with the private sector in the most valuable and beneficial ways, and that as mentioned earlier we find ways to cope with some of the dangers out there as a result. these types of conversations are going to be an important start. >> thank you so much again. i would like to thank janes for sponsoring this discussion, and to>> washington journal continu.

host: welcome back. washington journal continues. we are going to feature top writers and a variety of public policy and political topics. joining us this morning to talk about their book, harnessing the principles for reconstruction for today's forgotten communities. welcome to the program. guest: thank you for having me. host: can you tell us a little bit about yourself? what is your background?

guest: i came to the administration in 2017 as a lawyer with the small business administration, with their general counsel. in 2019, when linda mcmahon stepped down from her position as administrator, they asked me to take on the role of acting administrator and i served that role for approximately a year the back in 2019, the economy was very strong and there was a focus on employment and trying to bring people into the workforce. i had the good fortune to work with him outside of the white house on a number of issues, trying to bring a lot of underserved communities into the workforce, a lot of conferences around that. in march 2020, before the pandemic broke out, joined the white house to work with him on

a program called opportunity now, which changed dramatically, given the pandemic. it was intended to be on-site visits around the country and to really help local communities engage with federal programs more efficiently and effectively , and then we turned our attention to a number of other things. prior to all of this, a lawyer working in the office and a large international bank, but i think this was probably the most important work of my career, given the impact it had on so many people across the nation. host: what was your background leading up to it? guest: i moved to washington d.c. and i came from a blue-collar background. i always had a passion for

wanting to empower my community. it led meets of working in politics. i spent 10 years working on the hill for senator tim scott and members like jim jordan and steve scalise, former vice president mike pence. i ran the urban affairs and revitalization policy. i was able to map out policy solutions for underserved communities, which included criminal justice reform, economic revitalization through opportunity zones, educational empowerment. it was in that role that i was able to negotiate, including the futures act, which granted permanent funding for hcb use.

-- hcbu's. also, all the work that we were able to do. host: before we get into the details of your book, we spent an hour talking about legal challenges and wondering do you still support the president? guest: i do support the president. i think there is a lot of politics that have gone into some of the courts that are currently prosecuting him. i think it is undemocratic that he has been taken off of a ballot without even being convicted in colorado. it should allow for the american people to decide who they want to be there president and not allow someone to be able to run. guest: i think he said it really

well. at the end of the day, when you look at the policies, many of which we talk about in the book, they worked, so you have to ask yourself as a voter, where were we in 2017, 2018? where are we now? not just where were we then from an economic perspective, but when it comes to things like underserved communities, what did we specifically achieve? that is something that we both continue to be passionate about, but the numbers and the success speaks for itself. i think the policies are things that were not necessarily highlighted in the media and in the public sector. part of what we wanted to demonstrate was that we now have a time to take these foundational policies and really present them in a way that is

not just bipartisan in nature but can speak to a language that people on the right side of the aisle can really listen because so much of it -- i'm sure we will talk about this, but it is really founded in the economic philosophy of the sort of conservative thinkers because underserved communities really were part of that philosophy, and it is important for us to share this message. host: what is an underserved community? guest: that is a great question. i think -- we are talking about civil war and reconstruction. when you think about that, of course you are thinking about the african-american community and the impact that slavery had on the community. of course, that is a huge part

of it, but when we think about underserved, we think about what lincoln's vision was, and his vision -- remember where he grew up. he grew up on the prairie. we heard the stories of him living in the log cabin and meeting books but when he was thinking about what he wanted for reconstruction, the number one was dealing with the inhumanity of slavery and the impact of that, but he wanted opportunity for all people, including those who grew up like him or in the country. we will talk about how he went about doing that. it is about those who have not had the opportunity. we do not break it down by race in the book. we do not break it down by class. we talk about people from low income areas, we talk about minorities and people who are

disabled, who have not had the opportunity to engage fully in the workforce. it is a very large definition, but it is an important definition because it impacts all of us as a country, and we are stronger when we focus on all of those folks. host: why did you choose to write this book and why now? guest: the work that we did in the trump administration we wanted to continue because there are so many communities, especially post-pandemic back continued to be forgotten and left behind. we vote this book because we want politicians to put these people first. i think that our number one asset in america is our people. our people, our diversity, something that we can lean into to be the best country in the

world, but in severe cases, there are communities that are left behind, despite who is president, some communities have not been able to achieve the american dream. there are generations of families who have fallen through the cracks. we need to have big, bold ideas and be very intentional and collaborative, working together to help create new infrastructure opportunity so that these underserved communities can access the american dream and be the best people that they can possibly be. host: you are using lincoln and reconstruction as the framing this book, and you are both conservative politically, veterans of the trump administration. the simple question standing before the country is what is th plan for the disenfranchised communities?

