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♪ host: this is washington journal for august 29. the president and the first lady visited a school on monday where a welcome to back students. the theme of back-to-school this morning in the pages of usa today.

a story of how parents move their schools out of public schools during the pandemic and moved them to alternative schools are sticking with those forms of education for a variety of reasons. let's start off this morning. what type of school do you prefer most for your kids, public, private, or alternative school like a charter school or home school? if you say public school is for you, tell us why. (202) 748-8000 is the number to call. if you say private school, (202) 748-8001. maybe you prefer a charter or homeschool or alternative type of school. (202) 748-8002 is the number you can call. you can post on her facebook page -- our facebook page, and on x. you can follow the show on instagram. it was on the pages of usa today the cover story takes a look at education in the pandemic or

post-pandemic area and how some parents who took their kids out of school are sticking with schools that are alternative the public tools. public school enrollment dipped nearly 3% nationwide and has not rebounded. declining birth rates and immigration patterns were projected to cut into the population long before the pandemic. homeschooling surged. although it has dipped to some, the option is more popular than before the covid-19 crisis. charter schools gained and retained hundreds of thousands of students. national data predates the pandemic but some surveys suggest enrollment increased at these institutions, too. learning pods are also showing they have staying power. there is more to that and how parents reacted during the pandemic when it comes to the education of the kids. we want to ask you as far as taking a look at those other

types of schools which you prefer. public school, private school, or maybe on alternative like a charter school or homeschool? here's how you can let us know. if you say it is public school for you, (202) 748-8000 is the number to call. if you say private school, (202) 748-8001. if you choose an alternative like a charter or homeschool and want to tell us about your experience, (202) 748-8002. you can also post on our social media sites at facebook and at x. it was in washington, d.c. where both the president and first lady visited a middle school to welcome students back-to-school. jill biden talked about the role teachers play in education. here is a portion of that from yesterday. [video] >> we wish you a great school year. i teach english. have you heard of northern virginia community college?

it is not far from here. my first day is next tuesday. like your teachers, wherever they went -- [laughter] i have been working on my lesson plans and what i'm going to do the first day. i am excited. what you probably don't know about teachers is that no matter how long you have been teaching, the night before you can barely sleep because you are so excited. >> is that true? [crowd talking] >> we love our students. if you're going through tough times or maybe struggling in math or struggling at home, you know you can go to your teachers. you can trust your teachers. we are always here for you. i want to thank the teachers for what you do. [applause] host: that was some of the first lady from yesterday welcoming students back-to-school.

-- back to school. this is diane from facebook. she emphasized public school is for her, saying we cannot prioritize education and give education to extremists. they must stay under the power of we the people. we must stop the extremist from stealing money from the schools. this is shelley prichard saying when it comes to schooling, private school for her. adding parents should find their own children's education. tim mcandrew says homeschooling for him. we tried private school. he can get done in a few hours what kids can get done in twice the time and move at the pace he's at. he starting second grade but is doing basic multiplication and

even tried some basic long division. he would be bored to tears in public school since they have to teach to the lowest common denominator. that is some of the ways you can post your thoughts on these types of schooling. that is a usa today story on school choice. they look at various types of education. at the same time school choice advocates are capitalizing on parents dissatisfaction with public schools to create alternatives to traditional education, some of that the satisfaction spawned during remote teaching at the start of the pandemic. several states passed legislation that entitles every child's family to use public funds for any option. in oklahoma, legislators passed a bill granting allstate school -- all students state school options. parents can receive a $7,500 tax credit. parents who homeschool their children can receive up to $1000 per child tax credit for school

related costs. lawmakers in arizona, florida and iowa adopted legislation to limit new school choice programs or expand existing ones. parents are taking up states on the offer. critics are worried about too little accountability. with kids in schools, nearly 46% plan to send at least one of the kids to a new school this fall. for the half of those school switching parents said they went better and safer education or environment for the kids. that is some of the profiles from this morning's usa today. you can find it online why parents are moving their kids to alternative forms of education. you can call us on the line. you can post on facebook as well. from susan in new york, say my children went to public schools in the bronx. they learned how to live, learn,

and play with everybody. adding, should we not all learn the same? at the white house briefing yesterday the press secretary was asked about falling test scores in the united states and potential covid related school closings may have had in that. here is part of her portion from yesterday. [video] >> the president and first lady visited a middle school today. test scores are the lowest in decades. is the white house approach failing? >> there will be a lot of work to do. that is understandable. the work does not and and -- did not end when the president was able to open up schools. when the president walked in more than 50% of schools were shut down because a covid because the less administration did not have a plan to deal with covid and what it was doing to our economy and what it was

doing to our kids. because the president put schools reopening and businesses reopening and making sure people got shots in arms, may data priority, we were able -- made that a priority, we were able to open up schools. covid had a devastating effect on our kids. so, the president is committed to making sure education for all of our children, regardless of you are -- if you are in rural america, urban america, it's a priority that the kids get what they need. it is not just education. we talked about mental health. we talked about making sure they are getting healthy lunches. that is something this administration has provided. we have seen the data. we have seen the numbers. it means more work needs to be done and we are committed and is

president and administration is committed to that work. secretary cardona will go across the country. he will lay out with the department of education had a continue to improve schools to make sure students get the education and get the rightful education they deserve. the work continues. i don't have a 10-step laid out but i can say for sure the president is committed and you see that through the secretary of education. it is something that is incredibly important to the first lady as well. host: in referencing those performance scores, it was the nationreportcard.gov. they put it on their website, saying scores declined again for 13-year-old students in reading and math maddox. the national center -- mathematics. the long-term trend reading and math assessments for 13 drilled

students from october through december of the 2022-2023 year. average scores declined four point in reading and nine points in math compared to the previous assessment in the 2019 and 2020 school year. compared to a decade ago, the average scores dlid seven points in reading and 14 points in mathematics. when it comes to preferences for education is it perhaps public school or private school or alternative school? if you state's public school, (202) 748-8000. give us a call and tell us what. if you say private, (202) 748-8001. if you choose alternative like homeschooling, (202) 748-8002. you can post on social media. ida in minneapolis on the public-school line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i was going to say i support the public schools.

bill clinton and trump, even ron desantis, you will not get a better education than having people teach you than teachers. we should be funding public schools and doing more education so we can learn about inflation and real history and learn about things. right now we have an education that is getting defunded day by day. if republicans had their way, i'm pretty sure they would use ai . host: what makes you think those things are not being taught in another alternative setting? caller: they could be. when you get people in homeschooling, parents believing thank you and on and indoctrinate their kids in theories like that. those people -- believe in qanon.

if you get a moderately good education, most home schools i know of taken their little boy or girl because there is not enough religion in the school or enough christian nationalism and it's just qanon. we can do better with our school system and find public tools and make them better and make them more like college for kids. kids are going to school to take tests and not actually learning. there are many different types of public schools. i was a college artist. had i had a performing arts school to go to, i would have loved to have done that. they are no better than it -- they think they know better than a teacher or scientist. host: trina in indiana. go ahead. you are on. caller: good morning. we are big advocates of

homeschooling. we homeschooled both of our children back in the 1990's. my grandchildren will be homeschooled to start out at least. i'm not anti-public school. i think for some children, you know, especially at a young age it is better to try to teach them at home. it forces parents to be involved with their children. i think it is just better in some ways. like i said, i am all in favor of funding the public-school system. if you choose to homeschool or private school, there is a cost to that and parents need to consider that. i'm not against all the money

being removed from the public-school system to give to parents who want to privatize their children's education. if you choose the private school, you should consider the expense that goes along with that, just as homeschooling. we have to consider the costs. the time involvement if you have a homeschool. that is my thought. host: what was the driving force to keep your kids home? what was the one thing that pushed you to that? caller: we had one child who was severely handicapped. basically, he was in the public school system but he was not really getting anything. he was not able to go into a classroom setting or anything like that. it was kind of like daycare basically, which was terrible. with my daughter, she had things

she needed. she needed more help in mathematics and things. at that time she was able to get it. we just felt like if we were going to supplement her education at home anyway we could do it in a more specialized for her needs and what she needed to get ahead in. she got her ged and she is a full functioning adult, a wonderful person. that is what it was for us. host: that is trina in indiana. andrew in houston, texas, calling on the public-school line. caller: good morning. i am a public school teacher. i'm having my morning coffee getting ready to go in this morning. my father was also a public school teacher. i support the public-school system. i went to public school myself.

i grew up in a suburb in the state of texas. we had a great school. i understand why parents might want to make the choice to go with private school. i briefly went to private school for a couple of years as an elementary student. i think supporting our public school system is important for a lot of parents. they have no other option. they don't have enough money. they don't have enough time to homeschool. with regards to some of the problems we are seeing in the public-school, i must say i think it comes down to parents. it also comes down to students. students have to have the initiative to take advantage of what they've got. i think if you talk to teachers right now, one of the biggest problems they are having is students and parents. either students not being engaged, being violent, not being able to function in a

classroom. we really have to work on not just our education but honor souls with regard to our schools. thank you very much and i hope listeners will continue to support the public school system and talk to your local leaders and tell them you expect things to go well in schools. host: are you experiencing a school choice kind of thing where money would be shifted away from public school money to allow parents to send their children to other forms of education? caller: there has been talk of it. i'm not 100% sure where it is at. we had a really wild year in the texas legislature. it would not surprise me. as far as that is concerned, you don't choose which state agency your money goes to. i don't want my money to go to, you know, the department of

commerce. i don't what my money to go to so-and-so agency, texas fish and game and wildlife or whatever. i do think you should have to do that with education as well and say i have a kid. i don't what my money going to the public-school system. i don't want my money following my kid. i don't see how that works. i don't see how it is sustainable. host: andrew there. this is derek off x. it's more complicated than the three options. my daughter is a two-way should-free public cyber school -- tuition-free public cyber school. that might be part of your factoring in of preferences when it comes to the school for your children. the gala folks keep track of k-12 education. they highlight the fact that in

january of last year it was 80% of those that were polled said overall parents were satisfied with their oldest child's level of education. when you ask about the specifics as far as u.s. education overall it was only 42% in january of 2022 satisfied with u.s. education. that may factor into how you choose schooling for your children or which school or types of school you prefer. on the private school line, this is from new rochelle, new york. carmine is next up. caller: good morning. great topic. my experience was with private schools. from kindergarten through high school. what really taught me a lesson was many years ago we did not have computers. if you were given a task by your teacher you had to go to the library for information. it was harder but it was

rewarding. my experience was my other friends were there but they attended public schools. this particular occasion in high school they were teaching us about the greek philosophers. they tried to incorporate how you study like socrates, plato, aristotle. thousands of years ago they were offering ideas of how to live a life and how to live a good life. when my friend saw what i was doing and all these books i had that seemed strange to them it came to me that what they were learning was so much less than us. what we were learning was so critical that i was shocked how much they did not know about something i felt they should

know or at least should have been taught in public school. it was very disappointing. i remember that experience to this day. host: carmine in new york choosing the private school option, talking about his experiences there. add yours to the mix. karen in south carolina on the alternative form of education line. thank you for calling. caller: good morning. thank you. i have experienced all those different schools. my parents put me in private school, therefore i was able to start school basically at four years old for first grade. i graduated high school at 16. later, -- there was three of us, my brothers and myself, all in private school. we were put in public schools

