guy, right out of a movie, really classy guy. he has a gym over a garage in washington. he opened up the gym. i did pretty good. was happy to say that. i enjoyed that. >> see our entire interview with congressman peter king, who is retiring after 28 years. tonight on c-span at 8 p.m. eastern. c-span's podcast "the weekly." talking to political scientist robert browning who directs the c-span archives about congress's increasing use of lame-duck sessions to tackle big-ticket legislation. weekly" where"the you get your podcasts. >> this is kristin tait and she is an analyst for young americans for liberty and also a columnist for the hill and the author of the book "the liberal invasion of red state america."

welcome to "washington journal." thank you for having me. host: your recent op-ed looks at the state of blue cities. what made you interested in this idea? guest: i have been interested in this for years. "thest recent book, liberal invasion of red state america" came out. i have been observing that republicans have been fixed on illegal immigration. i see the actual change in this country happening because of domestic migration, not necessarily because of immigration. i wrote my book prior to this year about the shift from people moving from blue states to red states. little did i know that the exploring would explode on an unprecedented level.

what we have seen since covid emptying out of big cities. it so happens that the megacities happen to be located in blue states which have higher tax rates in the country. of two typesto one of places, other cities in red states or to more sparsely populated areas within their home state. that could be moved from new york city to syracuse or a move from new york city to florida. these trends are huge. they will have consequences to these cities that are losing residents. host: in the wall street journal there is a story looking at this. it was from bookings institute which says that california's population declined for what seems to be the first time since 1900 as the state lost 7500 residents. 10 states are likely to even

lose one congressional seat over this. it goes on from there. is there a "why" to all of this? guest: it is a perfect storm of factors. you have covid. for the first time for many families, they are realizing they have a choice, they don't have to live in big cities especially as corporations allow people to work from home. just as importantly, our quality of life issues. city,ces like new york you have some of the highest tax rates in the country. the cost of living is exorbitant. the average cost of rent is something like $3000 a month. for many families that is not possible. if you have children and need more bedrooms, that is more expensive. the crime is really up this year in new york city, it is up 50% from this time last year.

inot of this is happening one safe part of the city, the public school system -- the city. the public school system is a failure in many ways. you add all of these factors up and a lot of families think why should i stick around here when i could go to florida or texas or arizona and live a comfortable life where i can afford a house and my mortgage will be less than my rent here in the city? i don't have to worry about crime. my children can attend a nice school. covid has allowed a lot of people to really start asking themselves these questions. of course, when you removed income tax, that allows families to hold on to more of their money and provide for their families in ways they were not able to living in these expensive men -- expensive men

cas. -- mec tate joining us for this conversation. if you want to after questions, 202-748-8000us at for republicans, 202-748-8001 for democrats. you said that some of these places, red states supposedly, why are people going to those locations? what is the appeal? and they stillst have a hip city vibe people like. i live in houston, texas. it is a large city, you can enjoy wonderful restaurants,

world-class museums, a metropolitan population. but you can a large house in the city limits which is not possible in this big cities located in blue states. meanwhile, you don't have to pay income tax. a big part of it is looking for affordability but also being able to enjoy the metropolitan lifestyle. there is a significant population of people also moving to less -- more sparsely populated areas in blue states as well and red states, too. places like burlington, vermont or syracuse, new york, places where they would not have been able to do their jobs. because of covid allowing them to work from home, but who want that more rural lifestyle, many are able to do that. it is a combination of being able to hold onto money and also being able to perform your job in these places that previously

you're not able to do so. host: because we live in the age of covid, telecommuting is part of people's experience. how does that change what is going on in these states. -- these states? guest: it is heating up this trend -- not just the exodus from large cities but also large corporations. in new york city, financial institutions are downsizing their footprints in new york to save money. they are opening offices in other cities across the country. citigroup, all of these places are staffing up in other parts of the country. moving to the houston area, oracle is living saidornia, elon musk has he is moving to texas and taking his employees with him. as we see corporations making

