loggers on talkshow hosts about what's at for politics in 2019 ♪ncluding host: this is the "washington journal." welcome to the first show on the first day of this new year, 2019. we will ask if you are optimistic or pessimistic about the year ahead in washington. you can focus on the white house as the president continues his efforts to get 5 billion for a border wall. you can turn your attention to the house and senate not only as house democrats take power, but they introduce legislation to fund the government that does not include the $5 billion request or focus on other aspects of washington to be

optimistic or pessimistic about. if you are optimistic about the year, the number to call is 202-748-8000. if you are pessimistic, 202-748-8001 and tell us why. or you can post on our twitter feed @cspanwj and our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. a marist poll takes a look at the new year and people's thoughts about the year ahead particularly when it comes to politics. said was manyit americans are more optimistic, 60% than pessimistic, 37% about the world. among americans who are optimistic, the plurality sites at 10%.- family only the news only 3%. it goes on to say among those who are pessimistic for the new year, nearly two in three feel

this way because of politics. this view is shared by democrats and independent, 66% alike and the news is the -- a pessimistic outlook for 2019. that was part of that npr, pbs poll. you can find that online. you can comment on those things when it comes to politics. if you are optimistic, pessimistic, maybe you can tell us why. 202-748-8000 if you are optimistic. pessimistic, 202-748-8001. you can also turn to our social media feed @cspanwj and our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. just to give you some food for thought, stephen carter in the website bloomberg, how the president and amazon will dominate 2019 is what he writes about in this piece.

ine of the highlights says early january, president donald trump will cave, achieving neither his border wall nor a more pliable federal reserve. markets will react with cautious pessimism and he goes on to say after robert mueller's reports finds no evidence the president committed a crime, never gofundme will create a in the hopes of -- lower on in the piece, point number 14 he says wealthy progressives who continue to sneer at the republican tax cut as a giveaway to the rich will not offer to return to the u.s. treasury there gains from the rate reduction. this is some of the thinking of people as they go to put out these pieces leading up to the new year. let's start our calls from eric in seattle, washington says he

is optimistic. thank you for calling. go ahead. caller: happy new year. donaldtimistic because they realize the democrats are not going to pay for his wall, he can negotiate with mexico, who he said was going to pay for it. now emma kratz need to impeach donald trump regardless of whether the senate does it or not. i am optimistic things in our democracy will stand. no constitution has lasted longer than 250 years. we are at the point -- if the democrats don't have oversight and we have this divided government, we are really in a bad place. i am so glad donald trump and the republican followers -- followers are going to have to check on them. when another republican gets in

the office of president, there is nothing they can offer because they went along with everything donald trump is. the next democrat president, feel free. you don't have to show your taxes, you can say anything and do anything you want. in california, also optimistic about the year ahead. good morning. caller: i am optimistic. the economy is good and it is growing. foreign policy is america first with many positive developments all around the world in the middle east and korea, trade. if you were to listen to mainstream media, including main street -- c-span, you would be nothing but dower. thean results -- resorts to use of the new york times and washington post.

do you really believe in this -- in these media outlets as nonpartisan? host: let me stop you only because if you watch this program for any length of time, we do resort to papers from the d.c. offices. other papers are weaved in as well. let me go back to your point on being optimistic. what continues your optimism this year? caller: do you believe you can pass off the new york times and washington post as nonpartisan? host: i answered your question. what will continue that streak of optimism for you this year? todd in california says he is pessimistic. caller: hi, how are you? host: fine, thanks. caller: i am pessimistic. -- of the big things is

tariffs, the price of food to go off -- go up like i go to walmart lately and i noticed the prices have risen. i think gas is going to go up and trump is going to get impeached and that is what he deserves. that will send everything into a tailspin. i don't think the budget deal will get done anytime soon. host: when you say everything in a tailspin, do you mainly mean economically? caller: mainly economically. and then also the federal reserve. i don't understand why they raise interest rates, that doesn't help anything. host: your thoughts this morning on your optimism or your pessimism about the year ahead in washington. several people calling this morning. 202-748-8000 if you are optimistic about the year ahead. if you are pessimistic, 202-748-8001.

one of the papers that talk about this budget deal the previous caller mentioned with house democrats planning to introduce legislation this week to keep the government open and fund it at least to a point, this is the washington times or a couple days ago saying democrats and the white house must drop the blame game and restart talks to reopen the government fully lawmakers said sunday as -- without any sign that will break the impasse over the border wall. an extension of legal status for dreamers brought to the u.s. illegally as children could be the sweetener democrats need to approve the $5 billion mr. trump wants for the wall to end the government shutdown. the story added "to my republican friends, there will never be a deal without wall funding. democrats can block bills in the senate because of the 60 vote

requirement even before they take control later this week say they are willing to negotiate a leery,d remain weary -- that is in the washington times from a couple of days ago and talks about the current status of the partial shutdown going on. as democrats take power, one of the first things they will do is introduce legislation to keep the government open. ultimately go to the white house for signature from the president. from mike in massachusetts says he is pessimistic about the year ahead. go ahead. caller: good morning. i watched your show each morning. i am pessimistic because i simply do not believe donald trump, that allies are becoming ridiculous. he is not answering anything. --has our country involved

america, wake up. this guy is a con man. host: that is mike in massachusetts weighing his pessimism for the year ahead. you can do the same as well. the number is 202-748-8000. optimistic. if you are pessimistic, 202-748-8001. several things coming into play when it comes to states. things being considered are new laws. many of those new laws deal with minimum wage set to rise in 20 states it says in the story by david leave a new minimum wage requirements will take effect in 20 states and nearly two dozen cities around the start of the new year affecting millions of workers. the wage hikes range from an extra nickel per hour in alaska to a one dollar bump in maine,

massachusetts an employee -- seattle's largest employers will have to pay $16 an hour starting tuesday. many businesses in new york city will have to pay $15 as of monday. that is more than twice the federal minimum wage. $7.25 an hour. this is jed expressing optimism. he hung up. we will go to ohio, martin expressing pessimism this morning. caller: thank you. host: you are on, go ahead. caller: i am pessimistic and i want to say the united states is the greatest political experiment in the history of the world. however, we are trying to run this country with a failed monetary system. the monetary system does not support the population. as we see in paris, the end

result for a failed monetary system is destruction of the political system. betterthe need -- a monetary system doesn't mean communism or socialism. that is my two cents. host: what is wrong with the current monetary system? -- i happen toay be a retired physician. let's say i want to hire a nurse and my practice doesn't support that nurse, i cannot hire her. we have money -- the monetary --tem createdy should be based on a country's wealth. people, jobs, trees, water, the great lakes. a factory that creates things we

can sell in this country and other countries. this is the wealth of a nation. the government should be able to print money based on the wealth of a nation. host: let's hear another thought from james in south carolina, also pessimistic. hello. caller: hello. host: hi, go ahead. caller: i am pessimistic because i look at what is happening with our congress, our representatives and with the executive branch andy judicial branch and when you see the corridors getting stacked with conservative thinking judges who do exactly what conservatives supposedly don't want and that is legislate from the bench, there isn't an awful lot of room for optimism and with our south

carolina senators seeming to toe dementia in relation what he has done the entire time the republicans were in control in washington doesn't offer a lot of room for optimism because he seems to want the democrats to just magically forget all the obstructionism and the things that have gone on for at least .he last two years says she from new york is optimistic. hello. caller: hi, good morning. i am enjoying your show this morning. i am optimistic for this coming year. i was almost two sided which should pick because there will be optimism and pessimism for the new year with the democrats

coming in, the checks and balances which we so need with this administration. i think there is going to be a turn of events. this last primary showed the inclusion --was what should i say? i am optimistic we are going to have changes. we are going to start off by opening up the government, ending the shut down. checks and balances. we are going to see a fall with the stock market, but i think things will turn around. host: it is floated possibly if the president were offered a deal on dreamers in exchange for money for the wall -- is that something you would be open to?

caller: absolutely. there has to be something done with the dreamers. host: that is joy in new york. she talked about the house and the washington journal takes a look at the house as democrats take control. the chamber will be more diverse than any time in history, 33 women and 20 people of color poised to join house democrats. more than 20 will have previous military or intelligence service experiments from dan crenshaw, republican of texas, abigail sandberg -- the house will welcome countless historic first, the first muslim female member, the first native american female members, and the first latinas elected from texas. five freshmen will be dirty to

or younger, including the youngest woman ever elected, io-cortez. ocas house republicans predicted to be 90% white men with only one woman, carol miller from west virginia joining as a new member. .mmett in louisiana caller: how are you doing? host: fine, thanks. caller: i am pessimistic because the democrats have an agenda and that is to destroy, impeach, get rid of trump. they ran on health care during the midterm. i really don't think that is their real agenda. their agenda is to get rid of trump and they will fight him tooth and nail on anything and everything he tries to get done. i cannot see anything good going to happen. the only thing good that is

probably going to happen for democrats is if trump gets impeached or run out of office, something. i don't think it looks good at all. think anything will get accomplished when it comes to getting legislation past -- passed because of the shut down and house democrats taking power? caller: not really. the only way i think anything will get done with trump is with a nuclear option. i don't think he will be able to accomplish much. host: that is emmett in louisiana. if you go to our social media sites, joseph says he is optimistic because we have a great president. steve rogers saying i am optimistic about the year ahead. -- muellerld release should release the results of his investigation.

the words of ted kennedy ring --e, for all those who care the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope lives than the dream shall never die. go to our facebook page, there is a poll you can participate, check optimistic or pessimistic and make your thoughts known. you can leave comments as well. on our twitter feed @cspanwj. georgia is next and if you want on the twitter feed, a poll there you can participate in. not scientific, really just straight public opinion. georgia is next, this is david from kennesaw, georgia. says he is pessimistic about the year ahead. caller: good morning. please let me make my point somethingalways tell

three years ahead of time. number one, the wall. the wall is already obsolete before they put it up. number two, you had a call call yesterday from new jersey. italian guy, i guess. they were complaining about the people coming in from mexico. what about all the italians and eastern bloc people and the russians coming in from europe and setting up shop in new jersey, new york. they don't talk about that and that has been going on since i can remember. can you all do something on the tribunals? i talked about this three or four years ago. talk about the tribunals that are supposed to start. host: why does that make you pessimistic overall about the year ahead? caller: please don't redirect what i was saying.

