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with the holiday season upon us, americans' minds are looking to close out 2022. joe biden is avoiding a disastrous railroad strike and lawmakers are considering economic measures in the lame-duck session of congress. our question is around your personal financial situation. will you spend more money this december? or is your money going to gas and groceries? what is your view of the u.s. economy and your personal financial situation? we open up special lines this morning. if you are optimistic about the u.s. economy and your financial situation, your number is going to be (202)-748-8000. if you are pessimistic about the u.s. economy and your personal financial situation, your number is going to be (202)-748-8001. if you are not good or bad, your

number is (202)-748-8002. you can always text us at (202)-748-8003. and we are always reading on social media on facebook at facebook.com/c-span, on twitter @cspanwj and instagram @cspanwj. as we close out 2022, our question is whether your financial situation is getting better or worse. where are you right now and where do see the u.s. economy? all this comes as the november jobs report came out and president biden came out yesterday to talk about that job report and where the economy sits right now. [video clip] pres biden.: our economy continues to grow.

the gdp is up more than previously thought. we continue to create lots of jobs and today, we learn the economy added 263,000 jobs in november. we have now created 10.5 million jobs since i took office. more than any administration in history at this point in a presidency. 750,000 of them are manufacturing jobs made in america. unemployment remains near an all-time 50 year low, 3.7%. and wages for working families the last couple of months have gone up, up. these wage increases are larger than any increase in inflation during that same time. so, we are in a position where things are moving. they are moving in the right direction. host: let's look at what happened on that jobs report

president biden was talking about. cnn had a few more sentences to say about that. here is what cnn had to say. "the u.s. economy added 263,000 jobs in november, defying aggressive action from the fed to cool the economy and bring down decades high inflation. the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%, according to the labor department, which released the latest monthly snapshot friday morning. economists surveyed had expected the pace of hiring to slow to only 200,000 in november and the unemployment to stay flat at 3.7%. some of the largest monthly gains were in the leisure and hospitality sector as well as health care. the hot jobs report also showed an unexpected spike in average hourly earnings, another knock

against the fed's efforts to rein in inflation. the federal bank has expressed concerns about rising wages keeping inflation elevated." we want to know where you sit in the economy. are you optimistic things are going to get better going into 2023? are you pessimistic? if you are optimistic, we want to hear from you at (202)-748-8000. if you are pessimistic, your number is (202)-748-8001. and if you are neutral, if you think things are normal, i want to hear from you at (202)-748-8002. now, some people say that jobs report is going to hurt the economy. here is what "the washington post" wrote about the jobs report. "u.s. businesses are creating jobs at a rapid clip but the

pool of workers they can hire keeps shrinking. that is the key take away from the jobs report. it is not an encouraging one for the federal reserve. the labor shortfall has troubled employers since the pandemic became even more acute last month, as more americans dropped out of the workforce. wages jumped the most in nearly a year as firms compete to hire talent. from the fed's point of view, all that extra cash means more spending power which leads to more inflation. the u.s. central bank will likely decide it needs to hit the brakes even harder." we have about 4 million workers behind. "the fed cannot force people to come to the workforce. all they can do is weaken the economy to rebalance things."

where are you sitting when it comes to the economy? are you looking for a job? are you looking for a better job? we want to know what is going on in your life. let's start with jim calling from highland park, new jersey. caller: good morning to you and to everybody. i believe the economy will eventually turn around. host: meaning the economy is going to get better or worse? caller: better. i am optimistic. host: what makes you think that? caller: we have seen the downturn. now we are going to see the upturn in the economy. that is my perspective on the economy. host: how are you doing financially? do you expect at the end of the year you will be spending more money as the holiday season gets closer?

or do you see yourself cutting back at the end of the year? caller: i'm sorry. say that again? host: do you see yourself spending more money as we get with the holiday season or having to cut back because of inflation and other issues? caller: i am optimistic to -- [ laughs] -- to a fault. host: don says he is pessimistic. good morning. caller: morning. i am retired and on a fixed income and the prices are just outrageous. i am getting poorer and poorer.

i do not see shit getting better any soon. host: who do you blame for the economy? is it state lawmakers? congress? president biden? the pandemic? whose fault is it the economy seems to be getting worse for you? caller: i think it is when they made their attack on the oil and gas industry. it just caused gas prices to skyrocket. two years ago, the day i buried my wife, gas was $2.13 here. within seven or eight months it was up to $5.00, $6.50.

it is terrible. the prices in the grocery store, they want $7 or $8 for a pound of bacon. they jacked my rent up. if something does not turn around really quick, i am going to be homeless. i am 75 years old. host: has it helped you at all that gas prices are going back down as we get toward the end of the year? caller: negligible. the cheapest i can find gas is $ 3.90. it has come down quite a ways but for most of the time biden has been in office, it was $6.50 a gallon. host: what are you going to do? what can you do?

is there something you can do to make your personal financial situation better? caller: well, i am trying to find a part-time gig. like, i am trying to get a guard card to be a security guard somewhere to work 20, 25 hours a week. but i am 75. they will tell you yeah, yeah, we will give you a job. when they see how old i am it will be a different story. host: all right. don brought up the gas prices around the united states and aaa put out a report yesterday with the current gas prices. right now in the united states, a gallon of regular gas is going at $3.41. this comes after the highest recorded average price came

earlier this year in june with the highest for a regular gallon at $5.01. this was the average nationwide. there were places it was higher or lower, but since june, it has dropped since the highest it has ever been to what we have today at $3.41. does the dropping gas prices helping your economic situation? let's talk to mary calling from fort washington, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. no, the gas over here in maryland is $3.29. it was $2. to me it is just a ploy to keep the gas prices high. remember in the 1970's when there was a gas shortage and we

lined up with our last names so the prices could hit over $2? i am neutral right now because i want to tell people the president is not responsible for the gas prices. congress and the oil companies are. we do not have a congress that cares about us. i feel both are the same at times. also, if we do not get racism out of the world and the country, nothing is going to change. the powers that we have right now are using racism to the max to keep everybody down, not just people of color. they will shoot their own foot to keep the power. that is our problem. we are sending a message to the corporations that we like everything because we are not resisting. and the media is pretending as if we are happy to be spending money. we are spending a lot of money. do you know why?

we are trying to keep up with prices so we do not have to shop the next month because prices are going to be double. host: you said earlier the president is not responsible for gas prices. the president and congress are responsible for the economy though. what would you say to the people saying the economy is getting worse, we blame the president and congress? are they putting blame in the right place? caller: no, they need to do their homework. you have a smartphone, use it. you will see who they vote for, who their donors are. the president, what is he going to do? go to the gas companies and stand there with a gun? no. they go by who is making the profit. which oil country is making the profit? or who has the sanctions that are not going to release the

oil? people need to do their homework. get the information, it is out there. do not look for misinformation. if you want to change everything, you have got to change your attitude, how you think about life. i do not buy a whole tank of gas. i am retired. i can stay home. i am a widow right now. i have a disabled child. financially, i am ok thanks to my lovely husband. host: let's talk to sam calling from nebraska. sam is pessimistic about the economy. good morning. caller: morning. host: go ahead. caller: i am definitely pessimistic. you want to talk about people shopping for christmas, i hope nobody shops for christmas. if you want to talk about where our money is heading, it is in the central banking system who

owns the people who shop for christmas. if we want to bring this country back, stop spending money. that makes no sense. you want to know who your enemy is? look at the central banking system. you want to talk about where oil is coming from, it should be coming from our own shores. that is the central bank. they are using that to push money throughout the world and to destroy economies, destroy countries. everyone wants to act like it is our president's problem or congress' problem. it is the people who control the dollar. get back to the gold standard. host: doesn't the president and congress have some control over the central bank? caller: to an effect. jfk said he was going to print his own money and do away with the central banking system. they shot him. every president since then has

been scared of the oil companies. it has always been that way. nobody wants to talk about free energy, they want to talk about oil. we have the ability to produce our own oil but we are not. you look at russia or germany and the u.k. everybody is dependent on another country for oil. why does that make sense? host: you started off by saying people should not spend money over christmas. are you not going to celebrate any holidays between now and new year's eve? caller: no, not a chance. i am not spending a dollar i do not have to spend. put it in the bank. you want to take on the 1%? stop spending money every time they tell you, december 25 is here. spend your money. look at the tax purposes began christmas. if anybody had common sense to look up the stuff, they would not be shopping for christmas either. host: let's talk to fred calling

from perry, ohio. fred is also pessimistic about the u.s. economy. good morning. caller: good morning. actually, if i blame anybody, i blame my generation. i am a baby boomer and i walked into a prosperous country. when you are getting raised by the greatest generation you do not think they are, but when i look at my own, i think they are. for me, it is not bad. i am on my way out. i think -- if i could include popular culture -- "the grapes of wrath." they drove out to california. we are promising a vehicle nobody can afford. henry ford put us on the road and we are going for cars

everyone admits costs $60,000 right now. the common people are not going to have things. for myself, i am ashamed. i will be gone when it really hit. but what i left the kids, i feel real bad about. host: let's go to kevin calling from border town, new jersey. good morning. can you hear me? caller: i am really neutral about the economy. it is going to go up, it is going to go down. i am more concerned with the fed chair raising interest rates. i did not cause the economy to have these problems, but my credit cards are getting hit. i have to, so to speak, save the

economy by raising interest rates on my student loan and everything. why am i being punished? the economy is going to be what it is. it is not the president's fault. i don't know what the congress or federal government can do but somebody needs to handle these companies that are doing the price gouging and raising the prices on all the staples of things that we need. host: kevin, with the increases in the interest rate on your credit card, do you think you will be using them less between now and the end of the year? or will you have to use them no matter what? caller: absolutely less. i am trying to get it paid off so i can at least drop one of them. it is not going to change. they are going to do this in the future. they are going to raise interest rates in the future and continue

to -- i call it, gouging the american people. host: federal reserve chair jerome powell addressed the fed's plans for future rate increases on wednesday. here is a portion of what he said. [video clip] chair powell: monetary policy affects the economy and the full effects of the rapid tightening are yet to be felt. it makes sense to moderate the pace of rate increases as we approach the level of restraint sufficient to bring inflation down. the time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as december. given our progress in tightening policy, the timing is far less significant than the question of how much we will have to raise and the length of time to hold policy as a restricted level. it is likely restoring price

stability will require holding for quite some time. i will close by saying we will stay the course until the job is done. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about what they think the u.s. economy is doing and their personal financial situation. here is one tweet that says, two weeks ago i paid $2.99 for ahead of romaine lettuce. i do not think it is going to get better. i blame the billionaires controlling the government. a text says, $5, $6 a gallon. we are told this is winter blend. what a waste. another text says, my investments took a hit.

