holds a confirmation hearing on defenseman -- defense department nominees. c-span, where history unfols daily. in 1979, cspan was created as a public service of the american cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. we bring you unfiltered it coverage of congress, the white house, public policy events around the country. orpan is brought to you by cable or satellite provider. >> coming up on "washington journal," john garamendi discusses the military action against syria and increased tensions with russia.

then glenn thompson talks about the farm bill and proposed changes to the food stamp program. and crist edwards gives an update -- and chris edwards gives an update on new income tax rules. ♪ host: good morning, it is tuesday, april 17, 2018. the house meets at 10:00 a.m. in the senate convenes at 10:00 a.m. we are with you for the next three hours on "washington journal,'and on" this -- washington journal, and on this tax day, do you think you pay your fair share? give us a call. if you think you pay too little, (202)-748-8000. if you think you pay your fair share, (202)-748-8001. if you think you pay too much in

taxes, (202)-748-8002. you can also catch up with us on --ial media, on twitter @cspanwj. and on facebook, facebook.com/c-span. there are about 22 million and income tax payers and we went to hear the amount you pay. do you think you pay your fair share? you can call in as we show you this gallup poll out on the question. less than half in the united states say their taxes are too high. likely thane less any time to say that the federal income taxes they paid are too high. 45%hold that view and the say that their taxes are too high, down from 51% last april, shortly after president trump took office, and an average of

52% since 2013. it is essentially tied. of the lowest, when 46% americans said their taxes are too high. of the 45% currently who say they are too high, the breakdown on that, republicans say that -- 45% ofs are about republicans say they are too high, down from 62% one year ago , 72% in 2016 during the primary campaign. meanwhile, there has been no meaningful change in the percentage of independents and democrats saying their taxes are too high at 49% and 39%, respectively. we will go through that gallup poll over the course of the first half-hour of "washington journal," as we take your calls on this tax date in the united states. we should note that president

trump is that with an abedin ,oday's usa today -- oped saying america is stronger than ever, writing that tuesday is a date americans may dread more than any other, a day when part-time workers struggle to conquer a burden from complex and unfair tax codes to determine how much money they owe the government. host: we will go through a little more about what the president had to say but we want to hear from you on this tax day. do you think you pay your fair share? jared is first from minnesota on the line for those who say they

pay their fair share. yeah, i worked from before the sun is up to after it is down, and i pay taxes. i work with some people, and i who worked with some people people will say are illegals, and i guarantee they pay more federal taxes than donald trump. he has not paid his in 20 years, and he bailed out and makes the americans pay for his bailout. not once, not twice, but six times. billions of dollars where the billionaire should have paid it himself but the taxpayers are paying for him. andook land from the people gave it to corporations. our land that was made for the public. he gave it to corporations. puerto rico, look at it, it is

still in shams. these rich people and corporations do not care to pay taxes. they keep their money and funnel it across countries, and then they say, we did not make any money. this is still true today, and donald trump is the number one addict. host: you mentioned the president's taxes. there is a lot we do not know about them and the washington post took up that topic taken the lead editorial -- a promise mr. trump continues to break, tuesday's tax deadline is another reminder that the president has refused to release his returns, they write. host: the editorial board

calling for the president to release his tax returns. on the line for his those who say they pay too much, go ahead. caller: good morning, c-span and all of your viewers. you will probably cut me off but that is all right. what are taxes for? i am in pennsylvania, and i am a politician and got kicked off of the ballot. ok, these happen for a reason. so what do we need taxes for? a corrupt police force? we have got to pay taxes for potholes, infrastructure? and we have the most -- we probably have the biggest country with infrastructure, a corrupt police system, the school system is not caught up with technology. we are paying taxes. what do we pay them for? before andave called

you say you are running for office in pittsburgh. what is your tax platform if you were allowed on the ballot? caller: what is that? host: what would your tax platform the if you are allowed on the ballot? caller: pitted this way, people in -- people in their districts are not getting their blank checks. we need money to fix the roads. i'm not going to give you all this money and the roads don't get fixed. we are paying taxes. every politician gets paid by taxes, correct? host: where their paychecks come from? caller: people in office, including the president, we pay his taxes and become much they get. what are they doing? nothing. independent indicate to me off -- and they kicked me off. i will beat them all but they will not let me on this stage. host: that is james in

pennsylvania. pamela in california on the line for those who say they pay their fair share. why? caller: the reason i say that is because i looked at the tax letter, and i have called a couple times before and give you the breakdown on who does and does not pay taxes. the top 1% paid almost 40% of income tax corrected. thetop 5% cost up 60% of income tax corrected. and the top 10% paid 70% of the tax collected. even though people are paying 40%, 60%, 70%, they are making half of the income. if you are in the top 10% and paying 70% of taxes collected, you are only learning about 47%

of the income that you actually paid to income earners. i would also like to address the issue of trump not paying his taxes. if he doesn't pay taxes, he goes to jail. you don't run for president. i know it has been repeated he doesn't pay them. they gave him one year where he most$34 million, more than people and their families and what they make in probably their lifetime, much less pay an income tax, so i think the top of taxesere paying 70% are paying their fair share. part of the problem is the bottom 50% of wage earners are paying less than 3% of the tax collected, and i am getting this form a tax letter. they get their figures from the irs. these are figures from the irs. 2016 taxhe december

letter from temperatures -- from them, on who pays taxes and who doesn't. host: stick around at 9:00, when we are joined by the cato institute's chris edwards, the tax policy director nt will bring up issues you are talking about, coming up in less than two hours. andy in new york on the line for those who say they pay too much. why? caller: how are you doing?i have a question come help me with history . we have been taxing citizens since 1917 or so? host: i am not sure the start date on taxes. i thought it went back farther than that. caller: i just want to say our government has been able to tax citizens that long and we have failed to find a good way to

invest that money so our citizens never have to pay again. it is ridiculous. q we are in 2018 -- we are in 2018 talking about where is it going? the truth is it shows our government has failed and is playing the citizens with taxation. where is the money really going? if we cannot come up with a plan to take the money, invested 100 years down the road so no one has to pay it again, what is the deal? are politicians need to answer to that and get off of the chairs. i am starting to think all of them are getting ivory black scratchers from our taxation and life is changing -- back scratchers from our taxation and back is not changing. i will let you go. host: we have both mines for those who say they pay too much, they pay their fair share, and we have not heard yet from someone who says they pay too little but that is online (202)-748-8000. brenda is on the mind for those who say they pay their fair

share from indiana, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i do believe i pay my fair share because my employer always took my taxes out of my paycheck, and my deductions and stuff. one of the problems i have with the new tax policy is they keep claiming businesses are taxed too much. according to the internal revenue service, if you google internal revenue service and look at their governor, federal revenue by source, you will see the businesses pay one dollar for every four dollars that are paid in by people, so out of every five dollars of taxes collected by the federal government, businesses pay one dollar and people pay for dollars -- four dollars, so i don't know how that ratio makes it the true that businesses are taxed to death.

it seems that considering the wolf on wall street, you would think that 4:1 ratio would be flipped. the reason people say trump doesn't pay taxes is he can take advantage of loopholes for a person making that much money pays little percentage of his taxes because of the loopholes not available to others. as far as the government trying to not spend too much money, just the cost of living is going up for people in the government has to also keep up with it for their services and their supplies for office buildings. the cost of living also goes up for the government, so they will spend more money. thank you. host: thank you. you mentioned the tax overhaul. story inhe lead today's usa today. the politics and how it lays out

in november. republicans are pinning their midterm election hopes that the massive tax overhaul signed into law last year and they write -- in -- host: that story comes with a chart showing a comparison of the ads focused on taxes or mention them so far this year compared to previous cycles. in 2018, 32% of the house and taxes basis mention compared to 13% in 2016 and 16% in 2014.richard in little rock, arkansas, on the line for those who pay their fair share. share: i' pay my fair

because that is what the government says. for example, i pay social security and a matching fund. i'm not going to complain about it because our government runs on taxes. i think that is the reason people complain, it is money they have learned -- some -- and goes out of their end and they do not have control of what happens later. changesnk that making to the tax system is needed because we need to change things from time to time, but i have a lot of deductions. we are self-employed, and you have a lot of expenses most people don't understand. don't get on business so much because every time you raise taxes on them, that means it will go up. host: what change would you make that wasn't made in the tax overhaul last year? estimate isink the

there something like 50% of people in the u.s. did not pay taxes because they don't make enough, but even if it is one dollar a week, everyone has their finger in the pie summer, even if you make just enough to get by, put a dollar or something. at the end of the day, they will get more active in. host: i will give you some numbers on that, courtesy of oftenebt clock.org, we refer to this on the status of the debt, but you mentioned the number of taxpayers. americans inillion the united states, about 120 million income taxpayers, and the u.s. national debt is in the top left corner, currently at $21 trillion. that amounts to about $174,000 per taxpayer and comes out to

$64,000 per citizen. plenty of numbers to sort through pa at that website. mike in arkansas on the line for those who pay their fair share. caller: what i am saying is nott of all, trump has denied getting paid by the government. [indiscernible] everybody talks about these corporations have to buy stuff and they hold the until they sell them, so they do pay taxes. i guarantee there is not a billionaire who doesn't pay taxes. what do we pay taxes for? schools, nursing homes, basketball courts, the needy, all kinds of things taxes pay for to keep our country beautiful. take it easy. host: more of their calls in

this first of our. dayhington journal" on tax in the united states, but other stories we have been covering, yesterday in her reporters roundtable, we talked about the potential for new sanctions coming yesterday afternoon against russia. here is the story from the front page in the new york times. president trump projected for no a fresh round of sanctions set to be imposed against russia on monday, a change that underscores the schism between the president and his national security team.

host: one other story we have been talking about is the national guardsmen going to the u.s.-mexico border. the washington times with a front-page story about what they are doing and how many are there. the right -- some national guard troops deployed to the u.s.-mexico border will be allowed to carry weapons but not allowed to enforce immigration laws nor be put in a position where they are likely to encounter illegal immigrants.

host: we will see what happens. we will be hearing more from governor jerry brown today at the national press club this morning in washington. you can watch his remarks at 8:30 this morning on c-span2 and you can listen to them at the c-span radio app app and watch it at www.c-span.org. that's happening in about one hour this morning. back to your calls on tax day. we went to hear if you think you pay your fair share. narcisa in washington on the line for those who pay too much. thatr: yes, i think overtaxed in america, everybody is, most everybody is overtaxed.

over taxation is inhumane. it is slavery. it is a sin. i have overtaxed forever. during the time i had the break is with the bush tax cuts. latest taxabout the cuts? did you feel a break? caller: i think it is going to be. i am in the quarter of going bankrupt. i work so hard in my life, i cannot even tell you. ofm the proudest american mexican heritage, and i never have any fun. i can look, i cannot even tell you. i have three biological children and i have been overworked.

of over taxation. in 1963, president kennedy said -- there is a plot to enslave every man, woman, and child in this country. when i believe this noble office -- when i lead this noble office, i intend to expose this plot. he was killed not too much after that because kennedy was a patriot. fault onrats are at enslaving all of us. host: that was cynthia in dallas, texas -- now to cynthia, in dallas, texas for those who say they pay their fair share. caller: i say we pay our fair share.

