get in. the challenge is and that's wrong. need another, you need hundreds and thousands of more agents to be hired but we watch an administration and a democrat control the think you need more irs agents. i think our priorities are wrong, and come january our priorities will change and will bring common sense not just to secure our border but actually make an economy that a stronger, a government that's accountable, and a future that's built on freedom. thank you all very much. appreciate your time. >> could you talk about the chinese protesters?

c-span is your unfiltered view of government. >> you think this is just a community center? it is way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with a thousand community centers so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. the government is operating under a continuing resolution. up until this deadline we know

lawmakers are hard at work figuring out at what level we should fund the government year? we have president biden's budget to work with. we see that both sides have been entrenched in their budget priorities and looking to see what happens on the 15th because of the deal is not reached to further the continuing resolution, we will face a government shutdown. the conversation is whether us. cap funding measure will kick the can to the following week inching up against the holiday deadline. or perhaps another continuing resolution. maintaining the spending levels

into the new congress but hopefully there is a budget deal in the works. i would like to remain optimistic, but there can be a bipartisan agreement reached. all eyes are on the 16th and congress has their work cut out for them. host: both sides have priorities when it came to this. what are their priorities as they approach this? guest: the biggest issues we are looking at right now are pandemic relief, additional spending for the war in ukraine, funding for disasters and emergency expenses. those are the priorities of the democratic party. that has bipartisan support for this important in ukraine.

there are some tax extenders for the republican party. that is an area that republicans would like to see addressed in some of the conversations that we have seen. we need additional conversations about looking at expanding the child tax credit. those are part of the discussion , the national defense reauthorization act. while it is not part of this continuing resolution it is a big policy issue for both parties. i think we have had 61 consecutive years of it being passed before january 1. if that is not also passed, that

would be a significant signal that something isn't working. we are hopeful that both sides can come together because they are priorities of both sides. host: our guesses with us until 9:30, if you would like to ask about these priorities about debt and funding levels you can give us a call at (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents and if you would like to text (202) 748-8003. where does covid follow? guest: about 9 billion is being discussed about the expense pandemic relief. democrats are supportive of and

republicans are a bit wary of increasing pandemic support given the fact that we are seeing the effects of seeing 5 trillion pumped into the economy as a result of pandemic support over the past year. we are feeling the inflationary concerns and i think there's a lot to be said about taking stock of our fiscal outlook. we are averaging trillion dollar deficits each year. the debt is only increasing. the next congress will have to face the debt limit. you realize quickly these host of economic issues are interrelated and they can't be dealt with in silos.

it is a holistic picture we have to paint for our leaders to address. host: the political topic that inflation has become. not only as a political topic, but emotional one. guest: is something americans feels so personally. whether you are buying school supplies or picking up groceries. we know it will take a while for the inflationary concerns to dissipate. we saw records breaking each month over the past year and we will not see changes overnight even as the fed steps in and increases rates and tries to contain the demand in the economy. the changes are incremental,

marginal. host: rachel snyderman joining us. our first call is from mike, a republican. go ahead with your question or comment. caller: if the republicans decided not to fund the government, will this have any effect on the january 6 committee or the committee investigating tax returns? what is the chance of extending the child tax credit? guest: i am glad that you asked about the child tax credit because this is an issue that is near and dear to many american families as they are trying to make ends meet and there's a lot of confusion. it was expanded in 2017 and expanded under the american rescue plan but that temporary

expansion for 2000 was a tax credit for families, it expired after 2021. lawmakers are deliberating whether or not the american rescue plans version of the eitc will be expanded this year are permanently expanded. i would posit that this is something that will be taken up by the next congress. we know that the lame-duck session has a lot of priorities that need to get address. government spending and some of these other policies we discussed. where the child tax credit false in that list of priorities, different members are working on it. i believe it remains high on the

priority list but whether or not they reach consensus on that in the coming weeks is yet to be seen. i am confident that this is something that is going to remain front and center on policymakers minds in the coming congress. host: from washington, we have dori on the independent line. caller: caller: how much money has been are owed were taken from social security and other retirement funds? when are they going to start paying it back and what interest can people expect? guest: that's a great question. it's important to talk about the broader picture. right now, the debt is $1.4

