eastern to work on legislation that would expedite the visa process for interpreters, contractors and security personnel who worked with the u.s. government in afghanistan as well as transportation and cybersecurity bills. on c-span2 at 8 a.m. eastern, lou origin, owned by jeff bezos, conducts its first flight crew to space and the senate returns to work at 10:00 a.m. on c-span3 at 10 a.m., the cdc director, dr. anthony fauci and other members of the covid response team testified before the senate health committee and at 2 p.m., a house armed services subcommittee holds a hearing on sexual assault in the military. this morning on "washington journal," the freedom works president talks about the group support of republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.

later, the national low income housing coalition will discuss the new report on the high cost of housing for low income americans. ♪ host: six months ago today, joe biden was sworn in as the nation's 46th president. the six-month mark finds him at a critical juncture, half the country vaccinated and the covid variant threatens the unvaccinated an economic recovery at a record surge of migrants at the border with no end in sight, and a key juncture on capitol hill this week with over 4 trillion dollars in biden administration spending priorities at stake. this is tuesday, july 20, 2000 21, good morning. welcome to "washington journal."

we will spend the morning asking you to grade the president's performance. the lines for democrats are (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents and others, (202) 748-8002. send us a text, you can give him a letter grade if you like, (202) 748-8003. tell us your name and where you are texting from. facebook, facebook.com/c-span. send us your thoughts on twitter or instagram @cspanwj. even on twitter we will let you grade the president on twitter at c-span wj --@cspanwj. this is "the business insider" five key numbers currently defined -- defining his presidency, unemployment to vaccinations. the first number is 5.9%.

april of 2020, the u.s. unemployment rate was set at 14 point 8%. the june unemployment rate was 5.9 percent. another number they look at, 60.3. after six months in office, the 538 polling average has his approval rating at 50.4%. reflective of his relatively stable numbers of the last few months and one more number from the check from "business insider," 100 -- over 160 million americans have been fully vaccinated, representing 49% of the total population according to the cdc. real clear politics has their ongoing average of the job approval numbers and they break it down into several categories. here's a look at the overall

approval numbers for joe biden, 52%. disapprove, 43 percent. handling the economy, 53%. covid-19, for 63% to 53 percent and on immigration the president with a negative number there, disapproving of how he's handling immigration. again, your grade for joe biden in his first six months in office. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. here's the president yesterday talking about the six-month mark and his economic achievements so far. [video clip] >> tomorrow marks six months since my administration began and it's a fitting moment to take a look at the economy, what we have achieved since then, and

what i believe we have, i believe we are, where we are headed. before i took office there was a lot of folks out there making some pretty bold predictions about how things would turn out. you might remember some of them. that if i became president, we would probably see a depression the likes of which we have never seen. well, it's true that the economy was sputtering before i got here, adding only 60,000 jobs a month. now six months later we have change that. we have gone from 60,000 jobs per month to 60,000 jobs every three days. more than 600,000 jobs per month since we took office. more than 3 million new jobs all told. the fastest growth i'm told at this point in any administration's history. another prediction, my favorite

one, i must add, is that if i got elected, i would bring an end to capitalism. i never understood that one, but we have heard that an awful lot. well, six months into my administration the u.s. economy has experienced the highest economic oath rate in 40 years. we knew we needed to launch a wartime effort to get america vaccinated. a vast, powerful american rescue plan. we did both those things. now the forecasters have doubled the projection for growth in the economy. 7% or higher. in fact the u.s. is the only developed country in the world where growth projections today are stronger than they were before the pandemic hit. at the same time, companies across the country are giving workers a raise, unusual thing. the number of new unemployment claims has been cut by half

since i took office in two weeks ago i issued a major executive order promoting fair and open competition, the cornerstone, the cornerstone of american capitalism. banning noncompete clauses that suppress worker wages, lowering the price of things like hearing aids, prescription drugs, internet service, along with dozens of other actions. folks, it turns out capitalism is alive and very well. we are making serious progress to make sure it works the way it's supposed to work, for the good of the american people. host: president biden, from yesterday. on his six-month mark as president, how would you grade him? (202) 748-8000 is the line for emme kratz. -- democrats. (202) 748-8001, the line for republicans. all others, (202) 748-8002. here's how things look so far,

there's a pole, 47.8% getting an a grade there. we will check back with that momentarily. calls from the republican line, gordon, kansas city, good morning. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. host: you bet. caller: i'm not going to give him a grade, he's not running things. president obama is running things and he gets an f. i will get a vaccination as soon as joe biden get -- does an off-the-cuff news conference. host: baltimore, curtis, independent line, how would you grade the president so far? caller: i'm going to give him a c plus. i think he's doing an outstanding job. i think he can do more with executive orders.

thank you. host: ok, that was curtis in baltimore. south windsor, connecticut, democrats line. six-month sin, what do you think? caller: thank you very much for giving my call -- taking my call. i'm going to give him na+ -- an a plus plus plus. not only on the economy, fighting the virus, but a lot of people have a peace of mind. a piece of mind that is not bottling us every morning when we wake up with anxiety and i think that's very important. i really want to say that he's just doing the best he can with what he came in with. he's keeping positivity going and improving. we are not going backwards. and if he makes a mistake, he

apologizes. and he's doing it for everybody. everybody. not just the democrats. if you could maybe get a topic coming up today on someone taking a survey, see what happens every time the spaceship goes up, does it interfere with the weather? something seems to happen, i have noticed, every time anything goes into space, the weather pattern seems to just go. host: are you talking about the planned blue origin launch this morning? caller: any time it goes up, the weather seems to change radically. host: i will tell you we are covering the blue origin space launch this morning. coverage begins at 8 a.m. eastern and that will be over on c-span two. also our coverage today looking at the covid-19 variance. -- variants.

the cdc director, dr. richelle lewinsky and dr. anthony fauci, other members of the covid-19 response team, getting underway at 10 a.m. eastern, it's also at c-span.org. let's hear from mckenzie in oklahoma on the republican line. how would you grade president biden? caller: f. host: your line has got a hum on it. did you say f? caller: we have had a lot of rain the last couple of days. sir, i give him an f. i tell you what, he has not done what he has lied to the american people about what he was going to do. in fact, he didn't promise anything. how could people vote for someone who doesn't even have -- put the energy into his speeches? far as i'm concerned, it's not

obama ruling the roost, it's hillary clinton. those people have never forgiven the american people for not voting for her. host: here's one of the things we mentioned at the top of the show in terms of the president's priorities on capitol hill around the infrastructure measure in the budget deal to be agreed upon by summit -- senate democrats. negotiators struggled to finish infrastructure deal with clock ticking. a bipartisan group of senate negotiators and senior white house officials is struggling to finish work on an infrastructure package that is set to get its first vote as soon as wednesday. the senators have narrowed the number of outstanding disagreements to nearly a dozen and the biggest problem of them all, how exactly to pay for $579 billion in new spending remains unresolved in the number represents spending over the current budget baseline where the total deal is estimated at

$1.2 trillion over eight years or 970 $3 trillion over five years. the republicans warned that there is no chance that they will get it all wrapped up by wednesday, when charles schumer plans to force a vote on a motion to proceed to the bipartisan infrastructure legislation. we can read more of that reporting at the hill.com. one more thing to add on to the budget deal, this is an article from "the wall street journal" this morning, touting the infrastructure plan, saying the deadline nears. here's the thing on the budget deal further in the article, mr. schumer has imposed a wednesday deadline for all 50 members of the democratic caucus to coalesce around a separate three point $5 trillion framework for a budget resolution, paving the way for a sweeping package of education, anti-poverty and climate programs.

liberal democrats have said they won't support the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless they have assurances that they will have enough support among their own ranks to pass a separate budget package. democrats plan to pass the anti-poverty education package through a process tied to the budget that enables them to pass legislation with just a simple majority rather than the 60 votes that most bills need to advance in the senate, meaning democrats cannot afford a single infection within their own ranks as republicans are expected to unite against the budget package. back to your calls, your thoughts, your grade for president biden in his first six months in office. san diego, republican line, janice, good morning. caller: good morning. i can't believe that he stood up there and said 60,000 jobs a week. most jobs in 40 years.

where? they can't even get people to come back to work because they are giving them more unemployment than jobs. i mean money getting paid out on jobs. how is that even possible? as far as a grade for biden is concerned, i have three of them. b for buffoon, i for idiot, and f, he's a total colossal failure. have a blessed day. host: rick, philadelphia, democrats line. caller: thank you for allowing me the privilege of communicating some of my thoughts. i look at the present situation in america just like a marriage. there comes a time in a marriage , there comes a time in a marriage where you have to accept that we have difference of opinion on certain subjects. so you begin to agree on what

you can agree on, later to work on what you can't. we know that there's a problem with employment. that could easily be remedied by giving people a proper salary. a salary that they could appreciate and feel confident in and have pride in to come to work every day. in reference to the situation with expenses, supply money to the government, we know that a scheduled amount was taken from the government when taxes were cut. what i can't understand is why would you not want to enforce the current tax laws to make money available for the irs to do so? that's unrealistic. you have to ask yourself why. is it because so many of you and your friends are the ones exploiting the tax laws? last but not least, i don't

think it's a problem to tax the rich. wealth as opposed to income. that only makes sense, that's realistic. the last point i would like to make, as you see all these things, receiving tax income from marijuana sales, we [no audio] on a federal level, this industry looks to be bigger than cotton was many years ago. host: asking you this morning your grade for the president in the first six months of his administration. you can send us a text to (202) 748-8003. buzz says he gives him an f, illegal immigration is out of control and we are becoming a laughing stock around the world. his spending requests are

outrageous. lucy says b plus, i'm happy with the prioritization. henrietta says biden a, congress c. another f from market. more government debt and excessive spending. from karen, immigration less than f, energy f, voting rights are a joke, c minus. coronavirus vaccines and he claims credit? c at best. here's what the president said yesterday about the uptick in the covid that -- variant. [video clip] >> it hinges on getting the pandemic under control. by fully vaccinating 80% of our seniors we have fundamentally changed the course of the pandemic. a pandemic that threatens all americans.