people -- i do not know about this new tax plan, but the previous one, the less breaks to less taxes you paid. i don't know why we haven't done the flat tax, maybe because we are afraid, i don't know. host: [indiscernible] caller: my understanding would be, if they put a 10% flat tax on every item you purchase, so if you bought bread for one dollar, it would the $1.10. for the most part, people can afford that. and those who can't, they had the programs that taxes pay for any help. if you buy a car or stereo betem at $5,000, that would $5,500. there would not be that much difference. if you are going to buy a $2

cht, that is different, but that is how you get wealthier people to pay their share. and then taxes go into a pool and we have to find something smarter than the irs to invest in use money wisely. i think flat tax is that there is way to go -- is the fairest way to go. host: a few tweets. cy guy saying americans are not paying their fair share that is why we have record deficits i think i should. payless and i should and to make up for that, i volunteer in my communities. bc then this says corporations get away with paying little to nothing. the code is rigged to benefit the rich. my taxation is unfair. congress must do something to make it there for all -- make it fair for all in terms of the overhaul and what it means.

there are a few holes that have come -- polls that have come out on that. according to a new wall street journal poll, they think it is not a good idea. the result is a mixed bag, they write -- host: bob is in texas, as of, on the line for those who say bp too little -- they paid too little. caller: i wanted to go on line, but i think i pay my fair share and the thing the rich need to pay more. i don't understand it. we need our infrastructure fixed. with the tax cuts they did, we cannot get our infrastructure.

we are going in debt. i thought republicans would lower the debt, and i don't understand why they didn't. and it just doesn't want to. we need to take care of our country, our roads, and the rich and corporations use our roads and bridges every day to transport the goods. you know? host: to richard in massachusetts on the line for those who say they pay too much. go ahead. caller: i pay my fair share of when i was 61, i retired. i was a firefighter for 34 years and then i worked two jobs as a firefighter. and i worked nine years after that. now i am struggling. i will be 74 this year and i went back to work after two work, and i still have to

to make my ends meet, but i paid my fair share with my taxes. the only thing i say is, the government does not use the taxes for what they are supposed to be used for, like the gas tax. that was put into use to do infrastructure, to the people who say infrastructure, that is what the gas tax was for, but they don't do what they say. they pay everything out of it but what it was supposed to be for. that is why we are in this problem. we do not use the taxes for what it is meant for. it has always been that way. and always will be that way. thank you for letting me speak. host: thanks for the call. if you do not get in this first half-hour, we will be talking about this topic again on tax day in our last half-hour. we will take a few more calls but keep watching and we will revisit it again.

ralph is an washington, d.c., on the line for those who say they pay too much. am retired and still paying taxes on the income i get, including social security, which i find astounding. i went to make a point. investing, ii was made a huge amount of money and paid little taxes on that. and the tax system is terribly disproportionate. you keep regain that guy who finds a tax pledge and keeps going into the poor and the rich don't pay taxes. what he forgets to say is that the rich earn most of their money on capital gains. capital gains only pays 15% and they don't pay social security, medicaid, medicare, and they avoid all the taxes. we have the "tax overhaul."

we had 10,000 pages of tax code and how many thousands do you one? apply to the average probably 500, the rest are tax breaks for corporations. we did not have a tax overhaul but a tax giveaway. we cannot continue on this path. the republicans are claiming to be fiscally conservative and it is an absolute lie. everything they have done is the opposite of what they claim to be. host: that is ralph in d.c. we went to keep you updated on other stories we have been tracking. this story yesterday from senator john mccain's office that he is in stable condition after undergoing surgery for an intestinal infection related to diverticulitis. his family and senate office said mccain, who is battling a deadly form of brain cancer, has been in arizona since the summer

17. his family offered hopeful messages. the senator's bison on twitter that he was doing well after his surgery and they are looking forward to getting back to the valley, their property near sedona. their daughter tweeted that mccain is in stable condition and two continues to inspire me every day with great and determination. thank you to the doctors at the mayo clinic in phoenix and to everyone who was praying for him. one other story that got a lot of attention, the scene in the courtroom in manhattan, where president trump's lawyers were looking to review material seized by the fbi last week from the offices of the president's lawyer, michael cohan. this is the burnt page of the washington journal, showing stormy daniels asked the spectator monday at that hearing , and as the new york times

notes, amidst the hearing, they were gasps as sean hannity was named as cohen's secret client. during that hearing in manhattan, he was named as a client of president trump's longtime lawyer, edging the conservative commentator into the orbit of those who have come under legal scrutiny related to the investigations of mr. trump and his associates by robert miller -- robert mueller. they say it may not sit well with media watchdogs but that relationship has been good for sean hannity and his business. he is the most watched cable news program, averaging 3.2 million viewers in the first quarter of 2018, up from 1.8 million in the early months 201.

in ourore on that upcoming segment on "washington journal," and we will talk about it in our upcoming "segment, if you would like to -- upcoming open phone segments, but we will get to friday night's starts in syria would john german d of california -- john garamendi of california. and later, republicans are proposing changes to snap, the food program, and to look at that with glenn thompson the pennsylvania. -- glenn thompson of pennsylvania. we will be right back. ♪

>> sunday, our look back at the year of 1968 focuses on women's rights, the women's liberation movement, challenged long-held assumptions about women who transformed society. joining us to talk about women's rights in 1968, debra spark, a former college president and author of wonderwomen. , a syndicatedn columnist and senior fellow at the ethics and policy center in washington, d.c., also the author of the upcoming book "sex matters." turmoil,68, america in -- watch 1968, america in turmoil, sunday on c-span's washington journal and on american history tv on c-span

3. >> this weekend, life coverage on book tv of the 22nd annual l.a. times festival of books. saturday at 1:00 p.m. eastern, bookjorge ramos and his "stranger." political reporter sarah kenzie or with her book "the view from flyover country." on sunday, our live coverage continues at 1:30 eastern with a journalist and his book "russian roulette." it is co-authored. black lives matter co-founder with her book "when they call you a terrorist." and political commentator roger simon with his book "i know best." long coverageend of the 22nd annual l.a. times

festival of books, live on c-span2's book tv. >> "washington journal" continues. host: congressman john garamendi is back at our desk, a democrat from california, and we know there is in all member briefing on the syria strikes this afternoon with secretary mattis. what questions will you be looking to have answered? guest: my principal issue is what is the legal authority for this act of war? when you bond a -- bomb the country, that is an act of war. this is not going after isis, authorized under the 2001 afghanistan authorized use force . this is a second time in one year that the president has launched bombs, missiles, against syria. there is no authority to do so. under the constitution, the

congress, article one, section eight, has the authority to wage war. this is a declaration before. the president, article two, section two, knowing does it say commander in chief can unilaterally attack another country. the chemical attacks were horrific and there needed to be a response, but what the president needed to do was come to congress and say, this horrific event took place, i want to take action. give me the authorization. he did not do that. host: what would be the authorization you would you willing to give at this point? what is the scope of what you are willing to do in syria? guest: apparently, the president's proposed plan was to launch a tomahawk missiles attack against the facilities that stored and produced the chemical weapons. all well and good if he had asked for a specific authority -- i want to launch an attack, a bombing attack, against these facilities to deter and stop the

production of it, and i want to do this for at least one year and longer if necessary. he could have had that passed in congress within one day. very simple resolution. and probably close to 100% vote. but instead, he went ahead and did it and now there is a controversial over his legal authority for the attack. host: your understanding after this, what is the red line for president trump of when he is willing to take strikes? guest: apparently, when he wakes up in the morning and says, i think i want to do it. it is willy-nilly. keep in mind that two weeks ago, the president said that he wanted -- that the war against isis was complete. isis was out, and he was going to pull the troops out of syria and leave syria to others. 70's later, there was a chemical -- seven days later, there was a chemical attack by the assad

government and seven days later, he launched missiles into syria. there is no consistent policy, and that lack of consistency and strategy, that lack of a specific objective that could be carried out to a clear strategy creates confusion and may have led to assad saying, there are going to be out of here, so i will end this -- these rebels now and do it with chemical weapons because america is leaving. his to say what was on mind, but there is a clear pattern of inconsistency with this president. therefore, it is more important for congress to reassert its constitutional power given to the congress for specific reasons. the framers of the constitution did not want the power of war in the hands of the chief executive. host: at any point, can the president take military action on his own? when is he justified? guest: yes.

in 1973, the work of powers act was put into place, the result of the vietnam war, and the congress wanted the president to be able to defend the nation in case of an imminent attack or one underway. it was clear. it was to provide -- limit the power of the president and simultaneously give the president power should there be an imminent attack.basically, a nuclear threat . or a nuclear launch of missiles aimed at the united states. that was the war powers act of 1973. year'smore, in last appropriations, military appropriations, there was a specific laws put in that none of the money in the military appropriation could be spent in syria. period. in contravention of the war powers act. so we have three different laws, the constitution, the war powers act, and last year's appropriation language. host: and two justifications

from the trump administration. the president said he had inherent power as commander-in-chief to protect national security interests, is from the washington times story today. the cia director said last week a strike would be done under the 2001 authorization of use for military force in the war against the taliban and al qaeda. guest: that doesn't make any sense at all. the syrian government is more with the taliban. and that were with isis. wart makes -- and thaat with isis, so it makes no sense to use that to does one authorization. not a related entity in any stretch of anybody's imagination so it makes no sense to be used. what was in the president's statement is essentially -- i am the executive officer. i am the commander-in-chief and

i will do whatever i want to do when i think it is in national interest. that is extraordinarily dangerous. host: congressman john garamendi with this until 8:00. phone lines are open. republicans, (202)-748-8000. democrats, -- republicans, (202)-748-8001. democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. jesse is first in indiana, line for independents. guest: good morning. ,aller: i was independent leaned more towards libertarian than republican. , inve got to tell you today's times, when you look at what is going on around the world, taking the ability away from the commander-in-chief to authorize a strike without declaring war, that seems stupid to me, and to relegate that

authority to congress, which has shown this it is incapable of doing anything constructive, except taking our money and spending it, is just another step to lunacy. he did not declare war on syria and congress hasn't either. he did not ask them too. keep andid was try to atrocity from happening, and i think that needs to be considered. guest: like i said a moment ago, i believe congress without enacted an authorization of use force in short order at the president come to them and said come here the problems, he was what happened with the chemical attack, and it was very clear what did take place, and he said, i want to make sure that syria does not have the ability to do this again, and i want your authorization to launch an attack against the chemical weapons reduction the 70's and

storage facilities, and would .ver he may want to do i believe congress would have acted quickly on that. we don't know, but i do know there was overwhelming support in congress for the action. however, we have to have a process in place. we may or may not like mr. trump, we may or may not trust him, the next president we may like or may not trust, but we cannot give the power to create a war to a single digital. the premise of the constitution was concerned about this and we should remain concerned because the president can tell the military to go here and there were to attack here and there, that is a dangerous situation. i want to bring to your attention the situation in north korea. the president did threaten fire and fear he, which many people -- and fury, which many people that could eat a nuclear attack

on north korea or an attack on them, the conventional warfare attack, so that is an extraordinary situation. to enter into a new or renewal of the korean war without congress being involved, keep in mind, congress is the representative of the people. 100 senators, 435 members of congress, each here to represent the people of the united states. we want to vote to go to war? yes or no? that is our responsibility under the constitution and not the president's. host: you are looking to bring a vote to restrict the president's powers, particularly in syria? guest: with regard to a nuclear attack. this would be the first strike nuclear attack. yes, we are attempting to do that. we do not want the president to initiate a nuclear war. host: what is that legislation stand? guest: it has been introduced and has not had a hearing, nor

do i think it will. it will be deep-sixed by the republicans. i think that is a mistake. host: karen, oklahoma, like the republicans. caller: good morning. this is just a deplorable taxpayer, the ones the democrats hate. guest: democrats do not pay two, let me make that clear. caller: i have heard plenty of names been called and called. you say it is willy-nilly on trump. strategy andad a he cannot go to congress in places like that because there are so many weeks it would have been -- leaks. we do not care who trump slept with 10 years ago. how about you care about the rule of law, but you are in california, where you care more about illegal criminals than the american people. guest: you have made two

questions. first, it was the president that went to it the statements. those were not mine. wonpresident said we had the battle with isis and he would pull the troops out and leave syria to others. the others are iran, turkey, syria itself, russia, saudi arabia, and iraq. those with others, and united states apparently did pull away from it. there was a meeting in turkey two weeks ago about the future of syria. who attended? turkey, russia, and you. -- and iran. the united states did not participate in the last meeting about the future of syria would eat, and we still -- would be, and we still have a vital interest, whether we like it or not in the area. with regards to the willy-nilly question, it is the president. he said he wanted to pull out, he didn't.

