host: labor day became a holiday in 1894, 140 years ago today, the first known labor day parade made its way down broadway in manhattan. in the face of rising economic inequities between workers and employers, 140 years later parade step off this morning. the characters and causes have changed, especially in this

election year. good morning and welcome it to washington journal on this monday, labor day, september 5. we ask you which palooka party is more pro-worker. democrats use the line (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002. we have a line for union workers, that is (202) 748-8003. you can use that line it to text us a message, include your name and where you are texting from. we are on facebook and twitter and instagram. send us your comments. we will get an update momentarily on the latest numbers in terms of the job seen it, unemployment numbers and the economy. we will hear from the president last week on the economy, on jobs in particular. we should hear from overseas,

from the u.k. and the new prime minister is set to be announced. we will let you know about it. on labor day, this is the letter from an american column, from a boston university history professor, writing about labor day. from heather cox richards.

which party is more pro-worker? (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 four republicans. independents (202) 748-8002.

we will get to your calls momentarily. we are joined by a business reporter, a labor department reporter for limburg law. thank you for joining us this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: we got the jobs numbers on a friday, three had a 15,000 jobs added in august. unemployment is 3.7%. what is the state of the labor market in the economy, especially as we head into an election season in just over nine weeks? guest: >> looking at the top line number, we did see unemployment take up slightly in august this is may a good thing. we added more workers to the labor force, more people are interested in participating and searching for a job, which is a

good thing. when it comes to the state of the labor force, workers have seen a considerable gain since the beginning of the pandemic, keeping in mind the devastation that a lot of people felt with no job and being laid off in some industries where the work was thought to never come back. because of the risks people had to navigate during the pandemic, employers have had to give higher wages. we've seen a huge burst of organizing among lower wage workers who are fed up by the stagnant pay they've seen over the years prior to the pandemic and the lack of benefits. coronavirus really peeled back

what workers faced. host: you think that new leverage is as strong with white-collar workers as it is with blue-collar workers? guest: it's interesting. prior to the pandemic, i had a theory that we were seeing a burst of organizing among white-collar workers because they had the financial ability to better take risks at work. if you're trying to unionize your workplace and you get fired or retaliated against, a white-collar worker may have a retirement account or savings with more agency to do so. the pandemic and all of the risks that were revealed make that calculus different for some lower wage workers who were realizing they weren't see -- were seen a lot of risk on the job. we've seen that with starbucks workers.

there has been a successful union drive in new york by the amazon labor union. we are not talking about legacy powerful unions. that was completely worker led. they didn't have the money or the attorneys or the power that a well-established union it would have. that's been a huge bellwether for what could come. host: is this in other data, are the effects of the aid provided by the pandemic during the trump administration and the by demonstration, is that being fit -- felt in the labor force? guest: largely, a lot of businesses have dwindled out that money, whether it was used for savings. it's been several months since workers have seen a cash infusion.

at this point, that's no longer what we saw. the extra stimulus money did key people out of poverty for a little while. until the economic aid ended. host: you mention starbucks and amazon it workers, do you think the administration -- those victories happen because of this administration is more prounion it? guest: yes. unions were so excited with president joe biden uttering the word union and nearly every policy proposal he brings up. i was skeptical. we are starting to see not only this growth in people seeking representation, but the

popularity of unions is the highest it's been since the 1960's. gallup put out a very interesting poll showing this growth over the past year. at the end of august, 71% of americans approve of labor unions. that is up from 64% before the pandemic. people say they may be a good thing for workers. host: rebecca is from bloomberg. you can read her reporting. thank you so much for being with us this morning. guest: i appreciate you having me. host: which political party is more pro-worker? (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. (202) 748-8001 four republicans. independents (202) 748-8002. you can use (202) 748-8003, send

us a text on that line. that is also our line from union workers. here is a comment by text. this is john in st. paul. joe in hartford, kentucky. steve is first up in florida on the mcgrath line. good morning. -- democrats line. caller: i agree with that last text. the republicans are the ones that when after the unions. during the in reagan admin -- during the regular ministration, they gutted the unions from

their negotiating power. it was the reagan administration, they set up the antiunion propaganda saying they priced themselves and were responsible for shoddy work. they did an effective job of brainwashing. the creation of the right to work state, a lot of federal judges really killed labor friendly legislation. host: have you been a union worker in the past? caller: it's funny. i worked in a manufacturing plant in ohio in the 70's. the only time i was a union worker was during a stent where i worked for the state of pennsylvania in college.

i was a member of the american federation of federal employees for a couple of years. it was good team in the union. -- being in the union. hopefully, they make a comeback. i think it's very important for our economy as a whole to have workers to have a collective voice and leverage. host: we will hear from maryland outside the nation's capital. caller: yes. when i heard the introduction, the group for free labor. that i hear right?

host: are you talking about the piece we read earlier? caller: right. host: i would direct you to that piece by the historian heather cox richardson. you can read the full piece on her letter from an american that came out yesterday. paul is in new york. caller: good morning. my book mentions this kind of thought. what happened to prowess? when i was in the union to be a teacher, i broke the picket line because children had to make money on the train.

their mothers had to go to work. what happened to prowess, getting paid because of your ability? the government wrecking the economy. a crane operator, $60 an hour. they make more money than a surgeon. they've got to pay liability insurance. my point is this. unions are not necessary. what is necessary for the government to step in where people are being abused. let's the name of that burger company that has the whopper? host: are you talking about

burger king? caller: yes. their burgers are made from the finest ingredients. host: we will let you go with that commercial. thanks for calling. (202) 748-8000 democrats. (202) 748-8001 republicans. independents (202) 748-8002. rebecca mentioned this in our conversation a few minutes ago. this is the gallup poll. u.s. approval of labor unions at the highest point since 1965. they write:

i want to show you this one chart. they asked the question, are you or anyone in your household a member of a labor union. this is how many said yes. the total of that union households, 16%. nonunion households were 84%. that's in terms of the gallup poll. on that pole, some analysis from cnbc. their headline:

president biden spoke in pennsylvania, talking about the jobs numbers. here is president biden. >> we received more good news, the economy created 315,000 new jobs. the great americans job machine continues its comeback, americans are working more,

building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out. we have now created nearly 10 million new jobs since i took office. their lead 10 million jobs, the fastest growth in all of american history. in august, we saw the share of americans working on the economy went up. that is labor force participation rate. working age, women are for the first time back at work at rates not seen since before the pandemic. wages are up. unemployment is near a 50 year low. yesterday, we got data that showed manufacturing orders are up. supply chain items are beginning to ease. the week before that, data showed the price increase may ease as well. jobs are up, wages are up,

people are back to work. we see signs that inflation may be beginning to ease. gas prices have now fallen 80 straight days. if the fastest decline in over a decade. the price of the pump is now $1.20 less than it was at the beginning of the summer. america has good news going into labor day weekend. host: that is the president friday at the white house. he is on the road today in milwaukee and then near pittsburgh. he will be speaking this afternoon. we will have live coverage on c-span. you can follow on our free mobile app and at c-span.org. which party is more pro-worker? (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats.

(202) 748-8001 republicans. union members, (202) 748-8003. a couple of comments from twitter. eric is a member calling from massachusetts. good morning. caller: happy labor day. i am a member of a federal government union. i would be considered a white collar position. i've been a member of the in for many years. it's not as powerful as the teamsters union.

it is a union. in my experience, the unions going back to theo obama era, they were gaga over obama. we literally got 0% raises for several years. the unit still double down. he didn't do anything for us. one of the things they want to advocate for unions, there is a high support for unions now as you stated. however, when i ask people are you having electrical work dinner house, is it a union company? that would cost too much.

they have no problem advocating for unions for public jobs. that adds to the burden on the taxpayer. i lost my thought. host: what do you think is the biggest benefit you get from being a union member? caller: honestly, from a federal government perspective, i don't think there is a lot. i will say i never understood the dichotomy. my federal building is beautiful. i would see ironworkers building a building next to us. they were out there in all the elements. i'm sure they were union ironworkers. they worked like dogs on the coldest days of the year. i can't imagine being on the

39th floor of a building in boston. then they would leave work and go home. one of my points was, the question should be who is more non-worker? who is more pro-voter. i do think the democratic party are advocating for pulling people over the border. talk about starbucks workers who are willing to work for cheaper wages, we are creating an undercurrent of millions of people that have come in that are willing to work for much less. how is that going to help nonunion or otherwise? that's my thought. host: to brian in pennsylvania. go ahead. caller: good morning.

