announcer: virgin islands delegate stacey plaskett discusses the indictment of former president donald trump and the attacks on the department of justice and fbi. then senator bill cassidy t hise idea to bolster the social security program. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal" on thursday, june 15. we begin with the economy and the federal reserve's decision

yesterday to pause rate hikes amid cooling of the economy. this comes after 10 consecutive rate increases. we want to hear from you this morning about how inflation has impacted you personally. republicans, dial in at (202)-748-8001. democrats at (202)-748-8000. independents at (202)-748-8002. you can also text us, include your first name, city, and state to (202)-748-8003. join us on facebook.com/c-span or in 828 with the handle -- a tweet or with the handle @ c-spanwj. this is what gallup found out in may. 61% say recent price increases have cause hardship, up from

55%. 15% say it is severe. 46% say it is moderate. more mention inflation as the most important financial problem than any other. do you also share those sentiments? if so, we want to hear from you this morning, and tell us how inflation has in fact impacted you. jerome powell yesterday held his quarterly news conference. here's what he had to say about the fed's decision to pause, for now, interest rate hikes. [video clip] >> my colleagues and i remain focused on our mandate to promote employment and stable prices for the american people. we understand the hardship that high inflation is causing and we remain strongly committed to bringing inflation back down to our 2% goal. price stability is the responsibility of the federal reserve. without stability the economy

works for no one. without price stability we will not achieve a sustained period of labor market conditions that benefit all. since early last year the fomc has tightened monetary policy. we have raised our interest rate five percentage points and continued to reduce our security holdings at a brisk pace. we covered a lot of ground and the full effects of our tightening have yet to be felt. in light of how far we have come the uncertain lags with which it affects the economy, the potential headwinds from credit tightening, today we decided to leave our policy rate unchanged and to reduce our security holdings. looking ahead nearly all participants view it as likely that some further rate increases will be appropriate this year to bring inflation down to 2% over time. host: jerome powell yesterday.

we are wanting to talk you this morning about how inflation has impacted you personally after the fed decided yesterday to pause interest rate hikes due to a cooling of the economy. as you have heard or may be read in the papers, the federal reserve is expected to raise at least two more times. alan in brooklyn, new york. how has it impacted you? caller: my suggestion is that more attention should be given to the thoughts of elizabeth warren and bernie sanders about failure to enforce antitrust rules in ways that would prevent large companies from exerting an increasingly profound force on controlling prices. i believe until we recognize

that is a powerful force for inflation as the power of individual workers getting salary increases, then using the one tool of raising interest rates to cut jobs to control inflation is a backward way of handling things. we need to revisit the system and have other tools in the fed's basket besides raising interest rates when large companies have such control. host: we have heard your thought. tell us personally how it has impacted you. caller: i do not think it has affected me as much as the knowledge that, politically, we are creating a very strong back lash among people losing job security and losing the ability to get home loans and car loans and consumer loans at affordable prices. when the superrich are

accumulating wealth at record levels, that is a better avenue for controlling inflation long-term. host: got it. caller: take the buying power out of that end. host: here is the new york times. food prices rise even as inflation eases, straining consumer's budget. prices at grocery stores kicked up 0.2%, an increase after prices remained flat for two months. here is the monthly changes in may for consumer's purchasing power. used cars and trucks 0.4% increase. motor vehicle insurance increases, fruits and vegetables increases, hospital services up 1%, non-alcoholic beverages up, medicare commodities, tobacco, motor vehicle maintenance, food away from home, alcoholic beverages, rent of primary residence already seeing an

uptick. jason in wake fest, north carolina, republican. caller: it affected me like it affected everybody else. good morning. host: good morning. caller: i guess the communist /socialist pedophile network is done spreading hate on donald trump again? host: robert in michigan, independent. caller: hello? host: hi, robert. what are your thoughts on inflation? caller: good morning. it does not affect me too much. a little bit but i am doing all right. yeah, i cut down on my spending here and there. i do not drive as much as i used

to, but i don't feel it as much as a lot of people. host: what do you hear from people when they are complaining? what do they point to? caller: well, they play the blame game and i do not associate with many people in my area because it is what it is around here. there is a lot of people that love to complain. one small thing about this national security issue. host: we are going to stick to the inflation question. marcus in arizona, republican. caller: hello. inflation has definitely affected me. i am an attorney and i had to move in with my parents and i even had to apply for food stamps.

those will be coming soon. gas prices are really high. just all kinds of bills. host: gilbert in san juan, texas, democratic caller. how has inflation impacted you? caller: it has caused me to spend more money buying eggs. host: what have you done in response? how have you cut back, if at all? caller: i have cut back on excessive medicine. host: you have? what were you paying and how much did you cut back? caller: i had to cut back based on the rate of inflation, like 3%. host: across-the-board? caller: across-the-board. host: what does that mean for you? what sort of fun have you eliminated? caller: fun?

host: yes. caller: i am not having any fun because i am having to deal with medicines. host: i see. a reminder that you have to turn down the tv. marie in california, independent. caller: good morning. i wanted to say we are focused on the buzzword of inflation but what we are ignoring is that there is -- yes, there is an inflation problem -- but it is corporate greed. we cannot chalk it up to just inflation when all these companies are having record-breaking profit years. we need to have our government put in checks and balances with this and try to give more back to the working class. maybe, you know, cut back what

the ceo's are making and giving to those producing so they get more of the benefit of the products and services they are providing. i have an advanced degree in a field that is in very high demand. i worked two jobs, 12 hours a day. host: we lost you. caller: it is insane. thank you. host: you said you work 12 hours a day? caller: i work 12 hours a day. i have an advanced degree and can barely support my family. i have one husband, one kid. that's it. there is three of us and i am barely surviving working two jobs, 12 hours a day, with an advanced degree. i cannot afford to go to the doctor because of medical bills. host: what are your bills? what are your expenses? caller: i have a mortgage, which

i was lucky enough to lock in when there was a lower interest rate. obviously, utilities. i personally have to take several medications for my health. i had to go off of two of them because i could not afford them anymore. we have my son's preschool. we have gas. we have car payments. it is not like we are living the high life. we do not get to take vacations, we do not visit family that lives across country. it is definitely far from the life of luxury. host: student debt? any debt for that advanced degree? caller: oh, yes. i was fortunate that my dad helped me with half of my undergraduate degree, but i had to pay for half of that and entirely for my advanced degree. i am at $63,000 in debt and my husband is a full-time student. we have about $40,000 in debt

for him so far. we are over $100,000 in debt. and the student loan forgiveness with the interest would have made such a huge difference as it would have for so many middle-class and lower-class americans. it feels like the rug got pulled out from under us. that commercial where they are dangling the dollar, like, "i got you a dollar." that is what it the government did to us. there was a light in the tunnel and they pulled it away. it is heart wrenching to be frank. host: how much is your student loan bill every month? caller: hundreds. hundreds of dollars. host: marie in california. we are talking about the impact of inflation on your wallet as the federal reserve yesterday decided to pause interest rate hikes. look at the national newspapers.

the wall street journal said, causes rate hikes but signals more. this is what the report was. after holding the rate near 0%, they raised at every meeting since march 2022 by a cumulative five percentage points, the most rapid series of increases since the 1980's. officials slowed their increases this year, lifting the rate a quarter percentage point at the last three meetings. here is the new york times, fed ends string of raising rates. policymakers predicted they might need to raise rates two more times this year as inflation, while moderating, remains stubborn. and then from the money section of usa today, fed holds off on rate hikes but indicates more to come.