and after the chemical strike, he said he wanted to attack. he is the one that sent out the tweet that the big beautiful missiles were going to be landing in syria, heads up, russia. that was he. he was the one who signaled that this government was going to attack those chemical facilities. congress did not do that. with regard to keeping the tactics secret, you should look to the president. he is the one who tweeted out what would happen in days ahead and it did, just as he said. host: what responsibility does the obama administration bear for the state of syria today? guest: a great deal. the obama strategy in syria did not work. from the initial onset of the syrian civil war, the obama administration said assad has to go. to this day, that remains the policy of the united states.trump

has not said differently. he may have a different view, that is the policy. the obama administration also attempted to work with the rebels, but frankly, could not find a group of rebels that were trustworthy. although we did attempt to end did find several groups overa perio of yearsd, the policy was a failure. on, russiaar went entered the situation, and turned the tide in support of assad. all of that happened. one thing to keep in mind that the chemical weapons attacks are not new. engaged in ad serious chemical weapons attack against his people. obama had laid down a redline. he actually came to congress asking for an authorization use of force. it did not happen. instead, obama worked out a diplomatic solution with nato and russia, and syria.

the result was all of the chemical weapons and precursors, that is governments used to make the chemical weapons, where removed and destroyed. russia was left in place to be responsible that no new chemical weapons would be created. obviously, that did not happen. new chemical weapons were created and used. host: about 10 minutes left with john garamendi, democrat from california. eddy is waiting for you in massachusetts, democrat. hi. guest: hello. guys.: hi, i just want to thank you both, host, as well, as well as mr. ndi, idy. -- mr. garmedn will die a democrat, and the blue wave will be here for generations i hope and pray. when we are all aware of what is actually happening since the election was stolen in 2016,

there is not a single reason i have to trust a single republican governor, senator, congressman or woman, republican ryan, mike pence, paul nobody knows what they are doing. that is what democrats do. john, youyourself, guys and girls, thank you for my family to yours and to all of my fellow americans, we are all in this mess together.these republicans -- i think their party needs to and. they do nothing right. guest: i appreciate your sentiments but i happen to know many good republicans in congress who share the concerns i have, specifically about this issue of the president being able to engage and actually creating an attack on a foreign governments without the authority of congress. we have got to go forward. we do need to end these chemical

weapons and we need to hold russia responsible in this case, which creates another point.nikki haley on sunday indicated the trump administration was going to impose additional sanctions against russian companies that either manufactured the precursors to chemical weapons or the material, and equipment to make the weapons. the president a day later turned that around and those sanctions against those russian companies is on hold, quite possible permanent told. this is what i am talking about, inconsistencies and the lack of a strategy, and an objective and strategy in syria creates enormous confusion about where the united states is diplomatically. we do not have ambassadors in the area, not even the secretary of state. we have nikki haley saying something sunday and then the president turning that around the next day.

confusion is apparent and it is a serious international problem. host: darrell, virginia, independent. caller: good morning. i just want to point out -- well, i agree with the congressman that we need to have a better delineation between what i think used to be called police action versus a war. there is a great line. line-- there is a gray the congressman dodged. the question, where is that line now? he said, it is basically where the president once it. one, where is that line? in this case, it would have been , for example, to require the president to come to congress and signal -- as you said, specifically, if he was going to leave these places and last this long -- but to signal it, we would lose our objective complete we. guest: be made it interesting

but an incorrect point. it was the president that signaled to the entire world, specifically russia, that he would launch big, beautiful, very smart missiles into syria. those were his tweets. not mine. that congress'. nobody but himself. in regards to signaling what the intentions of the united states are, keep in mind the president was all over barack obama about signaling the pullout of american troops in afghanistan and iraq ahead of the actual pullout. trump said he would never do that. in fact, he did. he did that in ohio, when he said we had defeated isis and he would take the troops out and leave syria to others. and then he signaled it with his day, beautiful, smart rockets being launched. those are his signals, not mine, not the military, not congress. he could have come to congress and said, i want to carry out the program just announced on my

tweets. here is the scope of it. here is what i want to do. give me the authorization. i believe congress could have done that within a day or two, plenty of time. host: what do think happens this week with the proposal moving forward in the senate of a new authorization for use of military force, led by senator bob corker? guest: i think there is a possibility. again, what is the scope and time frame? keep in mind, the authorization to use force in afghanistan is 17 years old and is being used around the world wherever there happens to be a terrorist group that is somehow aligned to either al qaeda or the television. that -- or the taliban.that is a broad area . workers proposal may be more than that -- corker's proposal may be more limited. those kinds of authorizations are necessary. host: if it were limited specifically to syria, it could

pass in a day? guest: if it is limited to the chemical weapons systems, yes. if it is troops on the ground to go after the syrian government to enter into that war, that civil war, no, it would not pass. host: didn't president obama get pushback from congress, members of congress who were worried about tying the president's hands in future engagements that it was too restrictive? guest: the opposite, it was to open. -- it was too open. there was a debate on the scope and length of it. the introduction of american troops into the civil war, there was a raging debate. however, the outcome of that was that the chemical weapons were removed. the united nations convention on chemical weapons and the commission that enforces that went into syria and determine that all of the chemical weapons and all of the ability to manufacture that had been

removed or destroyed. in the intervening year between 2013 and 2018 or 2017, when chemical weapons were once again used, syria reinstituted and reconstituted the chemical weapons program. russia was supposed to monitor that and they didn't. or quite possibly, the allowed it to happen and maybe encouraged it by allowing the necessary equipment. a very narrowly focus, authorization to use force, i believe what had passed congress very quickly. they use of a chemical weapon is horrific, a legal, so it is appropriate for the united states to take action, but it is necessary it done constitutionally. host: glenn, illinois, line for democrats. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call.

i got a couple of questions for the representative. think all these missiles they send it empty warehouses. you look at the damage. you send 33 missiles roughly to each three locations and you still have concrete standing. you still see if you burned out turks here and there, where is all the stainless steel mixing bowls and all the other hoses of stainless steel? they moved that out before that missiles. trump gave them a week to get the stuff out. thank you and i think they ought to look at the pictures again. host: do we know if that happens? guest: we had a briefing this afternoon. we have one from the secretary of defense and the chief, the joint chiefs of staff. perhaps there will be an answer.

the military has said it was successful and the carried out what they wanted to do, and the president has said -- mission accomplished. host: how do you feel about that term? guest: i do not know if the mission was accomplished. we don't know because there was something missing here that was important. that is a long-term strategy. there is no long-term strategy and evidence of that is what happened to nikki haley this sunday. the president yanked her chain and said, no, we're not doing sanctions on monday. the lack of consistency and the strategy, the diplomatic and national strategy is missing. i will say that the engagement was an important elements, and the president did well or the military did well by engaging them. don, newt call,

jersey, line for independents. caller: since we already knew these places existed because apparently we knew where they were and we have all these smart bombs to blow them up, don't you guys ever get into the loop? weren't you aware they were there before they bombed these?why didn't anyone say anything ? guest: actually, we did know they were there. the military knew they were there, and it was a year ago the military launched the first strike using tomahawk weapons against an airfield as a result of the use of chemical weapons, when year, two weeks ago. a year later, we did it a second time. in both cases, there was not a coherent strategy to address this issue through time. there was not a diplomatic strategy, there was not a strategy with the u.n., nato,

and other countries to cause russia to enforce the agreement that they had made in 2013 to eliminate chemical weapons in the lack of a strategy in my view led to the one-year from the first attack to the second attack, and unless there is a coherent strategy going forward to deal with this issue and more ,o with the civil war in syria we are probably going to go back and launch attack again. in all probability, syria could reconstitute its chemical weapons program for reasons you and others have said. you are not eliminated the capability to do this once again. certainly with chlorine, which is a readily available agent. host: thanks for taking some

questions on it. guest: my pleasure, good to be with you. host: up next, we will take a closer look at the farm bill with a key member of the agricultural committee. glenn thompson will join us. we will be right back. ♪ >> c-span -- where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. and today, we continue to bring you unfiltered comfo coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events and washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable and satellite provider. monday on "landmark cases,"

independent community school district, the case about student free speech five students -- tinker v. des moines independent community school district. five students were arm fans. they challenge the free-speech restrictions and the supreme court decision established that students keep their first amendment rights on school grounds. our guess are made best tanker, -- our guests include mary beth tinker, one of the five students. after two decades as a pediatric nurse, she worked as a free speech advocate for students, touring nationally. and eric shafi, independent federal litigator, with experience on more than 100 horses. cases. he clerked for clarence thomas in 1996.

watch "landmark cases" at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. ours landmark cases -- hashtag is lame or cases. there's a companion book, a link to the interactive constitution, and the landmark cases podcast at c-span.org/weimar cases. -- landmark cases. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: congressman glenn thompson is a republican from pennsylvania and a member of the agricultural committee where he chairs the subcommittee on nutrition. perhaps one of the most important jobs each and every five years or so is to renew the farm bill. explain what the farm bill is made up of. guest: the farm bill is important. single mostly the important piece of legislation that comes out of washington on the federal side that really ensuring our nation has

affordable, high-quality, and say food. it is even more than that. it's about the rural economy. i do believe that if we are doing the farm bill correctly and we are getting that policy correct, we wind up with a robust rural economy. that is something that should matter to every american. without a robust rural america, every american will wake up cold, dark, and hungry. one of the things that people in rural america and those who work in agriculture, which is everything from the food that we eat, the fiber that we use, energy sources, even building , that's really what the farm bill covers. it's a very comprehensive piece of legislation. it touches on agricultural commodities. it touches on nutrition, conservation, forestry, education.

it touches on rural health care. it's a very comprehensive piece of legislation. host: we are in that reauthorization cycle now. how much is the latest farm bill expected to cost and one of the biggest ticket items in it? guest: we are actually a window of this current farm bill does not expire until september 30 of this year. normally i would be here and six months past the expiration date. it's absolutely critical we move on the farm bill and get this done. for the past five years, we have seen a 53% decrease in farm income. we need to infuse some certainty into the agricultural commodity. that's why it's important to do that now in a proactive way to get this done. if rural america fails, every american will fail it. costs of the farm bill

percentagewise is about 80% of it is the nutrition title. the rest is balanced across the different titles. that takes an agricultural practices, commodities, research. there's a lot of different t's there.t slurpee host host: we are talking about snap? guest: the nutrition title for me -- i grew up in a re very rural area. the worst part of living in a small rural community is everybody knows your business. as a child, if i did something where i was out playing with my brother and sister, my parents knew about it when i got home. the best part is that everybody knows your business. i had a cousin whose house burned to the ground unfortunately around 11:30 p.m. at night.

