we are facing our greatest challenge. that is why sparklight is working round-the-clock to keep you connected. we are working hard so it is easier to do your job. >> sparklight supports c-span as a public service, giving you a front row seat to democracy. coming up this morning on washington journal, with weeks to go before the midterm election, we will sit down with newsmax white house correspondent john gizzi. then democratic strategists joe fuld and martin diego garcia on their podcast how to win a campaign. you can join the discussion with your calls, texts and tweets. ♪ host: good news this week for american seniors and retirees.

their monthly social security check will see a 9% cost-of-living raise beginning in january 2023. they will need that raise and more, as inflation is already at a 40 year high and shows little sign of abating. all that happening as america's baby boomer generation is retiring in record numbers. it is washington journal. this is saturday, october 15, 2022. welcome to the program. the first hour of which for seniors only. do you feel financially secure? if your answer is yes, (202) 748-8000. if it is no, (202) 748-8001. you can send us a text, (202) 748-8003. tell us your name and where you are texting from. we are on facebook and on twitter and instagram, @cspanwj.

are you financially secure and what makes you feel that way? we will hear from a number of members of congress, potential members, in some debates this past week on the issue of social security. we will hear from the president momentarily as well. on the cost-of-living increase announced on social security payments, this is the headline from the hill. social security administration 8.7% hike, largest in 40 years. in that, the majority of americans, the 25% of americans, they write, the majority of those retirees receive social security benefits, although not the same ol benefits. the 8.7% cost-of-living increase will be the largest ever received by the most beneficiaries alive today.

it has only happened two other times. the last increases of this amount 8.7% between 1979 and 1981. that information from the hill in their article. the flipside of that reported here in the personal-finance section of usa today, seniors are the only age group with more poverty. they write, seniors are not all right. seniors aged 65 and older fell into poverty last year, boosting the percentage in poverty to 10 point 3% from 8.9% in 2020, the highest level since 2002 according to the latest census bureau data. that is in contrast to the 4.5% drop in child poverty to a record low, 5.2%. more telling, older adults are the only age segment that experienced an increase.

almost 6 million older adults live below the poverty level. it is only likely to get worse because the data is from 2121 before inflation -- from 2021 before inflation skyrocketed this year. it's our question for you, are you financially secure? if you feel that way, (202) 748-8000. the line if you say no, not feeling financially secure, (202) 748-8001. this is the new york times this morning. biden tries to reassure voters on health care costs. michael scheer covering the president, saying the president friday trying to reassure americans stunned by high inflation that his administration was working to keep health-care costs down, promising a community college

audience in southern california that he was committed to doing more, but his remarks in irvine, california, the first of two speeches devoted to health care costs, come just days after data reveal overall inflation remains high as voters prepare to go to the polls for midterm elections next month. surveys show americans are deeply frustrated by the impact of sharply higher prices. they are expected to rebuke the president and his party in the elections, which analysts predict the democrats will lose control of one or both chambers of congress.'s it's on -- the president addressed the inflation reduction act. [video clip] >> medicare will finally get the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. seniors will see their

out-of-pocket costs be limited as this comes into full force to $2000 a year. no senior will have to pay more than $2000 for all their prescriptions, whether it is cancer drugs or anything else. thousands of americans on medicare pay more than $14,000 a year for blood cancer drugs, more than $10,000 a year for ovarian cancer drugs, more than $9,000 a year for breast cancer drugs. many people on medicare skip those drugs they need because they cannot afford them. it is a simple proposition. they cannot afford them. now, the maximum they will have to pay for all their prescription drugs, no matter the cost, is $2000 a year, period. it's it will be a godsend -- it will be a godsend. host: factoring all that in, are

you feeling financially secure? seniors only. we will go to dorothy in western, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. i feel financially secure but only because of social security. and i would like to point out that republicans are proposing to sunset it after five years, and i think that's very dangerous, because it would just put everyone, the senior population, into total instability. i also receive medicaid and a housing voucher so these things are important to me. i have two master's degree and went through 10 years of underemployment and unemployment because the way the job market was, so i've been through a lot, and now i need these programs. i really appreciate them. i don't get that much, but it's

enough for me to pay my bills, so i'm appreciative of social security. host: we will hear from jack, also feeling financially secure, in jacksonville, florida. go ahead. caller: yeah. where i live, i am very comfortable. i live in a senior citizen community in tallahassee and i'm thankful for what i have. i have a younger daughter that said she would help me whenever i needed help. i am in fairly good health, so i'm doing very well. i still drive an automobile and i'm just thankful that i can do what i can do, so, yes, i'm actually better off than i used to be even though i am having to

go into my savings now. host: jack, are you going into your savings because of the increasing costs we are experiencing? caller: where i live cost me four times more than where i used to live but i have three meals a day and i socialize as much as i can. i am better off, more at ease -- anyway, i'm thankful that i can do what i can do. i will be 85 at the end of this month, and -- host: happy birthday in advance, jack. caller: thank you's. i have been a c-span junkie for a number of years. host: bread is next in

washington. -- cross the border and we are

giving them social security now? do you know about that? host: let's hear from phil in orange park, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. i feel financially secure. but i will say is that people who are saying they are not, they blame it on federal government spending. why not help everybody? if you can afford to help people, you have to. stop relying on lies to get your point across. citizens need help, people that don't qualify for social security need help, but you still need to put money away for a rainy day. so can i handle this inflation now? yes. will i be able to handle it in

the next 10 years? who knows? the prices go up, the money you retire with stays the same. you can spend it gracefully without hurting yourself. host: let me ask about your comment, this put away money for a rainy day, how important was that for you? how many years did it take for you to put it away? caller: i have been saving since i was 18 years old. something. i was told, one day, you save a dollar a day, it will add up. host: to phil's point about expanding benefits in terms of the cost-of-living benefit that seniors will see, certainly social security recipients will see, this is an opinion piece in the new york times from peter coy from peter coy.. the headline is give everyone a cost-of-living adjustment. he writes, inflation too hot for you?

how about a refreshing cola? this time, not just for social security recipients. we have to expect only some people will be protected from inflation by cost-of-living adjustments, but there is a case to be made that cola should be universal, covering all wages, pensions and bonds. you can read more of his opinion on that in the new york times online at nytimes.com. a caller mentioned social security and allegations of plans by republicans to end social security. the president tweeted about this. this is president biden's tweet that says senator johnson wants social security and medicare on the chopping block every year. he is the same guy that said, they've republicans get control of congress, they will try to get rid of the aca again, denying insurance to with pre-existing conditions. these guys never stop.

the fact checker in the washington post, this is his column, and this is the pc road at the end of september on that. "the false claim that republicans plan to end social security and medicare." we will scroll down in the piece to what kessler found. he writes, the main source of this accusation is a document issued by senator rick scott of florida, chair of the republican national senatorial committee, which helped elect republicans to the senate in february. scott released a plan to rescue america. buried on page 38 in a section on government restructuring was one sentence, all federal legislation sunsets in five years. the laws we are keeping, congress can pass again. that is inside the beltway lingo.

the definition, the sunset concept provides for programs and agencies determining automatically on a periodic basis. even programs such as social security or medicare would have to prove their worth again every five years though neither was specifically mentioned. the plan was almost immediately rejected by most senate republicans. minority leader mitch mcconnell was especially harsh. do you feel financially secure? our lines for seniors only. (202) 748-8000 if you say yes, (202) 748-8001 if no. in fayetteville, pennsylvania, this is bob. caller: i have not felt financially secure since the day after the last presidential election when they announced joe biden had somehow won overnight.

i am a registered democrat and i voted for donald trump twice and after each time i thought we were secure until the day after the last election. i would like to tell all of my democratic friends that you keep watching cnn and msnbc, you are going to feel less secure every day. they are nothing but a bunch of fibbers. the republicans don't want to get rid of social security or any of that stuff. when donald trump first won, all my friends told me i was going to lose my affordable care act insurance and that never happened, so, you know, there's a lot of falsehoods out there and i don't think the mainstream

news media has said anything true since -- host: what do you think republicans will do, can do, if they gain the majority in the house in terms of the economy? you don't think they will end the aca but what steps do you think they should push for? caller: put it back the way donald trump had it. everything joe biden did since the first day he was in office screwed things up royally. they should put things back the way trump had it. things would go back to the land of milk and honey. everything got whacked out of shape since joe started doing things with this pipeline and that pipeline and messing up what donald trump had in place, inviting all the illegal

aliens from central and south america to come here and get a free cell phone. host: ronald is in troy, north carolina, saying no. ronald, mute your volume, then go ahead with your comments. caller: ok. host: just mute your television and go ahead. caller: my comment is i don't feel secure about the way the country is being run. it started with hillary clinton, when she called people deplorable's. the whole bunch is crooked. if she can get by with the

dossier, hillary, and a sitting president tearing up letters of a speech like a child. they all need to be impeached. that is my opinion. the country would be better off. thank you. host: this is from the wall street journal on that increase in the cost of living and inflation. this is the headline. americans spend less on gas, more on food as inflation varies across items. consumers retail spending shifted in september. they adjusted to changing costs amid strong inflation and rising interest rates, spending more on essentials like food and less on items with falling prices, such as gasoline and furniture. congressman kevin brady is the ranking republican on the ways and means committee in the house. he was on fox news -- foxbusiness, i should say, a

couple nights ago, and talked about the effects of inflation. [video clip] >> that is terrible news for workers, families, certainly for seniors. here we are, nearly a year after president biden promised that inflation had peaked, and we have core inflation at the highest on record during his presidency. it is clearly housing costs crushing, both rent and housing and mortgage rates. health care saw a nearly 30% increase in one year. that's the highest level on record. that is crushing for seniors and working families. obviously food and all that. but it is clear -- what's in the pipeline? we have a weight-price spiral. no country wants to be in that because ultimately it drives inflation hi and ends up in recession. we also have a worker shortage driving inflation in a big way.

at --

caller: myself and my wife is, once we got out of high school and went to college -- my wife is a retired teacher. i got a degree in education. i am in my 70's. when i got out of college, they had a conflict in vietnam. i joined the navy. when i got out, it seems that employers liked the people with college degrees, especially with a military background, and we worked, save their money, and here we are today in good shape. it has nothing to do with politics. a lot of these people have taken that platform on your program, but it is a matter of doing it.

there are resources out there for us. i do want to say that part of our retirement is social security. my wife gets social security, i get social security, and i am concerned that how they end up fixing the shortfall problem they are looking at in 2034 or so is a concern of mine, because they can do it in several different ways. i really like the fact that, if they keep it the way it is, increase the cap on who gets taxed. host: have you had to tap into more savings because of the inflation we are experiencing? caller: no. we had our income set up -- we retired and had some money in a couple accounts, a mutual fund,

tax-deferred municipal bonds, and we spend that up until the time we started getting social security, and the social security plus the pensions -- that's another thing. when i have the pensions we used to have in the united states. the pensions helped pay for every thing else. i have never had to tap into accounts much after that. host: ok. finish up. sorry to interrupt. caller: with the medicare on top of that, and the supplement, you have an issue, you go to the hospital, they send you a bill and it says zero. that is all part of the wealth that we have. host: appreciate that. let's go to linda in new haven, missouri. welcome. caller: good morning.

