c-span now, our new mobile video app. -- you can watch full coverage on c-span now, our full mobile video app. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. we take your calls, texts and messages. host: good morning and welcome to washington journal. inflation is on everyone's mind now as we head into the holiday season, with prices jumping on everyday items at a rate that concerns many americans. right now, everything seems to be going up at the same time as there are supply chain issues because of the pandemic. the white house says better days are coming out of that the infrastructure bill has passed, but is it too late?

how has inflation affected -- impacted your finances? we will open up regional lines. in the eastern or central time zone, you can call (202) 748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, your number is (202) 748-8001. you can always text us at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media on facebook, at facebook.com/c-span, on twitter, @cspanwj, and you can always follow us on instagram, @cspanwj . inflation is surging. let's start our conversation by seeing what is going on with the inflation rate. we will have a story from usa today that tells you about what the numbers are now. their story says this. "inflation over the past 12

months surged to a high as rising prices undercut president joe biden and hurt consumers despite evidence the u.s. economy is rebounding from the pandemic. the consumer price index increased by 2.09% in october, the u.s. bureau of labor statistics reported, leaving inflation 6.2% higher than a year earlier, the largest 12 month increase since 1990. the past year, as the u.s. has battled the pandemic, the cost of energy, food, transportation and other must-haves spiked, the causes including supply chain breakdowns, labor shortages and a sudden burst of spending." what does this mean for consumer

confidence? yahoo! news has a story from bloomberg that talks about where consumer sentiment is. i will bring you a couple paragraphs from that. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] "u.s. consumer sentiment unexpectedly collapsed in november. the university of michigan's index increased to 66.8 from 71.7 in october. the figure trailed all projections. waning confidence reflects an escalating inflation rate and a

growing belief among consumers that no effective policies have been developed to reduce inflation. they expect prices will rise 2.9% over the next five to 10 years, unchanged from the previous months." so the consumer confidence in our economy seems to be dropping because of inflation. so what does president joe biden plan to do? on wednesday in baltimore, president biden discussed the economy and concerns about inflation and explained how he thinks the infrastructure bill will help americans. here is president biden. [video clip] >> i will talk about one of the most pressing economic concerns of the american people, getting prices down, number one.

number two, making sure our stores are fully stocked. three, getting people back to work while tackling these above challenges i mentioned. economic reports show unemployment is continuing to fall but consumer prices remain too high. the american people are in the midst of this crisis and you can tell them that the recovery is showing strong results but not to them. it is worse even though wages are going up. we have to tackle challenges head-on. we are seeing the highest growth rate in decades, a vast decrease in unemployment ever since 1950. we have got problems too. many people remain unsettled about the economy. they see higher prices.

they go to the store or go online and cannot always find what they want and when they want it. we are tracking these issues and trying to figure out how to tackle them. my administration, with the help of the people on my left, has a plan to finish the job to get us back to normal from the pandemic and have a stronger economy. let me explain. it starts with good news. infrastructure week has arrived. how many times have you heard over the last five years that infrastructure week is coming? anyway, last week, we took a monumental step forward as a nation and did something long overdue and long talked about in washington but never done. the house passed my bipartisan

infrastructure bill along with another plan i am advancing. it will reduce the cost of goods to consumers, businesses and help get people back to work, helping us build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out. host: republicans however do not believe that president biden will do anything about inflation and that the infrastructure bill will help. house minority leader kevin mccarthy put out a statement about what he thinks is it going to happen with inflation and i will bring it to you. "the joe biden plan for increasing the american standard of living is a failure. the cost of living is increasing at a faster rate today than in 30 years. with the holidays around the corner, the biden administration has only exacerbated the anxiety families face as we approach the most expensive thanksgiving on record that will involve soaring

prices and a scarcity of goods. americans see it with their own eyes. all of these problems add direct pressure on american families pocketbooks." again, that's a statement from kevin mccarthy. how has inflation impacted your finances? are you not able to buy the things you used to buy? are you having to dig into your savings? let's see what our viewers have to say. let's start with rob, calling from new york city. good morning. caller: thank you. good morning. your performance as a moderator is excellent. you are among the best. and i like the way you posed this question in a very fair way.