trillion. we know this debt will only be increasing with the status quo while lessees we have in place. that's growing as a result of social security, rising health care costs that far reflecting -- reflecting programs like medicare. i think we need to have a discussion in this country -- we know that social security must be able to meet the needs of its beneficiaries and we need to start thinking about some ways to fix the program. for example, in the year 2034, we are already aware that we don't make smart fiscal decisions now to ensure the benefits are there, benefits

will be cut by almost a quarter. due to the physical issues we know of now, they are not on known like the global pandemic that we are faced with. these are fiscal concerns that policymakers are well aware of and americans want to make sure these programs are around and work for them when it comes time to make that choice to retire. you want to ensure these programs are going to be there when americans need them just as they plan their entire working lives and ensure that the funding can be there. hearing the voices like yourself and ensuring your policymakers are well aware of your concerns is so critical because that's how we ensure that.

even though these problems are a few years away or a decade away, they should be top of the priority list for policymakers. host: let's remind people what the debt ceiling is. guest: the debt ceiling or debt limit, the fiscal cliff as we have heard of is the statutory limit the treasury department is up against to issue bonds to be able to pay our debt. congress passed a spending bill and through the appropriations process, and to be able to pay our bills on time, the treasury department needs to issue that. the reason we have to issue debt is because historically, we spend more than we bring in so to finance that, we need to borrow. the ability to borrow is a

statutory authority the treasury department has but the amount the department is able to borrow is set by congress. it's called the power of the person it dates back to the early 20th century. it's this philosophy of how we ensure that the government is acting in the best interest of the taxpayer in a fiscally responsible manner. throughout history, we've seen after world wars were different spending priorities, the debt limit being raised were suspended many times throughout history on the republican and democratic presidents and to be able to fund, do be able to ensure that the credit of the united states is still good.

it's this past decade where we seen the debt limit really be used increasingly as a political tool, depending when parties priorities demand spending cuts and response for raising the debt limit, etc. we know by looking at other countries that we don't want to face default because there would be catastrophic results if we don't choose to pay our debt in full. the united states in modern times has never reach that because we have always found some way to raise the debt limit or suspend it but the political brinksmanship has certainly come at a cost. host: the white house press secretary was asked about this

yesterday. [video clip] >> we seen republicans using this as leverage to get their agenda items. >> how important is the priority of the president to raise the debt limit? >> we've been clear about this when it comes to the debt ceiling, it should not be used for never be a matter of political brinksmanship, we've been clear about that and congressional republicans pass this with the last president three times. they passed a debt ceiling three times so there is no reason why this should not be happening this time around stop congress needs to take the responsibility once again to address the debt ceiling before it expires. and they need to act sooner rather than later. now that congress is back, we believe there will be more of an

urgency to get this done. this is about every kind of me and it would be better for the economy. the president will meet with leadership from both the house and the senate, democratic and republican leadership, and certainly will be having these conversations. host: that was yesterday at the white house. what do you think about what faces the president as he tries to deal with roadsides? guest: the press secretary has faced this battle before. i agree that it is not a successful bargaining chip to be using as a means to restore fiscal responsibility or to have these discussions in its current form.

we've seen over the past decade that the debt limit has had to be raised were suspended and by those parties in order to pay for the obligations incurred by the policy decisions implemented by both parties. the point that i would drive home is when we are thinking about this, families raised the debt limit in the united states. it would not only put us on the brink of potential default but failing to raise the debt limit would be a purely political decision. it differentiates us from other countries when faced with potential default. that's because they didn't have access to capital markets. the united states has that cap ability and that capacity to manage their debt and pay our bills in full and on time. if we didn't, we wouldn't

because of the political choice not to and that's something that's different for americans. we scratch our heads and say why don't we do this? that differentiates our economy. the other point is it's very clear regardless of which party is in power in congress or the white house, we need to think about reforming the debt limit process and we had working on that with members of both sides. how can we bring back the conversations on fiscal responsibility. it needs to be about encouraging

debate and bipartisan consensus and what about the fiscal policies we want to pass? at the bipartisan policy center, this is an issue we spent a lot of time working on earlier this calendar year was the responsible budgeting act which was suggested by representatives peters and arrington to look for a way to think about debt limit reform. brinksmanship and defaulter on the table and we need to think about how we need to use the debt limit process to have this conversation about fiscal responsibility and prudent management.