by next year the central bank expects to cut rates to 4.6% amid a weak economy and lower inflation. two more increases, according to the papers, but by next year the central bank expected to cut rates to 4.6%. you may have heard the fed chair say they still all have the goal on the board of achieving that 2% inflation rate. from the washington post this morning, fed leaves rates unchanged, signaling new phase in its fight against inflation. they say according to lindsay owens, executive director of the groundwork collaborative, urged the fed to stop raising altogether last year and raise alarms about the potential hit to the job market if the fed did not back off. owens said it was a good sign the fed did not raise further this week but she cautioned

there were already signs of weaknesses that it should not ignore. and last month's job report, we saw the black unemployment rate tick back. an unnecessary push on rate hikes. we know who is going to be impacted. not that we did not know it before, but we are starting to see it. the black unemployment rate rose nearly a fully percentage point to 5.6% in may. the current unemployment rate is 3.7%. peacher in west palm beach, florida, democratic caller. good morning. caller: good morning. im 92-year-old, retiree, and a union worker from 18 till i was 60-years-old. i retired 31 years. i have accumulated enough money to live very comfortably where inflation does not bother me. i put some money in the market. it keeps me financially sound.

i have no mortgage payment. no car payment. the fact that union workers are better off than any workers around because we have had decent salaries, we have security, we had medical coverage. you ask any union worker today how the situation is. you would find out union workers are very well off because they are paid well and the bosses have to pay them a decent salary. host: are you saying inflation has not impacted you? caller: not at all. i live a very comfortable life. i can go out to restaurants. i can still play golf. financial problems, i do not have. host: im going to hear from scott in dallas, texas. independent. what is your situation? caller: it has impacted me in good ways and bad ways.

the good ways is that we have been able to get yields on bonds and notes we have not seen in years. my cash is really working better for me. unfortunately, i recently had an accident. my car was totaled and i figured out what i would pay for the car versus the reimbursement from the insurance company, and for the five years that i have a car, it cost me $239 per month. i have no debt and no long-term debt. as far as the bad news, yes, food prices have risen, but i am not going to cut out beef or chicken or go vegan. i will pay the higher price and i am still working at age 67 and

able to save money. on the good side, last year my dividends from investments increased 25%. host: scott in dallas, texas. here is joan in minnesota saying, food prices, something we no longer buy, we do not go out much. our electric bill, insurance bills are up and they are worrying about the grandchildren getting started in life. that is how inflation has impacted joan in minnesota. you can text us at (202)-748-8003 and share your comments that way. could your first name, city, and state. or you can go to facebook.com/c-span and twitter @c-spanwj. steve in florida, independent. caller: good morning. as far as inflation, this

administration -- i am a senior citizen. 64-years-old and i am disabled now. i have died three times on the operating table. fortunately, i have saved money, which i am blessed. but i have gone through my savings. everything is expensive. i do not care what you buy, it is not made strong anymore. it is just terrible how the inflation has gone up so much. it is killing the senior citizens and the younger people. more needs to be done. cutting social security is not helping us at all. host: jeffrey in parkersburg, west virginia, democratic

caller. caller: hello? host: it is your turn. caller: ok. inflation hurt me a little bit. i get $2700 a month between me and my wife after we pay rent and utilities, but what is killing me is at the grocery store. we go to the grocery store when i get paid and it is the 15th and we are out of money. we spent $480 for two people and we cannot make it last for the month. we talked about going to the food pantry because we have no more money. last month we managed to make it and we do not buy junk food anymore. we made meals that last for two days. we make spaghetti on monday and that is for monday and tuesday, but $480 in groceries do not

last a whole month. host: do you remember before inflation started to tick up what your grocery bill was? caller: it probably was around $270 and that was with us getting chips and junk food. we do not even get junk food no more. chicken, ham, whatever the cheapest stuff, peanut butter and jelly, ramen noodles. that is after utilities and rent. we do not have a car anymore because it cannot afford the insurance. here we are at the 15th of the month and we are almost out of food. i am going to pay my bills first so we have a place to live. we have the cheapest cable, the cheapest cell phone plans. it is not like we are overspending. it is terrible at the grocery store. host: where else has it gone up? have you seen the utility bill

go up? have they raised your rent? caller: my rent has not raised. we pay $800 a month. the landlord is nice and decent about that. we have paid that for seven years and never went up a penny. we do not qualify -- i swallowed my pride and applied for snap and they said you qualify for $23 a month. i am grateful but i told her never mind because that is not going to help me with anything. host: what do you do for a living? caller: i used to work at the juvenile detention center. i'm 62-years-old and have been on disability 12 years because i am visually impaired. i would like to work but i cannot see to work. that is where i am at. the groceries are killing us. host: jeffrey in parkersburg, west virginia. deborah in georgia, independent.

let's hear from you. caller: oh, boy, what can i say? everything is so bad. property taxes have gone up on the house every single year, but this year i got the notice and it is, my goodness, $30,000 more that is taxable. host: how much? how much more are you paying in taxes? caller: i will not know until the month before it is due. i have to save out of my social security every month enough that may be it is going to be another $200. i don't know yet and they do not tell you until the month before it is due, which is very scary. my car is dead in the driveway, so i cannot go anywhere. my washing machine was supposed

to be 10 years guaranteed. it died after six years. it does not have the spin cycle so i have to wring out the clothes by hand. the refrigerator died after three years. that was made in china. all appliances break like crazy and i cannot buy any new ones. my daughter just died monday. i could not see her before she died. she died of cancer. i could not go to see her because i did not have a car. my car is dead. i could not see my daughter before she died and i had no way to go. my groceries come from walmart. they charge me a membership fee

i have to pay every month to get groceries delivered. that is pretty much it. and then my husband, he is dead. when he was alive they were paying $6,000 alive social security -- $1600 alive in social security. he died and they took it down to $1200 a month for me. i do not understand how that is possible. i should gotten something from him but i should have gotten something on top of that for my working. but they put it down to $1200. the only good news is that the house is paid for because, before he died, we took his money out of the 401(k) to pay off the mortgage.

we had to pay $21,000 for the federal tax and $6,000 for the state of georgia tax because the 401(k), we took it out -- even though he was dying -- before he was 65. you have to be 65 before you can take it out for taxes. all of these things that are happening, we get nothing but crap products from china, and i have not seen a doctor since 2005. and i do not dare. how can i go anyways? my eyes are blurry. i need new glasses. so, even with social security --

i can go without milk, butter, eggs -- i can just eat out of the cans. host: deborah in georgia, very sorry for the loss of your daughter and husband. paul in connecticut, independent. good morning. caller: morning, greta. from the people's republic of connecticut and i am an independent. thank you. i am listening over the phone. i am feeling well off. that said, it is only feelings. i am expending my savings. income went down the last two years, check that box. cut back on spending, yes. opened a new business venture that is failing miserably but not altogether. it is a big pr effort.