how do we address that in a meaningful way that is consistent with conservative pencils? can you draw the line for me for what you are trying to do with this book and your ideas for working with certain underprivileged communities? guest: the first thing that we wanted to explain to the reader is to demonstrate what i alluded to before, that the underserved communities were and are part of the conservative philosophy. so often you share that it is important for people to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. that is important, but there are some people who do not even have the bootstraps to pull themselves up from. there is that component of this, and if you look at the economic

philosophies, edmund burke, alexander hamilton -- these are people, conservative economic philosophers. those people express that. when you say, i am a conservative, we want to demonstrate that that piece of it is part of that philosophy. if you accept that, you go to what lincoln was trying to achieve, as a republican president. he wanted to help these underserved communities. unfortunately, in april 1865, he was assassinated. we were not able to finish what he wanted to achieve for reconstruction. through that process, you had president johnson and you had president grant. president johnson was a very flawed man and president, and president grant was dealing with

70 challenges that he was not really able to get the economic question. host: speaking of which, i know we have a lot of colleges waiting to get to you all. i'm wondering if you can talk -- and the forward, you talk about putting forward a new plan that we examine civil society and rediscovers what it means to be an american. what are some of the critical points to re-examine? guest: one is that we are all in this together. have a huge cultural were going on right now and i think our diversity is something to celebrate. what undergirds making america the country is that you have communities of people, churches, individuals that care about their children and that want to

see the best for their families. in order to get back to a more perfect union, we have to consider that some communities have been broken. some communities are dealing with angles like hunger and addiction, as well as years of not being able to access the job market. there is a methodology that we use to bring people together and part of it is being very intentional about being the change that we want to see in the world by re-creating communities in a way that will empower individuals. it is about building trust with communities. right now, people are not trusting the system that is america and also collaborating. once you have that trust, let

suite across the aisle with different groups, with different government agencies and private sector agencies to figure out how we can work together to create change and work on different outcomes. if we are not seeing that needle move, we need to figure out a better way to do it so that everyone can have access to the american dream. there is a focus on data analytics that can help show us what worked and what did not work. i think all the things that we want to achieve in the country is right in front of us. we just have to be intentional about it. host: we will be getting tear calls shortly.

chris, you mentioned working with the private sector and how important it is to work with the civil sector, community groups and things like that, in order to achieve some of the economic goals to underserved communities. i want to ask you about another trend going on. talking about the legal assault on corporate diversity efforts, especially following the supreme court ruling on affirmative action. conservative legal activists successfully challenged affirmative action by universities and now they are working -- going after initiatives widely deployed across corporations. some companies are considering their efforts. the equal employment commission,

activists are using some of the same tactics of progressive groups have used to advance inclusion or di programs. that includes those legislations for black americans. can you talk a little bit about how you see this movement and how it aligns with the idea of working with the private sector to help improve the economic opportunities for disadvantaged up -- disadvantaged communities? guest: we call it a talk. one of the things that we saw when we were in government was that each agency has significant programs for underserved communities, but they do not necessarily always talk to themselves. this was an initiative that he deserves credit for.

it had all the different cabinet members around the table, talking about what they needed to do for underserved communities and how they could advance their individual programs. we proposed taking those programs in an efficient way and cost-effective way and put them under one group, one agency. to your question, the idea would be to streamline what his resources are in combination with the private sector. the law will ultimately be whatever it is, but corporations , working with a number of corporations, daycare about those issues and the more it becomes politicized, the less we

are able to achieve the final outcomes that we are talking about. it has to take both governments, but more importantly, the private sector. by incentivizing the private sector to engage in this, they will not only help achieve what we are looking for, but it will most likely be done more efficiently and effectively. host: but if the private sector is trying to do those things, does that run counter to what you are trying to accomplish? guest: it continues to happen. i had to work with a lot of large companies that are focused on particular cities and particular areas. i think they will continue -- i know they will continue to do that work, and the country needs them to continue to do that work , but into partnership with the government.

