tonight, the author talks about the treacherous 3000 mile journey he made from el salvador to the united states, to reunite with his parents. javier zamora, tonight at 7 p.m. eastern on q&a. you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. announcer: the republican governor of south carolina, nikki haley, held her first caai event since announcing she is running for president. we will show the announcement tonight beginning at p. eastern on c-span, c-sn now, are free mobile video app, and online at c-span.org. ♪ announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. funded by these television companies and more, including

wow. >> the world has changed. today a fast, reliable internet connection is something no one can live without. so wow is there for our customers, with speed, reliability, value, and choice. now more than ever, it all starts with great internet. wow. announcer: wow supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row se to democracy. ♪ >> graduate now -- brian joined now. welcome to the program. remind our viewers what the renewing center for america is and how you are financially supported. guest: the america first policies and keep the country

centered even though this town is not focus on these issues. we are funded privately from people across this country who care passionately about the direction of the country. host: close the approach to debt limit discussions? guest: debt limits for something the last administration needs to get across the finish line. and we are dealing with a divided government, how do you do -- get through to put those things back? host: where in a divided government now. we offer a rock -- an op-ed. guest: i'm looking at the last 30 years and i think we have been in a strategic cul-de-sac for people like me who call themselves for school and we have not gotten any spending cuts, no savings since 1997

balanced budget act. and that's what i want to change. i want to change the paradigms of people like me who wake up in the morning concerned about the debt. all they care about our two programs, social security and medicare. if you do not have a cut in one of those programs, you have not done anything for fiscal responsibility yet there is choice of dollars in non-discretionary spending weaponize democracy that i can talk about that i think is far easier to cut because congress votes on it every year and it is the kind of stuff the american people see in their lives. it is not something as hard to tackle as mandatory spending. we need to tackle mandatory spending as well and have -- 6 trillion in savings based on changes we had in trump budget that are not social security and medicare retirement benefits. there is a way a way to tackle .

start with nondefense discretionary and go after the easier wealth or types -- welfare types and you be on the road to balance. the debt ceiling is historically ready debt limits conversations occur. whether that is the bca, it is an opportunity. if you increase the nation's credit limit, you have to have a conversation about how your spending the money so you do not go on as you have before. host: some agreement cannot be reached, what is your level of concern? guest: overblown. there is no scenario and the treasury department would not admit this but no scenario where the ball is an option. no secretary of treasury will allow it to happen. unlike a government shutdown, debt limit you have revenue coming in. you have revenue, you do not have enough obligations for that particular month. you can pay the current revenues coming in, all the interest and

principal needed, to satisfy what is required for those who about u.s. treasuries. this ib eight extends to every single -- does that mean it extends every single payment the nih has made, no. that's not the same thing. that is not default. dennis was -- that is what is critical for congress to put it on the treasury department to say, let's be clear, you are never going to allow it to the ball and we know you have plans in place you have developed to make sure payments are prioritized, to make sure things are getting paid. host: why are you comfortable going to the defense department budget where public would not share that same sentiment? guest: we have had healthy increases over the last several years. president trump was a part of the spending increases they had a massive increase in the last

year and there are waste at the apartment of the fence. there's an overblown level of commitment that are based on overseas requirements that i think we need to have a conversation about. we are spending an inordinate amount of money in the war in ukraine. there is all sorts of things we can cycle within the department of defense, woke spending, lgbtq inclusion, diversity training is heat department of defense, not focus on the key things like naval modularization, space force. we put out a budget that funds all the capabilities we need and we would have shown a 2% cut compared to where it last year spending came in. i think you can more than pay for legality is gone national

security and yet either be pulled back or some ways of constructing the cap. host: our guest is with us until about 9:30 a.m. if you want to ask questions about issues of spending. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can text us at 202-748-8003. host: you said this a couple of times, woke. what does that mean to you? guest: any effort by the american bureaucracy to divide america on the base of identity, race, anything that is not unite them on a shared base as american. a says that the american founding is flawed -- it is a sense that the american founding is flawed that we are unequal

opposed to being equal. it is not something that is just burning in our schools and universities. it is being funded by the federal government. you have this for you are having foreign aid going to spit on lgbtq activist in senegal, gay pride events in prague, crt funded by the department of education so university of texas get $1.5 million for teachers, not improve how they teach math, but crt. nonprofits in illinois and rhode island being constructed on how to center their classrooms around equity. that's what i mean by woke. it is not just about the department of education. it is everywhere. the department of agriculture talking about food justice and systemic inequities in food system. as you start to delve into the details of these agencies, you realize it is not just big

