capitol hill. be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages and tweets. "washington journal" is next. announcer: we are having a technical problem -- ♪ host: good morning. it is sunday, september 5, 2021. we talked campaign 2022, lobbying in the age of covid, and the impact of climate change on disaster insurance. we begin with the question on the standing of the u.s. and the world today. as you look at the state of the country in september 2021 we want to know if you believe the united states of america is the greatest country in the world. democrats can call (202)-748-8000, republicans (202)-748-8001, independents

(202)-748-8002. you can send us a text at (202)-748-8003. if you do, include your name and where you are from. catch up on social media on twitter @c-spanwj and facebook at facebook.com/c-span. it is a question we return to from time to time. is the united states of america the greatest country in the world? that question very much part of the discussion following the withdrawal from afghanistan. here is one of the recent headlines from the discussion from "the new yorker." is the u.s. withdrawal the end of the american empire? for the time being america retains its military prowess and economic strength, but for two decades now it seems increasingly unable to harness either to its advantage. instead of enhancing its hegemony by deploying its strength wisely it has

repeatedly squandered its efforts, diminishing the aura of invisibility and its standing in the eyes of the other nations. it feels as if the american era is not quite over but it is not what it once was either. john lee anderson in the new yorker. we want to have this discussion mostly with you this morning. is the united states of america the greatest country in the world? democrats (202)-748-8000, republicans (202)-748-8001, independents (202)-748-8002. polling on this issue, the latest took place before the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. this is a ugov america poll finding the united states is the greatest nation by 50% to 31% margin. certainly a generational split. the report when it comes to

generational members of the silent generation, the most likely to say it is the greatest country at 78%. baby boomers 65%, generation x tens to think it is the best with 50%, millennials are split. 37% say it is the greatest nation, but roughly the same percent, 40%, say it is not. adult generation of gen z, 26% say it is not the greatest nation. that coming out before the withdrawal from afghanistan but plenty more to dig into from these recent columns, including among today's newspapers. want to hear from you.

veronica is up first out of california, independent. is the u.s. the greatest country in the world? caller: absolutely it is despite everything our unfit president biden is doing to destroy it. it is absolutely the greatest country in the world. host: in what ways do you think president biden is trying to destroy the country? caller: he is working against us. he does not care about our safety or personal well-being with an open border, leaving americans stranded in a hostile foreign country. the hallway this withdrawal from afghanistan was handled was utterly ridiculous and preposterous. i think he is a traitor to our country. host: this is president biden from tuesday this week addressing the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. [video clip] >> my fellow americans, a war in afghanistan is now over.

i am the fourth president who has faced to the issue of whether and when to end this war. when i was running for president i made a commitment to the american people i would end this war, and today i have honored that commitment. it was time to be honest with the american people again. we no longer had a clear purpose and an open-ended mission in afghanistan. after 20 years of war in afghanistan i refused to send another generation of america's sons and daughters to fight a war that should've ended long ago. after more than $2 trillion spent in afghanistan, researchers at brown estimated would be over $300 million a day for 20 years, yes, the american

people should hear this, $300 million a day for two decades. you take the number of $1 trillion many say and that is $150 million a day for two decades and what have we lost as a consequence? i refused to continue the war that was no longer in the service of the vital national interest of our people. most of all, after 800,000 americans served in afghanistan, brave and honorable service, after 20,744 american servicemen and women injured, the loss of 2461 american personnel including 13 lives lost just this week, i refuse to open another decade of warfare in afghanistan. host: that was biden from tuesday at the white house in

the wake of this idea of american greatness. another column brings it up from politico, jeff greenfield with a headline, hidden message in joe biden's afghanistan speech. biden seems to be embracing the belief shared across ideological lines. america's international role has been an exercise in overreach. for more than a decade this has been a more powerful current than the foreign policy establishment met like to admit. it was one of the less appreciated strengths of president trump's campaign. the iraq war was reported to turn the country into freedom crashed and burned. it lies at the heart of the appeal that biden made. i wonder if biden's speech tuesday which we cannot make the world based on illusions would

be a debate on the u.s. military, a debate this country has never really had but long overdue. asking you, is the united states of america still the greatest country in the world? ken, asheville, north carolina, democrat, what do you think? caller: with the current route of lack of education, our inability to come up with a public health care system that would work, far too much -- there is actually no leadership on the right that seems to be thinking in logical terms. all of these things are in such a state of confusion it does not seem there is a path forward but i am hoping at some point the country can start to function again with both sides at least

having some common points of agreement on what needs to be done. education, public health care, all of those things. right now we are not great. host: you say there is a path forward to function again. when was the last time you thought this country was functional? caller: last time i thought the country was functional would be closer to, from an education standpoint, i think the 1970's and 1960's. the education systems were working in relatively good ways. other countries have now surpassed our education systems. host: do you think we are 50 or 60 years from american greatness? caller: no yeah, it is kind of a

slow decline. i think we are seeing a lack of innovation on the part of our country to keep up with the rest of the world in education, health care, being able to bring, you know, an overall consensus among people. there is a lack of leadership in order to do that. host: thank you for the call from asheville, north carolina. gilbert in birmingham, alabama, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. america is in a gradual decline. few of the reasons i feel that is we have a social decline in the inequality among african-americans, those that are natural born citizens, things never change.

i feel that the decline of america is parallel with the decline of the environment. we can all pretend the environment is not picking up speed but this nation is picking up speed. i find it amusing, and not to say that i am a xenophobic and i am an independent, but i think the democrats are more concerned about roe v. wade and the lgbt rights than they are black americans and that bothers me seriously. this is the question on my mind for some time and i am grateful you brought it up. what i am saying is the country is in decline and the one reason why is we thought globalism was such a great thing. how do we go back and open the

manufacturing we closed? they outsourced the country 20, 30 years ago so how do we started up again? it is a great question. host: that was gilbert in birmingham, alabama. for a snapshot of the united states and the world today here is the front-page headline from today's washington post and here the headline on the front page, weather disasters expand their reach, taliban outlasted the u.s. at the table. below that a story about new york city and the recent flood. many immigrants and flooded basements were killed in the recent floods. besides that a story on job openings and the recent jobs reports. the headline, jobseekers as well. pondering covid's endgame,

however does this end? next is that a story about the texas law restricting abortion access. just a look at the front-page this morning. this is andre in hyattsville, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, i called to let you guys know the united states will remain the greatest country in the world because of its know-how. you know, this feeling that exists nowadays exists in the minds of the people who do not believe in this country. the united states is a farce.

it is the greatest nation on the earth. every country dreams to come over here. like i said, that feeling is in the mind of the people who do not believe in the united states. the united states will remain the greatest force in the world because it is a force for good. thank you. host: annette out of madison, georgia, independent. is the united states the greatest country in the world? caller: yes, it is. four years ago once donald trump was in office we saw lots of -- you know, along racial lines, gender lines, it is horrible the way the people are presenting themselves in this country. however, it remains the greatest

country there is and veronica, i think: from california -- i think was calling from california, that is not a true statement. joe biden has always at the end of his speeches talks about keeping the troops safe. not only that, maybe they did not execute the best plan or his intentions were good. a war for 20 years where the afghan people did not fight for themselves. why should we continue to fight for those people? in addition to that, the gentleman calling talking about abortion rights and not concerned about voting rights or the environment. that is not true. i am independent but i know the democrats care about those issues. so, for people to say that is

very disheartening. thank you so much. host: annette in madison, georgia. couple of callers bringing up the texas abortion law. very much a story from this past week. here is texas governor greg abbott, remarks before signing the fetal heartbeat bill back in may. [video clip] >> thank you for joining with us today. our creator endowed us with the right to life, and yet, millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion. in texas, we work to save those lives and that is exactly what the texas legislature did this session. they worked together on a bipartisan basis to pass a bill i am about to sign that insures the life of every unborn child

who has a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion. i want to thank the entire legislature, both republicans and democrats, for stepping up to stand for life and i want to thank the lead authors of this, senator brian hughes, representative sauphin, and i want to thank the pro-life groups but also who worked tirelessly during the course of the session to make sure this got passed, and everything they do to cultivate culture in texas. i want to thank the lieutenant governor and the speaker further efforts. host: governor greg abbott back in the spring signing that abortion restriction bill. taking your phone calls this morning after a very busy week in the news. setting aside time for the question we returned to from time to time, is the u.s. the

greatest country in the world? if you say no, when was the last time the u.s. was the greatest country? some comments so far this is lee in kentucky saying, i would say yes we are but maybe not the smartest nation. this from tony and seen petersburg, florida, silent generation, it was the greatest when i was a kid. texas abortion law most heinous in the developed world. second most populous state now the hands of the taliban. florida next. jeff saying, the correct answer to the question, it was. christian, st. petersburg, florida, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i am doing well. caller: i wanted to make sure it is understood that we will never reach the greatest country in the world again as we were in

the 1950's and 1960's. can you hear me? host: yes, sir. what about the 1950's and 1960's were so good? caller: they were not really great, they were propaganda great but they were not really great. the fact is we will never reach greatness until the south is educated as well as the north and that is the basic problem. that is the indoctrination of racism and its abuse to the people of the south. they are not, for centuries, in the same level of education as the north. host: host: christian, you say that somebody from st. petersburg, florida.

caller: forgive me, i could not hear you. host: you say this as somebody from st. petersburg, florida. caller: yes. host: have you lived in florida your whole life? caller: no, i have not. i have lived up north and south and in texas, i have lived around the country. i have seen the great disparity in education levels in the south and it is not right, it is not right at all. it only indoctrinate racism. host: that was christian in florida. sophia in the bronx. republican, good morning. caller: good morning, john. of course it is the greatest country in the world. most of my life i was married to an officer. in the 1950's and 1960's, well, my timing in the 1960's and

