washington journal is next. host: welcome to washington journal, one of the nation's three big credit rating agencies recently downgraded the u.s. credit rating, citing concerns including deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years and eroding confidence in the u.s.'s fiscal management. in the next hour, how much confidence do you have in the nation's economic leadership? call and let us know. (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 free democrats in independents (202) 748-8002. if you want to post on social media, you can do that on

facebook and twitter. you can text us at (202) 748-8003 and follow the show on instagram. the fitch credit agency made the announcement. fitch downgrades the u.s. long-term rating, outlook stable. when it comes to some of the reasonings for the downgrade, you can find online, here it is in part. there has been a steady deteoration of standards of governance over the last 20 years, including fiscal and debt matters nstanding the june bipartisan agreement to suspen the debt limit. the repeated debt limit last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management. they lack a fiscal fra these factors along with several economic shocks as well

cuts have contributed to excessive debt increases over the last decade. there's been limited progress in tackling medium-term challenges. the latest rising social security and medicare cost due to an aging population. we will redo more and show you more from this. when it comes to your faith in the nation's economic leaders and what they are doing with finances, call and let us know. (202) 748-8001 for republicans, democrats (202) 748-8000 and independents (202) 748-8002. text us at (202) 748-8003. as you are calling or texting, joining us to explain a little about the impact of this decision and the larger context of the issues is heather long with the washington post. thanks for giving us your time. guest: good morning.

host: tell us what the downgrade means, what is the end result? guest: it is a wake-up call. it was definitely a surprise to see this on tuesday, you walk through the main three reasons that they gave, the erosion of confidence, the rising of partisanship. why did they do this here in august of 2023, particularly after president biden and republicans were able to lift the debt ceiling back in may during a critical juncture? the other reason was the medium-term outlook, they cited the notion there could be a recession. you've been covering on this program, recession odds have been going down, the job market looks great again. in the jobs report, growth looks

steady. so a lot of people are scratching their heads. the macro economic picture looks a lot better than it did a year ago, why did they do this now? the final reason is the one i think is the impactful one, that is the long-term outlook. we all know this has a very unsettling fiscal picture in the next 10 to 15 years. social security is on track to not pay full payments starting in 2034, that does not sound that far away anymore. interest costs from debt or ballooning so fast the next 10 years, we will not have enough money to continue to fund the military, education, transportation and other programs at the level we do today. something has to give. that is where you saw the reaction in the market. the big mover this week was in

the usually boring bond market, 10 and 30 year bond, interest costs did rise as people were looking at the numbers again, saying i do not expect a crisis tomorrow or the next five years, but this does not look pretty going down the road. host: what do you think is the impact of the decision by fitch amongst economic leaders, whether they be in the white house, administration, in congress? is this a wake-up call or something that gets bypassed by those leaders? guest: it should be a wake-up call. as we were outlining, seeing that reaction in the bond market and a lot of people look at the outlook for the 10 year and 30 year outlook, the reaction from the white house was to downplay the report, call it ill-timed, bizarre, absurd.

you saw the same thing in congress, republicans were immediately blaming democrats, democrats were blaming republicans. if you step back and are concerned about this country for your children and grandchildren, you have to say it is frustrating that republicans by and large refused to raise any taxes. we need more revenue. at the same time, it is frustrating to hear the president come out and say he will not touch social security and little care at all -- medicare at all. we need to make changes to save the benefits for future generations. host: congress is in the midst of passing spending bills, trying to avoid an economic deadline toward the end of the year. if that fails to happen, what do you think is the further impact considering what we've seen from the downgrade? guest: that is on everyone's mind, perhaps that is why fitch put it out right now. they did not say that

explicitly, but there is already talk. are we going to have a government shutdown if we cannot get the agreement done by the end of september? people were saying the same thing about the debt ceiling back in may, they did reach that agreement. you have to be a little optimistic we can do it again by the end of september. sitting here today, it does not look great. there is that frog in the proverbial boiling pot, this will not be a crisis overnight. will you will see is the continuing inching up of borrowing costs and that makes life more expensive for the federal government. they need to borrow more money in the coming months and years and if they have another shutdown, it continues to erode that confidence. host: i think this happened back in 2011, if i recall. are there parallels to be learned about those instances

back then to what we've seen today with this decision recently? guest: obviously the s&p downgrade in 2011 happened right after the debt ceiling -- for house republicans did not reach the deal with president obama and we got close to hitting the debt ceiling. what you saw after that is stock continued to go down for several weeks, borrowing costs went up. we do not see quite as dramatic overreaction, but we are only a few days out from this decision. i think stepping back, the big picture is to move the world's three leading credit rating agencies -- we are no longer in the --. you can debate if that was a fair downgrade, there is ongoing debate about whether s&p and

fitch continue to keep the slightly lower ratings. i think you are going back to what you're talking about the rest of this hour, why is there no plan? why can we not put on the table tax increases and at least slowing spending in some areas, prioritizing? host: our guest's economic columnist and editorial board member of the washington post, giving us some context for this recent decision. you can find her work online. thanks for giving us your time and input. for the remainder of our time come right your faith in the nation's economic leadership. you heard our guest talk about the recent economic downgrade. you can call us, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats and independents

(202) 748-8002. text us at (202) 748-8003 and post on social media sites, that is facebook and twitter. john starts us off from new york , republican line, on faith in the nation's economic leadership. you are first out. -- up. caller: thank you. i want to make a statement. these spending policies that have taken place over the last several decades, the debt has been rising predictably. nobody is taking any kind of action to mitigate it. i kind of lost faith in the institutions in this country. you hear somebody like janet yellen saying inflation is

transitory, then you get to consecutive quarters of inflation or two consecutive quarters that are in the deficit. that is supposed to be an indicator of a recession. they try to explain it away, that is not right. it seems we are being lied to, the debt is $31 trillion i believe and all of this stuff has been predictable. medicare and entitlement programs, you need them. but you have to make adjustments. it does not seem they're willing to do that and i cannot believe it. it is like someone being told if they don't stop smoking they will come down with cancer. they continue to do it. host: thank you, this is patrick in florida, independent line. hello. caller: thanks for taking my

call. a shout out for bill clinton, who actually balanced the budget -- it was balanced under the clinton administration and we had a path to pay it off. i know the overhyped 9/11 happened, but that did not need a 20 year war that ruined the economy. we need someone like paul voelker again that won't put up with politicians. d10 year government bond for 50 years equaled inflation plus gdp, all these people going the bond prices went up. interest rates should have gone up. it is only 2% inflation, yeah,

right. i know c-span -- you brought out laura ingraham -- host: we move on to paul. in some cases on sundays, this program is broadcasted in parts of the united kingdom. democrats line. caller: [indiscernible] host: the gallup survey earlier this year took a snapshot, they

ask people about confidence in u.s. economic leaders. this is from april this year. when asked about the confidence in president biden leadership, 10% giving them a great deal of confidence, 25% a fair amount, 16% only a little, 48% almost none. and it comes to jerome powell, 4% saying a great deal of confidence, 30 2% saying a fair amount, 26% saying only a little , 28% sing almost none. treasury secretary 31% a fair amount, 23% saying only a little. leadership in congress, 7% each saying they have a great deal of faith when it comes to economic matters. republican leaders, 27% sing a fair amount and democratic leaders, 31% in republican leaders and 24% sing only a little bit of confidence in

democratic leaders and 28% republican. there is more if you want to check it out, you can factor those into your comments. this is a viewer from nebraska, republican line. caller: if we had a press -- i mean a real press, like we used to have that would actually toe the truth and not get on the sides of whatever networks are covering or whatever. there was nobody -- bob said it a couple of times. but nobody covered this downgrade. it was all about trumpets getting in his car, trump smiled, he is going up the stairs, down the stairs. it is ludicrous what we are doing to this country because we do not have a fair and honest

press. host: we are giving folks in our to talk about their faith and economic leadership, what is your opinion? caller: i am telling you if we had the press we would have -- host: he said that, but your personal opinion in the nation's economic leadership, how would you great it? -- grade it. caller: as low as you possibly go, because they're all lying about it. they're not telling us the truth about what is going on and we are going to be in trouble. we are killing the people that have to deal with this. we need to check out what is going on with social security and medicare, but we can't do it because every time we try to do it the politicians blame each other and the press goes on their side. it is nuts what is going on and

if we do not do something about it we are going to kill the people who have to deal with this. host: a viewer in south carolina, republican line. you are next on your faith in the nation's economic leadership. caller: i do not have no faith whatsoever in the president and senate. some in the senate, not all. if you are not democratic, they will come after you. host: go back to your statement about no faith, why do you have no faith when it comes to economic matters? caller: do you see what is going on? what i see with my eyes, you cannot change my opinion

whatsoever. host: what are you seeing? caller: i have never seen like what is going on, this world is coming to an end. they are going after god. they want to take down the cross. host: economic matters are the concern this hour, chicago and illinois, -- chicago, illinois, democrats line. caller: i think we have great democratic leadership but the legislator is so polarized. in any democracy, we want something for nothing. at the same time deal with reality and not put on this debt on our children and grandchildren. we need to pay for anything we decide to do and there are a lot of things we need to do. host: is spending a concern or veers from the white house and democratic leadership?

caller: in some institutes. i am 90 years old, but there are parts of medicare that can be used more reasonably. there is a lot of leadership -- it is good to have other things going. we have to pay for it. host: karo in chicago, that is a gallup poll, took a look at confidence when it comes to those who head the federal reserve over the years. showing the great deal of confidence they had, starting back in 2002 when it was under the management of alan greenspan, close to 80% of those expressing a great deal of confidence or a fair amount of confidence. that progressively downgrades to 2006, when it takes over from

ben bernanke who goes about in the 40's when it comes to percentiles in the course of his management over time. janet yellen, now treasury secretary boat former head of the federal reserve -- but former head of the federal reserve, about 40 as well. jerome powell starting an upward trend when he takes over in 2019 , that goes down to 36% of those ultimately, showing a great deal or fair amount of those who head the federal reserve. you can talk about federal reserve leaders if you want when it comes to nation's economic leaders, congress, the white house as well area (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats and independents (202) 748-8002.