the gentleman echoes how i feel. me and my husband are in our 70's. he's a retired union carpenter. we live in missouri, where the cost of living is reasonable. we own everything we have. all we have is food, electric, and that set -- and that is it. we live comfortably from his pension, social security. we exercise personal responsibility. that is something people just do not seem to practice, you know. your question was are you financially secure and everybody wants to turn this into a

political situation. you have your own personal responsibility. we started planning for our retirement when we were in our 30's and 40's and when my husband retired and i retired at 48 we had everything paid off and, you know, we had our money in the bank's, and you live within your means -- the bank, and you live within your means. host: do you think you and your husband, among your peers and friends, are in an unusual situation? are they not as financially secure as you are? caller: actually, no. everybody we know is very well-off. you know, they are business owners, retired business owners. i was a retired business owner. i sold my business when i was 49 years old and retired, and no.

absolutely no one in our situation. they have nice homes, cars, everything is paid for, money in the bank, and when things change with this inflation, then you start making adjustments in your style of living. we never have lived beyond her means. we do not -- we eat at home. i cook meals that are very nourishing. we are both in our early 70's. neither one of us have a single health issue. we have great health insurance through my husband's pension from the union carpenters. it is exercising personal responsibility. if things change, don't go on a vacation that year. host: we will hear from jay,

not feeling so financially secure. excuse me, george is in jay, new york. go ahead. caller: after listening to the last caller, i have to say, i will make it. i don't feel like i'm going to die tomorrow. it is not that desperate, but here is why i called on the no line. because two years ago, i did an assessment. i am in my late 70's. and they all said i was financially secure and i felt i was. today, things are different. let me give you one example. two years ago, it cost me $1600 for the year for fuel oil. this year, it will cost $4000. that is not sustainable. i don't know how much longer

this is going to go on, but, for that reason, i called on the no line. again, to put it in perspective, i have a home. i do keep it tolerable in the winter, but, you know, we are not in as good shape as we were. i have had to cut my food budget back. i only spend $150 a month on food now. i have to go to church -- i have had to quit going to church every day because it's a 20 mile drive and i cannot afford the gas. those are things that, as the woman just said, we change our lifestyle, change the things we do. we adapt, but i have got to say that some of these things i've done to adapt are -- they have

cut into my lifestyle, and it was not lavish before, so i think we need to, as a country and as a government -- it is not about politics, i agree with her, but we do need to get a handle on things and get this inflation down and stop spending so much. host: let's hear from john in california, also on the no line. caller: good morning. i would like to say that i am financially secure. i like the lady that called in and i've had a good job and i worked on my life but i'm on the no line now because what i have worked for is starting to dissipate. i blame president biden for his policies. interest rates are 7%.

my 401(k)s down 30%. and food prices have gone up 20%. it is not like i cannot afford it, but i look around me. it's icy people at the supermarket putting stuff back -- i see people at the supermarket putting stuff back. it bothers me that it doesn't have to be this way. if we had responsible political spending, a responsible person in the white house, they would not have to be this way. there could be low gas prices, plenty of food on the shelves. it could be all of the good stuff but we have a guy in the office who spends too much. he is politically motivated. every decision he makes, like releasing the strategic reserves we bought for $20 a

barrel, he's making so many wrong financial decisions that, even though i'm in good shape, i see my wealth going down 10% or 20%, and the worst thing about it, worse yet,'s we are headed for a recession. biden has put us into -- i am 74, beau biden is -- but biden is heading this country into a severe recession. i look around me and i see people that are really struggling and i don't know what to do about it because i'm starting to get hit myself. so i say no and, boy, am i going to vote republican in the midterms because we have to get some business people in and not politicians that think they will save the world by punishing everybody with high prices and we are going to keep you indoors and control you. host: we have been talking about

financial security for seniors. our lines are (202) 748-8000 if you feel financially secure. if you don't, that's (202) 748-8001. we have discussed the cost-of-living adjustment for social security recipients starting in early 2023 at 8.7%. we talked about inflation. callers have mentioned that many times. a little bit more on medicare. this is a headline from the washington post in a piece they did earlier this week, how medicare will impact social security benefits. in this, they write about the biden administration -- starting next year, your medicare part b premiums, they write, will decrease to course correct for raising prices too high amid uncertainty about the

controversy surrounding a new alzheimer's treatment. biden has touted it as a chance for seniors to get ahead of inflation. the monthly report on inflation came out this past week and it was not good news. on social security and medicare, the funding of those programs, the social security says the trust fund's projected reserve depletion date is 2035 and medicare part a will be able to pay scheduled benefits until 2028. caller: good morning to you. regarding social security, i'm happy for people that are couples and boast -- and

both husband and wife are getting their social security. i lost my husband in 1982 and i'm almost 85. when i applied for social security, they said i could only get mine or my husband's. mine was a little bit more than his. i was only eligible for mine. now, i want to know what happened to my husband's social security? he worked until his death, and i never got anything from his, so, to me, that is not fair. where is his going? also, about the prescriptions, can you tell us when it's going to get into effect? i have not heard anything about that. also, we are going to get a raise in social security, but everything has gone up, groceries, rent, gas,

everything, so we are going to pay on things that have gone up. i have five daughters i had to raise and i don't think that was fair about social security. like i said, you can look up when the prescriptions are going to go into effect. and i hope -- i wish everybody that is getting there husband's and their own -- the wife -- they are very blessed but i was not because i was not able to get my husband's at all. host: keith on the yes line feeling financially secure. go ahead. caller: i'm probably the most secure i have been in the last 20 years.

i was hit -- i am african-american and hispanic, so i was hit very hard by the great recession under the great george bush. the minority communities, of course, were hit hardest by that, and it took a decade to recover thanks to the obama administration. for the first time in 20 years, i am no longer doing contract work as i hit the age of 50 mark. i could not find full-time, permanent employment. i did work as a contractor without benefits due to ageism, but for the first time last year, i had three content --

three competitive job offers simultaneously, all six figures. and i am 60. the last time inflation was this high, a 40 year high, would be around 1981, the reagan administration, 13.5%. we need to apply the same standards. and reagan did not come out of a once in a century global pandemic that caused supply chain disruptions globally and global inflation. america is faring pretty good compared to other developed nations around the world in terms of our inflation rate, so i ask that you contextualize sometimes.

it is great to hear from everyone. but i do think -- and this is constructive, not a harsh criticism. you do an excellent job. there are objective troops -- objective truths that i think you have more responsibility to shed more light than heat. there's never any talk about the great recession. it was, for many americans like myself, educated, urban to suburban, that was a devastation. i had to start from scratch at 50. that was hard. host: thank you for providing some of that perspective. appreciate your call.

back to the comments earlier about the allegations that senator ron johnson -- ron johnson and republicans want to end social security. it came up in a debate between johnson and his challenger, mandela barnes, thursday. he was asked about social security and the effects of inflation. [video clip] >> inflation also hits seniors and they are learning they will get a 9% cost-of-living increase. there are nearly 1.3 million people in wisconsin on social security, one in five wisconsinites. the average person receives about $19,000 a year. president biden called you out specifically on social security, saying you want to put it on the chopping block every year. you also said yearly evaluations can fix programs that are broken. what specific options do you support to fix social security?

>> i want to save social security. i want to save medicare. the greatest threat to any government program is the massive out-of-control deficit spending and our growing debt. if we return to the strength we experienced over the last three decades and century, 5.4%, that would add $1.2 trillion per year to interest expense, which would have to be paid without us defaulting. social security recipients will get an 8.7% raise, but that only keeps them equal with what they lost because of biden's inflation. $100,000 nest egg is now only worth $88,000. that is the federal government through inflation, basically taking $12,000 out of that senior's account. the solution is reducing deficit spending, ending our war on fossil fuels.

>> let me follow up on that quickly. nothing on payroll tax, nothing on changing or raising the retirement age? >> the first thing is to stop inflation. you have to do that first and grow our economy. the solution to these problems is growing our economy. hunter biden, we had two qute of negative growth because they don't have a clue how to run an economy. >> that is incumbent senator ron johnson in that debate. lieutenant governor, his challenger, asked how he would preserve social security if he were elected. [video clip] >> you have suggested the very wealthy should. a their fair share to keep social security solvent. define the very wealthy, who would be paying more, and would you support lowering benefits for higher earners or raising the retirement age for the

younger generation? >> when i think about social security, i think about my grandparents and others who worked hard their entire lives, who paid into the system, who deserve to see the benefit they have justly earned. when senator johnson talks about making social security discretionary, that means he is coming for your retirement. if i make the argument about inflation and how costs are increasing but not support them in a wage. it is also a shame that instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, you would rather give them a tax deduction. that is how we strengthen social security, making sure the wealthy pay into this vital program. under my plan, a person making under $400,000 would not see an increase in taxes. senator johnson will again continue to complain about the deficit, but had no problem adding $2 trillion to the deficit to appease his donors and himself. host: that debate from thursday

night. all our campaign coverage available at c-span.org. for seniors only, are you financially secure? if you say yes, the line is (202) 748-8000. if the answer is no, it is (202) 748-8001. in north carolina, it is david on the no line. good morning. caller: good morning to you. thank you for taking my call. i called in on the no line. it is a bit of a qualified no. i'm not financially secure because i live hand to mouth, and if my health degrades, there is -- i don't have any assets or

investments, anything like that. if my health degrades, then my income will not cover what i expect to be extra expenses, but, at the same time, i have always lived modestly. i at times have lived below the poverty level. i am barely over the poverty line now, but i have lived modestly my entire life. you know, not many luxuries. i have had cars. i drive them until they wear out. i don't travel. you know, that sort of thing. so currently, i am doing well with what i'm making, and i would say that right now i am

financially secure, but that could change next week. host: how old are you and are you continuing -- are you working full-time? caller: no, sir. i am 70 and i was forced by disability to retire at the age of 56. host: and you rely on social security, disability benefits to help out? caller: well, no, sir. what that meant was that i started drawing my social security benefit at age 56. they call it disability, but once you reach a certain age, they just say it is a normal payment. host: right. will you be affected -- will you too see this 9% increase to your

payment in january? caller: yes, i will, and that's already spent. i've got a bill that will begin coming due in june -- i mean, in january, and i will not get ahead because of it, but if i chose to live more luxuriously, you know, it might help a little bit. host: we will go to doc in new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i am financially secure. this as my grandkids would say, i am 71.5. i was a research scientist and became a physician, but americans in the world of the 1980's, when neoliberal economic

policies were implemented, have become increasingly, every year, impoverished since the 1980's. real average incomes stagnated and real median incomes have declined, and the gap between median and average income has increased, and that's the financial security -- financial insecurity we are seeing. the reason for this is the monopolization of the american prosperity, that worldwide has increased, but it's become monopolized and created this ultrarich effectively royalty. what we need is a cap on wealth, a caps on income, and have an egalitarian tax system where there are -- where below a certain income, you don't pay

any tax, and above a certain income, you pay tax. people would see income subsidies and the government provides projects that would improve the quality of everyone's life in terms of both physical and social infrastructure. moreover, an egalitarian tax would remove the need for social security or unemployment or any of these regressive taxes, which destroy people's wealth. host: on the issue of taxes, the wall street journal writes with this headline, social security cost-of-living adjustment to raise taxes for some americans. they write the threshold for taxes on social security are not adjusted for inflation. they write social security benefits will rise 8.7% in 2023 to help retirees keep pace with inflation. that is good news for most

