cox, bringing us closer. >> cox supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> every week book notes lezz has in-depth interviews with writers about their latest works. white the weekly uses audio from our archive to look out issues of the day developed over years and our series includes extensive conversations with historians about their lives and work. many of our television programs are available as podcasts. you can find them all on the c-span now mobile app, wherever you get your podcasts. >> coming up on "washington journal, mike liles of the hill

newspaper joins us. and the carroll doherty talks about the center's new report identifying nine categories of voters in the u.s.. washington journal is next. ♪ host: good morning. it is monday, november 15. today, the senate meets at 3:00 p.m. eastern while the house returns at 2:00 p.m. as the build back better act moves to center stage in congress. meanwhile, president biden is set to sign the infrastructure investment and jobs act into law at a bipartisan ceremony this afternoon. before we get to those looming battles of the week ahead in washington, we are spending this first hour hearing from you about your political party

affiliation. we want to know why you picked your political party and what makes you a democrat, a republican, or an independent. democrats can call in at (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also send us a text this morning. that number, (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from here in otherwise, catch up with us on social media. a very good monday morning to you. you can go ahead and start calling in now. a lot of moving parts on capitol hill this week and we will get to all of it. first, your phone calls on why you picked your party affiliation. gallup taking a look in the recent pulling on how many republicans and democrats and independents there are in this country. some 26% of those they surveyed

in october said they were republican. 26% said they were democrats and 44% identified as independent in the latest poll. in this latest poll, those independents do have a leaning. 47% say they lean more to the democratic party. 42% say they lean more to the republican party. there is the headline from npr. feel like you do not fit into either political party? here is why. it is a study of a new pew research report that looks into political hypocrisy, why people are the way they are, why they pick their parties. this is what the study says. the idea that americans are polarized can make it seem as if there are only two sides in politics, liberal and

conservative, democratic and republican. americans are far more complicated politically according to that new study. americans are divided not just by party but also within them. there are clear implications for control of congress. there has been focused on divisions between progressives and moderate wings in congress. there are more divisions among republican groups on the issues. where republicans have an advantage is having more of a sense of urgency about who is in charge of washington. the strongest republican groups more so than the strongest democratic ones. that from npr talking about a new pew research report. we are going to have carroll doherty, director of research from pew, on this program later today to talk about that political typography report. stick around for that discussion. in this first hour, we are hearing what makes you a

democrat, what makes you a republican, what makes you an independent. what is your story about how you picked your political affiliation? phone lines as usual. we will put those numbers on the screen. diane, why are you a democrat? caller: i am a democrat because of bernie sanders come up because i believe in progressive issues. if there was a progressive party, i would be registered as a progressive. i was a union worker. i remember in the 1980's when reagan had broken the unions. for me, the unions protected my work. they gave me good pay. now i see with biden one thing a lot of people will comment on now that democrats are in the majority, why can't they get anything done? because they have two people in their senate who do not vote their way. they do not have the numbers.

you cannot honestly say the democrats have any influence now. they still need four senators and congress and their party affiliation should get things passed. host: you're talking about joe manchin and kyrsten sinema? do you think u.s. a progressive democrat -- do you think you have mode -- much in common with those members of congress? caller: absolutely not. families that have children have to pay so much money for child care. this plan was phenomenal for them. baby boomers, we are getting old. for us to pay for medical -- i had a friend who was passing away. whatever she saved in her life was spent for her last few weeks of life.

pharmaceutical -- the prices would be negotiated. build back better has lots of things for the people. i wish they would take money for the military and use it for social programs. host: it was joe manchin in an interview on cnn this month that got a lot of attention for how he explained his political outlook as a democrat. this is what he had to say. >> this is not a center left or left country. we are a center-right country. we ought to be able to recognize that. all my friends on the left, progressives or liberals, i always say i am a responsible west virginia democrat. i am fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. i think most people in the middle feel that way. i also empathize with people on the far left and far right.

realize what can and cannot be done. host: joe manchin on cnn earlier this month talking about why he is a democrat. we are asking you this morning, why are you a democrat? why are you a republican? what made you an independent? tell us your political affiliation story. maxine in new york, republican. go ahead. caller: i am a republican because i feel like i want our government to be the same -- i am fiscally responsible and i want our government to be the same. i worked with the young republican party i lived in milwaukee because i owned a business and i felt like the republican party was more business centric than the democratic party. host: where your parents republicans? caller: my parents were

democrats. they were very liberal, but that was not my thinking. host: what did they say about you going to work for the young republicans in milwaukee? caller: they were concerned, particularly my father my because he owns a democratic journal in philadelphia when he was young. he could not understand why i wanted to be a republican. i just expanded to him that the republican party was more in line with the way i wanted to live. host: what did he say to you? why was he a democrat? caller: he wrote a journal during the mccarthy era. he fought for democracy and he just felt the republican party

was -- was not for the people. i try to expand to him that as a business person i am employed people. i employ 35 people. i wanted to speak out for other businesses that were responsible as well. host: thanks from the call from new york. independent russell is here in washington, d.c.. what makes you an independent? >> i am an independent because i was raised democratic and i still tend to vote democratic. my beginning as an independent began in the early 1970's in college. i became a more left-leaning independent because i was fed up

with the major parties, especially the republican party. everything seems to be focused on these conjured poles and things of that nature. you have pundits and political commentators always controlling everyone in one direction or another. i think this country is a center-right country but it does not always have to be that way. this country needs to evolve. host: as a left-leaning independent, have you ever voted for a republican candidate? caller: i have never voted for a republican.

i have supported certain republican politicians on individual issues but never have i voted for them on their policies because the policies they project are very self-supporting. host: robert is in maryland, also on the line for independents. caller: good morning. look, i am a vietnam veteran. what i see taking place in my country just devastates me. i remember reading in romans, and the first chapter of romans, where st. paul wrote about the roman empire proclaiming themselves to be wise. they became fools.

doomed for dam nation. -- damnation. we have had great republican presidents and great democratic presidents. every president -- there are eight presidents in a row that served in world war two. they put country first. every single one of them made this country better. but what i see taking place in my country now devastates me. if we do not get back to being principled, it will destroy this country just like the roman empire thank you. host: rome -- robert in maryland. i chose to be an independent in my voting. you have to be affiliated to vote in primaries.

if it was not for this, the independent group would likely be larger. i have voted for democrats and republicans, though i am more likely to vote for a third party. we showed you that pull earlier that showed an equal number of respondents in the latest poll for those that say they are republicans and democrats. another way of looking at americans' ideological views, here is the pulling on that. when it comes to those who say they are conservative, moderate, or liberal, and the latest polling from this year some 36% say they are conservative. that is their ideological view. 35% say they are moderate. 25% say they are liberal in their views. again, that paul had it split, saying democrat and republican, but there are those numbers. roy, georgia, republican.

go ahead. >> i was a democrat for a long time. during the election when we found hillary was going more liberal and trump was going conservative, i quickly changed. let me tell you one reason why he me tell you a bible story about king saul. god had given a mandate to destroy a whole group. he did not destroy them and allow the king to live. years later, a descendant of the king came back and he tried to destroy all the jews. what i saw in that, donald trump to me was given a mandate to clean washington, d.c. out, to drain the swamp, but later on he had compassion and said he did not want to hurt anyone. now they are coming after him to destroy him, to destroy

everything he touched. there is a story about a profit. -- prophet. host: we have a lot of folks calling in, so we will go to mary. >> i am a democrat from pennsylvania. i am moderate political views but i am not -- for everything going on when it comes to issues between political, republican and democrat, feel congress needs to know we will not be bullied and told we need to choose. we need to come together as one united. if we cannot do that, we do not need to have a congress at all. host: who is doing the bullying? caller: republicans.

host: how so? caller: i feel like they wanted a republican executive instead of a democrat executive to take over in pennsylvania. we want someone who really cares about the american people, who cares about our veterans. you cannot just pick who you want because you feel like that. you need to give us a choice. they made the choice polarized. i feel it is all about the republicans can't not with the democrats want. i feel we should have a vote. host: george is on the line for independents in maryland. what makes you an independent? caller: good morning. i consider myself a john mccain conservative. i cannot believe that our former president got away with what he

did dishonoring john mccain. not only did he do it twice -- once but he did it twice got not only when john mccain was in the senate but when he was in his grave. for him to do it to colin powell was beyond my comp retention. when i watched the attack on the capital -- i'm a vietnam veteran. i cannot think back of when i saw the callers rolling through that -- colors rolling through the capitol building, the marine corps flag and how they were dishonored by breaking windows with those callers, attacking people and police officers with that staff of the callers. -- colors.

it broke my heart, what happened that day. i was proud to serve. a lot of things happened in vietnam and all the wars we are not proud of, but for me i was serving my country. host: what do you think about republicans who still focus on the 2020 election, who still do not believe that joe biden won that election? what do you think of republicans who say that? caller: it is disgraceful. i am proud of mitt romney commit liz cheney, and those that are voting and speaking with their heart and conscience. and not worried about that vote that is going to get them back in office. you vote for what is best for this country and we will survive. we have survived in the past because of that. to vote with the majority that

is coming up with these woke things and crazy things about these crazy theories that people are coming up with is just mind-boggling to me. it gets back to my thoughts about how you could say the things you said about john mccain and march on the capital in defense of that man. host: george and this morning. it was in a recent speech that chris christie had this to say about republicans who are still focused on the 2020 election. >> people say they are supporters of president trump. i started that. let me tell you something else. we can no longer talk about the past and past elections. no matter where you stand on

that issue, no matter where you stand, it is over. every minute that we spend talking about 2020, while we are wasting time doing that, joe biden, kamala harris, and chuck schumer are laying real into this country. we better focus on that and take our eyes off the rearview mirror and start looking through the windshield again. host: chris christie earlier this month on republicans who are still focused on 2020. there has been a lot a focus on the 2021 election and republican gains in the state of new jersey. james cargill was on pbs the day after those off year elections in virginia and new jersey. he had this to say about why democrats were dealt setbacks this month. >> what went wrong?