happy labor day. i find things to be -- it's like a trick question. i find that the republican party is more pro-business. they are more pro-private sector business. that improves the job aspects of the private sector workers. in small companies, not so much in large companies. in recent years with covid, things like -- there's been a plan to crush small business. as far as the democrats are concerned, they are probably more pro-worker in the public sector. they love the public sector

unions. he was a federal worker. the way i look at it, the democrats would love for everyone to work for the government. it seems like they are more communistic. the republicans are hard on the workforce in the private sector because they have to perform. you have more competition then government. i think it's a bit of a trick question. happy labor day. host: thanks for answering. we will go to robert in maryland. which political party is more pro-worker? caller: good morning. definitely the democrat party is more pro-worker. there advocating for higher wages, to end right to work

laws. they are trying to pass the right to organize act. the only three not signed on were -- the democratic party is interested in higher wages and advocating for labor. as the gentleman before me said, republicans are more interested in business. business workers do not have the same interest at heart. if your company is making more money, they are not looking to pass that on to workers. trickle-down economics is false. i'm a union worker myself. i am based out of silver spring, maryland. host: what kind of work do you do? caller: i work for a group on

capitol hill myself. they represent a lot of the white collar members. it's time for workers to take power back. workers are tired of low wages and harsh treatment and that's everywhere from construction to service, all the way to office workers. host: do you think the covid pandemic and the last couple of years have made it a better scenario for workers, more competition for better wages and other jobs other than where they are? caller: that's definitely much better for workers. workers can refuse low wages somewhere.

they can get higher wages somewhere else. the managers and owners are not happy that they are being forced to pay competitive wages. the pandemic is turned the tide in the favor of workers. host: this is from the group. union deletes document after a report shows collusion. they write:

some comments next from kevin mccarthy, responding to the economic conditions and the unemployment number. his comments. >> we will show that to you in just a bit. host: benjamin is in winter garden, florida. caller: i'm an independent. i've worked in the public sector and the private sector. pro-worker is definitely the democratic party. i used to live in massachusetts.

when he said these things about unions don't do link, i don't know what planet he is living on. unions get benefits. they get the ability to work from home. they get the better insurance you get. you get tensions which are few and far between these days. what the republicans do, they have these right to work states where you can be in a union. they are paying dues. all of the dues -- they like to sit goes toward party. they help support the issues to get us the fits. less people putting in the trough, the last we can negotiate at the bargaining table. a caller talked about the reagan administration. i've seen it under trump. you see it under biden and obama.

who supports our benefits? if not, the country was doing well when unions were very high. that polling shows that. when unions lost their power at the bargaining table, wages went down. host: are they much of a factor in winter garden? caller: we are in a right to work state. it's a different ballgame. the power of the unions is significantly less then in states that are not right to work. they talk about florida having a boom. try working at disney and buying a house these days. give me a break. when i see that question, it's obviously the democrats on that specific issue. host: susan is on the line for

union members. susan is in new york. go ahead. caller: good morning. i want to say two things. i am a union member because i'm still working part-time, i am also retired. my union is the new york city-based public workers. while democrats are much more pro-union, especially in new york city, for retired workers they are taking away a lot of the benefits they promised us from medicare. there is a big fight right now with unions, they are trying to take away our health care. host: thanks for calling in. the line for workers (202)

748-8003. we mentioned kevin mccarthy, the majority leader in pennsylvania. president trump was speaking there over the weekend. joe biden is speaking there last week. here is kevin mccarthy. he is speaking in scranton. >> i have traveled to more than 20 states. i met with over 100 candidates and their constituents. tonight, i want to share with you what i heard from americans across the country. what is clear to me and clear to you is washington and the white house aren't listening. they just don't get it. you have never been more worried or alarmed by the direction of

our country. they tell you everything is fine. you worry that your children will have less opportunity than you did it. they tell you things are looking up. you fear america is becoming poor, less safe, less respected, less free. they tell you the border is safe and america is secure. the white house says inflation is transitory. the spike in crime is just a bump in the road. you know that doesn't add up. that's where we are different. i don't dismiss your fears. i share them. i along with every republican running for congress this year share your unwavering conviction that we must change wretch and

in washington before it is too late. host: it is labor day. it wouldn't be complete without a parade. here is richard blumenthal in a parade over the weekend, writing in the bridgewater tractor parade. this really brings people together. here is joni ernst from iowa with the college football season. our opening question for you, which party is more per worker. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. republicans (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002. let's hear from george on the democrats line in kentucky. caller: yes.

the thing is this. the plurality of the workforce is in corporate retail all over the country. some are less skilled. the multitasking in retail outlets and a fast place diner is not necessarily unskilled despite what they will tell you. serving tables or being a short order cook, that's a very hard demanding work. the corporate losses, the division of district managers are anti-worker and anti-union. 99% of them are hard-core geo peers. they want to micromanage every move everybody makes. they want to invade privacy in the workplace. they think everybody wants big gumbo the -- government telling people what to do and they start

calling you a calmness. the thing is, they will tell employees if you share pay information of your coworkers, they will terminate you. that's a violation of the activities clause of the raber -- labor relations movement. conservatives don't care about law and order until it infringes upon them. they are guaranteed to be anti-worker in every way possible. host: danny is a union member in denver. caller: i am a retired teamster. i believe the democratic party is more representative of unions. joe biden is prounion. i am prounion.

i ran for political office on up platform of unionization. they are the reason we have benefits, paid days off, the eight hour workdays, the unions fought for this many years ago. unions help distribute the wealth. the only way to distribute the wealth is for people to join unions, to join jobs that have unions, to unionize city workers. they are afraid of the unions. that's why we don't have them. i hate to keep going on. without some comment from you guys, we will probably cut me off. host: the forum is to hear from you. i appreciate your opinion. this is from the washington post.

the author will be our guest later. she writes in the piece published this morning:

we'll hear more about that when we talk to her later in the program. rockwood, tennessee is next. go ahead. caller: i am an 83-year-old. i worked in chicago in the 1960's. i helped build the sears tower, the standard oil building, all that. i was a union carpenter. along come the 1970's. i lived it and i've seen it. i want to know what happened. you've got affirmative actions from blacks. then jimmy carter come along and you got chapter 94 women. they get on the job and they say i don't need no union. if you discriminate against me because i'm a minority, i don't need the union.

then along came bill clinton who sent everything to mexico. all the car manufacturing went to mexico. people telling me how democrats are all prounion, democrats and ronald reagan together helped destroy the unions. the unions will never come back. host: go ahead. caller: my dad was a union member for 40 years. he always spoke highly, how much money he was going to make from his pension. i went into the training program in 1978. i stayed there until i was drafted into the military. what i found out was after my dad retired, the training

program for construction workers is the best in the world. i've got to say that. that is a great thing about labor unions as far as construction goes. after my dad retired, the pencil in -- pension he got was not what he thought he was going to get. he had to go get another job. it was unrelated to being an electrician. he had to move to alabama to stretch the dollar. that taught me something. i decided not to go back to the union. i went to college and became an engineer. i made plenty of money in silicon valley. i find that people say democrats

are prounion. on the union jobs, you work where they tell you you can work. you cannot use your skills anywhere else that is not sanctioned by the union. that's the bad thing. i would say there is some good and bad about labor unions. public unions i don't think should be in existence. there's an attitude that i see in government workers that gives them an air of superiority. that's my statement. happy labor day. host: this is news from the united kingdom. this is the headline

caller: i just want to say i think you have to be careful about which politicians you quote. this is very factual, this is not political. there are mag a republicans who are lying in public. when you have kevin mccarthy on, you know it's bs. i think it's bad for public

radio to be disseminating this information. i don't think it's fair to talk about immigration when you were talking about unions. all superpowers have had problems with immigration. immigration transcends politics in general. it started because it displaced people. i think the discussion is very distorted. i think that c-span has to be more responsible about how they present issues. that's all i have to say. thank you for taking my call. host: our job here is to hear from you, to present as many

views from public officials and others as possible. kevin mccarthy is the majority leader of the house. we will hear your concerns and comments. dennis is in south dakota. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i called quite a while back. i was a truck driver for 43 years. i belonged to the union for 12 years and then reagan it came in and he fired all the air traffic controllers. he was the most antiunion president we've had. all the trucking companies i used to work for went under. i think we've got more unions than -- in government than we do in private industry. we just lost -- my union boss

was jimmy hoffa. he was murdered. we don't know how. the unions built this country, whether it's car companies, construction, electricians, commerce. host: did the union benefit you? do you get a pension? caller: i got a little bit of pension left to this day. they used to say they all belong to the mob. when a president says the teamsters -- not just the teamsters. i can tell you what, big business is too big. right now, you see starbucks and amazon and they are trying to organize. they are so big it, they don't have a chance. host: this is politico about the

president on this labor day. he is headed to some key midterm states. he is stopping in wisconsin and later to pittsburgh. we will cover that. the comments the president made in philadelphia on friday and his nationwide address are still resonating on the sunday shows. michael mccaul said republicans were offended at some of the tone he struck. >> democracy is messy, it's better than the other forms of government. if this was a speech to unify people, it had the opposite effect. it condemned all republicans who supported donald trump. that is 70 million people. saying that republicans are a threat to democracy is really a slap in the face.

