will hold a moment of silence, then on to the carter presidential center for an arrival ceremony and service later today. you can stay with the c-span network for continuing coverage of the state funeral of president carter in georgia and washington, next thursday. that is it for today's washington journal. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. eastern for another edition. have a great day. >> coming up sunday morning, the incoming trump administration, the new congress and political news of the day.

the cato institute on the visa program, foreign workers and their impact on the economy. join the conversation sunday morning. >> president carter will lie in state at the u.s. capitol throughout wednesday. 9:30 a.m. eastern thursday,

president carter will be taken to washington national cathedral for funeral services. later in the day, the former president will travel south to be buried at the carter family home in georgia. we will show these on the c-span networks, www.c-span.org and c-span now. >> c-span, your unfiltered view of government, funded by these tv companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? it is way more than that. >> comcast is creating wi-fi enabled community centers so students can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> the total number of votes cast is 434 of which the

honorable mike johnson of louisiana received 218. host: this is washington journal for saturday, january 4. on the house for yesterday representative mceachin and, republican of louisiana, was reelected as speaker. because johnson won the gavel on the first ballot after a lengthy vote. to start today's program we want to hear your thoughts on speaker johnson's opening day at the 119th congress. here are the lines. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . you can text your comments to (202) 748-8003.

be sure to include your name and city. you can also post a question and comment on facebook or on x. good morning and welcome to washington journal. we appreciate you being with us. we will get to your calls and comments in a few minutes, but first wanted to share more about the floor proceedings yesterday. this headline from the wall street journal. johnson survives speaker vote after gop holdouts give way. the article says republicans, 219-200 15 margin meant johnson could afford no more than one gop defection. friday as all members voted for the candidates. thomas massie of kentucky already had vowed not to back johnson, while others had said they were undecided. as the clerk read off all names alphabetically, thomas massie stuck to his word and voted for

another candidate, presented of tom emmer of minnesota. ralph norman of south carolina and keystones of texas also voted for candidates other than johnson, leaving him shy of the 218 votes needed for majority. instead of accepting defeat and heading into a second vote johnson huddled with norman and members of the freedom caucus on the floor and in an adjacent room, trying to negotiate a path forward. upon seeing that johnson did not have the votes representative nancy mace called a trump, who was playing golf, and handed her phone to norman for the present -- so the president elect talk to the holdout. the article says that at about 2:30 p.m., two and a half hours after the new house had convened, norman and self walked to the well of the house and

asked to change their votes to johnson. the final tally, johnson had 218 votes, exactly enough, while hakeem jeffries of new york had 215 votes. emmer had one vote from massey. after that vote took place and representative mike johnson was elected as the new house speaker he spoke to the entire chamber he dashed chamber. here are some of his remarks. >> we have a mandate, and that was shown in the election cycle. the people want an america-first agenda. they do. [applause] sadly, for the past four years of divided government too many politicians in washington have done the opposite. open borders and regulation have stifled innovation. inflation and weak leadership have left americans poor. they have placed our country in a perilous position. that is right.

in recent months we have witnessed something happening. something that is really remarkable. a political moment in our modern history, a groundswell of americans from every state, race, and religion who now demand that we put the interest of americans first again and we will. and we will. [applause] this is a powerful new coalition of our country. it is a coalition that insists we purge the policies of america last and we buried them in the graveyard of history's mistakes. because it was a big mistake. this congress will renounce the status quo and listen to the voices of the people. we will act quickly and we will start by defending our nation's borders. that is the number one priority. yes. [applause]

in coordination with president trump this congress will give our border and immigration enforcement agents the resources they need to do their job. we will secure the border, deport dangerous illegal aliens, and finally finish building the border wall. [applause] host: we are hearing your thoughts for this first hour on representative mike johnson being reelected as the house speaker and the opening day of the 119th congress. if you would like to join the discussion the lines on your screen, democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . we will start with bill in florida, line for republicans. caller: good morning. i'm very optimistic about this, but, you know, this happens all the time.

they all promise everything and they don't deliver. so, i'm very skeptical at the same time. i think what we need to do is also have term limits, and also what we need to do is stop all of this porkbarrel spending. one bill at a time. now with all of the extras behind it. if we can get to that point we will pass one bill at a time, i think we can get things done. thank you. host: bill in florida. david in michigan, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to hit up on something. last caller -- i'm a democrat, ok? he is saying the same thing i want to say. you know, i am a dem, but what he said i agree with 100%. republicans talk about the border wall. the border got opened when ronald reagan did it, ok?

we are going to be talking about this same stuff on the next thing. but i disagree with the last caller. i am a dem, but we get so many things done. i'm going to tell you, when they start talking about messing with social security and medicare, republicans always do that. just imagine if something happens to social security. we would be in bad shape. that is all. love c-span. thank you. host: that was david. jj in california, line for republicans. caller: yes, this is a breath of fresh air. you know, you hear all of these talk that democrats are saying, but they had four years and we have gone backwards instead of forwards. things are going to change. we are going to drill, baby, drill, we are going to cut back

on the government. there is too many unelected people that ran this country and we never voted for them. who ran this country. and who covered for biden being mentally deficient since day one? or whatever? that is why all of these unelected people tried to run our country, and can you believe that they say their economy is great, there is no open borders? america has spoken. we love what is coming forward, and everybody's going to see the change. did you know biden never fired anybody? no one got fired. new people coming in, the republicans are going to fire people, either do what is right for the people or step aside. thank you. host: that was jj in california.

greg in glenallen, virginia, line for independents. caller: good morning. i like mike johnson. i think he said a lot of good things in his speech. however, i still did not hear enough about what they are going to do about the $36 trillion debt. i just don't hear enough of how seriously they are going to take that, how seriously they are -- i heard something about coming -- cutting government spending, but are they going to do anything about entitlement reform? are they going to do anything about tax reform? i just, you know, i hope it happens, but i am not confident, because i'm not sure how seriously they are taking that that. host: how would you like to see them address it? you mentioned entitlement and taxes. is there one of those you would prefer they approach? caller: our tax system is a

mess, and i think they can go to some sort of flat tax and actually end up straightening out a lot of problems that way. and also they keep kicking the can down the road. somebody has to deal with entitlements. nobody likes to hear it, but that is where the debt is. and so, they are going to have to have some kind of reform in that area. host: that was greg in virginia. yesterday after the vote it was house democratic leader hakeem jeffries who addressed the chamber as well. here are some of his comments. >> in a democracy there is a time to campaign and the time to govern. the election is over. this is a new congress. the american people need us as

their elected representatives in this season to put down our partisans swords and pick up plowshares. [applause] the time for us to come together. not as democrats or republicans, but as americans, to get things done for the people. in that spirit, house democrats will work hard to find bipartisan common ground with our republican colleagues in the incoming administration on any issue. whenever and wherever possible. in order to make life better for every day americans. for far too long in this country the cost of living has gone up, but the size of the middle-class has come down.

