namira salim on the role of private and public spaceflight efforts. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. host: good morning. welcome to "washington journal." new research shows americans are spending more and more on health care each year with the average household spending almost $5,000 per person last year. that is twice as much, adjusted for inflation, as americans did in the 1980's, with the main culprit being insurance costs. are you noticing your health care costs going up? are you one of those lucky americans seeing your medical bills going down? our question this morning, what is the state of your health care costs? if you notice your health care

comin going up in the past year, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. if you saw your health care costs going down, please call us at (202) 748-8001. if your health care stayed the same, but you have an opinion on this topic anyway, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8002. keep in mind, you can always text us at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media, on twitter, and on facebook. basic background information out of the way. cnbc had a great article earlier this month on the health care costs in the u.s. and how they are increasing. let me read a little bit of background from that article. it says, "the average american household spent almost $5,000

per person on health care last year. 1% increase from the roughly $2500 per person that americans spent 34 years ago in 1984 according to an analysis of the bureau of labor statistics consumer expenditure survey. comparisons,ate clever adjusted all dollar amounts for inflation. it is not surprising that health care costs have risen, but the main driver is not medical services or drug costs. the costs related to medical services have decreased by about one third since the 1980's. the used reason for the increase is insurance costs, which have % since 1984. the average american paid about $3400 for insurance alone in

2018." clever'sth noting that analysis looks at the average cost of health care across all americans, but over half of americans rely on their employer for health insurance, so typically employees do not pay full costs. individuals that rely on employer-based insurance is 1242 inaverage of $ > out-of-pocket costs. overall, the average premium for a single american is about $7188 in 2019 with employers caring a significantly larger portion of the overall expenses. families are still on the hook $6015 inverage of about

out-of-pocket expenses, which is about a 71% increase over the past 10 years. our topic this morning, what is the state of your health care costs? are your health care costs going up or down? the trump administration is telling us that health care in america is getting better. here is a clip from the centers for medicare and medicaid service centers. here is what they said. [video clip] >> when i got into my role, premiums were going out, 100% in some cases. this is for the first time we have seen premiums go down. they went down last year. they are going down again. in some cases you have seen double-digit decreases, 30%.

for all the work we are doing, i don't know how we are measuring that, but that looks like success. host: let's talk to michael cohen from lafayette, -- michael calling from lafayette, tennessee. lafayette?ette or caller: lafayette. we argue over it. host: i have an old colleague who is from lafayette. that is why i asked. cost went health care down since i moved over to medicare. with a $2500ercial deductible. aw i am at $127 a month with $187 deductible. i just talked to medicare. they fully cover my first colonoscopy. i have no co-pay.

i am very happy. prescriptions, i have a co-pay of $40 a month for all prescriptions i take. i am so glad i am not dealing with blue cross blue shield or united health. i'm so glad i don't have to talk to them anymore. the only thing i talked to medicare about is, is this covered? the lady i talked to come every time, that is covered. your blood work is covered. i am so happy. i think there should be a public can go withericans medicare. let's make it a public option. give americans more choice. host: let's go to read calling from union, washington. caller: good morning. i want to make a couple of comments. to the last caller advocating

medicare, people need to understand from the macro view. if 13% of our economy, which is our medical industry, was only being serviced by medicare, democrats are going to lead theynd that industry by the are going to regulate them. how are those people going to vote? they are going to vote democrat because they know democrats are never going to cut any worker salary. even if the company is private sector, but they are being regulated by the government so much, they are going to vote democrat. people need to understand that the health care bill was the largest tax increase in american history. how did our fascist left do it? they did it by passing the largest taxes on to medical providers, hospitals, people who make band-aids. lefties don't

understand no matter the context , when it comes to raising taxes on corporations, it goes right to the sticker price. getcrats realize we cannot any more blood out of the stone. we have taxed the middle class to death. i know, we will tax the providers and insurance industry and medical industry and that is how we will get our money. that is fascism. the fact is they have to pass it on. the last thing, prior to our communist, fascist left passing this bill, i was paying $310 a month. i was 50 years old for catastrophic. that is all it is now. a $6,600 a old at aar deductible and $1050 month. it is catastrophic.

i am going to pay for every blood test all year long. that is important information. people need to frame it. chris calling to from cleveland, ohio. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i want to say my health costs have increased her medically over the last 37 years. i am 62. i have arthritis. the health care costs have gone up for me. i went on disability at 37. almost my entire income is consumed by health care costs. regular appointments, co-pay, insurance premiums. i have very little left. i sold my car to pay for home health care. i don't want to start any name-calling as the previous

ller just did. we could do better with our health care costs. i would like to go to washington and talk about it. i would like to hear more from the people at myself who are impacted personally by health i could add think something to the policymaking based on my own personal experience. to be american and working hard like i try to do and get my education, i did get a masters degree, but despite that, i still had to retire at 37 because of my illness. i have always tried to be productive. i do pay taxes on my disability income. bankrupt, and go i am selling off things i have inherited to try to cover the extra expenses that have been

incurred since i just suffered an additional catastrophic health.and change in my my health care costs have gone up. to hear that it is because of the insurance companies makes me nauseated. host: let's go to bill from michigan. good morning. caller: we just got a notice that the prescriptions for my one is going up a minimum of five dollars. even thought year, she has insurance, we are both retired, and she has supplemental insurance as i do, we had to pay out a couple of thousand dollars or her expenses. about $1000 for mine. i have noticed that people don't want the government involved with their insurance because

they want to choose their doctor. my system in west michigan covers most of the hospitals. they have their own insurance company basically. they don't get along with blue cross blue shield in michigan, so last year i had to change the majority of my doctors. i can no longer use the majority of the facilities in west michigan. i'm restricted to two different hospitals that are within 60 miles of me. a lot of the blue-black for getting government not involved in insurance to me doesn't fly. one of our neighbors has to buy his own insurance. host: how much do you think you spend in medical costs every

year? i would say $3000 or $4000. host: i heard you say earlier that you use supplemental insurance. are you on medicare? is your insurance employee based? are you in the affordable care act system? caller: we both have medicare, and we both have supplemental systems from our former employers. she worked for a school system. i worked for an auto manufacturer. how much do you estimate you spend on prescription drugs each year? caller: that is another minimum of $1000. i believe so. my wife has one that is $175.

that is for a couple of months. you refill that three or four times a year, and that adds up. we both have a few other prescriptions. do you see your medical costs becoming a problem, or do you think you will be able to keep it under control? caller: at the present time we can pretty much keep it under control. five years from now, i don't know. becausehave to see obviously our income is not going to increase. to vicki who is calling from maryland. where is tiaskin? caller: we are near salisbury. we are on the eastern shore. host: you say you are health care costs are going up. caller: first, i will start by telling you that ironically i

work in the medicare market. i am an insurance agent. i help people figure out their health coverage. host: you are exactly the person we need to talk to. there will be a lot of questions about that. caller: especially this time of year. situation, my husband and i are in our early 60's. he was forced into early retirement. we are on cobra right now. a pay $1400 a month and have $6,000 deductible. in april, weds will go on the affordable care act at about $1900. that is today's rate. a $6,000 deductible. .t is crazy when i think about it, steam just blows out of my years. host: what should people in your situation do?

what are the options? can they get private insurance? is the affordable care act system the only option they have? really the only option available. it is crazy. there are certain pockets of the country where you might be able to go into some sort of , but costprogram wise, i don't know that it is any better. to pay $2000 a month, who can do that? i guess fortunately we can. it kills us, but who can do that? host: say someone is retiring. they are changing jobs. they have no choice but to go , is thereobra system any other option besides cobra other than finding another job?

is there any other option? situation, we found that cobra was cheaper than the affordable care act. many years ago, that was never the case. the only other option is to get a job that is going to pay insurance. at 60 years old, you are out on the market trying to find a job that is going to pay your health insurance. it is not as easy as that. at the end of the day, we are in our early 60's. i know the medicare market. we cannot wait to turn 65. how sad is that? what options do you have other than medicare when you turn 65? we had a couple of colors, one person saying medicare for him is going to be great. another person saying keep in mind how much it is costing the

country. is there any other option besides medicare? caller: my goodness. i see it a different way. i understand that no one -- i hear a lot of people complain about the cost of what they have to pay under medicare, but at the end of the day compared to what we have to pay outside of the medicare system, it is really not bad. you have a lot of options. you have a number of different plans. let's say someone 65 years old, you could have excellent , excellentr at most coverage, for about $400 a month. yes, there are co-pays, but we are paying $1400 with a $6,000

deductible. we never even use it. host: how long have you been in the insurance business? was insurance cheaper before the aca? would it have been cheaper to get insurance before the aca? caller: i have been in the medicare market, and that is all i do. since been doing this 2012. prior to that, i have employer coverage as well, so that was cheaper. those costs have certainly risen. whatnot speak so much to private insurance would have been prior to the affordable care act. you can certainly say the insurance rates, the cost of insurance since the affordable care act has been decimated.

they are just going crazy. it is tough. thank you for all your help. frank pallone questioned cms director on the administration plan for health care if the aca is struck down by the courts. here is that exchange. [video clip] >> does the president have a plan? what is the plan? it almost sounds like there is some kind of secret plan that he doesn't want to reveal. can you just tell us, what is the plan in the event that he is successful in this awful lawsuit? >> i'm not good to get into any specifics of the plan, but i will say the president's health care agenda has been in action from day one. >> i am not asking about that. that he hasith you

had a plan so far other than to sabotage the aca. what i am asking is if the court strikes down the aca, what happens then? what is he going to do next? what is his plan to deal with the reality that all of these people will not have health insurance? >> we have planned from a number of different scenarios. the president has made his commitment clear that he wants to make sure people with existing conditions have protections. host: you are not giving me any details other saying -- other than saying he is going to give us something. guest: -- host: here is one tweet that says, my health care costs will drop dramatically starting january 1. that is when i go on socialized health care, medicare. viva socialism. another says, my health care costs have gone up. i have private health insurance, but my out-of-pocket is

ridiculous. i ended up paying almost $400. another says, premiums did not go up too much. $5,000ill have between and $7,000 deductibles. ridiculous. we are talking about the state of your health care costs. are they going up? what is going on here? one of the things we are going to talk about is surprised medical bills. here is a story from nbc news that talks about one person's experience with surprised medical costs. when nicole had intense stomach pains one night three years ago, she went to the er near her home. she was diagnosed with appendicitis and told she needed surgery as soon as possible. .he rushed to a nearby hospital she first called ahead to make sure they took her insurance. the hospital said yes, she

thought that meant she was covered. >> i thought that meant the anesthesiologist takes my insurance, the surgeon, the nurse, that it was all part of the same deal. surgery,s after the she got a bill for $4700. like most doctors at the hospital, he practices independently. he did not take her insurance. she declined to pay the bill. two years later, a collection agency slapped a lien on her home. said thatly scary she this is all we have and to think it could all be taken away because some dr. doesn't feel like taking someone's insurance. are you seeing surprised medical bills? we want to know if that is happening to you. let's go to marry calling from virginia.

