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representative james comer, the top republican on the oversight and reform committee, and illinois democratic representative, brad schneider. join the conversation by phone or send us a comment with xmas, facebook, or twitter. ♪ host: good morning. it is thursday, november 18, 20 21. the senate and house are in at 10:00 a.m. to begin debates on the build back better act. we begin on yesterday's house about to censure arizona republican congressman paul gosar for posting of violent video on a social media account targeting alexandria ocasio-cortez and president biden. it was the first time a sitting house number has been censored in more than 10 years. it brings up a question about stability and congress.

as you watch the debates and political battles in washington, is stability important to you? phone lines are by political party. democrats, (202)-748-8000. republicans, (202)-748-8001. independents, (202)-748-8002. you can also send us a text. that number, (202)-748-8003. if you do, include your name, and where you are from. otherwise, on twitter, @cspanwj and on facebook, facebook.com/c-span. very good thursday morning to you. you can go ahead and start calling in now. kerry said line from the christian science monitor from yesterday. paul gosar censured and the further decline of civility in congress. that story talking about the fallout since paul gosar posted that enemy-style video to a social media account, depicting a sword fighting paul gosar battling what appears to be alexandria ocasio-cortez,

killing her in that video, and then swinging his swords at president biden. that is the video that was posted last week in question, and that led to yesterday's floor action in the house. this is congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez, from yesterday. [video clip] >> this is not about me. this is not about representative gosar, but this is about what we are willing to accept. not just from a leader, but i have seen other members of this party advanced argument, including a percentage of gosar himself, the illusion that this is just -- including representative gosar himself, that the illusion that this is just a joke and what we say and what we do does not matter as long as we claim a lack of meaning. this nihilism runs deep, and it

conveys and betrays a certain contempt to the meaning and importance of our work here that what we do, so long as we claim it is a joke, does not matter. that what we say here does not matter. that our actions every day as elected leaders in the united states of america does not matter. that this chamber and what happens in it does not matter. and i am here to rise to say that it does. our work here matters. our example matters. there is meaning in our service, and as leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions against our colleagues, that trickles down

into violence in this country. [end video clip] host: alexandria ocasio-cortez with her remarks before that censure vote yesterday, and paul gosar also took to the floor of the house and spoke before the vote that took place. the vote that eventually passed along party lines, generally, 223-207. two republicans joining the vote to censure paul gosar. those were congressman adam kinzinger of illinois and congresswoman liz cheney of wyoming. this is paul gosar during that debate yesterday. [video clip] >> i would like today to address and reject the mischaracterization, accusations for many in this body that the cartoon for my office is dangerous or threatening. it was not. i reject the false narrative categorically. i do not espouse violence toward anyone. i never have.

it was not my purpose to make anyone upset. i voluntarily took the cartoon down, not because it was itself a threat, but because some thought it was, out of compassion for those who generally felt offense, i self-centered. -- i self-centered. last week, my staff posted a battle depicting amnesty for tens of millions of illegal enemies. this speaks to young voters who are too often overlooked. even twitter did not remove the cartoon, noting it was in the public interest for it to remain. the cartoon directly contributes to the understanding and discussion of the real-life battle resulting from this administration's open border policies. this body is considering passage of mr. biden's marxist $4.9 trillion spending bill that provides $100 billion for amnesty to tens of millions of illegal aliens already in this

country. this is what the left does not want the american people to know. our country is suffering from a plague of illegal immigration's. i will not stop pointing this out. illegal aliens, drugs, and human traffickers are moving around our country and the dead of night, all condoned by this administration. for this cartoon, some in congress suggest they should be punished. i have said decisively, there is no threat in the cartoon, other than the threat to the immigration that it poses to our country. [end video clip] host: after the vote in the house, paul gosar became the first member to be censured in over a decade on the house floor. also, stripped of his committee assignments. of note, the last member to be censured on the house floor, democrat charlie ringel of new york, back in 2009. we are asking about civility and

congress. how important is it to you i made the political battles waged on the floor -- is it to you amidst political battles waged on the floor? how important is civility to you? duke in maine, independent. caller: yes, civility is very important. for that gosar to say that what he posted should not be taken as a direct, if i was to have posted something like that against trump or biden or anybody, the feds would be here putting handcuffs on me and dragging me off. whenever something like that is posted on facebook or the internet in any way, say like if they threaten a school, if a person threatens to shoot up a school or something, they would take that serious and go after that person. why is this gosar any different? thank god he is censured.

i hope this sends a message to these people that you just do not conduct yourself that way. bring some civility and morality back into politics, which they are very much lacking. host: duke, when was the last time there was civility and morality in politics? when was it not lacking? caller: i don't know if there really was, but people kept things to themselves. they did not go out and say a whole bunch of stuff out in public like that. we all have lots that go through our minds from time to time that we get disgusted about things or something, but you keep your thoughts to yourself and you just do not act on them. it is human nature to feel that way from time to time, but, i mean, you just do not -- you just don't openly and publicly traded. everybody sees this. to me, it is not right, and you better take it seriously because we have been told to take all other threats we see seriously,

if you see it, let the authorities know, and the authorities take care of it. when these guys do what they do, like this gosar, nope. i slap on the hand and that is it -- a slap on the head and that is it. host: jason out of maryland, republican. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. how are you? host: doing well, your thoughts on civility in washington. is there any? caller: well, civility in washington, d.c., it is two parties split down the middle, so you are always going to have an issue with civility. in today's age, you have social media, which exacerbates it to the fullest. as far as the little girl from new york city who is scared of a cartoon, right? and let's just make this clear, alexandria ocasio-cortez has not yet once debated anybody on any policies at all. if you want to talk about

civility, let's talk about the racist, xenophobic titles being thrown at republicans by democrats since the beginning of time. and before you hang up on me, i want to make this point clear. having multiple lines, democrat, republican, independent is actually dividing the country because when biden has a 30% approval rating, how in the hell can five phone calls in supportive biden be taken in a row. that does not happen. you guys are fudging numbers. this is a way for you to screen calls. all these independents, there are no independents in congress or running. if you are calling in on the independent line, you are either a democrat too embarrassed to admit it, or you're a republican too scared to admit it. get your big boy pants on. this is congress. host: how would you split the

lines? what is the best way to facilitate this town hall we try to do every single day? caller: have one phone call, give them 60-seconds, and that is that because it does not reflect the approval ratings for joe biden and the dirty percentile. that means out of 10 calls, there should be three people in favor of his policy. it does not work like that on your channel. i have heard people calling on the republican line, and you announce them as the independent line, and they correct to live on-air. that is a way to screen phone calls, and that is segregating america. host: you think we should calibrate the number of callers by the latest polls? caller: no, i think you should take every phone call that comes in. it should all be on one number. it should all be on one number, and everybody should get the same 30-seconds or a minute or whatever to speak.

and if you really want to have a real debate, why don't you get alexandria ocasio-cortez to come on your show and take questions from the public? who she is supposed to represent. host: we have invited her to come on, and we will do it again in the future. we try to host this town hall every day and try to get as many callers, usually about 60 day, 306 to five days a year, and it is your chance to talk to washington. that is what we are trying to do. michael, wisconsin, democrat. caller: good morning, america. it seems to me that civility is a prerequisite of communication, we don't have a lot of communication going on in washington right now. it seems to me it is unbelievably one-sided. the latest event of censure is a perfect example of that. it seems to me in terms of civility, the republicans have demonstrated a lack of it by building an insurrection on

january 6 and trying to run and hide from it and saying nothing. we as americans saw what happened on january 6. it is trying to be investigated. republicans have put up roadblocks in every way, shape and form that they can. same thing with the investigation of trump. what is it that these republicans who do have a problem with? it goes on and on and on. it seems to me that modern republicanism as it exists today is a complicated form of a mental disorder. i will leave it right there. host: on the issue of january 6, some news yesterday on the prosecutions resulting from the riot at the capitol on january 6. jacob chansley, the qanon shaman, self-described, wearing a viking hat with fur and horns, sentenced to more than three years in prison by a federal

judge who he says he believed he showed genuine remorse, but his actions at the capital were too horrific to prescribe a lesser punishment. it was argued on wednesday that mr. translate's -- mr. jacob translate's chants reflected an effort to stop president biden's win. when it comes to the number of cases from january 6 that are in the pipeline here, when it comes to the court system, as of yesterday, more than 120 people had pleaded guilty to about 130 charges related to the riot at the capitol. there are 530 others facing more than 2500 other charges. of those 2500, 883 are felony charges with the majority of those being insulting or threatening and obstructing police and obstructing an

official proceeding or witness tampering. those are the two main charges when it comes to the felony charges. nearly 2000 misdemeanor charges, as well. back to your phone calls, this is scott in kansas, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my phone call. am i on the air? host: you are. caller: great. i think civility is really needed. it is terrible that they don't understand anger is a better motivator than just being nice and peaceful. you see it more and more. i am in my 60's. further one caller that complained about -- four the one caller that complained about not calling on the right line, i took a pew report or survey, and i found out that i'm really in the middle, but eileen left.

i do -- but i lean left. i do recall the republicans, the terrible comedian who had a picture of the former president's head, and they got her off the air, and they made all kinds of terrible -- it was justifiable because that was a horrible picture, but here this guy is about the same thing, and they are saying, it is ok. my last point is i think civility has gone downhill since the elimination of the fairness doctrine and the rise of hate radio on the right. rush limbaugh has said things on the radio that just infuriated me, which was uncivil. i think that we have been building and building and building. i am not really sure how politicians want to motivate their bases if they know that anger is the strongest one, and they need to get away from that. host: before you go, you took

that political typology surgery from pew research that we talked about on monday? caller: yes, i did. i thought it was really good. it was a little tight on the questions, but it put me as a left-leaning conservative, but i am more on the blue than i am on the red. but i am not on the extreme, that is why i think a lot of people would say that the election was stolen. i do not think that all. i think people in the middle got tired of the rhetoric of the former president, and that is how they voted. host: that was scott in kansas. pewresearch.org is where you go to take that survey, breaking up the typical red and blue in this country. it is a 15-question quiz. we talked about it on monday's

program if you want to go back and watch that segment. david is next out of massachusetts, a republican. good morning. caller: good morning morning, sir. thank you for taking my call. good morning to america. this civility issue is very important. to me, the last shreds of it were murdered by the democratic party over four years with president trump so that the democrats are reaping what they unleashed. host: david, on the floor of the house yesterday, it was house minority leader kevin mccarthy who said that democrats have demonstrated their lack of civility and pointed back to events during the trump demonstration. here's the minority leader from yesterday. [video clip] >> item speaker, when a chairwoman flew to minneapolis

and told an angry crowd during the trial to stay on the streets, get more active! get more confrontational! we have got to make sure they know we mean business! that high standard, the democrats refused to take action. the trial judge actually singled her out on her comments on an ongoing basis, which she said could become an issue on appeal. but this was not the first time, no. bases three times. at a rally -- this was three times. at a rally in los angeles, the same chairwoman told them off, she said if you see anyone from that cabinet in a restaurant, at a gasoline station, department store, you get out and you create a crowd, a new pushback -- a new pushback, and you tell them that they are not welcome anymore, anywhere. she later defended that comment

in another speech in l.a., saying the same chairwoman with the high standards, i did not threaten trump, constituents, and supporters. i do that all the time. but i did not do that time. this side of the aisle did not ask that chairwoman to loser committee. we simply asked for an apology -- to lose her committee. we simply asked for an apology. meanwhile, that high standard with speaker pelosi defended her when asked about her minneapolis comments. leader hoyer described her as passionate, she believes in her issues. she believes she she get in faces. and speaker pelosi, what did she do with that high standard? she compared her comments minneapolis to dr. king's civil rights movement. you see? why would they do that? rules for thee but not for me.