independent line in virginia. caller: thanks for c-span. they are right when they go back 20 years, this has to be broadened out from economic to overall action for the united states. the united states 20 years ago, we were the number one country. the soviet union had collapsed, we were morally rich ahead of everything else. then push puts us into the war in iraq and that was the beginning of the break, the crest of the wave. after that, it has been downhill. after bush, obama comes in. each of us still suffering from the tyranny of isis, he destroys libya. host: focus on the economy and

economics and leadership, how does that matter in the modern-day? caller: i am getting to that. while we are distracted in the middle east, china is beginning to grow. taking our factories, our industry. we are messing around with egypt -- obama in the second term gets us into the jcpoa, which was a good thing. then trump comes in, trashes that. what the big thing is is biden comes in and we do not get back into it. iran signs a peace treaty with china, china waltzes into iran, getting crude. now they have a foot hole over

the entire middle east. host: some of you texting us, this is from maryland saying we all saw what was coming. we have the wrong people in office. i've decided to stop shopping for now, it is time for me to save, social security and medicare have been earned. another v i have no faith whatsoever, when are we going to wake up and realize the fed is the cause of all of our financial woes? dave in florida, my opinion is politicians are not doing their job. they are too busy investigating everything. food, gas, consumer pricing is being out of touch. we have no help from our government. texting is the way to reach out to us if you want. some of you posting comments on social media. you can call us on the mainlines.

let us hear from mary in philadelphia, democrats line. caller: good morning. i want to remind people, citizens in this country, we went through reaganomics in the 80's, we were in a recession. president reagan gave major tax breaks from the rich and businesses and corporations in this country. what he instituted -- we had over 5 million people crossing the border illegally that work for these businesses and corporations. we had to institute to get out of this recession we were in. we instituted the immigration reform and control act of 1986. it was mandatory that if you

hired anyone in this country, you have to place them on the tax system. host: how does that matter today? caller: because we still have over 5 million people, undocumented people, working in this country illegally, not paying taxes. the businesses, the corporations are not using e-verify. they are paying these people based on debit cards, they are buying them in bulk. until we make sure we are honoring the laws -- these were bipartisan laws that were in place. now we are seeing nikki haley say she is going to make it mandatory for you to use e-verify and place the people on

the tax roll because these are the people will that entered the country illegally. host: william in florida, republican line. caller: good morning. my faith in the economic leadership is not very good. i think a problem is we are divided, not united. the rhetoric across the aisle and in the republican aisle is not good. that is part of the problem. when you look at bidenomics, look at it. what has happened? inflation is high, it is much more difficult to buy a house. the taxes are higher, it is a

much more difficult environment to make a living and raise a family, that is what i think about it. host: in the downgraded, when it comes to the governance section, the repeated debt limit political state enough and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management. the government lacks the framework. these factors along with economic shocks and tax codes have contributed to excessive debt increases over the last decade. that is the fitch assessment. in texas, this is edgar, democrats line. caller: how are you doing? host: fine, go ahead. caller: for social security and

medicare, all they need to do is take the cab of of the payroll tax. just let it go up, whatever income a person makes, let him pay -- continue to pay the payroll tax. he pays it throughout the duration of his paycheck. if they want to balance the budget, all they need to do is talk to bill clinton about that. if they want to deal with china, get walmart involved area it is that simple. it is not difficult. what are the 500 people in washington doing for us? they are playing games, trying to be tv stars in that kind of thing. stupid stuff area -- stuff. host: on twitter saying i lost my faith years ago.

we are in trouble, energy costs, home affordability and supply chain issues for raw materials. if you were from minnesota saying i am independent i have little faith in how politicians are running the government. it used to be when they passed spending, they knew how it was being paid for. politicians have not had jobs or businesses, they spend and spend. stop spending. stop interest rate increases and a budget only necessary spending. steve saying i will have faith until people stop writing to buy you a securities when wall street has a scare. twitter is available, as well as the facebook page.

ray in michigan, republican line. caller: i have been a lifelong republican, but i think these republicans need to do a little soul-searching. this all started with reagan, i voted for the man twice. i thought he was a good person, but he made mistakes just like every resident. he borrowed trillions of dollars in social security. the best time in this country was the 60's and 70's when the corporate tax rate was 92%. ronald reagan slashed that and we have been in debt of her since. they talk about spending, saying spending caused this. look at where the spending is. biden is spending money where it is needed, sewer systems, train stations. donald trump spent $5 trillion and most of the money went to

every corporation in the country. independent farmers for going out of business. same thing in the oil industry. he was giving huge checks. they need to do a little soul-searching. host: usa today takes a track of the debt that has been added to the total under various administrations, starting with joe biden from 2021 to the present. 1.8 trillion plus, 6% plus increase, under donald trump eight point $2 trillion, 40% increase. under former president obama over two terms, a $.3 trillion. 69.98% increase. 2001 to 2009 under george w. bush, six trillion dollars added to national debt.

105% increase. bill clinton, 1.4 trillion. george h to be bush at 1.5 trillion. back to ronald reagan, 1.8 6 trillion. factoring some other things as far as what that is in dollars today. usa today is where you can find out and get a sense of how administrations have added to the national debt. when it comes to economic leadership, the nation's economic leadership and your degree of faith in it. rob in michigan, republican line. caller: good morning. i have no confidence in either side. i do think the analysis over the last 20, 25 years really demonstrates this. it is hard to believe during the last 20 years how well things have went that we cannot live

within our means. there is no will among politicians to do it. you look at spending as it relates to the war, obama goes ahead and puts in another entitlement program without addressing the current entitlement programs. the fact we are giving living wage during the covid crisis at a point in time when people are not producing anything, it is your responsibility. i have no confidence either side will address this in the proper way. host: you can give us your thoughts, keep calling the line. we will continue on the calls until 8:00. a sense of how the government responded, last week the treasury secretary gave remarks from an irs facility about modernization of the irs, it was during those comments where she made comments about the downgraded. here is a portion.

[video clip] >> before i begin, i would like to speak about the decision to downgrade the u.s. credit rating. the past few years, the american economy has seen historic recovery from the depths of the pandemic downturn. over 13 million new jobs have been created since january 2021, unemployment rate at 3.6%. overall annual inflation has declined every month for the past year and our economy continues to grow. longer term, the u.s. remains the world's most dynamic and most innovative economy with the strongest financial system in the world. the fitch decision is puzzling in light of the economic strength we see in the united states. i strongly disagree with the

decision and i believe it is entirely unwarranted. the flawed assessment is based on outdated data in fails to reflect improvements across a range of indicators, including those related to governance. despite the gridlock, we have seen both parties come together to pass legislation to resolve the debt limit as well as make historic investments in infrastructure and american competitiveness. fiscal responsibility is improving proved president biden. -- is a per year ready for president biden. the budget would improve the fiscal outlook by reducing the deficit by two point $6 trillion over the next 10 years.

today, we are here to speak about an irs modernization project. launched this time last year that will reduce the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. by ensuring that the irs has the resources it needs to enforce against wealthy taxpayers and large rations that have not paid taxes they owe. at the end of the day, the fitch decision does not change what all of us already know. treasury securities remain the world's preeminent safe and liquid asset and the american economy is fundamentally strong. host: another viewpoint from senate democrat joe manchin from west virginia, he put out a statement saying the credit agency specifically cited the decline in governance, erosion and cooperation with the federal government and ballooning national debt when making the determination.

this is a warning that cannot be ignored. we must act now to fully fund the government before we wake up to a future where america's superpower status is in jeopardy. we have lost confidence. he went on to criticize president biden for showing deficiency of leadership in april after he refused to sit down with kevin mccarthy. that ultimately was resolved and passed. this is from michael in virginia, republican line. caller: good morning. i guess -- if you are going to ask whether you are republican or democrat, anybody that will give an honest answer -- i believe anyone that goes to the store, anyone that tries to work and buys gas will tell you the

economy is not doing good. nothing i would like to know, what kinds of jobs are they --? manufacturing? i do not see is producing anymore than we did the last 20 years. everything seems to be going out of the country. right now, i do not see things doing well. anybody goes to the store, you're spending 20% to 30% more, may be more than that on certain items. i think a lot of it has to do with the war in ukraine. nobody really knows right now with the green deal is going to do to everyone. i think it will just get more expensive and i do not have a lot of faith. i know the market is doing well, but that is easily manipulated

if you keep coming up with good information. you can just manufacture that. right now i do not have a lot of faith in a think anyone answering honestly will tell you they are spending way more than they did 3, 4 yes o. host: let us hear fromoen kentucky, democrats line. caller:ood morning. there is one common denominator. inflation. right after a president tries to steal the election, richard nixon and donald trump, we have inflation. jimmy carter was growing in the mojave desert. they can't figure it out. carter also had solar panels on the white house. when i am trying to say is biden

is doing everything he can against old money. that is everyone from rockefeller on. everything he has given you, they are taking twice back. last time it was stagflation, we have got to get real. henry kissinger told them about supply and demand. they went to saudi arabia and got 2 billion just to keep the pipes off. republicans are killing us. george bush took us to war after 9/11, but we did not have to do that if he had paid the television off. -- taliban off. host: in mississippi. caller: two things, the wars, the tax breaks and the bell house. what do you expect? host: the hill reporting bank of america now expecting the u.s.

economy to experience a soft landing instead of a recession. the economists of previously forecasted a mild recession the first half of 2024 change the outlook wednesday, saying they expect to see economic growth that is temporarily below trend without turning negative. revisions imply we no longer expect a mild recession and think the economy may be able to skirt one. it added the economy is not entirely out of the woods yet, a mild recession remains the second most likely outcome. let us go to noah in alabama, independent line. hello. caller: how are you? host: i am well. caller: i was going to tell you, janet yellen did not mention --

end of august, middle of next, south africa africa, chinese, russia in brazil -- if saudi arabia goes this way with doing away with the american dollar, that will destroy our dollar. you think it is bad now. when saudi arabia does that, it is over. we can print money like toilet paper in that is all it will be worth. only god's grace is keeping us from going under right now. i remember her going to china, two weeks ago? she was bowing, i do not know if she was on mushrooms or whatever. i know joe biden has his money in offshore accounts, they do not care. but our economy is going down.

i am telling you right now, trump was right about one thing. i am not with trump on everything and not mitch mcconnell, but at least trump was a businessman and always said we were energy independent. in alabama, gas was $1.82 a gallon. it is just going to get worse. i went and looked at the other day, it was $3.35 here in alabama and it is going out. host: fitch's richard francis made comments on the recent downgrade. he added this when it comes to the downgrade dn, saying you have the debt ceiling, january 6. if you look at polarization with both parties, democrats have gone further left and republicans further right.

the middle is falling apart. we do not fault one party or the other for the fiscal situation. that is the fitch downgrade decision. tim in new york, democrats line. caller: i have a little faith, it is just the republicans. just vote democrat, like you did earlier. you've seen the progression when democrats are in office, the economy is run better. every time republicans get in, they are living in another universe. the only thing they do is complain. i never hear democrats complain. republicans complain. do not complain, vote. it is the people you are voting in that are not doing anything.

hunter biden, whatever. past bills, that is what you are therefore. all the other stuff is irrelevant. people are struggling, but things are getting better. people are working, some people struggle. people have got to vote, this is serious. you get the republicans back in, the country is going right back down. host: john in iowa, republican. you are on. caller: i have no faith whatsoever in this economy as it sits today. it is funny we have mayor adams new york city complaining about 100,000 illegal immigrants and asking for $100 million from the federal government for those people.

