about rising bankruptcy rates among seniors. we also discussed the shortage of skilled workers and efforts to improve workforce development programs. "washington journal" starts now. join the♪ good morning, everyone. it's thursday, august 9, we are 89 days away from election day 2019 -- 2018. the gop and president trump are competing against democrats for control of the house and senate. democrats need 23 seats to flip house and control the gavel. 30 -- 36 must defend of their seats. republicans head into the midterms with a razor thin majority in the chamber. this morning we want to focus on one voting block this fall, union members only. how do you plan to vote?

if you live in the eastern country,art of the (202) 748-8000, mountain pacific, (202) 748-8001. or you can join the conversation at facebook.com/cspan on , @cspanwj. twitter "nationally, hillary clinton outperformed president trump and union households by just 8%, the smallest democratic advantage since walter mondale in 1984. for a more recent perspective, barack obama won union households by 18% in 2012. president trump did better than previous republican candidates with unions. according to reuters he is losing support among union voters in a sharp decline in the last year.

sincen see the numbers february into march and how they have gone down. today'strumka writes in "wall street journal," that unions are on the rise, looking to help missouri voters voted on one of their propositions on right to work, writing this this morning -- "despite the corporate right-wing best efforts, missourians saw through the campaign of fear and misdirection. right to work has always been a sham and he goes on to write that in his 50 years of the labor -- labor movement, from teachers speaking out to fair treatment to -- americans demanding more than the crumbs handed out.

host: we want to know what union members plan to do this fall. how will you vote? even if you are retired or ormer union, please dial in as well. set down with "the christian science monitor" for a morning back is to vent and was asked and 2020.labor union here is what he had to say. >> when he --

[video clip] something that is right for workers, i tell him. when he does something that is that for workers, i tell them i think it's bad for them and we oppose it. unfortunately, the number of things we have had to oppose is greater than the number of things that we could support. and that's sad. in members are still working an economy that is getting worse for them, not that are for them. worse in terms of wages and things of that sort. it doesn't matter to a worker that the gdp is great and unemployment is at 3.9%, if their wages are still flat and they still don't have health care or savings or retirement income to retire on in their kids cannot go to school because it cost too much and they come out with a mountain of that. i what has he done right? >>

think he is going in the right direction on trade. that was one of the unfulfilled. if he gets there, i think you will be great and we will totally support a rewrite of nafta. if it's a good agreement. if it isn't? we would have to oppose that as well. i think that is something he has done right. i think that some of the in oarsman stuff that he has done -- he has shaken the country out -- don't worry about trade, even if people violate it, because it doesn't hurt people that wrote the rules on wall street. it hurts main street. and i think he is shaking that up a bit. i think that's a good thing, frankly. ka, there.trump do you agree with him? or do you think the president is doing a good job on the economy

as well and agree with his trade policy as a union member? we want to hear from you. the president in new jersey this week, the other night, he was touting the economy and here's what he had this way. [video clip] -- had to say. [video clip] to two, 441, close i think it will go much higher. million since the election. a number that would have been unthinkable. you wouldn't have believed me. that's since the election. a lot of jobs. no one would have thought that was possible. a tremendous number. employed then at any time in the rick ordered his dealer country. that's a big number.

raterowing at the fastest in 47 years. there are big companies announcing, some haven't announced yet, they will be met -- will be announcing shortly that they are coming back to the united states. [indiscernible] manufacturing jobs don't have it anymore and i said really, we don't make these anymore? well, we will have 500 thousand in a short time, moving very quickly and that's a great job, they are doing great jobs. the economic growth that we asked for, 4.1, we anticipate this next order to be just massive. they are already saying it could be in the five's. host: we are asking union

members only this morning, how will you vote in 2018? are you behind the president and the republicans and their agenda? or are you following democrats this november. gary is in newport, kentucky. what union do you belong to?9 teamsters -- belong to? teamsters. i'll be voting republican. reason is that during the obama administration, with regards to the multi-tension law that he signed, mr. obama signed re a new law that allowed pensionssions to lower during that while he was in office. right now we have a section crisis.

.ave oceans 30 crisis we have a medicare crisis. it all needs to be addressed. that with a republican congress and house, along with a republican president, we can get it done, but i think we will fill be too divided if the democrats take either one. ed, anaheim, how do you plan to vote? caller: cwa, california, 9580. i'm neither democrat nor republican. i'm very ross perot. mostly result. andtched nixon, reagan, push through in the economy. clinton and obama didn't do anything about it. to ruin theblicans economy, maybe it takes republicans to fix it. i think that republicans and

conservatives, liars and thieves, that's the paranoia. but i'm not voting republican as much as i'm voting anti-democratic party. unless you are an afro hispanic lesbian, the union doesn't really care about the membership. their agenda is completely different than looking out for my interest. at that point i put my hands up and walked away from them. although i support my union, but the union leadership is definitely not looking out for me. .ruth, fact, result i judge them on what they have done and what they push for. askedally, i saw someone the question. i was an obama supporter until i watched them say that those jobs that are leaving are never coming back. i lost faith in him then and there. someone asked the question -- what has the democratic party

done for you lately? i had to give it and thought and they said they haven't done anything for labor at all and as far as i'm can turn -- no i'm not a christian christian, but i fit into the category of white wrist in mail. the democratic party looks at me as nothing more than a source of agenda.h for their i apologize if i sound angry, it i'm a union member and remember there was a time when unions supported the membership. host: did you vote for president trump and 2016? caller: yes, i did. i have been through two -- layouts with the phone company. he said jobs, jobs, jobs. trump is not really a republican , if you have watched him over the years. he is playing lip service -- paying lip service to those

people to get their vote. if it took a republican to ruin the economy by sending jobs overseas and bringing in cheap labor, maybe it takes a republican to fix the problem, the democrats have done nothing. host: what about his agenda so far this year? tax cuts, the tariffs against other country? reagan,before nixon and this was a heavily protectionist country. we protected jobs. i am all for tariffs. i am sick of saying let's follow china, japan, mexico's trade policy. it's a simple policy, if you don't make it here, you can't sell it here. we didn't look out for their economy. why? because of all a lobbyist doubt there giving campaign contributions.

sorry if i'm getting upset. trump's jobs, jobs, jobs. off, ago when i got laid it still burns. host: the president is not on the ballot. in november are you voting for republicans because of president i am, butler: yes, not because i'm a republican. i'm voting anti-democratic party at this point host: all right, -- at this point. host: all right, let's go to paul in philadelphia. caller: i'm a member of the na lc in philadelphia. democratic and 2016, i went middle of the ticket. and terms of going actively towards the democratic party, mainly because of the trump administration's omb and

his release on federal government. i think that's problematic. some of trump's numbers that he uses for the work or's are a little skewed, if you ask me. partly that's because of the obama administration changing or way that jobs are wrote did and the gig economy was brought in to the factor. people who were doing a job for two days per week for, say, uber, are being accounted for as a part-time worker, even though they might do two or three ride shares. he's touting these numbers and meanwhile he's bringing down good middle-class jobs. he's trying to knock them down and basically go further towards a lower tier. host: how is he doing that,

so, within the federal government, the mick mulvaney 122 page report about how he wanted to revamp different bureaus within the federal government, it was an awful lot of privatization. i'm not one that says everything should be public. but a good, healthy for public-private balance, there is something to it. host: let's go to roanoke, virginia. john, what union are you in? caller: sheet metal local. host: how do you plan to vote? caller: i wouldn't vote for trump again. on account of the corruption. the reason i call this morning is to tell you that every time i walk into a walmart, i see these greeters standing there. older people.

there to keep their health insurance and try to meet -- make ends meet. if you are union and you put 25 years in the union, you don't have to do that. you don't have to and and walmart and begged for tips and quarters. it's kind of a pitiful thing, was lucky. i was in the union. i get a union pension. i see these older people around me suffering. trying to make ends meet. your pension will last you through retirement? how much do you get a month? caller: through our union we had three different plans we could take and i took one where my die, she gets the pension until she passes away. , but itess of a pension covers me and then my wife. that was the deal that i took.

host: you say you voted for president trump. caller: no, i did not vote for trump. i did not vote for hillary clinton because of the way it was. i would have voted for bernie sanders. ok.: you said corruption. in the trump administration? what are you talking about? caller: i have been waiting for you all to have that emoluments clause speech on that, some sort of dialogue with that. because i think he goes out to his golf resorts and then the taxpayers pay for the secret service and all of that to say there. so, he's making money by going to his own golf resort. i'm 75 years old and i have never seen such corruption in the government. host: we talked about the emoluments clause here.

it's a conversation we will continue to have because it is one that some folks in washington are talking about as well. and outside of washington, just like you are. page, "trumpront plans for one fight into the midterms." "his dem it -- presidency is likely at stake. if democrats come in, he could say goodbye to tax cuts and a border wall and he will find it difficult to get conservative nominees in any number of host, including the supreme court." matt, talking to union members only. at a guess at this right. from pennsylvania? caller: good morning. host: what union are you with and how do you plan to vote? caller: i'd rather not say which chapter, in case somebody out there is watching. host: totally fine. ?aller: how do i plan to vote

against president trump in 2020. and it's strictly because of neil gorsuch. host: ok, why? caller: the janis case. i don't know if you are the moderator, you had mr. janice on there. host: i was, yeah. of a publica member employee union and that's the kiss of death. we have always had freeloaders, but they had to pay something. now with this case, forget it. it's just a matter of time before the union goes bankrupt. host: you are referring to public -- federal government or state governments unions, correct, and that case? caller: yeah, municipal government. host: cannot require union members to pay a fee. actually, nonunion

members to pay a fee. host: there you go. --ler: what i'm saying is why, why pay union dues when you can get the same benefits without paying them. host: did you vote for president trump and 2016? caller: i didn't because i knew he would appoint a conservative judge. that was a no-brainer. i still can't understand why union members out here couldn't see that president trump was going to appoint an anti-labor, you know, supreme court justice. you know? maybe i figured it out and they didn't. what can you say? so, are you mobilized to vote and support democrats this i wouldn't say i'm mobilized. i will tell you the truth, the

democratic party to me, they don't know what they are doing. they are so out of touch. loc has got to go. schumer has got to go. to go.urn has steny hoyer has to go. we need all new leadership. they are all out of touch. they don't know what they are doing. allegedly they represent us. they know a lot -- they know nothing about the lives that we lead. host: who would you put in leadership spots? congressman ryan, from youngstown. host: you think he can relate to you? >> you had better believe it. he has a new collar district. most of whom support president trump. congressman ryan, you know, he wins and a walkoff. he's what we need. we need people who know what working people have gone through.