[end video clip] host: house minority leader kevin mccarthy yesterday talking about maxine waters from california. speaker pelosi also took the floor yesterday amid the debate over the paul gosar center. this is the speaker from yesterday. [video clip] >> disguising death threats against a member of congress and a president of the united states in an animated video does not make those death threats any less real or less serious. conveying them this way make some intentionally more dangerous by normalizing violence. it is not funny. yes, you have a right to speak, and so do we have a right to react to what you are saying when you are threatening the lives of members of congress on the president of the united states. it is sad that this entire house must take this step because of the refusal of the leadership of the other party.

indeed, it took nine days for the minority leader to publicly speak out, and when he did, he merely said it was not the intent to harm anyone. really? and many other members on the other cited the aisle refused to strongly condemn these actions. one member of leadership said, unfortunately in this world are in right now, we all get death threats, no matter what the issue is. death threats from our colleagues? death threats for members of congress? we all get death threats. members think it is ok to use their platforms directly to encourage more death threats against their own colleagues? the resolution of the for today is about accountability, integrity in this house, and it will serve as a reminder to this congress i do this country that houses committed to upholding the highest standards of the coram and all that we do -- the coram and all d that we do

-- decorum and all that we do, in a manner that will reflect critically on the house. cash credibly on the house. [end video clip] host: speaker pelosi yesterday before the vote of censure for paul gosar. the first time a member has been censured formally in the house and over 10 years. back to your phone calls and text messages and comments on social media, as well. here is a few of those before we get to the calls. the media has learned to get more page clicks by not being civil. fax a become less of a necessity. congress has been attacking the president for decades, rather than making the country better. this from the libertonian, saying, yes and no. i don't think there is a reason to be civil to people who want to strip you and beings of the r

ides reduce citizenship or eight fascists we are trying to end republicanism in the united states in favor of victoria to some. -- in favor of authoritarianism. back in the 1990's, it has gotten worse as a gop support for the right wing fringe groups floated when obama was elected. just a few new comments from social media. as we have the conversation, is civility in washington important to you? this is paul, independent in just become a virginia. caller: good morning -- independent in chesapeake, virginia. caller: good morning. people have forgotten that for 40 years prior to that, the democrats had control of both houses of congress. this goes to the question you had yesterday, with bipartisanship, how important is

that? well, a lot of things would never have gotten done if there was not bipartisanship, such as, and may i remind people, such as civil rights acts under lbj. i am an independent. i have voted for individuals and all three parties. i have voted democrat. republican. libertarian. i have voted based on common sense, not radical ideas. as one gentleman put it, i believe it was your first caller in maine, just because you think it does not mean you have to say it. with the advent of social media, just because you think it, is you have to tweet it or facebook

it, or whatever your social media platform is. so, yes, civility is important because we all know that when -- well, as one man put it, you know, there is one thing that will keep men in everlasting ignorance, and that is contempt prior to investigation, and that is what happens. to me, that is what is happening now. host: that was paul in virginia. this is george, louisville, kentucky, democrat. caller: ok, yes. there are a few things i would love to get out. i realize i will have to truncate things. [indiscernible] there were images on the internet, i do not know if they were political ads, but they show through the lens of a rifle

scope. and it says lock and load. host: iu is targeting districts in the election -- i think it was targeting districts in the election, if i recall. is that what you are referring to? caller: yeah, when you give that imagery, it evokes these kind of responses, but when you look at ronald reagan quotes a lot of his mccarthyism and his disdain for commonwealth functions in favor of private sector functions becoming empower with the belief that anything other would turn us into some socialist, totalitarian state had. that is what he truly believed. he was unable to really resonate that view on the surface.

he cloaked in patriotic rhetoric. when newt gingrich came into power, he changed. he moved from people becoming political opponents to political enemies and talked like people were enemies of the state. and then fox news arrived, and the other cousin to them, newsmax, all of them, and they are just feeding everybody every day all this mccarthyism that will become socialists, communists, carrying on, and you beat this and heads long enough, you get people stirred up with a toxic elixir of enthusiasm and rage and give them the targets. it must be those liberal people everyday out there, and all of a sudden people of targets on their back. host: this is dug out of florida. republican -- this is doug out of florida.

republican. go ahead. caller: yes. i think it is bad on both sides. like the other day i was watching c-span, and obama was telling that cop-26 to fight and stay angry -- telling at cop-26 to fight and stay angry. i get is that on both sides. host: robert, lynchburg, virginia. independent. caller: good morning. good morning, america. i am an independent. i voted republican. i voted democrat. i voted for reagan, nixon. what we have to do, john, i think is add civility by toning down the rhetoric on both sides. but the republicans, you know what happens, i am looking at trump, and what happened, he

started all of this stuff. you cannot trust nobody. you have got to be angry at everybody. and what i would like to also say is you need to read chapter six, verse 16, if you vote for republicans, you will have a problem when you get to heaven, my friends, all of you. host: our last caller in this first segment of "washington journal," but stick around, plenty more to talk about. today we will be joined by two house members of the debate of the build back better act. first, republican james comer of kentucky, the top republican on the oversight and reform committee. later, democratic august when red schneider of illinois, a member of the ways and means committee. stick around. we will be right back. ♪ >> booktv every sunday on

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continues. host: kentucky republican congressman james comer joins us, the type republican on the house oversight and reform committee. your committee lost a republican member yesterday when paul gosar was censured and stripped of his committee post. first, your reaction to that vote yesterday on the house floor. guest: with all the problems we have in america, i am not surprised that the democrats spent a whole day on the house floor sensory a member of congress -- censuring a member of congress proposing a cartoon on twitter. it seems like there is a lot of hypocrisy that goes on, speaking of the oversight committee, cori bush is a democrat all the oversight committee. she has had so many controversial things on the committee, but we have never suggested they remove her from the committee because that is not the way the system works. the democrats pick their own

members. the republicans pick our own members. that is the way it has always been up until this year. i think yesterday was more of a show because the democrats are wanting a new story to be about something besides their dysfunction in trying to get the build back better past. that is my opinion. i do not condone violence. i thought it was a stupid thing to put on twitter, but if anyone actually saw the video before it was taken down, it was really hyped up by the other side. it is an unfortunate situation. again, this is the fourth member of the republican party the democrats have removed from a committee in the last 11 months. host: today on the house floor, democrats looking to spend a whole day today and perhaps tomorrow trying to pastor build back better act. the argument this week some have made is that passing this

legislation is the best way to deal with inflation in this country. i wonder about your thoughts on that argument. guest: don't know how anyone can say that with a straight face. if we have inflation and you are talking about printing $4 trillion more to drop into the economy, that is only going to devalue the dollar more and create more inflation. if you look at that the structure bill, i voted against it, historically, any there has been a movement to congress to pass and if the structure bill, it was at a time when the economy was sluggish, and it was billed not only as an infrastructure bill but a jobs creation bill. what we have in today's environment is inflation and a labor shortage. it was not the best time in the history of america to do an infrastructure bill because we are not going to utilize of the structure. not only did it not have a lot of infrastructure, you will not get a lot for your dollar because the cost of raw materials has included so much.

we have such a labor shortage, the wages on those road projects and bridge projects, what few there are, are going to be excessive. i do not think it is the right time to be spending unnecessarily in washington. we need to focus on getting inflation under control, and the build back better should shift the inpatient cycle into a higher gear. host: you mentioned your no vote on the infrastructure bill. 13 house colleagues voted yes. it was 19 in the senate. do you expect any of your republican colleagues to help the democrats move the build back better act this time around? guest: i don't think so. it is hard to argue that any of the spending is necessary. everybody once infrastructure. if you support infrastructure, they're going to say, yes, we all travel on roads with

potholes, there are bottlenecks, we need broadband desperately in rural areas, but when you look at the bill, i don't think it was great for the american taxpayer. everyone is going to say, well, there is money that came to my district, but if you get $1 billion on a $1.2 trillion bill, you have to ask yourself, was that a real good deal for the american taxpayer? in my opinion, the answer is no. host: before we leave that were structure, -- leave the infrastructure bill, one voted for the infrastructure bill in the senate from the bluegrass state. did you have a chance to talk to him about the bill? last week he called it a godsend for kentucky. guest: i have, twice. we were together to celebrate a new grant project from the trump administration, along with our governor in paducah. he and i sat in his vehicle and chatted about the infrastructure

bill for a while. we had a cordial conversation. we agreed to disagree, and then lineup monday, dachshund and flying up monday, he and i sat beside each other -- and flying up monday, he and i sat beside each other. we talked about it a little more than. i certainly respect his opinion. i don't think it was a good deal for the taxpayers. my passion is to reduce waste fraud, abuse and mismanagement in federal government. i look around and that is all i see, waste fraud, abuse, mismanagement, unnecessary spending, out-of-control deficits, and out of control inflation. i don't think the response to out-of-print control inflation -- out-of-control inflation is spending millions more. host: if you want to join this conversation with james comer, a republican from kentucky, the top member on the oversight reform committee, you can join

the conversation by calling and on phone lines. democrats, (202)-748-8000. republicans, (202)-748-8001. independents, (202)-748-8002. we have got him until the top of the hour, so go ahead and start dialing in now. congressman, a lot of expectation for the midterm election that republicans will take the house in 2022. if that happens and you get the gaveled of the oversights in reform committee, you talk about your looking around, and all you see is a waste fraud and abuse. what is your agenda? would you start in addressing that as the chairman of the committee? guest: first of all, we are going up finally provide oversight for the biden administration, not in a hyper-partisan way, but at the end of the day, when donald trump was president, the democrats control the gaveled in the house oversight committee, every week, at least once, the

cabinet secretary or one member of the trump initiation was confirmed by the senate was having to testify. now in 11 months of the biden administration, this week, they had their second biden appointee come before the committee. we have a lot of questions about the origination of covid. we have a lot of questions about the debacle in afghanistan. we have a lot of questions. those are some of the things we're going to be investigating and providing oversight. also, we had a republican roundtable hearing yesterday about pharmacy benefits. it adds in my opinion a lot of extra unnecessary cost to the consumer for prescription drugs.

we pay a higher percentage of our income for prescription drugs and any other country in the world. we had a testimony on this, and i think there are major reforms that can be done when you are talking about prescription drug costs within the pbm system that can save consumers a lot of money. these are some of the hearings we want to have. we want to have subsequent hearings on real solutions for waste fraud abuse and mismanagement. sturdy we demonstrated a professional, informative hearing on what that would look like one republicans are in control of the overhaul site committee. host: this is rita out of the keystone state. democrat. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i live in the lower part of lancaster county. just over the line from chester county. i cannot seem to get

transportation down here or guaranteed that time when i can get picked up and taken home. they tell me a bit lancaster at the free bus line that they cannot guarantee a time i would be able to get home. a lot of the medical offices are way up past the city. i would be stranded for the whole day waiting to try to get a ride soon. i would like to know why this is. i would appreciate some kind of help with at least a ride to be able to get around. there was no transportation down here. host: rita, do you know who your member of congress is? caller: no, actually i do not. host: perhaps i can work on it

for your in terms of where you are located, but, congressman? guest: i represent a rural part of kentucky. we have programs like you would have in texas, i would assume, where there is public transportation to take people that qualify from an income standpoint to the doctors. it is hard to cover a lot of ground in a rural area when you live pretty far away from where your doctor is. there are programs out there like that. the drivers may not, convenient times, but there are supposed to be programs like that. i would encourage her to call her member of congress. we all have caseworkers that work on problems like this and see if they can arrange for a better schedule to pickup up and drop off to the doctor in the rural areas. host: to rita, i believe your member of congress is republican

congressman lloyd smucker, who was on this program earlier this week and was happy to take phone calls from viewers and chat with them. i would recommend that caller, if you would agree, congressman, to call lloyd smucker's office. joe is next out of alabama, republican. good morning. caller: how are you doing? we don't have to worry about labor shortage because all these people coming across the border will drive the price of labor down, and there will be plenty of workers out there. the other thing is this broadband, didn't obama pass on bill eight years ago about we paid for broadband back then? i don't understand why we are paying for it again. thank you. guest: yes, on two different subjects. first of all, the border is a huge crisisin america. i took my oversight committee down to new mexico and southern new mexico. we went to the el paso detention

facility, which is always in the news and toward that. it is a disaster. what is frustrating for me as a top republican on the house oversight committee is seen stacks and piles of building material that joe biden and his first action of president order to halt construction of the border wall. every border patrol resident, agent, law enforcement officer on the border will tell you that the wall made a difference. it was not the end-all be-all, but it deterred people. people so you can put a ladder over the wall. that took time, and there were sensors on a lot of the walls that would alert the border patrol that something is going on in this section of the wall, and it would give them time to get down there. you might get some people over the ladder and wall, but that deters and gives law enforcement time to catch them. the wall is a good thing. congress appropriated the funds