child trafficking, 9/11, all the war profiteering. they are going to start doing a thing on that between january and march. these names, high-profile actors are in on this. host: let's go to steve in michigan, he says he is optimistic about the year ahead. caller: hey. how is it going? i would like to talk about elizabeth warren running for president. she said she was an indian and she is not. i just seen her drinking a beer on the tv tonight. nancy pelosi says fences don't work. why does she have one? tear down her fence in front of her house, please. host: why do those make you optimistic about the year ahead? fences don'tays

work, they don't. walls don't work, fences don't work. i worked plumbing and i lose my work because these mexicans come across the border and work for five dollars or $10 an hour cash and i am losing a job out of this. i think everyone should be concerned about that and nancy said it is immoral to have a fence. how come i seen a picture of her house with a nice gate and everything? host: in kentucky, pessimistic about the year ahead. caller: good morning, mr. pedro. the last caller didn't make any sense. he seemed like he needed to be on the pessimistic line. as a black man living in kentucky and paying close attention to the political process, i think mr. trump and

his policies are making america go to hell in a hand basket. he is competent -- incompetent, insecure, paranoid, and unprepared for the job. the man stokes the flames of racism, anti-muslim, anti-hispanic. he has made no secret about it for people of european countries. host: when it comes to the policy you talked about, what policies would you look at? caller: i am talking about wanting to overturn obamacare, health care law. the unfair immigration practices .here children are dying i am talking about the anti-black agenda he has given law enforcement the okay. host: i think you lost connection. i apologize. christopher in new jersey says

he is optimistic about the year ahead. caller: good morning and happy new year. i will say why i am optimistic about 2019 because people like me and the resistance movement are standing up against such darkness. they are speaking out on the issues and calling for accountability on trump and his policies. the abuse he has been doing as commander in chief or dictator is outrageous. i am glad democrats have taken control of congress because it is time to take america away from trump, the abuse he has done against people and the divisiveness. we have rights and we need to have a voice again. i am hoping 2020 as well will be 360 ifwe see a complete we start working together now to get a real candidate for the presidency who will stand up to trump. you: where do you think

have lost a voice, so to speak? caller: for people like special needs -- for people with special needs like myself. i am also back in college to get my degree in political science and i am hopeful, especially for journalists like yourself to continue to stand up for truth and justice for all citizens who deserve a voice. it's time the voices of those who don't have one no longer be silent. think it hasyou been silenced in this administration? caller: the way the journalists have been attacked because of the way they are speaking out is wrong. people with special needs who have been attacked because of the way they deserve to be heard and have acceptability and rights should be given that boys to speak out and call trump accountable for what he has been up to and that is to end the cycle of abuse because we are citizens and we have a right to

be heard. we have a right to jobs and beyond because we can make contributions to america and the world. we are making america great. we don't need to make america great again because it has always been great. caller: that is christopher -- host: that is christopher in new jersey. optimistic -- in a few short days, that should indicate progress in this country. since republican-controlled the ause and senate -- it will be new call for progressive grassroots activism. host: i am sorry about that only because of the connection. you are breaking up a little bit. what weay attention to do every day as we watch the house and the senate and the

various things it does day after day. when the house goes out of session, we take statistics of what occurred in the previous session. this specifically for the 115 congress. if you go to our website at c-span.org and the congressional calendar section, there are some graphics that show the statistics of things that took place, taking a look at the house overall for this session. 716 hours of debate took place in the house of representatives. 243 hours concerning votes. morning hours is where you hear the speeches right off the bat. 113 hours of those. 302 hours of special orders. 124 hours of speeches. when it comes to opening procedures, that is about nine hours worth. there's also a statistics section and if you go to house

activity, it is a little slow on this site, there is a chart that the debates that took place and legislation that passed not only for this gross -- closing congress, but years passed. again, for our three hours, mainly we will hear from you concerning your optimism more pessimism about the year ahead. optimistic about the .ear ahead, 202-748-8000 the number to call if you are pessimistic, 202-748-8001. you can also give your thoughts on our social media sites @cspanwj is our twitter feed and at facebook it is facebook.com/cspan. joining us throughout the morning, too will be opinion makers to give their thoughts on various things as they see the

washington scene overall, the what is happening in their home state. joining us is arnie arnesen from new hampshire, a syndicated wnhnfm. host, i live in concord, new hampshire and things started off with a bang. just before i go on the air, elizabeth warren announces she is starting an exploratory to run for president. the conversation i was supposed to have about looking back was a conversation about looking forward because we are the first in the nation primary and she will spend a lot of time here and there will be a conga line of candidates showing up. she was smart. it was a slow news day. host: is that is a -- is that a source of optimism? sides of then both

line. i look at last year, 2018 as riding a bucking bronco. what was so exciting was the blue sun army in the 2018 election. you have 100 new members of congress that are nonincumbent. 100 nonincumbent. so many women, they will have to add new bathrooms. the average aid -- age was under the age of 50. a lot of people were frustrated and frightened and concerned and in despair. rather than sort of going under a rock and hiding, they decided to run and you saw new people that even the democratic party could not recognize and i think that was what was so exciting about november, the new faces and so many women and such diversity. when you elect a gay congresswoman from kansas, what

does that tell you? the first black woman from massachusetts, what does that tell you? controlledcans had everything in my state in 2018 until the election. democrats took back the house and the senate and the executive council. the governor managed to stay the course, but this is apocryphal. it was a race between an openly gay democrat and a black republican and a openly gay democrat won. blackabout this, a republican and an openly gay democrat. the face of america. oft: do you think by virtue those additions the house will become more progressive amongst democrats and legislation that is passed? guest: i think it will become more real. we have women with children and young people.

people -- they did not come with a portfolio, they came with a life and their life was not about politics. it was struggling to get health care, being in the military, being perhaps a muslim in america where there is so much sort of racism and anti-summit is. they bring their life experience to the table. is that progressive? i think you call that america and there has been this disengagement with this level of incumbent and -- after incumbent after incumbent getting elected and now you have that people who don't have the backpack of incumbency. they have the backpack of life. i think what it is is it will demand change because we have to change. we have enormous debt and climate change and student debt, an economy that is softening. a man in office named donald trump who doesn't believe in democracy and his best friends are autocrats and despots.

in a lot of ways, their voices are more needed. i am not sure you have to label it progressive or conservative. you need to label it change and we need to change now. host: nancy pelosi will gain the gavel as she becomes house speaker. what should she do this time around. ? guest: for the last eight years, she has been out of office. they kind of demonized her relationship with the democratic party. what i think is so exciting about nancy pelosi getting speaker sip is she is reacquainting herself with democrats and the country and so she she is able understands the faces that have showed up and willing to play in .he sandbox with them i think she is showing the

democratic party not only values new, but they value experience and skills and what nancy pelosi is bringing to the table is she is bringing that experience and skills and part of that skill set is to learn to not fight the new voices, but work with new voices so they will energize the base and make a difference in 2020. host: when it comes to this idea of the government shutdown, the democrats are expected to unveil legislation. they won't offer new funding for the wall. do you think that is a good strategy? guest: you think you are negotiating with donald trump and that is basically a fiction. you are negotiating with laura ingraham, rush limbaugh, sean hannity and the boys and girls of fox news. there is no person sitting there named donald trump who will tell you the answer about the wall. there is no saving face for

donald trump. or -- gives him position. -- permission. there is not a negotiating person on the other side of the this isn't about a wall. it is about what who is pulling donald trump's strings. you started off talking about new hampshire. tell us about the activity and what you expect this year? we heard about elizabeth warren, but what else do you expect to see? we will be seeing a lot of what is going on with presidential campaigns, which unfortunately is going to have maybe not necessarily a positive effect on what happens with state legislation. the presidential political scene sort of sucks the energy out of

politics. i think we are going to see things like this. we will see putting a minimum wage bill on the table. new hampshire -- we don't even have a new hampshire minimum wage. if the feds got rid of a minimum wage, we would not have them. we are still at $7.25. massachusetts just raised it today. you will see conversations about minimum wage and conversations about legalizing marijuana. all the states around us have done it. we are living in the dark ages. a lot of these conversations will also parallel what is happening on the presidential campaign. if we are talking about bringing the bottom up, the minimum-wage conversation will be there. let's also be honest, climate

change is real. let me repeat this to everyone, climate change is real and costing us billions and billions of dollars. my state will begin to look at how they need to operate to address climate change. that will be a huge issue nationally. i am pessimistic about the economy. the rest of the world is beginning to see our softening in a recession. we are not an island. we are part of that international conversation. you saw what happened with wall street. we have an enormous deficit, which means you cannot turn to the feds. states will have to prepare for that and make the right investments and make sure their economies can hold together. i think that is another conversation we will be having as we watch what is happening with the economy. host: how can people follow your show? guest: the name of my show is called the attitude with arnie

arnesen. we are live from 12:00 to 1:00 each day. we will be keeping tabs on everyone. and: this is arnie honest joining us for a conversation, one of many opinion us we will have on during the course of the morning. guest: happy new year, everyone. host: we will be joined by opinion us throughout the course of the show. largely, we will hear from you about your optimism or pessimism from 2019 -- for 2019. victoria from oregon says she is optimistic. thank you for holding on. go ahead. caller: good morning. i have had so much anxiety that passed -- past two years. i decided to become politically active and i became a neighborhood leader for the democratic party. i am 74 and a lot of my friends

-- i knocked on doors, but i had to drive because i am in a rural area. 94% of my65 homes and people voted. it was very gratifying. and feeling a lot more calm i am very excited about the .assion the new people bring our local people, our state people, our candidates got elected. it was gratifying. think theseo you newly elected candidates should do going forward? particularly to keep things optimistic as you would like to see it? caller: as a registered nurse, i am concerned about health care and oregon has been a leader in that. they need to fix it for everyone. also, the climate. the increased amount of toxins in the air and the drinking

water that really -- they have a lot of research about how children are being affected. i just think getting a grip on the corruption in washington. host: you talked about your anxiety and going forward and becoming politically active. what kind of helped you make that jump? what was the deciding factor? caller: i was in the women's march. it started back then and a lot of my friends were in my vintage with the young people. i had a friend with ms with a walker who had a great time, united we stand. i would have been watching during the -- marching during the vietnam war, but i was taking care of soldiers. host: that is victoria in oregon talking about her optimism for 2019 as she sees it. from florida, this is jerry says

he is pessimistic. good morning. caller: how are you? host: fine, go ahead. caller: i am pessimistic about everything going on first of all because i am a christian. i am a child of god. i believe the god gave earth to all of us and we all have a responsibility to make sure all are cared for, especially the seniors, the old people and the people who are disabled, especially children. i am a retired teacher now for about 20 years. i have a background of a country girl. my dad had a small farm and we did not have all the things we would like to have had. my mother always knew how to improvise. she was a great seamstress and my grandmother baked very well.

both of them always did comparison shopping before they bought anything and i look at what is going on with the wall and i think of some of the things we did when i was ourhing about converting regular class time to something that's called block scheduling where children had longer times to finish assignments and teachers had longer time to teach them about the assignment. i wish the republicans and the democrats could get together and talk about the whole situation together and everybody throw out different ideas and make a plan to try to do comparison shopping, going and doing comparison investigation. get with people who owned these wall products, whatever metal, tin, whatever and go around, -- notepad and

president trump should allow them funds to do this. even if they have to do comparison shopping and other countries. investigate, see where this material is produced. get people who can evaluate it and know if it is the right stuff or something that will fall down in a few years or hurt somebody. host: that is jerry and flora giving her thoughts. someone who is optimistic in tennessee, this is bob. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. ,ith william burke coming in the clintons will finally be indicted along with members of the obama administration. host: david off of twitter says he is optimistic that the nation will slowly start coming to its senses about gun violence. saysoff of facebook

democrats will finally learn the power of the president's vito pen. kentucky says he is pessimistic. good morning. caller: hello? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: mi on the air? host: yes, go ahead. caller: what i think about the whole situation is here they spent millions and millions of dollars on this witchhunt on president trump and what they should have done is done the right thing and comey should have went ahead and did his job. i think, personally and by george, one of these days in the future, which is going to be here pretty quick. everything is fixing to come to

a head. people are going to know the truth and by george, these other networks and stuff like that because they have been running everything down and this man, i honest to god believe he is trying to help the united states and what it is. the people just ain't understanding what is going on and you have to have border security. host: what exactly are you pessimistic about? terrence? caller: pardon me? host: what exactly are you pessimistic about? caller: i just don't believe everything is running right. host: let's hear from charles in california, says he is optimistic about the future. good morning. caller: i am really optimistic about the future. i think people are going to come around and see we have a great leader in the white house.

if we can get the news -- the rhetoric to tone down and give him the opportunity to do what he is good at doing and that is building, when we talk about the wall. from thestones throw border, so i know how the situation is personally. it is bad with drugs, people coming across the board or who should not be here. it's not safe. i am not sure what the name of your last guest was, but i don't believe any five-year-old on the planet believes our president is getting instructions from sean hannity and other news reporters. our president has a great brain. he is a billionaire. he did not get that by being stupid. i think he deserves more respect from that. host: you specifically said you think people would come around. why do you think that?

caller: excuse me? host: you said people were going to come around about their views in the president. why do you think that? caller: i think that because i think some of the stuff that has been going on in the news will surface, all this stuff about investigations of several different individuals in washington, it will surface and people are going to realize there has been a lot of press leaning against mr. trump -- president trump and because of falseit creates a narrative that a lot of people believe because it is across the networks and when the networks get exposed for the untruths they have been showing and reporting, i think people will come around. it will happen real soon. host: let's hear from darrell in the bronx, new york, says he is pessimistic about the future. caller: yes, good morning.