schumerle like chuck and nancy pelosi, diane feinstein, multimillionaires. host: matt, there, in pennsylvania, saying he is going to vote -- did you say you would vote for democrats because of president trump? caller: yes. host: just wanted to clarify. referencing that supreme court case. we had mark janice, which led to that supreme court decision eliminating union fees for nonmembers. he was on the program a few days after the ruling. here's what he had to say about his position. [video clip] >> the unions are going to have to become more transparent, answer to the membership, and produce a product, if you will, if you want to call it that. that is going to entice people to join the union. they are going to have to offer something. just like somebody that manufactures a dishwasher,

automobile, or any other product, as to why you should buy the product. i think that will be the major benefit. i also feel that it is going to strengthen the unions. there will become that transparency. there will become that re-thinking what they do and how they do it. and i think that's going to strengthen the unions greatly. host: there he was taking peoples phone calls. take a look at the top unions by membership. national education association is number one on the list, followed by service employers international union, american federation of team stirs -- teachers, international unitedhood of teamsters, food and commercial workers union, the steelworkers autoworkers, seven and eight on the list, and at number nine, the international association of , followed by the international brotherhood of electrical workers.

we are talking to union members only this morning, getting an idea of how you will vote. we are about three months away from the november midterm election. rayland, ohio. caller: good morning, c-span. host: morning. caller: i'm definitely going to vote on the democratic ticket. this case that was mentioned, janice, mentioned by the caller before, that's a form of union busting. if the people just did a little research on the social security, on the medicaid and the medicare, these republicans, they want to take that all away. are in the process of doing that right now. in the state of ohio we have a peoplesman and several -- the gubernatorial race will be up in the air. we have the right to work.

all that that means is that you work for less money. these people had better wake up, , and look at what the unions have done for them. the eight hour day, the wage, the better its. the health care. nobody gives that away. these republicans don't give that up. the democrats and unions had to fight for that. that's pretty much my comment. host: talking about the ohio primaries. this is from "the financial times." "democrats believed, republicans feeling anti-trump backlash after party struggles in conservative. the apparent razor thin victory margin in ohio has sparked

concerns over the anti-trump energy that helped democrats in ."vember that theme is across many national papers is morning. headlines,gton post" "gop fears trump affect." "the new york times with their parity in election fog." and inside of "the wall street journal," "election holds warning signs for gop." times," conservative "trump liberal voter wave washing their way. political senator pushed aside by left wing." are asking union members only

this morning. ted, oregon, how do you plan to vote? caller: like i have always voted, for the democrats. i will tell you why. it's becomes i find republicans laughable. i was a kid doing it eases in high school during watergate. this was laughable me. i found that gerald ford was the only honest republican i have ever known. i am a member of the plumbers and steamfitters union. the day i turned 56, i had enough time, i retired and of not doing it anymore and my money will never run out. i find it shocking and the calling that anyone would want to work ran. it's shocking to me and they ail to remember that the reason they are making $15 per hour as a journeyman plumber working for the rats is because i'm making $75. . find it shocking

i believe that cory booker should be the new democratic leader. i believe that barack obama was a very good president. i took it -- i think he did a little bit of wind out of the house of the democrats. i think that for leadership, there is one guy, that's cory booker. host: why do you think president obama took wind out of the sails were the democratic already? goder: well, i find that -- bless nancy pelosi, but let's be realistic, you are in your late 80's, it's time to go. chuck schumer, you are a nice man, however you are past your time, it time to go. dianne feinstein, i love you to is, however, it's time to go. just like me. i knew when it was time for me to go. and run a van right now if i wanted to, but i don't want to, i do have to.

i do have to do anything i don't want to do. this morning i'm going to go fishing for salmon in the columbia river. host: all right, ted, happy fishing. john, kingston, ohio. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. the last three callers, i just echo their sentiments. i'm a retired steelworker. i have a comfortable retirement. i don't have to worry about anything. -- i was always in a union. any union member that would not vote democrat, they had better take a look in the mirror and take a look at what they have right now. -- everyments are benefit that any worker has in this country has come from a union worker suffering. being on a picket line. kids doing without stuff.

policeman beating them up, maybe even shooting them. anybody that wouldn't want to in the union -- anybody in a union that would vote republican needs to be thrown out of the union. i cannot -- i cannot believe that anybody in a union would vote anything but democrat because of what the republicans do. host: what are you and your fellow union members doing to get out the vote in november? caller: i'm retired, but i'm going down to the facility at work that. i'm going to talk to the younger union members. a lot of them voted for trump. a lot of them voted against obama because the nra said they were going to take away their guns. and them young guys leave that. they actually -- they believed. they told me that if obama was the military was going to come into their house and take away their guns. that's how ignorant they are.

they can't -- they've got to do research. they cannot us into what republicans tell them. it's all yes. for them, their wife, and their children is to vote straight democrat and be union. there, in kinsman, ohio. hi, jerry, go ahead. >> good morning. host: how are you? caller: pretty good. i plan on voting for the republicans in november. i'm a retired steelworker. belonged to the united steelworkers local 7655 and tennis the. basically hadp

that -- cap that plant in indianapolis from closing. years, then, for united steelworkers have tried to get them to do something about nafta. because the jobs were going to mecca to cope. now president trump is doing something about that. i think he's got an agenda. i'm against the right to work law. tennessee had the right to work law. as far as president trump and the republicans trying to help, what he's trying to do, i'm in favor of it. right, jerry. in other news this morning, as many of you know, republican of , chargedas collins with insider trading. the news that followed is that

paul ryan stripped him of his post on the energy and commerce committee. the ethics committee had already been looking into his behavior. the upstate seat, heavily republican, now a target for the democrats. he was released on a $500,000 bond after pleading not guilty in new york on wednesday afternoon. totaltorneys predicted exoneration. let's listen to the government officials laying out their case against the congressman. [video clip] >> when questioned by law enforcement, congressman sonsns, his son, his father-in-law, lied. today they are charged with lying to her a lot worse agents. collins may have thought that giving his family and friends a heads up about material, nonpublic information would benefit them in the long run. here's a better inside tip for those who think they can play by a different set of rules.

access to this kind of information carries with it significant responsibility. especially for those in society who old a position of trust. act honorably and in a rinse with the law and don't lie to special agents of the f ei. host: if you want to watch the fbi.e -- f ei -- host: if you want to watch the entire thing, head to our c-span website. here was the response. [video clip] >> i will mount a vigorous defense in court to clear my name. i look forward to being fully vindicated and exonerated. ending any and all russians relating to my affiliation. i have spent the last 10 years in public service as the. county executive and member of congress. i have also spent many years volunteering to give back to my

community. whether it was as a member of the federal reserve bank, small business advisory council, member of the board of trustees of kenmore mercy hospital or as a longtime mentor to small businesses at the center for entrepreneurial leadership at suny ub, the public knows my dedication to western new york. because my focus is to defeat the charges in court, after today i will not address any related to immunotherapeutic outside the courtroom. as a fight to clear my name, rest assured i will continue to work hard to the people and can issuance of the 27th congressional district of new york and i will remain on the ballot running for reelection this november. host: congressman chris collins has represented that district since 2013. his democratic opponent has less than $100,000 in his coffers,

while congressman collins has one and 3 million in his campaign or chess. "the washington times close vote says -- washington times" -- in his campaign war chest. at least five current republican lawmakers host: let's go back to our conversation with union members only this morning. terry, help me with the name of your town. town on thettle old kentucky west virginia border

and i am a member of the united mine workers. host: ok. what are you going to do in november? caller: i'm going to vote democratic. host: why? caller: i think any person who keeps up with allah takes and has kept up with politics through the years can see that the democrats are the people who support unions. i cannot vote for someone who is appointing supreme court justices who are against unions. that is what they are going to do. that is what kavanaugh will do if he goes to the nomination process. it will be a vote against unions. host: you want democrats in charge so that they can potentially stop the president from appointing kavanaugh to the bench? yes, we do.

i would encourage senator manchin, currently undecided, he has been a great union supporter . he is helping to fight for our pensions right now. we are in a pension battle right now. i just got on a us last and i rode to columbus, with 15,000 other members to demonstrate to try to save our pensions. we are in a battle and it is a battle that we have to win. it's a small pension that i draw, but it at least is me the opportunity to do things that i couldn't do if i didn't have this pension. host: if for some reason brett kavanaugh doesn't it a vote before the november election, if it did happen and senator manchin doesn't the clare how he ,ould vote on the nomination how will that impact your vote, won't, i? caller: it

will still vote for senator manchin. have a guy running against him in this state. we had a recent teacher strike , mr.uring that strike morrissey, mansion's opponent, said that if the strike -- if the teachers didn't go back and the law had to be enforced if he had to, he would arrest them. that's who is running against mr. mansion. we create a lot of problem's. the democratic already has eerie like the one gentleman talking about ohio. i think tim ryan would be a great speaker of the house over pelosi. in west virginia they are eating us to death with nancy pelosi. we are still running a good race in the third district with richard [indiscernible] a union person. sounds south -- host: like you are involved in the politics of your state. talk about how your union organizes its members ahead of a

midterm election. what do you do? out do you do your grassroots work? caller: my union is in active low. all retired. we are down to 760 members now. simply because all of our members, most of our members are in their 70's and 80's. i must ring chicken here. 66 years old. but all the members are retired, we look at things a bit different from the active miners . we look at the pension and the health care, which made senator manchin secure for us. he led on our health care. that's saved thousands of miners through health care. we are so all involved in the black long fight. which is going on right now. they are trying to take funding out of the federal black lung