under the trump administration to build the wall. we worked as part of lawsuits or anything we could do to get the wall by going. the contracts were awarded to build. it was mind-boggling that we don't have any more border security than we do. the biden administration pays out 450,000 or any amount of money to illegals who came over here who are separated or whatever from their families, that is on the going increase the flow of the illegals coming across the border. we totally disagree with the biden administration and kamala harris on what is going on at the border. i forgot -- host: rural broadband. guest: rural broadband. we have not even touch the surface as far as a lot of areas in rural america, especially in western kentucky, in my district. we still don't have rural broadband. what i want to examine is what has been happening to a lot of this rural broadband money that has been appropriated by congress because you have a lot of the big carriers that get

money to put rural broadband in, and they may run it down the main road, but nobody is hooked onto it. they can check the box and say we have read the broadband down in this rural part of the state or wherever, but nobody is hooked onto it. it is not working out, and i think we need to re-examine where all of the previous rural broadband money has gone. the big carriers have read broadband where they can make money. where areas are populated. we have learned with virtual learning and the need for things like netflix and better communication to work from home types of software, you have got to have rural broadband, and it is a disadvantage for a lot of parts of rural america, so the government should work with the carriers to see that every

american has access to it. we have a long way to go, but i agree with the caller, there has been a lot of misappropriated funds. and in this transportation bill, i have been made at horse -- beaten a dead horse, what's the transportation bill passed, a cabinet official said they were going to create a new program called rod brand equity. i thought -- broadband equity. i don't know that means, but i'm sure that is not good for my district. they said what that means is we are going to provide vouchers to low income people in cities that cannot afford broadband. that was not the way they have the structure bill was touted by a lot of democrats. they said we are going to invest in rural broadband, and they may, but it is just another example of unnecessary spending and more things that are going to come out about this bill that a lot of the people that voted for the bill did not realize what they were voting for the bill. host: on the issues of border and the wall, a lot of questions

on that for alejandro mayorkas, the homeland security, on tuesday's hearing on border issues. you can watch that if you missed it at c-span.org. emily is next out of virginia. independent. good morning. caller: good morning thank you for taking my call. i called in with a comment and idea, thinking a lot about the concept of waste fraud and abuse, the concept of having a hard time with the impasse, mccright, republican, getting issues pushed through -- democrat and republican, getting issues pushed through. it seems almost a pattern that with each coming administration, it has a big, great huge idea, there is resistance by the party. they put something forward. a lot of times the next administration comes in and undoes the thing that was pushed

forward with a lot of time and money invested. i wonder if it would be a better plan that for each congressperson, member of the senate, to rank their issues that are most important to them that they want to talk about and put money towards and to establish a budget and say and then have them go through and say, ok, this is what -- these are what we are seeing are the issues that matter most. host: you are talking about every member of congress coming out with their own federal budget? caller: no, i am more so saying, ok, this is the amount of money that is going to be spent have been say, ok, like why do you

rank national parks? where do you rank broadband? where do you rank electric vehicles? host:host: got it -- host: got it. guest: i think that is a very good idea. i share her frustration with what happens when the administration changes. there are two examples of what joe biden did right off the bat was that he canceled the border wall, even though congress had already appropriated the money to build a huge section of the border wall, and then he canceled the keystone pipeline, even though a lot of contracts had already been left on that. i am sure trump did the same thing with obama. i'm sure obama did the same thing with bush. it is a problem. needs to stop. when congress appropriates the funds for something, it should be finished. both parties have done it. it is wrong. it needs to stop. host: randy in michigan,

democrat. caller: i would like to start by thanking you and your guest and all the other men and women it takes to bring us this program. mr. comer, i appreciate your work and the time you take away from your family to do your work. there are two things i would like to approach you and see your opinion on. example of your waste fraud and abuse was the wall that you talked about being built. i can put a ladder up against a wall three miles from where i'm going across, yeah, i will send everybody down there because your sensor went off. that really helps. the other thing i would like to know is you are so worried about waste fraud and abuse, did you go through that boondoggle giveaway? those are my two comments. thank you for your time and you have a good day. guest: i do not know what the

$700 million giveaway would be. there has been a lot of i excessive spendingn -- there has been a lot of excessive spending in washington. with respect to the wall, if you have already appropriated the funds and awarded the contract to build the wall, and then you don't do it, that is a waste because you have all that building material there. and then the contractors are still going to get paid, whether they build the wall or not. that is not a good deal for the taxpayers. that is a good deal for the contractor because they get paid, but you already spent the money. same thing with a big part of the keystone pipeline. all engineering, the architect fees that have been paid on that, whether you support the pipeline or not, whether you support the wall or not, if congress has already spent money on the design and awarded contracts and then you pull the rug out from under it, the

taxpayers lost a bunch of money. that was a bad deal. again, i am sure you can go back and there was a lot of waste in the previous administration. i have not having the ppp loan is much as my colleagues because i come from a banking background, and i was there director of up -- i was the director of a small community bank, and i understood the ppp loans. a lot of them went to restaurant owners and people who desperately needed to keep people working in business is open, but there were a lot of instances of people getting those loans and now they are forgiven. they never missed a beat. they had the best year they ever had last year during covid. you cannot have 81-size-fits-all government program. you are going to always have waiters -- cannot have a one-size-fits-all government program. you are going to have winners and losers. there are too many government programs, too much waste in the

programs, it has been happening under democrat and republican administrations. democrat congress, republican congress, he needs to stop. to me, it does not seem anybody is out there fighting for the taxpayer. that is what i want to do, fight for the american taxpayer. host: we will head out to big sky country, montana, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. i think biden has a good plan. he is going to ruin our country so that illegal aliens will possibly leave, so we better not build a wall because they will be headed for the border. guest: well, you know, this lack of order security is a huge issue. americans are frustrated. i visited the drug control people in south-central kentucky the other day. they were showing me what crystal meth looked like. i had never seen crystal mouth before. i said, where is it coming from?

they said it is coming from labs on the mexican side of the border. when people say the lack of border security does not affect anyone outside of border towns or it does not affect rural america, they are badly mistaken. we are seeing more cases of human trafficking in kentucky that originated from the other side of the border where they came across the border. we are seeing a lot more fentanyl and crystal meth coming from mexico. at the very least, we should -- we are sitting here and i'm listening to the biden administration, secretary blinken, talk about their concerns with russia, ukraine, china, but what about our own border? we do not have hardly any border security now, and if you are a teacher, in the school system, and you get kids to come and who cannot speak english, in six or seventh grade, that costs the taxpayers because they have to

pull a teacher from somewhere else that speaks that language and work with that student. so that student who is there illegally gets more attention from a teacher than a working, taxpaying american child gets. i have three kids of the public school system. this is a problem in every public social system in america. we need to have border securities, and we need to be compassionate people.the people who are coming across here , 90 plus percent are doing it because they know that america is the greatest country in the world, and they want more opportunities, but we cannot just let them bypass people who are trying to get here legally and infringe upon the rights of working taxpaying americans. we should set up with red cross and fema shops on the mexican side of the border to help these people, to help these children, provide humanitarian relief, it was they cross into the united states, they get to be a part of the welfare system, public education, they become a problem in the law enforcement system.

hence somebody is paying for this. that is american taxpayers. it is not fair to the american taxpayers. host: this is from "the washington times," the western states sheriffs association issued a declaration of no confidence in homeland security secretary, saying he is t that has turned the southern border into "an invisible line in the sand." the sheriffs represents 17 states called on president biden to oust mr.mayorkas. this is jim out of pittsburgh, pennsylvania, independent. caller: yes, when questioned. -- yes, one question. republicans in control of congress or the national debt? guest: i would hope that spending is reduced. will it be reduced? i hope to say yes. i want to say yes, but history is not indicating that would be

the case. republicans spend too much money, too. i can assure you there will be a significantly less spending in an republican-controlled congress than what we have now. if you want to talk about balancing a budget, which is something i believe has to happen, there was only one way to do it. that is to pass a balanced budget amendment. what i think a lot of voters should be putting pressure on republican candidates, we do support a balanced budget. everybody is saying, yeah, yeah, but are you prepared to go to washington and balance the budget? we spend so much more than we take in as a country. when you balance the budget, there is going to be some significant cuts, and that is the role that i hope to play as chairman of the house oversight committee. i want to find areas in the budget where we can make cuts. not this nickel dime stuff, but billions and billions of dollars of waste.

and there are so many obsolete government programs, unnecessary government programs, tax credits that should not be on the books that wealthy people take advantage of. there are so many areas where we can fix to try to get to so mane can fix to try to get to that point to balance a budget. but the easiest way to stop the debt is to stop spending unnecessarily, and that is what i think this $4 trillion or however much it is going to be, i think it is unnecessary spending. host: last call, jeffrey, woodbridge, virginia, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for being on c-span. first off, let me say positive. kentucky is a beautiful state. i live in virginia, i visit kentucky often. however, you voted no on the infrastructure bill. will you pledge not to give any sort of money for anything repairing your district, roads, bridges, since you were a no

vote? i'm seeing a lot of republican congressmen who voted no go on and promote certain things that you voted no for. the other thing i wanted to mention, the build back better bill, it is paid for by increasing taxes on corporations . you are concerned about the federal budget and spending, well what about the tax policies? how can companies pay nothing that are the richest and most powerful? using our educated workers, roads, bridges and ports to move their goods and they don't pay anything? i think that is a little ridiculous and that needs to be resolved and maybe that is something democrats and republicans can work on. and the other thing -- host: we are running out of time. guest: thanks for the question. with respect to the bill, i strongly disagree. one reason it has been voted on this week is cvo scores are

grossly overestimating what the tax increases are going to bring in. they said they were going to hire 87,000 irs workers and that would accumulate 400 billion more in revenue. it is more like 100 billion. they were off by 75%, or by 300% on that calculation. that is off pretty far. i don't think the math is going to balance. with respect to the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, we just did that ribbon-cutting ceremony last week. you voted for the infrastructure bill, that was appropriated in the trump administration. a lot of projects have funding from multiple sources. it may be state funding or federal funding, estates states get money in the cares act. there's billions and billions of unspent cares act money still out there and same with stimulus money from the first bill that

passed the biden administration, so it is hard to determine that any project comes from one funding source. it is hard to answer that question. i don't expect a lot of infrastructure, sadly, to be spent in kentucky from that bill. i think it is pretty urban-heavy. host: we do appreciate your time this morning. james comer, the top republican on the oversight and reform committee. appreciate it, sir. guest: thanks for having me on. host: we turn to brad schneider, democrat from illinois, member of the ways and means committee. we will discuss the build back better act. stick around, we will be right back. >> american history tv saturdays

on c-span two. exploring the people and events that tell the american story. the book to rescue the republic, ulysses s grant, the fabric -- fragile union and the crisis of 1776. in the opening of the new york historical society exhibition. speakers include bob woodward and a keynote address by robert caro. experience the american story. watch american history tv saturday on c-span and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. you can be a part of the national conversation by participating in c-span's video competition. your opinion matters.

so if you are a middle or high school student we are asking you to create a documentary that answers the western open how does the federal government impact your life?" the bike a mentor he must show supporting and opposing points of view on the federal policies or programs that affect you or your community using c-span video clips which are easy to find and access at www.c-span.org. the competition awards $100,000 in total cash prizes and you have a shot at winning the grand prize of $5,000. entries must be received before january 20, 2022. announcer: washington journal continues. host: brad schneider joins us now. he is a member of the house ways and means foreign affairs committee. first, on the build back better act, what are you being told

about exactly when this vote may happen, today or tomorrow, and whenever it does happen, do you think the democratic caucus will be together and passed legislation? guest: i don't know if that would be today or tomorrow, and we are waiting for more information. when we have a chance to evaluate the full breadth of this bill, it has support among republicans and democrats as well. there are a lot of things like investments for our kids, investment in our economy and tackling climate change. host: if that score comes back as a bad score, it is said that the bill is not paid for, does your vote on this bill hang on that score? guest: we've been working on it for months, ways and means committee.