the global pandemic screwed up the global shipping lines, people not working, already world -- working, all around the world, and it is not biden's fault for inflation. the moderator yesterday, greta, posed the same question you posed today, except she couched the question in such a way, basically blaming biden in the question she asked, the way she worded it. she talked about inflation. i don't remember how she said it but she brought biden into it as if it was his fall and the way she fielded the -- it was a loaded question. greta's question was a loaded question, not a fair question,

biased against our president, biden, and the way she fielded questions from the viewers, you could hear that anytime someone had something to say that was -- that ignited the flame against biden, she was all years, gave them time, and, anyway. host: rob, for yourself, how has inflation impacted you? do you see a difference in anything you are doing because of the inflation rates? caller: yes. i mean, i tightened my belt. i go without things i did not need in the first place. i do not eat out in restaurants like i used to. so what? i can get food and prepare it myself for a lot less, as everybody knows, and you can find ways to tighten your belt and still live a high-quality

life in this country. i am in a reasonably good condition myself and i realize that not everybody is in that position, but -- host: let me ask this just real quick, rob. how many of those changes had to do with the pandemic versus the rising cost of goods? caller: welcome again, you posed -- well, again, you posed the question in a fair way. i tightened my belt from the pandemic and i tightened my belt also from the rising prices. i went for gas today, found a gas station that was $.30, $.40 cheaper than the rest. you can shop for gas to save yourself a few dollars to tighten the belt that way. i almost paid the same price last night as i did six months ago, a year ago, by shopping.

host: let's go to joe, calling from ash, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. take this the right way -- john q public. i have been in business for myself. they have a bunch of naivete about them. you go ahead, like the fast food places, you are paying $14 an hour to say, would you like a large order of fries with that please? if you are going to raise wages you have to raise the pricing. when covid came, everybody was in panic mode. we put money in. a two-bedroom apartment here used to run $800. i am by the beach too. now it is running over $2000. everybody has to make up. you cannot go ahead and put more money in and keep on putting it in.

it has no face value because it says it is backed by the people of the united states, not gold. i was a union representative in ohio. i will tell you how brainless people are. they negotiated on vacation. when you first started, you get two weeks of regular vacation, three weeks of bonus. the catch is you did not have to take your three weeks of bonus. you could still work and get it. then you went to 13 total weeks. you got four weeks of normal vacation pay but then took your -- the rest of your vacation and stuck it in your hip pocket. john q public is naive. your shipping problems, they are not there. you are screwing around. as far as my peace goes, i am

good as my money -- my piece goes, mi is good on money? no, but everything is paid off. my medicare went up. host: speaking of medicare, the u.s. government has announced a huge increase in medicare premiums coming next year. i want to bring you that information from the hill newspaper this morning. a lot of our viewers will be interested in this i think. our story. "seniors on medicare will have to pay more than $20 more per month extra in premiums next year, a large increase that officials attributed to the possible coverage of a pricey and controversial new alzheimer's drug. the biden administration announced that the monthly premium for metacarpal -- for

medicare part b will increase by $21.6. officials said this is one of the largest increases in recent years. about half of that increase is due to the contingency planning to make sure the program has enough money to pay for an expensive new alzheimer's drug if medicare covers it. officials at the centers for medicare and medicaid services said that." with everything else increasing, we now see an increase in the monthly premium for medicare part b. these are all expenses that americans will have to pay over the next few months going into the new year. how has this inflation impacted your finances? groceries, energy, gas prices. are you putting off vacations, large purposes, christmas

dinner? let us know. let's talk to richard, calling from nashville, tennessee. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. a pleasure to see and speak to you this morning. i work at a grocery store and i will tell you, jesse, there's a lot of bad and good going on in this situation. i receive anything in my grocery store and we are one of the largest. i will not mention the name. they are one of the top three. you are not full-time and less you are an executive. and i am one of the chosen few. i save up for a rainy day. i have done that. in the last 10 years, after raising my children, all i had thought about was putting money back. you cannot really trust your