retirees but some will find the bigger checks come with a bigger tax bill. americans owe tax on a portion of their social security benefits if they earn more than $25,000 as individuals or $32,000 as couples. the irs counts half of taxpayer benefits as part of their income. these thresholds have never been adjusted for inflation since the tax was introduced in 1984 as a way to shore up the program's finances. as the cost-of-living adjustment raises monthly checks for retired workers, more taxpayers become subject to tax on part of their benefits. next is marie, who is not feeling financially secure. good morning, marie, in queensbury, new york. caller: now, we do not feel secure. my husband is 10 years older than i, so he's 67, and he is getting social security and he

is getting social security. he does have a pension. i have been caring for him because he has held issues that he has health issues. we were high school graduates and got jobs in the 1980's. we didn't need to go to college. our dream was to have a family and send our children to college, which we did. however, we are just regular, everyday people. my husband has never been to disney world because we had a lot of kids and were raising them so they could go to college and have a good life for themselves. we didn't go to disneyland. we didn't smoke cigarettes or drink or -- seriously, we had the most boring life. here we are. we purchased a home at a lower interest rate because, at the

time, it was a 2% interest rate, and it was a great thing. he's a vet. to be perfectly honest, it is affecting us, because we have his income. he has health issues so i am helping him right now. and when i go to the supermarket, when i go to get gas, everything is hitting us, but what really struck me, and they keep bringing up medicare and all these deals going on, but in new york state, we were told by a doctor that my husband is on an expensive medication that he needs, he has to take, and the government is trying to lower the cost, but they are also trying to final other medications, and they are trying to opt to get people to go on to a different medication that is less beneficial to their quality of life. that is not being mentioned by politicians and that's not being mentioned by anyone. and i don't care whose fault

that is, whether it is a democrat or a republican. i personally felt that i was able to breathe for the first time under donald trump. i did not like donald trump, i cannot stand him. i did like what he did with new york city when he was there as i was growing up and what he did with the ice skating rink. he helped bring new york city back from the 1970's. i grew up there. but i have to say that what's going on now is affecting people who were living the american dream but were not quite there yet. we were not privileged, we were not extra ahead of things. we had to fight for everything. my father came from the caribbean so i was a first-generation. the fact that i have all my children with master's and one of them with a doctor was my success in life. we are struggling and for

whatever reason i was able to breathe under donald trump. host: to kevin and rock hall, maryland, feeling financially secure. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i love your show and the feedback we get. i have to say we are financially secure. we started saving in our 20's at 10% a year. there were years we could barely do that, but we did manage to put that aside. we paid for our home for many years in florida, but found we could not stay there due to the high taxes and high property taxes and the high insurance costs. so we left there and downsized and moved to rock hall, a farming town, so our food seems to be lower than what the rest of the country is paying, and

a higher quality of life for us. we live within our means. the costs we watch much closer, where we spend our money, but i feel comfortable. i have to point out to the people saying the biden administration is killing us with inflation, there is more than 120 countries in where shape financially -- in worse shape financially with higher inflation, and only about 20 countries that are less than us on inflation, and most of those are price controlled communist countries where they are not allowed to have what we would call inflation. how they have managed it and their deficit spending, i cannot really comment on. i don't really know. but as far as the rest of the world is concerned, we are doing pretty good, and i'm happy with

everything the biden administration has achieved. i keep hearing that the former guy achieved so many things but i have not been able to find what they are. host: kevin mentioned having a home in florida and selling it because he couldn't keep up with the insurance costs. the new york times writing about that in an extensive piece after hurricane ian. the headline, why ian may push florida real estate out of reach for all but the superrich. the hurricane's costs will make it harder for many to get insurance, threatening home sales, mortgages and construction. an extensive piece at nytimes.com. good morning. caller: hey, bill. thanks for taking my call. seems like i always get you and i kind of enjoyed our banter. bill, this election will be decided by dining room table discussions.

my wife and i file jointly on her income taxes -- on our income taxes, and in 2021, under trumps tax-cut, we received 2000 dollars in reef -- in refunds. this year, a loss of $1600. our electric bill is up 24%, natural gas 34%, cost of driving up 44%. we are spending 17% more on groceries every month. my credit cards have jumped nearly 4% under biden even though my credit score is 860. we are going to lose $8,000 this year, which comes out of our discretionary money. we are on a fixed income. we retired in the mid 60,000 range. we use that money for entertainmen and fun.

we went from security and secure almost immediately -- from secure to insecure almost immediately. even if we were democrats, we would not vote for biden. we can't afford joe biden and we are not alone. host: a couple comments on twitter here. this one says american seniors are financially secure only due to democrats policies. republicans were against the passage of social security in the 1930's, medicare in the 1960's. all americans oh democrats a debt of gratitude yet they always complain. tony says they want to cap wealth, but this mindset that he doesn't realize he would face a massive reduction in his personal wealth once the public gets to vote on how much he can keep. in clarksburg, west virginia, this is ed on the no line. caller: yes.

i guess i'm not doing too bad, but i could be doing better. on social security, i would like to ask you this. i know you cannot answer it. they say in parkersburg, west virginia, which is where i live, every year, the government borrows from social security what social security doesn't use for social security, and they put a little iou in a drawer there. i have seen on your program even and other programs, people call in. they say -- the last i heard, i believe, was 2.5 trillion dollars to $4 trillion the government owes social security, and when these people come out and say you are going to run out in 2035, are they counting that that's also paying back social

security? we hear so many stories. host: that is a good question, and when we have done on this program in the past, a real extensive segment on the health of social security. we promise we will do that in the future to. thank you for your call. more coming up on washington journal. next, we will be joined by newsmax chief white house -- chief political correspondent and correspondent for the white house john gizzi to talk about campaign 2022. later, in our spotlight on podcasts, a discussion with democratic strategists joe fuld and martin diego garcia ♪

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a white house correspondent for newsmax. let's start with the u.s. house, which has gone from it will be a red tide to the democrats gain some traction over the summer. where do things stand in your view about what the house will look like as they enter january 2023. guest: remember, division between the two parties is 5, 6 seats counting the recent special election. that is the tightest since 1958. republicans made out fairly well in the redistricting process because they are so dominant in state legislatures and government ships. more democratic house members are retiring than republicans, creating more competitive districts. my guess is a republican house

by perhaps 20 seats. host: one of the top issues for republican house candidates? guest: i would have to say just look at the newspaper headlines yesterday. inflation and the consumer price index going up to a 40-year high , 6.6%, that will have an impact on people. that does not even count energy or food, in terms of inflation. it is going up in both of those areas. i have to say that when one realizes it costs more to buy groceries or fill the tank of a car before the election, they are not going to care about much else. host: what about republicans' chances on the senate side? do you see it tightening in key races? we have pennsylvania, the debate

last night in atlanta that we will get to. guest: all of the major senate races are tight and that is why i believe inflation will put the party out of power over the top in a number of these races. particularly if they are tied on the eve of the election. i have seen this before where the leadership of both parties will try to take social or cultural issues and make them the cutting edge of the campaign. it does not matter much when the world is focused on the cost of living and the economy. host: one of the social issues, particularly in the warnock and walker race in georgia, it was abortion. the allegation that herschel walker had paid for an abortion, it came up last night during the debaten orgia. here is the headline in

newsmax. "senate rivals debate in georgia." i want to play you some of the back-and-forth when herschel walker was asked about the allegations. [video clip] >> i have been very transparent. unlike the senator, he has hid things. on abortion, i am a christian. i believe in life. i tell people that georgia is a state that respects life and i am a senator that respects life. that was ally and i am not backing down. senator warnock, people who will say anything for this seat but i will not back down because this seat is too important to the georgia people for me to back down. >> you have supported abortions without exception. would you support a complete ban? >> i said i support the

heartbeat bill, the georgia heartbeat bill because that is the bill of the people from governor kemp. that has exceptions in it. i am a christian but i'm also representing the people of georgia. what the people of georgia stand for, i will stand with them. >> senator warnock, you have said the exam room is too small for the patient, the doctor and the u.s. government. do you believe there should be any limitations on abortion set by the government? >> i think the women of this country and the women of this state woke up one summer morning and the core protection they have known for 50 years was taken from them by an extremist supreme court. i stand where i said i stand in the past, the room is too cramped for a woman, her doctor and the u.s. government.

we are witnessing right now what happens when politicians, most of the men, pile into patients' rooms. you get what you see right now. the women of georgia deserve a senator who will stand with them. i trust women more than i trust politicians. host: john gizzi of newsmax, what did you hear in that debate last night? guest: obviously, the senator demonstrated why the training he had at the baptist church in new york and a baptist church in atlanta made him such an excellent -- it came across. on the other hand, herschel walker, did not stumble in his remarks and seemed to be relaxed and know what he was talking about.

i would call the debate a draw. before i came here, i had an email from a former republican congressman, chairman of a congressional committee and he concluded herschel walker had a good debate night. this is someone who has been cynical about the race, his republican pedigree notwithstanding. he said what newsmax predicted weeks ago. the race will go to a runoff. host: our guest is john gizzi with newsmax. (202) 748-8001 is the line for you to call for republicans. democrats, it is (202) 748-8000. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. the headline, "dead heat again in wisconsin governor race." what is making this race a dead heat? guest: the state of wisconsin.

the badger state is known for going backwards and forwards with each of the major parties. it truly is a purple state. we have seen it in the races for governor in the past. in this senate race, mandela barnes is someone i consider the next barack obama. a fast rising star in the state. i thought he would be the big winner in the debates but ron johnson held his own. in particular, put democrat barnes on the defensive on the green new deal and spending issues. that is why he has a slight edge in the postdebate polls. host: are you surprised this campaign is as tight as it is? guest: not really. i covered wisconsin for many years. i was there when the recall was launched against governor walker

and he managed to pull it out rather decisively back in 2012. nothing really surprises me about the tightness of the races. what did surprise me was ron johnson ran on a vow to limit his tenure to two terms in 2010. i am surprised, as canny a politician as barnes is, he has not made this more of an issue. host: the pennsylvania senate race is a tossup, reporting what their analysts have to say about the race between men it awes and john fetterman -- guest: pennsylvania is a state i go to frequently and whose politics i have covered for number of years. the fact is john fetterman was the big winner after the

primaries. dr. oz having eeked out an 800-vote win, the second closest primary in keystone state history. yet, some of the questions about lieutenant governor fetterman's health and a hard-hitting campaign have made it a tight contest. host: we go first to robert in massachusetts on the democrat line. go ahead. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: the republicans call on this station, they call on independent lines. make sure when people call on the independent lines -- this gentleman right here, does he know what an uncle tom is?

if you do not know what an uncle tom is, i will tell you what uncle tom is. a black person who has sold out their own people. herschel walker is an uncle tom. if you watch fox tv, you see a black person on fox tv, that is an uncle tom and aunt sally. host: that is a broad brush against herschel walker. guest: my thoughts are whenever anyone seems to think his or herself, someone else will call them a stereotypical name. i have heard it so many times and summary different circumstances and i would like to say independent thinking comes in all colors. host: maryland, democrat line.