then you have joe biden for the last two years running around whispering raise the tax on the rich and thick, and announced they will send $100 million to new york. where are they getting that if they have not raised taxes? are they sitting on it? what is the deal, somebody tell me. host: next from jay in maryland, democrats line. caller: wasteful government spending. one of the main causes, defense spending. military spending. contractors, you can cut that. that is a republican and democratic thing. these are former retired military people, the project on

government oversight in washington, d.c. and other organizations. we need good people in the military, we should raise their salaries and make it a better profession. weed out the bad actors, there are always bad actors. we can have the treaty on nuclear weapons, you can cut the throat multilaterally. over time, we cut other military spending about a third, 50%. we need to clean up space debris and send assets out to look for asteroids and comets. exploit asteroids for the minerals. that is where the jobs are going to be in the future, we do not want it all ai. we want people involved to make

money. there is a lot of waste in the pentagon, 21 trillion dollars, the general accountability office said a few years ago. the pentagon cannot account for trillions in spending. we need to redirect military spending to other jobs programs, cut wasteful civilian spending. host: you heard from janet yellen about the fitch downgrade, let us hear from the house republican budget committee chair. commenting on the credit rating and what has led up to it, here is a portion. [video clip] >> they are blaming january 6, governance problems and house republicans. who do you believe? >> they blame everything on january 6 or climate change, so i am not surprised. if you read the report, it is

clear. it is what we've been saying during debt ceiling negotiations, even though it took months to get president biden and chuck schumer to the table. spending is out of control. we have a cost-of-living crisis, our economy is in the tank. that trajectory is totally unsustainable and in a worst-case scenario, we will undermine the currency and we could have a sovereign debt crisis, which would undermine not only the economy and national security, but leadership in the world and our children's future. i think the national debt is the greatest 21st century threat to the united states for all of those reasons. fitch does not think we are taking it seriously enough. i'm surprised it's taken this long for them to arrive at this decision. >> we had a report featuring a

well-known financial analyst, he made an important point. nothing changes, nothing is done about the debt until the debt crisis arrives. rates go straight up in the economy goes down. i think he has got a point. >> i think he has got a great point. as an elected leader for our country, i want to try to stave off the debt problem before it becomes a crisis. but we have got to sound the alarm and let our fellow americans know just how serious it is and what it will jeopardize in terms of the economy and our quality of life. that is not easy to do. more now than ever because of the spending induced inflation and a cost-of-living crisis and the pain people are feeling, not just families but small

businesses, all of this is waking people up to the fact that fiscal policies in monetary policies and their nation's capital are affecting their pocketbook, relative wages are decreasing, job participation is low for prime age working males especially. people are waking up to it. host: joel in arkansas, republican line. caller: good morning. i can just say this. taxpayers not the one that are getting welfare and everything, but people paying taxes each year -- i've been paying taxes since i was 16 years old, i am 81 and still do not get a break. we spent 43 billion dollars in

ukraine. that war was not our war, but that is another topic. we still owe the oil reserve -- i believe they said the other day it was 168 billion barrels we took out. we cannot put it back. just like the reporter said recently, we owe $33 trillion in debt, which will never get paid back. there is no way. joe biden reported we are short of ammunition, don't you think that made china happy when they want to attack taiwan? host: richard in pennsylvania, independent. caller: good morning.

we have $32 trillion, no doubt about it. people say they will never be able to pay it back, th i true. most of our bonds are held by china d pan. ok. eventually, they are not going to buy our bbs, so we will he printoney and the infliorate i bet will go 10%, 50% and we have no way to changet. as far as farming goes, we've lost 384,000 acres to china and we are allowing them to buy our farmland. i do not understand that. the government is very lax, i have no confidence at all. in pennsylvania, i live in area two miles away -- there are 12

warehouses taking money away from farmland and farmers. i see a doomsday coming. just to change the subject a little bit, in revelations they describe exactly what the beginning of the downfall of this country will take place in the world itself from immorality and whatever else. host: chuck in michigan, republican line. caller: good morning. the only comment i have is we never stay on the subject, here's the subject. one and one does not equal nine. when you look at what is happening, everybody has to get together and vote away all of

these politicians that cannot add one and one. thank you, god bless america. host: matt from maryland, democrats line. caller: just to let people know, i want everyone to know the current administration, any other president has had no control over gas prices, food prices. they want to blame someone for this, they need to blame congress who are not doing anything and block everything that is attempted. i would also like to add that there has been very little commentary coverage since thursday on the historic event that occurred with the president

being indicted. that is all i wanted to say. host: paul is in iowa, independent line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i do not have faith in either party. just recently when they were trying to come up with a budget, mccarthy proposed a 1% decrease and biden is coming back saying i will not talk to him, that is too radical. we reduced inflation for 12 straight months, we reduce the amount of increase. inflation is still going up. it was going up only 8%, now maybe 3%. but still up, the prices.

an earlier caller was talking about the media, that is a big problem. we they cover everything. we do not hear or about biden from the mainstream about the biden crime family. please used to have reporters that would analyze. reporters -- we do not get that anymore. most of that stuff, the mainstream public is not aware of the crisis we are in. host: this is david from florida, independent. caller: thank you for having me on. talking about the downgrade and

i think he would not understand what that means. calculating with the debt would be in the next three years. if you look at the debt, we are at logic $58 trillion. -- 158 trillion dollars. two days ago 151 trillion and since that time we have gone up almost $7 trillion. one of the other -- colors, [ indiscernible] we cannot just print money. the that would not just go

away. we cannot blame it on one president or another. with obama and his administration, it continues to go higher. the out-of-control spending. if you want to get the debt under control, we have to say do we need this, why are we spending so much. host: philip in michigan on the democrats line. caller: biden turned the gas off the day he entered office. the math on the bush was off. he said 6 trillion will he had 3.5 when he started and we were 20 trillion in debt when he left. that is off. everybody thought biden when he entered office with go ahead and put that third tax on clinton had back on big business and

hyper people that got the money. telling people that will pay this off is people with the money because -- the only people that will pay this off is people with the money because the poor people do not have any money. host: thank you for those that called in. joining us next we are going to hear from democratic strategist simon rosenberg, he will discuss campaign 124, latest tmp indictment and political news of the day. later we hear from sarah chamberlain,he president and ceo the public and mainstream partnership and also looking at campaign 2024 and the future of the moderate wing of the republican party. those conversations is coming up on "washington journal." ♪

♪ >> life today, best-selling author and historian s.c. gwynne joins book tv to talk and take calls about native american history, the civil war, and more. he has published several books including "empire of the summer moon" and "rebell yell" at his latest book about a british blimp that went up in flames killing more people than the hindenburg did seven years later. join the conversation with your phone calls, comments, and text. live today at an easter on book tv -- noon eastern on book tv on c-span two. ♪ >> since 1970 nine, in

partnership with the cable industry c-span is provided complete coverage of the halls of congress from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings party briefings and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely unfiltered. c-span your unfiltered view of government. ♪ >> listening to programs on c-span through c-span video just got easier. tell your smart speaker play c-span radio and listen to “washington journal” daily at 7:00 a.m. eastern., important congressional hearings, and other public affairs events throughout the day. weekdays at 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. eastern catch “washington today” for a fast paced report on the top stories of the day. listen to c-span anytime. tell your smart speaker, “play c-span radio.”

c-span powered by cable. >> a healthy democracy does not just look like this, it looks like this where americans can see democracy at works, citizens truly informed, a republic drives. get informed straight from the source. c-span unfiltered, unbiased, word for word for the nation's capital to wherever you are because the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: discussion of campaign2012 work with simon rosenberg joining us this morning. we talk about the economy in the last segment. why big issues going into next year that this demonstration has to address if he wants to win another term? guest: the economy is usually

number one or number two. i think he has a strong case to make. his case reelection has gotten stronger this summer. we have seen the economy continued to get better. growth is strong. inflation has come down. i think the big news this summer is that joe biden case reelection has gotten stronger in the republicans look messy. host: is it because of economic issues you would say? guest: inflation coming down has been a big deal and it is now down to pre-pandemic levels. this was the big challenge in the economy. so much is going right with the economy. low unemployment rate. the market doing well. we need inflation to come down and it has. regular back to something that feels like normal after the disruptions of the ukraine war and covid. it feels like we are starting to get there back to the way things used to be. host: you think the

administration or president biden is making a good case of that the second time around? guest: this is the big political challenge for democrats. i think we have a strong case to make. we have to make it. the photos are not there yet. we have to work -- the voters are not there yet. we have work to do. campaigns are there to put information in people's heads they do not have. we know people do not know what biden has done and when they are informed they are -- the evaluation of him improves. as democrats we have two big jobs, sell our customers in the economy, and register young people to increase youth turnout. host: your strategies, i imagine messaging is a big part of your job. what shifts in message would you advise? guest: i think -- i like the

bidenomics frame but at the end of the day to bring people along, we have to make the american people the hero of the story. people have to fill it is not joe biden's achievement, we did this. we got there covid. we did the work. we got up and put the children to school and did the hard work to make the economy as strong as it is. the american people feel it is a collective achievement will have a good election next year. i think it is the evolution i hope to see in the way we are talking about the economy. i love the administration is doing now. but i think we also have to make it clear that this is collective achievement and not just the administration. host: republicans made the case inflation is still a factor to be considered. the debt figure that recently came out. will it be late at jill biden's feet? is that fair? guest: he is the president. he has a strong case to make.

the country was a mess when he became president. it is clear we are better off today and you have to go out and make the case. the voters are not sure. they need to be persuaded and that is what campaigns are for. with biden-trump, i think our path to victory is clear. i think republicans are harder to see. host: simon rosenberg is our guest for this session. if you want to call in and ask some questions, republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can text us at 202-748-8003. this is a fox news helpline. other headlines reflected by other democratic candidates interested in the office, cornell west being one, rfk junior, how much of a factor that's display -- does this play as it works against pres biden? guest: i do not think it will be

a big issue. i think at the end of the day voters know the stakes of our elections now and i think they will be much less likely to throw away vote to a candidate who cannot win. none of the third-party candidates are sniffing around have any chance of money. but i the last election by 4.5 points. -- biden won the last election by 4.5 points. i feel good about where we are. on the third-party efforts i think will be able to manage it but has to be managed and i think sometimes we do not pay enough attention to it in 2016 and even 2000. this time i did not think anyone is napping on the third-party candidates. if there are real third-party runs, will have to talk about it make sure they do not get a free

pass and we will have to make during the way the vote in a time of crisis in the country something that becomes part of our narrative and story ancestor to it. we learned in those two lectures is a small number of those can alter the outcome -- two elections a small number of those can alter the outcome. host: what you think about the no labels? guest: i think it is much to do about nothing. joe manchin, we have seen in polling, i do at the joe manchin was to end his political career as joel stein. i do not think that is what he wants to do. i do not think that that is only path he has. there's no chance to be competitive when they say there's this big third-party opportunity, there is not. 90% of the country are partisan and when they vote, not necessarily have a -- how they label themselves.