401(k) because it is up and down. i know a lot of people who have a 401(k) and have retired or wanted to retire and couldn't, then it came back. i see prices change all the time. groceries will come down one weekend go up two weeks later and never go to their original price. when you walk the store, you see people stealing, people walking out the door more, more homelessness around retail shopping centers. when they say it is not president biden's fault, it is a lot of people's fault on the left and the right. the bottom line boils down to this. it is a power struggle right now and the american people are having to suffer through it. at the end of the day, when you look at the pandemic, it had nothing to do with all this. it is all about politics. it is, because i have seen it,

before the pandemic hit, do this. all i can tell people is is save up. it is about food, shelter and clothing. you don't need a new car if you have an old car. you don't need a new house if you have an old house. it can be done. put your priorities straight. have a great day. host: let's talk to -- actually, yesterday, white house press secretary jen psaki was asked about president biden's ability to actually control inflation. i want to bring to you her answer in yesterday's white house press briefing. here's jen psaki. [video clip] >> it seems like the white house is making a lot of promises on inflation but there are concerns that the white house or the president doesn't have a lot of power over inflation, things like gasoline in particular. it is a common tactic, the spr,

a short-term thing, so how do you deliver on things like gasoline, food prices, these kind of bread and butter issues? how do you deliver on that? >> some of the biggest costs for households and americans and the way they feel inflation is not typically looking at a graph. are things like housing and child care and health care affecting them? correct. but those are big costs on people's households. that is why addressed and raised those issues. a vast majority of every outside economist predicts that inflation will come down next year. that is what outside experts are predicting. so what we are talking about is how to cut costs in the short term. i have outlined a number of ways.

i would note we don't have partnership for most republicans on that. we hear a lot of screaming on inflation. we don't hear a lot of solutions, or willingness or discussion of a solution. that is what we are discussing. i noted the way we can address inflationary issues is by continuing to push this agenda, pass the agenda because it will help for economic growth, productivity and it is fully paid for. that is why outside economists do not think it will have a negative inflationary impact. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about how inflation is impacting their finances. here's a post from facebook that says the price of gas has doubled. the price of meat has tripled. my utilities are 50% higher and

my dollar is worth 30% of what it was two years ago. we are frogs in a boiling pot. here is a post from twitter. the question is would you rather make 20 cents on the dollar or two dollars? there is a reason corporate profits are up while working americans are getting poorer. another 1 -- it's the same. thanks, brandon. here's another tweezers says buy what we want. there's a facebook that says not in a good way. and it has hurt my son. higher fuel prices and costs.

a post -- the price is high of everything. companies have record profits. regulate. make them pay taxes. how has inflation impacted your finances? let's go to philip, calling from ohio. go ahead. host: -- caller: the inflation thing will hit me and my coworkers because we got our notice that it is going out of business. it is a union job, 170, and down the road in dayton, ohio, 630 union jobs will go away. that is how the economy -- that is how the communists are handling the economy now. host: what do you do? caller: window stripping for

cars and trucks. there's many different aspects of it. we were working six days a week. you could volunteer seven a lot of times. we are running two lines nowadays and it is going out fast. host: we have seen the supply chain issue hitting the auto industry because of the lack of computer chips. what is your plan? caller: i will go back to retirement. i am 73. i work because i want to. but all those guys that have 20, 25 years in, they are scrambling to find work. i like working. i just show up. i am lucky. i will just go home, sip coffee and watch it snow this winter. host: let's go to diane, calling from new enterprise, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the biggest problem is

that we went from secure borders, reliable, affordable energy independence, and effective military action to open borders, war on fossil fuels, and the disastrous surrender in afghanistan, and that has undermined our confidence in our leadership, and then, when you pump and inject trillions of dollars of monopoly money into -- and call that the solution, i think people, their confidence in the leadership has cratered. host: how has inflation impacted you personally, or has it? caller: i think it impacts everybody because it is hitting me at the gas station and the grocery store. host: tell me about how it is impacting you. are you driving less, buying

less food, doing more price shopping? how has it impacted you personally? caller: mostly through the groceries and gas prices, although i will say it has been across -- at least 30% more to heat my house also this year, so that's another hit their. -- hit there. host: what type of house heating energy dus? -- energy do you use? caller: i use heating oil. host: you are telling me they will be increased for this winter already? caller: yeah. i mean, when you shut down the keystone pipeline and allow russia had to have their pipeline, that means our energy independence is gone.

