week, there are several items on the agenda. the house and senate must extend federal funding december 3 deadline to avoid a government shutdown and deal with the debt limit to prevent a default. lawmakers plan to complete work on president buttons climate and social spending land next month as well as the defense programs. watch the house live on c-span and the senate on c-span2, online at www.c-span.org or follow congress with c-span now, her new video app. today, the center for american progress will host a discussion on how technology is changing health care. watch live at 12 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at www.c-span.org or watchful coverage on c-span now, our new video app. coming up this morning come a discussion about president biden's economic agenda and next

year's midterm elections. then the vice president of the national federation of independent business on the impact of biden administration policies on small businesses policies on small businesses. "washington journal ♪ host: the washington journal for november 23. president biden announced he will nominate jay powell for another four-year term, where if re-nominated will involve him over in economy with rising inflation and costs. for your next hour your thoughts on the renomination of jay powell and what you think that it might mean for matters of the u.s. economy. here's how you can reach out. democrats, (202) 748-8000.

republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text if you wish to (202) 748-8003, post on our facebook page, or on twitter @cspanwj. wall street journal highlighting yesterday's announcement talks about some of the details of why the president chose to renominate chair powell for another term at the fed. they write that mr. powell faces an especially delicate economic challenge as recovery from the covid-19 pandemic and the government's response have sharply boosted demand and disrupted global supply chain sending inflation to its highest level in more than a decade. he will have to lead debate on how soon to raise rates. the danger is twofold. officials do not want to overreact by raising interest rates and cooling down the economy of supply chain bottlenecks repair themselves or under react as wages rise fueling a more traditional

inflationary cycle. that is part of the write up from the washington journal. part of the reaction is on our facebook page, and you can post there as well. when it comes to the renomination, sergio gomez saying that the fed is supposed to be an independent body but whoever is appointed becomes a puppet for the president of the united states. from chris hermon, senior saying that he supports the decision for the most part adding that it might stabilize the markets. and then milton from facebook saying that he approves of the nomination, saying that it shows that the president cares more about our country then his ego, adding that this fed chair was appointed under the former president donald trump. that is some of the reaction. when it comes to the political back and forth from the president yesterday as he made the announcement, you can see the full presentation on c-span.org and also on c-span

now, our video app. here's the president yesterday talking about the renomination. [video clip] pres. biden: some will question why i was re-nominating jay. why am i not picking a democrat, picking fresh blood? taking the fed in a different direction? put directly, at this moment of both enormous potential and enormous uncertainty for our economy, we need stability and independence at the federal reserve. jay has proven the independence that i value in a federal chair, fed chair. in the last administration he stood up to unprecedented political interference and successfully maintained the integrity and credibility of this institution. it is one reason why he has support from across the political spectrum. in 2018 he was confirmed with 84 votes in the united states senate.

his approach as fed chair has earned the respect and support of groups from the afl-cio to the business roundtable, which brings me to one more reason i've chosen to renominatejay. i believe having fed leadership with a broad bipartisan support is important, especially now in such a politically divided nation. i believe we need to do everything we can to take the bitter partisanship of politics out of something as important as the independence and credibility of the federal reserve. host: that is the president from yesterday talking about the renomination and mentioning matters of the economy. he is expected to do that this afternoon at 2:00, which you can see at our website, c-span.org, and our streaming video app at c-span.now. the economy was a large factor in the decision to renominate jay powell. you can talk about the

renomination itself, and what it does or might do to influence matters of the economy. (202) 748-8000, democrats. (202) 748-8001, republicans. (202) 748-8002, independents. ben white for political rights for some of the economic background and the renomination process this morning and a piece that you can find online, why bite and picked powell. the president cited the need for continuity and stability at the fed at a sensitive economic moment. powell acknowledge rising prices take a toll on families, including a 6.2% bump in october is among the biggest risks for democrats in the midterms in the 2024 presidential election. some senior democrats hoped biden had moved on pending inflation blame on powell installing a new democratic-friendly chair. that was viewed by some on wall

street, "i think it is a political heir to renominate powell," said an economist saying that biden now owns inflation. you can comment on that as well. this is some of the reaction from the legislators when it comes to capitol hill yesterday amongst the senate. first, this text from russ in california saying that jay powell is a complete failure. no one can follow his confusing remarks about the economy. inflation is at its worst in 30 one years. the president will keep him because he is a puppet. another text from a viewer in maryland, from grayson bill, saying that it appears that the fed's independence may be waning with reports that powell and janet yellen have a good working relationship and how does climate change fall into the federal reserve's realm of influence? that are some of the talking

points yesterday. jay powell talking about the possibility of a second term, what he wants to do with that second term. you can see it on our website. here's is jay powell from yesterday. [video clip] mr. powell: americans were 10 years into economic expansion when covid hit our shores reaching even those traditionally left out. the pandemic brought an immediate, painful recession. fortunately, american resilience and a strong policy actions and vaccines that enable the economy's reopening cushion the blows and set the stage for strong recovery. the economy is expanding at its fastest pace in many years, carrying the promise of a return to maximum employment. challenges and opportunities remain as always. the unprecedented reopening of the economy and continuing effects of the pandemic led to supply and demand imbalances,

bottlenecks, and a burst of inflation. we know that high inflation takes a toll on families, especially those less able to meet the high costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation. we will use our tools to support the economy, strong labor market, and prevent stronger inflation from becoming entrenched. other priorities are regarding the stability of the financial system, involving risks from climate change and cyber attacks, and facilitating the modernization of the payment system while protecting consumers. host: in kentucky texting a saying that it was the right thing to do. anything that might help unite our country. whoever he nominates the right will not accept them and fight anything he tries to do to help our country. from jacksonville, alabama, rita, what do you think about the nomination and what it does for the economy? good morning.

caller: i wish someone could come in and take priority over everything. my dad always told us it is not the money you make it's what you save. people should have saved the stimulus checks and things instead of having their pleasures met. have a blessed day. host: before you leave, what do you think about the renomination of jay powell as far as people taking charge, what you talked about? caller: well, it seems like he might be a pretty good person, but when two people can't agree on one thing everything is a mistake. host: what do you mean by that? caller: have a blessed day. host: what do you mean by that? caller: just like the white house up there. it is full of 200 and 300 people and they can't to people agree

on one thing -- two people agree on one thing. when that takes place there is nothing that can be done. host: this is rory in california, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. basically they need powell to get him out of this mess. i think they know nothing about how to make money. they only use republicans to make the money so they can steal it later on for the leftist democrats. otherwise there would be nothing to steal, nothing to tax. powell is a good person, he knows how to do stuff. he will be more in control of the democratic party as a person who does finance. as for anything else, i think it's only a matter of time before biden and harris are both impeached. host: do you think the federal

reserve chair delves into issues of politics rather than just monetary policy, or do you think that politics is part of it? caller: politics has become part of it under biden. at least with trump he let people do what they do best. if they did their job right he didn't bother them. he only got after them when they did it wrong. the democrats, right or wrong, they don't care. they just want to be in power. host: do you think jay powell has done things rightly or wrongly? caller: you knows how stuff works. that means it's right because it worked. biden has done everything wrong. we need to have the pipeline come back, we need the border. right now i am hearing there are more shooting incidents between civilians and over there. host: when it comes to jay powell you said that he has done things right. such as what?

caller: trying to keep the financial interest rates low. every time they spend, really spend bad like they have been doing it kills the america, it hurts america. i don't want to see this country go down for the last time, because a lot of people don't want to see america exist after they die. i want to see america live, prosper. host: that is rory. this is paul in virginia saying i can say with 90% certainty that the general public doesn't know what the fed chair does rather than how the fed chair works. they understand their own personal finances. matters of the economy is one of the things the president talked about yesterday in choosing chair powell to be renominated. he talked about chair powell's

background. here is another bit from the wall street journal going back to 20. they said in 2018 when then president trump made mr. powell fed chair he shed his hawkish instincts. he said it relied on economic concepts that were imprecise, unobservable, a neutral unemployment rate below which inflation accelerated or perfectly balanced unemployment and inflation. unemployment suddenly fell reaching a 50-year low with no sign of troubling wage or price inflation. inflation persistently undershot the fed's 2% target, something that mr. powell in 2019 reversed a modest increase in rates. you can talk about matters of the economy and how it relates to the decision by the federal reserve. fort pierce, florida, independent line. hello. caller: good morning. the first thing we need to look

at is powell's assumptions.they are actually very wrong. his promises. if you think about it the recovery rate of people who get the virus before we had the vaccine, it was very high. 97%. we are talking about numbers, you know? people do die, and people die every day. people die of cancer and different things. that was not -- it was not -- as someone said you cannot make the cure worse than the disease. it was not a virus that caused the problem. it was the political reaction to it. that is what took down the economy. host: how does that relate to the federal reserve and the decision by the chair? caller: the federal reserve is borrowing money and printing money. we all know that inflation hurts

the elderly. it hurts the poor the most. the richest it doesn't hurt, because they have the money and the finances. plus, it takes the money out of the market available for the middle class to use. the problem being, we made it worse. and then to brag about, well our economy is recovering faster than it ever has, it is because the economy was already made politically so bad. we reacted the wrong way. host: we will hear from clay in louisiana. republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i personally think president biden nominated jay powell as fed chair because of the virginia election. i think it is pulling him slightly more towards the middle. i think some of the other nominations he made, he did not

make -- they were made by elizabeth warren, bernie sanders, and so on. i digress -- host: are you still there? clay? maybe clay got cut off. speaking of senator elizabeth warren, she putting out the release that you can find on twitter but it will lease on the nomination of jay powell in part saying that it's no secret i oppose chair jerome powell's renomination and will vote against him. i will support the president's nomination will brainard as vice chair. powell's failures on regulation, climate and ethics makes the still vacant position of vice chair important and must be filled by a regulator with a proven track record of enforcement and it needs to be done quickly. she was one of the few democrats yesterday that expressed disappointment with the decision

by the president to renominate jay powell to the position. you can continue to call on the lines if you wish. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. several of you texting us. william in middletown, connecticut saying it appears the present knows further and certainty will reduce the economic recovery. maybe his only bipartisan position but he will do whatever the president wishes. i think he characterizes it as good and bad. kentucky, democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the president appointed mr. powell fed chair and his other pick was also a good one.

i think you will get this pandemic under control. host: why do you think the decisions were good for both of these positions? caller: because the feds need somebody that can take -- host: that is randy in kentucky. one of the reactions from wall street in light of the decision was the stock market. the s&p 500 ended lower than the nasdaq in deep negative territory after a record high. dow jones industrials edged slightly higher, treasury yields slightly lower, microsoft and apple. one trader saying that the market is nervous. we know we have power but that doesn't help with the inflation issue. growth stocks got hit all day and take got hit hard at the end. powell's nomination was welcomed

by many investors hoping for no big changes in the fed as the economy is guided through a recovery from the pandemic. pre-pandemic policy by the end of 2022. in south carolina, independent line. caller: good morning, sir. i would say maybe -- i don't know a lot about this jerome powell fellow. i didn't even know he was the chairman of the fed until his name came up. but i guess we will see what happens when his nomination is put forth, i guess. he has to be put before the some senate committee. host: he goes before a committee then a full vote in the senate, yes. caller: yes, ok. i guess he will go before those illustrious people and we will

see how well they barbecue him. the republicans and democrats alike. we will see how well this turns out. i don't know the man. i think it's a shame we don't know that much about people that are so important to our country, but we will see what we will see. i guess to use the words of the great trump, we will see what happens. thank you for taking my call. host: south carolina, tom speaking of legislators and the reaction from elizabeth warren. this is the senator from rhode island, democratic senator, saying president biden must appoint a fed chair who will ensure the fed is fulfilling its mandate to safeguard our

financial system and shares the administration's view that fighting climate change is the responsibility of every policymaker. that person is not jerome powell. the democrat from oregon saying that we need to focus on climate action in all facets of the federal government, including the federal reserve. jerome powell has proven that he won't answer calls for climate action. i will vote no. from senator portman from ohio saying that i disagree with some of the fed's policies on quantitative easing that have created inflationary pressures on our economy, i will vote to confirm jerome powell for a second term. i hope you will do what he can from the monetary side to reign in inflation going forward. some of the reaction from yesterday. you can add yours to the mix if you wish from our texting service. you can tweet us if you wish. give us a call on the lines. reed from ocean shores, washington state, republican line. caller: good morning, c-span.

