's news.com editor in chief discusses whether the american dream is still attainable. and that 8:45 a.m., christian washington post opinions editor, on challenges facing american democracy. ♪ happy independence day. it is wednesday, the fourth of july, 2018, 242nd anniversary of america's founding. on this morning's washington journal, we will touch on topics including the american dream, challenges racing america's system of government, and what it takes to become an american citizen. but we will start the program this hour by taking a look at a out, sayingt is that americans are losing faith in democracy, and ask you what you think. we will also look at other polls and surveys on what the americans are thinking about

their country on this fourth of july weekend. your face and democracy -- where does it -- your faith in democracy -- where does it stand? .emocrats, (202) 748-8000 republicans, (202) 748-8001. and for independents and all others, (202) 748-8002. we welcome tweets. send us a tweet at @cspanwj or go on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. let's start with a pull from the democracy project, a bipartisan effort of the george w. bush institute freedom house and the pen biden center. their surveyl, showing democracy getting weaker. generally speaking, they find, would you mostly describe america's system of democracy these days as getting weaker or stronger? showing 67% of those surveyed find it getting weaker. ,lso taking a look at that poll

a similar question on the status of democracy. they say generally speaking, would you mostly describe america's wisdom of democracy as weak or strong? 55% say america's system of government is weak. this is a new survey out from the democracy project, a bipartisan poll from the george bush institute and the penn biden center. and this comment in the washington post, writing that half of americans think the united states is in real danger nondemocratic, authoritarian country. a majority, 55% say democracy is 68% believe it is getting weaker. eight in 10 americans they they are either very or somewhat concerned about the tradition of democracy here.

whit, good morning. is this an annual survey done about americans and their look at democracy? great to bemorning, with you and happy fourth of july to you. this is not an annual survey. this is a special project by freedom house, the george w. ennh center, and the p biden center. all three institutions went together to conduct this is sensitive -- extensive poll on the condition of american democracy and overall attitudes about democracy, which was just recently released and written up in the washington post. host: how did you do the paul? what is your survey method? how many folks did you interview? guest: the survey method is standard. telephone polling, random digit dialing, focus groups selected from various groups, and then an online survey with extensive

questions of people around the country, balanced by the standard measures that you use in a national survey. , you notyour poll only ask about the general view, but about things that might be leading to erosion and faith in democracy, people that might find wrong. moneyp of that list, big in politics, racism and discrimination, and the inability of the government to get anything done. tell us about some of the reaction you heard from folks you interviewed in the survey? guest: there is a general perception and real frustration that the federal government just can't seem to function. they can't seem to do the basic functions of government, they can't seem to resolve or attempts to resolve some of our most pressing issues.

they can't even start on a resolution to our broken immigration system, for example. there is also enormous frustration about the role of money in politics, and that extends across party lines. one of the things that i did personally was moderate a focus group of trump supporters, and trump supporters, like the rest of america, believe it is very important to live in a democracy. but there is a great suspicion outcome ish of the driven by elites, by moneyed haveest, by the folks who big money to spend on politics, and that concern crosses party lines. host: you have been doing polls for quite some time on other issues and politics. is this dysfunctionality in washington, is this because of the current congress, the current trump administration? is this a new phenomenon? is not, and that

is one of the important points here. concern has been rising over the years, and it is driven in part by partisan differences. when president obama was in office, there was a lot of concern about republicans that we were sliding away from democracy, that the use of executive orders was expanding so much we were losing our democratic values. under the trump administration, democrats are really concerned that we are sliding into authoritarianism and losing our democracy. is not anything that is particularly new, but is something that has been building over time. host: do you think that because of the rise of strongmen or strong leaders or certainly, leaders who take control, seize control worldwide, do think people are looking for those sorts of alternatives in the u.s.? guest: they are definitely not looking for an authoritarian , and that is one of

the good parts of this survey. overwhelmingly, people feel it is important to live in a democracy. 85% say it is important to live in a democracy, which is essentially the same as the 8 4% in our poll who say it is in atant to live democracy. they told a world values pull the same thing in 2014. and those who say it is absolutely important to live in a democracy went up 14 points since 2011. end up there on that high note and direct our pollners to check out that . thank you for being with us on the fourth of july. guest: thanks for having me. host: we will continue our

conversation on your thoughts faith in american democracy. let's hear from charles on our independent line. good morning. hi, i am a first time important this is that this is the first time i have gotten through today because -- i am disappointed that when i look at the supreme court, the supreme court, the news media, they seem to be on a decline. the people can be no more than the information they receive. , do not see in the media c-span, you treat every caller equally. the callers to call into c-span who have no knowledge of what they are speaking as opinion, so the media to me is the greatest threat to any notion of the democracy, because -- i listened

chuck todd, who is promoting a narrative of his own. he is not beating actual -- speaking actual content. about clarence thomas and thurgood marshall, it is amazing to see the decline of intellect in this country. thank you. int: mentioning the story the washington times, we speaks with truck about filling seat.y's mike lee of utah has spoken with president trump about the supreme court vacancy. stir trump interviewed three other prospective nominees. the president and the lawmaker -- who is a favorite of the tea party -- spoke by phone on monday, said white house deputy press secretary raj shah.

mr. lee is the only candidate on mr. trump's overall list of 25 possible nominees who is not a judge, did not receive a face-to-face interview with the president like the other candidates. at the time of the phone call mr. lee was in utah. hear from pat, independent line in indianapolis. good morning and happy fourth of july. caller: happy fourth of july to you. to what the last we are headed towards fascism. i do not say that lightly. we have had one party rule in the congress, and the republican leadership made a concerted effort for eight years to do absolutely nothing. that is what prompted barack obama toward the end of his second term to make so many executive orders, because congress refused to do anything. now we have a man who is the

president, who is more like the emperor with no clothes. he does not read. he does not use the intelligence information we have. ideology and he is making all of us wallow along with that ideology. follow alonghed -- with that ideology. he has unleashed racism and all of these horrible things that we will have generations to try to overcome, and it is absolutely terrible. host: here is some of the reaction on twitter. ed is saying that i am concerned that president's assault on our democracy might have lasting damage. pot dictatorhe 10 needs to be challenged and stopped by congress and the courts. another tweet, the direction trump is trying to take the democracyll end for all except rich white christian men who live in rural america.

project looked at the tone of political debate and the influence of money on politics. es, pleaseof issu tell me if you think this issue better worse. worse, the tone of politics in washington, influence of money in politics, political and partisan polarization, accuracy and quality of news and the media, and protection of our personal freedoms. things that are getting better, according to the bipartisan survey, our economy and things like jobs and prices. people engaged in civic and political issues, and equal rights and protections for women. orrenhear from or in -- in new --, ohio. right in thei live middle of appalachia, ohio, and

what i see is a great deal of the overall. i think people take democracy for granted. i think they are ignorant for how the legislative branch is supposed to be a check on the executive branch. there is a lack of critical thinking skills and i think that the flagst will wave and not really understand what it stands for, what the first amendment is all about. one of my favorite quotes is by scott ritter, a retired marine and weapons inspector, he said i can teach a monkey to wave a flag, but i cannot teach a monkey to read the constitution, and that really sums it up on the fourth of july. host: on this fourth of july, we are asking you, are you losing faith in democracy based on a poll we are looking at from the george w. bush institute and the penn biden center.

(202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independence and all others, (202) 748-8002. caller: good morning, and happy fourth of july to everyone. have a wonderful democracy, however, we are a representative democracy, and that is what makes us free. we have laws and they have to be obeyed. but i find that the democrats are going to be bringing in millions of people because they want open borders, and the people who are here, like the african-americans, how is he going to benefit when he is only 17% of the population? the spanish americans, they are theyf the population, and will be much more, even medical schools are allowing 60% more

latins to be able to go to school, medical school rather than white or chinese. so what is happening here is that there is a walkaway group -- have you heard of them? host: emily, you are on the air, go ahead? caller: the duke your of the ?roup walk away they are a bunch of democrats to have decided they are getting nowhere. this is a gay guy that lead them, and they are getting nowhere with democrats because they do not care at all about any american except bringing in more people to vote for them forever. so i am very concerned about people coming in and taking away the little money that we have, because actually we are $21 trillion in debt. so i ask everybody to look at the situation. president trump has given us a good economy.

he is working for peace, he has given us jobs and he has made a concerted effort to give us good jobs. and also to turn away all of these treaties and groups of people of countries that want to get a bargain. 175% or whatever high, and they pay us only 2%. thinking where is democracy going? we would like to become, as the democrats that today, that this kind of young lady elected in new york, we are going to become a socialist democrat. and i can only tell you, look up gnome and put torah -- [inaudible] because that is what happened in russia and that is why they had to break it up. only the pigs on the top got the food, and the common citizens

had to wait in the freezing cold in lines for food. when there was no food, they had to leave and go home. --, they had diamonds, all the food they wanted. so you don't want socialism. it killed 100 million people. hear from jim next in fort lauderdale, florida, republican line. caller: good morning. you know, the money in politics has become a dog whistle, and every time people hear those words, they say oh, that is republican big money. but what about dual citizenship people like george soros? in my view, george soros and people like him are the biggest wrecking ball to our democracy the world has ever known. george soros has been tied to antifa, a group of people that insight violence and

construction -- destruction on our cities. george soros is no more an american than i am a japanese. the idea that people with such huge amounts of money being used to undermine the catholic church , which i think is the most horrible, despicable thing i have heard in the world of politics, they would be allowed to inject so much money into the political scene, i think it is a travesty. and what about jeff bezos, the richest man possibly in the world? this man owns the washington post. he is basically controlling thought in the united states. so the biggest wrecking ball to democracy is not the big money of republicans, it is democrats. -- owns the new york times. he is mexican. this man is no more american than i am a rabbit.

when you talk about these dog whistle things like big money in politics, it is really the wrecking ball that belongs to the democrats and not the republicans. host: asking this morning about your faith in american democracy. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. all others, (202) 748-8002. we turn to our partners in the recent landmark cases series, the constitution center in philadelphia, the national const fusion center. center.itution like with his independence day. they write on this day, [inaudible] and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward for evermore, said john adams to his wife abigail in july 1776. first american, they write, are familiar with the celebrations john adams described in his letter to his wife, but most do

not realize that adams envisioned july 2, 1776, as the day americans would mark independence from great britain. why? because on that date, the continental congress met inside independence hall and resolved that "these united colonies are exhausted from all allegiance to the british and all that political connection between them and the state of great britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." well now, we know americans celebrate july 4, the day that the continental congress formally adopted the declaration of independence. many americans might also be surprised to learn that the copy -- t of the declaration was not signed by most members until august 2, 1776. you can read more about this on the constitution

center. phil on our independents line, hello. what are your thoughts on american democracy? caller: happy fourth of july. the premise of the question about democracy is a wrong premise. we do not have a democracy, and that is the first thing people to not understand. we have a democratic republic. someone alluded earlier that it was a representative democracy, but that is the beginning of the problem, that people do not understand how the system works. thought earlier said he that the media is the biggest threat to our democracy. i agree that the media is a threat, i disagree that it is the biggest. the biggest threat towards our system of government is the educational system, because we are not teaching people about how the system is supposed to work. the whole argument over the electoral college is one that people do not understand.