those flames -- they were lucky to get out alive. as the flames were coming out on the roof of the home, the firefighters were on scene, but so were looked once, family members, friends, and strangers offering support and coats. that's what the nutrition title is. the nutrition title is about helping neighbors in need. that's why it is so incredibly important. it includes list that program and all the assistance -- includes the snap program and all the assistance to food banks and commodity programs for older adults. there's a variety of things that we accomplish with the nutrition title. host: democrats particular concerned in this proposed farm bill to reductions to the snap program. guest: there are no reductions to the snap program. host: how would you change the program? guest: first of all, we have not made any cuts. we are not removing snap eligibility from anyone. we have enhanced the program.

we improved program quality. one of the things we have done, starting with rfid banks, in the past we find it out at $15 million. -- our food banks, in the past we fund it out at $15 million. we are adding a component that has been used in my home state of pennsylvania for some time where that $60 million, 20 million dollars of it will be used to the food pantries and access -- excess agricultural crops. there's a very popular program for food insecurity. we are providing baseline funding for that. we are going to make it to encourage folks on snap benefits to get fresh fruits and vegetables. we are providing incentives to retailers, who are important

partners for the snap program, to its edifies -- incentivize adding step benefits. they are able to get more if they are purchasing fresh healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy products. there are so many different ways we are improving the snap benefits actually. host: you are a ranking member of the nutrition subcommittee. jim mcgovern was on our "newsmakers" program and talked about proposed changes. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> what would be some way of moving people to work that you would support? >> there are job training programs out there and are limitations on able-bodied adults who are dependent. they can only be on the program for three months. if they do not have a job, they lose their benefit. i think that's harsh, but it already exists. we have worked training programs that already exist. why are we reinventing the wheel?

this is an attempt to really go after a population who is vulnerable. i've sat through all these hearings and heard all the rhetoric. i am fed up with this constant belittling of poor people, diminishing their struggle. i'm going to tell you. democrats are united in opposition to this bill. what they have done to snap is basically go after the core of this program. we are going to fight it. by the way, the other thing is it reflects a lousy process. none of us were involved in it. none of us were informed about it and it's shameful. host: can you talk about those work programs? guest: we are not doing anything to people. we are doing things for people. there are roughly 35% of individuals who are on snap. the first 65% are people over the age of 65 and under the age of 18, people with disabilities. the other 35% our work capable

folks who we want to make sure they have better snap benefits, access to more fresh food. we are actually taking care of some things that should have been dumb a long time ago -- done a long time ago. they are there because of mostly temporary reasons. they are in financial distress. we want to make sure they have the food security, but we want to make sure they have better access to opportunity. we are taking a billion dollars in investing that in education and training, guaranteeing a training slot and education slot in every state no matter where individuals live so they would be able to access the type of training. we are not talking four-year degrees or two-year degrees. we are talking the types of jobs and education and training that would lead to the more than 5 million jobs sitting open and available.

that number is growing right now as a result of the tax cuts and we see what businesses are doing in terms of expanding. there's something called the skills gap and this is another passion of mine in addition to agricultural and attrition.'. -- agriculture and attrition. this is where employers cannot find employees with skills to fill. this is providing training for specialization and certification. securityo provide that of food security, but we want to provide that on-ramp to opportunity. it's a proven method. we know that it works. quite frankly it is something i'm very excited about with the opportunities we are providing. than 35ion to the more changes and improvements we have made to the nutrition title. host: congressman glenn thompson with us until the bottom of the hour, taking your calls and comments.

,epublicans (202) 748-8001 democrats (202) 748-8000, (202) 748-8002. first, on the line for republicans. caller: there are people on snap with health conditions. as far as food, they are either lactase intolerant -- lactose intolerant or diabetic. as far as someone bring you, like the president said, a package of food, that does not work. there's also some people with certain religions and there are certain foods that they do and do not eat. sometimes these food pantries, people think they are doing a great thing. i've gone to them a couple of times and it was not anything there. they are full of cobb carbs and everything else. i'm a diabetic and i cannot eat

that stuff. guest: you are spot on. did float anation idea very briefly, which i thought was a terrible idea called a harvest box where they bring you box of basically processed food. that is not a part of our farm bill. i do not support that in any way. you won't find that in the proposal anywhere. you are absolutely correct. healthy foods are so important. type two diabetes can be driven by if you are just consuming processed foods. wet is why this farm bill, actually worked so hard to provide incentives to improve the fresh fruits, vegetables. we understand some people are lactose intolerant. there are some great dairy products out there. thatlife is one of them filters the milk to deal with the lactose. i have an older son who is lactose intolerant. nutrition fromhe

milk, but you don't deal with the consequences of the lactose. i get your point exactly. that's exactly the spirit of what we are doing here, trying to improve the quality of food that is available for the folks, helping our neighbors in need. no one should go hungry. is all aboutram meeting the needs that you did a great job of describing. host: you mentioned nutrition programs making up 80% of the cost of the farm bill. what does that come out to in dollars? guest: at the top of my head, i don't have that. it's a significant amount of money, but the total dollar amount i cannot tell you. host: is there an estimate of what this farm bill renewal is expected to cost? guest: the same cost it has been. it is a zero-sum in terms of the

reauthorization that we did approximately four and a half-five years ago. part of the good news of that is that anywhere we have been able savings through program integrity, preventing fraud and abuse, which is estimated to be $700 million a year, we are reinvesting that so to speak right into the nutrition title. specifically for states, we are incentivizing for states to be able to identify fraud and abuse of anyway and they are able to realize the savings. we are increasing the amount -- i believe it's from 25% to 50% -- that states are able to retain. we do require them to reinvest those savings back into the nutrition title. this farm bill is really not about dollars. it's about policy and getting the policy right, especially the

nutrition title. it's not about dollars. we did not go through this process. it was a very transparent over three and a half years. we have had over 31 hearings in a very bipartisan way. just most recently in march, my friends, mr. mcgovern, i love working with them. workd volunteer together at the d.c. central kitchen. my democrat friends on the agriculture committee submitted their priorities that they want to see incorporated into the farm bill for all titles, not just nutrition. there are four priorities, including training which was the fourth bullet they submitted. they are all priorities submitted in the farm bill. host: dennis is in williamsport. go ahead. caller: thanks for taking my call.

i'd like to comment. i get snap benefits. my snap benefits were cut of very minor about, but they were already cut. i would like to comment that this republican tax bill for the rich that they passed, you will have trillion dollar deficits the end of september. the hoover institute has come out and said we had to cut social security, medicare, medicaid. the oldylvania, 67% of people in nursing homes, medicaid is paying for this. you know you are going to try to cut those benefits, steal from the poor, and give to the rich. , only aboutges go half the people that are eligible for food stamps actually get them because they are too proud. i was not too proud when i found out i could get them. i got the. m. i have a brother in law that worked at a company in

williamsport that has changed names since the. n. he was making more in our in 1988 that they are paying now. the company i'm working for now stopped giving raises 2006. this is the problem that has gone on this country. you have which is going down and not keeping up. you have more and more people who have to rely on those programs . host: thanks for telling your story could guest. guest: good to hear from you. as someone who practice health care in pennsylvania for 28 years, it's good to hear a voice from home. actually, dennis, real quickly wages are rising. they are wire rising for the first time in 15 years or more. 90% of americans are seeing more money in their paychecks as a result of the lower tax rates. we will see what happens. excited and that's important.

it is time for wages to rise. what we have done in the past has not worked and it looks like this is working. i appreciate what you touched on in terms of eligibility. i understand. you talked about how not everyone -- sometimes people are embarrassed to reach out for the help that they need for food security. i first started out in life, i graduated from penn state. i was working with individuals facing life-changing disease and disability. that's what i did for somebody decades. -- so many decades. startings first out, i was making around $7,000 a year full-time. when we first became pregnant with my son now in his 30's with two sons of his own, we were eligible for wic -- women infant children benefit. it was and bear sink and i understand that it --

embarrassing and i understand that. my wife struggled with who was to geto go get vouchers nutritious food that as a pregnant mom and our unborn son needed. completely understand that . that is the sense of spirit that i approach this nutrition title with. i also want to talk about eligibility. we have done something that has not been done before. this is long overdue. it comes from the great society in the 1960's. we fix this when it comes to the nutrition title. the people who are struggling financially, we put limits on how much assets a are allowed to own in order to be eligible for snap. it was arbitrary. we change that. we have indexed that to inflation. now that all households can have up to $2000 in a savings account, they cannot do that

before. if their car broke down or the roof leaked, they cannot handle that. we have taken total assets from $3000 to $7,000 and indexed inflation to the future. if the household has one individual with a disability or an older adult, it goes to $12,000 from $3000. clunkerike to call the asset, people who need reliable transportation more than anyone else, they were not allowed to own a vehicle and be eligible for snap if they had a vehicle with the value of more than $4650. we take that to $12,000. we are dressing for the first time probably ever these poverty clips. there will be a lot more eligible people rightfully so because of the changes we made. we also did for active-duty military. those individuals who joined the

military late life may come with a spouse and children. what they make as a private or entry-level position in the military is not really enough to meet their families needs. the families usually live off-base. they get a base housing allowance and that base housing allowance has counted up to this point against their eligibility for snap. these are families who need food security. we pay our military better than what we have in the past. we just gave them an 2.9% increase. you are coming in on private salary and it's normally not going to support a family. we provide some allowances toward that for the first time ever. host: four numbers on snap -- more than 40 million americans participate in the snap program. that is up from 17 million in 2000. steve in russellville, alabama, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. guest: my pleasure, steve. caller: yes, sir.

i was just interested in how much influence like these nongovernmental agencies like peta and some of those guys have our foreign policy. i know the last farm bill was just a disaster for a lot of us farmers. guest: can i ask a disaster in what way? there was so much of the farm bill and you cannot get much right. i think there were areas that needed improvements. cotton was struggling. i did not know if you had specific issues or areas. caller: i know that these peta people and humane society people are talking law enforcement and to rating people's farms and saying these animals are mistreated when they are not. i know that they are always the authority. guest: you are right. rely on those animals for livestock.

as livestock, depending on how you are utilizing them in agriculture, whether it's for milk production, beef production, know poultry, whatever, we that as a farmer -- and it sounds like you are -- good livestock management means you are attending to the health of the animals. we know that because in the end you are going to do better financially as a result when it comes time to sell that commodity. aboutoups that you talked don't play a tremendous role that i observe within the farm bill. offereds an amendment last time around, but i thought it was reasonable. there is a friend of mine outside of the activity that sponsored basically to provide for if you take a child to a

dogfight, you should be subject to some type of felony prosecution. i supported that. i thought that was a reasonable request. it's interesting that it falls within the realm of the farm bill, but it had to do with an animal. host: before you go, what kind of farmer are you? caller: we raise gamecocks here in alabama. we have had them for years and years. they are starting to radar farms and grouping us with dogfighting and everything like that. it's outrageous. mcgovern -- i know he gets a lot of money from the humane society of those guys. we are just farmers and god-fearing americans. we are under assault by these kinds of people. next they will stop hunting and fishing. they already screwed up the horse market and the circuses. hunter and fi fishing will be next. guest: thanks for what you and your family do. you keep us fed and we appreciate it.