as representative comber said about the marks on irs compliance, the director of the irs supported by donald trump estimates $1 trillion. i think that is probably high. he says that the cvo score is probably on the low side. someone will look at a piece of it and make sure we are responsibly investing it and then we are investing in our economy, our kids, and our future. host: we mentioned your committee assignments, you are also a member of the blue dog commission and the new democrat coalition for the problem solvers caucus. does anyone call you a moderate? guest: i would say moderate is more of a style than a position. we have people who run the spectrum from the right to the left, but being moderate, i want to work to make progress and i

am not going to draw lines in the sand. i am going to work with anybody who has a good idea and an open mind. host: what do you say to republicans who call this $1.75 trillion bill a liberal wishlist? guest: i say they should study the bill, they should look at the impact it is going to have. we are making investments for families and the child tax cut is lifting these children out of poverty. we are investing in climate change, $99 billion, dealing with the consequences of storms and environmental testers. you can pay me now or pay me later. if we make those investments today for quality jobs, and the future, we are going to have a stronger economy, more opportunities and deal less with those consequences of climate change. host: brad schneider with us for

about the next 20 minutes this morning. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. as folks are calling in, shifting gears to the infrastructure bill that is now a law. what does that mean for the 10th district of illinois? guest: that means quite a bit. we have been getting a d grade for the last 20 years. we have issues of highway infrastructure, bridges that need repair. it is also mass transit, broadband, school districts having to put wi-fi so neighbors can access wi-fi to do their homework during the pandemic. we are going to change that almost immediately because of

the bipartisan infrastructure package that president biden signed on monday. host: has the president, have democrats done a good job of explaining what is in that bill and what is in the build back better act? democrats have had a messaging issue on these two big bills. guest: i think you always have a messaging issue. there was so much in these bill that affects people in different ways. we need to make sure we are telling people positive things are going to happen in this bill. the fact that we are investing in communities, creating jobs, making the infrastructure investment is going to help take short-term action. getting out there, talking about it, not saying it once, but saying it over and over how this is going to affect our community. host: austin, texas, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. i want to know why -- i am

trying to understand why the republican guy was there. host: we've got brad schneider now, the democrat. caller: it seems also strange that the republicans under trump gave $12 trillion to the poor -- i mean, to the rich, to the corporation, and to all these other peoples, but every time it comes time for them to give something to us, the heart-working people in america, they think it is a waste of money. they think it is inflationary. we have an inflation rate right now because of that $12 trillion that trump gave away. host: congressman? guest: thanks for the call and i appreciate what you are saying and you are right that the republicans seem to have no problem with the tax cut bill, 83% of the benefit went to the most fortunate and it added

almost $2 trillion to the deficit. the fact of the matter is we do need to invest in infrastructure, we do need to invest in research and development grow our economy and those are all strong investments. but to your point, we need to invest in working families, in our children. the bill back better program provides universal preschool. studies have shown that that has been payback seven or eight times over the course of that child's life. it makes a difference in the long term. we need to be investing more in our communities. not just our communities in our large cities, but are smaller towns and rural communities, creating opportunities, making sure they have the resources like broadband. the bills we are passing it, the infrastructure bills, invest in that broadband access for every community so that everyone can have high-speed access for school, for entertainment, for work. these are all things that i

think democrats are committed to . 0 host: host: plainview, new york, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to know why the program applies to very wealthy individuals. why can't it be limited to certain income levels for the middle half -- middle-class and not the wealthy class? also, what is the plan for the suburbs? i understand that they want to build multiple family zonings in the suburbs and rezone the suburbs. i don't think it should be a local issue. guest: thanks for the question. you are a new york, i am in illinois.

property taxes, state income taxes, etc. the average deduction was $18,000. it is going to affect a lot of working families. i just think it is a matter of fairness. states like new york, illinois pay more than they receive back. we shouldn't be double taxing people who pay taxes for programs, education, first responders. getting drinking water responsibly shouldn't be penalized. with respect to housing, we have a housing shortage. all the affordable housing for all americans. the decision should remain a local decision. host: back to the lone star state, independent. caller: good morning, gentlemen.

i've heard represented schneider talk about fairness. explain to me why it is fair in the tax code that if you are single, your tax rate is higher then if you are married. as far as the build back better program goes, it talks about free childcare, free kindergarten which i don't have an issue with the school part of it. but when you get into college and that kind of things, well, you want to pay for a person that chooses to have numerous children in regards to fairness, you are rewarding them three times, free childcare, free kindergarten, free college, the free childcare tax credit. and in reality, none of it is free. so where does the fairness come into that? guest: thank you for the question.

i will talk about it from the investment in kid's standpoint. you talked about the child tax credits, early childhood learning and secondary education. all of those are investments we are making in young people to give them a running start as they begin their adult lives, having a family. those are all important things. it is not a matter of being free. we are lowering the cost of childcare. we are getting working families to have -- that several kids. when my wife and i were young, we were always worried to make sure there was someone taking care of our kids. we want to make sure that is affordable. universal preschool, i see the difference in my district. i have school districts where 85, 90 5% of the kids have that early edge nation. they get the kindergarten ready to learn. they learn things by sitting in

a circle, raising their hands, taking turns. they get literally a head start. i want to make sure every kid has that chance. by the time they finish up high school, with the economy we have today, the difference between 12 years of education and that extra higher education means a lifetime of higher earning. we made a decision 100 years ago to provide education. i think it is a fair question, should we be providing more? that was not included in two years of community college, but i think something we should be debating. not just because it is good for individual students, but because it is good for our economy and our nation. with respect to your first question, i'm trying to remember exactly what it was. host: we have plenty more calls for you including from your home state, the land of lincoln. this is mark in, i believe lincoln illinois?

caller: yes, sir. guest: good morning, mark. caller: yes, i want to know what the representative has to say about what is going on in the state of illinois as far as everybody moving out and taxes are high. what is his excuse for that? guest: i know we've been losing the population especially downstate from illinois. i represent northern illinois, a little bit of cook county. we have actually been seeing a small uptick. i want to make sure illinois is a magnet. we turn to the people coming into illinois who are building families. we are building out our infrastructure. again, the chicago area where i live, the public transit system metro has more than 800 bridges. half of those bridges are older

than 100 years. the infrastructure bill is going to help with that. we are talking about job opportunities, the infrastructure bill investing in tackling climate change. in particular, something that i have championed with investments in technology for electric vehicles, battery technology. illinois is leading in that. if we can be a global leader in battery technology, we can start seeing people coming back. i believe most people would say i don't mind paying taxes if i know those taxes are going to be used for a good purpose. people we are entrusting in roles of leadership are stewarding our state in a positive way. host: how closely are you following redistricting in illinois as a member of congress?

guest: i follow redistricting very closely not just in illinois, but as a chairman of the new democrat coalition, i am focused. and want to make sure that the democrats are able to hold the majority. firstly for my district, i'm excited that i retained much of the district that i have, obviously. host: do you want to explain but the new democrat coalition is? guest: the new democrat coalition is what we call the ideological block in the democratic party. we are moderates. finding common ground and moving forward. we are 96 members who share a vision of investing in air which are including a fiscally responsible way, making sure

that america is a leader in the global economy and on the world stage. host: less than 10 minutes left, this is william out of miami bird, ohio. caller: i don't know, i have just been sitting here watching this schneider. i was watching comber before. it just makes me more of a firm believer that all we have is crooks, politicians and government. they keep hollering about biden raising the debt. how about three times that trump got his debt raised in his last year? i used to live in west palm beach. my wife live in west palm beach from 53-88. her sister went to school with psycho don. host: what is your question for congressman schneider? caller: why can't you work

together? everything has to be either democratic or everything republican. that is why i say that -- guest: i will say as far as working together, 29 democrats, 29 republicans who work together, we were the ones who kicked off the infrastructure process back in july. finding that common ground over the senate who passed the bill in a bipartisan way and we finally got it passed in the house on monday. we are in a hyper-polarized time in this country. the best thing we can do is start talking to each other. talk to each other without trying to attack someone's character or personality. we also have a different perspective but if we listen to each other and hear what they are saying and find that common noun, there is nothing the do. host: san diego, california, independent, good morning.

caller: i just wanted to ask, democrats are so gung ho to get electric cars and i hear also that electric depends on coal, which is very dirty. could you explain that to me, please? guest: moving to electric in cars, we are at the same time moving away for the electrical grid. part of it is making sure we have a 21st century electrical power distribution instant that meets the needs for the future. that includes moving to solar. we've reduced the dependence on coal in my district. it is a transition, and if we can move our cars from fossil fuels so they are not emitting greenhouse gases, and move our electrical generation also from

fossil fuels to renewables and other non-polluting generation, it is a one-two punch. host: california, democrat, good morning. caller: i wanted to thank you very much for coming on the show. i agree with william, i think we've got to stick together. i'm 59 years old and i've never seen democrats and republicans so against each other. this is our country and we have to work together to make things work for the country. the middle-class people work hard for their money. this infrastructure thing is going to help so many people. i don't know where they are getting this idea that it is going to cost so much and we can't afford it. a recent president did something so horrible, it is treason what he did to us. made us look absolutely horrible in front of the world.

i literally was crying when i was watching it on tv that day. guest: i hear you. the idea of people working together, you can get so much more done when you do work together. the infrastructure package is an example of that. it is not cheap, we are making a big investment. but we are responsibly paying for it, coming together and making that investment together. when you do things together, you can get so much more done. the last administration, is not an approach i buy into. i'd like to say i can work with anyone, have an open mind. i work with my republican colleagues, my democratic colleagues. some i agree with, some i don't. you find where there is common ground and you focus on those things. host: fever canyon, oregon,

republican. caller: good morning. i was just wondering where does this mr. schneider believe that this money is going to be generated from? is it -- are we taking it from everybody that owns more than a certain amount of money? are you taking it from people that are going to one day die? guest: thanks. look, we are raising the money from making adjustments to the tax bills to ensure people are paying the taxes they are. the most fortunate among us of the largest corporations are paying their share of taxes. we have seen this story too many

times where large corporations have record profits and pay zero in taxes. we are requiring every one of those companies to pay at least 50% in taxes. those who are fortunate to make a couple million dollars, more than $10 million in a year, the additional 3% tax on that. quite frankly, making sure those who are the most fortunate are sharing more and that is what we are trying to do. host: a question from twitter. concerning the build back better act. why do so many items need to be attached to one bill? if the perks are so good and so popular they should be able to

pass on their own, shouldn't they? this would streamline the legislative process and make for more bills passed. guest: it is a fair point, there are different approaches to the challenges. one is piece by piece, looking at each one. i think what you have here, you have chapters coming from the agricultural committee, ways and means. this is a collective enterprise of literally all of congress. by putting this together, having one package that we are combining initiatives, trying to avoid overlaps by ironing out differences and making sure that is paid for is the most efficient way. we've been working on this for months. we talked about the package and hopefully we will build on it soon. host: congressman brad schneider representing the 10th district.

we always appreciate your time. thanks so much for making time during the morning. guest: happy to do it. wishing everyone a very happy thanksgiving. host: same to you. up next on the washington journal and in the final half of our program this morning, with so much going on this week with the build back better act on the floor of the house, we are turning the mic over to you to talk open forum, asking you to call in on any public policy input question you want to talk about. phone lines for democrats, republicans, and independents are coming in now. go ahead and start calling in now and we will be right back. ♪ announcer: sunday night on q&a... >> i know that so many people

will pick up his book and say i would want to know the story of how america became this so-called melting pot of different cultures and cuisines, a place where you can get mexican cooking on one block and indian cooking on the next and then jamaican on the next one after that. i want my readers to understand that there is so much struggle embedded in that wonderful reality for consumers and you see that struggle in the stories, and we should honor that struggle as much as possible. announcer: he discusses his book profiling seven immigrant women and have a transformed american zine during the second half -- cuisine during the second half of the 20th century. you can listen on our new c-span now app.

washington journal continues. host: it is our open forum now. any public policy issue that you want to talk about. we are going to spend the last half of our show turning the phone lines over to you. that is ahead of what is expected at the beginning of the debate leading to an eventual vote on the build back better

act. that vote likely going to take place tomorrow in the house. the phone lines are yours. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. this was president biden. yesterday in detroit they were to talk about the infrastructure law and also take time to talk about the build back better act. biden: and under my plan we are going to lower the cost of prescription drugs across the board allowing them to negotiate prices. my plan meets the moment of climate change. is fully paid for. it does not increase the deficit one single cent.

as a matter of fact, it will reduce the deficit according to the experts. and again, no one in america earning less than $400,000 will pay a single penny more in federal taxes. no one. [applause] biden: they say, how are you doing that? real simple. i come from the corporate catalog the world. more corporations in my state of delaware then all states combined. and guess what? they ate paying enough -- ain't paying enough. sorry, mary. [laughter] biden: look, i'm a capitalist. if you want to make a million dollars or $8 billion, have added. except pay your fair share. we have 55 corporations.

