it did not halt the book's release and apologize content, in attempt to stifle critical coverage. the releasemoved up by four days, mr. wolff may be looking at first number one best-seller. even for the brazenly confident

needler , status mad with habit of being eject friday restaurants this is to he is accustomed angering the elite, not leader of the free world. "new york begins in times" by michael grinbaum, piraneewolff has been a n the media pawn, using columns, a mid-town mogul canteen and cutting figure at star-spangled dinner party clad by the ies and shirts london haberdashery browns. is well known among powerful rupert murdoch. first-class gossip kept the matters circulating. that is in the "new york times," interested to read it. wolff's agraph, mr.

former editor, vanity fair, wrote he was not surprised mr. wolff, "would write an entertaining book," the mystery added, is why the white house allowed him in the door. georgia, tony in independent. hi, tony. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. good morning. caller: morning. well, as usual, our politicians for the the forest trees. his started out as a look into elections, with which should be important to every american. partisan gone into argument between republicans and democrats. my maindependent voter, concern is how much did the russians interfere with our elections? i wish our politicians would get what is ooking at importa

important, did the russians elections and our they politicians do what have to do to get elected, democrats and republicans. issue, did the real russians interfere with elections? thank you. republican, what is on your mind, mike? caller: i'd like to say, the issue, i think -- left marijuana laws for medical use only. when they legalize it for use, that put a damper on things, that means everybody can get ahold of it. kept it medical use only, there would be nothing says about jeff sessions. host: mike referring to front-page story on "washington bar on essions lowers pot charges, the attorney general on thursday made it prosecutors to enforce federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized substance, drawing criticism from jurisdictions that have

stirring ot use and confusion in the industry. the "wall street journal" take story, they note six tates legalized medical and recreational marijuana. dc legalized both uses and do not allow sales and allow only medical sales. corey gardner, senator from colorado, tweeted after this news broke, with no prior notice to congress, the justice on the will ampled of the voters in colorado and i am states, adding, prepared to take all steps necessary, including holding attorney ntil the general lives up to the commitment he made to me prior confirmation. jim, a democrat, good morning. good morning. couple of things. arlier segment talking about cuts to social security and medicare.

host: uh-huh. caller: i understood that the just passed was going to create a booming economy. social security to likely.ain't second point. a story s recently did on mckesson drug and the amounts of opioids they were shipping to pain towns. we went o after big tobacco in the health care costs, let's go them pay sson and let for the opioid crisis. host: story about retirement in congress. greg harper not running for re-election, he will solid republican seat. gary in pennsylvania, republican. gary. caller: hi, how you doing today?

host: morning. caller: good morning. mention a few things, one about this supposed rump/russian collusion thing, it's been going on over a year now, how much longer do they is like a dead horse that has been laying in the field dead for over a year, no longer a corpse, just a big skeleton. to say r thing i have about collusion or meddling in put now days t is is the fact that as -- i'm not right, as the united states goes, we have been meddle nothing elections for i long, we put iran in, that was our duty. i wanted to know if it -- the ng this thing about election when barack obama was president, that somehow he was or had a hand g in trying to give or funneling $200,000, which isn't a lot of money, but nevertheless,

to netanyahu, his opponent, is that true or made up or whatever? we can look into that, you now, one of the fact-checking websites, as we continue here for about 15 more minutes on "washington journal." another quick political headline for you, congressman ron in florida writes olitico, it made it official, he's entering the governor's race with president donald trump's recent endorsement in back pocket, he will nnounce he's entering the governor's race and has a campaign on the 2018 national radar. beatrice, democrat, hi. caller: good morning. how are you this morning? morning.d caller: i was calling about the the nt you had on entitlement programs and you the we're concerned about

waste that we have and my thing is they don't seem to be able to find the waste. they can't find the waste, i to inform them or -- i why people, the department heads, can't put in a number, it pops up to say that the issue that about all the time, have -- theirknow household. per i'm for taking care of elderly poor, but it is wasteful and we need to get a handle on wastes, even when we -- with is snap program, there waste, why can't we find it? host: okay. your thoughts there. jackie in baltimore, an independent 67

independent. hi, jackie. morning, calling about the medicare and entitlement. get that because we paid into the system. .0% increase in medicare enefits, with medicare and social security, $108 paid to medicare for the insurance. is 2% increase, $134 deducted for medicare. we're still paying for medicare, we are getting social security. we're entitled to it, we paid simple as that. host: okay, jackie. following up on the previous aller about president obama funneling money to an campaign.nyahu politifact. the state 013, department funded two projects. one voice mission is clear to dvance two-state solution in israel in the palestinian

territory. voice, knowledge and skill to be heard as they build constituency et locally and internationally, writes the organization. ffiliate one voice israel, got their 233, 500 from the state israel nt to spend in and palestinian got $115,000 to spend in the territories, that more than $349,000 ochlt these contributions amount to funding anti-netanyahu groups in the election? the palestinian territories can't vote, hard to see how money would influence in israel, leads us to $233,500.or senior director of global communication for one voice said series of elped fund town hall meetings on university campuss and provided support to caucus for the two-state solution in organizing meeting with israeli students. money was spent by november 2014, four months ago.