program. we had people down here eyeing with black long. you know, we fight for different retired, but we still realize that without the union, we would have nothing. host: let me ask you, are the younger union members more inclined to vote or republicans and support president trump? a,t: probably in the umw they would be. ,- caller: probably in the umwa they would be. they think that republicans have their interest at heart. i don't think they have our interests at heart. anyone supporting these supreme court nominees that are dead set against unions could not have our best interests at heart. host: after that ruling in the supreme court, democrats held a

news conference. patty murray had this to say. [video clip] for workers and another win for corporate special interests that have spent decades chipping away at workers rights and fighting to dismantle unions. unions and the people that they represent are not owing to's and by and watch. they are going to organize, fight act, have their voices heard. that includes fighting for workers rights and representation. i want you to know that democrats are proud to stand with them. for more than a century, unions have organized lift up the voices of workers who have been otherwise unheard, fighting for fair pay and safe working conditions with better benefits. unions helped to create the 40 hour work week. they ended child labor. they strengthened the middle class. unions are still today empowering workers in cities and states nationwide. we know that where there are .nions, all workers benefit

we have that they are still the most effective pathway to the middle last. democratic senator there, patty murray of washington state wording the union vote their, as republicans and democrats compete for control of the house and the senate in 89 days. we are asking one voting block this morning, union members only , how do you plan to vote? we will get back to more of those phone calls and conversations, but first in other news, we talk about this a little bit, in the ohio 12 district, the race narrows as every vote really counts in the ohio special election between danny o'connor and balderson, which has yet to be called since yesterday as the country asks for as in tea and provisional ballots to be added. o'connor just snagged some extra votes, narrowing the razor thin

majority. the headline out of ansys this morning, kansas gop gubernatorial primary is too close to call. collier byh led jeff less than 200 votes on wednesday following the state republican primary election for governor and it will be days before the race is settled and it's a test of donald trump's endorsement could help the secretary of state despite the no apologies brand of conservatism that has alienated even fellow republicans. state there, of saying that he will oversee the election results, the counting of the ballots there in that state. much more to watch in those two states. here's a headline from "wall street journal," "u.s. punishes russia for u.k. attack. denying companies sensitive

equipment. and then you have this related headline in the washington post about u.s. russia relations were trump the files republican antipathy to russia and ran all as an ally. a secretive summit and open invitation to visit the united states and a letter hand delivered by a sympathetic senator as president trump makes increasingly unorthodox overtures to vladimir putin.

that you can read more of in "the washington post." there is also this in "the post this morning -- post" this morning, "drafting executive order to sanction foreigners who interfere in u.s. elections, efforts demonstrate a series about combating hacking and ordered a copy that was reviewed high "the washington post."

host: back to calls. george, columbia, south carolina. you belong to which union? caller: [indiscernible] host: george, there you are, go ahead. caller: [indiscernible] host: you are breaking up, apologies. maybe called act on it -- call back on a better line. stand? caller: i belong to the plumbers and pipefitters union. that guy in ohio is right. i'm going kayaking in florida. i was born a union member in connecticut. the reason i am supporting them at that is because i have two daughters that are teachers and i don't think they could have a worse lady in charge of the betsy devos.

she is charter schools all the way. as far as the guy from kentucky says that obama did nothing? he saved the auto unions. all them guys would have lost their pensions. as far as nancy pelosi and chuck schumer? how about mitch mcconnell? you should go, to. i support tim ryan. he's the union man. the union health to catalog the union in pennsylvania winning that district. the way. all i get pensions and i live here in florida. you want to talk about right to work dates? come to florida. lots of jobs for $12.50 per hour. as far as mr. trump, he never supported unions ever. am i still on the line? host: we are still listening. caller: he never supported unions. he bought everything from china.

and as far as these sanctions go, he is kicking and screaming all the way to do these. the congress is putting these sanctions out, not him. he doesn't but these on. congress is forcing the unions. int: let's go to jeff merrimack, new hampshire. jeff, good morning. caller: good morning. host: you are on the air. i'm alone three construction worker out of boston, massachusetts. i will be voting republican again. when barack obama was up her reelection i paid attention and he was talking about a cadillac tax on the health insurance. a 40% tax on health insurance. to me that so most of $5,000 tax year. there was no way i was going to vote for that and i never will , leadingd of ironic off with m.i.t., i happen to be working there right now. off, [indiscernible]

,ut i am working at m.i.t. nano it's kind of funny that you lead with them. host: you are a union member at m.i.t.. caller: no, i'm a construction worker just working on that job site. host: i got you. caller: i go to different jobsites around boston. host: what do you like about what the president has done during his first year and a well, he wants to build a wall to stop illegals from coming into lower our pay. jobs, jobs, jobs. i want to get rid of obamacare for that penalty i pay on my health insurance. it's not right. it's just not right. i was working at a job site in boston at one of the county jails with two sheriff's deputies. they were around inside the jail, they had to stay with us.

tv, theyear the inmate were watching something political. two of the guards, couldn't believe it, a white guy and a black guy, they said they voted for republicans because, as they saw it, democrats are more for illegals than they are for honest working americans. to the cadillac tax, i did that out to a couple of young kids. $5,000, put that over 40 years in your rear? got enough money there to buy a house in cash, that one tax. for that reason i will be voting republican. called orhave what is what has been dubbed a cadillac land because you belong to a union, right? -- plan because you belong to a union, right? caller: correct.

host: ok. up there in new hampshire. a headline from "the hill" newspaper this morning. , in new york.lph ralph, good morning, you are on the air. fromr: i'm a uaw worker upstate new york and i will be voting in the upstate district for dana gecko. come out inump has support of rand paul national right to work bill. he is in no way, shape, or form for union workers in this country. host: how did you vote in 2016? caller: i always vote democrat. i always vote my interest. why do you think -- what you say to the collars we have heard from this morning who say that democrats have not had union member interest -- have

not prioritized them? caller: they've got to work -- look at the issues. john cac co came back to watch and then voted against us on a bill to shorten the time of the national labor relations board from the time workers file for an election to election day, when they petition, down to 10 days am 38 to 43, down to 10 days. he voted against it, to stop the funding for that rule change. that's what they do to us. your union provides you with a congressional roll call so that you can see how they vote? caller: yes, on issues such as

that. host: let's go to mike. caller: how are you doing? host: doing well. caller: i'm a retired teamster. i worked 30 years and i never paid one penny in health coverage in my whole work life and i never put a penny in the pension. i have always voted democrat. that's what it's all about. trying to better myself. anybody that knocks unions, you know, i hear them saying that they think union money is used for political purposes. the teamsters, they had an organization within the teamsters called drive, where each member could volunteer to give up so much money per month, it was three dollars i think at one time. month that you paid along with your union dues, which my were somewhere in the perhborhood of about $40

month, but i got all of these benefits. like i said, i worked 30 years, paid nothing into health coverage and i never put a penny in the pension and i have been drawing a pension now for pretty close to 15 years and i get $2000 -- $2100 per month from the union. host: does that cover most of your costs? social no, i get security and i'm a vietnam veteran, so i get some disability. do you get your health care from the veterans administration, then? caller: yes, and i find that to be excellent. people knock on a lot of things, but they knock things they don't really understand. i have been under the veterans administration ever since i left vietnam. thank you very much for taking my call. host: thank you. jackie, santa clara, california, you are net. wller: i was part of the ufc

before i retired. i started working in a movie theater in 1960 making one dollars point five cents per hour. three years later i got my first union job and made $2.50 per hour and has been uphill since then. .he 80's was better it started coming down slightly, mostly because of the republicans, which i don't understand some of these union guys thinking the republicans are for you. they have always been against you. they take away holidays, they take away raises, they take away -- they fight the union all the way on everything. we lost half of the holidays where we kept our pension and kept our medical coverage. right now i am retired for almost 10 years and i get the same retirement as i do social security and i can do whatever i want. i still have a mortgage, so i don't have any problem paying that.

i just have enough money to live on. hindsight, i probably would have gotten the 401(k) or some of that to enhance my money, but i'm doing just fine with the combination of social security and the retirement and health care. i get it for life. unless the republicans keep busting up the unions, i will be set. trump is not for us, republicans are not for us. people need to do their homework. the guy from new york, like he said. that guy from new hand sure a bit ago was talking about how he pays an extraordinary amount and has to pay taxes on it? i haven't got a clue what he's talking about. that's just not the case with union and he talked about having to pay a $5,000 fine for obamacare? what is he paying a fine for?

he should have his medico coverage covered by the union. what he says makes no sense and these guys who talk about voting republican, they make no sense to me. the guys that were talking about staying democratic and doing their homework, they are the ones that know what is going on. we will go on to jim, in leesburg, virginia. hi, jim. jim, good morning to you. jim, one last call for jim in leesburg. it's your turn. let's go to ronnie, indianapolis. union members only this morning. which one do you belong to and how do you plan to vote? i belong to the uaw and the afp. that represents state employees. to make a long story short, in 2005 we had our collective

bargaining taken away by the republicans and at that time, governor mitch daniels, who took away all of our collective bargaining and our pay has suffered -- excuse me, our health insurance has suffered, while he has taken his money and he has privatized our state government. so, i could never in a million years see myself voting republican ever because of how he and pretty much all republicans feel about the working class in the state of indiana, as well as this country. i think it's really, really sickening to hear other republicans -- i mean other union members to say they are voting republicans. i don't understand that to save my life. up on theowing cadillac tax from the previous caller and the caller before ronnie, there, about what it is. this is from the employment benefit advisor website. "the high cost plan tax, popularly known as the cadillac

tax received bipartisan scrutiny in congress nearly immediately after the law went into a act in 2010. the implementation has been delayed from 2020 to 2022, repealing the penalty could cost the united states to do and dollars and bought -- lost revenue. in an effort to repeal it once and for all, a coalition of , localses and advocates government health-care companies and other stakeholders have joined together to make sure that the employer-sponsored health care coverage for tex 178 million americans stands now wethat take a break we come back a new study shows americans over the age of 65 are filing for bankruptcy at unprecedented rates talk to one of the study's office about -- authors about what is behind the trend.