housing costs are too high. roastery costs are too high. childcare costs are too high. insurance costs are too high. utility costs are too high. america is too expensive. there are far too many people in this great country who for decades have been struggling to live paycheck-to-paycheck. that is not acceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. [applause] we need to build an affordable economy for hard-working american taxpayers and we need to build it now. it is time for us to come together and finally lower the high cost of living and the united states of america once and for all. [applause]

host: hearing your calls and taking your comments on social media about representative mike johnson being reelected as house speaker and the opening day of the 119th congress. a couple of comments on social media this morning. jeffries would have been a world better than johnson. johnson did not bring them back from vacation to vote more funds for the storm's victims. and richard says, i feel johnson will be able to cross party lines and work together with democrats. let's hear from roy. good morning, roy. caller: good morning. i watched the election gavel-to-gavel, and it did not surprise me at all that the outcome came the way it did. i firmly agree with one of the

republican callers earlier, who said we need term limitations. we have career politicians that has been around for years and they are not representative of the common people. i have been a democrat my entire life. i'm 75 years old and i have always voted democrat. but i am a conservative democrat. i am not a liberal democrat. and i support the system the way it works, but i think we need term limitations. that is it. host: brian in new mexico, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. host: let's hear from louis in california, line for democrats. good morning, lewis.

caller: hello. i think johnson would be just about as ok as you can get for, you know, people coming from a slime pit like the republican party. they say all of these beautiful things and people's iq in the united states fell. i think people are not really digging deep into the corruption that lies in the republican party. i mean, in all offices. need our so-called state workers , which are actually just people that are working for us, the united states citizens, all of them, both sides of the party, -- party. the deep state is not a devious conglomeration of people toying with our lives. they are here to service us and they do a very good job. so, the heck with deep state

rhetoric. host: dave in new york, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, good morning. yes, i just hope that speaker johnson will not get puppet for the president and he will work along with the democrats to make sure we have bipartisan bills passed that will benefit the country. i know he is a christian man, as he proclaims, so i hope he will do the right thing. i can see how thin the margin is in terms of the election. only three votes away from the democrats being the speaker of the house. so i'm hoping he will work with them. i wish him all the best and i hope they will govern and make decisions that will benefit the entire country. host: that was dave in new york. up next is barbara in massachusetts. caller: hi, good morning.

i'm a long time. i'm calling to suggest a kernel of an idea for an alternative tax plan for president trump to propose. theoretically the billionaires want the tax rates lowered so that their tax liability would be lowered, and similarly for the large corporations. we have this thing called the charitable deduction in our tax system. my idea is to create a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called reduce the debt , and the billionaires and anyone else would donate massive amounts of money as charitable deductions, which would reduce, theoretically, their bottom-line money payments owed to the government. instead of lowering the rates. so then what would happen is,

the moneys that would have been collected through those people into the treasury for the regular coming you know, for the spending -- whatever the current spending plan is -- that money would instead go to theoretically reducing interest payments on the debt. we know the debt is massive. it is 37 billion -- sorry, dirty $7 trillion with a t. if people start doing the numbers it might be a possibility that's everyone can understand, and the last thing you want to say about it is, it would convert the bad guys reputation of the super wealthy into the good guys, because they would be doing this paycheck thank, you know, reducing the debt over years, but simultaneously reducing their own personal tax liability.

so i hope people will think about this idea and comment on it. host: we will leave it there, barbara. it was yesterday that congress had their first day of the 119th congress. it has been weeks of work for the office of chief administrator. move people in, members and their staff. see spoke at them and got a look at the scenes of those efforts. here is a look >> i am the chief -- here is a look. >> i am the chief logistics officer. coming here and seeing all of the logistics and support functions that support the transition that is occurring in the month of december, transition actually started in july 2023. that is when we started bringing desks in to go through the finishing process. and we have to have 70 desks available by december 1 of 2024

so that in the month of december we start moving all of these 192 offices in december and they all have to be completed by january 2, 2025. so that they can be sworn in on january 3, they walk into their office, and everything is set up. all of the furniture, all of the computers, all of the phones, copy machines, everything is set up and they are ready to do their business further people. >> this is the house upholstery shop. we are 11 individuals. we restore and refurbish all of the original house furnishings. every building had furniture designed for it, and we maintain it all of the original furniture in the house office buildings [indiscernible]

and all of our sofas and executive chairs. watch your step. sorry, guys. [indiscernible] does not break down like the foam products of today. we still have our original. we turn it on and when we take it out of the chair, from 1907 this chair, it doesn't break down. we shove it back in and reupholster. it doesn't break down, it does not rock. all we are doing is taking it through this massive amount of giant pipes. all it does is fluffs it back up so we can reuse it. so, it did not hurt the horse, because it is from the main and tail. i always tell people that.

the appropriations committee, it is all horsehair. the only thing that works out is the leather and finish. so, you know, we will just keep doing it until nobodyible anymore. everything under here is horsehair. it will all be horsehair and it is all handsewn. it is all handsewn instead, so it comes out looking nice. host: the 119th congress officially gaveling in yesterday. their first order of business, electing the house speaker, which was mike johnson. this from the wall street journal.

a squeaker for the house speaker. the opinion says that the power flexed by the -- -- by the malcontents who had voted against him shows how hard it will be for this narrow gop majority to get anything done, much less to have expectations for the next two years that mr. trump has built among his voters. the gop has the narrowest house majority in more than a century, but voters are not likely to consider that an excuse for failure. republicans also now control the senate and white house, and voters expect them to govern. mr. johnson's management style is about as collegial and inclusive as you will get in a speaker. his problem is that a handful of members have not been willing to expect -- to accept the partial victories that are enough of --

that are inevitable. they cannot reform the welfare state in one bill or even one congress, but they can still accomplish a great deal if they show they can get to 218 gop votes on legislation. if they can't do that they will force mr. johnson to get my credit votes, and that means accepting liberal policy demands. congratulations, but his trials have only just begun. back to your calls. gracie in north carolina, line for republicans. caller: good morning. i wanted to say i'm so happy that michael johnson got voted in again as house speaker. and i am so proud that he and president trump can really make a difference in our world in the next four years. but what my request was, i wondered if mike johnson would consider opening his speeches

and, you know, when he starts talking to the public, open his speeches with a word of prayer. that was my request. and, like i said, that is just a suggestion. this is the first time i have ever called, and i really wanted to do that. host: that was gracie in north carolina. as she noted, first time caller to the program. we will hear from michael, line from democrats. -- for democrats. caller: yes, my comment is for the next four years this will be a clown show. so get your popcorn and alcoholic average ready. your adult beverage. trump and these idiots, this is a clown show. how can you take this seriously? elon musk is in control. i mean, these people are nuts. the first thing out of the park

is tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires. what happened to the price of gas? i thought he was going to bring down the price of food down. whatever happened to that? thank you, america. you are so silly. host: that was michael in alabama. it was yesterday that speaker johnson was elected. again, the first day of the opening day for the 119th congress. and that means all of the members were also sworn in as well. here are a few of those moments from yesterday. >> a marine biologist and science guy. this is so good. you have an email address? [laughter] so now i can stay in touch. this is so good.

