talks about the president's policy on climate change, energy and infrastructure. join the conversation with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages and tweets. washington journal is next. >> you think i'm late. you all think i'm late. well i'm not late. i'm going to state right here and fight for this lost because even if this room gets filled with lies like these. ♪ host: the hollywood version of the filibuster. jimmy stewart as senator jefferson smith in the 1939 classic "mr. smith goes to washington." the real filibuster is often quite different, unseen and off the floor, as the hurdle of

gaining 60 senate votes to advance legislation is the death of many bills passed by the house. today is sunday, march 21, 2021. we will spend this first hour talking about the filibuster. what should be its fate? if you think it is time to end the filibuster, the line is (202) 748-8000. if you are in favor of reforming it, (202) 748-8001. for those of you who think it should stay the same, the line is (202) 748-8002. we also welcome your texts. that line (202) 748-8003. tell us your name, where you are texting from. on twitter, we are @cspanwj. we will look for your posts as well on facebook.com/c-span. the reason it has come up so often, the topic of the filibuster, is the passage of bills in the u.s. house that

have seen similar passage in the 116th congress, things like hr 1 on voting rights, things like the equality act, and some legislation in the house passed friday dealing with immigration reform. a number of those bills had already passed the house in the 116th congress but were never considered by the senate and opposed by the trump administration. with democrats in control of both the house and senate with a tie-breaking vote by vice president kamala harris, the potential for that legislation to pass is there. the hurdle is the filibuster. one of the proposals is what is being called a talking filibuster. here is the headline from the new york times on it. "the filibuster might rise again." "if the filibuster did not exist, senate democrats could use the majority they won in january to pursue an ambitious

agenda. some democrats have called for abolishing the filibuster, a procedural tactic that makes it impossible to pass legislation without a 60 votes super majority. they lacked the votes to do it, but this week, president biden signaled the support for something else, a return to a more old-fashioned version of filibustering. a talking filibuster is the kind illustrated in the 1939 movie mr. smith goes to washington, in which the title character makes a stand against corruption by sermonizing on the senate floor. in the real chamber, filibusters can drum up public drama." the democratic whip in this and is dick durbin. he spoke to reporters about the filibuster. [video clip] >> obama pronounced the obama

administration a one term presidency and set out to deny republican votes for anything obama wanted. it went on for years. it was frustrating to be a senator, even worse to be an american looking to the senate for results. what plan do republicans have this route? it is the same. we are not going to play. we will not participate. and look what happened. we passed the american rescue plane without him. the american people now get a look at what senate republicans refuse to support. it addresses the most fundamental concerns families have across america, the pandemic, the economy, and a myriad of other issues, whether it is schools or receiving enough cash to make it through the next few months. these are bottom-line issues and mcconnell stays on the sidelines. he refuses to participate.

i hope he is wrong. i hope enough republicans decide this is not the approach, that they will join us in bipartisan efforts. there are many things we cannot do through reconciliation. we need a bipartisan approach. host: on the republican side this week, the minority leader spoke on a number of fronts on the senate floor. we will show that in the moment. they also had a lead piece in the wall street journal, the title of which "the scorched earth senate" is the headline. mcconnell wrote "nobody serving this chamber could even begin to imagine what a completely scorched earth senate would look like. none of us have ever served one minute in a senate that was completely drained of comedy and consent. to turn the lights on to proceed with a garden-variety for speech, to move even on

controversial nominees at faster than a snail's pace. if democrats kill the filibuster, history would repeat itself but more dramatically as soon as republicans wound back in control. we would strengthen america with all kinds of conservative policies with zero input from the other side. the pendulum would swing both ways and it would swing hard." here is senator mcconnell from the floor. [video clip] >> some democratic senators seem to imagine this would be a tidy trade-off. if they could just break the rules on a razor thin majority, sure, it might damage the institution, but then nothing would stand between them and their agenda. mr. president, anybody who really knows the senate knows that is not what would happen. dr. frank: -- so let me say this very quickly -- clearly for my colleagues.

nobody serving in this chamber can even begin -- can even begin -- to imagine what a completely scorched earth senate would look like. none of us have served one minute in a senate that was completely drained of comedy and consent. this is an institution that requires unanimous consent to turn the lights on before noon, to proceed with a garden-variety floor speech, to dispense with the reading of lengthy legislative texts, to schedule committee business, to move even on controversial nominees at anything besides a snail's pays. -- pace. i want our colleagues to imagine a world where every single task, everyone of them, requires a physical quorum, which, by the

way, the vice president does not count in determining a quorum. host: the fate of the filibuster in the senate. your thoughts. do you think it should be ended? (202) 748-8000. if you think it should be reformed, (202) 748-8001. if you think it should stay as it is, the line (202) 748-8002. we welcome your texts at (202) 748-8003. a couple on twitter first. michael says "the reason the filibuster has come up is the democrats have an agenda and are in a hurry to pass it before voters understand. they want unchecked power. also, the filibuster is more than theater. it forces bipartisanship, especially when one party has more votes in the house."

another person says "when it is used for obstruction, it is no longer a procedural tool, but a stranglehold on the will of the people. the gop has no problem killing it whenever they are in power, so take it away." we will hear from beau in georgia. go ahead. caller: the way the senate is structured, it allows long debates because of this size being smaller than the house. you have each senator erected -- elected to six-year terms. it is staggered. the framers of the constitution decided the body to be that way. should we do away with the filibuster? no, but at -- but it might need to be reformed. we need to realize that it should be a tool for certain

minority views to be heard, but the way it is structured, i do not think they will ever get rid of it altogether. they can reform it and limit time on debate, but they should be able to debate bills longer and the senate because that is how they are designed. they pass legislation, if you look at history, like during the new deal, in the senate easily, there were no filibusters then. i think the president -- i agree with him on that. maybe we need to go back to that type of filibuster instead of these other tactics that have been used. my concern is the senate needs to do his job, but they also need to -- do its job, but they also need to debate. host: elizabeth in greenwich, connecticut says and it. -- end it. caller: yes.

mitch mcconnell has shown his true colors. when it works from him -- for him, he uses it, as he did during the obama years. if he had not acted the way he did he would have had more credibility, but since he chooses to consistently stand in the way of any alternative thoughts or decisions, he brought it on himself. and so did the republicans. the vast majority of thinking citizens do not want that kind of power centralized. host: ruth marcus writing in the washington post this morning. "killed filibuster and reap -- kill the filibuster and reap what you so." "do the repercussions outweigh the risks? that should be a sobering concern, because a return to

complete gop control is only a matter of a few seats and the damage republicans could do would be immense." allen is in manassas, virginia. he says keep the filibuster as it is. caller: we are in a situation where this government is divided. the house and the senate are so close. i think the filibuster and the 60 vote requirement in the senate are very essential to preserving what john stuart mill called "preventing the tierney of the majority." -- "preventing the tyranny of the majority." whoever is in the minority need to come to the table, need to talk, but having something just

rammed down people's throats when the country is as divided as it is is unhealthy and leads, i'm afraid, to the type of reactions that we saw on january 6, which nobody in any responsible position wants to see. host: allen, you said senators need to be reasonable and have discussions. at one point, the benchmark for the filibuster was a two thirds vote. they changed that role and made it 60, a super majority as it is called. a filibuster is most often evidenced in advancing legislation to the floor, so to limit debate on legislation so they can vote on it. do you think that could be a possible solution, that they further reduce the majority needed to advance legislation? caller: yes, but as long as you

keep the 60 vote majority. i am not as concerned with advancing legislation as i am with requiring a 60 vote super majority to pass any legislation because we are just so divided. look, i will tell you that i am a republican. i consider myself a conservative republican, but i talk with friends who are on the other end, and if we sit down, it is amazing the time we can come to a reasonable solution on things on which we can both agree. the problem is that i think the parties are so divided that there is not sitting down in good faith and trying to reach a solution.

there are problems and one of the problems that i see with the republicans is that they refuse to recognize the problems exist. the first thing in solving a problem is recognizing that a problem exists. you may disagree on the solutions, but you have to sit down in good faith and try to reach a solution for the benefit of everybody. host: let's hear from danny in denver who says and the filibuster. -- end the filibuster. caller: why are we even listening to mitch mcconnell anymore? his words mean nothing. when they were in the minority, they did not pass legislation for barack obama. he is the reason the country is divided. they were obstructionists under obama. we have to strip the power that

mitch mcconnell has. whatever he says about what the republicans are going to do the next time they come into power, we should not give him any credibility, because look at what they did to barack obama when they stole his pick for supreme court. they held at merrick garland. -- they held up merrick garland. that was obstructionism. and when they put forward trump's supreme court pick at the end of the election year. the republicans about smart of the democrats. -- the republicans have outsmarted the democrats. nobody should give any credibility to what mitch mcconnell says. the democrats need to do whatever they need to do to pass legislation. we need that $15 an hour minimum wage -- it should be more than that -- $15 an hour is barely a

livable wage. the people of america have to realize -- host: to david in akron. david says end it. caller: yes. thank you for taking my call. i agree with what one person texted earlier said. the filibuster right now is a stranglehold on democracy. i will give you a case in point. the covid relief act had 77% popularity overall, i think even among republicans it was a majority that supported it. however, not one republican vote in the house or the senate passed it. is that democracy? is that representative democracy? what these people are, they want to keep the power of the rich, and what they are really afraid of is the voting rights act coming up. that's why they do not want to do away with the filibuster. what is the voting rights act?

it simply gives the right of every american to have their vote counted and make it easier not harder to vote. what they did in minority districts, they diminished polling places, made people wait in line for 10 hours, which is a hell of a deterrent, and, in georgia, they made it against the law to pass out water to people standing in line. this is diabolical. not only is it antidemocratic, it is draconian. that is why they need to end the filibuster. elections have consequences. let's say the democrats passed the voting rights act, they passed some legislation. every two years, 33 senators come up for reelection, so if they are doing such a terrible job, the people can speak. give them a chance to pass legislation.

i think we will find the more you can pass positive legislation where government helps the people, you will see people like that. that's what scares the republicans because they really are the party of the oligarchy. the oligarchy has their tentacles on both parties, but more republicans than the democrats. host: david pointed out the covid relief act. it passed in the senate and was considered under expedited rules, under reconciliation. they did not consider it because it did not meet that standard, that $15 an hour minimum wage that was included in the original house measure. he mentioned the voting rights bill in the house, the equality act, and immigration bills, among the bills already past and congress -- already passed in congress and passed in the

previous congress but not considered by the senate. this is from jim -- "we are open to arguing filibuster. you will find democrats want to do away with it so they can destroy america with their lamebrain ideas. senti and fulks realize it ensure only reasonable legislation -- since she can't -- [video clip] >> you have been reluctant to do away with the filibuster. want to have to choose between ending the filibuster and not advancing your agenda? >> yes. e used to have to stand up and command the floor and keep talking. you could not call -- no one could say a quorum call.

