♪ host: good morning on the washington journal. as always we will talk about

public policy, what is being discussed in washington and most importantly, we are going to hear your views. this morning it is a discussion on what the political parties stand for. both claim to stand for liberty, freedom and economic prosperity and the democratic party is often defined as the party of social services, government programs and spending and equality. so for this first hour, democrats only. what does your party stand for, what do you think it should stand for? the numbers on the screen, (202) 748-8000. east and central time zone, (202) 748-8001. mountain and pacific time zone, you can also participate via social media. that top number is a text number. (202) 748-8003.

tell us what your party stands for or should stand for. if you do send a text, please include your first name and city, if you would. we will begin taking notes in just a few minutes. on the front page of the washington post is an article being discussed a law in washington today. joe's lonely battle to show his vision of american democracy. representative james clyburn met president biden at the white house to deliver a stern message. biden had to find a way to revitalize his campaign. i also made a concession about his own long-standing belief that substance is more important than style in politics. "i've come to the conclusion that i am wrong about that. the new environment that we currently live in, style seems to carry the day more than substance.

your style, he told the president, does not lend itself well to the environment we are currently in." his conclusion which was shared by anxious democrats the month before the president ended his reelection bid undermined biden's theory of presidential leadership. biden believed that he just needed to show americans the traditional democracy still works by listening to experts, working with republicans, passing popular policies and voters would rally around him. he succeeded in phase one of this plan, enacting legislation, much of it bipartisan, to vitiate the nation's infrastructure, revive the semiconductor industry and fight climate change. the phase two never happened. the truth the five presidency is that hailed in what was by his own account is most important mission, making from's presidency seem like an aberration.

he governed her processes and institutions. he didn't change the picture of where he started. this anger in the electorate toward institutions, support for a pretty radical conservative vision that trump embodied, it can do anything to end the very intense polarization that exists in this country. we will come back to that in just a second but again, democrats only this morning. what does your party stand for and what should stand for? east and central time zone, (202) 748-8000. (202) 748-8001 if you are a democrat in the mountain and pacific time zones. we will begin taking those calls in just a minute but here is president biden talking a few weeks ago about his legacy.

president biden: one thing i've always believed that public service and especially about the presidency is the importance of asking yourself have we left the country in better shape than we found it? today i can say with every fiber of my being, all my heart the answer to that question is a resounding yes. [applause] we are leaving america a better place today than will make a mere four years ago. this country was living to the worst pandemic it had seen 100 years. our economy was in a tailspin. millions of people were out of work, businesses were being shuttered, schools were closed, there is no plan going forward. just two weeks before being sworn in, we witnessed something we thought would never happen in america. a violent insurrection encouraged by the man sitting in the white house on january 6.

we've come a long way since then. we passed historic legislation. literally building the strongest economy in the world, but not a world leader who told me they wouldn't trade places with thousand and a heartbeat. laws that were fully implemented to change america for decades to come. but we did know many of the laws we passed were so consequential we wouldn't be able to implement them right away. over one point $4 trillion in infrastructure. $1 trillion so far in america. the biggest investment ever in climate in the history of the world. fundamentally transforming our economy to grow from the metal out of the bottom up, not just the top down. i fully believe america is

better positioned than any point in the last 50 years. that is because of you. not hyperbole. you lend your reputation and your names to this effort. stepping up, putting yourself on the line. you should be so damn proud of the work we've done together. you should never forget all you done for the country. i'm also proud we can say we have done all this with a deep belief in the core values of america. you've heard me say it a hundred times. we are the most unique nation in the world. every other nation was based on geography, religion, ethnicity, some common factor. but in america we were built on an idea, the only country in the world. we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal. hate should never have a safe

harbor in america. that is what we are all about. we've never fully lived up to a labatt, but we set high standards of character and integrity in public life. it's been the honor of my life to serve as your president but what i'm most proud of is being jill's husband. [applause] host: that was president biden a few weeks ago talking about his legacy, the democratic party is often defined as the party of fdr and lbj, barack obama, bill clinton and now joe biden. frank in savannah, georgia, what does your party stand for, do you think? caller: we don't stand for what we used to stand for. i think the main criticism which is correct is we've abandoned our economic base like the working people, marginal issues.

there's nothing wrong with trans people for these kind of things, but people really aren't interested in that. for a long time the republicans were known as the party of business and they still are. but now they are masquerading as the party of the working class and people have totally bought into it. host: how would you change the democratic party, what would you give as the mission statement? caller: and mission statement, go back to how we were. you talk about fdr, economic well-being. growing inequality is what is going to destroy the nation sooner or later. the pitchforks will eventually

come out. host: frank, thank you. jane is a democrat in louisiana. caller: good morning. happy new year. host: happy new year. caller: i've always thought the democratic party was primarily for doing good for the country, the citizenry and the world. buildup in class, raise up the poor and troubled people. doing it with civility and honor and caring for the citizens of the world. from -- seems a little pollyanna-ish right now. host: how would you suggest the democrats do that? caller: actually, possibly just

forging ahead with regards to building up the country and the citizenry and may be taking care of the planet. i don't know, it's very difficult to state what they have already always done and somehow that is just not enough. host: we are going to go back to the washington post lead article this morning, joe biden's lonely battle to sell his vision of american democracy. here's a little bit more from that. even some of his closest advisors conceded recently that his style of governing did not always mesh with today's politics. the president has been operating on a time horizon measured in decades while the political cycle is measured in four years. sullivan went on too bad that

biden's accomplishments, by their nature, will take a long time to bear fruit. "to set the u.s. up for long-term success has one answer and how to govern to deal with midterm and presidential elections in the very short term might have a very different answer, he said. the president went with doing the things that relief in america in a strong position. as his presidency and his 50 year political career wind down far faster than he wanted, biden has taken to acknowledging from strategic mistakes both big and small. many of his missteps resulted from his determination to restore the age-old rules of the american presidency after trump's term and termination many supporters in retrospect considered a politically fatal error. jerome, san diego, good morning. what does your party stand for? caller: the democratic party

used to stand for the last, and it was obvious. but now to me it is obvious that they don't. hunter biden, they opened the border up and millions of people come in including murderers and rapists, thieves and crooks. they act like nothing is wrong. look at new york city. a man burned a woman, lit her on fire. may of 2023, a marine just out of service, a good man -- host: you sound more like a republican, did you vote for joe biden in this cycle? caller: they lost their way. the fact that biden has dementia has a lot to do with the fact that they lost their way. host: jerome, do you consider yourself a democrat? caller: honest man --

host: we are going to move on to talk to jeffrey in greensboro, north carolina. caller: jeffrey, what is your party stand for and what should stand for? caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call and happy holidays. the democratic party is about unity, togetherness as a nation. it is a delicate situation because no matter what the difficulties ahead, you need both parties to try to come to common ground, come to resolution. this is a nation of riches to where it should have no problematic situation for the less fortunate to be able to provide, to have affordable housing, health care. and when you have one party fighting in a direction against

that and you don't have the other side compromising or no type of legislation going through congress, it just opens a door with her problems seem like they are out of control, then you have another party that is stopping everything from being able to come to the table. very gifted, educated people who know better, see better, understand who is going to have to tip the scale of making it seem like the democrats did everything that republicans do, republicans making it seem like the democrats didn't do what they wanted to do. it is just sad because this nation is better than that. it is dividing us and realistically, you've got collars that want to talk off the script and you can't compare it. you can't compare it. but then the most astonishing matter in america is you have a man that is getting ready to

return to the presidency and power with convictions and felonies. i would never think in a lifetime we would be seeing that because america is better than that, our laws and guidance in obedience -- host: what do you think happened, as a democrat what do you think happened in the 2024 cycle? caller: i just see it as the messages were not consistent. republicans information, they were pounding the fear of the immigration issues, the immigration issues. what the realistic, there is an issue, but it also was there before biden was elected, when trump was there. you cannot excuse that. it was a problem that the still lingering. now they are going to definitely

have the advantage because trump is absolutely this time going to stand on his legacy to appease all the people that he got in place now. and unfortunately we were trying to negotiate with problems of health care, higher economics, and you've got just one administration branch trying to solve it and the other half that is not doing anything to compromise or come to the table, it's going to make us look like we are failing. host: that's jeffrey in north carolina. by the way, our third hour this morning we are going to have republicans only talking about what their party stands for. robert is a democrat in newfoundland, pennsylvania. robert, what does your party stand for? caller: by party stands for independence. host: i tell you what, you're going to put you on hold, you've

got that tv going in the background and we get that delay and unfortunately it doesn't work that way. if you do happen to get on the air, please turn down your tv, you will hear everything for your phone. larry, magnolia, delaware. caller: how are you doing? we stand for honor. democrats are not the one that have all the blame here. you guys have a problem with -- can you hear me? host: don't look at your tv, just talk to your phone. caller: if you guys say something and it is true, now we have a president that can actually see that, and that shouldn't be right. but it is a two-party system, and they've got to come together. everybody has different ideas.

and that don't happen anymore. everything that is going to happen now will be blamed on the democrats. we had a pandemic, we came through that pandemic can we came through the pandemic with joe biden, but also with republican help. host: decides just the history here, what do you think the party should stand for? caller: i think they should and for respect and arming working people. host: do you think they had that message in a 2024? caller: yes i did. it's a lot of things, but they had it. people have short memories when it comes to voting. they had it. they did a good job and i don't think they should be beating themselves down and looking for all this changed, because i

mean, the election was built on one side said one thing, they don't dispute it. they should dispute a lot of stuff, but they don't. host: thank you for calling in. peter in west palm beach. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i am a 93-year-old democrat. i've been a democrat all my life. i made a good living because i belong to unions most of my life and the democratic party offered labor. and i see that people are all worried about the democrats have done. in fact, biden did more in two years than any other president in four. people forget that the second part of his term he was taken over by republicans, and they stopped everything he wanted to do the last two years of his presidency. i just hope that people don't

have to regret mr. trump again because he didn't do such a great job the first time. host: what do you think the democrats going forward should stand for? caller: stand for the same thing that stood for her 90 years, labor. i think the working people need a shot in this country. the rich people take over the country right now, do you see who trump has on his committee, all his big people are all rich white people. what happened to the negros, the minority race? we are all americans, we all deserve to make a decent living in this world. if you want to join the republican party you'd better come up with $25,000 or $50,000 donation. host: you say that but when you look at the chart of the voting trends, you see that no college degree, those with no college degree supported donald trump by

six more points than they did in 2020, and latino men, 18 points. up to points with black men, down two with black women. but when you look at some of these voting stats, you see that the working class supported donald trump. how does, how should the democrats respond to that? caller: because they made them say that the immigrants, the illegals coming here taking their jobs, that is not true. it wasn't for these people coming into this country we would have a recession because we need more people. we don't have enough childbirth from the americans anymore. we have less childbirth since i was a kid. host: what was your job when you were in the union? caller: construction for new

york city, and then i became a manager for procter & gamble. it was unionized. they all made good salaries. i had over $1 million when i retired and all i had was a high school education but i made good money working, i had a good life. because working people need unions so they can get support from these rich people. all the rich people want to do is get richer. working people want to just raise a family, buy a home. they are not looking for yachts and planes all over the world. the working people are going to be sorry they put trump in there again because he is going to push all the things that they'd money to get richer. host: we appreciate you call nana. spending a few minutes fast. the democratic leader in the

house, hakeem jeffries had a message for republicans a few weeks ago. here is what he had to say. >> we see a very clear pattern, the facts speak for themselves. democrats are the party of getting things done and fiscal responsibility. republicans are the party of massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected, which brings us to this very moment. because this bill is designed to set up the gop tax scam 2.0. to stick the american people with a bill so you can continue to cut taxes for wealthy donors and well-connected corporations and jam working-class americans. that is what this bill today fundamentally is all about. that's why republicans are

suspending the debt ceiling. for two years, the so-called party of fiscal responsibility. and in addition to these massive tax cuts, we know how you want to pay for it. many republicans have said this in the public domain. that we want to end social security as we know it. to end medicare as we know it. end medicaid as we know it. end nutritional assistance as we know it. not support our veterans. these are all the reasons why democrats are opposed to this legislation. because you are trying to jam working-class americans again, as you have repeatedly done over and over and over again. those are the facts. host: and back to your phone calls and your views on what the democrats stand for and what they should stand for.