she says her health care costs have gone down. good morning. yes, i have been able to reduce my health care costs by placing an emphasis on prevention. for example, if i have a scratch on my finger, treat it right ofn and there with some sort appointment or something, and maybe that will prevent it from being infected, which can lead to going to the doctor. learned if i can make lifestyle changes. diet,t, what is my control my blood pressure, exercise, or even think more positive. the thing about that is i've got

to exercise some discipline. i've got to make some sacrifices. it may cause me to do a little bit of sweating. [laughter] found that there are benefits in that. host: let's go to darrell calling from baltimore, maryland. costsl says his medical are staying about the same. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: just fine. how are you keeping your medical costs stable? caller: i have my health care through my employer. i can speak to the other side. i am a kidney transplant recipients. medicareint, i was on for many years while i was on dialysis. medicare saved my life. without that, i would not be here. relate toe -- i can

someone who is struggling to pay high deductibles or pay for insurance. host: are you still on medicare? caller: no. when you are considered to be fully whole again. it worked perfectly. after the transplant, i was able to go back to employment and go into my health insurance. it worked the way it is supposed to. if you can work, and you are healthy enough, hopefully your employer will provide health insurance. otherwise if you are in those should kickmedicare in. from my standpoint, and i like had medicarehad i

to begin with or some sort of insurance because i was unemployed prior to my kidney disease, so the problem was that i did not have insurance. that preventive measures the previous caller was talking about were difficult. here is what i would say, you cannot place a price on your health. that's a bottom line. anybody that is going to argue it costs too much for health yourance, i will say this, can never put a price on your health. host: let's go to andy, calling from orlando, florida. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i'm on a medicare advantage plan.

i retired at 65, three years ago. good advantage plans are because you can change every year and maybe get a plan that uses less of a premium because the premium comes out of the social security. is actuallym on now $50 less per month. it is hmo, but the doctor is very good. e, butthrough well car there are many companies that offer these. it is no cost to visit the doctor. $30 to see a specialist. i take five medications, which i have been taking for over 20 years because i have a mechanical heart valve. i have not had to pay anything out of pocket for any of the medications because none of them are expensive.

host: do you see your situation changing in the future? do you think you are in a good place, and you will be there for a while? host: my health -- caller: my health is good, except i have a mechanical heart valve. i don't think my situation is going to change in the near future. i'm 68, but i am in pretty good shape. host: let's go to angela, calling from oklahoma. good morning. caller: yes, i have been missing those ones that are complaining about the high costs they pay. in the 1980's when we paid $80 a week for health insurance, and every year it went up. then my husband went to work for a public school system in oklahoma. $15,000 a year

for a family. that was half of our income every year. we did not complain because we knew that if something happened, we would end up in bankruptcy. now we are going into and now we had to issue medicare, and our health will allow us to be on a new income for the first time in our lives because we have never complained. we understand what it is to do without, and all of those who complain, they need to understand, and have some quit trying to keep up with the joneses. that is all i have got to say. callingt's go to kevin, from clearfield, pennsylvania,

good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. are you on medicare or private insurance? caller: i have both. host: you have both? medicareell, i have and then i went and got life pay $2.25 but i only for my medicine for the last five years now. do you see your prescription drug costs going up, or are they staying the same, too? caller: they are staying the same, $2.50 a month. host: how often do you go to see your doctor? caller: every six months. host: regular checkups?

caller: yes. all? no problems there at no problems getting into see the doctor? caller: no problems. they don't even charge me. andy, who isalk to calling from chattanooga, tennessee. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: just fine. go ahead, andy. caller: i have a unique situation here. years,t my job for 20 and i had an abscess on my back, and i had to go in with what was supposed to be a day surgery, and these guys, i went to the hospital, the doctor was in a hurry. he was rushing all of us and everything. a kind of scared me at first. i went into surgery, and ended up having a state 15 days in the

emergency room -- having to stay 15 days at the hospital. try to go back to work after becaused couldn't do it of diabetes caused an ulcer on go back and had to have surgery for it. ended up losing my job for 20 years that i had. i also lost a leg. i mean, you know, and i don't have any insurance. filed for disability. had to fight with them forever to get it. finally got it, and they tell me i have to wait two years to be able to get medicare. host: go ahead. how are you keeping up with your medical bills? caller: i can't. i mean, you know, right now, i have no insurance because the state tells me that i make too

much money on my disability. for medicaid. so right now, i have no insurance, and i have checked on trying to get a plan here, and it is $800 a month. host: so what are you going to do? what are you going to do, andy? caller: you know, that is my question to everybody. me, whenhen they call they want money, the hospital, i have $500,000 worth of medical bills at my hospital. to jay calling from simi valley, california. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. had myation is that i

own business for many years and was covered through my business for me and my employees. wentd the business and into what i call semiretirement. i ended up having to pay for my own insurance for the last five years. well, my wife and i are premium now is a little over -- our premium now is a little over $1600 a month, with a $600 deductible. very similar to the lady talking earlier about her costs in maryland. and this year, i ended up having to have the use of the insurance. i had a situation, and i backstopped my deductible, so on top of almost $20,000 a year just for insurance costs, i ended up paying the full deductible. -- my of that, paying for

wife does not have her deductible, so paying for her health care costs. i figured this year we are $26,000 or $27,000 in costs for my medical care or our medical care. host: do you see your medical care costs going up again in the future, or do you think they will stabilizer go down? caller: well, ok, so i am 62 and change. comment i have noticed on the program this morning is everyone talking about medicare. i am two years and four months, and 11 months from being able to get on medicare. my wife is six months behind me. know, hopefully, we expect our costs will go down significantly and after that, we have reached that age bracket.

but the think of it is, basically, though, i am concerned and nobody has brought this up yet, but medicare is still predicted to go broke here around 2030. what wehave any idea will do. brookings explained the major cost of a surprise medical bill that we have heard a couple of callers talk about this morning. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> i think the more common k series where most people, even in emergency situations, are choosing in network departments and hospitals, but the emergency physicians who work there, or the surgeons or doctors on call in the emergency room are out of network, so those doctors are negotiating independently with health plans from the hospital, so it is possible and not

uncommon that you have hospitals in network, but the emergency medicine physicians who practice there are not in the same networks. and then the last example here is this is -- this can even happen with elective care, so i preplan, i preplan, i'm getting a hip replacement surgery, i call ahead to make sure hospital is a network to make sure the surgeon will be in the operation room and a network i going get my surgery, and it turns out after the fact that the anesthesiologist or radiologist was out-of-network and hits me with a surprise bill. i think it is impossible to imagine people actually choosing the anesthesiologist forehand. honestly, go ahead and try to do this. when my wife gave birth, i tried to call the hospital and do this. i was given a 90% sure answer. write? -- right? examplesstly reference in emergency medicine, physicians, and anesthesiologist

because that is where the overwhelming surprise bills are coming from. this is also almost mostly, and around ambulances, ground and air, and thus commonly per any kind of physicians who are working in the emergency department and are just more occasionally neonatologist, so right after a birth, you need a neonatologist right after birth who may not be a network. host: let's see where americans' money in health care is going. the american medical association has this chart that talks about where american health care money goes. first of all, the united states 3000 $492.1 billion in 3492.1 billion dollars in medical health care. of american health care costs went to hospital care.

coming up behind that was physician services. so hospitals and doctors are getting the majority of the health care costs in the united states. 9.5 percent, prescription drugs. and other american health care at 15%. we see that the majority of the money spent on health care in the united states is going toward hospital care, so as you get back into this, let's see what our followers on social media are thinking about health care and what they want you to know that they are thinking. here is one tweet that says "as a retired new jersey state worker with the combined estate provider health care, along with medicare, my health care is great. i wish every american would have the same." here is another that says -- " the average obama care was implemented and the cost continued to climb in the coverage continues to be reduced. i remember when you had actual

coverage without a deductible. now everything is out of pocket." here is another that says "they go up every year and they have been for years, well before the aca. we need medicare for all." "myone last one that says cost of medical care is free through the v.a., but the quality and the hospitality of care is not that great, but you don't have to pay for any costs, like surgeries, prescriptions, doctor visits, labs, dental, vision, or m.r.i.'s because it is all free." once again, we want to know the state of your health care cost. is it going up? is it going down? is it staying the same? let's talk to jerry from garner, north carolina. person, to the wrong but let's go ahead and talk to bobby from gainsborough, mississippi. are your health care costs staying the same? what are you doing to keep it on

the same level, bobby? caller: i have been on the medicare payment plan for several years, but the cost is not that high. but i have had the procedure done and stayed in the hospital overnight and the hospital bill was $47,000. not with the insurance costs. whatneed to put it down on the hospital charges. $10,000 for a room overnight is ridiculous. host: what did you do when you got those big surprise medical bills? insurance paidy it, but they was in the network, and it was just a fraction of what they charged. host: do you think the hospital was overbilling you? caller: that is what i'm saying. chargingpitals are

ridiculous prices. that is where the problem is. the insurance company has to pay them high price hospital bills. host: bobby, was this a private hospital? a government hospital like a va hospital, or a public hospital? caller: it was a public hospital. host: how long did you end up staying in the hospital? caller: overnight. host: just one night? caller: one night. host: wow. all right, let's actually talk to jerry this time, who is calling from garner, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i have not called in a couple of years, but this one gets to me. right now, i am 70, and my wife from, and she retired north carolina state, so she has health care through them. myself, among medicare, i have a

part c advantage program. it is $135 a month, which is the b ical are -- medicare part pay, and it is fantastic. d drugs.ncludes part most drugs i pay absolutely nothing for, but there are a few that are not covered and a few that are sort of high, so i use that youese free cards see for reduced medical costs. it actually works out that way, so i picked up something yesterday that was not covered by my plan, and i used one of the free cards, and it was $30 a month. host: tell us what you are talking about with these free cards. what are you talking about there? caller: oh, you see the cards, there is a company called goodrx

, there are a bunch of different companies. youree them with flyers in newspaper advertising "use this card." walmart has their own card. target i think has their own card. host: and you are saying it works out for you to use those cards? bothr: yeah, because i use my part d, but i always compare from eachthe price is andth my health insurance, the free cards that you can get. host: so you think can comparison shop and keep some of note prices, if at least under control, you can find a few cheaper options? caller: yeah, that is exactly it --ause things are so

forever, things have been hidden, and you could not find out what the price of a prescription would be unless you actually went to fill the prescription. now, you can go online, and you can comparison shop. it is very good. brian whos talk to was calling from madison, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. god bless you. you look good there, fellow. host: go ahead, brian. you. -- thank you. caller: you are welcome. i wanted people to know, this is really important information, when you have our costs have gone up, but that is only because we allowed it to go up for what you call it? that second insurance, and now we don't get part b.