micro museum in bristol, connecticut. i am dealing with the problems of bureaucracy here. government bureaucrats are spending faster than the people can support it. that is the weight on the economy. fiscal spending is a big issue. i think -- how would i know? i live in connecticut. but i think buying too big in the housing area, in the cars, it is catching up with people. we are a culture of merchandising and marketing, especially with this high level of technology. i would recommend to survive is

file a few disability claims with the v.a. it is going along. i have had record speed and gives me a little bit of safety net with my social security. i went early and drew out -- thank god -- but the bureaucracy, including the irs, they are slowing down refund checks, at least according to my nephew. he feels that is the case. i have seen it in my own situation where i overpaid estimated taxes last year on my two business filings and i am getting a refund. the only problem is they are dragging their feet. you give them the money real quick, they cash the check, and then they drag their feet. host: paul in connecticut,

independent. a little more from the federal reserve as we continue with your calls. here is jerome powell yesterday giving projections for future fund rates. [video clip] >> if the economy evolves as projected, the median appropriate level of the funds rate will be 5.6% at the end of this year. 4.6% at the end of 2024. and 3.4% at the end of 2025. for the end of this year the projection is half a percentage point higher than in march projections. i hasten to add that these projections are not planned. if the economy does not evolve as projected, policy will adjust as appropriate to foster our maximum employment and price stability goals. we will continue to make our decisions meeting by meeting based on the totality of incoming data and their implications for the outlook of

economic activity and inflation as well as the balance of risks. host: that was the chairman jerome powell. if you missed his news conference yesterday, you can find it on c-span.org or our free mobile video app. diane in kansas, republican, we will hear from you next. how has inflation impacted you the last year or so? caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i felt sorry for that poor woman from georgia. i almost cried. i want to clarify something and that is with property taxes. this is killing senior citizens. majority of senior citizens own their homes and have paid them off -- not early -- but when they retired. my own example is i retired early and i had a pretty good pension.

i have been doing just fine. until this inflation hit housing. everything in the house costs a whole lot more to build. you cannot put up a house in my area for less than $350,000 minimum. what is happening is it increases the value -- which sounds good -- of the surrounding homes in the area. the example of the county i live in, last year there was an increase of 13% just in the value of your home. that sounds great if you are going to sell. that if you are staying in your home, that means your property taxes are going up. my house assessment has been raised $50,000 in the last two years and i have not done a thing. i have had to repair things because it is 16-years-old now.

that is translated to a property bill of $5,500 a month and 13% is due to increases in the last few years. i have been reading articles all over -- host: $5,000 a month or a year? caller: $5,500 a year. the increase last year was $500. but what is happening to senior citizens all over the country, you think you are doing well and property taxes are killing us. in our area it went up 13% just last year. host: we are going to leave it there but for all of the you that did not get in, we will

return to this qstn later on this morning. when we co back, congresswoman stacey plaskett on the weaponization of government and talks about former presidt trump's recent indictment and the attacks on the department of justice and fbi. later, louisiana senator bill cassidy will be here. he is going to discuss his proposal to bolster social security. stay with us. ♪ ♪ announcer: if you are enjoying book tv, sign up for our newsletter using the qr code on the screen to receive the schedule of upcoming programs, book festivals, and more. book tv, every sunday on c-span 2 or anytime online at booktv.org. television for serious readers. ♪ ♪ announcer: on august 24, 1955,

14-year-old emmett till visited the meat market in greenwood, mississippi where he was accused of flirting with the white store clerk. his 16-year-old cousin was with him when the incident happened and four days later when emmett till was abducted. sunday on q&a, reverend parker recounts the events that led to emmett till's murder and his efforts to get justice for his cousin. >> he was 14 and i was 16 and nothing happened while they were in the store. they came out of the store and once they were out of the store.

emmett loves to make people laugh. he whistles to make us laugh and gives her the wolf whistle. you have to understand the atmosphere in 1955 in mississippi. a black man whistling at a white woman was death itself. announcer: sunday night at 8:00 eastern on q&a. you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on the free c-span now app. ♪ announcer: washington journal continues. host: we are back on "washington journal." joining us from capitol hill this morning is stacey plaskett, delegate from the virgin islands. she is also the ranking member, the top democrat, on the select subcommittee of weaponization of the federal government and

member of the intelligence committee. stacey plaskett, let's begin with you our role in the intelligence committee. from the indictment against former president donald trump for taking classified documents from the white house, the classification markings found in his office were 27 -- the number with top-secret markings -- secret 18, confidential three. 11 in the closet had the top-secret marking, 33 secret, and 28 confidential. can you tell us what protocols you have to follow as a member of the intelligence committee to view these types of documents? guest: thank you so much for having me. great question. of course, the president is going to be viewing documents in a different way than congress. but all documents are kept

secure in a very confined location. when i am in the intelligence skip, which is a very secure area of the capitol, members cannot bring cell phones in, cannot bring electronics into the area for fear that some of the information make it out. that there may be those that have put devices on our own devices to be able to take that. and once we leave even the notes that i take as a member of the intelligence committee are kept right there. i make it a point as i walk out to go through my bag and make sure that i have not taken anything out with accidentally. and then once i leave the secure area i am able to collect my phone and other electronics that might have been on my person

that i travel with once i have left the location. host: what have you been told as a member of this committee about having any types of these documents outside of the secure area? and what would the president have been told, in the white house staff, about once they leave a certain area and the laws that are related to having these documents? guest: sure. it is inappropriate for us to have the documents outside the location. i am not sure what kind of briefing the president received, but we are all aware, as elected officials, as individuals who are viewing top-secret material, that having this outside the location in which we are viewing them can present national security threats. can compromise our national security.

when you look back at the documents that are outlined in the indictment, you are seeing there is a discussion that some of these are related to nuclear weapons of the united states, related to our vulnerabilities and vulnerabilities of our allies, and information that has been collected by human sources. having these exposed to potentially other individuals can endanger not just the national security of our country but the security of individuals who have given and dedicated their lives to ensuring that we as americans are kept safe. those individuals that are out there in the field. it also compromises the way in which we collect information. once that is exposed whole systems may need to be created and new systems created to be able to make sure we are able to

get the information we need to keep every american safe. host: listen to the argument being made by the former president and republican colleagues about this case versus other times that other officials have had is classified documents outside a secured area. [video clip] >> they did absolutely nothing in hillary's case. the fbi and doj did not issue subpoenas. they did not use the grand jury. they did not execute search warrants. it was declared there was no problem. no reasonable prosecutor would ever bring a case. she knocked out 33,000 emails and hillary was not indicted. she should have been, but she was not indicted. she was protected by the democrats. biden is not indicted and what he did was terrible.

they like to say, "what trump did." only donald trump is indicted and they take one charge and they turn into 36 charges. you saw that. everybody was amazed. lawyers on television, they are not the best lawyers, but some of them are good. they have never seen anything like it. they took one charge and they made it 36 times. we have a thug that is in charge. this is a political hit job. republicans are treated far differently at the justice department the end democrats -- than democrats. host: given what you said before we listened to the president, is there a double standard? guest: absolutely not. i think the president has been afforded such grace that would not be afforded to other individuals in this instance. he tries to do these false

equivalents by equating what he did to what hillary clinton or vice president pence or president biden -- absolutely different. what is the main difference? the main difference is when those individuals were found to have had documents and were told by archives or any other lawful government agency to return them, they did. president trump did not. and not only did he not return them when requested lawfully by the national archives, by subpoena to do that, he lied about the documents and had his attorneys lie about the documents. had staff lie about the documents. it is against the law. those are the reasons why he had to face a grand jury and they are the ones that indicted him. let's remember it is not special

counsel who indicted him. it was a jury of his peers. a grand jury is made up of individuals, in this case, in southern florida, which, if i recall, went his way the last election. those are the individuals that indicted him on these charges and the charges are for the 31 documents he cap that were classified. and for obstructing justice by not returning them and also making false claims about those. those are the things that not vice president pence, hillary clinton, nor president biden made false claims or obstructed the return of the document when they were found to have them. host: we will get to calls. gary in tennessee, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you. ma'am, how can you sit there and

tell us there is no double standard when joe biden had documents as a senator? it is illegal. not to mention the fbi investigating the pedophile anthony weiner found documents on his personal computer that came from hillary's aide, whatever her name is. there is a double standard. you are asking those who like president trump to be serious about this when it has been swept under the rug? what about hillary clinton's people taking a hammer to their cell phones and beating them? guest: thank you for calling in. there is not a double standard. if individuals have documents they have -- if the documents

were returned when requested, we would not be here today. but the difference between president trump and hillary clinton was when asked to return the documents, he did not. she returned the documents. president biden returned the documents. president trump believes he is above the law. that there is a separate standard for him and that he does not have to do what every other american like you or me or other elected officials have to do. and he lied about it, got his court attorney to certify that those documents had been turned over when we have recordings from him saying that he knew the documents were not turned over, and lied to the lawful request to return documents. that is the difference. host: rhode island, christine is a democratic caller.