again, democrats only for the first hour. charlotte, north carolina, good morning to you. caller: good morning, happy new year. host: back at you. caller: democrats i think stand for what is in the constitution. they stand for the rule of law and they stand for the working class. they stand for education. the democrats don't know how to toot their own horn, they never say what good they are doing. they lit the republicans take all the oxygen out of the air. i think they stand for truth, and that is one thing that we are lacking now, and that is going to be our downfall. i agree with everything that peter said from west palm beach, the gentleman that was on before me. host: thank you for calling in. difficult question but i do believe the democratic party has an edge when it comes to health

care for all, fairness in a tax policy, equal rights, trickle of economics, voting rights for all, less roadblocks and write vs. wrong. jim from california. caller: good morning. i think what seemed to happen after the selection was that the democrats as we've been talking about let the working class people kind of go to the side and started focusing on these extreme left-wing issues like trans issues and women in sports and things that the working class that interested in. but i have to stress that how powerful trump is in terms of

distorting what is really going on and the tremendous prepend and see -- propensity we've had with mainstream people in terms of what they believe in cable news, there is a tremendous distortion, blaming the democrats for things that they didn't do. that is a big part of it. host: moving forward, what would you like the democrats to stand for, and how could they get that message out? caller: well, as we said, i heard that two thirds of the country does not have a college education. people who have small families and are working to support their families, they need to focus on those people and what their needs are and take their focus off the extreme left-wing views.

i just want to complement your program for the extraordinary job that you do. i've been listening to this show , you deserve 150 emmys for the service you do to this country. host: what do you do in beverly hills, jim? caller: i am a retired filmmaker. host: what kind of film? caller: i used to produce for sesame street. ran all over the world. host: oh, really. thanks for calling in, we appreciate it. albuquerque, leroy. caller: excuse my voice, i will make it as clear as i can. i think it needs to go back to the basics of what our forefathers wrote in the beginning when it was a dream. the normal way, the common sense

way. not this extremism that we have. and as far as the billionaires that we have, they should make our debt zero and start all over again. i don't know if that can happen without these laws going into place, but i think it goes back to our constitution and stuff that was written by our forefathers, to go back to that and go forward with those issues that were put on paper oforefam there. take it a step at a time. forward, doing things that are good for the world and for our country. host: thank you for calling in. back to the washington post article on joe biden which is entitled joe biden's lonely battle for his vision of american democracy. he often contends that history

will remember him kindly, an assertion that provides the comfort to democrats now staring at an additional four years of trump. some abide in allies point to a recent survey of historians that are ranked by the 14th best president in american history while putting trump last, yet it is trump, not biden who is preparing for his second inauguration on january 20. he accomplished a hell of a lot in a very difficult situation. coming in after trump with a bad economy, he still pulled people together. he did all this stuff on infrastructure and all the stuff he did with a one-vote majority in the senate, but joe biden did it with one vote. some still believe he should have stayed in the race to bite -- despite the rocky debate performance and low poll numbers

that prompted democrats to pressure him to drop out. biden and his aides have told people in recent days that he could have defeated trump according to people familiar with their comments who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the conversation. the president has been careful not to place blame on harris or her campaign. mary calling in from michigan, mary is a democrat. what does your party stand for and what should it stand for? caller: i believe it is all-inclusive and i want to say one thing. since i retired a couple years ago, i'm a retired nurse. it is very generational. when i'm talking to my younger nieces and nephews who all came home to this of the words -- of the woods in northeast lower michigan, they are more progressive than ever but they are mostly democrats and they believe in all-inclusive for

everyone, even that 0.0 1% that is the transgender, they will fight at their colleges and their workplace for the rights of that person. they are horrified at what some of the people that are in the m aga republicans have said about people and they have grown up in schools that has been all-inclusive. they believe that the abortion rights, that it should be up to the family whether their family grows. and the one thing that they fully talk a lot about now that they are all having children or whatever is the mental health and the fear that they live with daily sending their children to school. gun rights, gun whatever has transformed this generation.

and i love c-span, but i would love for you to have programs may on the weekend now that the election is over lines i people 20 to 40. because i volunteer at a school every day and believe me, those parents have a lot to say about what the local, state and federal government is doing for their families. host: that is a good idea, i appreciate that. i just want to point this out which is kind of a little different than what you were saying, but the new york times reports that 18-29-year-olds went to 7% more for donald trump then they did in 2020. it was 65 and older that went down two points for donald trump in 2024. caller: raise children and work

and whatever. when you get right down and talk to younger people, they really don't know, they voted local. the presidential, they didn't really. when you tell them things that you see on c-span, they are shocked, they really are shocked. host: thanks for calling in. donna in clark county, nevada which is las vegas. caller: how are you? host: what does your party stand for and what should it stand for? caller: my party, the democratic party should stand free quality. and it should continue to stand for the working class, and for the lower classes to work up to the middle class. it hasn't always worked, didn't

really work in my case, but i understand it. the thing is, we have absolutely let the republican party change the direction and just change the way that people feel about things like school. kind of taking on this like they can't be christians and they can't be this and they can't do that. they kind of turned it all around. instead let's say you guys really need to start being better toward the lower classes, they have taken on this, like

they've been attacked or something, and we haven't attacked them. we just want to keep our rights. host: thank you for calling in. tim in tampa. caller: yes, good morning. when you say what the democrat party stands for, first off, they need to stand. the problem with the democrat party today is that they allow the republican party to just tell a lie and instead of calling it a lie, they will sit there and say it is misinformation. no, it is a lie. like with barack obama, the guy from south carolina yelled out during the address saying you lied. people know what the word means. the democratic party is the inclusive party, but at the end of the day, instead of being

inclusive, they are too afraid to offend people. the republican will call a black individual exactly what they want to call him. they will call a hispanic exactly what they want to call him, but the democratic party will sit there and find beautiful words to say. and the last thing, the democratic party needs to sit back and let america get exactly what they deserve from electing all these republicans. trump is putting on the billionaires around him. do you think these billionaires care about some individual voice for trump in rural america? they look at those people and would be like why are you not a billionaire? the democratic party is too easy, too weak and they need to grow a backbone and stand up instead of laying down every time republicans say something. host: they are both based on

political article. number one, politico has an article saying that the 2028 democratic primaries are already underway. josh shapiro, gavin newsom, kamala harris, pete buttigieg, rossmoor, some of the names for 2028. the you have an early favorite? caller: for me, they should have let the guy from pennsylvania, he should be the nominee. host: josh shapiro. caller: yes. wes moore should be vice president. two years ago when joe biden passed the infrastructure bill, right then he should have said ok, america, democrats, i've done everything i can for the last 50 years. i'm going to step back and allow you all to do what you got to do in the next two years to

continue to allow the people to keep democrats in power. but because old men are so power-hungry, they don't know how to step to the side. just like with aoc. aoc is trying to get on a committee. what did the democratic party do? pick someone who is two steps from passing away. they are too afraid to give up power. and the same thing with mitch mcconnell standing there. because the american people thought that they continued to vote these people in. host: what did you do in tampa? caller: caller: i'm a retired military, 28 years in the military, i retired from the va. all i do now is watch my daughter and take her to school. but at the end of the day, at the end of the day the democrat party needs to stand up.

host: tim also mentioned communication issues that he thought the democrats could improve on. the incoming deputy whip on the democratic side, is going to be in leadership on the democratic side of the senate. thank politico, jonathan martin of lytic did an interview with him. you can read the whole thing, but his one paragraph of language. i think this question of language goes pretty deep, not just being careful not to say things that are egregiously weird-sounding, but also the way we interact with guests. i remember saying something about hostility in palestine and

people said why didn't you say cease fire? i remember saying that is literally the same thing. i said a climate bill and they said why don't you say green new deal? and this idea that there are magic words we must say, we have to say whatever a bunch of activists want us to say as opposed to doing this thing. and i think there are a bunch of people who see what we are doing as performative for that exact reason, but it is also just alienating this magic word thing has to go away. jim in south carolina, democrat, what does your party stand for? caller: hey, pete. he said a lot of things i wanted to say. host: are you talking about tim from tampa? caller: yes.

weakness is one of the things he said that i agree with. there is a lot of weakness. i voted for kamala harris, but i'm really independent. but i let that slide because of donald trump. i'm not really a democrat. host: we will let your comments stand right there, we appreciate you identifying yourself. steve is in new york city, good morning to you. please go ahead. caller: yet, can you hear me? host: we are going to move on to justine in ohio. good morning. caller: good morning sir. host: what do you think your party stands for? caller: the way i see it, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. why can't they open their i

think what fighting with each other and get things done on this earth? host: what would you like them to get don and how do you think the democrats should do it? caller: i wish everybody would straight now and have peace on earth. you know what i'm saying? with all these countries and stuff, it gets people around, and the american people are going to suffer for a lot of things. the way i understand the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer is that it is going to be a riot, and i don't like to see that. i love the world, but it is the people in the world. they've got to wake up and say ok, this president has got to straighten up, this president has got to straighten up but you know i think that the world is

not going to last long enough to straighten up. host: this is carolyn in charlotte. good morning to you. caller: i think the democratic party stands for what it always has stood for. i'm a kennedy democrat. i believe ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. the democratic party stands for lifting up the platform low and the working class and the labor class. that is what they stand for, and they should dan for that. i think the messaging with the problem. it was hard to compete with a linda mcmahon productive. it was hard to compete with a kibbles and bits president,

railing against the lgbt community. it was supposed to be america first, america unction isolationist. the democratic party did not push that message hard enough. they were not out there showing the things that they had actually done or why they wanted to do particular things. they have to come down with a hammer0 because this was a production, their reality show production with puns of pundits out there. the echo chamber, even on the congress floor, constantly echoing what donald trump won even though it was far from reality, but they got what they voted for. you cannot blame the democrats for anything that he decides to do. how dare he. host: thanks for calling in.

the washington post opinion section, he writes from campaign pledges, that is the header on his column today. we are going to read this part of it. let's start that again. democrats have been in a slot of despondency in the week since the election. trump has been enjoying the sort of honeymoon that he didn't have in 2016. foreign leaders and business titans have been flocking to mar-a-lago while trump marveled that everybody wants to be my friend. polls show favorability improving and a majority approving of his handling of the transition. goes on to say this. a veteran democratic strategist has a word of advice for his demoralized comrades. relax. the transformation of the democratic party will happen organically.