i mean, we are begging opec now. host: let's go to jeremy, calling from madison, wisconsin. good morning. caller: good morning. it is a pleasure, an absolute pleasure. what a pleasure to hear you. i don't understand why middle america thinks that a supply chain is important when all we are doing is constantly demanding. listen to the previous caller. it is demand after demand. i don't understand why the focus is on the supply side when on the demand side -- i mean, it doesn't make sense. i don't understand why it doesn't dawn on middle america and the rest of us. what is the man saying? it is simple, correct? how am i wrong? host: how is the inflation affecting you personally, or is

it affecting you personally? caller: of course. all of these things are affecting me. all of these causal relationships are affecting me one way or another, but i just found a bridgestone -- i am pretty sure they are original bridgestone tires. i found them for less than $20. i mean, what a deal. i could not imagined when i found. i mean, that's a pretty good deal i think. are you with me, sir? host: let's talk to david, calling from asheboro, north carolina. hello. caller: i just want to say that the promises -- the price of everything has gone up tremendously. the costs more.

that raises the price of everything. another thing is i think the democrat party and the president , i think we have a president who does not love the people of this country. i think you loves somewhere else. i just don't see him as our president, to allow all this stuff to go on, and it is sad that our country has gone this way. i cannot even talk on this. i am so confused on this devilish mess. everything has gone skyrocket. everything. host: david hung up, so let's go to palm beach, to rachel, good morning. caller: my husband and i are

recently retired. we own our home. we have set aside money for inflation, and average amount of inflation, but certainly not for these circumstances. we went down from owning two cars to one car. gas prices are off the charts. also, our hoa has gone up significantly, so people that are on fixed incomes or are retired, i really have considered -- i really am concerned about the future of people 65 and over. i will say that i have heard that medicare is going to increase up to 5.9% in payment, that we are also going to be paying $21 a month more in part b. i am concerned it will price older people out of the market altogether. host: you just said you have already made one change by going

down from two cars to one. what other changes is inflation making you do, making you and your husband make in your lives? caller: we buy less at the grocery store, we don't eat out, which is something we look forward to in our older years. we -- we are halting our traveling, which we were looking forward to in our older years. another thing i would like to mention is, you know, when you're 65 and older, you are not real apt -- smart people aren't -- to get involved in the stock market, because if you lose that money, it is gone, and you don't have 20 or 30 years to make that up, so of course, the rates are 0.001%, you cannot make any money there, so we are stuck at that level line where we are not

going to make any money on our money sitting in the bank, but we're certainly going to lose money. host: a question i asked of you earlier -- how much of the changes you made in going out and not taking vacations are due to the pandemic versus due to the rising cost of inflation rate now? caller: i think maybe the pandemic had something to do with it but it is also being used as an excuse. we have a lot of things going up in price. at the same time, we are letting millions of people come in. illegally into our country. we don't know who they are. of course, we are going to have to pay for them because we will have to pay for our education and health care and housing and etc.

i don't know if that figures into it or not. all i know is this is definitely affecting our lives. host: let's talk to ray, calling from clinton, pennsylvania. ray, good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. this that shed is not impacting me. -- this is not impacting me. we are retired. i want to correct something here. it is not the pandemic causing the inflationary spiral. the inflation is defined as too much money chasing too few goods. that is what is happening. i called a dealership yesterday because they sent me an offer on the car, to trade mind and. -- mine in. i called them up and they said,

we don't have anything on the lot and won't until december. everything is sold. the computer-generated this. what is happening is, the chips, the guy you spoke to in -- host: let's go to tim, calling from rochester, new york. tim, good morning. caller: good morning. about this inflation situation, for me, it is bad because i have to travel for work, but my company gives us a perdiem, so they look out for us, for gas money, but from what i see, i see people at grocery stores, people shopping and, i don't know, i guess it is just different worlds out here and i don't know what is going on. i see everything going on right. i know people are complaining about gas but that is about it. i don't hear too much about food.

host: are you making any changes in your life because of rising gas prices or the rising cost of food or energy? caller: energy, i am trying to stretch what i do with that in the wintertime. i don't use a lot of gas or whatever. i use a lot of heaters in my home. i have been doing that for years. so already know about the energy situation. i feel like, congress, they need to bring these companies in. i understand it was a pandemic, but it is slowing down. i feel like stuff should not be this time. it is all about money and people going crazy over that. and i think people coming over your have nothing to do with it. a lot of people at the border don't work -- border do work that a lot of people who live