caller: thank you. thank you, stacey, for your service. while he was in office he did not want anyone to take notes. he would flush people down the toilet. he would rip them up on the floor and have staff pick them up and people have to put them together. i have something to say. i do not care if he is a democrat, republican, independent, purple, or from the moon. the people in congress should know the law. we are supposed to pick the best of the best but apparently our voting systems are not being watched. it seems like he is promoting hatred and division -- and i do not want to badger him because i felt the same with hillary. i understand people have 401(k)s

but open your eyes, this is fascism. look it up. he admires dictators. that is all i have got to say. god bless everyone. host: all right, christine. guest: thank you for that. we all care about this country and the previous caller cares about this country as well. but what we have to ensure is that there is not a double standard for individuals. one of the things i'm concerned with as the ranking member of the weaponization committee is that there is a creation on the side of my colleagues across the aisle, jim jordan and others, of making americans believe that our fbi, the department of justice, is not operating in a manner that is protective of all americans. we are about the truth.

committees use the tax dollars to support one person, donald trump. the things that the republican party said they were concerned with when they wanted to take control of the house are not being addressed. what they are doing is spending an enormous amount of taxpayer dollars and congressional time to protect donald trump. host: the headline from axios, house gop response to trump indictment with renewed fbi scrutiny. referring to the chair of the committee, jim jordan, sending a letter to the ag, seeking information about the mar-a-lago search. what are you expecting from this committee? what types of hearings are coming up? who will be called to testify? guest: jeffries set at the

beginning that this is the committee that would protect insurrectionists and donald trump. unfortunately, he seems to be very much being able to see into the future because that is what is happening. the whistleblowers turned out to be individuals that had received fbi clearance for using their status to protect insurrectionists, to give out confidential information that they had as fbi agents to the public, the media, and others. we have seen that this committee is being used to protect donald trump. to try out conspiracy theories before the 2024. and to make americans feel insecure about the rule of law in this country which is, as your previous caller said, the beginning of a fascist state.

host: david is in virginia, independent. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you for taking my call. i think trump's problems are self-inflicted. it would have been much easier for him to just return the documents. he could have done that and avoided this problem. however, i think there is a different rule for presidents than there is for senators, vice presidents, and congresspeople as far as removing documents from the skip. i think the president has the ability to do that. i do not think vice presidents or congressman have the ability to do that. i would like your guest to respond to that question. secondly, you know, with 320 million people in this country

the best two candidates are biden and trump? there are more qualified and better people able to run this country than either one of those people. thanks. guest: thank you so much, caller. you are correct, the president does few documents -- view documents in a manner that is different than congress. the president's briefed on confidential information, going to the location and agencies where that information resides. i view documents not in the skip but out in the field where cia station houses are in foreign countries. but you are correct. we could have avoided this once he had the documents and recognized they were with him after he left office when he

ceased being president. and after over a year of the national archives requesting the documents repeatedly. that is when a subpoena was finally issued for him to return the documents. he still obstructed justice by not returning the documents that he had in his possession and here we are today. we need to let justice do what it is going to do and continue to let him have his legal process. everyone is innocent until proven guilty and that will be done by a jury of his peers in south florida. the rest of us need to go on about doing the people's business. that is what the democratic caucus is here to do. we are trying to work on legislation. this is about everyday americans and how to make their lives better. we are not about using this house, congress, to protect one

individual and their pursuit of power. host: our guest is delegate stacey plaskett, democrat, who represents the virgin islands. as you have heard, the top democrat of the select subcommittee on weaponization of the federal government and member of the intelligence committee. how did you vote on the motion to table a measure that would have punished your colleague, congressman adam schiff? guest: as you are probably aware, members of territories do not vote on final passage. we vote when the committee is in amendments on the floor but not final passage. of course, i would vote not to censure or not to vote in favor of tabling that motion. adam schiff has done his job and i think it is a frightening position that we put other

members of congress in when we attempt to stifle their voices. i do not agree with much of what my colleague jim jordan says on the committee. but to stop him from doing his job in being able to voice his opinion as an elected official is an inappropriate move by myself and the member of congress. host: there were 20 republicans in the majority and most democrats who voted to table this punishment of your colleague. guest: yes, and that means -- tabling means we are taking it off of the table, so to speak. to remove it from the vote. to put it to the side. i think that is the appropriate thing to do. i'm concerned with my colleagues to the far right. individuals who are trying to

weaponize this entire body of congress for their own benefit, for the benefit of power of donald trump and their own agenda. we need to get back to the business of the people. speaker mccarthy needs to get control of his conference so we can do that. host: brian in west union, ohio, republican. caller: thank you for having me on. i am going to answer the guy's question that she failed to answer. i am not defending donald trump in any way, but i will stand up for the constitution. vice presidents and congressmen and women do not have the authority to declassify anything. she talks about how she get -- she cannot get them out of the skid. how did biden get them? the second thing is she said when donald trump was subpoenaed

he did not want to turn over classified documents with the other people do. pence and hillary and biden and all of them. i do not know what planet she lives on, but hillary destroyed subpoenas after they were ordered. she destroyed them and busted up phones with hammers. is that obstructing? that is obstructing. host: let's get a response. guest: first of all, my name is congresswoman stacey plaskett and what i said was correct. there is a process for declassification. president trump cannot unilaterally in his mind declassify documents. he has to go through a process and law like everyone out. he did not do that. and he did in fact obstruct

justice by not following the subpoena. we have recordings of him doing that and many were classified documents. there are not classified documents that hillary clinton had that she destroyed. i am right here on planet earth. host: palmetto, georgia, monica is a democratic caller. caller: hi. my question is, republicans are running away with this narrative that hillary clinton destroyed documents and busted up cell phones with a hammer. can you respond to that? is that really true? i mean, you know, is it true? we cannot let these republicans run away with this narrative.