you know my vote on certification and my position on that. i took an oath to the constitution. you don't come out to unify the nation. this was not a presidential address. it wasn't even carried by your network or the other major networks. it was so political. it was a campaign speech. >> how much should donald trump be blamed for the division in the country? he has called the left wing fascists in the past. >> the rhetoric on both sides has been heightened. people don't like the divisive rhetoric. i wish the president could've been more like abraham lincoln who did not condemn the democrats in the south. he brought them into the tent.

that would be the mission i would advise. i think he failed to do that. host: abc's this week. some comments from members of congress. senator mike crapo tweeting from teddy roosevelt. from chuck grassley. a congresswoman it says: let's get back to your calls. lester is in minnesota. good morning. caller: i'm a vietnam veteran and i'm 80 years old.

i have seen some stuff that's gone on in the labor force. after i got out of college, i worked in minnesota. i could see -- host: was that a union job? caller: yes. i could see with the unit was doing two companies. they couldn't afford to buy new stuff. all they were doing was repairing the equipment. you look at the minds now, they are closed. the unions fought for 13 weeks vacation. when i got laid off, i still got 13 weeks vacation.

i asked them what this was for. they said you had that coming. these people who were working there lost their jobs. host: the you think they closed because of the economic pressure of the unions? caller: you could see the iron. host: bobby is a union member in west virginia. good morning. caller: i hope you give me a little bit of time. i'm united mine worker. local 1440.

i would like to say i am a proud coalminer. everyplace that i worked, i worked at several different mining operations, when it came down to voting for a president, senators, local politicians, the company would always tried to intimidate us to put pressure on us to vote for the republican party. i never heard of a republican lawmaker get up on the floor and try to promote organized labor. in the state of tennessee, the

senators and congressmen down there -- it's been a year or two back, volkswagen was coming in to put it land in tennessee. the volkswagen company said they did not care if the employees would want to go union or not. the lawmakers in the state of tennessee put pressure on the workers and said if you have a union here, we are not going to have businesses want to come into our state. the democratic party is prolabor. host: thanks for your input. this is an opinion piece in the washington post:

a couple of more calls on her opening topic. we will go to fred in maryland. go ahead. caller: good morning. i worked in the private sector my whole life. i've never been in a union. when i needed a raise, i went to the boss.

he knew i was a hard worker. that did all the talking for me. today, unions are slush funds for the democratic party. most of the union members don't even vote democrat. the hind the scenes, they can't acknowledge that. the money is going right to the political parties. most of the cities are controlled by democrats. they keep those guys in charge. that's why the cities are always going to fail. the drivers refused to load cupcakes. they had to hire other drivers.

the unions are like leeches. they suck the life out of the company and they move on to the next victim. host: this is on twitter. this is maryland, the democrats line. go ahead. caller: good morning it, everyone. i believe the democrats are the ones that are more pro-worker. pro-everyday working person. we should remember, clinton signed the legislation that sent jobs overseas. that legislation was started by republicans under bush.

the democrats under obama were trying to bring those jobs back home. during the 2000's, companies cut their workforces by two .9 million while increasing overseas. the republicans voted several times against any legislation to bring those jobs back home. republicans are not pro-worker. also, i would like to go back to the fact that the republicans are talking about the democrats are commonest. at cpac it said we are all domestic terrorists. the bottom of the stage, there is a symbol. what that means is it echoes the fascist symbol used as a badge

by the nazis during world war ii. host: we are going to get one more call. tom is in california. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have issues with representative mccarthy relating to anything to do with workers. he comes from an area that is dependent on immigrant and migrant labor force. while he rails against the border, at the same time, his region takes more farm subsidies and market facilitation money than any other region. he rails against crime.

his city has the highest crime rate than both newark's city and chicago. the same can be said for turner in dayton, the same can be said for grand junction, colorado with representative boebert. host: that's all the calls for the segment. come up next, we will talk politics. the managing ater of the hotline will show us. the topic is campaign 2022 and what's ahead. we will dive deeper into the issues facing american workers. there is a piece in the washington post as well.

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narrowed significantly. democrats are feeling pretty empowered right now. their bases energize. they have had a string of victories in special elections recently. they are fired up. this is much more narrow than that red wave that people were predicting even as soon as just a few months ago. now, that has been downgraded significantly to a bit of a tropical depression now for republicans. host: what are the numbers for the republicans to take the house? how many seats to have to wing? guest: they just have to win five seats. even if it is this tropical depression we're talking about, that could be enough just because the house is so narrow right now. there has been a little redistricting as well. there map is a little bit tight. there is a newly energized

democratic face. republicans gaining just the seats needed. host: you mentioned the supreme court decision. what other elements are there for democrats using in election schedule publicans? guest: they are really into abortion right now and fighting for abortion access. but the republicans are more extreme. i think you saw that really threw president biden's speech thursday night in philadelphia, when he talked about the mecca republicans as a threat to democracy. with the u.s. house races, you actually have republicans on capitol hill during the insurrection. they did not go into the capital, but were at the rally. democrats are really trying to paint him as too extreme for the democracy and a threat to the republic. host: the tone of that speech from the president, could that be a threat to those very types

-- tight house races? guest: it could be. there are those in districts that former president trump carried that would rather not talk about president -- former president trump right now. they are focused more on defending abortion access, economic issues, and comments delivered in the past months. host: there was one on stage with president biden on thursday in wilkes-barre. guest: he was. he would rather not talk so much about threats to democracy and more about how the infrastructure bill will help. host: it is a race by race thing in this peerless time about the senate and something i want to highlight. the key ones he may be looking at, arizona, pennsylvania, ohio,

georgia, nevada, and the ron johnson race, the incumbent republican against mandela barnes. any of those you want to talk about? guest: in a 50-50 senate, every race matters here. what is important is the field of gop candidates running against vulnerable democrats, particularly arizona and pennsylvania, where there has been a lot of hammering on the republican side over candidate quality. you'll get arizona for example. like masters has been outraged by mark kelly by about 14-1 right now. about $50 million in getting masters across the line in the primary, but has turned off the spigot now in the general election that has minority leader mitch mcconnell and

others sweating bullets right now. host: tell us a little bit more about that. there is reporting that there is real tension between senator mcconnell in the head of the senate campaign committee, and obviously the leader of the senate from -- for republicans. they should be on the same page. guest: they want to get that magic 51 seats here. the way they are going about it has different intentions. the chairman of the nrc has stayed out of republican primaries, much to the chagrin of edge mcconnell and other republicans, who worry that because they let the voters and others dominate those races without a guiding hand from the national party, they have nominated some less than savory candidates. during the primary process for former president trump, who endorses these candidates, and competitive races, trump endorsement is good for about

33% or 30 per six -- 36% of the vote. that is enough to get them across the line. host: with president trump's endorsements, has he been more successful in senate candidates and -- than house candidates? caller: he has -- guest: he has been. the only place he has had a bit of a stumble and block is governor races. he tried that out in georgia, he tried it with idaho as well. he did have a recent big victory in arizona host: what about the fundraising for republicans? there are reports that mitch mcconnell, his fundraising has come and helped out in some senate races. guest: absolutely. it was reported last week by the "new york times" that the nrc -- an rsc. raised $101 million and they

have already spent 90% of that. mitch mcconnell has had to come in and use unaligned super pac to help boost candidates. with a been investing the money in is a lot of digital advertising, building up digital infrastructure. they will tell you that they are trying to invest in the future, that it will be good for future chairman and committees, but right now it is all about who will profile rick scott, at the expense of their candidates in the senate. host: where should they be focusing their ads and other spending dollars? what are they focusing on? guest: democrats are focusing handling -- focusing heavily on nevada and arizona as the most vulnerable members in those states. they only have a few offense of opportunities here. you'll see that in pennsylvania

and wisconsin. host: what is the latest in terms of the polls and on the race in nevada between the incumbent and the secretary of state? guest: it will be a tiebreak there. the latest poll had single digits, but below 50. that is not where you want to be if you are in, right now. and that is before all the money comes in with republican ad buying in the full. host: on our phone lines, we have our guest kirk bado. we are talking campaign 2022. it is (202) 748-8000 for republicans, -- for (202) 748-8000 republicans -- (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202)

748-8001 republicans, (202) 748-8002 independents. president biden today will be back in pittsburgh. here's the headline from the weekend. gop mounts rescue efforts in pennsylvania, particularly focusing here on the two, the senate candidates. guest: pennsylvania's ground zero right now for midterms. it almost feels like a flashback to 2020, with this split screen of trump and biden doing dueling rallies and speeches. pennsylvania is a winnable state, a battleground state. it could slip to their fingers right now. met matt oz has not done well. federman has painted him as an

outsider. the gubernatorial candidate, doug master,, there are a lot of publicans right now who will adopt the language of conspiracy theories. to get three primary election, that his harder than the general election. mastery anna says the election was raked -- read --rigged. republicans see that as a massive liability. they want to flip the governor's mansion. host: they spoke in wilkes-barre later on that night. want to show you the comments of donald at that movement. [video clip] >> he thinks making america great again as a threat to our country.