kermit kaleba talking about closing the skills gap in the united states. >> this weekend on book tv, author interviews from the freedom fest conference. starting with vicki alter discussing her book they'll your, the federal miseducation of america's children. robert poole with rethinking america's highways, a 21st century vision for better infrastructure. and a north korean girls journey to freedom. block with space capitalism. how humans will colonize planets. george gilder on his book life after google, the fall of the

data and rise of the block chain economy. bookes sauer discusses his profit motive what drives the things we do. watch this weekend on book tv. >> we don't live in the same parts of the country. we don't have the same outlook. is minutese the same color and women of color, the way we try to instill a sense of at the consequences of what could happen if interaction with the police goes wrong. >> d.l. hughley shares his thoughts on race in america with his book how not to get shot and other advice from white people. >> how about having a police department respectful of the public? that is held to a higher

aredard than the children supposed to respect? there is a point when children just don't listen. should they die for that? i should we accept that? is it the best we can do? tell our children to be more responsible than adults trained to serve their community? host: we are back. take a look, the rate of people 65 and older filing for bankruptcy is three times what it was in 1991 according to a new study the consumer bankruptcy project. here to talk about it with us, from illinois, the university of illinois program and law behavior codirector.

what is this consumer bankruptcy project? why are you looking at this? guest: it is a research collaboration run by myself and the professor at the university , we have aia irvine long-running research study. we survey people who file bankruptcy. .e collect their court records it gives us an insight on the bankruptcy system, filing a crib see, an insight on what is happening in american households. host: the question is why, why are we seeing this trend? there's lots of reasons. , we can in our paper document the trends happened.

we ask people why they filed bankruptcy. people over the age of 65 will .ell us they have medical debt a lot of bankruptcy filers have that. we see income decline, which is not surprising. one thing that stands out with is aver 65 population third say one of the reasons they file bankruptcy is they try to help out a family member or close friend financially. thatis a fairly big number is different than the under 65 population. research, ther retirement crisis in america, our taper well in that water research about shifting of risked individuals.

costss more out-of-pocket associated with health care. less financial security with retirement. what we see in our paper, the roots of it are set long before people get to retirement age and aey arrive, and they are just financial problem away from bankruptcy court. post: we want to hear stories about this. 65 and over, (202) 748-8000. and 64,the ages of 32 (202) 748-8001. taking your questions and .omments according to the near times story about your study, three in five said an unmanageable legal expense played a role.

how much of older people's income is going toward medical expenses? that is hard to say. it there is from individual to individual. what we see in bankruptcy court is it is not just income. a lot of credit card debt is due to medical expenses. there's a lot of hidden medical expenses. two thirds cited a drop in income as well. >> right. that is of course what you would see across the board. the roots of these problems,

long before bankruptcy court. financial disaster away from a bankruptcy filing. financial disaster pushes into a bankruptcy filing. trenddoes this rising track with people living longer? is this a natural outcome of people living longer? >> yes and no. the yes is a small part of what we are saying but the trend is so large it can't be explained just by the aging population. this,crease, i looked at the increase in people over the age of 65 over the study, i forget the exact number. a two and ag at

half point increase. host: these older people, don't they rely on medicare to pay them? medicare to the extent you have medicare coverage, but medicare doesn't cover everything. doesn't prevent you from -- let me rephrase. medicare doesn't help you if you are still working and not able to work a cousin of your medical problems. when we ask people about their medical problems we ask two separate questions. what about medical debts and lost income? the two thirds figure was a combination. host: we are asking viewers to call in and let us know what you think of this. if you're 65 and older we want

to hear your stories. ray, you are first. good morning. caller: good morning. companyo work for a car moving cars at an airport. asked himf mine, i one morning, he was 91 years old. he was -- i asked why he was there. he said if i don't work, they will take my house. i can't afford this. here is a caviar. marine. world war ii look at him, not being able to afford health care. he can't afford taxes on his house. these teachers, it was because

of the school tax. i live in pennsylvania. this is what is going on. -- obamacare. let's get this straight. if you couldn't afford the premiums the government is going to subsidize you. it is not affordable if you have to be subsidized. take what he said about unions and health care. how does that fit in to what you look at the data? guest: we have a fair number of people in the study. one of the things i could say, none of this happens without people returning surveys and a difficult time in their life. we are always appreciative of the people in our study. we have so many people in the study. the story this caller

arestrates is that there lots of reasons people get into financial distress. the two thirds figure of the medical problems, one third of them are not citing that. the stories are varied and diverse. lots of different reasons. good morning to you. caller: good morning. bank rep see a few years back. mine was for medical. i worked for banks. we were responsible. me, i had a hernia mesh they advertise on tv. it ravaged my body. much am just pretty

resolute right now. , what did you hear about medical costs? it is it prescription drugs, a procedure? what could be the tipping point for folks filing bankruptcy due to medical expenses? guest: i wish our data made that distinction. -- the prescription drugs, the medical procedure. that from our to study. a large number, they have medical problems. it is a classic story. people arriving with medical debt. then they have the debt but they

are not able to work. that double win me drives them into bankruptcy court. there is usually more than one reason. i thought the caller's story was classic of a bankruptcy filing. seniorsw long are before they debt sought bankruptcy? guest: great question. ,nother thing we have seen people are waiting longer to file bankruptcy. more than 50% of people wait more than two years. that figure has been on the rise. the seniors are just like all

other bankruptcy filings. attempts tot of stay out of bankruptcy court, to cope with their financial distress. half.dian, over more than half of the people are waiting more than two years to file bankruptcy. they struggle for two years before bankruptcy. what is it like? what is the process? >> the first thing is to find a lawyer. bankruptcy is a complex law. best legal solution? if you're going to think about filing bankruptcy you should

consult with a lawyer. in consultation come up with a plan that sometimes my not involve filing bankruptcy but often would. there are two primary types of bankruptcy. , you pay your creditors out of your existing assets. there is also a chapter 13 bankruptcy. you pay out of your future income. you keep your assets. that is the sort of thing that they will sort through. host: which are more seniors using? guest: about two thirds of all our chapter seven. that is true for seniors.

two thirds of cases are chapter 13's. good morning. .edical and millennials the medical is it because of medical problems, it was due to the following into obamacare. i have been self employed. i'm 67. i am in texas. we skated by having to get obamacare because the state -- they puto have it off in texas. -- they allowed states to make that decision. that ran out on us a year and a half ago.

we had the coverage going up and up. nothing was available except for one company. obamacare only. 35,000 for premiums with a $12,000 deductible 5000 out-of-pocket on regular drug stuff. $40,000 for standard health care. we didn't want to. i have always had insurance. didn't want to get into pre-existing conditions. host: why not medicare? guest: i just got into medicare. even at that you are still paying money.

i am self-employed. folks, if your income was such that you didn't get subsidies, you got killed by obamacare. most just don't realize. you were talking about the cadillac tax. the majority of obamacare did not go into effect. mentioned when obamacare went into effect. the corporations never were forced to make the decision about having to cover their employees or pay the penalty. and the 2009w, house committee meeting, they clearly understood 110 million people. host: i don't want to go to too far down this road. let me ask you about that year.

did you need to see a doctor and you just did not want to pay the cost? trying to avoid the expenses? caller: i am overweight but the healthiest overweight dude in our area. we are very healthy but insurance. it is not about health care. the insurance is so expensive. even if we could ask then -- afford it there was not a doctor we could see in our county. , that wase paying for the only reason we were paying what we were paying. ok.: guest: not all insurance plans are created equal. what we see in our data are whole with health insurance have substantial medical debts.

a lot of that shows up because that is what the hospital or doctor will take. that becomes unsustainable. problem and you are in bankruptcy court. see in other research viewers find on the internet about self-employed persons in bankruptcy. they will tell you their income is notoriously cyclical. boom and bust. financiale these , that isat a bust time when we are seeing people show up in bankruptcy court. , itstories from this caller is consistent with the data. one of the things that would drive them to bankruptcy court is aggressive debt collection.

what laws could be changed? guest: that is a great question. i have thought about that. i don't oversell that this is a matter of better social security or medicare. certainly that would help. no question that would help. said earlier the reason the problems we are seeing are not because somebody is getting to age 65. areproblems we are seeing much earlier. the result of lots of different policy decisions made. shifting of risk on individuals happening bit by bit

leading to data we are seeing in our study and also other studies by lots of other people. i don't think it is a matter of having one or two laws change. i think this is a matter of a national conversation about policies and what risks we expect individuals to bear. host: what risks are people being forced to bear that they did not before? isst: so, a great example retirement plan. the pension plans, the shift from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. used to, they would pay a certain amount. now the employer is more likely to be put -- putting the certain amount into an account.

if the stock market is going up. if you are statistically living the life expectancy that fund is set for. it is possible the market could go down. ofical again, the rise higher co-pays and deductibles putting more risk on individuals when they have an illness, even things like the way we finance higher education. one of the things we see, people saying i'm in bankruptcy because i helped a family member or close friend financially. some of that is educational debt. host: thomas, good morning. caller: good morning. know, this problem is only

going to get worse. the problem is going to be exacerbated by creating jobs right now, they are all part-time. attachednot benefits to them. no health care benefits. i was watching yesterday, y'all had a guy on talking about an average company, for a company providing health care for yearyees, it is $14,000 a per employee for health care. i blame -- i want to put the blame on the republican party of this country. years it is 25, 30 like when obama was trying to get the aca set up. they wanted to have a public option with people that did not

afford health care or could not get health care, like the guy in texas said he could not get it, if he had the public option he could have got on medicare. that would have covered it. i live here in florida. roadve a house across the that rents out to a vacation rental. i talk to people in canada. they say we are the stupidest people on earth for putting up with what we are putting up with. you were talking about the risk put on to the patient. it has. the other end is the profits of the insurance companies are continuing to rise. point, this trend will get worse. his prediction. do you agree? i would like to think not.