oh, it must be one person one vote. yes, but within states. the states have rights as well. it was set up that way deliberately so that one entity did not overrun another, so that the common population did not overrun individual states' where, and that is really the problem starts. is money an issue? absolutely, money is absolutely a huge issue. i agree with the caller talking about soros and whatnot, and an impact there. eileen and more of the lean in more-- i of a conservative manner, even though i do not consider myself a republican. it is not about how one side or another uses the money, it is about how that money is taken, donated, given to influence individual votes on either side of the aisle so that these people end up enriching ladyelves, much like the

was talking about how things work in communist russia. much how that works there, it is the same here. before, a disgraced pastor entered congress as a relatively poor man, and lo and behold, he turns into a multimillionaire because of some land deals. and the same thing happens with the pelosi's and on and on and on. they find out there will be a road happening someplace and told their brother-in-law to go thee the property -- buy property there, and money has an influence. havey because we do not firm term limits in place that keep these people from becoming entrenched and building their own little five dumps -- fief doms and using the system against the people. host: let's get back to your original point. you pointed out that the u.s. form of government is a federal

republic. would you agree that the type of , the way that republic functions is through participatory democracy? that isabsolutely, and another part of the problem with the educational system. the educational system has dumped people down so much that they do not understand. they do not teach this in school anymore. the day, i considered going into teaching, but you know what? what i wanted to teach was history. i wanted to teach history and and do youwhatnot, know where the history and civics teachers come from? they come from the coaching staff. the high school coaching staff, 80% of the civics teachers in the schools are the wrestling coach or the football pitch. theave not given history credit it deserves, the respect

it deserves for where we have come. people do not understand the history of this country. we have people today who wants to complain and moan about the impact of slavery, just as an to live and they want in that moment and not understand how we went from the establishment of the constitution -- host: i'm ghetto let you go there. it sounds like you have a lot to offer as a potential history teacher. thank you for calling in. he talked about the former speaker, the former wrestling coach, in concern at another wrestling issue and ohio state. the headline from politico, i would have done something. jordan rebukes claim that he knew of abuse. paper writes that representative jim jordan

emphatically denies allegations that he intentionally overlooked widespread sexual abuse of wrestlers who he coached decades ago, telling politico in a tuesday night interview that he would have taken action had he known of the alleged behavior. the ohio republican, a former assistant wrestling coach at ohio state university, refuted accusation that he was aware of the universities sports physician molesting athletes. three former ruffly it's -- three former athletes told the washington post that jordan knew or would alleged abuse have to have been woefully unaware of this open secret. calls on this fourth of july. gina, your faith in american democracy? go ahead. good morning, thank you for c-span. i was just calling to say that my faith in democracy is waning a little it -- a little bit, because more than half of

the country do not have a president that supports their needs and beliefs. also, yesterday, i heard that nix republican congressme went to russia yesterday to suck up to putin, and putin would not even take their meeting. it is really bad. whate trying to find out happened to our election in 2016 and republicans, just because putin is very wealthy and powerful, they are ready to disregard what happens to us. i have lived in this country for 58 years. this is the first time i have felt like i never had a part in it at all. host: here's the story gina is talking about. the headline, gop lawmakers consolatory in visit to russia. republican members of congress sounded a newly conciliatory

tone in meetings with russian lawmakers and officials on tuesday. a rare visit to moscow in a preview of the looming summit between president trump and russian president vladimir putin. richard shelby of alabama told russia'sfor an -- foreign minister that while russia and the united states were competitors, we do not necessarily need to be at her terry's. later on, the lower house of attending amembers plenary session greeted the americans with applause. "i'm not here today to accuse russia of this or that or so forth," shall be told the speaker. i'm saying that we should all strive for a better relationship . this all came after the republicans visited st. petersburg and took in the ballet sleeping beauty, which helped set the tone for the july 16 trump-putin summit in hell and ski. -- the russian

hosts say they hope that the newfound willingness to meet marked a turning point after years of almost no direct contact between washington and moscow. our independent line, good morning. caller: first of all, i would like to say that the history of the united states is a hidden history of the united states. the history of the united states is what people in power makeup for the general public to believe in. then you have the hidden history that is based on true facts or evidence. theyhing caucusers do when invade a new land is an all the books, because they do not want history, know the true and then they do not tell anybody else. diaspora ofhe morocco. you had a lot of people that were already here when columbus landed, and that is one of the hidden histories. now the difference between the republic of the united states and the democracy that we talk about is that the 13 bloodline

families from england created with theracy along pope from the vatican. and if you have your name in capital letters on information, they own you. period. they own you. that is notstuff taught anywhere. it is part of the hidden history. if we take the time to find out what is really going on and what is really happening to us, you always talk about the national debt. the national debt, you owe it to the nationals. you owe that to the people of the united states. the people you have confronting you right now, the --er of all those people are

just a month ago, was having a meeting at the builder -- host: our caller points out the republishedument, every year in the washington times as their lead editorial. the declaration of independence. when, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve political them that have collected with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal nature that god required them, they should declare the causes that compel them to separation. we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. among these are life, liberty, and the suit of -- pursuit of happiness. that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among

men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to and two new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes, and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are motor disposed -- are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable. but when a long train of abuses and her survey should -- ud usurpations, it is their right and duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security. such has been their patients of friends of these colonies and such is now the necessity which

constrains them to alter their former systems of government. the history of the present king of great britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurp direct all having in object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. your thoughts on american democracy. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. in port orange, florida, dave, republican line. morning, c-span, and thank you for all of the wonderful work that you do. my only concern is that you read -- especially greta -- you read that paper. if anyone wants anything from the post or the times or the usa or ap, they just go on the internet. they go on cable because i

am now watching c-span. i have enjoyed your series of the tour bus of the state capitals, and i know that just most of them, one of the other major complaints is the homelessness. we have that in daytona and we have that just about everywhere. they showironic that all the pictures of the people, the congressmen and so forth denouncing ice and screaming and getting arrested, blocking these officers and everything because of what they are doing to these illegal immigrants. it was so ironic that right after that on cbs, they had a section of children that were in this huge tent camp in los angeles, over half a square mile , and they were going in there to make sure these children who

live in these tents in the heat could celebrate their birthday. there is something totally wrong with this whole picture that i just can't seem to make any sense of. and the caller couple of times ago really put it in plain english. the americans are just ,neducated in the constitution and it is not a democracy. the only thing i will say, these congressmen and senators, if they were to call it a democracy, they would be corrected. it is a constitutional republic. individual states with their own constitutions, and not this centralized powerful bureaucratic mess we have now. and thanks again, c-span. host: you bet, dave. thank you. on the issue of faith in democracy, the columnist

william gholston spoke recently thet the issue, looking at royal and urban divide on that. here is some of what he had to say. divide onnd urban that. here is some of what he had to say. [video clip] >> the divide is not interpersonal inequality, it is inequality.l it is the geographical split between the large, diverse, highly educated metropolitan area, and the small towns that are smiling behind -- falling behind. think very hard about the geography of inequality if we hope to address the population. host: that brookings institution event available at c-span.org. back to the bipartisan poll from the george bush's institute and en center on people's faith in democracy. one of the questions they ask,

generally speaking, would you mostly describe america's system of democracy these days as weak or strong? 55% of those surveyed found it to be weak. let's hear from debbie in washington. good morning and happy fourth. caller: happy fourth to you as well. i am very concerned. even people now are saying we are not a democratic republic. they are brainwashed to think that others are supposed to control us instead of us being able to control our own destiny. i am very concerned, very concerned. people all of a sudden do not trust the fbi because trump is being investigated. he was being investigated before for many other things, including the phony charity and the phony university. now people aren't trusting

anything. they are so brainwashed from white ring -- right wing propaganda. i am very concerned. they ignore the crimes that are being committed. host: joseph in santa barbara, california, independent line. caller: yes, good morning. host: hi there. caller: you know, i really enjoyed your reading the there are several points i would like to make. first of all, it says nature's god. a very important difference between our system of government and any other system in the world is where the rights come from. is -- it couldod be whatever god you want, it could be your mother. your mother is your creator. our point is, our rights do not come from the government. that is different than any other

democracy in the world. if we clarified that question, you would see that poll take a different number there. about whatconfused our constitutional republic really is and why it was set up. as far as president trump is concerned, a lot of people who support trump are not -- the way is i am not perfect enough to judge anybody. i believe that to god. -- i will leave that to god. my concern is what did he promise to do when he was elected? if you base it on that, whether you agree with his policies are not, he is trying to keep every promise he made. and if we would all support him and help that he is successful

-- hope that he is successful in bringing the north koreans back into the fold and becoming more friendly with our enemies, that is not a bad thing. so let's think about that when we are embroiled with hatred toward the president. host: joseph talked about our reading of the preamble to the independence 240 two years ago, approved by the continental congress. if you look at some of the charges against king george, they are certainly issues that are still relevant today. here is one of them. one of the charges against the king. you could put this to the topic redistricting or gerrymandering. he has refused to pass laws for the accommodation of large the people unless those people would relinquish their right of representation in the inestimable a right

to them and formidable to tyrants only. also on the issue of immigration, he has endeavored to prevent the population of these dates, for -- these states, for that purpose obstructing the nationalization of foreigners and raising conditions of new appropriations of land. some of the charges in the declaration of independence against king george. we will read more throughout the morning. jacksonville, florida, good morning to david on our republican line. caller: yes. since the election, much of the media, some of the fbi, and some of the justice department have been involved with the russian collusion investigation have been trying to overturn a democratic election. also during the campaign, there would blockthat highways to trump rallies, trying to prevent freedom of

assembly and trump's right to speech. and the clinton foundation and the pay for play, she had favors with her connections in government, and people would donate to the clinton foundation. one last thing, too. pittsburgh, don kerry and teresa heinz are very powerful there. the taxpayers voted whether to build two stadiums, but the city of pittsburgh overturned it and stadium in another kept it named after teresa heinz. so there is a whole thing about a minority thinking they know better and need to take steps to prevent paperless and on it -- the hapless and uninformed , rolling over and creating laws and power, but the

minority are not as dumb and uninformed of the powerful and minority think they are. host: let's take a look at the hill this morning, reporting about the senate intelligence committee report released yesterday. the panel upholds findings that russia backs trump, contradicting the house. the senate intelligence committee has unequivocally upheld the conviction of the intelligence community that russia developed a "clear preference" for candidate donald resolved to6 and help him win the white house. a directesents repudiation of the committee's counterpart in the house and a president trump himself, who has consistently rejected assertions that moscow sought to bolster through itsy election interference. "the committee has spent the last 16 months reviewing the sources, tradecraft, and analytic work underpinning the

intelligence community assessment and sees no reason to dispute the conclusions," said chairman richard burr of north carolina. georgia, scott on our democrat line. caller: hi, how are you doing today? host: i am fine. caller: oh my gosh, democracy. two things -- i wish we could go back to a vote counted. this electoral vote, i do not know when or where it happened, but we need to get back to that. my vote, hillary clinton won by 3 million votes. voteat did not count -- did not count. 7, 8 of the last presidents, the popular vote lost. what i am thinking is, why can't we go back to a vote equals one person? one person is one vote.

