announcer: all programs are available on our website at c-span.org, or as a podcast. ♪ announcer: you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by cable television companies in 1979. today, we are brought to you by these companies that provide c-span as a public service. coming up, reporter casey wooton talks about the week ahead in congress. david bier looks at recent actions on immigration and border policy. later, karl evers-hillstrom

talks about lobbying efforts are covid relief legislation. we also take your calls. you can also join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning. it is monday, march 15. by the end of the day, 110 million doses of vaccines will have been administered in this country. the country averages more than 2.5 million doses a day. amid that effort, we are spending our first hour this morning hearing your personal vaccination story. here's how we split up the phone lines. if you have already been vaccinated, 202-748-8000. if you are waiting on a first or second dose, 202-748-8001.

if you have decided not to get the vaccine, 202-748-8002. you can also send a text at 202-748-8003. include your name and where you are from. otherwise, catch up with us on social media. you can use twitter or facebook. a very good monday morning to you. call in now. yesterday morning, dr. fauci appeared on the sunday shows to praise vaccination rates but also expressed concern about vaccine hesitancy in the country. here he is on "meet the press." [video clip] >> half of republican men say they will not take the vaccine. you had the psa with all former presidents except one, former president trump. do you think he needs to be enlisted to get his voters to

take the vaccine? dr. fauci: i hope he does because the numbers you gave are so disturbing, how such a large proportion of a certain group of people would not want to get vaccinated, merely because of political consideration -- it makes absolutely no sense. i've been saying that for so long. we have to dissociate political persuasion from what common sense, no brain or public health things. the history of vax knowledge he has rescued us from smallpox, polio, measles, from all other diseases, so what is the problem? tis is -- this is a vaccine that will be lifesaving for millions. and how some groups would not want to do it for reasons i do not understand -- i cannot comprehend the reason for that when you have a vaccine that is

94% to 95% effective and very safe. host: dr. anthony fauci yesterday. you heard chuck todd mentioned the advertisement with the former presidents, except president donald trump. that ad coming out on thursday from the ad council. [video clip] >> the vaccines are available to millions of americans, and soon they will be available to everyone. >> this vaccine means hope. it will protect you and of are -- and those you love from this dangerous disease. >> i want to go back to work. i want to be able to move around. >> i want to visit with michelle's mom, see her on her birthday. >> i'm looking forward to going to opening day in texas rangers a stadium with a full stadium. >> we have lost people. and we have suffered the most

damage. >> in order to get rid of the pandemic, it is important for fellow citizens to get vaccinated. >> i am going to get vaccinated because we want this to end as soon as possible. >> get vaccinated as soon as it is available to you. >> do your part. >> this is your shot. now it is up to you. host: that was released on thursday from the ad council. the concern right now among public health officials is the idea of vaccine hesitancy. that's a concern being polled in numerous polls, including one that came out last thursday. here is the percentage of those that say they will choose not to be vaccinated when a vaccine becomes available. 47% of trump voters said they do not plan to be vaccinated. 41% of republicans. 38% of white evangelicals.

37% of latinos. 34% of independents. 34% of white noncollege educated americans. 20% of whites. 25% of blacks. 18% of those who attended college. 11% democrats. and 10% of biden voters. that's the breakdown. and this morning, we are hearing your personal vaccine story. and we will split the phone lines this way. if you have already been vaccinated, 202-748-8000. if you are waiting for that first dose or second dose, 202-748-8001. and if you are declining to take the vaccine, 202-748-8002. and, again, you can send a text to 202-748-8003. cornell is up first, has been vaccinated. out of new jersey.

good morning. caller: yes, i did receive my vaccine last saturday. and -- however, a lot of people that i know are hesitant with taking the vaccine. with their date of may 1 having everybody vaccinated, it's unfortunate that some of the states are just opening up and saying, ok, taking the restrictions off. but i'm also thinking it's a way to try to make the biden administration's success or herd immunity fail. on the flipside, yesterday marvin hagler, one of the best boxers ever, died from complications from the vaccine.

so did hank aaron. but, as a believer, i believe their work was done. host: you said you know people who are hesitant to take the vaccine, what do you say to them? and as you were getting vaccinated, has that helped them come to that decision? caller: i got the vaccine because my wife is a bus driver. she got the vaccine. if i was single, i'm not want to come out. when i go to the store, i am the first one there early in the morning. so i do not put myself in a position to even be around that many people. but most people that i know that are hesitant were -- their concern was, first of all it was rushed. second of all, you have too many

conflicting statements. first, it was -- from the trump administration -- they said it was a hoax, basically. then hid the information from the american people. then dr. fauci, because he didn't want to go against trump, was inconsistent with some of his it statements from the beginning. but the overall fact of the matter is, i believe if it fails, that would be incentive for the democrats to lose this 2022 election. host: kathy out of michigan, still waiting to get vaccinated. talk about that process and how hard it has been. caller: well, it has taken longer than i thought. it came through a place wher i

wase -- where i was working at. somehow, they got the funding and vaccinations and they were prompt and efficient, and they called me. and they called me again when i could not reach them back. so i am very excited. i've been waiting. i have five siblings and my youngest brother is not vaccinated yet. but then everybody will be. and i am working with my family and children. the state has not done a good job coordinating it. i have worked in medicine for years. host: how do you think they could improve it? caller: you have to build a database. it has to be centralized. you have that to get a hold of people. it wasn't difficult -- i got online at work. my supervisor showed me. i signed up.

it was simple. they called me. they wanted my cell phone number. and it went very quickly. if they can do it, i do not understand why the state of michigan cannot push things harder. host: you are talking about a database. by may 1, as vaccines become more visible, the biden administration is planning to launch a website that will show americans where locations near them have the vaccine. they will set up a call center for folks who do not have access to the internet. do you think a federal database will be helpful? do you trust it will be well-run? caller: we should've have had one from the onset. again, i'm expressing my disappointment in the trump administration. one of my former coworkers, a nurse died, and his wife died two days before him of covid. and a healthy enough individual, but i do not know where he was

exposed at, or his wife. and i know multiple people who have been hospitalized who have survived, but it is nothing to dismiss. dr. fauci was right. i've been vaccinated for all kinds of things, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, all of it. and i do not shy away from it. host: more from dr. anthony fauci on "meet the press," talking about a year of covid. [video clip] dr. fauci: i knew it was going to be bad. a couple days ago last year, i said that things were going to get much worse before they got any better. but even i did not fully anticipate that we would have over a half a million deaths a year later. we knew it was going to be bad, but this has turned out to be a historic example of what a

pandemic virus can do. it's been a terribly trying year for everybody, not only suffering healthwise, deaths, but what it has done to the economy, society, and has deepened the divisiveness that we have had in our country to begin with has just made it more intense. it's been a bad time all around. we are getting around the corner, going in the right direction, but looking back at what we have been through, people will be writing about this and historically pining about it for a long time to come. host: that was dr. fauci yesterday. from the washington post, the idea of vaccine hesitancy. notin facebookg -- noting that facebook has a study of doubts expressed by u.s. users about the vaccine. a major project that is

attempting to probe and teach software to identify medical attitudes of millions of americans, according to documents. the research is a large-scale attempt to understand the spread of ideas that contribute to vaccine hesitancy, the act of refusing vaccines despite the availability on social media. it notes it is a primary source for millions who use facebook to get health information from the paper version of the washington post. the effort discovering early evidence of overlap between communities that are skeptical of vaccines and those affiliated with qanon conspiracy theory. that's from the washington post. we are hearing from you about your personal vaccination stories. we are hearing from folks who have already been vaccinated, those waiting and of those declining to be vaccinated. larry out of texas.

why are you planning on not getting the vaccine? caller: i do not follow what biden tells me what to do. i do not need them telling me what is best for me. host: what if, as dr. fauci hopes, former president trump -- caller: dr. fauci is a brown shirt. host: what if former president trump said, you should get the vaccine? caller: i would still not get it, because it takes five years to develop a vaccine that is completely safe. this has been developed in less than a year. host: about 110 million americans will have taken the vaccine by the end of the year. is it time for you? or is it numbers of americans that will make you feel better about the safety of the vaccine? caller: neither. neither. because i am homeless and they do not care about me. host: larry, it has been a year

of covid. can you talk about that year for you as a homeless person? caller: that is correct. i've been living on the streets for over 10 years. and i have never caught any sicknesses or illness. host: that's larry out of texas. you can go ahead and keep calling. the phone lines are split up by those who have already taken the shot, those waiting to get a vaccine, and those who are declining to take the vaccine. as you call in, on monday in the washington journal, we like to look at the week ahead on capitol hill. to do that we are joined by casey wooton. no thatw -- now that the american rescue plan has been passed and signed into law, taking up the past couple weeks, what will be happening on the house and senate floor this

week? guest: house democrats are focused on quickly advancing bills they passed in the previous congress, like gun control, please reform, and voting rights, but immigration is at the forefront of this week. they are taking up two bills, one of the american dream and promise act, which will create a legal pathway for dreamers, the undocumented immigrants brought to the u.s. as children. the second is the farm workforce modernization act. it would create a process for agricultural workers to earn temporary protected status and sort of make the h2-a temporary worker application process a bit easier. so, these bills -- they armaments as a test to see if there is appetite for broader

immigration reform. in congress, there are divisions among house democrats about advancing president biden's broader immigration plan. that's something they need to work out. host: what is the appetite we know of in the senate, a place where president biden would need 60 votes to advance legislation? guest: as far as the broader immigration program, there is not a lot of appetite from republicans very taking it up. his proposal would create an eight year pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. thee two bills up -- the two bills up for vote this week hav a strongere chance of getting republican votes, but it is unclear whether they have 60. as far as the dreamers bill, that probably has the best chance of garnering gop support. the senate majority whip dick durbin and senator lindsey

graham have cosponsored a narrow bill together, so there is space for them to work together. host: we will dive deeper into immigration reform and what is happening on the border later today at 8:00 a.m., but happening on the floor, the house will not be in session until tomorrow. but less than at 3:00 p.m. today, so where are we on the nominations and confirmation process? guest: today, the senate will vote on deb haaland for interior secretary. she would be a historic nomination and confirmation, the first native american cabinet secretary in history. and they voted on a 54-42 but last week. so her confirmation is extremely likely. they picked up susan collins, lindsey graham and dan sullivan of alaska on the vote last week.

so, also this week is javier becerra for hhs secretary. at this and it has advanced that nomination as well. it's likely he will also get confirmed. smaller votes, guzman for administration -- for administrator of the small business administration and kathy tied. so that would make almost all cabinet level nominations complete, confirmations complete for joe biden. all that is left is marty walsh for secretary of labor, eric lander to lead the office of science and technology policy. and neera tanden, with her stepping down for her nomination for omb, they will need to find a replacement nomination for her. host: outside of the nomination and confirmation hearings, what other hearings are you and folks

at the national journal going to be watching this week? guest: well, i will be looking at a few hearings. there are some tax related hearings in the senate finance committee. and several in the ways and means committee. it's going to be a fairly busy time on the hill, but mostly it will be house votes. they will also vote on reauthorizing the violence against women act and taking up a bill to lift the deadline on the equal rights amendment. that's where we will be focusing our attention. host: lastly, we saw at the end of last week a couple of votes on bills to strengthen background checks on firearms. those things taking the house for.

do we know if and when they will get a vote in the senate? guest: we do not know when. like the dreamers bill, there's a little appetite for some background check legislation in the senate. it's something that they have tried to work on in the last congress and the congress before that. they got close, but they could not close the deal. there is no timeline to advance those bills yet, but it is something they are working on, along with other legislation like infrastructure. host: another busy week on capitol hill. and one that casey wooton and his colleagues at the national journal are covering. national journal.com is where you can find their work. back to your phone calls. spending the first hour getting your personal vaccination story as rates are expected to pass 110 million doses by the end of

the day today. barbara is waiting for one of those doses out of massachusetts. good morning. how has that process been? how far along are you, you think? caller: the process on the island here is just perfection itself, because there are so food people here. there -- few people here. and we have a hospital attached to mass general, so everything is extremely professional. i got the first one on the third. i get the second one on the 30th. but what i want to say is that i have been listening to c-span for decades and i am a regular caller. and i just must say that listening to the call from cornell, then the call from the homeless man, it's just so

reinforcing to me of what we have to deal with now to heal the country. both from the political and the medical domains. so i want everybody to imagine putting all of the antibacterials all along the line of a grading scale of anger and rage into resistance. and the culmination, the worst of it being manifesting the riot, but it all boils do for these people to personal experienceswn of anger and rage. someone who is homeless, who has never been ill, we can hear what his hopelessness and anger is about. it is a projection of hopelessness on a personal level that may be the most generic thing happening there.