once you stopped talking, you lost that and someone could move in and say "i move the question of." >> so you are for bringing back to talk to filibuster? -- bringing back the talking filibuster? >> i am. there are like 200 now. so the idea -- it is getting to the point where, you know, democracy is having a hard time functioning. host: in the new york times piece we referenced earlier, the headline "the senate's talking filibuster might rise again." they point out an "early practitioner of the filibuster was he we long, a democrat, who opposed parts of the new deal. in one speech, lasting more than 15 hours long, he read from the constitution and shared recipes.

he was foiled by a bathroom break. in 2010, when senator sanders used the filibuster to protest the obama administration's plan to continue the tax policies of george w. bush, his monologue lasted eight hours. one of the most memorable performances of the last decade came from senator ted cruz. in a bid to defund the aca, mr. cruz spent 21 hours blasting politicians in cheap suits and bad haircuts, praising white castle, and reading his daughter's favorite stories. senator rand paul used a filibuster to delay the nomination of john brennan to the cia." louisiana democratic senators troy carter and cameron carter

peterson advanced last night to the second district house special runoff to succeed cedric richmond, who resigned january 15 to serve with the biden administration. julia letlow wins the louisiana faith special election -- louisiana fifth special election , filling the vacancy created by her husband, who died of covid-19 before he was sworn into the house. there will be 219 democrats and 212 republicans in the house. back to your calls on the future of the filibuster. donald in san antonio says reform it. caller: we should reform it because the way things are going now. whenever democrats get empower

-- get in power, republicans want to obstruct everything. even when republicans take power, the democrats want to obstruct. this is not going anywhere. they need to reform it because we will never have anything done for this country as long as we keep it the way it is. i agree with a lot of things other gentlemen said. thinking about these things, both sides -- i get so angry i cannot even talk sometimes. i just get that angry about what this country has become now. everybody wants to obstruct in power and get nothing done. host: to andres in san diego.

good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes. we can. caller: ok. i think -- i voted for president biden. and i am very happy. very, very happy. why? well, i normally read newspapers and watch fox news -- host: mhm. caller: and fox news is always for president trump, ok? president trump. that's fox news. until -- until -- twitter, some

of the supporters, you know, stopped his -- host: to our question, in terms of the biden agenda -- you voted for president biden -- do you think the democrats should now use their majority, their control of the senate, to change the rules on the filibuster so they can pass some of the legislation proposed by the senate and passed by the house so far? caller: yes. host: thanks for your call. to michael next in new kensington, pennsylvania. he says keep the filibuster as it is. caller: good morning, c-span. i think particularly now, at this point in time, you see where the democratic party has become so radical and so unconcerned with some of the

normally american checks and balances that we have today, things that are automatically in the constitution. one of the previous callers brought up the voting rights act bill. to take the voting rights -- to present that as a voting rights bill when it is a one-party rule bill, in actuality, which would cement the democratic party in perpetuity by completely changing the way we vote and not allowing the states to vote that way. it just shows how far to the left the democratic party has come. and no matter what joe biden appears to be or had appeared to be as a moderate, it seems to me to be pretty obvious that something else or somebody else is controlling this party to send it so far to the left. and a senate filibuster would be

something that would be a stopgap measure and some check that the minority would have against these overreaching and very huge bills where nobody knows what is in them. host: cliff in park, new york -- clifton park, new york, we hear from jeff, who wants to in the filibuster. tell us why. caller: with this filibuster, we are in a hyper-partisan environment, and as long as we are in this filibuster, no legislation will be done. the only other democracy that had a set up like this was in poland, and without disparaging the polish people, they passed no legislation for 100 years. i would like to see how long mitch mcconnell could stand up and do a filibuster the way he looks today, but i very much want to get rid of it so we can

get things done. host: what is the fate of the senate filibuster? (202) 748-8000 if you think we should end it, the senate should. (202) 748-8001 if you call for reform. if you are in favor of keeping the rules as they are in the senate, (202) 748-8002. this is from bloomberg, their headline. "what to know about the senate filibuster and the fight to reform it." they write that "the party in the control of the senate is feeling frustrated by the filibuster, the prerogative enjoyed by the minority party to demand never-ending debate on legislation, fording its passage. -- legislation, thwarting its passage. filibusters once required to stand and speak for hours.

now bills can grow into a hall at the mere threat of one." steve says reform it. good morning, steve. caller: hi. i am for reforming the filibuster. i think it is a good idea to keep one side from control, but these seem to go down party lines. it seems that all democrats vote for democrats, all republicans vote for republicans, a handful will switch sides. as long as the votes will be going down party lines, it does not matter who is in power. the person in power will always win, because they will never have their competitor to go across and say we think it is a good idea. it is to prevent all votes being done strictly by party line and to make it so that they have to

vote by the conscience of the state they represent and not the conscience of the person trying to keep their job. host: this is a cbs piece -- "it will be armageddon -- some democrats fear midterm backlash." more from center -- senate minority leader mcconnell on the reform. [video clip] >> the pendulum will swing both ways and swing hard. my colleagues and i have refused to kill the senate for instant gratification. in 2017, in 2018, i was lobbied to do exactly what democrats want to do now. a sitting president leaned on me to do it. he tweeted about it. what did i do, mr. president? i said to the president at that

time, no. i said no repeatedly. because becoming a senator comes with duties. i meant it. republicans meant that. less than two months ago, two of our democratic colleagues said they mean it too. if they keep their word, we have a bipartisan majority that can put principle first and keep the senate safe. host: we will get back to your calls on the fate of the filibuster. first a couple of comments on twitter. this one from mark, who says "the filibuster was the democrats friend the last four years and now they want to end it."

"end it." this one says "reform it. make it have a political cost. no more hiding in your office and crying filibuster. put up or shut up." john, go ahead, sir. caller: i am for reform, but at the end of the day, just scrap it. you saw how diabolical these republicans were shoving their legislation down people's throats, so the democrats just need to go ahead and do it. excuse me. i will be honest. i say that with trepidation because eventually republicans will get the senate back and they could do the same, but, at the end of the day, just go ahead and scrap it. you just read a text message that made a very good point about each state has two

senators. that's not going to change, so at the end of the day, i am kind of for reform, but what's the point? i mean, i don't really see a point to reform because enough people from one party get voted in, you will see one-party do what the republicans did, especially what they did to obama. they did not let him get anything done. they did not approve any of his judges, so i say, democrats, i would not be surprised -- i would not be mad, rather, if they scrapped the filibuster and just do what they want to. host: do you think, in some ways, with the majority split 50-50 and the party so far apart, do you think that would further -- parties so far apart,

do you think that would further weaponize the procedures in the senate? that one party gains power and passes everything they want? caller: i see that going on now, pretty much. they are the same. it is what it is. what you just said right now to me is pretty much going on, so i just say let it happen. host: to tim next up, who says keep the filibuster. rochester, new york. good morning. caller: good morning. the only thing the democrats need to tell them -- come to a bargain. make puerto rico and dcaa state or -- and d.c. a state or we will scrap it. that's what i would do. come to an agreement. we will make puerto rico and d.c. a state.

thank you. host: i house committee will actually consider d.c. statehood this week in a hearing monday. this is the front page of the washington post this morning. "d.c. statehood from pipedream to the priority. it has near unanimous democratic support. it enjoys near unanimous -- unanimity inside the democratic party. many congressional democrats it in the same breath as other priorities, putting it at the center of an internal batter on whether to change senate rules to allow for major legislation to pass with a simple minority. the momentum comes in part from the opportunity for

democrats to erode what they see as the republicans structural minority. it could change the dynamic in a chamber where conservatives in rural states can wield disproportionate influence over legislation, federal courts,, and nominations." the mayor of d.c., muriel bowser, had 51 star flags installed along pennsylvania avenue in support of the d.c. statehood push. that hearing set for a house committee tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. we will have that live on c-span. to arkansas. good morning to mike. caller: i am calling. i support keeping the filibuster as it is. i think it is a blatant grab toward power and ensuring they -- have power by the democrats. i think we will see taxes go

blue, and once that -- see texas go blue, and once that happens, we will never have another republican in the white house. it will not matter because you will have a democratic president permanently in the white house with a permanent veto, even if republicans take the house and senate back in the future. host: let's hear from john next up in franklin, ohio. john says end it. hello. caller: good morning. unfortunately, i believe it is time to end it. i did not always feel that way. i am 59, going to be 60 years old. i have followed what goes on for quite a long time, since i first voted in my first election in 1980, and i am very upset about the way things go in washington.

and i believe ending it, it will take time to heal, but i believe that is what will bring accountability to those that we send to washington and i believe that it will bring accountability to the voters who send those to washington and i believe, eventually, it may be a hard lesson, but it will clean itself up that way. host: are you concerned at all that if it is ended under democratic control that when republicans gain control again they could use it as well to advance their agenda? caller: that will be the hard lesson learned and whatever party ends up in control of that will, you know -- their feet will be held to the fire and the consequences will be, if things do not work out for the

citizens, they will eventually send people to washington that will represent the people of the land. i believe, with some of the callers saying that everybody we are sending there seems to go to obstruct and not finding a way to represent the citizens. i just think we have to find a way. i think holding their feet to the fire and actually making them get along -- they are going to have to or we will send people there that can legislate. host: towards the very end of this week, the democratic whip in the house, jim clyburn, spoke about the -- in particular about the voting rights act passed by the house, going to the senate,

and his call for the senate to end the filibuster particularly when it comes to passing voting legislation. . is. -- here he is. [video clip] >> using the big lie about the 2020 elections as a pretext to advance a litany of minority voting suppression laws. note that our vision of liberty and justice for all enjoys majority support among voters. so they seek to suppress enough votes so that their oppressive policies and bankrupt ideas can prevail. the minority leader wants to allow a minority of his minority to block measures that will prevent a return to bygone days. to confront this threat, the senate must eliminate the 60

vote threshold to end the filibuster on voting rights and civil rights legislation. just as mississippi burning was met with the civil rights act and voting rights act, the threat of scorched earth must be met before the people act -- met by the before the people act and the john lewis voting rights act. host: that's the majority whip jim clyburn on the floor of the house talking about the filibuster, calling for the filibuster to be ended in cases of voting rights and civil rights legislation. we are asking you about the fate of the filibuster. should be ended? (202) 748-8000. reform? (202) 748-8001? kept the weight is? -- kept the way it is? (202) 748-8002.