wow. look. thank you guys. i can tell. i am honored.

host: just about 30 minutes left in this first hour of today's "washington journal," hitting your thoughts on mike johnson being reelected as house speaker and the opening day of the 119th congress. if you would like to call in you can do so. the lines, democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . we will hear from janet, line for democrats. caller: everybody has to look more into this christian nationalism, which he is a christian nationalist. they are very homophobic, extremely pro-life, and they do not believe in sex unless you are married. so please look into this man. he is dangerous, but sex, you are not supposed to have sex unless you are married. so, christian nationalists, please look into it.

bye-bye. host: yesterday was also the first day of the session for the senate, and they have a new senate majority leader. this headline in this morning's -- i'm sorry, the "new york times co. a pragmatic leader takes the senate's helmet. it is talking about senator john thune, who was elected as the new leader, the parties new leader after senator mitch mcconnell stepped down from leadership. the article says mr. thune's task is to juggle resident elect donald trump's demands, the competing desires of 53 gop senators, and a formidable legislative agenda. it starts with shepherding multiple trump nominees to confirmation and -- in a closely-divided senate where he can afford to lose more -- lose no more than three republican votes if democrats hold together

in opposition. he intends to use a tricky maneuver to pass a combination border security though terry spending bill and energy production will that will require serious legislative finesse. and he wants to do it in the first month or so while also reordering how and how often the senate works. it goes on to say mr. thune's ability has prompted some senators to worry privately that his desire to be liked could hinder him, being a senate leader requires making tough calls certain to anger someone, and they fear his determination to avoid upsetting colleagues or getting hammered on social media could work against him. it goes on to say the person mr. thune might find hardest to please is mr. trump, who was agitated by mr. thune's past

criticisms of his congress and incensed that the senate's number two republican did not back his challenge to the 2020 election outcome and voted to certify the results. mr. thune himself does not contest his 2020 senate lost by arch -- by just over 500 votes, saying it would be divisive for the state. yesterday on the senate floor senator john thune made his first remarks as the new leader of that chamber. >> when it came time to draft the constitution the founders established safeguards, checks and balances throughout our government to keep the government in check and ensure the rights of all americans are protected. one of those safeguards was the united states senate. the author notes the senate as the second branch of the legislative assembly is distinct from and dividing power with a first must be in all cases aclu

tory check on the government. it doubles the security to the people by requiring the concurrence of two distinct bodies. he further notes that as the improbability of sinister combinations will be in proportion to the dissimilarity and the genius of the two bodies it must be politics to distinguish them from each other. by every circumstance will consist with new harmony in proper measures and the genuine principles of republican government. and founders did indeed distinguish the house from the senate. they made the senate smaller and senators terms of office longer with the intention of creating a more stable, more thoughtful, more deliberative legislative body to check ill considered or intemperate legislation and protect the rights of the american people. in the past 237 years a test it

is a structure that has served this nation well. unfortunately today there are a lot of people who would like to see the senate turn into a copy of the house of representatives. that, mr. president, is not what our founders intended or what our country needs. one of my priorities as leader will be to ensure the senate stays the senate. that means preserving the legislative filibuster. the senate rule that today is perhaps the made it -- the greatest impact on preserving the founder's vision of the united states senate. it also means restoring the senate as a place of deliberation. that means empowering committees and engaging in extended debate on the senate floor, where all members should have a chance to make their voices and the voices of their constituents heard. host: julie in st. paul, minnesota. on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call.

two things -- can you hear me? host: yes i can. caller: ok. two things that struck me listening to mike johnson's speech. one was the mandate which they certainly do not have a mandate. half of america still thinks differently, so, yeah, it was a slim margin. they are acting like it is a landslide. all we have to do is look around the room. it is going to come to a bring every single time, whereas hakim jeffries -- hakeem jeffries, his focus was on bipartisan, ok? and then about the border, he said they will give them the border resources. that is something they never gave biden. the biden administration asked several times for the resources for more border agents, for

judges to -- you know, for the backlog after the covid -- after the backlog due to covid. trump had title 42 to stop people from coming because of covid well, that was lifted during biden, so that work against him, but he was trying to get more money to control the surge, and the backlog. and trump kept people in cages. he kept people in mexico. women were getting raped and also it's of other problems emanated. and then he is already lying about the mexican president saying that, you know, we can keep people there before they are processed again. so, he is already, you know, telling lies about that. so, i guess that is all i have to say. you know, people are so disillusioned about the border

situation. i don't think they look enough. i don't think the wall is going to be the full solution to this problem. we have a lot of better technology to invest in than this wall. i think that is just a farce. so, thank you for taking my call. host: i was julie in minnesota. ted in north carolina, line for republicans. caller: good morning. you see when you have a lot of gas and oil being drilled the prices of vegetables and walmart, for instance will come down. like, you go in there and you see one bell pepper for $.83, and then you see a cucumber for $.64. it is ridiculous. they should know that gas runs electricity. well, you've got more gas and

they left for your electricity. that is the way it should be, and they should have a sealed border, yes. i'm not aghast. legalizing aliens, they are going to do it legally, not the other way around. some people can't work in vegetable patches or whatever. farm areas. that is it. thank you. host: that was ted in north carolina. nancy in rhode island, the line for democrats. good morning, nancy. caller: good morning, how are you this morning? happy new year. host: hi, nancy. caller: i'm a democrat. i'm in rhode island, and what i

heard yesterday from speaker johnson was all about the taxes permanent for the rich, the billionaires and millionaires tax cuts of trump's. there is no mandate. there is no mandate at all. you know, supposed to lower the prices with utilities, gas prices, food prices. that is yet to be seen. and he did not speak about the everyday american, you know? that is struggling, working hard and trying to make ends meet. but we will see what happens. and the border, they did not work with president biden. so, you know, hopefully they can work bipartisan but the republicans, if you notice they did not want -- when he made good points, hakim jeffries, they did not applaud him and give him his due. you know? the democrats seem like they want to work together. republicans, they cannot even

work amongst themselves. we hope for the best, but that remains to be seen. thank you for taking my call. you have a great day. host: that was nancy in rhode island. this from axios. house approves new rules protecting mike johnson from alastair. it is talking about the rules package that was voted on yesterday. it says that they voted mostly along party lines, adopting the rules package that protects newly-reelected speaker mike johnson from a potential ouster. it is highlighting the why it matters section. it says the new rules make it so that a vote on removing the speaker can only be brought if at least nine republicans support what is called a motion to vacate. it is significantly a higher bar than the 100 18th congress, when any single member in either party could force such a motion. it goes onto say that the tool was used to removes -- used to

remove kevin mccarthy in 2020 three. johnson faced an unsuccessful ouster attempt in april. it also notes that house democrats railed against the change, noting that for the first time in u.s. history the minority party would be restricted from introducing a motion to vacate. back to your calls. we will hear from steve in pennsylvania, line for republicans. caller: good morning, and good morning america. mike johnson was reelected speaker of the house. it is time to get onto business. i would like to see a new administration hit the ground running on january 21. in fact, what i would really like to see is see them cancel all of the ridiculousness and pomp and circumstance of the inaugural and january 20 and just get sworn in and get white -- get right to work that would