>> stupid voters. do not just look at virginia and new jersey. look at long island, buffalo, seattle. this defund the police come and take abraham ligon's name off the schools. people see that and it is really -- has a suppressive effect across the country. some of these people need to go to a woke detox center. they are expressing language that people do not use and there is frustration at that. suburbanites in northern virginia and new jersey -- youngkin never ran any ads against biden. what he did is just let the democrats pull the pin and watch the grenade go off. host: democratic strategist james cargill on pbs earlier

this month. taking your phone calls in the first hour of the washington journal, asking you how you chose your party affiliation. tell us your party affiliation story. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. we are also looking for your social media posts and text messages. here are a few. this is from mark in maryland, born in 1960, unaffiliated until 2002. libertarian principles are more consistent across the issue of policy. this is from pennsylvania. i am a republican because i believe in small federal government. the government is not your dad to take care of you. you do that. and new jersey, i'm a democrat. i am seriously considering

voting andrew yang's party that he announced recently. then there is kevin on facebook. i do not understand how anyone could support either of the main parties. you bicker back and forth, yet nothing has changed. do you really think any party is different? they talk a big show to get elected but nothing changes. do away with those parties. stephen indiana, why are you a republican? -- steve in indiana, why are you a republican? caller: republicans care more about people. mccain was a pow, not a war hero. pows are not necessarily war heroes. that guy in vietnam better to keep. -- take heed. caller: i decided to be a

democrat when i was in the first grade. we had it in our spelling book about the two parties and what they stand for. the democratic party meant people rule. i thought i was more democratic and i still go more democratic, although it has been less since these superdelegates came along. i agreed a lot with the first caller. if there was a progressive party, i would vote that. as far as joe manchin, i grew up in west virginia. i lived more than half my life in west virginia and he keeps saying west virginia democrat. to me, that is not what west virginia democrat always meant. when i grew up, west virginia was the most likely state to vote democrat. when you looked at the map over

the years on which state voted which way -- i met three west virginia democratic senators before and they all put me in mind of west virginia democrats. senator byrd, senator rockefeller, they were west virginia democrats. they did not stand with republicans all the time. they stood with the democrats. he does not put me in mind of what i always thought of as a west virginia democrat. i did not vote or president the last two times. i voted for howie hawkins this last time. i voted mainly because of superdelegates. in 2016, i voted for trump. i should have voted for jill stein. because the democrats turned against the people -- they complained about the

republicans, which is true, that they try to keep people from voting. they do try to keep especially black democrats' foes from counting, but the democratic party establishment tried to keep more progressive votes from happening. it is these local organizations where primaries go back to more conservative candidates. they not only support but give money to whoever it seems like the more conservative candidate and then they complain when they stick up for the republican instead democrats. host: you're from ohio. do you think ohio is still a purple state? caller: no. it does not look like it. i am right across the river from west virginia. i grew up over there.

i lived over here the last half of my life. i am really disappointed with senator brown, too. he is supposed to be a progressive and he went along with that superdelegates stuff in 2016. i was waiting for him to run again because i was not going to vote for him again. if they did not run such objectionable people -- the guy we have had here lately has been in the news all the time. the one -- dewine has not been bad for a republican. host: that is drawn in ohio -- john in ohio this morning. asking for your political affiliation story. later today in our 9:00 a.m. our -- hour, we are going to dig

deeper into divisions between the parties and within the parties, pew research with a new poll about political typology. we will be joined by the director put a coal research for that conversation. just an overview on the way they break it down within parties. faith and flag conservatives, populist right, and ambivalent right. these are the categories they have come up with when it comes to the republican party. on the left, there is the outsider left, the democratic mainstays, establishment liberals, and progressive left. in the middle, they think it is a smaller, independent group than some polls show. just 15% of the country identified as stressed sideliners when it comes to political typology. you can join us for that conversation started at 9:15 eastern this morning.

richard is in arizona, independent. caller: good morning. i first voted for president jimmy carter in 1976. i do consider jimmy carter a very moral and decent person. shortly after, i decided that i was going to be independent back when they said five or 10% of the people were independent. i do not want to emphasize too heavily on the word evil, but i get it because some people back then would just -- what was described as voting for the lesser of two evils. i did not want to do that. ever since, i have never voted

-- i voted for rand paul. i voted for ralph nader. the guy in colorado, i can never pronounce his last name. he was strong. some words you cannot always pronounce. guest: -- host: when you say you try to vote for the lesser of two evils , what are the issues that pushes someone in your mind into the more bad category? caller: evil is not the right word. well, i consider myself -- it is easily explained if you say i am

fiscally conservative but socially liberal. as a child, we got brownbag food. we did. society worked to help raise us and a family of six kids. we all turned out good. none of us are in prison and we are still alive. the lesser of two evils is kind of like -- i question them all. i questioned everything. i didn't vote for the -- for the clinton dynasty or the bush dynasty. there is a society that is the ruling class and how much does

their party really neat -- mean to them or are they just -- on the side of the fence and basically they are still looking to achieve the same thing. i do not want nobody telling me how to live. host: do you have a favorite member of congress right now who identifies with what you're talking about here? caller: i watch a lot of news and everything. i do not think i want -- i have loved your show because i get a chance to hear all kinds of people, especially ones that are not politicians but come on and have actually studied things or

have opinions evolve. they have put real thought into things. everybody can like what they like and their parties or dislike what the other party has to offer. it starts to get all the way. when government works best is when they work through the people. there are good people out there. a lot of people first get into government but when it comes to the federal government and everything they all want to do good. it is a tricky business. they have to be campaigning all the time and raising money.

host: that is richard in arizona. back to our line for democrats. christine, what makes you a democrat? caller: i am a democrat because i believe democrats try to improve people's lives. they just would on infrastructure. they want to do the build back better. we want to do voting rights, which my senator does not want to -- i guess the filibuster to help voting rights. i got a letter in the mail that he is trying to get voting rights. i called his office and they say you cannot do away with the filibuster. i am disappointed in him. to me as a democrat, it is all about helping people's lives. that is what they try to do for years. i think they are also more pro-democracy than republicans, who to me are authoritarian.

they do not believe in the constitution to me because what they have done on january 6, they do not seem to care about. you watch fox news. it was not there -- their rioters that cause january 6. for me, democrats try to do for the people. host: do you want someone to try to primary joe manchin? if that person won in the primary, could they win in a general election in west virginia? caller: it would be tough. i do not know if they could win. our governor did that to us. he was always a republican. even though he is not as bad as the other republicans like desantis and the one in texas, i am glad he took covid serious.

host: would you prefer to see joe manchin switch parties and become a republican? caller: i do not think you will ever be a republican from where he is from in farmington, west virginia where i am close by. his family is probably democratic party. i do not see that. i see him switching more because that is all we have is republicans. democrats has helped him more. if we get the infrastructure bill, we will get internet, our roads fixed. there is a lot for west virginia to show what the democratic party does for us instead of saying they are going to take coal away. host: for folks trying to understand politics in west virginia, if we are looking from outside, what should we know about farmington where you are about the history of democrats

and the state of politics to try to understand why you say he will never be a republican because of where he is from? caller: right. it all has to do with coal. all of my town is coal miners. some of them lost their jobs due to the environmental bill. that is what hurt democrats, when hillary said she was going to do away with coal and coal miners, taking their jobs. that hurt democrats. they say they want to take their guns. they never take their guns. they do not understand that it is all about getting stuff to help you. they here we are taking your coal mine, your guns, and that is what they come around with. and your health care. they think democrats are going to take their health care away from them. democrats do not have a good

message. joe manchin could help that, but he is doing the opposite of what a true democrat does. host: this is deborah out of virginia, a republican. why are you a republican? caller: good morning. i am really -- i cannot say i am a true republican. i have voted democratic, but when i was younger the democratic party was more for the people and the working man. to me, it seems as if the democratic party has just split. they are more for power and their selves than they are the people. the people -- they are not to rule over us. they are to do for us.