i'm a believer in conversations like this. that that will help. also, it worries me whether we are going to have the political will to have the conversations we need to have. the conversations keep going back to larger issues. that is a fair point. our studies, the bankruptcy courts are a window into what is happening more broadly. i have been overwhelmed by the .eaction of the study something happening in the corner of the court system. happeningto what is in the broader society, a window

into what is happening to other american households. the, kansas. hello diane. caller: i want to explain something from a different. i am retired. i did everything right. freet into retirement debt . own my house. no credit card bills. i had a good job. for security based on a good income, i had a pension plan. sounds great. everything is right. here is what is happening. i got real numbers for you. medicaren't understand . it is complicated. -- youn't understand

have to have a supplement policy. b, the best medicare supplement i can get. of $2752 aa total year. i had extra drug expenses because part he doesn't pay very well. that was $2000 a year. and my outpatient drug cost, these are regular 4700 $82 a year. but i have had quite a few tests done and seen six different doctors. my out-of-pocket was zero. everything was covered. that youve to know

have to have all three parts of medicare and get good supplemental insurance. me,er two, what is killing what i am worried about our .roperty taxes another gentleman mentioned earlier. my property taxes are $5,000 a year. i'm a single person. they are going up constantly. which means just my property expenses my medical are $9,752 a year. a 401(k).ension and i have social security. into my 401(k) i get $52,000 a year, before local income taxes, any

taxes, which we have here. what i'm saying is i think i set myself up as well as a hearse and can be set up but i am starting to look ahead that things are going to get unmanageable and i can't imagine withe retiring with debt, house payments thinking they can make it. it is going to get worse, especially because people don't have to find pension benefit plans anymore. you pay your bills, how much spending money do you have? gosh.: that varies. i might have stuff. can't tell you by the month.

i can give you what i paid out in those fixed expenses. i am not in poverty. i'm doing fine. i'm a single woman. host: but you were worried about the future. how old are you? caller: i'm 71. host: you respond. guest: i was thinking your colors are doing a great job of telling the story in the paper. the idea that somebody at 71 who has done everything right should have anxiety about financial future and the description of the callers situation, she is right. she should not have anxiety. she should not be worried. she obviously has some worries. it is understandable.

story is thek that story of the paper. when we started you asked why we do this. it tells us about the bankruptcy system and what is happening in american households. host: dan. caller: as a physician, let me put it this way. the problem is too many pigs at the trough. someone started a business to he would keep going as long as he was making profits, the sale of whatever he is doing. now everything is a corporate level. these people ask an excel a tory and then the end result

is there are so many people taking income from every system a person uses someone on a fixed income cannot keep up with the curve and expenses. they fall behind. we have to decide at which point do we consider the service growth ford a entrepreneurial advancement unbearable. , they're working for corporations that depends on entrepreneurs and the right of profit they make. host: we understand the point. we have to decide if we are going to have people on asked incomes, fixed expenses. point.stand the

we don't have fixed expenses. the expenses keep going up. i think that ties in well with the theme of the paper. people are arriving at retirement age on a fixed income. expenses rise. what we see in our paper is expenses spike. there is a big medical debt. there is some sort of financial crisis. they end up in bankruptcy court. saying,your callers are it is exactly with what the paper's findings are. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i want to reiterate what diane said. we planned well. we downsized.

we did everything so we could end up being with our fixed income. comfortable. not extravagant but comfortable. $10,000 inlost income. a lot of windows do not understand when your husband dies your going to lose social security and a good portion of his pension, which lists face it, men get more than women do. you end up behind the eight ball because you are losing that income. then you discover everybody else wants more money am especially school taxes. my school taxes are the same as diane's on a house that is worth $170,000. i'm paying $5,000 a year in taxes. we planned. , becauselot of women

of the area i am in, a low , they are spending almost half of their social security just to keep in their houses. just to keep the roof over their heads. the school taxes are becoming astronomical. host: you are talking about property taxes. caller: yes. your taxes are divided into two parts. municipal, which goes to the government, which i'm thankful for and understand we are living in a poor area, let's keep taxes down. because of thes, underfunding of the pension plans in pennsylvania they are rising astronomically. it is going to get worse because we are behind making sure that the pension plans are paid for.

don't know what is going to happen to a lot of these elderly women that, they are trying to just keep the roof over their heads. i look at the future and wonder homecan afford my little someday because of taxes. well.er, i did i planned for having a good part b and part d so i would not have a lot of health care issues. in the future, i'm paying more than i have. we will go to jim. caller: i wanted to ask the professor a couple of questions. here in pennsylvania the lady from kansas was speaking about property taxes.

my wife and i are thinking about selling our house because property taxes here, everywhere you look. they go up and up. i was reminded by a neighbor people that rent, you don't have these property taxes. we are thinking about so we don't have to go into bankruptcy, selling the house. it is a good time to sell the house in pennsylvania, and becoming renters. i wanted to let that out there. what is the correlation between here in pennsylvania, there is a , we are up tobt $21 trillion of debt. when you look at the big debt hanging over all americans, how does that filtered down an

impact individual bankruptcies? don't go pay a lawyer. can you do a bankruptcy on that? >> we will get some answers. let me take those questions in order. guest: national debt come i don't think it does at all to be honest. trends.d bankruptcy aat drives trends is you need fancy computer and statistics to conclude people who file bankruptcy have debt. filing trends are in consumer debt. as debt goes up and down bankruptcy filings go up.

i think in the near future bankruptcy filings are going to go up as well. i think that is probably not a great idea. bankruptcy is not a cookie-cutter legal proceeding. what is best for you in a bankruptcy proceeding depends on your goals and financial situation and what assets you have, what state you are in. people ifggest to they are thinking about filing bankruptcy, a lot of local jurisdictions have pro bono services that might be able to provide an attorney. low bono services.

but i really strongly urge people to try to use a lawyer if you're going to file bankruptcy. bankruptcy is not just something you can try. you have one shot at it. if it does not go well you have used up your shot at a fresh start. caller: i got caught up in a situation that has not been mentioned yet. i had a well paying job. i had the start of 401(k)s. get in my 401(k),

getting some priests it is raise, 165, with the addition, than the bottom fell out. i thought i was secure. the value of my house came down. highis the reason why, how that it was. the penalties were that. i could not file unemployment. got tied up in debt. professor?

guest: you asked about people struggling for bankruptcy. people go to great links to the incomeg interruption. the steps of the caller was trying to make, that is very common. we haven't talked about in our data, people tell us they go without. majority say they will -- they will skip doctors appointments. to try and cope with financial distress. they will without food.

basic things that people take for granted. people filing bankruptcy are irresponsible. i'm not going to suggest there is not ever and a large country the vast majority of people who end up in bankruptcy court have gone through lots of struggle. host: if our viewers want to learn more, credit slips.org. thank you for the conversation this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: we would take a short break. kaleba come back, kermit to talk about closing the skills gap in the united states.

>> this sunday we continue our series on women in congress with sue myrick. >> we were pretty much all alike because one time we were together and the old woman who had been here before, we were .alking someone said you do that too? .e took our work good time.d a but that is really what happened. we are working all the time. we realized as women that was the difference.

>> watch oral histories sunday at 10:00 eastern on american history tv on c-span3. tonight on c-span. the u.s. conference of mayors. >> i can't explain the feelings you have any school shooting. one thing i can relate it to, the anxiety of uselessness, of not being able to do absolutely anything, there is only one other place i felt that. senators, representatives, mayors. not one single person is

confident that one thing can be done about the people who died in my school. >> speakers include public and strategists and google executives, and greg abbott. >> we have a thousand people a moving to the state of texas. job, here is what taxes is going to do. we are going to build a wall with this difference. instead of building a wall between texas and mexico. we are going to build between texas and new mexico so we can keep the californians coming in to the state of texas. >> listen on the free c-span

radio app. >> washington journal continues. leba your talka about the government training programs. what is the national skills coalition? the national skills coalition is a plat -- 5013 c. froming together leaders ,he business, labor community to advocate for expanded access to high-quality education training. we focus on middle skill jobs. education and training beyond the high school level but don't require a four-year degree.

some other form of energy recognize training, the credential is in a four-year degree but it is an evidence of skill. the reason we focus on middle skill jobs, that is where bc the greatest economic opportunity and economic pain. jobs in the u.s. economy that this middle definition. the require training beyond high school level. when we talk to businesses across the country, it a lot of times these are the jobs we hear are hard to fill and to prepare for. skilled medical technicians, skilled workers.

i.t. workers, a number of occupations. expanding access to those who prepare for those jobs so they can move into those jobs from their current roles. we also want to make sure businesses can find skilled workers to stay competitive in today's economy. to pay forou want these expanded training programs? guest: we do advocacy at the federal level and state level. we talk about job training therams we should remember federal government does play a role. they do invest money in job training. as we will talk about later they are not spending as much as we .hink they could be businesses are investing in training.

do our advocacy, to help make it easier for workers to get the skills they need to advance in their careers and make sure businesses are getting the right kinds of skills and credentials when workers are applying for jobs so they can hit the ground running and be competitive. >> is there a work shortage now? question. a big wem our perspective, where see the shortage is with these middle skill jobs. >> only 42% of workers are trained at that specific level two take those jobs. it is a challenge for the workers. if they don't have the specific skills they can't take advantage

of new job openings and businesses can't stay competitive. i would say in many ways we talk about a skill shortage. we are facing access to training shortage. those investments have been going down for years, since 2001. have seen federal investments in job training decline. of, whenhave a lot employers are struggling, whether it is manufacturing with i.t. or other sectors, they are facing a shortage of skilled workers.

to develop and expand those training programs they need, so they are developing responses to immediate skill gaps. helping to develop longer-term pipelines. if you can see a skill shortage arising five years from now, new technologies or new job opportunities from the business perspective, we want to make sure they anticipate that, and technical colleges or local apprenticeship programs. we want to make sure we are giving them the tools they need to be successful. the skill shortage, a lot of times what we are not thinking about is small or medium size residences.

they don't necessarily have an hr department. the owner may be the hr guy, the payroll person. when it comes to filling skills gaps, they are often hiring two or three or four people at a time. it is hard to organize training based around their needs. one of the things we're trying to make sure we are targeting the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, to advocate for the industry and sector partnerships where multiple small and medium-sized employers connected to a work withndustry, to public sector partners to aggregate their skill needs to make sure they are developing short-term strategies. to make sure that workers are aware of the job opportunities or the skills they need to be successful.