$145 more on expenses. however, my wife and i both got raises. my wife works from home for the past two years. no gas. gas here is $2.75. i do not blame president biden for inflation, it is the pandemic. another text says, people complain about gas prices. let's go to the oil companies making record profits by cutting production that are causing a rise in demand. greedy. one last text says, if the economy is so great, why am i getting asked for change from people sitting on the streets. the less fortunate are empty. credit card debt is the only thing keeping people afloat. we want to know what your opinion is -- what your view is of the u.s. economy and what is your opinion about your personal financial situation?

remember, if you are optimistic about either the economy or your financial situation, your number is going to be (202)-748-8000. if you are pessimistic about the u.s. economy and/or your financial situation, your number is (202)-748-8001. if you are neutral things are going ok, your number is (202)-748-8002. we love to get texts, so you can always text us at (202)-748-8003 . let's go back to the phone lines and let's start with keith calling from fargo, north dakota. he says he is pessimistic. good morning. caller: good morning. i am pessimistic because i know what is going on. back in the late 1980's, my uncle arlo was drilling oil out

in colorado and they were getting gushers. they were looking for uranium instead after they capped. either way they were making money. they do not care about the small man who has to try to buy a house and afford gas for going to work. they are just looking out for themselves and i am tired of it. host: what should be done? is there anything the government should be doing, whether local, state or national? something they should be doing to turn this economy around? caller: for one, they ought to investigate the oil companies because they are ripping us off. we need to go to work. we do not need to be sitting at home and getting all kinds of benefits for sitting at home.

we need work. we need gas. we need to get around. host: doesn't our capitalistic system mean oil companies should be able to sell their product at whatever price the market will bear? caller: not when we are having our bad economy times. they need to look out for us. host: ok. let's talk to mark calling for massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. host: go ahead. caller: i am optimistic. i have been listening to the last few calls and taken notes. i agree with keith, the last caller, that the government and

companies do not care about the small man. obviously, people with the most money are going to have the most power in any society. but all in all, the jobs reports have been good in massachusetts. we have always had a strong economy going back to when we came here from france in the 1800s. there was always a lot of wealth in boston. my concerns are with the government. the national debt, increasingly growing, i have been talking about it to people for 30 years or more. nobody seems to take it serious. in the 1990's, kind of agreeing

with keith. it was both parties, the dems and the republicans -- i am an independent -- that sent our jobs to china. we are all worried about china, china, china. we made china wealthy. my other concern is term limits for congress. i know the insiders say, oh, these elections -- no, they are not sufficient because they have the power to supersede. we have congresspeople and senators that have served 30, 40, 50 years. we need term limits. host: let's go to barbara calling from stevensville, maryland. barbara is pessimistic about the economy. good morning. caller: good morning. i called in as pessimistic, but

i have to say i am a mixed bag. i am optimistic by nature and i am neutral because we are fortunate enough to be retirees and fortunate to have pensions. but i believe -- and the pessimistic reason i called in -- i feel all of this inflation started with, and will continue, until we get to become energy independent. we really need, from the day that started, things were going awry. one reason i said -- my husband and i are neutral. christmas is not an issue because i shop all year. in my case, things were bought before prices got as high as they are now. also, we are looking at alternatives. going out to a nice restaurant can cost money.

but we go to our local vfw. we get camaraderie, a wonderful meal and dessert. looking at ways to save and make it be a neutral issue for us. host: all right. "the washington post" has a story that says inflation is actually losing its grip on the united states. i want to bring to you what "the washington post" says is going on. here's what the post says. the price of gasoline is dropping like a rock. chicken wings are a bargain. and retailers drowning in excess inventory are looking to make a deal. after more than a year of high inflation, many consumers are finally starting to catch a break. even apartment rent and car prices, two items that hammered budgets, are no longer spiraling out of control. global supply chains are finally

operating normally as more consumers spend more on in-person services like restaurants and less on goods, like furniture and computers that come from an ocean away. the cost of sending a 40 foot container from china to the u.s. is $1935, down more than 90% from the september 2021 peak of $20,586. the moderation in inflation is just beginning to appear in government statistics. in october, the federal reserve's price gauge, the expenditure index, posted the smallest monthly increase since september of last year. it is up 6% over the past 12 months. the better-known consumer price index is rising at an annual rate of 7.7%, down from 9.1% in june.

according to "the washington post," inflation is easing. it is easier to find bargains right now. gas prices are going down. if you believe this story, things should be looking up. mary is calling from nevada and is optimistic about the economy. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the economy is doing better than the rest of the global economy. our inflation -- turkiye, they have something like 80% inflation. 6%, 8%, 7% inflation -- in 1990, we had 11% inflation. i do not like it either. i am retired and living on social security which i hope

they do not get rid of. but according to their commitment to america, they will. the president can only do so much. 43 politicians voted against the negotiations for the railroad. he cannot shut that down because we would have nothing. we would have no water delivered. there is nothing that can replace the railroad system. he is going to try to get them sick days and they are deserving of it, but it is greed. i do not know that term limits are going to help. you have to look at how the senators and congresspeople in your state vote. you have got to watch what they do. they do not want to give student loan forgiveness to the kids, but marjorie taylor greene got $183,000 forgiven of ppe while trump was in office. pence's brother got $80,000

forgiven. rogers of texas got $1.3 million forgiven. they are getting money. the lobbyists, the corporations. please take the time to go on taxtherich.com. there is a 15, 20 minute video you can watch that makes things crystal-clear. host: kelly is calling from appleton, wisconsin. good morning. caller: hi. how are you today? host: i am doing great. go ahead. caller: i am trying to be positive about this. we took our family out yesterday and the cost of a hamburger was $12. i am not too sure about prices going down in that aspect.

going out to eat is something we cannot do anymore as a family of three. host: the price of the hamburger was $12. was that for three people? was it per person? where were you going? caller: hardee's, $12 per hamburger. host: wow. caller: yeah, that is something we cannot do anymore. another thing that i think it is not going down is the price of cigarettes. in wisconsin, we are paying $11 a pack. as a smoker, my addiction is not going away. that is something i have to keep paying for. last june, biden announced he was going to be banning menthol

cigarettes and lowering the levels of nicotine in cigarettes. he said it was part of his cancer moonshot. i am hoping he will follow through with that. for decades, big tobacco has manipulated the market with products and created -- they want to sustain the addiction to nicotine. i have been trying to find other options and i found a company, 22nd century group, they spent $120 million in studies to do this. they have a product now and i am trying to get that product in wisconsin so that i can quit my addiction. lung cancer is one of the biggest killers. i want biden to follow through so us people that are addicted can quit. host: what are you going to do with the cost of fast food going

up? the cost of cigarettes? what are you going to do at this point? do you have to get a second job? are you going to cut back? how are you going to be able to afford all of this? caller: being the breadwinner i have two disabled people in the home. i have to work overtime just to do the basics. yeah, we are not going to go out to eat anymore. i do baking from my home and the cost of butter has tripled. i used to pay $1.99 and now it is $4.50 here. it makes my home business challenging. we have had to cut back on things we enjoy. it has been very difficult, especially having a cigarette addiction. i am stressed out from all the other issues. i am trying to find solutions and i am not getting much help. host: who do you blame for the situation?

are you looking at your state and local government? are you looking at congress? are you looking at president joe biden? who is at fault? caller: i think congress and joe biden. they need to work together to figure out these costs. if they are going to create a program, this moonshot cancer program, follow through. help us little people. we have real problems we are trying to fix and if he wants to lower the nicotine content in cigarettes, do it so we can quit. that is extra money in my pocket to work out solutions. i don't want to be a smoker but, right now, it is difficult with the stress my life. host: earlier this week treasury secretary janet yellen appeared on "the late show" and she was asked by stephen colbert about the possibilities of an upcoming recession. here is what she said.