this would allow the president to be able to notify congress of the intent to raise the debt limit if we were in a -- were within a few days of reaching the debt limit and it would permit congress to address the debt limit when it passes the current budget resolution each spring. we are obligated to do that so they bipartisan bill could gain further traction in the next congress and that's a way we could rethink the future of the debt limit so it's not used as this political bargaining chip and upholding our national and international reputation when it comes to the strength of the u.s. dollar with our currency. host: let's hear some vivian in tennessee, democrats line. caller: how are you all doing? i miss the part about the debt

limit will stop why do we have to raise it? people have worked all their lives for their money and the people is paying for all of this. who is the head of raising the debt limit, explain that to us? and another thing about social security. they say it's going to be defunded. how is that? people are dying and their money is left behind to explain what do you will do with that money? host: let's start with what's been said about what republicans want to do with social security versus how it's currently fashioned? guest: it's an excellent question. we think about social security reform and it's an important thing we discussed, the solvency

crisis. given current inflationary concerns, the fact that each year the trustees of the social security and medicare programs really sit down and calculate what the future of the solvency of the trust funds look like. it's important we do talk about reform. whether or not is thinking about changes to the payroll tax rate or making sure that benefits are better targeted to lower and moderate income households so higher income households are not receiving social security benefits that they frankly might not need given their financial security. similarly, thinking about

marginal changes to the retirement age. these things are all options to be thinking about that are not just one party. these are reforms that a lot of american taxpayers are concerned about and even if we make changes at the margin right now, we could see the solvency of the program improved in the very near term so we wouldn't be faced with this fear of the program not being able to reach intended recipients because we know so many americans rely on social security as their means of income in retirement. these are certainly the questions we are thinking about that lawmakers are hard-pressed to consider but some are doing so in the near term. host: from florida, republican line, jim, hello. caller: good morning, i've got

three questions but you did not answer the woman from washington state regarding how much money has been withdrawn or lent out of the social security trust fund to the u.s. treasury? i don't know if that's the case. i know that's not really allowed but you didn't answer the question. that's number one. we have a $31 trillion debt for your comments and if we have a $12 trillion u.s. gdp, is it not unsustainable? the federal reserve has increased the cost of capital in the last year, even half a year by three or four percentage

points and they are not done. when the u.s. treasury borrows, they have to borrow at market rates even though it's a riskless rate of return. the debt is unsustainable and that's my question and statement. secondly, what if the u.s. dollar is no longer the world reserve currency? what happens then? think about the implications of that and the chinese especially in the indians are doing everything they can to find in alternative to the u.s. dollar as the reserve currency in the world capital markets. if that goes away, we are in deep doodoo. caller: host: i will leave it there because you put out a lot so let's start with the $31 trillion figure. guest: the point you drive home

are ones that we are thinking about. it keeps me up at night. it's not only the fact that our debt is the backbone of our economy but financing that debt will only increase when there is increased cost of borrowings and it's a great concern that within our lifetime, paying interest on her debt alone is projected to be the largest government program. it will out pace what we are allocating to other parties like health care and social security, education. that is a pretty monumental statistic. just being able to service our debt will be the largest budget priority by the year 2025 if we choose to do nothing.

that's something that i think we need to draw attention to and the fact that that debt will not just go away. this is something our children and their children will be inheriting. there are long-term fiscal consequences of the decisions we are making today or the decisions we choose not to make today. to answer your other point on the status of the u.s. dollar as the reserve currency, this is one of the primary concerns as to why it's so important that the parties rally together and address the debt limit in a bipartisan manner or reforming the process. we really cannot envision a world economy where the dollar is not the reserve currency. we know that treasury securities are the safest financial assets to invest in in the world.

the global trade system and markets as we know them today depend on the u.s. dollar because of the full facing credit. they know that creditors know that they will be repaid. we haven't faced an event where they haven't in modern history. that is certainly a top concern and one where that's why the issues and concerns you have are points that i urge you to drive home to your local lawmakers and your representatives in congress as to why it isn't as successful bargaining chip in the political discussions that we are seeing now. we need to be thinking about ways we can address the debt

limit in a productive manner and realizing that they currency system is not working and there are reform options on the table that we can utilize or pass legislation that can help us take off these concerns of the dollar not being the reserve currency for the risk of default on capital markets because we have seen that in the past decade, the threat of a potential u.s. default has downgraded our sovereign debt rating. it has increased borrowing cost for taxpayers. these are issues that affect all americans, the history around the debt limit or the mechanics of how government can pay its bills if we weren't to pass that

point are complicated and they are complicated be because of the fiscal mechanics but also because we've never in a situation in modern times when we had to deal with that. either the legal capacity of the treasury department to figure out what payments they can make and to whom and how, but also technically. we really don't know and haven't been in a situation like that. a lot of it goes back to there is great concern that if we were to default on our debt, it would bring into question, the role of the west dollar as a global reserve currency so that something we want to maintain and it's important that lawmakers address the debt limit in a productive manner. host: rachel snyderman is joining us from the bipartisan policy center.