this one says "bring back the talking filibuster so people can see how bad things are for the average working stiff. the government was invaded by its own citizens. the republicans intentionally make government inept and then says it -- then say it does not work." another -- "people need to look at france, italy, britain for what parliamentary, one power government looks like." in kansas, roger is on the line. wents to keep it the same -- wants to keep it the same. caller: we should keep the filibuster. that is the only way the minority has some way to stop unbelievable things to happen. they use obama -- they say they used it a lot on him.

when trump came along, they did not use the filibuster. they got the press behind them and they could use the press to throw all kinds of obstructions in front of him, which we found out now none of them were true. not a one of them. so the filibuster, now the democrats are in power, they want to eliminate it. they don't need it. they can lie their way through anything. that is all i have to say. host: in, madison, kansas, that is glenn. -- in madison, kansas, glenn, who says end it. caller: good morning. they have got to get rid of this. it is just a thing for mcconnell to use and throw at them and he ought to do a little bit of checking on his wife that's in

cahoots with china and the chicken farm she's got over there, the shipping thing her and her mother and sisters got in china and all the money that they have made off of this thing and she gets out of the white house a month before easter. and i wish the tv stations would put these pictures on and get these other 10 that the fbi's looking at, and if they can prove you are hiding them, they ought to get you want something to go with them too. host: on the filibuster, an opinion writer for the wall street journal, her piece on friday headlined "a day in a scorched-earth senate." she wrote "there are 44 standing

rules of the senate. the filibuster is but one. a report notes that most are designed to advance the rights of individual senators at the expense of the powers of the majority. to the extent the senate functions at all, the report notes it is only because senators willingly relinquish those prerogatives. the senate convenience because senators -- the senate convenes, worm called -- quorum call. the presiding officer asked for consent to forgo reading yesterday's journal. republicans object. roll call vote. etc. and so on until adjournment." you can read that at wsj.com. , lake city tennessee -- lake

city, tennessee. good morning. caller: it needs to end. with half the country believing this election was illegitimate. and nancy pelosi trying to kick a member out of the house. it is a power grab by the democrats. we see what they do. they caused the disaster that is happening at the border and they are shipping this covid around the country. we need to have checks and balances in the senate and the filibuster is one way of doing that to stop them taking complete control of the rest of the elections we have by this bill they brought up, the very first they brought out of the house. they ask for no signature, no id, nothing. you go in and all these 100000 -- 100,000 that have

already come across our border can vote. host: i headlined -- "border officials are holding 5000 and accompanied children in custody." "-- the latest sign that the number of children arriving at the border is continuing to rise. they write the biden administration has quickly struggled to quickly transfer children out of customs custody and into shelters." jim, good morning. caller: this whole thing with the filibuster, it is just more proof that the democratic party is an absolutely corrupt party who are very willing to overreach and abuse what power they have in order to acquire more power, more control, not to make the country a better place,

just to give them more power and control. here is a list of proof. impeaching president trump twice in two years after we only had two impeachments in 200 years. now, wanting to make washington, d.c. a state to guarantee two democratic senators. you can go on down the line. wanting to pack the supreme court. they are a stain on our country. they do not have anything to do with wanting to make america a better place. they have everything to do with wanting to make it a better place for democrats only. do you hear them complain about the filibuster when they were the minority? now you are going to hear them wine and complain. -- whine and complain. if they become the minority again, they will be whining to get it back.

they make me sick. host: tom says keep the filibuster as it is. why? caller: our recent elections -- the republic is less likely to survive a multitude of fools. thank you. host: we will hear from mike in norwood, massachusetts, who says end it. tell us why, mike. caller: my opinion is simple. i would in the filibuster -- i would end the filibuster. all the senators are not republicans, democrats, they are u.s. senators. you have to work together regardless of what party you are in. host: appreciate your call. other stories. this is the headline inside the washington post.

"across the u.s., protesters demand into anti-asian racism." they write "demonstrations unfolded as activists linked the massacre in atlanta into a surge in violence against asian americans amid the pandemic. in san francisco's chinatown, children drew chalk butterflies to symbolize the people killed. in georgia, senator rafael warnock issued a call for solidarity. meanwhile, a growing chorus of advocates have called for a renewed federal effort to fight gun violence, arguing that, amid rising racism, lax gun laws make it too easy for someone to act on their hate." bob in greensburg, pennsylvania. caller: i do not know if anybody ever brought this up, but we do not live in a democracy.

elizabeth warren said a simple majority, we should not have anything more than that. we do not live in a democracy. we live in a representative republic. the senate, the way it is set up, is to protect the rights of the minority in this country so we are not steamrolled by a bunch of yahoos waiting for the next handout. that is how the country was set up. if you go against the filibuster, you go against the founding fathers. host: bob, on that, on -- in the piece from bloomberg we mentioned earlier, how the filibuster came to be. here is the story. "the senate envisioned by the founders was a highly

deliberative body that had no mechanism to end debate. senators quickly realized that long speeches could delay action on legislation. the practice of talking a bill to death got the name filibuster in the 1850's. in 1917, senators adopted a rule establishing that debate could be ended by a cloture vote with a two thirds supermajority. that bar was lowered in 1975 to 60 votes to end debate." what's happening now. "senate democrats are facing increasing pressure to end or modify the filibuster from the more liberal members of the progressive wing of the house and activist groups. even some moderate democrats

signed onto the idea when all 50 republicans lined up against biden's $1.9 trillion covid relief and stimulus, but to change the rules, all 50 democrats in the chamber would have to vote in favor with vice president harris breaking the time. at least two democrats have said that they will not go along. manchin of west virginia says the filibuster should be made more painful by requiring senators who invoke it to speak continuously. mitch mcconnell warned that it would make it harder to conduct routine business in the chamber." harry is in norcross, georgia. good morning. caller: they should reform the filibuster, but my concern more is the fact that the senate is a nonrepresentative body to begin with. the democrats in the senate

represent 45 million more people than the republicans do, so the senate is already a minority protection system, where the senators actually represent the people with money, corporations, and the wealthy, and the democrats -- well, they also represent the money in the senate. i think the senate needs to be done away with, but that's difficult. thank you. host: another story we are watching this morning. in miami, a curfew announced related to concerns over covid. this is the headline at the miami herald -- "party is over. miami beach closing causeways and imposing curfew." the front page, the lede at miami herald. stephen is in lexington,

kentucky. he says end the filibuster. caller: i support ending the filibuster. i think it is a waste of time, very unproductive for the senate, and it is not used the way it was in the past. it is time to change things up. i know people are scared of change, but this is america. it is constantly changing. there are new people here, new societies, cultures. and the filibuster so we can be more productive. -- end the filibuster so we can be more productive in the senate. host: do you think it will lead to a more productive senate? caller: yes. stopping this wall where no one can be productive or talk, it is not productive. i think it would move forward to more efficient government. host: some foreign policy news this morning. analysis from david sanger on

the front page of the washington post on china and russia. "china and russia set the tone for a cold era." he writes "president biden got a taste of what the next four years may look like, a new era of bitter superpower competition marked by perhaps the worst relationship washington has had with russia since the fall of the berlin wall and with china since it opened diplomatic relations with the u.s." he writes "it has been brewing for years as the presidents of russia and china have taken sharp turns toward authoritarianism, but opened up in sharp fashion when biden agreed that putin is a "killer" and someone lectured americans about the arrogant view that the world must replicate their freedoms."

alexis in wilmington, north carolina -- good morning -- says end the filibuster. caller: thank you for having me on. it took over 200 dials. it needs to end. i have a comment. we send these people to congress to speak our voice. this last covid bill was supported by 70% of the country and yet no republicans supported it, so the question is, who gets to vote for our vote in the senate or wherever? if we send them to office, they are supposed to speak our voice. 70% said they wanted the covid bill, and yet none of the senate republicans voted for it, so it seems to me it is not the

filibuster we need to break. if these people are not representing the constituents that sent them there, they need to be ousted. we do not need people that do not speak our voice. host: ok. one more call on this topic. aberdeen, maryland. hello to frank. caller: thank you for taking my call. we really do need reform. the senate was designed to take care of the disparity of unequal states. for instance, a senator from california represents 68 million -- 68 times the number of people as the senator from wyoming. and given the numbers that are in play, it is possible for 41 senators to represent only 15% of us. for 51 senators to represent only 20% -- 28% of us, and 59

this is what i propose, each senator stands for one half of their state population. if senators standing for over 60% of us or majority of the senate votes for closure, that is fair and balanced, that provides a path for the large states and small states to end the filibuster. if you break it down and set it down to 50-51 vote, it makes it possible for a sizable majority of americans to have their vote

vetoed by a tiny majority. i already give you the numbers -- gave you the numbers, 59 senators can represent 85% of us. host: thanks for the call. we are joined by the grover norquist, the president of americans for tax reform. we will talk about the considerations for a tax increase on high income earners. later on gene karpinski joins us -- joins us for the administration's plans on climate change and infrastructure. ♪ >> american history tv on

c-span3, explained the people and events that tell the american story. today at the 4:00 eastern, four films marking women's history month including the film, "crossing borders" at six clock eastern on american artifacts, a recreation of the events of the assassination attempt on ronald reagan. at 8:00 eastern on the presidency, the author of, "what jefferson read, ike watched and obama tweeted," on how popular culture influenced history. what american history tv on c-span3. >> co. history of the history checks poke asked -- cohosts of the history chicks podcast. >> women and girls are hungry

for role models. we keep hearing that representation is important. that is so true. the amount of emails and other messages we get from young girls wore their mothers saying how the subject that we cover or the fact they hear two women speaking in that format has affected them. >> women have typically been the women behind the man. what we get to do is talk about the man behind the woman but focus on her life and tell the story from her point of view. the fact that we get to do that, we hope it inspires people to do the same. >> history chicks tonight at 8:00 eastern on q&a. you can listen to q&a as a

podcast. ♪ >> 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 companies who provide c-span as a public service. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us next is grover norquist, president for americans for tax reform, here to talk about the proposals from the biden administration on potential tax increases. guest: good morning. host: it is the first since we've had to talk to you since the president was interviewed by george stephanopoulos and talked about his plans for raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

i want to point to a piece of that from the interview and get your thoughts. [video clip] >> you out here so you're covid relief package, executing a package. what is next? pres. biden: if you notice the criticism of my package from my republican friends is it spends too much money and gives too much tax breaks. all of these come from the bottom 60% of the population, they needed. the $1400 check, child tax credit, they do not like it because their idea of the tax cut is the term tax cut where 83% went to the top 1%. anybody making more than $400,000 will see a small to significant increase. >> let's talk politics, you did not get a single republican vote for tax cuts, how will you get one for a increase?