send a message to the american people, i believe. other question i had for c-span in general is, it is very often that -- and i listen to c-span every single morning. if i put a certain inflection in my voice or i am very angry against angst donald trump says i pretty much get to talk as long as i want. it just does not seem that way if somebody were to say if i were to start slamming the way hakeem jeffries presents himself in congress as opposed to an actual human being, the way he talks and his mannerisms. he looks like he is some sort of pinocchio puppet, a marionette and controlled by strings, with his crazy hand gestures and his insane way of speaking. and just wonder now, now that he is all about bipartisanship, if he is going to stop every time he gets in front of a can -- a

camera and start talking about maga and extreme maga, because that is his mo. i hope you have a nice new year, and nice talking to you. host: that was steve in pennsylvania. rico also in pennsylvania, line for democrats. caller: good morning, c-span. i'm a regular listener and i believe that c-span is very unbiased. as far as johnson, i think it is good for the government and the country because he has been looking out for we the people. and we the people are the ones that are going to be taking care of by our congress, etc., etc. the people that are in control. so, with a very strong republican congress, the senate,

and the house, and up at the head start, i'm hoping we can have a successful and blessed 2025 and continue on from there. from there on am going to say, i bless america. thank you. host: that was rico in pennsylvania. tyree. morning. caller: good morning. i want to say i think it was very important for mike johnson to get his speaker rollback, because after they got rid of kevin mccarthy the republican party kind of got crazy with arguing with each other. i think that is important and he is going to help trump out in what needs to be done. i want to say it was four callers ago she was talking about the border wall. the border wall is very important. or us to use the material joe

biden was going to sell and to use drones to help us. so, we have to respect them and help them and support them. we are americans and we have to stick together. this is important for us as taxpayers. that is all i wanted to say. thank you. host: tyree speaking in favor of speaker johnson, mike johnson being reelected to that position. from this morning's "washington post," it mentions that johnson spent the last week trying to persuade roughly a dozen republicans that remain skeptical of his candidacy, reaching out by phone and holding in-person meetings as late as friday morning. trump heaped praise on johnson, casting him as key to enacting conservative policies. and "president trump is probably the most powerful president and his boys is of singular importance," johnson said after

winning reelection. "i think it was a big factor." to your calls. john on the line for republicans. caller: good morning. i would like to -- the lady that called and said taxes for the millionaires and billionaires, she don't realize when taxes run out if it is not extended everybody working for $15 an hour on up is going to have taxes taken out of their check because they've got to -- because they got a tax code too. johnson, i like johnson. reagan said if you get 80% of what you want in a bill, you take the win. not enough people remember that. i was going to say something else, but i forget. anyway, thank you and -- oh yeah, i know what i wanted to say. johnson is not going to get help

from the democrats. i remember when trump gave one of his state of the unions and he cited that black unemployment was at its lowest in history. not one person in the black congressional caucus clapped. so they are not going to get help from the democrats. it's going to be entirely the opposite. thank you and have a good morning. host: that was john in ohio. denver, north carolina, line for democrats. -- deborah, north carolina, line for democrats. caller: good morning. i'm hopeful that we do increase the minimum wage. i'm hopeful that social security is not destroyed. i hope that we can work together and not spend useless time arguing over passing something that makes sense for the american people. it is find that johnson is the speaker, but i like representative jefferson. we have to consider the middle class. not the first thing came out of

donald trump's mouth is that they going to lower taxes or destroy taxes on the billionaires. it seems like the billionaires are more favorable in this country, although they make up just a handful of people, and donald trump has an unelected representative, elon musk, telling him what to do that would benefit him. of all of the money that elon musk gave donald trump for reelection, why didn't he give money to pay back what he owes for his space program? i am a democrat and i feel we care more about the country. a lot of democrats did get brainwashed thinking donald trump lied, but the first thing he said was, he's going to see how he is going to lower groceries. please pray for our country. pray that republicans stand up for what is right. they don't even clap for what is right when jefferson wasn't speaking, so how do they think our country should be?

thank you so much for giving me this platform. host: that was deborah in north carolina yesterday with the 119 congress gaveling in for the first time. c-span was live for a good portion of the day, letting you see everything that was happening and usually our coverage is controlled by the house cameras. the house of representatives. not c-span. yesterday you probably saw some different shots. that is because c-span received special permission from the speaker to have our own cameras inside the chamber. you can see our hard-working crews set up there. we also received permission to have our own cameras in the chamber for congress' joint meeting to certify the 2024 election. that is happening on monday. you can watch all of that live on c-span and c-span.org. glenn in detroit, michigan. good morning.

caller: you know, just listening to the people calling in here, like the man that just said that the democrats did not clap for republicans, you showed it on here where hakeem jeffries was making a speech, talking about everything the democrats are going to do to protect the people, and asked for bipartisanship. none of the republicans stood up. you could see that. that was right there. and then this lady calling in, asking mike johnson to pray before they do, no, work. to pray before each session? i remember when they said there was going to hold up the bible and read a verse from the bible every time they came on the floor. but like the other man that talked about christian

nationalists, i agree with him. you know, because mike johnson he had a false prayer from thomas jefferson. and hakeem jeffries was speaking the truth. host: that was gwen in detroit, michigan. steve in illinois, line for democrats. morning, steve. caller: good morning. i would like to say that i am absolutely repulsed by trump giving the billionaires and the wealthy -- restoring the tax cut that thank god died and took away from them when he became president. look at what it did to wall street. they could not replace the money.

let's not forget the republican people that trump added. $17 trillion to the deficit, the most-ever by any president, ever, in the history of this country. and who got all of those breaks for the people that voted for him like elon musk? he wants us to pay for his satellite program or whatever it is. i have had enough of this. thank you very much. you have a nice morning. host: that was steve in illinois. yesterday was the first day of the new session for members of congress. the republicans did flip the senate chamber and now have control. yesterday it was now senate minority leader chuck schumer who spoke about how democrats will approach the next two years. >> democrats stand united not because of who we fight against, but because of who we are fighting for.