i follow the fed a lot. i think people need the primarily understand what it's about. andrew jackson his first day in office abolish the federal bank. president wilson reestablished -- established the federal reserve, central bank, in his presidency. when he left office when asked by the press what in your administration did you consider to be the worst decision, he said that that was the fed. the federal reserve is controlled by blackrock and vanguard. people need to look at these corporations. vanguard has existed for 155 years. vanguard and blackrock collectively own more stocks in wall street than anybody. they own the fed. two jerome powell, -- to jerome powell, i know six weeks ago it

was uncovered in the press that he was in his stock portfolio, the majority of his stock portfolio, is indeed blackrock and vanguard. they are a public company that controls governments around the world. they are the ones we should fear. not jerome powell, the democrats and republicans, it is this one world order. vanguard and blackrock. the last one that i will say is you wonder why the home prices are going up? these corporations are buying homes at record amounts. you wonder, how can they pay $50,000 more than the asking price? it is because they know, and they are controlling is our money degrades to almost nothing that that $50,000 will mean nothing a decade from now. it will be a bargain. host: kevin brady is the ranking member of the committee putting out a statement of his own in light of the renomination. he said chairman powell's

renomination is an opportunity for the federal reserve to re-examine its approach to dealing with inflation, the labor shortage, the enabling of irresponsible fiscal policy by the biden administration. it is imperative, he goes on to say, that we restore the pre-pandemic policy with levels of low employment and wage again. i look forward to working with mr. powell in his new term. that is on the house aside from kevin brady, the ranking member on the house ways and means. you can comment as well. this is mike in stockton, california, independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. the fellow from washington state who just gave a nice synopsis is incredibly well-informed. he is right about vanguard and blackrock. the bottom line is with everything that is being foisted

on the american people, i want them to remember these corporations that the fellow pointed out. when everything goes to hell, and it is going to go to hell, these are the guys responsible for doing it. mr. powell, to reemploy him after he was found doing insider stock trading in two or -- and two or three chairman at the regional banks also feathering their own nests, they want us destroyed as a country. they will get their way until people wake up. these are the people we need to go after as a society. i'm very impressed with that caller who can call in from washington state and be so aware of who the real criminals are. all of these representatives, all of them took ivermectin so

they are not worried about their health. we are run by criminal cabal. the guys pulling the strings or at the federal reserve, vanguard, and blackrock. he is absolutely right. host: that is mike in stockton, california. you are welcome to do the same. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . from patrick in maryland, i wish mr. powell the best of luck in a second term. i would say about regulation, we need simpler regulation with discretion. our regulations have built a financial system of compliance, not moral ethics and finance. big difference. in new york, winded climate change enter the portfolio of the fed? the assignment is unemployment and inflation.

if warren is opposed to this, i am in favor. and from twitter saying that it wasn't long that larry summers who biden appointed in the clinton administration, i'm fine with it. that is some of the reaction from twitter to the nominations and matters of economic policy. wilmington, north carolina, independent line. caller: great job, as always by c-span. good stuff every day. i want to say that jay powell did not engage in insider trading. that is another bit of nonsense that you just heard. he has done a fantastic job in terms of monetary policy. it was the fed that made our bout so far with covid so easy. he was very pointed on the policy-making end, and i'm sure

he will continue to do that. everyone that is whining that i hear about, inflation and the fed's policy of dumping money into the economy as being a cause for this inflation we are seeing now, should look at a deep dive at the san francisco fed earlier this year concerning the 1.9 billion -- $1.9 trillion stimulus passed in march. they found that it only contributed in a very minimal way. the actions on the monetary side that jay powell took has had a minimal effect on inflation.

we are experiencing a worldwide covert outbreak. a worldwide pandemic. -- covid outbreak. a worldwide pandemic. every country in the world are in experiencing inflation. it is not happening here in the united states, folks. it's happening worldwide, and it will continue to happen until we get control of covid. host: in wilmington, north carolina, giving us his thoughts. the other person the president nominated to be vice chair of the federal reserve, will brainerd. this is the profile of her, saying that she is often the outlier and her role is one of the federal reserve governor she made a habit of objecting to unanimous vote stroll back -- no governor had consented since 2011, barring a handful. one of her most recent distance

came in june of 2020 when the fed considered changes to the vocal rule, a landmark division that limits banks dealing with private equity firms and hedge funds. she cast the vote against altering the rule. the proposal she warned could allow banks to return to risky activity seen in the 2008 financial crisis. her objections, 12 in 2020, went unheeded. now someone is listening and his name is joe biden. a profile from cnbc, she spoke about the nominations from the president as vice chair. lael brainard. here she is from yesterday. [video clip] >> i'm committed to putting working americans at the center of my work at the federal reserve. this means getting inflation down at a time when people are focused on their jobs and how far their paychecks will go. it means supporting a growing economy that includes everyone.

it means ensuring that financial markets are thriving and resilient and that the economy is sustainable for future generations. it means serving all americans in every community across the country and ensuring the federal reserve reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. i was privileged to work with chair powell as we made every effort to protect workers, businesses, and families from the covid financial shock with the support of congress. i look forward to working with him in the months and years ahead to build a durable recovery. host: again, you can see both comments from jay powell and lael brainard, including the president yesterday, at c-span.org. we invite you to download on your device our c-span now video app, which offers streaming video of things that we air on the network. you can catch that in almost real time on c-span.now, and

you can go to our website for comments that the president is expected to make on the economy. a short week because of thanksgiving, but those comments are coming this afternoon. you can see them on c-span.org and our c-span now. video -- c-span now video app. deliver tony and commenting that i don't think it will make a real difference in either direction. saying i have no problem with leaving jay powell that the helm. jay powell has been in the middle. i assume leave him where he is. those are the comments on twitter. twitter is available and you can reach us @cspanwj. in seattle, washington, the democratic line. dave, hello. caller: yes. i think the one thing the president has nominated mr. powell as he doesn't need a

nasty fight. if he tries to nominate someone else they will have a hard fight over it. i believe that interest rates will definitely go up. they have to go up. every time powell wanted to raise interest rates trump would call him up and say no, i will kick you out of your job if you don't keep the interest rates down. host: when you say expect a fight, what with the fight be over? caller: what was that? host: you said that there would be a fight if someone else was chosen. what with the fight be over? caller: it is quite obvious. donald trump does not want interest rates raised. i think mr. powell knew that they should be raised if things were right. -- work right. host: you said if jay powell was renominated under this president there would be a fight? what would the fight be over? caller: yes, i don't think the

republicans want anyone else in there. if you tries to put someone else in there there will be a nasty fight over it.they will drag their feet and vote against it. the president doesn't need that right now. he has stuff going on. host: a caller from seattle. many people are getting up early to call us this morning. i appreciate folks giving us those calls on this topic. len, east coast, new york, democrats line, hello. caller: renominating jay powell was something that ordinarily would not have been done because between everyone that trump put in, worried that he will sabotage the country's best efforts with democrats in place. but powell was there the whole time -- remember, trump did not

know who he was until he was given the guy's name. powell has been in the office. apparently, doing the independent job that is supposed to be done. america -- i mean wall street likes continuity. wall street is running the show. wall street likes the continuity of someone acting responsibly and not showing inclinations to bend towards political expediency. he is not going to cure the microstrip problem -- microchip problem for cars or put philadelphia cream cheese on the shelves. their problems that have nothing to do with the federal reserve. host: taking a look not only at the nomination but the economics behind decisions made by the president to renominate powell for a second four-year term.

a couple of topics related to things that people brought up. this is back in october of this year. the twittersphere is abuzz about the federal reserve officials trading activities, the controversy is a faux one. an article was run saying that jerome powell pulled one million to 5 million worth of stock from his personal account on october 1, 2020. the sale occurred before the dow jones average suffered a significant drop. entries on the forms don't provide exact transactions dates. at first blush it sounds juicy, the transaction comes after two presidents, boston and dallas, stepped down after extensive securities trading called for calls for their departure.

the fed vice chair moved between $1 million and $5 million out of one mutual fund into other mutual funds on february 27 of 2020, the day before the fed issued statements signaling cuts to the worsening pandemic. the story is very disingenuous. the head of the global policy reach we did in regards to the article that the stock market dropped 5.6% 23 days after powell pulled his stock. anyone who can reliably time the market and day in advance, let alone 23, let me know. actions by the other tears lead to changes at the federal reserve reserve highlighted on their website saying that on october 21 the chair of the reserve announced a new set of ethics rules will regulate a type of financial transaction senior staff can make.

after harsh criticism of market rates by two federal reserve bank presidents. powell and other fed officials have come under scrutiny. you can find more of those changes in policy when it comes to the trades on the site. good morning. caller: i will be brief. i would like to hit a few topics. inflation is creeping across the world. it is not just america. it's europe, it's the far east. the other topic -- i've been trying to call all week. host: as far as the federal reserve topic, let's stick with that right now. what you think about the decision by the president? caller: i think he is not fit for a decision from biden. biden is blamed for everything. i go along with the decision to renominate biden to the federal

reserve. host: you mean jerome powell? caller: jerome powell. we just have to work our way out of this pandemic. host: in your mind, what gives mr. powell -- i guess, what has mr. powell done previously that gives him another shot at the reserve in your mind, or the chair position? caller: when elizabeth warren came out against powell i gave it some thought, but i feel powell has done the best he could under the previous administration and he is moving ahead. we have insider trading? i don't know about that, but i'm sure that he will be criticized no matter what. host: joe and omaha, nebraska giving us a call. many of you -- several of you tweeting as well. you can do so @cspanwj if you wish.

our facebook page is facebook.com/c-span. text us at (202) 748-8003. you can call us on the lines. many of you are doing that this morning. many of you from the west coast, including todd from california. hi. caller: the federal reserve chairperson, who they are are basically irrelevant because they tend to do the same things. i think they should get rid of the federal reserve period and go back to the cold standard. -- gold standard. pay and hire more truck drivers and dockworkers to ease the supply chain crisis, that would solve a lot of this problem. host: what is wrong with the federal reserve? caller: they manipulate currency. then, like with the treasury,

the u.s. technically can keep borrowing and borrowing money and manipulating currency. and then we have all of this inflation and all of this debt to china. this isn't working. host: go back to manipulating currency. how so specifically? caller: interest rates. how are they going to tell a state, bank of america, with the interest rates are? something that should be between them and the consumer? host: that is caught in california giving us his thoughts on the renomination as well as thoughts on the federal reserve. you're welcome to do that for the remaining minutes that we have if you wish. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. this is when it comes to matters

of inflation it was yesterday that janet yellen talked a little about what she sees in the forecast when it comes to that, saying that the secretary said on monday that she expects the current record high inflation to ease with monthly rates falling back to 0.2% or 0.3% in the second half of next year. "i'm hoping and expecting in the second half of next year to see the consumer price index rates coming in at the rate of .2% or .3%," she said. i think in the second half of next year we will see inflation subside. the way we will see that is looking at monthly inflation rates. she addressed the forum adding that the president has made fighting inflation a top priority. data shows sumer prices hit a 30-year high last month -- consumer prices hit a 30-year last month and a slump in approval.the president is expected to make comments on the economy at 2:00

on c-span if you want to watch it. you can follow along at c-span.org. we told you about the c-span now video app that you can monitor. the president talking about the economy in this short holiday week of thanksgiving. those, 2:00. you can follow along. in new york, port washington. caller: i'm calling from new york, i am a democrat and i'm extremely disappointed with what is going on in my state. to comment on your topic, i don't think she should be nominated for the comptroller of currency. i have respect for her personal story which is similar to my personal story. i was raised in a communist country. i don't think that she is the right choice. i think when it comes to her ideas and opinions she is extremely biased. right now our economy is not doing well.