i think the biggest bill we ever get is $10, if that is the smallest. my v.a. brothers and sisters, if you are a veteran, you can go to the v.a. and it will not cost you a dime. those of you, not just veterans, but anybody across the states, in your county, they have people who can help you. you can match health insurance to health insurance. i am not health insurance rich, i am geoff hart of -- i am just part of this, jesse. host: are you using the v.a. system, on private care, health insurance? what kind of care are you using? caller: i use them all because i have different situations that have to be handled by the v.a. i have the v.a., la crosse blue shield, i have -- blue cross blue shield, i have la crosse blue shield that is whatever they call it -- i have blue

cross blue shield that is whatever they call it. whatever is in between. host: supplemental? caller: yeah, exactly, thank you. you are awesome, jesse. stay that way. host: let's talk to susan calling from baltimore, maryland. susan, good morning. caller: hi! thing that all the commentary illustrates is just how complex our system is. if you believe in free markets and supply and demand, it works if your consumers can make an educated choice in what they are ofing, but the circumstances seeking medical care for an emergency or getting stuck in the hospital, where some doctors are on your provider and some are not, make it impossible to

do that. i was just prescribed a prescription for a statin, and the doctors prescribed lipitor. i paid nothing for it, which is a good thing, but when i looked at the receipt, it was $748. hopefully educated consumer, i would have asked for the generic had i known that was coming, but our whole system prevents us from being the ,ounterforce of the supply-side and that is why i believe in medicare for all. host: susan, how do we fix the education part? how do we let people know how the system works? caller: well, it is so complex. where do you begin? every insurance runs its own rules and its own charge scheme, known whenid, had i

the doctor prescribed lipitor, i knew it had been around a while, i was just shocked it was that generic --and it was and it has a generic. why didn't pete prescribed the generic? does he get -- why didn't he prescribed the generic? i don't think he is ripping off his patients, but as i said, it is so difficult. you go to the doctors, and we have good insurance. we have blue cross blue shield, so i don't pay a lot of out-of-pocket, and the bills i pay after dr. visits, i will be chased by a four dollar bill or a three dollar bill. they always come in, the test coming, and you cannot walk into a doctor's office and say, ok, you are going to draw my blood, how much do the tests cost? what am i going to have to pay for them? you kind of going with good faith when you have a good

insurance policy and a good doctor. is not clear. it is not like you can research what you are going to get in your medical care like you would when you are buying a toaster, you know? host:host: let's go to andrew, calling from charleston, illinois. good morning. caller: good morning to you, brother. i want to say thank you for having this program. you are doing an awesome job. i just wanted to agree with brian and the sister from maryland. i actually take care of my grandmother. she is doing much better now, but she had a stroke a few years ago. i just understand that my grandfather passed from lung cancer in 2007, and we had to get some nausea pills for him, and he only had medicare as his primary and no supplementary. it was $300 out-of-pocket. then i read and fast-forward it with my8-2019,

grandmother having a supplemental blue cross blue shield with medicare as her primary, everything from the motorized wheelchair, to her aid, has been great. it was interesting that she changed her supplemental to save a few bucks every month, but the supplemental happened to be in the same time she had the stroke in 2017. and it was just by the grace of god that blue cross blue shield have this program where if you changed insurance companies within this time span, he could come back to them. we went back to them and it was $20 cheaper. so i am in the midst of being in between all three of your lines as to what went down. i have seen it through trying to aid two grandparents and their elder years, and my grandmother is doing much better, but she is also doing better because i got her out of the network program and brought her down to charlston, illinois, and i went to school here. i don't want to take too much time, but i wanted to say those

points and thank you for having this program this morning. i'm glad i caught it. host: let's talk to gerald, calling from homewood, illinois. good morning. you, it doesl matter where you live, and i hate to politicize it, but it matters. poorest statest have some of the highest costs, and that person from tennessee, i really feel for that individual. and the a red state, coverage that he gets is an issue. i know there is a move towards privatizing it, and i know we want to get past affordable care act and move toward a more private market. of a that becomes a more cost-based, so those situations, where we are looking at private coverage, it is going to be based on income, based a lot on

what those particular insurance agencies cover in that area. those places in more rural areas and southern areas, it will be a tremendous cost to them. the other caller talked about these other measures, the preventive measures for health, taking responsibility for your lifestyle. but this is a political issue. equate american affordable care act with socialism, i think we use the word socialism very loosely, but i do understand the comparison. we have to be very careful and mindful of privatizing because it does come down to where you live, regions, and your states. host: let's talk to jim, calling from cairo, missouri. good morning. caller: howdy. fired from my job at 58. then on the aca for five years

now. up until the republicans did away with the mandate, the aca was actually dropping and cost. deductibles were very low. with the did away mandate, premium shot up. in my case, $400 a month. painfully, the government stepped up, and they took care of the entire premium. my end total is below. i am on social security but not from medicare. so what the republicans did, and i collect from care now, the deductible skyrocketed. -- and i call it trump care now. the deductible skyrocketed. my premium out-of-pocket is zero. the government is paying $4000 a and i pay nothing.

i don't go to the doctor. i have got one more year before i get on medicare. when medicare kicks in, it will take out part a from my social security. i will need whatever supplemental on top of that, so undert will go from zero the affordable care act to about $250 a month when i get on medicare. and i don't go to the doctor. i don't take medications. i do not believe in preventative care because, no matter what they do, you are going to die. callingt's go to gym, from cheyenne, wyoming. good morning -- jin calling from cheyenne wyoming -- let's go to jim, calling from cheyenne, wyoming. good morning. caller: my situation is a little different. i am talking about long-term care more than anything else. my wife is in a long-term care facility that medicare with the

supplement we have through aarp has paid for 100 days. however, on the ninth of next month, that 100 days runs out, and this facility will cost me $456 a day to keep her in that same room. facility still in that one year from now, the cost will per year,$166,400 and we will be headed toward bankruptcy. host: so, what type of solutions do you see here? are there any solutions? caller: i don't know. i think most of the people in the same care facility are not on medicare, but have had their financial situation reduced to the point where they are on medicaid because i don't know -- i know many of the people that are also in this facility, and i don't know many of them that could afford that kind of a cost. of course, how many people can afford to pay $166,000 a year?

my wife has parkinson's. she has stage iv lung cancer, which has been in remission for four years. i have been her caretaker for the past four years, but i am no longer able to provide that. i will be 80 on my next birthday. host: let's see if we can get one more caller. let's try gray, calling from -- let's try ray calling from clinton, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i think a lot of people have a lot of misinformation, especially the gentleman from missouri who says he will pay for medicare out of his social security check. that is incorrect. medicare part a you do not pay for. they will take out for part b. i just went through this with my wife. i get insurance through the state of pennsylvania. one thing nobody has mentioned is the cost of the legals, going

to the hospital. they cannot be turned down. this was first-hand information because my wife got sick in south carolina five or six years ago. very serious with a hospital bill on specialty care. they had a registered nurse at her room 24 hours a day, three shifts. they brought somebody in that could not speak english, and i asked the nurse on the side and said, hey, you guys -- they had to bring a usurper. i said, are those people legal? she said, no, but we cannot throw them out because the government insists take care of them. they were in a specialty hospital. i know what the bill was for my wife. they had to take care of this individual, and they did not have insurance. so that insurance cost is passed on down to you, and that is why the insurance costs are going up. the other thing about the affordable care act is it is not affordable. they supplement people that the government pays for part of the premium, and if that money

initially came out of medicare, $800 billion the amount of medicare to supplement that, so if you cannot afford the premium, it is not affordable. it is not what the government picks up. it will get more expensive because none of the people are pitching in. the illegals are bringing in stuffer across that border. here is another thing. have you ever imagined what kind of disease a person is carrying? how do you know what they are bringing in? host: the last caller is dave, calling from south carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i don't want to talk about my situation because it is anecdotal, but i have noticed in caring for my mother a couple of reasons why costs are so high. it has to do with their party payment. the cause of this industry is both around providing care, not by doctors, but by anybody doctor can hire

that will allow us to perform those services, so i think we need more physicians, but what i notice is that whether she needs something or not, if there is a payment option for a through medicare, then that will be done. by thehat, it is paid government. that is what is prescribed. she will have speech therapy after breaking a hip. why? because following discharge from the hospital, they allow physical and occupational therapy and speech. she does not need a speech therapist anymore than the people caring for her, but since the government will pay for it, they insist on doing it. to have losted him. coming up, -- first, thanks to all of our callers. coming up, a discussion on the economy and how it is plain in

the 2020 campaign. and joel griffith will join us. later, we will turn our conversation to the future of spaceflight with namira salim. first, we want to show you a portion of yesterday's funeral for elijah cummings per here is his widow eulogizing -- elijah cummings. here is his widow eulogizing her husband. [video clip] >> this was a man with the utmost integrity! do you hear me? he had integrity! and he cared about our democracy! he cared about our planet! he cared about our community! he wanted to make sure that we loved this is -- left a society worthy of our children! so i just want to tell you that it also wasn't easy in the last months of his life because he absolutely was in pain.

but he was a walking miracle. wasou know that he diagnosed with a life-threatening illness more than 25 years ago? he was given six months to live more than 25 years ago, and he kept going! he kept fighting! he kept standing! he kept working! [applause] my distinct honor and privilege to be his spouse. [applause] two days before he died, he was in a lot of pain. he could no longer walk. and he kept saying, i am tired. i am ready to go. wonderful world class

staff at the johns hopkins hospital of the johns hopkins university -- [applause] they came in and said that we wanted to give him sunshine therapy. so they rolled his entire medical bed out of the room and to the 14th floor, the roofto, of johns hopkins hospital -- the rooftop of johns hopkins hospital, where they land helicopters for lactating situations, and we rolled out, and it was a glorious and beautiful day. with light everywhere. the sun was shining, and it was absolutely glorious. it was god's day. he looked out over the inner harbor, harbor east, he looked towards south baltimore, his beloved south baltimore, where he grew up in his early years. he looked towards the downtown, and he looked toward the west side, and he said "boy, have i come along way." [applause]

and he absolutely came along way. "washington journal" continues. host: we are back with a discussion on the economy and how it will affect the 2020 election for we are joined by thea lee, president of the economic policy institute and joel griffith, research fellow at the heritage foundation. my question for both of you is, how did the economy affect past elections, and what do we see the economy playing into the 2020 elections? thea? guest: thank you. i think in the past, the economy has been a good predictor of the elections. in other words, if the economy strong, the incumbent party is reelected. oppositeweak, the seems to be the case but i think this year is different for a couple of reasons for it one, the economy is complicated. it is not cut and dry like good and bad.

sides some obvious good and downsides, but also because the electorate is so divided and gets the news from such places. we are seeing real polarization. host: joel? guest: i would agree in part. if you look at reagan in 1980, he ended up beating jimmy carter during a time of high gas prices, high inflation, high economic growth. fast-forward to bill clinton in 1992 beating another incumbent, george w. bush. george w. bush was respected, war, but we had just entered a mild recession. clinton won. in 1996, bill clinton wo then election despite having a lot of personal and legal turmoil. remember the impeachment era? he pulled off the election in 1996. of course, with president obama beating john mccain in his first term 12 years ago, in the midst

of our financial crisis, and president obama trumped the republican. this time around, i think economy will be the number one issue. we are in a time of economic growth for many demographic including hispanic americans and african-americans, leading family income is at an all-time high. policy the economic favors the incumbent, which is donald trump. host: do you agree that economy will be the number one topic for the 2020 election? guest: i think it will be important for sure, but i think there are a lot of personal issues at play this time. i would disagree with joel in a little bit in terms of how great the demographics are. it is true we are at the tail end of a long recovery period, but it is also true we have had 40 years of wage stagnation and growing inequality. and the small wage gains we are

seeing are not enough to make up for those 40 years of growing inequality, where workers in the middle class have not gotten their fair share of all the wealth created in this economy. so there are a lot of pockets of discontent and inequality, both rural, urban, by education level, race, and gender. i would say this is an economy that has not delivered, and there are a lot of weak spots going forward because of the poor decisions that trump administration has made with respect to tax cuts and to economic decisions. host: i would let you jump back in. guest: i understand the talking points that we are in a period of stagnation, but data is not to show that. the census bureau, which i think is a reputable government agency, they track median household income. a lot of these stats, just because we are in a time of stagnation, they don't follow the adjusted house income for family size, which has changed.