this is john in illinois, democrats line. caller: good morning. i wanted to talk about balancing the budget. you tossed around some ideas like raising the age of retirement when you can get social security or other means testing. i haven't heard mentioned, why not just raise the tax limit from $150,000 to $400,000 and i think that would help solve the solvency of social security. what do you think? guest: i think you are talking about the tax that employers and employees pay that is levied on their payroll. it's the percentage that each employer and employee pays. that is certainly an option that i think could gain traction in

congress. just by raising the percentage a few percentage points, anywhere from a few percentage points greater would help address these solvency issues and even within the near term. it could help curb some of the fears we are facing benefits could be cut by a quarter and a decade across-the-board. i think there is an option and i would love to see some traction on as well. as you note, $140,000 of taxes

has been levied on additional income at that limit. i think that is an opportunity for parties to come together and agree on a potential path forward that could help address a part of the solvency. host: when it comes to the debt ceiling, what is the best avenue for reform and one is the best way to change it from its current form? guest: in regards to the debt limit, there is a bill that was introduced in congress called the responsible bill leveraging act which would keep the debt limit but bring it back to a point where we can utilize the debt limit to have these discussions. it would do you risk the debt limit and put to bed the risk of

potential default. i would encourage the president to be able to spend the debt limit and he or she would have to provide a kind of fiscal accountability plan, away to explain how the government can get its fiscal house in order. it would also allow congress -- they would either have to go to disapprove of that measure and then it would allow congress the power to address the debt limit with their current budget resolutions. it would really allow congress -- it would tie the debt limit, it would go more hand in how

congress debates is spending priorities. they are related. we have to pay the bills do for the spending policies and priorities we have in this congress and all questions -- and all congresses need to redouble their priorities and make sure they are maintaining and having discussions about our countries fiscal management and priorities. host: let's hear from jerry in new jersey, republican line. caller: hello? good morning. i am just curious -- will this increase our inflation that supposed to be transitory? is inflation going to go up?

the $150 billion for covid in the 91 billion dollars for ukraine, does anybody know where almost that $200 billion went in the next $50 billion we will give ukraine? there's been no audit about any of it. wouldn't that 200 billion help us if they could find out where it all went? host: thank you. guest: phrase to hear another new jersey native calling in. inflation is an issue that's top of mind with the colder months upon us and the holidays are well underway. we are all thinking about what the year end needs are with the next calendar year upon us. it's hard to predict. we've seen that over the past year and a half.

there was a lot of talk about whether or not inflation is transitory and we are kind of in this post-pandemic economic boom in consumer demand was outstripping the supply. the supply chain shortages were a result and we saw that represented in the continual price increases we felt not only in energy and food but new-car car sales and travel and a whole host -- and medical supplies as well, housing additionally. i think it's hard to determine what the future of inflation looks like and i would say the -- we know the fed is using

their monetary policy power by stepping in and thinking about -- and raising interest rates. we are seeing the reflection of that in the economy. we saw inflation curve slightly this past month. we saw a little bit of that tapering so inflation, many of us have never felt this for decades. seeing that it took as a year and a half in this post-pandemic boom to see inflation grow to what it's be come, it will take time for it to taper off and realize this new normal and get back to a state where we are not seeing 8% jumps in prices each

month. we're looking at the relationship between our government spending priorities. the result of pumping and covid relief funding that americans needed in financial and economic shock. it was created by the pandemic that we didn't anticipate. no one knew the extent to it that economic challenge would be. we are looking at the repercussions of that pandemic and fiscal responsibility is needed in the height of the pandemic. it's tricky to understand an

estimate where inflation goes from me here. it will be front and center on america's minds. policymakers will continually be pressed to respond. host: she is a senior associate director of

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