1970's people were hungry for education. but now a lot stuff was going on so give me a second. to me, the hardest part is the last five years. in july mr. trump has a rally in florida. 100 people died. the governor of florida should be accountable. [indiscernible] in the first responders and firefighters were looking for arms and fingers.

the five years, i am not went to lie to you about the way i feel, it is going down and down. host: sophia in the bronx. this is june, an independent. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i believe it is still the greatest country in the world. unfortunately, we should let the sleeping giant has gone back to sleep. host: where should we be flexing our muscle? caller: you know, training their

military and the same people who were training killed some people who were training there. when the taliban walked into the capital we should have bombed the capitol building. that would have taken care of all of the celebration that they did. but it seems we are so afraid. what would the world think if we bombed the capital or blown up the equipment we left behind? host: that was june in wisconsin. eve in cambria heights, new york, democrat. caller: good morning. america is the greatest country in the world and i love america and i love what biden is doing.

thank god americans get together and elect the president to work for america, not for a group, not for himself, but for america. i love america. god bless america. host: what are we doing right now to show that greatness? where are we demonstrating greatness? caller: this is the greatest country. i don't know. i love this country so much and i understand people who are born here don't know how much this country is great. trying to make things for himself saying, i am going to make america great. no, america is already the greatest country in the world.

god bless america. host: that was eve in new york. showing you the commentary out of various publications. here is another one from the conservative heritage foundation here in washington, d.c. by ni all gardner who writes about conservatives saying they must now save america from joe biden. amid the wreckage of the fallout from afghanistan i expect there will be a powerful conservative revival. the american people do not like to be humiliated, he writes, they are proud of their great nation and believe in the fundamentally important role the united states plays in the world. the united states will eventually recover from the devastating decline of the biden years just as america did in the vietnam and carter era. u.s. conservatives must take back control of the world's superpower from the left and

advance a powerful vision of a self-confident america that will stand on the world stage with its head held high. gina is in mississippi, republican, you are next. caller: good morning. first of all, i would like to respond to the so-called republican who called in and talked about how uneducated the south is. i think it is pretty cowardly of all these people who call in on the other lines and they are not who they say they are and you let them call in. host: gina, from this perspective we trust people will call in on the correct lines and we hope people do that. the only way this conversation works is if people try to follow the rules. we trust our audience as well. go ahead with your comment.

caller: america is a great country. but the media is destroying this country and y'all are complicit in that because you are biased. you are biased toward the liberals. but the concept of america is great but biden is destroying our country. we have afghanis now we are going to build cities for while our homeless or under bridges. no, america should be taking care of all people. the people in this country, we are american but we are being neglected. biden cares more about foreigners than he does americans. host: when you think the last time this country was great? are you still with us, gina? mike in miami, florida's next, independent.

caller: how are you doing today? host: i'm doing great. caller: wherever that guy was from, st. petersburg? did he know that the bezos went down the street to school for me? [laughs] this is a trick question because what is america? everybody in the whole world is here so we are the world. when people were over in vietnam they talk about, back in the world because this is the world. nobody has the right like we do anywhere in the world. and yeah, we have some really bad leaders, we have some really good leaders. but it is like the roman empire when it became a democracy and people forgot about what made them great to begin with.

it wasn't democracy because that is how every country that ever was ended up in a demise and extinct. democracy is a mob rule, rule of the people. you've got a get away from that. host: you bring up the roman empire. in the new york times, this column very much about the roman empire. in one of the more arresting videos that circulated after the fall of kabul they followed taliban fighters into a hanger with a abandoned helicopter. although the taliban do not look like our idea of the taliban with their guns and uniforms and helmets. they look exactly like american soldiers. their long insurgency defeated.

the hanger scene had a strong end of the roman empire vibe with the taliban fighters standing in for the visigoths or vandals who adopted bits and pieces of roman culture even as they overthrew the empire. the glimpse in the video is not necessarily a taste of imperial collapse. our failure of afghanistan resembles roman failures that took place far from rome itself. the defeat they suffered in mesopotamia when the reach outstripped its grasp. that is how it will be seen in hindsight when future edward gibbons sets out to tell the story in full. your thoughts on that? caller: senators and emperors are getting too powerful and making deals and becoming corrupt which is what happened to them. i think what is really terrible is joe comes on yesterday and asks for more money.

why should i give him a dime? he leaves all of our stuff over there. $85 billion worth of tax dollars and then he says, pay a little bit more? why doesn't he pay? host: that was mike in miami. maria in atlanta, georgia, democrat. caller: good morning, john and c-span. america is not the greatest country in the world and that is the biggest lie ever told. america has too much evilness to be great. there are good people in the nature is beautiful. other than that i do not see much great about america. thank you and have a good day. host: david, riverside, california, republican. caller: good morning.

i think america has been on a moral and military decline since the 1960's with the sexual revolution of the hippie movement in the antiwar movement over vietnam. this pullout of afghanistan was just like vietnam and saigon where we lost the will to fight communism and terrorism. we love humanity but not the people in afghanistan who need us. america first is pure selfishness. we are in a major state of decline, there is no question. until we returned to the bible we will continue to suffer the nation and decline until we realize we are a selfish nation. host: that was david in california. it is just past 7:30. having this conversation about american greatness, whether the u.s. is the greatest country in the world in this first hour today. it is a question we returned to

from time to time and it is a question that gets polled from time to time. this happening before the fall of kabul. we showed you the generational breakdown and broke down answers along racial lines and along lines of various respondents. here is what it had to say about ethnic groups in the country. different racial groups have different perspectives of native americans, more likely to say no. those who identify as other or hispanic, both among those who say america is more great than not. fewer than half, 43% of black

americans, believe it is the best country in the world while 30% hold the opposing view. asian americans are the least likely to say the u.s. is the greatest nation with only 28%. close to 46% of asian americans say the u.s. is not the best nation on earth. among whites it is 52% to say the america is the best, 31% saying not. ugov america is where that is. rodney in maryland, independent, you are next. caller: good morning. thank you for giving me the opportunity. america is definitely the greatest country in the world. i migrated from a different country and i can assure you that, to the world, america still remains great. proof of that is look at embassy

around the world and you will see who is lining up. and it is all america. my heart has broken for america, i must admit that. the first was september 11. i was living in new york and working and i remember the day it happened. seeing the towers and the smoke on the fire and i remember saying to myself, i have to do something. on september in september i signed up for the military because i had to give back. when you travel to america and hear about america growing up, read about america, it is not perfect but it is a place that

lends itself hope. the second time, in all honesty when i cried looking at america was january 6. a little bit of the shine was lost for me january 6 when i saw those individuals, you know, run up into the capitol. i served in iraq, i have seen this occur, i have seen people interact with one another rather than using civil discourse. the use violence which is what they chose january 6. , violence. that is why for me -- that is is what they chose on january 6, violence.

they see other politicians walking around just blowing smoke but i am talking about republicans. listen, i have served in the bush, under obama, and under trump. each one of them as my commander-in-chief say listen, you have got to go somewhere. i am packing up and going. at the same time i expect the politicians to be sent to washington when these leaders do not act right. hold them accountable. but the republicans failed to hold president trump accountable. i have got to be honest. let me tell you something, i understand why people support this guy, i do. sometimes in the country those walking around in the jacket and tie with the fancy titles, they don't care. here comes a guy who was like, hey, screw them all.

but the problem is he is a bit of a salesman and did a good job selling. host: rodney, what country did you grow up in? where did you come from and at what age did you come over? caller: good question. i grew up in trinidad and tobago , just down the street from the u.s. a five hour flight from new york city. i came over in 1997 at i think the age of 18. my parents and grandparents travel here way back. i did not hear the question. host: you said your parents traveled to the united states. did you move here for your parents' jobs? caller: right, this is a beautiful story because my grandmother loves to tell this. she sparks of being the feast first one in line when jimmy carter allowed parents to bring siblings.

she came first, my grandmother, and then my parents came later on. host: before you go, what do you do now? caller: i am one more year and then it will be 20 years in the military and then i am hanging it up and taking on life after that. host: what do you want to do when you get out of the military? caller: well, in all fairness i am probably going to transition for a federal job because of, you know, i enjoy service to the u.s. host: thank you for the call. about 20 minutes left in this segment asking you this question, is the united states the greatest country in the world? if you say no, when was the last time it was? keith, denver, colorado, democrat. caller: no and i find the question offensive.

what country that is great actually asks itself, are we the greatest country in the world? we are 240 something years old and it is the arrogance of america. i love my country and i remember barack obama's response to this question and it was, i think america is the greatest country in the world just as much as a brit would think england was the greatest country in the world or a frenchman would think france is the greatest country. and i would like to agree with the caller who discussed the south. we are two countries, we have always been. we went to war with each other. that war has never really been

settled because one side has never admitted that they were wrong. not like germany. we are still debating confederate monuments? we are still fighting about the voting rights act? we have a bible belt. we have fundamentalism that runs amok in the country. i mean this not in a way of conflict but we really should consider the reality that we don't see the nation the same. the south seas of federalist system and the north seas a united states -- sees the united states of america. host: this is lester out of sandy, oregon, republican.

good morning. caller: good morning to you. host: go ahead. caller: yeah, my father was a world war ii hero and i am so proud of my country. i think it is the greatest country in the world. i am one of the flag wavers but i belong to all lives matter, a christian group. it does not matter who you are or what. my father fought against world war ii with other nationalities that were on our side. the thing is, people forget what america is built around and it is people. the people of the united states of america need to be in control of our own government. host: lester, you say you are a flag waver.

where do you waive your american flag? caller: i wave my flag in sandy, oregon and i may be go down the highway but it is nothing to do with any kind of racism. in oregon, i grew up and my best friends were different nationalities. my very best friend was colored and i lost him a few years ago in a car accident. i just don't understand why people say trump is racist. it all started with biden's idea of wanting to be president. he is very racist, i have met him personally. that is all i can tell you. host: that was lester in sandy, oregon. tony in santa fe, new mexico, independent. good morning. caller: good morning.