[video clip] stephen: disney, paramount, they have all done cuts in anticipation of recession. who is right? are we headed for recession? your counterpart in england says they are already in the recession and it will be the longest since the great war. sec. yellen: i think we can bring inflation down while maintaining a strong labor market. stephen: it is possible we are not heading toward recession? sec. yellen: i expect the pace of job creation to slow down. it is natural and expected when the unemployment is close to the lowest in 50 years. so, i think we can take the heat out of the economy, and remember, russia is conducted in brutal war against ukraine. that caused gas prices to spike, it has caused food prices to

spike, it is creating hardship all over the world. we are really trying to address those strains. that is another reason inflation went up and we are trying to hold that down. host: let's look at what some of our social media followers are saying about the u.s. economy and their personal financial situation. one tweet says, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer has never been more fitting the now. this economy is a sham and a scam as ushered in by reagan. we start right away it was unfair but the wealthy disagreed. another tweet says, inflation is still raging, especially in the energy sector. another tweet says, small business owner here. manufacturing of stuff and the transportation industry had the best year so far in 20 years.

another tweet says, i am not worried because i erased my debt a few years ago. i started saving and set aside enough for emergencies. i do not eat much, so i do not by many groceries. i normally go out to eat a few times a week. this tweet says, the gdp is performing at historical averages. grade is driving inflation -- greed is driving up inflation. one final tweet says, we have friends at snowbirding in florida. they are staying at an rv resort. it costs big bucks and they were on an 80 plus day waiting list. what crummy economy? we want to know your view of the u.s. economy and her personal financial situation. if you are optimistic, your number is (202)-748-8000. if you are pessimistic,

(202)-748-8001. if you are neutral, your number is (202)-748-8002. let's go back to the phone lines and talk to robin calling from seattle, washington. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm sorry. there was a weird dating. i am calling from -- there was a weird ding. i am calling from seattle. you will not find gas for less than, i mean, $4.80, $4.60. for me, i am completely dependent on things being able to get to my home and delivered to me. and i just go without most of

the time. my meds are among those things. meds that cannot be delivered for one reason or another. host: we lost robin. let's go today and calling from georgia -- let's go to dan calling from georgia. good morning. caller: i wanted to make some good, strong points. we live in a rural area in georgia and inflation is still skyrocketing. i do not understand how anybody could be optimistic. i can only speak for us. we have a small business and i have a painting business and it has cost me more money to do business the last two years under the new administration than it ever has. who was to blame?

i do not like to play the blame game, but biden and his government caused the situation. under the trump presidency it was not like this. when the democrats take control, they start throwing money here, throwing money there. the money the united states does not have and who pays the price for it? the american families. the small businesses. the people trying to buy under a certain amount of money. it is not right and inflation -- if anybody thinks inflation is coming down, you might need to come to rural georgia. host: if you had the ear of president joe biden in congress, what would you tell them they need to do to reduce inflation and make the economy better? caller: they need to work together. i voted -- i used devote

democrat until -- i vote for the best person that i think is going to do a better job for the american family. they need to work together. when they do not work together we pay the price. host: work together on what? what exactly should they be doing? caller: on everything. everything. they should come together and think about the american family. think about the people that put them in office. not the poor people, but everybody. just come together to help the american family. and small businesses that are trying to survive. gas is outrageous but gas is coming down in rural georgia. so, groceries and other necessities are going up every day.

eggs are $7.50 in rural georgia. if you do not have chickens, you will pay the price or do without. host: let's talk to gwen calling from detroit, michigan. good morning. caller: hi, jesse. i got a mixed bag. i am neutral -- i cannot say neutral because the interest rates and everything are going up. i am also optimistic that jobs are being created and things like that. to me, who i would blame is jerome powell of the federal reserve. we should have a question up here about jerome powell. is he doing the right thing? because he says that the people

are spending too much money, too many people have jobs. he wants to cut back on that and make it harder. he is trying to bring everything back to where it was without advancement, without the economy growing. the biden administration -- that guy said that it was better with trump. trump had jerome powell lower the interest rate to 0%. now that biden is in here jerome powell is raising the interest rate every chance he gets. that is where the problem is coming in. host: all right. well, on friday, president joe biden signed legislation to avert a strike between railroad workers and railroad companies. a strike that he says could have

made the economy even worse right before the holiday season. "the new york times" has a story and i want to bring that to you. president biden signed legislation on friday to impose a labor agreement between rail companies and workers who have been locked in a bitter dispute. averting a strike that could've upended the economy just before the holiday season. without freight rail, many u.s. industries which shut down, mr. biden said before signing the bill, adding many communities would not have received crucial resources during the strike. thanks to the bill congress passed, we spared the country that catastrophe. biden had called on congress earlier to intervene in the stalemate and avoid the work stoppage that could've caused the economy $2 billion a day. it was a significant move for mr. biden, a union backer who argued against intervention in railway labor disputes.

arguing it unfairly interferes with union bargaining costs. but he called for an extension in this case because the real strike could've devastated the economy. snapping supply chains for commodities like lumber,: chemicals, and delaying deliveries of automobiles and other goods. president biden signed legislation that averted a rail strike that could have crippled the economy as we going to the end of the year. what is the economy right now? what are you seeing? how do you think the u.s. economy is doing? how are your personal financial situations? mark is calling from new hampshire and mark is a pessimist about the u.s. economy and his financial situation. good morning. caller: good morning. i listen to c-span quite regularly and i find such distractions in the questions

and answers. right now, we are talking about the price of gas and our optimism or pessimism of the economy. yes, gases coming down, but not diesel, not home heating oil, not our electric bill. my electric bill has doubled the last year. my fuel oil consumption is the same my bill is twice what it was last year. does it really make a difference if i'm spending $.25 less on gasoline when i am paying $400 more per oil delivery and $200 more on electricity? where is the balance? where is the responsibility of people in charge and the media, as far as actually talking about home heating oil and electric cost instead of $.25 drop in gasoline? very disparaging. extremely terrible. host: all right. let's go to laura calling from florida. good morning.

caller: good morning, jesse. how are you? host: i am doing great. good morning, laura. caller: i want to say that i am neutral. i am really not an optimist or pessimist. i am a pragmatist. i am a realist. i know there are things beyond my control so i do not worry about them. i have been financially responsible all my life. i saved, i invested. even though the inflation and the economy are out of control it is not going to hurt us personally. but i see the impact it is having on others around me, especially the elderly and those who live in the middle class and lower class poverty lines. my statement is, you know, i really got to blame the people that voted this administration in. you got the government you voted for. he told you he was going to end

fossil fuels. he told you he was going to do the lockdowns and the mandates and all this other crazy stuff. we did not do that in florida. we are booming in florida. we can compare what i got a administration does versus what a bad administration does. as a woman said earlier, powell is printing money left and right and they are giving out all this money. people do not realize what is coming. we are on the cusp of hyperinflation. all this propaganda that comes from the media, it is state-controlled propaganda. elon musk is releasing all the twitter connections between the administration, the biden administration, and suppressing all the negative press about biden and his son and how they have been rich themselves by taking money from china and

ukraine. the war is not the issue, that is not what caused this. it is because this country is printing money like there's no tomorrow. there is going to be the biggest wealth grab we have ever seen in history. when the dollar, which is a fiat currency, nobody believes in its value anymore. hyperinflation is going to kick in and we are going to see people's 401(k)'s and ira's wiped out. this is done deliberately and intentionally. this is how you are going to force this country into a pure communist, socialist regime. host: chuck is calling from west virginia. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. first of all, when the woman from wisconsin said she had to pay $12 for a hamburger at hardee's, i had to look up that information. in front to me it says the most expensive hamburger is the two

thirds pound monster thick burger for $7.29. when she says she is paying $12, she is lying. and if she stick to a diet like that and cigarettes, she will end up in an early grave. having said that, last year i retired. i am 63. i retired after working for the west virginia bureau of public health 29 years. the most i was making was about $40,000. i am lower, middle income at best. but i worked for a long time and i got a good pension and between that and early social security, i am doing pretty well. what i am not doing as i am not idling my suv in the drive through line at starbucks waiting for a $6 cup of coffee. people are complaining about the

price of gas but they are driving like crazy. let's remember, look beyond your own borders. this is happening all over the world. inflation and gas prices are up all over the world, not just the united states. things are even worse in england than they are here. and the only reason gas prices went up was because the pandemic had shut everything down, nobody was on the roads. the interstates were virtually empty and that is my gas prices went down. when things started opening back up the oil companies and the grocery companies, you know, they are just recouping their losses the way any capitalist system would do. before you say this is all joe biden's fault, ask if it is joe biden's fault gasoline prices and inflation are up all over the world. it is not. host: all right. let's go to greg calling from

fayetteville, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. that last caller mentioned people sitting in starbucks waiting for their $6 coffee. but what is happening is people are putting that $6 coffee on their credit cards. according to the u.s. national debt, the average credit card debt for americans is over $7,000 per person. what is happening is people are paying the higher prices but they are putting them on their credit cards. and so, in a way, in a strange way, we need a recession. we have not had a true correction in many years. a recession would get things straightened out. i am optimistic in the sense that if we get a true recession,

it is going to correct some things. it is going to bring inflation down. i think that is what we need right now. a recession. host: let's talk to logo calling from washington, d.c. good morning. caller: good morning, mr. jesse. i am over 60 and i have gone through summer sessions. we have gone through some tight times, like now. it always comes back. for example, gas used to be $4, $5 in my area. and then it starts to drift back down. it is up and down and up and down. what i have learned over the years is the only thing i can really control is my consumption and how i spend the money i have. i know a lot of people who are on the margins anyway are

hurting even more because they are struggling to keep up with what they have to deal with. this too will pass and we have to be patient, do the best we can to get through it. that is all have got to say. host: let's talk to william calling from franklin, indiana. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you today? host: i am doing great. go ahead. caller: i usually don't call into things like this but it is not a great economy, at least in my area. my rent has doubled and i just lamented i have had my job for five years. i am a manager at a mcdonald's. my mcdonald's brings in about $5 million a year in sales. i make $17 an hour doing it and

when i started i made $9. it felt like five years ago when i was making $9 i could afford my rent, my bills and have play money. i make double that in my bank account is empty. i am struggling every facet of my life and it does not make sense why i make more money but i have none. it seems backwards. i understand -- my rent has doubled since i started renting and i used to have a $100 budget for my car gas. that is maybe a week's worth of gas. almost everything in my life has doubled. host: let's talk to anthony calling from brandon, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to add that i think most people that are watching the news are being distracted.

what really is happening is inflation, in this employment. i we supposed to believe that -- i responsibly that it is the government's fault? that he is like, government, help me please. big pharma, big industries -- so inflation, when you see prices going up, you are paying four dollars for a gallon of milk. it is not inflation. it is greed. the price of mortgages did not go up for landlords. stop blaming big government and

administration. look at businesses. blame them. what happened? the price of oil went up? the price of gas can be controlled. just stop blaming everybody else. host: thank you to our social media followers for chiming in. next, our guest will discuss his op-ed the wall street journal. the policy he introduced when he was an analyst. and later, we will meet the cofounders about young people's impact on policymaking.