here don't do. have a blessed day. host:, at wednesday baltimore -- in baltimore on wednesday, joe biden talked about supply chain issues and what his administration plans to do. here is president joe biden. [video clip] >> my plan will help address the supply chain. you will hear a lot about the supply chain's in the news, but frankly, not a lot of people have a clear understanding, whether they have a phd or did not go to school, about how a supply chain works. what is the impact on the economy? it is not easy to talk about that, let alone how to fix it. they are incredibly complex. as long as goods and materials are getting where they need to go on time, there is usually no need to worry about supply chains, but when global disruptions hit, like a

pandemic, they can hit supply chains hard. covid-19 has stretched global supply chains like never before, and suddenly, when you go to order a pair of sneakers, you are met with higher prices and long delays, or they say they don't have any. the reason for that last year had a lot to do with a lot of companies, how they make their products. in simple terms, it is the journey a product takes to get to your doorstep, raw materials plus labor, assembly, shipping, everything it takes to create the finished product, and these are complex. even products as simple as a pencil can use would from brazil -- use wood from brazil, graphite from india, before he gets to a factory in the united states to be assembled. that is how it happens.

host: how inflation is impacting your finances. a post from facebook that host: target workers are getting paid more than my teachers salary. rent isi get food at a pantry ae

in a shelter. rent is $1200 for a one bedroom. a tweet that says more demand than supply is causing this. imagine if trump would have tried to contain covid. we are still in a pandemic. a post from facebook that says, 50, $60 a week on groceries. now it is $75. another that says i am good except for food. i make too much for assistance. i just cut back. another that says, it hasn't. i went shopping and everything was packed with people spending all kinds of money. gas prices are higher than usual but that depends on international oil production output and supply and demand.

i see people spending money hand over fist everywhere though. one last post. i have not even really noticed. i think most of the complaining is from people whose favorite candidate lost the election last year. we want to know from you how has inflation impacted your finances? let's start with debbie, calling from buford, georgia. caller: hello. it is not just gas and food, which is incredible, but it is also, like, my phone bill, my cable bill, my car insurance, my homeowners insurance, and, if an appliance breaks down or my car breaks down, and social security, they say they will increase it, and they also

increased the medicare. and i won't even go to the doctor because i just try to take care of myself when i am sick. but every single thing, every single thing, is up. not just -- host: so what changes are you making because of this? caller: well, i am eating canned fruit that i've had in my pantry for years. a lot of has a lot of pasta, spaghetti -- a lot of pasta, spaghetti, not that much meat anymore. i do a lot of the grimy work myself, but with covid, i kind of forgot, you know, with the weedeater. it is unbelievable. and my housing costs. i bought the house at 120,000

dollars a while ago and now they are saying it is worth more and based my property talks is on that, and i am just on social security. host: good morning. caller:, good morning, jesse. i don't know what is going on with the cat food but it is crazy out there. every time i try to go look for cat food. host: turn your tv downing go ahead -- tv down and go ahead. caller: i was talking about the price of cat food. everybody knows cats know they are fussy. i am jumping through hoops to find what they like. host: jackson is calling from

lewis, delaware. good morning. caller: good morning. i like listening to your show because i see the country and a problem and the people are complaining but these are the people who voted. if you vote for someone, you get what they offer, which is what we are getting now. the people that didn't like trump, ok. people who like biden, ok, we have got him. the guy who lives in a cave in new york, he doesn't feel a problem but a little bit of gas increase. i don't know what he is doing. he probably doesn't eat anything from a grocery store, but everything is going up, and you are telling me today i'm going to get an increase on my medicare, so the government is definitely helping our situation, and we elected them. we should be happy. host: jack, what changes are you

going to have to make because of inflation? caller: i have already made them. i'm down to one car. i sold my house. the house was bigger than i needed. however, i bought it at a good price, sold it at a higher price over a year ago, before we had the change in our administration, fortunately for me. host: all right. well, the moody's analytics and their chief economist are saying that the current inflation surge will not last that long. i will bring you a statement from moody's chief economist and what he has to say. the chief economist of moody's analytics says the inflation surge should be short-lived, predicting costs will start dropping in early 2022 and, by

this time next year, certainly by 2023, the u.s. should return closer to normal inflation. "i think this is entirely the result of the delta wave of the pandemic, and i think inflation will be moderate. we are seeing the worst of it now, he says." he is saying he thinks we are in the worst of the inflation surge now and he sees inflation beginning to drop in early 2022 and certainly by 2023 we should be back to normal inflation. the question becomes what part of the country is seeing the worst of the inflation rates? the wall street journal has the story and a map i want to bring to you that shows where inflation is spiking. you can see clearly from the map that the wall street journal has that inflation is spiking in the