pres. biden: i may not, but i will get the dumb votes for an increase. if we bring it back to when the bush was president, that would raise $230 billion. they are per -- they are complaining because i am giving a tax credit for childcare, to the poor, middle class? my proposal and the relief panel i put forward creates 7 million jobs according to a range of people, increases gdp by over $1 trillion, raises income in america and diminishes debt. host: grover norquist, a lot there. your reaction? do you see this as an undoing of

the 2017 tax cut? guest: biden has repeatedly said while camping that he would repeal all of the republican tax cuts. he said it was only for rich people. if he does repeal all of them, for the median income family of four, that is a $2000 per year tax increase. middle income, single parent with one child, $1300 tax increase every year. when he talks about the cuts in the corporate income taxes, it reduced utility bills for all americans who get their water, electricity, natural gas through utility because that federal tax which had been 35% on utility was down to 21% and by law is directly passed to consumers. by raising the corporate income tax, he will raise utility bills

on all americans. . he claims that if you get rid of the republican tax cuts, it only hits high income people. point of fact, that is not true. he will have to redo it. he has already raised taxes on those who have made more than $400,000 per year. in the bill that was called the covid bill, 1% was about vaccines and the rest was spending, giving money to big cities incompetent governments. he target money to those states who had so incompetently dealt with covid that they shut their economies down more than needed. california has high unemployment, so there's near, south dakota is out 3%, other states opened up more wisely according to the science. the money taxes those competently run state and gives the money to mayors like cuomo

who did so former -- did so poorly. there is a challenge and that the tax increases that biden is talking about, -- host: you talked about the figure of $400,000 -- 200 thousand dollars per individual, $400,000 per couple, where did that come from? guest: as a campaigner he said $400,000 per person, his staff is trying to walk that back, saying it is for a couple. he never said that during the campaign. he may be trying to get away from it. the tax increases he want, the energy taxes, this is a tax that will raise the cost of gasoline, heating your house, the cost of everything that you purchase with energy. it is a tax on lower income people.

he said he would bring back the obamacare penalty tax, if you do not purchase obamacare, $700 tax to 200,000 -- two $2000 tax-- to $2000 tax. three quarters of the people to our text and less than $50,000 per year. if you're in less than $4000 per year, less than $50,000, by the implants raise your energy costs , the taxes on energy difficulty of cost, utility bill and if you are one of the three -- 53% of american hustle to have a 401(k) or ira, when you race the corporate income tax from 21% to 35%, staff says 28%, never sure who is in charge. those are higher than communist china. when but it was vice president,

he saw american companies move out of the united states. our corporate rate was somewhat higher than other countries. by that wants to go back -- he wants to go back to where it is better to invest in china. whether he races at 228% or 35% he puts us at eight this event is to china, germany, britain, canada, most of the other countries that is jobs leaving. host: we want to invite our colors. we welcome your calls and comments. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, all others (202) 748-8002. a recent piece at fox news, an opinion piece. "get ready america, democrats think tax hikes are the answer to everything." you do say that democrats think tax hikes are the answer to most everything.

what is your solution? is a cut spending, not passing bills like the covid bill? calling -- guest: calling it a go with bill is not honest, 1% dealt with vaccines, 5% maybe with covid related. these were bailouts to special interest groups, labor unions, who had contracts that cannot be met because they were dysfunctional. pensions for other people. giving money to other governments, cities and states. who are not lost much money due to covid, state governments did not lose much money, because they kept collecting taxes on businesses that were not running. the private sector took a hit. the government did well. private sector people saw nothing good out of covid,

public sector saw some good things. there's a difference between the government and private sector people, who shut down and lost jobs. this is the real challenge when what they did with the covid bill was political chaos. it did not help the economy. it looks like what obama and bill clinton did. each of them came in, spend money, raise taxes, bill clinton did that has conference, i am so, i tried i am going to have to recesses on the middle class. he tried to raise taxes on energy, obama came in with a series of taxes on low income people. each one of them promised to only tax rich people. all three of them are going to go after the middle class. host: what was the economic impact on growth of the trump tax cuts? guest: if you measure 2018, the median income in the united

states went up by 6.8%. not the average, if you learn up everybody in the country, -- line up everybody in the country, everybody got 4004 hundred dollars more per year. it moved, tens of millions of people had higher incomes. if you undo that, they are going to take that away. the reason the corporate income tax is helpful, most of the corporate income tax comes out of wages. when we reduce the corporate income taxes, you see the median income up by over $400,000 in one year. a larger increase than all eight years of obama. corporate income tax cut was the most progrowth show she put

forth which is why the rest of the world has done and. when we cut to 35%, that was helpful. rest of the world saw that was the way to go. they took the rate down. we became the country with the highest income tax in the world, dumber than france is not where you want to be. that is where biden wants to take us. he is looking to go back to jimmy carter. he wants to double the capital gains tax, he headed up so h igh the economy tanked. he wants to go back to the mistakes of jimmy carter. host: here is reporting from bloomberg, biting eyes the first major tax hike since --. what has been proposed so far,

raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, it had been lower under the 2017 measure to currently 21 percent, raising income tax rates for individuals over 400,000 dollars, expending the estate tax and raising capital gain tax rates for individuals earning more than $1 million. grover norquist, president of tax reform, tells about your organization, its purpose and how you are funded. guest: it was brought into being at the request of president reagan. our goal was to pass the tax reform act of 1986 which reduced marginal tax rate. it was largely reform. in order to do that we crated the taxpayer protection plan, the republican congressman and democrats signed the pledge that they would never raise taxes. the reason people were buried, if rates go down, you broaden

the base, then rates come back up. we now have the vast majority of republicans who are taken the commitment to their voters that they would never raise taxes. during the 62 years before 1994 when republicans won the house and senate in reaction to bill clinton's tax increases, energy tax spreads, spending sprees, lost the house and senate. since that time we have had the vast majority of republicans who have taken the pledge. there were two democrats who took the pledge, two senators, they became republicans. before that, for 62 years, democrats had control most of the time and congress, only four years where the republicans had the house and senate.

one-party government for 62 years. since 1994 when the republicans made the commitment to not raise taxes, republicans have the house and senate. that is why democrats are in a panic. they used to control the house and senate with consistency. now they less than half the time to. largely because the american people know they will raise taxes. all the people tell you they do not want taxes increased. host: who was the most recent to sign the pledge? guest: shelby the democratic congressman then republican. i do not keep track of this date. there are about 1000 who have taken the pledge to not raise taxes, 16 governors all republicans. the tax issue is the issue that divides republicans and democrats more.

there are democrats who will not spend a certain amount of money, but there are none who will not raise taxes. and they're not any republicans who will raise taxes. we are not going to raise taxes, we venture formed government. if that is not on the table, if sony has a new idea, you raise taxes for that. it is a pledge to not raise taxes, to stay within the means of the american people, not its desires. enter reform government to cost less. -- and to reform government to cost less. eight states have no income tax at all, they do better than the states that have income taxes. people move there and away from high tax states. which gives you 90 of where they want to go. there are another eight or nine states were looking to join the

no income tax group. governor sununu in new hampshire , is looking to face down, they have a small income tax on interest and dividend. georgia just started to reduce its income tax. the emaciation try to tell them not to, they say they are doing this. arizona has a significant force to face their income tax out to zero. they are working with the governor to get a significant tax cut. north carolina has been doing this since 2013, they take the corporate and individual rate down significantly toward zero. the governor of west virginia want to face the income tax out towards zero. there is a real movement at the state level. host: it turns out our first

color, we have plenty of them, our first is from west virginia. berkeley springs, good morning to carl. caller: good morning. it is common sense when you raise taxes on corporations, they're going to do one or two things. they're going to increase the price of goods or move headquarters to some other country. this stimulus, they claim it will boost the economy. we are printing most of that money. just printing it. why can't we print a couple trillion and send it to guatemala, el salvador, it would boost their economy? we are just printing the money and we can send that money down to those countries and cure the

immigration problem. it sounds crazy. if we are just printing the money. guest: i just hope they are not democratic congressman listening because they might take you up on it. they have moved to such a radical left of center position on spending without limits. here is the tragedy. by then it was around when obama did what biden is doing now. he took a bunch of money and threw it into the economy, had some refundable tax cuts, he was writing checks to people. the obama-biting recovery -- b iden recovery was the biggest since world war ii. the strongest recovery was ronald reagan, cut taxes and restrain spending, and they doubled the revenue the revenue

-- and they doubled the revenue. why? the economy grew. we had more resources and lower tax rates which gave me more growth. we have seen success, it was the pregnant reduced tax rate, hold down spending. he was not able to hold her down more than he wanted to, he had a democrat house to work with. joe biden is doing what obama did, which is the worst comparative john counties -- john kennedy's approach to cut the marginal tax rate where he had the wrong 60's. host: keith on the democrat line. caller: there is so much to correct, i cannot say good morning. guest: good morning. caller: you have been on c-span all of my adult life, as you have no constituency.

you are unelected. you are not a representative. you're not a governor. you have no constituency. 1980 you conflated reagan's recession with the great recession. this is a semantic shift, grover norquist and fox news always use. slowest recovery because the stimulus was too small and we knew that. that is why we went to. the biggest deficit spenders -- worse economic performance, you can rewrite all of the history you want, the reason for the great recession was republican tax policy. who fights two wars and cuts taxes and sends rebates?

host: response from grover norquist. guest: when ronald reagan came into office, under the tax policies that jimmy carter and joe biden support gave us double-digit inflation, two years in a row. that low growth because of high taxes was devastating. he also had collapsing job numbers. that turned around on january of 1983 when tax cuts took effect and you saw strong economic growth. ronald reagan dealt with the soviet union and rebuilding the national defense, when carter had not paid as much attention to it. when fannie and freddie collapsed and give you the fiscal challenges from the end of 2008, 2009, that was a problem. you did not have the soviet union to deal with, inflation.