. i graduated in public school. when i had my children --, mother of fo -- i am a mother of four. i just graduated my last set of high school. i homeschooled them until i could put them in montessori school. my other children, my oldest three went to public schools. i was able to find a phenomenal charter school for my youngest three elementary. -- through elementary. it was the combination of having a supportive group of teachers. i'm a hands on parent. i was able to attend the events. the way they structure that school is phenomenal. unfortunately, there was not a bridge into it for high school

and middle school. in the middle of it -- my youngest just graduated at 17. in the middle of covid i took him out of public, just like everything going on. i put him in a free online school. a brilliant young man in the middle covid. now he has become separated and disenfranchised from everything. then i put them back in public. foot charter has been the best -- but charter has been the best in terms of my son in that charter school. host: that is karen talking about charter schools. you can add that to the mix.

she mentioned montessori school. the numbers will be on the screen. take the number that best represents where you are when it comes to this discussion. a viewer off of x says catholic schools are a bargain without the nonsense. he adds that public schools are awful. let's be honest. you can post at c-spanwj. facebook.com/c-span. texas at (202) 748-8003 -- text us at (202) 748-8003 if you wish. caller: good morning. i went to reward our local school system. we have three alternatives for public school. we have the regular school. another school called the school of inquiry, which is the same subjects and so forth. they have to have it according to state standards. the kids work in groups as they would if they were out in a work

setting. we have 10 to 12 different local vocational courses that are offered now. anyone in the county can attend anywhere from being a pilot to an emt to construction to computer operated machinery. kids can graduated at age 18 making $60,000 a year. i commend our school board for being visionary. i had a good public education 60 years ago and business classes. i am a strong supporter of public schools, but of course we have disintegration of families and different problems affecting kids and parents not involved. that is not the school's fault. i'm a public school advocate. i don't necessarily disagree if

the child has problems and needs to go to a private or whatever, that is your right. i hate to see public schools downgraded and disintegrating. host: ruth talking about the public school system. the same gallup poll in january of 2022 talked about that level of satisfaction. they broke it down by political party. it was 51% of those who were identified as a democrat saying they were either completely or somewhat satisfied with the state of education in the united states. 30% of those identifying as republican or leaning republican to that level of satisfaction when it comes to education. to whatever degree you have helped you in your choice as far as which type of schooling you support. private school is where harry is at in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. go ahead.

caller: i went to a private school. in the ninth grade i went to a public school. i was a little ahead of them. i believe teachers used covid, to make children illiterate so when they 18 they registered as democrats. host: let's talk about your private school experience. where did you go? caller: doing way better than everybody else. host: he hung up. let's hear from mike in stockton, california. choosing the alternative line. caller: good morning, pedro. the contribution i wanted to make was something i did not have available to me, but to every young family ever to recommend they check out the online school called kahn academy. i also think some of the very best equipped school districts

in california on the peninsula, los altos, they take advantage of the online teaching as well. kahn academy is a gift. the founder, i think he has three or four degrees from m.i.t., he's very talented. he understands to a strong degree all sorts of different educational areas, from chemistry, biology, math is outstanding. i was fortunate. i was taught in the east coast. i have good teaching. but compared to this kahn academy, i encourage people who care about their kids -- host: what is the difference between the teaching you had add

versus an online type of education? caller: the comprehensive nature of the coursework they offer. i got through high school not having a strong understanding of basic calculus. you go on to kahn academy, they go through every level. the continuity from one stage, basic math, arithmetic, right through advanced algebraic calculus is there. if you have the motivation you can truly become a well-educated person, child, adult, and you are so much better prepared for the exclusive schools at the college level. i went to an inclusive school and college but i was not as strong as i should have been.

that is why i'm encouraging people, especially if you have a gifted child. i have real reservations about public schools because i think the one fellow's comment about teaching to the growing, -- lowest common denominator israel. you have people -- is real. you have people who don't to be in school and they will dissuade your child who you want to become well-educated and have a good life. that dissuade a lot of people. there is a lot of abuse at the public school level. it is different from one wealthy area to the next. host: that is mike in california making the case for online schooling. you may make that case as well. call and tell us about the type of education you prefer. whether it is the alternative type, the online, charter, perhaps home school or public or private. in california, a viewer says

none of the k-12 schools are better than the others. he makes the case for homeschooling, saying it's better but not easy to accomplish. the department of education is a useful department and should be -- is not a useful department and should be eliminated. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. jason is next on our line for public schools in louisiana, shreveport. good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. love c-span. i am a resident physician down in shreveport. i'm a product of private catholic schools. i am calling on the public-school line, not because i did not have a good experience in school but because it seems to me that more more people putting their kids into private schools, charter schools, homeschooling does not necessarily take away -- i guess

charter schools do take dollars away from public schools, which is not ideal. it is kind of like let's focus on this subset of our student population as opposed to the broader section and fix the problems that are there. but it takes away a group of parents who are ostensibly -- who care enough about or care in a certain way about their kids to desire that kind of premier education enterprise the school of the parents involvement as far as pta or parent organizations go. if everybody went to public schools, i think that everyone

would necessarily have to care more about those outcomes and the experience of the kids in those schools. on the product of private catholic school. i had great teachers throughout school. that's another thing. when a private school or charter school maybe can offer more salary to teachers, or perhaps there is a perception that students are more eager in those settings, the parents are more on top of the kids to accomplish or whatever, that also kind of drives quality teachers away from public schools, unless they have a particular altruistic or community-minded approach to teaching. all that said, i think we have to give a crap about the public

schools. that is the default for our country. if we are not trying to improve, not trying to make this quality schools -- those quality schools it will not end well for the united states frankly. host: jason in louisiana giving us his thoughts. this was mentioned in the usa today piece. the national center for education statistics saying it was between the fall of 2010 and the fall of 2019 that total public, elementary and secondary school enrollment improved by 3% -- increased by 3%. in the first year the pandemic total enrollment dropped 3% to 49.4 million students in the fall of 2020. in the fall of 2021 totally

enrollment remained around 49.4 million students. it varied by state. there is more information, including the perception of changes in public, elementary, and secondary school enrollment. showing a decrease in some of the northeastern states, increases in the middle and western states. you can find the information at ncts.gov. this looks at public, private or alternative school. which do you prefer? public-school, (202) 748-8000. private school, (202) 748-8001. we have set aside a line for alternatives, (202) 748-8002. on our private school line, this is from iowa. bonnie, thanks for calling. caller: good morning. i have a unique perspective. my dad, my siblings and i and 15

members of our immediate family have all been or are currently teachers. we have taught in the public and private school settings. i taught in wisconsin, florida, california and iowa where i live. i value all schools. i thought i would address the private school thing. that is what my family and i attended. that is where the bulk of our experience is. a huge misnomer's private schools take money away from the public school system. in iowa we just passed the educational savings account plan this year. opponents keep calling it a voucher. the educational savings account offers $7,000 per student. that money goes -- there's been a huge amount of interest. the county i reside in has the highest percentage of parents applying for it. we have very fine public schools here. those parents were saying we prefer a private education for our children for a

variety of reasons. my local public school gets good support. they opened the new high school over $20 million. that school was built because private parents like myself in addition to paying tuition for our children support public education to the extent the bond issues past the first time -- passed the first time. that's a hard thing to accomplish, even in communities where there is not private school. we have been supporting public schools. i also subbed in public schools. it doesn't have to be either/or. it can be and. i get frustrated when public school parents resent private school students. it's an interesting issue. if the public schools are the right fit for everybody, parents would not be applying for the

educational savings account to have their children in private schools. if the public schools are not the right fit for certain students, why shouldn't that money go to the school that parents who have done their homework and research feel is the better fit? another thing public will parents will say is that private schools are not accredited. the ones in which i teach are. another thing that will be said is -- that is what a previous caller touched on. that's a hard thing to fix. it's true. by definition if you have skin in the game your commitment is higher. it does not mean the families are better but it means the parents have made a choice to sacrifice and send their children to public -- to a private school. you should see the buses that go past my house in the morning. some going to private schools 10 or 20 miles away. those parents have a higher level of interest in the success of their child. yes, that does show. the previous caller was spot on when she talked about how we

have to get families more invested in education. everybody does need to support the public school system. we should be funding systems -- not funding systems. education is about the students. host: ok. that is bonnie and iowa. a family of teachers and giving her experience talking about the private school setting she finds herself in. in arkansas, melvin on the public-school line. hello. caller: how are you this morning? thank you. my opinion is, all children are important. all schools, whether they be private, alternative or public, all children need special education recorded from our teachers. i feel that the public system

needs more assistance with our children throughout their education. they are the ones that receive the less funding as far as private schools and alternative schools. somehow we need to come together as a unity and provide more for public schools so our children can receive higher education. i don't agree with them taking the african-american history out of our courses. host: melvin in arkansas giving his thoughts on the public school system, why he supports it. mila in alexandria, virginia. private school line. caller: thank you for taking my call. just a little background. i grew up in venezuela.