55 of the largest corporations in america, the most successful paying not a single penny in federal taxes the last several years. and guess what? they made $50 billion. i want them to make money, that's good. but paying little. hey a little. -- pay a little. that is how we pay for it, for real. it doesn't cost a cent. guess what? it is paid for. paid for. host: president biden yesterday in detroit on his comments that the bill is paid for, that it does not increase the deficit. we will see what the budget analyst at the congressional budget office have to say about that by the end of the week. expected to release the full cost estimate for the build back better act by the end of this week. the washington times noting that

democrats are preparing for what might be a scoring -- that is not so the bill to be fully paid for. they expect a negative report about the cost estimates. to quote andrew bates, the white house director of rapid response, saying that there is wide agreement there is not experience analyzing revenue amounts gain from cracking down on wealthy tax deeds or taking advantage of honest taxpayers -- tax cheats. the importance of that being that one of the revenue-razors in that build will come from expanded tax enforcement measures that they hope will net some folks 400 billion dollars in revenue to help cover the cost for this bill. the head of the cdo defending his agency's work and the analysts that work there saying

attempt to discredit his agency are unfounded. for there's people who have been at the treasury department and vice versa so it is a topic we are very familiar with and we have a preestablished methodology of attending the work of the congressional budget office." we will find out, expecting that report to be released by the end of this week. by tomorrow, the reuters story on that still tracking the latest on the release of that so-called scoring. time for your phone calls in our open forum. stan is up first in delray beach, florida, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i have two comments. host: go ahead. caller: first, every time the government has ever raised taxes i have always been in the middle

class. somehow or another, i got into the rich class and my taxes went up even when trump said he was giving a tax break, my taxes went up. secondly, joe made $13 million. i don't know how many years. you know how many dollars in taxes he paid on that? i realize all these politicians have these funds that they put into some kind of company or something and they don't have to pay as much taxes. he paid $30,000. he should have paid $100,000. hey, joe, pay your fair share. that is all i've got to say. host: james is next in turner villa, georgia. caller: yes. i am in my 60's but because of

what the democrats have been doing for the last 15, 20 years, going anti-constitution, anti-america, i have been voting for other people because they don't give anybody worth voting for. and i know people who know biden and i am a democrat and i'm saying the man, he is a murderer. why is nobody doing anything in the house of representatives? start up some paperwork. look at afghanistan. all those people that he left behind, all those people he just pulled the rug out from under. americans, american allies. it is murder. all the people at the border, people died from drugs coming

over, over 100,000 this year. they are worried about covid and build back better. come on. what has he done since he has been in there? host: on drug deaths, drug deaths hitting a grim new peak. the u.s. drug epidemic reaching a milestone wednesday when the government announced that more than 100,000 people had died of overdoses between april of 2020 and april of 2021. the first time that drug-related deaths have reached six figures in any 12 months. 270 five people die every day and can fill the stadium with the university of alabama plays football. the people of the population of the city of roanoke, virginia. some 76,000 dying in that time of opioid deaths. 100,000 drug doses overall. kimberly. phoenix, arizona, republican. you are next.

open forms. caller: i don't understand how any american can be ok with this administration wanting to pay illegal immigrants quite a bit of money because apparently we have ripped the children from their arms. that is unbelievable. you came across here illegally, you're going to get separated. that said, it is sickening to me. i worked my pot off -- butt off and my taxes are going up. everything has gone up. so, yeah, this craft about taxes not going up if you pay less than so much money is absurd. shame on this administration. shame on them. it is a terrible thing and that is all i have to say. host: bill of houston, texas, independent, good morning. caller: i just wanted to talk about this renewable energy

everyone is talking about, electric cars. they talk about getting energy from wind and solar. where do they think they are going to the energy to mine the metal, to build the plants, to build the tires. you think you are going to get that from wind and solar? are these people stupid? there is nothing wrong with fossil fuels as long as you don't pollute the air. inherently, there is nothing wrong with fossil fuels except in terms of pollution. but are talking about -- you can't even run a house off of solar panels. the most you can get out of solar panels that you can put on your house as you can use your water heater. it has been given on for 50 years, it is like coldfusion. they haven't figured it out yet. but to think that you are going to run the world on wind and solar, people are in lala land. host: florida, good morning.

>> the question i have, how many windmills and solar power what it takes to run a city like new york? i know down south in tampa, florida, there's 40 acres of solar panels, but i haven't got any information. that is all i was concerned about. how many solar panels would it take to run a city like new york? host: middleton out of west virginia, democrat, you are next. caller: good morning, john. you know what my biggest problem is? i retired back in 2006. i have worked 36 years in the steel mill and i was so busy doing my job and taking care of everything and making sure everything was perfect, what we

sold our products for, but then i retired and then i have to -- i listen to you all every morning but it is getting harder and harder to listen to you all because these people calling in and this kind of talk that they talk and you just sit there and you let them go by with it and say what they want. which, i'm a compassionate person, i'm 74 years old. so i have been around a while and i'm living with what i got. all these people want to do is complain. this site does this, that side does that. that's all you here. there is nothing getting done, it is all talk and no action. it gets harder and harder to listen to you all every morning because of these people calling in. can you bring them more together so that they can talk instead of

just letting one guy run his mouth for a half hour or 45 minutes, and the other guy do the same thing? you are not accomplishing anything by doing this stuff. host: how would you do it? what should we be asking? caller: bring them on together. one guy, he is going to say everything against the other party. that is all you here. he is a republican, is state is going to get all kind of benefits for that infrastructure bill. but he doesn't know and he is still talking about it. they just vote like he did nothing. while our country is getting -- that is all i have to say. host: what do you want your federal callers to say? -- your fellow callers?

what do you want to hear from them? caller: they don't know how to be civil. they have gotten agenda and they are going to keep it up. nothing is good to them. i'm 74. i've got to say, i'm living comfortably and i have resigned to take what i god and live with it. but i hate the way the country is going and it is tearing the apart because of the way the country is. and is hard. every time you have a republican on, i knew then because i -- mute them because i don't want to hear that garbage. they don't talk about wanting to work together, it is just tearing each other apart. host: will is in atlanta, georgia, independence, good morning.

caller: good morning. thank you so much. i appreciate what you give to america because you have got it on camera and it has not been altered, it is simply the truth. and what americans are is one people under god. it is the three tenants right there on the great seal of the covenant between the sovereign people that came over here following the light as prophesies to be one people into which all nations flow, so we've got only the creator of the universe as our king, our savior. host: bring me to 2021 and where we are today. caller: where we are today is the prophecy says -- host: let's not go prophecy, let's talk about what is happening in congress and the politics of today. caller: ok, elect. the constitution is framed by 18 forms of the word e "elect."

18 forms of the word. our founders, our black-and-white founders were not stupid. by definition, everybody can look it up, it means chosen of god. host: republican, good morning. caller: first i want to just talk about the coronavirus because the herd immunity, i'm hoping that is what they are going for. the other thing i want to talk about is just, you know, some got to come together here. we are really falling apart. i get what people are saying and talking about, but nothing is really coming together. i'm not understanding. they are making fun of people,

the cartoon thing. it is just really, really getting to me and i am not understanding it. thank you. host: we mentioned the schedule on capitol hill today, the house in at 10:00 a.m. eastern, the senate as well. also want to talk about what is happening at the white house today. president biden was in detroit yesterday after he is at the lighthouse today said to revise the u.s.-mexico-canada summit, a summit on economic integration and cooperation among the north american leaders. at 1:15 today, the president is said to have a bilateral meeting with justin trudeau, the prime minister of canada. at 3:00 today, a bilateral meeting with lopez over door, the president of mexico. 4:45 today, the president set to

host both of the leaders at the white house for that summit, the north american leaders summit taking place in the east room of the white house. perhaps comments from the leaders today during all those times, so stay tuned to the c-span networks as you are also watching the floor of the house on c-span and the floor of the senate on c-span two. a lot going on today, and we will keep you on top of all of it. back to the forms, michigan, independent, good morning. caller: good morning, john. i tried to get a hold of the former desk that you had. anyway, republicans and democrats both, they can't get together.

they are trying to bring it all on board and -- let's get this plane off the ground. try something. when he gets off the ground, if something isn't going right, they start throwing things off as it goes along. but let's get rolling. and the idea is now movement shutting that down and shutting that down. i can't understand why we're not talking about freshwater pressurized pipelines that can be turned into water energy, electric energy, and give water to everybody was craving this freshwater. sooner or later, they are going to need it. probably more so than our oil. guest: any public policy issue, any political issue you want to talk about james in new port

richey, florida, democrat, good morning. caller: yes, good morning. i'm going to be 90 years old on sunday and i've been watching this. you got to look at the whole picture. you have sophisticated corruption. you have the haves and have-nots. the republicans mostly are for the rich, they want to keep the system going the way they are. they have got it made with the and everything else. they don't want anything to change so they will sabotage the democrats who want, as far as i can see, the working people and the poor people. i seen that the republicans are rich in that is the way it is and people don't seem to see that. you've got to look at priorities. what are the priorities of these republicans? they are not mad about other people, they are mad about themselves. when you have the original

continental congress, our troops were starving in the revolution and they couldn't get food or anything and in the meantime the politicians were stuffing their pockets. they changed was that they moved to washington, d.c. they don't want things to be simple. it is not a simple life anymore. i threw up in a simple time. people from this previous generation just want to stuff their pockets. host: it sounds like you don't have a high opinion of congress. i wonder what you think is the most important branch of government today. is it the executive branch, the judicial branch? i don't think you think it is the legislative branch. guest: i think it is the senate because they are blocking everything that isn't good for the rich. the senate. mitch mcconnell, there. he blocks everything.

him and his wife used to work for trump and they are making tons of money and they want to put that way. they love the money. host: that is james. photos and videos of mitch mcconnell on the floor yesterday as part of his leaders remarked. the minority leader yesterday focusing on the issue of inflation in the country and how democratic priorities have attributed to the issue. this is mitch mcconnell and his arguments on that front yesterday. >> less than one year on the democrat policies, 90% of america's worried about inflation. and it's no wonder. consumer prices have risen faster than they have been over three decades. last month mark the fifth month in a row that inflation has topped 5%. these across-the-board numbers can sound a little abstract, so let's make it very tangible. in the past year, buying meat, fish, and eggs as cotton 12%

more expensive. a gallon of gas costs $1.31 more than a year ago. and heaven forbid anyone having to replace a car this year. auto prices are up 26%. even getting family and friends together for thanksgiving is a much pricier prospect than it was last year. turkey alone is an extra $.25 per pound. factor in all the fixings and some estimates project the feast next week will run families up to 50% more than it did last. for a while, the white house tried to downplay the problem. president biden and his team told american families that the costs were not revising as much as it seems. or that, ok, costs are rising, but it would only last a few months. for some liberals argued, to remove food, housing and transportation costs, inflation

wasn't all that bad. some have tried to argument rapid inflation is actually a high-class problem to have because at least we are not in a recession. i'm not kidding. i guess they think working americans should be grateful things aren't even worse. but the sad irony is that inflation is just the opposite of a high-class problem. inflation is likely a huge regressive tax that hits the middle class, the working class, and the poor far more than it hurts wealthy people. the three biggest drivers of the inflection plate -- inflation rate last month warehousing, transportation and food. these are not luxuries, they are essentials. and they take up a much bigger share of family budgets than the middle class. host: mitch mcconnell yesterday on the senate floor. active your phone calls in this open forum of washington journal. this is mason.