it's not going to be a bunch of elite, elected officials sitting around a conference table in washington figuring out how to get these people in america to like us. rather, he sees the party developing into an outsider-populist party from the grassroots. that is just a little bit of the column this morning. in the washington post, let's hear from scott in california. or we are going to hear from jerry in tar heel, north carolina. caller: yeah, i would just like to say that the democratic party is their own worst enemy. like with obamacare. they didn't want to help the people.

msnbc and cnn, they are talking about what the democrats need to do. they need to come back to reality. i mean, they are their own worst enemy. host: thank you. scott, california, what are your thoughts. caller: i figured you would get to me eventually, thanks for waiting. my call for the democratic party, i am a staunch democrat. they stand for the lesser of two evils, but currently and unfortunately, the democratic

party stands for exactly the same thing the republican party does, like two little kids running to their parents to tell on the other first. they did this, they did that. we sit in a position where we are not the lesser of two evils, except for you got a lot more dirt on the republicans. trump is a felon and all that stuff, but republicans fire back and tell mommy that well, they are living of these illegal, big into their committee for all these horrible crimes. the lesser evil to have nothing, being compared to donald trump, who is going to be president and he comes off like i don't know who made the quote, but it is speak softly and carry a big stick. host:0 theodore roosevelt1, 1

901. caller: thanks for the civics class, i didn't remember. trump comes off like holler all the time and carry a big stick like bam bam from the flintstones. mind you, he very much looks like elderly bam bam, but that is the appeal. likely all the calls in the third hour are going to the same thing. each one is going to have something bad to say about the other party and know nothing about their own party. host: that's what we're trying to do this morning, thanks for recognizing that and thank you for calling in. here trying to get you to say why you are a democrat essentially, what does the party stand for and what do you think they should stand for. you mentioned the election, and this is new york times, tenant

charts that will help you understand 2024. on election spending, right now the 2024 cycle election clock nearly $16 billion if you go across here. and 20/20 was more expensive, as you can see, but the increase in the last two election cycles, pretty striking over the previous cycles. again, this is in the new york times. washington times this morning, friday's paper, marianne williamson wants to run the dnc. former democratic presidential candidate says she is launching a bid for chair of the dnc, into a crowded field calling for a seismic change for the organization. the self-help group who ran twice for president that she could bring expertise to the role.

she could see that she understood why we lost it and that voters didn't deal the democratic and that had their backs on key issues like health care and the economy and that many were depressed because of bad public policy. "we need to transform in a way, we need to reinvent the democratic party to counter what maga is bringing to the table. there is a collective adrenaline rush and we have to create our own psychological and emotional appeal for the american people. host: kip, good morning. caller: good morning. my feelings are that the democrats are for all of the and equal access to everything. as kamala harris said, we want to lift people up, not bring them down. i feel that there actually are

three parties. there is the democratic party, republican party, and then the maga party. the democrats are constantly trying to stay political, they don't take back and fight when things are being misrepresented as much as they should. i feel that the democrats should be more like -- speak out and called the truth the truth and a lie a live. they are too afraid to hurt feelings or to look bad. host: thank you. and in fact, here is an article about jasmine crockett, i democratic representative from texas. crockett slams democrats choosing seniority over those

were best. she took aim at democrats for choosing representative jerry carl a over representative alexandria ocasio-cortez to be the top democrat on the house oversight and accountability committee in the upcoming congress. a member of the committee added that while she doesn't necessarily think conley isn't equipped to lead the committee at this time, she believe the democratic voters are looking for leaders in congress to be open to new moves. "i think they are saying we are looking toward golf to show us that you are willing to shake it up if that means we can move this country forward." next call is robbed in unix. -- phoenix. caller: nice to see you. i've been wanting to have a conversation for a long time. some prophetic words from a song in the 1970's.

steely dan. they've got a name for the winners in the world, and i want a name when i lose. they call alabama the crimson tide, call me deacon blues. that always tells me something about what world we are with leadership. i've been active in the local scene for 25 years here in phoenix. i can look back and think of all the meetings and all the times that somebody took over the meetings, somebody like kristin sinema 25 years ago, the green party. dozens of others who commandeer meetings and activism and such, and they really steal the funder from the people. so i want a name when i lose, call me deacon blues.

that is what i think about the democratic party today. host: that is robbed in phoenix. cutler is in new hampshire, what does your party stand for and what should they stand for? caller: my party basically stands for the working man, any inclusivity, i guess that is the word. i'm not sure about fiscal restraint. i've always been a democrat because i felt they cared more about the land republicans, but i also admire the republican party for what used to be fiscal constraint and a strong military. so there is no middle ground for me, and that is a problem with both parties, and let the extremes take over.

our government was not created to take care of people. it was created to protect than in the bible says, take care of the poor. the poor will always be among you, but it seems like everybody is poor. what could they do? you make the capital a museum, or you tear it down because it was built by slaves and it has a native american on the top. double insult. rebuild it with a union labor and make it a museum. that could be one thing. the supreme court, you don't expand it. it is totally skewed right now, and i don't know how you would accomplish this, but let's just get rid of them and elect our

supreme court judges based on their qualifications and give them an eight year term. who gets a life term except convicted murderers? and as far as money, they can get the money out of politics. too much money, too many congressmen making a career out of something, they all retire as millionaires, and get the lobbyists out of there. host: thank you so much. carolyn in lake st. louis, missouri. caller: i'm glad to call. i'm a democrat and i would like to talk about the democrats not having as much acknowledgment on what is happening to the people that is voting for them. i'm a victim of mortgage fraud,

and it has taken me so long to get an attorney here in missouri to represent us. i am a black, gay woman. my property was stolen by someone that lives in arizona. i can't get anyone to help i have written to the doj, i've sent my paperwork to the fbi. i still have not gotten any response. yet they tell me there is a statute of limitations that is about to run out real how do you get help when you don't have any help? that is carolyn. host: thank you for calling in and sharing your experience with us. mike is in woodbridge, virginia. what does your party stand for and what do you think it should stand for? caller: my party stands for the union. this election --

without helping anything to the economy. [indiscernible] which will not be allowed by republicans. they need something to move around and be able to work with it. and then they allow the israelites to let them loose. the bombing of gaza and other places. host: all right. mike in woodbridge, we will leave it there. thank you for calling in, everybody.

reminder that in an hour, we will turn to the republicans and find out what they think their party stands for and what it should stand for. week on the "washingtonauthors jonal." every holiday season, we feature authors talking about some of the big public policy issues facing our nation. coming up author brian rising eisinger, his book "land rich , cash poor." >> tonight on c-span's q and a, don scott, virginias newly elected democratic speaker and the first black speaker in nearly four hundred five years talks about his life, including

spending almost eight years in prison. >> i had never been in trouble before and i served my country and i was hoping i would get a little more grace and the judge would have some gratitude. he probably could have given me more time than he did. but i remember hearing my mother when he said 10 years, she couldn't believe it. that yelp of pain. it always stays with me and it always motivates me and lets me know how fragile our freedom is and how perilous it is. if you make one wrong move sometimes, it can be the end of your life as you know it. >> virginias democratic house speaker, don scott, tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q and a.

♪ >> democracy is worth dying for. >> democracy belongs to us all. >> when you are here in the sanctuary of democracy. >> great responsibilities fall once again to the great mocker sees. >> american democracy is bigger than any one person. >> freedom and democracy must constantly be guarded and protected. >> we are still, at our core, a democracy. >> this is also a massive victory for democracy and freedom. >> washington journal continues. host: brian reisinger is the author of "land rich, cash poor." he joins us from california. what was your goal in writing

this book? guest: good morning and thank you for having me. my goal was to answer a question i've been carrying around for most of my childhood. as longest i can remember, there were people driving into the yard, talking about this farm going under and that farm selling and i never understood why. i knew i was lucky to grow up in a special place, a place of hard work and beauty but i never understood why farms were disappearing. as i pursued my career, i began to see how our system was leaving our farmers behind. i wanted to answer why that wasn't how that happened. this book marries the hidden history of those issues and my families four generation story from the depression to today. host: what kind of farm is your family? guest: for more than 100 years, we were a traditional dairy farm, milking cows. we became a very small farm.

we have since diversified. my dad is still farming. my sister has taken over from him. the way they have diversified is they have sold dairy. we sold the herd and diversified. they are still raising cows for other dairy herds. they are raising beef for consumers and cash cropping. as we speak, we are working through, as a family, the right path forward for the farm. host: when you talk about farms disappearing, what do you mean? what is happening to them? guest: there is a wide variety of things happening to them. the farms that have been hit the hardest our family farms across the country. many have disappeared during economic crises, meaning they have gone under bankruptcy and things like that. others have been bought out by other farms. others have gone away and that farmland has turned into urban development and other things.

there is no one specific villain, necessarily. there are a wide range of factors that have created pressure year after year to make it harder for our farms to make it and make it harder to grind out that living. they are forced to sell their land for development or they simply go under. host: according to the american farm bureau, 1.9 million farms and ranches in the u.s., 95% of them are family operated. farmers and ranchers equal about 2% of the u.s. population. farmers and ranchers receive about $.15 on each food dollar spent. 95%, still family operated, mr. reisinger. guest: that is absolutely right. the broader context is we once had 6.5 million farms in this country, that was the height. it has gone down to 2 million. that is a loss of 75% of our farms and a loss of 45,000 farms

on average per year. i wanted to talk to people on all angles of things and they talked about the ongoing resilience of our farms and the cost of the massive disappearance. those nearly 2 million farms that are left, not only 96% of them are family-owned but 88% are small farms. people are shocked to hear that. everyone imagines the great, big farms that replaced our vision of farms in years past. most of them are small farms and most of them are not making full-time livings. the farms making a full-time living are the larger farms that produce the bulk of our foods. the smaller farms, the 88%, those are from families working 2-3 jobs to make it. they are pouring concrete in

addition to trying to operate their farm which is only supplemental income. more and more small family farms disappear each year because people are trying to grind out a living, working 2-3 jobs and many times they can't make it anymore. host: a few more facts before our -- we continue our conversation. farming equals 1% of the u.s. gross domestic product. farm exports were about 175 billion dollars in 2023. when he percent of the total farm product. an average farm feeds 169 people, annually. one acre can bring 50,000 pounds of strawberries or 2784 pounds of wheat. five pounds of butter a day, nine pounds of ice cream and 10 pounds of cheese. that is on a daily basis, from one cow. when you said you're farm was 50 head of cow, what are the

economics of that? guest: one of the things we have to understand is there is a natural market consolidation. this happens with any industry. in an industry like farming or ranching, where there is a limited resource and only so much land after the country was settled, there was always going to be some industry consolidation. one farm doing better than another and buying that farm. we not only have natural market forces but massive additional forces that were unexpected and mishandled. economic crises from the great depression and the farm crisis of the 1980's where we had policymakers and much of our country not understanding what was going on at the ground level with farmers and the economic crisis that occurred hit farms in a unique way and a way that was worse than it needed to be. we have a variety of government and political decisions made by both parties over the past century that have, in one way or another, led to farmers being missed. and the impacts of our policy

decisions wiping out more farmers, whether we knew it or not. then there were technological forces. technology has been a great advance -- advancement. it has made food a lower share of household budgets. we have also failed to see the way that our technology has left summoning farms needlessly behind. many of our small farms have been left behind by our technological advances, even as they were perfectly competitive in every other way. those economic crises, government decisions and technological issues, all of those things together have made it a far sharper crisis than it needed to be. we were always going to have some farms going by the wayside. it did not have to be the stark and it did not have to endanger the food supply the way it has. we also have a strange situation where although we are wiping out