what you resist persists. let's not resist the presenters. let's be with them and see if we can heal ourselves. host: thank you for the call. steve out of texas, on the line for those already vaccinated. talk about that process. caller: i am in amarillo. i'm a traveler. a retired one. so, anyway, appear we -- up here we have the moderna vaccine. i got both and had no side effects. maybe a sore arm and tiredness on the second one. the reason, i just want to say that i saw, you know, some people like dr. fauci and biden take the shot and i thought, well, why would they want to

promote something like that if it was bad for somebody? of course, that one guy was calling them brownshirts. that's conspiracy type stuff there. anyway, up here it is first-come, first-served. i'm over 65, so that is part of the reason i got the shots. i hope that people will come to their senses. because they are going to gum up the works if we do not come together and get rid of it. host: joseph in santa barbara, california, one of those declining to take the shot. why? caller: first, i am a longtime caller. how is brian doing, by the way? host: he is good. i saw him this morning. caller: tell him to show his face every once in a while. host: maybe he will popping. -- he will pop in. caller: the situation is so

politicized. i'm not a republican or democrat. my thing is this. i haven't had a cold in 50 years . the only time i ever got the flu was when i took a flu shot. that is where i am coming from. isn't the whole idea to get herd immunity? host: that is one of the thing that public health officials want to get us to, and they see vaccines as a key way of doing that. caller: but there is another thing going on no one is reporting. millions of people have already had covid and recovered. and those people are now immune. so, there are a hell of a lot more people who have contributed to the herd immunity. so that has to be taken into consideration.

i do not see that reported anywhere? do you agree -- host: about 30 million americans have contracted the coronavirus, but the concern is while the vast majority do recover, 500,000 americans have died. caller: i understand that. that happens all the time. in my age group, we are the most vulnerable, those are the people dying for the most part. so, of course we do not want anybody to die, but we also have to understand that there are a lot more people who have recovered at that they are not even counting. so we should not be panicking. i'm not suggesting that people should not take the vaccine. mine is a personal decision. so, but we should also

understand that there are those people who, like me, who are already immune. and there's a lot more of them. so we are going to get there quicker than we think we are. host: joseph in california. on the idea of vaccine hesitancy, a story from axios came out yesterday about the vaccine hesitancy in the u.s. house of representatives. uncertainty about why only 75% of the house is confirmed as vaccinated against the coronavirus is fueling a debate about when the chamber can return to normal operation. the other 25% of members have either refused to get the vaccine, have not reported getting it or are avoiding it because of medical conditions. until the house is clear about this, you cannot make recommendations on the

relaxation of existing social distancing guidelines in the house. the story noting congress has its own supply of the covid vaccine, although it is not certain which party is to blame, the phenomenon is higher among white republicans than any other demographic, as we have seen from the polling we already talked about. we have ken on the line for those who have been vaccinated. tell us about your experience. caller: hello. my name is ken. i've been vaccinated. i work in the hospital. and i did contract the virus last april. and [indiscernible] but i did recover, fortunately, and i was vaccinated at the end of december with my first shot.

and i had my second shot of moderna in january. and i support the vaccinations. i work with covid patients in the hospital. and it is very sad to see those who have never recovered. host: you are talking about the sadness from that experience. can you talk about the vaccination itself and what it w as like in terms of how people were acting? there's a story from usa about the scene taking place at these vaccination sites, calling it a positive experience. even a picture of the famous musician, yo-yo ma, playing his cello on saturday while awaiting his 15 minutes that you have to wait after receiving your vaccination shot. so what was that seem like for

you at the vaccination site? caller: well, at the hospital i work at, we are staff members, so it was very organized and, um , and -- it was very -- it was people who worked there giving the shot and receiving them. so i received it with all my coworkers. host: christine out of richmond, virginia, still waiting on the shot. caller: good morning. i've had my first moderna shot about two weeks ago and i'm awaiting the second one. i was hesitant because i am undergoing cancer treatments. and i didn't want to overwhelm

my immune system, but i was assured it would be ok. i did have a mild reaction of a fever and a sore arm. but the fever only lasted a couple days, so i will continue to get the second shot. i'm concerned. at the mass vaccination site they did not distance us, nor did they do the 15 minutes afterwards. so when i get my second one, i am hoping to find a different place to get that second shot. host: how did you find the first place and how will you find it the second place? caller: i got on a list with the local health department. i waited about a month. the county next door called me. and i found -- i'm not tech savvy, but they were very nice and set me up for the next day, actually, for my appointment.

but i am continuing to get cancer treatments every day, which concerns me a bit about being exposed everyday to the virus. even though they are not -- they are careful, but they cannot account for their patients, of course. but i wanted to have a little bit of coverage anyway. i understand it is about 50% at this point. host: thank you for sharing your story. on efforts by the administration to increase the number of sites available to give the vaccines, promising to make or provide vaccines for any american who wants it by may. the story from usa today noting that over the next six weeks vaccines will be delivered to 700 additional health centers in this country that serve low-income and minority patients and provide services in rural areas. part of that american rescue plan package funding that's

being used for that. in addition, the number of pharmacies where it will be available will double, meaning it will be available at more than 20,000 pharmacies across the country, the administration directing pharmacies to expand mobile operations in hard-hit communities to try to treat more. the number of federally operated vaccine centers will also more than doubled from the current 600 number. that story from today's usa today on the efforts to ramp up vaccinations in the country, already averaging about 2.5 million vaccines each day in this country. we are expecting to hit 110 million total doses given by the end of the day today. john, vaccinated. he's in boston massachusetts -- boston, massachusetts. caller: good morning. if i could give a quick story as to my own personal situation, i think it might help a lot of

americans to think twice. and get the vaccination . i've been sick most of my adult life, since i was 30. i had three children at the time. and i was bedridden and the doctors gave me drugs that were relatively new, and the even said that to me. and i said, whatever you can do. i was a veteran. so they gave me drugs for psoriatic arthritis at the time. and it worked. and i have led -- i'm a young 76, in the sense of being positive. but the medication through those years, including i and managed -- including managing to get the flu twice a year. and once they came out with the flu shot, i started taking it

and i have never gotten it sets. i think it is a positive way of thinking. science has helped us so much, so you would want to push it on any of them if you could give them a story that would lead them not to think about it twice. host: the question about faxing hesitancy, when dr. fauci is saying that president trump could be one of the keys to ending the pandemic if he came out and encouraged his supporters to do it. do you think a public official like that has more influence or somebody like yourself talking to somebody else you know, hearing those stories from the people you know in your life? caller: i wish he could have. i think it is his personality to accept whatever way he wanted to go. i do not criticize him for that. i know being the leader of the country it might've been better

to do that, but he was saying, kind of how i was saying, well, you cannot compare me to the president of the united states, but even my own family has hesitance. and all i can do is say, look, here is an example. your father for 40 years has had medications at have made him walk, lead a relatively happy life. and that's from the science. and i think we have to go that way. it makes me feel good to think that people are getting it. and i had one family member who just, she just turned 80, and she refused the shots. and we buried her a few weeks ago. she got covid at the very end of this situation and it is a very sad thing. host: very sorry for your loss.

on this idea of vaccine hesitancy in this country, one other number from the politics poll. it polled a lot of different groups in the u.s. on this issue. noting that there is a little different between white and black americans on the reluctance to take the vaccine. that poll found a 73% of black people and 70% of white people say they plan to get the vaccine or have done so already. ernest has done so. hollywood, south carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i took both of the shots. i took my first in january. and they called me back and said, we will give you the same shot that president trump had. and then i got another call that

said, you have the virus, so go to the nearest hospital. so i stayed in the nearest hospital for 10 days. and i believe they sent me home too early because i could not walk. my daughter was concerned. so they called the police to come check on me. and when the police did, they said, we are glad you answered because we usually kick in the door when we get calls like this. so i was shipped to -- and i had to go to a v.a. because i am a veteran. when i went to that hospital, they took good care of me and found out that i had pneumonia. and that i had a blood clot in my lungs. i was in the icu. lost my tast of smell -- taste

of smell and everything. and my primary care doctor said, we were praying for you because you do not know how close you came to heaven. host: how do you feel now that you have been vaccinated? you have received both shots? caller: i have received both shots and right now i have 24 hour care. i have my daughter's sisters, my nieces coming here. i have to have somebody here at all times because i am trying to build my strength back up. i can breathe without oxygen, but my pulmonary doctor said keep it on two when you are sitting down because i am getting ready to do tests. and the tests will tell whether they keep me off it, take me off it, or keep me on it. for a while they put me on blood thinners because the blood clock that i had a beard host: thank you. -- clot that i had.

host: thank you. life after vaccination, another topic that dr. fauci addressed yesterday. here he is on what sort of guidelines people should still continue to abide by after being vaccinated. [video clip] dr. fauci: the cdc is a science-based organization, so they would like to get the data that will allow them to go to the next step. if they do not have the data, they would remodeling. if they do not have the modeling, they will use common sense expert opinion. so what we have seen is the first installment of what you can do if you are vaccinated. what you can do in the home setting with vaccinated people together, or vaccinated people together with an unvaccinated person. you will see similar types of guidelines soon for the american public with regard to travel,

the workplace, all kinds of different things that you are asking right now. you will see those types of guidelines coming out. they just want to make sure they get it right. some people think that is too slow, but they will get there soon. host: dr. fauci appearing on several sunday shows this week. we are taking your phone calls, asking for your personal vaccination story. if you have already been vaccinated, 202-748-8000. if you are waiting on a first or second dose, 202-748-8001. and if you are declining in the coronavirus vaccine, 202-748-8002. and we mentioned what's happening in the week ahead on capitol hill. to the other end of pennsylvania avenue to talk about president biden's schedule this week, he is expected to deliver remarks today about the american rescue plan before embarking on a

cross-country tour to tout that plan. tomorrow, he is heading to pennsylvania. it's been called the help is h re tour. on wednesday, he will take a break for a meeting on st. patrick's day. on friday, he will be back on the road as part of this tour, heading to georgia. we will highlight the american rescue plan. how it is helping american families across the country. that's throughout the week. and we will continue to bring you coverage all week long. back to your phone calls. this is larry out of california. on the line for those declining the vaccine. why, larry? caller: i was in the marine corps in 1974. i was in north carolina. i did not know, but they had

dirty water and a drink it. my body was hurting from my legs to my feet. doctors have no clue about nothing. and i'm afraid that this shot, which was created at warp speed, is not going to do it for me. to me, america is ruined. we will never get back. i do not trust the doctors. host: when was the last time you trusted doctors? caller: i was in the marine corps the whole time. i took every shot, everywhere. and then when i was 61 years old, they sent me a letter saying what i had gotten in north carolina is going to start hurting. go see a doctor. and i went and nobody knew anything. they said, we do not study that. this and that. i do not trust them anymore. to me, we lost america. we will never get it back.

it will never be the same. i'll just stay home. they should have paid everybody a long time ago to stay home. but they let them have that motorcycle rally. people went to every state. we had neighbors that were sick. america, where like a shithole country, i feel. host: this is james out of baltimore, waiting to get his shot. good morning. caller: how are we doing? host: i am doing well. caller: good. i'm calling because i got my first shot a couple weeks ago. and i have bronchitis. each year, i wind up in the hospital because of my bronchitis. and my temperature is 104 and 105. when i turned 50 years old, i got my first flu shot.