what they did was throw money at it rather than create incentives for growth. that gave you lousy growth. many people do not learn from the failure of obama spending spree. and think if you double down, it might work. here is the challenge. it is not going to. we have these lower rates and taxes. obama wants to tackle -- target small businesses. there was a cut for self-employed people, people who paid their income taxes for their own personal income taxes by 20% to get down to where small businesses paid at the same rate as general motors. the democrats had high marginal tax rates on businesses that run their life through their individual tax return. that tax cut he wants to get rid of which will be a tax increase

on millions of small businesses. which will also kill jobs. host: let's also hear from dave on the independent line, michigan. caller: good morning. good morning -- good morning. this revolving door i see, with what can be done, get of the senators -- get all of the senators and data, about profits. we should not look at profits is the same as income. if we can break off -- the circle of domino effect, where profits come into it, if you can

go into that profits compared to the income bracket. going into where government grants permit. let you elaborate. guest: one of the arguments from the folks on the left is if you raise corporate income taxes, somehow corporate spaeth that instead of you. i went through the economic studies on this which shows that 70% go into lower wages. if you do not have as much money to invest in computers, cars, equipment, they are less productive. when republicans cut the corporate rate, he saw more money invested into band -- broadband and people in median income went up $4400 in one year.

workers get hit badly by the corporate income tax. biden is an old man. his memory was the 1960's when only 10% of americans, rockefellers, kennedys had shares of stock invested in the market. now 53% of american families have a 401(k) or individual retirement account and their life savings is in that. if you raise taxes on business, you reduce the cash flow of those businesses and the stocks in your portfolio become worth less. people saw a tremendous increase in the life savings when republicans cut taxes and the stock market went up. unfortunately if they reverse that, you will see that increase soil. you will be less well with your life savings. he will not only kill jobs with these increases, he will damage

the life savings of half the country. host: let me ask about the other half of the equation, lead opinion piece in the near times, "how to collect 1.4 trillion dollars in unpaid taxes." in a remarkable analysis, the irs announced that half of their income is not subject to verification, billions of dollars in business profits and royalties are hidden from the government each year. by contrast more than 95% of wage income is reported. unreported income is the single largest reason that unpaid federal income taxes may amount to more than $600 billion this year and more than 7.5 trillion dollars of the next decade. more than half of the projected federal deficit. guest: there has often been an effort to say if we have more irs agents screwing people in tighter ways you could raise

more money. that has been tried in different states and not had more success. the irs has a self-interest in hiring more of us, paying more. we should have a tax system that is so easy to deal with that everybody understands it. and low enough that people can pay easily. the challenge is they have made the system to complicated. we need to make it simpler, more open. the last time the white house used the irs to go after conservative groups, tea party groups were set up to shut it down for three years, no single conservative group in the country. the legal ability to get a bank account. the irs was used to shutdown a political movement. people did not go out and shutdown liberal groups. they shut down corporate groups trying to get incorporated so

they could have a bank account. we need to keep an eye on the irs because it has been used politically. richard nixon between he lost the presidency and one, was audited every year. we need to stop having the rs leaking data as they did against people whose politics they did not like. host: let's hearing from robert next on the republican line. caller: i think we have to stop giving money to other countries, keep the money here. i think donald trump was right about stopping the border. biden fell down three times going up the stairs on the jet. i do not know if he is fit for this presidency. we have to stop hating. the asian people have nothing to do with -- people have to stop

attacking asian people. it is terrible what they are doing. making us look bad. they are americans too. the people come over here that is wrong, sending money to other countries. what do you think? guest: what american should -- whether micro should share is not cash, russia has cash, china has cash, what we can export is our example, religious liberty. that is what we need to export. the idea of freedom of contract, property rights. i would have us spend more time explaining to foreign governments, things that work and do not work, then here is cash. then they just spend that and some of the countries most damaged get the most free cash. when the united states custom of

from foreign aid, taiwan and south korea they boomed after we cut the aid. we became rich by being largely free and running their own lives. when we are 13 colonies, the taxes were bitumen 1% and 2% of income. now we are up to 30 plus percent. we need to take taxes down. let people run their own lives. doubling the capital gains tax is a tax on people getting rich. it is not just a few people. there are 25 million people filing for capital gains in 2019. the most recent data. that is a lot of people. that is not just the rich, doubling the couple gains is not just a tax on the rich, it is a tax on people getting rich. the war democrats have launched

against the gig economy, freelancers, people have several jobs, work for as a mutation -- as a musician, goober driver, there are 10 plus million people who work for them -- uber driver, or 10 million plus people who work for them. california made it illegal to freelance, yet have a boss awakened unionize you. democrats nationally took that law which the citizens of california voted down, saint liberal democrat california, which gave their votes to biden strongly rejected and overturned the attack on the gig economy. people with a second job, working for themselves. that gives americans freedom.

democrats are committed to taking weight your opportunity to have that kind of individual liberty. they want everybody to work for big corporations. small companies were destroyed and put out of business due to these closures, they do not close to him big chains, they close down independent as nurses because they had no interest. host: senator elizabeth warren ran for president in one of her proposals was a tax on the wealthy, she spoke about her tax proposal recently. here is a look. [video clip] >> since the pandemic, our 660 billionaires have increased their wealth by $1.3 trillion. this wealth of tax will raise about $3 trillion over 10 years. what people should be thinking about, is what does that tell you about the top end of the wealth distribution?

that's a two cent wealth tax, a little more on billionaires will raise $3 trillion over 10 years. that is money we reinvest in america. host: your thoughts? guest: europe is to have 12 countries with wealth taxes, they now have three because they do not work, they hurt the economy. they do not raise as much money as they are supposed to. sometimes leftists like to say that we should be like europe and have government monopolies, not free speech. they should look at europe and ask the swedes where they could not make this work, the french why this was a disaster. the millionaires left the country and there were not collected much money. this is one of those taxes based on hate and envy of the successful.

going after people because they are successful and create jobs and opportunities is an odd reason to discriminate. the reason the left switched from think they wanted to help poor people, is that 50 years of the great society from johnson, they spent over $14 trillion saint we know how to help poor people get jobs and become middle-class. they did not move the needle. all of the things they said would get better the number of poor people in the country, unemployed people in the country, they are loath to admit that the great society was a failure. they did not do the things they were supposed to. forget about helping poor people, but we can have less inequality if you have a french revolution, chop off the heads

of rich people. that does not help a single low-income person. it hurts the people who would lose their jobs. the government knows how to reduce inequality by making higher income people poor, but not to get a lower income people get to work and become middle-class. the free market does that, government programs has never done that. that they have shifted income inequality is that their admission for 50 years that they lied to us, that they had programs that would help lower income people. government programs and handing out money, subsidies for people not working did not work. they are shifting to this other thing. you not do better, won't you feel better if we chop the head off of bezos? host: i question review -- a question for you, how do we

counter action on infrastructure without raising taxes and strong private public partnerships? guest: infrastructure is a french word that means other the roads. for years politicians that they would build hollow -- highways. we should have paid the country independent with the money that they threw on the roads. check the roads in the neighborhood. when your governor says he will put money into roads and puts up gas taxes, does it go into roads? when governor walker showed up, he found democrats had taken $1 billion out of the gas tax and put it into welfare. then they turn around and said they will raise gas tax and build roads. we have been through this, presidents, clinton and obama said they would build roads, give us the money, they get the money and do not fix the roads. they built other things. now at least when they say

infrastructure, it is not roads, may be bypassed, not roads. infrastructure means government spending money on something. the fact china spends a lot on infrastructure, so did japan. japan went into a coma because they spent so much money on things that were government directed investments. at some point china has all of this investment they built up because the government things they are smarter than anyone and building bridges to nowhere, cities to nowhere. tenant will have a problem with that. and so will the united states. -- china it have a problem with that. and so will the nine states. americans making decisions, crowdfunding and getting information by figure out whatever legal snows rather than having a bureaucrat for money. -- throw money. government was going to make broadband work in utah, they had to sell it for a dollar? can

take at a democratic governor who is going to do broadband, not going anywhere. chattanooga, the history of all of these government sponsored failures is long and expensive. there is corruption involved. host: as we do often when we talk to grover norquist let's look at the u.s. debt clock over 28 trillion dollars. caller: grover i agree with you, our tax system is unfair, it picks winners and losers. what we need is a solution like the uniting amendment proposes. it eliminates all of the deductions, all of the exemption so that everyone pays on every single dollar they take an. businesses pay on the top line. know what the tax rate is, it is

less than 1%. anybody paying more than 1% is getting screwed by this trump tax system. guest: if we take the rates down, we know from history, coolidge had the roaring 20's, when hoover raised taxes, you had the great depression, when fdr raised taxes, the depression lasted 10 plus years. when kennedy cut tax rates, he had the rollin' 60s 60's, when reagan cut taxes you had strong growth. you strong economic growth when republicans cut taxes under trump. imagine how strong we would be if we have not had covid or the state governments had not shut down. that one europe saw a 6.8% increase in median income. tens of millions of americans pending money in a sustainable way.

you can write to get a $1400 sustainable tech, that is not sustainable. where will you get that the next year? business, jobs, machinery, technology, that worker becomes valuable. that is not a gift. he or she earned it by being productive and competitive and able to move to another company because they have more skills and capital. host: let's go to people in mississippi. hello. caller: hello. i want to ask about medicare and social security. the people in the 90's now being affected, or their surviving spouses. why has everybody forgotten this group? guest: social security has not been forgotten by by then. he wants to increase for small businesses their tax burden, 15% so small business generates more

than 400,000 dollars would end up paying social security up to everything they earned over $400,000, goes up to 150 or so. that is for people and businesses. that will over time with inflation, every american would see their social security tax increase, have fun you or your business. that is one of the lesser discussed tax hikes. it would be devastating for small businesses, your children and grandchildren will. because the inflation generated by these policies. yes social security has real challenges. we need to be honest with people about how much money is being brought and and how much is being brought out. more americans have defined pensions. they're getting their own pensions and 401(k) so they are

more protected against the failures of social security which loses money. if you took your taxes and put it in the stock market, you would have more income and wealth than social security. it reduces the value of the gdp of the united states by taking money instead of investing there is no investment. it is not sustainable. we need to perform -- we need to reform it. host: that sounds like a conversation for another one. we will focus next on another area, climate change, energy policies and infrastructure policies of the administration. our guest is gene karpinski, at least of the conservation voters. more calls and comments ahead. ♪

>> tonight at 9:00 eastern on afterwards, georgetown law professor details her experiences in policing in her book, "tickled up in blue: pleasing the american city. -- policing the american city." >> there is this whiplash where police are self-sacrificing heroes or brutal thugs, it can be hard to inject into that conversation nuance. there is good, there is bad, they are mixed up. if we want to transform policing , we need to be grappling. >> watch afterwards with rosa brooks tonight at 9:00 eastern on the tv on c-span2. you can listen to every afterwards program as a podcast where you get your podcasts.

