the trump administration to alter fuel efficiency standards and later, laura sir, -- and later, lara sorokanich talk about school safety measures for the coming year. ♪ good morning. welcome to "washington journal." during the last presidential election, health care and the affordable care act was one of the top issues during the campaign. will it be a top issue for you during the midterms this year? call in and let us know what you think about whether health care will be a top issue when you go to the voting booth this fall. republicans, call 202-748-8001. democrats, call 202-748-8000. independents, call 202-748-8002.

forget, you can also contact us on social media, on twitter and on facebook. care has been one of the top subjects going on right now in the country. in fact, there was a reuters poll on health care, asking people what they thought was the most important issue facing the country. health care came in on top at 18%, followed by immigration at 15% and the economy at 11%. when you look at it by party, we see a different story. republicans think immigration is the most important issue at 26%. democrats say health care at 23%, and independents are just

about evenly split. had a guest on this program earlier this week who says health care will be a top issue for democrats this fall. [video clip] >> one of our biggest early fines was against trumpcare. hundreds,re we saw thousands of people showing up to town halls everywhere saying if you repeal this bill, i will be bankrupt. they won. the unified conservative made it their top legislative priority. we have seen the republicans saying if they maintain control of congress, they will try to pass trumpcare again.

ryan house speaker paul was on fox and friends a few weeks ago. totalked about the gop plans talk about health care in the elections this fall. here's what paul ryan have to say. -- had to say. [video clip] >> wages are up, the economy is soaring. what do the democrats want to do? abolish ice, get rid of private health insurance. so ihave gone so far left, think you have a great contrast and a good track record and a great story to tell. host: we go to the phones withdrew from maryland -- with drew from maryland on the republican line. good morning. caller: i believe the top issue is enforcingns

immigration. -- law forcing immigration deporting any criminal who has committed crimes here in the good old u.s. of a. arresting any american elected officials that have illegally ored criminal illegal aliens rejected federal laws. host: chad from west virginia calling on the democratic line. caller: doing great. thank you for taking my call. healthe first caller, care is one of the number one issue is that almost all of us face. right now, the democrats are trying to keep medicare and medicaid in place while the

congress has been taken over by a bunch of fascists who want to take away medicare and social security and medicaid and just get rid of all of that and leave so many people who are needing the health care to stay alive. those people will just have no health care. some of us see this coming. it's happening right now. some of us believe fox news that everything will be all right once the democrats, who they keep on blaming for everything, are gone. we are here and we have a reason to be here. we want our families and children to be taken care of by doctors. that can only happen if medicare and medicaid and social security are still in place. host: is this something you will take to the voting booth with you? if there was a democrat who said immigration was the top issue

instead of health care, would that make you vote against him or her? caller: absolutely. , i have to have my medication. if i don't get it, i will be in a hospital. that we canan idea just start cutting away all the health care for all the individuals, you know, they have people on food stamps who work at walmart as many hours as they can get. right now, the capital has gone crazy. starving, working poor families are going to be cut from their ability to have any health care whatsoever. that's all the fault of the republicans and they are trying to say it is not, but it is.

it really is. host: we are going to go to raul, calling from utah on the independent line. caller: good morning. host: will health care be a top issue for you when you vote in the midterms? caller: absolutely. i think our health care system is in disarray. we are spending a drastic amount of our gdp every year. it is not working. you see the millions of americans who remain uninsured, a health care system that has become so expensive -- ofor me, i realized this bill is not going to work. ,rivate health care insurance there's a lot of things that have been overlooked by the study. you create a system in which the -- doctorsis able to

charge a certain fee for services. have higher demand for health care because you have people insured by this health ill, but you b see the number of doctors decrease. these are things that aren't ,eing considered by the left who see this as a bible health care plan. it is not a viable solution. people on the left are overlooking a lot of things about the health care system. when it comes to private health insurance systems, they are not

able to efficiently work as well. people who don't have that bargaining power in terms of making the decisions as to how much they want to pay for democrats andat republicans need to do is work together to create a health care system that is appropriate for both the private and public sectors. it's going to come down to who is able to provide the most viable option. host: how much does immigration play into how you are going to vote in the midterms this fall? is that an issue for you? caller: absolutely. immigration is a big issue. have gone awry in terms of the discussion that needs to happen.