virginia, republican, good morning. caller: i appreciate your forum. first of all. host: thank you. caller: you're welcome. host: glad to do it. caller: secondly, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. third, i love you mitch. number three, in charlottesville, i talked to my hispanic friends and they tell me their hispanic acquaintances get $450,000, you know what they are going to do? turn around and go back to mexico and lived like kings. host: mason talking about the settlement negotiation for the justice department in with the aclu, other groups as well. when it comes to the family separation policies under the trump administration. from the wall street journal, they originally reported that $450,000 number. it was president biden who

rejected that number, calling it garbage when he was asked about it in a press briefing. the white house saying that the eventual settlement for those payments are going to be nowhere near that high as $450,000, but it is certainly a number that has been in the news since then wall street journal report from earlier this month. this is david in mississippi, independent, good morning. caller: i'd like to circle back to the opioid epidemic. it stole 10 years of my life. but the origins of this was when marsha blackburn and tom marino sponsored the bill to change a deal on opioids from acute pain to chronic pain. and they were paid $1.6 million by big pharma. i just want to know, are the judges from this opioid case, are they going to let all those people sneak off with $10 billion?

i just don't think it is fair. that's about all i've got. they can. host: on that report on drug overdoses in the country, about $75,000 -- 75,000 americans dying of opioid overdoses whether it is fentanyl or other types of opioids. this, from the washington post story showing that the overdose deaths per 100,000 people in the united states, in that timeframe, the darker states including specifically west virginia, kentucky, tennessee having the highest rates of opioid deaths per 100,000 people . south dakota with the lowest rates in that timeframe. you can see your estate on that map.

caller: i think we have one of the biggest problems that we have right now in politics. we need to get rid of money in politics. and what i mean is our congressmen and women and our senators, they are taking legalized bribes. these corporations, they are donating large amounts of money to their campaigns and the senator in louisiana might be an oil company and it is just dependent on whatever area and they might get money from the nra or whoever. and then they sponsored bills that favor the corporations. in essence, they are working more for a big corporations than they are for the american people. so, i think we need to get, you know, some kind of policy or a law that prohibits them from accepting those donations and maybe go to public refinance campaigns.

also, the republican party especially in congress, i don't know what is happening to it. there is a bipartisan infrastructure bill that was formed in the senate and then when it gets over to the house, there was like 11 members of republicans that had voted for the bill. host: host: i think it was 13 in the house and 19 in the senate. caller: it's going to repair. this is a bill that's going to repair much needed infrastructure in our country. the good thing for our country. and yet the republicans and kevin mccarthy, they want to punish the 19 that voted for that because it was going to give biden a win. is that where we are at now in our country? you can't vote for something that is going to benefit the american people if it's going to

help the other guy on the other side. then i just wanted to correct something that the gentleman said about joe biden not paying real taxes. said some crazy thing about that he paid $30,000 in taxes over the last so many years. well, last year in 2020 he paid $157,000 in taxes. and in 2019 he paid $287,000 in taxes. it just takes a small amount of time to verify those facts and stop listening to those right-wing talk shows that spew nonsense. thank you. host: randall, fort smith, arkansas. republican. good morning. you with us? then we'll go to tonya in west liberty, kentucky, democrat. good morning. tonya, are you there?

i hope david in pensacola florida is there on our independent line. david, good morning. caller: good morning. third time's a charm. host: go ahead. glad to have you. caller: first of all, the only good news i hear right now a lot of davids seem to be calling in this morning. which a positive step for our nation moving forward. notwithstanding that i have to say one small complaint about your program. i loved c-span for several years but sometimes it feels like it's cnn span, for every brian that comes on with a leftist point of view, always hear about the democrats, it seems that way as a viewer. i used to see more of 112ther mcdonald, thomas soul. i would like to hear more about the right side. a lot of callers are calling in from leftist positions. that's something i would like to see addressed. a little more balance in your guests. i don't like politicians telling me what certain organizations think. i'd like to hear from those people ourselves. host: we have spend a lot of

time trying to balance not just every program, but a week's worth of programs to get guests on both sides. that's why we -- if we have a democratic member of congress, we try to make sure we have a republican member of congress on the same day just so you get that. you were talking about a guest balance. i think it was matt was on this program. somebody who i think you might be more interested in rearing from rather than a brian stelter is how you put it, is that correct? caller: i like to hear both sides. i don't want to hear leftist -- it seems like i'm not hearing anything from center or right. it could be when -- i still work for a living. it is kind of hard to catch your program. especially "washington journal," all the time. to get to some points, just to address some things from your previous callers and key issues facing this country. the reasons why the republicans are the right in general don't want to work with the left is because the democrats have moved too far to the left. some of these issues that have brought up energy independence,

the current paradigm is oil and gas. the president, who everybody thinks we should be working with, has cut our own throat with regard to the pipelines. meanwhile, china and russia our sworn enemies, our economic economies at the least, they are pumping out -- they are building coal plants, they are opening up pipelines. they are energy independent. whether you like -- dislike trump or not, he kept us energy independent four years ago, over the last four years. and this build back better agenda is not about roads and true infrastructure, it's about -- i call it more of an esoteric-type infrastructure. the human capital they talk about. that's throwing money down the toilet. one other issue, i'll let you go, i'm being long winded. with regards to the internal division between 350e78 people like with critical race theory and the current racial divisions and how people view the police, i only want to say this one thing and i'll let you go. there is no civil right in the constitution or the bill of

rights that allows an individual any race, creed, or color to be a violent, degenerate thug. i base that on almost 238 years of law enforcement. putting myself out there as a fellow citizen, no better than anybody else. and that's frustrating as to see that this violence and leftist deagainricy in the country is a problem. host: david in florida this morning. from the bbc earlier this year, some question back and forth from callers on president biden and his taxes. taking a look at his 2020 tax filing. this from the bbc noting in 2020 he and his wife jill biden earned $6 o 07,000. paid $157,000 in federal income tax. their earnings fell from 2019 when they learned $985,000. mostly from speeches, book sales, and jill biden's position

in higher education as well. the story noting that the president's tax rates in 2020, about 25.9%. documents released monday of that month. that was in may of this year. trying to do this research on the fly for you as you bring up these issues. perhaps that will help those two callers who are concerned about that. david in raleigh, north carolina, independent. good morning. caller: donald. host: go ahead. we were talking to david, go ahead. caller: ok. sure. i just want to say, i think your program is just right with regard to the people it reaches. it's kind of like you go to court one thing i was told by my parents a long time ago, generally nobody gets everything they want.

the court listens to both sides. c-span i think presents both sides. and i also think you are doing great work because we are seeing a lot of frustration amongst people on the left and the right, and independents in the middle, such as i am. but i just -- i wanted to say something about -- hi two points i wanted to make. one, the guy called in about solar panels. providing some false information. solar panels will accommodate all the electrical needs for a house if you get the right solar panels. one of the problems with solar panels is that if you -- generally people don't have $20,000 or $30,000 to pay for them so they lease them. the leasing companies do all they can to prevent you from transferring that lease should you decide to sell your home. since the correct panel system might cost you $30,000 and they

may be financed for 20 or 30 years, are you basically stuck because they do everything they can to prevent the potential buyer of your home, should you decide to sell it, from qualifying for that lease to be transferred. that's point number one. the second point i wanted to make is that with -- we talk about inflation, gas prices, and the pipeline. well, the pipeline pumps heavy dirty oil. it was not going to benefit the united states. it was pumping oil sands from canada down to texas. and it was going to be off loaded and sent overseas. we were not going to benefit from that. it would not positively affect gas prices in the united states. and with regard to the pandemic, too, how it's affecting our lives today, we handled the pandemic wrong to begin with

because of donald trump ignoring it for the first three months of its existence. on the day of united states -- i was tracking it. on the day the united states hit 257,000 deaths, south korea, which has a much smaller population, still, if you extrapolate it out, they had 57, not 570, not 5,700. but 57 deaths because they paid attention to the pandemic when it first started. if you are in a pandemic and an assembly line, i don't care if it's a meat plant or automotive plant and somebody tests positive for covid or get covid, sometimes they die on the line, that line shuts down for 14 days. you can't tell me that covid doesn't affect -- that our mishandling of covid to begin with doesn't affect our lives today when we've got that kind

of mismanagement that wept on in the first three months. we are suffering from it today and we'll suffer from it now on. thank you. host: to your first points on the issue of what solar panels can and can't do. recent story from the arizona daily sun taking a look at the new hockey arena in seattle where the seattle kraken nhl team play. it's called the climate pledge arena. the story noting the use of solar panels there. rooftop solar panels that account for most if not all the energy needs of that climate pledge arena. that hockey arena. no fossil fuels used within that arena. making it the first net zero arena of its size in the world. that's the -- where the new seattle kraken are playing this year. patty, plano, texas, republican. good morning. caller: hi. good morning. i have been listening to everybody. i like they are speech and i'm not that way.

bear with me. first of all, solar panels, i have solar panels. i love them. and i lease them. but it's sure a lot cheaper than paying 300 bucks a month for electricity. which is why i got solar panels. you pay one cent a month for your electricity, that's pretty great. host: how long have you had the solar panels? caller: i got them in 2016. i love them. and i'm not a big climate change freak. there's problems going on in the climate, but i'm not a radical about it. put it that way. host: in 2016 you did it for ths opposed to doing it for -- caller: yeah. between electricity and gas, i was paying $500, $600 a month. i can't afford that. nobody can. my neighbor had solar panels.

they loved them. and i talked to them. i decided -- somebody came to the door trying to sell them. i let them in. talked to them. had my son sit down with me while they were talking to them. we decided to get them. host: a lot of the discussion right now is from solar panels to electric vehicles. it's a big conversation this week in light of the investments in that infrastructure law for e.v. charging stations around the united states. maybe in places where there is not a lot of electronic vehicles, but charging stations so people have those vehicles can get across the country. i wonder, many electric vehicles in plano, texas? caller: not that i am aware of. and i'm not a big fan of them, either. that was my next discussion. host: go ahead. your thoughts. caller: ok.

i was reading an article on -- i think it's sweden, norway, some of those countries have electric cars. they are trying to figure out how to utilize the spent batteries. that's my big problem. how to -- around here we can't even put a double-a battery in the trash because it's going to destroy the ground. how are they going to get rid of those large batteries. and sceep -- keep from contaminating the earth, soil. i'm kind of -- the coalar -- solar i'm sold on, the electricity, no. i'm not. host: patty, we spend spent a lot of time on this program yesterday talking about electric vehicles, about 45 minutes on

this program talking about not only what's in the infrastructure bill when it comes to electric vehicles, but also the future of electric vehicles. in that segment we talked about how many electric vehicles were sold in the united states. it was 107,000 in the third quarter of this year. then when you combine the electric vehicles, fully electric with the hybrid and plug-in hybrid helping about 10% of the market at this point. the goal by the biden administration is for half of new vehicles sold in the united states by the year 2030 to be zero emissions, to be electric vehicles. discussion on that in this program yesterday. if you want you can go back and watch it at c-span.org. jeffrey in new york, democrat, good morning. you're next. caller: good morning. you're my favorite of all the panelists. i'd like to make two comments.

mitch mcconnell's comment, it's not my main comment, this is just a sidebar. it really kills me when the rich complain about inflation. that's all i got to say about mitch mcconnell. i'd like to talk about the prejudice on the southern border. it's not just racist prejudice, it's a religious prejudice that goes back centuries to the conquistadors. there is a very quig anti-catholic bias -- big anti-catholic bias in the south. i have been involved with many baptists over the years. they are good people. i'm agnostic between baptists and catholics. but they have a grudge match going on that's going back he all the way to christopher columbus. this month is indigenous peoples month. i would like to propose -- i

know i'm a bleeding hearted liberal, so what. i'd like to propose a very christian thing to do. in europe they have unlimited travel among countries, and passports are good to go, and visas are good to go to any place in europe. if you are a european citizen, we should do that in north america for indigenous people. if you have ancestry that was here before christopher columbus landed, before the pilgrims landed -- i have an ancestor that came over on the mayflower. i am a white guy. so what. but i believe in fairness and righteousness and doing good for others. let's have a north american passport where anyone who is indigenous to north america has free reign to go to any country visit, live, work, and people that have only been here for the last -- their ancestors for the

last couple hundred years or even new immigrants don't have anything to say about it. quit being so prejudiced. host: you bring up that idea on the day that president biden is set to revive this u.s.-mexico-canada economic summit hosting the presidents of canada and mexico at the white house today for bilateral meetings. that's taking place this afternoon. look for coverage at c-span.org. before you go, you mentioned you are a bleeding heart liberal. we often talk political polarization in this country and how it's become more polarized. during the pandemic people -- polls continue to show despite the pandemic, despite this national emergency, people are even more polarized than ever. if you don't mind me asking, as a bleeding heart liberal, do you know many republicans, do you know many conservatives, are you friends with conservatives? can you talk to somebody who is not a bleeding heart liberal?