guest: thank you. you are correct. she did not destroy with a hammer cell phones. that is another one of these conspiracy theories that is out there that is not true. were there emails that were deleted? yes, they were. but an investigation done by the trump administration found that those were not intentionally deleted to subvert a subpoena and they were not classified documents. at the end of the day trump was not indicted by his peers but by other americans for the boxes and boxes of documents he had. he had 31 counts of indictments for classified materials. material that is detrimental for him possessing. it is detrimental and can cause great harm to the national

security of our country. host: congresswoman stacey , we appreciate the conversation. when we come back, senator bill cassidy, a republican of louisiana joins us to talk in the health, education committee and his proposal for social security. >> robert kaplan's 21st book revolves around the things he's learned over the years from greek philosophers and william shakespeare. kaplan elo the words of

ancient greeks shakespeare and german philosophers to elo the central subjects in international politics order, disord, rebellion, ambition, loyalty to family and state violence and the mistakes of power. mr. kaplan, 70, was born in new york city and graduated from the university of connecticut. >> author robert kaplan on this episode of book notes+ which is available on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> fridays at 8 p.m. eastern, c-span brings you afterwords from book to be where nonfiction offers are interviewed by journalists, legislators and others on their latest books. this week, the center for justice president and ceo examines the impact of the

supreme court's 21-22 rulings and how the supreme court divides america. interviewed by the senior politico reporter. watch afterwords every friday at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this, it looks like this where americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed in the public thrives, get informed straight from the source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are, it's the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is weird -- this is what democracy looks like, c-span, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: senator bill cassidy's with this is morning, republican of louisiana to talk about his

proposal for social security. before we get there senator, if nothing is done about social security, what does the program look like? guest: if no one does anything for social security, there will be guaranteed 24% cut in eight or nine years. in a radio host in shreveport, louisiana said that's ok because i will already be on it and be grandfathered in. that's not true. those receiving money at that time and all future beneficiaries will buy look at what amounts to a 24% cut. host: that's a lot. guest: if we choose to do nothing, president biden and president trump plan are to choose nothing, there would be a 24% cut in what people are receiving. by the way, that will double poverty among the elderly.

it's just a choice we shouldn't make. host: if you are 55 years old and listening to what you just said or you are hearing from folks who are 55 and around that age, what kind of concern are they expressing? >> it's interesting. you get president biden and president trump effectively saying that anyone wants to do anything about social is making the wrong choice. they are being kind of, don't worry about it. we are not hearing that much except for other people, i have a video clip on my twitter account and my facebook page and scald bill on the hill and he went around and spoke to people visiting washington, d.c. a guy from pennsylvania goes, you know, i've had a lot of jobs that didn't involve retirement. i'm going to need social. a 24% cut? that's going to be terrible.

and a doctor from louisiana was one of my former residence and now he's getting gray hair and he goes -- i am a doctor so used to teach -- he goes my family and my friends will have to choose between medicine and food. there are going to be terrible consequences but we have two leading presidential candidates telling the american people that if anybody wants to address it, they are wrong, we are choosing to do nothing and that means they are choosing people will have to choose between medicine and food. host: we were just listening to callers who are already making those decisions. a couple of callers talked about they paid off their homes, they retired and paid off their homes but they are seeing property taxes on top of these other costs go up so unexpectedly, that is cutting into their social security check now. guest: i'm told that if you are

currently in good health, you of the 50% chance of living to be 90. that's important. some folks are going to live beyond their ability to work. even if you choose to work after retiring, you get to 80 come you can't work any longer. when trump and biden choose to do nothing, people will be living beyond their ability to work. we want to get elected so we will say there's nothing that needs to be done and you will going to poverty and they don't care. host: let's talk about what you want to do. you are proposing 1.5 trillio dollars over five years in an investment fund separate from the social security trust fund, full investment in escrow for 70 years and aim for it average of about 3.5% equity premium over the 70 year escrow and that

would cover us for 70 of 5% of the projected shortfall is what you are saying. some might get concerned that you are putting social security and putting it at the whim of the market. guest: i'm glad you asked that. you answered it in the way you put it. this fund is separate from social security. it doesn't take social security dollars at all. it keeps money separate and you can use it however you wish. there is $20 billion worth of federal billings -- buildings that are not being used and you could find that. you fund it and it grows separately. we would repeal the law that

says the current beneficiaries get a 24% cut. we actually guarantee the promised benefit that right now will be cut by almost 1/4. we are betting on the strength of the american economy. we don't place any risk on the beneficiary and if the market goes up and it goes down, that risk is in the fund itself area we know over 70 years with the history of the market that it will do ok. that's how we take care of this. host: why not do the other proposals that have been on the table? capping social security, etc., raising the age. take each of those proposals and tell us why you wouldn't do that. guest: you should not raise taxes on sink -- on seniors or decrease benefits for seniors. the only retirement fan -- plan

for baby boomers is social security. if you say you raise your taxes or reduce your benefits it's a nonstarter. you just can't go there. politically come you camp it also morally. you can raise the age of eligibility for someone who's 30 years old. that's on the table but there's other benefits we have to address and that's why we need presidential leadership. we need a president who's actually honest to the american people and not giving them happy talk. we need a leader that says we still have 25% we had to address, how do we do it without affecting those who are retired or approaching retirement? there is a way that we can do it. if all they want to do is raise your taxes, that's incredibly regressive. it falls heavily on those who make the least in our society, that's wrong. if all you want to do is raise

the age of eligibility, you have to raise it pretty far. you got to have a proposal which is rooted in reality. host: let's hear what our viewers have to say. then in clarksburg, west virginia, democratic caller. caller: i find this guy totally obnoxious because he's trying to privatize social security. there already is $2 trillion in social security. to fix the problem, lift the cap if you want to cut benefits, let's talk about cutting congressman after they leave office. thank you. guest: sounds great, we are taking the funds separate from social security. don't cut social security funds at all and i'm glad you phrased it that way because that's the way people knock us without understanding the problem. we are making it separate. if all you want to do is raise the cap, president biden's

proposal which he proposed in his last campaign which he never submitted to congress's instead of the top something $160,000 to which you apply the cap, then we're going to raise it. he didn't figure in inflation which means over 15 years, every single american will get basically a 13% tax increase. my friend, if you want to have a 13% tax increase or if you want your children to have it, then vote for that proposal. choose their proposal even though he never submitted it to congress. if you want to bet on the strength of the economy as opposed to some president or congress raising your taxes by 13%, then think about hours. by the way, there is something

on the internet that somehow we in congress don't pay social security, we do. host: $2 trillion is already owed to social security. what about that? guest: that's the excess that people are paid in overtime. i'm glad he mentioned that. the american worker has paid in some years more than what's paid out. that's the trust fund. that extra money is invested in treasuries. it can only be invested in treasuries by law. treasuries have a return since they bought them 15 years ago have a return of 1% or 3% or 4%. under biden, our inflation rate has gone up to six or 7%. we are losing money on those investments. it's the worst investment strategy could possibly have. the money we have in real dollars is shrinking as

inflation continues to be high. what we are doing is we are saying you can do that on social but in our fund, you would put it in the economy, the stock market and allow that to grow in overtime, that is average since 1929, i think 8.5% return per year. you either go to 3% return in treasuries and the current model or you can bet on what's happened over time of roughly 8.5%. we just and some -- estimate a little more but that's how you build up the system. host: west chester, ohio, republican. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i have a very detailed question. programs are safety nets in the 80's for the income tax, earned income tax credit which i agreed

with in the 80's. my family owned a daycare and we have added some money wonderful safety nets like chip, and you know what they are but we really added a lot. i think many to start reducing the earned income tax credit. the other thing we have to do is address health. for whatever reason, in 2008, we added added to our food program. we have 330 million people in the united states with diabetes at a cost of about $1000 per person. my approach is two-pronged -- we want to promote health. there isn't any reason why it's demented at daycare but it's only offered an elementary through high school. it should be both. we can say to the snack industry when you're snacks are compliant, you can be on the

food program but until you make your snacks cacfp compliant, we will not allow those to negatively impact the health of the american people because there are so many other healthy things that taste great out there. host: senator? guest: deborah, you think so seriously about public policy. i am so impressed. i've never thought about these kind of things in terms of the nutritional aspect of it. clearly, nutrition is a major contributor to heart disease, all kinds of problems. let me talk to my staff. i think you got some great ideas. host: thank you, senator. oak hill, ohio, independent. caller: good morning. i read an article from tampa bay times from october, 2015 and

they were talking about the cuban refugees and those people that come over here that are 65 or retired already in cuba, they are given social security and now i see that biden has expanded that to anybody. there is no way we can sustain social security on the united states taxpayers paying it and whoever wants to can come here can -- and can get it. guest: my understanding is that you have to get your 40 quarters in. that means there is four quarters per year of three months and you got to work 40 of those in order to be eligible. without those 40 quarters, you are not eligible but i will look into the refugee status. you said something else that triggered a thought. by the way, that will be significant.