government, like i was say the bill clinton administration was is possible for. this is a new type of government that is woke. the dollars are being spent not just the have environmental cleanup. we see that in the situation in ohio, but talk about environments of justice and it is also weaponize. these are the same agency is going after american people. the epa that puts 75-year-old veteran in jail for 18 months for building ponds on his ranch to fight wildfires. you go agency by agency and uc more of a track record by woke at weaponize bureaucracy. host: as far as the basis, where you finding this information and why should people trust you? guest: track record, program by program, find what they're spending money on. these are all out in public

spear and he put them altogether and you have a very coherent incredible case for the american people. host: if you're interested binding our guest work, their website where they have a listing of the budget of these programs that he talks about. you asked him about it as well. let's start with jim in vegas built -- your own, go ahead. caller: good morning. i want to ask you two questions. one deals with your website for the center for renewed america. you make the claim that voter fraud, a permanent feature of elections, i was curious, for you have information a substantial voter fraud that has influence an election whether presidential or down to a dogcatcher? the other thing that i have for you, i was curious as to why you

think, kevin mccarthy has the votes and the skills to raise the debt ceiling when everyone including rumored former congressman bill thomas does not believe he has the votes and skills to do so and that we are destined for the first default in this nation's history. guest: great questions. as you may know, i was a strong critic against speaker mccarthy. i called for a board paradigm shifting speaker and if we did not get that a board paradigm result and we got that. as a result because of the way kevin mccarthy has decentralized the house towards broader scope of his members, we have a chance to have him be a historic speaker. i have high hopes for him. i think the reason why mccarthy and previous leaders have failed as they have tried shiny object

and manage the members away from what they came to do as opposed to saying, what are strategic policy objectives? how do we accomplish that and how do we manage the risk to do that? that's what i see them doing right now. you've heard them say what is not the ask on the debt limit which is social security and medicare. you have a president say that is not true. which you have not heard them say what we are fighting for. they will do that and that will help define the next five years -- five months. my hope is they would do that on the base of battling the bureaucracy, woke at weaponize bureaucracy, and i think he was see that in the coming weeks and months. as it pertains to voter integrity and election fraud, i'm looking at election after election for you have what i will call systemic voter fraud in this is that the structures in place at the state level and local level is designed to have

voter fraud. mail-in voting, you have noticed -- judges who have the ability to throw out the laws in that area and make things up and override the states and statues put in place. the last two elections, we had massive amount of private spending that went to privatize into the hands of one party how the elections were being run. we would never allow the referees to be paid by one particular football team yet that's what we had in the run-up to the last presidential election. systemic voter fraud at that level is something we have drawn attention to. host: democrats line from vermont, this is timothy. caller: good morning.

first of all, these acronyms, the wilkes -- wokes that is bollix. crt, i guess it means critical race theory, it is nothing except that of which is taught in law school. law school. you use these things to manipulate and to adjust and endeavor your view. first of all

we into them. now, regarding voter fraud, the fact of the matter is that first of all, you have 10 voter fraud with biden with 7 million votes. but guess what, clinton won by 3 million votes. therefore, is that voter fraud? guest: i want to start by agreeing with you in one aspect. entitlements are a different order of magnitude in people's expectation that they should exist, and one of the problems is that politicians, which we call a cartel have basically spent down the surplus in such a way that we don't have those trust funds solvent in those ways.

we are dealing with -- and to be clear, no one on the republican side right now is saying to cut those benefits. no one as part of the debt limit negotiation, so that is important to say. that pertains to critical race theory -- i would say there are extensive examples throughout the country, and i want to give you one example from california, san jose. third-graders are being taught how to rank themselves according to power and privilege and then to be able to plot themselves on a classroom board according to power and privilege. that is a third grader -- one of my daughter's age. they are being taught with crt looks like. will they ever hear the words crt? they will not. but they will know that there is something wrong with them based on the color of their skin. that is what is wrong in this country. that is un-american. that gets to the heart of what

it means to be woke. host: in maryland, john, independent. caller: going back to the woke is him -- wokeness. working with the environment, the amount of time that is spent on woke training, if it even comes up might be 30 to 40 minutes of powerpoint. the rest of the time is focused on mission and legality. it is a small and insignificant portion, if anything, that takes place. and to further it, just to say that if anyone bring something to the table in terms of their diversity and background, the level of variety in their ideas that they're using. at the end of the day, if someone's race or gender -- it is not defined their job. but having a shared