i vote a lot on values, morals, not so much what they say, campaign. they say a lot of things just to get elected. i vote more on the morals and values. that is why i voted republican this year. as far as the new green deal that the democrats have put forth, you cannot just stop fossil fuels overnight and expect this new green deal thing to work. there is more to it than just the environment. they was not transparent at all with what is in this new bill they are passing. all you hear is childcare. they are not as transparent for

the workingmen to me now as they used to be. host: you say you vote on morals and values but you do not trust what they say on the campaign trail. so how do you determine their morals and values if you do not go off of what they say when they are speaking on the campaign trail? caller: i do but then i look at their record or whatever and see what their real values are. and what their morals are. our country was based on a christian value. that is why they came over and wanted freedom. our country now basically instead of what people want it is what the government wants. that is what i see in the democratic party now. that is one reason i voted republican here in virginia when we had the election.

i go more off of moral values and that kind of thing that i do just because it is democrat or republican. host: you bring up the issue of climate change. former president barack obama at the climate change summit that recently concluded talked about the issue of climate change, saying it is an issue for democrats and republicans. here is what he had to say. >> if we are going to act on the scale required, climate change cannot be seen anywhere in the world as just an opportunity to score political points. for those listening back home in the u.s. commit let me say this. it does not matter if you are a republican or democrat. if your florida house is flooded by rising seas or your crops

fail and the dakotas or your california house is burning down. nature, physics, science do not care about party affiliation. what is true in the united states is true in every nation. we do not just need democrats or the green party or progressives to be working together on this. we need everybody, even if we disagree on other things. host: former president barack obama at that climate change summit earlier this month. taking your phone calls, about 15 minutes left in this segment of the washington journal, asking your party affiliation story. what makes you a democrat, republican, independent? gail, what makes you a democrat?

caller: i graduated from college in 2017 with a master's degree. after i graduated, i had a lot of time on my hands where i wanted to study. i started studying politics. my first time studying politics in my life. i did so much research on the history of the democrats and republicans and what they stand for. what i have learned in the last four years his history shows that are most -- best presidents were democrats. john f. kennedy, lyndon b. johnson, roosevelt, clinton, obama, all our top presidents. because, if you look at history, and this is what the republicans refused to acknowledge, pell grant, medicaid, medicare, social security, peace corps,

minimum wage laws, the program where children can have health insurance, clinton -- obama did the health care. clinton did the you cannot discriminate against people with disabilities on job applications. we are all immigrants. republicans want to dwell on immigration. we need to control our borders, but we also need to realize that immigrants help us pick our strawberries, tomatoes, work in the fields. they do jobs ordinary americans do not want to do. there are good and bad people in all callers, but the way i see it democrats help people. they want to make life better for people. they want to give people the opportunity to say i may have grew up homeless or my mother or father may have been in prison but we are going to give you a chance to make your life better.

that is what democrats stand for. with north carolina being one of the 12 states that did not expand medicaid, we have a democratic governor and then the republicans in congress -- in the house of representatives and senate. they voted -- the republicans voted to get the infrastructure bill. they voted against expanding medicaid. we need more democrats in north carolina. host: on your rankings of best presidents, how do you feel about abraham lincoln? caller: he was ranked very high, but he was not your typical republican that you have today. he does not rank -- they talked about that in the history books. the republican that he was back in his day is not like the republicans we have today. he was great. i think he ranked at number one,

but there was all the other democrats that ranked after him. host: it depends on who's is doing the rankings. c-span after every president leaves office does a historian survey of presidents, asking a group of historians, this time over 100 presidential scholars and historians, to rank the presidents based on various qualities of leadership, 10 different qualities of leadership, with abraham like in coming in first place again as the greatest president of all time. the top 10, abraham lincoln followed by george washington, franklin roosevelt, dwight eisenhower, harry truman, thomas jefferson, ronald reagan, and barack obama. that is the latest survey of presidents with presidential scholars and those who study the presidency.

available at our website if you want to take a look at it. what makes you an independent? are you with us? we will go to tiny, texas. what makes you a republican? caller: what makes me vote republican? i love their values. the democratic party, i was listing to the young woman. lyndon b. johnson, they think he did a great thing. the only reason he signed the civil rights act was he wanted black people to be beholden to the democratic party. he made a statement that they would have them for life as democratic voters. it is still going on. the democratic party don't have

no values. their morals is corrupt. they are a corrupt party from the top to the bottom. host: what is an example of that? caller: every time you have someone want to murder a baby from the beginning of conception until it is born -- the democratic party go for abortion because abortion murders thousands of black navies -- babies a year. they always want to get genocide against the black people. that is their way to do it. anytime you go to planned parenthood giving them money to murder children, that is not good. they are people -- evil. host: what makes you a democrat, gloria? caller: i am glad i came on then

because a preacher of the gospel and lifelong activist would like to answer the young lady who was just on the line. i am obviously pro-life, but you think the lives of our precious pre-born as a poker chip in a dice game -- is wrong. why am i a democrat? are you kidding? a serial adulterer with three baby mamas, stormy daniels, access hollywood, a mouth filthy enough to make a -- plush and an insurrection attempt? what else would i be? have a blessed day. host: nick, sarasota, florida, independent. >> -- caller: i am an independent

because i'm a conservative first. i did appreciate mention and cinema standing up for how the system has been put together from the beginning and i made a country should to them with a note that when you preserve things like the filibuster and stop all this far left stuff -- it is not that i'm against democrats. it is that i want america first policies. i hope anybody out there running for office as an america first candidate wins and we start getting things turned around in the country, especially border security. host: define america first policy. border security is one of them? caller: we do not need 2 million migrants in here. they all want all or nothing.

with democrats in charge, you have people coming in illegally. america first means we do not have vaccine mandates when you are letting 2 million people come in that are not even quarantined or screened. something has to be -- we are the taxpayers. the democrats do not look out for us. the rino's need to go too. the people who voted for this infrastructure bill, why are they on committees? we need to get real republicans and mccarthy is starting to get a horn growing out of his forehead too. host: some democrats are upset with how he voted and said he should just go and be a republican. would you welcome joe manchin in the republican party? caller: i would, but i do not

think it is necessary. everybody needs a place at the table except the commun-crats. i am tired of this far left stuff. we do not need it and we do not need to be paying for it. host: staying in florida, this is ruth. what makes you a republican? caller: my family were all democrats until eisenhower came into office. i think the democrat party is not the party of john f. kennedy anymore. i do not even think john f. kennedy could get elected in the democrat party. my main reason for calling, that lady from north carolina that said she graduated from college and then studied politics, i would point out to her that it was george bush the first come

of the father, who passed the american for disabilities act. that was not passed by democrats. i would also point out that, if it were not for the republicans, the civil rights act would never have been passed. this democrat party now is leaning socialist. i think the people of this country need to wake up. that is all i have to say. host: you said the democratic party is not the party of john f. kennedy anymore. is the republican party the party of dwight eisenhower? caller: not necessarily. dwight eisenhower was for a strong national defense. democrats -- we do not have a strong national defense, we do not have a country, particularly with the rise of china. i think aoc and these far left

democrats, progressives, whatever you want to call them, have taken over the democrat party. host: ruth in florida. following up on dwight eisenhower and that c-span survey of presidential scholars and historians, ranked fifth overall in the latest survey. he was ranked fifth in the 2017 survey, eighth in 2009, and ninth in 2000. again, c-span doing this survey after a president will leave office, our latest one coming out earlier this year. jean in michigan, why are you a democrat? caller: i was raised in a democratic household them about what i looked at as i got older, especially as i became interested at the time of jfk, i

looked at the policies. to me, democrats follow the teachings of jesus and republicans follow what jesus described as the pharisees. they are more interested in themselves than in the people. i feel democrats try to help people. i hear people talk about socialism. that is part of the christian foundation. the followers of the disciples sold their houses and land, brought back the money, and distributed it among the people as they had need. one couple try to hold back and they were struck dead. i feel that we pushed god into

the background. look at the policies going on. things like -- things i have studied in history and policies, republicans put their party first. it was bush one who came up with nafta. that took jobs out of the country. host: this is carol out of oregon. why are you an independent? caller: i am out of oregon, over at the coast. my father was republican and mother was democrats, interesting household. he worked for government law enforcement. mother was working-class. when i went out and started on my own, i did start as

republican and then switch democrat. i realized these parties do not seem to be working well anymore. thousand the reagan years. i went into becoming a libertarian. i thought, that is too far to the other side. i settled on independent, realizing independent seems to be were a real conservative does sit. most independents are somewhat conservative. i think it is both sides that can go. independents believe in giving. they also believe in giving the right way. my choice of independent where i sit, i feel it i sit on the sidelines watching the twins because the history of the democrat and republican party was jefferson's party and it split up like twins having a fight. they have been killing us ever

since arguing between themselves. my view as an independent, you almost get a better view of what is going on with politics. the lady from north carolina has a good point with everything. she pointed out the roles of the two parties. i believe it depends on the timing. like the other caller said, some of these are not the same republican parties as they were in the 1950's and 1960's or even in the early 1900s. host: that is carol out of oregon. time for one more call. thanks for waiting in illinois. why are you a republican? caller: i voted the first time i watched an obama and joe, smoking joe, a sitting

president. then i watched all these people vote to impeach him over a phone call and i watched joe biden on tv say you do not fire the prosecuting attorney. these people are criminals. they cannot do what is right for the people. host: were you a republican before donald trump? caller: i never have voted. i never have voted. i'm 48. i watched what was going on and i feel most of these people do not care about the working individual. the gas prices -- we went from energy independence to now. i am disgusted at what i see these people say and do. kamala harris, someone getting people out of jail for writing -- rioting --

host: are you more of a presidential election year voter? caller: i think they are all caller: i think that they are all criminals. special interest groups -- what are they going to do with the infrastructure? i do not understand where these people come from. they jump in their limos and it is already warmed up and heated. host: is donald trump and ordinary working person? caller: no. he made his money. he made his money. he was america first. i watched kamala harris and joe biden overseas. i am baffled.