go to c-span.org/coronavirus for the federal response to the pandemic. if you miss our live coverage it is easy to find the latest briefings and their most recent response. use an interactive gallery of maps to follow the cases worldwide. >> washington journal continues. host: next up we are joined by gene karpinski, president of the league of conservation voters, here to talk to us about the energy, environmental and infrastructure proposals. good morning. guest: great to see you. host: you and your organization campaigned for now president biden. why? guest: it is great to have a new president who is committed to solving the climate crisis, covid crisis, economic crisis

and the solutions are tied together. we invested more in the present election that we ever had. the contrast was clear between the sitting president and now president biden. president biden at the time was the candidate to put forth the boldest climate proposal we had seen, by far the most ambitious. he campaigned on it regularly. he talked about it and all of his stops -- at all of his stops. when voters voted for him, it was clear he had a mandate on climate change. he talked about solving these interconnected crises, economic crisis, health crisis, racial justice crisis and the coming crisis. the solutions he proposed help to solve each of those.

he had a great campaign. now to get the job done. host: the administration hitting the two month mark, here is what president biden has done in terms of executive orders and other azure's on the environment and energy. he has rejoined the paris climate agreement, revoked of the keystone xl pipeline program it -- permit, directing infrastructure planning to accelerate transmission of clean energy buildup, to conserve 30% of land and oceans by 2030 and coming to double offshore wind production by 2030. also establish climate change as a national security policy. what does that mean when it is eight national security priority -- a national security priority? guest: rejoining harris --

harris-- paris it is a signal to the world. climate change is a national security crisis, which is why the department under present obama used to talk about the climate change challenge as one of the biggest problems the world needs to solve. in addition to all of the important things he did already in these first couple of months, just as significantly, he appointed an incredible group of people across the government, in the white house, agencies who take this commitment to solving the coming crisis seriously. great set of the premise that have been confirmed. we collect climate champions, the green team of champions ready to get the job done. it is a whole of government approach. it is not just the epa or interior, all across government,

we have met with many of these folks. after bring a climate change lends to all of the problems -- we have to bring a climate change lens to all the problems. host: officials are casting strategy as an essential component of their plan to revive the economy amid the fallout from the pandemic. ty garbin -- high that in-- tie that in climate change policy as economic driver. guest: hats off to the government that passed the american rescue plan already, overwhelming support in the public. now we need to pass a republican -- a recovery plan. on the campaign trail, he was that when president trump talked about climate change, he called

it a hoax. i think about climate change, i think about jobs. solving the climate crisis is good for our economy, racial justice, health but also jobs of the future. every time we camping, we talked about jobs of the future. those are clean energy jobs that need to be good paying, union jobs. that is the new economy. that is what we need to invest in. it is about investing in the jobs of the future. and making sure 40% of those investments go to those most impacted, communities of color and low income communities have been affected by pollution. host: gene karpinski is our guest, we welcome your comments and calls. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans and all others (202) 748-8002. you mentioned your support of

the president, your organizational support of candidate biden, nell president biden -- now president biden. what is your organization primarily involved in? guest: we do a set of activities to win policy change, we care about the climate crisis, democracy crisis, racial justice and equity lens to make sure we solve those in an equitable way. more protection of public lands, like the 30 by 30. we lobby in the beltway. we keep score to rate all members. we elevate the voices of folks across the country to make sure they are engaged. we have invested more in the last election cycle, over $115 million to help elect candidates up and down ballot. we'll work closely with our partners in more than 30 states.

they do all of the above, they organize, lobby, keep score, to politics, get engaged in the political crisis and hold officials accountable. when they make commitments, we make sure they honor those. the bottom line is to win policy. we need to clean up our environment, solve the climate crisis and democracy crisis. host: early on we mentioned the biden administration suspended the keystone pipeline. i want to play the comments of congressman kelly armstrong from north dakota, he sits on the energy and commerce committee. we asked him about the best approach to climate change. [video clip] >> we should be talking about technology neutral ways to lower our carbon footprint. farmers, ranchers, gas guys,

they are the best stewards of the land, we have to have this conversation. we have to do it based in reality. one of the palms with the climate conversation that is far too often the case, it is mostly about outsourcing guilt. the world is going to burn more coal whether we shut down every coal plant in north dakota or not. the world will burn more oil whether we shut down offshore shale or not. we have to have conversation about this. the atmosphere does not stop at the border, if our goal is to shut down the economy in? coda and not do anything to reduce emissions worldwide, that is terrible policy. we need to make sure we are working forward with real-world solutions. host: gene karpinski, north dakota shut down -- a state affected by the keystone pipeline suspension. guest: we have to bend the curve

to reduce our reliance on carbon emissions. we have been laggards in the world, the last four years. we pulled out of paris, we need to be leaders. shut that we are serious -- show that we are serious and get other countries to do so. most did things in a positive direction and we need to push them to do more. we cannot push them unless we are leaders. we need new jobs, unemployment is over 6%, but we need clean energy jobs. we saw in texas the challenges with the grade, rebuilding the great. retrofitting buildings is clean energy, putting in place electric charging stations that are part of the plan, that is a clean energy job. the link renewables, solar, wind, offshore wind, so many opportunities.

that is where investments need to come from, where we need to come from to lead the world so we do not need to rely on other countries to import technology. host: we heard at the stop of the administration, a number of countries -- companies like gm and their pledge to go to all electric vehicles in the coming years, exxon and other energy producers. do you think the green proposals they are proposing now are in to the biden administration or were they in the pipeline ahead of time? guest: if you take gm, they were siding with the trump administration opposing efforts to clean up cars. once he lost, they changed. hats off to them for now saying to have all electric vehicles by

2035. that is where we need to get to. they were a laggard. they have spoken more forcefully in terms of why we need electric vehicles. let's work together. we need to get all electric. that is what california has committed to. that is what many countries in europe have committed to. we need to get as many car companies as possible to be a part of that. that is for cars, heavy-duty trucks need to make progress. the whole suite of transportation needs to make progress. that is why you need a government back in the business of setting the standard to give the companies targets to shoot for. we've got calls waiting period -- we got calls waiting. we have thomas in lincoln park, michigan. caller: thanks for taking my

call. i do not see any of these green energy jobs at all. i see jobs going out the door. my energy taxes going up. nothing coming back. look at the border. everything this administration is doing is a failure. it's ridiculous. and what about all of those windfarms? how come those failed? talk is pretty cheap, and i think we need to get back to the constitution. in order to go forward, we need to look back. host: let's focus on wind energy in the united states, gene karpinski. is he right about that? guest: the last administration tried to stop forward process -- progress. we did have a pause there. wind power works. it is the cheapest source of energy. solar and wind prices are going

down. wind is working. more offshore wind is being developed. we are starting to do that in new england. the future is in renewables. that's the future. the last couple years, over a dozen states across the country increased the requirements to get more electricity from wind and solar and clean energy. that is what is going on. state after state after state. that is the future. they have to give tax incentives to make sure wind and solar energy can accelerate even more. they are the cheapest sources. they are growing by leaps and bounds. that is the future. host: each sunday we are carried by bbc parliament in the u.k. happy to be joined by paul in the u.k. this morning. good morning. caller: good morning. question for gene karpinski --

do you think the environment should be the top priority and governance, do you think? guest: the question is should climate change be a top priority for breast -- for president biden? absolutely. he ran on its. but that she ran on it, but he also ties i'm a change to the solutions to our racial justice challenges and our climate challenges and they are all united. you are from the u.k. i think you're prime minister has actually been ok on this issue. i think they know together they need to lead the world. we need to be leaders again, as we have not been for the past two years. it will put america in a much better place, but inspire the

rest of the world to use the green technology we export to the rest of the world. a lot of leaders in the u.k. and the eu are ready and that's a good thing. host: when the president talks about infrastructure, do you hear that is mostly about green energy jobs or roads and bridges? guest: he has made it clear that jobs of the future are primarily in the new clean energy economy. but we need to repair our existing roads and bridges. that is part of the transportation channel and the investment in infrastructure. there's also our drinking water systems, our stormwater systems, our wastewater systems. there's a lot of challenges there. a lot of people are drinking unhealthy water. they are investing in mass transit, investing in a new grid, putting 500,000 new

charging stations around the country so you have a place to plug-in much more easily. wind and solar and offshore wind , investments in our infrastructure. yes, our roads and bridges, but investing in the jobs of the future. those could be good paying union jobs. he says this -- 40% of his investment in communities of color and other communities that are impacted. host: have you given any thought to the highway tax in terms of its funding? more and more non-gas vehicles on those roads -- how do you have a gas tax? guest: i think the gas tax is a declining source of revenue. i think that is a challenge. i think the lawmakers are thinking about different ways to do it. i don't think there's one simple

way to do the funding. but obviously it only does so much. so we need to be doing different ways. but a lot of this is just, you need to see the investment at this point. when you make those investments, they are going to pay off. in the meantime, as you know, we are paying records amount of money reacting to the climate crisis that is already in front of us. there's the devastating wildfires or droughts or heat waves or flooding. hurricanes and tornadoes, a whole host of extreme weather events. we are seeing those. taxpayers are paying for those. this is not just about the climate crisis. it's about the future economy. it's costing us much in response

to the climate crisis. host: next up, ben, florida, independents line. caller: i've got to be honest, i am so sick of the pie in the sky democrats and the doom and globe -- doom and gloom republicans. everything is in the future. with got great jobs in the future, everything is going to be rosie in the future. -- rosy in the future. nobody can negotiate anymore. my gas prices are up $.70 and going up. however, on a fixed income going to keep paying for all of this. you are a great cheerleader, buddy, but you don't give answers and timelines.