how are you doing today? host: i am doing well. go ahead. caller: pride goeth before the fall. i can remember that from an organization i used to go to. i just don't understand. you can wave the flag all you want but if you don't understand the declaration of independence and then started going back a lot. the little pieces of history to find out when the politicians placed profit over humanity, how

dare they stand up for life when they cannot even stand up to the corporations or the traitors. my worst day was in 2010 when they passed citizens united. it was an outright act of treason against our constitution. now we got people up there that is going to decide, well, let the corporations abort the human race through their poisoned air, water, and food supply but we will keep the cattle. we will force them to procreate because we have some workers. host: this is tommy in new york city, republican. is the u.s. the greatest country in the world? caller: definitely and the main reason is because you have all these different opinions of people giving the way they feel and nowhere in the world can you go to these other countries and give your opinion. maybe without some sort of

retribution because it is a free country. i feel that is why it is free, because we have capitalism. i don't like that a lot of places are trying to bring in socialism. i think the reason we have freedom is because of capitalism. that makes you free and that is the main reason we are the greatest country, because everyone can have their opinion and express it and go on their way. you go anywhere else in the world you will not be able to do that maybe and that's it. host: northport, florida, independent. caller: good morning. first i would like to say you were asking one caller where we should be flexing our muscle and i think we should be flexing our muscle in our country. we have got politicians that are allowing, with corporations, to sell china our land.

all of our farmland, our hotels. people should be checking on how much every decision biden makes profits china. they are going to take over by buying up the land and we allowed them to do it. nobody has a program on it. it is terrible because they are taking over. they took over manufacturing by politicians sending it to other countries. now they are taking over lands that grow our vegetables, that process is our food, they own all of smithfield processing, they own acreage in just about every state. we need to stop this before it is too late. thank you. host: that was fae in florida on the economic front. a new report released on friday,

president biden on friday offering remarks touting the state of the economy since he took office. this is the president for friday. [video clip] >> our economy grew the first half of this year at the fastest rate in four years. we are the only developed country in the world. say that again, the only developed country in the world whose economy is bigger than it was before the pandemic because of the groundwork we laid with the american rescue plan. our vaccination strategy saw an economy and job market that can weather the ups and downs of the delta variant and anything else that comes our way. we have a lot more work to do as i will discuss shortly, but facts speak for themselves. think of where this country stood on the day i was sworn in as president and compared to where we are today. the number of people filing new claims for unemployment each week is down 57%.

job poverty is down nearly 50%. we are no longer seeing long lines of people waiting for boxes of food to be put in their trunks after waiting for hours or up to two hours. the unemployment rate is down to 5.2% and i believe it will continue to go down. it is no wonder last week's gallup poll found 72% of americans think now is a good time to find a quality job. at this time last year that number was 30% and that is the mark of an economy where regular people were seeing a place for themselves. host: that is how he framed the 235,000 jobs added in july. this is how jeff coxe with cnbc said, job reports are disappointing.

only 235,000 positions added versus the expectations of 720,000. leisure and hospitality jobs were flat during july after leading the way much of the year. plenty of reporting talked about that yesterday. asking you this morning is the united states the greatest country in the world? 10 minutes left with this question. carolyn has been waiting in hazelwood, missouri, democrat. what do you think? caller: well, i have got several ideas about that. for one, we do not take good care of our seniors. that is a problem. we do not take care people anymore. there is so much more poverty in the u.s. than there has been before. i do not know where they get the percentages but they are way off.

people driving down the street, especially african-americans or lower-class people as they call us, can't drive or walk down the street without being harassed. they say they are going to do more about the laws protecting us but they don't. host: you say we do not take care of our people anymore. when was the last time we took care of our people? caller: i believe we did a good job when clinton was in and obama was in. they were trying to do things for the people, not just a few. the republicans, they have so much, so much, and it seems like

the little the people ask for, there is so much to give. it would take a little bit of effort and a little bit of caring in order to get back to that. i am a senior and it seems like every turn i take i am denied some right because of, oh, say you get $100 more than the limit allows. you have nothing. host: this is willie in stratford, connecticut. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: my question is that america is divided. this country is divided. i, as an american, hate to see

democrats and republicans fight the way they fight. things have changed from the way it used to be with respect for each other and for the people. it is not there anymore. when a person does wrong they go along with that person. president trump, the things he say and do republicans go along with him. this country is divided. the things that happened january 6 should not have happened. this country is divided and i would like to see senators -- i do not think they should be in the chair for 35 years. the longer they stay in the seat they just get richer and do nothing for the people. host: ernie is next out of pennsylvania, independent. caller: first of all, i think the question is an error. we are no longer operating as

the united states of america thanks to the globalists. every country in the world and now is working toward global government which means they are all disrespecting and not operating off of their own constitutions. the gentleman who sounded like he came from another country, he said this is the greatest country in the world because you have freedom of speech, you can say things without retribution. is that correct? why don't you try to refuse taking the covid-19 shot. what will happen to you? would you get fired? would you ostracized by your company? now you have this division with the vaccines are virtually against the unvaccinated. we are going downhill because we

are no longer following our constitution which made us great. they had all the freedoms, they had all the protocols to keep this country independent. host: what part of the constitution are we not following? caller: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to take care of your own health. come on, we are being subjected to an oppressive regime because the people who are in charge now are not americans. host: steve in california, independent. just a couple of more minutes. go ahead. caller: good morning. great show, great show. i have my own take on things. i was born in 1950, i am a baby boomer. my dad was an american hero who landed in normandy on d-day. the thing i am concerned with, as far as being the greatest

country, we have a lot of defects. it is like a passively arrogant country. americans are passively arrogant because you have got to your ask yourself, do we have a federal holiday to recognize the genocide we committed in this country? federal holiday for native americans. we don't because we want to perceive ourselves as a great country. marlon brando had a great take on that. i grew up in the 1960's. the vietnam war is nothing to be proud of, and yet, we have vets wear a cap that says they served. i am knocking to take too long. we do let other countries dictate what we do, like turkey. they talked about how russia was influencing us. turkey does it by not

recognizing the genocide. the average american has the tongue hanging off of their chin like they are dumbed down and not thinking. i can see right through the heart of america and a lot of hypocrisy here. we are way behind, especially our teachers. they were so primitive thinking. they used to slap left-handed people and make them right with the -- write with the right arm because they were hook armed. it is a shame we cannot teach left handed people how to write. host: a couple of other comments from social media. mylan writing, if the u.s. is no longer the greatest country which is? costa rica, russia, north korea? the u.s. is a train wreck. leadership is lacking and we

have lost our way. so much potential but we failed to take care of each other. the world is no better. but we can do better for others. this from park storm who says this is a racist question. david springfield saying, we are the greatest nation in the world. however we have some of the worst politicians and citizens of the world as well. john and kentucky, democrat. caller: good morning. thank you for having me on. we are the greatest country in the world. looking at different aspects, economically yes, militarily no. education, you know, big problem. the philippines are fifth. we are not investing in the future. until we do that we are not

going to be number one. host: that is john and kentucky. our last caller in this first hour but stick around. plenty more to talk about this morning including up next, a sunday morning conversation on how natural disasters and climate change are impacting the world of insurance. we will be joined by jerry theodorou of the r street institute. as an early look at the emergent playing field in the battle for the house and senate in 2022. we have that conversation with jacob rubashkin of inside elections. we will be right back. ♪ >> begins be in american history . unbilled tv, in-depth, vice chair of the commission joins us for a live discussion, talking about critical race theory,

immigration and her most recent book, black ice for america -- eye for america. examining america's -- much book tv every weekend or watch online, any time apple tv.org. -- at book tv.org. >> theodore gilmore bilbo was a politician who served as governor of mississippi once in 1916 and from 1928 to 1932. later he was elected a u.s. senator, we elected twice more, but died early in his third term in 1947. 69, a democrat, and a white -- outspoken white supremacist.

we asked dr. chester bo morgan, a retired professor, to give us some background on theodore bilbo and his influence on politics. >> chester morgan on this episode of -- book notes plus. ♪ >> this year marks the 20th anniversary of the september 11 attacks. join us for live coverage from

new york, the pentagon and pennsylvania, starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. watch online or listen on the c-span radio app. >> washington journal continues. host: a conversation on insurance. a director for the institute. first, reminders of what the institute is and what you do with the trade program there. guest: it is a washington-based think tank focused on free-market solutions, free enterprise for complex problems that face us, and the development and steering of good common sense and public policy.

my group is insurance and trade. insurance industry as a researcher. host: a couple days removed from hurricane ida, as we survey the damage. what did that storm suggest about the state of insurance against damage caused by natural disasters? guest: thank you for that question. it is in the numbers and the analysts. this is not counting the effect of the remnants of the storm in the northeast, but let me break it down because there are a couple components there. the industry is expected to pay the losses for property losses,

destruction to home, and the homeowners policy and automobile policy, to the extent that they were destroyed and a small business property policy. that is covered by conventional policies from the company is that we are familiar with. flood insurance, it is not covered. it is covered in policies issued by the national flood insurance program. it is managed by fema. the numbers have not been tallied yet. there is a third component called energy insurance. it is for companies involved in drilling, pumping and exploiting offshore and onshore, business and downstream.

where idem made landfall, we do not have a number yet. there are helicopters flying over the gulf of mexico. we should have updates coming up. host: we want to drill down on that second point that you made. showing viewers. that federal program is now more than $20 billion in debt. it is set to expire at the end of the month. a question. why do we have a national flood insurance program and why don't we have a national fire insurance program or other big

program? just: it is hard to calculate -- guest: it is hard to calculate. the insurance industry was faced with massive flood losses but found that it did not have the data to price it accurately. it started reducing and excluding flood from standard insurance policies and the government stepped in to create the program. to provide some level of flood insurance. there is an inherent tension in the program because it has two goals in contention with each other. the goal to provide affordable flood insurance and some degree of fiscal soundness.