trump,ond thing, donald we can hold this guide to what he talks about and what he says, but this guy is a chronic liar. everything this guy does, he is trying to split our nation in two. it is good for the country, because everyone is going to start standing up, and i bet my bottom dollar that people are inng to go to the polls november and there will be a blue wave. what is going on with those poor people that lost their kids, they were ripped out of their hands and they have not seen them for months? this is not america. this is horrible. people from all over the world, i have rents from all over the all overfriends from the place that can't believe it. in this day and age, america, the red white and blue, we are doing this to people and getting away with it. host: george is up, independent

line, maine. caller: hello, thank you c-span. it is hard not to see why we would be losing faith. we have a president that said he could shoot somebody on main street and nobody would care. he goes on about how he is the law enforcement, but he could kill someone and get away with it. president that -- host: are you still there? caller: yes, yes. a president who says how he stands up for the military, how great it is, yet how many hadrments has donald trump because he is rich? this is the problem.

the rich, not only do they not want to pay fair taxes, they do not want to pay taxes at all. they are above the law. and that is why we are losing faith. we have a president who can grab a woman in the privates and it is a joke and get away with it, but everybody else goes to jail. the: the president is at white house today, spinning the fourth of july with u.s. troops and their families on the south lawn of the white house and watching the fireworks from there this evening. we are asking you on this fourth of july, your faith in american democracy. about 15 minutes left of your calls on this issue. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. and for independents, (202) 748-8002. fromocracy project poll the bush institute and the penn biden center. the headline, a poll

commissioned by bush and biden shows american losing -- americans losing confidence in democracy. they believe the american country is in danger of becoming a nondemocratic authoritarian country. a majority, 55%, see democracy it isk, and 68% believe getting weaker. eight in 10 americans say they are either very or somewhat concerned about the condition of democracy here. this transcends the traveled abide between republicans and majoritieswith across races, genders, age groups, levels of education and income brackets expressing fear. worrieds are deeply about the health of their democracy and want to make it stronger, said michael abramowitz. there appears to be a crisis in confidence in the functioning of our democracy and it is not a

party line issue. virginia, troy, west republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i keep listening to the democrats saying it is so unfair , but i would like one of them to answer a question for me. when you have identical scores in the medical schools and one race of people has a 20% chance to get in and another phrase has an 80% chance to get in with the scores, how is that not legal racism? in west virginia, we have $150,000, which is the same as nothing, for the arts. six people got to participate for that $150,000. all six of them come from chicago. all six of them.

not one west virginia person got to participate, and then you have obama, you want your health care, keep your health care. you want your doctor, keep your doctor. we can't find out nothing about benghazi, fast and furious, how can they sit with a straight they got alk like democracy on their side but not the other side? it is ridiculous. i do not appreciate -- i appreciate you taking my call. host: john mentioned obamacare, the affordable care act. reporting on it this morning and the front page of the new york times, the headline, doggett market for health care defies gop efforts to end the law as health insurers across the country began filing their proposed rates for 2019. one thing is clear, the market created by the affordable care act shows no sign of eminent -- imminent collapse,

despite continuing threats by republicans to destroy it. in fact, while president trump might insist that the law has been essentially gutted, the aca market appears to be more robust than ever. if you states -- a few states are likely to see a steep spike in prices next year, but many much more modest increases. in contrast to last year, regulators are grappling of the prospect with their counties, counties, where no carrier is willing to sell aca policies in a given area. the market is in a much better position now than it has ever been since the exchanges have who opened, said a reporter follows insurers for s&p global ratings. the company's first began selling policies in the state exchanges five years ago. after years of losses, the insurers are now generally making money. william, go ahead. caller: good morning, how are

you? host: fine, how are you. i would like to respond to the caller from santa barbara, who made a point that there should be no problem with making friends with our enemies, which i happen to agree with. as long as we are not being played by our enemies so that we are no longer in a position of being able to be critical to understand some of the press they might be submitting against their people. but at the same time, it is important to recognize that we should not become enemies with our friends, and that is what is happening now. we are becoming enemies with our friends, other democracies in this world. i think the trend is becoming apparent that trump is more comfortable with autocrats than he is with constitutional democracies that allow its their needs,ermine

as opposed to one individual making the destiny for its nation. that is point number one. what number two, to the caller is it fair toting admit people with similar test and minorities might have an advantage. let's recognize that the minorities that do not have those opportunities are in -- the whites in our country for the better education and so forth to be able to score better on those test scores. if we are interested in having opportunities for all people, there is a rationale towards giving an advantage to those who do not have those opportunities from the beginning. shouldn't we also consider having restrictions on legacy universities or institutions of higher education?

whop is one such individual would have never gotten into an ivy league school had his father not been wealthy, had they not provided a large endowment, and that happens all the time, where young people who score worse on can promisecores legacies, financially speaking, this givesions, and the underperforming student a huge advantage to become enrolled in universities. for it many -- and for many other institutions, for that matter. are: let's see what people saying on twitter about the topic. rick tweet this about the polls, saying you have to believe that poll is accurate. the list of reasons are notable, but in the trump regime, it is about incompetence first, then everything else comes in second. for option would be --

corruption would be 1a. lost all faithve in republicans to do the right thing. i have lost faith in perl americans for being upstanding citizens of our republic. i have lost faith in those who and arey wave the flag really traders to it and the country it represent. karen in oklahoma, thank you. thank you, c-span, and happy fourth of july, and i am so sick of getting called names by the liberals and the democrats, but that is just what they do. russiale deal about helping trump, it could have been anybody, and the reason russia was helping anybody is because hillary and obama decided to get their fingers and prudent's election -- in putin's election over there and they are just trying to get us back. i agree with the guy who says education is a lot of our problem because anyone who wants to be socialist -- do you want

to be like venezuela, where they are now having to dole out toilet paper? really? one -- with i am that one democrat who is worried about foreign countries coming with ourssing elections, so we should have the national guard posted at each of the poll stations, and i do not know why people think it is ok that the democrats seem to care about the illegals coming over when we have 22 veterans a day committing suicide because our politicians claim there is no money for them to get mental health. why do we have homeless american children that illegals come over and the first thing we want to do is house and feed them. we have old people living on 600 or 700 -- $600 or $700 a month while we make sure the illegals have all the things they need.

no person on social security than $1000less month, and they will not close up our borders down there to keep all of these illegal drugs there are even though 117 people, american people every day overdosing on these pills that they are bringing in, and i do not know why they don't care about that. host: we appreciate your comments this morning. the administration yesterday reversing an obama era rule, a cnn report on that, the trump administration on tuesday rescinding a set of obama era policies that promoted using race to achieve diversity in schools, freeing up new ballot lines -- battle lines over the admission standards. strongovides a illustration of the ministry nations position on an issue that could take on a new detention with the departure of justice anthony kennedy from the supreme court. attorney general jeff sessions made the announcement tuesday

afternoon. to the independent line, lisa in shreveport, louisiana. caller: yes. we have all figured out down here, the deplorables, that the media is corrupt. we had a coup in the fbi that tried to take down our presidents. -- president. jeff bezos is a socialist. all of these mainstream whatever because it news is fake they want to indoctrinate you to become a socialist. let me tell you something. what are you all going to do when you can't use russia anymore and he becomes president again? what excuse are you going to have been? paperscuse -- and those you have up their? they are worthless. worthless. that is all i have to say. inc. you. host: next up, constants, democrat line. caller: good morning. host: hi, i am from virginia,

is i do believe that trump is a russian agent. i do believe that they put him to destroy america and he is doing exactly what putin wants. he is not an american. thank you for my call. host: thank you for your call, constance. we have read some of the declaration of independence this morning, the preamble and some of the charges against king george. some of those have more modern feel. on one of them, he made judges dependent on him alone for their tenure in office and for the amount and payment of their salaries. of newerected a number offices and sent officers to harass our people and eat out our substance. he has kept among us in times armies, standing without the consent of our legislatures. a next, terry jeffry,

ofumnist and editor in chief cnsnews.com. and later, we will hear from christian caryl. more ahead on this fourth of july. ♪ locked andight, loaded for the lord. >> what is going on in pennsylvania is a co-mingling of thedge of undercurrents of country of religion, politics and guns to a degree we have not

seen before. it is still a small church. he has a worldwide following. people in the congregation total. 500,000 worldwide. you can follow a church on youtube. going oft combing sayion -- what does this about us? is this a precursor of what we may see? when you get the genie out of of mixing guns and religion it has usually been problematic. >> with the help of gci cable

the c-span bus visited alaska with anchorage the final stop. quick c-span plays the critical and provides a window into washington dc that those of us, this is a far distance away can see what is occurring. >> it is important to offer c-span. we proudly support their effort to inform and educate the nation on policy, politics, history and current events. >> join us when we will feature our visit to alaska. alaska we -- alaska weekend.

>> washington journal continues. host: the editor-in-chief at the , and the creators syndicate, joining us to talk about the american dream, if it is still attainable. faith inalking about american democracy. where is your faith? guest: it is at risk. freedom is always at risk because of the nature of human beings are flawed. theink we are fortunate founders believed in a set of principles that would preserve thedom and understood flawed nature of human beings. we have seen rather have been serious efforts to infringe on the god-given freedoms of the american people. americans need to protect their

freedom exerting political rights that are in our constitution. host: you wrote a piece, american independence and the king of kings. what is that about? kennedy had ahony different fundamental point of view from cicero from martin 1825 when thomas -- heson was 18 years old wrote a letter trying to put the constitution in context. jefferson said these were not new ideas. these were ideas that came from .asic books of public writing he said it reflected the american mind. i think both those things were true.