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2017-2021. join us with your comments and tweets. in depth with peter baker live today at noon eastern on boo tv, on c-span two. washington journal continues. host: we are back with scott hyde, who is one of the mentor of the child tax credit. he is here to talk about his recent op-ed in the wall street journal, where he calls that policy a failed experiment. he is here to talk to us about what he was talking about. you are one of the innovators who came up with the child tax credit. nearly 25 years ago, now you are calling it a failed experiment. guest: there are a lot of times

where policies are well intended that have unintended consequences and this is a classic case. it started out as a moderate credit to help families with expenses. currently, the tax credit is $2000 per child. last year, the tax credit was expanded to $3000. one of the problems is that it knocks millions of people off the rolls. many people get a check back, even if they do not pay any taxes. it has put the irs a position of

paying social benefits. it is involved in the welfare state and it is not a role that it does well. host: explain to the audience who gets a tax child credit, what exactly it is and what was the intention from the beginning? >> -- guest: a tax deduction like a charitable deduction lowers your income. a tax credit reduces your taxes owed. let's say that you do your tax form and you owe $1000. if you have a $1000 tax credit, you get all of that we funded to you. with the current tax credit of $2000, if part of that credit erases your tax liability, you

still get the remaining amount in the form of a rebate check or a refund check. anybody who files a tax return is eligible. it goes all the way up to $4000 a year. it is kind of phased out. but this is more of a universal credit. host: what would be intention -- what was the intention back then and how has it changed from then and now? guest: many people looked at the tax code and the way that it treated families. a lot of families did not pay any income taxes. it erased a lot of income liability.

if we provide this tax credit, it will somewhat make up for the people in those benefits over time. this was a modest way of trying to address that situation. it has grown since then. it was doubled from 500 to 2000 -- $1000 and then again to $2000. last year, during the biden administration, they expanded it again to $3000 per child and provided some of that on a monthly basis to people. host: something that is not popular is anyone coming on and saying, you should pay more taxes. is that what you are saying? guest: no. i would prefer to see the tax code promote economic growth, higher wages and higher living

standards rather than providing the temporary benefits to people, which help them in the short-term, know the bad about that, but it does not lift up their wages. it does not raise their long-term standard of living. that is what we want the tax code to do, not provide social benefits. host: the audience can take part in this conversation. we will open up our regular line. republicans can call in. democrats, your line as well. independent can also call in. keep in mind that you can always text us. and we are always beating on social media, twitter and on facebook. scott, one of the topics that people are pushing for the

lame-duck congress to address is the child tax credit. instead of getting rid of it, they are talking about expanding it. guest: they found that expanding the child tax credit led provide a disincentive to work. 1.5 million people would drop off -- drop out because it would make it more valuable to stay home. they found that it would be a budget western. with the debt limit right now, that is a very bad idea. they also found that it would have a hard impact on the economy. this encourages people to stay home. it has a harmful effect on the

budget. that is not a very good deal. host: some organizations like the u.s. census size the expansion of the child tax credit has caused almost 46% decline in child poverty. let's take a look at what the u.s. census was saying. child poverty calculated fell to its lowest recorded level in 2021. 5.2% in 2021, according to the u.s. census bureau. in contrast, we calculated child poverty declining from 16% to 15.3. to accurately -- according to the u.s. census, they are saying

that this has contributed to the decline in child poverty. what do you say to people who say this seems to be working? the point was to reduce child poverty and this seems to be working, so i get rid of it? guest: i think the focus should be different than this. through the spending side of the budget, i would prefer to see this moved over to the spending side of the budget, where you had agencies that are more equipped to do this kind of policy. what i want to see the tax code do is provide the kind of incentive to grow the economy so that people have more jobs, earn more v -- earn more wages and their standard of living goes up. it may leave some of their day-to-day expenses, but it does not increase their standard of living.

host: are you calling for the child tax credit to go away completely or to reduce the amount back to what it was 45 years ago? guest: we should at a minimum keep it to where it is today. i think it is generous, but i do not think it should be expanded, and we should think about who is eligible as well. people are still eligible for it, so is this anti-poverty or is it a general tax credit for anybody with children. i do not think we have decided what kind of program it is. host: we will start with david calling from california. good morning. caller: good morning. so many things i would like to correct you on. the first thing is, you are talking about -- you are

ignoring the elephant. the problem with the tax policy is that it allows people like mark zuckerberg and bill gates to pay 1%. they are making the liens share of the u.s.' income. they are only paying 1% but you and i are paying upwards of 20% to 24%. if that trend continues, what happens is the lion share of the wealth goes to the top income makers. you are talking about child tax credits, which are actually helping kids come out of poverty . the host indicated that. you think that they are talking about small peanuts, but it is more of an issue with the tax policy. thank you. that is all i have to say.

guest: let me provide some background on the child tax credit. currently it is costing about $120 billion a year for the government. the department of homeland security and department of labor together -- that is huge. about $50 billion of that is the refundable portion, so this is the portion that goes, if you have no income tax. our tax code is very redistributed and very progressive. the bottom half of america pays little to no income tax and the burden is really on the top half. between 35% of them pay no income taxes because of the generosity of a lot of the tax credits. we are making the tax code very unstable because we are having

to rely on a narrower segment to pay all the taxes. we are using the irs and we can see the troubles that they are having with the administration. host: let's go to beverly calling from hilton head, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i think bill gates and jeff bezos and all those people have my money. i would rather give it to the poor people and let them buy diapers, food and money that goes directly back into the economy.

rather than people sitting on their money, could been -- clipping coupons and trying to figure out a way to get out paying taxes. i am happy to pay taxes because i am the grandparent of a child in public school and i think that these child tax credits are good. i think that there needs to be some way to lower the cost of childcare. that is all i have to say. thank you. guest: you talk about jeff bezos and so forth. a study that just came out of the congressional budget office, an arm of congress looked at the amount of taxes that americans pay and the amount of benefits that they receive through social programs and found that at the top, tax policy ends up producing the income of the

richest americans by 30% while the benefits are redistributed down the scale and lift the incomes of those at the bottom by 136% so we have a great disparity where we are using the tax code to provide social benefits and it is lifting the income of these people, but we have to ask ourselves, is this any more than what we want them to provide subsidies for big corporations? that is just not the role of the irs host: is your argument over the fact that the child tax credit exist? guest: the problem is that it has morphed into something it was never intended to do and in many respects, it has enabled members of congress on both side

to use it as a benefit. the reduction act created or expanded 26 new tax credits aimed at the energy industry and the climate industry. that is just not something that the irs should be doing. let's do it through other means that are more transparent than through the tax code. it is a much more transparent way of doing it. host: if you are in control of congress, where would you have them move it to? guest: either of those agents

ease, health and human services, things like medicaid and medicare, social security, obviously. probably in a better situation to do that. if you buy a tesla now or a hybrid car, you get a tax credit. if you are on the affordable care act, getting health benefits, that is on the tax code. host: let's talk to eric on the democrat line. caller: i just wanted to ask -- he kind of answered it just now as far as raising tax money you are ok with that?

guest: it is a problem when you are using the tax code for any policy because the administration is very challenging. inputs it on the taxpayer to be able to comply with it, which is very cumbersome. a tax credit that encourages people to go to work is in some cases a very successful program, but it is also very cumbersome and complicated to comply with. 75% of all the people who claimed the tax credit pay an accountant to do their tax returns for them. that does not make any sense whatsoever. we see that these programs have a lot of fraud and abuse.

it adds up to anywhere between 20 to $25 billion a year in lost money. we have to be careful of asking them to do more. host: let's go to linda calling from michigan. caller: good morning. i am calling specifically, regarding the child tax credit. in my situation, i am a grandmother. i have been raising three of my grandchildren and when that tax credit was given to us that one year, it was literally a game changer for us. i had to pay childcare so i could continue going to work. i had to provide clothing for

the kids, i had to abide everything for my grandkids. and as of this moment, the grandkids have been able to be returned to their mother, but it really made me look at all of these other single mothers and single fathers out there trying to do this on their own. if they do not get the benefit -- but why not help them out during the middle of the year, when they really need that many to provide for their kids and to help with childcare, so these people can keep their jobs? i do not feel like that particular child credit should be stopped. guest: it is providing some benefit to people like yourself and a variety of programs in the tax code try to assist people. dependent care tax credit does

help people and provide them with some refunds for daycare or childcare. what these programs do not do is lift up your wages and income. we need a system to help your employer grows that you can grow with it. it slows the economy and punishes success. it does not do the job of growing the economy. host: is this an argument between a short-term benefit and the long-term health of the economy? guest: in many ways, i think so.

i think that is clearly one of them. it is really, what kind of tax code d1? i do not think that is the proper role of the tax system. the tax system should be focused on creating a level playing field. actually providing the kind of structure that leads to a growing and healthy economy, one that raises your income so that you have a better standard of living. host: i know you are particularly interested in this one because you are one of the people who came up with this, but what about the other tax credits? would you say the same thing about tax credits that go to corporations? you think congress needs to wipe all of them out of the tax code

reactive guest: -- tax code? guest: yes, all of them. there is a net positive for the economy and one that we think is important, but on the other hand, tax credits for buying electric cars, putting solar panels on your roof, for companies to invest on -- and some of the new things that congress tried to do in the chips act, i think that is industrial policy. it is subsidizing certain industries over others. host: so you are saying they just do not along the tax code guest:. correct -- tax code. guest: correct.

caller: i have two points that i would like to make. he says that the tax credit -- if you do not work, you cannot get the tax credit. you have no money to apply for it. if you are disabled, i have a disabled daughter who has a son and she cannot get the tax credit because she gets social security which is only $800 a month. he is not getting social security at all. guest: that is a really good point. let me take a step back. last year, when the child tax

credit was expanded to $3000 for most children and $3600 for younger children, it was available to those who were not working. so it was expanded to people beyond those that were in the workforce. currently, that is not the case. you have to work to be able to file a tax return, in order to get the tax credit. people who want to expand the tax credit would like to do what you are suggesting. i think it is a big problem. host: let's talk to david on the independent line. caller: i agree with the comment about the taxes a couple calls ago.