these moves and bringing jobs to other parts of the country, you are going to see people follow those corporations. it could create significant shifts in populations that will have an interesting political impact. cities areexas absorbing some of the largest numbers of domestic migrants. closing thecrats gap with republicans in large suburban areas. thedemocrats did not get blue wave they wanted in 2020, but they are closing the gap. if this continues, we could see these traditionally red states like texas go to democrats. california used to be a very conservative state. demographics are similar to what california's were in the 1990's before democrats began their winning streak in the

state. if these corporations keep moving and bring workers and new people move in for the jobs to these traditionally conservative red states, we could see a very significant political realignment that could change the way politicians campaign for decades to come. host: our first call comes from california. in california, you are on with our guest. go ahead. caller: i live in orange county, california. it is a red bastion in the blue state. san diego is also becoming very red. we are trying to get rid of governor newsom. it is coming out of these two counties. increase diego had an in aliens and 40% of them have covid-19 and gavin newsom what

to give them vaccines over american citizens. and other places are going blue. everybody got so angry and so many people got hurt that it may not be going red but it is definitely going purple, the state. guest: there is definitely going to be blowback against the leadership in these places that are losing residents. i often say it is frustrating to see the leaders of some of his blue states and cities -- on policies that created the exodus in the first place -- and cities the exodus in the first place. part of the blasio, solution is to raise taxes on people who stay. we have heard them both threatened to do that. in california, voters in san francisco past an overpaid

executive tasks -- executive tax. a certainxecutives amount more than the median salary which sounds great but that is going to drive corporations out of the state at a faster rate. if that of trying to make cities more affordable and more pleasant and cracking down on crime, it often seems like the leaders in charge double down on the destructive policies and unfortunately this speeds up the exodus. it also causes folks who stay behind to rethink -- maybe this isn't working and it creates blowback against leaders in charge which is happening in some pockets of california. host: brian lives in virginia, independent line. hi, how are you? guest: -- host: go ahead.

caller: i am an independent because i don't agree with everything both classes are doing. one when they both doing wrong? the best thing is to get in there, work with both of them and go from there. put somebody in from the poor class that has done it, that understands some of those aspects. brian, thank you. guest: i think we need more people in public office at all levels who have experienced what it is like to work for living and turn a dollar and are not necessarily beholden to one party or another. why you are is

seeing populism on both sides of the aisle. embracingt the right right-wing populism with someone like donald trump and on the left you have another form of populism embracing bernie sanders and alexandria ocasio-cortez. these d.c. careerists who are out of touch with the working class don't know what it is like to work for a living because they have been in office for decades. i agree with the caller, i would love to see more people like him throw their hat in the ring and really represent the people they serve. host: gilbert in louisiana, democrat life. -- democrat line. caller: what is going on with this coronavirus situation, it is unbelievable that we go through what we go through as -- for our leaders to put

us through this. it is unbelievable. i don't understand why our leaders put us through that like that. host: thank you. covid has been devastating on multiple levels. it has exposed the lack of leadership in many areas. i would argue on a health level and economic level that many of the decisions being made are harming people not just healthwise but economically. look at l.a., they have been --t down with outdoor dining they have shut down outdoor dining which has been devastating. evidence that outdoor dining has led to spread

of covid-19. meanwhile in new york city, leaders shut down schools with evene notice to parents though schools lead to a low spread of covid-19. they interviewed about 30,000 people working at public schools -- only two out of 30,000 don't quote me on the statistics but something like that. it puts parents in a tough position. they have a position where people are suffering healthwise, we are not getting them the help they need, especially with the stimulus bill which gives out $600 to people. on top of that, you have these lockdowns that are often not based on science or data that are really strangling business