that was the first winter i did not have bronchitis. i have been taking it ever since and for the last 20 years i have not had bronchitis. i took pneumonia -- took the pneumonia shot. and i the shop for the coronavirus because the doctors know more than 90. i remember -- than i do. i remember when my primary care doctor -- i'm a veteran, also -- i asked, why do i have these striations in my fingernails? she said i had a liver problem. she was right, i had hepatitis c. i listen to the doctors. i'm hearing a lot of nonsense from people who do not even know about not taking the shot. i want everybody to live. so, take the shot. that's all i can say.

host: this is jenny out of michigan, waiting to get her shot. talk about the search process, finding a place to get a shot. caller: ok. i have had one shot. i was actually -- i'm from rural michigan. i expected problems, but i called a local vax store, the pharmacist registered me. i did not even have to go online. they were very accommodating. i called the governor's office and told her that i thought that they were going above and beyond what they had to do. anyway, number one, i was fortunate. i waited because i was eligible a month ago because of my age.

and i waited because i knew that there were people with pre-existing conditions and that sort of thing that ifo needed it more. -- that i felt needed it more. i'm not a big believer in vaccinations. i do not normally get flu shots. i just practice hygiene. when those seasons come around, i try to avoid big areas where people are in close contact. and i wash my hands. some of the basic things they told us to do from the beginning. so, like i said -- the friend i went with, she had a little bit of arm soreness, she said, the next day. but other than that -- but who knows, maybe the second one will be different. i do not know. but this is different to me. we do not hear of half a million people are dying in a year with a typical flu. that comes out.

so, i just felt because of some of the people that i want to be around. because of their conditions, in remission from cancer and that sort of stuff, that -- i was thinking of them more than myself. host: who is the first person you have not seen in a long time that you are planning to see after you get the second vaccine, after the two weeks? caller: some family that lives down state. we have not been able to get around each other because we were not initially. and i just, you know, i just -- it's sisters, nieces, nephews. tha sort of stufft -- that sort of stuff. host: the idea of vaccine hesitancy in this country. a few of her comments from a text messaging service and

social media renee -- media. renee -- those who do not want to the vaccine are not entitled to infect the rest of us. if they want to be stupid and contagious, they can be that way amongst themselves. steve says i am getting dressed to go to my first shot within the hour. you can lead a horse to water coming cannot make him backstroke, so if people are that ignorant and send the unused vaccines to a country like brazil that is hurting. this from bidenforever, waiting until the walgreens website reset. getting my vaccine shot. we are ready to put covid behind us. henry, good morning. what was the scene like at your vaccination site? caller: it was great. it was a good experience. i am a veteran so i went to the

medical center in richmond, the v.a. center, and i got scheduled and i went down and i had both of my shots. they had a line set up. and it was going. it was easy. and i do not like needles, but it will keep me off that ventilator, that is what i will take a chance on. i would rather have a little staying in my arm than be in the hospital on that ventilator. i'm not doing that. so i am glad -- host: did you ever think that people would be so happy to get a needle or a sting? caller: i know i would be so happy. i was happy to get this one, if it'll stop me from going on that ventilator or infecting somebody else. so i was glad to get it. it worked out pretty well. my arm hurt a little bit after the second shot. it heard a little bit after that, but i continued with my duties and everything. business as usual. host: thank you for that call on

optimism in this country. this from a cnn story. good reason to be optimistic about where the u.s. should be by summertime as vaccinations accelerate. but right now there are several threats looming into the country is at a crossroads. the cdc data shows more than 4800 cases of coronavirus a variants spotted in the u.k., in south africa and brazil that have been now recorded in the u.s. the true number of cases is likely higher. this number of those spotted with gene sequencing, the agency said. donna out of vero beach, florida. you are waiting for the vaccine. ho long have you been waitingw -- how long have you been waiting? caller: since they started the shots. but good news is coming. i had called the office of the

governor, governor ron desantis, and he has stated in a speech i heard that he was going to handle and see to all the homebound to get their inoculations. my husband went to the v.a. and he got his. but i am bedbound. and i do not have a computer. i could not make an appointment and get a cab or whatever to take me. so, you know, i was on lost ground until i called ron desantis's office. and within two hours, i got a return call from the very man that is responsible for 11 florida counties and they are sending out nurses and whatnot,

to clusters of people like me that cannot -- that needs the vaccine to come to us, not us to the assigned place. and it is really a phenomenal thing. if i could give you a telephone number for anybody that really, really needs the shot that cannot get out, it's 8 50-717-9337. and i guarantee that you will get a call back. i am just a happy camper. i'm on the list. [laughter] host: a happy camper. you mentioned corpsmen coming out to help with administering the vaccines. from usa today, the biden administration is planning to

deploy more than 4000 active-duty troops to support the vaccination effort, bringing the overall total to more than 6000 active-duty troops in this country. the story that those troops are part of the effort to boost vaccine distribution in this country. it's at a rate of over 2.5 million each day over the past week. then speaking of the biden administration, news this morning from bloomberg news about the next steps, now that the american rescue plan has been passed and signed into law. joe biden is now aiming at new tax hikes as part of his economic plan, planning the first major tax hike to help pay for the long-term economic program that he has designed as a follow-up to his pandemic relief bill. that is according to people familiar with the matter talking to bloomberg news. unlike the stimulus act, the

next initiative could be even bigger than that $1.9 trillion. it's been increasingly clear that tax hikes would be an opponent, janet yellen has said part of the next bill will have to be paid for, and she pointed to higher tax rates. advisors are making plans for a package of that would include an increase in the corporate tax rate and individual rate for high earners. the biden administration saying this is an opportunity not just a fund infrastructure and climate and expanded health for americans, but also to address what democrats say are the inequalities in the taxa system itself. that is from bloomberg news. we will talk more about that a little bit later in the program. mary lou is out of maple shade, new jersey, on the line for those declining to take the covid vaccine. why? caller: good morning.

thank you for c-span. i will tell you why. first of all, i lost a close friend to covid last year. and a relative of mine had a relative of mine had covid, but recuperated. you keep mentioning why people are hesitant to get the vaccine. i will tell you why they may. there's a lot of information about the vaccine that's very concerning. i have not heard anywhere where anyone has said by getting this vaccine, that it will make you immune to covid. there are stories out there on the internet about what is being put in this vaccine. some people are saying there is a genetic component, mrna, that is being put in the vaccine. when it breaks down, it will enable the government to track you. now this sounds crazy and

off-the-wall, like something out of science fiction, but people -- host: do you think it is crazy? caller: no, i do not necessarily think it is crazy. i'm not going to tell people to either get it or not get it, but what i am suggesting is you investigate, because if you go on the websites for pfizer and moderna and look under the provider section, there's an area of concern where they are saying it is not a vaccine. it's an experiment. host: why do you trust stories out there on the internet versus public health officials going on national television and is speaking to america, asking them to do it, assuring the safety of these things -- why trust the stories on the internet? caller: because there is one particular video on robo.com with -- rumble.com with doctors

around the world. they are talking about this vaccine and the issue dire warnings about this. public officials are part of government, john. i do not know how many people out there trust the government. i know that i do not. host: mary lou, this morning. here's a story, a fact check about concerns that have been in stories on the internet about links between vaccinations and deaths. this story looking at reports about this in eight different countries. no links found between vaccinations and deaths. time for maybe one more call in this segment this morning. bob in nebraska on the line for those who have been vaccinated. caller: good morning. yes, i got my vaccine -- the first one on february 12.

and the second one on march 12. and i had no problem with the first one. just a little pain on the second one. i am glad to have gotten them. host: i'm very glad to have got them. host: we've been talking about the vaccination sites. what what has been like -- what was it like for you? caller: everyone wear a mask, but spacing, it was crowded. but i was willing to take that chance. host: who is the first person you hadn't seen during the course of covid that you plan to see after that two weeks after vaccination? caller: probably my sister, who lives farther away, and i don't see her regularly. that would probably be the first one, to get together with her. host: hope you can do that. thanks for your phone call this morning.

bob, our last caller in this first hour of "washington journal." there is still plenty to talk about this morning, including talking with cato institute policy expert david bier. and later, the 1.9 trillion dollar covid relief spending bill, meaning big money for lobbyists here in washington. we will take a look at the numbers behind the lobby and with karl evers-hillstrom. we will be right back. ♪ >> more than 2000 students entered this year's studentcam documentary competition, and told the issues they want the president to address.

a homeschooler from austin, texas with a documentary about the chinese communist party. our first price high school -- first prize high school goes to a student in maryland on education and standardized testing. in oklahoma, a documentary about online piracy and copyright protection. first prize high school west goes to seventh grader's from california, where there documentary about u.s. foreign policy -- for there about u.s. foreign policy. and our grand prize to enhance greater new york -- to a ninth

grader in new york. >> we want to congratulate you because you are our 22 anyone grand prize winner. -- our 2021 grand prize winner. >> wait, really? >> really. [laughter] >> congratulations! >> i'm speechless. thank you guys so much. >> for his documentary about political division and trust in government. >> in order to get out of this pandemic, to try to reunite a fractured nation, we need to hear the truth, especially when that truth is that the path ahead is going to be long and full of struggle. once we come to expect the truth, even hard truth, we people can place our trust in a better future. >> thanks to all the students who participated in this year's studentcam documentary contest.

the top entries will air on c-span starting april 1, and you can watch all of the winning documentaries anytime online at studentcam.org. ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: david bier of the cato policy institute joins us to dig into the conflict at the u.s.-mexico border. right now, it is children showing up at the border that is drawing the most attention. bring us up to speed on what is driving that. guest: there's several factors at play here. you really have to start and back in the home country and say, why are these people arriving at the border the way that they are? the main reason is that it is almost impossible for central americans to receive visas to

travel legally to the united states, particularly when you are talking about families relocating permanently to come here. that is the main reason why they are just showing up at the border. when they arrive at the border, they are not allowed to legally cross at legal ports of entry. the border patrol, the customs and border protection agents there, block their entry, so naturally what ends up happening is we have migration happening in an illegal manner. that is where all of this ultimately comes from. you have people crossing around those ports of entry, they end up in the custody of border patrol, and that is really where the problem starts, particularly when you are talking about kids, especially young kids who end up in what really are makeshift jails. these are not suited for

children. these are kids, sometimes they are trafficked, sometimes traveling with a relative. they don't know what is happening, and they are being essentially imprisoned by the border patrol in these makeshift jails, and last week there were almost 4000 kids on any given day in this type of setting. many of them had been there for up to a week, five days on average. they don't have soap, they don't have showers. i would describe it as inhumane, the situation we are dealing with. the administration its -- the administration is trying to speed up the processing of

these kids, but so far they have not addressed a lot of the underlying factors for my kids are showing up without their parents without a guardian to take care of them. really, i would say there are two main factors driving the unaccompanied child flow. the first is that for most families crossing the border, they are immediately sent back into mexico. so you cross the border, you are looking to apply for asylum, you are trying to evade detection. you're just trying to present to a border patrol agent. those agents are immediately expelling those families into mexico, and really, what they are facing in mexico is homelessness, destitution, no jobs, high crime rate. we have more than 1500 documented cases of crimes against migrants, including murders and kidnappings. that is not a place for a child

either, and many of these parents are saying i would rather send my kid across the border to the border patrol, where hopefully at least he will be safe, than be stuck in mexico. so the policy is sending the families back into mexico, which is driving a lot of the flow of unaccompanied kids traveling without their parents. host: so explain to viewers who remember in those early days of the biden adminstration the executive orders, the effort to do away with the remaining mexico policy, along with executive orders about the building of new border wall, but specifically, what is going on with the remain in mexico policy? isn't that pulled back at this point? guest: they have essentially replaced remaining mexico with what they described as white in mexico. it is essentially the same policy, except in this case, unlike the trump administration,

the migrants who are sent back do not receive a court date. they do not receive any kind of asylum process that they are waiting for in mexico. so really, this policy which also started under the trump administration is actually worse for the migrants than the official remain in mexico policy. they are still sending migrant families back. they are mainly sending single adults back, adults traveling without their children. there is a second policy that is also driving the number of unaccompanied kids, and that is if you cross with a child who is not your own, so you are an on tour and uncle or a grandparent traveling with your grandchild, your niece or nephew, they will separate you, remove the child and place him in a shelter or foster care, and send that adult relative back to mexico under