now, making america great again is great for our country. [applause] there is only one party that is waging war on american democracy by censoring free speech, criminalizing dissent -- you see that happening. disarming law-abiding citizens, issuing wallace mandates and unconstitutional orders, imprisoning political protesters. that is what they are doing, rigging elections, weaponizing the justice department and the fbi like never, ever before. [booing] rating and breaking into the homes of their political opponents. i wonder who that could be. republicans in the mag a movement are not the ones trying

to undermine our democracy. we are the ones trying to save our democracy. [applause] very simple. the danger to democracy comes from the radical left, not from the right. host: on the hotline, the "washington post" reports we could be hearing much more of that from president trump, as he is expected to be out on the road or doing robo coast -- wearable calls -- robles -- guest: is coming up in october. i think democrats will look at that. there is a choice between the extremism of the republican party and the practical solutions of the democrats. usually, the midterms are a

referendum on the party in power. immigrants are trying to -- democrats are trying to flip the script. host: you say democrat leaders would be happy with that. what about most republican candidates were running? do they want the president stepping in on their racy? guest: it all depends on the race. that was a speech and rally in support of awes and -- oz and mastriano. there are some i don't believe would appreciate a rally like this. tiffany smiley up in washington, i believe she said in that article that there has been no contact with the trump campaign right now. for some races, it is all about choosing that republican turnout, because the enthusiasm is kind of flipped right now, with democrats much more

enthusiastic than republicans to come vote for the midterms right now. in places like georgia, it is a little bit more about turning out republicans. host: let's get to calls. we are with kirk bado. let's go to stephen on our democrats line in virginia. good morning. caller: my question is sort of along the georgia thing. i think we can take maga for the progressive agenda. there were two incumbent senators in georgia. trump got all messed up about the election and his people failed, and we ended up with two democratic senators that allowed biden to do all of this. why's is that election going to be different when we have already beaten the incumbent republican? i really appreciate warnock and everything they are doing. i appreciate trump giving away the progressive agenda. but why is that -- wise warnock even worried?

going through that whole thing where you have a former president declaring the current president as anemone -- enemy of the state, but any republicans, if you did that to the republican leader, they would be in jail. but trump can go in shoot his mouth off like that all the time. back to the georgia thing, that is why we have all this and biden got things accomplished. trump gave us georgia in the first place. host: referring to the wind in the special election in 2020. guest: the whole reason we have that is because the democrats flipped those two georgia senate races. three then warnock is so concerned about this right now is it's a geopolitical add. you are either running or running unopposed. it seems like every other day, there is a news story about some

scandal or something he said that might not have been the best way to phrase things. but he is herschel walker and this is georgia. herschel walker is a legend in georgia. he has a good amount of money, a skyhigh name id. he is a serious threat to warnock. host: how do you use poles of the hotline? guest: wheeze a lot of caveats of those right now. [laughter] we try to look at those in aggregate right now. we do not pay attention to ones that we think will be outliers. but there are some that have the race between about 10 points in favor of warnock to about four or five points right now. we try to average those out, look at the quality. when it comes to 2024, polling, hypotheticals like that, we try to do as little as possible. people are just talking about

them because they are important, looking ahead a little bit. but we try not to base a whole story or anything on a 2024 pole that is so far off. let's focus on the next 63 days. host: kirk bado is the managing editor of the national journal hotline. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents. elizabeth on the independent line. good morning. caller: i just have a question for the gentleman on television. ken trump run again? a lot of people think he can't, but some people think he can. if you get into that for me, i would really appreciate it. guest: the short answer is yes, he can run again. he is at least 35 years old, a citizen of the country, he meets all of those qualifications. what you might be referring to

is the effort among some legal groups to kick republicans off the ballot who might have been allegedly involved in planning the insurrection or the rally, planning the protesters that got into the capital on january 6. so far, all of those have been defeated in court. all of those have kind of been dismissed right now. trump is in a lot of legal peril right now. we will have to see how that plays out. if he wants to file papers to run for president, there's nothing to stop him. host: as much as a former president is a boost to republican candidates, is the current president a drag on current democratic candidates? guest: that is something there try to figure out right now. we have a slight uptick in numbers are now, but it depends on what rates we look at. there are vulnerable house members who have run talking about how they have spoken with the biden administration, who

have worked with republicans and don't support some of biden's policies here. it all depends on the race and the candidate. host: let's hear from stamford, connecticut. bob is on their publican line. caller: good morning. how are you guys doing today? happy liberty. guest: happy labor day. caller: i'm not sure where you are getting your pulling information, because when you look at your news, you see what is going on in the economy with fuel prices, open borders, all of these policies that have failed from joe biden, i don't understand how anyone can think there is anything less than a red wave that can come to this country, and they are still hung up on trump. i think the mar-a-lago thing is actually a wake-up call to patriotic americans that this is

no different from nazi germany at some point. they are using the same tactics hitler's did. thank you. host: kirk bado, any thoughts? guest: looking at this right now, this is a very favorable senate for democrats. that is why we are talking right now about only a handful. this is most favorable for democrats and a few cycles here. house democrats are not talking's much about a roadway. there aren't of so many facets going into play. yes, these are still some top priorities for voters. abortion has risen up, threat to democracy has risen up as a concern for voters. fuel is much narrower than the last time. there is more redistricting and bipartisanship. host: do you think the economy is less of an issue?

do you think it is still the number one issue for voters? guest: i definitely think so. we just have other issues that are activating voters who might have stayed home. host: but tear from james in georgia. go ahead, you are on the air, democrats line. caller: good morning and happy labor day. there is no way in the world we are going to put herschel walker to represent georgia with the baggage that he has. as far as the economy, the gas prices, and everything else that joe biden has already pushed for his agenda, we are not changing that. we are going forward. donald trump, we welcome him. we want him to be a part of what he is trying to do, because we are running on him. as long as he is around,

stealing documents, classified, all kinds of papers, we are supposed to break the law and let him get away with that? the average person would be in jail right now. this is ridiculous. as for the gop, they have shown their colors. they are the right wing. they are trying to destroy this country and we are going to stop them. host: i have to ask, what do you think of herschel walker as a candidate? caller: let me say this, herschel walker was a great football player. that's all that is. that has nothing to do with politics. the man abused his wife, he has lied about being in fbi agent, he has lied about other things, and you think that we have to say because he is black, we are going to vote for him? no. guest: i think that reaction

herschel walker is the trend we are looking at in georgia. while i do think herschel walker is one of the stronger of the week -- weaker republican candidates, if that makes sense, you have a difference between the senate and the governor races. you can see a split with more independent voters who might support governor than senate. host: an they have another governor race, right? guest: yes. there is still a single digit lead, still within five points right now. but stacey abrams comes in with a bigger badge. she is a national figure, easier to polarize and politicize,

unlike other candidates right now. with the independents in georgia right now, we could see a split. host: do you think he could take georgia because he split with the president in 2020, gave more independent democratic support there because of his actions during that election? guest: i can't speak to how much democrats put in. the end of the day, he is a republican and he talks like a republican, and he is republican. but he disagreed with trump on that one key area, the election. he could have made himself more appealing to democrats and independents. think it was a smart move for him and for democracy as well. host: we have jimbo in bakersfield. could you comment on the congressional district between the incumbent in the state

simply men, who voted to impeach trump and made the district more democratic? guest: i'm glad you brought that up. this is one of the races we're going to be watching right now. there are 10 house republicans who voted to her -- two impeach trump. eight of them are not coming back. four of them retired, four of them are primary. because of the house primer, he was able to defeat a more maga -aligned republican. he is not guaranteed that street -- that see right now because of how that redistricting was drawn. they've been trying to get him for years to run and that see right now. i think he is the underdog in that race and we could very well have one republican who voted two impeach trump left in congress. host: and that would be the

republican from -- guest: new house. host: texas, democrats line. good morning. caller: i have a question about texas. heidi see the governorship coming out -- how do you see the governorship coming out? my last one is about district 34. thank you/ host: i hope you got all those spiritual and quickly. -- i hope you got all those because she went very quickly. guest: none of this is a done deal right now. we have a lead in the polls of 10 point or better. o'rourke had a nice moment there

right after the volte shooting. he really seized on that opportunity to give voice to the victims there, to criticize greg abbott's response. there is national attention there, but it hasn't translated into the polls quite yet. this is a really interesting race paired we have a lot of quirky house races in the cycle because of redistricting. maia florez won the race after another representative resigned to go to a lobbying firm. this is the old texas 34 and it has since been redrawn. gonzalez jumped from his district into this one to run in this new seat. host: and he will face my florez. guest: he will. i haven't seen any polling from this race yet. i know national opponents are really excited about maia florez.