he's not going to be competitive. at the end of the day, i do not think you would do it. host: is former president trump a threat to the by then? -- biden candidacy? guest: of course. anything can happen. you have to work really hard. we got to lives on the playing field. it's on the way to do politics. this is going to be a tough election. i think of the opportunity. -- we have the opportunity. we got stronger in the battlegrounds in 20. improved dust dandy in colorado, georgia -- we improved our standing in colorado, georgia. we have a strong case for reelection. i think trump will have a hard

time guarding his vote in there probably erosion. i feel good. host: do you imagine the biden case against former president trump,'s various legal troubles are there other factors to be considered ? guest: i do not think we know yet. i think the economy will beat number one issue. but we know people in battleground states voted in 2022 on this perception that democracy was under siege. trump represents that. any candidate that feels like maga, will have a hard time in the background stays. in battlegrounds we have done well in duster election so these issues have been raised. many of those secretary of state candidates we are seeing -- that were seen as a threat, they all lost and i think the republicans have if they have a candidate

that those like maga, it is harder for me to see how they win. host: richard in an trauma on the republican line. your own with our guest. go ahead. caller: yes, sir. first think is a lot of the jobs that he created, he did not create this. trump created this. divorce it with the pandemic because of biology and all the jobs are coming back. the second thing depleted our oil reserves. he quit our energy. and russia and china come all of them are thinking up. -- all of them are ganging up.

host: guest: i do not agree with the jobs left and they just came back. we had the lowest unemployment rate the last 50 years. that the lowest poverty rate, the lowest uninsured rate. the deficit after increasing has gone down. i think we have a strong case to make. i think that will be -- these discussions will be central to everything that happens in politics for the next 15 months. host: henry in alabama on the democrats line. caller: hello. host: you are on, henry. go ahead. caller: can you hear me? host: yes. caller: the problem i see is the public's are doing --

republicans are doing everything to eliminate the sick and illiterate. you cannot help anyone to an application. then in mississippi, jackson area, you have this republican who wants to purge all of the figures and replace them with a judge he has in his pocket. host: henry, thank you for the call. he talked about education as far as in the process, the biden administration has to educate viewers. what is the best way of doing that? we see the president go out this coming week. guest: everything demonstration

does and the campaign but i think it is also is possibility of every democrat. one of the things i'm doing a lot in the new sub stack where i write almost every day is that we talk about if you are a democratic activist, it is your responsibility to tell the story of the compliments of the president. do not wait for the white house. if you can reach 20 people a week, one million people do that we have the regular old democrats have more opportunity to help sway the conversation then we understand. i challenge everyone is watching, we need your help. be loud and proud about the administration. we need to be doing our job. host: you talk about younger people, axios had a story looking at the young people who might vote for president biden again.

they say a quarter people under 45 years that they would support a biden general election compared with the 6% of older democrats. -- 56% of other democrats. the pledges to young voters have been caught about court rulings or congressional inaction. guest: it is what i talk about it so much. if there -- if i could be harry potter and wave my want of a politics, i would help that we were the economic argument of the republicans and we launch a youth initiation drive-thru drive is turnout. young people are leaning more democratic and left and they were even a few years ago. the question is will they participate come up with vote and be enthusiastic. there is data showing they are more disconnected from the process then we should be comfortable with.

we have work to do. i do not think for many young people, the republican is not an option. because climate change, gun control, abortion, the economy. all of these factors are making it difficult for the republicans to reach young people. it is not just going to be about our performance. we need turn to go up. this should not be the people who vote for is the most vote the lease. we have to change that. i think we have the power and money and resources and intent and i think it's one of the biggest jobs we have. host: to what degree do you think the disconnect he talked about is strictly related to age? guest: i think it is a factor. i feel joe biden those distance from the young people. i have young kids and i hear about politics, the good and the bad. i think joe biden is a hold and with age comes not just losing a

step but also wisdom and experience. i think we have -- the way to think about young people is that is an enormous opportunity. if we can drive turnout, we can increase biden's margins. we have done well with young people in the election. we need them to vote at the most highest number. our margins of victory come from young people so we need as many to vote as possible. host: michael in virginia on the republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am very confused about the statements, outrageous they miss your guest this making. i'm looking at politics. president biden approval of the economy, -20%. hear him saying america approve of his economic performance is a

falsehood. on the issues, immigration, 24% and negative. inflation he said is under control. the opposite is true. people are paying more than they used to pay before this reckless spending. cnn poll said negative percentage. how does your guest reconcile his lies with the truth? host: just so you the average -- aggregate 42% approval rating, 54.8 disapproval. guest: that was about what it was in 22 election on the battleground where we won all of the races.

to be clear, nothing i said it was a lie. what i said was that we got work to do to sell biden's economic achievements to we are are not where we want to be but inflation last month was 2.4%. annualized basis, it is backed out the pre-pandemic levels. it was 3% year to this is where the fed wanted to be. it is come down. gas prices are down. energy prices down. we are not where we want to be and we have work to do. i think i was clear about that. i still would much rather be us than them. host: the argument of gas prices coming way down, people still paying three dollars plus. guest: people who are responsible for that is russia and saudi arabia, not joe biden. the recent gas prices and energy went up is because of opec and the saudis and the russians.

the saudis had another production cut to drive prices up. if anyone in this show is angry about gas prices, there are two countries they should be angry at thomas russia and saudi arabia. -- angry at, russia and saudi arabia. host: this is dylan. caller: i am 73 years old. i went to vietnam combat. i have never seen lines of people waiting for food. i just crazy. -- it is crazy. i see 200 people here lining up for food. i wish your guest would tell them the prices are low. you know what, i'm going to vote republican. i'm tired of biden and his economics.

as far as the v.a. system, i got to wait one month before i and even seen the. it is ridiculous. i've never seen it so crazy. guest: sir, thank you for your service. we know from data, i know people have feelings about these things and it is why we are here to talk to the voters, but we know the economy today is as good as it has been in generations. the subject of fact. -- this is objective fact. we had the recent unemployment rate since world war ii, two thirds of americans on their experience unemployment rate as low as it is the last few months. there is not everything is great. a lot is going right but we have more work to do. both in extending the prosperity

to more places but there are 25 states now they had the lowest unemployment rate they've ever had including red states. this is going to be the central battleground of the election. we have a strong case to make you do have to make it. host: one talk about another subset of president ivan support. -- biden's support. recent stories taking a look at minorities and if you see that kind of support. guest: i think we will but i think a lot of our coalition are not engaged yet because the campaign is not started. the republican campaign is under way. there are ads running everywhere. a lot of candidates. our election has not started yet so i do not think a surprising there are key parts of our coalition they have not really checked in at. we did well with african-americans and hispanic in 2022 but i want to be clear,

we are doing well, but we are not where we want to be, and we have work to do. i feel democrats need to be not defensive. we should be on a fence attracted to our coalition -- offense and try to grow our coalition. we just took away jacksonville in colorado springs to republican places. we have an opportunity not just to do well, but to grow our vote and to do better than we did last election. it is going to take a lot of work. host: they cite 10%, washington post, the decline in voter turnout last year midterm compared to 2018 and they cite it as a bigger drop than a bigger drop than among any other race or ethnic group. guest: republicans won the

national vote by 3% 2022. we won in 2018 by 8.5%. everything was down. it is not surprising that we were off a bit. objecting to a t direct comparison -- i do not think 2018 is the right comparison. for the new apples to apples come into 2014 which is the last midterm we have democratic president in office. we have work to do. the democratic coalition if you look at polling, democrats coalition has not checked into the election yet. i think is good the biden campaign starting to turn on the. i am pleased to see the biden campaign starting to put -- to turn the big battleship on and get it going. host: our guest simon rosenberg,

the mctavish averages. used to run the democratic network. guest: i did that for 27 years. if there was a remarkable experience. i feel like i help our party move forward. it was time. i wanted to go fight the fight a bit differently. there are limits on speech. there are limits on partisanship. i feel like everyone in this election cycle to be more partisan in my work so. i spoke until i democratic grassroots groups around the country and i wanted to do more to service them. i'm working a lot with democrats all across the country. you can find my sub stack, opium uncles -- "hopium chronicles."

i'm having a lot of fun. i always joke i'm having more fun. it is been really fun. democrats are fired up and ready to go. there's lots of energy in the party. it is great to be with regular folks trying to make sure our democracy does not subtly. host: beating democratic democratic party has gone through major changes since the days of bill clinton or president obama? guest: of course. our coalition has changed a lot. the demographics of the country has changed a lot. young people are playing a bigger role in politics. 20 years ago the young people were a swink group and now we are getting huge margins from young people. we have had big gains in the southwest. southwest was arizona, colorado, nevada, new mexico.

we went all the first time in 80 years in the last president to do that was fdr. our coalition is younger, more hispanic, more west. kamala harris is the first western democratic to be president or vice president in our history. it is amazing. a lot of changes have taken place. wood has not changed is that when we have been in power, the country has prospered -- what has not changed is that when we have been in power, the country has prospered. when republicans are in power, we see higher deficits. democrats have brought the deficit down the last three presidencies. if you look in of a party of this were a possibility, this, not them. -- if you're looking for up party -- a party of this possibility, it is us, not them. caller: good morning.

a couple of things i want to ask you about. what do you think of biden's chances of winning the election? i have a democratic debate this year. we need to control the house back. do you think that is a possibility? we need a democratic governor for our state. this guy is a scumbag. desantis screwing things up. we need to change here. what do you think of those things? guest: if the election were held today, and it is not going to be, i think we would wind the presidency and the house back and the senate is up for grabs. i think the senate is tough for

us and we will have to work hard. the second question, those two, i think desantis, i am going to say this, how do political work in florida over the years. ron desantis made a huge error this year. i think he won his reelection by big margins 2022. but his legislative session he oversaw this year moved him dramatically to the right on abortion, guns, immigration, but banning, schools --book bending as close and i think he will look back on the decision to become ultra maga is when the biggest medical errors we have seen in recent american history. it is tearing up florida. if you look, disney announced they are leaving created they're not bring in jobs.