this expulsion policy, this weight in mexico policy. i don't know what they are waiting for, but that is how it was described, and that is what we are going to describe it as. but that policy as well of separating adult relatives from nieces and nephews, the associated press described a case this week of a four-year-old being separated from an aunt. that aunt was sent back to mexico, and the child was still in jail when the reporters spoke to her. that is a really tragic case. it doesn't need to happen. joe biden against family separation, but this is still happening in a very serious way, and it is traumatizing kids like this four-year-old who had no idea what was going on. she's jailed with other much older kids, a very precarious

situation, and not a safe one. we can do better, and i think these two policies are driving a lot of that unaccompanied child flow. host: and reports over the weekend that the government is directing fema to head to the border to provide support their. we are talking about what is happening at the u.s.-mexico border with david bier, policy analyst at the cato institute. phone lines are as usual. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. go ahead and start calling in. plenty of discussion about the border on the sunday shows yesterday. we want to start with senator bill cassidy, republican of louisiana, saying the biden adminstration is was possible for the crisis happening right now. [video clip] >> you can't help but notice

that the administration changes, and there is a surge. i saw one of his advisors said in spanish -- which means the border is not closed. in english, he said he misspoke, it is. i can tell you, the spanish version is being heard, not the english. that is being reported in national newspapers as well. when people think they can get in, they begin sending their unaccompanied child on a train ride across mexico, where she may be kidnapped and trafficked on the hope that they are going to be waived through at the border. this policy is leading to this surge. that is unmistakable. host: republican senator bill cassidy yesterday. and then some response on fox news news yesterday from democratic senator chris murphy. [video clip] >> it is bad. it is getting worse, as we just reported. fema is going to go down there to try to help manage the problem, and we are not even in the peak migration period of

april and may. >> listen, this is a challenge, but the point i am making is that you had an 11 year high of presentations at the border in the middle of the trump presidency, so this idea that -- >> i know, and then it went down after that, sir. >> and it has started to come back up again. >> but it is more than double what it was a year ago. >> the point being that the evidence suggests that it isn't the policies of the u.s. administration that drives migration to the united states. it is the desperation of the circumstances these people are living under. let's follow joe biden's advice and start putting some money into helping quell the reasons for migration. that's restart the program that allows for kids to apply for asylum in their home country, and places like honduras and guatemala, instead of waiting to get here. there are things we can do to solve for this. but it is not simply be policies

of any administration that creates these crises. host: some of the discussion on fox news sunday yesterday. david bier, the politics right now when it comes to the border. guest: if you go back in history, in the 1980's there was chaos along the border. bipartisan agreement about the chaos. 1990's, chaos along the border. to thousand's, chaos along the border. 2010's, chaos along the border. now we are in the 20 20's, and there is still chaos. i would say, pick your flavor. what kind of chaos to you like? in 2019, we had to chaos of family separation at the border. we had kids in cages. again, americans didn't support that policy. in 2020 we had the pandemic, and really the big anomaly, there was a huge decline in migration of all types, legal, illegal.

people were not traveling much in the summer of 2020. so we had a used depression in the number of people crossing the border, mainly for that reason. but the policy that the trump administration adopted during the pandemic and that the biden adminstration has continued is self-defeating. that policy of immediately expelling anyone who crosses the border back into mexico means that those people then are added to the flow of people coming into the country. so you expel them out, and they come back. you expel that new, larger group back into mexico, they come again with a new set of newcomers. that policy is what is driving the numbers higher and higher month after month since it was adopted in march and april of last year. so that policy is really what is inflating these numbers and leading to so many more apprehensions because people

keep crossing again and again after they are immediately expelled, and they don't have a chance to apply for asylum here. host: here's the numbers themselves from last month, from customs and border protection. some 100,000 plus persons intercepted on the southwest border, up 28% from the month before. 19,000 family units among them, 9500 unaccompanied children, 72,000 single adults. taking your phone calls as we talk to david bier of the cato institute about this surge on the southern border. plenty of colors already. ray has been waiting in colorado, an independent. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call, and thanks for taking my call last month when immigration was the topic of discussion. i am a registered libertarian, and my general stance on immigration is the statue of

liberty, so i am very much in favor of increasing legal immigration to the country. having said that, not all libertarians agree on that stance. it was wondering if you could provide some insight as to why there is such a split among libertarians on the issue. host: and as you do that, could you explain what the cato institute is? guest: the cato institute is a nonprofit think tank located in washington, d.c. we were founded more than 40 years ago. we conduct research on a variety of topics for the last four decades, including immigration. our principles and whatever research teaches us is that free markets, and liberty -- free markets, individual liberty, and peace are the passed to success limit -- are the path to success in america. so why is there a divide among libertarians?

some people are not fully libertarian, i would say, on all issues. that is not surprising. there's some people who describe themselves as libertarian who disagree with the position on any number of issues. so it is not surprising there is some disagreement on this issue. i would say that ultimately, the belief among most libertarians and people who describe themselves as libertarians is that we should have a were bused legal immigration policy that allows people to travel legally and freely and associate with americans, and have americans associate with immigrants as they see fit. host: two j -- to jay, north carolina, good morning. caller: i would like to ask why he is planing trump. this is not trump's fault. even democrats admit that. but you are saying it is trump's fault?

like pelosi did over the weekend, or chris murphy did over the weekend. you are trying to spread a narrative, just like russia, just like cavanaugh. host: all right, get your point, jay. guest: well, i thing i explained what is happening. i don't think it is one administrations fault. in fact, i think the biden adminstration as many options to prevent this situation from occurring. i think they can allow people to travel legally from their home countries. i think they can allow them to cross legally. they are not doing these things that would prevent this crisis from escalating. in fact, they have maintained much of the trump administration's policies, including the one about expelling most people who cross the border illegally. so i really don't see a big difference between one administration and the next. in fact, even when it comes to unaccompanied kids, the policy of allowing the unaccompanied kids to stay started in november

, before the biden adminstration took over. they maintained it. they chose to maintain it. but despite the fact that that is leading to some of this family separation that i described, at the end of the day, i think both administrations have a hand in what is happening today. host: two bills on the house floor this week, the american dream act and the farm workforce moderation act. do these address the crisis on the border? guest: only a very modest amount. you are talking about allowing some people who were deported as young children back into the country in order to allow them to apply for a legal status here. that is a good step to prevent some of the migrant children from showing up at the border

legally after being removed by the trump administration. that is a good policy and a step forward. on the farm workforce modernization act, that reforms the h2a visa program which is right now only for seasonal workers, for temporary, short-term employment, and allows some year-long employment in agriculture. if you look at the types of jobs that many of these workers are coming to do after they crossed the border, it is exactly this type of employment they are seeking. year-round, lesser skilled jobs such as that dairies and other places that need year-round jobs, year-round workers, and can't find any through legal means. so this is going to at least some of the illegal flow -- going to direct some of -- going to direct at least some of the illegal flow into legal status,

but it really does not address the bulk of people crossing the border right now. host: fort myers, florida, this is mary. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i hope you give me a little time here because i am making a comparison. i was born into world war ii. i was barely seven when we came to this country. there was a quota system, and you had to have a sponsor in the united states to pay for everything. your trip over here, your lodgings, and everything. food, medical, until you were able to stand on your own two feet. and not even the poor jews could come over. they had to go through the same process. so america, this is nothing new. also, as far as children goes, i never had a passport. i had to be on my father's.

so if i would have gotten lost, no one would have known whom i belonged to. the other thing is i don't understand why we can't have something similar, a sponsorship . another thing that i think about -- host: well, mary, let's focus on that aspect >> -- on that aspect. guest: absolutely. this is something we have suggested at the cato institute that the biden adminstration adopt, a private refugee sponsorship model so that people in the united states can voluntarily choose to sponsor someone who wants to come to this country legally, whether it is from central america or elsewhere. that would be a huge step forward. unfortunately, the biden adminstration has done nothing positive on the refugee program so far. they have not increased the cap, and that is really part of the problem.

if there aren't visas, there's not a refugee program, people are going to continue to cross illegally, and that is exactly what we are trying to prevent. a sponsorship model would work great. that is how most immigrants come to this country, either through employer or family sponsorship, primarily family who are immediate family, so your spouse, your parent, your child, or your sibling who can sponsor you. but if it was expanded to allow other americans, other relatives to sponsor you, that is a great way to allow more legal immigration and better options for people seeking safety in this country. host: mickey out of l.a., a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i've got a couple of questions and comments. one is that when you watch some of the right-wing, right-leaning news organizations, when you listen to them, when you read

the publications, they are all touting the fact that there are people getting through since biden has taken office, which is incorrect. they are catching them and sending them back to mexico. the thing is that one of the accomplishments that donald trump kept touting was the wall that he built. what happened to the wall? why isn't that wall that he said he built stopping people from getting through and then being sent back? and the other question is these people are coming here for work. the idea has bounced around that issuing work permit visas for people in their country of origin so they can come through legally, work at a farm or somewhere, and after six months or so go back to their homeland. where is that idea? thank you. guest: on the wall, yes, much of the wall was built. there were hundreds of miles of border fencing built.

very high structures, 20 foot structures. it really does not affect this flow. people go across on rafts come across the rio grande, where there is no wall, or they walk up to the wall and turn themselves in because they are seeking asylum and they are not trying to sneak into the country. so the border wall really had no effect on migration. it was supposed to be the servant -- the silver bullet. the trumpet adminstration took money away from the military in order to build it. they didn't invest as much as they should have in infrastructure along the border. border patrol stations come up laces to house people who cross. these things are at a shortage right now, and that is why you see kids without soap along the border, because the trump administration poured all of its money into enforcement. in fact, there was a government accountability office report about congressional money that was designated for kids in

border patrol facilities along the border, and they spent the money on dog food, suvs, and other expenditures for themselves. that is part of the reason why we are at such a humanitarian crisis with kids is there isn't a place to put them, and all of the money went into enforcement. as far as work visas go, that is exactly what we have been talking about. we absolutely need work visas. i also agree that the majority of the flow is economic based. we have more than 6 million open jobs in this country right now. many of them are ones that are difficult to fill, and allowing foreign workers to come in and fill those jobs through a legal program would reduce the flow along the border. i would say that seasonal workers are insufficient. seasonal workers are a tiny percentage of the total labor

force. we need to allow year-round employment because most of these workers are going to year-round jobs in construction, livestock, places where there is no visa program at all. right now there is a visa program for seasonal farm labor. it is highly regulated, very difficult for farmers to use. but there is that program. almost all of those visas go to mexicans. central americans are essentially shut out of that program. so we need to think of a new model for year-round employment work visas for central americans to address this flow of illegal migration to the border. host: dave in orlando with this question. " before we even get to the border wall, why is mexico letting people cross their country to get to the united states?" guest: well, they are not. they are trying to staunch the flow. they've invested a lot in their

enforcement over the last few years, but the reality as it is very difficult to police people crossing through their country. they are making an enormous number of arrests. in 2019, they deported more central americans from mexico than the united states deported from this country. and they are a much poorer country then the united states, so the amount that they are investing relative to their national wealth is extraordinary . at this point in 2021, their economy has tanked. the amount of joblessness in mexico and the declining tax receipts, i am surprised they are willing to do anything at all about the number of people crossing through their country. what is in it for them is beyond me, other than the fact that they are trying to appease the u.s. administration. host: susan in hampton, virginia, republican.