when you are looking to what that outcome is -- that is what you want. in order to achieve those results, you have to have that partnership to do it. we can have that conversation anyway that not only meets the moment but achieves the ultimate goal to no longer kick the can down the road. host: first let us go to a question from r xt message line. how can you continueo support a person like the price impeached, 90 plus count indicted failed former president, who is the baseline cause for government distrust and vision? guest: because of his leadership saw work on hcb use -- hcb you

-- hcbu's. we were able to not only help hbcu's survive, but also to thrive. also lead on criminal justice reform. they were outdated. we know that everyone in the system are individuals who need access to a second chance. we are trying to create safer communities. we should not just focus on one approach to everyone who makes a mistake. we want them to be productive citizens. movement around investing and

low income -- in order to revitalize some of our low income areas, we need that investment. the ability to deal with a robust economy, a safer country and the world stage as well as going against the status quo has led me to support the president. i look at a lot of things that you talked about being more political. at the end of the day, i am looking at policy reforms and how he is going to make our country better, especially while we are dealing with high inflation and a lot of things overseas.

host: a call on our democratic line. caller: a lot of people, you let them go on and on, but i want to say something about use at the private sector came into little income communities and raised the rent on their properties. that is my rent is so high. now they cannot even afford to live in certain neighborhoods. you talk about opportunities. i do not know of anyone -- people do not know how to go about whatever you are going about. they raised the prices. but when they are trying to make money, there is no charity. number two, this really means

something to me when you say this. somebody could come in and be the best carpenter. he could be the best lawn person, but if that person comes in your house and harms people in the neighborhood or something , that character matters. it matters. when you hang out with someone where you like them -- he is breaking into pieces -- into houses. you think that -- congress is the ones. it was not any president. i never saw trump on his own. i do not know any plan on his own that he promoted on his own. by want you all to answer this question. was trump found guilty for

sexual assault? was he found guilty of having a fraudulent university? he was found guilty. was he found guilty for stealing from a charity? he was found guilty. host: alright. i want to give them a chance to respond. she made points about when the private sector gets involved in things like housing. a lot of places, people see higher prices for housing. character matters, even someone is pushing, advocating policy that you do not like. the idea that trump has been found guilty or at least liable for some of the things she mentioned. guest: there were a couple things in there. thank you for the question.

he first talked about opportunity. opportunity zones were a tool that was created to help develop the economy. it was created under the tax plan that was guided by the president but then ultimately, there were about 9000 opportunity zones that were created, all of which were identified by the governors of particular states. and as an economic development program and the idea is that those opportunity zones will be working directly with the community. when you talk about housing or what the community will ultimately look like or what the community is wanting to achieve, i do not think it has been perfected, but people try really hard and there is a lot that can be done, but by engaging with the community, you can create economic development.

that is an important part of the program that we were talking about. 1000 yeah yeah visiting and being part of those communities. something -- it is about visiting and being part of those communities. something that everyone in the administration with a that -- is that it is violent criminals and others who should not be part of these programs and need to be incarcerated. that is important. law enforcement should be number one. the idea that the first step act was developed through his leadership was getting to people while they are in prison and helping them transition out, and giving them a supportable community. that is important when we think about people coming out of prison. it was not only demonstrated by the first step act but a lot of the actions that the president took. host: can you respond to any of the points that she made about

housing prices, the character of the former president or about some of the cases to which he has been found liable? guest: it is not a perfect storm when it comes to housing prices and communities. it is not all in the private sector. in many cases, they are a direct result because of a lack of housing stock because of regulation. it becomes a lot more costly to build and to be allowed to have those prices lowered. in areas where you do not have such restrictions on housing stock, you have people housing costs. it is a supply and demand piece that i think they play into. that is why we advocate for not only a bipartisan approach but a private sector.

in order to incentivize, it allows for affordability. that is what we are seeing in every household in america, the overregulation of the new federal government has made it too costly for low income people to live there. so we go not have a market environment. that is what we are recommending. look, my whole thing is that no matter who is president, i have spent my life trying to be an advocate for the solutions that we presented in the book. me and chris have spent our lives on trying to bring the country to bit -- together and try to prevent ideas that whoever is president after taking the ideas, they do the

work. host: next up, we have lori in washington on the republican line. caller: hello. i would like to point out something that i observed upon listening to the whole program, that it would be amazing for educators, if they took this program and shared them in classrooms, university level classrooms. listening to the colors in the first part of the program, i do not think i have ever heard so much hate speech. it was very crude speech, whereas i listen to these gentlemen and i am hearing so much hope and what they are saying. there is no negativity and anything they were saying. dorothy didn't not even mention things that they are planning to put in place. it reminds me of my favorite years when i lived in hawaii in

the 1980's. and the word ohana, which means everybody, family. that is what we are lacking in america. thank you, gentlemen. i applaud you. host: what either of you like to respond to that? caller: -- guest: thank you. there is hope. there is a real opportunity for us to work together and work with our elected leaders, work with the private sector to make our country a more perfect union, but we have to be very intentional about it. there is no reason that everywhere you go in this -- you have some people flourishing and then some people have been left behind. we need to invest as a country.