i am incredibly disappointed as a parent, someone who runs a family of five. this inflation is unacceptable. small business in new york has been decimated and i am disenchanted by the situation and it's not good enough for me that it will start subsiding in the second half of next year. how do we get there from here? host: fort washington, where is that on a map? caller: it is fascinating that you ask. this is the town of north hampstead. port washington is an unincorporated name. we are the north shore of long island. host: you talk about the economic picture. how would you paint that? caller: it is becoming more divided and stark every day. i am a stay-at-home mother, a family of five, young children. my husband works long hours in the city. i am very disappointed.

i am shocked with what is happening around me. our main streets, we have more stores leaving everyday. empty storefronts. the town of new hempstead doesn't pick up the litter. they don't have enough people. i pay taxes for that. i go out of town to fill up on gas because gas around here is outrageous. i don't shop in town anymore for groceries. i go to the south shore. i drive out of town. this is how unaffordable it has become for the basics for me. it is not enough for me that janet yellen is saying that it will get better the second half of next year. i am worried. thank you for having me commenting. host: giving us a call on the perspective that she brings. another new yorker, republican line, this is jim.

caller: i am surprised i have so much false information to get through. andrew jackson killed the bank, the central bank, and he didn't do it on his first day. there was a lot of work involved. he wanted to stop central banks. the fed does not print money. the fed buys treasury bonds, and then the treasury -- how it works is the fed buys the bonds. the fed pays for the bonds with electronic entry. they simply create this money out of nothing. that is what is causing the inflation. the federal reserve, the chair of the federal reserve, wouldn't get the job if wall street didn't approve. the other guy talking about vanguard, vanguard was an index

fund, is an index fund created by jack vogel. if they are doing anything unsavory, i don't know about it. host: back to the chair of the reserve, what you think about another term for him? caller: i'm not crazy since bernanke because -- i'm not crazy about the chairs since bernanke he, because they are doing all of this battling out. it is causing inflation. they are right that it's going on worldwide with central banks. they are creating too much money. i don't know how they will mop up all of this cash. what would be great if you could get rick santelli on your program. host: we have had plenty of guest to talk about federal reserve issues. if you're interested in what they've said over the years go to our website at c-span.org. if you go to the search box,

type in if you want to see more about jay powell to see the times he's been on the network talking about issues. if you want to talk about issues of the federal reserve, you can do that too. dave and orlando saying that i think the president's pick was an olive leaf for republicans. let's see if they can agree. huntington, i think west virginia, who knows if the powell nomination was a good idea. i hope it was because it's an incredibly important job. current inflation isn't transitory. we will be seen a huge mistake. some of the people commenting via twitter and our texting service. the from christian, good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. one of my favorite topics, the federal reserve. i didn't want either of these

people nominated for the fed, but i will take powell over brainard any day. if i can see a few things that i know about the federal reserve. the federal reserve was created initially for financial stability and financial market stability. the controlling and monitoring of interest rates. since alan greenspan, the federal reserve has gone off of the rails. it seems to cater to its owners. if you look at the federal reserve, the new york federal reserve, the largest most important central bank of the world is the new york fed. they have shareholders. the shareholders are j.p. morgan, goldman sachs, you know all of these major, international banks. that is who they first and foremost serve. they are the regulators of the

banking industry. god knows they couldn't do anything about global warming. all of that stuff is insane. host: why would you rather see j powell -- jay powell at the head rather than lael brainard? caller: we just tried modern monetary theory. we did that through the covid epidemic. that was conducted through the federal reserve by allowing the united states treasury to borrow trillions and trillions of dollars -- the fed extended its balance sheet to accommodate this. we are seeing the results. massive inflation. inflation is the worst thing that you can do. host: as far as leadership, what is wrong with lael brainard over jay powell? what is wrong with her approach in your mind? caller: she is very connected to washington, d.c. insiders.

she wants to push modern monetary theory and have the federal reserve in charge of things like income inequality and ubi, universal basic income. this is all -- we have to get rid of cash. she wants digital currency right away, which would curtail our freedoms and liberties, and also have runaway inflation in the process. host:host: we will leave it there. from westport, massachusetts, greg. caller: how are you doing? host: i am well, how about yourself? caller: i am good. it seems there is a lot of corruption in the stock market and i don't think the federal reserve is doing their job in controlling this corruption. you just had a story or news article that morgan stanley got $168 million indictment for

manipulating the market, the precious metals market. there is so much wrong with what's going on in this country right now. somebody needs to get control and get all of this money back that they printed and start paying off this debt. they have to get this stuff under control. it is out of control. host: in other matters of financial news, this is from the wall street journal saying that starting on the 30th of january all new contracts or contract extensions require the higher minimum wage for federal workers, $15 an hour, that will be indexed to inflation. in a finalized rule that president biden called for earlier this year it would raise the minimum wage for contractors from $10.95 per hour. 320 7000 contractors could see higher wages. the government employs about 5 million contractors according to

a professor at new york university. don, ohio, independent line. caller: these lousy guys in here for 30 or 40 years are out of it. take for example, with all of the holidays, 18 hours a day to get caught up, why should they be working overtime when you have all of those people on the unemployment line? host: what does that mean as far as jay powell and his head of the federal reserve? caller: that means -- alright. they want to give these people $450,000. the country is broke. say we are broken we can't ask the taxpayers to pay this

unnecessarily. he can say the country is broke, we do not have it. host: another bit of economic news reported by fox and other outlets saying that the president said the department of energy will release 50 million barrels of oil in the u.s. strategic petroleum reserve as americans are paying more for gas than they have in years, asking china, japan, the united kingdom, and india to have their reserves in a coordinated effort to drive down prices. 32 million will be released and eventually returned to the reserve in the next few years. the remaining 18 million barrels are part of a sale that congress already authorized. congress said it was accelerating the release of the sale. the president stands ready to take additional action if needed and is prepared to use his full authority working in coordination with the world to maintain adequate supply as we exit the pandemic. illinois, democrats line, john,

hello. caller: hello. i just kind of think that no matter what powell does, or the reserve does, i think really a lot of inflation comes down to the personal choices of the american people. if i want to save money or lower inflation in my own life i have to either spend less, use less, or become more efficient. a lot of people that are complaining about gas prices are driving around in gas guzzlers. it is their right to do that as americans come you can have whatever car you want, don't get me wrong. one thing you don't have the right to is be a hypocrite about it. host: where does that mean for the working reserve? caller: i don't think it is so much -- they can do anything if we ourselves as americans don't take it upon ourselves to do something. the reserve is not the personal

choices that we make. if the gas prices are too high for me i'm going to get a more efficient car. i'm going to maybe get an electric car and stop using gas. i'm going to find alternatives. that is why i say really when it comes to the federal reserve, they can only do so much for us. it is up to us to do it for ourselves. host: delray beach, florida, thomas, republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. right now i probably wouldn't give joe biden or jay powell a grade on the economy. it hasn't even been a year. let's see how the build back better works out a year from now, two years from now. i won't criticize the economic policies as of yet. i will say that i do find the democrats and more liberal media have been very hypocritical

talking about how good bidens economy is. i recall rather distinctly that you always heard during trump's first years that trump does not deserve credit for the economy because the first two years of the presidency are a hangover from the previous administration. i will criticize republicans for saying the same thing about obama win the first amulet package came in in 2009. i just wish that when it came to the economy, the lifeblood of the american people, that he made it something honest rather than a back-and-forth political game because the presidents, senators, and representatives, the economy is just a game to them, a career. to the american people it is our lives. there is a quote from "the big short" every time unemployment tilts up 1% 40,000 people die. i know in washington it is a

decimal point somewhere, but on the street is real life. host: michael, south portland, maine, last call for this segment. good morning. caller: jay powell has pocketed money. i agree with the woman, it is our decision. she has all of the right when she says that it's her decision, she has to start a filing. special interests, pocket money, get it into the court of law. he made $50 million. it is his decision spending money on himself. jay powell is not worth our google. type it in. host: michael in south portland, maine finishing the segment and we appreciate all of you who've participated this morning. two perspectives coming off a

variety of things. we will be joined by center for american progress action fund's navin nayak discussing the presidents economic agenda next. and then from the national federation of independent business we will hear from the vice president national federation of independent business -- from the vice president kevin kuhlman on the biden administration's policy's impact on small business. that's coming up. ♪ ♪

>> separate studies from the brown university has found out " large school districts are far more likely to heed unions to keep in person cool schooling closed or allow falling remote lot -- models of teaching or learning. what efforts are you willing to take to protect students from teachers unions. >> thank you for your question. i am happy to point out at this point that 99.2 percent of schools are open for fallen person learning, and that is so important because we know that is where students learn best. following well of the layered mitigation strategies as well as not only allowing our schools to be open, but to stay open. doing that in a way that keeps everyone staved -- safe

including the educators, students, and community. >> last week a house subcommittee looked at covid-19 education relief funds and mental health priorities for kids. that is with the deputy education -- deputy secretary of education. watch the entire hearing tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span, c-span.org or for coverage on c-span now, our new video app. >> president george washington gave his farewell address in 1796. tonight historians and authors revisit the warnings against threats confronting the young nation in a discussion hosted by mount vernon. watch at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> washington unfiltered, c-span in your pocket, download c-span now today. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: our first guest of the morning, navin nayak, the president for the center of american progress action fund and a counselor for the center for american progress. thank you for giving us your time. i think the folks who watch the program long enough are mill your with the center for american progress, but what is the action fund and how is it different? guest: it is the active arm of the center. the center for american progress is one of the leading progressive think tanks. we really do policy work across a wide range of issues, national security, the economy, climate change, and the action fund focuses on the -- on taking the ideas and getting them implemented, turning them into laws and making sure that we are communicating in a way so that the american people understand

how the laws are being implemented. host: how closely has the center been watching both the path it -- the passage of the infrastructure act itself but the current debate over the build back better act? guest: it has been a huge priority, this has been the culmination of a decade of work by the center of our allies in the issues of child care, and the culmination of a lot of work in a really important moment. it is one that we are excited to feature. host: as far as the passage of the build back better act in the house, what is a concern as it goes towards the senate? guest: at the end of the day, it will pass, too -- given the tight margins, you need every democratic senator to vote for this and that creates a touch of anxiety.

i feel very confident in saying that for every senator in the u.s. senate, this will be the most consequential bill that has ever come before them in terms of making a difference in the lives of their constituents. i think at the end of the day, that is why maggert -- members of congress want to be in the u.s. senate and they want to make a difference to give them a chance and their families a chance to get ahead. there has never been a piece of legislation. i have been here 20 years doing work and over the last 20 or 4050 years this is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation, and i think that will be a compelling reason for it to get done. host: passage is one thing, and there are debates that certain programs or initiatives that were initially part of the package might get left out in the senate vote -- version, paid family leave, immigration provisions. if those things change, how strong is the package overall?