good morning. you are on with david bier of the cato institute. caller: good morning to everyone. when i came into the conversation, you were asking why would a libertarian be against open borders. well, there's a chart put out by fair, and it lists state costs of illegal immigration. american taxpayers spend over $84 billion annually to subsidize illegal immigration. i am from virginia, and we spend $1.9 billion, and so on. so if you are interested, that's why. we pay education, medical, food, housing. we have americans that need things. thank you. guest: that certainly is something that people cite for

opposition to immigration. i have never heard a libertarian cite the cost of medicaid as a reason why we should enforce drug or alcohol prohibition, or other intrusions into the liberty of americans in their free association rights. so i don't think it is reasonable to say that just because there are some expenditures that happen when people arrive in the united states that that is a reason to deprive them liberty, as well as the liberty of americans who want to hire these people. but the other main point is that this report you are citing is incredibly flawed. in fact, the department of homeland security regulatory rulemaking put out official statistics on the noncitizen use rate of welfare, and they found absolutely no difference between that and the nativeborn rate of using welfare.

so the idea that they are the ones driving up the budget costs or causing the deficit is just not borne out by these statistics available. host: frank out of idaho this morning,, crack. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. i just have a question which i don't believe you will answer. how are you not a traitor to the american people when you support the invasion of america the foreign illegal trash? host: do you want to take that, or we can go onto the next call? guest: certainly i think there is nothing traitorous about wanting to have the immigration policy of our founders, of the history of the united states of welcoming immigrants to this country, and certainly not welcoming them legally to this country, which is what i advocate we do. for these people crossing the border illegally, if there were

legal options for them, they would not need to cross illegally which is what i have been saying from the very beginning. this is the founders' policy adopted in the very first act on this subject, was no federal restrictions on immigration whatsoever. obviously through the years, we have developed a policy of restriction quotas and numerical limits and other restrictions to the point where now most people who want to come to this country legally have no option to do so. so we need to change legal immigration policy if we want to ultimately address the border. host: on changing that policy, just about five minutes left with you, we talked about the american dream and promise act, the farm workforce modernization act, both expected to get votes on the house floor this week. the larger biden proposal, which goes beyond either of those two, do you expect that to get the

bipartisan support it would need , the 60 votes it would need in the senate? is there any appetite for a larger bill like that? guest: absolutely not. i think they have poisoned that well completely by not inviting any republicans to the table. they did zero outreach. they basically treated this as a messaging bill from the start. it is about as non-bipartisan as you can get. so i see no hope of that bill becoming law, and that bill doesn't address the temporary worker programs, the work visa options that ultimately are needed to address this illegal flow. that is part of why even moderate republicans who more or less agree with my position about legal immigration aren't supporting it. it does not address labor needs of farms and other seasonal employers, and does not address

the needs of construction and other industries that need workers to be hired legally. host: time for one or two more calls. this is barbara in oklahoma, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i don't know what he thinks these people are going to be doing as far as the farm work goes. being from california, i don't know. i guess he doesn't know that everything just about in farm work now is all mechanized. they have tomato pickers, lettuce pickers, potato pickers, onion pickers. they don't need people anymore. host: david bier, do they still need people? guest: absolutely, especially for specialized fruit crops, blueberries, apple pickers. you name it, anything dealing with a fruit has to be handled by hand or it will be destroyed by a machine. they haven't been able to mechanized.

ultimately, if you want to move all of this stuff offshore and import all of your blueberries from other countries, that is always an option. i thing it is much better to allow farmers the option to continue producing these types of products in the united states, creating jobs for themselves, their families, and ultimately downstream effect of a higher agricultural production here. host: lydia and waterford, new york -- lydia in waterford new york, republican. caller: good morning. host: same to you, lydia. caller: i read an article online by nbc news, march 2, 2021, which talks about how covid positive immigrants have been allowed into grounds bill, texas. it gave the indication that there is catch and release going on. my other comment has to do with a show i saw on full measure

that was showing how the wall ab rapidly came to a stop, so the construction stopped. there were all kinds of areas where people could get through. that sounds different then what is being set on this show that mix it sound like the wall was completed and it didn't help. which is completely different than the fact that it was never completed, and the cameras were never put up. anyway, it was a very interesting show. and finally, i wonder why people say walls don't work when we have one around the capitol. 9 we will give you -- host: we will give you the final minute or two to take that. guest: on the wall, there certainly were parts that were not completed, but where most of the crossings are happening in the rio grande valley, along the river there, that is not where the border wall was being proposed.

obviously there is some border wall there, but even in that place, you can't build a border wall along a river because the river will knock it down when it floods. so ultimately, it has to be pushed away inland, and that allows crossings to happen. at the end of the day, a border wall is not preventing this flow. people are still coming. they are climbing the wall, going through the wall, cutting through the wall. i can point you to numerous places where that has been pointed out even by border patrol agents. so the idea that the border wall is the answer, if you want to keep spending this money and diverting it away from resources that are more pressing , like border facilities to house people, like legal ports of entry where we want to facilitate legal travel, you can do that, but ultimately people are still going to try to come to this country, so that is really what the reality about

the border wall is. host: quickly, her other question was about covid rates among those crossing into this country and being released. guest: right. the reason why we know what the covid release rate is or the covid positivity rate is for these migrants is because they are being tested before they are released. people who are testing positive are voluntarily quarantining themselves. nonprofits are doing the testing of these migrants. you are talking about merely 3/ -- about nearly 3/4 being sent directly back into mexico. a much smaller number are being released. unaccompanied children, a few families with small children. but for the most part, people are being expelled. those who are not are being accepted and released, and even there, the test rate for these

migrants is half the rate of what it is for texans as a whole. so the idea that they are the ones driving the covid outbreak or anything like that is just not based in any kind of reality. host: david birt service -- david bier serves as an immigration policy expert at the cato institute. we appreciate your time this morning. guest: thank you. host: about 20 minutes left here. we want to open the phones back up to talk about some news we found out is morning, being reported by bloomberg. president biden set to propose a major tax hike in the weeks to come to help pay for key infra structure -- key infrastructure initiatives. democrats can call into talk about it at (202) 748-8000, republicans at (202) 748-8002, independents at (202) 748-8002.

some of the reporting from that story noting that president biden is planning to issue the first major federal tax hike since 1993 to help pay for his long-term economic programs. we will get more into that story, but as you are calling in, senator chris murphy on fox news sunday criticized republicans who have complained about the amount of money president biden is a spending and rescue plan, criticizing republicans for not caring about the debt when they passed their own package of tax hikes when republicans were in control. this is chris murphy yesterday. [video clip] >> republicans didn't think this exact amount of money was too big last march, when they supported the c.a.r.e.s. act. and by the way, there was 1/3 the number of people dying of covid-19 as they are today. and as you mentioned, republicans certainly didn't think that $1.9 trillion was too much when they were passing tax

cuts for their wealthy friends. last week, as we were passing the american rescue plan, republicans proposed to eliminate the estate tax for the tiny fraction of millionaires and billionaires that still pay it. they had no plans to pay for that. once again, when it comes to support is the richest, wealthiest americans, republicans are very enthusiastic about tax cuts. but when it comes to supporting poor people or folks in the middle class, all of a sudden it is too hot for their taste. host: democratic senator chris murphy yesterday on the sunday shows. hearing from you until the top of the hour here this morning. from bloomberg news, president biden in his first major tax hike since 1993 in his next economic plan. from that story, "president joe biden planning the first major tax hike since 1993 to pay for his long-term economic program designed as a follow-up to his pandemic relief bill.

unlike the 1.9 trillion dollar covid-19 stimulus act, this next initiative which is expect to be even bigger, won't rely just on government debt as a funding source. while it has been increasingly clear that tax hikes will be a component, treasury secretary janet yellen has set at least part of that bill will have to be paid for, and pointed to higher rates. key advisors point to measures that could include a raise in the corporate tax rate ended the individual rate for high earners. for the biden adminstration, the plans changes that -- the plans changes are an opportunity not just to fund key initiatives like infrastructure, climate, and expanded help for poorer americans, but also to address what democrats argue our inequities in the tax system itself." the republican senator from

wyoming expressing his concern about the amount of spending in the american rescue plan, john grasso from yesterday. [video clip] >> to call this covid relief is really false advertising. only 9% of the money actually goes to defeating the virus. only 1% of the money goes for vaccines. this is a nancy pelosi payoff to the liberal left. this is something she has been working on a long time. today we see her taking a victory lap to what is now known as the most progressive bill in the history of the united states, according to the white house, and the price of it shows that. host: republican senator john barrasso yesterday. taking your phone calls here, democrats, it is (202) 748-8000, republicans, (202) 748-8001, independents, (202) 748-8002. as we talk about the news this morning and expected tax hike, perhaps the largest since 1990 three, coming from the biden

adminstration, in an effort to pay for future initiatives, we want to hear your reaction to that news this morning. shirley out of arkansas, an independent, good morning to you. caller: good morning. everybody's taxes will be raised because we will have to pay for the silly checks that we are getting. a lot of people don't even need the checks. we will be paying for them, our kids will be paying for them, and i hope they send all of the illegal aliens or illegal mexicans to washington, d.c. host: on the tax issue, you don't think the biden adminstration will be able to keep these rates to the highest earners? you think it is going to apply among middle income earners, low income earners?

caller: well, i am a low income person, but i don't want to have to pay the high taxes. i've saved all my life. i live by myself. i'm 82 years old. and i don't want the high taxes, and i know that, we will be taxed too -- that we will be taxed, too. host: using it is coming from the biden adminstration? caller: absolutely. host: this is jerry out of arizona, a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm here to talk about, gratian problems. host: let's stick -- about immigration problems. host: let's stick to the tax situation. that is their topic now. if not, we will move on. we will move on to billie, a democrat. caller: good morning. i was going to ask about the stimulus payment plan, but if you are not taking other questions --

host: well, that is part of this topic, how to pay for these initiatives. caller: my question is, when they started out, they had a $1.9 trillion, and then they took some stuff out of it, but it is still $1.9 trillion. how does that add up? host: which stuff are you specifically referring to? is it the $15 federal, wage -- federal minimum wage? that was not affecting the final cost. caller: right. but i just know they started out with a lot of stuff, and then they supposedly took some stuff out, but that should have made it lower, right? the $1.9 trillion, if they are taking things away? how would it still be that high? host: the final package, we are actually at $5.3 trillion across

six major federal spending bills over the past year that have been spent on covid relief, bringing the u.s. national debt to, at this point, $28 trillion and counting. you can see the number is taking up there at usdebtclock.org. that is our current national debt right now. we are talking about reports that the biden adminstration will include tax increases, some major tax increases targeting the corporate tax rate and the individual rate for high earners in an effort to pay for some of their future proposals. proposals on infrastructure, climate, and other economic initiatives. bloomberg news reporting this morning that those tax hikes will be coming on the corporate rate for high earners. we want to get reaction to that

on phone lines for democrats, republicans, and independents. fred in idaho is an independent. good morning. caller: yes, i would like to know how they think they are ever going to pay off the national debt unless we have tax hikes. host: how would you feel about tax hikes on corporations and high earners? caller: i've been a small businessman for the last 30 years. you know what? i think they should have it because we need to get this country out of debt. host: do you think we have been concerned enough about the debt over the past year, or was it not the time to worry about the debt during covid? caller: in the past year, possibly not. but i've never heard any of the presidential candidates or the president or politicians talk about paying down the national debt. host: another headline this morning from the hill, "biden

planning first major tax hike in on was 30 years." again, referencing the bloomberg news reports that came out this morning. the biden adminstration with big plans on infrastructure, climate, and other initiatives. but they are going to have to increase rates on corporations, on high earners to pay for these initiatives coming up. keith, indiana, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i believe that mr. trump -- [indiscernible] biden wants to get in there and overhaul it. gas is already higher. all the lumber and everything is already going up because he wants to get in there and start tinkering with everything. he needs to leave everything alone the way it was, and really, i don't think he should

make any decision until an investigation of him and his family, with china and all of that, i don't think he needs to do anything until that investigation is expedited. host: this is jesse in houston, texas. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i wanted to show my support for any tax hikes that will help close the gap, especially after the relief that we have received. and also, to offset the tax reductions that they trump administration put through for corporations and the 1%. i wanted to also voice my opposition to what the last gentleman was saying, that the previous administration had been running, because it certainly wasn't running at the end. thank you. host: when you say close the