that, ultimately is what will make our country great. how we treat the least of these. we want to bring that positive message because we experience that, despite polarization. there is opportunity to bring this nation together and create policy solutions that will impact our country for generations to come. host: i want to bring up an excerpt from your book that relates to this idea of hope and polarization. is it fair to say that men like lincoln and laid the groundwork for freedom and opportunity? the answer suggests that the answer is yes. why cae said with such confidence? that is whcoln, grant and others did.

this is what the modern republicans must aspire to being as a group of individuals for the advancement of all people. guest: i think those words -- thank you for meeting that because it is demonstrative, what the caller was talking about. that he is stevens was a senator who really helped -- held the line with the confederates were coming back to congress. he and shared that they would be sat in their congressional seats until demands were met, and they were demands that would make the country safer and stronger with respect constitutional amendments and a number of other issues. what we are really trying to convey is that this does need to be bipartisan. not saying that in the way that it would be nice if it were

bipartisan, it has to be. we talk about it in the book that it has to be public bipartisan handshake where both democrats and republicans can agree to an approach that they are both on the hook for, then it becomes very difficult to criticize each other because it ends up being that hyper partisanship and these issues will never get addressed. you asked about reconstruction to now people might say it has never been more partisan. they might be right, but that does not mean that we should stop. it does not mean that we should give up. we do need a plan, going forward. host: james is an indianapolis, indiana. caller: good morning. i have a few quick objections to mr. trump.

one is that he is purported to have said that anyone who has served this country or is serving is a sucker or a loser. he said that about one individual. basically, he is saying about all. the second is when he was saying about groping women in their private parts. if he was saying that about one woman, he could have been that about my wife, my mom, one of my daughters. so i guess he might have said that about all. the third, i saw him -- it's been over a year or so ago, when he was making fun of an autistic person. host: to be quick things. if you do not mind turning down the volume on your tv and the book is about the economic

policies of the administration. did you have any questions relative to that? caller: no. the gentleman was explaining why he was supporting trump. could he answer that? why would he do -- you support someone who was like this, who had these kinds of worlds where principles? host: ok. i believe they have already responded to this question from another caller. let's go to jessica on the democratic line. caller: good morning. happy holidays. i would like to say a few things. first off, i have autism and what that last caller said about trump taking fun of the autism

-- autistic person, that may be think about not -- i believe that people who try to become president would not do that. second off, why would you still support a president who tried to topple our democracy? i do not understand why he would support. host: you too can respond, if you would like. guest: i think that, at least my experience working in the administration, i had the opportunity to work with a lot of women leaders, women leaders who were policy people. they were in senior positions in the white house. sarah huckabee sanders to individuals like rollins. and through their leadership, we

all created an environment where they use their platform to help empower other women through economics and on the world stage. that is been my experience with his leadership is having that type of diversity with women. also, all the policies that we worked on were to help communities. a lot of individuals have any caps, were not able to be their best self because they have, where they would lose resources, if they were able to get a job and earn a certain income, they would lose resources from the federal government. we lean into policies that would refer -- perform those rules. i think, and my experience, i have been told a lot of things about republicans in general. i grew up a democrat, but when i came to washington and i

actually worked on capitol hill with different republican, i learned a lot of different things. i found out that the republican party was taught about was not a racist party. i also found out that they are not all rich. that led me to just have more of an open mind with people come in general. my experiences that i have had with president trump, i have seen quite a different person. he has empowered me to do the work that i have always cared about. that is where my support has come, just from working with individuals that he has chosen to be in his cabinet and also my ability to lead into his work around the underserved. we want that kind of leadership in the same world that we are

living in because there are a lot of different challenges. we need a leader who can step up and do things outside of the box and not just keep things the status quo. host: i wonder if you can talk a little bit about your connection to the trump administration and some of the language that he uses and some of his legal abilities, how you talk about this work and how you advocate for your own strategies and economic plans. guest: the last caller talked a little bit about disabilities. there is something that i think is worth noting. i spoke at the largest disability conference in the country and i believe i was the first cabinet member to do that. the reason it was so important