caller: i can talk with anyone that has an open mind. i don't really care for this polarization whatsoever. i just believe in free debate and freedom of ideas. if you have an idea that's worth discussing, discuss it by all means. if you are entrenched and you cannot even open your mind to -- i remember when the christian right was always spouting off this saying, what would jesus do? i got to say, what would jesus do to the indigenous people and the ancestors of slaves? i got to say, reparation and truth and reconciliation panel to reconcile similar to south africa and similar to germany after world war ii the jews and the germans and the gypsies. let's reconcile. let's agree that we did wrong. our ancestors did wrong.

and make reparations. that's only fair. republicans, they are dug in. will never open their mind to this idea. yes, i am a bleeding hearted liberal. and i am agnostic, but jesus had the right idea. love your enemy. host: jeffrey in new york this morning. heading to our republican line in the bluegrass state, this is kevin. good morning. thanks for waiting. caller: yeah. i am sick and tired of listening to these brainwashed fools telling me that every republican is rich. i'm a republican, i am not rich. i think the democrat party is not even in existence anymore. not your dad's democrat party. not our grandparents. they don't exist anymore. these people now are -- as far as i'm concerned they are nazis in the white house. it's ridiculous. i just don't understand. another thing about this climate

change, think that's the biggest hoax in the history of the united states of america. the climate change is four times a year, people. wake up. host: kevin in contract c rick in new york, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. just like to mention a few things on your callers regarding solar energy. first of all, solar energy provides more energy hitting the earth in one hour than the u.s. uses in a year in terms of power. second, it's the cheapest form of energy now after 30 years of technology innovation. and it's also 70% of the new electrical capacity that's been installed in our country has come from solar energy. so people really need to educate themself on where electricity is coming from. fourth, one of the largest users

and purchasers of solar energy products is the pentagon. i hope people take a closer look at the technology. it's not going to harm you. it's going to help you. and it's -- once you get the system installed, you don't pay bills after that. that's all i had to say. thank you. host: the energy information administration, e.i.a..gov puts out a lot of facts on energy use in this country. here's sources of u.s. electricity generation as of the year 2020. renewables accounting for 20% of electricity generation in the united states with solar at 2.3%. hydroat 7.3. wind at 8.4% in that category. nuclear power in this country, 20%. coal power, just around the same, 19%. natural gas with the majority of electricity generation in this country at 40%.

those numbers again eia.gov where you can go for that. russell in massachusetts, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, john. how are you? host: well. if i don't spill my coffee. go ahead. caller: i'm with you there. i appreciate you just having an open forum on today's discussion. i heard a little bit of this and little bit of that. that's kind of what intrigues me to watch this. i don't particularly care to hear people battering things all day. i heard a lot of good things on here this morning. my only thing is i can tell you, this as an indigenous person, it's often in this country i hear folks say, american indian or native american. just to clear that air there are some of us indigenous people who don't have american blood in us. who are just indigenous here. however, we find it -- if you look what the folks talking about the pipelines and oil pipelines and misconfusion of

information out there, even going back to say when they say biden got rid of this union jobs over there. the fact is someone gets rid of a union job does not get rid of the union. the job itself stops. i can tell you from pine ridge reservation, rose bud reservation in the black hills of south dakota and the lakotas up there, if most folks stop and put themselves in a place to see what this oil pipeline is doing to reserves or reservations, they have a different outlook of it. which simply -- people's not putting out there half the news media organizations. i don't know where the ethics in this country went to. but for the s.e.c., even on cable news, i think, going all over the place, i think some of our news needs to be held accountable. if we are going to start holding some of these platforms like facebook and stuff accountable, then we need to hold imaibl news accountable. even though they tend to get away with a little bit more than

what's on normal tv, we need to really come down on what's being processed out here because i realize there are some new people i hear on your show. just say c-span in general. and you listen to them and you could tell they wasn't in tune to politics for quite some time. they recently got involved in it. i think what you are having here, like these politicians putting out this teurl war, people, i think what we need to do is reunite as americans, hold our elected officials accountable both democrat and republicans and let's get back to the terms that bring america back together. and let's start holding some of this to a term. we have presidents that are held to terms. i think what's happening in this country you have your kevin mccarthys, chuck schumers, they have been there too long. we need to start having term limits for these politicians. that's where we -- host: what's fair for a member

of the house and senate? caller: i would think -- being that you have a president that has two eight-year terms and it gets hideous, you are banging heads for policy to be made. i would say six years for a senator. host: one term for a senator. how many for a member of the house? caller: i would say eight years for the house member. being that you have a lot more committees in the house than you do the senate. host: all told in congress, 14 years. caller: right. but we have to have some limits. i am neat looking at this as a political party. i'm looking at this as an american that says both parties have gone too far. we need to reel them in. host: russell in massachusetts. ruby in wisconsin dells, wisconsin, republican. good morning. caller: i just have a question. i'd like to know about the money they are paying the illegal aliens, $450,000. they said it may be less. and they have been waiting four years because the separation at

the border. and i would like to know, or you have someone on to talk about -- we are ancestors of the slaves. we have been waiting 4 runed years, sir. remember they talked about the acreage of land. most of us don't farm anymore. maybe we could get the money for that. i feel that we have been discriminated against and i feel that they are bringing the illegals in, press us down even farther. other people in this country have gotten money. some people have mistreated they got $20,000. and biden, president biden, i feel he wouldn't even got in unless this black guy, clyburn, went over there and endorse him and then he came. i feel that's the only reason you need the blacks, the african-american, the colored people, negroes, whatever we are. as you know the other groups are no longer called their color. they are now colored people. the people of color. we still, sir, we are discriminated against. and i know people not talking

about that. what about our money? we have been waiting 400 years. these people been waiting four years. they broke the law. they broke the law. they being rewarded. president bush, the younger president, he said if they come in the country, learn our language, get our ways. now you call get a job -- you got to be bilingual, sir. bilingual. when are we going to be treated decent? the guy talking about jesus, yeah, i love jesus. you know what? jesus is watching. he's watching. he see all of this. host: ruby in wisconsin. this is tony, sugarland, texas, independent. good morning. caller: good morning, john. i have a suggestion before i make my comments. i'd like to -- if you can do maybe two days of a show, take us behind the scenes and show us how you all come up with the topics, how you pick out the

newspaper articles, etc., etc. about your producers. i think it would be more informative to the viewers. please look up biden's s corporation. you talk about the taxes. biden did not pay $300,000 to $500,000 in taxes in medicare taxes. please look that up and tell us. that's my comment. a lot of people keep on saying the tar sands, tar sands. do research. look it up and you'll see that the tar sands is mixed with other type of oil, 20%. it comes down to the gulf. and it's processed and 20% of that oil stays here in this country. the rest is exported. look up the fact, what happened in 2009 when warren buffett bought burlington north santa fe

railroad. he paid $44 billion for the railroad. he supported obama. obama did not want that pipeline, the keystone x.l. pipeline. trump comes in and approves it. it goes through the -- they start to build t biden comes in and says no. that is nothing but payoff a debt. we know if you go to open secrets, ok, there is only so much you can donate to a candidate. but you can bundle millions and millions of dollars to a candidate and you are not known. you know what i'm talking about. people, do research. look it up. there is a plit fact out there -- plito fact out there and it already says that obama an senator gillibrand are feeding people a bunch of lies saying that that oil coming from canada and north dakota would

not help this country. host: tony in texas. it's open secrets.org is where you can go for a lot of information about money in politics. reports on dark money, political action committees, fundraising by various members of congress. donations by various groups. it's the center for responsive politics that runs that website. again, opensecrets.org, a resource that we often use when we are putting together these segments and talking about money and politics. john, fort dodge, iowa, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i have two statement and a question. your democratic congressman earlier this morning touted that they were shutting a coal firepower plant down in illinois. your last caller mentioned warren buffett. he owns a company called mid american energy here in western

iowa. they bought 1,000 acres of prime iowa farm ground and are building a 1,000 acre solar farm that is supposed to supply 30,000 homes with electricity, which has been reduced down to 17,000, and they are going to transmit that electricity to chicago. that 1,000 acres had 360 acres of ground on it that i used to hunt fessants on. fezzants on. my question to you sir is when people call in and say, like joe biden does, pay your fair share, what about the 40% of people in this country who pay no income taxes? what about their fair share? hang up and i'll listen, thank you. host: john in iowa. another john in arkansas, mountain home, arkansas, natural state, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, sir.

caller: the nature of my call is the need for what i consider a nationaller police force of some sort, whether it be volunteers or separate government entity that does nothing but meet these people at the border as they are coming across with this fentanyl. host: you talking about a militia? would that be what you are talking about? caller: no. not at all. i'm talking about perhaps volunteers. people that have had to go through losing a loved one because they died from fentanyl brought in by our friends over there in china where it's all produced. watching it come over the border and doing absolutely nothing is fruitless. there needs to be something done. host: john, do you think building a wall would stop that from coming in? caller: we had the wall being built. we had $2 a gallon gas.

we had relatively stable prices at the stores. and now nine months in this administration people are scared. regular people. being scared means you are closer to the truth. i think that's about all i have to say. host: john in arkansas. just after 89:30 on the east--9:po on the east -- 9:30 on the east coast. we are expecting the house and senate come in at 10a.m. we'll take you to the house live as we always do. gaffe-to-gaffe coverage on c-span. watch the senate on c-span2. until the house comes in it's our open forum. heating you lead the discussion. turning the keys of this program, as it were, over to you to hear what political issues, what public policy issues you want to talk about. also trying to keep you updated on what's happening here in washington and some latest on the job situation in the country this morning. it being a thursday morning, we are learning about the

unemployment numbers from last week. the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits fell for the seventh straight week to a pandemic low of 268,000 last week. the u.s. jobless claims dipped by 1,000 last week from the week before. the labor department said this morning. the applications for unemployment aid are a approximately for fay leioffs, they have steadily declined this year after topping 900,000 one week in early january. the associated press noting the numbers reflect the labor market's strong recover frye last year's brief coronavirus recession. the four week average of claims also fell to a pandemic low of below 273,000. those numbers out this morning from the department of labor. this is alon -- alan, independent, good morning to the banler state. caller: good morning -- badger state.

caller: good morning. i want to talk about the student loan issue today. there's a bill in the senate right now. s.2598, this bill would return standard bankruptcy protections to federal student loans. a lot of people out there don't realize student loans are the only type of loan in this country to be uniquely stripped of the bankruptcy protections that the founders called for in the constitution, believe it or not. and they called for it ahead of the power to declare war, ahead of the power to raise an army. ahead of the power to create a judiciary. the founding fathers knew something. they knew that tyrannical lending could be the downfall of the country. john adams said there are two ways to conquer and enslave our country. one is by the sword. the other is by debt. i can't help but thinking, john, that the founders are looking down on the federal student loan

system and they are shaking their heads. this is the worst big government lending scam ever visited upon this country. all the republicans out there need to rethink everything they think they know about student loans because this is a big government national threat. at this point the least republican senators out there in states like texas, georgia, south carolina, alabama, tennessee, indiana all those states i just mentioned, the people of those states owe more in their federal student loan debt than the entire state budgets. host: it's rare somebody sites l number. how did you come to learn about s.2598, the fresh start for bankruptcy act offered by dick durbin of illinois, introduced in the senate back in august. how did you learn that bill? caller: i have been following this issue for many years because my own personal student

loan issue. i realize something had gone awry with the student loan many years ago. that bill s.2598, this is really good thing, john cornyn, republican, and josh hawley, republican, are co-sponsoring this bill. actually right now there is more republicans on the bill than democratic. i'm a nonpartisan guy. the truth of the matter is that the republicans have been opposing meaningful changes. they have been fighting for this lending beast over their own constituents. for many years. it's time for republicans to get right and call out this big government threat for what it is and pass s.2598. host: alan, quickly, you mentioned your personal story about student loan debt. do you mind just running through that for us. sounds like it's something that's impacted you. caller: i borrowed $35,000 or