never spent any government funds in connection with the recent elections in contrary laims to the are simply wrong. you can read more at politifact.org. stella, a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. say this about the trump presidency. begin to realize that trump is supported by russia, way that we put people in place to take over countries, has happened to this country with trump. trump is doing everything he can country and this destroy it and leave the american peep welno rights to means of writing or doing television news. host: give us an example of how he's trying to destroy the country. aller: well, great example is the bill that he just passed

recently through progress, it american elp the people, it only helps a select few. he other part is the way he spends the american money on his we're and on himself and picking up the bill for this while they continue doing business as usual. talking about tax reform egislation, john in jonesboro, hi, john. caller: good morning. host: good morning to you. comment, the world s the evidently not up on history because the cease and assist, if he could recall, memory is ntly his writing a rrison was book called "appointment in dallas," president at that time johnson and johnson seized in san ting press francisco and orders the book not to be put on the shelves. now that is -- you talking about

and people keep blaming trump, trump, trump. have with the c-span people, you people always the "new york times" or "washington post." why don't you -- host: and "wall street journal" times and thengton daily caller and the dredge also -- d caller: i can tell you what, you your tapes look at and see how many times you have news organizations on as opposed to how many times times and new york "washington post." it is 10-1. everyday.ause i watch host: all right, john, to tampa, florida, democrat there. good morning to you. caller: hi. can you hear me? can.: y we you are on the air. caller: my name is lordes, i say not only poor people get entitlement.

used to go to the supermarket and there used to be people that live in the community that owned businesses and shop to dentists and went on medicaid and russian people buying in mink coats expensive -- with medicaid. working, i only could eat roast beef maybe once a year and got entitlement, if you make a certain amount, you never a lify as working mother and single working mother, i always worked, but i think that people poor people or people low income get entitlement and that is not true. host: okay. lordes, in florida. caller: yes, ma'am, i would like o make a comment on the discussion on the high cost of edicare these days. i used to be recipient of tri-care, and i

counseling session nd i was converted immediately into medicare because i just turned 65. service that i was eceiving, i was paying through bill, convertede to medicare, almost double. how the -- when we insurance companies nvolving our medicare and medical system. so i think that is for us to figure out where the loss of values are in this discussion. host: okay, all right. lynn, democrat. is on your mind? caller: yes, i was just, that talking caller was about russian collusion, it has mess in ourthey did

elections, it has been proven. ow whether trump was part of it, that will come out, i'm sure he was, money laundering, thing.y the same -- the book hese that said these things about that, nd bannon and all the people that worked in the white house are the ones giving information. trump team, all the aides, they reporters the information, what trump does, people think democrats are doing everything. friends and party and eam and aides that are giving all the information to the reporters on the news, writing to think ple need about that. host: okay, lynn. mike, connecticut, independent. hi, mike. caller: hi, i'm calling to upport a caller, john, you had a couple callers ago.

-span, i've been watching for 20 years, from c-span before we attacked iraq, i learned it was to do because you gave both sides, so i was iraq.st it back in lately, as far as it concerns c-span is rump, definitely biassed. if someone calls up supporting they are cut short. you have nine out of ten guests them.st you never get a strong supporter. way c-span is no longer the outlet it used to be the truth. roger ike, we just had stone, a long-time friend and of president trump, on our newsmaker program last sunday, if you are interested in that.ing go to joan, in rochester, democrat. hi, joan. caller: hi.

i want to talk about social security. i look at the government and the savings bank for the american eople, everybody puts money in all their lives, some people get peoplefit by it and some don't live long enough, never get a penny out of it. do not think of it as entitlement, i think as savings account that the people of this invest in from the time they put their first penny into people ecurity and the that have passed away never get to use it, they help the people with funds they left there. people it entitlement by who don't collect social security because they make too is a fal see and i wish they would change their opinion of it. thank you for listening to me. host: derrick nvirginia beach, hiderrick, good morning to you.

caller: hi, good morning. mind?what is on your caller: more just a comment. caller couple calls ago from new york. area, y grew up in that but i just find it, you know, ignorance of folks, they all in and, you know, they say the president is tearing apart the country and they -- you ask you know, to back it -- nd it is nothing, but just pure blas fomy, i don't get it. more just a comment for me. i think people need to get more nformed on what the tax bill was all about and then they need o hold their own state officials, legislative bodies, city council, townships, they to hold them more accountable for their tax everybody nd i think would be more happy. that is just a comment i wanted

to make. thanks for the comment. another story we mentioned early n in the program is the economic news. this from the dallas morning 25,000.ow tops print from 20,000 less than a year. in money section of "u.s.a. passed reaching for sky, 25,000, the dow has done it again. any americans have not benefited from the stock market rise as 54% have investments in stocks, down from 62% before the 2008 financial crisis, many investors got out of the market after it lost half value in 2007 2009, fair mark sxet never got back in. and then this is from the "wall this morning, many investors bailed out early, dow headline on the shattering another record yesterday. cincinnati, will in democrat.

hi, will. caller: hi, how you doing? morning.od caller: so i just want to book n real quick, the that was just come out. host: yes. the r: trying to remember name. host: "fire and fury." caller: the book i ordered online. that, what ive done want to say is that book, they were given excerpts of that book a lot of different news shows and talking about what is in it. said to me the things i was already thinking and i think a lot of people are about the president. people call in and say this is people up stuff, well, get impressions about elected president is our not being presidential. host: will, i have to leave it goodbye ateed to say this point and bring you to the washington center, they are discussion this