you guys work hard seven days a week to do that. host: lynchburg, virginia, peggy, republican, go ahead. i think they should stop the food stamp program. guest: great question. caller: it's terrible. guest: in over 31 hearings that we have had, we have found very little abuse. when you are an elected official , you owe the responsibility to be a good steward of the tax dollars. we are creating as part of a proposal to the farm bill a clearinghouse. is thathe abuses go across state lines and get eligibility in different states to collect these benefits. who knows what sometimes they do with them? they don't always use them for nutrition. they try to commoditize the and sell them.

part of the proposal is to create a clearinghouse to reduce fraud and abuse. it's a lot of money. it's a lot of money where i come from. year.round $700 billion a -- $700 million a year. it could be used to feed a child and adult, and older adult who is in food insecurity. any savings we find with fraud and abuse we will invest that in. we are incentivizing the states in order to be good stewards as well as they administer these snap benefits. ,f they find fraud and abuse stop it and we will allow them to retain more of that money. we will require them to reinvest acca to the nutrition title, helping our neighbors in need. host: are there any provisions proposed to prevent people from buying certain foods or drinks? guest: we are incentivizing

good, fresh, healthy foods. the example i used -- it is so difficult and i take great juice for example. you can go to a grocery store and find great juice that is 100% natural. you can find 80%, 60%, 10%. difficult. retailers struggle with that there are certain things that you cannot buy with snap benefits. grocery stores have become the modern day general stores. you buy your light bulbs and all the different things that are there. the approach that we have chosen to pursue is really to incentivize the fresh foods. from our hearings, over 80 different witnesses, we found the average beneficiary uses multiple forms of payment when they go to shop. they are using their ebt benefits, but they may be using cash, check, debit card, and

unfortunately may be a credit card. multiple forms. there's at least two. we are working with our retailers and also the program to incentivize the purchase of fresh and healthy foods. if you can go there and you have cards -- we have not called on food stamps and decades -- you can get more if you purchase fresh foods. to me, that's a winning strategy. most families have the same consumption patterns. we all have our sweet tooth. it's a broad base of what people buy. the other forms of payment they will be able to use for those types of things. we are try to make the snap ebt benefits go further if you are buying fresh foods and vegetables. host: last call in buffalo, new

york on the line for democrats. go ahead. caller: good morning, congressman. upstate new york, real close to you. guest: i go to the new york line from erie county to iota county. caller: we are struggling pretty good. i'm glad you are on the subject. the number was 300 and day of farmers going out of business. i'm glad you're talking about this because you really haven't said much. i would like to know how you feel about your commander in chief that is running this place up to the ground. how are we giving all these tax breaks? i cannot even drive to the dmv with the way my roads are. are you kidding me? the farmers are all closed down and buckled up. they don't have a chance around here. the question is how do you feel about this president? host: congressman, i will give

you the last minute or two. guest: your question was more than that. i appreciate the president and the opportunity to work with the president. the invitations i've had to sit down, it's always been in a bipartisan way. i have sat at the cabinet table with republicans and democrats. quite frankly i appreciate his style of leadership within that room and how he is engaging each person in a bipartisan way looking for solutions. he does not care about labels. he cares about american families and how they are struggling. my friend in new york, my neighbor to the north, unfortunately part of what you're talking about our state issues in the state of new york. roads is largely a state issue. i really can't speak to that. that is something the state legislature in albany has to do a better job on. in terms of farms, you're spot on. we cannot afford to lose our farms. if we lose our farms, we risk food insecurity.

if we have food insecurity, we have national insecurity. it's a national security issue. this is a national security priority in order to make sure our agricultural industry and our ability to feed ourselves as a nation continues. you have a lot of great dairy farms up in new york. i have been up there. than all the different listening sessions we did a revelation. -- around the nation. we had a great turnout for that at lowell university of their that does -- up there that does a good job. -- it's a primary having difficulty. it's largely a result of over the past seven years that we have had a decrease in consumption. that all dates back to really in 2009-2010 when there was a misguided school nutrition bill. i voted against it. it demonized nooks that. -- that.

milk fat. if you go to schools, you'll see many cartons of milk unopened and the gorgeous -- in the garbage can. i've enjoyed working with secretary perdue. he used my legislative language and we restrict -- restored milk fat. .75% fatk is only free. we restored milk fat for the first time in seven years. anecdotally i'm seeing an increase in milk consumption because kids are drinking it. they are benefiting from it because of the nutrition in milk fat. number 2 -- it tastes good. that's a market solution and not a part of the farm bill. i'm hoping these kids will go home now and get a new generation asking mom and dad to buy a gallon of milk. there are some great alternatives out there in terms

of filtered milk. you can check those out on your own. host: congressman glenn thompson of pennsylvania, member of the agriculture committee, thanks for talking with us. guest: as a fellow eagle scout, i'm pleased to be with you. host: up next, it is open phones. any public policy issue you want to talk about, the phone lines are yours to do it. republicans, (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. start calling in now. we will be right back. ♪ >> connect with c-span to personalize the information you get from us. just go to c-span.org/connect and sign up for the email. the program guide is a daily mail with the most updated primetime schedule an upcoming live coverage. word for word gives you the most interesting daily video highlight in their own words with no commentary. the book tv newsletter sent

weekly is an insiders look at upcoming authors and book festivals. the american history tv weekly newsletter gives you the upcoming programming exploring our nation's past. visit c-span.org/connect and sign up today. sunday our look back to the tumultuous year of 1968 focuses on women's rights. the women's liberation movement challenge long-held assumptions about women who, transformed society. joining us to talk about women's ,ights in 1968 by deborah spahr author of "wonder women: sex, power, and the quest for perfection," and a syndicated columnist and policy fellow in washington, d.c.. she's author of the upcoming : how moderntters

feminism lost touch with signs, love, and common sense." turmoil68: american onen's rights on c-span and american history tv on c-span3. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: it is open phones on "the washington journal." the lines are euros until 9:00 to talk about any public policy issue or new story you want to talk about. we show you the front page of "the washington post" today. the story on the new stories from last year that won the pulitzer prize. two washington post" won pulitzer prizes for its investigation of russian interference and the 2016 election and its coverage of the 2017 senate race in alabama, where they broke the story of the sexual misconduct allegations against republican candidate roy moore.

they want in the investigative journalism category. therussian story shared national reporting story with "the new york times." "the times" and "the new new documented allegations of sexual harassment and assault of prominent men in the entertainment industry and news media. the award went to a team of reporters that focused on hollywood producer harvey weinstein, former fox news host bill o'reilly, and comedian louis ck . harveyarrow revealed weinstein's allegedly violent interactions with actresses and efforts to cover them up. other winners include "the press democrat" for its recovery -- coverage of wildfires i and "the cincinnati inquirer"

coverage of the local heroin epidemic. there's also explanatory reporting for coverage related to president trump's proposal to build a border wall. what stories do you want to talk about? the phone lines are open. up first is the line for democrats, go ahead. caller: is this call for john? host: yes, go ahead. caller: i'm sorry that i missed the last congressman. maybe they should try to work on giving incentives to companies that would give nutritious food at like a tax cut for them for giving a break to the stores and a snap recipient. thank you. host: th thanks for the call. john is in new mexico on the line for republicans. caller: thank you for c-span.

y'all do a great job of giving everybody a forum to voice their opinions. i think snape is very necessary for people. back when i was working -- i'm not working anymore. i'm fortunate or blessed you would call that. back when i was working, i worked at a company that i'm not going to name, but they made good money. a lot of the people working there did not make enough money so they were on snap while they were working. alluded to itr and i think something needs to be done about it. anybody working 40 hours a week, it's just a shame that they don't make enough to qualify for these benefits. i think we need to take the jobs at the bottom and work on those wages and get those wages up to where they are not qualified for benefits. that was the saddest thing about being a working person was

seeing other people that were working just like i was and they did not have enough money what with their other investments or other businesses. i have always been fortunate to have whatever job i had plus a side business here. i'm doing that over there plus this guy is coming over here on friday night and we're going to party and stuff. i have always had some income. i live in a green state. the guy from new york is calling and saying his state is not great. they need to make it green. host: thanks for the call. don is in jamestown, north carolina, independent. go ahead. caller: hello. that ioing to mention heard on npr that russia and to a tariffgreed free exports of lobsters from canada.

i also wanted to call about sean attorney for the republican donor. this president is on vacation and it's just unbelievable. host: the president is in mar-a-lago today. he is meeting with the japanese abe.e minister, shinzo several stories about his stemming back home in japan as he is getting to meet with the president. he has been plagued by cronyism scandals. polls published monday in japan show his ratings have steadily tanked following recent days. there was one from the news network that put has approval rating almost four points down from march and almost down into the 20's since he returned as

prime minster in 2012. he is expected to talk about trade issues and north korea and the upcoming talks with north korea about denuclearization. the president today up early and tweeting. his first tweets of the day about 15 mins ago come "employment is up, taxes are down. enjoy." "i'm in florida looking forward to my meeting with the premise for a trade, working on trade and military security." tweeting 11 mins ago, "jerry brown and california not going for safety and security along their porous border. they cannot come to terms for the national guard to patrol and protect the border. behind crime rate -- the high crime rate will only get higher. the wall already getting started." the president referring to governor jerry brown speaking at the national press club. we are caring and that on c-span

-- carrying that on c-span to live if you want to watch it. jerry brown has not agreed to additional national guardsmen. more than 900 troops are on the in texas, new mexico, and about 250 in arizona. the story from "the washington times" noting jerry brown offering strict conditions for guardsmen being on the border in his state. the governor not being able to come to terms. one more tweet from the president this morning about 10 mins ago as well, "so many people seeing the benefits of the tax cut bill. everyone is talking really nice to see." that's on this tax day in the united states. kathleen is in colorado on the line for democrats. caller: i would like to make a request of "washington journal"

to have npr's "here and now" lisa mullins, the host of the show. i think she was a step in for the regular host. she did a show the other day on nuclear weapons programs and proliferation. she had a guest on. his name was sick freak hacker egfried pecker. they were talking about which countries in the world have nuclear weapons and how many. they mentioned india, pakistan, china, the u.s., and russia. they completely omitted israel. this was not done unbeknownst to them. they know israel has at least 200 nuclear weapons. they fail to even bring the issue up. , soas so dishonest

consciously dishonest that i would like to see someone call her out and mr. hacker. i would like you to have them on your program to ask why they purposely omitted israel having nuclear weapons. i would like to request those guests. i would also like to request colonel wilkerson, who was general colin powell's chief of staff. he was on the real news talking about the situation with syria. personally from what i know, clearly he hits the nail on the head so often. i would love for you guys to have him on as a guest as well to speak about syria. appreciates suggestions. he has been on c-span six different times and has appeared in the c-span video library. his first was in 1987. he appeared twice in 2016.

one of those appearances was at an event talking about arms control and proliferation. always appreciate suggestions for upcoming segments. tonya is in martinsburg, west virginia, independent. go ahead. caller: hello. i would like to say that this morning when i called c-span, i was pleasantly surprised. i've called in on sport shows, the home shopping network. before i hit the air, these companies don't ask me about what my specific comments are going to be like c-span does. most of the time c-span asks this. what is your comment for today? depending on what i say, they hang up the phone on me. host: what is your comment for today? caller: i see that as impeding my first amendment. this is my second point. i hate when people say black and

white. the law is this, the law is that. john boehner is going to be one of the spokesman for marijuana use. why not empty the jails of all the black people are in there considering marijuana use? for governor jerry brown in california, his prison has been locking up people, women, and putting them in solitary confinement for decades for breaking jail rules. i'm so sick of everybody talking about the law. it is so unjust. i think president trump for this much. at least he does not go around the world with humanitarian talks because of the way this country treats black people like the two men in the starbucks restaurant. goodbye. host: that was tonya and west

virginia. leo is an illinois, republican. what do you want to talk about? caller: thank you for taking my call. about to take a comment the representative's comments about war powers. between the section because it authorizes congress to declare war. so far since president reagan, obviously the precautions and measures that were designed to present -- prevent powers going into the same hands with the separation of powers, this control mechanism of this human making, all these have been thrown out of the window. it is time that congress reasserts its legislative authority.