guest: we are fighting hard for both of those provisions, which were included in the house package and we feel confident that they will be -- there will be some version of paid leave, the house has put in a minimum, and then certainly the protections around immigration that the senate has been considering and were included in the house package, we hope both of those stay in and we feel confident that there will be the 50 votes to do that. i think the reality is that overall this is a really transformative package. obviously, it looks different than what the president initially proposed several months ago, and i think that is understandable. i think not everyone who is voting for this bill will get everything that they wants. but, every american will feel the difference of this bill. and you cannot always say that

about legislation. the magnitude and way in which this bill will help people is still pretty significant. host: if you want to ask them questions you can call him on the lines, 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. independents, 202-748-8002. you can text us at 202-748-8003. can you imagine the various changes this bill has undergone, what are those concerns and the product -- and the concern for some is the price tag overall. what do you ping to the argument when price tags are debated? guest: that is not the -- what the american people care about. the price tag is not the thing that gets them excited about legislation or does not. it is not that it hurts, i think the polling is clear that the minute people here, the opportunity to log -- lower description -- prescription drug

costs, the opportunity to give every family an extension of the child tax credit, lowering the cost of childcare, the range of ways when you start telling the american people what is actually included they view this as exactly they of that's exactly what they have been wanting washington to do. the thing about the story of this bill is that we have spent 40 years in this country with an economic agenda that has really been about trying to grow a strong economy by giving tax cuts to the rich and reducing regulations with the hope that the benefits would trickle down to the rest of americans, and i think the american people and economists recognize the colossal failure, the middle class got decimated and we have not seen -- wages budge in 40 years and that is what the build back better agenda represents.

it is a different approach to building a strong economy, which is about investing and working people, and families as opposed to trying to grow the economy at the expense of working people and families. i think when people understand that starting point a lot of people will come to appreciate that this is the kind of legislation that people would have been clamoring for for decades. host: when it comes to the dollar figure, you probably saw the news last week from the cbo, the scoring of the bill even with every estimate put in, a deficit involved of $160 billion. do you think the american people care about the number or is it a political argument? guest: there is a lot of debate about how the cbo is scoring that. and just to give you one example, they do not really account for the way in which investing in the internal revenue service to make sure that people who are cheating on

paying their taxes actually pay their fair share will generate revenue for federal government. and so there is a huge discrepancy in terms of how the treasury department scores a provision like that. they say will raise a net of $400 billion. that is something that many economists say is conservative because we over the next decade will lose about $7 trillion in tax dollars because we did not collect them or people avoided paying them. so, i think this is going to be fully paid for. and, given the investments we are making, i really do not think the american people will be caught up on the cbo score. host: it being fully paid for, is that solely dependent on what the irs can bring in, or are there other factors? guest: no, i think there is a dynamic element to the scoring. i think the bottom line is that

it is may be a helpful contrast, the democrats are making sure that these investments for working families are offset by a few really important things, one is allowing medicare for the first time to negotiate description drug prices. and that is going to lower the cost of prescription drug prices for consumers also means the federal government itself will spend hundreds of billions of dollars less buying prescription drugs for medicare. so, there are those provisions, tax increase provisions, and there is really a lot of confidence from the treasury department, the white house, and our analysts that this bill will be fully paid for. host: this is our guest, navin nayak of the center for american progress action fund. the first call comes from marty in missouri, springfield. on the republican line. caller: i was just saying that this gentleman is wrong.

he has from a far left organization, and he is only hitting the highlights of what he thinks the american people want to hear on what they are going to get. as far as the childcare and the pharmacy prescription being paid for, this is going to be a bill from hell. that people will highly regret getting, and i like the way that they always hit the people who are for this bill, they always hit on what they think people will want to hear that they will get, rather than the devil is in the details. host: where do you think the bill is wrong? caller: that is the problem. most of the americans, including the congresspeople and senate people do not know what is in the bill. that is a lot of the problem. this gentleman does not know what is exactly and every bit of this bill. host: thank you very much.

go ahead. guest: i really appreciate the comment because i think what she is capturing, and it is really hard to cut through is the deep cynicism that the american people feel about anything that comes out of washington. we have had decades and decades of promises in the sense that washington says they will do something and then that is not how it works out. and it is part of my jobs a lot of my times watching focus blue -- groups and looking at polling and people are right to file sense of cynicism. and that is really our job and the administration is trying to communicate what is actually in the bill. i feel very confident that the more people share about what is in this bill it is already enjoyed really strong political support from democrats to independence, these -- independents, allowing medicare

to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs, there is a policy like that where you have 80 or 90% of all americans across political stripes saying yes, medicare should be allowed to negotiate prescription drug costs, which is something that families struggle with. this bill does that, and it will lower the cost of drugs like insulin so that no one pays more than $35 a month. again, i say that, and even when i say it, i appreciate that marty is sharing that because the cynicism runs so deep in this country, but this is really a moment and if democrats can get this over the finish line it is the kind of bill that the american people should feel proud of because it is government working on behalf of the people and trying to do meaningful things to solve problems. host: how good of a job do you think that the president and democrats have done about

informing people what is in it? guest: on the one hand it is a huge testament that the bill is really popular. in the sort of polarized political environment that we are in, republicans have been attacking the bill. fox news and the right reading -- wing infrastructure has been attacking the bill from day one and you still get 60% or 70% of americans supporting individual pieces and the overall package. that underscores that something is different. if you go back to the debates around the affordable care act, it did not have this kind of popularity. it was under a lot of pressure eight months into the debate. on that front i think the president has done a fantastic job in the sense that the bill is popular. that being said, i think marty is not alone with not being able to name what is in the bill and there is a lot more work to do by all of us supporting the

legislation to be able to communicate what the specifics are. host: here patricia in chicago on the line for democrats. caller: i want to ask a question and i still have to ask it. since we are trillions of dollars in debt, can we put biden on the trillion dollar bill and biden -- and clinton on the billion dollar bill host: you're going to have to continue on. just go ahead. caller: cant we just pay our deficit off? host: that is patricia. guest: i think the encouraging thing on this bill is not only will it be paid for short-term, but long term the data is clear that it will actually reduce the deficit, and our deficit remains

very manageable. i think the problem, the biggest problem with our economy is that working people have not seen their wages increase for decades , and necessities like childcare and prescription drugs has seen prices skyrocket decade after decade and year after year. i think that is really what is important about this bill, it is trying to tackle the challenges every day americans face about their wages not going far enough and not being able to afford the things they need and accrue things that they might like to make their lives a little bit more comfortable and enjoyable, and i think at the same time this will make us more competitive over the long run and start to reduce the deficit, which is not our primary concern right now, it is about trying to help working people. host: ray in illinois, on the

independent line. you are on, go ahead. caller: we are talking about how much money is going to be for the working people. so i was just wondering how much of the money actually goes directly to the families, or to organizations, or to the states? how is this really going to touch family lives? a lot of people think that they will just get money in the mail, that it does not work that way. could you explain that to the people, please. guest: absolutely, when the bill gets complicated with so many important pieces there is, unfortunately, one answer to your solution which is a mix of a lot of different things, so the child tax credit which was transformative policy is that president biden and the democrats passed as part of the american rescue plan, just to be clear about it, every republican

voted against that investment, the child tax credit actually does put money directly in people's checking accounts for 39 million families every month, and november 15, just last monday, families would have gotten a $300 or $600 check in their account, which we know from data is making a huge difference in people's lives, helping them afford things and pay for expenditures in the immediate moment, and that is having a huge impact on the economy. other provisions are going to be invested in states and childcare will be moved through states agencies to increase wages for people who are working in those industries and help cut costs for the families that need childcare support. it is really a mix across the

legislation, some of these will end up directly in accounts, and some of them you will notice when you go to the prescription drug counter the next time you fill out a refill and the cost of your prescription drug will be dramatically cut. i think people will feel the benefits of this bill in different places throughout their lives, and again, you will not feel it the first day it passes. this will take time to implement, but the fact that it is coming and this is something that will make a difference directly in people's lives is really significant. host: what do you think about the influence that senator joe manchin and kyrsten sinema have had over the process? guest: maybe i will just step back for a moment, obviously after democrats won those two senate races, the runoff in georgia and took control of the senate there was a realization

that president biden was going to get his agenda accomplished, which needed to be ambitious because of the scale of the problems that the american people are facing and required every single senator and the margins in the house are not that great, only four votes can be spared. i think you are looking at the breadth of the entire democratic congress from someone like aoc and bernie sanders to someone like joe manchin and kristin cinema coming to an agreement. at the end of the day, they have made cuts that we do not support and just had to happen, with the most important part is that they have been negotiating and engaged and trying to actually get to a solution recognizing that these are opportunities to make this's kind of a difference in people's lives are rare, which is why they are both there. they have been instructed to try and find solutions that they

could support and that will have a meaningful difference. host: senator synema talk to local television over the build back better. i want to play a little bit of what she had to say. [video clip] >> i continue my negotiations with president biden, the white house and my colleagues on this next proposed piece of legislation which could have important impacts in arizona. as i am focusing on that negotiation i am keeping a couple things in mind. one, ensuring any spending is targeted, so that it is efficient and effective, and it is respectful of the fact that arizonans want to keep more dollars in their pockets and given the inflation that we are seeing a need to take out -- they need to keep dollars in their pockets. second, i want to ensure that any action that we take is fiscally responsible. so we are not taking any kind of

tax increases that reduce american competitiveness or hurt our business' abilities to get ahead. [end video clip] host: two topics, what is your reaction? guest: i think it is encouraging if those are her two issues that she wants to make sure are met, to take the first one for targeted spending and her concerns around inflation. this bill offers a -- every american family with children tax cuts by continuing the child tax credit, and that is erratically putting money in people's pockets, and i think the data is really clear over the impact that this policy has had just since july when it took effect. we have seen not only poverty in this country cut nearly in half, which in and of itself is a really -- is a feat that we should be proud of. it is discouraging how many

americans given the wealth of this country live in poverty and the fact that we have made such progress with one policy is something that people should be proud of. but the data shows that americans even after inflation have more money in their pocket because of policies like the child tax credit that democrats passed. continuing this policy to ensure that americans can afford the increases in prices which are real right now for them, whether at the gas pump or in other aspects of their life. the good news is that democrats have put more money in people's pockets and she also mentioned on that first point, inflation, and i am really heartened by what the experts and the economists -- the economists are clear on this which is that this will lower inflationary pressure on the economy by making us and the economy more competitive, by

making these sort of investments in productivity and increasing wages, we will have a more dynamic and competitive economy which makes huge investments in technologies and industries that the u.s. has not been at the forefront of, energy is a good example of that. there are a lot of reasons to feel confident that the two issues that she has raised will be addressed were already addressed in the legislation. host: this is navin nayak for the center for american progress action fund. this is diane on our phone lines. desoto, kansas. republican lines. caller: i would like to talk about the child tax credit, the $600 a month per child that persons can get. it is my understanding that there is no work requirements at all associated with this. furthermore, that there is a virus -- very high income level

that people can qualify for. i have heard over $100,000 a year. please explain to me how that can be justified when there are people living on social security $1000 a month, and the contrast does not make sense to me. the second point i would like to bring up is the concept -- the provisions in several parts of the law, and to me, that is nothing but a budget gimmick. it has been shown that people will not want to this stopped after a one year, and therefore the cost goes up by trillions of dollars in the last thing i have to say is thank god for joe manchin and kristin cinema -- sinema. as a republican i would vote for either one of them in -- as president. guest: thank you for those questions.