the disease has the most severe impacts on the most -- on the unvaccinated in the country. but we cannot let up. especially since and because of the delta variant, which is more transmissible and more dangerous. unfortunately, cases are now rising, particularly in communities with very low vaccination rates. for states account for nearly 40% of all cases last week. virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated americans. these tragedies are avoidable. the data couldn't be clearer. if you are fully vaccinated, you have a high degree of protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. if you are unvaccinated, you are not protected. so, please, get vaccinated. get vaccinated now. it works, it's safe, it's free,

it's convenient. host: and the, the covid variant, really causing an impact on the financial markets. reporting on that story, first "the wall street journal," "delta variant fears shake the market or could "covid-19 poses risks to rebound." this from "the washington post," "delta fears, resurgence in cases driven by variant as investors worry that restrictions on travel and business will resume or come live one more headline, front page of "the new york times," stocks tumble as fears revisit wall street. "investors realize the path to global economic recovery would be anything but straightforward.

for months investors had been behaving as if they expected a full rebound from the covid crisis. january through june, stocks rose 14%, one of the best first-half performances since the late 1990's but the potential of the virus to upend life all over caught up with investors as a spate of worrying news and outbreaks are among the unvaccinated led to a big selloff on monday. the s&p 500 selloff stock index had the biggest decline since may, sliding 2% before closing down and the dow fell 2.1%, its biggest one-day loss this year. the european stocks 600 fell, and the impact of covid on the stock market isn't over yet according to the head of u.s. capital strategy at rbc markets. we don't think it will derail the -- recovery but we do think

it will cause additional bumps. investors force to reckon with troubling signs around the globe, cases in the united states doubling in the last 14 days, 31 thousand 745 per day, driven mainly by infections among the unvaccinated, 49% of the country fully vaccinated and the biden administration is scrambling to persuade more people to seek out shots so that the u.s. can achieve herd immunity. let's look at the grade for president biden. we have a twitter pole as well, you can post your thoughts, your grade, for president biden after the first six months in office. 40% said a, 30% said b, and then d or f, 23 percent. let's hear what steve had to say over in webster, massachusetts. caller: good morning, thank you for take my call. i would give him what used to be

called in the educational industry is a gentleman's c. he best as i can see, he has kept us out of war. afghanistan, that's a wait and see. my big thing is, i turn 70 today, happy birthday to me, i'm on social security and am paying three dollars for a gallon of gas. last year i know it was two dollars per gallon. now we have the big brain economists saying it's a 7% rise in fuel. with my public school math that's a 50% rise in gasoline and that hits in the pocketbook. that's inflation. you used to be able to get a cut of steak for $6.49 and now it is eight dollars 99 cents for top loin. what else? we are not united. he spoke about uniting the country. senators mansion and cinema are

voting with republicans -- senator manchin and senator sinema are voting with the republicans, it seems. he's been weak, hasn't really addressed to the issue in cuba. he called communism and socialism a failed state. i'd like to see a little more good job democracy, you know, communism is failed. i was sort of unimpressed with secretary mallorca's response about welcoming the cubans with open arms. last of all, rivard -- regarding the january 6 riot, i would like to see a little more address to the black lives matter and nt for riots of last summer. it's wait and see mode. i wish the best for our country and all our people but he really hasn't been impressive and it's not really a failure either. he's treading water, i think so. host: appreciate that, steve.

on your note about afghanistan this morning, the headline, pentagon will house afghan interpreters at a base in virginia, temporarily housing thousands of afghan interpreters and others at a military base in easton, virginia. the first part of a plan to evacuate individuals who face retribution from the taliban for working with the u.s., initially they will be flown from afghanistan to fort lee, virginia, just south of richmond, for short-term housing while awaiting final processing for special immigrant visas allowing them to stay in the u.s.. a note on that, the u.s. house is taking up a bill today that deals with the special immigrant visas. you will see debate on that later on the house floor, they come in for morning speeches at 10:00, legislative business at

noon. one note from afghanistan, we are just seeing a text from bill in palm springs, who says he gives biden and a minus and that he's disappointed in the rapid pullout from afghanistan, that we are abandoning our friends there. "it's good to have a gentle, articulate, intelligent person surrounded by articulate intelligent people." michigan, good morning. caller: good morning, bill. i agree with the guy from springs. i would give him a b plus. i'm not that thrilled with things at the border. i think they need to address the things at the border, although no president in 40 years has been able to address it. i would also be interested to know, these numbers you are giving us. let's say you remove all the people that do not believe president biden won the election, i think the numbers would go way up.

i really wish that the republicans would quit lying. they have been lying about covid, they have been lying about everything they can lie about. every time i see jim jordan on the screen i'm reminded that my grandmother used to say better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are an idiot than open it and remove all doubt. host: she mentioned jim jordan, i do want to point out that this was announced yesterday by the republican leader in the house, jim jordan is one of the five announced for the january 6 committee, jordan taps special committee, pointing out that the speaker has veto power over the kevin mccarthy picks and he named jim banks of indiana as the ranking republican on the special committee. so, it's kelly armstrong, jim banks, rodney davis, jim jordan, and troy nehls.

their first meeting is set for one week for today and look for live coverage on the c-span networks if that's available. larry, maryland, on the republican line. how'd you you grade president biden? caller: i give the biden regime zero. inflation is 40%. stock market is 20%. people going to people's houses, what kind of crap is that? it's the greatest voter fraud in history and the country is going to collapse. the democrats suffer the delusions and the virus is a biological weapon. from china. host: jean, virginia. caller: good morning.

interesting conversation from everyone and as human beings we are entitled to our own opinion. i go independent. you know why? i'm in the -- i'm an american. i stay independent because i'm american and i really don't like the two parties, any party. we should just vote how we feel. i have three points i like to make. i would give him an a. he's doing a great job. i think it's a lot to manage and it's a lot to run a country and he's doing an excellent job, as well as his staff. given the many things going on, i think he's doing an excellent job in managing. no, not perfect. no one is perfect, but it's a work in progress and i give him a for that. i would also like to comment on one other thing that has kind of , i'm in question about, the

child tax credit, i think it's a great thing. i pay taxes, i don't have any kids, retired military doing pretty decent, but i'm going to do my part for this country. i'm going to do my part to keep this country going. i'm not going to say those who are less fortunate, not going to say that, we are doing things to get them to a point where they can sustain as well, such as the child tax credit. host: my producer and i this morning were talking about that, we had a segment of talking about that. would you, jean, be in favor of making the child tax credit permanent? caller: i would, only with the exception. in the military we got extra incentives that were not taxed, such as the child tax credit. in addition to the regular income from the military.

i say that this is a time where if you want to bring individuals out of poverty, if that's supposed to be the target, one way to do that is to supplement with a child tax credit for those who have kids. but then also worked. this is your opportunity to get ahead. but work. don't just sit home and collect a child tax credit. host: thank you for your call this morning. moyne, iowa, linda, how do you grade president biden? caller: that's tough. i think he's doing his absolute best. i will give him a b. there's always room to progress. but this man, all these things the people call in? i just don't believe it. if you look at this man's record, all things that he airs about, it's the single -- cares about, it's the single mothers.

people with children trying to stretch their budget. i just, he cares. you can tell this man definitely cares. he's not a bully. he's never made fun of anybody who's handicapped. he just gives it people the benefit of the doubt and he does his best. he listens. host: we had a number of calls this morning about the biden administration efforts to get everyone vaccinated. this video, a shot of sean hannity last night on his program talking about getting vaccinated. here is a part of what he had to say last night on his program on fox. [video clip] >> like we have been saying, please take covid seriously. i cannot say it enough. enough people have died. research like crazy. talk to your doctors, the doctors that you trust based on

your unique medical history, your current medical condition, and you and your doctor will make a very important decision for your own safety. take it seriously. you also have a right to medical privacy, doctor-patient confidentiality is also important and it absolutely makes sense for many americans to get vaccinated. i believe in the science and in the science of vaccination. host: that was sean hannity last night from his program on fox. back to your calls, sean, baltimore, independent mind. caller: good day to you. first of all, i want to say i didn't vote for trump or biden. i voted for the libertarian candidate. as far as a grade, i would give him a c minus. knocking on a d. for one, this whole defund the police movement, even though he says he's not for it, he won't

send up those far leftists like aoc and that lady from missouri. look at the crime in the country . it's just bad. you look at that leftist in san francisco, it's so far left out there, he loves criminals so much, i think it was cvs or walgreens, one of them, the popular drug stores, they left town and said we are not dealing with it. you see it across the nation. we need to speak out against that. also his whole thing with guns. he just doesn't like guns for some reason. trying to take away peoples ar-15's. i will give him credit, though, for trying to do something with the voter rights. because the republicans on the far right, they cannot stand black people voting. that's why they think the whole election was fraud.

if you look at the states like arizona, pennsylvania, michigan, all the republicans saying that where the black people live is where the fraud happens. but i don't know, it's early. right now, a c. maybe things will change. let's wait and see. host: voting rights, sean mentioned this, democrats in atlanta are pushing voting rights, taking the fight over voting rights to the states. georgia on their minds, democrats on the senate rules committee held a rare hearing on monday in the lawmakers recently passed a new election laws and democrats say that it could disproportionately affect turnout among black voters and the governor there, they write, republicans defending the law saying that it expands access to voting in rural areas by guaranteeing drop boxes and adding another day of early

voting in most rural counties. here is james in bridgewater, new jersey. we are asking you this morning to grade the president on his first six months. go ahead, james. caller: yeah, when you elect a president, you are electing one man. but there's a whole administration that goes with the president. my point is that he can do just so much in controlling the administration. hundreds of thousands of government officials are there, no matter who is president. so, try to distinguish between what the president is trying to do and what the administration is achieving. for example, me, i find that the cdc is outrageous and found she is outrageous. most of the things they are saying about the vaccine, the disease and so on, are really totally beyond the mark.