, ciceroe read cicero laid out a clear understanding of natural law. eternal. ciceroderstanding of traveled through to the time leading to the american revolution. greatder hamilton, a rival of thomas jefferson and the political spectrum of that day, they were on opposite ins. when he was probably 20 years wrote the farmer refuted. he quoted william blackstone on the natural law, sounding exactly like cicero and said the rights of man are written as with a sunbeam with the hand of the sunbeam itself.

and alexanderon hamilton both believed in that idea. martin luther king the head of the southern christian leadership conference is protesting the brutal segregation policy of birmingham . he writes his letter from birmingham jail. saint augustine and st. thomas quine is. he says we have a just -- we have a duty to obey just laws. then he says those people who opposition and disobeyed the segregation laws of the south were actually reflecting the values the founders put in the declaration. kennedy,lly, anthony

he joins sandra day o'connor and david souter in writing the opinion of the court in southeast pennsylvania where he argued woman had a right to kill her unborn child under due process under the world liberty. individualnd every had their right to make up their own mind what liberty was. liberty give a person a right to take another persons god-given right to live. was aught that liberty fungible thing that people could change in their own minds. expand toe going to talk about the american dream. what is your view of the american dream and how is the

american dream undergirded by the founding documents? said them lincoln declaration was the gold. the constitution was the silver frame. the framers recognized there was mend, he had a moral law, could recognize that and that nations had to obey that law as well as individuals. human beings are flawed. when they wrote the constitution and set up a republican system between three branches, the legislative, executive and judiciary. preponderance of the power went left to the states. we had the bill of rights and the 10th amendment says the

rights did not take. up tot system was set thwart what the framers understood will be the pursuit of power by people in power. have come to decade since then and there has been an erosion of the liberty of the people to aggrandize the power of the federal government and the movement away in the same time from the thomas jefferson understanding of natural law and natural rights where we are arguing in the supreme court whether a catholic nuns can be forced by a federal regulation issued by the executive branch to cooperate in providing abortions, violating their religion. that is a profound drift. they would say are you crazy? host: how do you think that

informs what is the american dream? is it all what is given to us in the bill of rights? >> i believe what the framers were trying to do is preserve society they had. the great flaw in america at the time of the founding was slavery played. -- slavery. to unite the southern united states. a prosperous society, they wanted to protect it. i think in america today there's prosperity.bout i believe it is under threat. why did look at president trump succeed, one of the things people have to look at the census

bureau. there is one historical income table that talked about the historical trend going back to the early 1990's of high schools where there was a high school graduate that did not attend college. that household had a median income of 43,000 dollars. if you go back using another who completed four years of high school through the early 1990's, in that table if wasgo to 1973, the income $58,126. income of thehold person he graduated from high $58,000, toed from

43,000 dollars. that is a 25% drop in the real income of that household. that arc, a showing you flat -- we are asking about the american dream. is it still attainable. (202) 748-8000 2 . .epublicans call (202) 748-8001 in 1931 his definition of the american dream, the american dream is the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer in full or for everyone

with opportunity for each. it is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely. but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attend the fullest stature of which there are innately capable and recognize by others for what they are. guest: that is ok. if you look at the founding fathers, john adams, when he aote his dissertation, he had passage where he says reflect upon our ancestors. he talks about the americans who came to the continent where they had to build their own houses, take care of everything on their own and be self-sufficient. the reason they did it was for liberty.

theink that got down to core of what america was about for years. you had frederick jackson turner who was making the same point in the late 19th century. when americans moved to the midwest, you were on your own. there wasn't a government to take care of you. you to take care of your own and your family to develop the individualism at the heart of america. is johnnd part dickinson. he did not want to declare independence. he had been trained as a lawyer. he was a very articulate advocate of the american cause. he did not what to declare independence. he didn't sign. he wanted them to be unanimous but he couldn't do it.

after independence he volunteered and fought the revolution. duty, the founders thought america was a free and prosperous country. they were protecting it. said, he said they had a moral duty to preserve that and pass it on to our children. americans need to reflect on that. we have inherited this. it as at risk. it is at risk today. we have a duty not just to ourselves, to our children, and future children's -- and future generations to preserve it. we hope people look back on us and see us the way we look at john dickinson. , john adams ine 1765 talking about the difficulties the colonists went

through for years saying it was the hope of liberty for allselves which conquered the dangers and trials. asking then up american dream, is it still attainable. we will hear from keith in chicago. .not today it isn't a lot of the crazy right wing evangelical stuff, i would like to correct mr. terry on cicero. cicero didn't believe in god. they had a pantheon. natural law -- you are telling only a fraction of the story. the founding of this country derives out of the french enlightenment and you know that, particularly john locke. exists without a

god. it is called universal ethics. would it be right if everyone did what i want to do? that is universal ethics. i cannot commit murder. i don't need the 10 commandments to tell me not to commit murder. it -- if i live in a primitive tribe they will have laws against murder. .hat is natural law so you are twisting history for your own ins. misinforming the american people. guest: one of the wonderful things about the internet is you can look up documents. i mentioned thomas jefferson wrote the letter to in relief. he wrote it may 1825. saying this was

the object of the declaration of independence. not to really say things which had never been said before but to place the common sense of the subjects so plain and firm as a commander of sense. it was intended to be an expression of the american mind. all itsthat expression authority rests on the sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversations or the elementary books of public rights. thomas jefferson talked about cicero being the person who inspired the declaration. argued cicero is perhaps the most influential classical fingal on the founders. they read it in latin. back -- multiple

gods. he was assassinated. he was murdered before the birth of christ. christ had not been born. he was a roman senator. if you've read his writings were they are available online, the treatise on the commonwealth tremendousrint -- quote comes from, it is a dialogue. he is talking about god. when he discusses natural law, he says it is god who wrote it. it is one law. he could haveve figured out there was one god from that god of natural law? which is the same thing thomas jefferson admitted. host: they do not say god.

they say made from nature's god. nature and nature's god. it talks about divine providence. i personally believe because thomas jefferson was not a christian, what is he mentioning cicero? martin luther king talked about saint augustine who were christian saints. viewed natural law similar to cicero. name name -- why does jefferson name cicero question because he was not a christian. this represents the danger to america. , thensay there is no god, who makes the rules? powerful people

make rules that say they can take away our freedoms. i say no. god gave me my freedoms. host: good morning. caller: happy fourth of july. the american dream is still attainable. i'm living proof of that. iiparents survived world war , immigrated to this country and without education but with hard work, with sacrifice, they achieved that american dream and passed it on to me and my family . i think if you put forth the the things are available here in this country that yes, you can't attain that american dream. , mr. adams,u quoted your definition of the american dream is a little different but

i am living proof it is attainable. guest: it is interesting. you've read part of the declaration of independence, talking about immigration and not allowing the colonies to be populated, part of american attory and the founding era, the end of the seven years war king george issued a proclamation in 1763. settle inans cannot lands where the law flowed into the mississippi. there's a couple of reasons. they didn't want conflict with the indians. the americans moved over the mountains they would be beyond the reach of the british navy. he would be beyond the reach of their trade. -- the selfish

purpose of having the colonies go away. the king granted land to all the americans who fought in the seven-year war. place to have seen that land was over the mountains in the ohio valley. peoplea of not allowing to go there and immigrate was a real issue. reading the declaration and the preamble. a couple more of those. to render thed imposingindependent, taxes without our consent, depriving us of the benefits of trial by jury, issues which would come up in the constitution itself. good morning. terry jeffrey, if you

can't answer this nobody can. i believe the american dream is alive and well. family it is based on and education. that is what we had when this country started. what i'm up says twitter and i can't believe on the only person in america isn't obsessed with it, why in the name of god to people who want to send their children to religious schools have to pay twice all of their adult lives? for public schools which contradict their religions and then for religious school tuition. we have the first amendment to the constitution. the first 16 words are the free exercise clause, the establishment clause in the exercise clause. church has- catholic the catechism that says we have a duty to put our kids in

religious schools. united nations democrat -- declaration says parents have a right to choose the education their children will receive. what in the world is going on? greatest, the religious hate crime in the history of america to make us pay for catholic schools. terry. guest: i am 100% in favor of school choice. they would take the money they would spend per pupil and give it back to every parent so they can choose where they send their children. this question of teaching values in schools, we talked about the declaration of independence. they are endowed by their creator. do they teach that today? do they teach what alexander

hamilton said? if you're going to going to college, the kids study -- two kids study what cicero said? thomas jefferson said the natural law going back to pre-christian roman times. what about letter from the birmingham jail? that is one of the greatest political documents. every kid should study that. do they read what martin luther king said about natural law and the connection between that and the founding of our country? i highly question whether they do. i am 100% in favor of school choice and wish more people, more conservatives would take that up as a major cause. i think it could have a benefit for our country. the american dream is it still attainable. independent line. caller: thank you.

i believe the american dream is not only still attainable, i think it is more attainable than it has ever been. us, the poor people among the very poor have access to communication. phones can running water most probably heavy vehicle. i think part of what is going on here is the adults, we then-ups, in the media, at school, with all the talk of socialism and throwing around words like revolution, what are we teaching our young people today? to be optimistic or pessimistic? this writer can be damaging to have young people, i have teenage children. they hear what is going on.