the american people. we are here ready to fight for the american people. we are here to fight for the working class of this country. we are here to build ladders of opportunity to the middle class. democrats are not a monolith. we come from many different states and have many different opinions. but we grew up in places as varied as brooklyn, new york, and atlanta, georgia. we are from the industrial midwest and everywhere in between. and we sometimes disagree, just as any tightknit family disagrees. but democrats are united when it comes to fighting in the months to come democrats will show where our values lie through our actions and words, and through

the policies we push. immigrants are here to tackle the biggest problems that face our country. democrats are here because we need to make housing more affordable of the millions struggling to keep a roof over their heads. we need to make sure americans earn higher paychecks, keep more of their paychecks too. democrats are here because we want to lower the cost of childcare and -- an outrageously-high expense for too many american families who have struggled to give the best lives for themselves and their children. democrats are here to defend a woman's right to choose, did to -- to defend our fundamental liberties. to defend the wellspring of democracy. we want to help our small business owners thrive and function as the engines of our economy. we want to help americans save more money when they go to the grocery store, when they go to the pharmacy, when they pay their cable and internet ills. we want to make sure americans are not ripped off by giant

corporations group fees and predatory behaviors. democrats stand ready to make lives better. for the american people. we want to work with anyone and hold the line wherever necessary to achieve that goal. mr. president, the time to get to work is now. it is a new day. a new congress. and democrats stand united and ready to fight and deliver to the american people. host: we have time for a couple of more calls. i wanted to share this programming note as well. today at 1:00 p.m. president biden will speak at a ceremony honoring recipients of the medal of freedom. the 19 people are set to receive the medal of freedom, including ralph lorraine, hillary clinton, jane goodall, denzel washington, and bono. you can watch that on c-span from the east room of the white

house at 1:00 p.m. eastern. you can also find it on c-span now, our free mobile app, and online at c-span.org. you will hear from jacqueline in capital heights. good morning, jacqueline. caller: good morning. i wanted to say i have been listening to 90.1, and i heard president trump say to the american people the cycle for $2000 during covid and nancy pelosi and the democrats called him crazy. they lost the election and democrats took over, and the problem for the american people with hud. hud is denying low income residents to pay only $50 in

rent, and that is why we have a statewide homelessness pandemic that is going on, and i'm looking forward to president trump's administration, his new appointee with hud help americans escape homelessness caused by the democrats. host: and our last call for this hour, 10 in kentucky, line for democrats. good morning, tim. caller: good morning. there is a couple of things i wanted to bring up about johnson. johnson was one of the architects of all of this election denying stuff. so, he is really someone who needs to be watched very carefully. oh, they take an oh through the constitution, which they failed to uphold. from trump all the way down they

are taking the oh to support the constitution, which a lot of the times they seem to just throw out the window and laws do not apply to donald trump. if i was hakeem jeffries i would bring up impeachment. impeach trump already, get rid of all of these billionaires running the government. it is terrible. that is all i've got to say. host: tim in kentucky, our last call for this hour. next on "washington journal." martin to caro, host of the podcast "history as it happens" will discuss political news of this past year and look ahead to 2020 five. later university of north texas at dallas political science professor orlando perez will discuss the history of the panama canal. first he was more from c-span's behind-the-scenes visit with the

office of the chief administrative officer highlighting the logistics that go into moving new members and staff into their offices on capitol hill. >> this is the house [indiscernible] shop. we are 11 people. opal poultry and drapery are combined. this past year we had 192, 1 93 member offices to move. of that about 63 were brand-new. they got to choose their new carpet, drapes, paint, everything. which is great for them. they are excited. we wait for those orders to come in, and we make stock ahead of time by guessing what people pick out of 10 different callers and patterns, and we get them ready for the next day's move. so, this is what we do. and every member office, we take them to the paint shop.

no matter what they get new paint, and we reinstall their new rooms. so, we just get orders, take them out of our stock, get them ready, and get them back up the next morning. we have 5000 windows on the house campus that we care for. capital, three house office buildings, two other house office buildings, the power plant. so, we have a lot to do. the transition is all done in 30 days, to move that many offices. so, kind of a challenge, but we have never failed. >> [indiscernible] some of the moves that go on, you know, later on today or so, we like to take care we are able to take care of the damages and scratches. the other crew will be coming here taking care of the finishing process. as you can see we have a sanded

down top. and we tried to fix all of the imperfections and fill in the holes and we like to do some staining and grain filling. right there you have the second set, they have to do some ceiling before we finish them. and we have them all sprayed up and ready for the drying process before they get wrapped up and sent upstairs. for the finishing we do some of the engraving as well. we do a lot of engraving potentially on classes or would. most of the majority of the engraving and finishing courses as well. this is one of the most recent ones that i have done. it took a lot of time to design it and see how i am able to imply the colors and details. >> we make and repair the

furniture, the custom furniture that comes in and out of the members' offices. so we make everything including our own workbenches. so pretty much everything in here, we have built to accommodate ourselves. we have incredibly talented people who are so artistic. and the people who come here and stay here and work here. they do not come here to go somewhere else, they come here to stay here. they are not interested in climbing the corporate ladder. they want to make furniture. and so i would say the collective experience that we have here in the shop is probably 250 years. >> essentially we are operations responsible for all of the equipment that comes in.

meaning the receiving and tagging process and the disposition. once the members use the device and the equipment has come to the useful end of life, disposition happens. we go to the office and we do the removal and we do seals -- disassociate that asset from the account and they are no longer responsible for that equipment. the equipment comes here. so this is disrupting the magnetic field. in about 15 seconds, we are going to hear a pop. there you go. it comes out of the bottom and then once it falls out, you scan and then it goes to the shredder.

the shredded material goes to an off-site facility that does this in an environmentally friendly way. it is melted down and the metals are separated. and as you can see the hard drives and the boards themselves, those are smelted down. [end video clip] >> washington journal continues. host: joining us now to discuss key political news of 2024 including the passing of former president jimmy carter is martin di caro, the host of "history as it happens podcast, thank you for being with us. guest: good to see you and happy new year. host: you have been on the program and have talked about your podcasts, talk about how it happens your approach and who it -- and who you talk with? guest: i am a journalist and audio producer but i speak about the origins of court -- current events. this project i undertook four years ago was with the aim of

stepping back from the daily headlines, the churn that we are assaulted in every day with our social media feeds and so much news that we can feel overwhelmed. my idea is that you can step back and examine the origins. they are always contested and especially now, people are asking questions about how did we get to this point in history. you know, our country exhibited. -- existed. one example i have been talking about is the post-cold war period. enough time has passed and we can look at the early 1990's as a period of history that can be analyzed and studied, and there are so many optimism -- there is so much optimism about the defeat of the soviet union, freedom, free markets were on the march and free trade and globalization and the internet.