i received private education/ . i came to the united states and became concerned about what is happening with the education system. i choose for my kids private education. faith orientation. i am very concerned about what is happening in the public schools right now. if you ask me as a regular person on the street my main concern, it's education for all the children in the united states. i thought when i came to america the public education was amazing and great. i realized children were -- i hope this changes through the years. the government needs to invest in the public education, especially in making attractive

salaries for teachers. then we can compete from that. education is -- we see what is going on now in our country, what is happening in the schools. what we are lacking is discipline and respect to the teachers and the mentors, the coaches. at the moment i choose private schools based on my faith. host: mila in virginia. if you want to keep calling in, call it on the line. there was a hearing on education. i republican from indiana taking look at the state of education in the united states. he was questioning the colorado democratic governor about his support for charter schools. here is a portion of that. [video] >> you write a letter to secretary cardona denouncing

changes proposed by the biden administration to federals to make it harder for charter schools to get start up grants. he followed that up with an op-ed. "the education department's fix for charter schools is misguided." he made the case for charter schools by saying they are some of the most innovative, accessible and successful schools in colorado and across the country. we should support charter schools and the biden administration's effort is undermining the success of charter schools. governor, i could not agree with you more that. do you stand by what you wrote in the article in the washington post? >> charter schools mean different things in different states because they have different authorization laws. quality, access, equity and affordability done right. charter schools can contribute to access, equity and affordability. while i did not think the change in the rules were necessary, i was pleased the department of education did incorporate many of the comments to make the

changes more workable to help support new charter schools. >> what else should the administration do to support charter schools? >> i encourage them to lean into innovation in all its forms, as the obama administration did and the trump administration did. whether it is an innovative district program, charter school, hybrid program, we should support excellence and innovation. that means accountability and quality. it does not mean we should be throwing money at programs that work. the key role the government can do is be a catalyst before the schools open to get their funding. that is what the grants are meant to do. like any public school, they are self-sustaining over time. they often need help and that's a very fruitful area to look at investment around how we can encourage districts and charter schools to innovate. host: you can get more that hearing at her website at c-span.org.

from facebook, cheryl hernandez says, public schools were great for the average person. if you have other needs -- elected school boards -- my taxes pay their salary. if the school is failing, it is the public servant's fault. margaret williams saying a decrease in superintendent salary. tax dollars need to stay in public education. they take money away from schools when they go to fund private schools. if government money is used in homeschooling, they should be held at the same standard at testing as public schools. facebook.com/eastman's site -- facebook.com/c-span is how you post their. john, hello. caller: i'm speaking as a grandfather.

my adult children are all in education. my oldest son is with a charter school. my daughter teaches public school in special education. my granddaughter is with the public-school teaching elementary. it is not an easy question to get the right answers to what is the best thing. i can tell you this much, discipline in the public schools is a hard thing to handle. with my kids growing up i could tell you the teachers would say to us at the teacher parent meetings that they did not expect to see us because our children were doing so good. the reason for that was because we were involved with them. i think what is going on in the

school systems now is that parents, whether it is two jobs and both parents are working and there is no time for the kids, the teachers are not the problem. the administration isn't the problem. a major problem is that the parents are not involved. if the parents are involved, the kid will do a lot better. hello? host: that is john in boston, massachusetts, giving his thoughts from examples with his children. let's hear from joe and washington, d.c. on the line for public schools. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to -- host: you are on, john. i think we lost joe. let's try paul in west palm

beach, florida. caller: hi pedro. thank you for taking my call. hello? host: you are on. caller: i wanted to say you are one of the best in the business. i'm so thankful to god i was able to go to private school. i was taught discipline and respecting elders, policeman. these were taught to me. you cannot get them in the public-school. the democratic party -- host: hold on. if we can drop seven. paul, go ahead. caller: i'm thankful to god my dad put me in private school. host: to the producers, we lost seven. let's hear from paul.

paul, go ahead . caller: i want to thank god my dad was able to put me in private school in india. i learned discipline, respecting elders. policeman, teachers. these are basic things we learned. i see that lacking in the public school today. i put my two kids into private school and thank god they are learning there. the democratic party has taken god away from public schools. that is why all these things are happening in this country. i'm so disgusted. i feel like going back to my country. i came to this country but i think i should go back but i'm stuck here because my kids are ingrained in the system here. host: that is paul. a few more minutes to call in.

take a line that best represents you. if it's public schools you support, (202) 748-8000. if it's private schools, (202) 748-8001. (202) 748-8002 for alternative schools as we have been calling it, whether it is charter schools, homeschooling, along those lines. let's hear from vernon in indiana, public-school line. caller: thank you for taking my call. my point is i believe in public education. i understand the benefits of private and alternatives. my point is education should be secure for everyone. if the funding is coming from the government for the student it should stay where the student is at. however, i do not believe if they go to a private school that is owned by a private owner, even a charter school, the money should follow.

that is a choice the parent decided to do. the money should stay if it comes from a federal government to the federal system. the reason i say public also was because education should be the same for all. one kid should not have an advantage over another. if the education is good and charter and private, why not make the education the same for all? host: if charter schools by a large or public schools with different focuses, why not support that? caller: because i feel like it's a form of class. everybody should have the same education and everybody should have the right to form their own sense of who they are. everybody should have the same foundation and base, not a set base going in from the start. host: ok.

james in newark, new jersey. you are next up. go ahead on the alternative line. caller: hi. nobody mentions catholic schools. eight years, first grade through eighth grade, i went to catholic school as an altar boy. i loved science and math. i love discipline. really great stuff. nobody is funding catholic schools. catholic schools have to do it by themselves. it's a shame. host: why do you think they are better as far as the public schools or private schools? caller: because they had the nuns at catholic school. they spanked us when we did wrong.

[laughter] yeah. when i was eight years old i got three spankings. i get spanked at school, at home by my mother and father. host: rob in fairfax, virginia. caller: thanks for taking my call. i wanted to share a perspective that does not get talked about enough. i teach elementary school. these are the problems of the public school system. it is not the teachers, nothing kids, the parents. it is the class sizes that are allowed to be upwards of 25, 26, 27 students to one teacher when the data shows reducing classroom sizes from 2015 shows

an increase of content during the same time period. the other issue is during the bush and biden -- the obama administrations, the push of standardized testing. virginia was sol testing. the obama administration tied test scores to public school funding. that was the beginning of the end of education. there are a lot of things public schools offers that private schools don't. as a whole conversation but i feel like class sizes and the obsession with testing and the money tied to it is the reason public schools are having the problems they have. it is not god. it is not the democrat or republican parties. it is money. it is always money. money is the thing that has been the downfall of public education. host: since d.c. was one of the first ones that dealt with the charter school issue, what do you think about charter schools when it comes to that aspect of money you talked about? caller: charter schools.

a friend of mine works at a charter school in coney island, new york. he says he works with a lot of disadvantaged kids in the parts of the city that are abandoned. a lot of them have been able to benefit. if the public-school was getting the funding and support, maybe they would not need it. i don't know a lot about charter schools. i think diversity is always a good idea. i think we can look at charter schools as something that added to it, not replace public tools. it is crucial. the truth is sometimes he and the option people have -- sometimes it is the only option people have. host: if you wanted -- go on x and want to participate in a poll asking the same question -- it is not a scientific poll. when it comes to the question of referring public, private or

alternative, public-school leading by a large margin. 62% plus saying that is the one you prefer over private school, 21%, an alternative at 16%. follow along on x and participate if you wish. let's hear from joe and washington, d.c. host: good morning -- joe in washington, d.c. caller: i want to make the point that i worked in a public school for a few years. i now, speech pathologist at a clinic. my partner worked at a private school in d.c. for many years. we talked over the dinner table about the differences between our two settings. the truth is that you will have good teachers everywhere and bad teachers. you will have students that the system works for, that it does not work for. the quality of the school has always depended on where you

live, because schools are funded by property taxes. if you live in a rich neighborhood, your school gets money and you have lots of programs to choose from. if a regular classroom doesn't work to you, you can go to a tech program or rotc. if you live in a poor neighborhood, your property taxes are lower. your schools are not as good. i think the root cause is partially due to the housing crisis, the fact that neighborhoods are so segregated socioeconomically. i think if we were able to change the way the public schools are funded, not based on where you live but the need, maybe that would be something to look into. or, it would address the housing crisis as well. host: one more call from les in minnesota on the public school line. caller: i think public schools

are in a better position to educate everyone. the problem now is you have a complicity in the public schools where they don't talk about the ottoman slave trades going on at the same time as the trans atlantic slave trades. they don't deal with the truth about ancient egypt. the people in each of now are derived from the ottoman slave trade. until the late 1800s, they were enslaving white people. the public schools are in a position to teach this kind of stuff where i was schools and in some cases probably charter schools are the leaders perspective. they won't teach that. we have schools today that are grooming white supremacists. the kid who did the shooting in

florida, he's been fed lies all his he has been told -- host: finishing off this hour of taking your cause before leaving this portion of the segment. a couple stories related to the legal troubles of trump. the former president stand trial in march of next year. it is one day. it will give --they will decide on if they will give him the chance to recapture the white house. one of the four criminal prosecutions of the former president. mark meadows testified before court, trying to get his case

changed. he told a federal judge that he contacted georgia officials after the election and was acting in his capacity of chief of white house staff. he defended his action on behalf of the former president. when it comes to issues of the republican party and where conservatives are these days, our next guest will join as to talk about that. he will talk about the future of conservatism and campaign issues. later on in the program, one country project founder. we will discuss rural voters and their role in campaign 2024. those discussions coming up on washington journal.