she is more conservative leaning , like hispanic voters have trended toward publicans in recent races. i think there will be a lot of national buy-in in this race. without the district was redrawn, with the incumbent advantage, i think that gives a slight edge right now. host: she the first republican hispanic woman to be elected in texas? guest: she has. in the central and south of texas, we have seen a lot of hispanic voters unless two cycles who drift a little bit more toward republicans, going into this whole idea that democrats are becoming more of the party of the college-educated, more liberal-leaning, kinda forgetting about their working class roots. that is essentially with the drift is about but i think the real test of that will be texas

34 in november. host: next is clearance in cleveland, ohio. good morning on the republican line. caller: good morning. i was calling about what you're talking about with the election. is this a return to the same things like 2016, 2020? i am 64 years old. host: clarence, do us a favor. your feedback from the tv, if you could mute your television, then go ahead with your comment, then we will be able to hear you a little better. though ahead. -- go ahead. caller: i was saying i am 64 years old. i have been around a while. i am wondering, how can you guys understand that we keep going through this over and over again, the same stuff? all we're doing is the same thing again. we need to keep a row close i --

a real close eye on things. [indiscernible] i guess it's just what we do. thank you for letting me have my time. host: kirk bado, a comment on twitter says that as a nation, we pay way too much attention to the horse race and nowhere near enough to holding these people accountable after elections. guest: i think that's why we have seen a lot of frustration with voters right now. a research study over the summer showed that crime rates near washington are at all-time highs. people are really upset with their elected officials right now. i think our job as media is to hold them more accountable. we are a little bit more horserace coverage, but we try

to tell our audience who these people are. we are focused on campaigns, but we want to make sure that people know, that our audience and the voters know who these people are who are going to be your next elected officials. host: let's hear from susan in south carolina, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning and happy labor day. host: thank you. guest: happy labor day. caller: i'm just concerned about the 2 million immigrants coming in. they are putting our lives at risk with all the fentanyl coming in and i believe joe biden is letting all the immigrants in and he is going to try to use them to vote for him or the democratic party.

and i am sad about their abortion policy, that i just wonder if people realize that they are wanting the right to abort a baby up to the time of birth. host: ok, susan. kirk bado, we get so many calls about this, the issue of immigration in this country, still about the number immigrants oppressing the border. is it as big of a campaign issue? guest: it is, especially those races along the border in summer streets -- in southern states. you see those a lot, not just as republicans, but people are talking about this crisis at the border from democrats as well. even the senator from new hampshire over the summer took a trip down to the border. i'm not talking bout the canadian border. she went down to the u.s.-mexico

border to talk about immigration down there. i think that kind of speaks to the frustration that we talked about previously, about how there is no real movement on immigration policy in the past 15 years almost. there might have been a pathway for dreamers and copperheads of immigration reform, but because the two parties have just done so much in word and made this a bipartisan issue, a redmeat issue, it leads voters to get frustrated. host: let's go back to what you touched on earlier, in maine. the incumbent, he is facing a familiar opponent. tells more about that. guest: he is facing the former representative hugh he defeated in, i believe, 2018 in his first run. we talk a lot about candidate quality and individualized

profiles for the district. they have done that to a t. he is a former marine. he is not in a suit like you are right now. he is in short sleeves, showing off tattoos and everything. he is a really -- a real working guy and everything. he sit at the diner, cracking open lobster and talking about his support for the lobster men and everything. i think maine is one of the only places where you can get away with saying lobster is a symbol of the working class up there. it tends to be a real challenge. the district is still one that trump carried by probably six or seven points right now. he is a known entity in the district. it is going to be a really tough challenge and going to be one of the key house races where watching. host: let's hear from tennessee on the democrat line.

caller: yes, yes. my deal is, i can't understand why anybody to support them in an election. he only lied 33,000 times and about four or five years. if i was a republican that was going to run, the only thing trump successfully did was divide the republican party and half, because you have seen republicans shy away from him. the only gutless ones are in washington, d.c., which is mitch mcconnell, cruz, mccarthy. there is a whole wagon full of them. the deal about the border, i used to live in texas.

in houston. they used to have immigrant round up about twice a year. whatever happened to the governors taking care of their borders? why did they rely on the president to take care of their borders? is there deal. i agree the president has the last say so, but that is my deal right there. thank you. host: philip mentioned splitting the republican party and have. doesn't look that way to you or does it look like most candidates out there are really aligning themselves with the former president? guest: it seems like everybody is what aligning the insults with the former president. there was a recent poll that said 72% of republican voters would vote for trump again if you ran in 2024. if you look at anyone who is really sticking out a claim against him, like liz cheney,

adam kinzinger, they are not long for elected office now. there is no appetite in the republican party for an anti-trump boat right now -- vote right now. host: our lines are (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202) 748-8001 republicans, (202) 748-8002 independents and others. from south carolina, independent line. caller: i want to say two things. number one, the immigrants are coming here because of the jobs. as you all know, people employ immigrants with low wages. number two, i think trump and joe biden both are too old to run again in 2024. we have got to have someone else out there younger and talented that can run the country. host: we have been focusing on

2022. kirk bado, your thoughts about her comments on the age of the former and current presidency? guest: they would be the oldest living inaugurated president, and joe biden is the oldest living president right now. there are some big legislative winds that in july and early june, there are those stories hammering democrats over bidens age, whether or not he is going to run into 24 right now. i think the democrats writ large have this meritocracy problem, where their leaders are in their 70's and 80's. nancy pelosi said she might or might not retire, could hold onto power a little bit longer, until there is this big leadership gap as this older generation hold onto power longer. the question here for democrats is, and what biden is putting out is, is trump running again?

he is the only one who's proven he can beat trump. guest: -- host: we have seen unusual campaign spending this year. in the gop primary in new hampshire, a group aired a pro-trump candidate had, a picture there. a democrat from washington was on "state of the union" yesterday. i want to play that common. [video clip] >> as a democratic leader, a national leader as well, are you ok with democrats helping election deniers in republican primaries like new hampshire? >> i believe what democratic supporters are doing is working to make sure we have a democratic majority in the united states senate and congress, so we can restore the rights of women to make their own health care choices, so that we can continue to fight climate change, so that we can work to

continue to put in place the policies that allow this economy to work for the men and women across the state and across the nation. >> ok, that's out of like a yet. -- like a yes. host: kirk bado on the line. that happened there and other places, like the maryland given tori a race. -- pictorial race -- gubernatorial race. guest: you have an election deniers getting across the line, peter myers, a more moderate republican. the line with democrats, especially in the house, it doesn't matter who the republican is. but we are still in a more favorable environment for republicans right now.

that half-million dollars and that michigan race helps election deniers conspiracy theorists at one step closer into congress right now. i think that is something they are really going to have to grapple with come november. the republicans could really be on the hook for putting election deniers and congress. host: we haven't talked much about that race in alaska, putting a democrat in that seat. don young one in a special election. but that was just a primary win. guest: she won the special election. she will be a member for about four months now. hope she is still coming down here, making that long trip and everything. but now, we will have a general election here in november.

she will face sarah palin, the former governor and vice presidential candidate, and the grandson of the last our credit to hold that seat in 1972. he ran as a republican in the primary. democrats firmly see this as in play. they're going to put money into that seat. democrats are going to have to be forced to spend on that seat i think it speaks to where the abortion issue is right now. mary just released the first general election add and it is all about her defending alaskan rights to abortion. that is an animated issue up there. the democrat waiting for the first time since 1972, this is a real issue. host: i understand this inspiring choice. how many votes did she win the special election by? guest: i think she was 3%.

she had 51% and sarah palin ended with about 40%. host: we will hear from kathy in delaware on the republican line. though ahead. caller: good morning. i think it is interesting that abc, cbs, and nbc did not carry bidens political message this week. i felt like when i understood him to say, it felt like he was speaking to me, that i was not a true american, that i was not worthy of this country. let me tell you, there are tens of millions of us who are incredibly offended by the way he spoke about us. i don't think, as far as this midterm goes, i think it is certain state-specific issues that will lean more democratic.

but in general, i think that the people who have witnessed the behavior of the fbi -- and i'm not talking about rank-and-file, i'm talking about the higher ups. the overall food costs, gas costs, the feeling that we were cheated for the 2020 election, and those issues, i think, are going to push the republican vote. by the way, those 10 people that voted against donald trump, most of them didn't even bother to run again. what does that tell you about the power of x president donald trump? host: kirk bado, final thought? guest: i thought it was really interesting that the networks did not carry it. i have yet to hear and explain about why "young sheldon" outranked president biden speaking.

it kind of spoke to the gamble of that speech. president biden tried very hard to have a nuance in that speech about how it is not every republican, only the maga republicans who wanted to overturn the election. but that was obviously lost, especially when you see the staging pictures with the red background and everything. republicans are kind of feeding on that right now, as a way to see that democrats and biden are demonizing them right now it writ large. the think she touched on with the fbi search of mar-a-lago, where trump and republicans, there defense initially was that if they could do this to a former president, think about what they can do to you. trying to make it less about the particulars of the case, the particulars of the allegations, and more about the element of the movement right now. the community, the collective spirit of the republican party around donald trump, it has really kept his string a hold on

the parity strong for so long and many people thought it would dissipate. host: kirk bado, let's get you back in the next 63 days as the election draws near. kirk bado, thank you for being here. still had here on the program, coming up in a little bit, we will talk about the issues affecting workers on this labor day and the wave of union victories they have seen across the country. "washington post" reporter lauren kaori gurley will join us at 9:15. up next, more calls and comments. the lines stay the same on open form. your chance to weigh in on politics, policy issues, other news you are following. (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202) 748-8001 republicans, (202) 748-8002 republicans. --independents. we will. ?.