systemre about a value in terms of what the policy prescriptions are. maintains its operative should create a closed border system. they don't understand the labor needs of our country and how immigration plays a fundamental part in how that works. i'm not too happy with most of the discourse happening with both democrats and republicans. it is an important issue to me. not as important as health care. a candidatereject who says immigration is more important. health care is much more of a -- that's just me. hawaiiark calling from

on the republican line. good morning, mark. you are on the air. caller: ok. the most important thing i see is how the government turned its back on the civil rights of the citizens. i'm disgusted with both republicans and democrats. you take the colleges, how civil rights has been suspended on freedom of speech. they have the authority to suspend money to the colleges and straighten that out instantly, but they won't do it. that means they are involved in it. look at what's going on with facebook, people getting banned, freedom of speech being

interfered with. congress gave these people all kinds of tax breaks and everything else. they have the authority to straighten this out. i seem immigration as maybe third or fourth most important. i'm really fed up. the only reason we are in this mess is because the democratic motion --going on a emotion, allowing us to get to a tipping point where 76% of the immigrants are getting some type of social benefits. this is ridiculous, this is insane. the constitution states that congress shall pass decisions and authority over immigration. it doesn't say judges can say anything about the numbers, the paperwork or anything. get this mess,

straightened out and get is a this balancedt -- budget. host: ohio. republican line. good morning, jack. caller: good morning. listen, health care is a big issue for me. both my wife and i are self-employed, have been for many years. i'm not against mr. obama when he implemented this health care, but he should have capped it. my premiums have tripled. $1300 afrom $425 to month. whont a republican in there is going to repeal and reform our health care system so they can make it affordable for americans. host: thank you. in "usa today," there was a

story this week that looked at how democrats were spending money on health care for this fall. outside groups have devoted 40% of tv ads this year to health care, spending $17 spots pledging to protect people with pre-existing conditions. a moreg in contrast to divisive view on the republican side. spending $10.5 million on embracing donald trump and $7.6 million on commercials highlighting a hard line on immigration. we have an ad from senator

dianne feinstein. [video clip] >> i approved this message. i support the affordable care act and voted against all of trump's attempts to repeal it. but, we need to do more. i believe in universal health care and a public health option to kee compete with private insurance companies. i believe medicare must be empowered to negotiate the price of drugs. >> california back senator dianne feinstein. host: dean calling from kentucky on independent line. good morning, dean. caller: good morning. i'm a vietnam veteran. i'm calling for health care for all. , you can go there and see what the future health --e will look like

three out of four times, i don't see doctors, icy nurses or nurse see nurses or-- i nurse practitioners. they always tell you you can go -- if you have , they will send you home. medicare is going broke right now. everyone gets the money from the middle class. ned callinggo to from florida on the republican line. good morning, ned. caller: hello. my main issue would be

immigration, but another issue for me especially as health care. -- is health care. host: what would you want the candidates to do about health care? caller: for one thing,

host: marsha blackburn is running for the tennessee senate seat. choosshe is talking about a repl for the affordable care act. [video clip] >> we need marsha blackburn. we need marcia in the senate to continue progress and work we've done over the last year and a half. >> tennessee needs a senator who is going to support president donald trump. i will be there to stand with

president donald trump and take your tennessee values to washington, d.c. to fight with him to get the job done. >> i'm marsha blackburn, and i approved this messagd. -- this message. host: wayne on independent line. caller: this is ridiculous. we have to impeach this president. people thinkve health care is not a problem. it is a right. canada,ayer is done in in many other countries. bernie sanders would have won if it weren't for the dnc.