caller: good morning. i am on the wrong subject. i was listening for the subject ahead on early this morning. host: ok. susanna in lansing, michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. susanna, you are on the air. caller: good morning. how are you? host: do not listen to the television, listen to the phone, you are on with john gizzi. caller: i am sorry. go ahead. host: you are on the air with your comment or question. caller: i am so sorry. i have been watching many of these debates and herschel walker really hurts my feelings because he is a black man

touting republican values, the platform -- guest: for the republican party, this is a record number of black candidates. guest: in my lifetime as a reporter, there have only been three points in history where there have been two republican house members who happen to be black. that is the top number. there are two now, there were two in 1994 and two in 2010 in the house of representatives. that number is going to double. michigan has had a black person in the house since 1952 with no interruption. there are likely to be two

republican house members, john james and john gibbs, who happen to be black after this election. host: from michigan? guest: yes, from michigan. host: the response of donald trump to the january 6 committee. he declines to testify in front of a panel. he wrote in response to the panel in a lengthy letter in which heays despite very poor levisionatings, the committee has perpetuashow trial the likes of which this country has never seen b cross-examination and no no legitimacy. it is a witchhunt of the hi level, a continuation of what has. been going on for years. you have not gone after the people who created the fraud but great american patriots who questioned it, which is their constitutional right. these people about their lives

ruined while your committee since back and basks in the glow. is the president on the ballot this year? guest: i think he was in republican primaries but in the general election, the issues, primarily inflation and also the issue of crime and the dobbs decision that you mentioned transcend any personalities at this point. host: you had mentioned the president's political action committee supporting dr. oz in pennsylvania, where else is its influence in terms of spending being a factor? guest: that is only becoming clearer right now and the specifics will probably come out later. i would guess at this point he will probably make an effort of independent expenditure to help in ohio, also a close race, and perhaps senator johnson. i know that sources close to the

senator said he does not need outside help of any kind. he just wants to debate the issues with mandela barnes. host: let's hear from jim in spencer, north carolina, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. it is good to see newsmax on c-span. that shows the balance you have. question for mr. john, republicans taking some of the seats, how much of the gain would be attributed to gerrymandering? guest: it is funny. i would say to the gentleman, i have been hearing the term gerrymandering for so long that it goes back to when democrats had the upper hand in the governorships, state legislators, particularly after the 1980's.

indeed, the state of california gave the majority of its votes to ronald reagan in 1980. by 1982, 2/3 of the seeds in the house of representatives were democratic. it depends on whose ox is being gored, to use an old saying. in many cases, districts were drawn by commissions or retired judges. one cannot attribute any republican gains exclusively to the redistricting process, or if you want to call it, gerrymandering. host: next up is rory in california. republican line. caller: yes. i am listening to the politicians on both sides and right now i see the republicans taking over the house and the senate in january.

. if that happens, for all of the politicians, the word is biden might be retired on the 25th amendment and harris might be impeached for dereliction of duty. if we have a republican house, the next person to take over the white house would be a republican because nancy pelosi will not be there. host: john gizzi, play that out a little bit. if the republicans take control of congress, what will be the upside and the challenges they face? guest: again, i think you hit the nail on the head, not vetoproof. they will follow the example that their ancestors did in 1995 , when they won the house and

senate for the first time in 40 years and had the contract with america. they have an agenda called the commitment to america that concludes everything from decreasing the irs to strengthening law enforcement forces and a hard-line on illegal immigration. they will demonstrate republicans do stand for something. if you agree with it or not, there will be a vote on it. president biden can veto it and explain why. this will set the stage for the 2024 election. host: staying with 1994 and 1995, would there be greater animus between president biden and the republican congress that there was between president bill clinton and the republican congress back then? guest: probably. one thing about bill clinton was he saw the numbers and he

declared in his post-midterm election state address the era of big government is over. he worked closely with speaker newt gingrich and the republicans on many issues. this in turn led to the deficit coming down. indeed, the national debt starting to come down. in his penultimate year in the white house, bill clinton oversaw the largest ever cut in the capital gains tax, which meant he ended his presidency with a surplus. host: let's hear from bob on the democrats line in akron, ohio. caller: hi. thank you for taking my call. i have heard john mentioned the economy is the most important issue. it is more important than abortion or social security, or

funding to police departments. i would like to dispel a myth that is commonly held by republicans, and that is the myth that the economy fares better under republican administrations. i invite all of your guests to do an internet search under the following, the economy under republican versus democratic presidents. you will discover that since world war ii, looking at all administrations, on the average the economy has grown 1.6 times faster under democratic administrations compared to republican. job growth increased 2.5 times faster under democratic administrations compared to republican administrations. i want to talk briefly on the

inflation issue, as well. the economy has ups and downs, ebbs and flows, but under trump, with decreased immigration, the u.s. has 2 million fewer workers than it otherwise would have had. the number of illegal immigrants did not decrease under trump, only the number of legal immigrants. there is a shortage in manpower, manufacturing and food services. host: john gizzi, your thoughts. guest: he offered somebody different ideas that i do not think i can get to them all in a short time. let me point out to say that the economy ruled under republicans or supposed to democrats or vice versa, i would have to know who

was president and to control congress at the time. ronald reagan worked with a democratic-controlled house. he got 65 democratic members to vote for his tax and budget bill. i might add that last year was the 40th anniversary of its enactment, giving the country the longest sustained growth in the economy since world war ii. bill clinton, as i said earlier, oversaw the end of the deficit working with a republican house and senate. when our executive and legislative branches work together, it does not matter what the party label is. it matters if they have a common goal. i might add if you want to go back further in history, under president truman, republicans cut spending and taxes when they took control of texas. -- took control of taxes.

he vetoed it and took credit for. host: what are your thoughts on liz cheney telling arizonans to vote straight democrat? what do you think about the potential of liz cheney running in 2024 for president as an independent? guest: anyone who has $7 million left in the campaign kitty after a primary must be considered a serious candidate for something if he or she wants to use that money in that area. i might add that liz cheney is a free agent and she certainly is free to support someone from another party or another republican right now. i do not think it will matter too much, the election in arizona. host: from the mountains of colorado, good morning, democrats line. caller: yes, i called on the democrat line because i am

technically registered as a democrat. i am 73 years old. when i was growing up, everyone was a democrat and catholic. i am technically registered as a democrat but the democrat party went so far to the left, i do not recognize it today. it is very hard to get into c-span. this is the fourth time i have called. the last three times, all over the news media, msnbc, cnn, completely ruling the nation. i have been grocery shopping since i was 40 years old. the last year, i have never seen it so bad. the prices are high, that shops are empty, gas prices are very high. i was able to buy a car for

$5,000. it has been running for a year. i could not touch in electric car. i have been flipping through the channels. msnbc the last two days has been nothing but the trump hearings. there have been police shootings and everything else. biden about saudi arabia, trying to get them to hold off on the election. host: you put a lot on the plate. john gizzi. guest: i think this is just another case where he is talking about prices and the economy. the fact is that as important as the issues are, and is much as they galvanize supporters, abortion, the dobbs case, law & order, they pale in comparison to an issue the world understands and that is the price of goods.

someone once said you take an individual who is bold and wants to take on the world, bet on the world. host: rosedale, maryland, democrats line. mute your volume and go ahead with your question or comment, please. caller: my comment is if we have a democrat president, nothing will get done. host: you are feeding back a little bit. john gizzi, a comment on twitter. referring perhaps to your comment about supporting ronald reagan. you are no longer republican or democrat in congress, you are a team that is to work together to come up with the best legislation possible for american citizens. thank you, it is refreshing to hear someone speak my language.

is that pie in the sky achievable anymore in congress, that kind of approach? guest: i will wait until after the elections are over. one thing i should point out, there will be a very high number of veterans and people who did not hold office before elected. i say this on both sides of the aisle. i will withhold judgment on them because i think a lot of them will come in. perhaps something can be worked out on a common ground. host: the new york times has a front page piece about some of the candidates on the republican side. the headline, 2020 skeptics, should we be concerned about this? guest: i have to say that campaigning and governance are two different areas, entirely.

many times, people run and they will energize supporters with particular issues but in the end , they have to deal with the budget for one thing. they have to deal with foreign policy. an issue that is discussed maybe 20 minutes in campaigns that is becoming increasingly important in the turbulent world we live in. i have to say, i will separate the rhetoric from the campaign, much which i report on, with what members of congress have to deal with on the respective plates. host: let's go to the independent line, jay. caller: good morning. thank you very much. this horrible silence on our involvement in ukraine. i have not seen any discussion on the campaign about the funding. florida has been practically leveled. where is the discussion on these disastrous lockdown policies and

the shots that do not seem to be working at all. i cannot believe it. in some ways, i understand it because that is the way it seems to work, but i am stunned, and echoes for the right and the left. there is a blackout on it. thank you and i appreciate c-span very much. guest: someone used to say you can write about foreign policy all you want because no one will be there to challenge you on it. the truth is that foreign policy is not discussed often in campaigns, even when the tragedy in ukraine is brought to us instantly on television. i would have to say that the latest developments in the impact of russia's actions on the european economy will eventually hit home in the united states and we will see

where that plays out. that is primarily going to be up to the ukrainians, russians and europeans. host: on this program, we have had people call in on a number of shows and be concerned about the amount of money we are spending, period. in looking at government spending overall, are you surprised that issue, the ukrainian spending, is not tied into how much money the federal government is spending? guest: all issues of spending will be important because the deficit and the national debt are breaking records at this point. people are going to have to take a look at where the cuts will be made in the future. i would just say, there is an old saying about everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die to get there. look at disaster relief.

that is something that is controversial. its management has been under fire for years. do we end disaster relief at all? . we have a situation like florida. i think people would say no. that is something that adds to the deficit in the long run. host: new jersey, democrats line. caller: good morning. my question is, what is the republicans' agenda? we hear this all day long on the various stations. i have yet to hear what they will do. what i'm hearing is whoever wins will be punished because they did not jump on the trump train. trump did well because of obama being president. obama came in and straightened out everything. trump is basically riding off of

this. if it was not for obama fixing the economy, where would trump be? my real question is what is the republicans' agenda? guest: the commitment to america. a lot of other people a voice the same complaint the lady -- just did. republicans sculpted a document to say what they would do in terms of having votes, and that includes things like rolling back the irs and stronger law enforcement policy. they had a ceremony, leader mccarthy unveiled what was called the commitment to america and voters can see them hold votes on itwhen an -- when and if they take control of the house. host: the commitment to america privatize its education and holding social security,

medicare every five years for review. guest: the commitment to america offers votes, it also offers alternatives on education. it does not abolish public education. it would offer things such as charter schools, or the "v" word, vouchers, that strike terror in the hearts of so many in the educational establishment. there is someone on pennsylvania avenue who will probably veto all of this. this will lead to a robust debate in the presidential election. host: our guest is john gizzi of newsmax. (202) 748-8001 is the line for republicans. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. caller: good morning.