i am not so much pessimistic about congress that i am about the citizens of this country. i am a former high school teacher and i am somewhat embarrassed. i am generally an optimistic person. i have become very pessimistic and it's about the citizens of the country, especially our journalists and reporters. they are not reporting facts on trump, they are somewhat timid about calling him a liar when he is lying. mainly, the people of the country need to read, do their own research and study for themselves and stop listening to all of this malarkey put out by fox news. i am pessimistic about the country in general. host: that is darrell in new york. the american conservative website in taking a look at 2018 -- they post a piece looking at 5 political productions. the americanconservative.com.

democrats versus trump will head to the supreme court saying soon after being handed the gavel, maxine waters will subpoena president trump's tax return without presenting a letter or making a formal request. -- conspiring to undermine and humiliate him. a little-known presidential candidate will make waves saying in the first two months, they expect democrats to make presidential announcements. booker,h warren, cory sharad brown, bernie sanders, and others. providel be unable to -- politics.will quit the wheel he, won't he of the joe biden presidential run will be decided by biden in february 2019. to spend thee golden years of his life with his wife and family.

block public will release of the mother report saying the special counsel will finalize his investigation and send it to the acting attorney general. whitaker will block the public discourse of the conclusions and release a sanitized summary. the president will sign a deal with north korea kim jong-un and it will fail. they will hold summits in the next 6 months, sign a formal accord and it goes on to describe it from there. more can be found if you go to the website the american conservative. the police -- the piece for political predictions for 2019. in new jersey, optimistic about the future politically. good morning. theer: i am very optimistic mueller report will come out and prove donald trump is a traitor and he should be hung for

treason. host: you cannot say that. you cannot say stuff like that. we will go to maxwell in virginia, says he is pessimistic about the future. caller: i am very pessimistic. this guy is a con artist and i agree with the guy you cut off. i don't understand how people cannot understand and see -- open their eyes and see this guy is a con artist. we like watching saturday night live every single day. i have never seen a president that cannot pass a camera. it is crazy. host: david in north carolina says he is optimistic about the future. hello in winston-salem. caller: hello. my name is dennis. i am a disabled veteran. i have a problem with our .resident

he makes promises like when the kids were out in florida because of the shooting, he made the promise and he did not hold the promise. he broke the promise. madehe ran for office, he hate speech. country was built on the back of people coming from every country and now he talks about building a wall that keeps .eople out of this country they are what made this country great again. us arees that look up to now looking at us like we are the bad guys and now we are the bad guys. i know at one time -- i deal with ptsd and other issues

because of what happened to me in the gulf war. it was a soldier from mexico going through the class. he finished the service and went back to mexico because he wasn't a citizen. that was wrong because of our president. he wasn't a citizen of the united states and i think this was wrong. we as an american people and i say again, american people, we need to stand up to this president and make a stand. host: that is david in north carolina giving thoughts about optimism or pessimism for the year ahead in washington. that will be the bulk of what we do this morning. no formal sit down guest in d.c. 202-748-8000 for those of you

who think when it looks to the future in 20 in washington and politics you see that optimistically. if you think it is a pessimistic viewpoint, it is 202-748-8001. like i said before, we will be joined by opinion us -- opinion throughoutinionists the morning. happy new year to you. guest: i hope it will be a great 2019. host: is this a sense of optimism you feel? guest: i am perennially an optimist and sort of a realist knowing we will not get everything we want. if you think about where things are headed, there are funny of bad things to talk about. in north carolina, we are dealing with the fact we do not know who our full complement of members of congress will be because of a fight in the ninth congressional district. i always look ahead with a sense of optimism.

at the beginning of the year, you haven't seen all the stuff that would make you a pessimist yet. tot: if you had guideposts point you to the optimism you might feel, what would you look at? caller: the thing you have to look at -- guest: the thing you have to look at is that the united states is still one of the dominant countries. our economy has been rolling along well. that has beenfs, a hindrance of economic growth. largely, we are in good shape although we have troops fighting overseas in the middle east. we have been scared for decade from decades from cold war -- in large respects, if you look at the world in 2019 compared to the world 40, 50, 60 years ago,

you have to say in almost every measure, the united states and the world are doing better and i think that will continue even though there will be challenges and we will have to deal with a lot of problems including increased political polarization. host: how do you factor the current thing we are talking about -- the shut down, into your sense of optimism? doesn't make a difference for the people in north carolina you talk with and associated with? guest: we don't really see a whole lot of discussion about it or impact and i think largely that is because the partial shutdown took place near the end of a calendar year where a lot of people are shutting things down anyway, shutting down the worker for the year and not really dealing a whole lot with the government. if we are going to see major impact, it is probably going to take effect moving forward after today when everyone gets back to work and they notice some of the things we dealt with with the federal government -- we are not

seeing these open. so far, most people have been dealing with the holidays, visiting grandma and grandpa and kids.g gifts for the into the new year, people will see an impact from the shutdown. one of the things from people who like to use the shutdown as a way to get people moving together and get some sort of deals, one thing that could be a downside is if the shutdown continues and people don't see a major impact on their lives, the shutdown loses a lot of its value as a scare tactic and people will say, wait a minute, if we could live our lives as we are without these government agencies operating at full staff and full power, do we really need all these federal government agencies? there is that danger that if people continue to live their lives and don't see a major

impact, they might say, why do we need this stuff anyway? host: this time of year there are stories about new laws and regulations. what is the picture in north carolina and what do you think about all these layers of new laws being put into place? guest: someone suggested we might the off if every new law had to come with the repeal of two previous laws. in north carolina, we have seen interesting laws, some election changes and you probably heard this on the national level, one of our new laws that has gotten publicity as this one that would ban those who sell nondairy milk from calling it milk. iferal other states -- several other states go along with that measure, the people who sell soymilk or almond milk cannot call it milk anymore. you look at that and think, do

you really need a law for that? we havearolina journal, been supportive of trying to keep government in its limited spot where it does the things it needs to do and leave people to run their lives the way they would like to otherwise. when you see a bunch of new laws, that can create a problem. our big story in north carolina dealing with the national picture is what happens in our ninth congressional district, something or the congress is coming back in just a couple of days and we are not going to have a ninth district congressman because our state board of elections, which no longer exists, that refused to certify the results. one thing we know is the incumbent from the last session of congress, robert pittenger is not coming back. he lost a primary and announced in the last couple of days if there's a brand-new election with a brand-new primary, he is

not going to try to get his seat back. the one thing we know about our ninth district is no robert pittenger. there is quite a bit of interest and concern about who will be the person. -- appeared to have one on election day, by 900 votes over dan mccready. but there is a lot of uncertainty about what is happening because of some irregularities involving absentee ballots in the eastern part of that district. have an elections board and there is a fight between our governor and general assembly about whether the governor can set up a temporary elections board, the republicans leading the general assembly say you cannot do that, you don't have the power. the brand-new elections board, endaw, takes effect at the of january. so what happens between now and then is uncertain.

leaders, thesome new leadership in the house of representatives and ec has said -- in bc has said it is not interested in seating mark terms of and in political story that is probably the main thing we are watching in north carolina. you have a democratic governor, roy cooper, was disco years left in his term. left in hiswo years term, how would you bracket that? two years were very tough because republicans held the super majorities in the house and senate. they would go along with the governor if it was something they already wanted to do. but if you put forward a proposal they did not like he would say thank you and put it in the circular file. because of the 2018 election, the super majorities in the state house and senate by republicans are gone.

so roy cooper will play a bigger role in the next two years because he can help guide meta-station. if there is something that is passed that is not like tea can it. it -- he can veto my guess is that the democrats are going to be much less likely to want to side with republicans .ver the veto over the governor my guess is that he is going to play a much larger role. of course, he is also preparing for reelection in 2020. create another wrinkle, he will want to stake out some of his positions, and republicans in the general assembly will agree on some issues, i think they will agree on economic development and hurricane recovery with infrastructure items. there will be a lot of issues were they disagree, school choice, the size of government spending, tax rates, those things are going to divide the republicans who run the general assembly and roy cooper, the

democrat who runs executive branch. there will be a lot of fights. and there will be a lot of uncertainty about what is going forward. one thing i would put forward as a guarantee is that we will probably -- we will definitely see a lot of legal action. the last two years were characterized by a lot of court fights between governor roy cooper and the republican general assembly. my guess is that continues and 2019. people who will probably like the next two years will be lawyers working on these issues. host: how can people follow you? guest: they can follow me on hope they will monitor what is happening with the carolina journal at their media and on social other john locke foundation on twitter. host: thank you for joining us.

happy new year. guest: thank you. host: we spent the first hour largely hearing from you about your optimism or pessimism when it comes to washington in 2019. we will continue on in this hour. if you want to call us and say you are optimistic call (202) 748-8000and if your press to make -- pessimistic call (202) 748-8001. you can also post on social media and take polls on facebook and twitter. claremore, he says he is pessimistic. thank you for holding. i am pessimistic about our failed media, which is incredibly corrupt. instead of reporting facts, and the news, they're politically biased towards democrats. the democratic party is trying to spend through the school systems and the media -- spin

--ough the school mr. rims the school systems and media that they are for blacks and minorities. but the democratic party is the party of the kkk. it voted against equal rights. all other groups are , andamerica, like antifa black lives matter. someone called in saying that diddon -- president trump something against veterans and he improved the system while obama only redecorated and cut military pay wall troops were in conflict -- while troops were in conflict. we should and pensions on politicians and have term limits on them, that would help pay for the wall. these politicians in the democratic party have proven time and time again that all they are trying to do is, at any cost the american people, obstruct everything that president trump has been doing.

host: you made those points. this is mac, in baltimore, maryland, he says he's optimistic. go ahead. caller: yes, i'm optimistic about the future that is james comey, robert mueller, they are going to nail him to the wall. my whole thing is how as americans we could sit around and allow the leader of our over a to lie to us thousand times, and we sit back and think that that is nothing. we have kids running around and this guy will lie at the drop of time.me -- of a he doesn't know what he's doing, he doesn't read. i am optimistic we will kick him out of office. host: mr. mueller still conducting the investigation what do you think mr. comey is contributing? caller: i think is telling the truth. host: what do you think as far as the future? why do you put him into the mix? caller: because i think he

should be in the mix. he is a patriot to sit there and tell a person that he is not going to do something wrong. minute, --me for a bear with me for a minute, if i'm the leader of a group and i have 20 people with me and 15 people are being indicted in six or going to jail and i say that i'm innocent, that's crazy. if anyone things that's real, they are crazy too. host: we will go to gloria, in florida, and optimistic person. good morning. caller: my prediction is that women will save the world. and say the united states. host: what makes you say that? caller: because of the number of women that have been awakened by the presidency of donald trump. they have detected that there was something majorly wrong and

they have come out to run for office by the flocks. you probably have the statistics in front of you. host: how much influence do you think they will have overall? caller: i think part of the reason they're going to have influences because the elder generation of white males will age out of our government and legislative bodies. i think they will assert themselves in the process. louisiana,lafayette, we will hear from ames on our line for those who are pessimistic. good morning. caller: good morning, my name is amos. pessimistic because i'm a senior. i live in louisiana. -- can younot seen hear me? host: you're on.

caller: i have not seen the government operate like it has been with mr. trump. he is so dishonest. he doesn't care about working people. that everything is stationary like it should be. i think he's one of the worst presidents that has ever been elected to the government. and he got less votes than he is supposed to get. he did not win the majority of the votes. he is the worst i have ever seen. host: people have been calling in and sharing their optimism thepessimism, here's from 115th congress, some statistics compiled by c-span as we take a look at the activities from the house and senate every year. when it comes to the snapshots, session for 172 days, 61 days were pro forma sessions were no business to place.