70% of our farms, we are inputting more food than ever. $45.2 billion of ad trade deficit. we are wiping out our domestic food supply while becoming more dependent on food from foreign countries. although there is a strong industry, a lot of resiliency, the reality is that we have a situation where our food supply policy needs to change if we are going to not only stop wiping out these farms but make sure we have a supply that is secure and not cause further economic problems for people across the country, regardless of whether they have set foot on a farm. host: you wrote an op-ed entitled democrats and republicans have failed american farmers and your dinner table. mr. reisinger, what were you saying in this op-ed? and is farming a free enterprise institute anymore? guest: that's a great question. i will take it backward and forward. farming has a lot of market forces. there is a lot of government intervention and some of it has

worked in some of it has not. we have a tangled up industry here where farmers are not in a position to capitalize on a good while they try to deal with the bad. it has helped in some cases but in many cases has been piled on top of one another. now, the issue of governmental policy and maybe the best ways to give an example. we tell personal stories about our family's survival for four generations. when my parents were married in 1976, there was a drought that year and they had two charges of i've a drought when their crops weren't coming up from the ground to feed their animals. they managed to do that without taking on a massive amount of debt and it was very close. if they have not done that without taking on a lot of debt,

they would have sailed into the farm crisis. that gets into the government issue. the government had been encouraging farms for decades by then to get bigger or get out. one of the ways they did that was two programs that were encouraging debt, encouraging farmers to take out more debt. not long after that, the federal government increased interest rates to tame inflation and that made the debt more expensive. you could argue for or against any of those decisions if you really needed to do either of those things. but when you combine them together and you fail to account for how it affects our farm families, you had the government encouraging farmers to take out more debt and suddenly making that that more expensive. it kicked off a crisis that lasted the better part of a decade, wiping out tens of thousands of farms, destroying our world communities and effecting a food system that has higher food prices and a less secure food supply for every other american in our table. these are very large decisions that have been made by both parties, without our policymakers necessarily understanding how it affects small families and how it affects our food supply.

guest: mr. reisinger -- host: mr. reisinger, as a family farmer, do you follow the debates over the five year farm bill, which is just one year? guest: we follow that closely. one of the things i do in addition to telling our stories is help out on the business side in my free time. we talk a lot about how this is affecting the family farm. my dad is working to keep it going and my sister is working to take it over. the reality is the farm bill has so many programs that, what we need to be doing, is we need to be rolling up our sleeves and having congress figure out which are performing and which are not. find a way to make sure that our farms are working the way we should. we are not doing that. the gridlock is keeping that from happening.

they are punting programs without assessing what is working and what isn't. that comes on top of the fact that because of the government is involved in agriculture, many agricultural lenders need to have that farm bill passed in order for them to be able to know what's going on in the industry and take the risk to lend to farmers. we need to be passing a farm bill so we can do the hard work of seeing what's working. when the passage of a farm bill continues to get laid, that makes it hard for farmers to go to the bank and get a loan they might need. with this most recent patch they passed, they got it done just in time for farmers to be able to get that lending. it was very close. there are a lot of farmers that were delayed in doing that. in the short term, there is a harm. in terms of farmers being able to get the money they need because of the uncertainty in the agriculture industry. and then the long term, there is harm because we are not doing the work to roll up our sleeves and make sure the programs are functioning in a way that have their intended impact. host: we are talking with brian

reisinger, author of "land rich, cash poor." we will put the phone numbers up on the screen in case you would like to participate. 202 is the area code for all of our numbers. you can see them listed. the fourth number is set aside for farmers only. go ahead and start dialing in. bronson is a farmer in pueblo, colorado. bronson, before we get to your question, tell us about your farm or your ranch. caller: good morning, america. i am a disabled veteran from the vietnam war. i went to san diego state university in the school of social work. i have spoken in two radio stations in denver and i have also spoken to c-span before. i was a farmworker during my high school years.

and this is what i encountered. when, in the wintertime, the watermelons are blended. and to protect the watermelons, to protect the seedlings, you have to carve a groove around the dirt and then you put sticks , a bending stick, a stick that bends and then you push it in the ground and then you put wax paper and you push it. host: bronson, can you get to your question? caller: oh. i didn't have a question. i just wanted to share my experiences as a farmworker. host: where were you planting watermelons, bronson? caller: in southern california, in the desert.

your fingers, at the end of the day, your fingers get raw from digging up the groove around them. host: do you think you are paid a fair wage? caller: i don't think so. i don't think so. you know, on another occasion, a plane, we were working on a great plantation. around coastal palm springs. the plane was spraying poison. we ran. we saw the plane coming and spring poison. -- spraying poison. host: what era was this? can you tell us? caller: during my high school

years, it was around 1965. host: thank you for calling, we appreciate you sharing your experience. bronson brought of labor and pesticides and immigration. all of these national issues are playing on a family farm, aren't they? guest: absolutely. we talk about many of those issues in the book. i want to thank him for sharing the experience, but also the service to our country and so much of what you've done over your life. i appreciate you calling in. the reality is our family farms of all types and sizes and kinds have had historic immigration, women's rights, labor, economical people, national security. all of these things play out in one way or another on a farm. -- that was not meant to limit the discussion but to focus on the types of farms that have that entrepreneurial opportunity

for individual families. there are also many types of farms that employ large amounts of migrant labor. they are entirely -- there are entirely different stories in the south. the reality is that all of them in one form or another deal with these issues of economic hardship and the difficulty that comes with it along with the beauty of it. we tell stories of family members who were injured in the fields. my grandfather's brother was crippled as a young boy. we talk about drought. we talk about surviving decades in poverty to climb into the middle class. it is an incredibly rich and harrowing story when you look at all of the things americans have lived through. the farms that feed us. host: let's take another call, from kyle in reno, nevada. kyle, good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question for mr.

reisinger. i have a bachelors degree in coastal economics. i did my internship at the usda chicken farm at the university of arkansas. i wanted to ask him, since you guys spoke about the farm bill. i believe the biggest plague is it only helps corporate forming which helps family farms to corporations and then having them subdue to their wishes and whims. i feel like in the end, that hurts small farmers, as far as their ability to compete. if the farm bill is less corporate in its construction, maybe subsidies would become more fair. and maybe access to lower-cost inputs would be more

competitive. host: thank you, kyle. mr. reisinger? guest: it is such a great point and it speaks to what happens when our policymakers, because of congressional gridlock, are not in position to make political reform of our programs. i'm glad this was brought up. the reality is that there are so many programs and so much of our tax dollars that go toward farming that don't have the impact they are supposed to have. what happens is you have program after program that is passed, one on top of another. they are at times contradictory for one thing. in addition to that, government programs become prone to abuse or favoritism. it just happens over time. the reality is the largest operators have lobbyists and accountants and lawyers to navigate the programs. for all of those reasons, for the continued piling of these programs and the way they can

become prone to favoritism over time and the fight that larger corporations are in advantage to -- in positions to take advantage of them, many tax dollars are not going where they are intended to go. you have families on the ground saying the economics don't work and they are not getting the assistance that, you know, is necessarily intended. and taxpayers are saying where are our tax dollars owing on what's happening to all of this money? the reality is when the -- what the caller is talking about is a real problem. there are farms of all kinds and sizes. some are corporate and some are family owned that got larger trying to survive the economic forces that make it so hard for family farms. they are family-owned and supporting multiple generations. many of our farms are small farms that are simply not able to make a full-time living and are not able to supply the bulk of our food. there are ways that we can change government policy so that

it is more even keel and some of it is more catered to farms of all sizes, so that medium and small sized farms are able to compete and make a full-time living for their families. but also, be able to supply more of our food supply to the american people at a time where americans care more than ever about where their food comes from. host: let's hear from tom in iowa. tom, you're on with brian reisinger. caller: yes. i wanted to say my mother was raised on a farm in minnesota that was created in 1843. a small dairy farm, three acres. there were nine children from that small dairy farm. that's all i wanted to say. host: what's your point in emphasizing that, tom? caller: that it is still in the family. it is still operating.

host: tom, thank you for sharing your extremes with us. brian reisinger, we talked about labor earlier. we know that in iowa and arkansas with the chicken processing plants, there is some labor working there. have you experienced that in wisconsin? guest: there is migrant labor that helps in dairy farms in wisconsin. the kind of farm i grew up on didn't experience that as much. operational needs go beyond what the family can do. as we have mentioned, there are still so many small family farms that are not making a full-time living for their families. kind i grew up on was one that provided a middle-class living as i was growing up.

that living was slipping away. i was fortunate enough that my parents were able to help me go to college. as we get other and further along, our farm is becoming the kind that increasingly can't make the kind of full-time living that it would have, a generation ago. that's what our experience has been. i want to say that what the caller was talking about was a really notable thing. earlier in our farm history in this country, it was very common to have incredibly large families. and, that is emblematic of the fact that our farms and farming has always been hard. it has involved great economic hardship and toil. there was a time where our family farms were able to provide for large families like the and they did it in the depths of the great depression. that's compared to today where families are much smaller and finding farms can't make it anymore. that is part of the family history that we traced that is much like the caller's history. my grandpa grew up in a family

of 14 kids. he grew up in great poverty. but the farm also was economically strong enough and resilient enough to make it through the depression. through 14 children and be something my father could purchase from my right grandfather and could climb into the middle class with it. even through the great depression, supplying food for 14 kids, family farms were once able to carve a path toward the middle class. in modern america, they are past due on not making it. the caller's story shows the sweep of what is happening in american farms. host: mr. reisinger, aren't larger farms more efficient and able to feed more people than the smaller family operated farms? guest: it's a great question. there is a certain truth to that but it has its limits. what i mean is larger farms do have the ability to purchase

goods in bulk. for that reason, there are ways in which the economics favor the larger farms. the reality is we have gotten to a place where this food system more broadly is both a modern miracle and deeply vulnerable to crisis. industries across the economy are dominated by large, largely integrated industries. it's not the fault of the food industry or the egg industry. they are chasing other industries. the reality is now our food system is so integrated that there are very few paths from the farm gate to the dinner table. we saw this when the supply chain was disrupted by plants being shut down. if you have one large distribution center go down, it can affect our entire food supply chain. that's one of the reasons it has spiked far beyond inflation. it is not just inflation. it has gone beyond inflation.