$37,000 like 25 or 30 years ago for college. did my best to pay it off. despite my best efforts my loans were thrown into default. so within a couple years i was getting bills for over $100,000. i started doing some research and i realized that the amount of corruption behind this lending system has made it literally a national threat. the class of 2004, the default rate for that class is 40%. these people were only borrowing a third of what's being borrowed today. this lending system is just -- it's done. it's finished by all rationale metrics. at this point the least that can be done is the return of the bankruptcy right the founders called for in the constitution. it's just got to happen. host: thanks for bringing up the topic from the pugh research -- pew research center and trust.

just some numbers to go with your story. during the past decade the amount of outstanding debt on federal student loans jumped from more than $500 billion in this country to over $1.3 trillion surpassing all categories of household debt other than mortgage. today more than 40 million americans hold student loans. as pew notes many struggle with repayment. this is tony in richmond, indiana, a republican. good morning, sir. caller: how are you? i think there was -- in 2019 the trace act passed. recently within the past few months there was the actual provisions of this on the telephone network, those start taking place and we have seen a tremendous downward spiral with -- in terms of scam calls.

but just as that has happened and those are falling the numbers, the number scam tags and scam ads on the internet started to increase. i think the fcc should look at this issue pretty closely and further put out notices of proposed rule making to, perhaps, introduce yet another authentication system protection. it's just another game of whack a mole is what these scammers. you cut off one -- we already cut off the phone calls. they are just going to move on to the next thing and the next thing until it regulates each and every one of them. i hope it just goes faster than it has within the past 20 years. host: the trace act, the telephone row bow call abuse

enforcement and deterrence act that gave the fcc new tools to fight robocalls, this is the fcc website on the implementation on that act. it sounds like this might be a case where you have a personal tore story on this? caller: yeah. i have actually had family members lose money to these things. i have seen recently i'm looking on facebook, i'm even getting ad for crypto token scammism. i'm looking at the it wall it addresses. these scammers. some of these wallets are perceived -- have received tens of thousands, almost six figures from victims. it's absolutely ridiculous. host: thanks for bringing up the topic this morning. in our open forum. that's what it's for. any public policy issue you want to talk about. we have about 18 minutes left to do it before the house comes in. rick, council bluffs, iowa. independent. good morning. caller: good morning.

how are you? host: well. caller: it warren buffett, the keystone pipeline stop at? nebraska? where's he from? nebraska. besides warren buffett. the batteries for these new electric cars. go price them. go price a battery for your hearing aid. imagine for a car. a little bitty battery for your hearing aids over $100. what's these car batteries going to cost? i got a little bicycle with electric bicycle, $400 for that battery. i don't know. i think people are getting a little smoke blowed up their you know what. going all in on these electric cars are going to cost you a fortune when you are able to drive them. besides that, alan if he spent more time paying his loan off like he does assessing it, or

figuring out how to get out of beating it, beating and paying it off, maybe he would have had that $70,000 loan paid off. host: rick in iowa. this is mark, dear born, michigan. democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. a few comments about some of the people that have been commenting. number one, that republican that says not all republicans are rich. how about the 467 millionaires that turned into billionaires during covid? frump and his -- trump and his tax returns. by the way, batteries don't cost $100 for hearing aids. i just bought 14 of them yesterday. for 12 bucks. from rite-aid. that guy is nuts. number four, the only people that got drafted for vietnam

were poor. indigent people. i'd still like to see those bone spurs that trump had. and-- host: we'll take those four comments, mark. reminder just to our viewers, as you are waiting to get on, turn down your television, makes it easier to hear your call. a little less distracting when you are on the air. carol, virginia, independent, good morning. carol, are you there? caller: hello. all the people coming here -- host: carol, having a little trouble with your phone line. if you can call back we'll try to get that connection better. gordon in kansas city, kansas, republican. good morning. caller: good morning, buddy.

the dude with the student loans, he took the loans out. he needs to pay them back. the government doesn't need to bail him out. doesn't need to go bankrupt. he needs to pay the damn loan back. the lady from texas that called in about the people crossing our border, that she had never gotten any money in reparations and stuff, i'm right there with her. biden is letting all these people in for votes. that's all it is. and they are killing our kids with drugs. these the worst that ever was. thank you. goodbye. host: ted, florida, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i appreciate it. the one thing that i found that this really kind of ridiculous is that we spent $8 trillion the last 20 years for unnecessary wars, and now we are complaining about helping american people and building this country up for

only $1.75 trillion. i don't understand t somebody needs to get -- understand it. somebody needs to get an adding book out and figure out who is important. are we important? or other countries more important than us? thank you. host: referencing the issues the caller brings up, watson. brown.edu, that's the watson institute at brown university and there you can find their costs of war project. watson institute there has been tracking the costs of the wars since 9/11 in this country. both the dollar amount costs and in lives lost. over 929,000 people have died in the post 9/11 wars due to direct war violence and over 387,000

civilians have been killed. in terms of dollar amount, of the u.s. federal price tag for the post 9/11 wars is over $8 trillion. $38 million is the number where refugees and displaced persons from those wars. again from brown university, their watson institute there. the costs of war project. john in fort river, new jersey. independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to touch base about the college loans. i was recently involved with four ladies, all in their late 30's, early 40's with a conversation, all college educated, all professional degrees. all worked hard. all did everything right. all said the biggest mistake was to take out a federal college loan. they were willing to pay it back. but pay back with a realistic interest rate. we were able to bail out a lot of companies in 2008. we have to help these kids.

they are being -- they cannot grow because of these college loans. they cannot fulfill buying a home, raising families. it's suffocating them. all of them want to pay the money back. they all borrowed it. 18, 21 years old. but they do need a realistic interest rate. that's my tone on that. host: did you take out a loan? did you go to college and take out a loan? caller:dy go to college. i was a construction worker,dy go to college. i do have four years of a college degree. but i'm retired right now for many years. host: did you have any debt? caller: go ahead. host: did you have debt when you came snout. caller: yes. host: how long did it take to you pay that off? was that a detriment to you starting your life and having a career in the construction business? caller: you know what, at that point in time it was not.

but i'm just relating this conversation. it's very upsetting. here's the next point of view they had, which really upset me. that the only way they are going to pay this money off is when mom and dad passes on. and they have some equity that they were able to build up. so they are going to only pay this loan off when their parents die. it's sad to hear that. there are so many talking points i hear out there that really are just -- so great to hear parents want to be part of the education system now. you know what? we teach reading and writing. it's so valuable to know. we are not teaching that anymore. 63 million americans cannot read above a sixth 3th grade level. 32 million americans can't read. before we teach anything go back to reading, writing, and arithmetic. it just makes sense.

we dump our garbage in the ocean. we have to stop that. that can be fixed now. i read a headline n.p.r. we have 11 years to cut emissions to avoid dire climate scenarios. what does that mean? instead of having bill gates talk about, let's have some scientists on and really tell it the way it should be told. the truth. i don't want to hear john kerry, he's not a scientist. there are so many -- there's a movie out where greed is good. think about that. how bad that is. we don't -- host: movie from a long time ago. wall street, wasn't it? caller: yes it was. think about how bad that saying is. we do not manufacture anything in this country. we are making china so rich

right now. are we ever going to get the components to make the batteries in this country? of course not. we are never going to do that. i don't care -- maybe they are saying maybe in las vegas or nevada, sorry, they'll dig for those battery components. we are never going to do that. we are not going to do it because greed is good. that's why. host: john in new jersey. we'll head out to wyoming. csapr, wyoming. dennis, a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to bring up a subject that's been put on the back burner. that's postal service. the president doesn't appoint the postmaster general. the postal service has a board of governors that does that. the chairman of the board of governor's term is about to expire. i want to urge all americans to

call the white house and ask to get a new chairman of the board of governors so we can get rid of louis dejoy so these elderly people can get their medicine in the mail and pay their bills. my second point, i wholeheartedly support liz cheney. i wish there were more republicans that were like her instead of these gutless cowards like john barrasso and mitch mcconnell. thank you. host: dennis in wyoming. on your postal service comments. it's been the house oversight and reform committee that's been holding a series of hearings on operational issues at the postal service. we covered several of them. you can look for them on our website at c-span.org. it's the government operations subcommittee of the oversight and reform committee in the house. the best place to go oversight. house.gov is the easy way to

find it. anita in missouri, independent. good morning to the show me state. caller: yes. i would like to comment on about five laws that i think we need to make. host: five laws. caller: the first one is citizens united is a misnomer. it's the law that hides dark money and gives corporations the rights of personhood. it is the first law that we should overturn. second, we need a national law stating all electoral college voting districts must be drawn by independent committees and are never to be drawn by legislators who can easily have conflicts of interest. paul ryan and mitch mcconnell set out to gerrymander the entire country using state legislators. we need this national law. third, senators, representatives and presidents are to receive no

pensions. pay for the above persons while in office is not to exceed two times the average of what regular wage earners make. no health care is to be provided beyond 60 days of the last day in office. with these laws we would not need term limits. and only people who want to serve would do so. supreme court judges must take competency tests after the age of 85 or retire. next law, any president who does not place their assets in a true blind trust within 30 days of taking office shall be removed from office and the vice president is to be installed as president. provided they have placed their assets in a blind trust. and so on in the line of succession. next, offices such as leader of the house, etc., must be given an approval vote by voters nationwide.

if the republicans want to be in the oval office again, they need to elect a better candidate than trump. how about senator rob portman? or mitt romney? maybe it's his turn? he's been a businessman. he hasn't gone bankrupt many times or started a fraudulent university. and finally, everyone needs to see that old black and white movie, silent greed. it would be nice if hollywood remade it today. so that we would really understand what could happen with climate change. host: anita in missouri. her suggestions. michelle in brooklyn, new york. independent. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i appreciate a lot of what the woman from missouri said. and i appreciate all the previous comments. what is of concern to me today

is the divisiveness of our country. we are not the united states of america anymore. i come from a politically mixed family. my husband and i used to be able to often agree to disagree. it just doesn't happen anymore. the reason we have a two-party system is for checks and balances. that just doesn't happen anymore. i'm a senior citizen. i grew up where democrats and republicans crossed the table. got things done for the good of the entire country. it's so sad to see how our country has evolved and how so far we are from the foresight of our founding fathers.

i could go on and on but i think that should stop -- host: can i ask you. you said you and your husband are of different political ideologies. what was your -- what's been your biggest disagreement? your biggest political disagreement in -- with your husband over the years? caller: ok. ideology, we used to -- we are both pretty moderate. so our ideologies are the same, otherwise i wouldn't have married him. however, i just can't -- my husband votes his party down the line. i'm like, babe, do you realize which judge that was and which -- i don't care. i don't care. he's a -- that's all there is to it. he's irish. he's stubborn. and that's just the way it has become. we agree to disagree. socially i'm more liberal. morally i'm much more

conservative. my husband and i just can't -- we just can't agree on anything political anymore. it's so sad. we have been married nearly 50 years. host: was there a -- whether was the last presidential candidate you both agreed on? caller: oh, my goodness. obama. obama. host: why was that something -- why was president obama the president that could bring your husband and you together? caller: bring us together? we have been together -- host: bring you together politically on your political philosophy. caller: what it was, he was such a fresh, young face. and he was so sincere about -- i really do believe he loves this country. that's what we need. we need people in power who are

not there for the power or the money. i like what that gallon said from missouri about pensions anr you retire, your benefits end after a certain period. you leave a job and you are able to do the cobra thing. that expires, too. i love when politicians say, well, the american people have a right to know. aren't you an american as well, mr. politician? we, we, we. host: before you go, what's your husband's first name? caller: joe. why, you going to pray for him? host: no. best to you and joe. thanks for calling. good luck to both of you in brooklyn, new york. thank you for the call. caller: thank you. have a good day. host: that's michelle in new york. michelle, our last caller in stayed's "washington journal." a reminder to stay tuned to the c-span networks throughout the day.

plenty of action-on the floor of the house. floor of the senate, c-span2. white house as well. events there featuring the president's mexico and canada. for now that does it for us on the judiciary committee journal. we'll being -- "washington journal." we'll be back tomorrow morning. we now take you live for gavel-to-gavel coverage of the house of representatives. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy visit ncicap.org] [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in