commerce are being canceled over the state -- the conferences are being canceled over the state. the agricultural community is being challenged with a new immigration law. i think when the biggest issues in 2024, the economy will matter. trumps legal problems and the threat to democracy and i think desantis governess in fort it will be a part of the debate skeets wesley for because if you want to know what a republican would do as president look at florida. i do think this right word lane in much session will be an anchor around the republican party. host: how much of that becomes an issue? guest: not just the ending of row the weight but the extremism, if desantis had left

at 15 weeks, i think it would've been on much firmer ground. there are polls showing that floridians view the six-week man , save our percent favorable -- 26 percent favorable. the abortion issue is an issue. i do not think we totally understand the power of it. it is still new and scare politics. it is not the ending of roe v. wade. it is the extremism and replacements of the bills in the states which are reinforced extremism of the republican party. host: u. the house could be one back. what do you base that on? guest: i was when teaching strategies -- one of the chief strategist. i think they're edition will car wayne i think will rent the election -- when the election if we do republicans have a slow margin. kevin mccarthy's numbers and

polling is really bad. the worst we have seen for a party in power. i think you have looked messy and i think it is going to be easy to label many other candidates as being one of those republicans. for many voters there's a sense republicans have gone too far. when we can say that in an election and say it, is one those republicans they often lose sight think the house will be -- the house republicans have taken too many bad apples it will give us material to define them as being out of the mainstream. host: janice on the independent line. caller: hello. thank you for your work. i am a social capitalist. of the people, by the people, for the people, i believe in that and it is in our constitution.

all the people, the wealthy, middle-class, and the poor. to get us together, we need our economy situated. we need to get it under control and to do this, we need to get out of ukraine, make the billionaires to lower the prices of their products, and pay their taxes. corporations need to help the government to train and educate people to do their jobs that are available better. that is all i have to say. thank you. guest: i agree with much of what janice said with the exception of ukraine. i think this is a fight we need to stay through it and won the fight. i think it will affect he was scared democracy. -- i think it will affect the

democracy. much of what janice said, i agree. at the democrats are running on the notion that the corporations and wealthy people need to pay their fair share. i think we are focused on providing jobs for people who do not have a four year degree. it is a large part of what joe biden is going to do. here's what i was say to the viewers, i think joe biden will have the ability to make a case that he is for everybody. he is not trying to pick people against one another. his economic plan that is beginning to see the investments pay out across the country, many of these investments that are part of the plan are happening in red states. it is not a red state or blue state think. it is an american thing. democrats can make the case we

offer everybody and we want everyone to get ahead, and a republicans of trying to pit us against each other, i think we have a stronger case to make. it will become clear to voters by the spring of next year that bidens economic agenda is because ms. to be investment -- is causing there to be investment in all areas. in all areas. the strategies i've been doing this for over -- as a strategist i've been doing this for over 30 years. i feel good about where we are but we have work to do. host: chester on the inhibited line. caller: let me finish my thought. you have mr. rosenberg, democratic strategist coming on to say we should vote for the democrats. but as usual they disappoint a bunch of democrats, especially me a progressive democrat who

extremely disappointing that the democrats did not hold out and vote for the reconciliation bill. they were saying we need to pass the bill, they restructure bill -- infrastructure bill. then i saw was promoting the wage act but democrats voted against raising the wage. two of them fromtwo of them froe state. obama had a six people super majority in 2009 and 2010 until ted kennedy died and what are they do with it, nothing. host: what question do you want to ask?

caller: why did the democrats raise the minimum wage codify roe v. wade? why did they pass an assault weapons ban when they had a super majority? guest: but we do the super majority or the 60 vote senate was we pass the affordable care act which has had an impact on millions of americans. he was wrong that we do not do anything with the majority we had. that is transform the lives. in the last few months we have the lowest uninsured rate in american history so -- and we know aca made it impossible to terminate on pre-existing conditions. we remember people would not

leave job because they were worried about having the pre-existing condition think carry with them. dramatic change and improvement in people's lives during the obama presidency. are there things we still have to do? of course. we are not finished with the work. jill biden will be able to run on the first major bipartisan gun safety legislation in 30 years. he has done more to tackle climate change than any american president in america has become a global leader again. i think he has presided over a strong economy that is helped lift the wages. we have had very rapid wage growth particularly at the lower end. with the lowest average american unemployment rate in american history. were going to have a strong case to make and all issues that matter on this show you probably get a lot of calls about, the

washington post had a story last week saying the border is quiet, flows because of the new border plan. we've also seen crime rate, murder rates come down across the country. there's no question client went up during covid abated. starting to come back down to where it was. it is important to know that crime rates in u.s. are half of what they were 30 years ago so the country is safer than it was. with a strong case to make. -- we have a strong case to make but not everyone feels it. host: i guess he is saying jill biden is not progressive enough is what he was trying to say. -- joe biden is not progressive enough is what he is trying to say. guest: i think has been a strong leader for all americans and if we can convince people of that that he's made the country better, we will have a good election. i think the case is shrunk.

-- the case is strong. who also opted deal with the issue of his age. will have to stay with age -- will have to stay with age comes wisdom and experience. he has made the country much better because of the wisdom and experience. either with democrats only or a bipartisan fashion. at the end of the day he has been a good president. the country is better off. we are going to have to, if voters feel that an insurer, who have a good election. host: which of the vice president they are not the first one who has seen stories related to the fact that her poll numbers are down. is that a liability? guest: what i have been excited about with the vice president, think for the first couple of years she was not in the public eye. i think she was in the background. whether that she was get more accountable in the job or a

strategy, i do not know. i think it is change. you are seeing her be far more forward. and of the vice president and i've known her for 20 years. she's always been among the most charismatic and capable public figures i've seen in the party. i am pleased she's getting out much more. she speaks more. she's meeting with foreign leaders and much more aggressive publicly. she may have been doing it behind the scenes but we did not see it. demonstration has changed the strategy in how they present her to the public. i think is welcome and it will be helpful. i think people will come to see her in better light overtime. some of this have to do with that she was distance and people were not seeing her. thing that is changing. -- i think that is changing. she has to go work hard. i keep saying it but it is true.

you cannot take any vote for granted. we have a lot of work to do. the numbers are not what we want to be but she's out there trying to change it. host: she ready to be president of the u.s. at that -- if it is called upon? guest: i think so. she is learning on the job. i think -- when people get to know her more, i think her poll numbers will go up. i think she is deeply grounded with -- and powerful shared values with the american people. she is a capable public speaker. i think she was kept out of the limelight too long and it hurt her a little bit. i am pleased to see the way she is really engaging now. i think you will see a different kamala. i think it is going to work with the american people. host: thomas in texas, independent line. caller: boy, man.

that was a long winded extra nation. but anyway, guest: thank you. caller: he have to televise the trump trials. people need to see what he did. you need to bring the companies stressor capitol hill and have them explain what they're cutting production to keep prices high. tell jill biden to come to texas and campaign -- joe biden to come to texas and campaign. host: skip in pennsylvania on the democrat line. caller: i'm a moderate democrat who will never vote for a republican but biden worries me from the sense that any time he walks or debates, it can be an adventure. that is who we have. i was wondering if something did happen, who would you have in

the bullpen? i have four names. cooper, witmer, newsom, and jeffries. why should i not have a trump derangement syndrome from 2016 worrying about the democrats are going to campaign in the states they took for granted namely michigan, pennsylvania? host: i apologize. time is almost up. guest: joe biden will be the democratic nominee. kamala harris would be his vice president candidate. what is also true is the next generation of democrats that are coming, witmer and newsom, jeffries, but division list is, it is remarkable strong group of people who will follow biden. i think our party is well led in

the bench is deep. i was on a podcast two weeks ago and we talked about the democratic party bench, this coming group is the strongest we've ever seen. i think the democratic party is very strong right now. we are not weak. we are raising money and building powerful campaigns and winning elections in places like colorado springs and jacksonville which no one thought we could win. we have great leaders coming to appreciate it biden has been a great president. i feel good about where we are. crazy things can happen. it is american politics. 15 months out, i would much rather be us than them. host: "hopium chronicles." why the name? guest: it is. you can engage with folks and

they can ask questions and so on. i was accused last election because i argued the democrats would have a much better election people under study. i had media commentators say i was smoking hopium and i was delusional in my belief the democrats would do well. i proved to be right and they were wrong. i've embraced the idea of hopium. it is hoped with a plan. we just do not hope for a good outcome, we work hard and we have a plan and do the work. because of that work we may 2022 better than anyone thought we could make it. with do the same thing in 2024. host: simon rosenberg joining us, thank you for the conversation. coming up we have fosarah chamberlain. she too talk abo campaign 2024, former president trump's indictment and related topics.

that conversation coming up. ♪ ♪ >> in 1848, husband and wife william and ellen crop embarked on a journey of self emancipation. there disguised as an wildly the disable appointment with a servant, they left georgia avoiding slave traders, enforcement, and friends all while trying to conceal their identities. woo, author of master slave husband with constant journey north and the impact of the fidgeted slave law passed two users -- fugitive slave law passed two years later. listen to q&a and all of our podcasts and -- and our free c-span now app. ♪

>> she spends campaign 22 a for covers or to the presidential election -- c-span's campaign 24 coverage of the pacific election with events to make up your own mind, campaign 2024 on the c-span network, c-span now our free mobile anytime online at c-span.org. c-span your unfiltered view of politics. >> order your copy of the congressional directory of 118th congress. it is your access to the federal government with bio and contact information for every house and senate member. important information for congressional committee, the president's cabinet, federal agencies and state governors. scan the code at the right to order your copy it is $29.95 plus shipping and handling. every purchase helps support our

nonprofit operations at . >> if you ever miss any coverage, you can find it anytime online at c-span.org. videos of key hearings, debates and other events feature markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights. the points of interest markers appear on the right-hand side of the screen we had player select videos. this tour makes it easy to get an idea of what was debated and decided in washington. scroll through and spend a few minutes on the points of interest. >> "washington journal" continues. host: where joined by sarah chamberlain, president and chief executive officer of the republican mainstream partnership to talk about campaign 2024 and other related issues. thank you for coming back on the program. how do you describe your organization? guest: we are a group of

conservatives. we are 90 plus members in the house and senate and we really want to get things done. we are willing to move the country forward. he did not note most of our members because were not out there yelling, we do the work for the people. host: is there a common denominator your members share when it comes to principles? guest: there conservatives and they are willing to compromise. we live in biden's 15 district, trumps 30 district so it is a wide range of individuals north, south, out west but they are primary is we have to get things done for the people. that is the biggest common thing. host: you have 90 members. who are some of the standout members? guest: johnson, instrumental in increasing the debt ceiling working with us with the speaker. stephanie advised, mainstream caucus, official hill. mike abbas from illinois.

we have a lot of them. we have a lot of committee chairman, people do not understand that. captain rogers. we have a great many of them that most people are like they are the moderates, we are not the moderates. where the conservatives but we have a lot of powerful members. ken calvert oversees the financial caucus for the defense department. we are a powerful group that not many people have heard of. host: as far as the groups relationship with kevin mccarthy, how would you describe it? guest: very strong. we are here to help him. it took him many times but he is the right person for the job and we're here to support him. for debt ceiling increase it was our members who spent a weekend trying to get the deal done. it is our members who went and voted the deal. we did not want the country to brewing the credit.

american people did not understand that. they talk about the debt ceiling. we already spent that money. this is not something we are spending in the future. we have spent the money and now we have to pay it back. it is likely your purchases on your credit card, you to pay the credit card. we get good compromise from president biden. we got a lot of things through that strong republican principles. we are very excited about that. host: how would you describe your relationship with your members -- how would you describe the member's of the house freedom caucus? guest: a lot of them are close to our members but there is another caucus that is really four or five members. it is not the entire freedom caucus those four or five, some are close and some have difficult relationships with them.

but it is that little small group that is really causing the problems. it is not the entire freedom caucus. jim jordan, we have a house on capitol hill, jordan was over briefing the caucus two weeks ago. host: if you want to ask questions taking a look at 2024 from her group members, republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can text us at 202-748-8003. what of the midterm elections show you about where republican strength is currently in their house and what it could mean the next time around for the next series of elections? guest: they showed us a lot. your last guest and i agree. we're going to be at 220 five because we had a lot of main street candidates out there living in areas that drop it the polls which i became unfortunate.