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the qr code on the screen to receive a schedule of upcoming programs, discussions, book tools, and more. book tv, every sunday on c-span two or anytime online at book tv.org. television for serious readers. ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is open form here on washington journal. a chance for you to call in for comments on political news, other news your following in the national regional news. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. labor day here in the u.s., and a significant day in the u.k. as well. they are getting a new prime minister. list trust will be the new u.k. prime minister. the outgoing p.m. boris johnson

has tweeted out a congratulation and offering his formal resignation. "i have been proud to be the leader of the republican for years, getting brexit done, overseeing the fastest vaccine rollout in europe, and giving vital support to ukraine." liz truss will be the new prime minister and will also meet with the queen tomorrow. we expect more. let's hear from troy up next in connecticut, open form. good morning on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i have been watching what has been going on in the country. why can't republicans see that the former president has committed some serious crimes?

he has committed treason against the country. he does not care about his followers. for some reason, they keep following him. not only that, joe biden has been doing a hell of a job steering the ship that donald trump pretty much messed up. i don't understand why they keep following this traitorous man down a path that is not good. there are a lot of people that died and suffered because of this man's incompetence. i think it is unfair that everyone is coming out the president -- coming at the president right now for what is going on in the country. i think he is doing a hell of a job. i think age has nothing to do with his job. come november, the republicans will see the light and vote blue. thank you. host: on new york, republican line, lydia. caller: good morning. my first question is, why do democrats not want voter id

registration? and also, why can't we do -- what do you call this? energy independent, to do solar and everything, and for the fuel? host: to ohio, diane on the democrat line. go ahead. caller: hi, good morning. first of all, i wanted to remind everyone if republicans get in office, they are going to vote against having social security, medicare, and medicaid. they promised to get rid of it inviting years. number two, when it comes to abortion in the state of ohio, in one year, 52 little girls were raped and became pregnant

and had to have abortions. this is disgusting that they want to keep this up, because we have little kids sleeping in it cleveland offices because there's not enough place to put them. also, the point i'm trying to make is that these children need a place to live, a place to have somewhere safe. a lot of kids are getting killed not from abortion, just being out in this world. which one is worse? inc. about this, which one -- think about this. which one? do you want to kill your children? host: this month, we're celebrated the 243rd of the u.s. constitution.

a second constitutional convention. some republicans want to force one. that is the headline. representative jodey arrington, a conservative texas republican, believes it as well best time something for -- for something the nation has not celebrated in centuries. i think they are due a convention. in july, he introduced legislation to tally applications for state legislations -- state legislators. "it is time to rally the states and rain in washington responsibly." a former democratic senator from wisconsin and president of the american constitution society, a liberal judicial group, "that is a terrible idea. mr. feingold sees the prospect of a -- as are hogan's push to

retake control in novembers elections." we are very concerned that the congress, if it becomes republican, will call the congress. -- will call a convention. internationally, on the constitution, the story here from the "washington post" about the defeat of a new constitution in chile. they say no to constitution that beard far left. on sunday, they delivered a resounding rejection to a new leftist constitution that aimed to transform the country into a more a gala terry in society. in a referendum, voters were asked to propose -- work asked to approve or reject one of the most market firmly in the world, with one of the world's most inclusive. the new charter envisioned a dramatic shift to the left in

the south american nation, expanding the role of government and calling for an economic model that would narrow inequality and help lift up the poor. but for many chileans, the proposed changes were too drastic, with 99.9% of the ballot boxes pallet -- tallied sunday night. about 62.2% of voters rejected it. it is open form on "washington [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] caller: good morning fellow americans. i wonder why people don't recognize, compared to the items that were found at the ex-president's house, some people in the past paid the ultimate price. nobody mentions julius and ethel

rosenberg compared to what donald trump is trying to do or has done or will do. i wonder how that would affect the coming elections. thank you. host: can is up next in pennsylvania on the republican line. caller: good morning, i think the american people ought to remember the democrats and the unions closed down schools. i think you ought to play the clip where trump said you have to open up, thank you. host: overland park, kansas is up next, rob is on the democrats line in open forum. caller: good morning, i think shifting demographics is the overarching issue why we see donald trump out there and people still follow him. the brookings institute did a study that showed that people

who support donald trump despite everything, they do it because they deep down have an element of racism in them. you see the shift in demographics and maybe by 2045, whites will not be in the majority anymore so fox news and other griping media is feeding into that here critical race theory and all the ohlone that's not even happening. the fear is being whipped up in in a democracy like america, people can lie on tv like on fox news so we are destroying democracy slowly by letting all this happen. unfortunately, c-span can help but let these people come on and live. he lied about the insurrection and he launched a coup against the government. despite all that cultish

behavior, that continues on and on -- if this country becomes authoritarian, maybe they won't even let them come on. thank you. host: next up is grant on the independent line in lincoln nebraska. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm going to use my call this month to talk about social security. everybody gets text 6.2% on the first $147,000 they make. which means for the super rich people who make 300,000 dollars or more per year, they are saying social security taxes on less than half of their income where the mass majority of us paid social security taxes on all of our income and i don't think that's fair. i think everybody should be contacting their federal representatives to remove the

maximum tax on social security so everybody is paying the same percentage of their paycheck regardless of how much income you make. i think it's a simplification of the tax code and i think it's more fair for everybody and it makes the social security fund more secure, thank you. host: a couple of comments on labor day for members of congress.

in mckinney, texas, pat is up let -- up next on the democrats line. caller: i have two points and one is women are the only ones who have the right to address the issue of abortion. next is -- when people come across the border, wherever they want to send them, they need help.

we know the whole country, people either quit their job and they need people now to take the jobs. i'm getting a little confused. if they knew who the people were and could track them, there wouldn't be any new -- there wouldn't be any problem. i know people in smaller towns and all that in the little bit bigger towns, they all want help. host: it is open forum here on "washington journal" for the

next 10 minutes or so. this is the headline this morning from the hill. part of that momentum begins today with the president on the road with two stops. he is stopping at a steelworkers hall near pittsburgh and west mifflin, pennsylvania. the president will speak at 5:30 p.m. eastern we will have live coverage of that at 5:30 p.m. and our mobile app and available at www.c-span.org. redding, california is next and we hear from rick on the independent line, good morning. caller: good morning, just like the hunter biden laptop was suppressed from the public, the media has been suppressing these and i suggest everybody take a

look at the movie selection code and look at those before you get out and vote. host: manchester, missouri, rick is up next, go ahead. caller: yes, i wanted to call and response to the gentleman who made the analysis that trump supporters want to dark -- our fuel for -- are fearful for watering down the white race. my wife and i have made to international adoptions of kids from a different race. they are missing the point. i voted for trump twice because i viewed him as an outsider which is what we need to break up the long-standing political cabals in washington. as far as racism, we have a

friend who's an asian girl and has had two different races and they weren't white. she's had threats toward her during the pandemic. trump supporters are not racist by nature. i'm looking for someone who is an outsider to take charge in washington to break things up. host: thank, we will go to the democrats line next in florida. iris, mute your volume on your television. go ahead with your comment. caller: i want to talk about the republicans rewriting the constitution because that's a horrific idea. it's simply to give them more power. i feel the constitution is

updated by the amendments if anything should be done, that's how would should be done is by amendment. can you imagine what kind of constitution we would have if they are allowed to do this. i think they should vote that idea out. host: this is the front page of the new york times about how the election timetable could affect investigations into the former president.