i am a simple fellow. something is wrong here. when criminals can get away with what they have done to a sitting president -- these people tried to impeach a sitting president over a phone call. host: that is broader in illinois. stick around. lindsay more to talk about this morning. we will dive into a busy week in washington. we will be joined by a congressional reporter with the hill. carol will join us to discuss the senate's latest report. stick around. we will be right back. ♪ >> on this episode. >> he is a historian, tour guide

and author. his latest book is called the last history of the capital. it is a history of many violent episodes around the capitol building from the founding of the city up until contemporary times. among many accomplishments, he has been a speechwriter for george herbert walker bush and a writer for the tonight show with jay leno. >> this week on the c-span network. both chambers of congress are in session. house speaker nancy pelosi delayed a vote on the bill before the veterans day recess. the delay came at the request of democrats who wanted the office to analyze the bill. live on c-span3, homeland

security secretary within oversight hearing before the judiciary committee. also at 10:00, live on c-span.org, the leading security experts from the white house, homeland security and the fbi will testify on strategies to crackdown on ransomware attack's. building resilience against cyber threats. the confirmation hearing for federal communications chair nominee. if confirmed, she will be the first woman to serve in this capacity. the committee will take on other nominations. 10:30, a virtual meeting of the

house appropriations subcommittee to discuss the u.s.'s role. watch on c-span networks. also head over to c-span.org for scheduling information. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> download c-span's mobile app. from livestream's of the house and key congressional hearings to white house events. even our live program, washington journal, where we hear your voices every day. download the app for free today. washington journal continues. host: each monday on washington

journal, we like to take a look at the week ahead in washington. we are joined by a congressional reporter with the hill. democrats expect to pass $1.75 trillion biden package this week. explain how they intend to do that. guest: they have been fighting over this bill for months. this is crunch time. the fight has been very public. this is what joe biden campaigned on. he is wanting to get it done. these fights have been pretty embarrassing. it has been the house against the senate, congress against the white house. anytime you had that narrative, it can be embarrassing.

it has been a particularly messy one because of the length of it. this week, the house -- nancy pelosi is wanting to bring this to the floor. there is no scheduled date, but the plan is to do it before they leave for the thanksgiving holiday. to do so, they had to get commitment from the moderates, who were holding out last week. moderate democrats said we need to see an official estimate from the budget office, which is typically a routine step on any piece of legislation that comes to the floor. in this case, they were ready to bypass that step. that is important.

anyone provision might cost one thing. that is what they are waiting for from the ceo. moderates committed to voting on a bill this week. if they get additional information, they are giving that information. they seem to be on course to bring it to the floor. at the end of the day, what they want is to move beyond the process. biden's poll numbers are sinking. they want to move on. they want to get it done and start talking about the benefit of the package.

they think that this is the week to do it. host: what is harder for the currents? they cannot lose more than three votes for the senate, where they can news exactly zero votes. guest: i think they are kind of identical at this point. they have had similar concerns. your hearing a lot about joe manchin. in many ways, they have been negotiating on behalf of the moderate in the house. the process has been back and forth. the thinking is that if they can sign on to something, that will be just fine with the moderates in the house. i said that this is the week for the house but that is not exactly true.

there are supposed to be changes made in the senate. it is expected, like paid leave or medicare expansion, like maybe some of the immigration language or climate change language. things like that might get altered in the senate. that means it would ping-pong back to the senate at some point. this is a process that will go well into december. the point is that the margins are slim. it is a heavy lift in both places. if anything can pass through the senate, it will pass the house. host: is this bill still being written, as we? guest: technically, but they are really close. most of the bill -- they have

already had a committee last friday. if there are changes, it will be minor. it would just be technical language that will be important for the implementation of this stuff. the benefits that you have heard of will not change, at least in the house bill. host: has the congressional budget office offered any as to whether they think democrats are close or far off in terms of how much it will cost? guest: good question. the numbers that they have provided already -- nancy pelosi put out a letter on friday and said six committees have been given numbers and they comport very similarly with the numbers that the white house had predicted. the stipulation was if the numbers are similar to the white house, there will be no problem

with us. she said three more committees will be getting numbers today. a lot of those numbers are rolling. they will probably not be done by the time they vote on a bill. the moderates have made their concessions. so far, the numbers deemed to be sticking with the white house. he had said because we want this to be deficit neutral, we are overconfident any and we want the number to be higher in case something goes wrong.

in which case it would still be covered. he is claiming it will reduce the deficit. host: if it does come back different, so what? does it only met a political the terms of individual members? what actually happens if those numbers are off? guest: there is no penalty. congress is good at passing bills. there has been deficit. that could be a political penalty.

it did not matter when trump was in office. they piled trillions of dollars on top of the debt. there is no penalty for that among the voters. what would happen if it comes back extremely differently and what expected? what the moderates have said in their short statement a couple weeks ago is, in which case, we will with nancy pelosi and the committee heads to come up with more language we will make sure that the whole thing is paid for. host: if you want to understand what is going on behind us, there are phone lines for you to call in.

now that we have given you a chance, take a sip of water and we will get to the call. caller: thank you. mike seems like a nice guy and a very important guy in terms of congressional matters. he reminds me of howard field from that the network. a little disheveled, but he knows what he is talking about. i am very interested did -- interested. host: you yourself are going to run? as an independent? caller: not as an independent.

that is not really say anything. i made the party. i was always green, but now i am global green anti-empire. we obviously have to change the nature of the government that we are in. it is not really a representative government at all. it is neither a democratic or republican. host: what is your question? caller: in terms of the capability of running for office , global green anti-empire -- we have an empire, so we should be

anti-empire. the little green is that it is the only party in the world that has parties over 100 countries. it is addressing the greatest problem in the world at this point. unless joe biden goes crazier than he is, he will not start a nuclear war. host: do you want to jump in? guest: i am not a campaign reporter, but i say go for it. what is toulouse? host: charlotte, north carolina.

republican. how are you? caller: mike, you look all right. i was in this. i am very disappointed in joe biden. he ran on raising minimum wage, one of the that i really expected him to do. all of this stuff that they put in the bills -- i feel like it is really sad, how capitalism has done the working class, as far as taking care of his this and making sure things are done time and time again. republican, democrat, none of it seems to trickle down to the working class.

that is just my opinion. host: michael, what do you take from that guest: there are a lot of things in this bill to address those disparities and wage stagnation that we have seen. there is no minimum wage in there. you might remember when the minimum wage test the house, some say he gave the down and it did not go through the senate, even with a democratic majority. that includes an extension of the child tax credit, childcare said and an extension with

benefits under obamacare. worker training -- the list goes on and on. it is an enormous package. they are addressing those things, even as they have failed on minimum wage. host: democrats are expected to pass this inviting package this week. when i think they call a better story. this is sort of the story of what will be happening on capitol hill this week. how often do you speak to the actual legislators? how do you determine the information? guest: that is a great question. my focus is on the house.

they are constantly talking to lawmakers. you are trying to get information from the source. it is a good question. no one wants to be taken for a ride. even those you trust, you trust to verify. you have to fact-check the numbers. in cases where you can't, you had to attribute it to people. it is a good question. a day like today is a good way to do it.

it might be irrelevant in our because of close negotiation. it has all been in flux. host: surely, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. when i would like to say is, i would like to tell democrats that i am so very proud of them. they just have to realize they have to fight on their own and we are depending on them. they have made us so proud, so far, the democrats have. we just need them to go out and talk about what they are doing for the people will.

just tell them what they are doing because i love the democratic party. thank god for them. host: on the pulling and the messaging guest:. -- messaging. guest: it is a very popular provision. the popularity has not translated into a win on capitol hill. knowing that they have slim margins and knowing that popular provisions have not been able to get across the finish line, they are leaning on a gimmick that allows them to sidestep the filibuster in the senate.

they can pass them without a single republican vote and take credit for all of it. a little bit different on the infrastructure part is it. there were a number of votes with 13 republicans voting. afterwards, you can bet that the campaign operatives are going to message like crazy that this was lopsided with no republican support for all of these popular provisions like childcare and a child tax credit. the flipside of that is that republicans will accuse them of being socialist and expanding

all of these federal programs in ways that the country cannot afford. host: step back from this week and talk about the deadlines hanging over, the impact that they could have and the legislative planning. guest: it is the middle of november, so it sounds strange to say that it is tight. there is no time for the senate to do it when the house.