otherwise we might end up destroying this form of republican democracy. that's all i have to say. thank you. host: in congress this week, senator bob corker, chairman of the foreign relations committee, a is pushing for any real father's vision -- a new reauthorization that started the war on terror and paved the way for the 2003 invasion of iraq. the commander in chief, in c this case president trump, under this new a umf would be authorized to keep up the fight against a long list of international terrorist organizations that were either affiliated with or spun off a al qaeda. congress would be granted more oversight powers including having to reauthorize the war power every four years. it notes that more than two thirds of the lawmakers now sitting in congress were not there in 2001 when the first authorization was approved in the days after the september 11,

2001 attacks. johnny, democrat, go ahead. caller: this is johnny from northern virginia. to ask a question for the representative republican. in food5 a month stamps. i want to know why. i'm 84 usual. -- 84 years old. i've got a couple of handicaps. i make $300 a month from the state of virginia. $40 frome my hundred social security -- $940 from social security. they say i make too much. how about that? host: what do you think would be fair? caller: what i think would be well, i don't know what would be fair.

know know is everybody i -- i know you don't like for people to say so, but you don't get much around northern virginia. i know that's hard for a lot of people to understand. that got to ask no questions. all they have to do is go to social security in this area and see what's going on. .ou will see who is in there you will see who waits on you and who answers the phone. host: do you have a sense of how much you would need to get by in terms of additional funds? i have to spend cash money every month. my food stamps -- i get a couple gallons of milk and a couple dozen eggs. the food stamps is gone. every time food stamps gets a dollar raised, grocery stores go

up around $10 or 10% on it. they're making good money. i would just like to know what they expect a person to get out of $15 a month. you might as well say we will give this to somebody else who is making a hundred dollars a month. i used to work for the county. i used to pick up mail. that was at all the offices in prince william county. i don't know what happened. i wake up one morning and there was nothing but these people here. i don't know how it happened. it seemed like it happened overnight. host: that was johnny. joanne is in memphis, tennessee. what is on your mind this morning? caller: because the fbi has documents that the

investigations and congress need and they have refused a polite request, they have refused the foia request. they have refused a subpoena. i think we should follow their as they broke the law busting in on cohen. i think congress should get together a bunch of staffers and go and rate the fbi office and get the documents they need. mueller isk that supposed to be following the evidence he has. why hasn't he pursued the crimes that we all know that james comey testified to before congress? why is he not following those and prosecuting some people? i will never understand. i think there is more corruption going on there than i can

believe or appreciate. i want it stopped. i just want them to do right. i think they are hallucinating y thinks he can talk his way into being a decent person. he's not. host: on the documents that were seized from president trump's personal lawyer, "the new york times" today looks at that question. who gets first glimpse? it notes a federal judge in manhattan indicated yesterday she was not prepared to grant president trump exclusive first access to those documents. those were seized in the fbi raids of the office of his personal lawyer and was considering appointing an independent lawyer to review the seized materials. ryan is in michigan, independent. go ahead. caller: finally last night. it was on c-span and i was flipping through on the house floor and lewis gomer and a few

others were actually bringing up a very important issue i never understood. c-span has the archives on this stuff and bring in the conflicts of interest and talking about it openly now finally. mueller was the head of the fbi when the iranian war went down. rosenstein was also involved with the government. there is no way that mueller should be investigating any matters concerning trump, russia, or anything like that. it was mueller and rosenstein that shut down the original uranium one problem. they were bringing up points as simple as this. years ago we would actually hang ,eople concerning intelligence concerning our vital interests, concerning uranium and things of that nature. now we just turn around and sell

enriched uranium to russia. we have got some huge problems here. there's no way that mueller is not conflicted. i'm a callout on lindsey graham as gomer did. he did not mention by name last night. republican senators are part of this and that would be, of course, lindsey graham and john mccain. confidenceu have that there will be another , thatl counsel appointed this will be investigated in some way that would make you feel like they got to the bottom of it? caller: if they use the words they use last night that they want the investigation of mueller and of rosenstein. that's the only way you are going to get to the bottom of this. host: do you think that will happen, brian? caller: oh boy. watching the way things go right now i have my doubts.

i've been waiting for years for this conversation to be brought up, so it finally happened last night. i was talking to a friend the other day and just shaking my head. none of this makes much sense at all. we have so many complex of interest going. -- conflicts of interest going. you are not getting anything fair. there's nothing fair going on here. we have corruption. there's no doubt in my mind. we have corruption in our justice department. host: to joan oklahoma city on the line for democrats. go ahead. caller: thanks for having me on. i really think that everybody out there needs to kind of really take a self reflection on why it is you vote. we can't just be voters that -- for one issue example, folks trying to protect their second amendment rights and ignoring the other things important to a country being great.

when i look to the republican party, i see them being wrong on climate, wrong on minimum wage, wrong on women's rights, wrong on immigration, wrong on gun laws, wrong on tax policy. the tax policy is really because when you take so much of the government's revenue away and primarily give it to the richest people in the country, or like in my state, oklahoma, they did $6 billion in tax cuts roads or college roads or college tuition is

higher. we don't have health services. they basically gave all the when the , then teachers went on strike, they said, wait, we're okay with tax increases, as long as we put them on the middle class. hen they turned around and passed the sales tax on online funeral, and a tax on on tobacco products, they don't ave a problem making taxes, as long as 99% are paying for went to ax cuts that oil companies, they got a big capital gains tax, if you are stocks and businesses and you're rich, you et a nice fat -- that cost the state billion dollars over 10 years. bob.: got your point, last caller in open phones, go ahead. caller: okay. think you need to get some -- a little more contemporary and a more intelligent experts on the situation in syria, other person you had on

yesterday. pays t believe somebody that person to go to work everyday. syria is a real serious future and you need to get some experts on there who can see the future -- use host: who would you recommend? aller: assad is not going anywhere. there will be a void in the eastern two-thirds of that by try that will be filled somebody. you need to get some experts in hat have a handle on what is going on in that future void. experts thatre any you trust on this topic, bob, that you would recommend? i haven't heard any yet. no, i don't. neo-democrats and republicans this morning lauding this airstrike. good idea, but this is not going to solve the problem. monstrousoing to be a problem in eastern syria for all those people in this country

over.his is and it will be over soon, you know. i don't think assad wants the eastern two-thirds of his anyway, that is not on the table. get experts that know what is future.n in the i have my ideas, but i'd like to hear somebody describe besides that worn-out eo-conphilosophy that you continue to bring people on that seem to have. host: bob, keep watching promise on journal," i you we invite experts from a lot institutes and different perspekctiveperspecti maybe on the issues. you will find somebody you agree with at some point down the road. open phoneosit for "washington journal." up next, only a few hours left tax day, ur taxes on the first since the big republican overhaul. to cato institute's chris edwards about impact of

tax policy. we'll be right back. cases," a on "landmark case about student-free speech, 1965, five students from des moines, iowa, wore black arm to protest the vietnam war, violating school policy. christopher eckert tinker siblings. our guest to discuss this "landmark cases" are mary beth of the five students who challenged the des moines school district, she was 13 at time.

after two decades as a pediatric advocate for an students speaking at schools and and erjaffe. in erk for clarence thomas 1996. watch "landmark cases," monday, eastern on c-span and join the kvrconversation. hashtag is "landmark cases" and follow us at c-span. backgroundources for on each case. "landmark cases" companion book, national e constitution center interactive constitution and the "landmark at s" podcast c-span.org/landmarkcases. >> "washington journal" continues. host: on this first tax day the passage of the tax cuts and jobs act, it's a good

in with chris edwards, tax policy study director. of the tax overhaul are going to be impacting individuals who are file year?sgiving guest: generally the tax cuts and job act went into effect year, and so his employers across the country are tables. withholding workers on pay stubs should see will see a or 90% tax cut on pay stubs. in terms of filing this year, if filing for tax year 2017, there is no change for are filingeturn they today. however, there is about $30 in ion small businesses america. their first estimated quarterly payment is due today, for those the new tax law does ffect them and they should recall clat how much their estimated tax is and it will year.ly be less than last host: what are the biggest impacts down the road for individuals?

individuals, for the big parts of the republican tax bill were lower rates across the board, a doubling of the standard deductions, so married gets standard deduction of $24,000 a year, huge increase. be less people itemizing on their tax returns. americans 0% of itemize meaning they have andrate deduction for state local taxes, that will drop from 30% down to just about 10% of itemize and 90% will take the standard simplification. the child tax credit doubles small to 2000 dollars and businesses get a special tax cut, as well. end, who benefited the most from this tax over haul in december? tax cuts are across the board. data from the tax policy center of midand he will tax cut.rners get a

end, f folks at the bottom lower income, they don't currently pay federal income benefits are smaller from this bill. generally 80 or 90% of people a tax cut, another eight or nine percent will see another seven or eight percent will see no change. point, four months after this bill was passed, are ou prepared to say who the biggest winner was? guest: the winner is the american workers and the american economy. tax cut, part of the center piece of the big plan, the help all americans in long run. we've seen hundreds of big usinesses across america increasing wage rates, give bog nuss, that sort of thing. for will be a great thing the american economy in the long run, raise workers' wages. long-term about fiscal health of the united states? was it a winner here?

problem here.s a running overnment is deficit. caused by the e spending keeps increasing, while republicans are cutting taxes. so there is a bit of dissidence there, can't keep raising if you are cutting taxes. most of the republican tax cuts 2025, i think there will be a big debate in ongress and amongst the american people as to whether the tax cuts will continue after because by 2025, the federal government deficit will be larger than they are now and i view it, you know, it will be up to the american can e whether -- if they pressure members of congress to lower spending enough, the tax expanded, but if -- really, it is congress host: to that point, how much of

trillion dollar deficit by 2020, would you blame on the tax act?and jobs guest: you know, we don't know. part of the thing with the tax job act, it will spur extra economic growth. there will be so-called dynamic feedback effect from the tax cuts. a static on paper, about trillion and a half revenue law years.b act over 10 but the real effect revenue loss to the government will be that.r than the recent omnibus spending bill increased epublicans and constant increase on ntitlement programs like medicare and social security is pushing up spending every single year. here.ation of problems i think members of congress, both parties, are being rresponsible with giant deficits we're running. host: chris edwards with us until the bottom of the hour to

about tax policy on this tax day in the united states. epublicans call in at 202-748-8001, if you have questions or comments. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. studyrector of tax policy at cato institute for viewers who aren't familiar, what is cato institute? cato institute is nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in washington. enterprise n free and small government and civil studies s and we write and appear in the media advantages of smaller government. host: did you support the tax over haul in december? i did support it overall. the center piece of reducing was crucial rate for the u.s. economy. parts of t some the -- congress is raising policies don't go

together well. congress should try to balance the budget, especially now is growing.economy most states balance their budget every single year, i think the should, as rnment well. host: if the overhaul was done again, what would you add to it? what was left done? guest: i continuing didn't simplify the tax code that much. despite republicans talk about how it simplified the tax indicate. was someici simplification. other things make it more complicated, doubling of child credit, new deduction for small business will be complicated. to simplify, er get rid of more deductions like i tgage interest deduction, think they should have cut that eliminated, could have >> describe how he saw people doing their taxes in the future

after reform. think that could happen next year? uest: no, it won't bea a postcard. in fact, the acting i.r.s. commissioner testified to ongress last week that they're having to change 450 different tax forms and instructions for tax overhaul. don't think they're going to -- commissioner david at that, here is him the ng about changes at i.r.s. host: roadmap of what needs to stakeholder ght input as part of the process and at this point, all the forms that need to be all the instructions that need to be updated, the be ications that need to changed. at this point, our estimate, we will need to amend as many as