remember bill clinton saying that the personal computer and the internet will do to pull more people out of poverty than any invention out of history. he said something close to that at a white house conference on the new economy in 2000 shortly before he left office. all of this to say just as an example, all of this optimism about where the country and world was going. now a generation has passed and we are looking back and saying that all of that optimism was misplaced or it did not turn out the way we expected. why has there been such a backlash to free-trade how did we get donald trump as president and why is there a backlash to immigration. nafta helped cause illegal immigration to mexico -- from mexico. those are the types of things i examine with historians, political scientists and other people. host: two of the historians you

had on for the most recent episode, jeremy and jeffrey, you talked about president carter's uneventful but large yearly -- eventful but largely unsuccessful presidency. if we remember his legacy, what are some of his highlights and low lights. and what will define his legacy when we look back? caller: when i say largely unsuccessful that has been challenged by biographers like jonathan and ty byrd and others who have written full lighting cradle-to-grave biographies and there is some legitimacy to that. that is a generalization because every presidential administration has successes and failures. there is always continuity between one administration to the next. ronald reagan, although the editors of the national review, ronald reagan oh some of his success to dinner -- to jimmy carter who deregulated

industries. carter was not around to see the benefits because he lost the election. so, the word i approached carter to answer your question. i have been on the show and my answers can kind of go in a mazelike direction. to answer your question i approached this as what was consequential and endures with the passive -- with the passage of time and we can get some perspective and see how policies and programs turned out. did they meet the goals they were designed to meet? carter does have some relatively significant achievements in his presidency, i mentioned to deregulation and other things. on the issue of race he was progressive and in his inaugural address as the governor of georgia in early 1971 so before he was president and this is a touching issue in the south as a -- as a southern democrat, "the

time for racial segregation is over." he appointed more latinos, african-american and latinos into the judiciary. and that is something that endures to this day. president biden of course followed in those footsteps and they were contemporaries. biden was in the senate in the early 1970's. yes, i think biden's political career predated carter's and washington. most presidents especially democrats feel like they have to have a diverse group of people on the federal bench. his failures, and what is consequential. this burns at both in all directions when we talk about the consequences of a presidential administration. i think his chief failure was not that he caused inflation or stagflation, which meant high inflation and low growth. usually those two things are

together. you get rapid economic growth and they coexist. tags -- stagflation was low growth in london out -- low unemployment. he did not cause the oil embargo of opec. he certainly did not cause the iranian revolution. but the way he responded to the cascading crises of his term, especially with his mid-july crisis of confidence or malaise speech sent a signal to the american people that he was no longer leading and he had lost control of events. he was a scold and there was a lot of truth to this. he was an eat your peas scolding americans for their soulless materialism and where waddle -- ronald reagan said we do not have to live with less and we can be a great nation again. reagan had more of a vision because there presidencies overlapped. and i think that was carter's greatest failing rather than picking at this policy and that,

he failed to lead in times of crises. he had bad luck and bad timings -- bad timing as i am sure the calls will come in. host: we are talking to martin di caro, the host of "history as it happens," a podcast. we are discussing the key political news of 2024 including president carter's legacy. if you have a question or comment you can call in now with the lines broken down by parties. democrats 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. and independents, 202-748-8002. that was just your most recent episode on carter was just one of 100 episodes that you did last year and produced last year. your most listened to was the crisis of liberalism and your guest historian daniel basson are during it argued that liberalism and not just the

democratic party has long bid -- long been in decline. when did it start and how did we get here? guest: when did it start? we can spend the entire day discussing that. jimmy carter and his supporters can relate to this as well. first of all, what do we mean by liberalism? i do not mean liberal and conservative sitting down over a cup of coffee and bickering over this issue or that, who should be appointed to the supreme court, but i am talking about the governing philosophy of liberalism. and capitalism. a free press, a political plurality, free-trade and some people might call this neoliberalism after the cold war. the governing philosophy that defines post-1945 era and the american experience. what do i mean by how is it in crisis? look more -- look no further. if we want to narrow it, we can

look at how the democratic party has lost connection and its link to the working class in this country. liberalism failed to provide for social mobility for generations of working-class americans. part of this has to do with free-trade and major structural forces that are difficult for anyone congress or president to contend with. look around, how did we get a neoliberal president? it has failed to provide an aspirational goal and this is a criticism and i am not saying i necessarily agree with this. it is especially from those on the left who wanted liberalism to have a more aspirational if not more revolutionary if not utopian goal for the american people. instead what the critics would say we have neoliberalism which was the excessive financializ

ation of our economy and untrammeled free-trade with many jobs going to new mexico in china. that was just the threat of leaving so manufacturing companies and big industries could threaten their employees if they talked about unionizing or doing something to strengthen their position. they could be threatened with moving overseas or off shoring. there are a myriad of ways of how liberalism has failed us. media has lost the faith of the american people. public health industries and institutions fails during the pandemic. we have been in at least two very long possibly wars in the last 20 years, in afghanistan and iraq and you can push this back to vietnam. over the past however many decades and a lot of this does come up in the 1970's with carter and some of the problems they faced, liberalism has

fallen short. are we moving into a new period of history with an anti-democratic period? that is harder to define but we have moved on from the post-cold war period and we are in a post-post-cold war period that is difficult to put a label on at this moment. if i somehow got around to answering your question. it is a sprawling topic. host: it is, and it is one that you could have touched on throughout a series that you did over the year which is influential elections in u.s. history. looking at the november election and president-elect trump winning and that senate republicans also winning control of the senate. looking back at the series you did, which elections throughout history stuck out most and how do they tied to what we saw november?

guest: in the context i will say let us look at 1932, franklin roosevelt and the inauguration of the new deal order. a quarter-century after world war ii, the most prosperous to date and world work -- of american history where the rising tide lifted most votes and we still had the civil rights revolution to come. that was a definable era. 1980, carter losing to reagan. i mentioned continuity. carter started the defense buildup and he started to aid afghanistan after the soviet invasion. reagan was bringing something more radical than carter envisioned. reagan was a visionary. he was more of a good government technocrat. reagan brought his revolution to washington. that did not mean he accomplished everything he wanted to do. think of the governing philosophy that reagan brought to washington. that odd -- that attitude still

dominates the attitude which is a distrust in institutions and a to federal government. here we are with trump. there is instability in our politics. for democrats looking at the results in november like it is with many parties when they lose an election, doom and gloom and we will never get the white house back. we have lost the judiciary for a generation and that is probably true. what will we do with congress, it is one party rule. we are seeing a lot of instability, not unlike the 1960's but with a different set of circumstances where we are seeing donald trump and joe biden was a one term president. control of congress shifts every back in -- continues to shift back and forth every few years and we will see that instability because of the american people are not loyal to parties the way they used to be. the two major political parties are hollow items. there is not a lot of institutional loyalty relative

to the past. so people were confounded to how donald trump who says a lot of nasty and racist things about immigrants about poisoning the blood of the country environment, how did he also grow his share of the latino and african-american vote? he is able and has this gift he is not an ideologue that he has a political gift of offering all things to all people. it does not fall and the old piety has been upended. it does not fall on the conservative versus liberal. he is certainly a republican with tax cuts and deregulation. he has in this point of history where we are moving into this new period, where there is not loyalty to one side or the other at least among the vital part of the electorate that seems to decide the election every four years. those states have seen the most significant or severe changes in their political economy in the age of globalization post-1991. host: we will bring the audience

into the conversation and start with stephen in illinois. line for independents, good morning. caller: good morning. let me turn -- excuse me. guest: hello. caller: i have an observation. any time that jimmy carter is mentioned for the carter administration, almost always the first topic and issue is the hostage crisis in iran. i would point out that zero american lives were lost in the hostage crisis. i would also point out that in the four years of his administration there was no member of the american military lost in combat, or killed.