census bureau data jumps up for inflation. themiddle class, as far as percentage of population, it went from 37% to 32%. the lower middle class has declined, as well. so what has happened to these people? tens of millions of people? it is in the data. there is a match greater percentage of people earning in the upper middle income, adjusted for inflation, and upper income. it has gone from 13%, just 30% of the population -- 1030% of the population. one thing that is interesting that plays this out is disposable income. more is earned per family income and that has widened over the past 20 years. 's are looking up for americans on all income levels, and this is something we should apply. guest: that really is not right. it just isn't right because you can look at household income and real wages, which is important.

one reason household incomes can keep up is because people are retiring later and working longer hours. that is stressed on the family, but if you look at the real wage and hourly wage of the median, the median male worker, he earns less today in 2018 that he did in 1973. that is pretty extraordinary. there has been a lot of economic growth in technology and so on, yet, workers in the middle class have not seen their share. virtually all the income gains in the last 10 or 20 years have gone to the top 10% or most of paye .1%, we see the ceo sky rock 1000 percent while wages of ordinary workers are stagnant at 12% real growth. host: president trump talked about the economy earlier this week, and he specifically focused on wage growth rate here is what he had to say. [video clip] president trump: you know, a number just came out. i don't know if you saw. under the bush

administration, for eight years, median household income went up $400. over eight years. so remember. , medianesident obama household income went up $975 over eight years. president,avorite president donald j. trump -- [applause] median household income for 2.5 years, remember this, eight years, eight years, 400 bucks. 400 bucks. that gets wiped out by inflation trade $400. $975. is2.5 years, our number $5,000 plus $2000 for the tax cuts. $7,000. host: joel, how has president

trump done with the u.s. economy? guest: well, i think if you look at the economic numbers, they have improved over the past years. of course, the continuation began with president obama's administration, but we sought the gdp rate following the economic growth rate following the tax cut. i think it, to the typical and average family, you see about $2800 per year in taxes. if you are a dual income family with two children. these are real benefits for your typical americans. if you look at the wage growth itself, the number show it. official government data showing that median household income continues to grow. it has grown by more than $4000 in the past few years. if you look in the past year in which growth itself, those at the bottom of the income scale have seen their wage growth grow at twice the rate of those. the top is roughly 6% for those at the bottom, and around 3.5%

for those at the upper regions. this is positive news for not just the wealthy, the poor, but everybody. host: thea, some question. how has president trump done with the u.s. economy? guest: i say the u.s. tax bill has failed to deliver on growth, investment, all the promises made on its behalf, and the vast majority of the benefits went to corporations and the wealthy. putting $1s trillion: our deficit, that will be an excuse for people to talk about cutting vital social programs. certainly on the tax friends, president trump, as you said, joe, he inherited a growing economy he juiced it up with a cut taxes because he and he was able to get a temporary boost, but at the cost of a $1 trillion increase in the deficit, during a time when the economy is growing. this is when we ought to be preparing for the inevitable in the future for a slowdown

coming, and yet, we built and all these problems. on the other hand, the trump administered and has taken a lot of actions that are antiworker, or he has cut overtime pay -- where he has cut overtime pay, protections, union protection safety, health protections. these will live with working people for decades to come if we don't find a way to reverse it. host: how important is the federal deficit right now, joel? one thing thea brought up is the debt. guest: if i could just go really quickly to something you mentioned before. when it comes to the tax cuts. yes, a large portion of the tax cuts went to corporate income tax. that is because our corporate income tax rate was at the highest in the industrialized world. this is deterring business investment. i understand the argument about the corporate tax rate. but those at the top will receive more of the benefits, but that is an incomplete way of looking at the picture. those investors are net income.

it is not to disparage of spending that on the consumption or buying a yacht. most of the resources going to growing the businesses and investing in technology and research and development that increases productivity that helps all of us because of labor shares and increases rakes and technologies, whether it might a paired we have seen productivity increase last few years -- where whether it might be technology or productivity. we have seen it increased the last few years. in 2018 manufacturing, we had two consecutive quarterlies with all prime outputs. the first record high since 2007 , so deficit spending is highly important. not the fault of the tax cuts. we are now seeing an increase in revenue. last year we saw 4% increase in tax revenue, roughly. we saw increase in spending almost double that. that is the major reason why we are seeing this deficit below a

-- blow a hole in our budget. guest: we did not see the growth and investment that we had been promised i the corporate tax cut. what we saw was that most of the corporate tax cut went into stock buybacks. i do self enrichment, where people are making decisions to enrich themselves and the value of the stock they own, and so what we need to look for is what is going to happen going forward given the kinds of structural changes that were made in the tax bill, and do we have the resources we need to fund the things we need, whether infrastructure, education, or investments in our children and future? i would say that tax bill has taken away the resources that we need as a country going forward to invest in our future. host: this is a great conversation, but let's let our callers get involved. we will open up our regular lines. republicans, your line is (202)-748-8001. democrats, you can call (202)-748-8000.

independents, your line is (202)-748-8002. keep in mind, you can always text us at (202)-748-8003. and we are always reading on social media on tweeter @cspanwj and on facebook.com/c-span. joel, did you have something to add before we get to our caller s? guest: quickly, after the taxes went into effect, we did see for several quarters of big boost in investment spending, capital investment spending. that has slowed, although it is still increasing, a lot due to uncertainty because of the trade issues we have with our allies and china protection of all, on the buyback issue, is, a lot of money went back into buybacks. what is a stock buyback? it is simply a return of capital that investors have invested, a return of the capital to the investor. a lot of times it is seen in the dividend because you might own a stock and you may not want to sell it because you are happy with the dividends and appreciation a growth on it.

that is great. a buyback allows you, if you want, to keep that investment in that company. if you think as an investor, you can more successfully employ that capital to generate more capital, guess what? a buyback gives you the option to transfer those to you as an investor, and now you can make the decision. everyone gets that money from the company is what i dividend means, and they may have to pay taxes on it and they won't have a better place to put it. a buyback is a power in your hands as an investor. guest: we are not seen companies invest in job growth the way we would like to. they are putting it into self enrichment. guest: we are in a long year of job growth. host: now, if the economy has been a big issue in the democratic presidential primary, during a town hall event last week in virginia, elizabeth warren talked about the minimum wage. here's what she said [video clip] -- use what she said. [video clip] elizabeth warren: back when i was a girl, a full-time minimum

wage job in america would support a family of three. it would pay a mortgage, cover the utilities, and it would put food on the table. today, a full-time minimum wage job in america will not keep a mama and baby out of poverty. that is wrong, and that is why i am in this fight. [cheering and applause] and understand this, that difference is no accident. it is about who government works for. when i was a girl, go back and look. the question asked about mom wage is what does it take a family of three to survive? what does it take a family of

three to get a foothold in america's middle-class? what does it take a family of three to have something secure that they can build on? today, the question asked in washington is where should the minimum wage be set to maximize the profits of giant multinational corporations? [booing] i don't want a government that works for giant multinational corporations. i want one that works for our families. host: teha, reactive senator warren -- thea, reactive senator warren. guest: i think she is right. senator warren has raised the right issues. when a mom wage has lost almost 30% of its value since the 1960's proved we are a wealthy country. we ought to pay people a decent wage to work. people should not be in poverty if they're going to job. there is a bill in the house of representatives now that passed the house of representatives and

languished in the senate. it would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and address some inequities. i think that is a great thing. it is super popular and long overdue. host: joel? guest: i think we all have that common goal for people to have a solid standard of living. the problem with the minimum wages it is not do that, and here's why. having a minimum wage ends up pricing people out of the marketplace. if you are uneducated, unskilled, or other issues that make it less proper for an employer to hire you, it takes the minimum wage from your seven dollars an hour to $15, and that will push a lot of people out of the marketplace. we have seen this happen. look at some of the cities that have implemented wages. look at seattle. the number of academic studies show the impact of the wage hikes. these are people that are trying to gain experience. a lot of them are part-time in school, and it has priced them out.

you have seen businesses collide out to shut down. this is not fair. -- businesses flat-out shut down. this is not fair. this is a few percentage of the population. a lot of people develop their skills on the job, and it doesn't show that the vast majority of people do not stay in minimum wage jobs for long. they pick up the skills they need. when they pick up the skills they need, they very quickly are able to leave those jobs or employers and they end up getting paid far more than the introductory wage. host: thea? guest: that is not true empirically because there are a lot of cities and states that have raised the minimum wage. in fact, academic studies have shown there is virtually no negative jobs impacted. yeah, it was prosperous in california because what happens when you raise the minimum wage, you don't just increase the cost of business, you increase turnover, skill, people's ability to get and stay at work. the medium -- the median age is

33 years old for minimum wage. it is not the fault of workers they don't have enough education, it is that employers have chosen to underpay workers. these jobs are not decent. these are profitable companies. they can afford to pay a decent wage. they need to pay a decent wage. in fact, all the academic studies show that there is almost no discernible negative job impacts from raising the minimum wage. host: real fast. guest: that is simply not true. there is a wealth of academic data out there, including some that has tracked employment city by city. people contact me. we can provide you with information. host: check our website, epi.org. host: let's let our viewers join this fascinating conversation. let's start with mike, calling from houston on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i have three points. really quickly, though. miss lee, your payraise becomes effective when you are. second point, estate revenues

and you met -- estate revenues in new mexico -- state revenues in new mexico and pennsylvania have gone up by $1 billion this past year. i will tell you, miss lee, that affects every single human in the state of new mexico and pennsylvania. it affects infrastructure, colleges, universities, k-12 schools, the roads, everything. directly good thing related to economic growth and the oil and gas boom initiated by donald trump. you may not like donald trump, but his ideas are better than what we had before that. host: go ahead and respond. guest: sure. mike, thanks for the call. you said your payraise becomes effective when you are. what we see is a lot of employers have outside power in the labor market, and the use that to keep wages low. and wages have not grown with productivity in this country. they have not grown with education.