i do not believe in the standard deduction for child care. i do not believe in childcare or that tax credit. if you cannot afford children, you should not have them. the extension would be for disabled people. i will give you a little bit of my history. i had two children. i had a vasectomy in 1970. kids are college-educated and i never borrowed a penny. i also have the same opinion of gas taxes. if they started with a tax on gas back in the 70's, even two cents per gallon on the federal level, we would be up to six dollars a gallon. it would change everything in our spending. we would not be dependent on anybody for oil. it would be a migration, a reverse migration.

host: i want -- guest: i want to mention a couple of studies that were done. there was one on daycare credits and they found that daycare providers captured about 50% of the benefit through raising the price so that the taxpayer got about half of it, but the provider took the other half through raising the price of daycare. have you ever noticed how college fees keep going up, no matter how much we provide in tax credits and loans? universities and colleges are essentially grossing up their tuition to capture the amount of those credits. we see the same thing with

electric cars. just before the inflation adjustment, the reduction act was passed a few months ago and a number of the automakers raised the price of electric cars in anticipation of the expansion of that tax credit. we have to be careful about using the tax code because it appears we are helping taxpayers, but oftentimes, we are not. host: the expanded type -- child tax credit expired last december. some people are saying that child poverty is now creeping back up because of the end of the tax credit. i will read a couple paragraphs to you. the center of budget and policy

priorities focused on the impact of federal and budget policies cited data for the expended child tax credit, dramatically reducing child poverty. the child poverty rate would have dropped from 9.7 to 8.1 in 2021. with the expended child tax credit in place, the child poverty rate dropped in 2021. the report shows that it particularly helped reduce party among black and native american children, but those gains were short-lived. the payments -- the director of policy and communications at children's healthwatch whose work focuses

on children in the u.s. noted that food insufficiency or the lack of enough food in the six months after the payments expired increased by 2.5%. if you believe what they are saying, child poverty went up after the extent -- after the tax credit expired. is that not reason enough to keep it right there? guest: you never see -- the chicago study came out looking at the effect of expanding child tax credit. found it would reduce the amount of employment by 1.5 million people. they found that because it took people out of the workforce, they had a moderating effect on those kind of benefits. taking parents out of the

workforce, they are not doing those kids any good. there was a subsequent effect on the economy as well. this is between what is seen and not seen. handing people cash does provide short-term benefits. on paper, it lifts them out of poverty. we need to do more to try to lift people up and provide them a better standard of living, rather than just giving them a handout. host: calling from radford, virginia on the republican line. in morning. are you there? all right. let's go to joe in holiday, florida.

are you there? let's try one more. let's try peter calling from new york on the republican line. caller: good morning. thank you. i read your article in the wall street journal and i agree with you 100%, but the problem is, these redistribution of income, from the middle-class to the lower income people is socialism. all it is doing is empowering the federal government because they become the distributor of income to people, which empowers the people handing out the cash. during the 2017 tax cuts, during the trump administration,

incomes went up 5500 dollars a year for working-class people and another problem with redistribution of income is that there is no productivity. when people get money for not working, that hurts the economy and it does not grow the economy. that is a problem come in and of itself. we have 7 million americans between the ages of 18 and 55 who are not working, who are able-bodied people, and this hurts the economy, so these redistribution things only hurt -- not even talking about wealthy people, we are talking about people making $100,000 a year, and their standard of living is being lowered as they redistribute that income to those at the bottom. it creates inflation because

inflation is too much money chasing too few goods and services. if people are not working, they are not producing goods and services. guest: a recent study came out of economics and they were comparing tax systems in the u.s. versus those in europe. they found that the u.s. has a much more progressive system than european nations. we also have a more bittersweet -- we distributed system than most. i think that would shock a lot of americans to hear that. the poor in america have the lowest share of the tax burden than their compatriots in europe. it is very interesting that we think of the europeans as being

socialist, but the u.s. has a more progressive and we distributed system than european. host: last year, mitt romney came up with a different plan that he thought would help. he proposed a monthly deposit for each young child and $250 a month for each school-aged child. do you think that would work? guest: we have looked at his proposal. what he is trying to do deserves some credit. a number of programs together, he is also trying to move these into the spending side of the budget. i do worry about having monthly checks. it sounds like an allowance.

it sounds like something that people would get use to see as an entitlement. i'm very concerned about putting this idea of a basic income. i have a hard time with that and i think most americans will have a hard time with that. host: democrats are trying to push through another child tax credit. what would you say to congress right now to say, despite what good he thought this was doing, this is why we should not do this? guest: the cost will run between 1.3 and one point asked trillion dollars. the time in which we are trying to deal with the budget deficit -- they are trying to deal with the debt ceiling.

this is not something that should be done because it is a budget buster. there are other aspects of it. encouraging people to get out of the workforce and so forth. this is not a good policy. host: calling on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i am calling mainly an regard to that lady who called in, who was smoking and could not quit. and i just wanted to say that i have been smoking -- i started smoking when i was probably about 12 and i have been smoking my whole life. i got up to three packs a day, 86 years old and i finally quit, and it was not easy, but i finally did and it is all a mind

thing. i did it all by myself. that is really the only way to do it. host: we are actually talking about the child tax credit right now. do you have an opinion on that? caller: no, but i think the government spends too much money on everything. i do not think they should been more money on anything. i do not think people should be rewarded for having kids. i have a different opinion on that than most people. host: let's try one more call. on the democrat line. good morning. caller: i agree that if it gets people -- that it gets people out of poverty, but this

gentleman keeps talking about the upper-middle-class getting her. no, you keep forgetting about the billionaires that get subsidies. what about the tax cuts to the billionaires, just like from amazon? what is the problem of evening and helping the poorest community, working-class families? they are the ones that get free money and who are on welfare. love your neighbor like you love yourself. guest: the statistics show something that is quite different.

four out of every $10. meanwhile, those at the bottom of the income scale get refunds back. they are getting text back through a lot of these programs in the earned income tax credit. we do have a very top-heavy tax system where the very rich do pay the lions share of tax payments in america. host: what do you think the odds are of passing another extension of the expanded tax credit or making them permanent? guest: i think that republicans are reluctant to go along with the proposal. we will see a bigger debate on this in the next couple used.

they began to expire after 2025. we will see a big debate over whether to extend or spend those child tax credits. that is when the debate will really happen. host: d think it is dead on arrival? guest: i think the split will put this on the back burner for some time. we will see that debate rise up when those tax credits start to expire. host: let's try to squeeze one person in. anthony, good morning. caller: good morning. you must have known that you would be speaking with an educated viewer.

let's discuss the issue. who mostly benefits from a child tax credit? is it a single mother or a single father? i would say that the single mother benefits more because single mothers receive the child tax credit and they look to april. there is a very quick solution to this. you can have 18 to be a family income, mothers and fathers stayed together. and then they will not be able to qualify for a child tax credit. secondary is the industry that benefits from all of this. the attorneys and so forth. this enabled the entire industry to profit, including the irs. looking forward to your response. thank you.

guest: a tax credit will benefit a lot of people however, we made the tax credit eligibility all the way up, so we have made it broad-based and it does apply to dual income families, as well as single families. we really have to take a step back and think, what is this policy all about? is it an anti-poverty program or a general tax credit for everybody? i do not think that we have come to a conclusion on that. host: thank you scott hide for coming on with us this morning and talking through the child tax credit and what he thinks should be done with it. thank you for your time this morning.

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continues. l continues. host: we are back and we are in our open forum segment, where you can call to talk about your most important political topic of the moment. we will open up our regular lines. independent line is (202) 748-8002. you can always text us at (202) 748-8003. and we are always meeting on social media and on facebook. let's jump right into our calls. we will start with paul, calling from england on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. do you think joe biden should go

for the presidency in 2024? host: i did not get that first name that you said. caller: joe biden. host: i think president joe biden has said that he will run for reelection and former president donald trump has announced that he will run for a second term in office as well. caller: so it is the same battle as last time. host: we do not know if former president trump is going to win the republican nomination. he has to compete against other republicans. if i'm not mistaken, the only other person who has announced a presidential run is a former rapper, kanye west.

he is the only other person that i have heard announcing a run for president. caller: right. so we do not know yet. so anybody could be running. you need a good president. host: let's go to boston, massachusetts on the republican line. caller: god bless america. good morning. i'm looking at the voter turnout numbers in massachusetts for november 8. a historic low. the lowest in the state.

one of the top four cities in the state. the legendary glory. new bedford. the first city frederick douglass lived in after he left maryland. springfield, 24% voter turnout. frederick douglass -- they all met in springfield. there was a failed cotton business. that is how they became best friends. the republican party, they left 50% of -- over 50% of the state

house, super majority statehouse ran unopposed on november 8. the statehouse the night, the statehouse representatives over 50% were unopposed. americans have to get serious about their responsibility and stop playing around with it. and new england, there is only one republican, susan collins. at of six states. republicans need to move on from trump and biotin. america has to get our groove back. we are not stepping up. the most important that we have is our vote. host: let's go to john calling from virginia on the -- on the independent line. caller: good morning.

i had a couple of questions for topics for future shows. the other night i stumbled on your book tv one evening. you had a gentleman on their who wrote a book about the truth about global arming and i called the last half of the show, but it would be a fascinating show and he would be a great dentist, if you could get him on. the other thing i was wondering is, when are you going to do a segment on all of the revelations coming out from twitter, how -- that is big news, how they actually did censor the election. maybe can ask -- maybe you can ask people how many people would have changed their vote if this had come out as true instead of being covered up during the last election. host: actually, since you brought it up, let's talk about it right now.