the senate was in session four 189 days, and 41 of those days were pro forma. 2010, eight of the 150 session days were pro forma. recorded votes00 in 2018 compared to 600 64 recorded votes in 2010. the senate of 274 votes in 2018, comparing to 299 and 2010. pastit comes actual loss 125 house bills became public law in 2018. in 2010 178 house bills became public law. the house passed 922 total measures and in 2018 the fastest 117. to 2010, 80 senate bills became public law. and vice president mike pence broke six ties in the senate, making him the seventh-ranked

vice president ever in terms of , inreaking votes cast contrast it highlights the fact that vice president biden wrote no ties in his eight years of office. -- broke no ties in his eight years of office. we have compiled the statistics and if you like bar graph you can have your plethora of .argraph taking a look we have all of the information available to you when you go to our website at c-span.org about the activities of the 115th congress. from stewart, in mechanicsville, virginia, he says he's optimistic. go ahead. caller: happy new year. host: thank you. caller: i am. i am. i will be 69 this year, i celebrated the new year last night with my two ran children and my wife of 48 years. i look forward to another year.

i try to get my grandchildren to understand that whatever they , -- in life, they work for they work for it and they might achieve it. it is not a guarantee but you have the opportunity to try. that's an optimistic viewpoint. i wish some of these people calling in would take a little bit of the attitude. we have always been a country in turmoil. if you study your history, they used to get in fights on the floor in the senate. beat each other with canes. countryalways been a that has been like that. but we pull together when we have to. country,lieve in this and i believe in the american people. you think that the white house and congress works better at this age than it has in the immediate past?

when there were different administrations in power? caller: let me give you an presidencyok at the of andrew jackson. my goodness. john marshall, the supreme court passed, past some -- something about the indians in georgia and they overran the president and the president said you did that and now we will force it. --have always been a country if the american people would study the history, if they would understand that. i have seen specials on tv where they interview some college students. they can't even tell you who the vice president is? host: so specifically your optimism doesn't extend to this president? caller: i believe he wants the best for the country, i wish he would not tweet as much as he does. host: are you an agreement over the shutdown the money he wants for the border wall?

caller: i don't disagree with them. it's like a rat. if you corner around he will fight. look at israel. israel has a wall. the wall and china doesn't work, fine. .t was only four feet high israel, because they were having a real problem, they built that wall. look at the stats. they have been going -- they're are almost at the point where it is zero percent of people coming into the country. host: that said do you think it is worth the shutdown over? not being a government worker i guess i could say yes. but do i feel for those people? i think i'm correct, they will get their backpay, correct? host: the house in the senate

has to vote on those things to make sure that that happens. caller: happy new year. host: let's go to peter, in butler, pennsylvania. he says he is pessimistic about the future in washington. you are next. i'm an optimistic person, but the wars on media make me pessimistic. that last caller made me think, when jefferson was president, hamilton and burr had a gentleman's dual. , killedt jefferson hamilton, and then he commanded an insurrection to overthrow the government. and the supreme court justice was being impeached. that last caller made me think maybe my mind has changed. i will attempt to be optimistic. thank you. butler,at's peter joining -- that's peter, from butler, pennsylvania.

the majority of this program will be devoted to your call on optimism and pessimism. we will take your thoughts on the phone and social media. joining us along the way from various perspectives is laura websitewith the bleeding heartland. she serves as their editor. thank you for joining us. happy new year. guest: thank you pedro. host: for those who do not fall you, what is the bleeding heartland about? guest: it's a website focused on i will politics, campaigns and elections, legislative politics and what state government officials are doing. as well as social and environmental issues. coast,n the east elizabeth warren has announced that she is forming a export-oriented may. what is the reverberation in iowa? guest: the iowa caucuses are open and i will have a larger field of strong candidates. i was on facebook yesterday and i think most iowa democrats want

to wait and hear from many candidates. but several people said they were all in for elizabeth warren. that included people who had caucus for bernie sanders in 2016. are wanting people to wait and see how the field shakes out. but elizabeth warren will have strong support and she was one of the few candidates who did not come out during 2018. i think when she makes her first trip to iowa she will draw some big audiences. i'm looking forward to hearing her. host: what picture interest about those of come to i was so far. -- so far? guest: we have had several declared presidential candidate, john delaney has been here more than a dozen times, and yang has been here a number of times. but senator jeff merkley has been here nine or 10 times in the past couple years. senator cory booker and kamala harris have made trips in the

last month or so before the election. they were well received. representative eric wall mount has been here a number of times, he has staff on the ground helping i was democratic candidates during the campaign and that was very appreciated. helping the iowa democratic candidates during the campaign and that was very appreciated. many people did fundraisers for down ticket candidates. it's interesting to hear. i am looking forward to a healthy and vigorous debate. oh and joe biden has a lot of support and i will. yang,you mentioned andrew there a profile this morning and one of the things that he focuses on is this idea of an income for every u.s. citizen. $1000 per month. can you expand on that? is that a different strategy than you have heard among other candidates? it is very different. i went to one of the largest democratic events of the year

and there were four angela --sidential candidates potential presidential candidates, a lot of attention who to michael avenatti, said he would not run, i don't think he was serious about running. and her yang gave an interesting speech, it's a idea we don't hear a lot about, universal basic income, they do something similar in alaska where every adult it's a certain amount of money. he has an idea to fund this program, basically a technology tax. what i thought was interesting is that right now his wife is a stay-at-home mom and a full-time caregiver to a child with disabilities. and right now our economy values her labor at zero. if we had universal basic income she and many other people, caregivers and stay-at-home parents, their work would be valued. and that would be money they

could use to put into -- it could cover household expenses, and help people start a small business. i thought it was an interesting idea. i don't know how much support he has. i think he needs to become better known. i thought the audience in clearlake responded favorably to it and i think it's an idea that i hope more democrats will talk about. it is something that almost passed congress in 1971 richard knickers -- richard nixon was president. host: blockbuster the year ahead, what kind of major events will democratic candidates have to go through and what are you looking at? some many of them are in congress right now, i think people will be wanting to see if they are going to stand for something. what's going to happen with the shutdown? are people going to be willing to cave eventually to give wall funding to the president? i think that is one big question . another big question is health

care. it was a huge issue in our congressional campaign this year . some of the candidates are for medicare for all. a single-payer type approach. others favor expanding the affordable care act through something like public option. that is a big issue that people are talking about. i think campaign finance reform will be something that most candidates agree on. the basic democratic agenda, i think most people agree on. i think how much people want to confront trump, i'm curious to see who, if anyone, will come out for impeaching trump. we will have to wait and see what the mueller report looks like. but that if online in the iowa caucus campaign. i think a lot of people are going to declare a presidential campaign and i'm not convinced all of them will still be in the race at the time of the iowa caucus in early 2020. it should be --

host: that's laura ballin joining us through static -- skype, and sometimes you get positive. laura, are you there? guest: i am still here. can you hear me? host: we've got you. you mentioned the shutdown, what effects are we seeing and i will? -- i will -- in iowa? doesn't have the largest number of federal workers but there are federal workers all over the country. some are not getting paid. some got paid for the work they did before the holidays but others have not. there is a real misconception that federal employees are also well paid that they can afford to go weeks without a paycheck and have no problem because they will get their backpay eventually. that is an issue. one of the big topics of conversation in iowa is the trade war we are having. china purchased zero soybeans from the united states during

november. iowa produces about a quarter of the country's soybeans and china was a major market that is not there right now. that is something that will have rippling effects of the iowa connie, probably more than the federal government shutdown. but federal government services affect a lot of people who don't work directly for the federal government. host: i look at your blog everyday and you talk a lot about justice issues. specifically in iowa. could you highlight that? iowa has one of the best judicial election systems in the country. we have had a merit-based system it so that judges are not elected. the governor is restricted in nominate.an we have a nonpartisan commission force a print candidates. that is something our republican-controlled legislature may try to change

this year and the governor is open to changing that. so i'm concerned about that prospect, the iowa judiciary a is well-respected around the country because we have a much court systemzed and criminal justice reform has been a major topic for me. ita is a terrible state when comes to racial disparities in our justice system. systemsone of the worst of felon disenfranchisement, one of two states that disenfranchises felons for life. i would like to see changes in that. iowans need to progress and improve an f1 of the topics that enjoyed covering. -- improve and that is one of the topics i have enjoyed covering. host: here is the bleeding this was.com website, posted by laura ballin. how often do you post?

how can people best follow you? guest: that post you just mentioned was by a guest author, but i post the criminal justice -- about the criminal justice system quite a bit. on a weekday i will usually have one or two new posts, weekends can be quieter. if it's been zero could be three or four, the iowa legislature's coming back into session in mid-january, when the legislature is in session it might be two to three posts on a typical week day. heartland.com is our website, we have a facebook page and i am on twitter. host: laura ballin is the editor of the bleeding heartland website. thank you for your time. happy new year. guest: thank you. happy new year. host: scott, from massachusetts, says he's optimistic about the future in washington. thank you. go ahead. caller: hello. i wanted to say that i am

optimistic about how technology is making the betterment of our society. host: give me an example. caller: i see artificial intelligence making things easier for us, for the mundane tasks. and helping us do other jobs. talk aboutyou technology one of the issues in washington is that of privacy. what are your concerns? caller: oh i hate the idea of somebody taking my privacy. i hate the idea that. there is au think trade-off for those who use technology? especially if they offer information about themselves and the privacy issue? caller: i'm not really talking about information taking. i just believe that automation and how that would help humanity. think that what do

you think about automation and the future of jobs? if we become more automated do you think people will lose jobs? caller: absolutely they will. and i don't know the outcome of that. host: jim is in georgia, he joins us now and he is pessimistic about the future. caller: good morning, and happy new year. , congress istic track does not have a record of taking up important on a regular basis. i don't know where you live, but i'm here in atlanta, georgia. the temperature 60 degrees, it's really warm. i can't imagine that congress or the president is going to do anything about climate change,

which i think is one of the most important things to look at. because they are so involved agendas, and not bigger agendas such as climate change. so that's my point. host: this is off of our twitter feed, one user says i am optimistic that we will finally get to see the president's tax will see howwe dishonest he really is. his fans are in denial and they will fight with necessary action. the president is very likely to pardon himself, and off of our it said that citizens voted for a legitimately elected president, trump is the president, explain why you reject your constitution . those are some of the thoughts off of our twitter feed this morning. in brooklyn, new york, this is drawn. -- john. good morning. caller: good morning.

because democrats have been elected to oversee the president and make america more honest and move forward again. i think we will have a better voting system with machines, that will help us be more honest . and air pollution, i'm very concerned about air pollution because trump's changing these laws, rules, and regulations, but nobody is seeing the effect that it is having. and nobody has checked the ones that he has changed. he does changes everything and no one tells the public which one and what will be the effect over this. i'm a blacky american from new york.

a lot of black people are having the police called on them for no reason. i'm wondering why the police .ome for these false calls there is supposed to be a judgment from a judge and decide if there is someone who deserves arresting for harassment. brooklyn,'s john, in talking about his optimism. he mentioned voting practices which is one of the topics of an editorial in the new york times. talking about the house democrats as they assume power, in october, one hundred seven democratic candidates delivered an open letter to capitol hill calling for reform to be a top priority and vowing to make it one if elected. enter hr one, a package of revisions to the current political practice that house democrats are looking to introduce in the opening weeks of the next congress. details are still being hashed will attempt to

establish nationwide automatic voter registration, promote online voter registration, and partisan gerrymandering, explain conflict of interest laws, increase the oversight of lobbyist, require the disclosure presidential tax returns, campaign -- strengthen disclosure of campaign donations, set a matching funds candidates,ional and a plan for repairing the voting rights act to move along a separate tract. about thisd out more in the new york times this morning. , in south carolina who is pessimistic about the future. caller: hello pedro. happy new year. i am pessimistic because foreign policies of the united states and 35% of our people living in

denial. for foreign policy, we have russian supersonic bombers, nuclear bombers flying at will over the caribbean. they have developed the new , a nuclear missile, it's very difficult to shoot down. they are seizing territory in crimea. i believe they are preparing to seize the ukraine. they are promoting the dismantling of the european , japan has gotten to the point where they do not trust america. they are building an aircraft carrier themselves. about the did think recent announcement by the president of syria and afghanistan when it comes to pulling out or reshuffling

troops? .aller: that's prudent policy he's backing an evil man in syria, the russians are. and they're going to let afghanistan fall back into chaos . downnt all of those guys to the border, but he's going to pull back the people that are really making a difference? it's like we are in total cooperation with russia. , in south was don carolina. bloomberg this morning released a piece that appeared yesterday, talking of serious and don on defended his decision to withdraw from syria as the settlement of a campaign promise, pushing back against criticism from lawmakers in his own party at the abrupt change in policy. i campaigned on getting out of syria and other places on twitter. now when i start getting out some failed generals and fake

complainingre now about myanmar tactics, which are working, doing what i said i said i was going to do. that is one of the several tweets present on his -- the president has sent out. tom in florida is optimistic. go ahead. caller: i'm optimistic is because once -- because once the democrats get in they are going to show the same old pageantry of demagoguery, emotion, and the united states is just sick and tired of it. the united states wants things to get done. on the one thing democrats cannot do is sit down and have an adult conversation about compromise and bipartisanship. it is not in their genes. and the united states is going to vote them out of office.