they come back and they are leaning against the government shut down. it is extended short-term or there is something longer-term. on top of that, there is the debt ceiling. mitch mcconnell vowed not to help democrats. if there are no republican votes or very few republican votes, you are looking at a government default. a lot of economists warned that it would be like an armageddon. if you are pushing build back

better, it will be competing with these other huge bills. the house and the senate claim that they will be out of the house, but if you are a betting man, you would not put any money on it. the other piece of this, this is the funding authorization, which is hugely popular and always bipartisan. the senate majority leader is wanting to bring it to the floor. he does not want to occupy this huge chunk of floor time.

he will try. host: anaheim, california. caller: mike, you answered my question earlier. i do not think mcconnell will allow any of his members to talk about that, but do you think the democrats made a mistake by breaking these bills apart?

guest: they were insisting that it come to the floor first before they voted for the infrastructure. until almost midnight on friday. we will take your word that you will vote for the build back better act. just to get the ball rolling. you have to vote for the larger bill. that is where we are right now.

it was funny that the liberals had held out for months and months. we will vote for it with 18 to be a sentence statement. suddenly, the liberals said, we will trust it. that is where we are. it is the thing that we wanted. he has been very concerned. this is congress and anything can happen. there is a lot at stake.

they are in crisis mode and they want to get some victories. so, there is a lot at stake. it sounds like they have all the votes to get it done. it is a good question about separating those bills because there was always this idea that they had to be separated, that they had to be married for one group. moderates -- they said all along this is all about deficit spending, but by agreeing to vote on build back better without a full accounting, they sort of revealed that the deficit spending was not the only thing. they wanted to separate the two bills and claim a partisan win and claim that it is separate from the larger bill that is more partisan and is going to be

used on the campaign trail against them. how much -- host: how much have you been covering the committee? guest: on and off. it is certainly a backdrop of all of these conversations. host: do you think that they will hold mark meadows and contempt, along with others take -- who ignored subpoenas as steve bannon is preparing to appear in court today? this after failing to supply -- comply with a subpoena? guest: yes. the doj was under a lot of criticism from members of both parties. why is merrick garland not pursuing this?

there was a lot of excitement and praise on friday when they announced the steve bannon indictment. bennie thompson put out a statement saying, this is an indication of mark meadows and others who do not want to cooperate with our organization. good -- host: good morning. caller: the defense authorization bill. it is such a mess. they are scattered across the world right now. they had to divert so many carriers.

also with the pacific rate now. the other problem is the use of our national guard. they deployed 500 troops. our national guard is overstretched right now, really bad. response to wildfires and everything. host: mike willis. isn't that one of the bigger bills in congress? guest: it is always popular. the question is not if it will pass, but when. as i mentioned, he is shooting to do that this week. there are a couple controversial

elements to this one. the house democrats and their put a stipulation that women will be required to register for selective service. we do not have a draft, but men come when they turn 18 still have to register with selective service. there are a lot of conservatives who do not like that provision. there are many who think that it will offer amendments to strip that service. schumer will have a lot of control. there are a couple sticking points like that. schumer has expressed a lot of interest. it has been around for almost 20 years. a lot of people on both sides of the aisle think that it is no longer relevant and should be repealed.

there are some controversial elements to it, but for the most part, a lot of it is not controversial. the money goes to districts in every part of the country. it is more than the pentagon even requested. this is free money for districts and lawmakers love to bring home the bacon. the defense bill is an easy way to do it, and it will happen. host: this is claudia from white mills, and sylvania. caller: good morning -- white mills, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i am a republican in a democratic state. i want so much of the politics going on in the news.

they never focus enough on fixed income. they are always talking about people with children. how do they expect seniors to survive in this country? when are they going to start helping to take care of the seniors? host: mike willis, will they focus on those issues or not? guest: they do not go as far as some would have liked. the biggest fight they had was an expansion of medicare. you had a number of liberal democrat who wanted to expand medicare to include vision, hearing and until coverage. joe manchin was opposed to that.

it was paired back. joe biden's framework only included hearing in the house bill that is expected to pass this week only includes hearing. we do not know if it is a red line for joe manchin or if he could be appeased. there is also home care for the elderly. what else? i'm trying to think. there is public housing vouchers. things like that can affect the elderly, but there is hundreds of billions of dollars in there for eldercare, as well as the education benefits that are affecting younger generations. host: houston, texas.

go ahead, sir. caller: i cannot work. trying to live off of what they give us a month, we cannot afford to eat or anything. they talk about how, you make too much. it is stupid. i work two or three jobs and i am trying to pay my taxes. i'm going to sit here and starve. they send our tax dollars to other countries and are not helping the senior citizens in our own country. host: what would be the quickest way to help you? guest: if they could send us a

stimulus check or something to help us pay bills. i have been waiting on stimulus, but they never sent it. it's just to the point that i do not know what is going on. host: he was talking about another stimulus check is something that could help him. is that something that is even being debated or offered? guest: it is not part of this most recent package. there have been two rounds of stimulus in the last year and a half. but that is the last we have heard about the direct stimulus. rodney is voicing concerns that we hear quite often.

there are a ton of bills up on capitol hill that expand social security, to expand medicare, to lower the age of medicare and make the benefits more generous. that is homecare provisions. for the most part, expanding is very controversial because many of get cries of it is socialized medicine or socialized -- that it is too expensive -- you often hear that they are about to go bankrupt, which is not quite the case, but it is a good talking point for fiscal hawks out there. it is a powerful argument on the campaign trail. that is the fight that we have been having since they were created. is it the government's role to take care of the elderly?

if so, to what extent do we do it? it is largely a partisan issue. at times, it has been a bipartisan effort. just not right now. right now you're hearing that the expansion of medicare is government overreach. we have back to the partisanship. host: before we let you get your actual work week expanded, what haven't we talked about that you will be watching for this week in congress? guest: you touched on it briefly. they have already subpoenaed about 85 people, and you ask -- you can expect more, every day. they want to get rolling on that

investigation and they do not want it to be political football come november of year. bennie thompson said he is wanting to wrap it up by early spring. to do so, they have to get cracking. all eyes are on january 6, even as they wait for the build back better vote. there is nothing really on the calendar right now. there are some suspension votes on the calendar. they kind of put those in as lease keepers to get guys into town and vote on noncontroversial things while they wait for something bigger, the build back better act. they will start moving. there are a couple nominations,

but mostly everyone is just in wait and see mode to see what comes of this agenda. in the meantime, everyone is talking about joe biden's pulling numbers. there is a lot at stake here. they want to switch the conversation from process and get onto talking about benefit, which they are hoping to get out the door very quickly. host: mike's work week starts right now. and q for beginning with us. mike, we always appreciate your time. up next and for the next 30 minutes, it is our open forum. any issue that you want to talk about, any political issue, we are letting you lead the conversation.

you can start calling in and we will be right back. ♪ >> you can be part of the national conversation by participating in the video competition. if you are a middle or high school student, we are asking you to create a five to six minute documentary to answer the question, how does it impact your life? using c-span video clips that are easy to find and access as c-span.org, it awards $100,000 in total cash prizes. you have a shot at winning the grand prize. entries must be received before january 20 2022. visit our website.

>> what impact will the texas abortion law have on communities and families? asking both pro-choice and others about it. you can watch full coverage on c-span now. >> this week, both chambers of congress are in session. taking up the social spending plan after nancy pelosi delayed a vote on the bill before the veterans day recess. the delay came at the request of democrats who wanted the office to analyze the bill. live on c-span3, a la horn -- testifying in an oversight hearing before the committee.

the secretary tested positive for covid-19. also at 10:00, live on c-span.org and the video app, the leading security experts from the white house, homeland security and fbi will testify on strategies to crack on ransomware attack's. on wednesday, live on c-span3, a confirmation hearing for federal communications before the commerce committee. she would be the first woman to serve in this capacity. they will take up others. at 10:30 a.m. eastern, a virtual meeting of the subcommittee to discuss the u.s.'s role in vaccine equity. watch this week on the c-span network or watch full coverage

on c-span now. head over to the c-span.org for more information or to stream video on demand at any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. washington journal continues. host: it is time for our open forum. any issue that you want to talk about, now is your time to do it. a reminder, as you are calling in, the build back better act will be the focus of congressional action this week. today, the white house,

president biden will host a signing at the white house for the infrastructure bill, that $1.2 trillion piece of legislation that re-authorizes the current service transportation projects. $110 billion is in that bill for roads, bridges and other projects. $65 billion for broadband internet. another $39 billion for public transit. $17 billion for ports and waterways. that is just some of the money and that bill that becomes law today. with that, it is time to lead the discussion. i know you are waiting in that last segment. sorry we could not get to you. caller: i had to return to work