there's never been freezes before? you're just trying to push agendas, you don't care about reality. it's laughable. we are looking for somebody to step up and be a real leader for a change. host: gene karpinski, your reaction? guest: i heard you are from florida. if you've lived in florida for a while you've seen the impact of climate change. yes, we've always had hurricanes, but hurricanes are more forceful as a result of climate change. if you've been to miami, the streets are flooded on a regular basis. that is a reflection of climate change and rising sea level. these things are happening now. they are real. electrical workers, one of the biggest unions -- electrical workers -- they endorse

president biden's plan to build back better because those are the jobs of the future. retro building -- retrofitting buildings. good paying jobs, help save money and it reduces carbon emissions. these are happening in key states across the country. they have already started to do this. we need to accelerated with a president who has a vision like president biden. the climate change challenge, we see it more every day. don't call it a hoax. that's just silly. the question is how do we solve it? the fastest growing jobs are the jobs of the clean energy economy. we see that in a lot of countries across the world and

we see that in some states. those jobs are the jobs of the future. host: from nasa, the graph you are seeing on the screen, from 1955 until 1980, 19 years, the year 2020 they say ties with 2016 for the warmest year on record. they began keeping the records in 1880. let's hear from bruce in dearborn heights, michigan. caller: thank you. first of all, climate change does not exist. that would be man-made climate change does not exist. climate change is the result of extra terrestrial events, solar

winds. i grow marijuana. a lot of people who grow plants introduce additional co2 because it increases yield. now it got this maniac bill gates who wants to do, the sun, and the problem is they are pushing the climate change. the united nations, they are forcing vaccines and everything else. yesterday there were protests all over the world to stop this globalist agenda that mr. gene karpinski's behind. we are being censored. i am being censored on facebook. there are a flood of anthropogenic problems we have like reducing's firm counts because of plastics and things like that. if you want to work on something, why don't you work on that?

host: all right, bruce. gene karpinski? guest: the good news is that bruce's views are an increasingly small part of climate change rules. you see the data, the charts, the evidence is clear. climate change is happening. it's happening more intensely in the last decade and we are seeing that in the wildfires, in the droughts, in the floods, in all kinds of extreme weather and the sea level rise. it's worth having a debate -- i don't think it's worth having a debate whether climate change is real. the question is, how do we solve it and do we let other countries take the lead or do we reestablish our leadership as a nation that is going to build back better and create the jobs

of the future and be a leader for the world like we used to be. there is no doubt in terms of the climate crisis being real and caused by pollution. and we can debate the solution. i'm sorry, bruce, you are in ever -- in an ever smaller minority. it's not a debate whether it is happening or not. host: they are one of a group calling on congress. here is a look at their recent bill. >> calling -- [video clip] calling all brick masons and steamfitters. your country is calling you to rebuild america, to create a

cleaner, safer, more prosperous future. it's time to build back better. let's get to work. host: gene karpinski, the president is on board, i presume a lot of democrats, too. what about the republicans? guest: it's always better to have bipartisan support. historically republicans and democrats have come together. sadly -- if you look at the public -- at the public at large, how much support -- making progress understands the climate change crisis is real. unfortunately in congress in washington, d.c., too much of the republican leadership is frankly captured by the big polluters. they have historically tried to block any progress.

some republicans will step up and be part of the solution, but with the big investment that we need, the build back better program, president biden would need at least $2 trillion to build back better. that is why many labor union support this. those are the jobs of the future. it would be great to have bipartisan support. we need to get the job done. we cannot wait for the republicans to come along. but there is bipartisan support across the country. the public said we are for the plan that just past. -- the republican said we are for the plan that we just passed. that's also true for the build back better plan. we've done polling. we've done research. with the republican leadership,

that is not easy. we can get the job done. and if we need to do it with all democrats, that's ok. the program is what is most important. the solution is what is most important. resident biden campaigned on it. he won on it, and now are getting the job done. host: here is rick. go ahead. caller: hey, my name is rick. i am a green energy addict. i have been driving an electric car for the last three or four years. it scoots down the freeway, takes about two and a half hours to charge. it cost about $2400 a year in maintenance and gasoline. and the electricity that i used to charge it comes from the solar panels on my roof. that seems to be another $2200 a

year, so i am saving a lot of money by going green. i will tell you, the reason i became a green energy addict, i fish off our fabulous pacific coast. back in the mid-1990's, i saw the temperature go from 54 degrees to the 60's. and in the beautiful see mountains, the -- we have an invasion from mexico, not the two-legged ones, the eight legged ones, the pine beetles. it destroys our forests. you don't need 97% of the scientists to tell you this is real. look around. you can see it for yourselves. host: thanks, rick. guest: i appreciate your passion

and your knowledge on the issue. california is one of the leading states where they have pushed us in the utilities sector to produce more clean energy. when you do this with an electric car, it is a lot of fun, but this is top-down for your electric car. the savings, as we get to the clean energy economy and more and more people use the clean energy, we create those good paying new jobs to build that clean energy economy and consumers are going to benefit from it and we are going to save the planet. we are going to create a more just society. for all those reasons, we are looking to the future and we are glad that you are at the leading edge of it. and you are in a state that is going to push the rest of the

country to be a leader in that clean energy economy. also, use easy challenges. -- you see the challenges. you know more than most folks about the rising temperatures. i was talking to an organic farmer from montana. he said, you can't be a farmer the last 30 years not understand the impacts of climate change. it's happening, it's real and we need to get real about the solutions. thanks for your passion, rick. host: this is charlie in palm city, florida. caller: thanks for c-span. i have been in the energy consulting business for about 30 years now. one thing i want to hear from you all is the facts about where

this oil comes from. the oil is going to the -- the houston ship channel brings in saudi oil. you guys need to explain to people that the keystone pipeline, when it is stopped, the government is trying to force the oil companies to build the refineries to build the oil. that is the issue. it's not our oil. it's canadian oil. they stopped the pipeline because they are shipping it further west. now after covid-19 and the fossil fuel industry, there is no room for shale out there.

it's five dollars an hour. so, please, get the biden administration to get on this issue. canadian oil, canadians are financing that pipeline. it has higher octane in it. it's not our oil, and unless you stop the keystone pipeline, where is right now -- the canadians are not going to build it -- they want to ship it out to make more money. the less oil that's out there, the more money they make. if you get to those topics and talk to people, i hear about my niece in kentucky. nobody is building nuclear plants anymore. duke power bought up two plants

in florida and they shut them down. host: charlie, thanks for the insight. guest: charlie, i appreciate your insights and you are right, the canadian oil -- in canada does a lot of things well. but in this they have not. president biden disagrees with canada. to stop the keystone pipeline, that's a big thing, because it is the dirtiest oil. if you have an electric car and you are drawing from coal-fired power plants, and not doing much to solve the problem. eventually, that's the solution, we need to have clean electric -- clean electricity.

the electricity that they burn has got to be clean. that is one of the most important parts of president biden's plan. it's an ambitious goal, but it's an goal. it's also going to help consumers save money in the long run. thank you. host: this is linda on the republican line. welcome. caller: thank you for taking my call. my question for the guest is, why don't we build on what we have, including making incentives to turn empty office buildings into schools to accommodate distancing and why don't we use parking meters spaces to charge cars with

electric cars. you can connect through those -- so when you go to the gas station you charge her car and the next car comes along, but it just seems like a lot, so if you would not mind answering some of my questions on why don't we build on what we have rather than taking our jobs of the future. guest: thanks. the part about the vision for the future -- bill gates is thinking about not what we do next 10 years. i don't know that we can do charging stations and parking

meters. in president biden's build back better plan we will have 500,000 charging station. you can go to a lot of charging stations, not a parking meter space, but certainly garages. you will get your car charged. that has to happen. it doesn't take to have hours to charge a car. part of that is about the infrastructure. you have the electric cars across the country. we want all of our new cars sold to be electric. that's doable. other countries are going to do it. we need to do it as well. we need a much better infrastructure of charging

stations to make it as simple and easy as you are suggesting, linda. what you're going to see is hundreds of thousands of dollars of extra charging stations, and again, put in with good union jobs. host: from "the washington host," as biden valves action on climate change, -- vows money until action on climate change, a fight with the fossil fuel industry. it seems the relationship with china is getting more icy. is china going to be an equal participant in the paris agreement? guest: there are a lot of one-on-one conversations.

so, a lot of one-on-one conversations that cover a lot of topics. but one topic is what are they going to do on climate change. the next big international conference is in november and there's a lot of work between now and then to get there. april 22 -- we have already gotten back in. we are going to recommit what we think we are able to do. and that will mean having strong plans in place to re-up our commitment. it's not just i am going to agree to what i did back in paris 5, 6 years ago, but i need to do more. the climate crisis is just getting -- the solutions are in front of us. we need to embrace them. the united states cannot get

other countries as easily to re-up their commitments unless we show we are serious again. he appointed john kerry, the senator who was almost the president, to take on this critically important job to work with the rest of the international community to re-up , get more aggressive on what we need to do across the world to solve the lemma crisis. we need to delete her again. host: next up is aaron in bainbridge, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. i went to bring up the solar

panels in texas. and the solar and wind mill industries -- what are you all doing to fix that? host: gene karpinski, what happened there in texas with renewables and that whether incident? --weather incident? guest: thanks for elevating that, aaron. there was a false narrative at the beginning that the electricity failure was because of solar and wind. a small amount was solar and wind, but the majority was natural gas. you have to insulate them. they tried to do it on the cheap, frankly, in texas.

the problem with a deregulated system in texas, there's no problem with wind turbines. the question is, you have to insulate them and use the right materials and the build to do that. it's a solvable problem if you want to do it right. the technology is there. they tried to do it cheaply and that was unfortunate. host: let's hear from bob and chesapeake, virginia, independent line. caller: good to hear from you, bill. the bullock of its cycle -- malokovitch cycle.

he was a serbian astrophysicist. it explains climate change. he took five years. it's got to do with the earth's position going around the sun on a 100,000 year crisis -- cycle. host: gene karpinski, we showed that chart earlier about climate change, the temperature change. briefly, how has climate change gotten more difficult? guest: we have seen record

drought, record heat waves. the sea level rise. they all predicted results -- scientists said for years it was not where we were seeing it. that is why the support is higher than it has ever been. the public sees it. they want to make progress. joe biden said i've got a strong plan to solve the climate crisis and he campaigned on it and he won on it and he wants to get the job done. he wants to appoint a lot of great people. now he needs the recovery plan to create these new jobs of the future. the climate crisis is real. we see it all the time and it's time to take the next big, bold step. host: the league of conservation voters. gene karpinski is president.

guest: thank you. host: we have about a half-hour left. we would love to hear from you. the lines are the same. democrats, 202-748-8000, republicans, 202-748-8001, independents 202-748-8003. >> monday night on what the communicators," discussion of -- monday night on "the communicators," discussion on social media and privacy. >> a lot of people have access to your data and that means they know the activities you do when you are not working. it's a lot of very private

information that should not be in the hands of whoever wants to buy it. host: watch -- >> watch "the communicators" sunday night on c-span2. the hosts of the history chicks podcast talking about how the podcast has grown. >> we keep hearing that representation is important. the amount of emails and other messages we get from very, very young girls and their mothers saying how either this subject or just the very fact that we are here, two women, speaking --

how that has affected us. >> it has typically been the woman behind the man. you focus on her wife -- on her life and tell the story from her point of view. the fact that we get to do that, we hope that we inspire you to do the same. host: you -- >> you can also get the podcast where you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we would like to hear your top news story, what you are watching or thinking about on cable news.