the media has responsibility and they should be quelling some of this talk. i think it is an instant gratification society we are living in now. the rugged individualism should be promoted instead. we are probably tamping down that spirit. we don't want anyone to feel pain or discomfort. one other thing, one of my sons has student loans. he was complaining about his student loans. i said nobody forced you to take those student loans but you will pay them back. what an opportunity where we give most people the opportunity and yes,rrow the money there are interest rates and it doesn't seem fair sometimes but the ability to get a federally backed student loan, to have the opportunity for an education is something unique and something

to be proud of. rugged individualism. any thoughts? guest: i think that is what john adams was talking about in that quote you read. that was the last point he made on education which is also reflected. there are some obvious patterns and who has a decent living and who doesn't. the longer someone stays in school the higher their income is. people who live in traditional families have higher income. people who work have higher income. generally speaking an unmarried mother is the head of the household is at the end of the income. a married couple with two or more children who both work and went to college or have graduate degrees, they are at the top. the truth of the matter is even ,hough it -- that is the case

most americans don't graduate from college. college is getting to be incredibly expensive. more expensive than it should be. male americans are less likely to graduate. americansjority of that group that is the highest income isn't where they are going to be realistically. we have to have a free society that will graduate from high school and make a wage like they would in 1973. host: one of your pieces was called the pioneering spirit of the welfare state. you wrote about americans at the time of the declaration. americans did not want parliament to take care of them. generations of americans would bring the pioneer experience to recognize and respect that adams called on americans to remember

beyond the planes and over the rockies. they would build the world's be free.nation, and 40% of american babies are born to unwed mothers. 42 million on food stamps. .1 million on social security 74 million on medicaid. the federal government taxes.ing record those seem like dark clouds for the american dream. guest: they are dark clouds. people should not pretend it is not happening. franklinay up until roosevelt was president the only people who took a benefit from the federal government were people who worked for the federal government. veterans. in the mid-13th -- mid-1930's

passed medicare and medicaid -- them he had food stands. george w. bush expanded medicare. obama expanded medicaid. columnist when you have a massive numbers of people dependent on the government including social security and medicare, when you look at the budget of the federal government. , each year going forward, next the officeing to management budget, his budget will have a deficit next year and then we are going up above a trillion. at some point there is going to be a major financial crisis. host: a couple of data points on that. the number one, the number of single points is the single

biggest predictor of social four in 10re than single mothers live below the poverty line compared to married mothers. degreeue of a college and a society in which a college is almost required for entry into the upper middle class, 77% of people whose families secure a bachelors degree by the time they are 24. that figure is 9% in the lowest income bracket. let's go to mike. terry broughtlad up franklin roosevelt. the rich bankrupted america in 1929. franklin roosevelt raise the 1945.t and 90% in

that is what built america. that is what made the immigrants that came over from world war ii , evidence of how america used to be. until the republican started cutting riches taxes and making the middle class and poor people believe they were cutting taxes and then five years later they go back up to normal while the riches tax was permanent. george bush did the same thing. george bush did the same thing. that is the reason we're in this problem now. caller: roosevelt did not write the mimic that allowed the individual income tax. he did exploit it. this is part of the wisdom of the framers. the original constitution created a free trade zone in the united states but a lot of trade barriers at the border.

the founding partner -- founding fathers knew about trade. a lot of the struggles about trade, how the british were going to tax us, in the constitution the commerce clause gave congress the power, not any state the power. free trade stone in the country. the constitution also gave the authority to impose tariffs on foreign goods coming into the united states. wrote hishamilton report on manufacturers. use the tariff and this free trade zone, these figures people we have to create a manufacturing base in the notice states of be a plantation owner in virginia to be wealthy and have a decent living. we moved away from that we allowed in income tax.

now only that but a consumption tax like allowed under the original constitution have a natural limit. , fdr can take away 90% of your income. he can't force you to buy something with a tariff. the framers were right about tariffs and their vision cap the working man in mind based on income taxes as opposed to consumption taxes. host: is the american dream still attainable? here is what mike pence had to say. >> for the first time in the history of this movement you are fighting to defend a faith and freedom, and defend a faith in freedom president and you are fighting to protect the historic progress made since president

donald trump entered the white house. think about it. after eight years of the obama nightmare, president trump has renewed the american dream. told no growth is the new normal, this president has kick started a great american come back. after eight years of retreat, america is advancing because president donald trump has restored americans strength at home and abroad. sayinghe vice president the agenda has renewed the american dream. square that with your concerns over the fiscal stability of the government and the debt. host: on that front he is not doing a good job. his trade is good.

the fiscal front, the office of management and budget says his , it would have a $984 billion deficit. mike pence is a good man. he resisted no child left behind. he resisted the expansion of medicare. trump'sook at donald canet, he has had -- they google the omb budget. one of the documents are major eliminations and contractions. the exact name but it lists all of these programs come in national endowment for the arts, lee coel -- that trump is called for eliminating.

republican congress preemptively funded those things. those little agencies that trump called for eliminating. the idea that this is a fiscally conservative congress because it is run by republicans is not true. host: good morning to pete. >> good morning. i have two comments. the gem on said before the country was not based on god, he is nuts. this country is based on god and the constitution. star purple heart, afghanistan. the country is not king george. host: all right.

short -- falls church, virginia. caller: good morning. i called once before a month or two ago. every winning for presidential candidate except once. i have some authority here. what i wanted to ask, i go to the question first, why the color doesn't include home ownership as part of the american dream. that is something my parents had. they said you have to buy a house. that is your castle in your dream. you can raise a family. that was our dream. the quick comment i wanted to make, these guys who talk about inald trump and high taxes, am not seeing any direct relief from these tax reforms but i'm

experiencing it. in two weeks of a paycheck i get what used to take me two months to earn and it is not because of a tax cut. it is because the rest of my employer is getting and saying can you do this and work overtime? if you to hang on, i will. aes home ownership, is that part of the dream and isn't that bipartisan? guest: no doubt it is. a guy mentioned before the proclamation, he wouldn't let the americans go over the appalachians. it was fundamental. that pioneer john adams is talking about built their own homes and owned them. that are two ends of the spectrum. people are dependent on government. the cdc has a report where they publish how many babies are born

out of wedlock. , it is moreht years difficult for that child to get the point where he can be independent. there is this type between the culture and financial independence. owning a home, being free and independent is crucial to america. host: independent line. caller: good morning. about wanted to talk wealth. the original settlers of the country viewed wealth on agrarian terms. owning land. today there has been a major andt away from ownership self-sufficiency from being able to grow your own food and so forth to an urban investor economy.

that has significant implications for the abilities of individuals to maintain wrote: -- rugged individualist status. there are in equities built into the tax codes that negatively impact wealth accumulation in today's terms. years ago there used to be income averaging, you could average or income over time and pay taxes so that in down years you didn't have to pay as much as you did in up years. that.ere is no longer if you're trying to accumulate wealth, 50% of it is going to the federal government for arguments sake, 50% of what you earn is going to the federal government, you are always behind the ability to accumulate any real wealth.

it is significantly hampered. host: good points there. guest: i agree with what he is saying. another data point that contributes to what has gone on, in the years since 1939 when we started accounting for that sector of the economy manufacturing jobs peaked in 1979. in june of this decline of3, a manufacturing jobs since the peak in 1979. 35% drop. the median household income for some of you didn't go to college dropping from the 70's. alexander hamilton had it right. to create a society that can

maintain independence of people who were not going to own massive amounts of land. we are starting to lose grip on that. host: they have change him in agrarian society, a change in the works now from the manufacturing society. people like to explain this massive drop. we are going to a service economy. but no. there may be some of that. manufacturing companies based in the united states are moving their plants where they produce things to countries where they can exploit third world labor and sell it american workers who they have to pay american wages. patriotism in the economy. ron randall -- ronald reagan did a japaneseriffs on

motorcycle company. if you look at families that buildcture, they like to here because they are working with their neighbors. we need companies that are patriotic. talking about polls and mosts, on an up note, think the american dream is within reach for them. jeffrey, he is on twitter. great to have you with us on this fourth of july. guest: thank you. host: more ahead. we will speak with christian karl. editor editor of democracy post. back to the issue with the challenges facing american democracy. more ahead as washington journal continues.

>> sunday, on railamerica. a film detailing the tumultuous month of june 1968 through the camera lens of the naval photographic unit covering president lyndon b. johnson. >> the president was awaken with the news that senator robert kennedy had reached a victory in the primaries but shot and critically wounded by an assassin. the center's death, president johnson sent letters which are gently implored congress to enact a meaningful and effective gun control law. in june much of the attention

was centered on the paris peace talks. negotiators returned to washington to report on an impasse at those meetings. in vietnam the reports were far from optimistic. , thead of a slowdown communists had launched a massive new wave of assaults through the south to a road resolve on the home front and leverage on the diplomatic struggle. at a news conference the president announced the supreme court oral warning was retiring. making his third and fourth appointments to the high court he knew that his choices would affect the destiny of the nation long after he left office. >> watch railamerica on c-span 3.

washington journal continues. editor of democracy post a columnist with the washington post. us, talking about issues facing american democracy. tell us about democracy pose. project. is a fun we cover democracy issues around the world. that sometimes the includes the united states. to -- we think democracy is an important story not just in the united states. of countrieszens have become democracies and we are trying to follow that story. host: we were talking about the state of american democracy. aople would say we are constitutional republic and not a democracy. how would you respond. guest: very simply.

that is correct. i don't think that in any way negates the need for democracy. the declaration of independence didn't start off with the some peopleor we who owned slaves, it starts off we the people. the core word is people. they did envision butselves as republicans also as democrats. i don't think those things are mutually exclusive. if you look at it worldwide what is the state of democracy across the world? >> that is controversial. a lot of the scholars and people who specialize would say democracy is going through a rough patch. union in the european , theypopulist leaders have dismantle democracy.

that is ominous in a country that belongs to the european union. host: we have a story related to that in the front page of the new york times, the supreme court the protesters take to the streets riding poland's government carried out a purge of the supreme court eroding the judiciary independence, escalating the european union and further dividing the nation. what is going on in poland? you mentioned other countries and the eu in particular. ,uest: the government in poland is very much right of center -- it has followed his lead. victoryt considerable in the last general election. they took that as a mandate to theirdismantling some of

democratic institutions. it is a pretty large and important country. when democracy is eroded their it is not his -- not a good sign. host: do you see american institutions under pressure? >> i do indeed. one of the -- the biggest problems, congressional dysfunction. we have seen a trend towards congress that can't really get stuff done. they have a president obama issuing executive orders or president trump issuing executive orders. that becomes the only way you can pursue your agenda. if you see the charts on the use of a filibuster over the years, it was designed to protect minority interests. , it was970 that chart

almost never used before 1970. since then it looks like this. the use of that devise has skyrocketed. indicator of the two sides. they can't compromise on anything. host: it is up to congress to solve that problem. guest: one would hope. if there is this partisan gridlock, there are these things you can't compromise on. we asked about the state of american democracy based on a poll that came out from the george w. bush institute and the ken biden sender -- center. would you describe america's democracy these days as weak or strong? 55% of people in that poll said it was weak. guest: i think that is a trend.

there is an optimistic view which says we have always had some strong differences in this country. there has always been partisan competition. hardlynding fathers were -- you can see their rhetoric. hamilton squaring off against jefferson. it got pretty nasty. i think we can say that a lot of the norms, the unspoken norms of american democracy had been under assault for quite some time. they have been eroded and put under pressure. i don't think that is the matter of one administration. it is a longer-term trend. host: christian karl, the editor of democracy post we would love to hear from you.