american workers are more skilled and educated that they have ever been, yet, we see stagnation of real wages over the last pre-decades or four decades. it is not true that it automatically gets passed on with productivity and wages. we have seen a cat. we will disagree -- obviously, the oil and gas boom is great for revenues, but we also need to think about the future. we need to think about the future, the climate, and how we are going to handle that, and how people handle unnecessary transition in the future. host: joel? guest: when it comes to wage stagnation, once again, census bureau data shows across the board median wage increases over the past years. going back 40, we see the middle class shrinking because more people are moving into the upper middle class. let's say education is highly important, you mentioned that, but the problem is we see a lot of public-sector teacher unions and politicians across the country that refuse to expand school choice options for

children. many of them impoverished. so here in our own city of washington, d.c., we see that, but we need to focus on education so when children graduate, they have an opportunity to quickly access the booming u.s. economy. host: you want to add something? guest: i don't think it is a magic bullet to school quality prayed that has not been proven by data. what we want is to have investment in public school and to be able to pay our teachers so they come to work and do their jobs. host: let's go to alex, calling from lexington park, maryland, on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. things were taking my call. i think our economy is moving in poor and path because middle-class americans have a really low chance to improve their living conditions. in the meantime, we are the largest economy in the world,

but recent statistics showed more than 40 million people are at the risk of hunger. what do you think about these conditions? thank you. host: joel, i will let you start. guest: well, i understand that, yes, a lot of people come here initially to get started. it is a lot of hard work, but i don't believe the data showed that those who take the opportunity to move here are in a situation where they are condemned to a life of poverty. my colleagues wrote a book years immigration and it looked at studies that have been done over the decades that show immigrants, once they are here, and they raise families, a lot of their children and up outperforming native born u.s. citizens. i think this is a land of opportunity. it is why we see so many people struggling to get here. trying to get here through all means because they know that once you are in this country,

you not only have reduction of our laws, you not only -- have protection of our laws, you not only have a government that respects its people, but you can see in a cheaper yourself, if you are willing to work hard and be a person of integrity -- you can see for yourself, if you are willing to work hard and be a person of integrity. guest: this is a great country with tremendous opportunity. my dad came here as an immigrant from china as a little boy, and he got a great public education and became an m.i.t. professor. i think this is a wonderful country, but i don't think this country has done what it needs to do in terms of investing in the future. there have been systematic attempts to undermine worker power, whether attacking unions, the wrong kind of globalization, the regulation, private. it is underinvestment in the public sector, whether schools, infrastructure, public parks, libraries. these are the kinds of things a great country like this needs to succeed, and for everybody to

have a chance. we talk about the american dream sometimes, and i think it is a wonderful idea. the idea that your children will do better than you. the united states has less intergenerational mobility now than our wealthy counterparts in other parts of the country -- other parts of the world. that is something we really need to think about. are we creating -- is every neighborhood -- does every neighborhood have an excellent school? alex, said caller, there are millions of people in poverty in a wealthy country. that is a shameful outcome. host: let's caller: you've got it. host: go ahead. joel has a lot of republican talking points, i see. trickle-down economics does not work. corporations are not helping me and my family. i would like for you to take a

real data poll and come into our communities. us what is going on. we see it firsthand. you have a lot of good talking points but that is all that is. come into our communities and get some real data. appreciate your question and the fact that we cannot just look at data alone. we want to interact with those who are living across the country. dad runs a- my company i know ohio and it is a family business and he employs 10 people. i know from my conversations with him, and my sister who runs the recentiness, economic expansion that is lasted 10 years and has been

accelerated the past you, the past -- the past few, this is helping the country. i hear your concern and i appreciate it and that is why i am happy because i have talked reliantiduals who are on small businesses. guest: you raise an interesting point. what does it feel like on the ground? surfaceunderneath the because you want to break down the data by racial categories, , byation categories, gender different parts of the country. if you do that, you see there are a lot of places in the country that never recovered from the last recession. whether it is losing manufacturing jobs or government jobs because we have underfunded

the government, those are key areas where people are working hard, doing the right thing, not able to make a living because we have seen this erosion, a growing inequality amongst all different dimensions. i hear what rick says and i think it is important that we do look underneath the surface and we need to make sure we are breaking down things so we understand the challenges facing communities. host: one of the things we have been talking about is the economy and the upcoming presidential campaign. let's talk specifics. what do you think voters specifically want candidates, republicans or democrats, to talk specifically about when it comes to the economy? think that americans want to know how our politicians are going to pay for the

programs they are proposing. we have seen a lot of proposals by those running for president on the democratic party. i am one of the rare people in d.c. who watched the debates and not the nats game. show us how you will pay for the programs. put a price tag on these programs. i have a lot of data on that but that is something the american people want answered. guest: i disagree. i don't think how we pay for things is the most important question. we just give a tax cut of a couple trillion dollars to corporations last year. i think we can afford to pay for the things that we need. people want to hear us talk about the bread-and-butter issues. how can people afford health care without going bankrupt? about good jobs

for everybody and how do we strengthen the voices of working people at the workplace and in the political system? strengthening unions, strengthening people's ability to come together, collective action. people talk about a green new deal or infrastructure. this country is under invested in infrastructure. deficit in4 trillion infrastructure. we could be fixing our government buildings, schools, highways, roads, airports, water systems, electrical grid. those are things we need to do and i want to hear candidates talk about that. guest: a lot of things you just mentioned, you -- they do cost a lot. if you add up all of the government spending on all the levels, 27% of gdp, much less than our competitors.

37% of all the economic growth in those countries, productivity, go to the government. what happens when you have the government become that much larger? the average person, they suffer. our disposable income in this country is far higher than our competitors, far higher than germany. if you look at italy, spain, double and triple that. if we want to have that level of government spending, we will have to realize the middle class will pay for it in terms of higher taxes and we will have fewer economic opportunities. that is the trade-off. host: let's go back to our phone lines. let's call -- let's talk to john from north carolina on the republican line. caller: good morning.

, unlike the last 2.5 years, they have been talking about russian collusion with president trump and now impeachment and removal from office, the democrats have been talking about for the last 2.5 years. i include c-span in on that. -- that is what it took to get c-span off this russian collusion. host: any questions about the economy? trump has madent this economy the best economy we've ever had. has 3 million women new jobs in this country. women has the lowest

unemployment in 50 years. blacks, hispanics, very low unemployment. the stock market is at the highest level. 401k at the highest level. thank god for the report yesterday, getting c-span and major networks talking about issues that matter to the american people. host: economic comments? guest: i appreciate what he said and i appreciate your call. it is an economy -- is the growth we have seen so far durable and is some of it just by tax cuts and spending not sustainable and are not going to provide the long-term boost to the economy in terms of investment and productivity, we will see some trouble down the world. guest: we really need to keep

the focus on these economic proposals from the leading candidates. if you add up all of those proposals, they are proposing 40-90 $2 trillion over 10 years ranging from the green new deal to medicare fraud, education proposals. even if we were to take every dollar from corporations to raise a fraction of that, if you would take every dollar from every earner $200,000 plus, if you are to levy the wealth tax, we have all of these numbers. it would pay for a fraction of 42-$90 trillion bill. if you want that type of spending, we will have to have european-style taxation. in europe, the middle class pays far more than we do. in france, there is a payroll

tax in excess of 50%. the democratic candidates, such as bernie sanders, if you look at his legislation for medicaid for all, there is a payroll tax, 11% on everybody. that pays for half of the medicaid for all proponent. you're looking at higher taxes for the middle class. how are we going to pay for it? guest: when you compare apples to oranges, if you are talking about a system where everybody has free and universal health care, there is going to be a shift between what you pay in taxes and what you pay for health care. it is not like health care is free today. if it is more efficient to provide health care universally to ask -- to expand and strengthen social security, to make sure we have universal prekindergarten so every child can realize his or her potential, those are things that are important investments in the

future. some of it may require a shift. what you pay in out-of-pocket costs and premiums. we want to make that kind of shift? it is not like it is free today. guest: it is not free but you mentioned efficiency as if nationalizing health care is going to make it more efficient. d.c., adult literacy, below the basic level. care, we should see what a government health care system might look like here. talk to people that have had to rely on the v.a. i have had people in my family who have had to. guest: we are talking about efficiency. whether we want to spend all of our payments to health care on

insurance companies chasing after a dollar and trying to convince you that you are not sick. that is a waste of money. host: speaking of senator bernie sanders, last week, he had this to say about the minimum wage. us,cross the street from people are struggling day after day just to survive. here in new york city, it is also in west virginia and kentucky and alabama and mississippi and other states where people continue to work for starvation wages. aboute worried to death the future their children face. that is why we say today, in america, anyone who works 40

hours a week will not live in poverty. [cheers and applause] we are going to raise that ,inimum wage to a living wage at least $15 an hour. suree are going to make that every worker in america has the right to join a union. host: $15 minimum wage. is that going to be on the democratic party platform? guest: i think it probably will and it should be. it has been so popular in a lot of states -- they have lit -- they have moved to raise their minimum wage. think it will be part of the democratic platform and it should be part of the democratic platform. value for work, working people

should be able to make a decent living. that is a great platform. host: $15 minimum wage, good or bad idea? guest: it is a bad idea. to minimum wage is not going harm employment at all, why not make it $20, $25, $100? we know that is going to make it impossible for many people to find a job because they do not create that kind of value for their employer. as you go down the minimum wage level, fewer and fewer people are negatively impacted. those who have not had a chance to get a good education, those who want to have a chance to move up the economic ladder.

that is what the data show. they move up when they gather the skills and we all want to help the same people. one proposal sounds good but will harm them. guest: is that the best you've got? if you raise the minimum wage to $100 an hour, it will work? in 1968, we had a pretty strong economy, a strong and growing the class. that period after world war ii, when unions were growing, those were healthy and productive times. working people had money in their pockets. it was good for business. put it out we don't as billion dollars in our. lion dollars an hour.

we have had a situation where working people have not had the bargaining power they need and employers have attacked workers rights to have unions at the state level and federal level and that is the reason we have so much in balance in the economy. thankfully, we can look at the impact of these policies and you can see across some areas of the country where they increase the wage, you are saying businesses suffer -- you are seeing businesses suffer and you are seeing people at the lower end of the economic ladder no longer have an opportunity to earn a living and no longer have the flexibility. host: let's go to michael who was calling from florida. michael, good morning. both of youris for

wonderful presenters. foundational to both of your positions is the idea that free markets and laissez-faire --petition, both sides competition leads to an optimum -- this is something i would love for you guys to bring as a study because it has real effects far beyond economics and politics. we have parkland march for life kids raise public awareness. -- what we had was not

revealing records, we did not even know where students were going as far as who needed special help. that is what happened with the shooter. climb at a false velocity. this is science. you guys can bring your two sides together. i don't know. everyone is good people. it is foundational, it just is not science. scientists.utionary you lose things once you do not have a need for it.

respond.ahead and tough one tos a respond to. aboutou are talking education, and general, a lot of these concerns are valid that we need to have a focus on tracking children better and tracking behavioral problems better and nipping these problems in the bud before they turn into situations with serious consequences. michael, i appreciate your call and you raise important issues. in my view, you have a capitalist economy that works best when the government plays an important role. a lot of rules the government -- a lot of roles the government can and should play that the

private sector will not and do not perform. those are things the private sector is not interested in doing. there is no way that individual businesses are going to address climate change and we need a government role. in terms of opportunity and making sure that every child in this country has an opportunity to succeed and get an excellent education and get the training and support and safe community and healthy neighborhoods they need. that does not necessarily happen. we have a lot of inequality and what we need to do is make sure that we are investing in long-term things like infrastructure and education and skill and that the government is playing a moderated role.