let me start with the second one first. i do hope that congress extends the child tax credit. we support making it permanent and wish that congress had made it permanent. if they do that there are plenty of ways to be sure that it is paid for. i will give one example. the tax rate for corporations in this country prior to donald trump and republicans having their tax package was 28%. if folks remember 40 years ago the democrats and the republicans in congress use the same process on a partyline vote through reconciliation where they passed legislation. you've heard a little bit about what democrats are trying to do with the process, lower prescription drug costs, invest in childcare, filled a different kind of republic gains -- different kind of economy. republicans gave tax cuts to the

wealthy, $2 trillion completely unpaid for. one big provision that we which had been a part of the package that was not included is actually taking the corporate tax rate down from a low of 21, which is where republicans put it which has been a boon from -- for corporations, profits have soared without benefits to the people. taking it from 21% back to 28% would more than help pay for extending provisions like the child tax credit. on the one hand you are right some of these provisions, we hope that they do get amended, there is no shortage of ways to make sure that they are paid for through this, and then on your first point, i think the important thing to remember is that we should be helping families raise their children. we know that -- and i am a

parent of two young kids, the way in which you raise kids is the parents' choice, but we have failed families in this country are burdened with real expenses that come with having kids, and those are expenses from affording childcare, to the clothing and food expenses with -- which increase with having kids and a lot of other countries that are successful ensure that kids have the best start which we know is so important. investments we make in children and helping families raise our kids has huge benefits, not just that is the right thing to do from a moral perspective, but it is in the best interest of our country over the long term that making those investments should be something that democrats, republicans, and independents support. those are investments in the future of this country and that is the reason why the child tax

credit is so popular. it is not telling people how to spend their money it is making sure that they have the extra support that they need to help with any costs that come with having to raise kids. host: it looks like you have a couple of artists in your family. this is larry, texas. the democrat's line. caller: yes, i was wondering in this package deal that they are coming out with, i know you are talking about lowering prescription costs for the seniors. is there anything else they are doing for the seniors in this package? or is it still going to be where they are giving refugees -- i mean illegals, four hundred $50,000 a person. i was trying to ask what kind of difference and other tax credits . for the kids it is fine, but what about the seniors other than the prescriptions? thank you. guest:guest: you think the

prescription drug price is not a small thing. my research through focus groups and other things, we consistently hear from seniors that prescription drugs remains a huge challenge and a real pain point for them. i think the fact that we are finally addressing this with something so common sense that allows medicare, which spends a lot of money buying prescription drugs on behalf of seniors, to negotiate those prices so that pharmaceutical companies cannot randomly and arbitrarily be waving the prices of lifesaving drugs. i don't want to this that as just a small thing. that is a really meaningful thing. the benefits of those cost savings will improve not just

seniors, but also to other americans who rely on those drugs. i think that is a really important thing. the benefits are not contained only to some americans, but that all americans are going to benefit. i think the other thing i would point to is a huge investment in home care basically allowing both increasing the access. we know there is a huge backlog where families are struggling to meet the needs of taking care of loved ones at home and getting affordable quality care their family needs for the elderly can be in the places with their families at times when they need it. this means a huge investment so that we have strong, stable workforce providing that care

and increasing the access by removing the backlog. that is one other piece i would point to that i think it is going to be really meaningful for seniors. we know a lot of family struggle with the cost and access to be able to take care of elderly families. host: there is a viewer off of twitter asking why does the bell wanted to lift the cap on state and mobile taxes. i know it falls within a certain bracket. what do you think of the addition of those salt taxes? guest: i think there is a lot of conversation we did not get into. i think this is somewhere where the senate is going to probably have a say in changing the bell. i think there are a lot of democrats who felt the changes were republican made to the state and local deduction went too far and basically penalized a lot of families particularly

in states where the tax rates are high like new jersey, california, new york, where they do have high state-level taxes. though states were penalized. i think there are senators who are trying to make sure that the benefit of fixing this really improves the family who need it and is not inadvertently give it to millionaires and families who don't really need the extra tax leg up. host: from south carolina, wade, independent line. caller: thank you. i have one question and one comment. the question i have got, i have asked over the last three months , i've asked the republican on c-span antidemocratic. the republicans that he did not know in the democrat avoided the

question. the question is, exactly what in the bill spending wise is set up for the immigrants and the comment was, don't you think that raising taxes on the rich and corporations especially, although the tax raise money will be trickle down into what they are producing, therefore, it is the american public that will be paying the bills for this bill. i think that has not been answered. the first question i asked has not been answered at all. the fact that the parts of the bill are actually going to be passed down to the consumer, if you raise the price on the corporations, they are just going to raise the price on the product. everybody knows that. i think the bill is really not such a good idea. thank you. guest: thanks for the question.

i think you are really hitting on the core story that has to be told about this bill which is we have spent 40 years cutting taxes for corporations hoping that that would accrue to the american worker, american families. it is abundantly clear that that has failed. that wages have not budged for half of americans for the last 40 years. costs continue to go up. it is not like the cost of prescription drugs, childcare, other goods and services have not continue to increase. families are really being squeezed on both ends. wages are not increasing and the cost of everyday needs continues to rise. that is really -- that has really been a sore in the

economy for the last 40 years. this bill takes a different approach and does ask for the wealthy to pay more and pay their fair share which is particularly true after they all got a huge tax cut four years ago thanks to the republican donald trump tax bill. it ensures that those resources are directly invested in actually helping the american people. by providing something like the tot -- child tax credit. reducing the cost of prescription drugs. investing in clean energy so electricity bills go down. i think that is a really important thing. the last 40 years have been a failure from actually building an economy that works for working people and this is really a huge pivot and a moment where we start to think differently about what it means to build a strong economy.

it starts by investing and working people. we may see costs go up, but that is going to be accompanied by wages increasing and by average families having more money in their pocket. that really is the kind of economy we want to get back to building in this country. on your first point, the child tax credit in the house bill does accrue to immigrant families. i think there is something really important. unfortunately, congress has been unable to fix this problem, and it is something republicans continue to use as a wedge issue. we know we have got to fix our immigration system so it is more fair and humane. i think there is a real opportunity to do that. unfortunately, republicans keep refusing to do that. i think what you're trying to see democrats do is make sure we take important steps in

addressing some of these problems. host: before we let you go, i want to ask you about the midterm elections that took place. the republican victory in virginia, the close unexpected results in new jersey. does that suggest to you that the elections coming up in two years might be a problem down ballot? guest: the good news is the elections are one year away. host: thank you. guest: i think that is the silver lining for democrats coming out of the elections which is a lot can change in politics in a year. think back to where we were a year ago. donald trump had just been defeated. democrats had not yet secured the senate. we were on the cusp of 4000 americans dying every day from covid. i feel pretty disheartened by the -- pretty heartened by the

fact that a lot of things in this country are heading in the right direction. if you look at the economic indicators, we are seeing a wage growth. in less than a year, the president and democrats have succeeded in bringing back nearly 6 million jobs. i think if we continue in that direction and continue to make the kind of progress we need to in moving past this pandemic, i think a huge step forward in september when kids went back to school. i know as a parent, a lot of parents look back on 2020 as a really challenging year. it was a really difficult year to have to raise our kids with remote learning. i think i have a real impact on the elections in virginia and in new jersey. i think a year from now, there is a real prospect that people are going to feel really good about their lives and about the direction of this country. i think we have a lot of work to

do to ensure that is the case and ensure the american people hear it, see it, feel it, but i feel optimistic there is a real path forward where things look really different than they did today. host: the new york times editorial board said they were a political nightmare. familiar takeaways this week, calling a warning shot, don't do it justice because the danger ignoring those would be too great. what this is badly needed is an honest conversation and the democratic party about how to return to the moderate policies that fueled the blue wave victories in 2018 and one jibe -- won joe biden the presidency. guest: there is no question it is a wake-up call although on the one hand, i don't think any democrats were surprised that

the off year elections would be difficult. we have seen this pattern for decades where the party out of power feels really energized and the party that is in power in washington sort of struggles. i think part of this is people have to feel like the votes they took last year to elect joe biden, to elect democrats, actually had an impact in their lives. that the consequence of that vote really made a difference and i think we have been mired in trying to get the legislation done in washington. hopefully, that process concludes in the next few weeks as the senate passes this bill. and then, i think there is a real story to go and tell where i think the american people and particularly, the american people hoping to vote for democrats, look at the vote they took last year and feel like that really made a difference and that it had an impact and that they are motivated and that

the folks who do feel pressured who are not enamored by either party, really feel the chaos that donald trump and republicans offered is not worth going back to and that president biden has offered a study leadership that is moving this country together. we did not talk a lot about the infrastructure bill, but that is exactly what joe biden promised and everyone was cynical about it. i might even put myself in that camp where he was coming in here saying he was going to work republicans to govern infrastructure bill. this is something donald trump promised over and over to get done and he could not even get it done when republicans controlled washington. it really is a testament to this president and the democrat ability to want to make washington work and find common ground when there is none that they have now signed into law the largest investment in

infrastructure since we created the highway system in this country. i think that is a hard thing to cut through, but it is a proven point of what democrats promised they would do if they were in power. caller: hello. let me please put this out here. the build back better bill is a lie. it is not even a clever lie and it has put -- it is put forth by bad liars. this thing does add to the deficit. a minimum of $360 billion. there is lie number one. deficit spending is a driver of inflation. that has been proven in the last two years. it is going to help inflation, not hinder inflation. there is lie number two. everything in our lives will become more expensive because of the build back better bill

because when he raise the cost of living, when he raise the price of fuel, which raises the price of everything, it is a tax on us, the working people. there is lie number three that our taxes are not going up. when you make it more expensive to do business in the united states of america, and then tell us it is going to create jobs by making it more expensive for a business to do business, there is the biggest fattest lie of all. host: we will have to leave it there. sorry, we are running close on time. guest: again, this goes back to our first caller which is that there is so much cynicism about washington. don is in that camp. you cannot believe there is a bill moving forward that would do the things that would say. we can go through the list.

i will hit on a few. i had the first and most important thing -- i think the first and most important thing is when the bill is introduced, republicans were not interested in helping working people. joe biden had two red lines. the first was that it could not increase taxes on families earning $400,000 or less. the house bill did not cross that line. you are going to see families who are working middle-class families see their taxes go up a single penny. that is a really important thing to keep reminding people. the second was that failure is not an option and i think that is why this has to get done. on expenses, i did not get into some of the specifics, but this is sort of the reality we have been living with which is that we have tried this strategy that i think don is supporting which is cut cost for businesses, cut taxes and american people are

going to benefit, maybe they have not worked. costs have gone up and wages have not increase. this is a different theory which is not just about helping businesses and the wealthy but that we build a stronger economy by making sure working people can afford the things they need in their lives. that includes putting more money in their pocket and insuring them wages are going up for the bottom half of americans. that is the way we are going to build the kind of economy we want. this bill also addresses the other pain point which is cutting costs. if you are a family with young children, you are going to save $5,000 a year on childcare costs. the average family spends $500 a year on electricity bills. this is going to reduce the exact things we know are squeezing working and middle-class families in this country. host: our guest is the president

for american progress action fund. navin nayak, thank you for your time this morning. happy holidays to you. we will change gears and take a look at small business and how they are being impacted by the current economy and policy. our guest kevin kuhlman of the national federation of independent business, who serves as their vice president. that conversation coming up on "washington journal." ♪ >> laura has worked in journalism for over 60 years of his life. until two thousand 15, he was a national security correspondent for "the washington post." on the cover of his new book, it is subtitled "america's deadly betrayal of the marshall islanders."

it was in those islands that served as a staging for nuclear tests. the castle bravo test over bikini atoll in 1954 was where america executed its largest nuclear detonation, 1000 times more powerful than hiroshima. >> walter pincus on this episode of "book notes plus." ♪ >> today, the center for american progress will host a discussion on how technology is changing health care. watch live at 12:00 on c-span, online at c-span.org or full coverage at c-span now, our new video app. ♪ >> weekends on c-span2 are an intellectual feast.