midwest and areas in the south. i will bring you a couple of paragraphs from their story. u.s. inflation rose at the fastest pace in three decades in october, with prices increasing more in some parts of the country than others. consumer prices were up 7.3% last month. iowa, kansas, minnesota, missouri, nebraska, north dakota, having the highest decreases. -- increases. midatlantic states had prices rise less. midwestern states are relatively high housing prices in october, rising at a higher clip than others. again, the wall street journal studying inflation, saying the inflation rates are going up

more and the midwest -- more in the midwest and several southern states than in other places around the country. the red shows the higher inflation rates. you see the midwest and several southern states seeing higher inflation rates than other places. what are these rates doing to your finances? let us know. let's start with susie, calling from greensboro, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. you were talking about the inflation rates in the different states across the country. please know i am on a fixed income. it doesn't matter what that inflation rate is. it is a tax on meat. i am elderly, i am retired, on a fixed income. you want to know what -- how this is affecting me?

already, i have gone to the grocery store and had to make a choice between milk or eggs or bread. you got that? i have to make a choice of what food i am not going to be able to bring into my home to consume because of this inflation. that man in new york doesn't see it. god bless him and his family. i have to live it. and i want it fixed. do i think this administration could do it? no, because they do not want to. their intention is to destroy us. host: was go to joel, calling from -- let's go to joel, calling from mountain home, arkansas. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call.

inflation is eating us alive. i just want to say. these widows and widowers, when they lose their spouse, they lose their social security. when i say that, they lose half their social security. how do you expect these people to live when churches have to do more for these widows and widowers? they cannot live on $800 a month with 6.2% inflation. an apple is a dollar. you don't see vendors out on the streets trying to sell an apple anymore. this administration is going to get these immigration people $450,000 per person and their families. how can they do that? the widows, the family of the gold star mothers, don't receive that much when their

kids are killed in battle. host: you said something interesting i want to follow up on. you said the churches need to do more, not the government needs to do more. you said the churches needs to do more. do you think the fault lies in americans ability to give money to charities, to have the charities be able to help these people, or do you think it is the government's fall and needs to do more? caller: it is the government's fault. this inflation did not occur until after the new administration took office. host: but do you think the private industries, like churches, like private companies, charities, need to do more as well? caller: people that are still working and demanding $15 an hour and will not take a job at nine dollars an hour, and the government is giving out too much free money to everyone. they are never going to get back

to work and, remember, if they are not working but receiving money, they are not paying social security or medicare taxes and things like that, so we have to take control of the government again. we have to vote these people out in the next election coming up. the church needs to do more but the people cannot come to church nowadays because of the virus and everything. this government -- it is a global, one-way economy now, and if you cannot see the big picture, you are missing it. host: let's go to rose, calling from apex, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i will be swift. do not interrupt me. look at the world economic forum. this is their agenda and the source of all your economic suffering and 2019-2022. we have employers breaking the

law, asking illegal questions on job applications to favor the transgendered and woke and asking illegally for vaccination records to advance a global agenda. gas for my nissan under trump cost less than hunter biden. the great reset is a gross reset. host: let's go to kurt, and pennsylvania. good morning. caller: i want to interject something. one of the underlying causes of inflation -- are you familiar with lean manufacturing? host: no. caller: the concept of lean manufacturing. host: no. caller: it was pretty popular among a lot of companies for decades, and i think the pandemic actually caught them with their pants down using this

philosophy, because what lean manufacturing, the concept is no inventory, just basically on-demand inventory, and i think what you're going to find is that caused this ripple effect that helped contribute largely to inflation. host: let's go to linda, who is calling from walker, west virginia. linda, good morning. caller: yes. thank you for taking my call. i would like to explain to you about medicare, not medicaid. medicare. and the reason i am calling is we got a letter in the mail saying what we are supposed to be getting, well, the funny part is, by the time you take the insurance out of this, we will probably be lucky if we get five dollars a month extra. see how you can figure that --

and we are supposed to be able to pay our bills on this. this don't cover a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. and i thank you for your time. host: let's talk to darrell, who is calling from st. paul, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. it is a great morning here. a little snow on the ground i guess for the fall. i retired from the coal business. it is doing great now in my neck of the woods. i don't understand that, but basically, gas has gone up more than anything for me as far as being a retired person. host: so, darrell, you are calling from virginia and you see snow on the ground already? caller: yeah, we are up here in the mountains, so we got a skiff of snow this morning. host: has inflation impacted anything you are doing? caller: mainly running around.