and killing the employees who work there who can no longer make a living. we have seen such a failure of leadership at every level of leadership -- every level of government and we need to stop -- start thinking smart. host: we have seen several leaders from cities and localities make the plea to capitol hill as far as aid to help them balance their budgets. what do you think of that request? i am against bailout on a state and city level with a few exceptions. mostly because of cities that are requesting a lot money have been in financial trouble for years, long before covid. last year, new york was facing a multibillion-dollar whole -- hole in their budget because they did not collect as much revenue as they needed. places like to see these

get their financial house is in order instead of forcing taxpayers to subsidize years and years of financial irresponsibility. i dog said that, understand these are precedented -- unprecedented times. we need help to the businesses that have been harmed by this and the individual people who are out of work. i would like to see the money go to the people and businesses rather than these localities that have been in trouble for a long time. the last thing we want to do is encourage them in irresponsible spending habits that were happening for the pandemic. i think a lot of leaders are using the pandemic as an excuse to bailout years and years of poor decisions. host: we have if you are that asked about these trends. they ask "how long before corporations adjust salaries to reflect the low cost of living ?" there no -- their location

guest: right now we are not seeing that happen. if you get a job at the headquarters and now allows you to work remotely, i have not heard any stories that you have moved to florida where cost-of-living is lower and that is why we will decrease your salary. that is why you see people flock to more affordable place is because the salary goes further their. i have not heard of that trend happening but i guess we will have to wait and see. host: we will hear from mike in north carolina, republican line. hope you will let me get my comments and questions in without cutting me off. i understand people moving out , l.a., newcities

york, they are all democratic run. for years they happen run into the ground. the people moving from these states, they voted for these democrats year after year. i lived in north carolina and unfortunately we have a democratic governor. these people when they leave these states, they need to leave their democrat mentality in state they left and when they turnto a red don't try to it into a blue state because that hurts the people that actually live here. guest: in texas we have a saying which is "don't california my texas." a large part of my book looks at that trend exactly which is people moving from blue states to red states because of the cost of living in the quality of life and continuing to vote in

favor of the policies that cause the problems in states they fled. when people make these moves, they're not thinking about politics. they're thinking my rent will be lower, the crime rate is lower, i got a new job in this city. time toeople all the live in texas for north carolina or florida you have got to reach out to your new neighbors and explain to them why your home state has flourished, why jobs -- why you to have jobs and still live pleasant lives. you need to reach out and explain these things because i fear if we don't and if these new domestic migrants do continue to vote in favor of the states they fled, these red states could go permanently blue. i am from new hampshire and it used to be a purple state.

as bostonians moved to new hampshire, the whole bottom half became blue and now the state as a whole i would argue is a democratic state. our entire state legislature is democrat. we have a republican as governor but that is it. i hope a similar trend does not take over texas and florida and turn those states blue. if that happens, it is over for republicans on a national level in terms of elections. i don't see how they would win the white house again. host: what is "young americans for liberty." -- liberty?" guest: we are a youth organization that tries to educate youth about the constitution, liberty, freedom, and mobilize youth for races. we believe changes happen at the

local and state level. we are forgetting liberty-friendly candidates selected for office. at the quote we are an educational group and teach them what they don't here in the classroom about the constitution. host: our guest is with that organization also the author of? --of "the liberal invasion of red state america." democrat --ing on a on the democrats line. caller: your guest is referring to new york and people leaving their and that people can work at home and low class and middle class people can't work from home. upper-class is thriving. i don't know if the lower classes or middle classes are moving to those red states. one other thing, talking about

taxes and conservative and liberals. taxes, nowes say cut we are in a crisis. how are we going to pay for the needs of the people without having adequate texas? taxes?uate liberals are talking about individual rights, etc. conservatives have just one thing in mind, power and control. countryd control in the historically is institutional white power. guest: you brought up several things. thatpletely agree with you these trends are more favorable to upper income earners. more than 60% of the people leaving manhattan make more than