to me and to the administration was to be able to show that these issues matter, not just that they matter, not just lip service, but the conferences that we were putting on where we were trying to partner small companies with large companies, that had more resources, that figured out ways to create more inclusive opportunity, particularly for those with disabilities. the caller mentioned autism, which was one of the areas we were focused on. i use that example because these were things that were happening and we were on track takes those programs through things like the president's pledge to the american worker, a public/private partnership to advance employment opportunities for people. these were some large companies that we were talking about before, so when we talk about what was accomplished during the

trump administration, we talk about the policies and programs that need to continue because what happens is, as everybody knows, and new administration comes in and things change, new people, what have you. if you have this public handshake, where democrats and republicans say, we are going to try these programs. we will determine them and change them, if we need to, to get the numbers better, but we're not going to point the finger and say that was wrong, or that was a bad idea. when we do that, we take a huge step back. we have a lot of things that happen during the trump administration that were not only able to articulate, but expand upon. it was a unique administration in a host of ways, not the least of which were some of the things

that we were able to achieve legislatively and by executive order to help underserved communities. host: a lot of colleges. let's see how many we can get sealed. let's go to robert on the republican line. robert? go ahead. caller: how are you doing? merry christmas. i'm way up in the woods in pennsylvania. i like the word underserved or underserved communities. host: underserved, yes. go ahead. caller: poor neighborhoods. we have them in every state. i just got out of prison five years ago and i was not helped at all. i went in as an alcoholic and i came out, still sober today,

through my own and other people helping me. poor neighborhoods. my question to these gentlemen is, why do we keep seeing text on their money being spent to other communities or countries before we held our own. these neighborhoods do not have to be poor. once again, when i was supporting trump, and i still do , i felt his policies were good. do i like his comments? absolutely not. being a christian and knowing what tomorrow is all about, god brought his own son to make him human, to come down and try to help people in general. it does not matter what color race or religion you are. the other person from indiana said, there is so much hate in the world. host: i want to let them respond

because i know you have done a lot of work with simpson issues. guest: i think it is important to create an ecosystem that visuals returning home from prison have an opportunity to be the best person. they come home and you can set him -- set up the right programming. it allows them to commit some of the acts that they did before. we know that many of them are coming home. from a public safety point of view, the best thing we can do is that while those people are in the system, hope to rehabilitate them. but i think that you are right. part of the reason that we wrote the book was to just talk about

the policies that have helped underserved communities under trump's leadership, but more importantly is talking about why it is important for our leaders to take a similar strategy on issues dealing with underserved communities, such as justice reform. to be able to achieve the american dream. these are all things that are worth dealing with right now. some communities are unaffordable. we have to be laser focused on our issues before we are able to navigate what is happening on the global stage. we have to deal with the person in the mirror first, and that is how we are able to make the

world a better place, by being a can of light. host: brian is in albany, georgia. go ahead. caller: what i was trying to comment about is when i think about trump and the opportunities, they downtown, not in the community. another plates and revitalize and redo business is. to make us into consumers. when i think about trump making america great again, i think back to the 1940's and 1950's, when the foot was on the black man's neck. that is what i wonder when i hear about that. my opportunity is downtown.

they are a business. we do not own any of these businesses. host: let's let them respond to that. guest: opportunity zones are an economic tool. the zones themselves were identified by the governors. so, those were actually who selected the opportunity zone. that being said, the program it dealt is continuing to be re-examined and tweaked. i think the caller makes a great point that you need to figure out how you can bring that private-sector capital and get it into the communities that need it. we are not talking about a charitable infusion of capital. we are talking about economic element in the sense that you bring in the anchor business that wants to be there. as soon as people start working

in that area, they work on housing and the small business piece, as it relates to that. and then you can bring the a. that is ultimately how it develops. that is a basic theory of economic development. the caller also talked about a number of the southern states. he was talking about georgia. this model has been tried in a variety of different ways. what happened, when you look at mid century in the 1900s and 1960's and 1970's is that there were great economic opportunities and as he got into the 1990's, a lot of that was outsourced to other parts of the world. we talk about this plan and it is about taking a look at what america can do. we have obviously changed over decades, when it comes to what