this building the wall, all i ever heard when he was running, "mexico is going to pay for the wall." all of a sudden, we are paying for it. that's all i've got to say. have a nice day. i see you and greta and john as different from most others. god bless you. host: thank you. joyce calling from ohio. caller: good morning. i've been trying to get different insurance for my health care. it goes up every three months since i've been retired. been digging into this quite extensively. insurances that the

that are covered by most hospitals and doctors are backed by the state you live in. otherwise, the doctors will not take the insurances that are not backed by the states. now, i cannot afford those insurances, but i can afford the others, but i'm being denied insurance at a reasonable rate because as i was told, you cannot discriminate against poor people, but you can discriminate against me because i'm not poor. why aren't the doctors being made to take any insurance you can afford? why should they pick and choose the amounts they get when we can't afford insurance? host: will this affect how you

vote when it comes time to vote in the midterms? vote,: it will affect my but i will be voting republican because i believe congress can get this done. --y are trying to overhaul they aren't trying to overhaul the insurance programs or to make the doctors who were screaming about people coming to emergency rooms without any , but they can take and choose which insurance companies they want to be covered. they should be made to take any insurance that you can afford. not just what is available for them. host: charles calling from richmond, virginia on the republican line. caller: good morning to you. i was listening to this -- this

is an important subject. when you vote, i just heard from dianne feinstein, she's a republican -- host: she's actually a democrat. caller: is she a democrat? i didn't realize that. any way, ok, that makes the issue even better. when you vote, vote for a representative that is more akin to what you feel like is good for you. in other words, if you have a good republican in your district or state or whatever, that is who you vote for. the attitude that all of these politicians are bad -- i've been listening to her for years. --the state of virginia

health care is different in different states. in virginia, if you have people , you have toou provide health care for those people. you have to remember what employers do. health care can be their second business. if you have 50 or 60 people working for you or under you, you have to watch what these employees do. familyll ensure their , the vastcrews majority of people working for them, they will be paying the premium. that's why the government doesn't want universal health

care. wouldrson you work for overcharge you. we have blue cross blue shield in virginia. i am a union person. is insured.mily i've got so much insurance, medicare, medicaid i don't even use because i have a union based insurance. i've been paying for that plan since the beginning, 1962. i was never worried about going to see a doctor. dollars, fivefour dollars, you have health care. health care is a big business. insurance is out here to make money, not out here to help people.

host: let's go to renee calling from pennsylvania on the democratic line. good morning, rene. caller: good morning. yes, the affordable care act is a big problem. the premiums are extremely high. the companies now are finding a way around them. i have a family member, per company cut her hours and others -- her company cut her hours and others so they don't have to give her health care. she is in the middle of a pregnancy. they try tolace, put a lot of people on medicaid. a lot of doctors in different areas, you don't find a lot that will accept medicaid. in our area, there are very few. another situation is that marketplace, to qualify for those government dollars, that

help is very hard to qualify for. people are paying $700 a month for health insurance. and they have to dockable's. -- deductibles. i used to work in health care. they have deductibles of $7,000 to $12,000. that is ridiculous. that is a joke. host: let's go to david, who was calling in from monticello, georgia on independent line. will health care be a top issue for you? caller: actually, no, but i want -- respondfrom ohio to the woman from ohio. paysaid and medicare only two cents on the dollar --

doctors can't afford it. representatives that will stand up to china -- china is trying to take over this country. it is talked about a little bit, but not enough. they will try to take us over monetarily. they will cheat the system and up everything they can and overtake us. host: thank you. coming up next, president trump continues to tout his record on job creation. after the break, we will hear from two top economists about how many jobs are out there. later on, we will talk to david from reuters about efforts to lower fuel efficiency standards for cars. this week, newsmakers talked about nasa administrator

trump's priority for space. here, he is asked about the creation of a spaceport's and what that would mean for nasa. [video clip] >> i thought i would start with the space force. what would the creation of a space force mean for nasa? >> nasa has hundreds of millions of dollars of assets in orbit. obviously, we are dependent on space being safe and accessible. that is important for the science we do, for discovery and exploration. i have been as a member of congress a strong supporter of a space corps. we voted on it in the house of representatives, i voted on it three times, twice in