because they are tired of it. they are tired of conflating illegal and legal immigrants. the press lets them get away with it. nobody is against immigration, everybody knows we are immigrants, come on. host: so what comes of the president should he compromise on his $5 billion figure? sure.: but it's really a shame. onlyne thing that is stopping of compromise on immigration is the time kratz -- is that democrats will not allow illegal immigration to be 100% stopped. they will not do it takes to do that. they can say border security, the border security means detecting them after they have entered the united states. and since the courts are over run it basically means they get into the country. that doesn't stop illegal immigration.

it's a big lie that the press is done -- letting democrats get away with. host: so the effort by the president on the border wall, is it worth it in light of what you have said? caller: we need to completely stop illegal immigration, and we will get a confirmation -- top hands of immigration reform. the democrats know that that that is something they will not given on. host: is the border wall at key piece of that in your opinion? caller: yes, it is. and democrats will never help .ith the national debt because the other thing that is not in their genes is cutting the cost of government. host: we are going to move on to the other viewers waiting to get on, this is louise, in washington dc. she's pessimistic about the future. caller: happy new year. the thing that bothers me so badly, and it's going to bother

everyone in the world is that this man in brazil that they have elected is going to destroy the rain forest. which will make animals go thenct, it will destroy indigenous people that live there, and it will affect the whole world climate. and our president is going down to celebrate his inauguration. i'm horrified about that. and the environment in general does not seem to be that anyone is doing anything about it. happy that so many democrats got elected. thank you for your program. that is louise in washington dc and there is a story in the washington times that is looking at the effect of the shutdown and the effects it is making on national parks.

is ais elamin -- this there ising that illegal off-road in fragile areas and it's beginning to overwhelm some iconic national parts -- parks. quoted free-for-all snyder, 20 four, living and working in the yosemite valley. closings ofen some minimally supervised campgrounds and public areas with in the park that are overwhelmed. thespokesperson said that shutdown took hold and national parts will remain accessible as possible while still foaming all applicable laws, procedures, and practices. many particulates were closed because they were filled to overflowing. and camping at joshua tree national park has reported squabbles with different families claiming different sites and known ranges on hand to adjudicate.

off-road it illegally, relieve themselves in the open, and joshua tree said it will begin closing some campgrounds for all day use. this is an associated press .tory in the washington times this is steve, in ohio, who says he is optimistic. caller: happy new year. thank you for taking my call. i'm very optimistic for a couple of reasons. never underestimate the intelligence of the american people. they know what this country should be in they will move towards it. so the democrats and republicans in office now who do not want to get things done will be out the next round. and donald j. trump. , i have excited celebrated the 31st anniversary of my 45th anniversary.

i cannot wait to get up and see what is going on. technology creates more jobs. some jobs will be gone but always creates more and new opportunities. it's going to be a great year. the people on wall street don't get it because they don't see me -- because they have never seen something like this before but the numbers are all outstanding. and they will get even greater as long as the people have faith in what is going on. we've never seen anything like this. host: in new york, this is michael, who is pessimistic. hello michael. caller: hello. yes, i am pessimistic. and after listening to the two radical women you had on his my belief reinforces that there is nothing as stupid or ignorant as a smart democrat. having said that, smart democrat

is an oxymoron. in tennessee, out of memphis. . guest: -- caller: i would like to say that i'm optimistic about what's going to be going on. we have nancy pelosi, she's no and all of these people who call-in for so far to , first they need to know that as far as i'm concerned donald trenton really win the election -- donald trump did not really win the election. well, buty is doing it was starting to do that 21

months before barack obama left. i'm just waiting to hear when pressed on -- president trump lines those ignorant falls -- fools up and tell them to drink the kool-aid. host: the national council state legislature looks at issues on the state. in a top 10 issues they are thehing for for states and issues they will face, at number one is the budget battle, saying that balancing budgets and reforming taxes always monopolizes the lawmakers time. with federal tax cuts adding complexity to the task, this is the largest overhaul of the tax code since 1986. and in 2019 the law will continue to challenge states who will value conformity and whether specific federal provisions will increase or decrease revenue. that's the top issue. the second one looks at education funding.

adding that with states increasing higher education funding they can only afford to increase k-12 to prerecession levels. they already have the highest share of state budgets, almost 35 percent on average while higher education only takes up 9.3% of state budgets. teachers in arizona, colorado, north carolina, oklahoma, and west virginia hope their state can lower class sizes and increase pay. medicaidhird is the option, saying that excluding matching funds medicaid -- includes 28% of state spending. and they are always trying to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the program. the affordable care act has the option to expand, and 38 states have done so. in a ballot initiative to extend past november, it goes on to say that some of the atues that states will look

in the new year. you can add that to the mix if you want. the particularly with the events of washington and your optimism or pessimism about those events. in south carolina, this is gene, who says he is pessimistic. caller: hello. happy new year. youve listened to smattering me -- smatteringly, a guy called and yesterday saying he was a schoolteacher with children. he sounded like a levelheaded guy, and i don't know what level he teaches that. it sounded like less than university level. i taught at the university level once upon a time. at the end of his diatribe he , he trump was an idiot hated trump, trump this, and i hope he does not carry that to

his classroom but i don't know how he couldn't. and today a guy called in, very confused about the wall. so i'm in total concert with the fact that the american people are as dumb as a post, and getting worse. host: is that were you attribute your pessimism for the next year? caller: i beg your pardon? host: is that what you attribute your pessimism to? caller: i feel for the children, i have four grandchildren. one is going to university playing soccer and i am thrilled with that. dock, in's go to cleveland, ohio, who is optimistic. caller: i am optimistic because i can see two issues that need to be addressed. and i think that gives us a .oint to start from immigration, and health care. i have no reason to believe that if people are serious, and they

appear to be serious, that we could come together on those things. hopefully we could find some calm ground. it does not have to be a big comprehensive thing, let's start small and address some key issues on the larger ones and move forward. host: so with immigration what should be addressed? caller: in terms of what the president is asking for is reasonable. that's money for border security. i don't see why people can come together on a figure and an approach. host: so the $5 billion figure is good in your mind? caller: politics is dealmaking. host: so the president lowered that figure and compromise would you be ok with that? caller: as long as it is a serious proposal. i think that's what people are looking for. if it's $5 billion or $4 billion, as long as the case is

made that the numbers reasonable and will secure the border, i think people go for. host: what is a serious proposal look like? caller: i would say given the people on the border what they need. if any technology -- if they need a technology, if we could arrest people that cross the border and send them back, give them the freedom to do the things they need to do there, consider letting these people who are trying to better themselves come into the country and language in and of in ministry to court system for two years. does that help anyone? host: and when it comes to health care, what compromises would you like to see? have anwe need to honest discussion about pre-existing conditions. that gets a lot of attention. this is going to sound controversial but that's not health care. we need to do something for those folks with those

conditions. but it's really not health care. it's not insurance as it is commonly known and practiced. but we need to do something. i think we can. , what do you vein think is a good compromise? i would say, in my opinion, it comes down to, there are two things. start untying health care from employment. we need to have people who have total control over their health care regardless of the job they have. and if they could buy the extra policy and keep the policy, regardless of their employment situation. that gets at this. and if you have a pre-existing to -- you you need cannot just say i'm sick and i want health care. maybe you got fired and there was a lapse in your coverage.

that thing needs to be treated separately from the health care debate. i don't know a few want to call it a risk pool, but all of these things are so politically charged. that's why we need people sitting at a table and putting the politics aside on these things. these affect real folks. we need to come together. i don't see what is so hard. int: that is doc, cleveland, talking about some of the things he is optimistic about. immigration, health care, immigration being a theme for a good part of this program. you can add other topics to the mix. -- james, from mississippi, says he is pessimistic. go ahead. caller: i pessimistic with the fact that fox news and the republican party associate all crimes involving hispanic or blacks with --.

and all crimes associated with a orte member is a klansman skinhead is just another crime. that saddens me. i wish people would keep up on that. host: that is james giving his thoughts this morning. one of several ways you can do so, you can call us on the phone at (202) 748-8000if you are optimistic about the political here in washington in 2019. if you're pessimistic you can call us at (202) 748-8001. on twitter and facebook you can post a thought, and participate in the poll. ,rom michael, in crosby, texas who is optimistic about the future. hello. caller: how are you? host: fine thanks. caller: i'm optimistic because

democrats have shown that the one-party vote should not work. you have to have compromise. you have to work together. the twomistic that parties can work on it. i hope the democrats don't break from the rank. let them run it through the president, [indiscernible] america hass of said that they want a government that works for them. the democratsstic and a hold the line and that they will not do as they have done and give the republicans everything that they want. power and itay in

will be all right. host: that's michael, in crosby, texas. said-- on twitter a user optimistic because hillary is president. and steve says i am optimistic about the future, politics is the art of compromise and what hasre witnessing in d.c. been more theatrics and politics and i see in impeachment in the making. and rob in new york is pessimistic. hello. caller: good morning. andnot optimistic at all there's a couple of reasons. one is the press. the mainstream media, all they do is bash trump all day and they ignore the main stories. the biggest stories i see from last year that need to be addressed is the pentagon stealing $21 trillion, misappropriating it according to the inspector general. and the other story, what was

that? i forgot. but that is the most important thing. i need more coffee. host: wife of the most important? -- why is that the most important? caller: if we are 21 join dollars in debt and that is what the pentagon has squandered people need to be accountable. that's a lot of money to just throw our grandchildren's future away with no accountability. ,ost: in massachusetts, john who optimistic about the future in washington. caller: good morning. hey joe, you look marvelous. you look like a million dollars. president trump. the best president i've ever seen in my life. a guy that tries to make good on my promises. he understands how to make money . and he's making america great again. i'm looking forward to voting for him in 2020. host: what would you say -- give

me specifics as far as his successes. caller: i like how he continues to push for the wall. at the big mistake that both republicans and democrats continue to make is that they refused to give a path to citizenship for people who .re already here i'm disappointed in the democrats and republicans and if i ever win the lottery i would hire a lawyer to get rid of party politics. party elections the paid for by the party and not the government. self off-road the president's money for a border so ifin exchange for -- democrats offer the president money for a border wall in exchange for making dreamers legal citizens in the country would you accept that? caller: everyone who is here should be able to stay here.

republicans, whether they have a red or a blue hat, they are just in it for the party. this is serious business. people as nice as you and me are trying to stay in this country. and they refuse to give a path to citizenship to people who live in america already. host: and what about the president's approach about getting the funding through a shutdown? caller: he's just plug in for it and he will try to get it anyway he can. host: is it a good approach? caller: absolutely. the embarrassing thing as, to the average american -- is, to the average american, what are we missing. the government offices are shut down, what are we missing? the highways are open, the water works, the police come. the sun came up this morning. i don't understand what the big problem is if you shutdown the government. ,ost: that's john, in lowell

massachusetts. giving his thoughts on his optimism. we will continue on with the these conversations with you, the viewer, as you watch us, and we appreciate you giving us the time on this first day of the new year. we also appreciate joe thomas giving of his time. he joins us on the phone from charlottesville. inis a talkshow host charlottesville, virginia. good morning. guest: good morning. host: the main themes we have been looking at our optimism or pessimism, where would you follow on that? to quote whoever wrote the inaugural for bill clinton, there is nothing wrong with america that cannot make it with what is right for america. as long as we can hold onto the concept of rule of law, that justice should be blind, and it isn't right now. we still have the concept.