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shop.org. >> washington journal continues. >> joining us -- host: joining us as robert, talking about issues, including campaign 2024 and sure of conservatism. thank you for joining us. this is not the first time we have had people from your organization on, but how would you define where your enterprise is at when it comes to political positioning? guest: it is a community of scholars. we do not have institutional positions. we have aerspective and we believe in free markets and limited government. but our scholars are all independent players in their independent fields. host: where do you see --you

could take it down to the republican party, if you wish, but what are the influencing factor? guest: it is divided, and it has been divided in the past. people have a more freedom focused emphasis on less regulation, lower taxes. they are optimistic and positive about the future and america. a group is more nationalist or gloomy about our present circumstances. we are willing to use government to intervene and much less willing to have active american forces around the world. it is not entirely new, but it is not open in the debate

between conservatives right now between populace and more traditional conservative. host: what do you think was the cause of that divergent? guest: it goes back a long time. it has to do with conservative supporters. the constituency of the republican party has turned more towards working class and more towards people with a high school education but no more, really, working americans. they are much more inclined to support a stronger government intervention in the economy. they are more inclined to be strongly protective of entitlement and are reluctant to see the u.s. get involved in wars around the world. host: are the two sides you are talking about, do you think it is playing out in this campaign? do you see it emerging?

guest: i think all the candidates are speaking to various aspects of this to be in different ways, but you can see it most clearly in exchange that took place with vice president pence, where they had a dialogue about their attitude about the current condition of america, whether they were positive if america could solve their problems were quite negative. it is also in the battle between president trump and various other candidates, where some of the other candidates are more like the freedom focused conservatives than they are the nationalist or populist. host: you can ask him questions on the phone line. independent --if you wish to text us, (202) 748-8003 is the

number two call. since you talked about it, a lot of stories written about, swami leading out of the debate. what do you think is the fascination with him? guest: i think he has a style that took over this stage. he is also saying things, when it comes to foreign affairs, that are far out of the mainstream of any conservatives. i think the bigger news that came out of the debate is the performance of governor nikki haley. she really did do the best of all the candidates, in my judgment. the polls seemed to show that. the person who did the worst was donald trump. his support went down after the debate. him not being there actually hurt him.

it gave other candidate the opportunity to shine. i think nikki haley is the one that took the most advantage of that. she had a compelling statement about abortion. she gave a very strong condemnation of his position involving ukraine. she was the first of all candidates and most direct about saying while she supported trump when she would -- trump when he was president, she was not afraid to challenge his record on entitlement spending, so i thought she just came across as the strongest, most balanced candidate in the debate, and i think that is what the voters thought as well. host: what camp does she fall in? guest: she has a little bit of both. she served in the trump administration, and she

understands the concerns of the working class republicans that want the government to respond to their needs and not feel left out. at the same time, she has a broader view of the world at large. she is also --she can speak to people who feel a little bit shunned by the republican party, under president trump, people who are minorities. she has an appeal, which is what republicans need. what has been successful in the past -- what unites them all is what is going on in the democratic party. and there, there is a lot to unite them. there is discontent and emphasis on the woke issues, a rejection of free speech and a rejection of her race. there is a constant desire to help people who struggle in

poverty with money, and not employment. all of those things are something that both types of conservatives are united in their opposition against democrats. i think evan or haley has the opportunity to make that unification take place and then take the keys to the democrats. host: you are talking about governor haley, but do any of them emerged as a potential or serious challenge to former president trump? guest: governor desantis. it is still a ways off from iowa, new hampshire --a lot can happen in a lot will happen. i think it is premature to say that it is resolved or over. the national polls do not actually reflect what is happening.

that is where the first part of this campaign will take place. i think some of the candidates that are not capturing the imagination of the voters should think about stepping out, but desantis is still in the race and so is nikki haley. i do not want to prejudge, but i think you are beginning to see where the debate is going to take place between which candidates. host: can you elaborate? guest: it is the same in new hampshire. the numbers are much different. polls are not always right and there is still time to change them through the action of a

political race. that is what democracy is about and we should enjoy it. it is one of the great qualities of america that we have these. i thought the debate was good. there was a lot of questioning and there were issues about the rule of debate, but there were some real issues to engage with. it is good for america. host: if you want to ask questions, the numbers are on your screen. john in ohio is starting us off. he saves as the president. >> i used to be a democrat, but i am now independent because i think both the democrat, the democrats and republicans are

both on the right. i think there is a make --there is a misconception about that. host: let me stop you there. we try to keep rules when it comes to people calling. if you are going to call, pick a line that best represents you. defined a lot of that happening in your circle? guest: there is a change. as governor haley said in the debate, president trump is very unpopular and has had everlasting in campaigns. the people that he chose lost in

maces that republicans thought that they could win. i think that there is a group of republicans and conservatives who are uncomfortable with trump , and it may not be more than 20% of the republican party or electric, that that will decide elections. if you lose 20% of your voters, you will not win. conservatives uncomfortable with trump are going to vote against him, if he is the nominee, and that will be damaging to republican candidates, not only in the presidential race but reese's in the senate across the country. it is true that the base is solidly behind him, and that is fine. that is their view. but to ignore a big chunk of the conservative world that is very unhappy with him and say, it doesn't matter. we are going to go forward with

him, it could be damaging to their process in the fall. the fact of the matter is, if you believe the saying that trump supports come a stronger border and protecting entitlements, working to bring back manufacturing, if you want them to take place, you are more likely to be successful in winning those to be, if you support a candidate who can win. it is kind of self-destructive for the eight --for the issues that they care about for them to stick with a candidate who will have a hard time in the general election. >> how much will that be attributed to legal issues -- host: how much of that is exhibited to legal issues? guest: a lot of it. americans are comfortable that they seem to be ganging up on him. the power of prosecution, the

district attorney in manhattan --they are an extremely powerful entity and no one is really comfortable with that situation. on the other hand, it is a distraction. the evidence in those cases are troubling. he made serious mistakes, bad mistakes, and that is going to come out and limit his ability to be a successful candidate in a general election, and i think primary. host: leslie, you are on with our against this morning. caller: thank you for c-span. when are we going to see a combined effort of going against white, racist hate? we do not hear nothing.

you do not have any problem going against drag queens who are not going around murdering people. when are we going to see a rejection of that hate from white racists in the country, from you conservatives who are also supposed to be christian? guest: i am with you and that we have to speak out against this violence. i have done it all my life. i worked in social services for 20 years in new york state and new york city. i devoted my life to helping low income americans, white, black, hispanic. my father was involved in the civil rights movement. i do not think it is fair to say that republicans or conservatives do not speak out against this crazy racism. of course we do. it is terrible and not becoming.

nikki haley has a good record of handling violence that took place in her state when she was governor. she condemned it. so do many conservatives and republicans. this is something that we are united on, satellite -- so i do not accept that premise that conservatives are not strong enough against this kind of violence. the democratic party history is not that great on this either. not long ago, it was the democrats who are the supporters of the old jim crow. it is not fair to condemn conservatives and republicans of being racist. that is just not correct. host: because he referenced shooting in jacksonville, is there a washington way to solve this, or are there other factors that have to be in play to resolve these kinds of incidents? guest: i am not an expert on gun

legislation. i definitely think it is an aspect of what is going on, and involving specific individuals. it is hard to solve this from washington, but we have our country and through social media , hollywood, and media, too much of a celebration of violence. it is definitely undermining the mental health of americans. i think we have a mental health issue in the u.s., and that can be solved through federal funding, but mostly through state and local efforts to make sure that the people exhibiting behavior that shows clear sign of mental illness, their issues can be addressed. host: rob is. -- rob is next. caller: all the republicans on

the debate missed the point when that young gentleman called in to get their opinion on how to combat climate change. they missed the point about that and i think that is an important issue. guest: i think you are right. there is a divide between people on the right and left, and the people on the right are worried that our reaction to concerns about climate change are going to be leading to policies and situations for americans that are actually worse than what the climate change is causing them. this is through an energy policy. it is damaging to americans, damaging to poor americans and it could be damaging to poor people around the world, so i do not think that they missed the point. i think they were indicating that they were not climate

change fear mongers. that is what they think is the policy of the biden administration. are we in a situation where we have to do radical changes to area economy that will be harmful to americans, in order to address this? or can we address this anymore rational, step-by-step way? that is a debate that will take place during the course of the fall campaign. there will be a divide between the democratic approach and the republican approach. caller: i was listening to it. we absolutely do have a mental health issue in the u.s., but the sad truth is we had about 22,000 homicides the u.s. last year and 90% of them occur in 17

neighborhoods in our country. the really sad truth is, is the attempted homicide rate is 10 times that number in those same neighborhoods. broken families, drug addiction and gang violence. that is the real stat on the homicide rate. outside of that, it is tragic when we have a mental health crisis in the country and nobody cares about it. my question is --i will jump off to hear your response. do you believe that the american enterprise institute --d believe that what was conducted between 2016 and 2020, regarding nominee trump and then president trump, and now again nominee trump is the unconstitutional activity

carried out by the fbi, the doj, as well as the dnc that created the dossier against trump? of course, covering up the hunter biden laptop, burying that story --d believe those activities were carried out by our government and by the dnc were unconstitutional, criminal and bottom-line election interference? >> i think you are absolutely right about crime in the u.s. and crime leading to homicide. it does take place in certain neighborhoods and it should be addressed with stronger police activity in those communities. when we increased our level of policing where there was a high

homicide rate, we drove down the homicide we dramatically and we have gone backwards on that policy. that will also be an issue where there is a divide between --between republicans and democrats. on the second point, i absolutely agree that there are aspects of the investigation and special counsel investigation into trump's activities that were bad. the fbi behaved very badly and so did the justice department. i think that some of them have recognized that. reports have come out to acknowledge their mistakes and i think they have taken actions to address them. i think the behavior was terrible and is something that

needs to be constantly examined, so it does not happen again. host: to the extent that you think it swayed the election in any way or because the election to be illegitimate? guest: no, i do not think it swayed the election. frankly, trump's arrival of those investigations, and a way -- the way those elections were depicted, i think that helps trump. i think there was a perception from people who could have voted either way, that something bad happened with the fbi that led to them being more supportive of him. just like now, there are a lot of voters who are very uncomfortable with the number of prosecutions taking place against trump. the 2020 elections happened

three years ago and now we are having prosecutions that make americans who do not follow this closely or do not appreciate, or maybe who are legitimately concerned about the way a prosecutor acts, well, why now? i think that is legitimate. these prosecutors have work to do. they have to make their case. it is to be seen, how that will play out. i have concerns about the atlanta prosecution. i think the argument that mr. meadows made the other day is pretty strong. that prosecution also has the chance to potentially fall apart. it is hard to convict people of a crime in the u.s., and prosecutors better have their cases solid or their failure

will lead to further erosion of confidence in the rule of law in the u.s. host: joining us for this conversation, back in december when the republicans won the house, you wrote a piece saying they should ditch the performance politics and get serious about economics issues. eight months in, how are they doing? guest: eight months in -- maybe i did not hear your question. republicans or democrats? host: republicans. you wrote about them. guest: i think it worked out pretty well for republicans. people did not think speaker mccarthy was going to be able to get a republican only vote in the house. he did. they got a little progress on

work requirements, which is something that they wanted badly. president biden agreed to it. i think the republican house, in the way that it is handling the debt ceiling debate has done well in that regard. given the inflation situation, the effort to limit spending and control spending is something that needs to be done because federal spending is what is causing the rise in inflation. host: for the house comes back, they have to deal with pending bills. if they could come together --are you concerned about a shutdown resulting as a part of that? guest: we have gotten used to the possibility of a shutdown because the politicians cannot work it out in time to avoid that, so i think it could happen. that is politics.