at 70 years old, just so i could keep my home. i believe that we have a real problem when we have a democratic senator in west virginia, one of the states with the lowest population, being allowed by our democratic party to block such important legislation. there needs to be some adjustments in social security so that we become more equal. most people on social security are well below what other states consider the poverty line, but not every state follows those rules. we are a couple thousand dollars away from getting any extra benefit. it has forced me to return to work. i want to know why the democratic party allows these two senators in the lowest population states to control this bill and the president's

ability to pass this bill. host: d think democrats would be better off if they left the party and became republican? caller: i think joe manchin is a republican, but the man has always shown that he leans towards republican bills. this just shows a because it is absolutely ridiculous that these two states with low populations are able to control what is going on with the democratic party's ability to get this through. host: in woodbridge, virginia. caller: i would like to echo darlene's point. i was on hold for the last segment. i think i have the same sentiment as many others who

have called, not necessarily a democrat, but i did vote for joe biden in this last election and i have been disapproving of his administration's performance. he is giving little to no effort to support this landmark bill himself. he is spending his airtime to promote the provisions, widely popular provisions of the bill back better bill. he has allowed two senators from states that do not hold as much weight in the senate, but nonetheless, to to be of senators to control his party or his landmark agenda. host: what more should joe biden

be doing? what parts of the bill should he be focusing on? what would sell it better? caller: he needs to go out and talk to the people. i do not understand why he is not in west virginia to sell it to them? these are essential provisions to change your life. that is why we put him there. it would change our lives. he needs to not allow the republican party to make americans feel as if they are not hard-working people, to know that it is fair for them to expect childcare when they have to go to work and family leave when they are expecting a new child or somebody is sick. host: this is fred in jessup, maryland.

caller: the last two colors are what is wrong with this country. there are no checks and balances. these politicians are corrupt. they do not know how to spend my tax money. these ladies will look the other way and hand over their money? this man -- there is a saying. i see what is going on. you cannot cover up reality. these are hurting the small people. it is destroying our country. we are letting them do it by looking the other way. god bless the moderate democrats that are left. host: alan, good morning. caller: thank you so much.

i want to associate myself with the comments of the last two women colors. gerrymandering could make it hard or almost impossible for democrats to keep majority next year. what is seldom talked about is the approach taken by stacey abrams in georgia, where she took a historically locked set of we hallow the and changing them to get people in the habit of voting. too many incumbent democrats who are otherwise ok on their policy agendas are not adequately active in telling their constituents -- it is always important to vote. they should not hold their votes hostage.

that is self-destructive. we would never lose the house if we had all eligible voters of all in the democratic party showing up, or even a substantial number of them. it can be as low as 30%. that is a hidden source of power that is not being tapped. they seem to have interest in the turnout among their constituents and do not speak enough about the importance of voting every single year. there is never an excuse to not show up. host: the republicans gained a heavy house and. there is another story on the front page of the new york times that comes back to one of the

provisions in the build back better act. that will be center stage in the house this week. this story, diving into one of those provisions, aging and intensive lobbying effort to remove a nondiscrimination provision from the president's kindergarten and childcare plans. the story notes the provision of that issue is a standard that would mandate that all providers comply with nondiscrimination statuses, religious organizations, whose childcare programs are currently exempt from such laws argue that it would effectively block many of their providers from participating. some groups are pressing,

asserting that it would shut them out of programs, unless they made changes. it could buy federal funds from going to programs to hire a gay employee. it could fail to remove -- just some of those potential pitfalls that could remove them from receiving funding. the groups include leaders of the catholic church and jewish groups as well. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to say that god of the holy bible says he is in charge

of the climate. i tend to believe him. in the last days, which we are in, seasons will all run together. there will be more doubt -- droughts, more famine and more pandemic. host: are you preparing for armageddon? caller: not for a few years yet, but this generation, when he brings the jews -- host: good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. this morning i have heard a lot from your democratic callers. god bless modern democrats.

let me remind your viewers that the democratic convention remove god from the pledge of allegiance. that same god commands us not to murder. your party is one of abortion. but about another commitment? anna your father and mother. he created male and female. nancy pelosi, a democrat, called for neutral terms in congress to be used. no gender. there is sin and immorality in the bible also, which is transgender and gay. do not use the holy word of god to caller: good morning.

this indictment was ready for matt gaetz, why hasn't he been indicted? i've heard the wheels of justest grind slow, had this been an ordinary citizen, he would be in prison by now. why is he continuing to serve as a political leader when he is -- why hasn't he been indicted yet? host: chris is in buffalo, new york. caller: good morning. just a couple of things. i believe -- agree that joe manchin isn't a democrat. there is a group called the blue dog democrats. when republicans vote for something, they vote in lockstep. mitch mcconnell says vote for, it's done. this is nonsense that a senator

can hold this entire thing up. one of the things i spoke with a legal person on is i think there should be the defense department wants their money. that's fine and we give it to them. they spent and lost billions of dollars in military equipment to isis in iraq. that's my money. there is no government money. government money is my money. why don't they pull it out of the budget. you lost $10 billion in military equipment? we have no way of getting any of it back. it makes no sense to me. they talked about so security and you shouldn't increase that. you shouldn't increase money for that, when it comes to helping

people, these men make 174,000 dollars a year, they don't need the money. when it comes to tax breaks for corporations, they have no problem at -- with that. democrats historically whine. they don't vote. they have numbers in places where there would be landslide victories. republicans vote for everything. democrats just complain. you've got to get out there and vote. joe manchin should be expelled from the party. there is some allusions at their in the majority. host: kevin is in california. what do you want to talk about? caller: want to talk -- it's good to talk to you. i want to talk about money. i get in the car. the gas light goes on.

go to the gas station, $65 to fill the tank. i go to costco, $53 for a bag of beef. 30% increase in the past few months on the price of beef. heating prices are going to be so high. are the democrats going to make people afford all of this? if you want to lose voters, take their money. people right now are paying a lot the pump, everywhere they go. host: you want to make a prediction about 2022? it sounds like you are bullish on republicans. caller: i don't know.

it depends on what happens in the next couple months. if you want to hit people in the pocketbook, you are going to lose voters. the american people don't like it when you hit them in the pocketbook. every buddy likes it when the stock market goes up. $65, you don't get three quarters of a tank. how long is that sustainable? host: that is kevin in california. patsy is in massachusetts. good morning morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to make a comment on the school thing you were talking about, about the schools not being equal. i graduated from a 12 year

catholic education in 1965. we lived in the ghetto at the time. it was a great neighborhood. it was 1964 when the catholic church brought in the first black girl to that school. they have been racist forever. as far as -- i'm a great christian. these people who call themselves christians ought to stop the religion with the birth of christ and think about the beatitudes. the 10 commandments are rules that everyone should know by the time they are seven. then go on from there. at confirmation time, you were old enough to get onto the beatitudes. host: this is j in south

carolina. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to implement the fact that what's going on in this country is sad when you have capitalistic ideas that ran from the republican party and the things they do, it is basically the haves versus the have-nots. they run on an agenda when it comes to living right, certain morals. they deceive people. those ideas they come up with when it comes to abortion. i want to say -- when they say they are pro-life, they do the opposite. it's a shame how you can see how everything is laid out.

they based their ideas on control, conquer, divide. they don't live up to things you can discern and see the real truth. host: kathy in tennessee. caller: i am talking about people saying the plan is going to help seniors. they are going to raise the medicare part b 14% next year. host: you don't think -- is there anything in the act that you do like? caller: no. there is all garbage in there. the centers do not talk about what's in it. they need to tell the people. host: the biden administration is sending out officials to the sunday shows four weeks.

they were talking about the build back better act. yesterday, it was the top economic adviser who was on state of the union and was asking about that legislation. >> americans are less interested in predictions and actions and seem concrete action to address these issues. that's what our focus is. a significant majority of americans support the components of the agenda. it is oriented toward the practical cost issues they face. these are things that typical americans are dealing with. these are solutions we can provide. we recognize that. that's why we are focused on moving this bill through congress and getting this

implemented. >> isn't going to pass the house this week? >> we are confident it will. speaker pelosi is going to bring it up and it will pass this week. >> is the tax deduction, is that going to be in the build back better act? some say it could be a tax break. >> there is a fix to that issue. this was an issue that the trump tax cut created huge uncertainty in our tax system by capping that deduction for a couple of years and then letting it go away completely. what the fix in the house bill would do would be provide a higher cap on that issue. that is in the bill. we expect that will be part of the bill that will be considered by the house this week.

host: yesterday on state of union. we've got about five minutes left in the segment. we are letting you lead the discussion. let us know what issues you want to talk about. this is judy in new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i have a thing with social security. i work a 50 hour week. when i signed up, i was not told there was going to be a penalty if you did not take out the prescription plan. now i have been told that i am going to be paying $59 extra plus i have to pay for the plan. i will be paying another to have prescriptions. i don't take drugs. i don't pay any more than $120 a

year for my medication, which is blood pressure and sugar. i don't think that's fair to senior citizens where someone who is on food stamps, all these illegals get their drugs free. i don't think it's fair to penalize a senior citizen because she did not use drugs. host: john is next. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want the republican party and the democratic party to realize that we are in a new age. it is time for us to start to study, to learn and gain knowledge about our religions,

how they were changed. how this is affecting us as humanity. we have common goals. we have common enemies. we need to work together to perfect our universe. host: david in maryland, the last collar in our open forum. caller: three points i wanted to bring up. the build back better worries me because of taxes. there are always hidden taxes. nothing in life is free. we need to stop talking so much about race in this country.