thanks for your call, michael. host: i want to get you guys to react to these comments from joe biden during the speech on wednesday. he had this to say about the economy. >> if you are going to restore the middle class, need to start to reward work again, not just wealth. under the trump plan, we only reward wealth. donald trump inherited a strong economy from barack and me. just like everything else he inherited, he is in the midst of squandering it. [applause] economy andbuild an rewards -- that rewards work, not just wealth. to reflect our values. i will start by reserving --

reversing the trump tax cuts. [applause] corporations have spent them on stock buybacks for benefits to their stockholders and ceos. guest: quite a bit of fiery rhetoric but he is trying to run on the policy of envy. under president obama, things are beginning to move. that is not reality. the economy was still growing, yes. data he quite sure what is relying on. when he talks about restoring the middle class, yes, we do want a strong middle class. he is talking about restoring the middle class and ignoring the fact that median household

income continues to grow. going back 40 years, people have been leaving the middle class and have been migrating up the income chain. by there facts provided census bureau and the bureau of labor. he is denying all about to score a few cheap political points. we should not be running on the pulpits of envy. we should be focusing on policies. guest: i think vice president biden is talking to things that resonate with a lot of people and the same kind of frustration that workers have felt over the last 30 or 40 years that got donald trump elected and donald trump did not deliver on his promises to working people. this is a real opportunity for the next president to make good on those promises, to make the tax code fair for working people and to make sure working people have the kind of tools they need to be able to organize and raise

her voice and come together with their coworkers to bargain for their fair share of the wealth they create. host: let's see if we can get one more round of callers. let's go to thomas who was calling from texas on the independent line. caller: man, good morning, america. -- do youlease remember a mode of economics that was termed by mr. reagan? as far as the impeachment is concerned, you cannot impeach a can of soup. host: let's stay on the economy. caller: as far as economics, the green new deal was started when obama first came into the office. -- we want $1200 more a

month, ok? we love you guys. merry christmas and happy halloween. guest: thank you, thomas. we are seeing some voodoo economics or zombie kind of theories. trickle-down economics, which is if you cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy, eventually, that will trickle down to ordinary working people. it did not work with reagan or george w. bush and it is not working for donald j. trump. different viewa on supply-side economics. supply-side economics allows those that are earning wealth and creating wealth to keep more of that wealth and allows them to invest that. it creates more wealth.

that is what we have seen for years, the typical family becoming better off. we need to be very wary of the green new deal. look at california. are 1.5ectricity costs to two times of what we pay for the rest of the country. they pay a lot more for their gasoline. we can look to europe as well. their average disposable income is $11,000 less per year per family. that is real money. think if we do not make some tough decisions about how we are going to live in the world, live in the global economy, it will come back to bite our children and us. it may be that the specific green new deal needs a lot of

work but there is no question that should be an imperative for the united states. it can if it is done right something that creates a lot of good paying jobs because we put people to work repairing pipelines, noting electrical , those are investments in the future. those are the kinds of things we need to do. host: let's go to marshall who was calling from clearwater, florida, on the republican line. caller: good morning. i want to make a comment. host: we are running out of time. let's stick to the economy. caller: let's do this. the economy will not come up in the 2020 election because it is doing so well and unfortunately, all the democrats can offer -- there are no plans, just ideas

and there is no way to get to where they want to go without bankrupting the country. our government has never done anything effectively. except take more money from the and put itabuse it in places that it don't need to be. in clearwater, i can tell you we are booming. -- it isutiful to see part of the highway system. it is a five year program. it is good to see buildings that razed and new buildings put in place. emptyngs that have stood and being put back into use. --st: that is an interesting it is not just an anecdote.

if you look at data that tracks population and capital income, over the last few decades, there has been a flow -- a flood of people leaving places like california, leaving new york. they are going to states that are friendly towards businesses, friendly towards -- places like florida that has no state income tax that has a much better regulatory environment. places like north carolina and tennessee were workers have freedom to manage their own contracts. we are seeing it across the country. if you go to rich states poor org, we track all of that information. guest: you make the argument that the economy will not come up in the 2020 election because it is doing so well, i think we will see.

continues tof it do well and who it is doing well for. the public school system is a wonderful thing. i am a product of it and my daughter is a product of it. need to invest more in the public sector if we want excellent outcomes. also things like social security , that has completely transformed old age in this country. instead of having seniors in poverty, having a social security program that is well-funded, adequate and could grow and should grow in the future, that is something the government has done well and needs to do better in the future. host: one more quick call from karen who was calling from indiana. question and aa comment. why are we sticking with an antiquated system of tax, brackets toing tax

decide how much tax will cost each individual? to get outent needs of the business of assessing people's wealth and then deciding to tax it or give and look at the system where they are taxing every dollar of income every incomees not mean taxing that is spent the year before. i am talking about every dollar that comes into a corporation, small business or individual household. will level and make just the system of taxes and have enough money to pay for the education system, which has now and will go toy

the current private education system. our system in indiana is almost defunct. host: let's start with you, joel. caller: thank you -- guest: thank you for your call. you are wondering why businesses take taxes only. downnk a lot of this comes somee fact that margins are quite small. you might only have a 1% profit margin. .75%.say that taxes are suddenly, you are paying 75% of your income in the form of taxes. that would leave next to nothing to expand growth. on whether or not businesses should be taxed on revenue, states have tried versions of this. there is a lot of data that shows that that actually sounds

good on the surface but it has a lot of unintended economic consequences. host: final thoughts, thea? guest: there is no question that the tax system could be made fairer and more effective. people who can afford it pay more as a percentage of their income is important to the system. going forward, i think we need to figure out how we can make sure our tax system, whether it is corporate taxes or income taxes or sales tax or value added tax, we have the resources that we need to fund the services and the investments that this country needs to be effective and successful going forward. thanks for your call, karen. host: we would like to invite all of our callers, especially forguests, thea and joel being here. thank you both. future ash not sameer

celine will talk with us. we will be right back. ♪ sameerre astronaut celine will talk with us. we will be right back. ♪ >> tuesday, the senate commerce science hearing concerning the boeing 737 max, following two international accidents last year. testifying is dennis muilenburg and john hamilton. watch live, tuesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. online at c-span.org or listen live wherever you are with

the free c-span radio app. sunday night on q&a, wall street trader turned photojournalist chris are naughty on his book, dignity. was a sunday morning or a saturday. it was empty because they were gone. and, immediately, her intelligence came right through. we spoke for about an hour, half an hour or so. she told me her life. it's like a cliche of everything wrong that can happen to somebody. eventually, i asked her what i asked everybody who i photograph, which is how would you want me to describe you? give me one thing to describe

you. she shot back, i am a prostitute, a mother of six and a child of god. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. politicon, the unconventional political convention is live from nashville, today at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. speakers include ann coulter and david firm. former fbi director, james comey and chief political analyst for , nicolews wallace. former minnesota senator, al franken. watch live on c-span, any time on c-span.org and listen, wherever you are, using the free c-span radio app. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back with namira

salim, the founder and executive chair of space trust. here to talk about the role of commercial companies and private and public spaceflight. good morning. guest: good morning. host: tell us what space trust is. what do they do? guest: it is a company from the u.k.. of new space, the privatization of space, is now open to politicians and government so that they can go up and see the earth that astronauts have been seeing for the last 60 years, to make the world a better place and an earth that dissolves boundaries and space. the: what do you think result of bringing more people up into space will be? especially bringing more politicians and government officials? what effect do you think that will have? guest: that is the first step.

we have the international space station up there which is creating an atmosphere of peace on earth. that is the gateway. then we have the commercialization of space, which is going to take up different flights into space. i think it is our process. it will take some time. as all of this happens and evolves, i think we need to prepare leaders of the world and governments and politicians to understand that they have a and need to discuss policy and look at the world without boundaries. host: in the past, spaceflight has been considered to be an area that only government can be involved in. beginning, the because the government had the

access to the best technology. how do commercial and private companies fit into the equation with spaceflight? guest: they fit in very well. i think the u.s. is a leader in that. decided to stop the space shuttle program back in 2012, i think it was. or 2011. the idea was to create the opportunity for the commercial sector to provide and to contract with them. that is happening right now. this is a new day and age. nasase of the example the -- that nasa is setting, many countries are following in those footsteps to expand the commercial space sector. host: you were one of the future astronauts in version collected.

-- galactic. what is your role in virgin galactic? remind us what that is. guest: it was in 2006 that i joined. i was quite well known. is going toight open space to all sectors. it will create an opportunity for the first private space line. more and more people will go to .pace and they will have access it will korea opportunities on earth for the general group of humanity -- create opportunities on earth for the general group of humanity. host: is this something you have always dreamed about? how did you get involved? guest: i was a child growing up in pakistan, i loved the stars. my father was the first to

introduce me to the constellations of the night sky. becomei would grow up to an astronaut. it is just in my dna, i think. [laughter] been involved in this a lot. how much does it cost to be part of a program like what you are part of with virgin galactic? is that something within the reach of a lot of people or is it too expensive for most people to dream to go into space right now? guest: it was 200,000 u.s. dollars. it has gone up to 250,000 u.s. dollars at the moment. the prices are expected to go down a lot more. example of the transatlantic for as, you can go across few hundred dollars. it is the same model.

host: when do you think this is going to happen? that is the million-dollar question. all i can say is it is getting really close. we have had a test passenger in space. we will be fitted with our space suits two weeks from now, as far as i know. host: two weeks from now? guest: yes. it is very exciting. it is next year. host: ok. let's let our viewers join in on this conversation. we will open up regional lines today. if you're in the eastern or central time zones, your phone .umber will be (202) 748-8000 if you are in the mountain or

pacific time zones, your number will be (202) 748-8001. you can always reach us on social media. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. facebook atng on facebook.com/c-span. you are planning to go into space on the commercial space liner. the commercial industry going to be as safe as nasa, as government space life? do you think they will be able to do just as good of a job as the government space program? guest: going into space is hard. it is not easy. i don't think anyone can make predictions. even government agencies have had their own calamities. i don't think anyone can guarantee anything. we have the right technologies.

virgin galactic is careful about how and when flights will take off. it has never been a race because the focus is on safety. we can only hope that it will be a commercially viable and safe operation. host: what kind of training are you doing to become a passenger on this spaceflight? guest: is called suborbital training. i had a few years ago in the masters center. undergo all of the profiles and different profiles of our flight. host: masses administrator gave a press conference last week, -- masses administrator gave a press conference last week -- this week. take a listen. goal is to land on the

moon within five years and be sustainable by 2028. there will be a reusable command module. we want to go back and forth from the surfaces of the moon to the reusable command module. costsd to drive down the as time goes on. cost will go down. what we are trying to achieve is a sustainable return to the moon, where we have people living and working on another world for long periods of time. host: you were at this press conference, were you not? guest: yes. host: what was your reaction? guest: there was an announcement made less than a month ago that we are going to return. the next man and first woman to the moon in 24. -- in 2024. it will be a program where --

this particular press conference mentions that same exact program. everyone is excited. it is inspirational. host: is there a need for man to return to the moon at this point? that is something we have already achieved. is there a need for man and woman to go back there? guest: it is important because we are now going to build a gateway. that is under the leadership of nasa. the whole point is that you have a base between the orbits of earth and the moon. the first stop from there will be the moon. that will take you onward to mars. it is just a way of getting to mars and doing better than before, on the moon to find different experiments to see if it can benefit us on the earth in this day and age. this project is called the

artemis project. commercialends on spaceflight companies. what is the difference of the commercial companies working with government agencies to get up and off the ground? guest: at the moment, there is no option when it comes to the u.s. space industry and nasa. want to create opportunity with the commercial operators. beenx, elon musk has taking cargo up there quite successfully. he is on the verge of taking astronauts to space which would be commercial spaceflights. this is the order of the day. it is an opportunity for the entire world to move generations to space. host: we are talking with namira

salim. if you have questions for her, go to the polls right now and start with bill, who was calling from illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. desire toy admire her go into space. but, i would say how would she want us to remember her if something bad happens? guest: [laughter] caller: how would she characterize what she was doing and was trying to do? guest: i think that is a very good question. i am not afraid to go to space. something was if to happen, it could happen crossing the street or any town you live in. if anything happens, god for bid, i would say i would want to