the fact is that this is not a vaccine. this is a program for making the virus that you inject in people so that they make antibodies against it. it turns out in some people that's good, and others that's not. but that's what we should be looking at. what we should be informed on before we decide about the virus. everything is black and white to a lot of people. but in nature, it's not. the dumber we are in our decision-making, the shorter our lives get. that is a simple rule of nature that if we keep violating it, we will be our own victims. host: this is the front page of "the washington times," this morning, "biden dismisses worries about inflation." "no serious economist is worried about long-term inflation,"

ignoring larry summers. the president tried to shore up his case for infrastructure spending. here's what the president said yesterday. [video clip] >> we know that as our economy has come roaring back, we have seen price increases. some folks are raising worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation, but that's not our view. experts believe, and data shows that most of the price increases we are seeing were expected and are expected to be temporary. the reality is, you cannot flip the global economic like back on. you can't expect this to happen. as demand returns, there will be global supply chain challenges. we have seen that in semi conductors used in automobiles. that global shortage has slowed vehicle production, creating a temporary spike in car prices. that's a real challenge.

my administration is doing everything we can to address it. again, these disruptions are temporary. lumber prices are another example. they spiked early in the recovery. but in recent weeks they began to fall, they have fallen by 50% . the hospitality industry, prices are returning to where they used to be. economist called all of these things at transitory effects. they account for about 60% of the price increases we have seen to ever experience unchecked immigration in the long term it would pose a real challenge to our economy. while we are confident that it isn't but we are seeing today, we will remain vigilant about any response that is needed. as i made clear to chairman powell in the federal reserve when we met recently, the fed is independent. they should take whatever steps

necessary to support a strong, durable economic recovery and whatever different views some might have on current price increases, we should be united in one thing, the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure framework that we shook hands on. we shook hands on it. and my build back better plan will be a force for achieving that her prices for americans looking ahead to. host: we are asking you this morning on the six-month mark of his administration to grade the president. some thoughts in text and on social media. this one from pam in tennessee, a plus for bringing dignity and respect back to the presidency. b for what he has accomplished despite the obstruction of his former gop colleagues who stabbed him in the back and climbed over his body to kiss the ring of the former president. this one says b minus.

pros and cons. a plus because i don't you -- because i feel comfortable not even paying attention, i feel comfortable that we are on the right economic path. connie in cleveland says c, he has a lot to do on the inflation front. mitch mcconnell after the president's statements said this yesterday afternoon on the floor of the senate. [video clip] >> sure enough, inflation just clocked the fastest year on year increase since 2008 but apparently according to president biden the solution is, listen to this, more of the same . today instead of deflecting attention from the fact that is springtime approach was flat wrong, the president actually double down. he suggested the right way to shake the inflation was, listen to this, another $3.5 trillion

in spending. this is the same reckless taxing and spending spree the democrats dreamt up when they assumed our economy would be having the opposite problem. now all the same borrowing and spending is supposed to be what the doctor ordered to fight inflation? inflate our way out of inflation? let's hope the american people don't have to learn firsthand how that strategy would work out. another reckless tax and spending spree is the last thing american families need. host: that is mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate yesterday. back to your calls on the president's grade six months into his administration.

republican line, illinois number robert, thanks for waiting. go ahead. caller: i was just wondering, i voted for the first time, last. but i have seen is i have seen the party try to overthrow a sitting president. a group of people conspired with a british spy to overthrow a president. i see the same group of people wanting to take guns away. i'm just, i give him a d-. he could have sat there and done nothing and the economy would have come back. with the spending bill that he's one thing, people need to realize that it's our money. i mean, i'm trying to understand. we pay, we paid for dr. fauci. we pay for the disease.

the american people are standing, holding the bag and got the coronavirus. people coming across the borders. i'm baffled. he could have sat there and done nothing. host: all right. don, oregon, good morning. caller: yes, with all that's going on and he had to come into, i have to give him at least a b plus, a minus. but the big question i have with all that's going on with these space launches, is this going to be the president who is going to cut loose with everything when it comes to ufos, what the navy has been seeing? what the air force has been seeing? isn't it time to expose hangar one, hangar 18, area 52, area 51, and let us know what has been going on since i was born

and before, with all of this going into space with bezos and elon musk? host: scott is next up -- oh, we lost scott. lupe, california, we are asking you to give the president a grade on six months in office. good morning, go ahead. caller: oh, i give him n/a -- an a. the last lady from tennessee gave him a nice grade and i appreciate that and i tell you why. my daughter is a schoolteacher out there and they have special programs, $7,000 -- $7,500 per month for the school teachers in hendersonville. joe biden is helping the school teachers, how about that sweetheart? i praise him and praise god for putting him in there.

people, when they tell you tim you your tv, mute it. there's people that have something important to say and they can't understand what you are saying if you are listening to your -- your self talk. host: thanks for playing a role -- playing along with the rules. appreciate your call. there was action in the senate on wednesday, the washington post infrastructure deal is in a precarious state and president biden on monday took a subtle but unmistakable dig on republicans who backed away from a major funding component in the bipartisan infrastructure package that is starting to fray saying that we shook hands on it even as he continued to promote it. his comments with accusatory undertones reflected the precarious state at the outset of what could be a pivotal week. charles schumer plans to force a vote within days on the $1 trillion plan, despite rotella

-- despite were to -- despite republican hesitation. gop senators warned that they would reject it and biden is seeking to turn up the pressure by traveling to ohio on wednesday to pitch the plan and hold a town hall session with voters. here is george in niagara falls, new york, democrats line. host: good morning -- caller: good morning. i've been a democrat all my life. i've always voted democratic. my only concern is i think president biden shouldn't be giving away this free money for the people to stay home. i think that's been a lot of the problem lately. he's given away unemployment insurance and now $300 per month for babies. i'm sure the communities all have food services that take care of children if they need help. that's my greatest concern,

throwing the money away like confetti. i'm a world war ii veteran. i'm in my 90's and i have never seen so much money being thrown away like confetti. that's my only concern. but i think he's doing a good job. host: i want to share this ad, basically just a lobbying effort from "wall street journal," "the new york times," it's about the infrastructure bill coming up for consideration in the senate. "rebuilding has long been in the interest of bipartisanship, the ad -- bipartisanship," paid for by the ceos reflected here. gm, walmart, delta, procter & gamble, raytheon. again, you will see this in "the wall street journal."

their intended audience is certainly the washington area and staff on capitol hill as debate it's underway on infrastructure. helen is in fullerton, california, republican line, good morning. caller: i will give him the benefit of the doubt and a c minus from what i'm seeing. i don't like his attack on free speech when it comes from facebook. he accused facebook of murder. i think that's pretty strong words towards free street -- free speech and a private forum and i know he backpedaled when he talked about super-spreader's and disseminating false information about vaccines. he came out on cnn and said they were killing people, pretty strong. i don't like his attack on successful private enterprises. pushing and accusing successful

enterprises of being monopolies and he has a problem with facebook, calling it another monopoly. i was disappointed in june when a federal court said there was no basis and they dismissed a complaint against facebook, saying that it was not a monopoly because it went out and bought up instagram and whatsapp. that's not exactly trying to create a monopoly. there are other sites coming up quickly that are replicating the same services. you know? for afghanistan, i will give him credit for that. it was a protracted war, served no service -- served no purpose, time to get out. just empire building. he touts himself as a progressive but that is a offensive term because it implies that he's part of the elite, the educated elite whose burden or duty is to guide the masses into a better world.

what it smacks of is an enlightened monarchy and it really is more dictatorial and fascist. i don't feel comfortable with him. i'm a populist, not a progressive. i'm educated and can think for myself. i don't need big government getting bigger and regulating my life into a better place. host: thanks for your call this morning, helen. she talked about the president's criticism of social media on the misinformation front. here's a story this morning from market watch, "twitter suspends marjorie taylor greene for spreading vaccine misinformation , they have suspended the account on monday for violating the covid-19 misinformation policy. the georgia republican the touted conspiracy theories has been an outspoken critic of conspiracy theories will be blocked from tweeting for 12

hours, a twitter spokesperson cited violations of the rules, specifically the misleading covid-19 information policy and on sunday and monday she far -- falsely claimed that it's not dangerous for people who are under six to five who are not obese and likened vaccination to human experimentation and the tweets remained public but have been labeled as misleading by twitter. other users cannot reply or retweet, though they can be quoted." democratic line, tulsa, good morning. caller: i give joe biden at least a b plus. i think he's doing very well. and i think it's very nice to turn the tv on and see a nice, kindly man who is the president of our united states. i worked at school during the last administration and i heard lots of children make comments of the last president, saying we

are afraid of him, he don't like us. he was not mannerly. he was not polite. he was not a good representative of our country as far as i'm concerned. host: here's the c-span report regarding the folks tweeting in, your repose -- report on twitter, here's where it stands so far. 24% is e, d or f, nearly 30% of those of you participating. texas, next up, we hear from lisa on the independent line. go ahead. caller: i would give him a for the handling of trying to get the pandemic under control. also for trying to reunite the

country and having morals and manners. i would give him an e for effort for trying to work with people who claim to be democrats, like joe manchin. he should just go ahead and change parties, you know? i'm an independent. i just think we need to work together. host: and you feel like joe manchin favors the republican side more than the republic -- democratic side, his party? caller: absolutely. mr. biden can only get so much done. anything where there's a compromise between the two parties, joe manchin always slides in there and puts a block and a wedge in between them. like the infrastructure. that's jobs. haste makes waste. if these roads and bridges

aren't repaired, when they start collapsing and falling it's going to be double or triple the damage to repair it. once it's gone. and that's american jobs. i mean, i'm not understanding the infrastructure. like i said, joe manchin is straight in use this a block. host: let's hear from vic, next. caller: i give mr. biden an a. he has city with mitch mcconnell who blocks everything, doesn't pass anything worth a dime. he tried to cut social security. he tried to cut medicare, the worst senator in the history of the country. who -- he has to deal with the media who lies constantly. sean hannity is a traitor to this country.