one reason is the vulnerability to the supply. people cannot get the food they needed. at the same time, farmers could not sell their goods. the reason is the supply chain was locked up. this happens all the time. whether it is bird flu affecting the price of chicken or the availability of eggs. you are probably having a hard time getting eggs for the holiday season. whether it is weather events or invasive pests, this happens over and over. we have such an integrated food system dominated by large organizations. it is easy for our food supply to be disrupted. many farms are perfectly efficient and able to operate and compete as well if they didn't have government policies and the direction of technology and other things tipping the skills against them. sizes one element of efficiency. but so is having competition among many different types of players. most people farming, whether they are on a large or small farm would agree that having a landscape or a farm support so

that they can compete would be better for all of us. people looking at the grocery bills would find their prices would not be skyrocketing so much. host: mr. reisinger, can you walk us through a product from your family's wisconsin farm to a dinner table? can you walk us through that supply chain? guest: absolutely. probably the best example is milk. although our farm has shifted and diversified, milk is the best example of this. what happens is a farm like ours, for 100 years, we would milk powell's morning a night. there were machines in the later aris but it was mostly by hand. we were able to pick up more cows but it was very physical labor for a farm like ours. you are hauling machines and bringing the cows in. putting machines on the cows. doing all kinds of physical labor. in addition to fieldwork and everything it takes. each morning, that milk goes

into a cooling tank on our farm. it is picked up and in our case, it was shipped to a small cheese factory that would use that milk . what happened to a good amount of milk, so much milk is that increasingly it was going toward not necessarily small -- but large dairy processes. they would be creating different types of cheese and other dairy products. it's taken by the mill processor, turned into some other kind of product and sold to another food company. and then it is sold to distributors who sell it to grocery stores or restaurants. often times, there might be as many as half a dozen or more transactions between the farm gate and the dinner table, by the time somebody -- something gets to the american people. that is an example with milk. one of the things that we had in wisconsin and the reason so many family farms survived for longer

is because there were options like my dad had, which was to sell our milk to a local small cheese factory that used it to make specialty cheeses that were purchased by people all across the country. p had choices more so than many people who are locked into selling one type of product in one direction. many times, farmers are facing constrained choices. >> again, the farm bureau reports one cow daily can produce five pounds of butter, nine gallons of ice cream and 10 pounds of cheese, per cow. how long between the milking of the cow and the product on the table? guest: it depends on the product. if it is milk, if it is being sold and needs to be pasteurized. that can be a matter of days. when cheese is made, that can take days upon days. there is a more resilient

product that can be made over time. it can take days or weeks. it depends on the type of production. one of the things that is important is the idea of higher prices and whether farmers make more money in those instances. the reality is they don't. because of the transactions, the food being bought between the farm gate to the dinner table, by the time he gets back to the farmers, there is a small share of it left and the farmer has been dealing with increased prices. as consumers prices are going up, farmers are facing higher costs of seed, fertilizer and energy. when the food prices get higher, they don't feed much of that -- see much of that money and anything they do see is enough by increasing costs. farmers are facing the same economic crunch families across the country have been seeing across the years. host: we are talking about your family farm in wisconsin but you're in california. what do you do for a living?

guest: i split my time between northern california where my wife lives and her family lives and wisconsin. i, during my -- in addition to my writing the book, i am a columnist at the milwaukee journal sentinel and the usa today. i found as i was growing up that my talent was less -- so i pursued a writing career. i work for a public consulting firm where we work on bipartisan and nonpartisan private-sector issues that are affecting all kinds of industries. what i do is go back and forth and work on my writing and issues and how to solve problems in the public affairs arena. i'm honored to tell our family story. i help out on the business side.

any farm kid on your day off, they throw you on the tractor and i still plant and harvest when i am home as well. that is something i struggled with in the book. i talked a lot about that. i was the first eldest son in four generations not to farm. i was also the first on my dads family to go to college. i was grateful to be able to grow up the way i did. i love my roots and i'm grateful to tell our story but i struggled with not taking over the family farm after my great grandfather, grandfather and father have done. that weight of tradition and the pressure on farm families is a real thing and it is something we explore in the book, generation after generation, as well. host: tyrone in illinois, thanks for holding. you are on with author brian reisinger. caller: it's great to talk to you. my background is retail. i own a small crafts store. my cousin farmed and i help him farm. i really enjoy it.

i just want to talk about a few of the myths people to understand out there read one is the fact that a big part of that farm bill goes for wic and food stamps. they see that total of the farm bill and they think it is going to the farmers and it's not. that needs to be emphasized a little bit. the other thing is i hear people blaming farmers for chemicals on the property. our golf courses used 10 times the chemicals any farmer does. people have to realize that as a farmer, their prices are set by the board. not by them. so, when you are looking up four dollars of corn right now, a little over four dollars. that price is the same price as it was in the 1980's. that is not feasible for a farm.

our government has to work harder to open up more avenues so that our farmers can get a better price. host: thank you, sir. let's hear from brian reisinger. guest: i'm sure there are a lot of people in farm country cheering those observations. i think one of the key things that was said was how their need to be more avenues for our farmers. that is so true. we have so many farms that are really locked into growing one type of prop or product. it might be corn or some other type of field craft. there is some market for it and they know how to do it and governments that support it. the living that can be made on that is getting worse and worse. the reason is, just as the caller said, the prices are not necessarily going up. if they are, they are not keeping pace with costs. we don't have enough new possibilities for farmers in this country so they are locked

into -- they wouldn't have a place to take specialty wheat or artisan tomatoes if they were trying to grow it. we don't have a market infrastructure or a government policy that allows our farms to branch out and start doing new things and finding entrepreneurial opportunities. one of the things we talk about in the book is how can we transition from this food system that pumps out a large amount of food. how can we shift from that toward one that has large avenues, as the caller says, for farmers to be able to make money. that is something that can create an opportunity and can meet a growing demand among the american public to know where their food comes from. if we have farmers producing local or regionally produced

food or going into specialty markets like wisconsin produced cheese, if we have more of that, farmers are able to find more economic opportunity. consumers are able to find more food, that is local, the type of food that they want. there still isn't enough consumer demand to completely overhaul the industry. and so many farmers are left growing crops and producing products that only have certain, limited economic value. that gets into the issues of chemicals. there are many workers transitioning off of chemicals but don't have the new crops where they can transition and do something new and different. if you want to grow field corn and wanted to be resilient and be able to be competitive, you have to do some of -- some amount of that. many of us want to shift off of those chemicals and pursue other economic opportunity but they are locked in and it costs money to make changes, especially when margins are so tight. there are a lot of good observations that speak to the limited options farmers have in this country. host: larry tweets in, how is

the price and availability of fertilizer affecting farms? guest: severely. it's a good observation. the reality is the price of fertilizer has gone up in recent years and it is one of the most expensive what they call inputs. input costs that you have to put into producing our food. there are global forces that affect that. the reality is that that is one of the costs that has increased exponentially. and along with other increasing costs, while the price that the farmers received, that is part of the economic squeeze. the previous caller mentioned farmers don't set their prices. that is true. whether it is corn or any other commodity crop, you get what the farmers dictate. as they are dealing with increasing costs, if farmers have the ability to sell new types of crops and products,

they can say here is what i need to charge for this, that's a way to break out of the situation where the commodity prices dictate what the farmer receives. increasing costs dictate the cost for the farmers. you don't really set your own prices but you have prices dictated to you. it's a difficult comic situation that we need to break out of. host: the olive tree institute, le-of-the-road think tank writes this. federal farm subsidies increased laces which ben wealthy landowners at the expense of the f and the excitation of more in the future are capitalized, further elevating prices and making farmland a good bet for hedge funds, wealthy investors and better established nearby farmers. do you agree with that? guest: i do and it gets to the

dilemma that the books title speaks to. the cash for part is it is getting harder and harder if you are a family to make a living farming. the land they are living on is increasingly valuable but only if you sell it. you have farm families where dads and moms are looking around, trying to figure out if they are heading to the day where they have to tell their kids we can make it anymore and we can continue to make a living here. for our farm family, the land and the farm is not just your mom and dad's job, it's your home and your community and heritage. that land rich, cash poor dilemma is very real. the land is viable but only if it is sold to an investor or a speculator. someone who wants to develop it or a large corporation. it is getting harder and harder each year to make a living. host: something we have heard

about in the news and teresa from little rock, arkansas, texts in, is china or are other countries purchasing farmland in our area? guest: i have not seen it as immediately in our area as i have in other places but all of our farm area is at risk. one of the reasons it is happening less in wisconsin is there is still a base of family farms and small landowners who hold onto that land. as we lose our farms at 45,000 a year, it's easier for foreign adversaries to buy our farmland. that farmland is owned by one entity. it's easy to come in and make a deal with one landowner. as it gets further and further away from our family farms, that land might be held in less careful hands. hands that only care about investors and being able to get a return from investors. it's easier for a foreign adversary like china or a company to come in and purchase

that land. it is happening at alarming rate. the amount of foreign farm ownership increased to 15% in two years. some of that is by friendly countries. there are some farmers who welcome investors from friendly countries. the reality is that a growing chunk of that is also foreign adversaries and there is a lot of concern about china, north korea, russia, iran. china in particular has been purchasing farmland in a way that not only endangers our food supply, but also endangers our national security because they have been purchasing farmland near military institutions as well which i don't think we can count as a coincidence. host: paul is a farmer in new park, pennsylvania. hi, paul. caller: hello. host: go ahead. caller: first, thanks for calling attention to the reality of the american agriculture.

second, i am 80. i am a fourth generation. my son is fifth-generation on the farm. we have an operation the last two decades. my son has gotten us heavily into agricultural entertainment. my question is where do we go from here. it appears as though the future may not be food. the future may be energy. the question is where do we go from here? host: paul, before you leave, did you say that your farm is getting into agriculture entertainment? caller: yes. host: what is that? what does that mean? caller: i think your guest will know quite well. we are having guests come out to the farm. my son has a corn maze.

that started with a corn maze and it has now diversified a little more to other things that families can come out, be on the farm, pick their own food. have a day for good family entertainment on our farms. host: ok. you mentioned you are selling carbon credits. can you just briefly tell us how you do that and who you are selling them to? caller: i wish i could give you a really good explanation. but, we are adopting -- adopting the way we farm so that we capture carbon in the store. we are increasing the organic matter or the carbon content of the soil by the way we farm.

we are working with the middleman who certifies that we are doing what we say we are doing. and they then so those carbon credits -- sew those carbon credits to businesses, whether it is pepsi-cola or someone else, who wants to offset their carbon footprint. so, it is complicated and a pain in the neck sometimes. but we think maybe that is the direction we need to go in in the future. host: you mentioned the large agricultural concern, land o lakes. do you work with the company, land o lakes? caller: land o lakes runs true terra. they certify carbon and verifies

that we are capturing carbon in the soil. and they market the carbon credits we have captured. host: got it. appreciate your time. thank you for sharing your expertise. let's hear from our guest, brian reisinger. guest: paul's time up there is a great example of a family farm working to diversify as many ways as you can. they are growing crops and products. they are also pursuing agri-tourism. and they are participating in the carbon offset, which is an entire industry. there are all kinds of avenues farms are trying to evolve and figure out where the revenue stream comes from. despite the good work by paul and his son, you hear him asking the question what is next and where can we go from here?

farms operate on incredibly tight margins. despite amazing creativity, the economics are still incredibly difficult. some of the places we go can be dictated i what we talk about in the book. as an r&d revolution. research and develop men. government r&d is at its lowest since the 1970's. we still have private sector r&d. any r&d is not doing what we needed to do. so much about technology has been focused on how can farms get bigger and bigger and more efficient in terms of size. scale neutral technology would be the technology back and work for not only large firms put medium and small. for you are able to sit down and say i purchased this piece of technology, it can pay for itself in five years or 10 years.

that efficiency will help pay for the technology. if you can see that on a short enough time, they can't afford it. we need technology that is practical. and also affordable for farms of all sizes. there are good examples of this. it's not scary like science-fiction, it is small adjustments to the genetics of a seed that don't have to be artificial and don't have to be dangerous. they can be very basic. there are more types of crops and products that can be grown on more types of soils at more times of the year. that could dramatically open up entrepreneurial opportunities that might be there for farmers that are currently only available for one corner of the globe. that is the kind of thing back and create new opportunity and new avenues. whether they are crops that have meaningful profit margins.