-- which became unfortunate. i was predicted to to five will be the public a number. we one in new york. i really think lee selden, republican governmen -- candidate for governor. we had a great candidates in oregon, great in new jersey. it was close. every person who became a majority maker is sitting in republican mainstream partnership is -- except santos. host: the previous guest says he thinks the house to go back to democratic hands, what do you think? guest: it could but it wont. they are getting ready and they will run on local issues but the presidency aside because a lot of them sitting in by this district so they will run on local issues. they are raising a lot of money but importantly they are spending time at home talking to their constituents and explaining the votes, talking

about how they differ from democrats. i think will be fine. i think we could pick up a few cease --seats. we are watching a seat in kansas, oregon, and washington state. it would be good to get the washington state seat back. we hope to pick up that seat and get that back from the public and -- and get that back for republicans. we have a group mainstreet call woman to woman, we poke women previous suburban woman -- we poll women. suburban woman are rich, poor, african-american, white women. it is a wide range create it not the biggest fans of president trump so we'll work on running a campaign that it is one step

below the presidency. he will be on the top of the ticket but we will focus on ticket splitting in these districts. host: does the partnership tell your membership, the message to support president trump? guest: we do not get involved in the presidential's. we never have. even when john mccain was running for we stay totally out of that. it will be candidate by candidate for the decision of what they do. host: sarah chamberlain joining us. are can choose the phone lines and text us if you wish. patricia in new york on the republican line. good morning. caller: hey, good morning. thank you for having me on. sarah, thank you for talking to us. i was on hold since the democratic gentlemen talking. i had to hang up.

i cannot stand listening to that anymore. the negativities of the republicans and what we have done to this country, it is not there republicans, it is who is in office. the people who voted for this guy to become president. they asked us if -- they act as if trump was bad. president trump was wonderful to the american people. he loves our country. he supported us. he fought for us. he still is. that is what we like. we feel safe when we had a trump as president. not with this guy in office. he has destroyed this country and is still destroying this country. the american people cannot stand this anymore. we need hope. we need our security back. we need our happiness back. the only one that can do that is republican president.

i hope president trump gets reelected again to turn this country back to where it was, where he had it before, is that of all of all the democrats going after him -- instead of all the democrats going after him and taking him why would you want to take someone as president doing great for the country and take him out? guest: thank you for calling. i hope you vote in the general election, new york members -- new york republican members need your vote. donald trump cuts both ways. most of the people i talked to loved his policies. it is the man himself they did not enjoy. some of them reluctantly voted for biden, some of them have remorse over that. but we are looking to take back the white house next year. host: democrats line, steve in florida.

caller: thanks for taking my call. i live in florida, but i'm from pennsylvania. i voted democrat all my life, beginning in the reagan administration. i am not married to the democratic party. if the right candidate comes along, i feel like they would do better for the economy, i am not afraid to cross a party line. but the republicans would have to collectively do a couple of things. the first thing is renounced supply-side economics. i feel like they can't free themselves from this reagan neoliberalism where they feel like all of the companies, economics and social ills would be solved by more corporate tax

cuts and corporate deregulation. reach out to minorities on their terms. instead of going to a minority community and saying we are all about your community, our tax cuts and deregulation are going to help the economy and help you, it will trickle down. that is my comment. guest: thank you for calling in. we focus on women, obviously it is run by a woman. but there are groups in the party starting to focus on the african-americans and educate them on the great things republicans are doing and how it is benefiting them. that is well underway. host: there are congress-related questions coming off of twitter, do you think republicans in the house will pass a balanced budget in september?

guest: yes, and we will not have a government shutdown. the members of main street are going to work hard. a government shutdown does not help anyone in this country. government shutdown is a disaster, people around the government did not get paid. the employees ultimately get back pay, but there is no reason to do it. it always hurts the republican party when there is a shutdown. we are willing to work with the speaker to make sure we do not have to shut down the government. host: the second comment since give me a break, mccarthy gave biden the -- during reconciliation negotiations, which is why the freedom caucus boycott of the house for weeks. guest: the freedom caucus does their own thing, it is a small fraction of the freedom caucus. kevin mccarthy did what he could to get the legislation through and move the country forward. i think the speaker for his leadership.

that assessment is not accurate, there are a lot of cuts in the bill we never got before. we got wonderful bill passed, then we stomped on it. the freedom caucus was very upset about we compromised, we did not compromise. we moved to country forward. that means we pay more in interest, that really affects the american workers pocketbooks and their wallets. we already have inflation. i know your last guest said inflation is down, it is, but look at where it was. to have it down, it is still up. we cannot afford to let the government not pay its bills. host: bob in wisconsin, republican line. go ahead. caller: i was curious, what is mainstreet going to do about

drop boxes, the ballot harvesting? i understand and democrat states, ballot harvesting, what is that? you can go into the party, get 100 balance and walk around the neighborhood -- ballots and walk around the neighborhood and get people to sign them? what are republicans going to do about that? are you going to start harvesting as hard as they do? if they are going to cheat, we have to cheat more and that is sad we are coming down to cheating to win elections and it is legal. ballot harvesting and drop boxes are full of fraud and we all know it. we saw in 2020, they changed election laws illegally. zuckerberg paid $40 million for drop boxes only in democratic states. we all let it happen. now they are trying to prosecute trump for their illegal actions.

machines went down, poll workers were kicked out. the massive ballot dumps. it was all illegal. can i go down to the office in? get 100 ballots and walk around why don't we have serial numbers on the ballots and only print the ballots from registered voters? host: we got your point. guest: thank you for calling. this is a huge issue, there are a lot of states this is absolutely legal in. it is not cheating, it is legal. it goes back to 18, when we lost control of the house in california, dated huge amounts of ballot harvesting and we lost. jeff dunham, they went down. now, the republicans ballot harvest where it is legal. we learned from 2018 to make sure we're doing the same thing. it is legal in these states to

do this. whether we like it or not, the state legislators voted to make this legal. that is one thing that is getting missed. this is legal action. it has been since 2018 and was focused on more in 2020. host: how confident are you in your organization in the election process? guest: 100% confident. we do not feel there is cheating going on, but ballot harvesting is legal. that is not cheating. the problem we had as we did not play the same game democrats did, now we are going to do that and we are going to ballot harvest in states where we can. host: alan is from illinois, democrats line. caller: hello. i wish you had an evening addition sometimes.

my comment is about the makeup of the united states, we seem to have urban people, suburban people and rural people. rural people are afraid to go to big cities, big city people have no idea what the role people have. i am a democrat in a rural part of illinois and i do not understand why people do not get more involved in elections as far as being a judge and why people do not talk to each other as far as urban and rural. guest: when i get up this morning at 5:30, i'd also wish there was an evening version of the show. but you are right, we have a problem going on in the united states. we are getting separated. a lot of suburban people do not know rural people anymore. we need to fix that and pull the country back together and get people to know each other. it is amazing how divided we

come. yes, you need to volunteer. i have a friend in california who volunteered for years at the voting booth, we need more people to go volunteer. it's an extremely important job, that is how we make sure voting is legal insecure. the more pull people we have, the better -- poll people we have, the better. i have a friend in california so they cannot find people to work the ballots. we need to come back to that, volunteer more, take back our election process. host: if you ask if the vast majority of your supporters are women, where you going to do to get women's rights back? my guess is they are talking about what happened on the decision on roe v. wade. i might be wrong. guest: we are talking about that issue as a health care issue. most of the women -- we have

hundreds of thousands of women part of it. most of them are ok with the supreme court decision, if we make sure it does not affect health care. if you are having a natural miscarriage, we can get the medical treatment that we need. most of our members to support abortion in cases of rape and incest and health of the mother up until 12 weeks. they do not support it as you are going into late term. and unique circumstances. host: does that extend to abortion drugs? guest: it does, for the first few weeks. in cases of rape, incest and health of the mother. we have places in this country where women with natural miscarriages cannot get the medical treatment they need and some of them are passing. i have a doctor who lost a patient he never should have lost, but he could not help her

and he lost the baby and her. we need to make sure that is not happening and that is how we will attract women back to the republican party. we are talking about issues important to them. crime, health care, mental health. we need to start talking about the mental health crisis in this country and women want us talking about that. often times if there is a mental health crisis in the family, it is the woman dealing with it and they want help and relief, especially after covid. cases have gone a more with their kids and family members. even elders. their parents are suffering from depression because they were basically locked down for two years. host: this is larry in north carolina, independent. go ahead.

caller: i am a 78-year-old black man, why don't the republicans get out more information about discrimination? it is all by the democrats. i heard biden say the jim crow act, which was a democrat thing. another thing, the supreme court on abortion, it should have never been in the federal government anyway. it gave control back to the states like it should be. women are getting care. for emergencies. no one is denied, that i know of.

why don't the party on tv have more information about democrats being racist like biden saying he did not want his kids to grow up in a jungle? anything -- guest: as i said earlier, we -- as a woman, main street is focusing on women. but there are groups focusing on getting the message out to the african-american community and hopefully we will do a very good job at that, so we will be ready for the next election cycle. with the abortion issue, you are right, it is a states issue. the republican partnership members are happy to have a go back to the states. if you do not like in your state