he puts stuff on television about the virus that was completely wrong, saying that it was, and people died because of him. he should be off the air. we need a strong fcc to control the people putting out false information, we need to take them off the air and fox news is a disaster and he has to deal with those things at the same time. host: we haven't touched on this topic in this hour but on the board and -- on the border, tom cotton of arkansas was in new hampshire and spoke about the situation at the u.s. mexico border and how the biden administration is handling it. [video clip] >> kamala harris went down to central america looking for the so-called root causes of the border crisis. i could have saved her the time

and saved you, the tax dollars, for her trip, because all she had to go do is go to work one morning and see the root cause in the white house, his name is joe biden. [clapping] they spent all last year promising to open the borders and give amnesty to illegal aliens. to go back and find that illegal aliens that the trump administration deported and invite them back. what did they expect to happen? that is what has happened. we have had more illegal aliens at the border this year than in any time in a generation and it went up again in june, 200,000 people. in february they said don't worry, it will decrease in the summer when it's hot, but it hasn't, it keeps going up because everyone around the world knows the border is open and if you get to the border, you get in and you get to stay. i was there a few months ago.

i spoke to a lot of these migrants. i said why, why are you here. not a single one said that they were facing oppression in their country, violence in their country. there are american cities that are more violent than what amal, hon doris. everyone of them said something like joe biden, jobs, and i can get in now. that's a direct result of the biden administration's failures of opening our borders. of letting illegal aliens game our system, of rewarding drug smugglers and traffickers. host: all of that new hampshire republican party event available on c-span.org with tom cotton there. this from cbs, biden gets positive marks for handling pandemic, delta concerns remain ." and final comments here on social media, since says this in

terms of grading the president. solid a, solid b. joe biden, f. inflation is not temporary. terry from florida, i grade biden f, he's too hypocritical, doing everything strictly party line and i will give joe biden a according to liz in north carolina. james, good morning. caller: i love biden and his administration. i give them a minus, because of one fact. 94% of multimillionaires getting paid, still paying 0% tax. joe biden has grabbed the bill

-- the bull by the horns and stepped up to wall street. and take it, these people that don't believe in billionaires paying taxes, giving it back to the american people. host: one more call on grading the president. hello there, jim. caller: yes, thank you for taking my phone call. i give president joseph biden an a, simply because he is trying to bring us back to the america that we were. he is far and above the better of the two presidents, meaning

trump and biden. host: all right, jim. coming up next, we will be joined by adam brandon, who says the republican party needs a new contract for america. we will talk about that and what he thinks should be in it and his later we will turn our attention to the high cost of housing a conversation with the president and ceo of the national low in housing coalition. ♪

>> coming up today on c-span, the house returns at 10:00 a.m. eastern to work on legislation that would expedite the visa process for interpreters, contractors, security personnel. as well as transportation and cybersecurity bills. on c-span two, blue origin conducts its first flight into space. at 10:00 a.m. the senate returns to work on nominations as well

as infrastructure. cdc director dr. rochelle walensky, dr. anthony fauci, and other members testify before the senate health committee. they hold a hearing on sexual assault in the note area -- in the military. host: we're stuck about the midterm elections, what the republican party need to do. tell us about freedom works, who funds you. guest: we are a grassroots organization. we have a foundation and then a political side of our operation.

all three of those organizations , we raised a combined $20 million. host: your organization in the past has been funded in the past by the coke brothers, is it still? guest: we never have been funded by the koch's. freedom works has never received funding from the coke brothers. host: you said $20 million in private donations. your primary focus, your focus in terms of the midterm elections, what part of freedom works handles that? guest: that is when we were we doing the doorknocking, the texting. the foundation could comment on policies we believe in. the politics come out of the

freedom works of america. host: cite your piece in newsweek calling for a new contract for america. the first from newt gingrich, it was very successful. what would you like to see in that contract? guest: i was in high school in 1994. armor hearing about the contract. there's is something that republicans will do. the contract back then, it was boring and procedural. just promises to vote. i think the clear explanation of what they were was very helpful for the voter. 40-60 seats in any election will be up for grabs.

the seats are either strongly republican or strongly democrat. you need to talk to your voters. to win control, you need to address those issues with the folks in the middle. i see different issues you can take. the parents with schools is one issue. defunding the police, we have a scourge of violence going on right now. many others that i could add such as the broken border and immigration. issues with big tech, elections. before the election in 2020 yahoo! news found their paul only -- only found 22% of

americans believe the americans would be free and fair. host: do you think it was? guest: i do. i'm looking forward to the midterms now. because of the pandemic you have changes to the law. i remember working in pennsylvania, right through the election we did not know what a ballot was. host: we also had record turnout and very little reports with fraud. the security teams that it was the most secure election they had seen. were there issues that made the state say we need to look at these election laws? guest: there's a lot of common sense thing you could do. 80% of american like some

fordham -- some form of voter id. overall, 22% of people before the election believed it would be free and fair. 80% or 90% of americans have confidence in the system. if 80% of americans agree on things like voter id, there aren't a lot of issues americans agree on like that. i came to washington as a spending guide. spending is my biggest issue. another issue is health care. republican stumbled around on what their business on health care is. hopefully they could come out something and convince me on health care. i think those are issues

republicans could lean on. host: we want to make sure we open our phone lines to our viewers. (202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. you can send us a text at (202) 748-8003. going back to 2020, if i recall there was not a platform in the 2020. guest: the democrats platform was just not trump and the republicans platform was just trump. i'm a spending guide. i'm a guy who loves to break out a bottle of wine and have this conversation. that is who i am.

the closer you can get, i think americans -- you are not looking to win all of america right now. you want 55% of the voters and you will have a heck of a mandate. i look at a lot of the things that are happening right now. i'm probably a little biased. that money starts, i think it is a bad strategy. that's why pick those areas. host: the areas you focused on in that piece were education, policing and community safety, election integrity. starting at the top on

education. modes you like that contract to say? guest: i know what i would write if i was doing it. you can go into a store and customize everything you want. you don't get a customized education. that is basically how you set up that system. education is dynamic. you have a million different solutions. i would love it of great teachers could open up a school with 20 students, 30 student. with dating apps you can figure out exactly who you want to meet out there.

my student is excelling is -- my student is excelling. it goes back to the dollars follow the students. host: what about public education, what do you think the responsibility is? guest: it is to make sure the funds are available for the students to get x to ed -- educated. in my dream world this would be pushed back all the way to the states. i live in a reality where there is so much happening. whole idea is bureaucracy is pushing this back to the states. host: you would like to see community safety and policing. has been action passed in the house on the george floyd

policing act. there is legislation with 1000 -- senator tim scott has proposed. where things stand now there is no further action on that. what would you like to see there? guest: there are certain things that addressed concerns that most folks have on chokeholds and things like that. living here in washington, there was a shooting right outside. i remember growing up in the 1980's. it was a scary situation. you are seeing the spike in crime. so many police are retiring. we have a crisis in retirement. i see some polling, they want

more money in police and not less. the thing that worries me is this fennel crisis we have going on. fentanyl is not a normal addiction. if you get a little bit wrong in that dose, you are dead. that is coming across the border for new mexico. host: we kind of wrapped up the first hour talking about this about big tech and free speech, talk about the president's criticism of facebook, marjorie taylor greene being banned for twitter from 12 hours. what would you like to see, what are your thoughts on what you think republicans should do in terms of free speech in the role of big tech? guest: this is a complex issue but they get paid the big bucks to figure these things out.

there are certain things i would like -- my organization has had a problem with facebook where we had a post connecting joe biden's policies to higher gas prices you look at banning the pipeline, stopping drilling on federal land, we are not talking about yellowstone. we are talking about natural gas. all of that. gas prices are going to go up. host: how did you respond to that? guest: we let them know policy wise there is a whole process. we get flagged for our content, that is out prop that -- that is a problem. the aclu would do things like defend the ku klux klan.

i think what they were doing was abhorrent. i thing we need to be able to have the best part of democracy. people are allowed to have bad ideas. the minute you start clamping down on free speech, the chilling effect has an effect on society. that's what makes america unique. host: how could you keep those noisy voices in the mix? guest: i'm not a technical expert but when you look at these folks, you see pictures of them at backyard barbecues. there is some responsibility. yet the treat everything you

read online with a certain amount of skepticism. that person from nigeria, if you give them your bank account, that is not true. you have to take in all this freedom that you have. host: let's talk about the strategy for getting republicans and republican candidate to accept it and be promoted as part of their campaign in 2022. guest: early in the year i talked with several of my allies saying you should do the contract. i know there's a lot of different conversations despite three or four different working groups. don't make it so policy heavy. cultural issues used to mean

things. capitalism is a cultural issue now. people are concerned about how they are moving through school. they are concerned about the humanitarian crisis at the border. these are areas where they are cultural and they crossover. host: do you think there is a clear message now coming out of republican leadership in the house? on these issues and others? guest: there is not right now, i don't think. i think they need to find their footing. i can't point to a certain document that this is the house republican agenda. as we look forward, that is incumbent on republicans. here are the core things we

stand on. i don't think that is going to happen. i do think there are tremendous areas of common ground. to win the popular vote you have to campaign. a place that republicans hadn't campaign before. host: one quick question, does your organization also support individual candidates? guest: we tend to focus more on house candidates and we do senate candidate. we would be making some endorsements. host: we welcome your calls. (202) 748-8000 four democrats -- for democrats.