in 1983 when ronald reagan was president, 241 marines were killed in their barracks in beirut, lebanon because of a car bomb. a truck bomb. and there had been warnings before and a previous car bomb last that killed some marines and this, that and the other. guest: the cia station was blown to smithereens and bob ames was killed. caller: i could not remember exactly what had happened. very rarely when the reagan administration and ronald reagan is discussed are those issues ever brought up. i think that is interesting and i pass that along and you have an explanation as to why i believe my observation is correct? guest: you would be the best one

to explain that but you are hitting on something that is important and that is the difference between history and memory. the caller is correct. to use a sports analogy, when the team is coded -- is doing well the quarterback gets too much credit and when it does poorly the quarterback gets the blame. there were no scandals during the carter administration. these things did not stick to reagan's reputation mostly because he was not directly implicated in the worst parts of the iran contra scandal because he was so out of touch and his administration on what his underlings were doing. that is not necessarily a good thing. carter was a micromanager and reagan was not.

reagan was good at setting the overall vision and then a delegator that responded to trouble. iran contra being one example. not to digress. i will give you -- i think it is best illustrated by example the point. jimmy carter passed two men energy -- major energy packages when he was president. energy was a huge issue indirectly related to inflation which brought on a recession when paul volker had to raise interest rates to tall -- to tame inflation. it caused a recession during the campaign year so political but -- so political pain for making the right move. his energy packages and deregulation of oil and natural gases would lead to a large increase in the supply of energy in the 1980's and carter was no longer around to see the benefit of that. when he came into office in 1976, the united states and i

credit historian robert strong for pointing it out at the miller center. themillercenter.org for american presidential industry. the united states was consuming one fourth of all opec oil production and that went down significantly and the increase -- and the united states would increase its oil production between 1980 and 1985 by one million barrels a day. who gets the credit for that, ronald reagan or jimmy carter? i would say jimmy carter. we seem not to remember some of his positives. we accentuate his negatives. why that happens it is hard to say. i mention the timing and lock and that has a lot to do with it. the country was not in good shape when carter ran for reelection and he had kind of lost his touch with the american people. where's than that he looked like he had lost control of finding solutions to any problem that had beset his administration including the iran hostage

crisis. i note this is a long answer. but i want to touch on one last point. it is true that no americans were killed, however. had the rescue attempt not been a fiasco in the deserts of iran, it is possible that americans would have died. i think we all remember two u.s. aircraft collided in the desert when they were refueling on the way to save the hostages and eight american service members were killed. it was a low point. host: when we look at presidential legacies and what they are remembered or not remembered for, carter is not the only one. how have other presidencies shifted over time? guest: harry truman was unpopular when he left office. there was enormous amounts of corruption though not tied to him. i think he has looked at more positively because he stewarded

the country during the early years of the cold war. i will give you another example of a president, carter is one and there has been some more positive books and biographies. i think when people closely look at reagan's presidency it does not look as good as it did even 10 to 15 years ago. that same goes for bill clinton. the prosperity of the 1990's according to nelson, was been a frequent guest on my show talking about the transformation of american capitalism and the optimism and the wonder is high tech tomorrow that was on the way, a lot of that was built on sand. i think many of the callers can relate to that, especially if they are in the rust belt and the deindustrialized part of the country where nothing really replace the industry's that left her went out of business. host: tom in florida.

line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. since the failure of the carter administration was policies, you would think the democrats would learn from past mistakes, for example the energy crisis, instead of getting the oil from venezuela and borrowing and begging and pleading for venezuela oriel we have our own liquid gold. you think joe biden would learn a lesson, especially with the energy crisis and the long gas lines in the oil embargo. you think joe biden would have learned from that. you would also think with affirmative action and policies like that, today, the dei and all you would be worried about the people who are competent and able to do the job instead of worrying about ethnic background or skin color.

it is clearly that the democrat party is no longer the party of my grandfather and great-grandfather. it has gone so far to the left that americans cannot recognize what it used to be and now see it for what it is, dei and the restrictions on petroleum and other energy sources, and now with this other mess with the transgendered nonsense, forcing kids to take these hormone pills. it has gotten ridiculous. it has been hijacked so far to the left. host: we will get a response. guest: i agree with one thing. the democratic party is no longer recognizable to their fathers and grandfathers. some of that might be for reasons that i disagree with the caller. i think we have become enormous -- a more diverse country and we should embrace that. dei has gone too far and some of

these social issues. james have criticized the party as going too far and out of touch with normal people. the united states is helping produce more oil than any part of our history so i do not think that was correct. host: bill in wisconsin. line for independents, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a little anecdote that people do not remember or realize or it never came up. ronald reagan was responsible for when challenger went up and blew up a minute and a half later. you have to excuse me for being a little nervous. the guy responsible for the launches fought hard but said he did not fight hard enough to keep it from launching because the weather in florida was freezing cold below 30 degrees and everybody said they should not launch they did not because it would be too risky. ronald reagan came up and said put it up for the gipper.

his ego killed those guys and he wanted to talk to them for a photo op. guest: i'm sorry i did not mean to interject. i just got through the marvelous biography of ronald reagan and based on that and other things i have read over the years about this, i do not believe that is accurate. i do not believe that ronald reagan is responsible for the challenger disaster. host: basil, cleveland, ohio. line for independent. caller: good morning. my concern for both parties is not who is running the country, but the federal reserve bank controls what goes on. and the onus of the federal reserve bank. i wonder if donald trump will do anything in regards to the money business going on in america and how it is being controlled by the money system instead of the political system. thank you. guest: he has a decision coming

up with jerome powell. the federal reserve is supposed to be independent and a lot of people say it is too unaccountable. but the federal reserve board and who the president appoints is enormously important. we know this from jenny carter's -- jimmy carter's presidency. jimmy voelker shame -- tamed inflation under reagan's first term when interest rates were allowed to beat inflation because inflation as joe biden and kamala harris would relate is an incumbent killer. when voelker did this itunemploo 10%. interest rates were somewhere around 17% in reagan's first term. once inflation was defeated, interest rates came down and the business cycle recovered in time for the reelection campaign. jimmy carter did not have that good luck. as far as jerome powell has

handled the federal reserve, i'm not an expert. he has gotten mixed reviews from people who know more about this than i do. whether or not the fed acted soon enough to tame inflation, that debate will continue. monetary policy was too accommodating for too long which helped lead to the inflation we got after the pandemic. i think that had to do with the economic distortions caused by the pandemic in supply and demand. host: in terms of the economy, trade policy and potential for tariffs, some people will likely be hearing more about that in the coming year. it is a topic you covered last year in one of your episodes. explain what you call economic nationalism and his history in the u.s. guest: the united states used to be a high tariff country. it's been a while since the great depression and the post-world war ii period when free-trade became the

conventional wisdom. economic nationalism. protectionist tariffs. they cannot be too high because then you will not get revenue from the tariffs when people stop buying goods. protectionist tariffs. in 19th century, it was to protect certain industries. libertarians have called that rent seeking. they will lobby for this tariff or that tariff because of what they want protected. and rejection of immigration as part of economic nationalism. there is a number of intellectuals in our country that call themselves the national conservatives who are bringing back the idea of high tariffs and lower levels of immigration. i don't know if jd vance considers himself a national conservative but he has spoken about this a lot. by limiting or cutting the number of -- also deporting people in this country illegally

and raising minimum wages. i'm taking the straight from what jd vance told the new york times this past summer. you would be able to get an american, native american, nativeborn american a job at mcdonald's if you pay them a little bit more and the job does not go to an immigrant. that is kind of in a nutshell what i would call economic nationalism. i don't know if economic nationalism, especially when you are the number one economy in the world, that is something they would take. it's often called managed trade. that is what japan was doing in the 1980's. u.s. administrations tried to break the national needs -- the japanese market and they were not allowed to. we are looking at supply-chain capitalism. how not sure donald trump's ideas, if he chooses to momentum, really work.