we have to address it and i can see that point. but what's really driving insolvency of social security is that 10,000 boomers per day become eligible for social security. when social security was put into place like 1948, there is like 5.6 children per beneficiary. the average age of death was probably about 65. if you got to 60, you would live longer but the point being that people did not stay on social very long and there is lots of folks paying in to support them. now, with smaller families, there's only like 2.1 people paying and for every beneficiary and the average age of death is 82. i'm told if you live to age 60 and you are in good health, you have a 50% chance of living to be 890. a lot of boomers are retiring. they are becoming eligible every day.

we have longer lifespans and fewer people are paying in. that's why we need a different system, a system which guarantees the benefits you will receive unlike president trump and biden, they are choosing to do nothing and we should choose to do something. host: lizzie in indiana, democratic caller. caller: hello, hi. i'm calling to talk to you about how the government owes the social security money right now. host: the senator addressed that. i will have you hang on the line and have them repeat what he said. guest: when there has been excess dollars contributed relative to the money going out, the social security trust fund invested in treasuries. yes, the government kind of owes it but what i pointed out

earlier is by law, you have to put it into treasuries and treasuries are only paying one point -- 1-3% interest. when we have in inflation at six or 7%, the value of that dollar is diminishing relative to inflation. that's why a separate fund, separate from social security, we have put in the strength of the american economy that way you compensate for inflation of the growth. it's there is no social security dollars in here. we need a different investment strategy to what we have now because we are losing money with inflation. host: you want to put $1.5 trillion into this investment over five years. you talk about where that would come from but can people learn more details of how you would raise one point $5 trillion? guest: we need political leadership from the present because we need both houses of congress to support it. we have a bipartisan group of senators supporting a bipartisan group of represented that would

have supported it. but when biden made his state of the union speech, it fell apart. i would like my preferred example. there is $20 trillion -- $20 billion worth of buildings the federal government owns that we don't use. we spend i'm told billion dollars every year maintaining this $20 billion worth of real estate that we don't use. let's sell a little bit of that, 1.5 trillion of that. let's sell it and put it to this account in order to have growth. we've got a lot of unused assets. there might be another way to do it but that's why you need the president to come in and say i'll sign it into law if you do this. host: so speaker kevin mccarthy announced he's assembling a commission to look at potential cuts in the entire federal budget.

do you think that's where leadership could come from? what your prediction for that? guest: i can promise you what that whatever he proposes, president biden is going to use it to attack on the campaign trail. what is happening is biden, whenever there is a serious proposal, he attacks it is a cuts. president trump, if some he says we have to fix social, he wants to attack it. so the leading presidential candidates are choosing to do nothing. they are making a conscious decision to deceive the american people that we don't need to do anything on social. trump will say we should -- we will cut fraud and abuse. that's about 1% of the problem at best. that will not fix it. when biden says i've got a plan and he talked about his last campaign but it was never submit it to congress. the way he will pay for, he is use that same mechanism for medicare and everything else. he is kind of double counting to

pay for it. we need serious proposals by the men or women who wish to be leaders of our country and if they don't come up with a serious proposal, they should not be the leader of our country. host: richfield, wisconsin, republican. caller: good morning, senator cassidy and thank you for being on. i find it curious, you are talking about fraud and abuse being 1% or less. when we look at the billions and billions of dollars that this administration wasted or allowed to be fraudulently used for the covid money. i also find it curious that you are lumping president trump and president biden in the same boat when there is obviously huge differences in the party. you sound like a rhino, my friend. guest: thank you, brother. i'm here to tell you the truth, not to peddle the party line. you are right, there is billions

spent on covid but that's not in the social security trust fund. we are talking social security, not other things. when i speak of trump and biden, and being objective. look at their plans and their rhetoric on social security. if you want me to say the republicans are perfect no matter what the republican says, and your future is on the line? if we adopt one of these choosing to do nothing programs, you get a 24% cut in your social security benefits. what do you want me to do? be honest with the american people come up with a plan of not having a 24% cut were just speak a party line. my obligation to my state and my country and my fellow americans is to be honest. if you wish me to be something else, i'm not sure why -- i don't usually hear people say i want my politicians to not be honest.

i'm being honest. host: we talked yesterday about college costs. real quickly because we only have less than a minute with you before you have to go. can you tell us what you're proposing there? guest: president biden's plan does nothing for the underlying problems. he forgives debt and transfers it to other taxpayers, making us pay the obligation that someone willingly took on. according to the committee for responsible federal budget, in five years, we will be back in the same situation. what we are proposing, me and a bipartisan collection would be to create an accountability and transparency so young person going to go to college. they will be able to log on and see that i will enroll at this college in this curriculum and what's my likelihood of graduating, how much will i have to borrow, then what will i turn when i get out?

with that information, she can make a decision. she chooses to go and spend $200,000 for for your education in which she will get out and make $40,000 per year, at least her eyes are wide open. host: it sounds like a good app. guest: it would be. host: senator, thank you. our viewers can learn more if they go to cassidy. senate.gov. thank you for your time. we will take a short break and wh we come back, we will turn to her question about the economy. yesterday, the federal reserve paused interest rates and we want to know how has inflatio over the past few months impacted your personal finances? there are the lines on your screen, start dialing in. >> american history tv saturdays

on c-span2, exploring the people and events that's -- that tell the american story. 645 p.m. eastern, the ohio democratic senator leads a bipartisan group of senators and reading of dr. martin luther king jr.'s 1963 letter from birmingham in jail. at 9:30 p.m. eastern on the presidency, in his book becoming fdr, the author reveals how polio transformed franklin roosevelt into the men who led the country through the great depression and world war ii. exploring the american story, watch american history tv saturdays on c-span2 and find the full scheduleur program guide or watch online anat c-span.org/history. >> book tv every sunday on c-span2 teachers lding authors of nonfiction books. at 9:15 p.m. eastern, and author

talks about the sexual revolution in america and the overturning of roe v. wade in 2022 in her book. at 10 p.m. eastern on afterwords, michael waldman examines the impact of the supreme court's 2021-20 22 ruling with his book the super majority, how the supreme court vided america. is interviewed by the politico senior legal affairs reporter. watch book tv every sunday on c-span2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch onne anytime at book tv.org. >> watch video on demand anytime online at c-span.org and try our points of interest feare come a timeline told uses markers that guide you to newsworthy and interesting highlights of our key coverage. use points of interest anytime

online at c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back. we will finish up today's "washington journal" asking all of you about the impact of inflation on your personal finances. the house will gaveling early as morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern and we will bring you to the floor fire gavel-to-gavel -- for our gavel-to-gavel coverage. a gallup poll asked how inflation is impacted them. their headline is more see u.s. inflation causing financial hardship. it's based on 61% say recent price increases have caused financial hardship itches up from 55%. 15% say the hardship is severe or 46% say it's moderate. more mention inflation as the most important financial problem than any other. i want to know if you agree with those statistics. is it causing financial hardship

and if so, how? we will get your calls in a moment but let's listen to the federal reserve chair jerome powell yesterday at his quarterly news conference, talking about why the fed has decided to pause and not increase interest rates. [video clip] >> my colleagues and i remained squarely focused on her dual mandate. we understand the hardship that high inflation is causing and we remain strongly committed to bringing inflation back down to our 2% goal. price stability is the responsibility of the federal reserve. without price stability, the economy does not work for anyone. in particular, without price stability, we will not achieve a sustained period of strong labor market conditions that benefit all. since early last year, the fomc has significantly tightened the stance of monetary policy.