in washington, maryland on the line, republican caller. caller: the reason that i have loved donald trump. he is a breath of fresh air. he is common sense and he is a businessman and has run our country like a business. not like a very regulated socialistic country. that is what joe biden has done. he is going more socialist and is very progressive. and -- with donald trump, we were more energy efficient and we had lower taxes and lower regulation, a stronger borders. he was for law, the democrats

have been defunding the police. we have had bright clear across the country and no one seemed to complain about any of the horrible fires and destruction clear across our country about january 6 it makes me so angry they didn't investigate any of those. here he was, people were saying goodbye to him on that january 6. until we have a country that is having a terrible time, many people are having a terrible time financially and all they are talking about his donald trump, donald trump, donald trump. host: next up is crystal lake, illinois we lost him we will go to michael on the independent

line from connecticut. caller: the only people talking about critical race are the republicans. they are pushing it and they're the only reason anybody knows anything about it. whatever. if you removed only one person from january 6, that would be trump and it would never have happened. he was the catalyst behind the whole thing. the last woman, everything she said, i don't know where she's getting it from stuff he wants to stir the pot. let me let you republican people know, it's easier to fool someone than to convince them they been fooled. you have been fooled by a fool. thank you very much, have a great labor day. host: on labor day, this is the opinion piece of the washington examiner.

you can read that piece at washington examiner. calm step next up is alan, good morning. caller: this is alan. it's like a soap opera we watch every day. is just about trump, trump, trump, it's almost like trip trying to clean up a mess with a wet sponge and we are not solving any problems.

it's like an abrasive soap opera. i hope we can come together as a country and solve some problems after creating more. thank you for your time. host: thanks for your calls this segment with more ahead on "washington journal." , we will be joined by the washington post labor reporter to talk about the issues affecting workers today and the wave of unionization efforts across the country this year. >> listening to programs on c-span from c-span radio just got easier. tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio and listening to "washington journal" daily eastern with from -- with important congressional hearings and weekdays at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. eastern, catch washington

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continues. host: we hope to be joined by the washington post labor porter to talk about this labor day. you can start calling in. if you are a union member -- you can also use that line to send us a text and hopefully our guest will be joining us soon. she wrote of the jobs report last week. she writes that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly

according to a monthly jobs report. some 344,000 more people were unemployed than in july probably because more workers rejoined the labor force newly looking for work. the office jobs game was far lower than the stellar job growth with half a million people finding work labor market remains an area of strength for the economy especially as the federal reserve raises interest rates to rein in blistering inflation which is weighing on the housing sector. our guest covers labor issues and the workforce or the washington post and is joining us this morning, welcome to the discussion. guest: thank you so much for having me. sorry about the technical issues. host: we cleared it up. you said in your reporting that the numbers were less than they were for july.

where is the strength of the jobs gains? guest: july was over half a million in june was a bit lower. the strength of the job gains, well, a big drop from july-august but that's not incredibly concerning. that's what was predicted. we are still seeing significant job gains in professional services which is important because a lot of people were spooked out about mass layoffs and in other blue-chip companies. it turns out that sector is growing past its pre-pandemic levels and we are seeing big gains in health care, retail, things have slowed down a bit in leisure and hospitality so we

are still significantly under the pre-pandemic, the jobs that existed pre-pandemic. manufacturing continued to grow a little bit of most other sectors were pretty much, no major growth. host: your piece was published saturday and you write that the strength of the jobs market this year has emboldened the fed to take aggressive action to fight inflation. speaking in jackson hole last week, jerome powell said the fed should stop raising interest rates until inflation is under control and that will probably soft and the labor market and cause some pain. explain the tide in between what the fed is doing and the job number we see each month. guest: when the fed raises

interest rates, that makes it more expensive for people to borrow money. that means money is being fused -- infused into the economy. this means that eventually, the unemployment rate kicks up because employers are offering fewer jobs. technically what this tool is that the fed uses by raising interest rates is designed to lower wages -- keep wages from skyrocketing so that inflation also does not need to go up. this is a tool that may be used for a long time to tamp back inflation. there is definitely a lot of pain that has inflicted on

households and workers and it's proportionally on the backs of black workers and workers of color because the unemployment rate for them is typically higher than it is for the overall workforce. host: looking at your headline from last august, chipotle, the first two organize. is this more in indication of the growing strength of labor unions or the continued strength of the marketing rights of workers across the economy? guest: i think two things are happening here. for very long time, union membership in the united states has been declining. we are at about 10% of workers

right now of workers part of the union which was 30% in the 1950's. it is also matched with a popular opinion poll that says more americans support labor unions. bennett any point since 1965. there is there a resurgent interest in unions. starbucks unionized, rei, apple stores, amazon so there is a shift in the interest among people in labor unions that hasn't happened in a long time and i think that's being propped up by a very tight labor market. there is to open jobs right now for every worker.

when that happens, workers have more leverage to negotiate individually but also collectively as a union so more workers are forming unions. 66 percent and up to the number of workforce is filing for union elections this year as opposed to last year. host: also the figure from the labor statistics, the numbers in our dropping off of it. what should we read into that? guest: i think they are still elevated and maybe in some sense the fed raising interest rates is having an effect. people are staying with their jobs because they are up rating from the recession. they read headlines and are less

likely to say we are still in a place where i could find another job easily if i were laid off so people are more hesitant now because of the headlines and slightly fewer jobs that were being created, the soft landing that the fed has tried to design is happening in some way where workers are maybe a little less bold and they were a few months ago. host: has the administration emboldened union movements across the country? guest: biden promised to unions the most of any president in the united states but i don't know if that had an enormous impact on the resurgence for interest in labor unions we are seeing.

labor law is still very weak in the u.s. and the law affects workers with the right to organize free from retaliation. it's very weak and i think joe biden has indicated that we have seen not too much significant change of what it's like for workers in this country to form a union. host: we have the labor writer from the washington post comments on this labor day stop we are talking about the state of the american worker and the state of the labor movement in the united states. let's go to phoenix and eric

union line. this is nicholas. caller: good morning. you host: are on the air. caller: can i have the name of the guest i'm speaking to. host: it's lauren kaori gurley. caller: may i call you lauren? [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] host: you can call me lauren. caller: good morning, how are you? i appreciate your focus on labor and unions. it sounds like you were raised right. i work for the v.a.. i haven't seen a patient since

june 15. i was on temporary leave because of health concerns. with covid. they weren't supposed to be released on the races and it's been two months. i called the office of government retirement benefits. that is a joke. i would love for you to enjoy the joke as well. 88-767-3768. if you are attempting to obtain benefits come up please press one. if you are a current employee, press two, if you're having trouble with the logged in, we cannot help you go to the website. due to the volume of calls, if

you're calling your own government benefits, there is no one to help you. click. there is no leave your number, this is how are government works. same thing with the labor department. everyone is taking the menu, an algorithm that sends you nowhere. it's just a circle. host: to be clear, the first phone call is to the office of personnel management? caller: yeah, the government retirement benefits section. guest: i'm sorry that happened to you. i imagine this happens to a lot of people. i've received emails to this effect. do you have a question you want to ask? host: unfortunately, he is off the line. caller: thank you. host: we will go to david north

port new york on our union line. caller: good morning, i am in the trade union in construction. i believe the percentage of union membership is down to 7% nationally. caller: 10%. guest: when i came minute it was 13%. caller: my primary issue now is with the democratic party. there is a lot of problems for unions right now but one of them is the flood of cheap labor coming over the border. it's a major problem. i am a shop steward and i deal with 19 contractors all the time.

they have a limitless labor pool to underbid union contractors. it's 100% class warfare. i look at the democratic party and i don't understand what they have done for organize labor. even going back to clinton, you had john podesta with emails with corporate alliances. i don't see anyone helping organize labor. the only person i ever heard was donald trump. he said he will bring jobs back from china and close the borders to protect people like me. then i have to listen to president biden with his speeches in all this nonsense. host: we will get a response from our guest. guest: i would say that

immigration right now is been historically down because of the trump administration's policy and closing borders during covid. it's true about lotto big players in this country. they will often go to cheaper contractors as far as construction or temp services that tend to hire pete -- hire people for less. i think president biden is made some strides in travailing wage genders where employers have to pay certain amount. hiring low-paid workers might be people who just came into this

country but i would also say that overall, a lot of people are concerned about union jobs going overseas to other countries where labor is cheaper. particularly manufacturing jobs. there are many jobs in the united states i would say that are not union, unions are fighting to improve benefits and conditions in these industries stop benefits and wages could be as good as manufacturing. that is an area where we could see more improvements i totally agree with what you said.