my thing is the republicans never do anything for the people. the reason we have a budget is because george bush put two wars for 20 years on the budget. the republicans plan to make mostly everything privatized. the government will be paying for it and we cannot look into it. the inflation thing -- donald trump paid off big business with the tax cut. they will charge us high

everything. only a fool would vote for a republican. host: john gizzi. guest: where do we start on that one? on january 13, 2009, i interviewed president bush in the white house. his predecessor had left him with a surplus that had the policies of the previous administration continue to this point, the national debt might be inside of being paid off. he replied, "yes," but that does not take into account 9/11. he said to me, you cannot have small government in war time, it is that simple. the attack on the united states,

the warfare that was unique at the time, all led to the spending that primarily began 20 years ago and has now resulted in disasters over the years and other events into the deficit. host: going back to the 2020 presidential election, do you think the defeat of president trump was a rejection of his policies for the man himself? guest: the man himself. again, i say that pointing out it was extremely close in terms of an election. if the electoral votes of three states had changed, he would have been reelected. my guess is that were americans who dislike him intensely and there were others who may not have liked him, or did like him but benefited from his policies,

particularly with the economic agenda that was there. i think also things like taking a hard line with some of our european allies to give them a greater share of the nato dues, a hard line on china was appealing to people. host: we talked about the former president's activity in this campaign. how likely is it that he will become a candidate in 2024. guest: get in line and asked me like everyone else does. host: [laughter] guest: great philosopher yogi berra said never make predictions, especially about the future. i do not think donald trump knows what he will do. one thing i find most interesting, the democratic party in the 1990's, there is a bumper crop of new faces out

there. i could make a list but i think you are familiar with all of them. i would just say, donald trump could very well run. grover cleveland, the subject of a new biography, was the president -- teddy roosevelt, at the time of his death at the age of 59, was considered the certain republican nominee in 1920 but he died the year before. no one really knows what would happen with the former president attempting a comeback. host: independent line in washington, d.c., this is ralph. caller: hi. what i am seeing now on social media, we just found out paypal issued a statement saying, if you show disinformation, they will find you $2500.

who are these guys to tell you what you can and cannot say. this has all the fingerprints of being man-made. 250 yards away from the largest or the only level 4 lab in the world. we cannot talk about the fact pfizer came out and said, did you test the virus to see if it prevented infection? no, we did not, but we sold $35 billion worth of this crap. we cannot talk about the surgeon general of the navy, when she quit, she said giving this stuff to young men causes a tenfold increase in cardiovascular issues. host: what do you mean we cannot talk about it? caller: i am talking about the

media, the facebooks, the twitter. social media outlets. they censored everybody. host: we will hear from our guest on social media censorship. guest: i have not had anything censored yet and i would be glad to share some of the social media comments i get sometimes. they are very uncensored. nobody really believes that free speech has been limited in any form. i think it has been enhanced with facebook, with twitter, with google, even instagram, where you can take your family album and put it out there for the world to see. some of us do believe some of these things are private. most people believe, it seems, that opinions and opinions on others' views are in the public domain. i would say the first amendment is alive and well. host: can i ask you about former

democratic congresswoman tulsi gabbard. the headline, competitive washington state house race, announcing she was leaving the democratic party. are you surprised by that at all? guest: no, i am not. tulsi gabbard was always a maverick in the party. a native of her state of hawaii. she could say she was barack obama's congresswoman yet she would not back him on certain policies and supported bernie sanders for president. she is entirely unpredictable. remember, tulsi gabbard, a woman of strong opinions, has yet to say what party she belongs to. she has left the democratic party but she is not a republican. it will be interesting to see what her career goes. host: john in herndon, virginia. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my

call. this gentleman is saying he has been around for a long time. i am asking him, have you ever seen our politicians acting this way? america, this election is not about democrat or republican, it is about america. our democracy is on the line. this gentleman is dodging every question you are asking him. asked him one question -- when was the last time that someone angry about the election would go to the capitol and attack our lawmakers and destroy our capitol building. this gentleman, the way he is dodging the questions. host: we will take your specific question, john. john gizzi, any comments? guest: he is asking me when someone took to the capitol to protest an election?

i can say complaints about election and the outcome are in frequent but they certainly exist in our history. al gore finally did concede the 2000 election gracefully and as a gentleman, i felt. but, supporters of his, including the late senate democratic leader harry reid, would often make cutting comments about george w. bush and whether he was illegitimately elected president. i heard this frequently. it was not violent. i prefer stories such as those in the new book about the 1960 campaign, campaign of the century. the republican governor of illinois went to richard nixon and said you are down by 7000 votes with 1.5 million cast, we

will not certify the votes if you support a recount and nixon said no. host: given january 6, how concerned -- are you about the potential for that? guest: it is an unusual circumstance. there will be close elections in the future. i think that more people who might have differences about the election are focusing their energies on the future and election reform. for example, ending the early voting, or the mail-in ballots for everyone. i think that is the kind of thing they will look at. voter id. seven states passed election reforms to make sure those who vote are those legitimately qualified. host: john gizzi is chief political columnist for newsmax

and also covers the white house for newsmax. you can read his reporting a newsmax.com. thank you for being with us. guest: always a pleasure. would love to come by anytime. host: later, we will have our spotlight on podcasts. a discussion about progressive politics with democratic strategist joe fuld and martin diego garcia. they are the cohosts of “how to win a campaign." there will be a chance for you to weigh in on items. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. we will be back in a moment. ♪

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shares her book that examines the racial violence experienced by blacks in the south in the jim crow era legal system that supported it. >> we are focusing on e violence concentrated. that is where folks were disenfranchised. they had no real ability to affect political realities because they had no judges, no police officers. they were exposed, completely exposed, not only to the violence at the hands of law enforcement, but also the hands of bus drivers and people in positions of authority who filled their -- two felt -- who felt their role was to

enforce jim crow laws. >> you can listen to this and other programs on our c-span app. >> there are a lot of places to get political information but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. here, or here, or here, or anywhere that matters. america is watching on c-span, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is our open forum, a chance for you to weigh in on news items. (202) 748-8001 is the line for republicans. it is (202) 748-8000 for democrats.

for independents and others, it is (202) 748-8002. back to politics, following our conversation with john gizzi. reporting from politico, democrats dreaded deja vu, another 50-50 senate. democrats face the possibility after the midterms, two more years of the senate divided 50-50. after significant victories, democrats are pushing hard to expand the majority by netting seats in pennsylvania and wisconsin. as their list of potential pickups shrinks, they are staring down a 2023 that has another 50-50 chamber. politico currently rates control of the chamber as a tossup. let's hear from our callers in open forum. joe in michigan.

what is on your mind? caller: i listen for your phone numbers every day. it is supposed to be a democratic party. host: we say it is the line for democrats, the line for republicans. that is the way the lines are set up. caller: two of the parties are labeled right. you are a government channel, you should have democratic, i believe. host: robert in maryland on open forum. go ahead. caller: how are you doing? host: great. thank you. caller: we have a democratic party and the republican party. in my opinion, if the democrats

cannot get along with republicans and republicans cannot get along with democrats, what do we have going in front of us? do you think we have a major issue? that is my million-dollar question, what will happen if we cannot come up neutral? do you feel if we bring in an independent, is there any way it independent can get us on the right track? host: you are calling the democrats line, i believe maryland is a state were an independent cannot vote in a primary of either party, correct? caller: exactly. host: to get a significant candidate, that kind of thing has to begin to change at the state level.

caller: matter of fact, maryland is democratic. what i'm saying is when we go to the general election, do you all feel, or does anyone feel if republicans or democrats cannot get us together, do you feel bringing a neutral person in, an independent, as president could get us on the right track? host: good question. let's see what people have to say. alexandria, virginia. james on the democrat line. caller: good morning, america. you have an administration that denied the pandemic, had no planned agenda, gave money to the rich and did nothing but steel from the government for four years. what did you expect the results to be?

most of these people increasing prices are definitely republican. each time the republicans have control of the presidency, democrats have to come in and clean up the mess. that is what is wrong with our country. we do not have two parties trying to make america better. when you get out there in november, make sure you vote blue because we will not have a country if we have people who want to tear down the government and mess up the capitol and get away with murder. thank you. host: let's hear from our independent line. tim is in tennessee. caller: yes, sir. thank you to c-span for sharing both sides. i am wondering about your thoughts of hunter biden's laptop and if that will be an issue after the 2022 election. host: alabama, republican line. caller: good morning.

host: good morning. caller: i just wanted to say, it is easy to criticize and not condone things that are right. i think what america needs, saying god bless america, i think america needs to bless god. all of these people that are getting on there and downing people. instead of criticizing and agitating and all that stuff, how can a democrat get on there and downgrade republicans when -- let me tell you something, when a republican was in office, my rent was not skyhigh, my food was not skyhigh. it is not a republican doing this.

we are getting a raise in our social security. we will get a raise coming up, but our rent is going back, too. they always get it back one way or another. you can browbeat donald trump all you want, my life was easier when he was in office. i do not know what the outcome will be, but obama did nothing for us in joe biden is absolutely not doing anything. host: a debate last night in georgia. the headline from the atlanta journal-constitution, walker and warnock clash in debate. georgia was a focal point in the 2020 election in terms of results. both candidates were asked about the 2020 results in georgia. [video clip] >> president biden won and senator warnock won, that is why

i decided to run. we need a change in washington. we need to stand up to foreign leaders. we need people who will stand up for people in georgia. senator warnock went to washington but forgot about georgia. i want to stand for the people of georgia. can you tell me why he voted for joe biden 96% of the georgia? that tells you he is for joe biden and i have her georgia. >> thank you. before we move on. >> i would like to respond. >> i will give you that opportunity, senator. you have 15 seconds. >> it is very clear my opponent would rather be running against anybody except me. there are only two people who are going to sit in the seat, either me or my opponent and i think this race is about who is ready to represent the people of georgia and i'm thinking about them every single day. >> but he cuts from the same cloth and 96% of the time, he

and joe biden are the same. >> back to your calls an open forum, portsmouth, virginia is next on the independent line, this is harvey. >> good morning and thank you for c-span. i have been watching the hearings over the insurrection and washington, d.c. i'm a retired military person, a senior citizen, doing great. i can't see why any person in america -- president donald trump what he try do to our democracy and not only key but the people around him tried to do to our democracy, and having respect for those people, iris by republicans, democrats, and independence, but how could anyone not see this president -- previous president tried to change the whole democracy of

our america and still support him and the people around him that are afraid to stand up to him and kiss the ring because they're afraid someone will say you are not a republican. i don't understand how anyone in the united states of america don't see that and i thank you for taking my call. host: terry is on the democrats line. caller: good morning, c-span and america. thank you for taking my call. as you said, i live here in georgia and i can tell you the ads here are becoming more aggressively ugly every day. we don't know who is telling the truth about what. there's so much information being presented that it is just mind-boggling. i would like to see the candidates stick to the rules

and i would also like to see them talk about what they plan to do, what they can bring to the table, rather than talk about what the other person has or has not done in terms of the democratic and republican parties. i would like to say every time there's an election, i would look at both parties, look at the candidates to see if there's a possibility that i would support a particular candidate in either party. don't get it twisted, i am a democrat and i usually vote the democratic ticket but i try to give her -- try to give everyone a chance to say whether or not i could support that person because possibility is that person could win and once they're in office, i respect the office. right now, the ads are so bad.