we have raised our policy interest rate by five percentage points and we continue to reduce our securities holdings in a desk at a brisk pace. we covered a lot of ground in the full effect of our tightening have yet to be felt. the uncertain flags with which monetary policy affects the economy and potential headwinds from credit tightening, we decided to leave our policy interest rates unchanged and continue to reduce our securities holdings. looking ahead, nearly all committee participants view it as likely that some further rate increases will be appropriate this year to bring inflation down to 2% over time. host: the federal reserve chair announcing a pause but at the end, they are expected to raise rates again this year a couple of times but it has been noted that the federal reserve is expected to lower interest rates

to 4.6% by next year. susan in new jersey as a text -- can in fairfax, virginia, how has it impacted you? caller: good morning. i want to say that representative cassidy, you're a liar. he makes of stories about a random person, an 18-year-old choosing to go to school for 200 k. it happens. but more than likely, they will go to school in states. your talk about a child. other than that, i want to say please look at the word austerity, find out what that

means and get in your community, connect with people and see who has food and share with your neighbors. get in touch with each other and explore socialism and communism. have a great day. host: georgia, independent. caller: yes, this gentleman is talking about social security. we should just increase the caps on social security. my dad is on social security and inflation has been terrible for me. i am paying more for eggs. i thought it was because of the avian flu but it turns out there is a 700% increase in profits. i think the prices are based on the corporation being greedy. now i'm paying more for everything. host: ok, rick in schenectady, new york, democratic caller. how is inflation impacting you? caller: yes, i am a retired actuary. i understand that your guest is

a retired physician. he is probably well educated in medicine. host: we've switched topics, we're talking about inflation and how it has impacted your personal finances. caller: then i just have no opinion to give you. go on to your next call. host: georgia, independent. caller: good morning. inflation is basically ruining my bank account because there is no extra funds left. you go to the grocery store and there is like a $300 bill to get enough food to last you for a month and you are right back at it. we are not even mentioning fuel costs for your automobiles to go to work every day. they went up on my taxes also in my homeowners insurance. now there is nothing left to put aside in savings for the future.

therefore, your future looks mighty bleak that you can apply it -- that you can't put aside money for it. host: politico has a story about inflation and the impact on consumers. would you agree with that? food and fuel prices stand out the most? the fed decided to pause interest rate hikes after more than a year. that keeps alive hopes of so-called soft landing.

many newspapers are using the word stubborn to talk about inflation. bernie in rhode island, democratic caller, you are next. caller: good mo thanks for taking my call. i am 73 years oldse retired. the reason why i am semi's i have to keep working if i want to maintain any type of lifestyle going once or twice a month to dinner. it doesn't come from social security. the issue of inflation is what causes it? just a brief point on this is that we still have 3-4 companies in the united states that control th flow of consumer goods in supermarkets. we have another four companies that control all of the meat processing. these companies are conspiring to drive up costs in his most notable because the prices are falling like a rock now.

i buy this particular sauce that was costing five dollars. in three weeks, the same store, it was costing me eight dollars. and only because they can. the other issue -- host: have you seen that product drop at all in prices? did you dial back paying for it and now you see it drop down? caller: exactly, i wouldn't pay for it and i live in a rural area in the same product in another store was back to five dollars. i went back to the rural store and is that how come you are charging eight and ice -- and they said because we can. the manager said that. that might be a particular store but i think it's pervasive across the country where they are raising prices because they can. with inflation, we have republicans getting up there and democrats to a certain extent and complain about how inflation is breaking the backs of the

poor, they are not affected by inflation. they don't worry about the cost of a jar of sauce. it's obviously those in the lower income bracket. meanwhile, the republicans want to cut aide and food stamps because there is so much graft. meanwhile, the republicans also say that we cannot audit the pentagon because it's too big. we cannot change the irs tax code because too complicated. that's for all the money is. we cannot audit the pentagon? think about that, the money that's wasted there but yet we go about -- we go after people with food stamps. you are kind and i thank you for being there. host: anne in new york, democratic caller, good morning. caller: good morning and i want to complement c-span for having such a great variety of guests and helping us get the pulse of what. people across america

are thinking i'm actually from louisiana and because of my outstanding teachers union, i can get a nice pension and social security which you cannot down salve generally. -- down south generally. i found it interesting with senator cassidy using the word social to describe social security. i'm wondering if that was a focus group calling it social. if he wanted to shorten it, we should call it security. people really depend on and should not be privatized and should not be cut. host: has inflation cut more into your social security and pension check? caller: again, because i have a nice pension, i will be 65 next birthday, i had the luxury of waiting to tap into social security until i'm older.

republicans are all about unionbusting. unions are the key to the middle class. let's keep that in mind. host: andrew is in new jersey, independent. caller: good morning. yes. i understand that the focus is on inflation with personal finances. let's talk about raising interest rates and who this hurts. recently, they reported on the news that it $400,000 mortgage with a fixed rate has gone up $400. i agree with the other gentleman that said they are fixing food prices because they can. we have no say so in the matter. people living on a fixed income in this country, what are they supposed to do? they talk to you about eating healthy if you can afford it.

let's not talk about inflation because how does inflation go up? what causes inflation? spending money you don't have. on frivolous things in washington like they do. they use our money as an atm. i will go back to the fed with raising interest rates. the only ones making money in this is the banks and finance companies. have a good day, bye. host: tampa, florida, republican, good morning. share with us your situation, how is inflation impacting you? caller: good morning, i have a quick comment. if you look at interest rates going up and inflation going up with it, the thing that makes it worse more often than not is the vendors, the wholesalers and retailers. they raise their rates more than is necessary. it's a double or triple impact on the consumer.

host: mark in seattle, washington, democratic caller. caller: hello and thanks for c-span. good to see you back on. for instance, i owned a condo in a homeowners fee of about $430 per month doing the lawns and the landscape and so forth, feeding the swimming pool if they have enough money to do that. now i am and respite care after having a medical fallout. $730 per month but i do get food , lodging and medical care. it's not too bad really. it depends if you've got the money, it's not so bad but if you don't have the money, those people need help i want to make sure they get help.

host: we will go to lexington, kentucky, bruce on the independent line. caller: hello. if the economy is doing so great and wages are up and everything is rosy, why are we spending money paying off people's tuition when social security and medicare is ready to default any year? my interest payment on my mortgage has gone up from 140 per month to 280 per month in about eight months. host: how did the bank increase that? caller: it's a variable rate mortgage that millions of people have on their second mortgage. host: ok, i see. caller: this lady that called in

and said it's socialism and communism axes the problem? look at venezuela. you think these grocery stores and these companies are raising prices and because they can, let the government get a hold of it and see where the prices go. look what they've done so far. host: alan and ruth are glen, virginia, republican. -- in reuther glenn virginia. caller: in my area, gas is still running at about $3.30 and groceries are up. i haven't seen anything come down in my area. heating oil for your home has gone double. anything you're going to buy anywhere is double or triple or whatever.