developing strategies and the training that will help people move into those jobs and advance within their careers. host: we want to invite our viewers to come in. if you have one of these jobs we're talking about, tell us your stories. area, 748, 8001. how do other countries do it differently than in the united states? guest: sure. point of an example is apprenticeship. it is a strategy that is not new. it has been focused in the construction center though it is expanding. if you look abroad to a number in germany and

switzerland, they have used apprenticeship more broadly than we have. it has integrated into their hiring and high schools. identify thean field they want to be working in. they can start getting on-the-job training while they are still getting in the academic instruction necessary to succeed. that allows them to transition into the industry after they graduated from high school. the federal government does play a role in our print is meant -- apprenticeship system.

the world of the federal government has been -- has not been around investing in apprenticeship. inis funded by employers and certain cases by labor unions that partner with the employers to develop these programs. there is a lot of interest rates talking about how we expand the apprenticeship model into new sectors. there's a lot of benefits because as a worker you are getting paid while you are learning the skills and the competencies you need to do the job so you do have the opportunity cost some people feel they face going through higher education. with the obama administration and the trump administration they have focused on apprenticeship as a way that we could be thinking about how we make it easier for people to get the skills they need while earning a living and supporting families. that is a good step in the right direction. host: let's go to daryl.

caller: hello. i am seeing what you are talking about. i look at other countries ,eveloping their technologies and we are not doing that a lot. it is happening at the higher level, they can afford to send their kids to school. they are ok. they are just the guys making the rules. and are making the rules the poor guy is struggling to get ahead. him.nobody wants to hire what these guys know. the government has people with higher -- that own businesses rules,t are making the

they have money. guest: sure. i think you can -- you hit on an important point. are a lot of jobs in this economy that pay a family is supporting wage. but do not necessarily require a four your degree, jobs in manufacturing, i.t., health care. there are a lot of important and critical jobs in this economy because folks do not have access to the kinds of training and skills that they need in order to get into those jobs. things we advocate for an focus on is that we do think there is an important role for the federal government, and other stakeholders, to pay -- to play in making sure these jobs are available, that they are high-quality, that they lead to jobs in local labor market and provide opportunities for people

to advance. we of the things particularly advocate for at the national skills coalition is the increasing investments in job training programs. the past 15 years we have cut funding for job training almost in half. we think we need to reverse that trend and we need to redouble our investments in job training. we think it's important for the administration and for congress to listen to business leaders, folks like you, workers in our communities across the country who are looking for work and to support their families, and want a better job and opportunity to train for these jobs. we want to make sure that there are training programs available. and to make sure they are leading to these jobs and credentials. i hear what you are saying and i think it is important for us to

think about how we are investing , and use this as an opportunity now that the economy is as strong as it is, to think about how we are helping people get into those jobs. century,rn of the last we as a society decided that we wanted to make sure every person who was able to get a high -- and now we do not have a national commitment to make sure everyone who wants to work has access to education and training beyond the high school level. as we had to the 21st century, when we areomy going to have increasing demands for technology and skills, it's time to have a national commitment for skills beyond the high school level, and making sure everyone who wants it post secondary credential, certificate, or journeyman's card can get that. host: philip, in north carolina.

what you are saying is -- some get companies of these companies will get in and they say what they are going to do -- but they are out to make money, those programs need ,o go back to the high schools and junior high schools. , from those programs junior high school through high school and also when i got ready to graduate, the first thing my instructor told me was if you were going to college, continue your work and skilled trades, construction companies used to have apprenticeship programs. all of those things have been done away with. down here, you cannot even get a

job without going to some kind of hiring agent. , it makesre saying sense, but at the same time the people who have wealth are the ones sponsoring these programs and they are in it for the money. they are not in it in order to help the everyday person. host: let's take that point. guest: i want to hit on one point that she raised which is the issue of vocational education or what we call career and technical education, particularly at the high school level. that congresswing just passed, a weeks ago, ourslation to renew investments in career and technical education programs at the high school level and college-level. it's a piece of legislation that's generally referred to as

the perkins career and technical education act. it provides funding, $1.2 billion year, to go to states in local school districts community and technical colleges and other education providers to provide skills training and career education in high school and in colleges. you also raise an important point about career and technical education and vocational education. one of the challenges we face as a society, is that, when i was in high school, a lot of people thought of vocational education as the class where you sent folks who were not college material or who had disciplinary issues, career and technical education programs were not seen as programs that students should be trying to enroll in. what happened as a result, in a

lot of cases, we stopped making investments that we need to be making in these programs, because there was a perception in a lot of parts of the country that is the students are not going to be going on to college, we do not need to spend the kind of resources. that not need to make sure they need to have access to the same academic skills as their counterparts. i think that's a mistake. are seeing is we the career and technical education field recognized this challenge, and over the course of the past 20 years we have seen the change in how career and technical education is provided in both high school and at the post secondary level. there is a real recognition that anybody who is enrolling in a career technical education program needs to get the same academic instruction as any other student. they need to get not just the occupational skills and credentials that help them

, but also into a job the academic skills that are necessary to help make sure that if they want to go onto a two-year college or a four-year college they can do so. i think that's important and that congress just reauthorize they reauthorized by unanimous vote among the house and senate which tells you perceptionbout the of workforce and job training in washington. it's a bipartisan issue, and members on both sides of the aisle are starting to recognize that if we do not provide these kinds of training opportunities, we will miss an opportunity in terms of the business community, but also an opportunity to lift people into family supportive jobs. stuck,le find themselves and they want to transition into a new career, they need to move to a new industry, they want to advance in their own company. we need to enable people to do

that and make the resources available. policies tend to discriminate against adult workers who are trying to increase their skills. the white house put out a report last month a pointed out that we do a really good job of investing in folks before the age of 21, we spend a lot of money on people before the age of 21 but afterwards our investment drops off. and that's something we need change. we need to invest in people throughout their careers, making sure they can take advantage of any opportunities that emerge in their local economy. host: let's go to clark, in florida. our uss? -- are you with us? let's hear from jason, in illinois. caller: i appreciate you taking call. i'm the union general contractor in central illinois, i cannot agree with you more. the next generation of

carpenters, electricians, plumbers, just the next generation of trade are not there. you have these kids, 18 years old, trying to get into an apprenticeship program that do not have any work ethic. they cannot handle the fast-paced of a construction site. they just quit and leave the union. we had an apprenticeship carpenter last year that we sponsored to get into the union, we gave him his card, he works two months. two months. he couldn't cut it. something needs to be done at to high school level separate the kids that are geared to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, that you need your decree and -- degree and diploma to go on. they need to separate those kids and focus on precollege courses

and getting them ready to enter college. have mechanic classes that are being cut, woodshop class is cut left and right. in the state of illinois there is no money in the budget for the school to have these vocational classes. i cannot agree more. i petitioned to run for congress in the 16th district and that was a part of my platform. we need to train the next generation of workers, or we will not have anyone to replace everyone who is set to retire in the next 10 years. host: the president has started the counsel for the american worker, what does -- what is that and will it help? caller: -- guest: it was created as part of an executive order that president trump released last month, it's an interagency council led by the department of

labor and education and department of commerce that will be advised by business leaders, and education leaders, and community leaders on how we can strengthen workforce development and job training, and higher education. to respond to the last caller's question, how can we make sure businesses can find the words they need? the executive order also included a call for a pledge the so companies,r, ibm, microsoft, walmart and others made a numeric commitments to provide training opportunities and employment opportunities for u.s. workers. which i think is great. the idea of an interagency council is a good one, it something that president obama solution.a bipartisan

useful to is very have various federal agencies overseeing programs. so for example, career and technical education for the department of education and a lot of job-training programs are under the department of labor. we think it's a good idea to make sure those programs are coordinated and aligned so that we are leveraging those resources effectively. one concern that we have is that while the administration has really emphasized the important -- importance of job training and career and technical education, and making sure workers can get skills. when they have been creating budgets, they have proposed dramatic cuts to job-training. the president called for an almost 40% cut to job-training programs under the department of labor, a 30% cut to career and technical education.

there is a? -- there is a question mark, with this administration and their commitment to advancing skills and credentials being backed by rim efforts and investments. that is one of the things we will be watching -- by renewed efforts and investments. that is one of the things we will be watching over the next year. we hope the president will choose to invest in skills. in pennsylvania, waiting on the line. hello. caller: hello. what the gentleman is proposing sounds good, due to trumpeting came intorump office with talking about it. but i was the person who experienced what he wanted to do. i went through an apprenticeship in the steel mills and had a nice living, capitalism and the

free market spent the last 75 years destroying all of that. now they want to bring it back? it's ironic to me. they don't have to see this, we see ourselves and that is what capitalism, the free market, traders and investors have done. why trade -- train someone, when you can put the steel mills over seas to get free and cheap labor? any questions? guest: i do think that one of the things, thank you for your , we should be clear that skills and job training are not a silver bullet. we recognize there are a lot of different factors in the

structure of the labor market and where businesses are located, and how workers find jobs. what you do see here in washington, and around the country is recognition that we are not going to be able to broadly economy with shared prosperity unless we are making sure that workers have access to the kind of opportunities and apprenticeship opportunities and job-training opportunities like you were able to participate in. that is the foundation of a stronger economy, making sure that businesses can find the right talent at the right time to take advantage of economic opportunities, while making sure that workers have the right andls to advance careers earning family supporting wages are you skills will be a central part of that, particularly in an economy were so many jobs will require some form of post secondary education. we estimate that 80% of job

openings require some education and training be on the high school level. if we are not providing those behways, then we will leaving a lot of people behind which is what we want to try to address, how do we make sure that folks are able to do those jobs and find those training opportunities. at the end of this training programs, be able to find a job in that field in the community. host: we go to harry, in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. caller: i started trade school , after my training was over i took an apprenticeship job while going to night school. three hours twice a week for four years and you get paid for it. i don't think there's a lot of kids who would do that, but that was the way to do a. i worked myself up from minimum wage, one company moved on and the superintendent of another -- you don't see that

anymore. you are talking about trade schools, people calling in about , and capitalism, and making mine. that is a businesses do. they pay the best people they can find good wages. i made a lot more after 1970, but we were working so much over time that i made $40,000 -- $48,000. it's a shame what happened to the trade schools being shut the teachers union and the government need to get the trade schools, the kids who want to go there and learn will come out. if they had to go to school like i did they will appreciate it and they will make a lot of money in trade. is,an hour for machine welders can make 95 in a year now, nobody's train for them.