it is hard for a lot of union waiters -- workers. it's hard to get them to bid on the largest pay raise. host: the labor department says that's 241,000 than 2020 and 58% of nonunion workers say they are not interested at all in joining. is there any why behind that question? guest: that a great question. colored workers are the least

likely to join a union. i can't say why that happens. workers who are -- were on the higher end of the pay section think that maybe they wouldn't benefit from a union. there are a lot of white-collar workers unionizing right now across the tech industry, across nonprofits and various other office for additional workplaces. that could be coming from there. while there is surging interest in unions among young people, baby boomers and older workers tend to be more mistrustful of unions because of their history. for all the support there is for

unions in the united states now, there is obviously a bunch of people who feel the unions are not serving another interest but only their interests or it hasn't worked out for them in the past. there is a large assortment of reasons why it makes people hesitant to join unions particularly on the higher wage and. -- end. host: caller: i am upset the way they are doing to trump. they are working him over. if they don't get after joe biden for spending all this monday. host: we are focusing on labor day in the labor movement in the

u.s. but thanks for your call. in maryland, jimmy on the democrat line. caller:caller: at the beginning of the program, you started with who is the more worker friendly. people are forgetting that the republican who always against social security and medicare. they were always against unions and minimum-wage increases. when they get into power, they have tax breaks for the rich and they are for less regulations if you think why a working-class people voting again their own interests. right wing radio is 24 7, 365. they're always using this propaganda to say that unions

are bad and the government is spending and they don't mention social security and medicare but they say government spending which is code. the democrats are for the unions and social security and for worker safety regulations. they give tax breaks to the lower classes. guest: we've seen union

membership in this country dropped from one third of workers to one in 10 workers over the past 70 years. a lot of that the client has taken place since the 1980's when there became more sophisticated strategies by management around despite union drives, more aggressive legislation to got the unions. a lot of that has been overseen by democratic administrations as well. there is a lot of concern among working people about the democratic party not being strong enough to prop up unions and joe biden is one of the first to sort of place unions

prominently. there are still questions whether he has really done anything materially legislatively to significantly improve or make it easier for workers in the united states to join unions. host: inflation is an economic issue but it becomes a political issue in an election year. is there any evidence that the rise in inflation is encouraging a broader interest in union membership? guest: and speaking to workers

like union members at chipotle and traders -- and trader joe's and starbucks and amazon, i hear the inflation question all of the time is one of the main reasons why people are struggling right now. we've seen historic gains over the past year. it's being wiped out by inflation. people are taking on a second or third job i was talking to someone who said people at a trader joe's that unionized in minneapolis, people are donating blood plasma to make extra money. they are doing all sorts of things because of inflation.

the combination of super tight labor market where there are lots of jobs or you need to switch jobs combined with inflation where people are struggling to make ends meet, that is a very ripe environment for union activity. host: you've talked to new union members. there is a piece on sunday morning a few weeks ago that was titled there is advocating for unions. what are the union membership expectations for the younger people? guest: i think it's different in some ways than we've seen in previous decades. many workers are forming independent unions at these

shops like amazon. they are not affiliated with any established union like the teamsters. they do their own thing. that is a bit different and i don't know how that will play out. they are looking to negotiate contracts but i don't know if they will remain unaffiliated or not trader joe's and amazon workers have gone independent so they are committed to staying that way. the concerns that they have are pretty much the concerns that people have had joining a union. people are concerned about wages and benefits and they are interested in having a voice in

how their working conditions are set and negotiated. they want to place at the bargaining table. the other huge thing is people have a lot of health and safety concerns because a lot of them work throughout covid on the front lines. they saw people die or get sick. i think that is a huge issue that will play out in these battles these workers have with management at these companies. host: let's get back to the calls, our union line, go ahead. caller: how are you today? as far as i'm concerned, what killed the labor movement in this country's citizens united. it gives the power to put tons of money into union influence.

they don't have to hold their membership. they can just put the money in where a union takes the conservation of its union members to fight for the union. if you want to start a union, there are laws that protect union people and most people get fired from some of the meetings. i'm 84 years old in born and bred and i believe in unions, pe riod. host: what was your union? caller: i belong to the west or fire department union and i'm the central mass vice president of the afl-cio i love this false information that's put out there. i can see why these companies

like fox news or any company has to put false information out there. they should have a retort of the other side stop host: thank you for calling. guest: thank you so much for calling. i would note that yes, the companies having more sophisticated antiunion campaigns is playing out now. over the past year, we saw amazon fire a number of very active leaders of unionization campaigns including the first president of the first amazon union which was voted in, the first warehouse to vote a union in in april in staten island. the company also help hundreds of antiunion meetings with lee's

in the lead up to the election they sent them text messages and posted signage urging workers to vote no to the union election. in the case of starbucks, the starbucks management has fired more than 75 union leaders over the past nine months. i definitely -- starbucks is also waged a campaign where they denied raises and benefits to union workers that they are giving to nonunion workers. you are right that things are very much back to the workers and the fight to unionize and employers will have more sophisticated tactics to derail

unionization campaigns. some of these tactics are very old. host: in the case of amazon where the warehouse voted to organize, any indication the interest in organizing and establishing unions is growing among amazon warehouses and locations nationwide? guest: a couple of weeks ago, second amazon warehouse file to unionize in albany. they filed the human -- to unionize with amazon labor which is an independent labor union. a big piece of news that came out last week on thursday night

was that amazon had challenged the results of that election in staten island and said they should be thrown out. the national labor relations board said that the amazon objection does not stand up and they are proceeding and they recommend the union in staten island be certified which is the first time that an amazon union would be certified. host: next is silver spring, maryland, democrats line. caller: thank. happy labor day. thank you for taking my call. my mother was a federal employee . i look at a union like the constitution, it's a piece of paper about we the people. a union is also about we the people and how involved we get

stuck i did not have a great experience. i have brain damage and lung damage from worker's comp. injuries. the present of the local union at my gum recalls would do nothing to help me and would not let us stop -- a shop steward help me. i did not get benefits but that's not normal. the faculty union seiu is wonderful. she is more for the administration. it's again a matter of employees and members of the union sticking up and standing up stuck once you get sick, you can't. i thank you for the work you do and i definitely believe in unions and anybody who's been in a position where there is a union, joining it, pay your dues. like in maryland, people are getting benefits and if you are

friends with the president, she will bend over backwards to help them. host: we will let it go there. guest: thanks for calling. i'm sorry to hear that happened to you. i think a lot of the reason why workers, we are seeing workers more interested in forming independent unions were like at starbucks where the workers are doing the organizing and not as much professional union organizers, a lot of that is because people are hesitant of establishing a union because of what you may be hinting at which is unions that are pro-business and are with management and willing to side with management and often have concerns among workers who want more of a voice on the job and want a union are

still looking for ways to ensure that their concerns and workplace conditions that they want changed are being considered by the union and not something that maybe an elected official, union official has agreed to as management. host: this is from twitter guest: that's a good question. i don't know too much about that campaign. there is a lot of interest. there is a section of union supporter videos on youtube as

well. i think there is growing interest among the youngest set of workers in this country, people who are in their early 20's and unit -- and unionizing. we are seeing record support for labor unions right now. most of that support is coming from young people who are very much active on social media so i would not be surprised if there was some sort of tiktok or youtube union or in influencers union step i believe there are influencers who were tied to a hollywood union. that's a space where we could see more activism. host: i want to ask about your piece published today in the

washington post. what had you in trusted in minnesota and why is it a hotspot for workers? guest: minnesota currently has unemployment rate of 1.8% which is the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded by any state since the bureau of labor statistics began. it's kind of wild and what we are seeing is the hot labor market dynamic that has come to play in the covid recovery economy has just been very heightened in the state of minnesota, harshly because the state has a diversified economy and high purchase of patient and

a strong education system and a lot of immigrants from east africa. we were interested to go there and see how that was buying out on the ground stop they have a ton of leverage there. no one is making less than double the minimum wage. on the flipside, they are struggling to hire. they're trying to attract workers like us again people from other states and offering huge sign-on bonuses. this is a microcosm of what's going on around the country, the most extreme example and that's why we broke that piece. host: the article is on washington post.com. columbia, maryland is next up on the republican line. caller: yes, thank you for

having me. i have a question here. do you think that using -- unionizing companies won't just speed up automation? guest: that's a great question. in many cases, unionizing companies, there is automation occurring. it isn't necessarily displacing workers. it's making their jobs easier and making the work flow smoother and increasing productivity as a company overall.if the workforce is unionized more, the workers are benefiting hopefully from those gains. i guess there is always a fear that automation will displace workers but i think we haven't really seen that playing out in

the sense that people are actually losing their jobs due to automated versions of their jobs coming into play. host: you cover labor issues for "the washington post." thank you for being with us on this labor day. guest: thank you so much. host: on this labor day, the president is leaving shortly from washington to go to two spots. there is a live look at air force one at joint base andrews. first stop is milwaukee, wisconsin and then he will stop in pittsburgh and west mifflin, pennsylvania for remarks on this labor day. we will cover that event at 5:30 p.m. eastern and you can watch that live here on c-span and watch it on our free mobile app, c-span now and at www.c-span.org . that will do it for this morning's "washington journal."

we are back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow morning and have a wonderful labor day. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> c-span's or unfiltered fee of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> comcast support c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to

democracy. >> today, president biden campaigns for the nominees in the 2022 races for senate and governor at a labor day event at a union steelworkers hall in pennsylvania. live coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. host: labor 1894, 140 years ago today, the first known labor day parade made its way down broadway in manhattan. in the face of rising economic inequities between workers and employers, 140 years later parade step off this morning. the characters and causes have ch