they are paying about $400 billion in interest, which is a burden, so if we focus strictly on affordability, you will have underpriced insurance, not priced according to the actual volume. this is what is happening now with largely impact -- overpriced insurance. focusing on fiscal soundness, you will have those exposed. it is a little bit of a balance. do you want fiscal soundness? probably a little bit of both, which is my next month, october 1, the new beating will be introduced to make it make the pricing and the cost of flood insurance more appropriate for the level of risk. it is either or.

if you live in a flood zone, you pay higher premiums. it is not black-and-white because there is a spectrum for the degree of risk. it will introduce more variables so that it is more appropriately correlated with the level of risk. host: joining us from west hartford, connecticut. all of that to say, if you have a question about how insurance after natural disaster works, now is a great time to call in. democrats at (202) 748-8000. republicans at (202) 748-8001. and independents at (202) 748-8002.

some comments focus specifically on the insurance industry. this is what the president had to say in his remarks. pres. biden: today i am calling on insurance companies. it helps some folks who are hurting. fema is providing critical need assistance. the department of housing and urban affairs is offering assistance to families, but right now we are here to report that some insurance companies may deny coverage for additional living assistance expenses, unless the homeowner was under a mandatory evacuation order. people pay their insurance premiums.

they are supposed to get payments for relocation costs, the insurance companies come in the face of the stronger storms since 1850, we are not going to pay what we owe you. like new orleans and st. john's issued a voluntary evacuation order at first and may not have had enough time to make a mandatory one, because the storm moved in so fast. they could protect themselves by sheltering against ferocious winds. we can understand why they felt safe a thing going elsewhere. out of the path of a devastating storm. no one fled because they were looking for a vacation or a boat trip. they left their home because they felt it was flea or risk

death. there was nothing voluntary about that. i am calling on the private insurance companies now come in this critical moment, do not hide behind the fine print. do your job and keep your commitment to your communities. do the right thing. pay your policyholders what you owe them and cover the cost of voluntary housing. help those in need. host: jerry, explain what is going on here and how often this happens in the wake of mandatory evacuation versus voluntary evacuation. guest: thank you, sean. i heard this comments from president biden. he talked about contractual

obligations. it has to meet its contractual obligations. it is liable to lawsuits. bad-faith litigation costs industry more. there is a second component to it. the pressure to change an insurance policy, they are in the constitution. it prevents states from changing private contracts. we have about 20 to $25 billion that will likely be paid. they are moving into the

affected regions and i am not aware of insurers shirking their responsibilities and not acting according to their contracts. it may not be the most popular industry. sometimes we do not have losses, so we wonder, why do i have insurance? it may not be the most popular industry, but it does supply the role of stepping in. a financial first responder backed by the industry that will bear the brunt of this loss. the industry is like a financial shock absorber. this is a shock and the industry, supplemented by the industry which is called metro sessional. there is a lot of capital that

is going to be paying the losses for this event. this is what the insurance company, the insurance industry does. it provides disability and it matches its capital base to risk. host: with these events happening more often and with more severity, has the cost of the damage done by natural disasters risen because of climate change or inflation? guest: great question. people are asking that and it is difficult to distinguish between . let's talk about correlation. there has been more severity, higher frequency of these large catastrophe offenses and

evidence of changing climate. surface air temperatures have risen by about two degrees fahrenheit come most of it from the 1970's. with higher temperatures, you have more moisture in the air. more rainfall, torrential rainfall coming down. you have expansion, which leads to rising sea levels. there is definitely correlation. as we look at the catastrophes that have happened, some of the remarkable things, what happened a few days ago. it was described as one analyst as incomprehensible, whether it is incomprehensible or not, i call it unprecedented.

when you have more than three inches of rain in our. there was two inches of rain per hour for henri that broke shattered records. a week from ida, three inches per hour. these are extreme events happening all over. we had fed and now ida. there has been an increase. likely related to potentially caused by changing climate. host: democrats call (202) 748-8000. republicans call (202) 748-8001 and independents (202) 748-8002 . francis, good morning. caller: good morning. it is not really about natural

disasters, but i want to know what the take is on the riots, including d.c. and the nation and municipality failure to curb the violence of destruction. guest: the violence that we saw is something that does get translated into insurance losses. vandalism and malicious mischief -- it did impact the claims of insurers. there was we insurance as well. insurance for insurance companies -- these were unfortunate events from a policy perspective. vandalizing, destruction of

property and the coverage is there. insurance companies paid for and it is up to the civil authorities to deal with the perpetrators. they brought it into the realm of criminality. host: a question on social media that we will get to you in just a moment. with this about the industry saying all insurance is a fraud. my friend had insurance at her home that was hit by sandy. they said it was due to the wind and that carrier said it was due to flood and she recovered zero from either insurance carrier. who picks up the bill? guest: right. i would not agree that all insurance is a fraud.

it provides that -- in the case of the insurance companies denying, it goes back to the contract. what is in the contract? it is in our negation that one can make in civil court, so i would advise someone to seek an attorney because the insurance companies will pay what they are allocated to pay or contractual obligations that are there. host: we talked about the national flood insurance program, some $1.3 trillion in coverage with 5 million policies.

is there such a thing as a private flood insurance industry? how's that impacted by this behemoth? guest: i said it was free market oriented and it is good news that there is a private market. it is a market that is growing because free enterprise provides better solutions. because of the underpricing of flood insurance, the private market was unable to step in and compete with subsidized rate because they lose $36 billion. there is a private market for flood insurance that has developed for some areas of the country and the industry is eager to get involved because it has a better understanding of risk. some of these factors are what

the insurance industry has been doing for decades, if not centuries. looking at the losses and projecting future losses, signing a premium that is appropriate. there are community solutions, community-based insurance for a community on cape cod, so the private market is creative, willing and able to step in and take over from the government. it is believed to provide a temporary solution. this happened in the past with worker's compensation, but when the market returns to normal, competition takes over and it becomes much more efficient, if we do not have some of these disparities and discrepancies that we have today and pricing. it will continue to grow as

there is more awareness of the condition. host: let's head to massachusetts. caller: good morning. great conversation. i have a lot to say. particularly, we have a lot of expensive homes built on the beach. my observation in the past, they go to this federal flood insurance program and then they stop making payments, and disaster happens, and they push the politicians to declare

emergency disaster, or whatever. they need money to rebuild. it is a community that has found a way to cheat taxpayers across the country, to subsidize their homes on the beach. that is just my observation. host: let's take up that point and the issues that you bring up. guest: david, thank you for the comment. i would agree with you that it is inappropriate, and having the political intervention to allow wealthy homeowners who have their primary or secondary homes on the beaches, that are benefiting from either disaster assistance or underpriced insurance, i mentioned before the new rating at that obligee

will include sequential increases to those kinds of homes because the fact is that many homeowners who have gotten these houses are underpaying for their insurance and people of more limited means in several parts of the u.s. might be paying too much. the new rating methodology will apply increases to those kinds of policies that probably should not be billed. should discourage building -- it will result in the decrease about 25% of the 5 million policyholders john mentioned are covered. one of the goals is equity and to make this more equitable so

that people who have these beachfront homes are not getting these discounts and bargains at the other end of the financial extreme and are not being overcharged. that is one of the things that we are pushing for. host: who is pushing for that ideology? is it give or take within some agency where there is a mathematical formula? guest: it was developed by a consulting firm it looked at data and models of catastrophe risk that examined the propensity of areas of the country to have slides at a more refined level, according to an outdated flood map. it was a consulting firm that

was engaged and did a big project with documents that are out there on the website. you can look out there on the website and look for the risk rating. that is what they are called, the new rating methodology. you can see the background there. it was outsourced, and there has been pressured to do something like that because of the rating methodology that has been used since it was brought about. host: that link is what you can click on their. coming up with those documents. salt lake city, utah. caller: the truth has no agenda. the truth is the truth. when you have propaganda like global warming or what did they

call it now? climate change? 20,000 years ago, we were in an ice age. every 100 years, we have grown one degree. check your charts. host: what is your question or comment? do you think -- caller: it is not man who caused global warming. what is that ketchup guy? what are you going to do with all this money? you just going to throw it into global warming? they are wasting our money, giving them -- giving it to their friends to make them richer? host: the money when it comes to the insurance industry -- are they making more by changing the coverage to reflect the impacts of changing climate?

guest: i would say not. the industry determines its rates based on historical data, so actuaries look in the rearview mirror and they look at past events, and they extrapolate that into future and put that into the pricing, but when yesterday's catastrophes are different than today's catastrophes, you will be underpriced. the changes in the intensity and the frequency of these events -- your caller has a point there and that there is also the impact of populations -- population growth in more concentrated cities. there will be more losses simply because there is more building,

more impervious surfaces such as asphalt, that does not absorb water. we have more concentration of values and there will be more losses because there will be more exposures. whether or not clean -- change in the climate -- whether it is there or not is not really something -- it is what is the right number? what the industry strives to do, so it returns an adequate return on capital for investors. they expect to get a certain return on their investment. host: you can see his work with the trade policy program.

this is what people out of his bed, maryland, calling in for the democrats. caller: thank you. one of my questions was on hold, but i have a question about the variability. a lot of flooding is about these extreme rains. so, how are you going to handle that? guest: that is a great question. when the history is not a predictor of the future, she is absolutely right. a lot of these kinds of events that we have been seeing recently, the flash flooding are really quite different from the named storms that hit the gulf of mexico or the northeast.