that is the way our democracy works. i think it is a better system than any other, but it is frustrating and difficult, but it is congress's role and the president cannot just say, i want what i want, and i'll get it. there has to be compromise. there has to be recognition that we live in a country where people have different views and perspectives, and we need to reconcile them and move forward. the idea that one side or the other should have their entire way, all the time, every time, even when they do not have the vote, is wrong. it is exciting, problematic debate in the coming months about spending, and they will work it out, but while they are working it out, it will be frustrating and difficult. host: democrat line. caller: sure, buddy.

i like how the republicans pretend to care about the economy, the border and spending, only when they're out of office, when they are not in control. the republican party is a disgrace and they are a criminal enterprise now, trying to denigrate the department of justice, denigrate lawfulness and the constitution, everything those clowns are doing is projection. he is projecting, just like the republicans do. host: instead of insulting him, do you have a question? caller: congress controls the purse and the president should not just be doing whatever he wants. i'm looking at this guy and the

african-americans that called earlier and called them the violent racists of the country, he was right. after that, a conservative called in and was expressly showing how angry and vigilant they are against the constitution. guest: i spent my life in new york city and i worked with democrats and republic cans and i do not think that rhetoric against each other is helpful. i try really hard to avoid that and recognize the perspective of both sides and try to reason together to solve problems. host: your background on social services and poverty. what could republicans be doing in congress or elsewhere to highlight the issue and make changes towards it? guest: i think republicans and democrats should focus on helping people who are not in

the workforce get into the workforce and earn wages that are able to move their economic situation up. they need to work on helping people get the training and skills that they need to get even higher wages. workforce development programs that increase the skills of workers can be very successful in raising wages significantly above the poverty line, but the first step has to be employment. that is a divide between democrats and republicans. employment is key, then once you are working, if wages are not enough to support your family, we can supplement those wages, but that is the path. but not benefits alone. the economy that has a lot of jobs available, there are too

many people on the sidelines, not working, and when they are not working, they are likely to be poor and they are not setting an example for their family. they are not strong community members and more likely to be suffering from mental illness or other issues. we need to focus on how to get people who are not working into the labor force so that they get the benefit for their community and their families. host: we saw a lot of assistance going out to those who might have been lacking. guest: when had shutdowns to independent --pandemic, yet to people shore up their incomes because there were no jobs, but the shutdown ended and people went back to work on and the benefits continued. that did not make any sense to me, so we had a benefit

situation, benefit policy in the u.s. encouraged and promoted work. i do not think we have it sufficiently, but we have made some progress. the child tax credit that had no connection, no work requirement. it went to families regardless of what they did, regardless of if they saw a social service worker and address their underlying issues. they said that was rolling back welfare and now people have gone back to work in the hundreds of thousands, and their situations and families are stronger, better. we have more to do and getting our benefit programs. food stamps, housing assistance, to have a work focus, and addition to a focus to helping people. host: president biden taking the

credit for post-pandemic job creation. does he have a point? guest: he has unemployment at the rate right now and he has every right to say that. if i was working for a republican or democrat, the employment situation we are in now, it is silly to say that he cannot say, look at what is happening on my watch. that is part of leading. that is what happens in a president's terms. i do not think there are a lot of factors involved, but he needs to take responsibility for inflation, which he did cause. you have to take the good and the bad. host: let's hear from kathy on the republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call.

my message, my beef is with my own party. everybody talks about conservative people and the absent. you have got some supporters --i call myself a maga supporter. i am looking at what the gop is doing since 2015. my choice for president and to this day, is still working to keep my choice for president from being on the ballot. yes what? republicans, gop --if trump is not on the ballot, i am voting one time. i'm putting trump on my ballot and sticking it in the box. i'm not voting for any of you. if my man is not on the ballot

because of your actions and use arbitrage my president, i will never forget that. we are fractured. we are gone. the republican party is going down. the democratic party is going to eat you alive. host: kathy from north carolina. guest: many scholars and others worked hard to try to help him when he was president. my concern is that the issues that you care about, which are more than just the man. they are various issues that trump stands for -- they are at risk if someone is nominated by the republicans, who believes in those issues and was a supporter of trump, but doesn't make people that support trump happy --if they walk away and say, i'm not voting for them, then the democrats certainly will win, but it will be harmful to the

issues that this caller is concerned about. that comment to me, is to bad. because if you want to fix those issues or address those issues, it seems that you should support a candidate, who may not be president trump, but who could win. host: what do you think is the strongest case they can make in their campaign against biden? guest: the strongest case against biden's mom that many americans feel very clearly. that is that --this is what the voters say, that he is too old for the job, that he is not able to do the job the way they feel a president should. that will be very much in the campaign, and it will be

interesting to see how it plays out. they may consider nominating someone else. biden may consider withdrawing because of that concern. i think --president kennedy, when he ran used to say that the president z is the center of action, where we need to lead our country. if you have a generational divide in the race, where a younger republican candidate is running against biden, that element of energy and ability to do that work will be part of the campaign and may be their best argument, but there are an array of arguments that are in their, concerning work requirements, management of the economy, effective fighting of inflation -- those are all part of the

campaign as well. host: house speaker kevin mccarthy was on the show and was asked about what they might do when it comes to bringing impeachment charges. it is a little lengthy, but i want to play his argument and then get your response to it. >> only because republicans took the majority have we found out what president biden told us when he was running for office is not true. he said he never had any dealings with his son ashley is business. not only did he call in, he went to dinner, and after the dinner, hunter biden got a new porsche. we found out that as he was a sitting vice president, the family created 20 shell companies. they resave -- they received payments from romania. he has to continue to change this.

we found a movement of his administration, a weaponization. now, david weiss let the statute of limitations run out on hunter biden's taxes. the fbi informed biden and the inaugural committee. we have a dlj that gave -- that tried to give a sweetheart deal to hunter biden, and the judge said no. if you look at all the information we have been able to gather, it is a natural step forward that he would have to go to an impeachment inquiry. just so viewers understand what that means, it provides congress and apex of legal power because remember what is laying out there now. we have an attorney general who could have lied to the public.

they have said two different things. iris whistleblowers have come forward and show that there are two forms of justice when it comes to america, but it looks like a culture of corruption that has been happening within the entire biden family. host: a little lengthy, but overall, what do you think of those efforts by republicans? guest: i think biden and his administration has a real problem here. the facts that are coming out are very serious and concerning. i have heard these remarks by other republicans and there are aspects about the investigation into hunter biden and about his behavior and president biden's behavior that are very troubling. the house of representatives is where impeachment proceedings

began. they will be referred to a committee and that committee will take a look. that is part of politics in america. i think democrats who shut it off and do not want to pay attention are making a big mistake because when the federal judge in delaware rejected the plea deal for hunter biden, it was clear to a lot of americans that something not right was going on there. this is a serious matter and democrats will have to face up to it. it is a serious matter and speaker mccarthy laid out some of the evidence there, very specifically. that is a real issue. host: one more call from woodbridge, virginia. caller: on the biden issue, first of all, the majority of

people are --dryden is the only person who has been charged for it. all the other charges, they did a thorough investigation into this matter and it has been overhyped. there was no criminal activity. is it because he was the son of the president? sure. a lot of people get high because of the people they know, but that is not a crime. the irs? when you left out some of the money that did not get reported, the irs, before they prosecute you, they give you the opportunity to make good on paying the taxes that he left

out of reporting. guest: i think the issue that is most concerning is the enrichment of the vice president's family. the ways in which hunter biden was using his business to enrich his family is a concern. we do not elect presidents to make money off of their situation. that is going to be a serious issue. there is a lot of evidence that is not disclosed or that has not been worked through that we will have to see. host: he serves with their president. thank you for your time this morning. we appreciate you. joining us next, former democratic senator and project manager.

we will have that conversation when washington journal continues. ♪ >> c-span 2020 for a camping coverage is your front seat to the presidential election. watch our coverage on the campaign trail with announcements, meet and greets and speeches. to make up your own mind, campaign 2024. his c-span now, our free mobile video at or anytime online. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. ♪ >> this fall, watch c-span's new

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get informed, straight from the sources, on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, from the nation's capital to wherever you are, giving the opinion that matters the most, your own. c-span, powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: serving in the senate from --she is now the founder of the one country product -- project. senator, thank you for being on the show. >> thank you for hat -- guest: thank you for having me. host: tk about the project. what caused you to start it? guest: kind of the name. people thought it would be like the rural america project and when we were thinking about this

issue, i was thinking about polarization in america. we think that people fundamentally want the same things for our country. they want the same things for their family. they are fundamentally good people. we always hear about the division in the country but we never hear about what unites us, about the good ideas out there. i said, i want to call it one country. we are not separated by our geography or race. we are americans and need to find that american identity. a lot of what we do -- i only say that one country was founded to introduce the democratic party to rural america because i think over the last 20 to 30 years that democrats have not really shown up, and as a result , they have been defined by their opposition. when you do that, you do not

look good in the eyes of the voter. we are particularly interested in health care and childcare. the farm program is part of a, but about a third of all counties in america --their major industry is the extraction of minerals. we talk about what that means as we transition to green energy. what can we do to enhance workforce challenges for those in transition? we like to think that we are a go to source for information about rural america and that we kind of set out a blueprint for those who want to reach out. maybe they live in des moines, that they want to go out into northern iowa and talk to farmers. what do they need to know to do that? how can they engage and be

respectful? we will see it in the next debate. i will tell you, pedro, great hopes and that we could make more progress than what we are seeing now. a reduction in the division between democrat and republican voting. i think it will take a while. it will also take different candidates to get out there and visit with people, and find out what they are concerned about. host: d.c. didn't get that idea of going out to areas that there may not be a lot of attention? guest: absolutely. candidates who do well in the midterms i candidates like federman, who went to every county, who connected in rural areas. the goal was to slide into the margins.