we have not gone so far away that we have launched the ability to even conceptualize a place where some of these data were somebody can stand in a courtroom has to be tried by a jury of his peers, or stands guilty of a crime. we have overcome and allies our society. there is a book out that has any given day you commit 31 felonies . if someone wanted to poke around and look at it. wheren amazing place through and around our constitutional prohibitions, government has become so that it in our nation has become a blood sport. who gets a congressional seat? a presidential seat? -- the presented was never constructed to be so important. host: what comes to the actions of the president and rule of law, give some thought to the current argument being waged in washington on border security. caller: i find it funny that there are some communities in this area of virginia where some

of the most passionate open borders activist live. everyone wants open borders until he gets to their property line. you cannot do that. , by itstitution uniqueness, has to apply to citizens. we hold these truths to be self-evident. that was written by a guy from charlottesville. all men are created equal. it's whether or not they choose to live in a country that protects that. we can help those who want to come here but we cannot open the borders, how do we know who we are protected -- how do we know who we are protecting the rights and privileges of? because the same folks who want open borders do not want us to be the world's police force, that they want to apply our constitution to every corner of the world. as long as they get to a physical location. it's a disingenuous argument. i think it's going to come apart. i think it is coming apart.

i think you're seeing it, when the first counter weight found that they could not walk across the border. even msnbc had people turning around saying i guess i will go back on. that does not sound like an asylum seeker to me. where you sit, how do you view the shutdown? particularly for those in northern virginia? do you look at that differently because you're a virginian? will hit virginia, especially with a general assembly election because we have so many cover men to -- government employees. as virginia's government employees are out of work right now. that said, i really do not disagree with your previous caller from massachusetts, who said roads are open, police come when i call them. crippled that we have our country because they closed d p forests is also a dog an

ony show designed to make us fight with each other so that politicians can use that in the next election. host: a couple of issues in the commonwealth of virginia. there is a story that virginia set to join other states in expanding medicaid. do you have concerns about it? guest: we have big concerns. we have already seen in states that expanded medicaid six years ago how it crippled not just the finances of the state but did not do what its promise was, which was to provide this metaphoric health care for everybody. the health care results are the health care results are horrible. places like alabama. they are trying to get out of it. we decided, after six years, the republicans -- i do not understand this. it was led by the republicans in the virginia house, who had ads

thanking by hospitals him for his leadership in medicaid expansion after six years of telling virginians that medicaid expansion was wrong. a whole cabal of republicans seriously got the gospel after a bag of money was dropped by some super pacs and decided to expand medicare. within hours of it, mick mulvaney was on it saying i would not count on all of this federal money coming to support you. with the tax cuts, we are billion tax $1.2 collection increase in the commonwealth. the governor said i can't wait to get my hands on it. meanwhile, 55% of democrats in virginia say send the money back to the taxpayer, nevermind how many republicans say that. we have got a huge problem here

in virginia. we have a spending problem, a poor distribution of services problem. it is the same thing you and i have talked about in the past. poor communityhe gets arrested and his family does not think he should have been, what happens when that is a hospital and someone's grandma does not get health care services because she is 68 and has gone past the advisability and found they were just hospice her. what kind of protests are we going to have outside of our hospitals when the government starts tailing us there -- failing us there? another thing that amazes me is how we march about how the system is failing us, yet we want the system to do more things. host: you mentioned this and hinted at this -- the general assembly. you have elections coming up.

all the things you talked about, how do you think it will factor in? guest: i would like to think it would be the seminal case. i would love to see republicans going out there. but in virginia, we are seeing the same thing in our general assembly that we watch in the house. retirements. maybe -- many long time republicans are retiring. meanwhile, newly minted democrats are going to training seminars, learning how to pivot back to their talking points, and how to accuse their opponents are being donald trump. we will watch if there are huge seminal issues, like the failures of medicaid, like the wantthat 54% of democrats extra tax money returned to them. yet every democratic versus republican race, i have a feeling, will boil down to how do you defend the president's tweets, defend stormy daniels?

everything will become stormy daniels and michael: and the wall -- michael cohen and the wa ll when it shouldn't be. trainedcratic party is in virginia to make every republican have to spend all of their time answering for the president. i think it is disingenuous, but it will probably win for them. host: joe thomas, a talkshow host at wchv in charlottesville, virginia. thanks, always, and thanks for joining us this new year's day. guest: i would be remiss if i did not mention this is the 4/100ths anniversary of american democracy. the virginia general assembly was established in 1619. we're celebrating 400 years of the present native republicanism in some way, shape, or form here. host: thanks. linda from york, pennsylvania.

thanks for holding on. you are on our line for those pessimistic about the new year. go ahead. caller: thanks. i am glad you took my call. first of all, many things concern me. i hope i can get them all in. but the american people, i do not think they will have to worry about putin and his bombs. i do not think the americans are going to have to worry about the chubby guy and north korea with his bombs. i truly believe the american people are destroying themselves through their arrogance. take 9/11. nobody would dare attack the united states -- we had 9/11. with regard to the wall, suppose he did get $5 billion for the wall. a few months down the road, oh, gee, there are some things we do not think about, he needs

another $2 billion or he will shut down the government. where is it all going to end? with regard to immigration, why can't they hire -- flood the border with agents. trump's talking about jobs. there are jobs. back it up with drones and all kinds of current technology to help border control agents. and also -- host: ok, let's go to carrie in cleveland, ohio. hello. says optimist about the future. caller: yes, i am. the way i feel, in the next year or so, they will have an impeachment for the president, which i really want, because i think the man is the worst president we have had. we have no respect in the world from the other leaders because

of the actions that he takes. himst want to get rid of and maybe get somebody like john kasich in. probably one of the best governors in the country. host: that's kerry in cleveland. acting defenseng secretary patrick shanahan started his first day on the job today. she once to assert that the pentagon remains focused on safeguarding our country. as acting secretary of, he looks theard to working alongside --sident the department of defense continues to be one of our nations bedrock is intrusions. our foundational strength relies on the men and women who serve to protect our freedoms while making personal sacrifices. it is an honor to work with such a dedicated team committed to defending the greatness of our

nation. the words of acting defense secretary, patrick shanahan. from bangor, maine. you're next. caller: i want to start with the tax cuts. in republicans giving away the banks. corporate revenue for the irs is at the lowest point it has ever been in history. it is because of republicans giving away the bank and trying to bankrupt our government to eliminate medicare, medicaid, and social security. host: ok. caller: they have given away it all. corporate america has skated free for decades. because they wanted to illuminate medicaid, medicare, privatize social security. every time they have given a tax break and increased our deficit, it has been the republicans that are the cause of it. it aggravates me that nobody sees this. in california,

who is optimistic about our future in washington. caller: good morning. happy new year to everyone. i am so glad to be here in a free america. i believe that donald trump will be another great resident for another six years. as far as the last caller, the medicare and social security has been on the brink of collapse the last 40 years. finally, you got a republican party that wants to do something about it. i am kind of happy the democrats got the house. i would like to see a balance of power in the government. i hope the democrats do not squander their opportunity and waste all of their time on impeachment, but there are a lot of positive things so democrats can do as far as infrastructure am border security, so i really anxious about seeing what they can do in a positive way -- host: so you think divided government can work? caller: i am very optimistic.

it is so simple. we got a president, let's listen to his ideas and support some of them and let's get on with business and see if they work. and if we get a democratic president, let's support him and see if his ideas work. because that is what it does. it shifts back and forth. all of these people calling in and saying all of this negative stuff, really, go live in china. i just think we have the best opportunity, in america, and all of these people are tearing it down. we have a real positive -- we got the best country in the world, the best geography in the world, we got great people. we are going to watch football all day today. it is great. host: that is john in how one you. rollcall reports on the activities of house democrats when they assume power of the house thursday, saying they will vote come on the first day of

congress, when they are majority, to vote on a full six year appropriations bill and a continuing resolution for the permanent homeland security. the first vote would be to expect -- elect a speaker, expected to be nancy pelosi, that adopt a rules package. bring thege would love decision in order so the rules committee does not have to adopt a separate rule to bring up the bills for debate. the speaker in -- soon after, the house will open two separate votes to reopen the government, one on the appropriations bill and one on the continuing resolution for homeland security. the stop gap would last until february 8, giving democrats another five weeks of negotiating. california is next. california is next.

we hear from dave. caller: i am optimistic. trump is un-american. he is the worst president this country has ever had. i do not know how people can vote for anybody like that. next.david in texas, up go ahead. caller: yes. i am optimistic, if we get order wall funding. i am pessimistic if we do not. because trump will lose a lot of his support. there's a lot of misinformation flying around. the idea that somehow the wall will not make us safer. first of all, nobody has ever talked about 2000 miles worth of wall. they are only talking about where it used to be. there have been discussions about the israelis using walls. most of the conversation has said -- has poo-pooed that. ambassador --d

the wall they built between egypt and that was to stop illegal immigration, not terrorism. it has some effect on that, the same way our southern border does as well. they build a wall down there. they have thousands of illegal immigrants coming in through africa and egypt through they built the wall -- it stopped 75% of illegal immigration. they added a few more feet, and it stopped it. 99% plus stopped -- host: so the idea of the shutdown, do you think the president should continue the shutdown over this? caller: it is the only way to have it happen. democrats are going to be in charge of congress. that is where the bills relating to funding and such start. the shutdown tool has been used by both parties. of lame abouttter who is shutting things down.

both sides are responsible for whatever the situation is, positive or negative. once i proposes, the other side disposes. those cite out to come together and agree. obviously, political pain comes into that to some degree. i am hoping the president will stand firm and understand that the political pain will be worth it, the same way he has done with the tariff situation. i listened to canadian broadcasting. they were talking about the year and wrap up. they were talking about how bad the stock market had done for the u.s. economy. the s&pdown over 5%, down 6%. then they kind of had, as an aside, in europe, the u.k., germany, most european countries, it was down over 12%. china, it is down over one third. we are doing way better than the rest of the world, in spite of the tactics being used to get

the chinese to quit decades-old abuse of what is going on with trade and stealing our property. host: ok. we will leave it there. kevin in indiana. go ahead. , i am pessimistic on the year, especially with pelosi being leader of the house. trumpk people forget that was not a republican to begin with. he wanted to be independent. for the only thing with his presidency is it has taken the focus off of how government has failed us in the last 20 years. as president because we did not trust the system. until we can get trust again, whether it is our law enforcement or building the wall you are always

going to have news media and everybody on the outside giving negative commentary on the american people. when the truth is we are smarter than all of them. host: specifically, when it comes to nancy pelosi, what are your main concerns? caller: she is going to do what she has been doing for years. kick the can down the road. she is not going to fix anything. i wish he would. but it is not going to happen. and republicans, when they get in office, they get power-hungry. just like when george bush was president. we had $5 gas. it is always kicking the can, back and forth. trump was an independent to start with. i do not know if you would have won president, but we need another party. these --ed to jump on this money that gets swept under the rug to these politicians,

republican or democrat. there is no advantage for the people. the advantage of the people was trump. northlet's hear from carolina. you are optimistic. caller: yes, i am. happy new year to all. i am optimistic for one reason only. we invoke article two, section four of the consultation, total disqualification of the entire trump administration, we must rid ourselves of this corrupt traitor we have in the white house and move on with the biggest problem in this country -- health care. happy new year. for those who are not familiar, article two, section four, tell our viewers about it. caller: that is the article that