-- in mbered this is a day and age for leaders to go into space and see the world from a different viewpoint. bettermake the world a place. --ould want to be remembered host: there have been several spacecraft accidents over the years. are you concerned about safety at all in that situation? guest: not at all. when we had our creche -- crash in 2014, i was interviewed from the crash site and these questions were asked. in the midst of a crash. happens and ins am going and i am not afraid. let's talk to the caller

from buffalo, new york. good morning. are you there? caller: yes. can you hear me? host: we can hear you. go ahead. caller: my first question is what is the environmental intellect -- impact of commercial space exploration? could it just before an elite class of people? second question is what makes you so confident it will further the objective of peace when we see that most of our wars are driven by resources such as oil? host: go ahead and respond. to thewhen it comes illusion that this is for the elite, i want to clarify that not everybody can afford it. in the future, the prices will go down as i mentioned with commercial operation. regarding the environment, it has been announced many times that these flights are very

environmentally benign. they don't cost the same on the environment as maybe what other flights have cost in the past. airline taking off. as far as i know, it is not very impacting on the environment. that the less impact on the environment with what we can achieve from space, we have experiments happening at the moment at the space station which benefit the humankind on earth. i think that is a breakthrough and that is important. and also, experiments and applications, peaceful applications of space from earth need to come down on this planet to make the world a better place and to benefit humanity. the second repeat question again? impact.e environmental

caller: -- guest: the wars, how the wars can be resolved. we are talking at this stage about creating inspiration from space. it is inspiration that happens when you actually report it. it is happened to astronauts. has comeas gone up back with a thought that politicians need to see the world from there. you realize that you are a small world in a big universe. that is a paradigm shift that happens. it will continue to happen. it will change the mindset of people on earth. people think that way because they are not connected to this whole universe that we are part of every single day. it is extremely inspirational for the first step is to inspire. to give you an example, a war

was resolved from space. that was the cold war. it was the famous apollo docking that ended the cold war. back then, it happened. in this day and age, when we are in the age of new faith, how much better we can handle politics of their from space. host: how do you go about convincing americans that commercial, private companies should be given more of a lead in space? we have a poll from earlier this says 31% ofit americans think that nasa funding should be increased so you can continue space exploration, where only 13 people -- 13% said nasa funding should be released -- reduced.

how do you go about convincing americans that private companies should have more of a lead then nasa? guest: we are living in a new space age and we don't have any options anymore. this is what is happening. has contracted boeing and space x. we have to evolve. the age of space. we are in a new space age. it is a new era. just like we were in the cold in thea, we are space age air. i don't think there is any going back. have given up a lot of the stuff they were controlling at the international space station to commercial operators. countries as far as asia. ahead innot that far their commercial operations as the u.s..

everybody is following the at the moment. that is the order of the day. -- that at the moment. that is the order of the day. who iset's go to kelvin, calling from portland, oregon. caller: thank you. you are doing a great job. it is great to see african-american men having great discussions. c-span has been a favorite show of mine. i would like to commend your vision to put this out there and --suggest that you have to shoot for the stars. my question is while the executive director for washington's nasa project has talked about increasing the budget, there has been absolutely no conversation about minority owned companies partnering as it relates to both private-sector and future budgets. does your new firm or your

organization have a component where it can measure the budget for diversity supply or purchase patient? thank you, c-span. you always have great subjects. i appreciate the time. guest: my nonprofit is from the not sure of the internal things happening with the u.s. government. i can only answer questions related to the global space industry and how the partnerships have taken place. i am really sorry. i am not an expert on that question. tony froms try missouri. tony, good morning. caller: yes, sir. thank you for taking my call. i would just like to say that i don't believe that aliens exist. epic it's mathematically impossible. they say the universe is infinite, which means there

would be an infinite amount of plans, which means if those planets have life, it would be infinite. any percentage of that life that could travel through space is infinite. we would see infinite amounts of spaceships flying through the sky. we always use science to debunk their theories, thank you. host: what is your opinion on alien life? guest: i have a different view on that. i feel that there are species out there that we cannot see. they probably do not need water and oxygen to survive. we need to change our viewpoints and our approach toward finding aliens. i think they are out there. we haven't found the right approach to find them. i believe they are out there. host: let's try philip, who was calling from michigan. good morning. i was just wondering, how do you feel about group policy?

challenger, there were ignorant administrators that allowed things to happen that halted the space shuttle system. how do you feel about that? thank you. guest: well, it is a tragedy, of course. that is why i think in today's day and age, we have to rely on commercial. it was the high cost of spaceflight that ended the tragedies. we have evolved with the times. the opportunities are great. providing that kind of service and facility and we should try to -- we should hope and dream and be positive that such tragedies will not happen in the future. and that the space industry can deliver safe operations into space. host: when can we expect to see

you go on your commercial space flight? guest: i hope it is next year. he is getting ready for his spaceflight. we will be fitted with our spacesuit in two weeks. so, hopefully soon. host: you will have to come back next year and tell us about your flight. we would like to think namira salim, founder of space trust for coming in with us and talking about the future of commercial spaceflight. thank you so much. guest: thank you very much. will goming up next, we to our phone lines and talk about your top public policy issues. republicans, our number is (202) 748-8001. .emocrats, (202) 748-8000 independents, (202) 748-8002.

first, congressman rodney davis of illinois. representative davis answers a question about republican members who forcefully entered a closed meeting about whether to impeach president trump. [video clip] one of your responsibilities is security. this week, there were gop members who stormed into the house room that was holding an impeachment related deposition with their firms in hand. these facilities are safeguarded against electronic threats and phones are not allowed inside. what was your response to this? >> it is a sad testament that many of my colleagues thought that was the only way they would get access to testimony that is being put forth. >> you know that there have been other depositions held by republicans when they were in charge in a secure room and that did not happen there. >> if you look at impeachment, we have to take a step back and wonder why speaker pelosi

decided to start what she called an impeachment inquiry. there is precedent that has been set in this country, that three other times it has happened. the house has to improve an impeachment inquiry, number one. i believe it should be held with the judiciary committee. i believe that is where the american people should see what those depositions are and they should see where those depositions are leading. unfortunately, speaker pelosi has decided to set new precedent. what it is going to do, it will create an environment where no matter who wins an election for president, if the house of representatives is controlled by another party, this may become the new common status quo. i don't think that is right. >> some of these rules were set by congressman boehner, when he was in charge. what do you think of a security risk that might have been posed by members? poses anyno member

security risks. that is the most secure facility we have in congress. i know that my colleagues had their phones rounded up. they were taken out. that is a good thing. in the end, what we have to do is also take a step back and wonder what type of policies do we need to create to stop any of within- any activities our house operations. i don't think it is a coincidence that just a few years ago, when my democratic colleagues staged a sit in on the floor of the house and the used media devices, when we are clearly instructed that that is not supposed to be done on the house floor, they were not punished for any of that. announcer: washington journal continues. host: we will spend the last 30 minutes of today's show talking about your top policy -- public policy issues. once again, if you have a public policy issue you want to talk about, we will open up the phone lines for you.

republicans, your line is (202) 748-8001. democrats, you can call (202) 748-8000. independents, your line will be (202) 748-8002. keep in mind, you can always text us at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media and on twitter at c-span3 j and on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. let's talk to ron from san clemente, california on the republican line. good morning. ron, are you there? there you go, ron. i can hear you now. go ahead. caller: thank you, jessie for taking my phone call. i appreciate it. there is an issue out there that has not been addressed. there is a reason for it and it is an important issue. firearms. important, controlled firearms.

everybody is talking about background checks and so on. let me tell you the story and make it very simple. republican or democrat, no one is telling you the truth about firearms. firearms don't kill people. that is true. you have to have somebody pull the trigger. whether it is one round or 1000 rounds that you are pulling the trigger on, it takes somebody to do that. isl, the problem we have that no one wants to drug test people for these firearms. everyone should be drug tested before they get these firearms. we have opioid problems and people who are homeless that can still go out and get firearms. how do you control that kind of process? the bottom line is it does not matter what firearm you have in your hand. it takes the energy and the desire by that person to pull the trigger. when would you want

that drug testing? when would you want that drug testing to be done? only before someone purchases it? testing on a regular basis? when would that be done? caller: ok. i will tell you. it is an important thing. startingas to do is, today, right now, today, from now on, if you want a firearm, you go down and you get a tsa, a drug test. anybody can do that. tests flighte tsa crews and ntsb people. they test bus drivers and truckers and everybody else. you can find out whether it is a class two drug or not. bottom line is if you are on opioids or addicted to drugs, if you have problems with drugs, this is a wonderful way to check what is going on with you before you purchase a firearm or transfer a firearm.

if you have a problem with drugs, stop it. and then you can go out and get your firearm. marcel, who isto calling for mckinney, texas on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: just fine. go ahead. caller: so, i am calling what was breached with the republicans, my party that entered into the house at the secure meeting. host: right. risks security being breached. that room is supposed to be secured. there is a way to go about that without breaking rules. to enter a room that was supposed to be secure. that will cause other people to

do it. who iset's go to jimmy calling from kentucky. on the democratic line, jimmy, good morning. jimmy, are you there? caller: yes. host: go ahead, jimmy. theer: what do you think on -- host: jimmy, are you still there? caller: yeah, i'm here. host: go ahead. theer: he was talking about the gun issue and stuff like that. [indiscernible] yeah. paul, whos try his calling from new holland, pennsylvania. caller: good morning.

my public issue is in the fiscal year of 2019, our federal billion,as over $900 slightly under $1 trillion. over $20 trillion -- our debt is in the hundreds of billions and will continue to swell over the next decade. this is unconscionable. and untenable. someonewe need to elect who will address this. the only person i have heard talk about it is someone who has , a even announced yet possible third-party candidate. no one is talking about it. host: you said schultz. what was the person's name? caller: the former ceo of starbucks, he is talked about a candidate.