that oneculous what guy said. but that's my thought. this is a great conversation. too bad it turns politics. good point,aise a we used to be very good at making sure that people could trainingthat kind of and career pathways to help them succeed in the labor market. it is something we have always been good at as a country, making sure people have access to educational training. as you point out, the area where we have chosen not to make these investments in the middle skill job-training opportunities in the way that we used to, i'm not sure that we've seen significant cuts over the course of the past 20 years and job-training programs and investments at the national level. jobink we have done a great

of making good strides in helping people who want to go on and get a quarter your degree -- get a four-year degree or a graduate degree. and we do think it is important, it's not either/or, it's both/and. areathink that this is an where we have not kept up our commitments to making sure that , whethern get training it's at a trade school, community college, apprenticeship program. we have not kept up with those investments as a nation. i think you have a good example of what those kinds of investments can mean for individual workers and for our broader economy. i agree with you on that point. host: james, in greensboro, north carolina. in the late 60's, i

went to trade school. i was from california. i went to the watt skills center where they had mechanical skills for cars, and typing. a lot of things like that. aircraftnt to northrop company, they hired you, but they trained you for 30 days to learn the skills of how to repair planes and fix them. it was a great program, but we don't have those things anymore for people to get excited about. like the gentleman said, they cut those programs out, so no one has those skills. they said you have to go to college to get this and that, my grandfather did construction work in california, he did not have a great education but he was good in math and building. now they ignore those kinds of people.

everything just turned around, and made everything worse with the younger people not interested in some of these things anymore. we do need more training schools for people, and corporations that train their workers or train new people when they hire , send them to a school for 30 days, 60 days, and train them about the job they want to get on the floor and they do not know what to do. some people work well with their hands. let's hear from alton, in louisiana. , first iy comment is would like to congratulate the --ple in missouri for voting they passed it in the 70's in louisiana, and it has destroyed labor unions. my comment is that the labor unions have excellent

apprenticeship programs, excellent training facilities. plumbersrouge, we have 198, and we have one of the best apprenticeship programs in the nation and we cannot get a job here in louisiana making a decent wage because of the right to work laws. , people are paying to go to trade schools to learn a trade when they could go through an apprenticeship if our oil and chemical industry had not locked the trade unions out. anyone that they tried to get the right the work to law in, owed down. -- vote it down. point,you raise a great there continue to be great labor-management partnerships where businesses and unions are working together to implement and provide these apprenticeship

programs. historically in the building trades and manufacturing, and we're also seeing labor-management partners in the health care sector and other sectors. labor has a long history of providing and working with business to provide training for trainers -- workers to get the skills they need. they continue to do so and they are an important partner. i did want to go back to the key caller, one of the challenges, we had a couple of comments about the younger generation, i think there is a lot of interest from younger students in career opportunities. in career and technical education programs across the country, 8 million students nationwide who are

enrolled in at least one career and technical education program, a number of states, colorado, south carolina, and others have started youth apprenticeship models. with air trying to do something like what we see in germany, or switzerland where they create apprenticeship opportunities while you are in high school. we think those are great strategies to try. the message that is often presented to young people is that it's college or there's nothing. sure that every young person in this country who wants to go to a four-year college can get a four-year degree and has the opportunity to do so. that's critically important to say. we also want to make sure that ofyour pathway is into one these middle skill jobs, we want to make sure you have the same opportunities to get into that job that any other student would have to go to a four-year degree

program. there are a lot of students who really are interested in construction, health care, i.t., or other sectors where their first step maybe a job, or additional training. we should be trying to create as many opportunities as possible. we often focus on the students who are pursuing the traditional college path, to the exclusion of students who may not have the path ahead of them or may want to take a different route. we ought to make as many pathways as possible for the students. host: will go to matt, in baltimore. caller: thank you for taking my call, it's good to hear you talking about programs. here in baltimore we had a program, they could not get kids toenlist during high school

get trade skills. i was wondering if the administration is thinking of anything like the ccc or wpa of the roosevelt administration. traineds of kids were , goodcarpentry, plumbing paying jobs. it seems like now the focus is ,n producing a standard wage like in russia, where no matter what you do you get the same money unless you belong to the party. otherwise your stock and that at thatstock --stuck wage. guest: i don't know if the administration is thinking of something along the lines of the ccc or wpa, those are programs during thereated

height of the great depression to help create job opportunities, and training opportunities for out of work workers. i'm not aware that the administration is thinking about that. think there is a lot to be said for programs like subsidized employment programs, which allow people to get job experience in job opportunities, especially for those out of work or flat had a hard time getting into the labor market. can be effective. as long as they are coupled with opportunity for skills training. the key thing we want to make sure, is that an individual is getting help into a job and that they are being given the opportunity to get onto a career pathway, to get those skills and the credentials they need to advance within that job and work within that company or field so they can get a family supported wage. host: let's hear from catherine,

in ohio. caller: my question is this, where are the jobs that we have a shortage of in the united states? grown, ien are all have grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who are in school, some in high school some in college. if you could look in the camera and tell me where these jobs are, then i can encourage my grandchildren and their great-grandchildren to be educated for these jobs. because what i see here west of cincinnati is that you're trying to tell me that instead of going to college that i should give my money to another corporation so that my child or grandchild or great-grandchild will be at that they debt so will go into their 20's and 30's and they will not be financially capable of taking a job that

makes $10 an hour. it's crazy, you want to keep the young people in debt to such a degree that they will never be able to be mature adults. guest: to answer your first , theion, nationally department of labor projects that there are 6 million or so job openings nationally. but you raise an important point. the distribution of those job openings varies across the country, there are places where you have relatively large number of job openings, but also have areas that have fewer opportunities. the other thing to note is that those job opportunities are very different depending on where you are, if you are in california there's a lot of job opportunities in the tech sector. as the gentleman who spoke earlier, in louisiana, there are

jobs in the petrochemical industry. it very from region to region. when you speak about debt, wages are important, and an important point about why the skills conversation is important. there is a lot of concern in washington and across the country about the issue of rising student debt and the concern that students are enrolling in college and taking on significant debt loads and coming out with a degree that does not allow them to quickly move into the labor market or a job i can help them support themselves. i think that's one of the reasons that you are seeing a renewed interest in middle skills jobs and middle skill job trainings and strategies like on-the-job training and apprenticeships. there is this recognition that

for many students, part of the reason they may not want to go to college is because they are worried about taking on the debt that may come with going to a four-year university and the need to support their families, and work, they maybe parents themselves. they need the opportunity to work more quickly than other students. this space to the importance of making sure that there is the right set of pathways for anyone who wants to be able to get into the career that they choose, but also making sure that people can fit the training into their own life circumstances. college% of community students are parents, 70% are single parents. that tells you something. working toneed to be support their family in order to pay their bills and keep a roof over their head.

we don't do a great job of helping students who are working , or taking care of families. we don't make it easy for them to support themselves while they participate in training programs. so we think it's important to make sure that not just the training programs are available, but that support services like access to child care and transportation, access to health it easy formake students and workers to be able to participate in training programs, to get them to work if they need to be working and come out on the other side with a credential that has value. and the policies that we support our -- are going to help andents, institutions, businesses work together so that everyone benefits from training investment. host: the earth can learn more if they go to the national thank coalition website,

you for the conversation. guest: thank you. host: we will take a break, when we come back we will open up the phone lines, you can continue to economy,t jobs and the or politics with the midterm elections around the corner. we will be right back. ♪ tonight at 8 p.m. eastern, on 1968, american turmoil. we look at liberal politics, we will discuss lbj's great society and the embolden liberal the role who redefine the federal government and challenged traditional values. watch 1968, america and turmoil, tonight at 8 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. and all nine programs are available on spotify as a podcast, or watch anytime at c-span.org on our 1968 page.

sunday night on q&a. >> what must that sound like? >> mommy! [children crying] >> what we are hearing are the cries of children, immigrant children, who had just been separated from their parents in a border patrol detention facility. it's an audio that i obtained a month and a half ago, or so. with the help of a lawyer, a civil rights attorney on the border named jennifer hartley. she had obtained this tape, and thought it was important, and shared it with me. she asked what i thought about it and i told her we should try to publish it. decision for easy

the source of that tape, who felt the tape could put them at risk for being identified and fired. agreed source ultimately tollow me and propublica publish the audio. aboutger thompson talks covering mexico and the u.s. government's immigration policy, sunday night at eight eastern on c-span's q&a. washington journal continues. today's will finish up washington journal with open phones this morning, politics, policy is on the table, we can begin with the midterm elections which are three months away. the front page of usa today, trump landfall on fight into the trump full on fight

into the midterms. the presidency may be at stake if democrats win, trump could then say goodbye to tax cuts and the border wall. if they win the senate, trump will find it difficult to win the senate confirmation for judicial post, including the supreme court. it says the president will be heading out on the campaign trail, this is from the washington post, along with sending his daughter and others to different states. is likely to be dispatched to suburban districts to talk about the economy and workforce, the president is expected to be on the road in three to four days -- for three to four days a week in state such as -- in swing state such as ohio and in states where he was dominant. visiteda trump illinois, speaking alongside with sidney davis. he is a self-described mainstream republican, his

democratic opponent raise more tney he did -- then he did -- hen he did. the headline for the washington times, the president, liberals claim voter wave is washing their way. face --cked candidates kris kobach leads by a thin margin in a quest to out the sitting governor in a republican primary. on twitter,mp said liberal forces also claimed momentum as their picks one primaries in kansas and michigan. the washington post also notes that in washington state, cathy mcmorris rodgers, the fourth ringing member of the republican party appeared to win less than 50% against the field challengers, the top two vote

getters in the open primary will face off in november. washington contacts its elections entirely by mail and had only accounted two thirds of its votes because other ballots had not been received. in southwest ohio, and 11 term incumbent faces a challenge from a democratic challenger. raised 333,000 while his opponent has 1.6 million. is aeadline on that story elections hold warning signs for the wall street journal. tommy, in massachusetts on the independent line, good morning. caller: good morning greta, you are my favorable -- my favorite liberal loonies c-span host. i want to talk about the elections, i think the democrats are doomed, their imminent -- their anti-american probe and illegal immigrant stance is not going to help them. they are doomed.