i think the issue of roe v. wade and the dobbs decision played a role in the amount of division, but i also think people understand that you cannot lose rural america like that and then make it up in the suburbs or in urban areas, especially in lower turnout elections. the virginia governor's election is a great example of where the strategy was once again to focus on just suburban and urban voters, and rural voters voted overwhelmingly. young kim got a greater percentage than what trump did. showing up is a big part of it, but do not show up empty-handed. understand, but also listen. preach, but also try to bring people together. we will see what happens.

i think any political scientists will tell you that democrats will not be a majority party, must address this political divide. host: how do you think president biden is doing reaching out to those areas? guest: jennifer, who has been tasked with leading the energy transformation has been out, willing to meet with workers, willing to have those conversations with state leaders. i think mitch was terrific for the infrastructure. he has been all over. does it resonate with the national media? probably not, but couldn't make a difference in states like ohio and montana? absolutely. it is just going to take a while. the other thing about rural america is its aging there is a

need to connect to older americans and the challenges of staying in their home. we think that is a huge area --a huge issue. we hear a lot about broadband. everybody is on the broadband train. the republicans --it is not a defining feature, but medicaid expansion is something that has saved rural hospitals in north dakota. those who have not expanded have seen their hospitals shut down. that is risky for a senior citizen or older american living in the community. host: if you want to ask her questions --rural voters, you can call in at (202) 748-8000.

all others can call in and (202) 748-8001. you can also give us a text at (202) 748-8003. on the health-care front, there is news coming out this morning of the administration unveiling drugs that will be subject to medicare price negotiation. what does this move mean to them? guest: this could be huge, especially for those people who do not have a supplement that is -- i imagine -- i have not seen the list yet, but i imagine it will be some of the drugs that are most used at the highest level and have the biggest cost differential, when you look at how long they have been on the market and what they are charging in medicaid and medicare. we have a debt crisis in this

country and it is being driven somewhat by our demographics, higher rates of people i going into retirement which means more stress on the social security system, but the looming challenge is health care. all of the republicans, if i can throw that out, who talk about where failed to vote for negotiation of health care should think about, if we continue on this path, how can we afford that in the future? yes, it will have an effect on consumers, but it will have an equal effect on our ability to continue to afford medicare and medicaid. i am an ash host: i imagine that we talk about inflation alive. what does it mean in the day in and day out? a lot of -- guest: a lot of inflation was

driven by different things. supply chain inability to get inputs for your business, never mind what happens at the grocery story for rural america. everything is more expensive in rural america. it costs more to go to church because you are 20 miles out. inflation is particularly difficult on rural americans, especially aging americans living on fixed income. it does not get talked about a lot that they increased dramatically during a time of high inflation. was it enough to cover cost? we will see. inflation is one of those things that i think the administration has tried hard to address. you see what the fed has done

and i think, if you had to balance this, the increase in interest rates has also had an effect on rural america as small business is rely on leverage. those increased cost of money have had an effect. not only has inflation affected rural america, but higher interest rates has had a dramatic host: the previous to guest also laid blame on the biden administration for spending backed into inflation. guest: they have no problem with that spending where it was being done in the republican administration. 25% of our debt which driven up by republicans. you have nick and hubie speaking

truth to power on the debate stage -- nikki haley speaking truth to power on the debate stage. this was part of it. coming out of the pandemic, we had disrupted supply chains, people thought it would be transitory. that was naive. good economists were saying don't say is transitory because there is going to be some challenges. what you had was a lot of people who have not been shopping. they had been getting this extra money, a lot of it was federal money, saving it up until the -- until there was pent-up demand. you had a perfect storm of pent-up demand with low supply. it is no more complicated than 101. i would like the other folks to explain why other countries going to the same thing have not expensed the same successes in reducing the amount of inflation and growing their economy. by then's -- biden's economic

message is not yahoo, we are scoring -- we are soaring to the skies. he has done a good job seeing how this affects everyday americans and addressing those challenges on top of trying to move the economy to a non-carbon-based economy. those are two difficult challenges to meet at the same time. host: heidi heitkamp joining us for this. we will start with ken from south carolina. good morning, you were on with our guest. caller: good morning. how are you? guest: i am good. caller: i have a couple of quick questions. do you recall when obamacare first came out in 2009 what doesn't in -- 2009 or 2010? $30 million went down the tubes because they could not get

everything online. $30 million was wasted right out of the gate. we were talking about expanding medicaid. do you believe illegal aliens should be able to get medicaid if they are in this country illegally? i am not talking about people actually in line trying to do the right thing. but should illegal aliens be able to get medicaid? i know in a lot of states they are. how much money does that cost the american taxpayers? when you're talking about biden trying to do the right thing, do you know how much money he printed during the pandemic and put out on the streets for pandemic unemployment i could have drawn but i didn't because i felt like it was wrong? he put almost $1 trillion of worthless money on the street.

when you talk about he was trying to do the right thing, i did not see it that way. the american taxpayer will it up paying for all of this in the end. host: thank you for the call. guest: i want to talk about obamacare. it was not in 2010, it was rolled out in 2013. i was in the senate when this happened. it was very injurious to people's attitudes about obamacare. if obamacare was such a failure, it got, everybody acknowledged it it was fixed -- acknowledged it. it was fixed. the states that refused to do their own exchange went on the federal exchange and that system has worked pretty well. in minnesota, they have

insurance that is incredibly popular with democrats and conservatives. they basically say do you need health care and can you afford it and 80 private sector -- and can you afford it in the private sector? that ability to get preventative care will bend the health care cost. it is very enlightening that on the debate stage last week, not one person said i'm going to repeal obama care. for rule america, obamacare has been a godsend. expanding medicaid so that more people can have health insurance is critical. i want to say this, we do not deny health care to anybody who is sick. if someone shows up at the hospital and has a broken leg, we will fix it.

when that person doesn't have insurance, we also pay for it in terms of our risk mitigation. this idea that somehow providing health insurance is a burden in many ways actually reduces our cost. we hopefully intervene at an earlier stage. we hopefully keep people healthier and we are building out system that understands that preventative care is essential to reducing health care cost. for many people, when i was in office, 80% of those people suffering from opioid addictions were on medicaid. without medicaid they would not have gotten treatment. i am unabashedly supportive of the direction obama took. when you talk about undocumented individuals coming in, if a

child is sick and comes to a hospital, are you going to deny them or ask for their papers? if their papers are not in order, just say good luck? that is not the america we want to live in. do we need to fix our immigration system? absolutely. do we need to secure the border and prevent people who would not otherwise come in to this country, prevent them from coming? this solutions to this are so complicated. in the early years of my senate term, we passed conference if immigration reform. paul ryan in the house would not take it up. we would be a lot further along had to done something systematic. i cannot remember his last point, but basically printing money.

i once took a group of students -- i was working at harvard -- we took students to the trump white house with a solution of what we were going to do to get social security secured for 75 years. they had a great plan, it was balanced. in terms of also investing the trust fund differently, growing the trust fund differently. it was a really nuanced plan. we were in the trump white house told by trump economic officials when we presented what i thought was a sophisticated plan, why don't you just debt fund it? let's not pretend anyone has innocent hands. this is a problem that needs to be addressed. i serve on the committee for responsible federal budget looking at working with people who are looking at working with

a balanced budget amendment. a lot of people who have been in government for a long time right now are seeing this and trying to sound the alarm. i agree with the sentiment. i disagree with the attitude that somehow there is one side that is really good on this and one-sided that is really bad on this. it is equal opportunity failure. host: is your from jessica -- let's hear from jessica who joins us for wichita, kansas. caller: how are you? host: you are on with our guest. caller: i want to say couple of things. i have mild autism. i agree a little bit with the last caller saying that the things we are -- the way things are with medicare and medicaid are a bit ridiculous.

i think we should do what canada is doing with universal health care. yes, you end up getting more taxes, but i think it is worth it in the end. another thing -- i would like to say a few things guarding mr. donald trump. that man should have gone to prison a long time ago with all he has done with jeffrey epstein, what have you. -- he tries to overturn our democracy. i just can't stand how people are so infatuated with this man that they are still to this day following him. he betrayed our country.

he tried to sell documents regarding our activities for intelligence and all other. host: i am not sure about that last part but senator, if you want to respond to that. guest: every american today should be concerned about our democracy. my land has been energy, child protection and child rights, indigenous rights. these are things i am comfortable with. i never thought when people asked me when i left what do you want to do, i made a mental note and said i want to defend democracy. a lot of work i'm doing is talking about those challenges. one country was designed to begin the process of ending or mitigating polarization.

we can't are the violent extremism, people feeling like they have a mandate somehow to basically kill people who don't feel they have the same color skin as they do. you see it in the anger of people across the country. how do you fix that? you fix that by building community. the top-down does matter. we need a uniter leaving our country. -- leading our. the previous administration, you could argue that is not a uniter. universal health care, when you look at the strategy of the federal government which is providing basic tenet, keeping the system of employer-provided health care but saying there are to be gaps in that, i want to make a point about obamacare

because it does not get talked enough about. it gives a lot of people a lot of freedom. the harvard business school publishes a review and they basically said obama care has led to a growth in entrepreneurship because people take jobs to get the health insurance. if health insurance were affordable someplace else, they could take the risk of starting their own business. there are benefits to universal health care. the big benefit is when everyone is insured and everyone is in the system and we are doing the right thing in terms of preventative care, we can end the curve. we can look at what we can do to reduce costs. we spend way too much money health care and as a lot of experts note, we spend a lot of money and get a low result. these are stomach problems that needs to be fixed. they want to be fixed until we

get everybody into a system where they are looking at preventing disease. a great friend of mine, former surgeon general from the bush administration, he now lives in arizona. he once told me when we were campaigning, his experience, 70% of all health care costs were related to chronic disease, most of which was preventable. we have got to get a different model of health care but we want to do it until we get everybody getting health care on the front end. that is what obamacare seeks to do. host: rural residents, 202-748-8000. all others, 202-748-8001. the previous line is where sean is calling from in north carolina. caller: thank you for taking my call. joe biden is a rockstar. nobody has done more for rural

america than joe biden. we have so many jobs that can't be filled. we have so many jobs paying higher wages just because the rich want to run up everything and cause inflation because they're not getting their tax break. obamacare, everybody around here love the affordable care act. but when you attach obama's name on it, they look down. the real reason is they are having success with their affordable care. so many of my republican friends around here love the affordable care act. they just don't want to admit it. as for your -- as for joe biden, go joe! host: okay that is from south:.