gap, you are talking about the gap between the wealthy and the poor in this country? caller: no, i meant to close the gap in our budget, especially what was caused by this last relief. with all of the covid relief that we have received. host: thanks for the call from houston, texas. janet in dayton, ohio, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. as an independent, i feel everybody should be treated equally, and i think the rich need to pay their fair share. i don't expect them to pay more than i do, but i most certainly expect them to pay the same percentage that i pay. i think it is not right that they have been getting all of these tax cuts for rich people who then make their money because they live in a society that we as the taxpayers have to pay for, and they don't have to pay their tax, so i am 100% for them paying their fair share, which would at this point be a huge increase from all of the tax cuts they gave them. thank you so much. host: before you go, what do you

think is your fair share? caller: really, my fair share is all of our fair share should be around 10%. what i pay is considerably more than that. it is a little more around 24% of what i make, and that is ridiculous considering i always liked mitt romney until i heard him saying he thought it was perfectly ok for them to pay 13% tax. i am doing my taxes, and my percentages so much higher than him. i don't make nearly the kind of money he is, but they are taking a bigger cut of my check than his. so a fair share to me would be around 10%, and if we all paid it, it would more than cover it. host: this is scott in pennsylvania, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, with the last color, that's the last caller -- the last caller, too, i would like a

flat tax. this administration, we would see a tax cuts, but the gas price is higher, and that falls on the poor because it is more expensive. more money out of our pockets. you get the country back to work. however, with gas prices, food prices, everything falls in line. everything keeps going up. they are making their money back on taxes. they just say we are not going to tax you personally, but the cost of everything else continues to go up, and what is with this farm bill? i would like to know what is in this package they are proposing when you look at even the farmers, what is 120% if you are a minority farmer. if you are a caucasian farmer, are they going to get that kind of help? no. they are sponsoring even more hatred among the people, it seems like. they want to keep the frustration going. host: can i come back to your flat tax idea? what rate for -- are you talking

about a flat tax rate, one rate for everybody, no reductions? caller: you can still have exemptions, i would imagine, if you have a family and things like that. and i'm not stupid, either, and i don't think anybody else is. we have to have the corporations and the rich people because i never had a poor man write me a paycheck. so you have to have that, and the corporations, i understand the taxes on them to a point, but there should be a flat tax rule. but you're corporations have to make some kind of money to hire more people and to expand their businesses. i get that. but some of the rates they are getting away with, some of their tax cuts, it is just ridiculous for the normal working people. host: that is scott in the keystone state. we will head back to the buckeye state. kathy, a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. i would just like to say that 82% of trump's tax cuts went to the 1% of the wealthiest

corporations. hello? host: kathy, i heard you. go ahead and continue what you were saying. caller: ok. what i heard about biden wanting to tax increase, i initially heard that he wanted it on corporations and the wealthy, and i think they ought to pay their fair share. some of the wealthy, like jeff bezos, he doesn't pay anything. these people that are extremely wealthy aren't paying anything. but yet, they are making money off of us, the common people. we have to pay not only -- they are getting extremely wealthy off of us, and we are not getting anything. we have to pay taxes and everything. host:host: same question, what would you consider their fair share? what do you consider your fair share? because it is the details here where people will disagree.

caller: i heard you ask people that. you know what? if we had a flat tax, would everybody be taxed the same, including corporations and the wealthy? that i would agree with. host: and then when you do that, should deductions be allowed? should exemptions be allowed when you do that? caller: no, no exceptions. because you start that, it all goes to the wealthy once again. so even us, the common people, we would have no examines, just like the wealthy. host: that is kathy in ohio. this is lisa in texas, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i totally agree with increase. i feel that the last administration, all of the tax cuts, i agree with ms. kathy, it needs to be reversed.

all of the people that keep worrying about the debt, i, too, am worried about the debt, but they say the stimulus is not necessary and they don't need the stimulus. well, send it back in. host: one more call here. this is bill waiting in tallahassee, florida, i democrat. good morning. thanks for waiting. caller: good morning. yeah, the tax system is not very fair to people that are low to moderate income. i hear people talk about this gas thing. the fact of the matter is opec cut production, and the pipeline was not even in production, so you can't blame that on the price of gas increases. folks need to look at the facts and see that the wealthy are the ones that are benefiting from

the tax cuts that was given during the trump administration. host: that is bill in florida, our last color in this hour of "washington journal." one more hour to go this morning. up next, we will turn from the tax system to the lobbying system. we will take a look at the numbers with a money and politics reporter ♪ and i to go tonight -- announcer: tonight, reshma sue johnny on what her company is doing to close the gender gap in technology. >> my parents came here as refugees and i had a job when i was 12 years old. in 2010i found myself running for congress.

as part of that, i would go into computer science classrooms and i would see lines of boys clamoring to be the next steve jobs or mark zuckerberg. i know that those jobs in computer science pay well. almost $120,000. to me, sense. where are the girls? where are the girls like me who could get a shot at one of these jobs? that is when i decided i wanted to build a program to teach folks. it announcer: tonight at 8:00 on "the communicators." ♪ 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 are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span to viewers as a because -- as a public service.

announcer: listen to c-span's podcast "the weekly." -- on the one point 9 trillion dollar coronavirus relief bill and how it impacts united states' already growing federal debt. >> my big problem is that this is a massive bill which amounts and -- is totally disconnected with -- that are brought on by this pandemic. announcer: c-span's "the weekly," where you get your podcasts. this is c-span's new online store at c-spanshop.org. with a 117th congress in session, we are taking preorders for the congressional directory. every c-span shop purchase helps

sponsor c-span's operations. shop today at c-spanshop.org good --. host: each monday and this hour of the washington journal we have been taking time to focus on some aspect of the coronavirus response. some aspect of the pandemic. this week, we are taking time to look into the lobbying behind the massive coronavirus relief bills. to do that, we are joined by carl eversole's from from the center of responsive politics. first, explain what open secrets is and what you do there. guest: we are a nonpartisan nonprofit that focuses on tracking all things money and politics. we have data for campaign contributions, packs, super pac's, dark money, personal

finances as well as lobbying and foreign influence. i run our small new steam to report on some of the important aspects in the money politics world that are happening. host: that section of your work is what we are digging into today. having this conversation on the monday after the passage of the american rescue plan, a 1.9 trillion dollar rescue plan. when will we know the extent of the lobbying behind that bill? guest: we will not get any data on who the biggest lobbyists were and what the biggest lobbying activity was until mid april when first quarter 2021 filings are released. we do know that the american rescue plan was a smaller offshoot of democrat's heroes

act they passed in may of last year. we can draw some conclusions on how much lobbying activity there was over that bill. host: they heroes act, one of the bills that has fallen into the categories of the most lobbied legislation of all time, tracked by a number of clients that paid for lobbying when it comes to bills. two of the rescue bills among the top five most lobbied legislation of all time. the american recovery and reinvestment act is the most lobbied of all time. do we know anything anecdotally about who had their fingerprints on the final package of the american rescue plan? guest: there were not as many private-sector winners in the american rescue plan as we saw with the cares act.

we do know some lobbying groups that benefited. i would say health insurance lobbyists and the broader for-profit health care system do call themselves winners with this bill. it expands subsidies to private health care insurance and a lot of health care lobbyists were concerned with the democratic presidential primaries that democrats were going to pivot to expanding government health care programs like a public option or medicare for all, which would damage the profits of the health care sector and would be an existential threat to health insurers. i think they were happy to see that democrats went with the option of expanding on the affordable care act versus doing other measures to actually expand health insurance

coverage. some other lobbying groups that were successful, restaurants were a big one. obviously, the industry has been hard-hit by the pandemic and they felt they did not get enough relief in the cares act and in previous legislation. they got a big heart out of about $29 billion in direct aid and there were a number of coalitions launched by the industry to aggressively lobby congress. that was a big win because it was not initially included inviting's -- biden's first draft. that is something congress included in the final negotiation. host: covid lobbying is our topic. phone lines as usual, democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. as you call income it bernie

sanders earlier this month gave a peek behind the curtain about lobbying efforts behind -- on capitol hill when i came to the rescue plan and specifically during that debate over the $15 an hour federal mineral wage. this is bernie sanders from march. [video clip] >> i know here in washington, any we bring forth serious and important legislation for working people, the big money interests get to work. all of their lobbyists who make their six figures a year, they get to work on congress and tell you why you can't do anything to protect the most vulnerable and hard-hit people in this country. the national restaurant association are very powerful lobbying organization. they have been enormously successful because we have not raised the minimum wage since 2007.

this powerful lobbying organization is going around telling members of the house and senate that raising the tipped wage is opposed by restaurant workers and would be harmful to the interests of waiters and waitresses and other people. that is not true. that is what lobbyists say, representing big money interests. that is what they are paid to say, but that is not what workers who wait on tables are telling us. host: bernie sanders from earlier this month about covid lobbying. the $15 minimum wage was eventually removed from the american rescue plan. karl evers-hillstrom, when we talk about the final package, how do you find out who eventually lobbied for it? tell us the process you go through there at open secrets? guest: all lobbying clients and

firms have to file reports with congress laying out how much they spent on lobbying, what bills they were lobbying and what issues they were lobbying. they also have to disclose which lobbyists were involved in all of those activities. what we do is we download those filings that are filed with congress and we standardize them in a way where we can have different profiles representing various lobbying forces. we also have a database of lobbyists that shows which lobbyists are lobbying for which clients. you can also look to see where they used to work because a lot of top lobbyists used to work in congress either as members of congress or top officials and government. it is always good to be able to

see what connections they have to people in government. host: it is that reason we are able to look back on the 2020 lobbying and these massive rescue bills including the cares act, a big part of the lobbying pushover that 12 month period. some numbers from open secrets, the health care sector paid $615 million over the course of 2020 when it comes to lobbying spending. the finance insurance and real estate, $539 million. business sector, $498 million. energy and natural resources, 293 million. transportation, $253 million. karl evers-hillstrom, in a usual year what would those look like? guest: for total spending? host: yeah. guest: normally we find that it is anywhere in the range of 3.2

-- 3.2 billion dollars to $3.5 billion. that range stays relatively fat -- flat. many special interests believe that there is a cap on how much you can spend on lobbying to a point where you get diminishing returns. about $3.5 billion was spent in 2020 and that was close to the record, just about at the record mark. anywhere from $3.2 billion to $3.5 billion. host: if you have questions about lobbying, you can call in. phone lines are split. we will start with republicans, this is rhonda in lebanon, tennessee. caller: i just want to say quickly, i know you need to get to other calls, this release bill is the heroes act, essentially, repackaged.

the most horrific thing is about 10% of the money in this bill goes to corona relief. among other things, it gives -- guaranteed money to illegals. the most horrific thing to me is that it absolutely gets -- guts our election laws and out laws voter id. most people have not read this. i think even election officials whose job it is to know what they are supporting have no idea what this actually contains. i have been beside myself since i printed that heroes act myself , all 1800 pages and read it. this is the biggest trojan horse designed to destroy american society as we know it. host: karl evers-hillstrom, concerns during this process of

non-covid related initiatives being included in the final package from what you have been able to study, what have you found? guest: i think republicans have -- i think what the caller was referring to was hr one, democrat's built overhaul elections and campaign finance laws. that past the house and is going to get a hearing in the senate later this month. certainly, i think democrats were messaging this as saying we are providing aid to hard-hit industries and maybe shoring up some areas that may have been weak already before the pandemic. some republicans have taken aim at that.