these things do happen. actuaries and meteorologists look at that. the incidence are hard to predict, almost impossible to predict. who would think that someone like me would be in my basement, three times in the last three weeks, bailing out water. it really was unexpected. what it does is, it spreads the risk. it does not bear too much of the risk on its own. if you have one catastrophe that is off the charts, the insurer will be out of business. this is why the industry gets protection. of the $25 billion, only 5

billion to 7 billion is borne by the primate insurance industry. the rest is by private, institutional investors who are buying bonds. the way that it deals with this is by spreading risk and diversifying the portfolio. not putting too many eggs in one basket. it catastrophe behind pays a coupon and it is insurance security, a way for investors to participate in insurance risk. institutional investors like pension funds and hedge funds, sovereign wealth fund and endowments have tens of trillions of dollars. they are investing in the capital markets and exposed to a decline in the shock of financial markets.

those investors take a big hit. they are looking for uncorrelated investments. the catastrophe fund will pay out in the event of a catastrophe, so that pension funds and investors have an uncorrelated asset class. it does not mean that there will be in earthquake in japan or flooding in the southeast. it is uncorrelated that investors have been looking to, largely investors that diversify their portfolio. it is something that has grown in popularity. almost 15%, whereas 20 years ago it was in the low single digits. host: what did it equate to

dollar form? guest: we are closing -- we are talking close to $100 billion. essence of 2.4 trillion. we are talking about a b's, all-inclusive of about $3 trillion. host: carol is a republican. caller: good morning. i have one question. i was a little bit confused. i do not know why they do not do this. i always heard that coastal lines and staff, they get help after the storm comes through and they lost their homes.

my heart goes out to them, yet they keep rebuilding back and the government keeps helping them again, over and over. like in tennessee and connecticut, new york and others faces they did not expect it. those places and those people that were hurt, those were total accidents and they need the help. i understand that. but then, we need to help them. why are we not putting limited on helping the people that we are constantly helping, over and over again. guest: that is a great question

because you are absolutely right. there are many whose houses are destroyed and they rebuild, and they rebuild again and again. there is a property in mississippi that was flooded 34 times in 32 years, costing the program almost $700,000. it would have been cheaper to take down that house then to rebuild. there was no incentive to do that, so they had 34 b buildings the homes. you are right and that there is a discrepancy in sled exposure there.

in other parts of the country, people are not buying flood insurance, and they should. there was that horrible rainfall , shattering previous records. humphreys county elected not to participate, so it was not eligible for federal aid, disaster assistance. it did not implement building codes and it did not have updated flood maps. the take-up of flood insurance was extremely low. the entire state of tennessee only has 27,005 hundred policyholders that have flood insurance. that is just over 1%. even though the department -- you can look at their website. it encourages people to buy flood insurance.

only 1% penetration in the state and we have the nashville flood of 2010, which was catastrophic then. i guess it is human nature. or it is so far in the past that they do not remember. one thing that i encourage is for people to get flood insurance. flash flooding can happen anywhere in the u.s., as we are seeing and we are seeing it more frequently. host: this is donna, independent. caller: good morning. i have a concern. my house has been inundated with water, and now i have black mold, white mold, in my basement. i am wondering, how do i talk to my insurance company, who has

denied me coverage? how do i do that? i pay for. how do i delete? guest: that is very unfortunate and i am sorry that the mold is so problematic in your home. that is one of the effects of it. they come in and dry out as much as possible, but speak to your agent and your insurance company. get a lawyer, if necessary. i hope that someone will be listening and helping to remediate mold. it is good that you have insurance. host: a question from twitter

about the national flood insurance program. asking where are the small government conservatives outraging? guest: thank you. there is political rhetoric that goes on. sometimes it can get elevated. i would turn you to some hearings that were held in the u.s. senate committee. there were hearings about the program and you could hear the differences. on one side they were arguing for more programs and payouts. not burdening the taxpayer. it is hitting taxpayers like you

and me. people have these luxury homes, arguing a lot of this is posturing. it is natural. it is what politicians do. there are voices out there. it returned due to the hearings. they are on the website of the u.s. senate committee, banking and housing affairs. later in july, i testified to the same committee of the u.s. senate, and it was interesting

because i said, at that point, it was mid july and the issue that is capturing our attention in terms of natural catastrophes is wildfires. wildfires raging out of control. he talked about wildfires for a long time. that was before the hurricanes hit. it adds to the observation that we were experiencing more and more severe natural catastrophes. host: one thing from your testimony, which of your viewers know about the contribution? guest: the full name of the company is actually shortened, but it was started in 1752. the protection of homes by -- homes lost to by fire.

it was founded by benjamin franklin and it is the longest continuously operating insurance company in the u.s., based in philadelphia, pennsylvania. something that illustrates the value of insurance. a lot of insurance companies especially mutual insurance companies that have been around for 200 years and have seen a lot, looking at what is happening. a lot of protection if they are exposed to a loss in the area that could be crippling for them. they are well aware of the risks , getting protection, just as your viewers should be thinking about flood insurance. caller: i have done in order.

it sits along the mississippi river. it flooded that town. when i was a kid, they had a sled, and it is occurring every few years. people bought flood insurance and they had to agree to get rid of their property, which the county took over and we have to maintain now. it is not even a town anymore. it is not allowed to be put back on the tax rule. it is just a place -- there are still people living in the town who take care of their own houses. they took care of their own. my question is, why do you let people keep building along the

coast, when they took that property in that choice away from the people you might want to live there? host: thank you for the call. guest: as you see, that is a local issue. some are more informed, taking more prudent action. others do not have that emphasis . and humphrey county, they did not adopt a building code. new orleans adopted a building code after hurricane katrina with national building code standards. local municipalities and politics play a role. this is not something that is mandated at the federal level, so it would be great if other counties and states would adopt the same degree of prudence and

for sightedness that is going on in york county. host: jerry, the group that he directs there. thank you so much for your time and chatting with the callers. up next, legal turn to campaign 2022 with an early look at emerging playing fields, the battle for the house and senate. we will have that conversation inside elections. a discussion on how the pandemic has impacted lobbying and advocacy efforts. our guest will be again next time. stick around. we'll be right back. ♪ >> we are at an important tipping point in this nation. what we do matters and i believe

that the 1776 project, that is project is important historical moment and we need people to get behind us and make sure that our message reaches white, black, asian, hispanic, everyone. america is a great country and we need to fight for it. >> carol swain is our guest on in-depth. how critical race theory is burning down the house. other titles include we the people. join the conversation come alive today at noon eastern on book tv. ♪

>> this year marks the 20th anniversary at the september 11 attacks. join us for live coverage from new york, the pentagon and shanksville, pennsylvania, saturday on c-span. watch online at c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. ♪

>> washington journal continues. host: now a sunday focus on election 2022. jacob, let's start with the biggest foreign policy and domestic stories of the week. the pullout in afghanistan, that strict abortion law in texas. 428 days away. which of those stories do you think will be more in the minds of voters as they head to the polls? guest: it is already -- always difficult to figure out what they will be thinking about on election day. 420 eight days before that election, people thought corona was in the air. this was august 2019. it was a different place than

november 2020. i think there is reason to take caution when it comes to how any issue will play out. that said, generally speaking, americans do not care as much about foreign policy. it is rare that you have an election where foreign policy is the deciding factor. you could make arguments, but other than that, americans are generally more focused on domestic issues. you have the potential to remain in the news longer and it continues to affect americans in their everyday lives, as opposed afghanistan, which was tragic and shocking, but in the natural course of things, the news about what will -- what is going on there will diminish as we get further and further away. host: with that in mind, that it is a long time away and a lot

can happen, how concerned should the biden administration be about their job approval numbers, in the red? many disapproving of his job as president. those numbers now upside down. guest: it is certainly a cause for worry. he would rather be up then down. they are trying to book the historical trend. that requires him to be more popular, and that is just not the case right now. the president has lost a bit of ground when it comes to the american public. i think they are going to be trying to figure out ways to regain background before voters start to set in their preferences. it is still early, but the

trendline is not something that is in the democrat's favor right now. host: you can see the work of jacob and his colleague, nathan gonzales. you are joining us until about 9:30 this morning. talk about campaign 2022 and that house senate races that you are interested in. democrats can call in at (202) 748-8000. republicans at (202) 748-8001 and independents at (202) 748-8002. the headline, republicans on the offensive. explain what you mean in this very early look. guest: democrats are clean -- clinging to a narrow majority in the house of representatives and the u.s. senate. they have a majority in the

house and a majority in the senate, depending on how you want to count that split. they are very precarious. historically, midterms are bad for the party of the president in power. look back over the last century of midterms. they lose 30 seats in the house of representatives. from a purely historical perspective, republicans are favored to take back the majority. if they do not, something will have happened that is very noteworthy. they are on the offensive. they over performed expectations in 2020. it won seats when everybody was expecting them to lose seats. after months of the presents evenly coasting on a higher

note, they smell blood in the water and they had looking to press that advantage and keep joe biden underwater, and take back the house. host: one thing that we often talk about is race ratings for various elections coming up. explain how you are dealing with house ratings in a redistricting cycle. guest: every 10 years we go through this process where every state has to redraw their congressional lines and every state is reallocated a number of seats. that does delay things inside elections because the way that we think about it is, in order to give a sense of how a race is going to turn out, we need to know who is running and where they are running. the district just does not have

it yet. have not published our house ratings just yet because we are waiting on the seats to draw their maps. there were some issues with covid and the census. by now, we would have had 100 or more districts at this time, in 2011. right now we have no districts drawn. we are going to wait until those maps get finalized. we will dive right in and start assigning ratings, but for now we are sticking to the larger picture until we have a larger picture of what they look like. host: texas gaining two seats. north carolina and oregon gaining one c.

california, illinois, michigan, ohio, pennsylvania -- they are all losing ac after this latest apportionment. jacob, we saw new numbers from the census. what added information did not give us your take away of what was released there? guest: the population of each state and the number of congressional districts that they were going to get. that data is important, and there are some surprises. there were those who looked to gain three or four seats. texas only gained two. a few other states, there were some surprises.