every saturday, you will find events with people who explore our nation's past. on sunday, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. it is television for serious readers. discover, explore. weekends on c-span2. ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now, kevin kuhlman is with the national federation of independent business. thanks for joining us. guest: good morning. host: how would you characterize the people you represent? guest: we represent approximately 300,000 small business owners throughout the country. they are your typical main street business but also your backstreet business. they are typically eight to 12 employees but range from sole

proprietors with zero employees all the way up to manufacturers with hundreds or thousands of employees. they are really and all industries but really are your prototypical american small businesses. host: when it comes to topics of discussion on capitol hill taking place such as the passage of the bill back at her plan, and find one the people you represent, how my looking at this legislation? guest: it is a little overwhelming to digest. it is a very large piece of legislation around $1.7 trillion depending on who you ask. there are some spending programs many of which are temporary and are offset by some permanent tax increases. a couple of provisions or proposals that small business owners should be aware of our an expansion of previous taxes but only applied to investment income that will now apply to all business income above $400,000.

we are deeming that a small business or tax because not only does it apply to all business income above those thresholds, those thresholds are not indexed for inflation. so it will absorb more businesses every single year and my business income every single year. there's also a paid family and medical leave requirement. business owners of all sizes will have to comply with the program. lastly, there are increases in penalties and penalty exposure on the penalty side. employment law violations whether it is osha or the fair labor standards act. on the health care side, there is an expansion of the affordable care act employer mandate. specifically, the affordability definition. that increases penalties and penalty exposure. overall, there is a lot to digest and i think small business owners are overwhelmed. host: as far as something like

the paid family leave act. why is that bad for small business because it gives some type of revenue for people who have sick children or sick families to take care of them. guest: it is just unfamiliar at this point in time. small businesses are struggling with a labor shortage. half cannot fill open positions. that requires a flexible arrangement. previously, businesses with fewer than 50 employees were not subject to the family medical leave act. they are really unfamiliar with paid and medical leave policies. it is an unfamiliar policy that small business owners could disrupt or exacerbate their labor force challenges. host: that one thing was a statement the white house put out particularly when it comes to the build back better act and small businesses.

they wrote this saying, revenue ratings from creating a fair tax system will help investment and create jobs including investments in small businesses. this includes creating a paid leave benefit leveling the playing field for small businesses that cannot afford to provide this benefit. it also is has the agenda would increase access to contracting opportunities and create tens of billions of dollars in financing and technical assistance program -- programs. if that is the case, what is wrong with that approach? guest: that is one approach. you can call me a skeptic as to whether all of those reported benefits will come to fruition. i don't speak to any business owner who says i need the playing field level by changing a tax system or applying a new mandate onto businesses.

they more often than not, when i speak to business owners, they want the government to get out of the way. i do push back on that with the federal government can help equal the playing field or level the playing field by applying new taxes or mandates onto businesses. we will see. the paid family and medical leave program is in flexible, a little complicated. it is run by the federal government and will apply to all employers and then employers will have to apply for a complicated reimbursement system that provides partial reimbursement for the paid family and medical leave. we have seen previous mandates that have had for years to be implemented that had to be pushed back. we will see how this all plays out and we will see if it ends up being in the final legislation. i know there are certain senators concerned about the current workforce issues that

small business owners are saying and say this might be too much for this particular legislation. host: i do want to invite the folks at home to call and ask our guests questions. if you are a small business owner, there is a number to call. if you are a small business employee, there is a number to call. others, you can call in. if you want to text us, you can do so. though senators that have concerns, is this senator manchin, are there others and you think issues like the paid family leave will survive the senate revision of this bill? guest: we shall see. i know there are proponents pushing for it to remain in. senator manchin has expressed skepticism as to whether this is the same place -- the right place. there are current challenges

that small business owners are facing whether it is filling open positions and workforce challenges, rising inflation and supply chain disruption. it is a very fragile small business recovery. but then, we are looking at these new proposals, massive changes that would be underway that could provide headwinds. that is the part of -- that is part of the reason when we interview members that they anticipate their recovery will be pushed back further and further. many say they think it will be 2020 two or later before the local economy is back. host: is there another version of that type of program about the work in your mind? guest: there could be ones that work at the time and we have been analyzing these policies at the state and federal level for years.

generally, when it is a mandate, it is pretty inflexible. there's is not much notice time. they don't end up working well for the small business owner. small business owners need flexibility, they cannot have a lot of compliance burdens on the backend. these factors, we have learned in various mandates over time will complicate things and make the cost of business much more expensive. for program that works well with our businesses, we have seen other programs at the state level where it is relatively new, but there is not a mandate. similar bipartisan proposals in the senate. host: our first call comes from raymond on our line for others. you are on with kevin kuhlman. go ahead. caller: i have a question.

what is an independent small business? i am seeing numbers as high as $50 million a year in gross revenue. hundreds of employees. when i think of a small business, i think of a business of 50 employees or less. what is a small business? guest: at the federal level, there are dozens of different definitions. how and if i be -- nfib defines a small business is you cannot be publicly traded. a typical member has about eight to 12 employees. we hope they are growing businesses and adding employees and expanding the small business half of the economy, but it is really tough to say what exactly is a small business. the fba generally defined small business as fewer than 100 employees. it is a complicated question without an easy answer.

host: when it comes to issues facing small businesses, one of the things currently being debated from the announcement a few weeks ago was the president past vaccine mandate. under osha, now it is going under legal review but as far as where it goes, how does it currently impact businesses like the ones you represent? guest: again, that applies to businesses with 100 or more employees, although in the proposed regulation, they question as to whether it should apply to businesses with fewer than 100 employees. currently, there is a legal challenge to that. osha has temporarily suspended enforcement although they say they are confident that their legal case is strong and they will be able to implement it. as proposed, businesses with 100 or more employees would have to have a written proposal in place, would have to record

whether their employees are vaccinated or not and require their nonvaccinated employees to mask at work as soon as december 5, just around the corner and a couple of weeks. it would then be january 4 when the emergency temporary standard , the vaccine or weekly testing requirement would kick in. business owners must make a plan now despite the fact that the courts have temporarily halted implementation. we do expect an additional decision from the sixth circuit in the near future. this could go all the way to the supreme court so it is an extremely fluid situation but two dates i would point out where the december 6 requirement to have a plan in place and record whether your employees are vaccinated or not and then early january that deadline to have the vaccine mandate or weekly testing requirement in place. host: has your organization

fought a legal challenge of its own on this? guest: nfib has because it puts businesses in the middle of the high temperature debate. it restricts the freedom of small business owners to decide how best to manage their workforces, manage their business and imposes unwarranted burdens on small businesses that further threaten the small business recovery. host: there is a survey done by the u.s. chamber of congress when asked about the vaccine. a majority of those businesses hold, 64% of small business owners supporting small businesses requiring vaccines for employees. also saying similarly, 60% of support businesses in their area requiring vaccines for their employees. what do you think about the leverage us far as support? guest: the way nfib views this

is small businesses have all of these headwinds going on whether it is workforce challenges, rising inflation or supply chain disruption. if you add one more element or mandate on top of that, you could really have trouble especially on the workforce side. small businesses are struggling to fill open positions. we don't want to lose a lot of their employees that they currently have, or even just a few that they currently have because of this vaccine mandate. we view it as putting employers in the middle of the vaccine debate is not the right solution to solving it. host: our guest is with us until 9:30. if you are a small business owner, employee of the small business and all others. this is patsy, massachusetts. good morning. thanks for calling. caller: good morning.

i am a small -- i was a small business owner before i retired. i'm calling to ask the question, has the large business tax credit that trump put in, like the first day in office, has that been repealed from the big business that may be that money would be enough to help pay more for what we have. thank you. i just want to know if it has been repealed and if not, why. guest: thank you for the question. i believe you are referring to the 2017 tax law, the tax cuts and jobs act. in particular, i am assuming you are referring the corporate tax reduction, which would reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% all the way down to 21%. that has not been repealed.

earlier proposals by the biden administration and congress did increase the corporate tax rate. those have since been dropped. there are certain senators concerned with how the would impact the economic recovery, and therefore, they have not been repealed. if i am thinking of what your question refers to. host: a business owner in johnson city, tennessee. this is william. guest: hi, how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: i want to lay out a couple of facts. small businesses, specialists like doctors, plumbers, pay 60% tax. corporations pay 20%. workers pay 25% to 35%.

the investment class pays 0%. another interesting fact is that 26 of the democratic candidates were backed by billionaires. one of them was the achievement of you later of energy. he started in coal, then went to manipulating gas by pushing environmentalism, and is now trying to get into wind and other things like that. host: you called in on our line for owners, what type of business do you own? caller: catering. host: what would you like to ask our guest? caller: if the small business owners and unions got together, we would not need government. we would not need billionaires and we should start the tax rate at $2 million and do it at 40%

and go up to 90% like eisenhower did, and other economic people think we should, and to have a plunger attack and go after the people that make money without paying taxes. that is plunger. host: ok, that is william in johnson city, tennessee. guest: thank you for the comment. i think many of our members feel similarly that small business owners do bear the brunt of a lot of taxation as currently proposed. some of these proposals would put the top individual or pass-through business rate, corporations, llcs, partnerships. 75% small employers are organized as such.

in certain states, it would be near 60%. that might be where the math comes from. we do look out because the vast majority of our members are organized as those for the small business owners and really, this creates quite a disparity between pass-through business owners and the corporate tax rate. we would like to see debbie more of a parody involved in the corporate rate -- there be more of a parody involved in the corporate rate. caller: can you hear me ok? host: you are on. caller: i am concerned about the constitutionality of this whole business mandates, lockdown, ever since march when the official global economic lockdown occurred worldwide. yet, i do business with teenagers, guiding them to

colleges and i am disturbed that colleges have given in without a wimmer into this because what is going on is basically an biologically unsound. people are not learning about their immune system. to defend against any kind of virus. dr. david martin should be googled and listened to. also, globalresource.ca is a website that will help people understand what is going on. host: regarding businesses and how they are impacted, what would you like to talk to our guest about? caller: what he is doing on a legal standpoint, what he is doing to bring this lawsuit, support the lawsuits against the people that are behind this pandemic. is he doing anything ago host: that is eric in massachusetts. guest: thank you.

let me go back to last year when many states implemented lockdown orders or limitation orders. we did put up state level because nfib does advocate at the state and federal levels to limit the emergency powers which were being expanded. we advocated to limit those at the state level because it was just kind of an arbitrary designation. you have a small retailer that is shut down and deemed non-essential when the large retailer down the street was allowed to continue to operate. we made a lot of progress of the state level. fast forward to now, we did bring up the legal challenge to the biden administration's department of labor occupational safety and health administration emergency temporary standard, the requirement that businesses with 100 or more employees require vaccination or weekly testing. we just believe that oversteps

osha's authority given to them by congress. that is one legal challenge we have. it is a very fluid situation. there is a temporary injunction on the current vaccine mandate requirement. it is very fluid and they will be developments in the next couple of weeks on that likely. host: kevin kuhlman joining us. it was during his renomination announcement that the president talked about his assessment of the economy particularly when it came to inflation. i want to play you a little of what he had to say and get your thoughts. [video clip] >> last year, the pandemic shutdown much of the global economy. now, there is a global reawakening creating both an incredible opportunity and tough challenges. as economies all across the world come back from this pandemic, america is leading the way. like every country in the world, we have to deal with these issues of rising costs, but

remember, we have the skill and tools to get it under control. while other countries are stumbling out of this pandemic, we are racing ahead because so much of the rest of our economy is doing well because we have created so many new jobs as fast as we have. we are in a position to attack inflation from the position of strength, not weakness. host: that last part, as far as the strength of the economy and ability to attack inflation, how do you respond to the president's assessment? guest: i think the focus should be on what is causing inflation and attacking some of those aspects. it is the workforce challenges, fulfilling -- filling open positions, inflation in general, supply chain disruptions. if you attack the root causes of each of those, that would help the small business half of the economy. the american economy is not going to fully recover to

pre-pandemic levels until the small business half has recovered. i guess our advice to congress and the administration, and we always appreciate when president biden points out that small businesses are not only vital to the national economy, but also to their local communities, is do no harm to these small businesses. create an environment to help these small businesses survive and thrive. host: as far as inflation itself, the treasury secretary said productions may not fully happen until the second half of 2022. guest: we are hearing similar from our members. their expectations are not a temporary period, but will be five or six months down the road before they see any relief. that is problematic and will continue to increase or require them to increase prices. their plans to increase prices are hovering near record levels. and it is not just marginally,

not just 0% to 5%. many are having to look and increase prices 15% and they are worried about losing customers as the increase prices but they are caught between a rock at a hard place. host: even a recent survey your organization took showed that 26% of those you serve planned to increase employment at the business. 31% say they plan to make capital outlays. those surveys, -30% say they want -- expect the economy to improve. how do explain the balance of moving forward and still explain what is going on? guest: owners are doing their best to take care of the needs of their customers but are unable to hire workers. and receive the necessary supplies and inventories because of the supply chain disruptions. their increasing compensation but are just having trouble filling the open positions.