, do not vote out your federal. vote out your local. go vote in local elections, they mean a lot. if you are unhappy with the way your state's handling the abortion issue, go vote on that. if you love the way your state is handling it, turn out to vote. we are starting to separate and get away from local issues and local elections count, this is an example of that. host: trump was in pennsylvania, he made a call to have republican members of the house, i want to play what he had to say indicate your response. [video clip] >> the biggest complaint i get, and we have unbelievable congressmen i am going to introduce and they are not the problem. you complain about it, too.

but the biggest complaint i get is republicans find out this information, than they do nothing about it. they do not do anything about it, right? it all dies, you know? they died. the radical lunatic emigrants impeach me, indict me, radar elections. republicans do not fight -- they are good people, but they do not fight the way they are supposed to fight. the others are dirty 6 -- sick players and republicans are high-class. they have to be lower-class, i suspect. they sit back and say we have other priorities. any republican that does not act on democrat fraud should be immediately primary and get out.

host: this was in the context of efforts to impeach joe biden, what do you think of the comments of that effort? guest: i can only speak for the men and women in the partnership , impeaching biden is tough on them because we are the majority makers. there is a whole group over 15 that live in biden districts, that is a vote that group would prefer not to take. i have other members that would be happy taking that vote, like my boss, for example. it is going to be a tough call and majority might come down to this vote. i am not sure they will have the vote when all is said and done. kevin mccarthy likes having the gavel and he understands majority comes through mainstreet. we have all of the trump

districts, we need to get more of the biden districts. that comes through mainstreet and the mainstreet conservative, they do not love biden. but the constituents do not want to see him impeached, they want to see him voted out next year. host: what do you think about the concentration on hunter biden? guest: he is a crook, they should concentrate on him. clearly he has ethical issues, he always had. he also has drug issues and i understand that, but he has committed crimes and should be prosecuted for those, just as anybody else would be. host: in florida, independent line. caller: you seem like a very moderate group, it is kind of refreshing to see some reasonable thought coming out of the republican party. but aren't you overwhelmed by the maga wing? it is trump's party.

just your thoughts on that and if there is any stand you took on him being indicted for the third time and possibly the fourth time in georgia? guest: we are conservative. the problem we have is we do not get a lot media attention. the reason we do not as we are not out there yelling and screaming, we're just trying to do what is right for the country. we are three times the size of the freedom caucus. as i said earlier, we are quietly getting the job done for the american people and you probably cannot name more than two or three of our members, if you can even name that many. they are wonderful human beings trying to do what is right for the country. as far as being indicted, we have a judicial system in this country that needs to work and to see where it goes. certainly this will all come out in the next year or so, i believe he may be indicted in

georgia and we just have to wait and see where it comes out. we have some members have supported trump and endorsed him for president and others that have stayed neutral. host: you talked about house races, what is your outlook for the senate? guest: we are focusing a great deal on the senate. candidates matter, we need to understand that. the last cycle, we could have won more houses if we had more mainstreet conservative candidates. we are focused on west virginia and trying to get that back. we are hoping to take back the senate. that is why for us, i am overwhelmed focusing on house and senate. i know the presidency is important, so we leave that to other groups. we are doing the best we can just trying to keep the house and get back the senate. host: why those states? guest: they are republican states. west virginia is a little bit

more conservative than pennsylvania, but with the right candidate, we should be able to take out mansion and pick up the sea in pennsylvania. we are looking at montana, as well. with the right conservative, we should be able to pick up the senate seat. we should have the united states senate and we could have it. host: how much money as your partnership ready to spend? guest: about 20 $5 million. the first goal will be protect our own. we are majority makers, we live in tough districts, so we are focusing on those, focusing on getting people through the primaries that can win in the general. only a few senate seats, we cannot do the full gamut of that. but two or three will be where the focus is. host: how is the partnership funded? guest: individuals around the country.

there is no dark money. it is a lot of individuals that are republicans that want to see the republican house stay and get the senate back. host: let us hear from our republican line from florida. caller: good morning. i wanted to thank you for the great job you guys are doing. i have been a republican against all odds for the last 30 something years. governor desantis, i cannot bring myself to vote for him if he becomes the nominee. he has not reached out to the african-american community. it seems like he is at war with us right now.

besides disney, he's moved onto the blacks here in florida. i do want us to win the house and senate, because that is the only way the president will be able to function properly. i will be calling you all to find out what i can do in florida to get our nominee elected, but i will not support donald trump, nor desantis. i do not know who else is on the ticket. but i am praying someone steps up that we all can vote for and a vote for in confidence. guest: i look forward to you reaching out. there is a lot of individuals who agree with you. it is democracy, we have to

vote. the majority wins. if you do not like your governor, i am sorry. make sure you vote, he is term limited. vote in the next election for an individual you would like to see represent you and someone reaching out to the african-american community. host: missouri, independent line. caller: i was wondering who most of these women are that are ok with abortion -- ok with being against abortion. i was also wondering how they were going to gain seats in the house and when the senate when the majority of americans are for abortion. kansas did it right, they have a democrat governor, they let the

people vote on it. but all these other red states with governors and state legislature is doing it on their own, they will not let anybody vote on it because they are afraid it will not pass. guest: again, women are not good with abortion. in the ruling that came down, it is most of the suburban women we are polling are good with abortion in cases of rape, incest, and health of the mother up to 12 weeks. maybe even up to 16 weeks. but they want their health care, they want to make sure that they have options. you are right, some of the states have not put it back to the people as they did in kansas and a couple other states around the country. if you do not like what your state is doing, it is not a federal issue. it is a state issue.

vote your support, your current state representative or vote them out. but abortion now has gone back to each individual state and if you really do not like this dancer state has taken on the issue, go vote and make sure you vote, take your friends to vote. that is the problem. the state election turnout is much lower than when we have federal candidates, like a presidential election. you have to be voting at every single election, including the primaries. we have so many parts of the country that are gerrymandered, you have to vote in the primary and make sure the right candidate gets through the primary. it is a state issue now. go vote in the states. host: line for democrats in new jersey. caller: i want to ask many

questions. you remind me of when i was a little child. i was on the extreme right. [indiscernible]

he was born in canada. why do they mention that? what is going to be the united states, another dictatorship? guest: i could not understand her that well. host: from south carolina, good morning. you are next up. caller: thank you. i understood what she was saying, it is the same basic facts. we have a particular person who thinks he is still president, he is not. guest: if you are referring to president trump, no he is not the president any longer. caller: but let me finish what i

have to say, please. you are wasting your time, contradicting yourself. so much hypocrisy going on in this country. we have a man that wants to take over, he is telling you he wants to take over and do this and that. what about health care? what about raising your children up properly? the kids he has raised, look at what he is doing them -- doing. having them influenced by taking over the government. you should be doing something productive. you do not believe half the things you are saying here. i am so frustrated and when i see people out in the streets from time to time, even in the workforce, they've got the same negative attitude. everything is about one person and it is not. this is not one man's land. guest: i do want to emphasize we

are not a trump organization, we are a group of republican a look at house and senators who focus on doing the work for the american people and we do not get involved in presidential elections. if you do not want trump back, turn out to vote. if donald trump and whoever is the presidential nominee is not something our organization focuses on. we focus on the house and senate and making sure we have the right republicans elect that and get majority. if donald trump or whomever gets elected president, that person will need a check and balance. that is why we are trying to keep the house and get the senate back. host: how much weight do you think the former president has over republicans in the house and senate? guest: he has some, but not as much as people think he does. they are doing the work of the american people.

he calls some of them and stays out of some of the issues. our members do not usually hear from him. they are doing a job and donald trump is out here. they are doing the job for the american people this way and it is nice to have an organization that has never been involved in a presidential, so the donald trump factor does not play in. we have little discussion about president trump and what is going on. we are focused on issues the american people care about. mental health, crime, inflation. we are caring what is going on around the kitchen table, not the noise over here around president trump and what he is doing. host: when you make your decisions on who to support, what do you base the two or three big things they have to sign up with or follow along with? guest: the number one thing, can they win?

candidates matter. this was said in the last cycle, some people criticized it. it is the truth. is the republican candidate the one the people in that state would support? stepping away from the noise going on over here, are they hoping the right issues such as crime, mental health, health care for women, inflation, gas prices? the speaker before said we need to lame entries on gas prices, how about what joe biden has done by not letting us drill, not letting us get our own oil, our own natural resources out of the united states? i disagree with the last speaker, there are real issues going on. if those men and women support opening up -- we do not want to just drill in areas not safe. the keystone pipeline, there are a lot of issues here focused on. if candidates are focusing on

those issues as well and they can win in their states, then we will be supporting them. same as the house races, you have to run the right candidate according to what the district looks like. if we can get the candidate elected, that is great. for the first time in a long time, we have two seats in oregon because lori was the right republican candidate for that district. host: republican line from kansas. caller: good morning. i see that you are focusing on kansas and i would imagine that is my district, i live in johnson county. two things i want to point out, the last two rounds where she one, she got dramatically more money from a leftist organization and any republicans donated. the republicans were outspent dramatically. you need to get money and

support for whoever the candidate may happen to be. the second is with regard to the biggest obstacle you have got to overcome in this county i live in is abortion. even my granddaughters, who are conservative and any other way, are afraid abortion is going to be banned in the state of kansas or limited at six weeks when people do not even know if they are pregnant. we need to get the message out quickly. the center for reproductive rights city kansas law generally prohibits abortion at 22 weeks at post-viability. people do not understand that, they need to hear that. they think they are going to lose all of their rights. guest: thank you, that is exactly the district we are trying to pick up. the reason we did not play in it

last cycle with a lot of revenue was there were a lot of other places where we spent money. we are back focusing on your district, we would love to have you join women to women and take the polling so we know exactly what is going on in the district. abortion, it is states rights now. kansas has a vote, they let the people vote and the message was loud and clear. if you do not like what is going on in your state, emphasize again, you have to change the state elected officials. this is no longer a federal issue and i do not think it will be a federal issue again. i do not see a federal bill on abortion coming to the house and senate anytime soon. whatever personal views are on abortion, we need to stop talking about it as a federal issue and to get back to the states. whether we agree or disagree with the decision, i have my own

personal opinions, it did go back to the state. you have to make sure you are voting in your state and that is the message we need to get out. host: you can find the website for the republican mainstream partnership. sarah chamberlainerves as president and chief. we will finish with open form until 10:00, if you want to call in and participate. (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats and independents (202) 748-8002. ♪ >> on in-depth, a best-selling author will be the guest to talk about native american history,

the civil war and more. books include rebel yell and his latest, his majesties airship. after, matt lewis with his book filthy rich politician explores how politics is fueled by wealth and offers suggestions on how to hold elected officials more accountable. watch book tv every weekend and find a full schedule on your program guide, or watch online anytime. >> c-span's online store, browse to the latest collection of c-span products, apparel, books, home to core and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan and every purchase supports nonprofit operations. shop now or anytime.