one of your pieces recently, earlier this year, the headline, democracy with trump is not the only threat to america's democracy. had you see the president being a potential threat? what are those other threads? that there are a number of issues during the campaign and less so since then -- he talked about judges, federal judges in a condescending way which is a violation of a long-standing political norm. he has talked about members of the press as enemies of the people. he has attacked all sorts of political institutions. the fbi, justice department. out -- the most ominous thing is not some action he has taken but is incredibly

consistent praise of dictators around the world. he is attacked everyone from roseanne barr to saturday night live. the one person he hasn't said anything bad about is vladimir putin. whatever else you say, he is an extremely harsh authoritarian leader. i thought our country was in the business of not praising people like that. headlines,f your vladimir putin becomes the world's favorite dictator. expectations of that meeting? what could go right or wrong? my expectation is it will end up being something like the north korea deal.

they shake hands and sign a statement. both sides will say this is wonderful. we're on great terms. that is my prediction. worse case scenario is president , speaking with president putin one-on-one, something he wants to do with no note takers, the worst case and that he will try to reach some sort of grand bargain. we have heard rumors of acknowledging the annexation of crimea in return for russian troops getting out of eastern suchne, or some arrangement. that would be devastating host:. host:welcoming your calls next. the editor of the democracy post, let's go to fall river. andrew. yes, i would like to say

--as looking at my father's when he hit the beaches. democracy,k of our when our founding fathers first got this country, they wanted to things to happen. our founding fathers wanted us to have the right to believe in god, not a roman catholic god, not an evangelical god or a jewish god. a god, whether you think god is buddha or a fish in the water. that is our right. who was wounded four times in world war ii hated the fact that people were protesting

the flag in vietnam and burning it and spitting on it. he was the first one to stand up righty i fought for that for them to do that. guest: andrew and i, that is interesting. samest be roughly the generation. father father was in patton's . he was also a very serious patriot. my father was opposed the vietnam war. i don't think he was in favor of flag burning in any way but my father was opposed simple because he felt there was little hope of winning it. that it was in line with the goals we were trying to achieve, that it was brutal and immoral. that is what he taught. he felt he was able to make that

criticism without seeing unpatriotic. sometimes we lose that. the other point that religious freedom is important. most people who came here as colonists were religious the established church of as we forget, had enormous power in the british empire at that time. these were dissenters, they were puritans, or different other religious groups so i think that was, in fact, a very important factor, in the founding of our republic. and i think that religious freedom has got to be a crucial part of it today and that means respecting the views of religious people but again, without really going back to that thing we were revolting against in 1776 what was an established church. our guest with years of overseas experience reporting,

chief of newsweek for five years and moscow with u.s. news and world reports. based on some of that experience, i question on twitter from michael who asks: i would say money countries have the veil of democracy over the past 30 years, where are the successes and the failures? guest: that is a wonderful question because one of the interesting things we see in today's world is that dictatorships have to work really hard to pretend they are a democracy. is not saying that he runs an authoritarian country, he says russia is a democracy and that they have free elections and free media -- free media, basically. it is interesting that authoritarian regimes feel like they have to pretend to be democracies, that kind of shows you that basically, most people at knowledge that demolishing -- democracy is the desirable form, popular participation is really

something any reasonable government should have. 40, 50nd over the past years has largely been very positive. of countries, particularly in latin america, quite a few in africa, some southeast asia, a ducting democracy and it has really been a very impressive thing to watch. in florida, terry on the independent line. caller: great work you guys are doing for the fourth of july, happy fourth of july. i want to ask, you the same question that i wanted to ask mr. jeffries, the previous speaker. he was talking about the natural and to that effect i just want to say, natural law is due on to those as you would have

them do to you. understanding and your definition of a mock received was right on. -- of a democracy was right on. we are pretending that we have a democracy, everybody in america, especially, is pretending that it is. definition,o by this in america is not a democracy, just by definition alone. definitionublic by so my question to you would be, what country or what government is more representative in the world of a democracy. that is very interesting, excellent question. what country in the world is more representative of democracy? i am not sure there is a simple answer to that but there is an

interesting trend that it is easier to ensure relatively direct political participation if your country is small. for example, switzerland has a democracy, system of on kinds of provisions various important issues where people vote directly about what they think. a super federalized system. that is something that is very interesting to see. democracy does become very complicated in big countries. accident that we have a federal arrangement and that was designed a very -- veryally specifically to make sure that no region or group got left behind as the country got bigger and bigger and by and large it has worked although i think that now we are beginning to see some , some of the

disadvantages of that as it gets older. al on the tennessee, independent line. caller: i appreciate it. one comment and then i have two comments. first, before the first call, and within three minutes of this interview, your person there is starting to bash trump, that is just a note. really what i am here to talk about is the government can't get things done. i have heard that all morning. he constitution says that, basically, the government is there to control borders maybe. now, we have a federal regulation on what i can feed my children, how much water to put -- we are trying to do things of the government should not be doing. the second thing is that the country is founded on the idea that we have taxation without representation. now, we have representation without taxation. there are two primary

categories. citizens who do not pay into the system and illegal aliens. and they talk about democracy being extinguished in this country and one group of people has found a way to have the government get the wealth of their neighbor and that is what we have going on right now. i am going to stay on the line and listen to the reply. that is a lot of questions, all very valid. criticald say some things about trump but i could say some critical things about all our other presidents if you want, i would be happy to do that. i don't have any compunctions there. what?was the second point that you made again? caller: he talked about how the government can get things done. guest: i don't know that your interpretation of the constitution -- it is perfectly valid, certainly the founding fathers did not -- they did not

envision a strong federal government, that is certainly true. but i am not sure if that is something that is still entirely -- something that entirely works in the 21st century, right? democratic lot of governments that have a certain amount of regulation where the federal government, the central government gets fairly involved in people's lives and i think one of the points of democracy is that we always have to continue -- have a continuous debate about that, the extent to which regulation is justified. as far as immigration is ,oncerned, i personally speaking as a fellow citizen, i have always felt we needed to have a reasonable and pragmatic integration policy in this country and i don't see anything wrong with selecting the people that we allowed to immigrate into this country being fairly tough on those who try to

integrate -- integrate -- migrate to the country illegally. the problem is that it has been almost impossible for the republicans and democrats to find some reasonable compromise on this issue and this has led to just this kind of very messy immigration policy that we have had and so i would actually -- i could see republicans and democrats get together and instead of constantly polarizing each other and whipping things up and using immigrants as political fodder, i would like to see it get down to a proper conversation about immigration to solve the problem. host: a quick comment or follow-up? theer: what i would say to first part where you are talking about how other countries operate, i am not very concerned about how other countries operate in terms of federal government. what i am concerned about is

that adherence to the constitution. if we don't like how the constitution portrays what the function of the federal government is, then we need to change it because right now, the federal government can't get anything done because it is trying to do things that there is no way for it to do. you go there,hat we have other callers on . we appreciate your response. we do have a couple of other callers. let's hear from cornelius in alexandria, louisiana. republican line. i want to thank you and god bless america, happy fourth of july and happy birthday to america. officermilitary police in louisiana and my main thing , just like carl was saying about protecting the borders and the democrats and republicans not getting along, that is the main problem with the whole country. but i look at israel, israel has

about six different parties and what our country needs is probably six different parties. not two, not republicans and democrats. that would help the country out a lot. i wish our founders had set a 10% tax cut as if god only wants 10% than the government should only want 10% and be fair and honest with people. my comment. that is god bless c-span and god bless you carl. have a blessed day. we have a tea party, we certainly have a more progressive wing of the democratic party. caller: i think we are, i was struck by the earlier commented that the caller wanted a less federal government and was perfectly open to revising the constitution. and we hear this gentleman say he is very much in favor of some kind of reform because right now, clearly the system does not seem to be working. that is the way -- that is what i understood him to be saying. it is striking that even though people say the constitution is

the absolute standard of everything we should be doing, when you start talking to people, you take the conversation further and they end up saying i would like to change it this way or i would like to change it that way and it turns out it is not so sacred because people recognize that the system is getting kind of creaky and it might be time for us to have another conversation about how we might want to change the way we govern the country. host: pennsylvania, barbara is on the democrats line. caller: yes, hello. this may be slightly off-topic but i wanted to make the point and i have been thinking about this for a long time -- since nice inems to be very ways toward the white people of this country, that maybe one of the underlying causes of his being so forgiving of the russian leader is that their country is mainly a caucasian

country and he thinks that sometime in the near future the caucasians here or the caucasians in russia may be the path toward the white race being dominant. that is not such an off-topic comment but i just wanted to see if that was totally irrational. host: thanks for that. actually not a that point because i constantly meet people in america and europe -- i was a correspondent in moscow for a long time -- people make assumptions about russian politics and culture that they would never make about china or turkey or saudi arabia or african countries. then you say why? and they say russians are europeans. and you say what does that mean? that basically means they look like us.

but the political culture in russia measured over the past 1000 years actually looks a lot more like the political culture in a place like turkey which has not had much of a history in democracy. so, i have never heard anyone say oh, turks are just like us and we should be friendly because they share our values and our culture. i love turkey, by the way, i am a great fan of turkey. great country. but it always strikes me, the point i am trying to make is that people make assumptions about russia. it is european -- they would not make that about other places. russia has many european elements but it also has many closely linkedre with a long history of authoritarianism. is christianst karl the editor of democracy posted washington post.com. about 50 more minutes of calls and comments, we are next from don in california. a republican. you, i great to speak to

think our guest here is forgetting that we want to have we won't have democracy unless we have justice for everyone. loses his career in the navy because of some classified leaks, every classified officer in the marine corps knows that hillary, what she did was blatantly wrong and to take $149 million or whatever amazed and the weer topic, the point is don't have the same justice for everyone or we allow these countries like turkey, he is absolutely right, what is going on there is a tragedy to see the as democracies become theocracies and whether you are as a to believe in china

dictator or vladimir putin in russia, or turkey, that is not when there are so many men who have died to protect this country, today is a let's say thank you, throw hillary in jail. host: he touched on president xi, your background experience is reporting in europe but your thoughts on the rise of president xi and his consolidation of power in the country? book whichd write a touched upon china a little bit but of course, it was china back in the 1970's so maybe i don't know much but i do try to follow the politics there. and i am really struck by the way that both of my western friends who live in china and a lot of chinese people i know have been very keen to get out of the country. host: why? guest: they say the atmosphere

has changed completely under xi. he has cracked down under the guise of fighting corruption which is a very worthy goal -- so many different aspects of chinese society and people say they are living in a culture of fear. everyone is afraid to do always haveause you a lingering fear that it might get you into trouble in some way. and i am really struck by that. the number of people who have told me they don't want to live in china anymore if they have a choice because it has become too oppressive. host: let's bring things back stateside. you questioned -- do republicans still believe in democracy focusing on the russian investigation. asked that question because there have been a lot of polls of republicans and by the way, let me say, i am not a coastal person, i grew up in west texas. there were not a lot of democrats around when i was growing up. i have a great deal of sympathy for republicans and all of the

people that i love what i was growing up are of the republican party so this is not personal. i think if anything, i was even more shocked by some of these recent survey findings which show perhaps because of president trump's attitudes about some of these authoritarian countries or his attitudes toward domestic politics, some really astonishing findings like a good half of republicans pulled said that if trump decided to postpone the next presidential election, they would agree. i think it was a third of polled would be entirely in favor of closing media that had some sort of biased or inaccurate coverage. so on and so forth. issue of political polarization is not only a matter of the republicans, some lls say that democrats and republicans have become -- begun to hate and fear each

other in equal measure which i find really frightening. but the rise of these authoritarian tendencies is quite disturbing because my concept of america was never really about that. , virginia.nicsville storage, independent -- sutart. caller: happy fourth of july. host: same to you. mean, i would suggest anybody who wants to understand how things work, john marshall, the chief justice that save the united states. a great read. constitution if i am not mistaken, is the longest living constitution in the universe, i believe. it has served us well. served us very well.