they are trying to take advantage of the broader economic recovery but are running into these challenges and headwinds ahead and thus, it is slowing the small business recovery. host: how much of the hiring challenges because other employers are raising starting salaries because employees are being able to negotiate a price? guest: there is definitely a challenge and small business owners are willing to compete. they are increasing compensation at record levels and their plans to do so are at record levels. they are offering expanded benefits, whether it is more generous health insurance, more flexible paid time off options. referral bonuses, hiring bonuses. they are pulling all of the tricks out of the bag to try to retain and recruit qualified employees. unfortunately, that also increases prices. it is a challenge. small business owners are trying to step up and meet those

challenges and hence, we have this fragile small business recovery. host: this is from west virginia and chester. we hear from claire. caller: good morning. i'm calling in from chester, west virginia. we are a so proprietor business and did not find moneys in the government to help our business in any way because we did not have employees. we were wondering, is there a program you can give me a number for that could help an individual business? it is a motel on the river on route 2 in chester. host: thank you, claire. guest: many of the reppo -- recovery programs have now expired. one of the unfortunate downsides to the infrastructure law is that earlier than expected ended.

there is one program that still exists. it is a loan, the injury disaster loan. a 3.5% interest loan over a 30 year term. it is available through the end of the year. to my knowledge, that is the last program that does exist. they may also be related to the economic disaster loan some disaster emergency grants associated with it but those are based on census tracks and whether your area has lost economic activity. i recommend going to sba.gov to check out some of those programs. it is the economic disaster

loan. host: for the money approved by congress in the last administration and this want to help, what degree where they have actual help? guest: there are a couple of different programs that the previous administration continued into this administration. probably most notably was the paycheck protection program. that was a forgivable loan program so long as business is maintained or paid employees or met certain overhead needs. from our members perspective, it was pretty successful. three out of four small business is applied. almost all of them received forgiveness at least for round one and many are pursuing forgiveness for round 2. a little bit more targeted on the second round. you also have the economic emergency disaster loan. many were reluctant to take on

new debt doing it was not as widely adopted as others. it is still one that is available now. we heard from many members who did take advantage of the employee retention tax credit. that is still available to be applied for retroactively. and for the first three quarters and 2021. if a business owner has not looked into that, we recommend talking to a tax advisor about the employee retention tax credit. it really did help small businesses during the pandemic when there was high degrees of uncertainty and money were shut down or limited. host: how many of your businesses that you represent are dependent on those international supply chains? guest: international supply chains also created problems for local supply chains as well. half of small businesses have been negatively impacted or are

currently suffering from supply chain disruptions and 60% think those will continue into the future. that number is unfortunately staying steady or growing. supply chain disruptions are one of the variables happening in the environment. there is good news for relief, but business owners are expecting to have continued supply chain issues on top of the other variables that exist. host: what do you think of the biden administration's handling of the supply chain issue? guest: it is a challenge. the biden administration has made some changes to the ports allowing working with local counties as well to allow containers to be stacked up higher than they were previously. i think that is a pretty intuitive step to do. we will see. business owners are not

expecting immediate relief on this. i know there is a shortage of truck drivers, but hopefully, these issues can be worked out and resolved sooner rather than later because six months from now, expectations that local recoveries are recovering in late 2022 or 2023 is not good news for the small business economy. caller: hello. the reason i'm calling in is because i actually hire providers, usually younger students at our local universities that come in and actually work with my sons with autism. i've noticed even pre-pandemic, there has been labor shortages here. i am actually shocked when i do hire somebody, i find out they don't get the drivers license

until they are 22 years old or 23. any thought about advocating maybe bringing back driver's ed back in high school so that young people can join the labor market? , the job market? guest: i think it would be a good idea to remove any barriers to this workforce challenge whether that includes bringing driver's ed back or taking a look at any of the barriers that are causing problems for businesses to hire employees. it is not a new problem as you identified. we ask our members every month what is your business problem. finding quality employees has been the top answer since 2018. it has just gotten particularly bad with record levels of those trying to fill open positions and being unable to do so. host: with as is maps with -- matt smith off of twitter.

guest: we like to say there is a small business half of the economy, about 44%, 45% of the gross domestic product comes from small businesses, those with fewer than 500 employees. they are an engine of job creation. just like the president says, they are pillars of their local economy, sponsoring little leagues and nonprofits and school events. they really are important to the small business economy from the national level but also down to the local level. host: part of the administration's goal for build back better is to put the money into the irs to help improve tax collections amongst those who might avoid taxes. what do you think of that proposal overall, is there an effect on small businesses because of it? guest: there is hundreds of millions of dollars to each enforcement agency in the build back better act.

particularly, one of the issues you're talking about his proposed funding for the irs. they say it will be targeted only at audits of higher income individuals. one of the provisions that was not included in the house bill but a report that may be revisited in the senate bill and i know irs and treasury are pushing hard for it, is increased irs reporting which would require financial institutions, everyone's bank or credit union to provide annual gross inflows and outflows of customers. they said they may limit it to business owners but that would be concerning to nfib members to have their banking information and annual growth inflows and outflows reported to the irs. that they would somehow increase their audit rate of business

owners as a result. there are some concerning proposals out there related to the increased irs enforcement and increased irs reporting. we will see what ends up being in the proposal that small business owners have been pretty concerned about those increased proposals. host: let's hear from our line from others. caller: i have three points or questions i would like to ask you. one is the definition of small business. if koch industries has 20 factories with 500 people, are they still considered small business because each of their factories have 500 people? the second one is the ppp loan that is forgiven. is that not the very definition of socialism but maybe for rich people? in the third one is, we have a real problem here where one

party does not want to raise wages for working people, but because every family now needs to working people, the wife and husband both have to work, aren't we just basically saying let's keep wages low but our taxpayer money is going to fund the child credit in the build back better? so aren't we giving the big corporations -- host: we got your point. thank you. guest: as we said earlier in the program, there are many different definitions at the federal level for small business. generally, the small business administration considers a small business a business with fewer than 500 employees, although they have variation based on

industry. other programs have different definitions. as far as ppp, i disagree it was socialism for rich people. these businesses -- many of these businesses were shut down or limited as a result of covid-19. i think the paycheck protection program provided a lot of benefits and kept a lot of employee is connected to their place of employment which was really important. i provided relief from super swollen unemployment insurance rolls where a lot of those had trouble keeping up with demand. it was generally a very successful program. no one anticipated the pandemic would be as long of duration as it is. i do think both parties support rising wages. there might be two different perspectives of doing so.

increased wages are a good thing and small business owners are fine competing with them -- competing for employees. it is a challenge, but good for the overall economy as wages increase. host: one more call. nick. caller: thank you very much. i am a current grad student at a current university and i have student loan debt, about $17,000 of student loan debt that is one of the things holding so many people back. with as having about $1.7 trillion student loan debt current today, what are you doing to push the biden administration to cancel all student loan debt, and if you are not trying to cancel it, why is that? guest: nfib represents small business owners. we have not pushed for canceling student loan debt. nfib members are small business

owners, they are trying to hire employees, many of which are college grads and help them with that student loan debt, but we do not have any researcher surveys from our membership that say it would necessitate us to take a position on whether to cancel student loan debt. host: what is your organization's plan between now and when congress comes back? guest: nfib has been working on a small business survival campaign. as a grassroots organization, we have made a priority to connect small business owners with their members of congress to have and express their priorities and concerns with some of the current proposals. as these proposals have developed and changed on a monthly or weekly or daily basis, we are doing our best to keep our members informed and the challenges in front of them. we are connecting our members over the next couple of weeks with the senate to have them here from small business owners

about what conditions are like in their state and local economies and talk about some of their concerns with the build back better act, particularly with some of the mandates being imposed on small businesses. until then, the small business half of the economy has recovered the full economy will not recover to full pandemic levels and we think the initiations should consider small business owners as they look to continue these policies. host: kevin kuhlman is the federal government relations vice president of the national federation of independent businesses. happy holidays. guest: don't forget about small business saturday right after thanksgiving. host: for the final half hour, we will go to open forum. if it is an issue of politics that matters to you and you want to comment on it, you can do so. one line for democrats, one for republicans and independents.

open forum will take place right after this. ♪ ♪ >> when congress returns next week, several items are on the agenda. the house and senate foes to extend the federal funding to avoid a government shutdown and

deal with the debt limit to prevent default. maker's plan to complete work on climate and social spending plans next month as well as defense programs and policy legislation. watch the house live on c-span and the senate on c-span two. online at c-span.org or follow congress with c-span now, our new video app. >> wednesday on american history tv. bret baier on the life of civil war general and u.s. president ulysses s grant. he talks about grants support of the 14th and 15th amendments and his effort for peace after the civil war. watch wednesday to 8:00 p.m. on c-span3. >> a new mobile video app from c-span. c-span now. download today.

>> washington journal continues. host: interest of politics are a matter of politics that interests you, you can give us a call and let us know. phone lines are 202-748-8000 free democrats, 202-748-8001 four republicans -- for republicans paid 202-748-8002 for independents. admiral calls website there's a story looking at what democrats now plan to do with the passage of the build back better act in the house and sell it to the public. it says the democratic congressional campaign committee chairman of new york saying from touting these packages, the lesson is people don't know if you don't tell them no matter how popular your policies, people have to know you did it

and understand in both cases every republican voted against it. they said every house democrats the coming weeks will host five events on the infrastructure and spending package culminating in at least 1000 events by the end of the year. democratic outside concerns -- groups are becoming engaged. an effort supporting efforts in georgia, nevada and pennsylvania. the house majority forward, the nonprofit arm says the majority pack is increasing. they will launch programs. rollcall call is where you can find that story when it looks at the next steps for the build back better act. charleston, west virginia, david his first stop.