(202) 748-8001 if you are republican. (202) 748-8002, independants. caller: what you did, i am terrified by. made huge changes in the american -- are you aware the entire premise of libertarianism is based on a false science and a false revolution? they pushed the concept that competition leads to the outcomes. it is completely untrue. the universe of abundance, not

scarcity and cooperation is a survival. this is a huge thing here. if you go to the think tanks on both sides, far-left and far-right do agree on this false revolution. what this has caused is a eugenics bias where we think a level playing field means it is level to complete -- compete upon and what that leads to you is a question very directly, right now we are suffering from a pandemic. is it a public policy of herd immunity, with politics, science

, natural herd immunity. we are now enduring. host: we will get a response. guest: what i will agree, i come from the libertarian side of the movement. what he said about cooperation. it's when people mutually decide about coercion. now communities are compelled to come together. it is a natural community. a community made up of black, white, thick, sin. they voluntarily come together around a sports team. host: here is quinton in provo, utah. caller: you are a grassroots

campaign. from what i found, that does not seem to be the case. most of your funding will come from not small individual donors. i'm confused on what you mean by grassroots. how do you reconcile this and adjust the definition to account for your campaigning? guest: isaac i mentioned this earlier. last year we had 50,000 individual donors. i talk about the individuals who are part of our community. we are just about to open our fifth floor or we will bring in 120 new activists per week. we do work in the states. we do three works -- three events per week. when i talked about grassroots,

those are the people who do work for the institution. caller: hello, sir, i would like to talk about the differences -- president biden has been in six months. he has been here above the -- he does not care about the americans or the constitution. it is the second amendment and the last word of the second amendment. it is never to be used against one's own people. he has the nerve to want to kill his vice president. he knew more, he did this. how could he hurt some, and

they could not even give him a medal. the one who saved their lives. host: a comment from the dcc chair on president trump he said this at the post republican brand is bad politics in the suburbs. they believe dangerous conspiracy theories, flat out white supremacist and the level of harshness and ugliness that is not appealing. your assessment of where the party is post president trump and his role in 2022. guest: i think what is unpopular is when you call people white supremacist because they have conservative views. president trump sucks up a whole lot of media and spotlight. looking at this midterm election , making sure you are clearly

defined what they are believed in. host: is there a concern of those candidates go down to mar-a-lago or if the president is speaking that democrats will focus on that that message whether it is the contract for america or whatever gets found out? guest: that may be. donald trump has about an 80% approval with republican candidates. that doesn't make for very good politics. it makes good politics to align in a primary. that's like when you get to a general election. the next election, republican this is an opportunity to make a referendum on joe biden's policies and what they would do differently.

showing how bidens policies are contributing to inner-city violence, contributing to inflation, creating the humanitarian crisis at the border. that's right advised -- advise republicans to focus on. host: here is tonya in cincinnati, ohio. guest: my home state. caller: good morning. i have a couple of questions, the first one is a yes or no question. could you believe that president biden was elected legally and fairly. guest: yes. i'm focused on future elections. caller: do you promote to your followers that the trump claim that the election was stolen is a big lie? guest: we do a lot of work on

election integrity issues. caller: that is not the question i asked. guest: i'm telling you what i do. we already covered that ground. we do work on election integrity issues, yes. caller: i didn't hear when you covered that ground. could you elaborate a little bit? host: he responded. the question from new jersey, is in the price of gas determined by the global supply and demand? the u.s. president has minimal impact. it is determined by an economic pump. guest: this is a fantastic question. you go back into recent history, what caused the split in opec? it was u.s. fracking in natural

gas. that was the game changer. that is what was driving prices down. gasoline and oil are global goods. the change was u.s. fracking. we start to move away and be hostile to fracking, you are taking the new global supply off-line. this is for all of the conversation about russia. when we pulled out and biden gave the ok for the germans to build the national gas pipeline to russia, champagne corks were popped all over the kremlin because they do by taking u.s. supply off-line in building a direct line to germany, natural gas prices will go up around the world. the second part, who is the

beneficiary? prudent -- putin. caller: good morning, that last comment agree. a lot of people in america don't see that. my question to you is, you said that you believe the voting issue is a -- the states should be in charge of that? we have seen what happens when the states are in charge of voting, education and someone. the federal government has to step in, because they have a track record of denying those of color the opportunity to vote. that is why we had the voting rights act. i want you to elaborate on that. guest: you and i agree on this, especially if you go to the jim

crow era south. there was a federal role to step in when people were being denied the right to vote. fast forward to today, and let's take that georgia legislation, what is that legislation saying? there are going to be mandated weekend hours, expanded opportunities for malin, and expansion. putting some guardrails on what you can and can't do, sitting rules out before the election, colorado wants to do all malin and have a system for that. i'm fine with colorado deciding what colorado wants to do. i don't think it is a good idea to centralize this all in washington, but you are right and i think these issues -- there have been troubled histories and that is where it is right for the federal government to step in. we are looking at situations where how we had record turnout in voting, where you are having that happen, no one is being denied the right to vote but what we want to make sure of is, going back to the original

premise, i think ensuring everyone has confidence in that system. host: back to a comment for you on text. you can send us a text at (202)-748-8003. sheila says this. until congress gets back to people over party, it makes no difference who is in control. stand up for term limits that will actually make a difference and heal the divide. guest: i love term limits. the reason is you hear a lot of talk about the swamp in washington. so much of the swamp is based on these mutually exclusive relationships between congressmen and lobbyists and all of their interests. the thing i will and for the caller is the only way you will get that is through a massive grassroots effort. politicians are scared of their voters. they will do anything to make their voters happy. if the voters demand something, you will see the politicians respond.

real change in america will not come from washington. real change comes when people get together, back at home in the districts. that works at federal, state, school board, everything. host: our next caller, mark from maryland, republican. caller: i wanted to say i agree with most of what you said. my only problem is i'm seem to be noticing that the one thing republicans don't do very well is culture. it is kind of funny because while i was waiting on the call, you had a few calls back, and independent caller who was mentioning the federal government having to step in because different states had discriminatory voting laws. the whole point of my call was to -- republicans need to embrace their history as the party of emancipation. when a caller comes in and says

there were these jim crow laws in the south, that was a missed opportunity for you to point out to him that it was actually the democratic party who wrote these laws. the thing is, most people in this country under the age of 50 think hitler's was on the right, and that is a big problem. you can talk about tax cuts and normal things all day long but a lot of younger voters vote on emotion. unfortunately for 60 years, the media and the left in this country has been pushing this narrative that america was somehow to blame for slavery when in fact it was actually there party that was to blame for slavery. if there ever was systematic racism in this country, it came entirely from the democratic party. they founded the ku klux klan. host: we will let you go. guest: i always like to point out people like frederick

douglass. an incredible person from american history. robert small, one of the most amazing stories coming out of the civil war. we failed to share our own legacy on these issues, as if the civil rights act passed because of republican votes. the party was founded on abolition. there is a tremendous opportunity. i also think when it comes to spending, to me, spending is a moral issue. it is nauseating about washington, where politicians think by spending all of this money, standing on the side of the angels, know what you are doing is robbing future generations. that money is coming from our children and our grandchildren and a diminished quality of life and diminished opportunities there going to face. i look at spending as a moral issue. host: you are writing in newsweek, the issue is immigration, you're right that

vice president kamala harris is finally visiting the border after ignoring the crisis for three months. her ill-fated trip demonstrates her administration's ineptitude in sidestepping the issue. what would you like to see republicans have in their plan, their platform for 2022? guest: my dream plan, i think australia and canada have a fantastic immigration system. it is merit-based, it fluctuates with the economy, it creates opportunities if you have legitimate humanitarian reasons. it is quick and very humane. you get married, it is easier. our system is backwards, based on familial ties, not based on what the country needs. i would fix that problem. if you need farmers, there is a guest worker program you can do that is all above board. start taking that pressure off of the border. most of the women coming across

this border have been sexually assaulted. we have kids that we are just releasing in. what is going to happen to them? this is very inhumane. also the fentanyl crisis. we know fentanyl is coming in. the other part of this besides the long fix is that short-term fix. you need to get the border under control. fentanyl is poisoning your neighborhood. it is coming across our border. host: vice president went to mexico and guatemala and this is not just a biden or trump administration problem. what should the u.s. role going forward to be? guest: kamala harris proposed doubling down on what we did in the past, giving them billions of dollars in aid. you know what happens? within minutes, it is in swiss bank accounts of the elites in control. what you can do, you are a country and you can control your border.

every other country in the world, they have these basic systems where they know who is coming in and who was going out and i think it is a smart thing to do. we can control our border and have a rational immigration system that is good for the american economy. we have a demographic crisis and we are aging faster for the first time in our history. i love having the world's best and brightest coming to this country. contribute in from day one, if you have a him unitarian crisis, -- these interpreters in afghanistan, they volunteered to help our soldiers and we need to get those folks here. host: let's hear from steve in tennessee, democrats line. caller: good morning. i want tamika comment about one of the previous callers with the democratic party being the former of the ku klux klan, all of that stuff. that is exactly true.

however, and this is based on my family, when civil rights came into existence, every member of my family of mississippi on both sides switched from being democrats to being republicans. if you look at a state map, every southern state is read, and that is why. it is totally disingenuous to say that the democrats created all of this problem, and it is true that democrats started this, that they all became republicans after civil rights. next thing, i get freedom works on facebook and i read you and here is one thing i found this morning. things adults shouldn't believe in anymore. there is a picture of santa claus, a picture of the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, and anthony found she. -- anthony fauci. everything you are doing is

right wing, the dems are out to get your money come out for this. it is absolutely not true. you are coming on their and you look -- you come across really decent, like a guy who looks at both sides. but when i read the comments and the posts on your site, they are not anywhere but far-right. host: we will get a response. guest: i try to be a decent guy. i do run an organization that does have a political side and one of the things we like to do on facebook is we like to find that humor is a great way to get the message across and specifically we have been very critical on how she -- fauci and some of the economic recommendations he has made. we have criticisms, yes. host: on the members you are supporting, your organization is

-- the headline in the washington post, mo brooks food -- pushes falsehood that trump won 2020 election and claims unlawful votes for biden. do you stand behind him as a candidate? guest: the reason we endorse mo brooks is when i look at who we need to solve the problems, i need people who are not going to be beholden to leadership. we have had great candidates get elected and they come in adjuster telling the party line and so when i look around for people who are going to take on these sacred cow issues like spending and mo brooks has historically been a fantastic person. host: taking on his own leadership? guest: his own leadership. i would like to have a few senators i can rely on, who would buck the party and say we need to slow down the spend. host: here is bob in philadelphia on the republican line. sorry about that. go ahead. caller: good morning c-span.