we need to open up margins for families like paul's and the ones i grew up on. if we don't do that, by the way, we are on pace, if we lose farms at the pace we did for the past century, we are on pace to lose most of our family farms within the next generation which is a scary prospect. that's why people like paul, despite the hard work and good things they are doing, are concerned about this. host: brian reisinger, in the year 2024, is there anything that is really a non-gmo product on our american farms? guest: there are on the farms. most of the food is produced by larger farms and many of those seeds and in the genetics of those scenes him -- and the genetics of those seeds have been -- it really depends on the

scientific -- we have farms across the country that are working to supply food to the american consumer. there is a mismatch between those farms and the market. there are many farms that are growing and will grow more fresh fruits and vegetables. food and fiber products, like hemp. there is a small market for those things but they are robust enough for farms -- are not robust enough for farms to make the full-time transition. that's where if we can get consumer demand to continue to grow, it has been growing. people are caring more than ever, if we can get all of our consumers to take a bigger step toward buying crops and products, whether they know where it comes from, and that they are patronizing these local and specialty food markets, we can begin reading more market demand that helps farmers make that transition into crops and products where people can feel good about what they are putting into their bodies.

host: timothy is in east berkshire, vermont. good morning. caller: yes, good morning, gentlemen. i lived about three miles away from the largest farm in the state of vermont. the way this farm became the largest is due to the fact that the smaller farmers, which were mostly milk, their hundredweight costs were down to nothing. of course, the retail costs keep going up. the farm, collectively, and the farm has farms in new york as well as vermont, probably milks

about 200,000 cows a day. now, what is funny is that this farm is part of a cooperative. due to the fact that milk prices have been so low for so long, what this farm did was made a huge methane gesture. what happens is the co-op comes in, they get the milk out of the parlor. and then they go around back, of course, the farmer gets paid. but then they go around back. and they take that tank or truck right into the methane jester. host: can you put a question mark or a period on what you are trying to tell us?

i'm sorry, timothy. caller: ok. all i am saying is the small farmers have so many hurdles against it when it comes to organic milk because of the bird flu. guess what? here is another nail in the coffin. host: i think we have the gist of what you're talking about. brian reisinger, any response for that caller? guest: the caller is talking about the product forces that have pushed agriculture in this direction as we tell the story in the book from the early 1900s, when my great-grandparents came here, digging a living out of the dirt, on to today. the reality is farms have been pushed more and more into the action of getting bigger or getting out. you have farms that have gotten much larger trying to survive the economic forces and others who have not been able to do that and have been squeezed out. the reality of the situation with milk and dairy is much like

other products across the country where you have to be able to provide economic scale to be able to make a living. when you compare that low milk price to the cost of production. this is where we need to make so many of the changes we have been talking about to make sure the products are functioning the way we intended. and also ships of the we have -- all of these things are the kinds of things that are hurdles to small family farms trying to make it as the caller is saying. host: why are most farmers republicans today? guest: one of the things that has driven sentiment in rural america and among farmers in general is this feeling of being left behind. people can decide that they agree or disagree with the reasons and the direction of politics in rural america. the reality is that what has

happened in this country is our farms have declined for the better part of a century. many of those commodities have been shrinking. on top of the fact that manufacturing jobs and other things of disappeared from rural america that helped fill some gaps. when you have that level of economic devastation there are two economies in this country. the economy that affects everyone and then the rural economy that has been undoubtedly slow for a very long time regardless of the ups and downs of the rest of the economy. there is a lot of economic frustration in rural america. that is something the republican party at current has been able to tap into. there are times in our history where democrats have been able to tap into that. the reality is we need new entrepreneurial and economic opportunity for farmers in rural america. that's what we need to solve the problems that farm families are facing. currently, that frustration is playing out in the direction of the republicans. it has gone in different

directions in other eras. the important thing about that is it speaks to the economic frustration. it took both parties to get our farm family and food supply into this predicament. it will take both parties and everyone in between to help solve it over the long haul. it's a problem that is bigger than any one recent political trend. host: tom in birmingham, michigan. please go ahead. caller: good morning and thank you, c-span, for having mr. reisinger. i'm proud of what you are doing. you are right where you should be. i understand you are lamenting leaving the family but your purpose is being served. as a past national president of a national board of physician and nutrition specialist. nutrition and food are two different things. i would love to get your perspective on what you've been touching on. i am centered in metric to try. on one part of the parking lot, it takes me six dollars to buy a

plane of raspberries and on the other end, mcdonald's is selling a five dollar value meal. can you comment a little further on the impression come the general impression people have where all of our subsidizing commodity crops at 220 million acres in the united states, 30% of his corn? and the modest, if any so-called specialty crops where we would find fruit and vegetable and the mismatch if everyone tried to eatprices would skyroc. i would appreciate deeper thoughts on that and i hope we can get you to speak at the american college of lifestyle medicine. host: thank you tom. guest: thank you so much for your kind words. i appreciate that and i love the discussion and would love to do that. you touch on something that is so important to understand which is we have this large food system creating overly processed

foods and making it possible in the country and traditionally for it to be affordable. the alternative has that has been food that is more expensive. i think we are seeing some of the inertia in the direction you're talking about to change that. unfortunately as americans of experience such incredible high in the food system although remains a modern miracle deep in vulnerability and the cost of food is going up in that system. the food system the mainstream way to get our food is not as affordable as it once was. as we have more forms working to ship we are providing local and regional specialty foods there is stability for economics to bring that price down and more possible to make that transition. this will take time. it also takes farms as you probably well know, it takes them money and time to make a transition like that.

saying i'm get up put a few acres in there is a risk to that and cost money they're operating on small margins. we move in the direction of what the caller is talking about and i think more consumers caring about where it comes from acting upon that can help. we also need to change the way that our government programs work right now. you do have so many subsidies that go toward certain types of products. for example blueberries and asparagus in our neighboring michigan those don't have any basic crop insurance. so we do need to figure out a way to diversify the way that our government handles this programs so that basic safety net is there originally in part to help with uncontrollable weather and other factors. i think it's something for farmers more generally that we are doing a bit less of picking winners and losers to our government programs. that's one of the things along with solutions we talked about

to allow farms for farmers to pursue that new economic opportunity they have government policy standing in the way of that. we can also have more choices for consumers with a not to pick between cheap food that they're frustrated with and more expensive food. the reality is the system is getting more expensive and the alternative is becoming more viable. we need to move government policies to get out of the way of that. host: usa today another column rural america mental health crisis. my dad fought to survive it. what happened. >> one of the stories we talk about in the opening pages and it's a theme throughout the book is the mental health burden that exist in rural america and we've had a mental health crisis across the country and many

walks of life but in rural america it's a bit of a silent crisis in the sense it's not talked about. farm families are raised generation after generation to keep your head down and get the work done. the reality is facing that pressure losing that and not being able to make a living while losing everything else is an untenable pressure especially when you go generation after generation. great camp -- great grandpa survived the depression. mom and dad survived the farm crisis why can't i make it. that's a kind of pressure farm families feel. my dad in our case when we made the decision to sell the cows to try to turn around and be able to diversify the farm in a new way the reality is we had reasons for hope. we still had our land and we had not lost everything. my dad was dealing with the fact he was the first in four generations more than 100 years to sell the cows and could not get up in the morning and have the same purpose that his father and grandfather had and that led

to depression. we tell the story of standing on the porch of our cabin back in the farmhouse talking and are number the sun was shining and a member wondering if he was thinking about harming himself and then the reporting the book i learned from my dad he had been thinking that and farmers suicide is a serious issue and that's one of the reasons farming is one of the top in this country for suicide. my dad was able to come through it in part because we were talking as a family because we knew about the issue. we tell that story in the book, he began to say to himself i have grandkids here i have to teach them. it is an emotional topic. but he thought of the next generation and that's what his debt has sustained our farm families for decades in this country and i'm grateful he is still here and i hope anybody was struggling with that

understands that there is strength not shame in speaking up asking for help. we have to tell that story in the book. i talked my dad long and hard about that. we want to make sure people weren't alone in that struggle. with their farm family or any other type of family in this country. i hope they seek help not only if they are in crisis but if you're dealing with the daily struggles of life. dealing with it early and talking about it can help and if you are in crisis there are people who have gotten through that and i hope you're able. host: 1.9 million farms and ranches in the u.s.. family operated farmers and ranchers make up about 2% of the u.s. population and receive about $.50 for each food dollar spent, farming equals about 1% of the u.s. grossed to mastic product, farm exports last year 100 75 billion which is 20% of the total farm product.

brian reisinger is the author of his book, a land rich: cash poor. thank you for being with us here on the washington journal. guest: i appreciate it. host: one more hour to go this morning on our program. the first hour we devoted democrats and what they think their party should and does stand for. this last hour we are devoting to republicans. what do you think your party should stand for and what do you think it does stand for. 202 is the area code. 202-748-8000 if you are in the eastern end central area who are republican. 202-748-8001 for those who are republican in the mountain and pacific time zones. we will be right back. ♪

>> in his latest book, peter's dedication reads this way, to those in the vietnam wall and the countless viennese counterparts, it did not have to happen. in his role as publisher, he spent numerous hours working with former defense secretary robert mcnamara for his 1995 book in retrospect, the tragedy and lessons in vietnam. he writes this book describes what happens in the years between 1963 and mcnamara's last day as secretary of defense, february of 1968. robert mcnamara died in 2009 at the age of 93. >> peter with his book lbj and

mcnamara: vietnam partnership destined to fail. on this episode obook notes plus. book notes plus is available on the c-span now mobile app. >> are you a nonfiction book lover looking for a new podcast? try listening to one of the many podcasts c-span has to offer. you will listen to interesting interviews with people and authors writing books on history in subjects that matter. conversations with nonfiction authors and historians. afterwards brings together best-selling nonfiction authors with influential interviewers for wide-ranging hour-long conversations. we talk about news and interviews about the publishing industry in nonfiction authors. find all of our podcasts by downloading the free c-span now app. or wherever you get your

podcasts. >> washington journal continues. >> the modern republican party often talks about ronald reagan as its model limited government, a strong defense, low taxes those were kind of his mantras and now it's the party of donald trump which includes elements of populism including tariffs and strong borders, etc.. what is a republican today? what do they stand for and if you are a republican we want to hear what you think of republicanism today and what it stands for. republicans only, what does your party stand for. [indiscernible] --202-748-8000 if you live in the central and eastern time zone. 202-748-8001 if you live in the mountain and pacific time zone. we had democrats in the first hour of the show and now we are

devoting this hour to republicans, i want to point out here that the national review in their end of year issue as this cover. the national review with a picture of william f buckley, founder of the magazine -- they are doing a very special tribute to him in the magazine. here is the article we will pull out from the national review. why bill buckley's ideas still matter. for a long time conservatives had a story about the political inheritance. the right was fractured. a collection of irritable gestures and then william f buckley founded this journal, of the national review bringing the various respectable strands of conservatism together and discarding the others, the

resulting synthesis came to be known as a fusionism which combined classical liberalism and classical conservatism or another common formulation of traditionalism and libertarianism. that was true until the last decade and in taking over the republican party, donald trump shattered the old buckley right consensus. he neglected its themes, rarely speaks of limited government or constitution and rejected some of its associated policies. in the subset of his biggest fans reject fusionism as counterproductive and worst passe. where fusionism's previous enemies on the right chief lee complained about its social conservatism, its trump era foes reject its support for free markets or at least reject the

vehemence of that support. trumps victories have encourage them in the political project not unreasonably. some speaking of fusionism and even buckley himself as part of the ash heap of history. he goes on to write the major accomplishments of the first trump administration sit comfortably in the buckley reagan tradition. the tax reform he signed largely written by former speaker the house paul ryan cut tax rates for individuals and corporations along with them -- mitch mcconnell stop the federal -- stock the federal judiciary with conservatives, working with those of previous appointees have applied the law to scale back race-based affirmative action, expand religious liberty and allow restrictions on abortion. that's just a little bit from the look at why bill buckley's

ideas still matter 60 years later. that's from the national review in case you're interested. republicans we want to know why -- basically while you are republican and what the party stands for and what you think it should stand for. we will begin in athens, georgia. caller: good morning. mary, happy new year. how much do i love c-span. peter i'm going to answer your question but i have to address something. summer of 2016i called you while you were at one of the conventions and am not sure if it was democrat or republican and we had a great conversation and that started something. what that started is going to end with this call it's tavarez from athens.