i am calling down on that. i was retired last year and most of us retired people, i guess we going vacation. we cut that back mainly because of gas prices. is going to be a couple dollars on the gallon, and that definitely eats into -- you know, with the inflation, so that is my big problem now. caller: let's talk to william, calling from scottsdale, arizona. good morning. host: -- thank you for taking my call. i am retired and it is tough on us. one other issue that i think might be important to you, this thing at the border was created by biden,, and the issue i have with it is all i am hearing lately is problems with trump.

what is going on with the biden administration? he totally is ignoring what is going on. and it is costing our country a fortune. and all i hear about is the bad stuff that trump supposedly did with the administration. host: let's talk to mike from connecticut. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. the term "supply chain problem," i have a problem with that. the reason i say that is we don't really have a supply chain problem. we have an everything-is-made-overseas problem. that is the problem. in one city in connecticut at one time, a huge manufacturer, most of their products are made overseas now. the factories that were abundant in that city are closed, they

are warehouses now. they have been divided up into small businesses. we don't have a supply chain problem. we have an everything-is-made-overseas problem. host: let's talk to patsy, calling from tampa, florida. patsy, good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say, you know, all i can say is jesus is here and he will take the ones that believe in him up to heaven with him, and -- host: turn your tv down, patsy, and keep going. caller: all i have got to say is, you know, jesus is here and he is ready to call us all that believe in him and get rid of your stress and anxiety and depression because where we are going is a greater place than on earth. host: let's talk to dion,

calling from new jersey. good morning. caller: yeah, the inflation has been going up since 2019, i think. [indiscernible] host: can you speak up some? we are having a hard time hearing you. caller: the pandemic -- [indiscernible] supply chain during the trump administration -- [indiscernible] paper products, everything else, and you know, fully mishandled the -- [indiscernible] host: let's go to marry -- to mario. caller: good morning.

people understand that we are going through a pandemic for 2020 and before that. we were not producing anything. we were very much non-producing for food and a lot of stuff. we had shortages of gloves and sanitizer and paper towels and lots of toilet paper and all that, so it was going to catch up to us sooner or later. we are trying to get out of the pandemic and i believe the reason now, the shortages -- i mean, we are getting better and the manufacturing comes back up, but we are not making enough, and with all the delays for all those containers out there, there's a lot of goods, so that's preventing us from catching up. host: let's go to caffe, calling

from fremont, california. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to make the comment that i think stores are being created and the way they are doing things is to keep customers happy. at one store, i went to get sweatpants and they didn't have any, but they had some other things, some other pants i was able to buy, and i asked the lady if they were getting the sweatpants in, and she said, oh, come back in two weeks. we are putting more out than. -- more out then. host: we would like to thank all of our callers and social media followers for calling in for our first segment. next, congress and the white house are making an effort to control the cost of prescription drugs.

next, a discussion about those efforts with stat news's rachel cohrs. next, the christian science monitor's christa case bryant will discuss her article about how both democrats and republicans on capitol hill are looking to become the party of parents. stick with us. we will be right back. ♪ >> next week on the c-span networks, both chambers of congress -- congress are in session. the house will take up the build back better social spending plan after nancy pelosi delayed a vote before the veterans day recess. it came at the request of moderate democrats who wanted the congressional budget office to analyze the bill. tuesday at 10:00 a.m. east and, homeland security secretary alejandra mayorkas testifies before the senate judiciary committee. it was postponed last month

after he tested positive for covid-19. also live on c-span.org and the mobile video app, a leading cyber security experts on the white house, homeland security, and the fbi will testify for the house oversight and reform committee for strategies to crackdown on ransomware attack's, disrupt tap -- disrupt hackers and build resilience. on wednesday live on c-span3, the confirmation hearing for jessica rosenworcel is confirmed that she will be the first woman to serve in this capacity and she will take -- the committee will take up other nominations including commissioner of the federal trade commission. at 10:30 e -- a.m. eastern, a virtual meeting of the house subcommittee to discuss the u.s. role in global vaccine equity. watch next week on the c-span networks or watch our full