it is getting to the point where i just don't like having the tv on anymore. i turn to span, i like what tv, like watching the journal because it is just too much. i just want to say to people to stop bashing and just look at the facts, make up your mind, and to be satisfied with whatever happens. thank you so much and have a nice day. host: international news on the front page of the wall street journal of the british prime minister, trust fires u.k. treasury chief and extracts -- truss and backtracks on u.k. treasury. following a backlash from financial markets interparty. he who three weeks ago presented the uk's largest tax cuts since the 1970's was asked to quit by mistrust as markets balked at

the scale of the borrowing required to fund the package and her conservative party lawmakers protested potentially deep spending cuts. mr. kwarteng was succeeded by jeremy hunt, a party centrist and former foreign secretary. the speed of the collapse of miss truss'political authority is unprecedented in modern politics and her shift my not be enough to calm financial markets or stop a growing rebellion in her own party and the u.k.. san diego is next, elizabeth on the democrats line. go ahead. caller: good, c-span. i would like to comment on just generally listening to the callers come in to c-span, "washington journal". i hear so many say they never watched the january 6 committee hearings. two days before the hearings, i heard someone call in and say

the rioters and those that storm the capitol were democrats and it is a reality check. you can see channels like fox news and newsmax are not showing people the facts of what is happening in our country. the gentleman you just had on, he made the statement this is a very close election. actually, joe biden one by over 7 million votes. it was the biggest margin of victory in the history of the united states. you hear republican callers call in and say what did obama do? what did bomb -- what did biden do? obama brought people health care that is now dependent -- not dependent on pre-existing conditions, which is the number one reason people were losing their homes. thanks to obamacare, you can get health care if you have a pre-existing condition and trump pledged to eliminate obamacare

on his first day in office. thank goodness he did not do that. i want to talk about the elephant in the room is with the january 6 commission just had on television two days ago, the outrage of one man, donald trump, who knew he had lost and he had planned, if you watch what was being said in the evidence, he knew that if he lost he would claim he won and that he was going to implement various lawsuits, which she lost 60 of those. he was going to seize the voting machines, he was going to call out the military to see things and he invoked that a riot, the insurrection, that many people battering ram on the capitol, and donald trump did that.

you can see the rest of congress is trying to push back and donald trump was watching tv, throwing food against the wall in his high chair. i just would say, america, we need to be smart, into the future, we have competitors on the world stage, we need to join with our allies and people need to pay attention and fox news viewers, nobody cares about hunter biden's laptop. he was a drug addict who joe biden was not even in office when this was all happening. it is a gnat in the great eye of the world. host: all right, we will hear from dan next on the independent line sioux falls south dakota -- falls, south dakota.

caller: i want to know why all these republicans are worried about hunter biden and hillary's emails. now it is hunter biden's laptop. then you got their own president , former president trump, the republican taking classified documents down to mar-a-lago, copies of the wall street journal, come on, really? this is a huge difference here. i was joking with a friend of mine the other day saying they will both end up in jail together, and i meant hunter biden intron. he thought i meant biden and biden. i said these guys would end up jail together and hunter biden, all he did was lie on an application for a gun, so if you are high on drugs or not. obviously he was at the time so i don't think that is like a felony or anything. what trump is doing is way worse , but the one lady had a good point, we should come together as a nation and i watched all these debates. thank god for c-span, showing these government the -- governor

debates and senate debates and their totally awesome and they were the same talking points on both sides so you will have to decide on november 8 or in the early voting, the lesser of the two evils, my grandpa always said who is the lesser of two evils and we all know who that is, the big blue is the lesser of two evils. thank you and have a good day. host: elon musk in the headlines, this one about ukraine. muska imperils ukraine internet. elon musk said friday his face company cannot continue funding the starling satellite service that has kept ukraine and its military online during the war, sparking an uproar as he suggested he was pulling free internet after ukrainian investors are insulted him on twitter. i starling cut off would cripple the ukrainian military's main mode of communication, potentially hamstring and -- and

potentially hamstring its defenses by giving a major a vance -- major advantage to russia. musk tweeted from the united states that his company, spacex, does not want reimbursement for his past expenses in helping again but wrote it also cannot fund the existing system and definitely. and sends several thousand more terminals that have data usage of two hundred times greater for the typical households, this is unreasonable said elon musk. democrats line is next in open form, anthony in miller place, new york. caller: thank you for the opportunity. my question is for you and the wonderful people at c-span if you could perhaps explain to me precisely what the difference is. i know enron was the bush administration's biggest camping contribution that got them into the presidency and forged our

policies that got us into two wars, one which was totally illegal against iraq, for profit for enron. now, at the behest of hunter biden selling access to the vice presidency as well the presidency. we don't know because the information was deprived prior to the election. an informed electorate is the most important aspect of any electoral process. prior to the 2020 election, google or facebook had dialed down -- they were reminding all of the democratic -- democrats to go out and vote and they were not reminding the republicans. then again, the cia and fbi were using their powers to manipulate the outcome of an election. we found out about it only afterwards and we do not know what else did they do to skew the election. an informed electorate is the most important aspect of the

process, so when you diminish the ability for information to be received properly to the electorate, or in favor of one candidate, that is not a free and fair election. cybernet just pointed out there had been online access to those voting machines throughout the -- they were never off-line, they were always accessible, and they pointed out people had access and a race to data. why would you do that if it was a free and fair election? most importantly -- host: homeland security and the department of justice never found any problem with those elections. you trust the reporting of cyber ninjas in this case? caller: it's hard to say because we are not getting a valid audit from both sides. i do not know who to trust anymore but i know when i was a young man, i took my wife to go vote 30 to 40 years ago and it was her first time and she never voted before so i went into the

booth with her and the curtain used to close behind me, had the big swing on, and i was trying to expand how the process works and the poll worker open up the curtain and said you cannot do that, it is very important that we have one person behind the curtain as an observer watching how the democrat and republican in observance of this process, so it is very important it is done in this manner so both parties, everybody has trust. the way the election was run in 2020, you diminish trust because of the mail and thing and once you take it out of the purview of it being observed and is at the kitchen table, what is the difference between me going behind the curtain with my wife and being at the kitchen table with her ballot there alongside my own. host: we will go to joanne next in michigan, independent line. caller: good morning. what i'm interested in is, hello?

host: you are on the air. caller: thank you. what i'm interested in is where are all of these young illegal males going and what are they doing? and the people they are living in the communities, how are the people reacting? who are feeding them, sheltering them? when i see these men coming across the border, they look pretty healthy and can do a lot of work but do they speak english? who is supporting them? i would like to know the communities they have gone into and how those people in the communities feel about them. thank you. host: one more call in open form. farmington, new mexico. jenny on the republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. earlier when the general and -- gentlemen from newsmax was on, there was a color that came in and said when was there ever

anything else happening at the capitol? back in 1983, if these people start googling, they will find out there is a bombing -- was a bombing on the second for the capitol in 1983 and guess who bombed that? it was discovered they were also democrats that they did that. there had been over 70 examples of violence between 1830 to 1861 at our capital back in 1954 there was five congressmen shot that was at the capitol. it has not always been protected like it should and that was the major problem, this last time and january 6. we do know, we had records, we have seen the information donald trump did ask for extra security guards there, for them to come out, and mayor bowser said now, miss nancy pelosi said no, they even had from the capitol the

main man over the capitol police ask for extra and they were all turned down. we had that in record. contrary to what people like to hear, it is an record. they have it in black and white and we also have witnesses that say donald trump wanted extra security guard. so also i hear a lot of people calling in and say nancy was not in charge with that, yes nancy is in charge of the capitol police. host: we will get that you -- we will let you go there as we wrap up. thank you for the calls for the segment. up next, we talk about podcasts about the election, a spotlight on podcast series. you will me to democratic strategists joe fuld and martin diego garcia. there podcast is called "how to win a campaign." they are next. your calls and comments welcome too. ♪

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visit our website at studentcam.org for competition rules. tips, resources, and the step-by-step guide. >> see san -- c-span provides extensive coverage of 2022. on the weekly, the top 10 moderator moments from house, senate, governor, and mayors debates from past campaigns seasons. >> to the people believe we should tax? yes, we already are. >> you are not taxing them that much because most of them are in texas or oklahoma. >> we are out of town. -- time. [crowd booing] >> what did i tell you at the beginning, no booing or hissing. now you are directing it at me. governor, your closing remarks. >>ou can find the weekly on c-span now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts.

>> c-span now is a free mobile at feet during your unfiltered view of washington, live and on-demand. keep up with the day's with live streams of floor proceedings and hearings from u.s. congress, white house events, the court, campaigns, and more from the world of politics, all at your fingertips. you can also stay current with the current episode the "washington journal" and find scheduling information for c-span's tv network and c-span radio, plus a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now available at the apple store and google play. it downloaded for free today. c-span now, your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. >> be up today and the latest in publisngith book tv's podcast about books. with current nonfiction books releases, best-selling lists,

industry news, and trends with insider interviews. you can find about books on c-span now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is our spotlight on podcast segment here on this saturday and joining us to talk about the podcast, how to win a campaign, the two creators of the new -- the host of the podcaster with us, joe phone, the founder and president of the campaign workshop here with us in our washington studios, joining us from san diego this morning, martin diego garcia, the campaign workshop's and strategic planning vice president, thanks for being on the program this morning. guest: good to be here. host: we will start with the away team, and let you have the first at-bat here on this.

obviously the name of your podcast says that all, how to an a campaign. is this a nuts and bolts podcast, are you giving it specifically for candidates or more a broadbrush for the general interest of listeners? guest: when we originally started, both joe and i have a long history of background in electoral politics but i think we have grown the podcast over the past three seasons to be much more broad about any type of campaign you are running. in the first season, we hone in on the candidate experience and what does it look like to be a candidate running for office and all it takes to do that. as we progress through the seasons, we decided to talk about a variety of different campaigns. we went into advocacy and issues-based campaigns. we went into ballot measures and independent expenditures and talked to experts across a bunch of different areas in the political industry. i think if you are involved in politics at all, there's

probably some informational pack -- on the podcast you can learn from. host: and, joe fuld, you are the founder and president, what made you start this? did you see a need for this podcast? guest: as martin said, we like to train and teach, where progressives and we started this podcast during the pandemic and it was a way for us to continue outreach to people and we have now done three seasons in this podcast and can alternate between politics and advocacy and are finishing our campaign season, our third season, and what is interesting is we get people who send us notes, who asked questions about nuts and bolts, who our -- our practitioners, and we also get people like i just want to complain about yard signs, so we get both and we have got, like right now, our yard sign is up on the podcast, it just launched friday. next week, we have a midterm

episode. host: are you talking about campaign yard signs? guest: yeah. host: what is the big beef people have about campaign yard signs? guest: the meeting is. as a practitioner in politics, i have a love/hate relationship with yard signs and i like them when they're in people's yards because that can be a motivational force or like a window sign in the city or showing the you -- showing you support a candidate but i'm not a huge believer of yard signs in the middle of a road or median. i do not like that. host: martin diego garcia, typically when you have guests on, who are you looking to talk to? guest: what i really appreciate our podcast is we have such a diverse and array of folks who work and participate in the political process. so we have folks on the podcast in the 20's and folks in their 70's. we have folks doing fundraising, messaging, legal and hr compliance, actual candidates

running for office, campaign managers, so what i really appreciate is we really do try to get a perspective from a diverse set of folks who come at politics in very different ways. as somebody who has had been in politics since i was young and went to school for it, they always teach about what happens after election day. we learned about the legislative process, about what happens in government, but we never really learn how do you get there or how do you inform the things happening, either a private citizen or somebody that runs for office. so one of the values we hold in the campaign workshop is we try to lift the curtain for folks who see politics in whatever format as the big mystical thing they don't really know how to get involved with and we try to bring perspective of folks who have a variety of different backgrounds, who are engaging in politics in various different ways depending on their interests. i think we have a good bit of folks on their who people relate