manufacturing looks like. we spent time talking about advanced any fracturing and not just the jobs, but what about the credentialing? how did the university system come in, so you can teach these new technological skills? to look at where these jobs are in the future. those are the keys to economic development. it is not a blank check, but these communities need to come together and be a real partner in the program. talk about that a lot in the book. host: philadelphia, pennsylvania on our democratic line. go ahead. can you hear us? all right. we will go to jean and detroit, michigan on our democratic line. caller: i just wanted to say that for me, i consider trump an

enemy of the state. and an enemy of the word of god. it makes it hard for me to accept him as a leader. i look at the policies he had towards the foreign governments, how he tried to dismantle nato. nato was formed to try to prevent world war iii. you have countries that are lined and they do not want to fight each other. i think in the u.s., we are in such a spiritual void, that we say that we love god come but then we act like the devil. host: if you have a question for them? caller: the policies that they have implemented our good, but how do you balance that out,

when you see the country has become more hateful and comes from the leader, which was trump? guest: honestly, i think that we do need to invest into our civil organization. there is an ethos out there that having people fight against each other -- revoke this book because we want to bring the country together. we want to figure out a way that democrats and republicans can work together. that is why we wrote this book. a lot of our calls this morning, i know it is focused on trump, but we are trying to say, he did a lot of great work in these underserved communities. we started to see the wages

increase for individuals. we are starting to see success and communities that had not had success in a long time. what we're stepping into is what we are trying to advocate for is that kind of leadership that cares for underserved communities. that focus on going beyond president trump -- i think we are better off with trump because we have seen the tale of two stories. things are unaffordable. people are having a hard time making it in underserved communities. we have a number of different conflicts on the global stage versus under trump's leadership. we also had a more robust economy.

it is just looking at the policy pieces. we are advocating for those types of policy pieces that will help us to be a better nation and help underserved communities achieve the american dream. host: russell is on our republican line. caller: that guy was talking about -- that is what the democratic party says. when we had trump in their, everything was cheap. we could then. i'm on a fixed income. i have had $600 more in my pocket. cost 600 more to live because of this we have in the white house. host: chris did you want to add

anything to that? >> i think at the end of the day, the economy will obviously be a huge issue for any voter, but what we are trying to talk about here is not just sort of the traditional factors when you watch any news program you look at the five or six top polling issues, underserved communities is very often not in that top five or six. we are trying to ensure the forecast account for this in their vote, but also hold their leaders accountable to do something about it and not just giving lip service when it comes to those campaign speeches, but actually make the promises and keep the promises. host: our last call her before we have to let you go, julie on the democrat line. caller: yes.

i would like to ask the gentleman about the policy -- what are the differences between the policies of biden and what they are talking about? also how, candidate trump is not talking about these kinds of policies? thank you. guest: i think president trump spends a good about of time talking about economic prosperity. so when you hear things about making america great, it's being able to lean in to economic opportunities for all. robust jobs for everybody, safe communities. i think the difference between president trump's approach and may be biden's approach is basically meaning what he says when it comes to crating that

opportunity. a lot of politicians give lip service, but when you see their policies and practice, they never really deliver. the can is always kicked, there is also a different approach towards who is creating the opportunity, the private sector or the government. we think that the private sector has a huge role off that more sustainable, more conservative ideology, more limited government allows for economic prosperity versus democrats who think government must ensure basic certain rights for individuals. we think some of those basic rights can be created through community and civil society and that's what makes america strong. historically the history of america hasn't always worked out for all communities.

we talk about in the book how the government and the way they went about through reconstruction created jim crow, created laws that isolated poverty in certain parts of our country. what we are saying is there still work that needs to be done for not only minority communities but also other underserved communities whether it's hispanic or white and bring the country together because that's what happens. we have politicians that pitted poor white individuals against poor black individuals and no one really got access opportunity. would we are saying is we want to create an infrastructure of opportunity that helps everyone so that everyone can have success and everyone can have a chance of the american dream. that's what underserved is focused on. >> i agree, it comes down to the

idea of intentionality. what do you want to achieve and how will you achieve it. edmund burke one of the philosophers on the conservative side we were talking about before saying hypocrisy can be magnificent in its promises for never intending to go beyond its promises. if you're going to help underserved communities you need to lay out a specific plan on how to do that. that's what we've done here in the book and we hope any candidate, republican or democrat will play that out and stick to it and we think what we've put forward here is a conservative model that really relies on the private sector to move the country forward as it has in so many different times of crises through history. host: co-authors of the new book underserved: harnessing the principles of lincoln's decisions for reconstruction for