the disqualification of the entire administration. the president, vice president, and civil officers of the u.s. shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. he meets all of those articles -- host: specifically how? voted inell, he was with the help of the russians. bribery, taking bribes. and corruption. it is coming out, little by little by little. when mueller comes out with his report, he is coming down. he will be disqualified. host: let's hear from anthony in azeri. you are next up. caller: my name is anthony. i do not have a whole lot to add, because i am not real

politically inclined, but i do know, as a person that draws disability and needs medicare, that is my main concern. it is about health care. me and my fiance both have had problems. she has a pacemaker and different things. there is not a health plan out there that will cover -- they give you 12 rides a month. she has so many specialists a year. they do not even cover her getting back. in her case, she has health conditions, and if she does not see a specialist, she will die. so it i think a lot of what is going on in the country with health care problems and , being pessimistic i thinkis next year --

your just going to really get to know your man in the tax brackets and take away this medicare stuff. we do not know what is going to happen after this past year. host: next up, linda in massachusetts. caller: how are you this morning? host: i'm fine, thanks. caller: i am very optimistic about the year. i am eagerly awaiting the trial to be over with president trump and finding out exactly what went on with the russians. and all of these people complaining about president trump should be ashamed. they are filling their castings for just about nothing, at this point. we have not seen gas this low in years. he is doing a great job. he will be reelected. i am very optimistic. host: andrew is in white plains,

new york. caller: good morning. happy new year. thanks for taking my call. i am often mystic about the year ahead in washington. i think nancy pelosi has shown an ability to compromise. with this large contingent of new members in the house coming in, i think there will be a new c wind -- sea wind. they will try to cut a new path. it puts pressure on mr. trump and republican leadership in the senate to start coming to the table and start talking sense. host: do you think there will be a compromise when it comes to border funding, particularly from the democrats? they are already prepared to put up money for what they call border security. i hope we get a little more common sense about it. people talk about some kind of open border being there. i think it is being overplayed. people are not thinking what is going on. we need to get immigration

reform. we need to get stephen miller out of the white house and sent back to where he came from -- host: should it remain $1.6 billion or go higher? about $30ey talked billion originally for the entire wall. $1.6 billion for border security does not seem to be out of whack. i would not be opposed to that. host: that is andrew in white plains, new york. if you are joining us for any length of this program, we have spent most of our time talking to you about your optimism or pessimism, looking at 2019, officially when it comes to affairs in washington, d.c. we will continue those calls. call those numbers and post on our social media sites. we have enjoined my opinion people all throughout the morning. joining us from minnesota, matt mcneil. he is a talkshow host at ktnf a .m. 950 radio.

happy new year. guest: good morning. thank you for having me. happy new year. host: a little bit about you and where you fall politically. guest: i am on the left. i am one of the few progressive radio stations left in the country, a.m. 950. eileen left. i would consider myself an al gore democrat, kind of in the middle of the party. we generally talk about politics from the left and from that point of view. host: with house democrats taking power this week, being a progressive, how do you square those two? does one equal the other in terms of results in activity and nancy pelosi in power? i believe that you are going to see, definitely, some changes. some accountability. there has been zero kind ability. part of the job of the legislative branches oversee the executive branch. they have refused to do their

job. meanwhile, they keep investigating hillary clinton. the fact that we will actually have one of the parties, the democratic party, in charge of the house and being able to do some investigation into what exactly has been going on is a really good thing. host: you think they will be able to do that and still has legislation and work on efforts, with republicans particularly, to get things done? guest: no, i do not think too much is going to get done, unfortunately. look at the mentality of this country, in wisconsin and michigan, you had democrats win the state. and the first thing republicans did was go in and try to or did neuter their power to prevent of anrom having too much idea. said he to someone who

had no idea where the republican party has gone. highwaymy way or the mentality. something we have seen with the outgoing speaker of the house on the national level. i think there will be pressure on the senate, especially since so many more republican seats will be up for grabs in 2020. the reality is the people that vote republican do not want the republican party to work with democrats. hence, i do not think there will be much in the way of compromise. i think trump himself will not necessarily want to work with either party. he wants his own agenda. if it is not his way, he does not care. host: we talk a lot about shut down in washington, d.c. what is interest among people in minnesota? does it resonate, make a difference? guest: the one thing most people talk about is the way the coast guard is not getting paid.

minnesota, are landlocked outside of the great lakes. we have a fairly strong coast guard contingent there and on the mississippi river. a lot of people are scratching their head -- how are they not part of the military exemption? that being said, there is obviously apprehension. whenever you have a major shut down like this, the ripple effects are more than just one or two communities. it is nationwide. there are people apprehensive about it. but minnesota has had, under remark eaten, who is leaving office, we have had a very good economy. it has ended up working out very well for the state. we have a very low unemployment rate. angst have gone very well for us. as opposed to certain areas of the country, where there is a much higher employment of government people, here, it does have some effect, but it is

probably not going to be as stinging because of, one, not as many government employees, but as well a strong economy. host: what did you make of senator elizabeth warren's recent announcement of an exploratory committee? guest: i feel as if pretty much most of the candidates that came from 2016 -- i do not want to say they are necessarily -- and this is me personally. i think they are, to a point, damaged goods. there are people who say bernie sanders or hillary clinton or elizabeth warren, who was a major player back then as well. newink the party wants representation. i think this may even hurt joe biden, if he decides to run. i do not know if she will have the residents across the board. she has interest, the desire. but for the far left, the bernie sanders, the elizabeth warren's,

if they are going to run, they have to figure out a way to sell their ideas to the moderates. i am not saying they have to run through a filter of moderates. i am still saying their ideas can be progressive. they just have to learn how to sell it to moderates. in 2016, 1 sanders of the things i saw a lot of was moderate democrats being like -- i am not comfortable with paying for everyone's college. it felt as if there was some lack of message that happened. host: how do senator amy klobuchar fit into this as far as 2020 politics? guest: i think because she is so kind and nice, too pleasant person to talk with -- people forget that we, in minnesota, got a real big eyeful of amy klobuchar when she was the only senator we had for a while when the al franken court case was

going on. she was doing the work of two senators in one office. she was very clear -- party does not matter. it is about representing the state. she really endeared herself during that time to the state of minnesota. she is an amazingly intelligent person. she has really good ideas. the question i have is whether or not she wants to run. when she starts getting up to this level, it is a very different beast. could she run, easily. do i think she has a decent chance? of course i do. but i do not know if she wants to run for that office. if she does wrong, it would be interesting. she would be, to a point, a dark horse candidate. i do not think she is getting a lot of traction, necessarily. but in 1992, bill clinton, no one knew about him until january or february. it would be interesting to see,

if she runs, how she resonates. host: what do you think is the most local issue that will be of most importance in 2019 for you and the people you talk to? guest: in the state of minnesota, there is going to be a huge fight over mining in northern minnesota. we got the iron range, where iron ore is a lucrative and long-term business. mining is a big part of northern minnesota. now they have discovered precious metals -- nickel, copper -- under the ground. we have the boundary waters, voyages national park. these are pristine wildernesses is that our beloved in the state of minnesota. the idea of doing the kind of mining they are talking about, which leaves behind a toxic mess , is a very difficult thing for a lot of people in the state to swallow. you have a pretty good sized

fight going on in minnesota, and i think other places in the country, about where is the line of preserving america's natural resources versus making money off of it? we have seen republicans try to dilute the water quality standards, no pun intended, as well as push forward environmental studies and say they are not necessary when it comes to this kind of mining. governor dayton went and toured other parts of the country where this kind of mining had happened, and it is an environmental mess. you have an interesting battle being raged here. one thing i can say definitively is that this type of mining has never been done environmentally safe. so the question of whether or not you will ignore that and push forward with that remains to be seen. host: how can people follow you

and your show? guest: numerous ways. a.m. -- am950radio.com. @mattmcneilshow on twitter. listen to useans, on itunes as well as soundcloud. host: how did you get into radio initially? guest: u.s. army. i was in the u.s. army. my great uncle was a radio broadcaster. i had always been inspired by him. but when i was in the army, they drew down in europe, and my job ceased to exist. connected togot the armed services radio in nurnberg, radio -- in nuremberg, germany. i fell in love with the business. happy new year for having me. host: let's go to ivan, in texas.

he says he is optimistic about the future. caller: good morning. i am optimistic about the future. i think donald trump is doing the right thing for our country. doing over there, we are protecting our borders, but we cannot protect our borders -- it does not make any sense to me. and all of these democrat people aep calling in, talking about bad president -- donald trump has been the best president this country has ever had, as far as they think he is doing something wrong. if there is any proof he did msnbc, cnnong, nbc, -- they would be shoving that on tv, saying look, do you see that? but they have no proof. if they had any proof, they would show it to us. i think hillary clinton created a big to do in our country over

nothing, because she couldn't the president. she says she figured it out, in figuredbook, says she out what went wrong -- he did not tell nobody that she was a liar. she should have. she should have told everybody the truth and said what the problem really was. host: ok. beach,o to mario in long california. says he is pessimistic. caller: good morning. happy new year. i do not think nancy pelosi should give donald trump anything. jail --he should go to and his kids. host: ok. up next.him, alabama alabama up next. caller: yes, i am optimistic the new congress taking

office. i have a question for people who are donald trump supporters. don't they think that he is a liar for saying that mexico would pay for the wall? also, i wonder why republicans -- i lostf a sudden my thought, i am sorry. host: but you said you are optimistic about democrats coming into power. specifically, why is that? caller: because i think once the democrats actually start investigations and actually seeing what the president is doing, that some of the republicans in the senate will have no choice but to actually see what he has done wrong, because the -- that will be out in the media. host: there are several

investigations going on, including the one by robert mueller. what do you think democrats will add to that? will get think they some people that the republicans in office did not really investigate, just ask questions and sent them on their way. i think the democrats will be a little more thorough in investigating. and i have one more point -- host: actually, let me go on, only because people have been waiting to get in. i appreciate the call. mickey in minnesota, says he is pessimistic about the future. hello. caller: hi. happy new year. host: happy new year. caller: i just look at the situation, what is going on in government, and both sides are fighting, but we have to look at the president and what he is doing. is it right, is it wrong? on ants to spend money

wall, or let's call it a fence. but i've have seen, month after month after month, of things coming out of his mouth. he does not have the right temperament to run for president. and he got all of these republicans to say he is a great guy. but if you look at everything he is doing, all of the lies -- it never quits. he is using his power -- he is turning the people against each other. that is what it is. it is a civil war right now in the government, shutting the government down -- these are all mistakes that he is doing. what is it getting him? will be running for the next election. i do not think he is going to make it because of what he is doing. he had a chance to take money from the government to start the wall. he refused it. it was not enough. all of the money that is seized

from drugs coming into our country, you know, there are ways to put that money back in circulation. yeah, it was used for the wrong thing, but used it for the right thing. but he does not want to take that money. host: ok. let's go to paul in utah, says he is optimistic. caller: how are you today? host: fine, thanks. caller: i am optimistic that the president will win this battle against the democrats. the democrats keep attacking donald trump without any facts of wrongdoing. but, he has told some lies, i've yet to see a politician on tv ever not tell a lie. they tell half-truths. child, aew up, as a half-truth truth is a lie. they gock and watch as through impeachment -- sure, not a big deal. the house will do it. the senate will not.