it just divides us. i don't think we should be teaching crt in the schools. when i was raised, you didn't talk about religion. that was for the dinner table. it brings up tension. one more thing, the border is a real problem. we just don't need that many people. we have people coming into this country, who is paying the bill? most countries are not -- a lot are not doing well. what are we supposed to do? they need to look at these things and just find a fix and not just kick it down the road. host: that was our last collar

in the open form. we've got about 45 minutes left in our program. we will be joined by the pew research center director of research carroll doherty. stick around. we will be right back. >> this week on c-span, both chambers of congress are in session. the house will take up the social spending plan after nancy pelosi delayed a vote on the bill before the veterans day recess. it came at the request of some moderate democrats. the homeland security secretary testifies before the judiciary committee. it was postponed after the secretary tested positive for covid-19. live on c-span.org and the

mobile video app, the leading cybersecurity expert from the white house and fbi will testify before the house oversight and reform committee on strategies to crack down on ransomware attacks and build resilience against cyber threats. on wednesday, the confirmation hearing for federal communications commission chair nominee. this is before the senate commerce committee. she would be the first woman to serve in this capacity. they will also take up other appointments. a virtual meeting of the house appropriations subcommittee to discuss the u.s. role in vaccine equity. wants this week on the c-span networks. you can watch our coverage on c-span now, our new video mobile app.

you can stream video live or on any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> c-span offers a variety of podcasts that have something for every listener. washington today gives you the latest from the nation's capital. every week, but notes has interviews with writers about their latest work. the weekly uses audio from our archive to look at how issues of the day developed. we have extensive conversation with historians about their lives and work. many of our television programs are also available as podcasts. you find it on the mobile app. >> washington journal continues. host: a look beyond the usual red versus blue divide in america.

carroll doherty is the director of political research at the p research center. he has helped oversee the work on american political typology. explain for us what typology is. >> guest: it's an unusual study in the sense that we look at the landscape through a different lens, not just through party. we look at values and attitudes. on that basis, we break them down into distinct groups based on those values and attitudes. a new study came out last week. we find nine different groups across the political spectrum for democrats and republicans. it's a different kind of study that shows the diversity of views. host: before we dig into those nine groups, who did you ask

these questions to? guest: we asked more than 10,000 americans a couple of months ago on our trends. we did this statistical process called clustering. your attitudes draw you within a group. they are attitudes on key issues and political values that place you in groups. we did a lot of statistical analysis. that's how we came up with these groups. host: if you have the ability to go online as you are watching, we are going to be talking about different groups in political typology. it is available on pew research.org. let's start on the right. the four different groups,

starting with the faith and flag conservatives. guest: they are consistent conservatives across all issues and very conservative. even more conservative than the average republican. it's not as if there are exceptions. many of them live in rural areas. they all nearly voted for donald trump in 2020. they are highly politically engaged. they pay attention to politics, high voting participation. they are an anchor of the republican party. host: 10% our faith and flag conservatives. 7% or 15% of publican party are committed conservatives.

what are they? guest: they are also very conservative. they -- there are some areas where they might diverge from other groups in the republican coalition. going back to the former president, they voted for donald trump at high rates, almost all of them voted for him in 2020. they are not quite as high on the president in terms of his political future. they are less likely to say they want him to run for another term. there are a few reservations there. they are not quite as conservative hard-core on every issue. host: another large chunk of the

party is the populist right representing 23% of the party. who are they? guest: they are very strong trump supporters. on social issues in particular, especially on immigration, very conservative. they are very anti-immigration. on economic attitudes, they diverge from a lot of republican party positions. they are highly critical of u.s. corporations. a majority say that tax rates on high-end, should be raised. they are in favor of raising taxes on corporations. they are cynical about the fairness of the economic system. in that regard, they are closer to democrats than other republicans. on most issues, they do to the

party line. on economic policy, that's where they are different. host: the ambivalent right, who are they? guest: they are also very interesting. they are the youngest group in the republican coalition. they hold more mixed views, especially they are more supportive of legal abortion, legalizing marijuana than some of the other republican groups. they are not quite as hard-core conservative as some of the other groups. most of them voted for donald trump. this is a group that is mixed politically. this is based on their attitudes. they are a little bit more of a swing group, if there is one in politics today.

they are not going to vote for democrats, some of them, their participation is pretty low. they are not that drawn to politics the way the ideologically oriented groups are. host: let's go to the blue, representing 6% of the general public and 12% of democrats is the progressive left. who are they? guest: they are the bookends. they are liberal on almost every issue. they are very animated about the need for change in the country. more than 60% say -- they favor bigger government and say the social safety net needs to be expanded. they really want to address

racism by rebuilding institutions because they are fundamentally biased. they are the only group in democrats that is majority white and non-hispanic. they hold very highly liberal views across the board. like the faith and flag conservatives on the right, they are very highly engaged. they voted high levels. most of them are very intense. host: about one quarter of the party are establishment liberals. guest: they are -- they are liberal across the board as well. they are less supportive of sweeping change to achieve objectives. they are not quite -- their

views are more tempered in that regard. they are more diverse. they are not quite as liberal as the progressives. host: it's the democratic mainstays that represent 28% of the party. who are they? guest: they are the largest democratic group within the typology. they are more moderate and the other two groups on the left. on an issue like immigration, legal immigration, they are not a supportive of increasing legal immigration. they hold more moderate views on a variety of issues. they are a large group, very strong supporters of joe biden.

during the presidential primary, they were the group that stood out because they have been with him from the beginning. they are the largest group. host: the outsider left representing 16%. guest: they are the youngest group in the entire typology. they are very young. they are very liberal on most issues. unlike -- in striking contrast to the mainstays, they are critical to the party. they are kind of unhappy with the direction of the party. they feel left out for the most part. they voted for joe biden, but

they are not really that attached to the party. in a two-party system, they are not going to vote for republicans. this is where they landed. host: i wish we had nine phone lines to give out. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001. independent voters (202) 748-8002. let us know which of those typologies is closest to your beliefs. we are talking about the pew research center. there is one more group in the typology. you call them the stressed side minors. that is 15% of the country. guest: they are the politically mixed group. they are divided between republicans and democrats. what distinguishes them is their low rates of participation.

you have this independent group. many of them don't. they are the swing vote. they are the kinds of voters that close elections are decided by. often, they set out elections. they don't follow politics that closely. they are financially stressed. this is the group that is kind of interesting. in this polarized environment, they stand out for being mixed politically. they are not that engaged. host: it's ok to bring up gallup. i wonder why the latest political affiliation survey from gallup says it's 26% of the public that says they are republican, 26 democrats, this

big group in the middle 44% identify as independent voters. square that with what is just 15 percent who are really in the middle, though they may not to soup eight. -- participate. guest: the share of self ascribed independence has been growing. our data is very similar to that. this is not all it seems to be. many of those lean to one party or the other. that means they don't want to affiliate. they had a partisan leaning. on most issues, they are going to line up with the democrats or the republicans. the three groups closest to the middle all have very high shares

of independence. with the outsider left, most of them lean to the democratic party. the ambivalent right, mostly to the republican party. they are still independent. they vote with that party. they tend to vote with that party. it's when you dig a little bit deeper that you see they are the most politically mixed. host: are you saying there are republicans who have more in common with some democrats than they do with may be some of the people at the extreme of their own party? guest: absolutely. that's one of the key findings of the survey.

the populist right is very interesting to see how they line up with democrats, they come close to the mainstream democrats on economic policy issues, even as they hold the republican views on immigration and the size of government. host: we've got about a half an hour left in our program. the phone lines are open for you to call. we have several calls for you. karen is in virginia. good morning. caller: you took the words out of my mouth. i consider myself probably more independent, but i think i am centerleft. i have a question about west virginia. i don't understand how you have a base of constituents that say

they are republican, they had a democratic governor -- senator. then, they are one of the poorest states in the country. they live on socialist values. social services, i don't understand how they call themselves republicans but they don't want to be called socialists. they take advantage and live on every socialist program that's out there. we have joe manchin who is all over the place. i am trying to understand that dynamic. guest: people's political attitudes are very complicated and aren't always consistent. west virginia is a state that is in transition, voted strongly for donald trump. it has a democratic senator plena key role in the budget

debate. there are a lot of democrats left in west virginia. west virginia moved from very democratic to very republican over the last generation. they may still have their own party registration. they don't really consider themselves people who have switched. it's a state in transition. in terms of the government programs, it's a question of which ones they choose to make most important in their decisions. it's interesting that senator manchin, he has won election in

west virginia as a moderate democrat when the state does strongly support republican candidates for president. host: this is sean. good morning. caller: i heard you just say that people typically vote on various issues. you put them into these categories. where do you yourself fit into these categories? guest: i have to admit, i use this opportunity to figure out where you fit. the typology quizzes a few questions you answer. this is not a dodge. i have taken the quiz so many times because i want to make sure that if you take it from a certain point of view, you end

up in the right group. i have tested it so often i'm not sure if i've ever really taken it on my own. i will just use that as a dodge. we are nonpartisan at the pew research center. we are not affiliated with either policy. we don't take political positions. i have taken it a number of times. i take it to make sure the groups line up the right way based on their attitudes and values. i've never taken it as an individual. host: what do you think comes from better understanding this? guest: while we always talk about polarization and it's a real fact of american political life, there is a complexity to political views that also exists in this environment.