mr. brandon, thank you for your efforts. i do appreciate what you do and what you stand for. i live in a city where you are just greatly outnumbered by democrats here and these people that scream equity are the same people that will look at you cross side in a store, threatened violence to you and then purport to be in favor of equity. there is such an imbalance in this country and quite frankly, the megaphone is being controlled by big media and the tech companies. we have a great weight of odds against us, just to get our message out, so i do appreciate what you do. more power to you.

guest: i want to talk specifically about your issue in inner-city philadelphia. there are many areas where he could be outnumbered. if you look at the schools issue, i think everyone in philadelphia is going to look around at their schools and realize we could do a lot better than this. i look at that as an issue to reach a nontraditional audience with our values. we are the folks who want to make sure your kid has a choice between not one school that is failing, not a choice between two failing schools but you have a choice between 100 different options that you can customize for your kid. if your kid is dyslexic, let's make sure they can get an education with that. if you are struggling with math, make sure they can go to a school that supports that. if your kid wants to go into a trade school, i think that is something republicans could embrace that could pass -- cross party lines in philadelphia. it is amazing how much you can earn when you are doing things like plumbing or heating or air

conditioning. we may not be able to agree with folks on 80% of issues but if you can find that 20%, it is so incredibly powerful and i think it will go a long way to show folks -- i think our positions are the moral high ground that enhance human dignity and giving people opportunity to work. nobody wants to be dependent on the government. that is what our policies are about. host: the president of citizens united who served as deputy campaign manager for president trump at 2020 with an opinion piece in the washington times with the headline, gop must advance a new 2022 contract with america. he says this. a unified platform in the trump gingrich tradition for american exceptionalism offers a lot of promise. he says it starts with providing job creators with some ironclad

certainty by making the trump tax cuts and deregulations permanent. your thoughts on that? guest: i agree 100%. i put out my five issues. i am hoping this just jump starts a conversation. there are issues that are very important to me like spending and health care. republicans have to earn a lot of trust with me, but i hope that as we start talking about the boom of the 2019 economy we had, it was the lowest black unemployment, lowest hispanic unemployment, the numbers were incredible. i want that economy back. yes you have a jump right now from the post-covid world, but this is being fueled by cheap free money that is distorting the economy. it is all going to come back again. everyone loves free cash in their pocket but when inflation kicks in and take that money back and plus some. who is getting the hurt -- who is getting hurt the most out of this? talk to a building contractor right now. the economy may be raging,

businesses are struggling. this economy is benefiting big business, not main street. i would go back to 2019. those cuts he was just mentioning, that benefited entrepreneurs investing in main street. host: let's hear from olivia in birmingham, alabama. caller: good morning. i will say this right here. when you made the statement -- that is what bothers me. you think it's free. nothing is free. [indiscernible] i look at politics. i am invested in politics. i don't want lies, i want to hear the truth.

don't tell black people about racism. we don't need one white person to tell us about racism. we understand racism through slavery, discrimination, through the laws that are passed. we know the sting of racism. it's about learning black history in schools, and we need to wake up. host: olivia, i will give mr. brandon a chance to answer your call. guest: i love to consider myself a historian with what i have read, and i think it is very important that we understand our history, but the good sides and the bad sides. you have to understand the unique circumstances that black america has gone through, but it think it is very important to understand this is the most successful multiethnic country in world history, and we have a long way to go, but i look at progress being made and i think at a very rapid rate and i look

forward to the country that my kids and grandkids to live in. when i go back to what i was being taught in schools, it was all martin luther king jr., judge a character -- judge a man by the content of his character. i am looking forward to a country as we continue to move forward. host: adam brandon, president of freedom works. thank you for being here with us. guest: happy to be on the set. host: we appreciate it. ahead here on "washington journal," we will open up our phone lines for an open forum. we talked about the infrastructure considerations in the senate coming up this week, president biden's response to the covid-19 pandemic, and more. we welcome your calls. democrats, (202)-748-8000. republicans, (202)-748-8001. independents, (202)-748-8002. we will be right back. ♪

>> robert novak's nickname was the prince of darkness, named by many of his friends and washington-based journalists.

in 2007, two years before he died at age 78, his autobiography was published about his 50 years as a reporter, television personality, author and conservative local commentator. he appeared on book notes about his book, the prince of darkness. >> lake columnist robert novak. listen at cspan.org/podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is open forum here on "washington journal." your chance to weigh in on public policy stories, political stories making news that you are following as well. following the story of the infrastructure package on capitol hill. this is politico's headline. bipartisan deal has no chance on wednesday is their headline. senate republicans revolted on monday against opening debate on

infrastructure while a bipartisan bill was still being written, lining up in opposition to a squeeze play by majority leader chuck schumer. schumer and senate democrats need at least 10 republicans to agree to advance the still unwritten bill, to spend nearly $600 billion on roads, bridges and broadband. both republican leaders and the gop lawmakers working on the bipartisan for structure package carried the same warning for schumer. quote, he is not going to get 60, let's put it that way. one story we are obviously following, the senate today, that will be over on c-span2. also on c-span2, our coverage is live now, but it is the -- some video that we are seeing from the coverage of blue origin. that launch of the blue origin spacecraft is set for 9:00 eastern. we will look in and watch that launch, if we are able win 9:00 comes around.

open forum is your chance to dictate the conversation a little bit. (202)-748-8000 is the line for democrats. (202)-748-8001 for republicans. for independents and all others, (202)-748-8002. on the independent line, let's go to maria in boston. hello. go ahead. caller: my name is mary. host: go ahead mary. caller: my major concern was what i saw yesterday, which was what was going on at the border. we are told is american people, as citizens that we can't do anything pretty much unless the government tells us to do it because of the virus but when i looked at that picture, of those people coming into our country,

and we do not know who is vaccinated, we don't know what their medical status is, and i don't understand why are we letting people into our country during a time when the virus is seeming to get worse and we don't know where these people are going, we don't know if they may be spreading the virus because we don't know where they are going. i just think out of everything that is going on -- i was a democrat that changed to republican because i liked what president trump did when he was in office, but what i see on that border really scares me, and then when i heard yesterday that they are trying to sneak in amnesty into the infrastructure bill. what is going on?

what is wrong with these people? host: steve in south carolina, republican line. go ahead. make sure you mute your volume on your set. caller: ok. one of my main concerns is the infrastructure discussions going on right now. i can totally agree with a targeted package for our infrastructure. i think it is the way to go. i think the government is getting out of control on these amounts. when you start talking trillions, i don't think they understand what trillions really means and how hard it is to control that kind of money. i think most of the packages or the laws coming through need a much more targeted way of going.

target a specific issue, making sure that if we are talking infrastructure, we are talking infrastructure. if we are talking border, we talk border and when you're talking money, you definitely need it more targeted so we can control the amount of money that we are spending, and that is pretty much where i am coming from today. host: thank you steve. jennifer, hello. caller: hello, good morning. i just want to start off saying i love your suit today. i wanted to talk about women's issues and basically the idea of how a lot of men, specifically republicans don't seem to know how the woman's body works. they were saying an iud gives you an abortion every time you have sex, which i find ridiculous. the idea that they are always

saying we have to help the women and children here in america, that is actually not true. they won't pass the e.r.a. sexual assault is insane in the military, three times what it is in the nation. also i think that is tied to the fact that elderly men from a completely different generation, where sexism was insane. you had to have a man sign to get an apartment, if they even let you. the fact that some 80 something-year-old people are running the country. it is insane because no one alive today would want their grandparents who are 80 years old to make decisions for their life. host: jennifer, do you think we

have an 80 plus-year-old president? do you think the bite in the administration is taking women's issues seriously? -- the biden administration is taking women's issues seriously? caller: no. i am glad that a democrat is on but they are completely ignoring -- they won't even -- gillibrand has been working on that bill for 10 years, and these men keep saying we are going to train, have classes. how would you make people in the military -- they are supposed to be honorable. why do they need classes to just be human beings, to not be violent, to not be rapists? it is ridiculous. they keep saying we need training. you need training to be a nonviolent human being?

i bartend and if i punched a customer in the face after he called me a terrible terrible swear word or grab me, i would get fired. they are supposed to be the best of us. host: have you ever had to do that? if you ever had to defend yourself from a customer, calling you an offensive name or assaulting you in some other way? caller: yes. i used to work at a bar that was 3:00 a.m. people would go and destroy the bathroom or try to get behind the bar. it was crazy. we have to throw them out, but we didn't like beat them up.

like most women, i don't know one woman that hasn't been sexually assaulted, beat up, raped, stalked. i've been raped and nobody does anything. it is like less than 1% go to jail. our police force has doubled in domestic violence in the end -- has doubled in the mystic violence of the nation, so obviously they have a problem with violence. host: jennifer, we appreciate your call. you mentioned senator gillibrand, her efforts on sexual assault in the military. i saw her speak on the floor of the senate. i thought that bill was moving along and i had our producer do a search on where that bill stands. they have not taken it up on the floor, but it may be part of the defense authorization measure that will come up before the senate. i did see her speak last week, specifically about that measure

and that issue. thank you for your call this morning. we hear from ohio next. go ahead. caller: 7% of america is vegan or vegetarian, that is 25 million americans. we have republicans who don't want that. three times as many vegans are democrat or independent. as vegans, we don't want vaccines, vaccines contain brain cells from horseshoe crabs, fireflies.

violating vegans -- i know some catholic subject to the fetal cells. host: given your reluctance to get vaccinated, how do you plan to keep yourself safe, especially with the spread of the delta variant of covid? guest: i believe i developed immunity in february of last year when i got covid and everything is fine. host: have you been tested since then? guest: i haven't. host: the story this morning on the january 6 attack. this is the ap headline, rider who breaches said it gets eight months for felony.