republicrepresentative . if we were a true democracy, it would be like two walls -- two wolves. also, if we had one man, one vote, get rid of the electoral the only way to elect a president would be to take a vote in new york city, take a vote in california, and pick another big city. that is where they began -- that is where they would be campaigning. no. works.stem the gentleman who gave us the constitution and the bill of rights, all of it, they set it up, they want congress to fight. think the house of representatives is supposed to

be the hot cup of coffee. the senate is the saucer. and if they can't resolve it, we have a third branch, judiciary. very well thought out, it has served us well. host: thanks. he mentioned the system works. would you agree? guest: i think it has worked for a very long time, i certainly agree with that, it has got to be one of the most successful histories of -- one of the most successful examples of governance in human history, right? as ayou know, i do, citizen, i feel i am entitled to ask questions about the system. one of my questions is, in a presidential election, i live in maryland, by vote is worth nothing because maryland is always going to be a democratic -- well, has historically been a democratic state for many years. presidential candidates do not campaign in my state and my vote has far less value than it would

have in a swing state like north or one ofr virginia the big midwestern states. wyoming, which is a state with an absolutely tiny population -- i will probably get it wrong, but much less than washington, d.c. --just the same number of senators is california. now, i agree that we don't want direct elections for everything. absolutely. this is a big, complicated country. different parts of this country are so radically different from each other. we have got to have federal arrangements. i think we absolutely have to have a chamber with representation for states or regions of some kind, but the present system strikes me as a bit out of whack. host: the cradle of liberty from philadelphia, jim on our

democrat line. caller: hi, i am listening and i am just saying that, well, i agree that donald trump has seemed to fit a demographic that the way people think in russia.ike china and well, ok. we pay a lot of taxes here. people, seriously, people are against paying the taxes in this country the way we do. i'm giving up. it seems like he has become so consolationn giving to places like russia and china that -- i don't know where to

go. host: we appreciate your points and we will go to randy next in michigan on our independent line. caller: thank you, good morning. i really enjoyed it. host: you bet. caller: i would like to point overhe laws of morality , the languagears that the youth use every few , the debt facing us both in the national state and local municipalities. one of the things i really believe is hurting us is the new media today, i am not against them themselves but they have some channels that -- the old days with walter cronkite on the evening news, that was all.

you have news programs that cater to the left and the right and they each bring in their own experts to reach the base of viewers and nothing gets done in the middle which is where things usually get settled. host: you gave us some heavy issues to take on the media and that and a loss of morality. guest: i have to agree to some extent -- i think that the loss of morality is a hard thing to make concrete and specific to people but let me put it this way. actually a proponent of the idea of some form of national service. does not have to be military service. although, back can certainly be part of it. what would be a good way to overcome some of these partisan divides?? -- partisan

serving the military would have the same effect, making people together to get to know each other and having them do some kind of job for the common good so they can learn the value of public service. to me, that does not actually sound like a terrible idea. i'm sure plenty of people presented as an encroachment on personal liberty but it is the kind of great idea we should be thinking about to overcome these problems we have. host: north carolina, robert. on the independent line. righty,already -- all if your spouse lies to you daily or if your children like you daily, on ato you daily basis, about everything, you respect them? that is what is going on in the white house.

we have a president who is unfit and on a daily basis he verbally or tweeting is lying to everyone and everybody knows it and what are we going to do about it? thank you. guest: that is a great question for americans as a whole and trump voters in particular. whatever your feelings are about this president, a lot of americans know he tells tall tales a lot of the time./ we have a very fine institution called the fact checker who keeps track of these things of the president says and tries to measure them against the evidence. shortry often he comes up when you measure these things against the objective evidence. i just wrote an article about and just of crimea,

the number of inaccurate statements that from has made on this issue alone or in reference to russia, in reference to things that russia has done, are really quite astounding and that is not even to talk to the other things. this is extremely worrisome because whatever else i think about president trump's policies, that i find very hard to trust because again, if we accept the notion that we live in a republic designed by 18th-century philosopher kings, those people believe in objective truth. and even when they were attacking each other harshly, they still believed that there was a measurable standard of theynce in the world and argued about that and tried to make policy accordingly. to somese that mooring kind of objective truth, i fear we are in deep trouble. from twitter, asking the question.

do any of the democracies around the world start with inalienable rights? like ours does? or are there states like the du states are internal social needs that has worked. one thing a lot of people forget, there was the gentleman earlier who said i don't care about other countries i care about the united case. which is entirely valid but let's think for a minute. the united states had the first democratic -- national democratic constitution in the world. somebody may correct me on that but i am pretty sure it was the first one. all democratic constitutions of the world that have come since have, in some ways, referred back to that origin story. example, i think you can safely say that every country in the european union today has very strong language about the need to protect individual human entireand there are

institutions of the european union that are supposed to monitor human rights and protect them. whether they do a good job of that is entirely a different that idea which we first expressed in our constitution about the inalienable rights of an individual has become a global idea largely because of that. an american idea, it is not something we have copyright on, it is something we gifted to the rest of the world. and for them to say we should not learn from the rest of the world, the rest of the world should not learn from us, i only care about america, that strikes me as a bit confining. host: a counterpoint from the washington times, a famous comment from antonin scalia a. every banana republic has a bill of rights.

written guarantees are meaningless without a culture to sustain them. guest: that is 100% correct and i would say earlier that even if you are a dictatorship today, you have to pretend, you have to try to look like a democracy. on the flipside, if you have a great looking document and people aren't willing to live up to the principles embodied, that is no good either. host: christian karl is the editor of democracy post, washington post.com. thanks for being here with us and have a happy fourth of july. guest: thank you so much. host: more ahead. any topic you want to talk about, anything we have touched on in terms of the constitution, democracy, we will also take a look at some of the questions asked for the citizenship test and if you are game for it and you want to take part you can play along. we will ask you some of those questions as washington journal continues. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 four republicans. (202) 748-8002 for all others.

announcer: sunday at 4 p.m. eastern on real america, the president, 1968, the tumultuous months of june 1968 through the camera lens of the white house naval photographic unit. covering the activities of lyndon b. johnson. >> at 3:30 a.m. the president was awoken to the news that senator robert kennedy had been shot and critically wounded by an assassin. ,oday, the senator's death resident johnson sent letters to the senate and the speaker of the house which urgently implored congress to enact a meaningful and effective gun control law. the president's attention was centered on the paris peace talks.

cyrus vance returned to washington to report on an apparent impasse at those meetings. and vietnam, the reports were far from optimistic. instead of a slowdown in hostilities as a result of the negotiations, the communist launched a massive new wave of assault throughout the south to the homefronton and grass height and leverage in the diplomatic struggle. on june 26,nference the president announced that supreme court chief justice earl was retiring. in making his third and fourth retirements, the president knew that his forces would affect long after he left office. announcer: what real america this weekend on american history tv on c-span three. part of our 50 capitals tour, the c-span bus

visited alaska with anchorage the final stop on the tour. in makingcal role sure that america's democracy is functional and provides a common understanding of what is going on and a window into washington, d.c. that goes a far distance away and we can see what is occurring. >> i really believe it is we believe inuse the network mission to be an unfiltered and trusted media source. effortdly support their to inform and educate the nation on policies, politics, history, and current events. announcer: be sure to join us july 21 and 22nd when we will feature our visit to alaska. washington journal continues. host: open phones until 10:00.

any topic you want to talk about. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independence (202) 748-8002. and if you want to try one of the questions they asked for the citizenship test, let us know and we will ask and you can play right along. one of the cooler front pages we saw this morning comes from the baxter bulletin and arkansas and mobile,line almost free 10 things to know about the declaration of independence. this is part of the usa today network published here. longtimef an era, political rivals adams and jefferson both died on july 4, 1826 on the 50th anniversary of the declaration that left charles carroll of maryland as the last surviving signer. he died in 1832 at the age of 95. in texas, democrat line, ".

phone0. caller: i am a writer and activist for a long time and i just want to say that in my mind, in the mind of a lot of people, donald trump is a threat to democracy. loves vladimir putin and anything who says anything bad about saudi arabia. america was built on immigration. a lot of these people that are wealthy nowadays, they are people when brought in here, the original democrats that came here did not have a dime but now they are people who have also the fact that trump is always attacking the media and like i said, you could clearly see that that is a threat to democracy, and i just want the people to know that if you have any doubts about what i'm saying you think i am making this up, do your research on donald ron and you will see that he is the problem and he has created a problem for america from november if you go out and vote i think we can really

change in the november election. host: do you want to take on one of the questions of the solution subtest? guest: give me one. host: name one right or freedom in the first amendment. what does the first amendment guarantee us? i'm not certain, i'm down with our constitution but all i know is they always express the fact that we should treat everyone equally though the constitution when it first started, there were slaves. they want everybody to treat everybody equal. the constitution, not even our political people. that is the problem that i might not answer it right but i know that they want everybody to be treated right and i agree with that and i disagree with the fact that our leadership seems

to be divisive against our country these days. freedomeedom of speech, of religion and assembly, freedom of the press, and the right to petition your government were redress of grievances. veronica in california, good morning, happy fourth of july. caller: thank you for taking my call. i was calling to support the gentleman that spoke from north carolina earlier about making a point about lying. and if you were to live to -- continuously if you trust that person. and donald trump seems to live every single the -- to li every single day. every. single. day. there is more madness and more lies. to support that gentleman for having the courage to say that with his first

amendment freedom of speech. host: do you want to answer one of the questions? caller: ok. host: what is the rule of law. caller: you got me on that one. i knew the first amendment. host: it means we all have to of a the law. that no one is above the law. thanks for playing along, we are from tom in iowa. go ahead. i was listening previously to the callers calling in on may the the city changed. i am a strict inherent to the constitution person. had beennstitution adhered to, we would not be in the mess we are in today. host: ok. alabama, democrat, jerry, welcome. i want to talk about

congress, i tried to call it while ago but there was a gentleman there. we knew --ntation -- we need to expand our congress and reduce the term of the senate to two years. representative, that has been my argument for many years. anyway, that's what i want to talk about. it sounds like you know the answer to the question we are going to ask you.