>> healthy democracy does not look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed a republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, from the nation's capital to wherever you are. the opinion that matters most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. >> washington journal continues. host: open forum, you can call on the phone lines. as always, you can post on social media sites for things you have seen on this program. facebook.com/cspan is how you did on facebook, twitter

@cspanwj. text us as well. starting off in colorado, this is raymond on the independent line. you are first up, go ahead. caller: good morning. i would like to make three points. the first point being the electoral college has not been changed. that would help america, if they were to change the rules for the looked oral college. the second point, i grew up enrolled america in the south and i live in colorado. one thing i have noticed about rule compared to cities is it is a white and black issue all the way. most rural areas are controlled by white people, they owned the businesses. there are not many minorities that have businesses, even though there are some. the small towns are controlled by white people.

i believe this is a white and black issue. the last issue is i am not going to compare donald trump to world history, but it is his followers. during world war ii, russia was our ally. after the war was over, stalin killed 30 million of his own p o -- people. there were people during the 1950's -- when he died, people were crying for him to come back and rule russia. what does that say about human nature? host: richard in missouri, democrats line. caller: i am lucky to get in. there's a couple of things, those who sold secret information to the chinese, the air force guy put secret

information on the internet i guess. we had an ex-president selling secret information to people. back when i was young, the goldmans gave away information about the tommy bomb and they hung them by the neck until they was dead. remember good old republicans. host: melvin in virginia, independent line. you are on. caller: i just wanted to make a comment about my view on what is called trickle-down politics. what is most important to me is politics start at the local level.

you only get to the federal level when you start at the local level. your school boards, your community, your mirrors, the local status. you cannot jump in the race and expect something to happen at the top. i believe the federal government and its politics, presidential or whatever, it starts at the local level. who you elect for mayor, for city council, for governor. once you handle your own community, you see the results at the federal level. i believe the top of the chain is at the local level, not the federal level. we only get the federal level what is produced at the local level. host: spectrum news out of --

associated press out of kentucky saying which mcconnell received a rousing welcome saturday at a high-profile homestay political gathering and amid renewed scrutiny of his health after he froze up midsentence during a recent news conference. i want to assure you it is not my last, he said it the top of the speech before the annual jumping off point for the fall campaign. it was his only reference, however vague to his health. he was regarded as the main architect of the republican rise to power in kentucky and promoted the candidacy of a protege running for governor. let us hear from doreen in baton rouge, republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call, i love watching you.

two things i want to talk about. yesterday, the topic was the vice president. i could not get on, but i am glad i am on today. as a woman, i am disappointed. it doesn't matter democrat or republican, she is the first woman vice president, which is wonderful. but so disappointed in her, the way she handles the border, the way you can't understand a word she says. i do not think she did a good job and i know every woman out there knows that in their hearts. the second thing is the president. with the whatsapp message of i'm sitting here with my father and if you do not give me the money, all his power and everyone will do what, there is nowhere to go from here. it is in black-and-white. it is sad, but it is in

black-and-white. when he is impeached and bubble and ski testifies -- when he is impeached, it will be sad for america. host: misery, democrats line. caller: what i would like to see happen is the different topics -- a different one comes on c-span, one of the topics i would like to see discussed in the near future is back in the area of president john f. kennedy on the civil rights struggle. the southeast to be democrat, all of them was democrat back in that time. they got mad during the kennedy administration and switched to the republican party. this party that you call democrats now is republicans and vice versa.

it used to be the south all democrats and they switched parties when kennedy was president and nobody talks about that and i would like to see you discuss that. host: we have done several segments looking at that historical impact -- the historical situation. if you go to our website, all of the programs we have done are archived and there is a search box you can type in, if you are interested in those topics. from ohio, republican line. caller: i think they should do abortions and hospitals. safer, trained doctors, high-risk ob/gyn's. they should make it so the candidates running take a lie detector test. i would like to see more admirals and generals run for both sides.

if you are running just to make money and have no chance of winning, get rid of that. if you are rich and running, you should be using your own and not asking people. host: the washington post looks at the possibility of former president trump is convicted on any charges he is facing and faces jail time, what protections does he receive as former president? the thing that former and current secret service agents said will there is no precedent, they say certainly the agency would insist on providing some sort of 24/7 protection to an imprisoned former president and the agency is planning for the possibility. rotating three daily shifts of one or two agents providing proximity protection. the question keeps getting raised, yet no official answers from the secret service.

security measures could be implemented based on existing protocols, star changes in legislation or the former president waves protection, the u.s. secret service would probably maintain a protective environment around the president in accordance with current practices. paul is up next, he is in massachusetts. democrats line. caller: good morning. i've been listening to the show for quite a while now. breaking down the interpretations of law. at the base of our laws -- the heart of it is property and property rights. all of the debates that we keep hearing, you can take it way back to slavery, to corporations as people, corporate taxes. the way the supreme court weighs in on these issues, it seems it is usually about a property and

taking of the government from private people or what have you. it is something i have been observing. republicans, i would like to remind them all that expansion westward under monroe was probably the largest socialist program ever socially engineered in this country and we are all benefiting from it, a lot of republicans are. that is one of the reasons they own property. host: in missouri, independent line. caller: i would like to mention a couple of different things, i appreciate your patience for me to get there both of them. anyone who would vote for trump should have to send their children to trump university and their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren, on into perpetuity.

i realize trump university was a fraud and it no longer exists. i would like to mention the first time trump ever went to russia was 1987 to look into building a trump tower there. in 2017, when he was president, he was at a g20 summit and had a private meeting with putin several times, where he destroyed government documents by telling everyone to leave the room and taking notes of his interpreter each time and telling the interpreter they could never speak of the meetings. trump said recently he will pull out of ukraine and i cannot help wondering how much trump and putin have talked about russia back then in 2017. host: in ohio, republican line.

caller: good morning. i just want the republicans and democrats, independent salt ask themselves one question. why is there no support for women who are pregnant? i am not talking about planned parenthood, i am talking about if a woman cannot afford to keep her child, she cannot have what they need to have a child. who is helping them? ask people in the churches what they are doing. i do not see anybody doing anything. there may be a couple of people here or there. we need to get back to what is best for us as americans and forget about the politics for just a minute. these are human lives, the women in this country deserve more. they deserve support to get them

started. we used to have a single mother support group, we would take in these women, whatever race, abused, and their child. each person would keep them three days, someone would be working on getting them housing and support, whatever they needed. that was women helping women. that organization died out. i ask people who go to church to ask people, what are we going to do about these women? they run to abortion, maybe they want an abortion and suffer from having one. give the woman a choice, but help the women. host: the new york times takes another look at justice clarence

thomas, this time focusing on the rv he drives around which she has talked about in speeches. there is an untold form more complex back story to the rv. one that not only undercuts the mythology but about whether the justice received or failed to disclose the lavish gift. justice thomas, who would tell friends how he scrimped and saved to afford it did not buy it on his own. it was underwritten by a close friend who made his fortune in the health care industry. he provided justice thomas with financing that expert said a bank would have been unlikely to extend not only because he was already curing a a lot of debt, but because the high level of customization makes used motor coaches difficult to value. that is in the new york times, the story this morning online

line if you want to read it. las vegas, independent line. caller: i am a veteran. when i was going into the service, they ask if you are a communist and plan to overthrow the u.s. government. if you say yes, you are not getting into the service. trump tried to overthrow the u.s. government. the attorney general has not arrested him. the republican party, not all of them, have become a bunch of communists. he should have been arrested two years ago. everything he has done -- the news media will not say he is a communist, he is. there are good republicans. the rest of them are just going along with that, you cannot do that. you cannot try to overthrow the u.s. government, you should not be in office. he should have been arrested two years ago. it is a sad day when the

attorney general will not arrest him right now. he should be in handcuffs. host: in arkansas, independent line. are you there? i can barely hear you, i am going to put you on hold and try to fix the connection that you have so we can get you on before time runs out. patrick in florida, democrats line. caller: good morning. just a couple of points. this is history and facts, there's no such thing as a conservative fascist. it does not happen. two, how tub or veil has not been declared an agent for a foreign country by holding up all of our military and cabinet posts. the republicans did it before to

get their supreme court justices and they are doing it again so they can appoint whoever they want and cabinet positions and how the american people are allowing this to happen. vote trump, vote putin and have a good day. host: jonathan in ohio, republican line. jonathan in ohio? caller: yes. caller: i heard a few times about women with abortion, my grandsons mother has three kids, she is on the fourth kid. she's been in the hospital for three months. this is in ohio. they tried not to give her an abortion, she wanted to keep the baby.

they were trying to keep the baby. about trump and biden, trump was telling the truth the whole time. trump is going to win, not go to jail. host: stephen florida, democrats line. caller: hello, this is steve. the last guest talked about the keystone pipeline, the republican guest. a week or two, you had a: to make the distinction between the keystone pipeline, which is up and running, and the keystone xl

pipeline was what was shut down. i think when you have callers, especially republicans, calling up and talking about keystone, you should make that distinction. the keystone pipeline is pumped through .6 billion gallons -- barrels of oil from canada down to texas, that is going on every day. keystone xl pipeline, that was shut down because environmentally, it was dangerous. as far as the price of oil, gasoline prices were low during the trump administration because the oil companies did expensive flocking, which was bad for the environment. that got oil prices down to $20

a barrel. at that price, oil companies cannot sustain themselves. plenty of u.s. oil companies went out of business and companies in canada went out of business. the current market calls for the price to be at a steady rate of $70 a barrel to make money. host: in michigan, republican line. caller: these indictments are a scheme. you talk about you look toward interference, this is outrageous. another false narrative that president trump instigated an armed insurrection to take over the government, that is a crime that doesn't exist. you can look at electoral interference and all the other schemes going back to the nt

five black lives matter attacks on trump rallies and other republican venues up until the bedwetting scheme, which was outrageous. the prudent collusion bedwetting, are you kidding? many americans lost faith in the fbi, the doj and american government from that scheme, which proved to be a false narrative. the false narrative of january 6, not insurrection, it did not happen. that has never happened since the war of 1812. the massive surveillance and incarceration without trial, these are schemes that are police state schemes and people have got to wake up to this because it will not end until we get these people out of power. host: one more call in michigan, democrats line. caller: i'm calling in response

to sarah's information about voter harvesting, that is unaffected. she looked at the american people and light through her teeth. ballot harvesting is when a group of people go to a nursing home or roll community where people cannot afford a stamp to send their ballot in or cannot get the transportation. there is one ballot per person in this country, you cannot get a blank ballot. that is why you register to vote, the number is correlated to a person, usually with a social security number and address and signature. too many people believe that. host: we have to finish it there, thanks for calling in and thanks to all of you who participated in the program today. another addition of washington journal tomorrow at 7:00 in the morning, see you then. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023]

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

exported to developing countries.