two administrations, two presidents, one monthly call. the book will be published in the next two to three months. our beloved founder and recently resigned mr. brian lam. host: will you make sure i get a copy of that book. caller: i would love nothing more than to have me and you and brian lam to sit down and discuss this wonderful work. to answer your question. i did not know the value of republicanism. the american culture and society has been conditioned, programmed, brainwashed to believe republicanism is not important. we are a nation of shopkeepers that have been undermined and sold out by the globalists, i.e.

the old world order who want what they have been missing. republicanism. make america great again and america first. language, border, culture. thank you so much. >> good luck to you and good to hear your voice. thanks for calling in. gary is in mt. juliet tennessee. what does the publican party stand for. caller: thank you. it stands for the government getting out of the way. allowing businesses to thrive. they pay the bills. i can't believe what i hear coming from the democrats that these people billionaires are not paying taxes. you have no idea how much now i'm not a billionaire i want to be clear.

nowhere but they pay the taxes. they produce things, the tax breaks are when they are developing jobs for people. first of all the big difference with a democrat and a republican is the knowledge you can -- yourself out of debt. we just want them to get out of the way. give people jobs, let them prosper. >> let me ask you a question. republicans in the past have talked about deficits and debts. hasn't been a topic of conversation last couple of election cycles. 1.8 3 trillion was the deficit this year in 2024 and the u.s.

is about $35 trillion with a debt of about $35 trillion in debts and obligations. do you think of those figures. caller: it's insane. now give trump his due. everybody talks about his debt. it all happen when the covid hit. none of his doing. i don't know when we will find out who started that, but it almost broke the country. he had to do things to keep him -- keep it going. >> appreciate you calling in. let's hear from gary in charleston, dutch harry in west virginia. which of their welcome party stand for. caller: -- what does the republican party stand for. caller: it stands for grand old party, the party of business.

the business of government is business and i would recommend two books that americans should add. "the revolution the adventures of joseph plumb martin" and "plain speaking" by harry s truman. great historical perspective of america, of its founding and these were not highly educated people. truman i think was the last president that did not have a high school education. but based on the historians that i've read, he's ranked as near great as a president so thank you very much for taking my call. those two books i leave you with

and -- host: republican speaker the house wasn't he? the first book you list it. >> know that is joseph plumb -- he, he is the only soldier that served from the first day of the revolutionary war throughout the entire i believe it's 1782. >> thank you for clarifying that we appreciated. ross, las cruces new mexico. why are you a republican and what does the party stand for. >> the party stands for for me a liberated government that is controlled by the reasons that

request democracy to continue on with the nations foundation to support the future of all that we do and all that we succeed in for prosperity and our posterity. host: that is ross in las cruces. we go to karen -- aaron in greenville, south carolina. caller: thanks for having me on. debt under control, that's what it stands for. all sorts of problems, and a first step republicans could try to get away with is a budget amendment. i didn't say a balanced budget amendment, a budget amendment which would simply be you are going to have a budget every year.

no more of this continuing resolution stuff. so that way, i think you could add more if you wanted. the republicans could shame the democrats by saying you don't want to have a budget amendment. what kind of people are you. that's what i think. host: wall street journal, this is an article. progressive moment in politics is over at least for now they write this past year showed the progressive policies that dominated most industrialized countries over the past few decades or more is shifting to the right fueled by working-class anxieties over the economy and immigration and growing issues from climate change to identity politics. the return of donald trump to the white house is the most rheumatic and important example but it is far from the only one. across europe where economic

growth has largely stalled, conservative and populist right-wing parties making unprecedented gains rate three quarters of governments in the european union are either led by a right of center party or ruled by a least one. the shift is set to continue. canada appears poised to kick out a deeply unpopular aggressive prime minister for germany is expected to dump its centerleft government. polls show the top two parties in germany are present the center-right and the far-right. part of the shift is the normal pendulum of politics swinging back and forth between established parties on the left and right, the difference this time is a strong strain of populism and a growing rejection of traditional parties. country after country many working-class voters, especially those outside the biggest cities are signaling the same thing, they miss trust the

establishment from academics to bankers to traditional politicians and feel these elites are out of touch and don't care about people like them. years of increased migration and trade coupled with low economic growth have led to a backlash, a rising nationalism where people want more of a sense of control. the rise of social media has exacerbated divisions and led to changes in anti-establishment parties. it goes across countries says a lifelong democrat who now works for the center-right american enterprise institute think tank. working-class people are just po to about immigration, all the culture war stuff in the relatively poor economic performance that has shaped the working-class experience in the 21st century. this is the wall street journal.

art is in seattle. which is their publican party stand for and what do you think it should stand for? caller: as a lifelong michigan person. i've never been favor of their publican party but i've got to tell you after watching the interviews and the way they treated people on camera when they said they were doing interviews made me disgusted how these people acted towards other people. nancy pelosi ripping up the speech made me want to slap her in the head. this is the worst group of people that's ever been. when i was young, the president once said ask not what your country can do but what you can do for your country. now they say what can i get from him. that's what i see in their performance. not what can we do for you but what can we get from you. and so i think the idea of saying that you have to accept everybody at all times for everything is and the dei are

fine examples of poor management. we need diversity, we need differences, we need arguments, we need complaints, people do not agree on everything so we can have those things. if everybody says everything is ok then there is no diversity anymore. if everybody says i don't care what you think because what the -- which is what their welcome party seems to be doing lately then that's what they seem to get. they walked away without caring what people would think. for years people said term limits and no investment in the stock market. hello see stayed in there for a lifetime and made a fortune. i don't care for that. as a democrat for life i can vote republican really so i've gone independent. i think donald trump should be recognized as having started out as a republican and nancy pelosi

drove him out of the republican party. host: or vice versa. again, this hours dedicated to republicans just like we dedicate the first hour of the show to democrats. republicans only what is your party stand for. what do you think it should stand for. bob is in texas. good morning to you. caller: good morning. this is really pretty simple. and what the republican party stands for is not what i think it stands for or what you think it stands for anyone else thinks it stands for. it stands for what is written in our founding in 1776. we only had two laws -- they were good enough laws to get us to defeat the entirety of the baddest military on earth. in texas, what is written is our

texas platform. the preamble and its principles that are written in the first of those principles that are written in the texas platform today are the same thing that was written in our founder's first law of 1776. host: which was? caller: it's on page one of u.s. code if you go to your courthouse and look on the first page. i don't want to make it too easy for anybody because if i spill the beans, you know it will be too easy. host: marie is in oceanside new york. wire your publican and what does the party stand for? caller: as a republican, i came to this country legally and then

i worked. i did not come here to live off the government. i came here for my skills. i'm a nurse by profession and i am proud of that. also speaking of working as a republican we need to unite to lower taxes because they keep on going up. by doing so individual accountability each person should be held liable for what they do with their money. we want smaller government and also fiscal responsibility we need to really get our national debt down because of the financial we are learning how to control our money so that we don't work and go broke. we need to work and have some money for us because this is america we need our people to be first and i believe in the making america great again.

i am a proud republican and i used to be democrat and i realize the program is not good. i believe in trump and we want more persons like trump to lead our country. >> marie in oceanside, new york. the hill reports this. kari lake says she will not seek office again in arizona. marie we will move on -- you know what i guess i should really look at what numbers i'm punching up here. i think this is en in orlando. i apologize. caller: good morning and happy new year. yes, i wasn't really sure how to approach this topic. i am definitely a much younger than the majority of people who call in the washington journal.

host: how old are you ian? caller: i just turned 32 in september. host: are you a republican? caller: since i first started voting. my first vote legally was for mitt romney. caller: white -- host: why are you a republican? caller: my father mostly. i suppose he influenced me heavily as a younger kid. i haven't always been from orlando originally from new york. host: what do you think the party stands for and what you think it should stand for? caller: that's the problem. i don't know anymore because you have so many people these days where you share your actual conservative opinions if anything it's not related to the ma opinionsga then you are a

rino. it is the same thing on the left. if you don't have that far left opinion, then you are not a democrat anymore. i think that is really damaging to our country. host: have you bitten your tongue from time to time because of what you just said? caller: i don't mind doing that. i will say that i think my republican friends are far more open-minded about talking about politics than my left-wing friends and that's also another thing that's kind of driven me further and further right over the years, i hate to say that but -- caller: what do you do in orlando. caller: loss prevention for cvs. the pharmaceutical retailer. >> what have the last couple of

years been like in that job? caller: a lot of theft going on in various departments, specifically we really have a hard time dealing with makeup. makeup is a big theft loss for us. host: do you have to lock it up? caller: lately yes and not just makeup. other things, basic things, sometimes certain parts of our stores in orlando are having to lock up milk or cereal or basic things. it is kind of ridiculous. >> thanks for watching and calling in and sharing a little bit about yourself with us.

donald trump talked about his plans recently in the last couple of weeks here's just a little bit of what he had to say. [video clip] >> and we are going to build american, by american and we will hire american. i will end the war in ukraine, i will stop the chaos in the middle east and i will prevent i promise world war iii, we are very close to world war iii. [applause] we will crush violent crime, we are going to stop violent crime. get ready you will have to be tough. we can't let this happen. our cities are crumbling. and give our police support and protection resources and respect they so dearly deserve. [applause] and i rebuilt our entire military on the level it has never been. unfortunately we gave a big chunk of it to afghanistan.