trump will continue on. when it comes to border security, it has been an issue since ronald reagan. no one has stepped up to the tote like donald trump has stand up for the american people. ronald reagan tried to, but he miscalculated. that just because somebody votes for a wall and border security, they still have to vote to fund it. donald trump understands this. and he is going to fight for the finding. and, yes, mexico will pay for this. it will happen by the new tariffs he has imposed on mexico . the money will come to the government. that is how it is done. host: ok. that is paul. this is alfred wilson on twitter. he says i am optimistic about president trump will be impeached. and says we are doing great

will continue to do great. america is strong. very small text -- i do not know why it is that. at facebook, available at facebook.com/cspan. off of twitter, it is @cspanwj. for the remaining 20 minutes of this program, with one small step along the way, we will take your calls about your optimism or pessimism with the year ahead, particularly when it comes to washington. we have heard several people mentioned the private -- mention the president and several people mentioned the congress. (202) 748-8000 if you were optimistic about the future. (202) 748-8001 if you are pessimistic about the future. from maryland and pennsylvania, says she is -- from maryland inant -- from marilyn pennsylvania, says she is pessimistic. caller: the main reason is

judges. we will all have to get together and pay attention to the lower judges, so that we can fight each battle as it goes up to the supreme court. host: what is it about the lower court judges that concern you most? judgmenthere recent that obamacare was unconstitutional. that is a warning sign. stayed thee judge order was a good thing, but it is just a stay. we have to watch that carefully. indiana,m steve in says he is optimistic about the future. hello. caller: i am optimistic about mueller. he will prove that trump is treasonous, like he is. bullcrap,order wall all they got to do is arrest the

are letting these people have jobs and stuff over here. it will take care of our border problems. host: why do you have that much confidence in the result of the mueller report? because trump is -- host: james in west virginia. caller: hello. i hope you will let me stay on to say what i want to say. i am a disabled veteran. everybody is talking about trump committing treason and they want to impeach him. we need to go back to the president before him, obama. inre were two laws passed 1928 and 1958 by congress, which protected civil war veterans and their memorials.

recognized civil war veterans as american veterans of war. yet they continued and allowed monuments to the destroyed, defaced, and removed. if that is not treasonous, i do not know what is. host: bob is next. says he is york, optimistic about the future. hi. caller: thanks for taking my call. i am optimistic, but i have this caveat in reference to the news. almost used to be gospel. when you hurt somebody on abc, nbc, whatever, they had several sources. watch different shows, and it seems like they are all reading off the same page. and heading into the mueller -- it is either a or b.

if b, there's nothing there, because collusion with russia, let's just say it doesn't exist. because right now, everybody is jumping to the conclusion that it does exist. happen ifs going to there's nothing there? host: that's bob in new york. those of the many that have politicallking about optimism, pessimism, when it comes to 2019. we will continue with those calls. one more stop, steve dayton, host of the steve day show, confrontinge book the -- good morning. caller: how are you? host: doing fine. how do you gauge this sense of optimism or pessimism, looking at the year ahead? guest: as a christian, i am

internally optimistic. but politically, in my day job, this year is going to suck. pretty much every year has been worse than the previous one. this year, you will see the mueller probe come to an end -- or come to a head, and it will and with an indictment for at least someone in the trump family. i think you will see impeachment in the house. i think you see every democrat, .ther than joe biden, running i think you will see the president, often in all caps, emoting like a 9-year-old on twitter. our jobs will be fun. but it beats going down a mineshaft with a flashlight. host: as far as things being done in washington, are you of the mind that nothing will get done? guest: unless there is a supreme ruth seat to fill, say

bader ginsburg or clarence thomas -- there are rumors he has talked about retirement recently -- unless there is an opening on the court, i think largely nothing will get done. you may see bipartisan action when it comes to online access. democrats would love to set the that the-- precedent government has control of the internet. and republicans are growing wary of -- for the most part, this will be a year of mudslinging and grand slam -- grandstanding. host: when it comes to the shutdown, is that something you did agree or did not agree with? guest: i believe we were given false choices. i am fine with shutting the government down on principle. i think most of it is unnecessary. most of the department of commerce is laid off as

in theential" but what sam hill do we have a department of commerce for if it is nonessential? what the president ought to do is take the foreign aid we gave to mexico every year, and the $1.3 billion we give to nations on the terrorist watch list, just take that money and earmark it towards the building of a wall and say to mexico we are not giving you a nickel of foreign aid until we finish building the wall. like of this is what i to call masterpiece theatre. it is done to drum up the two ends of the phone lines for shows like yours. host: you following that you like you probably follow poles as closely as we do. not as high ratings as it is approval ratings, but at least in the 40's. what do you think this says? guest: we have spent this last

year talking about the electorate being polarized. that is true, but i do not think it is precise. it is actually balkanized. there are too many places where the cultural differences are so hard. that no matter who republicans or democrats nominate, they cannot win. and this is not pearl clutching. do shows with liberal commentators, they tried to give me advice as a conservative, which is basically run myself into the ground. i mean this sincerely, as a voter who has no regards to the republican party at all, because it has backstabbed me sometimes. if the democrats nominate someone likable, like joe biden, they will beat donald trump. people are beyond overwhelmed and tired of the act. but if they nominate another far left culture warrior, they will play right into his hands, and he will troll the sam hill and out of that person and exploit all of those cultural differences to his advantage.

it really comes down to do the democrats want to win an election or do they want to win the cal faculty school election president -- election. host: what are the differences you mentioned with joe biden? guest: he is likable. whereo comes from an era he had to pretend to like people like me. sanders, when he was running for director of omb, that because he taught at wheaton college and believes the new testament, he cannot serve in government. there is a new left now. the difference is they do not want to let you do the stuff god has told you is dumb and immoral. not, you bake the -- folks like joe biden, who

realizes we are different, they have a chance. if they nominate someone who believes in cultural marxism and wants to improve that the point is thelking new direction amerco ought to , they are going to lose. host: by the way, you can find his pieces online. talk about house republicans. where do they go, particularly under the leadership of kevin mccarthy? guest: probably nowhere. you mentioned one of the websites i work for, conservative review. i do not know what your politics are, but you have to be better than his 35% liberty store -- score, just by showing up. kevin mccarthy will do the republican thing of talking tough now that he is in the minority. he will be our new conservative hero. but you saw, when he was in

office and his party was in power, they screwed over their base. if there are any liberals watching or liberal media people watching, i do not understand why the republican base is so loyal to trumpcare there is a cult aspect to it. beyond that, there is a difference. trump a lot of criticism from his base for appearing to back down a few weeks ago, and he responded to it. all of the other republicans in washington and charged not care what people like me think. they have come to the conclusion they can screw people like me and then come around in november and say "but the democrats" and we will vote for them. trump is the last republican who actually listens to his base. as long as that remains the case, they will be much more loyal to him than they are to the likes of kevin mccarthy. host: our guest host a program on the blaze tv. to the part ofe

the organization? merger,e actually had a early in december. now, this is one of the largest conservative media platforms in the country. our show is on live from noon to 2:00 eastern every day. you can listen to it for free at theblaze.com as a podcast. we are really excited. we have lent that, mark levine, a lot of conservative heavyweights. then you get way down the food chain to where the plankton live, and that is where you find our show. host: before you leave, what other stories are you watching for in 2019, something we have not talked about? guest: i want to see if conservative media will spend as much time pushing chap as they will covering for him. one of the things we saw this last year, whether when it was -- whether when trump got skittish about the paris climate accord, when he wanted to do the amnesty giveaway, and then the

shut down this month, it is rare -- most conservative media spend their time basically, you know, apologizing and propagandizing for donald trump. when we pushed him, though, he has responded to us every single time. he will be particularly rollable -- vulnerable this year. he will be vulnerable criminally and politically. he needs us. we ought to have a bucket list and christmas shopping list right now. because i think we can get out of him we cannot get out of peevish republicans. but you have not because you ask not, as jesus said. host: we just saw the demise of the "weekly standard," a publication of the president. guest: the difference is they do not want him to do the things his base wants him to do, like repeal obama care, secure the border. the difference between folks like the weekly standard and me,

by and large, is a lot of the cultural issues that are the reason people like me, in places where i live, vote or watch shows like mine. they more agree with democrats on those cultural issues than they do people like me. so the issue they had with the president -- he obviously has moral issues. that is not even debatable. i do not know what the all caps tweet for happy new year was today as i do not know if that was drunk tweeting. but beyond the boorish behavior, they agree with people at me on the issues that is their problem with donald trump. they do not want him to keep his promises to people like me. host: give us a blurb about your book. guest: it comes out on the 15th. -- itcalled "truth bombs" is a compilation of all of the hard lessons i've learned, attempting to be a conservative in the power -- and they republican party. party.he republicn

host: the host of "the steve deace show." thank you. guest: happy new year. bruce in indiana, pessimistic. thanks for holding on. go ahead. caller: good afternoon -- or good morning. happy new year. i am pessimistic because democrats are taking over congress. and we need our border security. talk about the drugs coming into the united states, but most of the drugs are coming in to the southern border. until we can get that shut down, they will keep on coming in. host: let's hear from christopher from petersburg, maryland. caller: north dakota. but i am generally optimistic.

i think the president has done a lot of good things, such as the asmca. that has done good not just for the u.s. but also canada and mexico. uphas brought the labor jobs to $16 an hour, involving the car market, as well as we have dairy now in canada, which was a great thing, because i know before we were held back due to how we handle our milk and dairy products. too, as well -- just general optimism. -- and the move government and things like that, honestly, you do not see it in every day. the things i've seen is the big tax break that trump brought us. that was effective to my family. and it affected me positively.

and i will get to continue to see other great things from trump. ended theas basically trade war with china. i really like that. next, inn is california. go ahead. caller: i would like to be optimistic, but the thing is i been fooled too many times -- new elections, things would be better, they have all the answers, and it ends up being the same. i think all of the focus we have on this wall, that russia, north korea, and other enemies know -- you have is other borders, other areas, which are vulnerable. shuto coast guard, the

down is pretty predictable. it exposes the weakness in our government. host: that is john in california. one of the things we do besides prevent you the house and senate during the week and nonfiction and fission books during the weekend is, from time to time, c-span guests to put together a documentary about the various aspects of washington. the latest one releases tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. it is a look at the senate, featuring interviews with senators, those behind the scenes. someet close up looks at other things you do not even see on our network as far as visuals are concerned. all of that when you watch "the senate, conflict and compromise." if you go to the c-span website, you can see a trailer. that is tomorrow. you can see that at 8:00. "the senate: conflict and compromise." watch for it on the c-span

networks. you can also watch it on our website, c-span.org. that is our program today. thank you for joining us. another program comes your way tomorrow morning, the second day of the year. thank you for joining us. ♪ please raise your right hand.

>> wednesday c-span takes you inside the senate, learning about the legislative body and its informal workings. arguing about things and kicking them around and having great debates is a thoroughly american thing. >> the longer you are in the senate the more you appreciate the cooling nature. >> we look at the history of conflict and compromise. with key moments in history and unprecedented access. to bring cameras into the senate chamber during a session. follow the evolution of the senate into the modern era. from their role in impeachment proceedings and investigations. senate: conflict and

compromise. a c-span original production exploring the history, traditions and roles of this uniquely american institution, premieres wednesday at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span. be sure to go online at /senate to learn more about the program, the farewell speeches from long serving senators and take a tour of the senate chambers, the old senate chambers and other exclusive locations. 14one of georgia's congressional districts will send new representation to the u.s. house of representatives. lucy mcbath, a delta airlines employee for more than 30 years was elected to represent georgia plus six district. she defeated karen handel. during one of their debates miss

mcbath talked about how the shooting death of her son in 2012 spurred her to run for office. and in 2012 mcbath my son was killed in what people have considered -- i started questioning our leaders, why were these kinds of tragedies continuing to happen? as i continue to ask more questions, why were legislators not willing to keep your family safe, there was silence. there was complicity. i began to understand no one was going to be willing to do anything. that is why i stood up and why am taking action. i noticed over and over again, karen handel and other republican legislators refuse to do anything about this unnecessary gun violence. they will not take action. the only things i am beholden to in this district are the people i talked to every single day and 's legacy.

i am a mother on a mission to represent everyone. >> new congress, new leaders, watching all of c-span. >> c-span interview to jeeps of staff, one from the house and one from the senate to talk about the work that goes into setting up a new capitol hill office. more than 100 new representatives and senators are preparing for the 116th congress which starts thursday. this is 30 minutes. >> in january the 116th congress will convene bringing to capitol hill more than 100 new house members and senators. one of the largest incoming class of freshmen lawmakers in washington in recent years. between election day and the new year these newcomers have to find offices, build them up and hire staff. we will take you behind the scenes of that process with two people who have made it happen before.