understanding of someone's background or beliefs and whatnot, that certainly doesn't hurt, and is -- if it is only 30 minutes out of the day out of eight or 10 hours, it does make a difference. guest: i disagree. who is doing the training who is funding the training. if this was just about the word diversity and ensuring that americans of all different backgrounds and creeds were coming to work at the department of defense, you would have no issue from me. the issue is that diversity, inclusion and equity are technical terms that mean crt. my job at the office of management and budget was to root out these types of crt trainings, and you had to focus on the technical terms that would be used by the bureaucracy. i think if there is a 30 minute. , that is a 30 minute. that is not focused on defeating our enemies and dealing with the

strategic threats to our country. for the office of management and budget, i would ask for them to send plans to the extent that is needed to combat china, and you know what? i did not get those plans. i got bureaucracy. bureaucracy has lost focus by focusing on things that are not where the threat is in this country. we are a great country. we have as much opportunity, and we are able to grow and get better each and every year. i find these trainings lead us in the opposite direction. host: we will look at the justice department, and one of the things you called your change in is the office of justice itself. tell what the purposes and why? guest: they have a lot of spending programs. most people think justice is

predominantly the fbi. there are grant programs to state and locality. there is a lot of waste, but there are things that are worse than waste. there are a community relations services that really do a grassroots activity with some of the hotspots of individuals who are carrying -- caring about racism and turning that into the types of things we see in ferguson and other places. you have the federal government actually funding the grassroot tension in the country. that is an example to get rid of. host: you also have the s aae p program. guest: that is a transfer to states that are often sanctuary states to give them funding for dealing with illegal immigration. they are not doing anything for

illegal immigration. they are taking the money and applying that to general services, even though cities have acted in a position against the federal government to say they are going to ignore the law and act as sanctuary cities. host: diane in jacksonville, republican. caller: good morning. i just want to ask the gentleman -- i live here in florida, where mike governor has made me as a black person feel like i don't belong. even though i am a republican. i'd like to know why they keep saying critical race theory is being taught in the schools. it is not. i worked and retired from the school board for 20 some years, and not once did we teach anything resembling critical

race theory in the schools. to me, i respect your guests, but he is putting out so much negativity about what is going on, in our government. this government makes people more divided. everything he is saying went on in every administration. this is nothing new under the biden administration. host: thank you, caller. guest: i love the spirit of the caller. an individual in schools for 20 years may not see what we are seeing currently. the mother was a first-rate schoolteacher for many years. she taught kids how to read. the notion of crt would be totally foreign to her. that is something that is new and has come from the law school

, but what we are seeing, in an example i told you about in the san jose elementary school, it is not meant to divide people on race. it is to say let's stop dividing people on the basis of race. that is not the america we want. that is not the america that was set forth in our founding documents. people should not say, she is talking about crt. as a result, i don't feel welcome and in the republican party. it is the opposite. we are trying to stand on the basis of what is american and what is not, and we will not stand for federal tax dollars being used to divide people based on race and identity. host: overall, what would you say the trump administration's record was with budget matters and fiscal matters? guest: i want to remind people, we put forward more spending cuts and reforms -- trillions of dollars every year, with the exception of one. we put those to congress and they were largely ignored by the

cartel in congress. i wish our record was better. i wish it was better. but we were putting forward on behalf of the president, spending cuts necessary to get our house in balance. we had to deal with the pandemic, a once in the century shock to the system. i don't recall democrats voting against the bills needed to address the fact that bureaucrats were logging down the country. we were putting forward plans to deal with that and deficit. i wish we made more progress, but part of the reason we didn't make more progress was the paradigm i was addressing and the budget we put forward. there is a lack of desire to go after the low hanging fruit that is easiest to cut. host: the president mentioned deficit increases during the state of the union. i want to play portion of that. pres. biden: the last two years,

my administration cut the deficit by $1.7 trillion. the largest deficit reduction in america. under the previous administration, the american deficit went up four years in a row. those record deficits -- no president added more to the national debt and any for years then my predecessor. nearly 25% of the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by one administration alone -- the last one. that is a fact. check it out. check it out. how did congress respond to that debt? they did the right thing. they lifted the debt ceiling three times without crisis. they paid american bills. they prevented an economic disaster in the country. i am asking this congress to follow suit.

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