guest: when you look at a lot of things they're doing in rural america, the commitment they are making, what is to complain about? for years the democrats were helping to build this internet -- helping build the safety net. it kept us in a spot where we could be competitive in rural america. we supported the farm bill, the fdr program where they could stay on land and continue to farm. republicans have been bullish about supporting a farm program so people look to other areas. they look to the cultural areas, they look to the behaviors they don't like. they feel grievance because they think urban america somehow discredits the contribution of rural america.

visceral things that can be mitigated and rooted -- things that can be mitigated and reduced. i agree, there has been enormous progress in terms of building out infrastructure in rural america with the enforcer to build -- with the infrastructure bill. we have spent a lot of time on broadband and rural hospitals. the number one employer behind the government and it rural america is health care. that means not only do you lose services but you lose those jobs. we need to pay attention to what is happening with education in rural america, making sure it is the same quality of education you can get in bigger school districts. we have more jobs than what we can fill in rural america,

taking a look at daycare, looking at treatment for mental health and drug abuse would be critical. the opioid crisis has hit proportionally rural america harder than the rest of the country. going back to my argument for obamacare, a huge component of getting help is in the medicaid system. host: senator heitkamp, it was in a recent speech mitch mcconnell gave auntie he talked about the status of the farm bill and where it is and what it takes about it. i want to play you a portion of that speech and get your response. [video clip] sen. mcconnell: i am one of four leaders in congress but i am the only one who is not from new york or california. the two democratic leaders are both from brooklyn.

that is reflected not only in leadership, but in the membership. there has been a transformation in our country and virtually everybody in rural and small-town america these days tends to be republican. how does that elect itself in the farm bureau? when you have a divided government like we do, you have to make a compromise you didn't want to make in order to protect agriculture. the democrats are not interested in rural america anymore. but somehow we will put that together, not before september 30, but we will look out as best as we can for rural and small-town america. host: those were mitch mcconnell's words.

your thoughts? guest: that is rich. i look at him street credit, he puts himself on the ag committee. we all fought for his expansion for hemp. he says he is representing rural america, that is true. he takes an interest in what is happening in the ag committee and moving that forward. it is critical and important that mcconnell not make the farm bill a democrat-republican bill. there are so many democrats like myself and amy klobuchar and others, a lot of advocacy for the farm bill in rural america in democrat america. in part because the food

programs are there, the snap programs are there. there is a great interest in compromise of putting the food stamp program, the snap program in with the farm bill. it was an alliance made my mcgovern and dole to make sure everybody had skin in the game. it has worked well. a lot of republicans say take the terrible foods a good program out. i say good luck taking the farm bill out then. i would suggest to anyone who was to point the finger at not getting reauthorization of the farm bill in tammy fashion, which would be by the end of september, to look at the house freedom caucus, there is total control by the majority at a house of representatives. they have not moved the farm bill. if this were a high priority for the republican party, i would

think we would see a farm bill that already crossed over to the snag committee -- ag committee. i think it is important that nobody criticize the farm bill, that we do what we can to help not only farmers, but rural america. there is a lot of conservation in the program that will be hard-fought, a lot of the work this administration has done on regenerative farming and lower carbon farming. i have hopefully provided some input on the -- where we wrote a report on what -- these are all great records and initiatives,

let's not spoil it by suggesting democrats don't care about the farm bill. host: this is andy in phoenix, arizona. caller: good morning. i have several points. the caller who said that joe biden is a rockstar, a rockstar is someone who can command 40,000 people at a rally. i don't think joe biden can get 50 people. we need term limits. most are in it for themselves. they throw crumbs at the people and say vote for us because we get this program. most are short from treating legal immigrants.

what happens when i can't afford to stay in business? the citizens of yuma will have to travel 80 miles to the next closest hospital. everything joe biden has done has been a debacle. we can talk about afghanistan, the border. host: do you have a specific question you wanted to ask? caller: specifically, how does a hospital in rural communities stay in business when they have five to 7 million illegals coming into this country? you don't think they going to need hospitalization, giving birth, cancer, and every other illness? host: you made the point. caller: -- guest: i think 5 million is highly exaggerated.

i've spent a lot of time on the arizona border. i spent time with the yuma sheriff, the cochair of, i've seen the activity that goes on on the arizona border. i understand the frustration of the state of arizona, the state of texas. where i don't believe it should have been done for humane reasons, the busing of migrants saying we cannot handle this, what makes people think it can be handled in the southwest? this idea of sharing the cost, showing the expense and also sharing the burden of what this means in terms of humanitarian relief is absolutely critical. because this has become a political issue, nobody was to touch it except maybe arguably run away from it but exploit

without any real solutions. for me, the issue is what are we going to do to fix our failed immigration system? what are we going to do to prevent people from migrating north to the border, many of whom are not mexican? they are venezuelans fleeing the dictatorship. there people from central america fling impunity and extortion and drugs and gang activity. a lot of what is happening is being driven by what is happening in their home countries. we haven't even begun to have a national conversation about that. i agree that there is not enough shared sacrifice of this crisis. we just expect the southwest to deal with it. that is not fair. we need to have a national

solution. i hope it won't just be read rick it will be proposing -- be rhetoric but it will be people proposing ideas to solve the problem. it is a crisis, let's make sure we are addressing the actual challenges and not just parroting issues from whoever. let's recognize that both sides have points. host: this is david in bloomsburg, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i wasn't going to call until i heard the former senators talking. in rural pennsylvania, if you want to have the store and buy cigarettes and beer or when lottery tickets, you have to have id.

would people like about voter intimidation, everybody needs to have a voter id. in mexico, everybody in the country has any id to go vote. america should be able to do it. we live in a republic, not a democracy. democracy is what they use to refer to the socialist programs they have. joe biden is an abomination. gas prices in rural pennsylvania are back above four dollars i got. -- four dollars a gallon. we are coming up on the winter months. it is ridiculous what we have done. we are spending and giving money to people who don't deserve it. we need to take care of america, america first. where was the senator's protest in 2020 when blm entity for work

costing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage, burning down the cities? new york look like a war zone looked like -- new york looked like a war zone. no people in our state were arrested and prosecuted yet biblical after donald trump for complaining he lost the election -- yet they will go after donald trump for complaining he lost the election. host: okay. guest: there is no response except to say when you don't address inequality in policing, you are going to have bad results. our proximity was minneapolis and minneapolis was the triggering event with the murder of george floyd. there was peaceful protest people took advantage of and

they are continuing to smash and grab. we need to find a collective will to support law enforcement. i was the attorney general of my state. i have great relationships with law enforcement. i have great relationships with the business community making sure we were protecting property , we were addressing concerns. when you start from a position that greg went to justify what happened on jim risch sixth because people acted inappropriately and illegally during the riots, what do we get? an eye for an eye and eventually everybody is blind. let's come together to figure out how we are going to police the streets of this country without killing innocent people on either side. he has got his point of view, he

has decided that joe biden is a socialist, i don't think that is true. he has decided that every city basically did not initiate any arrests for riots and protests. that is not true. he has decided that jim risch sixth defendants should be prosecuted -- january 6 defendants should be prosecuted. there are consequences for illegal behavior whether it is shoplifting in san francisco or writing in -- or rioting in d.c. it is simple. when you called names, we don't get any good results. host: this is dorothy in tennessee. caller: good morning. concerning rural america, i have

family that lives in arizona. our petitions a good way to bring about -- are petitions a good way to bring about change you want to have? is it necessary to have a spokesperson that might be needed to go to washington was the petition has been circulated -- once the petition has been circulated? thank you. guest: i am not sure i heard all of it but i heard what can be done for rural america. when we look at the industry and what has been driven, it has been technology, it has been advancement in artificial intelligence, advancements in the investment industry. that is not something that is widely shared. one of the things that can happen is to try and encourage technology companies to access

rich child -- access rich comment in america that can invest in the workforce and betrayed for the next generation of workers. -- be trained for the next generation of workers. we have to build infrastructure. when i went to north dakota, we would have primary sector jobs in rural america. i said it is the pizza test. if you cannot get a pizza delivered and you cannot have netflix, which at the time was one of the future make services, people don't want to live in rural america. we have to create communities people want to live in and of those communities have to be more accepting of people who look different from them, that

think differently, but come to work and come to build community. we have to get back to the roundtable where people can disagree, but get the streets paved and get the work done in rural america. that is the rural america i grew up in. these are issues that a lot of people have been doing a lot of thinking about. we have been admiring the problem without coming up with solutions and that is what we do, provide some ideas and aspirations for rural america. i am not sure i follow the other question. host: she asked about the impact of petitions and if they do any good in changing and how many signatures you need. ultimately, if it makes any impact. guest: does she mean initiated

in referred measures? host: i think she is going along that line. guest: state legislatures have been gerrymandered that only the extreme is represented. when you present ideas to the people of states, like expanding medicaid, like protecting abortion rights, people overwhelmingly, even in rural areas vote for these programs. as you saw in ohio, the way to curtail people's influencer petition is to change the rules. that was a transparent effort and the voters voted it down. when you look at what happens -- when people are given a right for direct government, someone made a point that we are a representative government.

they are right but one way we are a pure democracy is in this initiative referendum referral process. conservative legislators try and curtail those rights, people -- curtail the rights for people to directly petition their government. it is in the wrong direction. so much educating politicians has happened where people do referrals. you say they don't understand, no, you don't understand mr. or misses legislature, that you have been providing a program that pretty much has passed every time it has been put on the ballot, regardless of what state. taking away that power would be disastrous to this idea of our

direct democracy. host: heidi heitkamp served in the senate 2013 to 2019, think you for your time. guest: you bet. host: open forum, you can call us at 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. we will take open forum calls when "washington journal" continues. ♪ >> live sunday on "in-depth," marie eberstadt takes her calls on religious freedom.