to. host: let me ask you about being progressive. joe mentioned you're both progressive so martin, i will start with you first, in terms of -- this is a political question for 2022, where is the progressive point of view in 2022 in terms of the democratic party? how much influence is it having in the campaign this year? i will let joe answer after you, martin. guest: absolutely. i won't by any means think we are the entire progressive movement but i get to go across the country year-round and train folks who are motivated to be engaged and what i'm seeing and what i've seen since the election of president donald trump is the progressive movement is still energized and ready to fight for what we believe in. what we have been hearing on the ground, folks are really motivated to understand what is going on, what is on the ballot, and are starting to register to

vote. particularly after the overturning of roe v. wade, i think there a lot of folks across the country, we have seen women in particular being registered at decent numbers, so i'm intrigued to see how that motivation is going to play out as a gift to how are we bring our friends and families out to vote? are we encouraging our friends to vote with us? and progressives i think we have a fighting chance if we have our community and neighbors to come out with us. host: in terms of the progressive response, what is the progressive response to where the economy is and what progressive candidates should be doing? guest: i think progressives are fighting for the economy for working people. continuing -- we have had a tough time across the country coming out of the pandemic but you are really looking at democratic candidates to do support policies to take care of working people. i think there is going to be a

question like the folks are going to be asking what is the motivation to get people to turn out? is it going to be social issues on the democrat excite or republican side? is it the economy? how does that drive? we will see. i think that this is, as martin said, about turnout and engagement and that is with the last few weeks come down to. host: our guests, joe fuld and martin diego garcia, i with the campaign workshop and more importantly are here on the podcast series for their campaign, "how to win a campaign ." we like to hear from you. the line from republicans is (202) 748-8001. democrats is (202) 748-8000. for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. if i'm thinking about running -- i'm not -- but if i'm thinking about ready for county counsel, if i were someone thinking about say running for city counselor or county counsel, why should i listen to your podcast?

let's start with joe fuld. host: as john said earlier, there is a mysticism about politics we want to remove and we want to talk about the nuts and bolts of how to start. if you go back to our first season, we really talk about what is it like to be a candidate, how do you do an assessment of thinking about what is the right reason to run for, what are you qualified to run for? do you have the resources? is your family bought into running for office? there are questions you should be asking and i think the big one is why are you running? what change are you trying to make in your community. often we see candidates who really cannot answer that big question so part of it is making sure you have by and from your friends and family and that you have the right reasons for running. host: have you seen folks based on the tracking of your podcasts

are doing, have you consulted others for the guidance? guest: when we originally thought about doing the podcast, i'm sure as a lot of folks did while in lockdown, we focused on making evergreen content. we try to continue to update that but it is really there to give folks the nuts and bolts and that foundation to really step into politics and a way that seems accessible and like something they can do as an everyday citizen. we have many folks who have run for office for a variety of different reasons who come from all walks of life and maybe you should consider running for office. host: not happening. guest: as i tell everybody engaged in politics in some way. if you are for some candidate or you are thinking about running for the first time, i think as you mentioned running for school board or city council is probably your best bite of the apple because local politics is where it is at. i would encourage folks to look

in their backyard before they decide they want to be running for congress of the u.s. senate out of the gate. host: you have been doing this for three seasons, have you seen the type of person wanting to run for office change at all? guest: no, but what i think is what we are seeing is people are starting to ask questions like what is the right time for them to run. who should think of running, people who have had a lot of expanse in the community, built up a lot of credibility in the community, and aside i've been in real estate for a long time, been a broadcaster, i have gone and worked at the local hospital, i have something to talk about and some changes i really want to make. those are the folks we think are the best candidates. and yeah, it is interesting to us to see who reaches out to us from the podcast or we have 11

e-books on the site that people download so we try to put out a lot of information for people who are thinking about running or thinking about running advocacy. host: we have one quick question, obviously running for office involves some level of committing to public service. in the best case scenario, you are not running for office to get rich. what are the current candidates that you see telling you about the level of california and elsewhere? you said you traveled across the country, americans commitment to public service weather on the city council or running for congress? guest: absolutely. i think it is twofold. i think one we try to not hide the ball here and say it is really difficult. it is not an easy thing to put yourself out there into the public sphere and have your community sort of judge you on want and how you are running. you're putting your name on a valid -- ballot to have folks

vote for you. what i will also say is people are still interested in running for office and yet still a little hesitant because of some of the things we have been seeing in the news about what is happening to public servants across the country. for some foremost, many of the folks who run for office over the 600,000 offices we have in the country are running to serve their communities. you want to be dedicated to the betterment of your community and policies that will benefit that community in a way that folks can trust you. i think that is where folks have the motivation to jump in and run for office, they want to see their community do better. i think that is the motivating piece that is continuing to get folks to be intrigued and run for public office. host: did i hear that right, 600 thousand elected positions in this country? guest: i believe so. there are some more over 600,000 elected positions in the country. guest: it's a crazy number.

and that is everything from their sedo -- from mosquito control board to u.s. senate. lots of people getting elected to lots of different positions. host: what state has a mosquito control board? guest: florida. host: do they really? guest: yeah. host: let's get to calls. (202) 748-8001 the line for republicans. democrats at (202) 748-8000. for independents, it is (202) 748-8002. on the independent line in st. louis, dachshund if you are interested in running for office, maybe this -- if you're interested in running for cycle, maybe this is the time to call in. let's hear from at in st. louis. caller: hi, guys. host: good morning. caller: i'm listening to your show and it is pretty interesting. the only thing i hear from democrats since this whole cycle of how the republicans have weaponized the supreme court and they will take away abortion,

but in the meantime i go shopping last night and i have not had a raise all year and i look at my grocery bill and i'm paying one dollar to two dollars more for just about everything on buying. the reality is abortion does not affect me. the inflation is killing me though between gas, food, and everything else. what i see is the leaders of our country declared war on oil from day one and unfortunately i like clean energy as much as the next guy but everything runs on oil, everything runs on gasoline or diesel, and when you attack that, then you've got just inflation upon inflation upon inflation. talking about abortion is one thing but addressing the real problems since biden has taken office, he looks really bad and the democrats look really bad. host: let both guests response.

martin, if you want to respond go ahead. guest: appreciate the call. when i took away from that is everybody has something that is personal to them and as candidates. -- candidates, you need to have your ear to the ground to know they -- there will be a variety of different issues with the plethora of constituents you may be asking to vote for you and you really have to understand what those things are. they will differ community to communing, state-by-state, voter by voter. your ability to talk to those voters and understand is it inflation, is a gas prices, is it the pocketbook stuff, is it the economy, is it social issues like abortion or lgbtq rights, you have to understand what are those pieces really important to your community and how do you make sure you are addressing those concerns so as a color set, you are talking about the economy in places like st. louis or maybe in other places it is more level or aggressive maybe it is the social issues driving the electorate. guest: yeah, i will say when we

advise candidates, we are getting them to tap into and show their experience on those local issues, on what are they doing to make change to help the people they will represent but that is really important and it is important to connect with folks. host: and that part of your, due exclusively represent democratic candidates? guest: we do. we do democrats and issue groups. host: what are some of the local hot button issues? i will start with joe, that you are seeing that you are working with iser as an issue campaign are a local candidate, this is the number one local issue that maybe we are not seeing on the national level. guest: we work on a variety of things so it is everything from like public housing that we have been doing work on as a local issue to working on environmental issues to like a lot of education issues we talk about and issues like making

sure public education is good in places. there is a variety. we do wind up talking in our campaigns a lot about taxes and a lot about local taxes and especially for democratic candidates talking about like republican physicians unlike local plat taxes that may increase people's taxes. so there's a lot of different things we work on and it is interesting that we prefer to talk about local issues but we also see there's a lot of nationalization in these local candidates. host: and the local issues are local candidates that you are seeing that maybe were not seeing nationally? guest: i think across the country and in a lot of places, i think about particularly coming out of the pandemic, homelessness is particular to a lot of folks. it is the issue folks are seeing day today. there are these issues that i think certain -- certainly

nationally in the conversation but everyone is walking outside and engaging with traffic, engaging with their communities and neighbors and whether restaurants they used to like are still open or not, whether there are on housed folks in their communities and what is the cost of housing, where the you can afford rent or for to my house. i think a lot of folks depending on where you are dealing with these very day-to-day issues at the local level and it is really important for those candidates thinking or currently running to make sure they are not getting sucked into the national conversation about the bigger hot button issues happening on the national front but are honing in on what are the folks in my community of the supermarkets talking about in our neighborhood and community and city? host: the podcast is how to win a campaign. let's hear from frank, a color from west virginia on the independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning, gentlemen. how are you doing today? guest: good morning. caller: i got a couple things to

say if you give me its, won't take a second here. we elected our president through electoral votes. this is the last republican president to carry the popular vote. and how many republican presidents had carried the popular vote? number two, going into a rat cost us trillions of dollars and we are probably still paying for that and i'm an independent out of west virginia. give me a break. ok? another thing is social security, they have stolen from social security, the cost of living is not really figured by the cost of living. there are things eliminated from it. and it just seems like every time you do get a cost-of-living raise, that is something that happens that has to happen.

good to talking to you and god bless you. guest: i appreciate it for the call. i think what you have the ability to do as a voter and maybe as a person who wants to run for office, it is actually look at the folks what you are voting for are planning on doing. where they stand? what issues are they going to vote on and are they being transparent about them? as candidates run for office, it is that piece of authenticity and that piece of truth which a lot of candidates we talked to on the podcast really dive into how they were able to talk across party, across different communities, in a way that because they were being authentic and because they were being trustful and honest with her voters, even if they were of different parties, they were able to have a conversation about what kind of votes they would take. it sounds like the color just

hear from rest surgeon you -- west virginia had specific things to do and if you are voter to know what things are and be authentic about them. host: joe fuld. guest: one of the things we talked about an hour advocacy season, we think one of the most powerful advocacy tactics is for actual people to pick up the phone and called a legislator and say would you have a cup of coffee with me? and that that is really important for folks to talk to their elected officials. he brings up great points. one of the other points he made on the political side was it is about mobilization. all of these campaigns, even the presidential race still comes down to votes. so you really have to talk about turnout and you have to engage people on the issues they care about. host: i get back took on martin mentioned about the candidates running for office, particularly this year. there has been a lot of reports about the folks running for

local offices, particularly secretary of state letter positions that seem, after the 2020 2020 elections that positions are people are threatened, their families are threatened. has that made it more difficult to enlist candidates to run? guest: absolutely. there deafly is a question when someone is running for office is how is this going to impact my life? there is going to be that conversation the candidates should have with family and friends to be like -- because it is not just them who is running. you take your whole family with you running for office whether it is your time or whether it is your reputation, he put that out on the line. i think there is more hesitancy about what we have also seen since 2016 is an increase of interest in our training programs, in wanting to run for office that we've seen more of that. host: let's hear from our republican line next, dan in

connecticut. good morning. dan, make sure you knew your volume on your television, go ahead with your comment or question for our guest. caller: ok, hang on just a second. i didn't realize i was going to get on that quick. host: you are on with martin and joe, go ahead. dan, are you there? caller: yeah. what i'm calling about is he got one democrat on this. no for a fact biting committed treason by selling and giving oil to china. that is treason. would you support if he's convicted? host: i will use dan's point. the challenge for democratic candidates this year in particular is the president's approval rating among the public. martin diego garcia. guest: absolutely.