the current term for a u.s. senator? caller: six years. and you have been pushing for a two-year term for how long a? archives, ik your have been discussing this for at least 25 or 30 years. sharing it you for this morning, looking at some of the front pages across the country on this july 4. i would say the ability for our country to have sony opinions and share them, i think that is valuable and i hope that continues. i am private schools are slaves of people don't get hurt. we can basically say and do what we want which is a lot different than other countries. from the wyoming tribune, wyoming news.com. enrichment, ohio, open phones. we will also asking the question on the citizenship exam. good morning.

morning, happy fourth of july. i have two comments of it like to make. when they were talking home ownership, yes, you don't own your home. if you don't pay your taxes within one year, they will come and take it. ihave recently retired and count out how much money i have to put aside each month for my taxes. no matter if you may not own your home through a bank but the government owns your home and until then, i don't understand the point of even having your own home. in a lotad something of states, you hardly pay any taxes at all. -- well, the thought that i have was that the gentleman who was on earlier and some of the other callers were talking about mistruths that trump has spoken and i'm not saying it is right that he has done that and what about obama?

anda had so many mistruths cost the taxpayers money. obamacare being the biggest lie that has ever been put out there. thank you, have a good -- next from new bedford, massachusetts. good morning. to begin with a man came in to find a box spring and mattress so he picked at the mattress and served i can so user measures the you have to wait for spring so we ordered a new one and the -- the guyaround

a baseball bat in my hand,. just under 20 minutes, open phones. (202) 748-8000 democrats. (202) 748-8001 republicans. s\ and748-8002 independent if you are interested we will ask you a question from the citizenship test. the headline from the washington examiner talks about the naturalization ceremony that will be underway shortly. 13,000 new citizens honored around july 4.

they were tasked with promising application for citizenship. as part of the able fourth of july celebration, u.s. citizenship and immigration services and a wire and rosalie -- good morning on the democrats line. caller: can you hear me all right? it is declaration of independence celebration day. i bet the constitution -- everybody has been talking arabic on the issue and the bill of rights and how wonderful that was that our forefathers did the. the bill of rights was part of the first 10 amendments to the constitution and the states would not have ratified the constitution unless those were that is a local

official that went in before the constitution was ratified. i don't know why people can't have an argument without a i don't know why people can't have an argument without pulling a gun but my neighbor tells me about prowlers neighborhood and i am wondering how every time i -- people who don't have jobs are sleeping under the -- excuse under the bridges around here and i see them on tv all over the place. only 3% of people not employed are all under the bridge host: david in clearwater florida, what that noise is the background. who is your elected u.s. representative? caller: elected u.s. representative is -- i want to

say charlie i think he is a state representative. it's a republican so i don't keep up close with him. 0 that's ok. nearby is tampa bay near , the tampaclearwater bay times headline looks like this. happy independence day or for the melting pot that is his at aoon and west africa national service asian serve -- ceremony on the eve of the fourth of july. bessemer city, north carolina. n on ouris ia independent line. caller: hi, this is chaste. 0 it says ian but that is fine. caller: thank you. but i to be a democrat would never vote for a democrat

again, they take us her grandson, they take all the different minority races advantage of. they think they own our votes but they don't. i helped run for people to vote i finde democratic party out if it is independent or republican. i will take one of your questions. host: this is kind of a multiple-choice. are two cabinet level position. caller: you have secretary of state and secretary of transportation. host: very good. caller: and i just wanted to say that people who called earlier lady fromuy -- the california and the gentleman who said he was an activist from texas. when you asked them questions, they had all these answers but they don't even know the basic

simple questions about our constitution or the declaration, that shows you what democrats are and how public schools and universities go. and: people do get nervous can't come up with the answer right away but i get what you are saying. thank you for being here and happy fourth of july. kevin is next in -- that's not kevin. south carolina. caller: good morning and happy independence day. host: thank you. caller: my comments are it is a democracy where we know it is a republic. the other one is, and this gives coming over here to escape the catholic church. i am not catholic and first of all, it was king james and it was the anglican church and they came over here not to worship that to read the bible and study the bible.

and i will take one of your questions. host: the next question for kevin is under our constitution, some powers belong to the federal government which is one power of the federal government. there are several of them. one power reserved for the federal government. caller: the power to protect our borders. host: true. immigration. we would create an army certainly. treaties as well. thanks for that. kim onn next, this is our democrat line. caller: good morning. [indiscernible] sorry?'m you are breaking up, your cell phone is breaking up. try again. caller: can you hear me now? host: a little choppy. caller: ok, let me go upstairs.

this area may be. anyway, i think we have too many elections in america. and i think that we should have the house of representatives have four-year terms, and i think what happens is that those guys are always looking over their shoulder and they should have time to settle in and not worry about fundraising every two years. host: the caller earlier suggested that congressman retire every two years. and one fellow from alabama recommended a two-year term percent of. caller: i just think that's crazy. 4 year terms provide more continuity and the check on the

shouse -- house because you could change the majority. host: we have the perfect question for you. there are four amendments to the constitution about who can vote. describe one of them. that the women's suffrage and in the constitution, all slaves were representativeor purposes. amendmentual rights never passed which is an embarrassment for america but anyway. and i write? yes, the 3/5

citizenship. also lowering the voting age to 18. graham on the independent line. could you give me the citizenship test first? host: there were 13 original states, original colonies. name three. caller: south carolina, north carolina, virginia. host: that's good. what is your comment? caller: my comment is about the polarization of the political system in the united states, particularly congress. beitical parties can anti-democratic forces, he wrote washington --

aboutd this, --talk about how political parties serve the public interest in their own interest and that is what is happening today. here is a tweet that says " the justice system is diminished when the 11 million are living outside of normal citizenship and rights over aroundration, people go the law of necessity. from the courier-journal in louisville, the headline with the american flag america is not a perfect union and that is ok as long as we try to be. kim sullivan. you can read his piece at

courierjournal.com. oklahoma, chris, republican line. caller: things, and great to hear all of the great colors this morning. , was listening to kristin's very interesting but so much of what he said just wasn't so. like obama, his farewell address, he mentioned that we were a democracy. fiftysomething times before i had to change the channel to nickelodeon or something. we are a constitutional republic helpr. carroll probably obama and the $20 trillion we are in debt, there is not any federal funding for $20

trillion. a bureaucracy has labeled... the future to themselves. worriedwhat they are about, that is why they want to get trump out and that is why mr. carroll was so adamant against him. i got that off my chest so hit me with your question. [laughter] history,s one is on this says name one war fought by the united states in the 1800s. one war fought by the united states in the 1800s. daniel that would be as -- espanol americana. host: the last one in 1898, very true. texas next, alfonso, democrats line. born inyeah, i waws

chicago, i'm mexican. i got to know different nationalities ever since i was a kid. i went to school with blacks, i went to school with -- so, my mind is a lot different because now i'm on pension and i live here down here near the border and so it is all spanish and they even tell me, what kind of mexican are you? just because i know other ethnic groups and my mind is not -- i nationality type of like right now it is down here all mexicans. host: how long have you been a citizen? caller: since i was born in chicago. i'm 47 years old.

i mean, i'm 77 years old. i think a lot different than the people down here at the border. and they even notice that because i was raised different. that is my comment. host: thank you. asking a couple of questions 175t citizenship, the 10th ofrouigh july and the immigration services offer online a sample test if you are interested. the civics history and government questions for the naturalization test if you are interested and have nothing else to do before the fireworks, a great way to spend a july 4 afternoon. wisconsin, david, independent line. yes, i have just one

comment. how big a challenge to our democracy as far as i'm concerned are the democrats? that is my comment. host: do you want to take our test? i guess not. have a, florida. -- tampa, florida. ike. caller: happy fourth. i'm an iron worker i have been an iron worker for 30 years. i got disabled and one of the about that has been said the american dream and everything, i worked all my life out of hard work and not very many people do that kind of iron work like i do. hurt and i had nothing but trouble with workmen's comp. and social security. the american dream that i got

saved my money, got it is a property, a mobile home, and i can't get to that mobile home to that property. other people come and go in this country and one guy, he said his mama comes from cuba, never worked a day in her life. she's probably disabled or whatever but he laughed in my face and she gets the max and i worked 30 years as hard as i could and i'm only getting a thousand dollars a month. know, the you fairness of what people work and pay taxes. substanceing away our to those that don't -- i mean, i'm compassionate, most people are. law isrness in the fairness in the law. host: one more call.

the declaration of independence, we mentioned the washington times publishing it every year in their opinion pages and a look at the last part, we read the preamble and some of the charges against the the last piece of it -- in every state, these oppressions that we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms are repeated. petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. a prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which made find a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. therefore are appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rest of judah bauer intentions, do in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are of right ought to be free

and independent states. that is the declaration of independence, and you can read it online. with usyou are back tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. eastern for more washington journal. until then, we hope you have a very happy fourth of july. happy independence day. ♪ >> next on c-span, a look at the meaning of the american dream and how it might change in the future. followed by a conversation on how millennials play a role in the future of conservatism. on thea discussion future of technology, culture,

information, and politics. magazine hosted a conference on the future of the american dream. panelists talked about politics, free speeds, immigration, and education. this runs about two hours and 45 minutes. minutes. [applause] >> take it away. >> thank you, everyone, and good morning. thank you to margaret, ucla. thank you, amy. let's jump into what at least i think is the most important question. and you will disagree with me. you are never shy about disagreeing so we are fine on that. let me do the overarching framing. the framing is that america has helped itself together because we are party to a kind of nationalism, that we are bound

together by a set of common ideas, common documents, common ideas that go back every for ew years. something that unifies us. but, we are under a kind of unique pressure now. there is technological pressure. the pressure of an economy that is unfair to large swaths of america. there is pressure from tribalism which is one of your big subjects. is, the overall can the creedal nationalism, the idea that we are bound together by an idea, overcome all of the things that are pulling us apart right now? an answer that in a tweet. >> first, it is great to be here. thanks for including me. amalf agree with you and i optimistic. i think the answer will be yes but i think you are romanticizing it when you say this is the way america always was. >> i'm recognizing