so, this is the headline from the piece -- fallout from virus leaves toxic mood on capitol hill. a picture of elin omar of minnesota. other stories we are looking at. they are riding about the surge of the border. somehow they did not see it coming. the biden administration reversed many of the trump era policies, forcing migrants to work in mexico. they did not have an on the ground plan to manage the surge, and it could be a surge after

the presidential election and the news that trump policies, widely viewed as cruel, were being reversed. [video clip] >> did you change the policy too quickly without having the infrastructure in place to take care of these children? >> we will not abandon our values and our principles. we will not abandon the needs of vulnerable children. that is what this is all about. it does take time. it is difficult. the plan includes the deployment of the federal emergency management association, fema, to assist in building capacity more quickly, but it is taking time and it is difficult because the entire system was dismantled by the prior administration.

there is a system in place that was torn down in the trump administration and that is why the challenge is more acute than it has ever been before. host: the dhs secretary on "state of the union" this morning about the state of the border. we want to ask the top news stories you're following. the numbers are 202-748-8000 four democrats, 202-748-8001 for republicans, and for all others, 202-748-8003. the ranking member on the house foreign affairs committee commented this morning on "this week" about the administration, saying they don't have a plan. >> i haven't seen a plan.

they talk about humane conditions. they created a humanitarian crisis. the reason they are coming -- mayorkas says we are not saying don't come at all. you have rhetoric for homeland security. in this sector alone, they were spiking 230%. but then, to do away with -- politics aside -- two do away with what was successful with agreements with mexico and central america -- but now they have created this crisis of children coming in -- the

traffickers are smart. the cartels are smart. they started right after the election and the last few months we have seen a real surge. host: we will go to van nuys, california and hear from jan. caller: hi. my main concern is the price of gasoline going up. we talk about a bunch of different issues with regard to building the economy. i just see this as another roadblock and they say it is all biden's fault. that he greenlighted a lot of projects, and the administration

is shutting all of those things down. i had an opportunity to hear jane fonda speak on a particular pipeline, the administration being put on by a paid for police force and i'm just concerned with the way our system is being run these days. we find ourselves exporting more oil than we ever did. we are sacrificing our ecology for pushing toward fossil fuels -- host: what is the price of a gallon of gas in california these days? caller: it depends on your

neighborhood, and where you're at. it's four bucks a gallon depending on what kind of regular running. host: do you know people who are associated with the administration? caller: they do not take into consideration what the saudi's have done. we are not getting saudi oil in the united states. as someone who lived through the gas crisis in the 1970's, very rarely as it been utilized. you have clinton opening that up for a short time. through that time, it shifted

from oil to exporting oil, but some states like california, you're getting paid with state and national land like they do in other states -- host: all right. chris is next. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to comment on the hostility toward the asians. i oppose this harassment. there are very good reasons to be angry and i would like to review just a few of them here. there is the chinese demand for ivory trinkets.

the chinese capture -- it's a useless medicine they continue to do. they don't the sharks back into the ocean. they claim to be in favor of combating global warming, but they keep building coal plants. the whole problem is technology theft. for four decades, they have been stealing our technology. but it's a fact that no one knows for sure how the virus is started, but it is a fact that they -- the wet markets are where they are selling these animals. that is were all these in to say it was likely caused.

host: ok, chris. a really good story in the aftermath of the shootings in the atlanta area. this is the "atlanta journal-constitution." tragedy forces a look at how racism, gender bias, and -- we have our next caller on the republican line. caller: hi, how are you? host: great. thank you. caller:. great -- great. i wonder what you think about coming to fruition, washington, d.c. is having statehood? host: do i think it will come to fruition? what do you think? caller: i used to live in washington, d.c.

no taxation without representation. we have no vote. we keep this money and income. host: ok, kathleen, a house committee will take up the issue tomorrow. i think it is the house administration committee. we will have live coverage tomorrow, the measure to make the district of columbia a state. let's go to pat. caller: hi, good morning. host: hey there. caller: i have a couple little statements. on your last guest, mr. karpinksi was it? host: yes.

caller: i wonder if martha's vineyard and those enclaves will ever accept the green energy. and -- i forgot what i was going to say. i know we send a lot of these immigrants coming across the border to texas or montana or whatever. you've got plenty of room in northeast d.c., maryland, virginia, new jersey. let them take them and have them until they decide what to do with them. and that's my statement. thank you. host: there were two special elections in louisiana yesterday in the second congressional district. julia ludlow -- her husband had died of covid. julia letlow wins that race in

the fifth district. in the second district it will be a runoff between two state senators. sheridan, indiana, steve on the independent line. caller: how are you doing today? host: good. caller: i want to talk about the radiation from the batteries on these electric cars. no one is speaking about those. we are driving down the road and having that radiation in the car with us during our ride and they are going to have to make it better to get better mileage. if you want to drive from here to florida, you can't stop four different times to charge your battery. the whole thing to me is ridiculous. host: how many times would you

stop if you were driving from indiana? caller: sir, with all due respect, i can drive to florida, you know, without sleeping -- host: you drive to florida, i'm just asking. you would have to stop four times and recharge -- coming times would you have to stop and have gas? caller: in my opinion, in my perfect opinion, the democratic party wants to control the public. you don't, they don't believe you have the knowledge and the competence that you can run your life on your own. the government wants to control the public and you don't have the common sense to run your own lives your way --

host: ok, we are asking this in the last 10 minutes or so, your top weekend news story. the senate is in session, but it will be offered easter and peace over -- passover break. the virus leaves a toxic mood on capitol hill. the mood is so bad, the democratic congress did not ride with republicans who voted against certifying joe biden' as election. republicans say democrats just need to get over it and and covid-19 restrictions to make an effort toward bipartisanship. the legislative branch has become an increasingly toxic and unsettled place.

lawmakers are suspicious of each other after the riot. in the house, she writes, it remains partly shuttered by the pandemic. facts are up for debate and weary, exhausted members are not sure how or when the people's house will return to normal. one congresswoman said it's heartbroken to see what is become of the institution. ohio, good morning. caller: i was calling to tell people about a series that starts on hbo today. i guess it will be two episodes a week. it is called into the storm, about the qanon, it starts 9:00 today.

i hope that gives us insight into the dangerous conspiracy theories and how they can become part of the mainstream. it's called into the storm at 9:00 today on hbo. host: thank you. republican line, this is john. caller: good morning. my top news story, at the southern border, i think the trump administration may not have had a perfect policy, but they certainly seem to have things under control. you can't just be letting everybody and their mother and.

we should not be able to go any further just because the current president doesn't like the past administrations policies -- administration's policies. it doesn't mean it's bad policy. what is going on now is extremely detrimental to our society. host: a news story being reported this morning in "the washington post." an unannounced visit has the deadline to withdraw troops looms. it has the pentagon chief lloyd austin visiting. it is a top news story. sue in new jersey says this -- george floyd's family was

awarded 27 million dollars, while the police officers involved -- will the police officers involved to be afforded a fair trial? will the public ever know all of the facts? and the murder of six asian american women atlanta by a psychopathic misogynist white supremacist, that seems like it should be the top news story for quite some time. and "speaker pelosi's claiming that the u.s. attitude toward on a company miners is more important than the risks posed by border without testing, quarantine, or social distancing. albuquerque, new mexico. you are on. caller: they are trying to get rid of fossil fuels.

we have -- what we have comparable electrical system before we start cutting fossil fuels. host: ok, victor. to clara, next up in wyoming. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to comment on how intelligent and bright it was of biden to want to reunite the kids with their parents, but first he had to separate the parents from the kids. and now the families are reunited, but they need to be reunited in their own countries. there's a perfectly good fence where i think it would be great if they took the -- congress has

a perfectly good fence right think would be great if they took those kids where they could enjoy the fruits of their labor. host: almost all of the razor wire fencing around the u.s. capitol has been removed as the national guard draws down its position. this is from the washington times -- the headline is texas governor orders probe of drinking water at biden's camps for migrant children. good morning. caller: i was -- i just wondered, what is going on with "the bachelor"? i saw something about some racial thing where they designed

for a while -- host: i confess i'm not a regular viewer, i am not a viewer at all and i have not heard of the story, but i will keep an eye on it for you. our producer is bringing up that story now, but i wish i could speak to it intelligently as you are honestly keeping track of it. thanks for calling in. caller: thank you. host: we started talking about the senate filibuster. we spent the first hour and we have been in conversation this morning with tom cotton of arkansas. [video clip] isn't -- chris: isn't there something to be said for

legislating and less gridlock? senator kotten: these -- cotton: these are situational ethics. 24 democrats in the senate wrote a letter urging mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer to maintain those rules. and now they have the barest of majorities. we respect these traditions in the senate and we know that they help forge durable bipartisan consensus legislation. host: we will hear from georgia, next up, david on the independent line. caller: hello. my big thing is this -- what i call the big lie with the covid programs that they just passed, because they keep saying 70% of the people approve of that, but i don't think that's right. 70% of the people approve of the

checks that they sent people. if you take that 9% out that was for covid, the rest of it would probably be voted like 50/50. so i think this percentage that they are talking about is actually a big lie. host: lonnie in gary, indiana is next. go ahead. caller: i didn't get my check, where is my december 19 check at? host: you want to know why you haven't gotten your check yet? caller: yes. i called because i don't know anything about the rs. they say we are supposed to be getting it. host: the house is not in

session, but they are holding hearings on the statehood for the district of columbia. that will be a hearing monday. there will be another one we will be covering in the coming week, treasury secretary janet yellen and jerome powell testifying at the senate and a hearing and that's coming up on wednesday. let's hear from michael in midland, texas. caller: good morning. a couple facts. first, they managed to fill up four times -- recharging takes two or three hours. and the united states is not an exporter of crude oil.

we have 25% as a net on crude oil. host: you -- did you hear that comment from our conversation about the keystone energy pipele exportation of that oil overseas to china? caller: that is exactly what they are going to do because the united states hasn't built any refineries in several years -- decades. like with nuclear power plants, they are too expensive. host: what is the status of the oil industry these days in texas? how is business? caller: and west texas, it is fine. we have so many different -- and different types of production. we are not completely dependent upon fracking. the permian basin is the second largest reserve of any oilfield in the road -- in wo