there was a story that came out this morning about twitter. i will bring a couple of paragraphs to you. elon musk is floating controversy on a new front, including personal computer files in the fall of 2020. twitter's new owner presented legal account -- legal documents . the tech billionaire continues to steer the platform in a more favorable direction. ahead of the midterm elections, last month he reinstated former president donald trump's twitter account. internal company discussions offer insight on the confusion.

political -- politico has not verified the communication, which were given to writers. they posted it on friday night. he teased the event, promising that he was personally involved in the preparation. politico, you can see their story called this will be awesome. leaking hunter biden's twitter files. let's hear it. let's go back to our phone lines and talk with anthony calling from maryland on the democrat line. anthony, good morning. caller: good morning. the question that you had, i'm

going to say that i am optimistic because everyone has ignored the fact that we had a baby boom, and it was the baby blessed that is causing all of these job openings now. it will continue because when everyone was born -- now we have the best. everyone is seeing that, you do not live forever. people are dying off and that is going to cause more job openings. higher wages. and the last thing i would like to say is on migration. we say, remember the alamo. it was built in 1718. there were -- we first had 13

colonies become states and there were no united states when the alamo was everything until lewis and clark discovered there is something across mississippi, there was only what we have here, the 13 colonies. when we look at immigration, when lewis and clark went across the mississippi and discovered there were indians, mexicans. we went over and took all the land. the immigration problem began with lewis and clark. host: let us go to ted from new york on the republican line. good morning. caller: hi. good morning. i like your show, i watch your show all the time. there is only one thing we should be concerned about right

now. i believe it is january 6. host: turn your tv down, you are on. all right. let us go to nancy from california on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span, i have called before. i got up early this morning and was listening to you talk about the child tax credit. i wonder if he ever had children and his wife had to go to work immediately, their babies had to be put -- they have warehouse sort of places where they keep the kids. i do not feel like he had any feelings for kids with no one

there to care of them or love them, help them get through school and get up to be adults. i wish i had a chance to talk to him. i feel sorry -- he looked cruel, for some reason. i live 12 miles from the border, i never have seen any problems with immigration. my daughter went to school and walked across back across the border, no problem. it has become so political, now you go down there and it is a huge steel barrier. my kid could not go to school down there. host: let us talk to john from new york on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning.

talking about election fraud, i know people that have had five new york state licenses, they only voted so many times at different places to hide his identity. i used to work the night shift up in westhampton. more than 21 bags of money orders, i always check everything before i put it in my car because i have to take it to the dump. i opened a bag, all these money orders. i checked every bag. there were money orders going to south america, mexico, all these places.

these immigrants have money. the amount was $600, i could not find one that was under $600. those immigrants have money and they hide their money. host: you said earlier you knew someone who had five drivers licenses and voted more than once. did you turn the person in? for illegal activity? caller: i made a call. nothing happens. host: who did you call? caller: i called new york state or whatever, whoever takes care of that. i can't remember offhand, that was a couple years ago. but the immigrants to have money, they are not broke.

don't let no one fool you. the minimum money they sent south of the border was $600 was the minimum. i couldn't find nothing cheaper, up to $1000 i seen. all the money, 21 bags of money orders. host: let us go to morgan from pennsylvania on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span. all this talk about hunter biden, give me a break. whenever he going to find out what jared kushner got when saudi arabia gave him $2 billion? when we find that out, ok. then we can focus on hunter biden. real quick, the republicans are the biggest hypocrites. to sit and watch the republicans laughing and making fun of when nancy pelosi's husband got beat with a hammer, making fun of an

80-year-old man beating -- being attacked with a hammer. if that does not show you the heart of the party, i do not know what else does, other than them living white super mist groups. host: let us go to teresa from south carolina on the republican line. good morning. teresa, turn your television down. let us go to bob from california on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you. i think that putin is the reincarnation of hitler's, and the only way to stop the brutal attacks in ukraine is for the u.s. to give ukraine long-range missiles so they can hit moscow.

we have to stop the brutality. ever since the civilians been slaughtered in ukraine, i think this will end the war a lot weaker -- quicker. host: bob, what happens if the u.s. provides those missiles to ukraine and russia takes that as an act of war by the united states? caller: we are not firing the missiles, we are giving them to ukraine to fire. the only way to stand up to a bully is to punch them in the nose. otherwise, the war will continue forever. it is terrible. the u.s. has to stand up and be a lot stronger than they have in the past and stand up to russia and make russia pay a terrible cost to continuing the slaughter.

host: there is one major race left from the midterm elections of 2022, that is going on in georgia. the washington post has a story on what is going on in georgia between herschel walker and senator raphael warnock, i will read a couple of paragraphs. herschel walker, known largely for his star football career with the university of georgia bulldogs, took pictures with fans near mercedes-benz stadium. down the street, filled with signs are mining people a lot -- about election day, they urged people to commit to voting. both took advantage of the southeast conference between georgia and louisiana state university tigers. in ads broadcast to millions of people watching the game, walker's former football coach

praised his drive and work ethic , while democrats showed footage of voters reaction -- reacting with disbelief to his musings on the campaign trail, including his comparisons of vampires and werewolves. the 2022 race, voting will end on tuesday. we should know who will win the seat in georgia. it is held by senator raphael warnock. let us go back to the phone lines and talk to gail from new jersey on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning to all. i am going to attempt to complete one of your callers statements. he was saying the most important

thing is to resolve the january 6 insurrection, and who was at the bottom of it, and they must all be prosecuted. otherwise, everything else is new point -- moot point. inflation, immigration will not matter if this country has no sense of democracy. the unfairness -- and fairness and integrity. that needs to be investigated and corrected. otherwise, if it happens again, we may not have our government and we may not worry about all the other points. host: let us go to jim from indiana on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning.

after hearing that speech, i think i saw fireworks come out read -- out. that woman has to realize in the january 6 situation, i do not think she realizes there were eight fbi men in the crowd. we do not know if they were trying to work the crowd up or were spying, that is to be coming. people were coming in from other countries, there was no trouble. when told hundred people come in every day, day after day, coming from hundreds of countries, what does she think is going to happen? the other thing about biden, it was a video. i think it was on 60 minutes, in which biden went up to the

ukraine government person and told them -- this is video, this is not made up. he told them point blank if you do not get rid of the attorney general, the u.s. is going to cut out military aid to this country. this is a video, mind you. the thing i am hoping comes out, like the woman said about january 6, is what president biden had to do with what is going on now. how is the economy going to go? we have three big situations brewing. one, putin said he was going to cut off all oil, he said that yesterday, to europe. i am in indiana.

can you imagine what it is in europe? they are going to run out of those -- of wood to burn. then you have north korea, they are starving. the only people eating a good meal beside the rulers our military. then you have a wrong -- iran, which is developing a taste for israel. we have all this in the making, that a pompous guy that wants to give money away like he is in let's make a deal. this is a fiasco. host: let us go to cheryl from missouri on the democrat line. good morning. caller: hello. i am enjoying your show, i only have one complaint. would you please let democrats talk along like you do the republicans? i noticed that about this show.

thank you. host: let us go to bob from maryland on the independent line. caller: good morning, how are you? i was looking at the whole picture of this, we were talking about -- i just heard another gentleman say europe is going to get cold this winter. we have got pipelines extending down the country, we should be drilling in the united states. we have enough fuel in the ground to last 400 years. people need to realize we are shipping 28% of oil to japan because it is too dirty to burn here. what someone set on immigration, if you look at it, we are all immigrants. we all came here, the indians were here first. what did we do? we put them on a reservation. coming back to the republican and democratic party, we are a

divided nation. i feel like it might be time an independent come in and take care and come together -- the republican and democratic party -- put a middleman into solve it all. host: let us go to bonnie from pennsylvania on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you so much. i might talk a little long because i am a republican. however, i vote for the best person on a ticket. i am 73 years old, educated, blind and still working as a professional. i am not a white supremacist. i am very, very disappointed in the blacks, the hispanics, anybody in this country, because we are all americans.

my grandparents were immigrants, they came to ellis island legally. got their shots legally. and worked hard. i am not against immigrants. i want to say i voted for the first time in my life for a democratic president. i voted for obama one term, thinking he would help lift up the minorities. he never did. host: let us go to silvio from california on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for this moment. i am calling regarding immigration. i want to let the american public know, during the republican presidency, president reagan, we had amnesty. during that time, i worked the amnesty program, millions of

people became legal residence in the united states and, after that, american citizens. now, we need to do the same. we have millions of people living in the united states that have come from countries all over the world, not just mexico or latin america. they have been here working, making their irs report. they have a pin number identity with the irs, they pay their taxes. course, there is no return, because they are not legal residence. however, they are working. they come to work, they paid into the social security system, if they only had a social security number. we need to legalize the millions of people living in the united states without legal residency. host: we would like to thank all of our callers who called in for

open forum. coming up, the cofounders of the group youthingov, eve levenson and bo machayo. they are here to talk about young people's impact on politics and policymaking. stick with us, we will be right back. ♪ >> congress gets back to work in the wake of the midterm election. watching the next weeks as the incoming 118 congress elects its leaders, makes key committee assignments, greets new members and sets an agenda for january

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every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations did -- operations. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back in joined by the cofounders of youthingov, eve levenson and bo machayo, here to discuss their efforts in having young people better represented in policymaking. good morning to both of you. eve, explained to us what youthingov is and what the mission is. guest: youthingov is a coalition of over 100 leading youth serving organizations. we came together after the 2020 presidential election, when we saw how crucial the youth vote was to the election of president biden and vice president harris. we've been pushing for a proposal that is three main components. the first is the creation of an office led by a director of young americans in the executive office of the president. the director would be a member

of generation z or younger. second, to empower young americans in existing administration petitions, including appointing a person to focus on the hiring in the personnel office, conducting an inclusion assessment, and making a task force on young americans in the white house. the third is the creation of the american advisory council. we have been working through public pressure efforts with the biden harris administration and in congress to push it forward. host: bo, you are cofounders. there are millions of youth organizations, why was this one established and what is the difference between what you will do and what other organizations do? guest: i think the great power of the youthingov coalition is it is 100 plus organizations. very rarely do you see organizations that are youth led

organizations in general better able to coalesce around one mission. the organizations span from progressive to moderate republican organizations. so to have this coalition come together from folks across the country to say young americans need a voice to establish and be part of the policymaking progress makes the coalition really unique. really allows for everybody's voice to be heard, and we are continuing to push that. this is what makes the youthingov coalition particularly different than others. host: eve, what is the youth? guest: the way we define young americans in our proposal is 40 and under. we are trying to focus, obviously, in future generations , gen z and millennials.