what a terrible thing but we will again rebuild our sections of our military that have been so badly hurt plus we give so much of it away. when i came in the last time we had no ammunition can you believe it. we were greeted with a general sir we are very low almost no ammunition. they can keep it quiet, let's not let the enemy know that. steve bannon would say that's not a good thing. no ammunition is not good. and i built so much ammunition so fast nobody's ever seen anything like it. we give a lot of the ammunition away. and we have to take care of ourselves we have to protect ourselves. and we have to make our country great. we can't keep doing what we are doing. especially when these wars never had to start. they never had to start. we will rebuild our once great

cities including our capital in washington dc, making them safe, clean and beautiful again and we will do it quickly. we will teach our children to love our country, to honor our history and to always respect our great american flag. [applause] >> we will get critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our schools and we will get it out of our schools very fast. [applause] >> i will defend religious liberty, i will restore free speech, and i will defend the right to keep and bear arms. and after years of building up foreign nations, defending foreign borders and protecting foreign lands we are finally going to build up our country, defend our borders and protect

our citizens, we are going to protect our citizens. [applause] and we will stop illegal immigration once and for all. it is going to stop, we are not going to have an invasion of our country any longer. that will stop in just a few very short weeks. >> that was president trump's desk trump a week or so back talking about his agenda going into his next term. getting -- which starts 20 -- january 20. we have the return of congress in january third this coming friday at brand new congress 119th congress. we will be live again on washington journal and throughout the day as a proto-potential speakers and how that plays out. we know how that played out last congress in 2023. the washington journal will be

on from 7:00 till noon. and as the congress comes in and convenes we will stick with it until there is a speaker and until they adjourn. then on january 6 is the certification of the election and we will be live with that as well. kamala harris to certify trumps when on january 6, this is from the gateway pungent, there will be no issue about potentially pulling that. kamala harris will certify trumps when on january 6. the hill publication set the internet ablaze after insurrection plan to keep trump out of office was published. harris' aides says they plan to certify the election on january 6. you have january 6 coming

january 20 coming up and as you all well know, those will all be live unfiltered events on c-span this will be the place to watch all of those places and events. back to your calls again republicans only. what does the party stand for what do you think it should stand for. robin is in maryland. host: caller: good -- caller: good morning. i think the lee green well song says it all. our party stands for patriotism and freedom. republicans that i know are all proud to be americans and we appreciate our freedom, to buy the cars we want, a freedom to wear or not. to make decisions about our life , whatever it is. we want our freedom.

i think strong borders are important. i think another really important thing is being able to trust our leaders and i think donald trump has proven to be so much more honest than the democrats, then joe biden was not going to pardon his son. there lies go on and on. i think the truth is important as his patriotism and freedom. host: what is it like to be a republican in maryland? caller: i'm out in the country about 30 miles northwest of d.c.. so i occasionally see a trump sign and i have people in my area that are republican. i grew up a democrat but hillary clinton turned me into a republican. if i go downtown to her my friends are i would never wear a trump shirt or a trump hat.

in montgomery county it is like you are evil if you are a republican and i have several friends who stopped being my friends because i voted for trump and i don't think he is perfect, but i certainly think he cares about me and cares about -- and he is a patriot, he loves this country he never -- >> that is robin in maryland. lawrence is in illinois. lake grove village illinois. what do you think your republican party stands for? caller: good morning. i'm from elk grove village illinois. there's been a generalization, it still on our money in god we trust and out of many, one. unfortunately the democrats it's

no longer out of many one it's out of many, separate basically which is kind of sad. my parents, i'm an older guy in my 70's. my father was a world war ii veteran who marched under general patton. he voted democrat because when he got out of the war he was a teamster and used to deliver fuel and heating oil. my mother was a practicing catholic so she was a democrat as well. i have never been a democrat. i voted democrat once i voted for jimmy carter one time. because he was a moral man and he made a living before he got into politics, did not turn out well for him but i voted for him because he was a moral man and one thing i like about the republican party is most of them make their money and their wealth if you want to call it wealth before they got into politics as opposed to these lifelong democrats who have made

all of their money getting into politics. it is sad. growing up in illinois but i've lived in the bay area, san francisco bay area for 15 years. i lived in texas for a little while, my wife is from south america. a woman of color, she loved donald trump the first time she saw him speak and i wasn't a big fan of him at first. but she recognized what a good guy he was. it took me a while. host: lawrence in illinois, thanks for calling in. david brooks on the client -- thrilled the client for viewership bird this is on cbs's newshour friday night. david brooks told the host of the country was over politicized. saying while many claims the word for 2024 was exhausted because of the polital cycle he believed it should be

chastened citing trumps when on november 5, the failures of european socialism and israel' triumphs. saying i have to say i'm thrilled by the declining viewership for political news. over politicized people go to politics for a sense of belonging, for a sense of righteousness. should go to your friends for those things. you're asking more of politics than politics can bear. mary in mississippi. good morning mary. caller: good morning. i would like to say that i first became a member of the gop when clinton did his nasty in the oval office. i was a lot younger then. and it really burned me up that he would have the nerve to disgrace that almost sacred place in our nation.

>> what do you think the republicans stand for. >> common sense. morals, but mostly in this last 10 years. just common sense. and i would like to say to all of the rino republicans, if you don't stick behind our president of your party, that our party voted for, then you need to be out. because it only shows one thing that you are crooked and you do not want your evilness exposed. >> do you think some people might say donald trump has had some issues with women much like bill clinton did, do you think that is a fair comparison?

caller: of course i do, but donald trump is not perfect. let me say this to all of you democrats. we are not stupid. he is a man. he is human. and i can promise you there is nobody in washington dc that is perfect and has not done the same thing. host: that is mary in mississippi. thank you ma'am. hello lynn. caller: hello. i voted for policies that i think the republican party stands for more than the democrats. that is some of them are mostly social. i voted for more stringent stand on abortion, i believe in life. i don't believe in having life taken up until the moment of

birth in partial-birth i think there two states into their bylaws which means that even after the infant is born it can be allowed to die without intervention at all. as well is the transgender issue which i believe is mainly made up of by the media and indoctrination. obviously i believe that god created male and female, science will tell you there is only x and y chromosomes, not a bazillion other things they make up. i also believe the republican party stands for hiring and being the best you can be, not hiring because you are black, yellow, white or red or because you are um, believe in a certain

way, that you should be the best person for the job. so while a lot of other callers have said things i stand for, which i believe like the last lady said is common sense. host: what area of oregon do you live in? caller: gresham is a community but really couldn't tell the difference between boundaries with portland. host: is it lonely being a republican in portland, oregon? caller: you have to realize that when you vote on state issues and people running for office, your person is probably not going to be the winner, let's put it that way. so there are -- it is a very blue state. host: that is lynn in oregon. we appreciate your time this morning. mary beth in newport beach, california. caller: hi.

i changed my party so many times i can tell you. i live in california on the coast, but now the only thing i really like about the republican party is they are pro-life. i can find another place to be. a total environmentalist on the coast, there are some republicans that are that way. i think i base myself on president nixon. i was in the berkeley march against ronald reagan bringing out the national guard. so i guess i don't know what kind of philosophy i have. i think i follow the pope because he is an environmentalist and pro-life. he is for people being peaceful, for people getting together

without judgment against anyone else. host: were you living in orange county during the reagan years? because that was a reagan stronghold. caller: you know, i can't remember because it was so far back. i just remember some of my friends were going to berkeley and i went with them and a lot of them were smoking pot. when i saw how badly treated i was a federal employee for 27 years. so i saw how bad he was to people, so he is not a fan of mine. i really look for the moral man. i don't get this women and transgender and all that. i just want a moral person who i can have faith in. host: who did you vote for and 24? caller: i did not vote for

either one of them because i thought they were both disgusting. but i did vote for steve garvey and the reason i voted for him is he was not for trump. he had moral character, he had women he got pregnant and took care and support of them. he is a traditional moral person . we don't have hardly any of those anymore. host: mary beth in newport beach california, appreciate your time. mark is calling from indiana. >> right across the river from louisville kentucky in a town called jefferson. host: why are you republican? what does the party stand for and what should it stand for? caller: i'm a republican because i believe in a lot of the old school conservative issues.

making sure john q public has the chance to work a good job, send his kids to school and maintain a safe environment while remaining fiscally responsible across the nation and helping the people. that's what it means to me. since donald trump has become president and basically the leader of the republican party, i have seen a divisiveness that i have never seen before. i have a lot of friends that are pro-trump people and i just you know, i really lost faith in the party when i saw what happened on january 6. i don't care what anybody says. if that guy isn't there making that speech, the capital does not get assaulted and people don't die. host: for whom did you vote in

24? caller: i did not vote because it was just -- i could not vote republican and i did not feel comfortable with biden, excuse me kamala harris. host: you consider yourself a traditional republican and some would say a rino? caller: i would consider myself a traditional republican. host: what kind of work do you do there. caller: i am a project manager and hr manager. host: thank you sir for watching and calling in. we appreciate your time. stephen is in ohio. what does the republican party stand for in your view? >> very simplistic, there is supposedly $50 trillion in gas and oil under government owned land.

i would like to cash that in and pay her 35 and get to zero and start from there and go forward. i can see no other means to get out of this whole mess. host: national review, chuck writes republicans thinking much bigger on tax cuts. that's the headline in his piece. such is the reality is the gop debates when and how to cut taxes next year. republicans have been blessed with the white house and both chambers of congress and donald trump decisive victory has given them a mandate but instead of thinking about big and bold tax-cut ideas, they are talking about tweaks that are minor in the scheme of things. don't get me wrong, he writes, their publican priority extending trump 2017 tax cuts is worth doing. the incoming president's signature economic policy spilled a markable air of wage growth and opportunity

especially for the least fortunate. making them permanent would do a world of good for decades to come but that's not transformative because the tax cuts are already in place. nor are trumps new calls to cut corporate taxes further will also ending taxation on tip wages and social security benefits. while those ideas are valuable they are still variations on an old game. republicans should offer a new theme altogether. they should take a page out of the democrats book he writes, the last two times the left controlled the white house and congress they passed sweeping policies with far-reaching consequences in obama's first two years they enacted obamacare and dodd-frank. similarly, biden's first three years saw unprecedented explosion in federal spending mainly on corporate welfare, climate change and job creation.

when you control the levels are -- levers of power you should use them yet while democrats have acted in ways that harm americans and hold back the economy, republicans can use their newfound power to deliver game changing tax policies that make all-americans lives better. what would be a truly transformative tax-cut vision? here's an idea that already has support with conservative economists, ditch income taxes altogether and tax people exclusively on how much they buy. it's called a consumption tax and its benefits to americans would be enormous. chuck writing in the national review. don is in henderson, nevada. what does their public and party stand for? caller: good morning. host: turn down that volume and start talking through your phone. caller: good morning. host: we are going to move on.

mount vernon, new york. is your television down, go ahead. caller: yes it certainly is, thank you for taking my call. i am very excited for this next four years. i think right now with the republican party stands for is peace, prosperity and i share the same sentiment as the previous caller. we need that now in these times of all things we have been through the last four years. this has been really unbelievable and i think common sense right now will go a very long way. i think we should give our president donald trump a chance

in his four years and let's see how things work out. i think he really truly genuinely wants prosperity for the american people and thank you. that's all i have to say. host: weston in mount vernon, new york. covid restricts fuel jump in homelessness. homelessness or to the highest level on record this year driven by forces including a surge in migrants. in the end of pandemic era measures to protect the needy according to the federal government, the number of people experiencing homelessness topped 770,000, an increase of more than 18% over the last year and the largest annual increase since the count began in 2007. sam in syracuse, new york. good morning to you. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span and all the

work you do. i watch it quite often. let's start out with the democratic party which was started with the election of andrew jackson. one of their first claims, one of their first legislative act was the trail of tears. the indian removal act of 1830. another one of their planks was the continuation of slavery. it wasn't until the republican party came into existence in 1854 and with the election of republican president abraham lincoln that put an end to slavery, the democratic party was also responsible for the kkk. the nathan bedford forrest was a democrat. people don't study their history. also the republican party stepped in with grant and tried to roll back a lot of the jim

crow laws in the south. host: bring us up to date 2024 what does the republic and party stand for today. caller: border policies, republicans are creators and i see the democrats as takers. border policy, hopefully they can -- border policy, sensible policies, less regulation and they are believers of the american dream. they see the united states as a good place to be, that's why am a republican. host: sam, what do you do. caller: i'm a retired teacher and real estate broker. host: thank to everybody who called in and listened. we appreciate it.

we will see ♪ you tomorrow morning. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024]