a crane operator from florida who breached the chamber was sentenced monday to eight months behind bars. the first punishment handed down for felony charge in the january 6 right. hundreds of other pages. the u.s. district judge said the 38-year-old played a role not as significant as the others in one of the worst episodes of recent history. thousands of rioters storm the capital and disrupted this certification of joe biden's election win. a stunning display of public violence. that was not by any stretch of imagination, it was an assault on our democracy. a tweet this morning from scott mcfarland of nbc news about

another person arrested in the january 6 attack. andrew griswold of pensacola, florida is accused of entering the gallery and later saying now we could do it. now we will do it again. here's pete in new york. caller: this is pete from new hampshire. host: i'm sorry, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. the woman from massachusetts was right. we have people in government right now in washington, d.c., who are not critical thinkers. they have no common sense whatsoever. all we want to do is throw more money at it. the so-called infrastructure

bill -- we have roads and bridges here. we have the last 15-20 years. nothing is being done about it. what they want to do is fight over a multi trillion dollar bill. that money will not go to infrastructure. it will be a very small percentage. eisenhower back in the day, he built the interstate system across this country. instead of spending the money,

why don't they put it where it belongs? host: appreciate that, pete. the lift off in blue origin is set for about 10 minutes from now. we should be able to show that to you. i would live coverage, continuous college -- coverage is on our companion network, c-span two. on the infrastructure package, schumer sets vote on infrastructure. gop wants to see a bill. this is tony on the independent line. caller: good morning. i have a very big concern i would like your audience to pursue this please. people with covid at the southern border, they had them

in their others. a lot of these people have been sent around the country. somebody out there has the power to do it is to have a map of where these covid outbreaks are. somebody knows and the government where they sent these people from the southern border. once you overlay those maps, you will see some significant information with the people who were sent out there from the border with the virus are now infecting this area. host: story here about the u.s. northern border with canada. canada to open border to fully vaccinated u.s. citizens. canada on monday said it would begin to eat -- begin to ease

restrictions. those living in the united states who have canadian authorized vaccines could enter without quarantining. the decision follows months of criticism across the political spectrum. over what they said wasn't an overly cautious approach to lifting curves. here is pascual in san jose. caller: good morning. i have a couple of things real quick to give other people a chance to get on. i mexican and american also i want to say that as a mexican-american, i said black

lives matter. the gentleman -- she made a very direct question to him. could you tell your followers that trump was lying and that his comments were a big lie? he didn't answer the question. host: thanks for your criticism, appreciate that. ted is next in north carolina. caller: i would let you speak about the racial theory. if we look at the history of

this country, it's not in the history books. 629 years we have been a white supremacist country. the other thing i would like to talk about is we need to remove people from office quicker. the people of kentucky, start a recall on mitch mcconnell. he is stopping everything for no reason at all. god bless you all, have a great day. host: here's a tweet from the hill on the japan olympics. news from tokyo that organizers there won't rule out last-minute cancellations of the tokyo olympics. organizers early announced -- earlier announced there would be no fans at the olympics. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. (202) 748-8001 republicans.

(202) 748-8002 this is for others. it is open forum. this is william. caller: good morning, how are you doing? much of our problems here in florida started when jeb bush was in office. that was the rise of all of the problems. host: let's go to john in wisconsin. caller: i wanted to comment about the infrastructure bill in little bit. i don't think it should be into separate entities.

we talked a lot about immigration. it is a very bad situation on the southern border. finally complete the wall. possibly allowing amnesty and everybody who was already here to become citizens. until we have a secure border, we need to stop the flow however we can. it is ridiculous with covid coming across the border right now. caller: we have had a big increase in florida. a lot of the delta variant, they

are saying they have so many, i think 139 or something. i know clearly there have been busloads of illegals. the illegal children, they are moving them from place to place. everything is ordered and the cost is in norma's. we were doing well with it. the number of people that were vaccinated, we are just flooding the border. host: i'm going to let you go. we want to west texas to watch the launch of the blue origin spacecraft. let's watch.

>> two minus 16, guidance internal. two -10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. we have lift off. >> she has cleared the tower, armor waita space -- cleared the tower arm her way to space. you are going to space.

oh my goodness, listen to the roar of speed. we are just about to pass through maximum dynamic pressure. max q is confirmed. beautiful burn on that engine. liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as the propellant. not just clean in terms of beautifully performing what comes out of it is steam. to see the glow of the engine underneath, to know that we have a crew that is going to space. it just feels different, doesn't

it? >> totally different. you can follow along of course the speedometer on the bottom left. the altitude in the middle of the screen. so far prepare it looks to be a nominal flight. coming up here, main engine cut off follow shortly by separation . at that point after separation we will let the astronauts unbuckle intake taken the freedom. there is main engine cut off. a beautiful shot down the rocket. look at that view.

host: we are moments away from the launch of the shepherd space capsule. you can follow all of that over on our companion networks live on he spent two. up ahead here on washington journal, we will turn our attention to the high cost of housing, particularly rental housing. >> weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast. every saturday we explore our nation's past. book tv brings you the nonfiction books and offers. discover, learn, explore every weekend on c-span two.

>> coming up today on c-span house returns to work on legislation that would expedite the visa process, and security personnel who work in afghanistan as well as transportation and cybersecurity bills. on c-span2, blue origin conducts its first flight into space. on c-span three at 10:00 a.m., cdc director dr. michelle were linsky, dr. anthony fauci, and other members of the covid response team testify before the senate committee. they hold a hearing on sexual assault in the military.

host: with us to talk about the new report on the high cost of housing, the president and ceo, good morning, welcome to washington journal. tell us what your mission is? guest: it is a membership organization all about advancing federal policy solutions and they have decent and affordable homes. host: talk about your organization's latest report. looking at how much it costs across the country to afford living in this country. to afford rent in this country. how do you put this report together? what do you look at?

guest: we talk about what we call the housing wage. how much each -- a person would have to earn each hour to be able to afford to rent a modest apartment. the housing wage for a one-bedroom bedroom apartment is $20 an hour. just to rent a modest apartment. clearly this is almost three times as much as the federal minimum wage earned. these are out of reach not just for minimum-wage workers before average renters. it is much higher in many communities throughout the country.

host: what is the burden on household? guest: they agree they should not be paying more than 30% of their income towards our rent or housing costs each month to ensure we have enough money for life's other necessities. if somebody is paying more than 30% of their income, they are considered to be cost burden. if they are paying more than 50% of their income they are considered to be severely cost burden. pre-pandemic, we had about 10 million household that work low income or extremely low income. at least half of their income was going towards rent, many paying much more. host: looking at how that breaks down by race -- in this most

recent report for your organization, 25% of white -- white households work cost burden. how does that compare with recent three covid numbers in terms of the burden? guest: there are tremendous racial disparities in the housing and homeless system. certainly our housing system. they have policies that purposely put homeownership out of reach for millions of black americans. this created the generational wealth gap that exists today with 8-12 times as much wealth. these disparities show up in our system.

black, latino, and native american people are disproportionately likely to be low income, cost burden. black people make up about 13% of the general population. 50% of homeless families with children. they don't happen by accident. host: we will be covering today hearing with the housing secretary coming up this morning at 10:00 eastern. what would you like to see from the biden administration. guest: we are in such a unique moment right now where the

federal eviction moratorium -- 6 million renter families are men -- remain falling behind during the pandemic. $46 billion in emergency systems that has yet to reach the vast majority of those who need it. the biden administration working appropriately aggressively to get that money to tenants and landlords who need it. even when that money reaches tennants it won't reach the underlying systemic challenges for the lowest income people. the biden administration is proposing over $300 billion in investment towards long-term

solutions. we are working with them and congress that they be targeted towards the lowest income people. these kind of investments could be transformational. host: we are talking with the president and ceo of the national low income housing coalition. we welcome your calls. if you are a renter, (202) 748-8001 is the line to call. if you are looking to buy a home, that line is (202) 748-8001. for all others the line is (202) 748-8002. how much did the pandemic relief in the past year help renters in particular? guest: the actions of the federal and local government

over the past year kept renters who otherwise would've lost their homes, give them a house during the pandemic. somehow the eviction moratorium got put in place. early in the pandemic, many places have their own state or citywide moratorium. the moratoriums on their own were only a half measure. the rent is still due and you still need to pay the rent. landlord still need to receive the rent to maintain and operate their properties. that's why it was so important that congress provide a combined

$46.5 billion in emergency systems to pay the tenants during the pandemic. now it is about getting that money out and keep renters stable. host: going back to the $300 billion figure being proposed on housing and housing efforts, you see the ongoing and federal effort in terms of supporting people not just loewen term housing -- low income housing. guest: we focus on people who are extremely low-income. the private market on its own build, maintain, and operate

that are affordable without there being federal subsidies attached to the property. what we push for is expanding rental assistance. light now we have a system in our country where only one in every four households received any. we essentially have a housing lottery system but only roughly 25% get the help they need. we are urging the biden administration and congress to stand up. we need to build more apartments and assure they are affordable for the lowest income people. we do that again through federal subsidy. to build and maintain apartments.

for middle income people, some communities are struggling to pay the rent. we moved restrictive -- this drives up costs for everybody while maintaining and exacerbating other inequities. host: what sort of opportunity do you think this post-pandemic period presents to in terms of creating affordable rental housing? some places office space may no longer be at a premium. what you see? guest: we have always needed a

calm -- combination of solutions. many that don't have the supply needed to meet the demand, most communities we need to be building more apartment and make them available to the lowest income. the people living in those apartments can afford them. we need to bridge the gap between what people learn -- earn. in this moment there are some big, unique, and important opportunities to use federal resources that would provide to the american rescue plan to purchase some of these hotels and motels that they are looking to sell. to convert them into permanent support. that could be a housing solution

, this could be an exit strategy for those families. it creates a permanent affordable housing in that community for the long-term. there is high billion dollars going to the home program. they are making the permanent housing and start to address homelessness. host: in a number of places and industries, pay is going up but the federal minimum wage has not gone up. what role does the federal minimum wage pay if you're analyzing this data on affordability. guest: clearly the federal minimum wage needs to be increased. even if we raise that federal

minimum wage to $15 an hour, which we should in most communities housing costs will remain out of reach. it is a two-tiered solution. we need more solutions and we got some in affordable housing. other low income people who are on a fixed income. host: a reminder for those of you who are renters, that is (202) 748-8000. if you are looking to buy a home, (202) 748-8001. all others, (202) 748-8002.