so often in the youth space, what we see is gen z and millennials being separate. they are working together. bo and i are a perfect example as 23 and 30-year-old young americans ourselves. host: bo, what can you point to as some successes you have had so far? guest: we have been able to make sure there are policy suggestions that folks a part of the young american -- youthingov coalition to make sure we are pushing within legislation, also within the executive branch. we have had a pool of young americans part of our coalition come into the administration, we've been able to work with congress to push the appropriations process, the need for formalization and authorization for these concepts

we've been pushing through our executive order to be implemented. not only have we gotten the attention of folks in the administration from the white house and across different agencies, we also have the attention of congress to say this is not something we just want to make sure the biden harris administration does, but something we want to make sure future executive branches, regardless of what administration is in power, we want them to do that. congress said they want to do that, too. it is good to see we have two branches of the federal government to say this is something we want to do. host: as the resident old person in this conversation, why should younger americans be more involved in policymaking? they do not have the experience of older americans and may not have the perspective of someone who has lived longer. why should younger american people take part in policymaking in the u.s.? guest: what you said about

having a different perspective is what is key. they are the different perspective that comes from me at 23, who's been doing this for four years -- more so like seven or 10, including the volunteer work i did when i was younger. we know that young people we are going to be the ones that are going to be here feeling the effects of the policies of today for decades to come. so, we need to be brought to that table. the perspective we bring is key and unique on so many crucial issues. another reason, when we look where is the power, we know young people have a lot of the power. so many of the mainstream media headlines this last election were all about how the youth vote and how much young people, 18 to 29, vote for democrats in such high numbers. 63-35 democrats to republicans.

president biden remarked about how important the youth vote was. if we are that important in the political part, we need to be that important in the legislative and executive parts, as well. guest: i will add onto that, like any demographic, for government to work the most effective, you have to make sure there is representation amongst everyone. because for people of color, people within different age and generations. one thing we are pointing out his is important, throughout government, to get the perspective of folks you are counting on to come in and vote for you during election season. stte importantly, these are the constituents that, regardless of whatever state you are in, these are the constituents that need to be heard and the constituents that are creating policy for. everyone has lived experiences, you see that through gen z, millennials, regardless of whatever generation you are part of.

those lived experiences can translate to create effective policymaking. that is what we are here to amplify. as you are looking to govern for all of america, you are looking to make sure the government is inclusive like the president has said. it is important to look at different demographics, whether that is age, gender, socioeconomic backgrounds. we need to have gen z and millennials at the table, creating policy that will impact the country for years to come. host: let me take a break to remind our viewers they can take part in this conversation. we will open up special lines. if you are 40 and under, if you qualify as a youth for this group, we want to hear from you specifically. we will open up a special line for 40 and under, that is (202) 748-8000. if you are 41 and over,

unfortunately i fit in that group these days, your number is going to be (202) 748-8001. once again, 40 and under, (202) 748-8000. 41 and over, (202) 748-8001. keep in mind, you can always text us at (202) 748-8003 and we are always reading on social media at twitter @cspanwj and facebook. as we talked about earlier, gen z played a big role in the midterm election. why? guest: gen z and millennials played a big role in the election, that is because there has been a coalition of people and organizational capacity that has been pointed to by gen z and millennials. i say that because of what

happened, whether that be covid, the last administration. there has been a concerned effort to make sure the policy being made in d.c. directly impacts and is reflecting the values of what gen z and millennials believe. that is what makes our democracy so great, and i think one of the great things we have seen is that the younger generation of folks we like to refer to as young americans have begun to see that their voice does matter. regardless of what pulls me say or not, the ability for young americans to come to the polls to push the ideas and challenge what norms might have been is exactly what we have seen in the past election, and something i think young americans and younger generations will hopefully model to make d.c. a better place, to make sure we are addressing issues that affect so many people across the country. host: do younger americans have

a different view of government then gen x, baby boomers? do they look at government differently than their predecessors did? guest: definitely. every generation has a unique perspective on government on the problems we face and solutions, which is why it is so important we have representation. i think one of the defining features of gen z is all of the crises we have grown up in. when you look, there has been a lot of polling about the dissolution of young people within government. -- disillusion of young people within the government. there is still a willingness to work to make it better, that is what is so powerful and interesting. a lot of what you saw about why young people voted in high numbers. i want to go back to that question. when we talk about young people being the deciding factor this election, it was specific demographics within young people. 18 to 29 that really did vote in

high numbers that turned the red wave into a red puddle. young people favor democrats 63-35. when you look at women, it was 71-26. these issues that are terrifying that are changing, for example, reproductive rights, what we've known to be true our entire life, motivated people to go out to the polls. host: you wrote an editorial in a newspaper. as important as gaining gen z alliances, it is just as crucial young americans are represented in federal government. what does that look like? guest: i think when you talk about representation, there are two types. or at least that is how it is taught in political science classes. we have seen quite a few steps to make sure there is the

substantive representation. we've seen a lot of issues young people care about being acted on by this congress and administration. what we are pushing for his we also need a voice and perspective of young people in the policymaking process. that doesn't just mean coming afterwards and saying here is the legislation, go and sell it, it means being involved before decisions are made and having input in our perspective. that is what we are pushing for with youthingov. host: you also wrote that gen z and millennials make up 40% of the electorate right now. why are they looked over when it comes to politics and policy? that is a huge hunk of the electorate. guest: i think that we have seen politicians, by the votes that

were taken, there are some politicians that are listening. you do not give voter enthusiasm unless you are addressing policy concerns young americans really care about. i think it is great to see this new house of representatives, you see leadership change that is taken place and you see younger elected officials. i think the next step for government and the inclusive process of making sure government is not only acceptable, but representing and addressing the concerns of young people, is the opportunity to hire them. this is not just -- young americans spanned the gamut of younger gen z to 40-year-old millennials. that opportunity allows for government to hire people at different spectrums of the policymaking process, and the ability to formalize that through the office of young

americans throughout the government allows for there to be an effort to those issues. i think that is the next evolution, the next step the government needs to take. that is what the youthingov coalition is about. host: viewers can take part in this conversation. 40 and under, your number is (202) 748-8000. 41 and over, your number is (202) 748-8001. we are always reading on social media on twitter at @cspanwj and facebook at facebook.com/cspan. you can always text us your opinion at (202) 748-8003. let us go to the phone lines and talk to paul from pennsylvania, paul is 40 and under. good morning. caller: good morning. i am 35 years old, been working for the federal government since i was 20. i've been a bit limited with the restrictions of voting, but i've

been active voting over the years. started when i was 21, i believe is my first election. it's been challenging over the years trying to get people in the same age group just to go to town hall meetings. a lot of people in my age group have a lot of different issues, there is a broad spectrum. i actually listen -- over the years, i've become much more in tune and able to listen to people who world within me. i guess with age, you learn to speak a little less and listen a little more. i do think the younger generation has some learning to do, it is great they are involved. as they get involved, it is going to take time to learn and

understand the old sort of process and where everyone comes from. host: it almost sounded like young americans need to wait their turn. i am sure you hear that a lot. guest: i did not think the inclusion of young americans and government means the exclusion of an older generation. i think there needs to be a passing of the baton that ultimately needs to happen. eventually, the current generation should still remain in government and make sure they are enacting policy that is important. at the same time, there needs to be a new generation of young americans that are working in government hand in hand so when the passing of the baton happens, government is able to run as effectively as it can and we have seen over the past couple years with all this legislation and with the executive branch is done. there is no exclusion of any

demographic or age group that needs to happen. more of an emphasis on including the next generation of folks. we need more people like paul in government, we need more political appointees that are young americans in government. that will allow for government to act most effectively. guest: i think the key part is what bo said, it is about partnership. as a young person who has been working with folks of the older generations, you need to come to the table understanding we have something to learn and something to give. i at 23 may not have the same experience and people i've worked with, which means i know i can learn from them. but they do not have the perspective of having grown up in the so-called lockdown generation, only in an era where there was roe v. wade as law of the land. there are different things that make the perspective unique. i think experience is important,

but experience is not everything. experience is one component that leads to perspective, but also the generational upbringing those of us have had that is distinct for many people who are currently making those decisions is just as crucial. host: let us talk to loretta from texas, loretta is 40 and over. good morning. caller: morning. my question is, what happened to you once you turn 41? do they kick you out with all the experience and knowledge you have learned and acquired while being a member of the group? what do they do with you, the you away? -- throw you away? guest: thanks, loretta, for the question. no, that is not what the youthingov coalition is suggesting. what the youthingov coalition is suggesting is it is important to make sure young americans are involved in government enter at

the table making these policy decisions as they are being implemented and considered, both unconscious and throughout the executive branch. -- in congress and throughout the executive branch. ultimately, i will no longer be a young american. eve will no longer be a none -- young american. but the anger generation should be at the table and it should be formalize to make sure we are always addressing concerns of young americans as if innovation continue to grow older. -- as generations continue to grow older. guest: i do not have anything to add. [laughter] host: let us go to francis from virginia, good morning. caller: hello, good morning. i am definitely over 40, i am calling on behalf of my 22-year-old son, who is a political science major.