i want to let you know, i was a regular caller to howard stern and he censored me, unlike c-span, the greatest channel on tv. host: madison, in kentucky on the democrat line. there were talks about , and makingreform it an issue of national security. i think it's important to understand that investing in foreign aid has investment on arnett -- international scales. -- on our national scales. foreign aid entities can be an investment into our own country. it can just a local economy as well as increase national security. host: another issue on the

-- muller's muller emand. --mueller d giuliani told us that there are two topics the president's lawyers want to rule out in order to agree to a trump sit-down with robert mueller, why trump fired james comey, what -- what he said to comey about michael flynn. those as iftioned they were minor details, reasonable areas for mueller to agree to avoid, but they are central to the question of whether trump obstructed justice. here is how to read between the lines, frequent media prince throwing more moderate -- media appearance, throwing mud over the investigation. giuliani publicly rushing

mueller to wrap up the investigation by november while at the same time ruling out key questions that he wants to explore with trump for wrapping up the probe. richard, in missouri, a democrat caller, what's on your mind? had this election about the right to work, and the republican said we have -- we have a straight republican house and senate, and they passed the right to work law, and the citizens decided that we wanted to vote on it. so we voted it down, overwhelmingly. they keep talking about raising wages, and the chamber of commerce and republicans want to lower our wages, i could not understand that. , i've been ines the union for 63 years.

when i learned the carpenter trade, if your father was a carpenter chances are you were a that's how trades were passed from one generation to another. construction changed, we had to prepare for war so that union stopped a lot of , they had to have people build for crowder -- fort crowder. since that time the carpenters union has spent a lot of money on training and training people to train people, and i had to go through a four-year apprenticeship, it was the way we did things. carpenter work is not for

if it's a hundred and 10 degrees you work out there. when i started it was 114. host: your reference to what happened in missouri, the president of the asl cal thelcao, wrote the despite corporation's best efforts, missourians saw through a of fear and mis-direction, a clever ploy -- a clever name for a ploy been ar wages has always sham. more than 250 thousand workers joined unions and 2017, 70 5% under 35. the momentum has carried into 2018. in a single week, workers joined unions, from harvard graduates, to nurses, and flight attendants. labor popularity is at its

highest in nearly 15 years. , inill go to jail woodbridge, virginia, on the republican line. caller: hello, thank you for taking my call. i appreciate that. i like to say three things to the american voter, with the upcoming midterms. my first point, i believe every american should ask themselves this question before they vote, what kind of america do you want to leave to your children and grandchildren? if you want to have your children and grandchildren inherit another failed socialist state like cuba and venezuela, than the choice is very clear. you should vote democrat, because democrats of today are socialists. i would ask the american voters

to look at every american city that is run by democrat socialists, chicago, san francisco, new york, boston. these are failed cities, gun violence and homelessness, drugs, social services, and every which way. why would any american parent want to pass on a failed socialist state to their children and grandchildren. the third point, the media and the democrats keep pushing russian interference in our election, yet understand the hypocrisy that they are encouraging illegal immigrants to interfere in our elections by illegally casting votes. the american people need to look at the facts -- need to look at the -- take their emotion out of it. america,nt a socialist or more continued success center

capitalism and the free market system. host: on russia, the washington post has this tory, the u.s. to add economic sanctions on theia, -- on russia, washington post has this story, the u.s. to add economic sanctions. under a 1991 law, president trump was required to act once the ministration determined russian responsibility for a chemical or biological attack. such determination has been made by mike pompeo. they also have this related -- fourhe white house election hackers -- four in election--foreign hackers may be sanctioned is a interfere in the u.s. elections. the latest demonstration that the administration is serious about election hacking. it appears to be an effort to

stave off aggressive legislation , and it has criticism that trump seems to give more credence to vladimir putin than the u.s. intelligence community. the draft order creates a category two cents election for whichce, -- biting sanctions could be most painut the inducing sanctions are discretionary. deanna, on the democrat line. caller: i have been trying to get through, i wanted to say that the person who is supposedly our president, i do not think we have a president or animal -- or a legitimate administration does not represent me as an american 1%. isfar as i'm concerned, this the opinion of what they used to call ugly americans. , andme is deanna loom beck

he does not represent me. he is not a good person, i think he is a shyster, he is manipulative, he says ugly things about people and i'm really disappointed in anyone, any human being who could think that he is a good person and that he represents our country. host: we have heard the point, we will go to james, in newark, new jersey, a democrat. caller: how are you. i have been studying this whole thing since way back when. 2008, this country has gone downhill, i don't even know exactly how much. 2011, there was going to be

noise about the money trump senior got from britain -- putin , and then he started to hurt the movement saying obama was born in kenya. trump senior still uses the same , to focus on something else when something comes up. he has not changed. putin knows that trump senior -- to theussia is reacting latest round of sanctions from the administration, russia condemned them illegal on a wider afternoon,

asset selloff happened in fear that moscow is in a spiral of never-ending curb by the west. on the democrat line three good morning. i wanted to talk about the right to work, i remember back in the day, my father used to be a roofer. he did not make any money to support us until he got into the union. the economy have been going down , congresst years ago tried to drive president obama down at that time, talking about the budget. now you hear the words of paul

, he goes along with donald brokewith the russia --probe, they are in this racket together. those older guys up there, including the democrats, i think they need to retire said the young generation can come up with new ideas. if you have no new ideas, the country will not appropriate host: -- will grow. host: grayson, good morning. caller: i wanted to say about i went tong, community college from 2003 to 2006, and just by happenstance , they showed training

videos that had the different kind of degrees, engineering, arsing, and it was just random day in the auditorium they were showing these videos. that gave me more information skills, thanining, probably anyone at this particular community college. whonted to say that caller said what jobs did they want the young people to look for, that's the best information i could say. find one of these training are 19801990 copyright, they were not current -- 1980, 1990 copyright, they were not current but they gave me what the best degree was for a trade-in welding, carpentry, all of those fields, they gave me more information than the

people at the community college. i wanted to pass that along. in open phones this morning, anything on your mind related to public policy and politics is on the table. we will take it to the top of the hour. one story from the new york times, puerto rican government and knowledge hurricane death toll from hurricane maria is over 1000, 1427. the government has quietly acknowledged in a report posted online that are no likelihood more than 1400 people died in the aftermath of hurricane maria, more than 20 times the official death toll. hurricane knocked up power and killed more than a dozen people. the government's official account is still 64, but more people die from suicide, lack of access, and other factors. the official death toll certificates do not come close to tallying the storm's fatal toll.

report toing a congress, requesting 139 million in recovery funds, scheduled for official release on thursday, the puerto rican government admits that 1427 more people died in the last four months of 2017 than the previous year. go to mike, in stockton, california, on the independent line. morning.ood and good morning to the listeners. i wanted to comment on the training. when i was in high school, there , one program called cedar of the classes you had a regular school could be substituted for one hour of on-the-job training. and they give you certain credit for that. i benefited from that, i became a custodian when i was very

young. from there i joined the labor union. retired from that. , would like to make a comment in texas for the governor race they had two candidates, and someone found other was a third her name waste demetrius smith --demetria smith. texas, i lived my entire adult life except for a few years in california i have been going back and forth. chasing after jobs in the construction union. that's a good idea with the training, and putting them into

the schools they were mentioning. in some countries the kids do not go to school, they go to work, and by the time they are -- we have truly officers the kids have to go to school, so if i want a construction job and i have these people who have these all these years of training and i'm only 19 -- and they know all this stuff. host: wheel may have about quarter minutes yet and i want to get to more calls. freddie, on the republican line. caller: 2.3 quickly. points, i want to talk about the congressional race. , as aiter's black american i'm very proud of

-- the leadero be boards as we are 29% and i want to tell the liberals out there, once a trump supporter always a trump supporter. and we're going to have a red race in november. host: gym, in missouri, on the democrat line. in missouri, on the democrat line. caller: i want to talk about tax cuts on the previous segment create a lot of seniors are going bankrupt, property taxes are going up. collect tods do not distribute to the red states, local taxes go up, one of the

things i would like to point out -- what did trump do with all of the tax cuts that he pocketed? benefits from the repeal of the state -- the estate tax, the so-called death tax. the me tell you about the death tax, i have a mother-in-law in a nursing home. she had to spend every dime they had before medicaid would take over. three children will get absolutely nothing from her , because it all went to nursing tome -- nursing home care. host: i will try to get stephen, on the independent line from california. caller: i had a comment i wanted to make, 30 years in santa clara

college,oing to thinking i would get a degree and working. i did not get anything out of that because of all the ideas behind it, the thought processes to get a student to a job and all the corruption involved. the tops a gentleman at of the show who spoke about all of the corrupt cities, i think that's what he was trying to say, any city that has a crime and it that cannot be solved or andrstood by the citizens, is discussed openly is corrupt. i hope it does not continue that way. note,we will end on that thank you for watching today's washington journal, we will be back tomorrow morning 7 a.m. eastern time with more phone calls and thoughts. thank you for watching, have a good day. ♪

>> today, several of supreme court justice nominee bret cavanaugh former law clerks will talk about their time working with him and his approach to the job as a bc circuit court of appeals judge. you can also watch at c-span.org or listen on our free c-span radio app. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span youth activists address the u.s. conference of mayors. >> i can't explain the feelings you have during a school shooting. one thing i can relate it to, a feeling of anxiety, of

uselessness, not being able to do absolutely anything. there's only one other place i felt that, the united states congress.

cease -- the free c-span radio app. >> now, a form on congress and relations between members and their constituents. speakers talk about their ongoing research and their new theory of interactive representation in which an increasing number of --gressional members