the data that we got this past august was a granular block level. it gives us a good sense of what we have seen throughout states across the country. it gives us an idea of which are overpopulated and underpopulated. they had to have as close to the same population as every other district in the state, so we can see that populations have really plummeted. there are many who have lost a ton of people. the cities and suburbs have exploded in growth. states like new york, where new york city grew at a pretty amazing pace and places like

idaho and montana, and you talk over the cities in those states also saw pretty substantial growth at rural areas, as they continue to lose population. host: this all important for control of the house. give us an overview of the senate battlefield. the senate is as-- guest: the senate is as divided. vice president kamala harris casting the tiebreaker vote which she has already had to do many times which is pretty rare for a vice president. there are four republican held seats that we hold as vulnerable. those are north carolina, wisconsin, pennsylvania and florida. there are four democratic seats that we hold as vulnerable.

new hampshire, nevada, georgia and arizona. evenly divided senate. evenly divided battlefield. both have a few pickup opportunities to vilify their majority. what's really interesting -- to solidify their majority. what's really interesting is the possibilities drop off. it is very difficult to find what the fifth or sixth seat is. that's a real change from an election that we just went through when democrats by the end of the election cycle, democrats had high hopes between eight to 10 or even 12 republican held seats they thought were running competitive races and. host: taking your phone calls on phone lines for democrats, republicans and independent. jacob rubashkin with us until

the bottom of the hour. vernon, new jersey. independent. caller: jacob, i would like to know when you are working on this do you take into account all of the ballots harvesting that is going on. when you are polling, do you take into account how the democrats have cheated in orange county year after year after year. are you taking into account ballots harvesting in philadelphia, atlanta, detroit? guest: i think the first thing to be clear about, we don't do polling ourselves. we do a lot of polls -- we read a lot of polls. bout -- ballots harvesting is a term that gets thrown around a lot. the most specific definition, it mostly happens on the west coast

where it is legal in the ninth circuit. party officials and organizers will take people's ballots, absentee ballots that are not able to deliver them themselves to the ballot box. that's a very specific thing. there have been a lot of accusations and allegations thrown around, especially in big cities where democrats have to win. there really is very little evidence that that is a real issue. you mentioned atlanta. there were three hand recounts don of the ballots in georgia -- recounts done of the ballots in georgia. proving that the georgia when was not that out of the ordinary. that -- that georgia win was not that out of the ordinary.

that's just the reality. host: carol is in the empire state. caller: good morning. i live in the new york 22nd district. new york is losing a seat and we will probably, our district boundaries will probably move. i wonder if you have any commentary or insight as to how the district will be redrawn as well as chances somebody like myself living in the 22nd becoming a democratic district in the upcoming election. guest: that's an excellent question. the new york redistricting

process is unpredictable. new york has to be a referendum. an overhaul of their redistricting system years ago creates a trapdoor for the state legislature. with new york's recent turnover in employment and albany with andrew cuomo heading out, that changes the dynamics. andrew cuomo was no friend to democratic mapmakers. he almost had a vested interest in keeping the maps more friendly to republicans. it is unclear what the new governor -- it is unclear what role the new governor is going to play. i will say one of the things we are hearing is now that the democrats know that they lost one seat as opposed to the two they were expecting and they got those really strong since his numbers out of new york city, they are going to be aggressive there. specifically looking at, the

house republican caucus leader and who is a rising star is situated right next to the 22nd district. i think they are going to give it a try at combining the two together. one of the reasons i think that is more likely now than before is because the democrat who represented district 22 for the past two years had been expected to try to regain his seat. he decided not to. he is running for a local judicial position. mcgrath don't really have any incentive to keep that district intact for him because they are no longer waiting for him. i would not be surprised at all if that district disappears in some way or is emerged -- or is

merged with the district to the north. that may mean you could end up in a new democratic district. it all depends on how they do the upstate. we will have to wait and see what the maps look like. host: this is homer in shreveport. caller: i think this redistricting and go to do too much if the women get out and vote. you got me in out there talking about what women not to do. if women get out and vote, we can chop it up -- chalk it up. host: on the female vote. guest: this is something the democrats are hoping for. if what homer says comes to pass, democrats are going to be very happy. we have seen the widening of the gender gap.

in the wake of this texas law and the decision of the supreme court not to step in and issue an injunction against this new law and the ramification that it will have four row versus wade, democrats -- roe v. wade, democrats are going to make this the defining issue of the next couple of months. we have already seen this happen in virginia where former governor running again. abortion access as a major issue in that race and pressing his advantage -- pressing his advantage among women. we will see how it works out. democrats i talked to said this really could be an energizing moment for the party, especially

at a time their party might be a little less enthused as they have gotten -- since they have gotten trump out of office. host: phone numbers if you want to talk campaign 2022. democrats 202-748-8000, republicans 202-748-8001, independent 202-748-8002. when you come on, we like to show what's on the airwaves or what's on the internet when it comes to the ads that are being run for and against various members of congress. we will do starting without house majority forward packed add. what is the house majority forward packed? guest: house majority forward is an issue group which is a specific kind of political

policy organization that is aligned with the house majority with is a different group which is itself aligned with democratic house majority leadership. house majority forward is tied back to the democratic party of the house of representatives. host: with a big add drop within the past week in several races. here's an example. haley stevens from august 24. >> michigan makes america move, keep moving michigan's economy. our congresswoman haley stevens, build a stronger middle-class. that means investing in michigan's roads and bridges. emoting american manufacturing and -- promoting american manufacturing. we can't let our economy standstill. help haley stevens keep michigan

moving. host: what should viewers know about that race? guest: haley stevens was one of several democratic women's, and a desk democratic women in a republican held district that has -- emma craddick women in a republican held district that was carried -- democratic women in a republican held district that was carried by donald trump. she is expected to be vulnerable again in 2022. it's not surprising that house democrats are getting out there early to try and give her some air cover. i think this ad is very emblematic the way democrats are talking -- are thinking about this. they are going to try to run on what they have been able to get done as they are the party in

power now. infrastructure is a huge piece of that. roads and bridges are something that have widespread support. bipartisan support. everyone likes roads. everyone likes bridges. they are pushing hard. infrastructure hasn't passed yet. congress is still tied up in the legislative -- in the legislative, senate reconciliation plan. things are moving slowly. they are in power. they have the ability to pass legislation and create new spending projects. they haven't gotten there yet. they are banking on that happening. they think that if they can get that done, they can run on a positive agenda. they might be able to break the

historical trend and keep power for another two years. host: here is an ad from the national republican congressional committee. the campaign for house republicans saying -- staying and the wolverine state. this is their add targeting democrats. >> is that some of year. democrats created an inflation crisis. now you are spending more. electronics up 8%. dresses up 19%. tell her we cannot afford this. host: jacob rubashkin on the race to target her. guest: they are often grouped together because they are congresswoman from michigan, came in and the same class. alyssa slotkin also a top, this ad also very revealing.

we talked a little bit earlier about afghanistan. that is something that republicans are talking about a lot on the airwaves, but when it comes to their paid messaging they say economy, economy, economy. the headlines in 15 months. this is, the flipside to the massive infrastructure bill that the democrats are doing. it's happening in a very particular way. you remember 10 or 11 years ago, all we could talk about was spending. overspending, the tea party, the deficit, the debt. the messaging is not nearly as salient anymore. a look -- those numbers don't shock voters the same way. what republicans are doing is they are looking at the secondary effect of those that

of that spending. they are not saying we are -- looking at the secondary effect of that spending. what that means we are going to get is inflation and your kids, no books and crayons are going to cost more money. that is going to destroy the country. that kind of messaging that we would have heard a decade ago, but it much more focused economic message specifically lasered in on inflation. host: staying in michigan, this is miriam out of beaulah. independent, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. yesterday, it said that -- a newspaper said a commissioner had suggested that as far as input from michiganders, the

committee that was voted on a year or two ago and was supposed to be composed of a balance of independent, republicans and democrats. a washington based law firm and an attorney were hired as counsel for this group which was put in place by voters, not politicians in 2018 on a ballot initiative to create the nonpartisan commission to design our districts in the state of michigan. betsy is saying she encourages all michiganders to weigh in and

she suggests people object to this group that this law firm and lawyer because this law firm is famous for skewing districts in favor of republicans. i wondered if the guest has in a about that. guest: michigan is one of the wildcards in the redistricting process because it has lost a seat and because of that new and dependent redistricting commission that voters passed into law several years ago. it isn't -- it is unique in the way it was selected. it was very little input from either the executive branch or the legislative blanch -- legislative branch. it is a random cross-section of those who apply. i have heard from democrats about the commissions hiring.

it is a firm that has in the past defended maps that democrats thought were unfair to them. that is a real concern for democrats in the state, especially because if someone is going to be left holding the short stick when one of these seats get cut, i think the situation in general speaks to the unpredictability of the wood desk redistricting process especially when we get into these kind of commission situation's when we have people who have never done this work before, people who are not necessarily professionals added. it becomes much more important who they bring in as staff, who they hire to help make those decisions. we are going to be watching michigan very closely. they are still in the preliminary stages. they were part of a pseudo map that got democrats worked up, but we will have to wait and see where the maps come out as.