they talk about inflation coming down but it's not helping this area. all the stores i go in and out of and if i buy a piece of lumber, is double. host: would you call ruther glen , virginia a rural area or suburb? caller: i guess it's rural. like i say, everywhere i go, you go in a store to get something in three years ago it wasn't like this. this is the worst i've seen it. i've got neighbors complaining about all that stuff. you can't go to the store to get anything. they are either double or triple. host: from the new york times -- the headline echoes what we just heard from that caller. foregoing, in the -- indiana, independent.

good morning to you. caller: good morning. i am on social security and yes i realize it's not anybody's business but when we got that raise preparing for the 24% cut, i went up to $1426 per month. when they are doing this, and the inflation let's cut social security, one of the facts of the baby boomers, when they started -- when we started working, they had no 401(k). ira's started when i was in my 40's. everybody did not have a good pension. here in fort wayne, some companies closed, some people

lost their pensions because of companies closing and bankruptcy and all of that. i understand that they move money around. what i would like to hear some time is not a percentage. i want to hear a dollar amount. if 1% is $2 billion, then let's hear it. if 1%, it sounds so low. before they cut social security, people like me have worked for this, and paid into with the promise of at least being able to eat and have a roof when we retire, i just believe that it is a trust. and they don't need to be cutting it. host: i want you to tie this

into our question of how inflation has impacted you. caller: $1426, i had to find a place where i can pay less rent and i cannot eat like a used to. and i don't even eat that much. i don't go out to eat, and medical is -- if you don't pay your medical, i just want to go to the hospital and say i climbed over the wall3. thank you. host: tony in chicago, democratic caller. caller: hi, good morning. at this point, when we are talking about inflation, you can't have this conversation without talking about the massive growth and sustained growth of corporate profits. every outlet, media outlet, economic think tank folks have

finally seen the light on this. low and behold, all along, this has been an issue of corporate price gouging of people for any business, any good any service. corporate profit is not gone down. they have continued to steadily rise in this inflation was truly causing price increases. their bottom line wouldn't be growing as big as it is because their cost of doing business would have been going up. if that corporate profitability continues to rise, this is simply just corporate price gouging. i don't know what we can do here but when it comes to folks needing to feed themselves like the last caller, she is on a fixed income, my grandmother is as well, i'd buy her groceries. i think we need to start implementing price caps or something like that for things like food and consumables people need. there is no way to get around

the fact that corporations are continuing to just raise prices so they can continue to inflate their bottom line and inflate their stock prices. senator cassidy wants to do that on the social security and. he wants to move it into the stock market because he wants his hedge fund manager -- host: he said it wouldn't be social security's money that is put in this, it would be a separate fund, no social security payments raise from say selling federal buildings, they would raise $1.5 trillion and put it in a fund over five years. caller: either way, he wants to take public goods, our tax dollars, does the pup -- take the public goods and send them into private investment securities of people can make fees on investing that stuff. it's silly.

the way to fix that is raise the cap on social security income. it's not regressive and it doesn't affect people who are already paying the flat payroll tax. it would solve the problem. it would just raise taxes on pretty wealthy people. host: i will leave it at that point and share other headlines with folks this morning before we say goodbye. the house will gavel in at nine a.m. eastern time the house homeland security committee yesterday announced an investigation into the homeland security secretary for dereliction of duty. it's on border policy. we covered the homeland security hearing when they heard testimony from previous homeland security officials who were served in the trump. you can find that hearing if you go to our website, c-span.org. there's also this headline in the washington post --

he was headed to china when the so-called spy balloon was detected and then he scrubbed that trip. he is now returning to china this week. there is also this headline in the national section of the new york times this morning. go to our website c-span.org for details of his announcement and our coverage. let's hear from barbara in wisconsin, democratic caller. caller: yes, living on fixed income, inflation has done a lot of damage for people. we are in a small town and we

have one grocery store. we are in a hub of the bigger cities by 25 miles all the way around. three little cities one after another had one grocery store. piggly wiggly made a deal with the city that we would only have one store. that men -- you are supposed to eat healthy? gas prices are sky high and i have a very economical car that gets 40 miles to the gallon. everything has gone up, it's just ridiculous. all because the fair share of taxes are not paid by the rich and famous thanks to donald trump. they promised the american person for 10 years. people thought it was a great deal. that's no great deal. it's ridiculous what's going on

and don't take social security. my first job was $.79 an hour working in a cannery. then it went to $1.19. we didn't have iras and all this stuff. i think we need to leave social security alone. do not take it away, do not alter it. cassidy can put some of his money in these funds, some of these rich and famous. donald trump took more money out of the government than any president in history. i have no problem with a republican or democratic president. i have no bias but what i watch go down there and with his family actually raping -- host: i will go to glenn in greenbrier, arkansas, independent. caller: good morning. host: good morning.

caller: in 2019, my 19-year-old son called me out from the lake fishing after joe biden was elected. he asked me what will happen. i said in a few months, you will paying -- be paying $2.50 per gallon for gas. it didn't take a month after joe biden got in office. he signed an exit of -- an executive order that started this inflation. gas prices jumped $.40 per gallon that we are paying three dollars per gallon, some places 3.5. inflation is not controlled by the corporations. his executive order started all of this inflation. they spent $1.2 trillion for they called it an infrastructure bill.

it was a special interest bill they passed. host: tell us how it is impacting you personally. caller: i can't afford to go fishing. i can't afford to crank up my truck and pull my boat to the lake to go fishing because i'm disabled and can't work. but i can't afford the gas to go to the lake to go fishing. i can afford to do anything else. i have to wear clothes on till they are worn out. that's because the truckers can afford to haul things to the store so all the prices on everything goes up. host: i will leave it there so i can talk to others. before i do so come i want to update you on the annual congressional baseball game that took his last night in washington. republicans versus democrats, roll call has this headline --

>> vinegar ben mizell made to offer games. host: last night congressional baseball game and you can watch it on our website, c-span.org. tom from woodbridge, virginia come republican. caller: hi, good morning, thanks are taking my call. you guys are a national treasure. i tell you that all the time and people don't. understand how important this is i will make this inflation thing bernie style as my brother likes to say. the reason we have all of this horrible inflation right now is we are no longer energy independent. gas prices have doubled in a doubling of the gas price has such a profound effect on the economy.

it also limits people's ability to travel like our friend who goes fishing. it really cripples the entire economy with double gas prices. in addition, we flooded the economy with $50 billion during covid so now there is this pot of money that's out in circulation and that impacts the price of goods because of this huge amount of money that's floating around in the economy but was never actually tied to any kind of production. i think people need to just take to heart that this was done, i don't mean it was a choice that people made when they voted for

joe biden knowing he was going to do this with regard to the oil prices. hopefully, not this coming november but the following november, we will get somebody in there that will put us back in the right track regarding energy independence. it literally is [indiscernible] host: you are breaking up a we heard the gist of your argument. the house will gavel in here in a minute or so. we will take larry in southport, north carolina, independent we may have to say goodbye quickly but go ahead. caller: yes, ma'am, i retired at 54. we put social security in a savings. when i retired, we didn't have any money but we got by with

food and everything. now, we cannot cook -- we cannot put that money back into a savings. host: all right, as predicted, the house will gavel in for the morning session this morning, thank you all for watching and calling in, we will be back tomorrow at 7 a.m. eastern time with live coverage of the house floor here on c-span. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023]