he graduates in may. when i heard there was a youth in government coalition, my ears perked up and i thought maybe i could get further information about the organization and sent it onto him. he is especially interested in political communication and is looking forward to the 2024 election. guest: i know we have a website, it is youthingov.org. thanks for that question. we hope that your son is able to come to d.c. and work in this policymaking process. the next evolution is that el are not every two years, there is one every year. your son goes to jm you -- jmu, there is an election extra in virginia. there is always opportunity to make sure we are part of the

political policymaking process that only happens to campaigns, eve has been a lot of those. working on the hill come on the executive branch. we want to emphasize recent graduates that are coming up to come be a part of that process to translate what they have learned in school to making sure they are able to execute that. there is a lot of similarities, but also differences of how the policymaking process actually happens. translating from the classroom to the workplace. so, we would be more than happy to connect with your son to share the host of organizations that are a part of it, that are in this policymaking in political science process. but also, we have a host of different events we've been able to host with the white house to talk about the appointee process and whatnot, as well. happy to get more involved.

host: i will end this question toward you. what we saw in the mitt -- aim this question toward you. what we saw in the midterm election was the second highest voter turnout in almost three decades. that was only 27% turnout overall. in battleground states, little higher, 31%. that is one in three voters. what is keeping young americans from voting? guest: i think there are a few important things to know. it is not like other demographics were at 90%, 100% turnout. these are for limitary estimates, we will not actually know how many people turned out. there are a lot of folks who study youth data that have said publicly and privately they expect this will be higher as we get the county by county, precinct by precinct voter data.

that is important. when we look at what demographic made a difference in an election, it is about what portion of them turned out and how they voted and how strongly they voted. a lot of credit going to young people this election because of how strongly they voted. what is stopping at becoming more, a lot of those efforts came from outside groups, not necessarily campaigns themselves. there are plenty of campaigns that did incredible youth vote efforts, we need to see that investment from parties at the federal level, state and local level, and campaigns everywhere. if young people saw themselves represented more in government, they would be more excited to get out and vote. i believe it was august, it showed why young people did not necessarily feel the biden administration represented them,

indicated key components of the youthingov proposal would change their perception of the administration. people are more likely to get involved when they do that. voting is not as accessible as it should be. it varies so much state to state. i'm from california, we have a lot of laws that make it very accessible. when i worked with young people who are organizing in other states and help with other campaigns, that is not always the case. we need to make voting more accessible for everyone in the country. host:, why are so many young americans voting for democrats? what are issues and policy that is resonating? guest: there was an effort during the biden harris campaign to make sure there was young american outreach. it was not just young american outreach toward issues like climate change, there were young americans addressing issues like student loans to gun reform,

small business, even demographics. those were emphasized throughout the campaign. what you've seen over the past couple years through legislation and executive orders is this administration and congress have addressed some of these issues may be not to the extent young americans would have liked, but to the extent that was we appreciate the work you have done for the last two years. we've seen substantial progress happen. whether that be the biden harris administration's executive order on what we've done with student loan debt relief, whether that has been legislation like the inflation reduction act that was the largest investment in climate change in the history of the country, whether that was the opportunity to bring back jobs in this country to the chips into science act, gun reform legislation the most significant it has been in the

country's history. what you have seen is that democrats campaigned on these issues, they addressed the issues. young americans were like ok, we have faith the democratic party will address these issues. we want to continue to keep democrats in office and we expect for them to continue to address these issues the next two years. as long as you see the administration continue to do this, implement things, the implementation phase goes through correctly and they continue to address a lot of issues and the americans continue to want to see action on, i think democrats will continue to have young americans turn out for them in pretty high numbers. host: let us go back to the phone lines. let us talk to mark from new york on the 40 and underline. morning. caller: hi, good morning, how is it going? host: going great, go ahead.

caller: my question is two parts. one, once this agency or section of office in the white house opens, what is next? what is the goal? if eve or bo, if one of you two are the person to run this office, how do you engage your day-to-day work to ensure young people have their voices heard? and what happens if a republican comes into office and defines the office, or gets rid of it? what is next? second, what is the plan for young people in cities and states who may not want to call the white house or washington, but need help directly from their governor or mayor? what about getting involved locally? what is the plan to make sure young people are represented in policymaking within their own states? host: either one of you jump in.

guest: yeah, so i will handle part of that. the question about what would this look like if we were acting under a different administration. host: what are you asking for? guest: we are pushing for the youthingov proposal with three main components. the creation of the office of young americans, led by a director of young americans and power young americans in existing positions through dedicating someone in the presidential personnel office to appointing young americans, federal youth inclusion assessments, and interagency working group. and a white house young american advisory council. we are pushing under the biden harris administration, ideally this would withstand presidencies and administration and changes of partisan control. while i individually do not necessarily agree ideologically

with my counterparts on the republican side of the aisle, representation of young americans everywhere is crucial. our generation has unique perspective and the perspective that tends to be more progressive. that does not mean either a democratic or republican administration should not listen to the voices or concerns and perspective of younger generations. we want this to last. when you brought up the point about funding of the office, we are working with congress to make sure this money is appropriated through congress. that would be up to congress, not an administration to fund or defund. guest: i will add to, when you talk about what is next, what we saw -- what we model the executive order from was neighborhood partnerships, which

allowed for the faith community to be represented not only in the white house, but throughout agencies across the federal government. what would be next is, like eve mentioned, the implementation of office of young americans in the white house, the direct funding from congress so it is constantly authorized in appropriated funding. the office of young americans takes place within different agencies, which is what our executive order takes place in. simultaneously, you have a dedicated person looking for young americans to work within the executive branch located in the presidential personnel office. we think this, with congressional action, with the white house starting this off through an executive order, with -- we see this will last not the route the biden harris administration, but future administrations.

the coalition is a good representation of not only people who are progressive, left, and right, having 100 plus organizations, it is rare to get a whole ideological spectrum of people to agree on one thing. to the point on cities and states, it is important. what we have seen through congress's we are starting to elect a younger demographic. whether you are republican or democrat, there's a younger demographic of folks coming into congress in getting elected. as young americans, we realize the importance of races like secretary of state, mayor, state legislators that were up for elections in this past 2022 election. they will be up for election in 2023. young americans are uniquely realizing the importance of the roles at the state level, the county level, the city level.

elections are not every two years, they are every single year. you can get involved in your state. just the encouragement is another great thing about our 100 plus coalition. you have 100 plus organizations working every day, every year, to make sure these policies are being enacted. young americans uniquely understand that. we've seen the model. we've seen that work really well from folks in older generations. we want to make sure that continues to happen at a higher rate. host: one of our social media followers points out the founders included a minimum age for being president or being in congress. the minimum age for congress is 25, for president is 35. please ask the guest why the founders set minimum ages for

office. perhaps they questioned the age of mental maturity. guest: we cannot speak to where the founders were. i would say -- you do not see in our proposal us questioning that. we are not doubting the value of experience. when you have over 500 members of congress, when you have thousands of people that are political appointees that work and the biden harris administration and any administration, you should have representation of all generations. what we see now is an underrepresentation of young americans. while gen z and millennials make up over 40% of the population, we are only 3% under 30 of the federal workforce. that is such a discrepancy. there are a lot of things i might not necessarily agree with

that the founders indicated, there are a lot of things that were put into the constitution that are steeped in racism and sexism, and we have decided that is not the perspective we have. we know it is important are included today. guest: i think the youthingov proposal really looks at, how can we make sure policymakers, staff, elected officials are an important part of the policymaking process. they are also informed from the staff that they hire. i think that is one of the things we are pushing, like the caller asked earlier. does that mean when you are 40, you are kicked out of the system? actually, it is about including everyone, regardless of age. i think the founding fathers, they created a constitution and a country that has, in many

ways, been the best. although we have been imperfect, we continue to strive to make sure we are including everyone in the policymaking process. i think this is the next step in the evolution of how we think about government working, how we make sure government includes everyone, regardless of whatever background you come from. i think that is going to be an important process moving forward. host: let us talk to and net from new jersey. -- lennette from new jersey. caller: i'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the millennials and gen zers who came out in droves for the midterms. as a progressive boomer, i am stoked that the youth in this country are politically engaged. it is so refreshing. i will close with a huge shout

out to bernie sanders, who has energized the youth of this country and continues to do that today. thank you. guest: thank you for that appreciation for young people. that sentiment is exactly why re-think this is a really important time and window to be pushing this proposal. there are so many people like you who feel thankful for young americans and gen z and millennials, particularly 18 to 29, because of how we turned out and voted. we see candidates all over the country say it, now is the time to bring us to the table. that table means not just in engagement capacities or digital capacities, but really in the policymaking and decision-making process. what does it mean to be engaged to check off a box versus being

a partner, that is the distinction we are trying to get out with our proposal. host: let us get one more call in, that is jeff from michigan. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. spreading propaganda, another sunday edition. i encourage everybody, as bo said, to go to their website and scroll down. look at the over 100 organizations that are backing were contributing. i see a lot of rainbow flags and clenched fists in the placards. what i do not understand is why we are moving right onto the youth vote when the biggest story in america is the tip of the iceberg that happened with twitter. this ties directly in with the youth vote and the fact that

c-span touched on this one time in two days on morning journal. you guys have got to do a better job of opening up america to free speech. it should start right here. god bless america, merry christmas and watch out for people like this. they've got a real smiley face, but a lot of clenched fists, rainbow flags. i noticed the man said groom the voters. host: anybody want to respond? guest: i would say the coalition has over 100 different members that span a large ideological perspective. just like this administration and the president has looked to bring together. different factions -- together folks from different factions to bring the policy american people want, we brought together groups from across the country to say we agree.

some of these groups have different thoughts on how we should address policy in d.c., but they agree this is the best way to make sure young americans are represented in government. we are happy with every group we have represented youthingov in the coalition. host: we would like to thank eve levenson and bo machayo, the cofounders of youthingov for coming on with us this morning and talking about the youth vote in government.

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