rest assured, if democrats don't like the maps, certainly there's a high possibility of legal challenges down the line. host: 10 or 15 minutes left. if you want to pick jacob rubashkin's mind, maryland, democrat. caller: my statement is regarding something that one of your former people on the republican line said regarding emma kratz cheating all the time and that cheating is reflected in president biden winning. i would venture to say anyone who is continuing that type of rhetoric is doing more to destroy and divide and making

everyone and the united states of america vulnerable to the fall of this country which is one of the greatest countries in the world. i would venture to say if you look in the mirror and listen to what is happening in every state, the cheating is not being done by the democrats. it is being done by those who are power-hungry and have no concern about what is happening to the united states of america. they have taken united out of it and just leaving it as states of america and that means that anyone from anywhere can destroy from the outside and within because we are destroying ourselves from within. host: the first hour of our program, we asked callers, do you think the u.s. is still the greatest country in the world. how would you answer that question? caller: in some aspects yes, in

some aspects no. i am a minority and i see things from a different viewpoint. i am still an american and i see it from a global viewpoint. i have traveled and lived in different places and i have people in my family from different places. i do fully understand the fact that america can be great in so many ways, but it can also be harmful. there was once a thing called the ugly american. i see that in many places we go in and become ugly americans. i'm most afraid of and concerned about ugly americans are being ugly -- being uglier in america which will cause america to fall. if you are history major, you will see everywhere you have this type of division and

concern for who is in control and power hungry individuals, that country eventually falls. host: thanks for that call. dallas, texas. republican. you are on with jacob rubashkin. caller: i think we need to get back to a system where we are americans first, not this format when you call and are you republican or democrat. it's not about politics. it should be about policies. to say afghan and that situation will pass time, 85% of the total budget spent on israel's defense from 1970 let alone these soldiers who are treated worse than immigrants coming in here. that's what's going to unite us.

not the money that drives each party. that's what's going on. it's the same format. you don't hear about the goodness. it's one character assassinating the other, making promises. it that fund and pay -- that fund and push the politics. guest: both are pretty old -- least straight if -- most people, be they democrats or republicans, are fed up. they don't like what they see happening around the country for various reasons. they don't believe elected officials are performing the tasks that are required of them. there is a tremendous amount of distrust. there is a term it is amount of

fear and anger. that more than a lot of other things is driving our politics today. that can have destructive outcomes. we saw this happen january 6 when a mob storms the capital because they did not believe that joe biden was the legitimately elected president of the united states. they had been lied to by a party that cared more and a president that cared more about keeping power than keeping the country together. we saw the disastrous and deadly results of that thinking. the problem is, people are fed up but they continue to turn to the members of congress at a stunning rate. we follow every election in the house of representatives.

in reality, we really only follow about 100 of them because only about 100 elections in any given year are competitive. that means 300 35 elections are uncompetitive. we know who is going to win because voters in those districts have predictable preferences. we end up with this almost untenable situation where people are unhappy with their government, but the tools available to them prevent them from exercising and voicing those opinions in the process. potentially, that pushes them to voice them and other processes that can have negative outcomes which is unfortunate and speaks to the difficult stance we are end. host: with about two minutes left, i did not want to leave

without touching on california, the recall election. september 14 election over whether recall gavin newsom. your latest on where that stands. >> guest:guest: -- we currently have the recall effort in california. recall election is likely democratic which means we think gavin newsom is most likely going to win the recall. they do it a little bit differently and california. this is not a traditional election. it is a two-part race. voters will get to questions. you want gavin newsom to be read -- to be replaced? yes or no. who do you want to replace him? it is a little bit different. we think that gavin newsom is pretty likely to survive this effort for a number of reasons, but i think california is a

really democratic state. there is a, california occupies a particular place in the american mind. there are a lot of republicans, but the reality is california these days. it would be like idaho electing a democratic governor. there are so many more democrats in california, it would have to be an absolute disaster for him to lose. it's not an absolute disaster. he is relatively popular. turnout is strong. polling is strong for him. there are fewer and fewer reasons every day to believe he is going to go down in this recall. host: california, a question about the congressional midterms and the issue of the texas abortion law.

how will that impact how women vote in swing congressional districts? guest: i think there are two separate issues. redistricting and the abortion bill. texas redistricting is controlled by the republicans. we do expect them to squeeze a few extra seats out of those maps. on the abortion bill question, we have already started to see state legislatures and other red states talk about trying to pass bills modeled after the texas bill now that the supreme court said we don't know, there are a lot of state legislators in this countries -- in this country. you have to wait and see whether the ball really gets rolling on a lot of these legislative efforts. there is certainly more momentum. it could backfire.

republicans are already entering the 2000 22 midterm cycle with enthusiasm. -- 2022 midterm cycle with enthusiasm. emma are looking for a way to get there voters engaged -- democrats are looking for a way to get there voters engaged. --get their voters engaged. a lot of people were not around, 50 years we've gone with abortion being legal in america and every single election. we are trying to think about what an environment looks like when that is no longer the case. it is uncharted territory. anyone who tells you with any certainty how that is going to turn out is putting on airs.

i think that democrats at the moment believe that this will be to their advantage. republicans, it's interesting. republicans are not talking about this bill. they have been very quiet all of a sudden. if anything, they have pushback on this notion that roe v. wade is under. even if from a policy standpoint, this is been one of the primary policy goals of the republican party and the conservative right over the last half-century. host: back to new york. at this is franklin on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i've been listening to all of this about voting. the great state of new york,

when we vote the poll watchers. i was one and i had to write down i'm a democrat and the republican has a poll watcher. she writes down who the republican person was there. is this consistent with other states to just walk in and hand them a piece of paper? because we don't. host: how long ago were you a poll watchers? caller: this is when my, i would say about 20 years ago. host: why did you want to be a

poll watchers? caller: just because i wanted, i was there and it was convenient to be there and generally they have old people there and good people to watch it. in the state of new york, and another thing, why are we the first ones to have our votes counted? host: franklin, we will take the question. jacob rubashkin on election night and calling elections. guest: new york is a good place to end here because they are in the process of overhauling so much about their elections. we are talking about the redistricting process, the new commission, the new governor,

the newly controlled governor -- newly controlled democratic state legislature. republicans always like to talk about was how new york voting laws and democrats would call follow about new laws in georgia republicans would say what about new york. the democrats have finally taken back full control of the government and they have begun to pass through an amazing amount of legislation changing the way people vote. new york did not have absentee voting until 2020. early voting was curtailed and the pandemic readjusted how new york conducts its elections. it was difficult this past cycle. new york had a lot of issues. there were races in the primaries that were unresolved

for weeks. i think it's important to distinguish between the convenience element and the legitimacy element. what we want is for every vote to be counted. the most important thing, a more important than any kind of sleep schedule is knowing that every vote is counted. sometimes that takes a little bit longer. it shouldn't be, it shouldn't be disqualifying for an election result if it takes a little bit longer to get to. we would like voters -- we would like votes to be counted faster. there are things we can do to help that. on the question of legitimacy, whether it takes the night of or a week or two weeks, we have seen in california it can take 10 days. knowing that they are getting the true results is the most important thing out of all of

this process. host: jacob rubashkin, a guy who does not get much sleep on election night. i appreciate your time. we will chat with you a little farther into the election cycle down the road. guest: thanks. host: a discussion on how the pandemic impacted lobbying and advocacy efforts on capitol hill. our guests is that our guest is dan ekstein. stick around. we will be right back. ♪ >> this year marks the 20th anniversary of the september 11 attacks.

join us for live coverage from new york. pentagon in pennsylvania -- the pentagon and pennsylvania. listen on the c-span radio app. >> tonight, a conversation with susan page about her biography. the life and political career of nancy pelosi. >> she was planning once hillary clinton was elected, she was making plans to step down. she had nine grandchildren. she had other things she wanted to do. that election night was a shock for her and so many others. she said that once she realized

donald trump was going to win the election, it was like a mule was kicking her. she did not say this metaphorically. she said she felt like a mule was kicking her over and over. by the end of the night, she decided she wasn't going to go anywhere. she was going to try to stay and stand up to donald trump and protect democratic. >> you can also find all interviews wherever you get your podcast. >> washington journal continues. host: dan ekstein joins us for a conversation on lobbying. he is the author -- being in the room still manners. why he wrote this piece.

what his political -- what is particular perch is of digital advocacy. guest: i was really inspired by a recent survey in a public affairs association that was published in may that 50% of respondents in the d.c. government affairs felt that traditional shoe leather lobbying was going to be on the decline because of the pandemic and that there would be a continued increase in digital advocacy tools like texting and emailing and things of that nature. i see a little bit differently. i have worked with and, i have worked with a firm that helps corporations and associations educate and increase awareness and encourage employees to act.

from my interaction with policymakers, staff, lobbyists. even around the country, there's really a yearning for that in person sort of over the phone face-to-face interaction. i just really felt inspired to write something that was in defense of that and in defense of the personal lobbying at the same time. host: from back in the spring, respondents to that survey were in this world of lobbying digital efficacy. 65% said it was easier to reach elected officials by phone or videoconferencing during the pandemic easier than they expected. talk about how quickly these groups, lobbyists and advocacy groups turned to these digital tools and which ones have been most effective. guest: they pivoted pretty

quickly. why don't i go back a little bit to explain why i think advocacy has been a tremendous benefit to america as a whole? by any measure, america has been a tremendous -- tremendous success. the role of the federal government and the way we as citizens interact with the government. the ratification of the constitution. the civil war. if you think about world war ii, the cold war, 9/11, 2000 eight crisis, 2020. multiple trillions -- 2008 crisis, 2020. every american affected by this.

it was forecast that none of them would be able to meet those budgets. it was a lot of volatility. i was fortunate to sit on the front row to watch thousands of applicants and over 11,500 registered lobbyists on capitol hill working together to understand. maybe not together on specific issues, but working to help interpret volatility happening at one time and explain to their stakeholders what was going to happen to them and go back to policymakers and try to explain what the impact of that would be. the tools that were used, texting tools, emailing members of congress. zoom meetings. all of those things that took place that helps get

registration over the goal line. in my opinion, a lot of the trust and credibility for all of the success that happens were years in the making when you had advocates, lobbyists meeting with members of congress face-to-face coming to d.c., going to their offices. having conversations, i think a lot of that trust and credibility was established when the digital tools really helped amplified those messages and concerns during the pandemic. it was able to coalesce. host: if you have questions about how lobbying works, now is a great time to call in. democrats 202-748-8000, republicans 202-748-8001, independent 202-748-8002, having this conversation with dan ekstein into the top of the

hour. when it comes to lobbying on capitol hill in washington dc, here are some numbers courtesy of open secrets. 2015, that number was at 3.2 billion. about the same. it was less than 2005, 2 .4 billion. you are talking about the shift that zoom and texting. with all that money spent on lobbying, how often do lobbyists actually get to meet with the member of congress themselves? was it easier for members of congress to have a staffer or someone besides himself make that connection since it was just a digital connection anyway? guest: if i could go back to some of the statistics that you cited.