450 tax forms and instructions nd publications to fully implement the tax reform act. -- xpect to have new forms expect to have most instructions by may and chance release forms and -- to tions over the review and comment on. host: chris edwards, how does that time line sound to you? uest: looks like the i.r.s. is make prog aggress here. if you look at their web page, they are issuing guidance to and individuals on how to deal with the tax new tax changes. mentioned, for example, small businesses will have a new 20% deduction. legislation makes how that deduction works, you know, a lgs obscure and not clear to a lot of businesses. ome businesses get deduction,

other businesses don't. the i.r.s. will have to release giving instructions. william is our 1st caller. aller: yes, this new tax bill -- is going into effect eight different write-offs i had time.is country the tax plan will allow me to be ble to get a little better money at the end of the deal here for right now. however, over time the tax bill it fades ou once deductions, pe --

how is that supposed to be good for me? guest: the caller is right, the ax bill lasts a number of years, eight years through to 2025. as a small business owner, or an he's a lawyer accountant or a few other get a ions that do not new small business tax break, he probably will get a new 20% break and in tax fact, all businesses headed by households with income under $150,000 a year, do get this new break.business tax he's right, the tax break will through 2025 there is problem small businesses will estructure themselves to take time will be debate at the whether to continue. host: chicago, derrick, democrat. good morning. good morning.

yes. this tax cut scares the of me.t i'll explain, i'm on disability. $1200 a month and, you startwhen the republicans thinking how will we pay for first thing they want to do is hit social programs. -- you can erally imagine, i'm going through hell trying to live in chicago off $1200 a month. i applied for food stamps, i got, receive $30 a month, you know. earlier, i mean, one potone big or maybe of beans or something and i make days.st two or three i don't believe politicians have any indication truly what are going ople through and they constantly giving tax breaks to

millionaires and billionaires talking about trickle down and they just do not work. guest: well, the caller raised the issue of reforming some of programs like food stamps and social security, disability. and true republicans president trump proposed reforms to the programs. disability orms to and food stamps are very, very cost and they won't reduce that much. host: define minor. guest: for example, with trump ity program, administration has proposed reforms to try to get more back into isability the work force to make them better off, frankly. so it is not like republicans going around and willy-nilly slashing benefits. they're not. people who get are -- get benefits to get into the work force. growing labor shortage in the united states now with booming.my it makes sense to encourage

into the workback force. herndon, virginia. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want to say to the guest, look, the republicans have a disease called tax cuts. back at history -- expert expert, but everyone say that tax cut will not create jobs, problem for us. he is saying they need more employees. giving millionaires more money jobs, the eate more reality is, we have a problem a problem we have we don'tce department, have money to pay people. taxes.one wants to pay look at what george did to the

country. democratss came in and solved the problem. now donald trump shows up, he's do the same thing. when are we going to learn republicans t -- have. people will benefit. hen do we stop this crap and act like responsible people? agree with i don't that caller at all. most job necessary america are created by private businesses. businesses and small businesses, they invest to learn return, whether it's gm,they hire people when they earn after-tax the n on productivity of workers. if reduce tax rate on new invest more, ey build new factories, when you more new factories, hire workers and pay them higher wages. the was the idea behind recent business tax cuts in the republican tax plan, corporate cuts and small business cuts and

add to u.s. will economic growth, which will benefit all american workers. touched on this a little bit before. if you can drill more into it, of the centage population received a tax cut or mark asked on twitter. how many went up? taxes areclaimed many going up under the plan. guest: that is not true. look at data from the nonpartisan tax policy center in d.c., run by brookings and urban institute. they came up with now analysis on individual tax cuts that show in the middle class, income, dle and higher aybe 10% at most will see tax increase and some people don't tax cut, they don't pay

federal income tax at alla. vast majority of people will get a tax cut. on pay stubs.t i ask people to compare pay stub they are currently receiving received last year. i think they will probably see withhold are for federal income tax has fallen as they of are the tax cuts. you think the polling reflects reality of people's results here?e tahome pay.anges in are seeing more.

-- the i.r.s. will calculate how much tax cut you should be receiving. worth, texas, republican. go ahead. caller: thank you. hat is the rationale for considering social security and entitlement since we pay for it? guest: that is only partly true. happens during your working life, you would money into social security system and money went out the door almost immediately spending.government there is no big bank account keeps social nt security and medicare, there is paying in er workers to support the programs and more elderly folks taking money out there is a giant multi trillion dollar gap and the takeay out in on the programs.

the timately have to solve problems by raising taxes i or by cutting benefits. should reform and but programs to slowly, steadily reduce benefits over ime and give people adequate warning to save more for retire and rely less on the government. an independent, go ahead. caller: yes. tried to think about the -- and how much they are costing us n the middle east and the a 10 35 series rt and -- save a trillion dollars there. i want to know whatta happened 1.4 trillion dollars that took out of h ocial security and the 1.3

trillion dollars that president obama took out of social security? how much has the war in middle east cost us and how much more it would be costing back ldiers coming disabled? host: a few questions there for you. caller is right. the wars in the middle east were terms stly, not just in of dollar cost to taxpayers, least trillion dollars at from the wars in middle east but the last decade or so, the cost, human cost and the the budget st of problem, disabled soldiers and military retirement benefits and of thing. the wars were very costly. no doubt about it. the problem with federal government and spending is that

across the going up board. the recent omnibus spending bill 13% overall nding in a single year and big increases in defense spending nondefense spending across the board and the cost of ntilingsment programs with social security keep rising every year. really no discipline on the spending side of the federal budget anywhere in recent years by either democrats. or host: not the first caller to concerns about social security funds by president of can you explain just what happens there and how that work? have well, i mean, there been some modest changes to the programs and social security in recent years, but really, if you look at the how much cash goes out the door spending on the programs, rising by six or 7% year relentlessly year

after year. about cutseople talk to -- rams, host: to mississippi, james, a democrat. botheredook, something me since the tax thing come out. elimination of the personal exemption. tried to contact our congressman, i was referred to so the bile, which is not easy. they eliminated personal exemptions, when i file taxes, adjustments of the taxable income. they doubled the standard deduction, which is supposed to help, but that kind of eliminated the little bit that i can claim on my taxes on my

and then the interest -- that looks like it will raise my taxes. been able to get a 4500,ght answer, took away what i could take off my taxes raised my standard deduction to -- what? an you answer questions like that? host: we'll answer the question, james. guest: eliminate personal xemption, so if the individual has no kids, he used to get exemption, that has been eliminated. ad individual, standard $6000ion will double from to $12,000 a year.

okay.ould be unless he lives in a high tax, high income state like california, new york and new jersey, he probably will get a tax cut. people with children, they they won't get personal exemption for kids anymore, but credit doubled from 1 to 2000 dollars. is reduce taxes. rates are also falling. georgia, , rome, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? doing well. caller: a question and a comment. my question is, what is considered middle class nowadays? at one time, during the '50s and making $20 to re $30,000 a year, you were pretty much middle class. the upper class separated itself. now middle class is probably $125 to $150 a year,

hich majority of americans -- host: sam, you still with us? i think we lost the call. we got the question. definition of middle class and i'm not sure what the median income is, maybe $70,000 a year. of course, whether you're class or not dle depends what part of the country you live in. you live in manhattan, you will get higher wages, cost of than if e far higher you live in the middle of the country. ne interesting thing about the federal tax code, it doesn't make adjustments for that, the bans and the like and tax dollar and the code, the amounts have a different effect whether you live in high cost place like new york or lower in middle of the country. host: five or 10 minutes left with chris edwards of the cato the tax policy study director there. if you have questions or comments, we talk tax policy on tax day. we've been talking spending, as

discussion t of the and heard talk about recision of federal spineding and what was passed. can you explain the recision that is avenue the white house pursue? right, president trump signed this big omnibus spending spending a reased lot, far too much in my view. there has been a lot of from conservatives and folks who favor less spending. hat was mistake, we got a giant -- an effort for congress bill.s recision narrow majority from the senate, send to president trump fhe signs that, that will reduce

spending, they can cut spending wherever they want. how much here a limit they can cut? guest: no, they can cut whatever they want. is part of the budget act f 1974, way for presidents to exert more control to try to get frugal with e more spending. most presidents haven't been interested in reducing spending. and few presidents, bush obama, you know, increased substantially. the last president who was frugal was clinton, spending was held in check.

is there, thatat should be used more. viewers e to show our as we take this next call. oll call newspaper, visualization of the omnibus on about ht here, gray line hat was enacted in the omnibus spending bill. you can see in 10 or 20% over the left, quested on the various proposals from the house, the senate and the they actually at asked for and those are in the negative numbers mostly in this for the different agencies. take a look at that, we'll hear florida, a in tampa, democrat. hey, yes. a comment and then there is actually a comment security.ial the reason why mr. edwards

the factought it up is hat there is a limit on how much social security can tax upper income peep and he will doesn't want to face the fact that many of the paying people, in other words, business people who social security do not pay into social security limit on ere is upper how much they can pay. upper limit,e this they can't pay, we may be able solve some social security problems. i'm sure the institute wouldn't the favor, that is taxing wealth and he that is not in fashion anymore. feel that current administration and the cato nstitute and many of our

republicans favor the wealthy the poor. guest: the caller raised issue of social security payroll tax, 12% tax on all wages up to around 120,000 a year. caller is right, above $120,000 a year, social security tax cuts out. the reason that is, the benefits tied to amount of payroll tax in.pay so it is true that if you are a a very ire, you have high income of, very high wages first ion per year, only 120,000 in wages are taxed, but years down the road, you start benefits, benefits are going to be only calculated tax you that amount of paid in. the benefit structure is very progressive, even if the caller is worried that the payroll tax regressive. so in the end, higher earners under social rse security because benefit structure favors moderate income

people. say the recent tax cut bill, a lot of misinformation n, it is true that higher earners got larger dollar cuts generally in the recent tax cut but they paid huge share of current taxes, if you look at actually who got largest chad pergram tax cuts, it is people pe e middle, larger percentage tax cuts and not top.le at the host: on social security, any limit, can you make too much to get social security? guest: no, you will -- everyone gets something out of social again, based on how much payroll tax you paid in. wants to this caller lift so-called social security cap, if or payroll tax that was true, then more money would go into social security, current benefit formula, high earnaers that he doesn't seem to favor would get benefit, that wouldn't help solve the problem.