i would note that one of the biggest winners, if we are not talking private sector, is state, local land tribal governments that got a massive infusion of cash. obviously, they were hard-hit by covid but this will also generally help them shore up their finances. i would note that in addition to the private sector, state local land tribal governments are also lobbying for aid. you've got this interesting government to government lobbying. host: do they lobby in the traditional way of hiring lobbyists who are connected to members or former members or do they lobby directly? guest: both. obviously, if you are a big city or state, you have a certain amount of sway to directly reach out to congressional leaders where the president and talk to them yourself, but we have seen

they also do hire lobbyists who go work with the staffers and tell them to dig in the specifics and say this is how we need to write the bill to give us exactly what we need. host:host: what have you found out when it comes to lobbyists who have direct connections to the major players, whether it is nancy pelosi or chuck schumer, congress and mccarthy, mitch mcconnell, what do we know about the connections to people who have worked for them who are now in the lobbying community? guest: we released a report last year talking about how over 1000 clients hire lobbyists who previously worked for the four congressional leaders and president trump aide a lot of -- president trump. a lot of special interests want to hire lobbyists who have a

direct connection to the majority leader or the house speaker. that direct pipeline gives you better access and a better chance you will deliver for your client. than if you are a rank-and-file. i think especially during stimulus talks, rank lawmakers were sidelined and it was leadership making the calls and deciding ultimately what would be in the package. having that connection during covid stimulus talks was very valuable. host: minneapolis, minnesota, this is richard. caller: good morning. those congressmen and senators are already eyeing lobbying jobs while they are in office. they are probably making decisions that are going to get them a job after they get out of service. i think they should be barred from lobbying.

if biden raises the corporate talks -- tax to 28%, that is going to put us at a disadvantage to other countries who have their corporate tasks -- tax at 20%. we are going into a deep depression. host: we will stick to lobbying. caller: there definitely -- guest: there have been proposals, lawmakers have talked about banning members of congress from going into lobbying. there is already a cooling-off period that members of congress have to go to before they officially lobby their former colleagues. but it is not strongly enforced. certainly one of the tactics for lobbying groups is to offer members of congress jobs. we have seen members of congress leave, then soon after join up with a lobbying firm or a top trade association where they make seven figures.

obviously a lot more than they would get paid as a member of congress. host: lobbying, very big money. coming off a year in which two of the most lobbied bills of all time passed two of those relief bills including the cares act and the heroes act. here are the companies that spent the most last year, the national association of realtors spending $84 million on lobbying last year. the u.s. chamber of commerce, $82 million. farmers and manufacturers, $26 million. american hospital association, $24 million. blue cross/blue shield, $23 million. what connections have you been able to draw between that spending on what ended up in the legislation? guest: one thing that stuck out to me was there were massive tax breaks for real estate investors.

that was pretty significant for those investing in real estate. the chamber of commerce is also one of the most influential groups. 2020 was the first year in 20 years they were not the top lobbying spender. they certainly pushed for the expansion of private insurance subsidies, and certainly were opposed to the minimum-wage expansion to $15, which democrats ultimately did not overrule the parliamentarian. host: karen in leesburg, virginia. caller: before my comment, it does not surprise me that the national association of realtors is the lobbying firm where the

price of housing is out of control. your second-largest firm, the chamber of commerce won't even support $15 an hour so you can afford a house that is out of control. at the end of the day, all of this is about the inefficiency and dysfunction of congress. lobbying groups make their money because they have to find some type of way to grab a member of congress to get what they want. congress won't sit down to make decisions for the american people. and then they turn around and get hired by the lobbying firm at the end. it is one big joke of saying, who has enough money to buy my senator so he can go back to work for the lobbying firm that is going to ultimately screw the public? that is unfortunate. it has taught me how important it is to know your congressman

and hold them accountable because it is a joke to them. they make 10 times more than the average american and their interests are never about us, it is about them. you can see it in the tax breaks. there is no reason why jeff bezos should not be paying taxes. if you can live with that in your congressmen can live with that, that is a problem. host: karl evers-hillstrom, go ahead. guest: like i was mentioning, members of congress can get paid five or six times more as lobbyists than they are paid to be memories of congress. if you are really a top member, especially if you are the chair of the top congressional committee or ranking member. those are positions that can get you the big bucks. or if you are in leadership, democrat or republican.

we have seen high-profile examples of members of congress going on to become lobbyists. billy townsend, who passed the law that makes it so that medicare can't negotiate drug prices, went on to become president of the pharmaceutical trade group. just shortly after they passed that bill and he made millions of dollars. there are high-profile examples of members of congress getting paid very well to become lobbyists. host: an example of how you can use the open secrets website, opensecrets.org, you can type amazon into that website and look at their contributions and lobbying efforts over the past year. when it comes to lobbying in 2020, amazon spending some 18 million dollars on lobbying,

ranking ninth in 2020. that is up from $60 million in lobbying from 2019. what have you found about amazon lobbying? guest: amazon has increased at spending every year for the past six or seven years. as amazon has grown, its influence has grown. not just because they have more money, but because they have more employees, which means they have more employees in every congressional district and every state. that is something they can go back to members of congress and remind them to maybe -- they definitely tried to higher lobbyists with close ties to those in power. spending has increased a lot and i think that is a broader trend

within the tech industry. these companies are growing and they are also coming under scrutiny more so by congress. if you go back 10 years ago, it was not nearly as scrutinized as it is nowadays. in response, they upped their lobbying game. host: you talk about that revolving door when it comes to lobbying. 82 out of the 118 amazon lobbyists hired in 2020, 82 were previously -- 82 previously held government jobs. caller: good morning. the last lady that was on from virginia kind of stole my thunder. i wanted to know how honest and truthful this gentleman was about the congressional leaders and the lobbyists because i have been living for a long time and it has been a well-known fact

that these congressional leaders like pelosi get bribed by these lobbyists to make these laws. the last lady from virginia hit the nail on the head and this gentleman here, i would like to get an honest answer about how many of the millions of dollars congressional leaders get to pass their bills. money in their pockets, that's the way the bill is going to go. thanks for taking my call. host: karl evers-hillstrom on bribes versus political contributions. guest: i should specify, when we talk about members of congress being offered jobs after they leave, or campaign contributions, lobbying groups and lobbyists are not literally bribing congress, that is illegal. but a lot of powerful interest groups are making campaign

donations. sometimes you see big lobbying groups make big campaign donations to super pac's or dark money groups that are effectively controlled by top leaders in congress. you certainly have a good deal of financial support for campaigns for members of congress. in return, these groups are going to add something for helping them win reelection or win a tough primary. host: back to those amazon numbers, another way you can break down the numbers on the open secrets website is by political contributions. take amazon for example, there senate contributions over the years, you can see amazon

spending more on democrats, getting more contributions to their political pacs then republicans -- then republicans. guest: big companies like amazon have a pack -- a pac but typically do not make a ton of donations. when you look at those numbers, those are really their employees making those donations and that would include executives but also lower-level employees. what we have seen is that a lot of the big tech companies, their employees overwhelmingly favor democrats compared to republicans. as these companies grow, the more political donations their employees are going to be making. host: time for more calls.

the website, center for responsive politics, the website you know them best for is opensecrets.org. this is lorraine out of ithaca, new york. are you with us? we will go to mike in comanche, texas. republican. caller: how y'all doing? host: are. -- all right. caller: i wanted to bring up something that is kind of about covid but is really more about, well, i will just tell you. i was out in west texas when we had the power failure last month. we went for seven days with no electricity. they were packing people into the hospitals and any that had electricity, they were putting

people in their. i think that could cause a problem with transmission of covid disease. but the thing of it is, it never should have happened in the first place. the fact that we went so long without power and come to find out that it was sent up north where they were having 70 degree days and we were -- i had at my house one degree days. host: that is mike in texas. texas coming off a year in which the energy and natural resources sector spent 290 $3 million in 2020 and lobbying on capitol hill. guest: it always has been a powerful sector, especially oil and gas has long been a lobbying

powerhouse. but we have also seen with green energy, growth. the green energy sector is also trying to start a lobbying push now, especially with biden becoming president there is opportunity with government spending on green energy product -- projects. host: one other term we hear is shadow lobbying. what does that mean? guest: that generally refers to an individual's attempts to influence policymakers or government policy generally. what you would consider lobbying, but are not actually registered as a lobbyist. the current lobbying rules require you to register as a lobbyist if you make certain contacts and spend a certain amount of time actually lobbying. what shadow lobbyists do is say

i am not spending most of my time lobbying, i am only talking to people once in a while or i am not communicating with them at all. usually a lot of shadow lobbyists will work at a lobbying firm but not actually registered. by not registering, you cannot see who their clients are and it also gives them benefits if they want to maybe jump back into the administration one day. because we have seen a lot of the biden administration has said they do not want registered lobbyists. if you do not actually register, you can get around those things. host: why would one register? guest: you have to register if you spend 20% of your time lobbying. there are other factors as well, but i would note that the provisions are not strongly enforced. we have only seen a handful of

finds for people violating the lobbying exposure act and the bill has not been updated in 20 years. something that is in the campaign-finance community is to actually reform the lobbying disclosure act to better encourage people to actually register as lobbyists. host: do you expect that from the biden administration? guest: it is a possibility. one of the administration's early moose was an executive order trying to tap down on shadow -- tamp down on shadow lobbying. a sickly saying after you leave the administration you can't take a job at a lobbying firm regardless of whether you are registered or not. we have seen efforts from the administration to crackdown. whether congress actually wants to crackdown, we will see. hr one, the elections and ethics

bill would lower the threshold for the amount of time lobbying to 10% so that it effectively is trying to counter this practice. host: karl evers-hillstrom is a money in politics reporter at the center for responsive politics. opensecrets.org is the website and we appreciate your time. guest: make you. host: -- guest: thank you. host: we are going to end where we started. by the end of the day today, we are expecting 110 million doses of covid vaccine having been administered in this country since the covid vaccine first became available. the country moving at a dosage rate of about 2.5 million doses a day. we want to hear your vaccine story. here's how we split up the line. if you have been vaccinated, (202) 748-8000. if you are waiting on your first or second dose, (202) 748-8001.

if you decided not to get vaccinated, (202) 748-8002 is the number. you can go ahead and start calling it now as we show you an ad released by the ad council last week for -- four former presidents getting together to advocate for americans to get their shot. [video clip] >> right now the vaccines are available to millions, and soon they will be available to everyone. >> this vaccine means hope. it will protect you and those you love in this dangerous -- from this dangerous disease. >> i want to go back to work and i want to be able to move around. >> michelle's mom, to hug her. >> i am looking forward to opening day at texas ranger stadium. >> [indiscernible] >> in order to get rid of this

pandemic, it is important for our fellow citizens to get vaccinated. >> i am getting vaccinated because we want this to end as soon as possible. >> we urge you to get vaccinated when it is available to you. >> roll up your sleeve and do your part. host: that ad from the ad council released last thursday. as of yesterday, 50 3000 new covid cases in the u.s. nearly 13 million confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic. 534,000 deaths as a result. taking your calls, we want to hear your vaccine story. if you have been vaccinated, (202) 748-8000. if you're waiting, (202) 748-8001. if you are choosing not to take the vaccine, (202) 748-8002. we want to hear from you.

we want to hear why you were choosing not to take it. dr. anthony fauci was on the sunday shows yesterday. one of the issues he addressed was the idea of vaccine hesitancy, saying former president trump could be the key in helping on that front. here is dr. fauci on meet the press. [video clip] >> half of republican men say are not -- say they are not going to take the vaccine. you had the psa with former presidents, except former president trump. do you think he needs to be enlisted to get his orders to take the vaccine? dr. fauci: i hope he does because the numbers that you

gave our -- [no audio] dr. fauci: we've got to -- from no-brainer public health things. the history of acts analogy have rescued us from smallpox, polio, measles and other diseases. what is the problem here? this is a vaccine that is going to be lifesaving for millions of people. how some groups would not want to do it for reasons i do not understand. i can't comprehend what the reason for that is when you have a vaccine that is 94%-90 5% effective and very safe. i don't get it. host: dr. fauci on meet the press yesterday. "trump should push supporters to get covid vaccine after disturbing poll results sure they won't." one of the pulse drawing attention in the past couple of days is the new mpr pbs poll

that came out late thursday. here are some of the numbers, in a tweet from a reporter. -- percent of trump -- 47% of trump voters said they would not be vaccinated when it becomes available. 41% of republicans overall said they would not choose to be vaccinated. that's 38% of white evangelicals overall say they would not be vaccinated. 37% latinos, 34% independents, 34 percent of white non-college-educated americans said they would not. among whites in general, 28%. black americans, 25% say they would not be vaccinated. among whites with college degrees, 18% saying they would not choose to be vaccinated. 11% of democrats say they choose not to get vaccinated.