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continues. host: text us if you wish at 202-748-8003. otherwise, pick a line that works best for you. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. robert out of southern california, you are up. caller: i feel that president biden and former president trump are both too old to run for the next president of the united states. host: you are going to have to stop listening to the tv, robert. go ahead. caller: i feel personally. -- i feel personally that the congress and the senate should

have term limitations of no more than two terms. host: let's hear from steve in los angeles. caller: thank you. i think president biden is doing a wonderful job and should not even consider his age. regarding medicaid pressed negotiation's, it is substantial. i would like to see more investments from the biden administration and road health care programs that can mill your rate that can people people from getting the types of health care they need. i would love to see what he has in store for that. host: the associated press did a poll, what words come to mind when you think of the current president joe biden or former president trump.

he former president, the words were outdated, elderly. 2% said lying and trustworthy. 6% were saying corrupt and crooked. when it comes to former president trump, -- lying or dishonest at 50%, 50% saying corrupt, crooked. this is the associated press poll done recently. let's go to sandy in ohio. republican line. caller: i agree with the one guy who called in about the democrats -- about the immigrants and hospitals going out of business. we lost a hospital in ohio because of it. also, ambulance service, one of

them went out of business. that woman said calling at 5 million in this country is a stretch. we are getting 100,000 in in a month. we are getting close to 15 million. i looked up her project and they want to go to the rural areas to get young people to vote democrat. the efficient reduction act was also mentioned. that went to climate change. what about all of the money given to ukraine? everybody is getting kickbacks from. the money host: the washington post highlighted the fact that

as of yesterday a judge said when it comes to the president's trial for obstructing the election, that will take place much for the next year. march 4 next year -- march 4 next year. the former chief of staff testifying about getting his case turned over to the report. steve johnson said he will rule as soon as possible on whether mr. meadows's status as former chief of staff protect him from being tried in state court. the judge said he may not rule before said number the sixth when almighty defendants will make brief appearances to be informed of the charges against them. mark meadows will be arranged like the other defendants. that is the mind of the election case out of georgia. let's hear from natalie in florida. caller: good morning.

my name is natalie. host: you are on. caller: thank you. i want to talk about jacksonville and the -- we just passed over the weekend. we have two senators, one is marco rubio and the other one is rick scott. i want to know where they were during all of this horror situation we just passed. they are supposed to represent all of florida, not just particular segments they are interested in. that is my comment. i would like someone to talk about that. host: the fda putting out a statement in regards to the shooting in jacksonville. it reads that the field office immediate responded to the shooting to assist the sheriff's

office and support the investigation and coordination with e-cigarettes decision and the u.s. attorney's office for the middle district of florida. they will pursue this as a hate crime. that is a statement from the fbi. president yesterday at the white house marking the 60th anniversary of the march on washington alluding to the events of the last couple of days. here is a portion of that. [video clip] pres. biden: on saturday morning , the nation observed the 60th anniversary of the march on washington. by the evening, a white government in jacksonville went on a shooting rampage at a store near edwards waters university. three black americans were ordered -- were murdered. racist violence harkens back to

the cross burnings. in that same town, there were other five young black people killed. while they gather the facts, law enforcement has opened an investigation to treat this as a hate crime. the act of domestic violence extremism. we know this, white supremacy is a poison. it has been allowed to grow faster and faster in our communities to the point where the u.s. intelligence committee -- community is determined that domestic terrorism rooted in white supremacy is the greatest terrorism threat in the homeland. we have to act. after the resist mass shootings in buffalo, i got any opportunity to meet with everyone of the community members.

we hosted a united we stand summit. we made clear that america is the most multiracial and dynamic country in the history of the world. we need to say as clearly and forcefully as we can that heat will not prevail in america. host: that is the president in america -- the president yesterday. you can see that online or on our app, c-span now. let's hear from jeff. caller: thank you. everybody asked who do you want to win the upcoming presidential election? my answer has changed. my answer is i want to win. i want my family to win i want my community to win, i want my country to win. when i think about all of the things that have transpired over the last 18 to 24 months, i

think to myself that i boil it down to a simple fact. when i make $100, i want to keep 60 of it. i am okay with the federal government and state government taking 40%. we are getting past that. when you take my federal income tax, my state income tax, my local tax, my gas tax, my energy tax, i don't end up with $60 out of $100. i think that is the redline. once you get past that point, you started to get into a situation that becomes a slippery slope. . i am not a big fan of i and rent -- rand, but she made a good point.

when you take money from one person to give it to another, it becomes a slippery slope. host: with you from james and alabama. -- let's go with james from alabama. caller: this is my first time calling. i have the answer for racism and i don't know who to contact. i don't know how to make my voice heard. i could and racism all over the world but i don't know who to contact. i don't know how to do it. can you help me with that? host: what is your idea. ? caller: i cannot tell it in a short moment. i have to have people listen to me and then everybody can come

together. i need a national tv audience. host: you have an audience right now. can you boil it down to a couple is -- a couple of sentences? caller: it might sound racist but i am not racist. the black people of this world. host: go ahead and finish your thought. caller: like people are the first people on the planet. everybody else came from black people. all we have to do is recognize that we are all sisters and brothers. that is all we have got to do, spread this word that everybody on this planet is a black. we are not different. host: that is james. let's go to max in illinois.

caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a suggestion as far as health care. i believe that perhaps a lower monthly plan b and lower monthly bills for medications could be achievable using medicinal plants we know about that are much cheaper and use those and only use the more sophisticated drugs that we cannot treat without them. try to incentivize this with a lower cost. you for letting victim a proposal out there. i hope you all have a good

tuesday. host: we showed you the headline from cnbc, the biden administration detailing drugs subject to medicare associations. the list includes eloquence preventing blood clotting, another used to blood sugar, another medicine used to prevent blood clotting, and he goes on from there -- and the list goes on from there, a list of drugs that could be subject to price negotiation. wayne is in ohio, republican line. caller: good morning. i heard one man talking about how to go about between the blacks and all of that.

my mom always brought me a to not be prejudiced against anyone unless i start with myself first. i have a different situation. i am part german, part irish, part english, part blackfoot indian. i would have to be prejudiced against myself first before i get prejudiced against anyone else. host: that is wayne in ohio. the new york times commenting that gina raimondo trip -- the trip she is on, they will hold regular conversations about commercial issues and restrictions on access to technology, the latest step

towards reducing tensions between the world's largest economies. the announcement came by the commerce secretary who is meeting with senior officials. the agreements to old records of discussions is the latest move towards rebuilding links between countries that already began with trips in the past weeks with senior medical officials. you can see more at the new york times. let's hear from johnny in florida. caller: i have two things i want to talk about. president biden and past president trump, these guys are too old. they are keeping the old guard. that is why they're there, to make sure the laws passed a long time ago are in place. this country is supposed to be built on religion, what was

jesus christ doing -- where was jesus christ during slavery when they did so many things to black people? we prayed and learned to pray how they pray and nothing happened for 400 years? what was jesus christ doing? host: california is where glenn is. caller: comment number one is about this hunter biden stuff. it goes on and on. it is all nickel and dime stuff. we have a great nfl player who owes 15 minute dollars plus in taxes. nobody does anything about that. it is time to move past hunter biden and that stuff. now it is afghanistan. they are going to try out these goldstar mothers again. some of these mothers are so

bitter that they are blaming miley and austen and clark and the military when in fact the people they need to blame our beaumont trump, mike pompeo, and joe biden. mike pompeo and trump set this up and biden did not have to run with it but he did because he is a vigilant old man and it is a total travesty of what happened on afghanistan. they keep bringing up this sniper. what if they had taken the sniper out? does that mean the bomb was not going to go off? let's get real here. host: that is glenn in california. they will be a roundtable discussion featuring goldstar family members, family members of u.s. military members killed. those families will appear at

the house foreign affairs committee. you can see that this afternoon on this main channel, c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. roy, go ahead. caller: we should have a voter registration. if you drive a car, you have to have a license. they should incorporate responsibilities of a u.s. citizen. without that, i think there's a problem with people having a certain amount of -- [indiscernible] there is no reason people cannot learn a baseline of how this country works. come on in.

i am a u.s. army veteran. i am in 1976. there was a different set of rules back then. i am proud to have served my country. i don't think you should just change because there are 7 million people and you wanted to be their way. that is fine. host: one more call, this will be from tom, misery, independent line. -- missouri, independent line. caller: i wanted to talk about medicare for all. in missouri, it is getting better for rural people because rural people are having a hard time getting and receiving medical care. i just wish they would expand it to where it would cover all of the states better than it was before. it is getting better.

thank you, that is what i wanted to say. medicare is good for all and god bless all of the americans which is every last one of us. host: that is tom. last call in this open forum. thanks to all who participated in this program today. another edition of "washington journal" comes your way tomorrow morning. we will see you then. [indiscernible] -- ♪ [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] >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this. when americans can see democracy at work, when citizens are truly informed, a republic thrives.

get informed straight from the source. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are. because the opinion that matters most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> goldstar family members of u.s. service members killed in the terrorist attack at the international airport on august 20 6, 2020 one appear in a roundtable discussion before a house foreign affairs committee. watch live today at 1:00. eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at www.c-span.org. >> starting monday, september 18, watch c-span's new series "books that shaped america." it will feature 10 books that have provoked thought, won awards,o significant

sohaes in are still talked about today. and ahead of its premier, we are using the c-span archives to gain more insight into each book and its author. tonight at 9:00 eastern. university professor jay buckley talked about the expedition led by meriwether lewis and william clark across the american west after the louisiana purchase, as documented in their collection of journals. >> clark wrote all but 10 days and even those 10 days when he was on a hunting trip, he basically accounted for every day of the expedition which is quite remarkable. when you look at the words of lewis and clark, they wrote more words that are contained in the holy bible. >> just before tennis like pm, yale university history professor david -- recall the life and writings of former slave and orator frederick douglass. >> douglas came by language when

he was a slave. and he continued over and over and over after he escaped from slavery. and you've got to remember, he lives 20 years a slave and then another seven years a fugitive slave until his british friends bought his freedom. but he was always in those years, the 1840's and the eighth -- 1850's, and even into the civil war years, trying to perfect his writing style, his craft. >> from the c-span archiv tonight on c-span. and be sure to watch c-span's new series "books that shaped america" in partnership with the library of congress beginning september 18, lives00 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at www.c-span.org. now,