$100,000 a year. part of why i am interested in this trend and why i think it is important for people to understand is that it is devastating to working-class and lower income people. when you lose high earners, you allow that cap space and that means more revenue -- for infrastructure and things that you need to make a city function. know i keep-- i bringing up new york but it is a great model because it is our biggest city. when you lose that revenue, it is devastating enough that the poor get hurt the most. there is no acknowledgment from the leadership that they need their billionaires to make that city function. when you keep raising taxes on them, it worsens them out. they will keep leaving and the end result will be worse.

thendly, i would say that covid lockdowns have been devastating in new york to people who are more working-class and cannot work remotely, particularly when you look at restaurant workers. these people have been out of work and income for almost a year. my stepmother runs restaurants in the boston area. she has these employees, she loves them. the revenue is down, they were closed for a long time. these people who work for her and restaurant workers and similar workers around the country are not getting the help they need. they are not making income. when you see these restaurants be shut down for more than a year, this keeps going on. as more restaurants closed permanently, those people will be out of jobs. i think you're going to see some lower income people leaving blue

cities when there are not enough businesses in -- businesses around to employ them. those businesses will be in red states that have allowed businesses to flourish. firstee with the caller's comments and i hope we see these trends reversed. as the tax base fleas, we could see some dark times in our cities as the critical funding also leaves with the high earners. professor ats a the university of pennsylvania that writes this "once the pandemic is over, knowing new businesses will replace ones that closed, once the businesses are back up and running andy demand has been met, you will see caudal cash college graduates fall in the ranks behind those families that may --."accelerated

guest: you're going to have fewer people living and working in the area to go to the restaurants in the theaters and to go to these other cultural institutions. if those people and employees are gone, that means there is good to be less of an incentive for people to start a restaurant put a life savings into various businesses. there is this other aspect of is not easy to describe which is the culture of a city. if we see more young people and white color workers leaving new york and san francisco, the new cultural hubs are going to be where their. austin, texas and nashville, tennessee -- these cities are where the younger people are

moving. as these cities absorb or young working people, that is where you are going to see the exciting new cultural institutions pop up. rigor to see a large number of restaurants and theaters and museums being created. citiesy is that these like new york and l.a. as they , theyounger population working people at high earners, you might not see the restaurants come back and replace all of the ones that shut down. some new restaurants will reopen some will be open and some new restaurants will come up, but it is sad to think that a city like new york or san francisco may not ever come back to its former glory. it may come back, but it will take a long time. host: our guest's website is kristinbtate.com.

she is the author of "the liberal invasion of red state america." announcer: with covid-19 relief legislation approved by congress and the vaccine being and ministered, use our website to file the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak. watch our videos anytime on demand and track the spread with interactive maps, all at c-span.org/coronavirus. announcer: coming up tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, a look at the political career of retiring new york congressman peter king. on c-span 2, book tv's year in review continues with a focus on business and economics. economist and author offers his views on politics and history. and on c-span 3's american history tv, we mark the mayflower's 400th anniversary in

a conversation with robert stone, director of the virtual mayflower project. they will show us how they use virtual reality to re-create the ship that traveled from plymouth, england to america in 1620. >> how has the congress changed in your view over the last 32 years? ah, well, first of all, i personally, as a woman, never felt that i was held back. the inequities, the men, the evident during my time in washington. assumed it was just that men were meant. men were men.

there would be lipstick in the welcoming bags for my husband. there was not even a ladies room on the house floor until i think 2011. i came to congress in 1989. there were only 31 women in the legislative branch. today, there are 127. and i must say, i am so inspired, so impressed with this freshman class of women. they bring new perspectives, new voices. they come from so many different backgrounds. they are an extraordinary group of women. announcer: you can watch our entire interview with congresswoman nita lowrey, who is expiring from congress after 32 years, tonight on c-span at 8:45 eastern. announcer: you are watching

c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today, we're brought to you by these television companies provide c-span to viewers as a public service. announcer: in wilmington, delaware, president-elect joe biden introduce connecticut's education commissioner to be the nation's next education secretary. miguel cardona spoke about his background and challenges facing american students during the pandemic. president-elect biden: i heard there