10% of biden voters say they would not choose to be vaccinated. we want to hear your stories this morning. in this last 25 minutes of washington journal. what is your vaccination story? we began in irvington, new jersey with cleo, still waiting to get a vaccine. caller: i am going to get my shot. st. patrick's day, in two days. i am nervous about it. host: how hard was it to find a shot? caller: they have something in essex county which you call and the first couple of times i tried to call, i couldn't get through. as luck would have it, the next time i was able to get through. it turned out to be ok. being a black american, i was a little nervous about it.

we know the history of the tuskegee institute situation. i also miss being able to play in bluegrass jams. i have not -- no one gets in a circle. i am nervous about non-baxter's, how many people are not going to get it. it is distressing. i have to say, i was waiting and praying that joe biden would get elected and hoping that i might be able to get this j & j, just one shot and not have to fret because i am here for of needles. i do not know how you are about needles, but i can't stand them. host: how do you think you will feel about the needle on st. patrick's day? guest: -- caller: [laughter]i am looking at it like maybe in november we can have thanksgiving -- we didn't have thanksgiving last year.

i used to go twice a week and have not been able to play and i miss being able to be around people. i have not been on my public bus. i used to go to new york every single day. i want to go see a play in new york. i miss my doctor who lives in new york city. yes, we have to have it. we have to get it done. get the vaccination, people. god will do his work, i am sure. host: cleo in new jersey on vaccine hesitancy. . back to the npr numbers, there is little difference between white and black americans on relaxants best reluctance to take the vaccine. rosa has already been vaccinated out of tallahassee, florida.

caller: good morning. host: goat head. caller: my name is rosa and i have been vaccinated. i am in my 60's. i was glad i got it. i had said before that when it came my turn i was going to take it because of my age. i think it is a good thing and i think everybody should get it once their turn comes, but especially the elderly. i didn't have a problem getting it. i went to one of our local health departments here and got the first shot. then about three weeks later or so, i was able to go back and get the second.

i did not have a problem with the first round, the second -- after the second chapter my head a few symptoms like headaches and body aches, but after a day at past -- it passed. host: this from usa today, open -- talking about how the money from the american rescue plan is being spent among the money being that will be distributed from that plan, somebody will go towards creating some 700 additional community health centers, providing the vaccine to 700 additional amenity health centers that serve low income and minority patients and rural communities. the number of pharmacies where the vaccine will be available will double it will be available at more than 20,000 pharmacies across the country. the story noting that the number

of federally operated centers will more than double from the current 600. those efforts to be in place by may. it was joe biden who promised that every american who wants one should be able to get a vaccine by may 1. one of those americans who does not want one is dream a out of west virginia. caller: i have a lot of medicines that i am on. it is my understanding that they do not know how long this vaccine will last. how long you will be immune. someone said four months, they don't really know if you are going to have to take it again. how often you will have to take it. for that reason, plus i have a problem with all of the illegals coming that are not getting vaccines and they are sending

them all over the country. we have no control over that. it's like having a leak in your boat and you keep ditching out the water, we need to stop the leak. they are bringing in other diseases and other things and covid. why are we working so hard for us and then we are still allowing the door to be open. host: why is it important for you for those people to be vaccinated, but you don't want to be vaccinated? caller: i am on a lot of medications. so, i have allergies. i figure we are going to end up with herd immunity anyway because they are allowing all the sin. if every now -- if everyone else is getting one, i shouldn't have to worry. host: we mentioned the american rescue plan on how some of that

money is being spent. you will hear more about it throughout this week did president biden and vice president harris out to tout it. biden heading to battleground states to promote the coronavirus relief law amid continued uncertainty about the rest of biden's agenda. the president traveling to pennsylvania and georgia while the vice president heads to colorado. part of a white house strategy to sell the covid-19 a lot to the public and spleen the nasa package. it -- the massive package. it includes an extension of child tax credits. republicans accusing democrats of using the bill to fund liberal policy priorities unrelated to the pandemic such as patching up pre-existing holes in state and local budgets

and expanding family benefits and boosting affordable care act subsidies. that is one of today's front page stories in the wall street journal. about 15 minutes left, we want to hear your vaccination story. whether you have been vaccinated, waiting for a vaccine, or choosing not to take it. bernard in new york city has been vaccinated. caller: [indiscernible] stalin called them useful idiots. host: this is terry out of richmond, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning, i am a registered nurse and a microbiologist. i received one of the visit -- one of the vaccines through cvs.

why doesn't he give credit to warp speed and trump for all of the vaccines and all of the planning that went behind it? during this period, i have traveled with my granddaughter and i would like to travel internationally. host: are you still with us? dennis in fort myers, florida. waiting for a vaccine. caller: good morning. i got my first shot friday. yes, i had a headache and i did not have a temperature. i got it from my veteran's clinic. the one thing that i have seen that is the biggest problem, and this was left over from the previous administration, one of the many trump lies, was we are

going to get everyone -- they did not have the logistics in place. i have talked to people at the v.a. and their biggest problem is they would like to vaccinate every veteran in the clinic system, but they are unable to know from day to day, week to week when they are going to get and how many doses they are going to be provided with. as far as the shot, by the time i was done i didn't even know that the young lady who was the nurse in charge -- she gave me the shot, i sat there for 15 minutes, no ill effects, and i came home. it is not hard. to the lady who takes

medication, i take about eight pills a day. i've got heart disease and diabetes. i'm sorry, do not walk away from this vaccine. it is important to get this nation vaccinated. as a child, i got the polio vaccine. i did not have anything to say about it, but my mother did and every mother out there should be saying the same thing, get vaccinated. that is what i have got to say. you folks have a good day. . host: dennis in florida. joan is in kentucky. good morning. caller: good morning. i am calling to say i got the vaccine, the johnson & johnson, it was wonderful. my arm did not get sore. it was amazing. i highly recommend everybody get the vaccine.

we got to get this country back and that is the way to do it. biden is doing at an our wonderful governor here in kentucky is absolutely great. i want to thank everybody that was involved in making sure that we are getting these vaccines out. it is great. host: on this issue of the people involved in this process, i wonder what you think of the status of science and health care workers over the past year and how this country thinks of those folks intrigues those folks -- and treats those folks. caller: we are so grateful for our health care workers. they have done a fantastic job. it is important for everyone to get vaccinated so we can protect them. they put their lives on the line for us so we have got to stand up for them. they are wonderful. i got my vaccine through our local health department.

there are many ways to do it in kentucky. if you do not get a vaccine here , you have missed the boat. they have every option available. host: this is tom out of ohio. caller: good morning. i got my shot. i think it was the first week of february. i got my follow-up shot my wife got hers also. it took my energy. i am 85 years old, my family says i am just getting old. but yes, i recommend everybody get them. thank you. host: e4 you go, a couple of folks rode in on facebook. rene saying, i am declining for now. stacy saying, i am waiting to see how others are affected.

what would you say to those two folks? caller: i can afford to lose a little energy. i am 85 years old and i had plenty of energy before. it did take my energy. i did get diarrhea and a nosebleed with the first, but nothing with the second. i am glad i got it and i recommend everybody else get it. host: this is surely out of louisiana. not planning to get the vaccine. caller: the reason why i am planning not to get the vaccine is because on january 19 my sister took the vaccination. on january 20, my mother took the vaccination. my mother is 99 years old. on february 2 my mother had to be hospitalized. as of this day, she is bedridden and cannot walk.

she was doing all of this stuff before the covid shot. on november 25, 2020 my mother celebrated her 99th birthday. we have video of my mother in good spirits, talking and walking, able to go to the bathroom by herself and do all of the things that everybody in their 60's or 70's can do. now we are taking care of our mother and she is bedridden. it is a nightmare. i'm not saying that everybody will be that way, but the same doses they gave my mother at 99 weighing 130 pounds, they give the same amount of dose to somebody who weighs 300 pounds, maybe 5'9" or six feet. my sister also became sick after taking the covid vaccine.

that's why someone in the family has to stay healthy in order to take care of my mother. right now, my sister and my brother are all taking turns taking care of my mother. we have told the medical field, we have contacted the cdc and it seems like nobody wants to address her condition. you would think that someone would have contacted us by now. even though my mother went to the hospital three times and each time they sent her back home. right now, she is having problems with the insurance. they say she makes too much money. she is retired from the school system in terra bone parish. it is a nightmare. i can't get anyone to hear my plea or call or talk. i have talked to the hospital

where the shot was administered. they do not want to take blame. they say, why are you calling? i don't know why they would put out a number on the website, we just make the appointment. it has been one thing after another. my mother was taking three pills , one vitamin d over the county. now she is on -- i just do not understand. host: shirley in louisiana. vaccine hesitancy, an issue that has reached the building behind me. this from today's axios report, uncertainty about why only 75% of the house of representatives is confirmed as vaccinated against the coronavirus is fueling a debate about when the chamber can return to its normal rules of operation.

the other 25% of members have either refused, not reported, or are avoiding it because of medical conditions. the office of attending physicians is clear, they came -- they can't make recommendations on relaxing social distancing guidelines. congress does have its own supply of the vaccine, though it is not certain why -- which party is to blame, the phenomenon is higher among white republicans than any other demographic group, as we have seen in some polls. time for one or two more calls. janice is in jacksonville, florida and has been vaccinated. caller: you are a the wilderness in every way. thank you. i got in by accident. you want me to just go ahead? host: how was the experience?

how hard was it to get an appointment? caller: it would have been difficult for me because i resist computer technology. i had a neighbor who jumped in there and got me my appointment. i do not know whether she did this intentionally. my first appointment, and the national guard was giving it. regency square in jacksonville, florida. the first shot was on valentine's day. i thought -- my first shot from the guard in this wonderful location on a beautiful day was on valentine's day. the second shot of the pfizer vaccine was on international women's day. i was just giddy and so thankful.

i am looking at my two band-aids, which i framed, and i just feel absolutely blessed that i not only got it but got it in a glorious wonderful way. i can remember my mother talking about the polio vaccine and i literally felt i was going through what she had described. i urge everybody to get it. nothing is absolutely perfect on this earth, but it is close to being perfect. i feel so privileged. i can't think of what to call it, i did not know i was going to get in on your line. do you want to ask me anything? host: thanks for sharing your story.

we are just hearing stories from those across the country. rory out of new york city, those who have been vaccinated. caller: good morning. i've been vaccinated, but i understand others' hesitancy, and it's a very personal decision. my only question or thought would be if you refuse the vaccine and you get the virus, maybe you should be willing to decline medical help. maybe wear a sticker, "i didn't get the shot, i won't take the cure," and see how that goes. it's up to them. that's all i have to say. host: rory, how did you come to that decision yourself? caller: i'm delighted that it

became available and i was able to get an appointment. it took some doing. but i understand -- i talked to friends, or acquaintances, who have chosen not to get it, and that is my retort to them. thanks for making room for other people who do want it, and if you get ill, i hope you won't take a bed away from somebody else who might need it. host: our last caller on today's "washington journal," but we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 pacific. in the meantime, have a great monday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span2 viewers as a public service. >> up next on c-span, former housing and urban development secretary julian castro discusses federal housing policy. in about an hour we will go live to the white house's covid-19 briefing. that starts at 11:00 eastern this morning later this afternoon, president biden will talk about the reason he passed coronavirus relief package-- recently passed coronavirus relief package. >> the senate comes in at 3:00

p.m. eastern today to continue work on president biden's cabinet nominees. they will vote on the confirmation of deb haaland to be interior secretary later in the week they may also take votes for nominees for small business administrator, u.s. trade representative, and however severed to be hhs secretary. -- xavier becerra to be hhs secretary. house is expected to work on women's rights and immigration bills providing a path to citizenship for migrant farmworkers and children. watch the house live on c-span, the senate on c-span2. >> up next, former housing and urban development secretary julian castro talks about advancing fair housing and racial equity through federal housing policy. it's part of an event hosted by the urban institute. >> today's event is part of a series of discussions with changemakers and policy analysts on questions