host: howard schultz? caller: yes. host: i wanted to make sure everyone knew who we were talking about. let's go to bill, who is calling from bend, oregon on the republican line. phil, good morning. -- bill, good morning. caller: good morning. i have real issues with both parties. fighting isg and not looking good at all. there is no camaraderie, fellowship or friendship among our people in washington, d.c. and i wish that the energy and money, everything spent, think of what we could get done here in america. we are just bickering and fighting and digging things up and it just seems like we are not taking care of business. worrying about each other, wondering and

worrying about each other and trying to dig things up. i am just exhausted with all of the fighting amongst the parties , the two parties. can we come together and start working on the homeless? working on the infrastructure? so tied up in all of this fighting and bickering and digging things up. it is just exhausting. ijust, i pray to god and prayed everybody in beautiful can come together in fellowship. we need to start solving the problems instead of creating these problems in america. in beautiful binder, organ, we love it here. we wish -- i wish you all the best. please, if we could, stay on course and we will

bring america back to more values. we are not teaching the love and discipline in schools. where has that gone? .ost: let's go to beverley caller: good morning. i have two questions. since the marijuana laws are being changed around the nation, shouldn't all the people be let out of jail that have been arrested or convicted of marijuana laws? two, if you have been caught cheating in an election, shouldn't you be disqualified? cheating inaught this nation, there are consequences. i don't think trump should be allowed to run in the 2020 election. i think he should be investigated, impeached and removed from office. thanks.

host: let's look at some of the most recent news coming up from the impeachment inquiry going on in the congress right now. here is a story that is coming from the new york times that came out today. a federal judge handed a victory to house democrats on friday when she ruled that they were legally engaged in an impeachment inquiry. a decision that undercut preston trump's argument that the investigation is a sham. the declaration came in a 75 page opinion by chief judge beryl howell of the federal district war in washington. she ruled the house district committee was entitled to view secret grand jury evidence. has no rightngress to view such evidence. in 1974, the courts permitted lawmakers to see such materials as they wait whether to impeach m.esident richard letter

nixon. rebuke to the trump administration, she wrote that the white house strategy had thengthened lawmakers case. boutited his to fight subpoenas. he said executive officials should not provide documents to them. the white house's stated policy weighs heavily in favor of disclosure. to access grand jury material is heightened when the executive branch willfully obstructs channels for accessing other relevant evidence. appealing --ion is

administration is appealing to the justice department. they demanded the acting chief of the white house be put in office and two other administration officials testify next month in their inquiry into preston trump's campaign on ukraine to open investigations that could benefit him politically. let's go back to our phone lines and talk about your top public policy issues. it's talk to tom who is calling from reno, nevada on the republican line. good morning. caller: yes. host: go ahead, tom. caller: yes. my comment would be that i don't anybody to vote in this country should not be required to show a valid picture id to vote. i understand that in 2020 that even to be able to fly in this country, you have to show an id with a stamp on it that you get from the dmv, showing you are an

american citizen. so, why shouldn't we do the same thing when we go to the polls to vote in our elections? thank you. host: let's go to pat, who is calling from detroit, michigan. good morning. caller: hi. this is just a comment. we were talking about guns. when you have the top person in the white house saying they could go down the street in new york and shoot and kill someone and nothing will be done, it to me is just absolutely absurd, if you're talking about gun control and laws. that is all i have to say about that. thank you. host: let's go to our social media followers. andrew from twinsburg, ohio says the top public policy issue is having a president and the congress that goes through the budget with a fine tooth comb. 2001 was the last balanced-budget year. let's go back to our

phone lines and talk to bobby, who is calling from dallas, texas on the independent line. good morning. caller: yes. host: go ahead. caller: i would like to make a comment about the guns. host: go ahead. caller: you are talking about forpeople should have tests this, that and the other. do you know that nine out of 10 people that are shot are killed by policemen? they are supposed to be passed all of that stuff. two, there are houses. people have gun rooms. how are you going to get rid of all of those guns that in these private homes? i don't know. it's just that way. ist: let's go to levi, who calling from charlotte, north carolina, on the democratic line. levi, good morning. caller: good morning.

how are you doing this morning? host: just fine. caller: i want to make a comment impeachment and such. listen. on their emotions instead of voting on what they need to vote for. that is how trump got in. trump got in by pure racism. here is the thing. , they can get in office when you have a majority of democrats. re and they their an do things for the people. people call them weak because they follow the law. they bring the debt down and the and theyt mad at them vote the republicans back in office. the first thing the republicans do is put us in debt that was

worse with a big tax cut. everybody cries about the debt, debt, debt. that is how the debt keeps on growing. obama, both, barack , as bad a shape as went obama got in office, at least he had the debt coming down grade we had another republican president get back up in there and the first thing he does is puts us in debt with another $2 trillion. ist: let's go to sandy who calling from youngstown, ohio on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. my comment is not about risk. they are talking about the debt. you think they will get that money from, talking about that? my comment is about impeachment.

they are doing it the wrong way. they are not following president. they are not -- not following cedent. they are doing it behind closed doors which is never been done before. the only reason they are impeaching this president is because they are afraid he is going to get elected again. all you have got are a bunch of communists running. that's all. , who ist's go to carol calling from new haven, connecticut on the democratic line. carol, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. the thing that concerns me right $1.3s the proposed cuts of trillion to medicare. that includes massive cuts to medicaid. we have so many seniors that inntually end up on medicaid

hospitals. a couple of hospitals are closing like crazy because they cannot manage to provide the care needed with the medicaid as it is. that really concerns me. theysenior too, they say will do it through cuts and prescription costs. ok. there has been no proposal on prescription costs other than the democrats that already sent one to the senate. you know that ins up in the in ther -- ends up circular file. then, proposed cuts with the new health care, which nobody knows anything about. i think there is a lot of work that has to be done and seniors better wake up. and start getting in touch with their congresspeople. is another story that came out earlier this week.

we spent a lot of time talking rock congress and the white house. robert spent a lot of time talking about that this week. amid dire warning from the supreme court's makeup is whether it can retain legitimacy in a politically polarized nation comes this. a gallup poll shows rising approval for the court, with far more americans thinking it is then right ideologically either two conservative or -- to double conservative or too liberal. two thirds of people trust the court to operate in the best interest of the public. 70% think the court has the right amount of power. a massive survey from the marquette law school finds a majority of americans have more confidence in the supreme court than other parts of the federal

government. systemieve the justice takes extremely conservative or liberal positions. let's go back to our phone lines for our last round of calls and start with susan, who is calling from fort myers, florida on the independent line. susan, good morning. caller: yes. good morning. thank you c-span. there are some things i agree with, a lot of things we have issues with. theguns, the violence, voting, everything. the thing nobody seems to talk about. i am disgusted with our violence in our country. our eight and nine-year-old there are eight and nine-year-old children with guns. nobody talks about the entertainment industry.

they look at what the entertainment industry is proving. it is a systematic desensitization of everybody. ande are guns and killing constant hitting and yelling and .rguing it is normal. isis doesn't live with their little kids. we are doing it through -- does it live with their little kids. we are doing it through our entertainment industry. being courteous. kids are not stupid. they have big ears. they pay attention. they end up living what you live. as an adult. we are talking about education for children, of course. that has been talked about for decades. neither side has done anything. there has to be rules. and everybody has to fall in

line a little bit. host: let's talk to robert, who is calling from florida on the republican line. robert, good morning. caller: yes. good morning. i am very concerned about the deficit. $300,000 andwes the government is making money on her. military spending, we have to cut back 10%. i know trump thinks it is a strong point but it is ridiculous. i also believe that government employees should take a 10% pay layoff.ell as a 10% too many people work for the government. the space program, i don't care if we spend a penny on it. there has to be a way, if i was in washington, i could do wonderful things. this is ridiculous. let's go to north

carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. think there should be -- worked ande have they need help. if the state takes care of all lethem jail birds they got, these elderly people live happy until they die. 5 -- host: let's go to steve who was calling from indiana on the republican line. steve, good morning. caller: good morning. this impeachment thing, i don't believe the democrats are going about it the right way.

i was a democrat for years. i switched to republican because the democrats and get nothing done -- ain't getting nothing done. almost like a third world country. i am really pleased with what mr. trump is doing. i am going to vote for him again. i believe it is a witchhunt, what they are doing. i just think that this is all a big farce and, hopefully we can take control of the house again and take control of the senate. ned we can get this straighte out and make america great again and keep america great. we may need a little gun control but you will not take guns from honest hard-working people and expect the gangsters and outlaws to turn in their guns. that is not going to happen. we tried it with the war on drugs and it did not work. that is all i have to say. , who let's talk to harry

is calling from georgia on the independent line. good morning. i am going to try to say a lot of stuff really fast because i don't have that much time. the reason that i called was the modern-dayl democrats communists. it is foolishness. if you look at the 30's, stalin's communism in russia killed 20 million people in the ukraine, just by starving them to death. just by running a command economy. nobody is proposing that kind of thing here. my father told me when i was arguing and i was a kid in the 60's, arguing with my father on and ie dinner table said they called hitler's and economic jesus in 1935 and my dad looked at me and said any idiot can build an economy based

on building a war machine. doings what we have been for the past 100 years. i will say something about people who call up and say they have changed from democrats to republican. i started voting for a republican representative in my district. his name was john linder. this was a guy who was a respectable guy, a smart guy. he voted for good policies and he was big on constituent service. woodalle guy that rob sits in his seat. woodall is a republican who they -- talks one way but act all another. do is try ando build country that gets along

with each other. you know? ist: let's talk to bill who calling from vermont on the democratic line. bill, good morning. caller: i would like to comment on the past election. .3 percentd 61 of voters that actually voted. i challenge the rest of the registered voters to go out and vote. howyour congressmen know you feel. we need to change this country and we need to do it together. that's all. thank you. host: let's talk to kelly, who is calling from road seville michigan, on the republican line. kelly, you get the last word. caller: i was democrat and i switched over to republican. the democrats say that russia and other countries are

interfering with elections, what about the democrats interfering with president trump's reelect? not fair. mean byat do you democrats interfering with the reelection? caller: i mean, all they have been doing is showing their hatred, they are taking it personal. they don't like trump, period. we need to change. he is changing. i think he has done good for the country. host: we would like to thank all of our guests, all of our collars and social media followers for keeping up with us today on c-span's washington journal. we will invite you to join us again tomorrow morning for another edition of "washington journal." everyone have a great saturday. ♪

announcer: here's a look at some of today's c-span schedule. next, space agency leaders from the u.s., russia, india, europe, and japan talk about collaboration on current and future projects. bill that, a hearing on a regarding workplace accommodations for pregnant workers. then, three members of congress who previously served in the executive branch, discuss the role of congress and national --urity, and foreign affairs congress in national security and foreign affairs. announcer: politico on is live politicon isty -- live today. james comey and chief political

wallacefor msnbc nicole will speak. senator,er minnesota al franken. watch anytime on c-span.org and listen wherever you are using the free c-span radio app. announcer: book tv has live weekend coverage of the texas book festival from austin. starting today at 11:00 eastern, with all of their discussions on the trump administration, immigration policy, with julie hirschfeld davis and michael scheer. the life and career of samantha power, and the impact on disinformation with former under secretary of state richard stangl. our live coverage from the texas book festival continue sunday at noon eastern.

then, dr. marty macario offering his thoughts on health care. you bring candy on race in america. atsure to watch it starting 11:00 a.m. eastern and be sure to catch the miami book fair next month on book tv on c-span2. announcer: space agency leaders from the u.s., russia, india, europe, and japan came together for the international astronautical conference held in washington, d.c. they talked about how the international community is collaborating on current and future space projects. this is just under an hour.