thank you for calling, go ahead. caller: i have a question to ask that is kind of simple. why can they not have bills in congress that are 100 pages instead of 1100? you know with 1100, nobody is reading the thing. if you put a 100 page bill in you could fit in the newspapers or on the air so taxpayers can see what it is about. >> would you be willing to read 100 of -- 100 pages from capitol hill? caller: it beats 1100 doesn't it? host: that's david in west virginia. let's hear from peter in new york, republican line. caller: i don't have a lot of time. i just want to comment on jay powell as the federal reserve. you have to look at the federal

reserve as an independent agency of the federal government. it has to work, it's mandated by congress to keep unemployment at a low-level into control inflation. the federal government is -- the fed is like a doctor in the federal government is like a patient. when the patient comes into the doctor and he's 150 pounds overweight, diabetic and has high blood pressure and the doctor tells the patient i can give you these medications to help you with your illness, but you have to control yourself and you have to control your weight and maybe i can extend your life to a certain degree but you are going to die if you stay on the same path you are on. so the relative standing of this is the federal government is

spending and spending. they've increased the money supply by about 45% since 2020 with this monetary easing which is keep in interest rates very low and people cannot get a decent return on a bank account so they are putting the money into the stock market. that's why you see the stock market so high. host: jay powell yesterday after the president renominated him for another four-year term of the federal reserve said what he would like to do in that second term. >> american families and businesses were 10 years into a historic economic expansion with a robust jobs market that was reaching even those that had traditionally been left out. the pandemic brought an immediate and painful recession. fortunately american resilience along with strong policy action and vaccines have been -- have

enabled the reopening and set the stage for a recovery. today the economy is expanding at its fastest pace in many years carrying the promise of a return to maximum employment. the unprecedented reopening of the economy along with continuing effects of the pandemic led to supply and demand in balances, bottlenecks and a burst of inflation. we know high inflation takes a toll on families especially those less able to meet the higher cost of essentials like food, housing and transportation. we use these tools to support the economy and to prevent higher inflation from becoming entrenched. other key priorities include guarding the stability of the financial system, addressing evolving risks from climate change and cyber attacks and facilitating the modernization of the payment system while protecting consumers. host: you can see that whole

event on our website and also available for a short time on our video app c-span now. the president planning to release 50 million barrels of crude oil and strategic petroleum zurich -- reserves. between the other countries including china and japan. let's go to patricia in brooklyn, new york. caller: good morning. how are you today. host: i'm fine, how are you? caller: i'd like to speak on the build back better and try to accentuate the positives. i don't want to look at the doom and gloom. in the tesla cars looking forward to that. i like to look forward to the

quantum entanglements. i like to look forward to the top agra fee and the geology in the infrastructure and the infrared. host: we will go to randy in illinois. caller: i just have one question. why don't they make a law in congress or a rule where when they get there five or 10 minutes to take the floor and speak i see all the time on c-span where they will get up and talk about their baseball team at home, stuff that doesn't involve the government or the people of this country at all. i think that's partially one of the reasons. host: why are you for the build back better act? caller: i just think it's been so long since we put money into infrastructure. i was on the highway yesterday and we had bumps in the whole

car would just shake. host: the info structure and build back better are two different pieces of legislation. caller: i do feel childcare is very important. i don't see any reason for to be in a much longer than that. host: let's hear from daniel neary, pennsylvania. caller: how are you doing host:? fine, how about -- how are you doing? host: fine, how about yourself. caller: i can't complain. the very first thing president biden did is he signed the coronavirus bill. 198 pages.

the next day i looked in the mailbox, i still haven't received -- -- host: that is daniel in pennsylvania calling in. you can call and in the next 19 minutes or so. also text us if you wish. subpoenas coming from the january 6 insurrection. two notables being named in that. alex jones and roger stone. saying mr. stone for his role

promoted attendance at the rally on the january 5 and sixth and offered to sport and pay for security while in washington using members of the oce -- oath keepers as personal bodyguards. one of them has been indicted paired mr. jones help organize rallies near the white house including facilitating a donation from the errors to the publix supermarket chain to provide what he described as 80% of the funding. the house committee said mr. jones said white house officials told him he was to depart and mr. trump would speak according to the committee. you can read more of that from the new york times itself. taking a look at the state of new york at the previous president's business dealings. saying the trump organization --

2012 the company was list as potential lenders sing the building was worth $527 million which would make it one of the most valuable in new york but a few months later the trump organization toll tax officials the building was less than a high-end manhattan condo. according to newly released city records. it's now under scrutiny along with sather -- several others like it. let's hear from sandy in silver spring, maryland. caller: love your show. i just want to mention you said the one thing about mr. trump, the second item is people have been giving to him and giving to him, he's collected over $100 million and spend not one penny. what's even better and i think the rnc chairwoman and the rest

of her staff should be fired. do you know they are paying for his legal bills from the contributions of republicans, they are paying -- i can't even get it out. they are paying for his legal bills when he was occupying the white house. that is where your money is going. is that not phenomenal? host: republican line. caller: high. -- hi. i'm calling about the build back better plan. this plan is going to basically in my opinion bankrupt our country and the future children of our country. they say this is a 10 year payback plan. we can't even pay down our

deficit. why don't we pay down the deficit before we pay anything else? everything that's in this plan, no one has time to read this and it has nothing to do with the build back better plan. host: that is billed as taxation of wealthier people to pay for. caller: wealthier people do have to pay taxes, that's a must. but it looks like the middle class is going to pay for this, not the rich. it's trickle-down. you can trickle down on us some way. they're in a and take their money, they are knocking to take the fall. whatever you do to the rich comes down onto the middle class and the poor and that's basically what's can happen. we know this but they are

knocking to tell you that. a promise you everything in the world but in the end when it's gone they are not there to help you anymore. host: we will hear from jeff in maryland, democrats line. caller: thank you for the forum. first of all i feel bad for people named brandon and i also wanted to suggest that democrats now sensed -- censure trump so he can, there was thought of censuring him, thought it was better to have them stick around and bug republicans, but now the prospect of having them reelected scares me enough that i think it would be a good idea to censure him. host: the new york times reporting the justice department will pay about $130 million to

40 survivors and families of the victims of the 2018 massacre at a high school in park land, florida over the fbi's failure to investigate two tips that suggested the gunmen may make you open fire -- may have open fire at the school. saying i know he's going to explode on the fbi's tip line think she feared he was going to slip into the school answered shooting the place up. 40 days later he did just that. this -- adding that the fbi acknowledged two days after the report that it received a tip about him did not investigate him according to protocol. there's more of that in the new york times. we will go next to alex in

ferndale, michigan. independent line. caller: the reason -- executive order 13818. that's my thought on the whole thing. host: democrats line. caller: love the forum. looking forward to having $1 billion into our area in louisville, kentucky. we used to have an amtrak that come through our city. love the train and it would be great to have that again in our city. love what you are doing, thank you. host: bloomberg law reporting a story on their website saying covid-19 vaccines remain highly effective at keeping people alive and out of the hospital according to u.s. data, further support to the argument the

shots on preventing infections is much as they once did. on vaccinate a people were five times more likely to pet -- test positive in the weeks pass attempt 26th. that's down from 15 times more likely in may according to the latest data from the center for disease control monday. new figures, after they could provide additional support as the u.s. heads into the traditional winter virus season. they arrive in many parts of the u.s. including the midwest and northeast. let's hear from linda in pennsylvania. republican line. >> my comment today is i was just wondering if the people close to joe biden such as his wife and his staff that's close to him can get in any kind of trouble for even letting him run

for president considering the condition he is in. it seems like now we have to put up with this for three more years i suppose of a person that really isn't up to the task and i just think it's terrible for his wife to do that to him. i can see how you would do that. host: we will go to caffe -- kathy in minnesota. >> i was just calling we were supposed to be getting an increase in social security, but i get an increase in social security and they just jack up the price of my insurance which is more than the cost of the increase i got. can they do something about that. host: it was just a 5.9% increase in that cost-of-living adjustment right? caller: i'm saying they upped my

insurance costs to more -- they upped my insurance to more than what the cost-of-living, the medicare and all that. it doesn't do me any good if you give me a cost-of-living increase and then my insurance rates go up twice. host: what would you want the federal government to do then? caller: can they put a stop to the insurance company raising the insurance like that on senior citizens? host: it's a private industry, do you think that's the role of the federal government? caller: yeah. host: why so? caller: because it doesn't do me a bit of good to get a raise when the insurance, i get with one hand and take away with another.

i guess i don't understand why if i get a cost-of-living increase and that's all i'm living on unlimited income and the insurance is able to just walk in and raise my rates so high that i can do anything and it costs me more. host: independent line. caller: i'm calling and am just curious, parties over the years, the money they spend with whoever's in office, they fly all over the country on air force one, you know much it costs to take that plane and then when they go out of the united states they take two planes and digest -- host: every president has access to air force one. caller: i understand that, but

what i'm saying is they want us to save money, the government could sure save money. why does he have to fly that plane all over it seems like every day? host: ok. one of the activities of the first lady yesterday was the bringing in of the christmas tree to the white house. joe biden opened the holiday season pipe breaking a sprig, the official tree and giving to the toddler grandson. a three-time winner of the annual christmas tree contest. they braved crisp wind for the ceremony marking the start of the administration christmas in the white house. you can see that by the way our website. let's go to jerry, republican

line. caller: good morning, 30 year registered news -- nurse. vaccines for children scare me. usually vaccine for children capital five years. i just read about the first eight-year-old who has myocarditis. the nurse was explaining that young adults mostly get myocarditis and the risk for a child to get the vaccine is much higher than the actual contagion of the covid virus. so why would they insist on having small children vaccinated when the risk of the vaccine is worse than the actual virus for

the child. i don't understand that. i also just want to know why won't they show us what biden's health was from a few days ago. host: as far as the president is concerned, a couple of activities least one activity he will participate in, this afternoon he will make comments and remarks on the state of the economy. you can see that on c-span live and located on c-span.org and then also monitor it on our c-span now video app. the pro forma section will take place at 11:00 even though the house is on break. this is one of the things they do as far as when they are on break a pro forma session to conduct some business. from miriam in texas, democrats line. caller: i just wanted to let the

viewers know that we've just gone through the pandemic and the inflation is -- and the only people trying to fix that are the democrats, trying to give us help contrary to the republicans who don't even want to work with democrats passing bills that will help civilians. for example childcare, there's a whole bunch of things the democrats are trying. inflation is something we will go through and we are probably going to go down, but in the meantime just pay attention. the republicans are doing nothing in the congress and senate are not doing anything. all they are doing is stopping the bills. in the meantime this a whole bunch of people that say she

only has enough money for certain things and the rest she can deal with. host: that is miriam in texas. the wall street journal reporting under the headline china missile shows rapid advancing. the institute said it was set to open a wind tunnel capable of replicating speeds at high temperatures aced on hypersonic missiles. it includes testing the separation and release of weapons according to the institute on sunday. it is a maneuverable warhead. once released glides to its target on a path that makes it difficult to intercept. saying the exact role of the second projectile is not known. missiles launched like this could be more difficult to defend against. it could include a decoy to

confuse missile defenses are launching a missile to destroy a secondary target. -- war launching a missile -- or launching a missile to destroy a secondary target. caller: this is a message for all of your viewers. today should be a memorial day because mike lindel -- we will have the supreme court hopefully look at this case on election fraud so all democrats and republicans should be looking -- rejoicing today. host: another announcement made by a member of congress. louie gohmert saying he plans to announce a bid to run for attorney general of texas. nbc reporting that as well as other outlets. you can read that online. this will be from rose in north carolina. caller: thank you for taking my call.

don't you get americans that this is what we've been discussing for 50 years. we really have a coup right under our very nose replacing human beings with artificial intelligence. the depopulation agenda with vaccines and viruses. if you look at this 2009 speech talking about this occurring. it is extremely unfortunate this great reset was originally called agenda 21 and it comes directly -- so pay attention. host: last call on the topic and thank you for all participating today. another edition of washington journal comes your way at 7:00 tomorrow. we will see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021]

>> today the center for american progress is hosting a discussion on how technology is changing health care. watch live on c-span, online at c-span.org, or watch for coverage on c-span now, our new video app. when congress returns next week, there are several items on the agenda. house and senate must extend federal funding past december 3 deadline to avoid a government shutdown and prevent a default. lawmakers also plan to complete work on president biden's

climate and social spending plan next month. watch the house live on c-span and the senate on c-span2, online at c-span.org, or follow congress with c-span now, our new video app. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including media,. >> the world changed in an instant. mediacom was ready. internet traffic soared and we never slowed it down. schools and businesses when virtual and be powered a new reality, because at mediacom, we are built to keep you ahead. >> mediacom supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> british home secretary priti patel took part in a conversation on u.k. national