the landscape is a lot more complicated than people might think looking at these dynamics. host: when it comes to what everybody focuses on it, the next election down the road, which of these nine different groups are the most politically engaged? if you are running for election, who is your base? guest: that's a great question. the most ideological groups on the left and right, are sort of the court groups in each party. we are a long way from the 2022 election. we did this part of the survey.

this is based on several surveys. we did that about congressional midterms. already, very high engagement, especially among those ideologically oriented groups. they think it really matters what group controls congress pray to those groups in the middle or less likely to say that. the question is, especially in the general election, do these middle groups, do they turn out to vote? that's going to be the test for both parties. host: cindy is a republican. good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. i often use pew research when i'm looking up subject.

i didn't want to ask, when you classified under republicans, when you say we are anti-immigration, are you asking about illegal immigration with caravans coming across and people being coached on asylum? are you talking about legal immigration. i don't feel any republicans are against. guest: a lot of republicans are against increasing the rate of legal immigration. many would like to reduce the amount of legal immigration. you are right to make the distinction between views on illegal immigration and the border. we do see very big differences between the coalitions and sometimes within then about the rate of legal immigration.

the populist right stands out for being highly skeptical of legal immigration. host: in florida, good morning. caller: -- host: to david in maryland. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. i have a quick question. i have a question related to extremism and violence. the fbi published there is growing concern about extremism on both sides. i consider myself a moderate democrat. can you go into detail and target one of your groups or maybe two of the groups on both sides, which is most extreme according to the fbi? thank you for bringing this topic.

guest: it's very difficult to ask about political violence. it's a fraught subject. it's a difficult question to answer. we don't see a lot of support for political violence among any of these groups. a small share says it could be justified in some way. you will see some surveys that show large percentages. it's a very difficult question to ask about. it is something that has to be careful about. host: you mentioned the survey viewers can go to. you can find your own political typology, where you fit in this chart.

take it as you will, she asks what am i? i am physically conservative. guest: you might be in one of those three groups. you might land in one of those three groups. it would be interesting to see where you do land. it's a combination of views the places you would one of these groups. take the quiz and see where you end up. host: the faith and flag conservatives comedy committed conservatives. in the middle is the 15% that are the stressed side liners. on the left, the outsider left, the democratic mainstays, establishment liberals, the progressive left. there are nine political types

the pew research center has come up with. have there always been nine? guest: we do it new each time. we have done it since 1987, if you can believe it. we started this in 1987. it's been around for a long time. it's had the same basic structure. we have changed the questions over the years. we have change the method for, and with the groups. the number of groups varies and the types of groups. it reflects the current landscape and politics. it's new each time. host: this is annie in brooklyn. caller: thank you for c-span. i have a question. texas and florida and the

midwest, state centers controlling oil prizes, especially right before the holidays, can you talk to the fact that corporations are focused mostly on keeping americans in a certain class to vote for them? can you discuss how they control and focus on the tax liability? it's time to focus on corporations being more responsible. can you talk to that? guest: this is an area that divides democrats and some republicans. you see the groups on the typology same the economic system is really not fair to most americans. you find one republican group that says that as well.

it's not completely partisan. it's a viewpoint out there. people are critical of corporations. we have seen republicans become more critical of corporations over the last couple of years. it is certainly an issue out there. mostly, most of the criticism is clearly among the left and democrats. they are the groups that for the most part want to raise tax rates on corporations. host: a question from twitter. what does politically engaged actually mean it? does that denote interest as well as the acquiring of accurate information? guest: that's a good question. it's both participation in politics, meaning voting, and

whether you follow it. how often do you pay attention? it's just a general measure of your interest in politics. host: we've got just about 15 minutes. the phone lines again, (202) 748-8000 democrats. (202) 748-8001, republicans. independent voters, (202) 748-8002. pew research is where you can go to get the report that came out last week. carroll doherty is joining us this morning, taking your phone calls. this is dan in massachusetts. good morning. caller: thank you for having me on. i am really curious about the segment of voter -- voters that

actually got joe biden into office. that would be the unverified absentee vote. wouldn't it be interesting to find out where all of these unverified absentee votes came from and what their political persuasion was. this last cycle of presidential election, we saw an overwhelmingly number of voters come in unseen before. joe biden goat the most votes ever in the history of the united states for a president. trump was right there with him. we had an overwhelming flood of unverified absentee voters. i would wager a very large amount of money that nearly 100%

of those absentee unverified voters went one direction. host: new voters, first-time voters. what accounted for the people who voted for on both sides. guest: we had a large share of voters who voted absentee or not in person on election day. those votes, they tended to vote democratic. the people that showed up on election day tended to vote republican. the early vote favored donald trump. when the absentee vote was

counted, biden one by a significant margin in the popular vote across the country. this is still an issue. you have two thirds of republicans who say donald trump without real evidence is the president. this is not an issue that's going to go away anytime. host: to jean in north carolina. caller: good morning. my question, i'm interested in the nine categories. was there any kind of emphasis put on intelligent and informed voters? where an informed voter might get their information? like social media.

i voted for the first time in 1971. i voted democrat until the most recent. that's because i see a lot of propaganda information being spread on news platforms, on social media. if i don't do a lot of extra work, i could become a misinformed voter. that's what i have to say. guest: there is a lot of concern out there about the information environment. what's happened is we've become more polarized in our news. we didn't do a lot of analysis. the republican coalition relies more on fox news, democrats more

have a varied media diet. we didn't go deeply into that. this is something we study institutionally. where people get their news. it's not a major part of this. host: what about lifestyle differences between different categories? guest: there is some interesting, there were so many questions to ask. one area of agreement we found, you forget there is agreement on certain things. we asked a question about what is important to you personally, not in terms of politics or lifestyle interests.

what we found across the board, people value time with their family. as we head into the holiday season, there is one point of agreement. people do value family time. that is true of democratic groups and republican groups. host: one of the places you saw the biggest difference was on practicing religious faith. guest: that's not a new phenomenon. we do a lot of research. the number of americans who are affiliated with religion has gone down over the years. there is a pretty big dividing line between democrats and republican groups. especially when you've got a group that want -- are highly

religious people. they want to see religion in government value supporting religion. they stand out for that. there is not much agreement on the other republican groups in the typology. host: we have time for a couple of more calls. this is grover in missouri. good morning. caller: good morning. my question is do you ever look at -- you are going to call it the metropolitan areas. i am talking about rural america. something that has gone on in

the last 50 years, it is never been a benefit to the lower working class people in the flyover states. where do you go on this? right now, what's going on particularly. where are you doing anything except penalizing anybody who lives outside the cities? guest: we find the real divide there in terms of those court republican groups, higher percentages living in rural areas.

this is such a rich and varied country in terms of where people live. it's very hard statistically to get a sense of that. you do see these republican groups likely live in rural areas. democratic groups more likely live in the urban areas. based on that category, most americans live in some sort of suburb. host: i have the chart for our viewers, the republican oriented typology groups are more likely to prefer communities with larger houses and more widely spaced. you can see the faith and flag conservatives there as the percentage of live in more rural areas and say they prefer to live in a place further from

stores or restaurants. we have time for one or two more calls. this is larry in michigan. good morning. caller: -- host: let's try one more time to see if we can get you. caller: the infrastructure, the bridges and roads, the money does not add up. where's the rest of that money going? host: larry, we are covering the signing of the infrastructure bill into law today. you can watch that at 3:00. do you want to talk about political typology and infrastructure? guest: we have asked a few

questions about it. it's a very partisan issue. in general, the republican groups -- there are some key differences. that is something that spans those republican groups, this belief that government should do less. host: stanton, virginia. go ahead. caller: my question is as independent groups have grown larger, do you see any chance at all for a third party? would that be affected by term limits for congress? guest: that's a good question. we don't see much of a coherent

third-party. you never know with third parties in the united states. we sell ross perot in 1992. that seemed more like a one off. there wasn't a real third-party that came out of that. you look at the three groups in the middle, they are so different in their political views. it's hard to see how you could form a coherent third-party out of those groups. i'm not saying it's impossible. anything can happen. based on this analysis, it looks challenging. host: the report, you can find it at pew research.org. carroll doherty, the director for political research, we always appreciate you having you on. guest: take the quiz.

host: it's available right there. that is going to do it for our program this morning. we will be back here tomorrow morning. it is 7:00 eastern, 4:00 pacific. in the meantime, have a great day. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including charter communications. >> broadbent is a force for empowerment and that's why charter has invested billions, building infrastructure come up reading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small.

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