let's go to gym on our renters line. caller: good morning. what a time to be talking about low income housing and a billionaire just went to space, that is awesome. i'm in section eight housing, there is no jobs where i am at. that's about all i've got, i'm disgusted. host: just a look there for caller, west virginia's 50th, $14, $.83 per hour -- $14.83 per hour. the minimum wage to afford a two bedroom rental home.

guest: jim is certainly not alone. there are millions of people struggling to afford the rent. he was somebody was able to receive several housing subsidies. i'm glad he was. they have a tremendous opportunity. it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. congress and the white house negotiating a multitrillion dollar spending package about infrastructure and certainly housing is infrastructure. it is about expanding opportunities for families and individuals throughout the country. the president propose $300

billion in investment. some members of congress like chairwoman maxine waters. they are proposing 20, over $600 billion of investment. if we are sure if they expand the system, expanding the trust fund. to what is affordable housing that already exist, it will have a transformational effect to end homelessness and housing properties. we have to urge our members of congress to ensure this major spending bill includes the level of investment needed in the

right investments and housing. host: next up is patrick in louisville, kentucky. looking to buy a home. patrick, make sure you make of all -- you mute your volume. patrick in louisville, kentucky, you are on the air. we will go to michael in to macula, call -- in california also looking to buy a home. caller: good morning. i live in temecula, california. the available housing for people looking to purchase here is very limited. it also affects the cost of rent . i live in a small bedroom apartment and pay almost $1500 a month now.

it has cost me $400,000. i guess my question would be. to make sure there is enough housing being built to keep up and accommodate for those of us who are going from the position to the purchasing position. guest: thanks for the question. there's a tremendous challenge for people looking to purchase a home. especially the lower income people. they are really being shut out in many communities. that has been true for some time.

there is simply a lock of -- lack of supply. we are not building enough homes to accommodate the number of people who need them and wish to purchase. that is due to a variety of reasons including some astronomically increasing costs for lumber and other costs. the whole process for constructing homes slows down. there's many more people looking to buy homes then there are homes available to purchase. the cost of the supply chains.

looking for ways that the federal government could engage and provide resources for more first-time buyers. it is something they are really prioritizing. we need to be building more apartments and more homes in general. for low income people, we need additional assistance and counseling as well. host: on our renters line is rick in annapolis, maryland. caller: am i on? host: go ahead. caller: thank you, very much. really appreciate you

representing the section eight landlords and owners across this country. we need more section eight housing nationwide. in 1965, the small group went to all of our cities, chicago, detroit, baltimore, d.c., they financed, developed, and to this day own and manage the section eight project. there's 42 million blacks in the country today. 70% are being housed in those projects throughout our cities. the worst school systems, no chance to get out. when they die they pass on an empty apartment. here you are trying to promote the administration.

there is more section eight housing. to make the jared kushner's of the world. here's a name i would like to write down. phil winn. he on 500,000 section eight units. we have to provide housing for all of these homeless people. why would they be helping out the jared kushner's of the world to make them richer? guest: there are multiple types of section eight. there section eight project-based houses where the owner maintains those property and keep them affordable to the low income people. then there is called housing

choices. those are mobile section eight doctors. they have those apartments be affordable. whether they are project-based or mobile, people pay about 30% more. the federal government pays the rest up to a reasonable amount. these kind of housing subsidies are crucial to ensuring the lowest income people, low-wage workers, people with disabilities could afford to have a stable, affordable home. we underfund these programs and have for decades.

75%. hoping to win what is a housing model system in our country. they pay more percentages which leads them to make all kinds of trade-offs to pay the rent or whether they should pay the internet bill or the rent. or they have to double or triple up their families. they may live in homes that are not safe. they become homeless and they sleep in their cars. they sleep in encampments or homeless shelters. the federal government has to do more to ensure the lowest income people in our country could have the basic human need of a home.

host: what got you into this issue and how did you get into the low housing -- the housing coalition? guest: i have been probably 20-25 years. i came to washington, d.c. to work at the national housing coalition the first time. i oversaw the occupancy division. i came back to the housing coalition as the ceo about five years ago. host: i have a comment on twitter that says there is a two-year minimum weight for low income housing apartments in warner robins, georgia south of atlanta. these apartments are important is that weight -- is that way in

particular unusual across the country? host: the weight is not -- guest: the weight is not unusual. those weight lists could vary from several months to several years. we all -- we absolutely need to expand the program. it is also essential that we ensure these properties are kept up. a couple of the commenters are right. much of our affordable housing stock is in poor condition due to decades of declining resources to repair these units and keep them and sanitary condition. public housing for example has been underfunded for decades.

and now has a $70 billion needs backlog. it would cost that to maintain these properties in sanitary conditions and to keep it for the generations who will need it in the future. that is the additional investment we are urging in public housing, so it is safe and sanitary for people who live there today and generations who will need it. host: richard and minneapolis, minnesota, good morning. caller: if you want to have apartments in poor condition, just advocate rent control. you take a look around the town

in the construction permits just froze, they just stopped. no new building going on since they propose this rent control. if you want to have more housing and cheaper housing, just build more apartments and the competition will drive down the price. they have to lower the property tax. they have to lower the price of the land. they have to lower the price of the labor. host: talk about the role of the developers. guest: it is absolute right, we do need to build more homes throughout the country and

ensure they are available to the lowest income people. it will drive down the cost for everybody. the way to do that is look at what is driving up costs. also looking at state and local zoning laws. many local zoning rules restrict or outright prevent instruction of apartments in certain communities. this drives up costs for everybody. it exacerbates segregation of other inequities. they need to do much more to address that restrictive zoning. that will lower costs for everyone. it is important that for the

lowest income people, workers, seniors, the private market cannot build, operate, and maintain a purpose that is affordable at a level that they could pay rent. some subsidies are necessary. i will say to you the caller raise the issue of increases and we have to recognize in our country there is a wild power imbalance between landlords and renters. we have seen that come to the board during the pandemic. there is more that needs to be done to protect renters allowing

them to have legal representation. or expunging eviction records. this goes a long way towards saving the cost of eviction for those individuals and families because we do pay for this to be purchased in our country. host: he asked is there any movement having to push legislation that prevent new low income and innovative tiny home projects from being developed. guest: that could be really

problematic in local areas. this is a local issue at the end of the day. we encourage people to get involved at the local level. why more innovative apartments are needed. it does have power to incentivize or require communities to do more. we look at tying some of the federal funds to either incentives or requirements. for the local communities to alleviate or produce does restrictive zoning laws. host: we will go to brooklyn next and hear from omar. caller: good morning. i live in new york city. in new york city, there are thousands of condos popping up

in manhattan, queens, brooklyn, everywhere. it just so happens that i am homeless. i have a viable education. without a viable job i can't get those apartments. if i'm stuck in this conundrum of trying to find housing, i have a brand-new cybersecurity degree that i have thousands of applications out and no one is calling. this is the trap of america that has definitely left me between a rock and a hard place. hundreds of people work and they

are in a shelter. i have income, i have funds available to spend. there are other men that are working. they can't get housing. host: just of your report, diane, new york is the fourth highest national housing wage. in new york it requires an hourly wage of $34 to afford a two bedroom rental home. 109 hours per week are needed at the minimum wage to afford a two bedroom rental home. your thoughts? guest: the cost in new york and so many communities is so far out of reach, low-wage workers,

much more needs to be done at the federal and local level. he raises so many important points. i wanted to amplify that some of those people who are homeless are working and do everything they can to get a job. they are wanting to work. many of them are working. going to work every day. they are going to a homeless shelter to sleep at night. one of the richest countries in the history of the world. we have as a country we have clearly the data.

we have for a long time in our country, we lack the political will to fund the solutions. i am hopeful we may have a moment in time now where we built the political will and the opportunity. there is clearly the need that the federal government does what is needed and expands this and make homes affordable. host: housing affordability issues across all parts of the country from predominantly rural areas to more urban states. there only three states where they could afford a new home. delaware, 69%. virginia, 54%. jack is up next.

caller: good morning. i have two questions. is any effort being made towards creating smaller spaces so senior citizens could have independent living so i could sell my single-family home for someone else to take over? host: give us your second question and we will have diane respond. caller: is one million people coming across the border into the united states part of the housing problem? guest: thank you for the questions. it comes in all shapes and sizes. they have the view on what

affordable housing looks like. many decades ago. a lot has been learned in this time. as affordable homes are rehabilitated and new apartments are built. they are built in a variety of ways. they are very often smaller, affordable housing apartment in smaller buildings. there are single-family home and there are large, high-rise buildings that are built in a way that is aesthetically fitting in with the community. all types of housing should be pursued. there are certainly opportunities.

secondly, the lack of homes throughout the country, i wanted to share another report -- in that we find there is a shortage of 7 million apartments, affordable and available. 10 of the lowest income families , there are fewer than four apartments affordable and available to them. whether it is rural, suburban, or urban into differs from the severe shortage of affordable homes. there is no state or city -- host: question for you from

carol in arkansas who writes this. if you get a housing voucher to go and rent an apartment, how much do you have to pay for the voucher? 40% or 30%? guest: it differs slightly from housing authority to housing authority. it is generally 30% of your income. some cases utility costs are factored as well. some cases where the local costs of apartments are very high the housing authority may pay up to a higher level for the cost of the unit. the tennants can pay up to 40% of their income. host: we will get one more question. jerry is in mississippi on our renters line. go ahead. caller: my comment is i believe

if -- they need to be ready to vote, that is one of the main things that we can move this thing forward. make sure they are registered and they are voters. they could take matters into their own hands. that could help them. i think that is one of the main things that we need to do. we need to get the people registered and get them to voting. guest: i couldn't agree more. we have exactly that, empowering, enabling low income people to register and get out

to vote right now. there's a disparity where higher income homeowners vote at a higher rate than lower income renters do. federal policy favors homeowners over the lower income renters. it could register and get out the vote. guest: the -- host: the new report is out of reach 2021. the president and ceo of the national low income housing coalition, thanks for joining us. guest: thanks for having me. host: that will wrap it up on "washington journal." we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern. u.s. house is coming in momentarily. later today