host: to maryland, matt, a good morning. caller: how you doing today? host: doing well. aller: listen, i'm like to clarify a couple of things that the right wing has truly gone out of their way to avoid. one is that with medicare and have to wait don't nine months and be assigned some doctor. i've had major surgery and i best one to some of the plac places. there o like to say that has been no clarification on middle class is and until they are willing to set some middle class at is, i personally don't believe , e right wing wants to know especially since they aren't there anymore, the middle class -- your definition, matt? caller: i don't know. middle class is mean, the frankly i

gentleman himself said what, 170 dollars? $170,000 a year. nobody makes that, how could hat be middle class and these tax cuts, tax cuts were ridiculous. to give the two richest the country the majority of the tax cuts, the the tax cuts that those of us way down at the for, they are only and a thefive-year phase out nobody tells you that, either. nd it is only like 2000 a year you are going to save in some of brackets and i'd like o know what they plan on doing as far as making people on medicaid work. this, this is id the biggest avoidance of all, they don't talk about the people

are on disability who cannot don't d the tax cuts affect people on disability. guest: there is a lot of complicated issues there. seems to favor the current medicare and medicaid programs because he's saying he good care from them. but there is a giant financial problem here. programs, spend being is increasing so rapidly that it is unsustainable. when younger people grow old, those programs simply cannot be as they are currently, there won't be enough money there is increasing number elderly in america and smaller number of workers to support them. that is why programs like medicare and social security are down the road unless we reform him. middle ax cuts he said income person might get 2000 tax cut that, is enormous for

someone in the middle. said i thought median income $170.70,000 not take a typical person earning now, that person probably pays $3000 in federal year.e tax each under the new tax bill, that person will probably get a taxut $8 or $900, enormous tax cut. i said before, middle earners under the well current tax code. host: last call, diane in for democrats, go ahead. caller: yes, thank you. 'd like clarification on the social security, the way your for the portraying it higher income people, for instance, they get the worst it. of they have so much money, they build up nest egg beside

social security. most people, they are 70 and to work.e my husband is 70's and still have to work. we don't have employers that set it up for us as far as retirement. retirement seems to be all on employer anymore, do for you that is o do for you, number one. host: diane, we will take the number one question. guest: so what i would suggest, though, if you think about your -- not sure how old you a working had career, the government has been taking 12% of your wages every you worked, hat which is remarkable. theou had been able to take 12% yourself, put it in the market rket, the stock has grown strongly over recent decades, you would have been under the than current social security system. don't forget, middle income money to 't have the save for themselves is partly

because the government has taken so much money from your wages the years to fund social security system. cato.org, to check out chris edwards work there had. director of the tax policy program. appreciate your time, as always. guest: thank you very much. "washington , on journal," end the program where we began today, on this tax day, sking the question, do you think you pay your fair share in taxes? think they ose who pay too little, pay fair share too much, give us a call, we'll talk until 10:00 this morning. back.be right >> sunday, look back to the tumultt multuous years transforming society. joining us to talk with women's sparr, former ra college president and author of

"wonder women, sex, power and perfection," and mona charon, syndicated and senior fellow in washington, d.c. the also the author of upcoming book "sex matters, how touch withnymph lost science, love and common sense," and watch 1968, america in women's rights, live unday 8:30 a.m. eastern on c-span's "washington journal." nd on american history t.v. on c-span 3. >> connect with c-span to personalize the information you to from us, go c-span.org/connect, and sign up for e-mail. the program guide is a daily e-mail with the most updated prime-time schedule. upcoming live coverage. word for word gives you the most interesting daily highlight. n their own words with no commentary. book t.v. newsletter is insider

authors and ing book festivals and the american history t.v. weekly newsletter upcoming programming nation's past. visit c-span.org/connect and sign up today. >> "washington journal" nation' continues. in at 10:00 omes this morning. until then, on tax day in the asking, do s, we're you pay your fair share in taxes? phone lines a little different segment, lines for those who think they pay their fair and for pay too little those who think they pay too much. give us a call, let us know. for those who e think they pay their fair share. florida., good morning. caller: good morning. very comfortable and then i've lost everything, but i i pay my fair

share. social security has certainly been a god send .or me i also have to say, i've gotten much more out of social security i've ever put into it. and i think that social security intended for poor people, never intended for all of us. social ink maybe security should be means tested and then we might not have such problem and such a deficit in the social security fund. lot of us t a complain and forget that we road, every ery library, everything that we have n this country, we've paid for and it belongs to us. i really don't have any to laints, i've been able educate both of my children graduate degrees without

debt on their half and i think that sometimes, you know, my car is 15 years old, i have one sometimes we think want more than we are able to and i think our government should take a lesson all of us thatom live within our means. the line for those who pay their fair share. silver spring, maryland. go ahead. caller: yes, my comment, i think i pay my fair share, i pay good taxes.of living in the dc area, high cost f living, but i make a decent salary. question is not how much you pay tis what you get for what you pay. know, i pay decent amount of taxes, i'd be willing to pay to pay i didn't have

health insurance through my mployer and we had a single payer system that was more efficient, i would be willing to that.re for if the y, we had -- government, we actually had a real infrastructure plan that rebuilding crumbling infrastructure, that is paying for.rth as an american citizen who gets enefit from it, i'm willing to make that commitment, if it is a shared commitment, unlike -- as he last guest commented, he basically admitted if you are coast,come earner on the you're not getting benefit of the tax cut. so again, question of getting what you pay for. thank you. for the call.anks polling on this question about whether you think you pay your taxes.are in

gallup poll, showing times, 48% shington of americans say the amount they pay in federal taxes is about 52% of republicans, 44% f independents and 52% of democrats, 45% say the amount of pay is too high, 45% republicans, 49% of independents democrats. some history on those polling will showom gallup, i a chart that goes along with the gallup poll. 45% saying taxes too high down rom 54% last april, shortly after president trump took office and average of 52% since 2013, essentially ties 1961, lowest in 12 as gallup trinned all years when 46% of americans said their were too high.

bill is on the line for those ho say they pay too much, in chicago, go ahead. caller: yes. i'm on social security now. pay fair amount in the problem is this result, the problem is that the economic structure in lower endeople on the disposable ose ncome and people on the end onstantly get an increase in disposable income. tax cuts we receive on the lower us no benefit compared to the cost of everything.

other end, get benefits in multiples. gloria, yellow springs ohio on the line for those who share.y pay their fair go ahead. caller: hello. i do believe i pay my fair share in taxes and i receive medicare, a pension. for everybody, not just myself, that are on social security, receive ases we annually, we don't receive any increase in net spending. goes to insurance payments or increases in it is discouraging for people like us when we don't see any increase in spending, but we're seeing government use our taxpayer money

the wrong way with the excess flying on jets and things they be doing so it should board, if we s the can't receive increase in our net spending to take to the or take a trip or do what we want to do, why should we pay for those to use government equipment illegally. thank you. host: the president on tax day tweeted four times, two involve of taxes. here is one. so many people are seeing the bill, t of the tax cut everyone is talking. really nice to see, the president said. few minutes before that, tweeting employment is up, taxes are down. enjoy. who say they pay too little, badly is waiting in virginia.orge, go ahead. caller: hey, thanks a lot, john.

call. you for taking my i appreciate everything everything you and c-span do. workingally part of the core and i wholly believe i pay too little in taxes. that every american is for what our elected representatives do and i think are future generations to the increasing ther increasing tariff on corn syrup and sugar that is and sily accessible affordable. 'm sor y, but those are my comments. host: before you go, do you mind talking numbers and how much you what d why you think -- you think too little is? caller: absolutely. varies, you know,

every pay period, but normally 24 or 25%. fair rate, that is a offset these to expenditures, i could easily pay as much as 35%. host: how much do you make a year? i wouldn't be surprised f my gross income, net income would be more than $14,000 this year. bradley?t do you do, caller: i am a grocer, i work at store.ery hollands you would be willing to pay 35%? caller: i think so, yes, sir. host: thanks for the call. line for those who pay too 202-748-8000. too much who pay 202-748-8002. those who pay fair share, 202-748-8001. 10 house coming in less than minutes.

on that line for those who pay too much, mary is waiting in elmyra, new york. ahead.rning, go caller: yes, good morning. percentage wise, middle class might pay less monetarily, but percentage wise than a wealthy person. i don't mind paying taxes, don't get me wrong. taxes benefit all of society and pay taxes, ty to what they do with taxes i have a problem with. roads, infrastructure, everybody knows that's a problem. that's my issue, the middle class takes up too tax burden, even though we might pay less in the amount of may more ay out, we percentage wise than a wealthy person. my issue. taxes are fine if they do what taxes, doesn'tth

seem our tax money is being spent wisely. like i said, infrastructure -- host: places you think it needs spent, where are unwise places? seem our tax money caller: the unwise places are raises to politicians, they only work -- congress works a week, they get better benefits than most people and they their own stocks and things like that, i don't think hey put enough money into this country. and do what they need to do, to do, like keep jobs in america. ost: to london, kentucky, brad is waiting on the line for those

who say they pay too little. brad, go ahead. caller: sure. good morning. too ct, everyone pays little. deficit is at a point where we all would have to pay all of our the time to get that equal out, but that is okay, we're going to pass that on to generations. so as of now, we're all paying too little and our children will pay the tab. how much do you pay in taxes and how much do you hink it will take to help pay the tab? deficit?o clear the host: yes, sir. well, i don't know how much it would take, it is only grow.o we can't square the circle. the spending will continue to grow and the deficit will to grow.

$21 : the u.s. debt at trillion, 140 billion, that is a $174,000 per taxpayer in the united states. comes out to $64,000 per citizen, u.s. population 327 illion, the total number of u.s. income taxpayers about $121 million. u.s. debt clock dot org. the line for those who say they pay their fair share. yes. i pay my fair share. i think it would be more fair if they had input on what percentage of their pay in, goes e to for what. that especially people that need social security get older, medicare or

medicaid if you have a loved one you e nursing home and don't have money for private care. look and en people see, you know, and start of king about the fairness it and realize how programs not just for t is poor people, but republicans are entitlements, they think they are the same that is on ebody welfare and they're not. that more people on things wey less don't need, we don't need to go more bombs and everything. need is talking about we more nuclear weapons, that is the last thing we need. would also like to know where are his tax returns, why haven't we seen them? is this man above the law?

united states of now man or woman should be above the law. i'm willing to show my taxes to anyone. think any of your tax dollars should go to military spending? do, butyes, of course i the majority of our taxes goes see ilitary spending and i this as ex-spouse of somebody who was in the military, those men and women, i'm don'tg you right now, you make the earnings you do in the civilian world. is not going for people in the military they are paying. i'm not talking about generals like that, they have living,ent lifestyle of but i'm talking about weaponry stuff, it is kind of takes money to be the main super the whole entire planet, that is where our taxes

go, that is where they go. diana, woodstock, georgia. some news from the associated breaking over twitter. justice soniasays sotomayor breaks her shoulder in a fall at her home. we'll certainly monitor that and see how she's doing. in effort, pennsylvania, on that line for those who say they pay too much in taxes. bill, go ahead. caller: hey, good morning. call. you for taking my we pay too much in taxes because umber one, we got too many lawyers in government. you know, almost like, i don't know, maybe 90% of congressmen are lawyers and probably disbarred. our body is crying about president, who is a fantastic businessman. these people give him trouble he wants accountability.

he will audit everything and you find out, fraud abuse and that is what they are upset about. you know, congress people, they allow te into law, they to do insider trading. host: bill, we have to end here, the house coming in for the day, we'll see you back here omorrow morning 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 a.m. pacific, on the "washington journal." the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. april 17, 2018. i hereby appoint the honorable rob bishop to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, paul d. ryan, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 8, 2018, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the jorlte and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties. all time