i think about moments in time and putting some of these numbers into context. the national retail federation tracks spending every year. there was multibillion dollars spent for federal lobbying, but every year americans spend about $8 billion on the wane. i could make an argument that we as a country don't spend enough on advocating on our behalf. the ability for members does desk to quickly switch to digital tools. there are data that state members did embrace these tools and they were able to have further conversations with their constituents. there's also statistics in the same surveys that preference from both members of congress and their staff is to have some sort of in-person connection. i'm not suggesting not to be

careful, but there is a yearning on the policymaker to the policymaker staff to every american to want to come and petition their government. host: everyday americans call washington dc. they talk about those phone calls they made often when they call in to this program. how do those calls work? who answers those phone calls? are they affected in persuading the member at the end of the day? guest: congressional offices, they have staff that are dedicated to picking up the phone and answering calls. usually, those staff members have a tally sheet that they keep track of the types of issues that constituents are calling about. the questions a constituent that has to happen whether the constituent is having a -- having an issue with their

government. each congressional office has their on process and protocol. for the staff that those offices have to filter out and prioritize how to respond. host: bill is in florida, independent. good morning. caller: i've got a question. what can a lobbyist do for a member of congress in terms of campaign contribution? what can a lobbyist do in terms of sending out materials like he's advocating for but have the member of congress name on it?

what can the lobbyist do for a member of congress other than going and meeting directly with them? guest: that's very good question. my initial response is they can be an honest broker. i think of a lobbyist, the two words that come to mind to me are credibility and transparency. the lobbyist that i have the pleasure to interact with, their first role is to be an interpreter. they need to have some understanding of the legislative process, understand the political landscape, establish trust and credibility, work with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, take that information back.

explain their expression explain their perspective. the member of congress may agree or disagree on those issues, but i think it's important that communication is there. that is why in-person opportunities are so important where you can establish trust and credibility. you also brought up different concept of conch -- campaign contributions. there's a concept of a three legged stool. what the most effective advocacy programs will be based on, three legs of that school. traditional lobbying, interacting with numbers of congress and staff. grassroots mobilization, encouraging everyday citizens that care about certain issues that affect them to speak up. there is a campaign-finance component. those are the three legs of that stool. lobbying and campaign

contributions, united states is a regular did activity. we are fortunate the lives that we are fortunate to live in a system and there are nuances with some parts of campaign finance. it is a very regulated and transparent process. you can look up at your federal and state level how contributions are made. host: you talk about the importance of transparency. we mentioned your work at the national association of political action committees. what is that group? are you currently a registered lobbyist? guest: i am not a registered lobbyist. 50-year-old organization that was created to encourage best practices. i would also fight and defend campaign finance and policies to ensure more employees, more americans have a greater voice

through their organizations. there is probably over two hundred 50 members of the national association. i'm not -- 250 members. i am a host: --host: david out of ashland, mississippi. caller: good morning. i would like to know what exactly is the difference between lobbying and bribery. exactly how much does it cost to get a vote? guest: good question. i have a slightly different perspective. i know there is some contempt with the concept of lobbying, but with my interaction i have not ever observed or heard of situations where from my direct narrative for the has been any sort of bribery taking place.

campaign contributions are regulated in the united states. there are laws on the books that have civil and criminal penalties if there were some sort of bribery. the organizations that i work with, i'm always in all of the amount of that chef the amount of effort not only with compliance with the law but really making sure that their advocacy is above board as can be and is transparent as possible. host: is lobbying in the constitution? guest: yes, we have a right to petition the government. i would encourage every american to contact your member of congress at any time on any matter that impacts you. please, come to d.c.. do it legally and respectfully. one of the things that has been missing because of the pandemic is the opportunity for everyday

americans to come to washington and petition their government. host: from the first amendment, make no law abridging the freedom of speech and to petition the government for redress of grievances. that is what lobbyists .2 in the constitution for their work. this is what jim says. most reps have no idea how proposed legislation will impact a specific industry and its lobbyists explain the depth desk explain the benefits and shortcomings of it. guest: i have a former boss was a good friend of mine who is a local elected official. he basically said look, there are things i am passionate about. this particular person is passionate about green space. no one had to educate him. he also had a background in

financial services. he understood the broadbrush issue that related to banking and financial services. there are lots of other issues that came across his desk. people had concerns that he did not have any particular passion for or background in, so he relied on organizations and individuals to provide perspective to how those issues would be impacting them. a good lobbyist, someone who understands both sides of the issues, can go to the desk can go and say this is what our opponents may view this but we would like you to consider our view and really leave it to the staff and dashed to the staff to make a decision. host: if you want to join the conversation. democrats 202-748-8000, republicans 202-748-8001, independent 202-748-8002.

bismarck, republican. caller: i have a quick statement and a question. a number of years ago, my future wife came over from europe. we were going to get married and she came over on a fiancee visa. she had all of her paperwork lost or stolen at the minneapolis airport. so she was in this dumbo -- limbo. i contacted one of our senators from north dakota and i told them the situation. within two hours, she shows up at my hotel. it was all taken care of. my question to you, was i a

lobbyist just now or just then when i called my senator and got his help? guest: i think that's a great story. we just saw this through the tragedy and efforts that happened as we were evacuating leaving afghanistan. there was a group in d.c. was profiled in the newspapers recently that really worked together to try to get as many both american citizens and allies out and were lobbying members of congress. many multiple members of congress to help get people out. yes, you were lobbying at that moment. successfully so congratulations to you. i think the biggest misperception is that you can

pay for a vote. one of the things that i've, my experience tells me, the average race, to win an average success race is to me and dollars. the average senate race is $10 million. i say that because the campaign-finance rules limit personal and corporate affiliated contributions. a couple thousand dollars per election whether it's a primary or general. you can pay for a vote is misplaced because it takes a lot of money to run for office. individuals, members of congress, candidates have to go out there and encourage contributions. those are usually in small dollars. contributions are publicly reported. you can go to www.sec.gov.

you can look at open as asians that are making contributions. host: stephanie and lewis -- guest: you can look at donations and contributions. caller: my congressional representative, i know previously americans put eight-man dollars into halloween every year, but when you put it down to an individual person, there's a big miss balance what i can contribute versus a big company. an additional comment is i wonder about the transparency of when the company is putting money behind a lobbyist.

i feel like sometimes the transparency is that there versus an individual person. stockholders, i feel like the transparency is in there sometimes. guest: i appreciate your perspective. lobbying is a regulated activity. there are 11,005 hundred or so registered lobbyists. i encourage you to go to the house of senate.gov -- the house of senate website. you can find the disclosure forms. companies file and lobbyists filed almost on a quarterly basis. my perspective could -- my perspective, could there be more transparency? of course. but he actually do think we have a very transparent system. i think one of the reasons this profession is so open to

scrutiny is because it is accountable. how one lobbies and other countries and i think the u.s., democracy is the worst form of government except it's better than the rest. host: dave on twitter with this question. would it reduce the role of the lobbyists? guest: it wouldn't reduce the roll because campaign for ninths -- because lobbying and campaign finance are two separate things. if there was some sort of funding of how those candidates would be elected to office, that would not impact an individual's ability to call their member of congress or come to d.c. or meet with them face-to-face. host: the article by dan

eckstein. if you want to read it, a partner at public affairs. thank you so much for joining us and talking about it. that's going to do it for this sunday morning on the washington journal. we will be back here tomorrow morning. have a great sunday. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government.

we are funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is a community center? it is more than that. >> comcast is partnering with community centers to create wi-fi enabled areas. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> tonight on q and day, a conversation with washington bureau chief at the usa today paper on her book about democratic congresswoman nancy pelosi. >> she was planning, once hillary clinton was elected, and many people thought she would be elected in 2016, nancy pelosi was making plans to step down.

she was 76. she had nine grandchildren. she had other things she wanted to do but that election night was a shock to her and many others. she says that once she realized donald trump was going to win the election, it was like a mule was kicking her physically. she said she felt like a mule was kicking her over and over again. by the end of that night, she decided she was not going to go anywhere, that she was going to stay, try to stand up to donald trump and also try to protect democratic priorities, including the affordable care act. >> susan page tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on tonight's q&a. you can also find it wherever you get your podcasts. ♪

this year marks the 20th anniversary of the september 11 attacks. join us for live coverage from new york, the pentagon and shanksville, pennsylvania starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern saturday, september 11 on c-span. watch online at c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. ♪ good morning. it is sunday, september 5, 2021. we talked campaign 2022, lobbying in the age of covid, and the impact of climate change on disaster insurance. we begin with the question on the standing of the u.s. and the world today. as you look at the state of the country in september 2021 we want to know if you believe the united states of america is the

greatest country in the world. democrats can call (202)-748-8000, republicans (202)-748-8001, independents (202)-748-8002. you can send us a text at (202)-748-8003. if you do, include your name and where you are from. catch up on social media on twitter @c-spanwj and facebook at facebook.com/c-span. it is a question we return to from time to time. is the united states of america the greatest country in the world? that question very much part of the discussion following the withdrawal from afghanistan. here is one of the recent headlines from the discussion from "the new yorker." is the u.s. withdrawal the end of the american empire? for the time being america retains its military prowess and economic