politics is always a numbers game. it is a game of strategy and it is why joe and i -- i love playing the game because i think we both have strategic brains. i think the democrats across the country, the president included, are trying to make the most strategic decisions possible and thinking about what policies, what choices, what constituency, what voters across the country, are they going to spend their time communicating to regard this somewhat campaign you are running too, it is the strategy need to think about. we do not have an unlimited amount of time and resources to talk to every voter, nor is every voter registry. if you are not, you should figure out when the registration deadline is for your election and get registered to vote. some of these democrats may not be talking to really conservative republicans need to hone in on what the message is they think will be the most successful to get them across the finish line. you host: both are advisors for

political campaigns, issue advocacy campaigns, how is an issue advocacy campaign with folks coming to for guidance different from an individual coming? how do you approach those campaigns differently? guest: we approach it by thinking through how do you, depending on where the issue is and what the issue is focus, because it could be a state issue, local issue, national issue, that we are thinking about how to create a public campaign when there is not an election. so it is very different than election campaign where there is a final date. sometimes an advocacy campaign could go on for weeks or go on for years. depending on what the issue is and what we are trying to talk about, there is long-term planning and engagement around this. host: on the line is dave on the republican line. good morning. caller: it seems to me there was

a drastic paradigm shift in this country from 1960 to 1980. we went from ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country to are you better off now then you were four years ago? it used to be that we saw ourselves as in this boat together. now things have become so polarized that we had a january 6 where people that were so disaffected and polarized and felt so entitled that they could attack the u.s. capital, poop on the floors, urinate on the wall, and blame all their disaffection on people that were sane, logical, and had not been diluted by rupert murdoch's bs

machine for the past 20 years. i just really don't see a lot of hope in it. when jimmy carter came into office, he put solar panels on top of the white house and you have been hearing whining and moaning from republicans for decades about how our poor children are going to have to pay back the big dance. how about the $50 per gallon gas our poor children are going to have to pay because ronald reagan through those panels on top of the white house in the garbage and put us into the middle ages? host: martin, if you want to start on this. his concept, his thought of a paradigm shift between 1960 and 1980. guest: as somebody born in 1985, jimmy may have a better perspective on this, but what i will say, i think you're right in that, we are seeing right now , we are seeing the divisiveness

and the pull away from this concept that we are one country and all in the same boat and understand what benefits the whole. it has gotten to a place where i think it actually has shifted the way candidates need to think about operating. are you going to be the candidate like president biden was trying to be, somebody who is a convene her, bringing folks together and trying to unite a country, or are you going to be somebody who will play to the oath ends of the spectrum and be more divisive? it's a strategic decision that needs to be made but i hope folks are coming out running for office in a way that they really want to bring their communities together and really understand that. as the gentleman sang, we are in this together and there is no dividing up the united states of america. we need to figure out how to come together, republican, democratic, independent, to figure out a message and way to talk to each other on issues important to us and come to

compromises that benefit the whole. host: joe fuld, you are older but maybe not -- [laughter] guest: i only had a couple more cycles -- he only had a couple more cycles than i have. host: i'm not sure if that phrase was in a political speech but certainly is a color framed on the concept of our you better off now than four years later or four years ago? guest: we always like and believe in historical perspective when it comes to campaign. and what i will say on the podcast not to go back to like talking about the podcast but that is why i'm here. we have candidates who talked about their stories and how they are able to engage and build relationships in nonpartisan races or cross the aisle and talk to people or get people to move on an issue on a community issue that matters and is not just for selfish reasons but for communities to make a change,

whether that is like fly control in a city, engaging in issues that people did not even know existed about really changing people's minds about what needs to be done with government. that is what a good leader can do and what we are hoping for when good leaders run free office -- run for office. host: walter is in baltimore on the independent line. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to share with the caller just now that i agree with him, there has been a shift. the shift has gone from i would say racially motivated idiots to just straight up idiots. when you are poor and you support the rich getting a tax break, when you have to pay for it, you are an idiot but my problem is that this current situation with a caller you had who wanted to throw the murdoch

filth at joe biden with the treachery or whatever you want it to consider, i'll just say it as the idiot 45, he says things that he knew were false but the idiot quota accepted as true when all it did is now biden is the divider -- not him -- that he has rights, everybody else is wrong. the idiot quoted in america has blown up and i would bet them to not vote for me, vote for yourself and when you see it for voting for yourself, i don't mind your racial and sympathy towards me as a black man, but as your children as they used to say, they never cared about them or they would not cut school lunch programs. host: joe fuld, any comments? guest: i do think people have to

find personal motivation to get out and vote. the first part of what walter was saying was vote for yourself area first thing i would say is just vote. we still have low turnout in local elections, in midterm elections we have low turnout, so that i would say is important coming up right now in many states. people are already voting. make a plan, get out and vote, that is to me a really important thing and find that motivation. to get your friends and family to get out and vote and make sure you're looking all the way down the ballot. this is also one of the things we work on a lot which is getting people to vote not just at the top of the ticket but for the local races that people night -- might not see as important but are truly important in their lives. host: martin, this is less about the candidate and more about the voter, d.c. voting is a civic right and a responsibility? guest: absolutely, absolutely.

i try to encourage my family to continue to vote because politics growing up was something we talked about her on the table. anytime i hear somebody complain or have lots of enthusiasm about what is happening in our country, i asked, are you registered to vote and have you been a consistent voter? if you have not, you are sitting on the sidelines. if you are voter and trying to make a difference in the community by voting, i think absolutely it is everyone's responsibility to engage in this democracy in this country where so grateful to live in. host: how would you rate your track record in the campaign workshop, in terms of winning campaigns whether individuals or issues referendum items on the state and local level? guest: joe may have a better number, i have been training candidates and operatives for about 13 years now. first with the lgbtq victory

fund, any institute that help get folks elected to the public office to work at the victory project that helped get latinos elected to public office and i was at a national training organization. what i will say is i try to keep track of all of it but there are a lot of them. we have a pretty good when record in that i think the way joe and i both engage in campaigns and advise candidates his all of the fundamentals we have been talking about. do you know why you run for office and doesn't matter to your community? are you running for the right reasons? do you know the top concerns for your issue and are you able to message that? and are you able to commit the time and put your feet to the pavement and knocked the doors and call the donors and get the folks to vote for you because the message that is beneficial to your entire community. host: joe fuld, how would you rate your track record? guest: i think it is good, our clients love the work we do. i think campaigns are won and lost on the fundamentals,

whether it is a big u.s. senate race or a small, local campaign. it is the basic issues and basic tactics of talking to voters, making politics relative to them, that matters, and i think we do that well. host: here's virginia calling from georgia, on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you, "washington journal," c-span, for taking my call. this is a comment in question for both people, the guests on the show. i ran for county commissioner and city council years ago and it was a learning experience of how people vote and do not vote and to they look at and what party they vote for. when anyone runs for any elected office talking about these topics of concern on environment, education, employment, health care, social

issues, these are hot topics that seem the candidates know what to say to get people to vote for them but once they get in office, i call it the whiz of oz syndrome where people see other glamour and the hard work of campaigning and then it comes when the residency gets into the castle and they see what it really is like in that elected office so there are still people hurting, hungry, homeless in this country that needs people in office and we will help them. my question is, what is your thoughts about campaign reform, campaign fund reform for people running for office? thanks for taking my call. host: we will start with joe fuld. guest: we have worked in lots of places with public financing, we have seen it work well and also worked in places where that does not exist. our view is one, i love all of

the questions and points she made. before you run for office, you want to make sure you are talking to elected officials to understand what the job is and what that will be like because really doing that casework, engaging with voters in solving their problems is the job of an elected official. that is so much so -- so much and often people think about him to campaign part and they need to think about the elected part and about doing that. so yeah. host: do you want to weigh in on that? guest: i commend you for running for office and more folks should but she is right. we need to hone in on how do we make running for public office accessible to everybody? because it should be. i don't know it was originally formulated that way if anyone has taken a history class but we should be really honing in on how do we make sure anybody who

wants to be a public servant has the ability to do that at the local level, state level, federal level, and campaign-finance reform helps individuals who do not come in with a plethora of resources or wealth or the ability to take time off work, to run for public office and really serve the public, because some offices frankly either do not pay or do not pay a lot to support your family, to support the life you want to live as a public servant. i think there is some gem of true theft we need to be thinking about how we make running for public office as accessible as possible to every citizen that wants to be a public servant. the podcast helps folks think about and learn what it takes to run for office. host: let's get one more quick question. democrats line, columbus, ohio, can you are on. caller: good morning. my main thing is i'm a marine corps veteran and what is bothering me today is the main point of what is going on this

year that is being missed. everyone is talking about the economy, some any's are causing the economy to go down and it is not president biden. the businessman lost a lot of money during the crisis with covid, they are trying to get their money back. by doing so, they are raising the prices astronomically when as everyone understands the consequences, you hear people talk about the elections and electedwhy don't they collect te businessman that fights the wars? host: we let our guests have a final word. guest: thank you for your service. i think you are correct in that. there are a lot of issues important to voters across the country. i think if you are thinking about running for office you need to know what those issues are for the community you are running in.

we have to go back to the fundamentals and the how to win an election podcast. how can you respond to a voter like the caller that called in about the issues that are most prevalent to them? to ensure you are not bringing what is only important to you and your personal vested interest in running for office. you are really understanding this is a job that is a public servant job and you are serving the neighbors, the voters, the communities that your district encompasses. host: the last word or comment. guest: get out and vote. elections are here, now. make your voice heard. it is really important that all the callers get out and vote and make theirpion known. host: your podcast can be found anywhere. guest: anywhere you get your podcast. how to win a campaign.

you can find it. host: joanne martin, thank you -- joe and martin, thank you for being with us on washington journal. that will do it for the program this morning. thank you for being here this morning. we appreciated the calls and comments and we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 eastern because we will be here as well. have a good weekend. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] ♪ >> c-span's campaign coverage of the midterm elections continues with candidate debates from around the country. beginning tonight at 8:00 p.m.,

tom malinowski seeks a third term as he faces his republican challenger tom keene. 9:15 p.m., from minnesota, angie craig debates republican tyler kistner. the candidate for maryland governor debate at 10:30 p.m. in virginia, beginning at 11:30 p.m., elaine luria faces republican challenger jen kagan. don't miss a single moment on c-span. take us with you on the go with c-span now, our free mobile video app. be sure to visit c-span.org/ campaign2022, your website for all election coverage on demand. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> washington journal every day we take your calls live on the air on the news of the day and

discuss policy issues that impact you. coming up sunday morning, georgetown university's matthew crane inc. discusses the nuclear threat posed by russia and nato's efforts to support ukraine. university of virginia mill's hitter presidential recordings program chair mark silverstone talks about the 16th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis -- 60th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis. sunday morning on c-span, on c-span now. join the discussion with phone calls, facook comments, text and tweets. >> sunday on cue and day, northeastern university margaret burnham shares "my hands now known," examining racial violence by blacks in the south during era the legal system that supported. >> it is not a southern phenomenon but we are focusing on the south. that is where the violence was

concentrated. that is where folks were disenfranchised. we have a real ability to affect their political reality because they had no jurors, no judges, no sheriffs, no police officers. it completely exposed not only the violence of law enforcement and at the hands of bus drivers and others in positions of authority who felt their role was to enforce jim crow ls. >> margaret burnham with her book sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q and day. you can -- q&a. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are fundedy