it could be quite damaging. they could cause shortages and higher prices even though he says that will not happen. he's economically illiterate, donald trump is. host: kiki on the line for democrats. caller: happy new year. a few comments on some of the callers. one regarding the price of oil and gas. it was because of covid that people stop driving and the oil companies stopped producing, which led to higher prices. when people started driving again, congress asked the oil companies if they could increase their drilling, which would increase supply and technically lower the price and the companies said no. we don't want to hurt the profits for shareholders. that is one reason we had height we will prices. the other was a question. the united states produces the most amount of oil, as your guest stated, but i thought they

sold a lot to europe because they can get a higher price. one last thing. the issue of transgender. most people who have negative comments talk about transgender because they don't understand it is a legitimate medical condition of gender dysphoria. thank you very much. guest: the transgender issue is not when i spent a lot of time discussing on my podcast. i think all people deserve respect and dignity. the issues concerning treatment for children, minors, that is a thorny one. i'm not in a position to comment on that with any level of expertise. the oil market is really misunderstood. i'm no expert either. what the united states should do and how the price of gasoline is arrived at. the -- derived debt. it is one part of that market, producing more. the other part produces less.

we are dealing with a cartel, opec, that fixes both supply and price. it is complicated. most people including myself have difficulty explaining it or understanding how the price of oil is determined. it is not as simple as the united states drills more, pump more out of the ground, etc. the oil needs a market. you don't to have a glut of oil either. host: let's hear from mark in annapolis, maryland, the line for republicans. caller: good morning. merry christmas and happy new year. best wishes for success, health, prosperity and peace here and abroad. i had a quick couple of points. a great panel, by the way. on the statement about the u.s.

being the biggest producer of oil in history -- guest: ken our history, yes. -- in our history, yes. caller: when you go back to the victorian era and the discovery of oil in pennsylvania and the production, infinitely greater in terms of our production and our sources and uses of that domestic supply. you look at the navy and the military, sprawling complex that is managed for procuring oil and refined oil from around the world from various suppliers, some of which are allies and others are maybe pseudo-allies. we are definitely not supplying our military u.s.-produced a whale on -- oil on u.s. shores unequivocally.

secondly, on tariffs. we have had a string of hacks from chinese supported and non-state-supported actors over the last 30 years, if not more. you look at the opn breach shortly after apple was allowed to be used as the byod or dod. 30 million records were breached. you look at the last couple of days ago, the treasury breach. everything in between. we have a massive supply-chain problem. we have a friend in india and we cannot act any faster than saying -- the answer should be no for every american and every single ally. it is just that simple. we need to come to grips. you mentioned the supply chain

and the global interdependency. no question, but we have alternatives and u.s. alternatives, mexican alternatives, usmca alternatives , across the caribbean. it is not a free-trade environment. if anyone think the latter, you know, there are a fool -- they are a full. -- fool. guest: not all countries operate -- it is often called unfair trade. we want fair trade, not free-trade. he is right about china's practices. when it comes to the supply chain, things take time to reverse. the chips act hunter biden -- under biden, that is making a dent. producing more semiconductors inside the united states because of the volatility between china and taiwan.

one of the most important companies in the world is taiwan semiconductor. the notion that because of the global interdependency of the economies and financial system and supply chains, that's an incentive to avoid hostility. history shows that is not always work. wars and conflicts can break out. trade wars can break out even though we rely on each other. i think the caller made some good points. i guess i don't feel like -- host: they like to throw a lot at you. we have a couple of minutes left. we will see how many more colors we can get to. turk in illinois on the line for democrats. caller: hi. a joyful new year to all of us. gosh, that guy stole the rest of the callers' thunder. there's a great book out there, "it can't happen here" bison

y sinclair lewis. he talked about the discontent in the country. human beings that are discontent. i have been an electrician my entire career of more than 40 years. most of my friends are craftsmen also. i have led a pretty good life. i could go in vacation for two weeks a year anywhere in the world. most of my friends are too. half of them turned into trumpers. my craftsman buddies. could you speak to the people who are discontent in this country? guest: let me ask you, for you and a union? caller: of course i have been an auto worker at the end of my career. a paperwork or. i started -- paper worker. i started in a basic steel producer on the southeast side of lake michigan. guest: were you in a union, a

union hall? caller: the union is in my blood. i grew up in the rust belt. could you speak to the discontent? i was at a graduation party this summer with an 80-year-old fellow. he was a trumper. i asked this guy, do you know anybody that is not doing ok? he thought a minute and the guy said myself. i looked at him. he was just nice. he had a beautiful wife the same age. she had a beautiful -- she had beautiful jewelry on and a nice car and he was feeling good. he said he was one of those types. host: we will get a response. guest: how much time do we have left? host: we have the time. guest: to my earlier point -- thank you for the call and sharing. the reason i wanted to know about the union hall, someone wrote a book about the decline

of union hall politics. the disconnect and breach between the democratic party and blue-collar workers over the past 30, 40, 50 years. deindustrialization was happening long before the 1990's and nafta and the wto. -- world trade organization. she went to the parking lots, the ones that are left, in western pennsylvania. in prior generations you would see bumper stickers about the union and democratic politics, whatever may have been in the union hall newspaper that week. you are now seeing it replaced by trump stickers, the nra, the churches. voids are filled. to make a long story short, there has been a shift from blue-collar workers away from democratic politics and the

author of the book try to illustrate this with the change in the bumper stickers she saw and the union hall parking lots towards more conservative republican leaning institutions, because, as an earlier caller said, the democratic party is no longer recognizable, the coalition used to have blue-collar workers that were more economically liberal. socially conservative. the democratic party has lost touch with those voters. you can't sneer at people because they don't share the same values as you do. the democratic party has become what the republican party used to be stereotyped as. highly educated white color working-class. that is no one of the main pillars of the democratic party. -- now one of the main pillars of the democratic party. i hope i'm explaining this as well as i can. there's a book out i would recommend to people if you want

to take in these ideas, "the fabulous failure" by nelson lichtenstein. host: time for one last call. marlene in minnesota on the line for independence. -- independents. caller: i don't know if you can answer my question or not. guest: neither do i. caller: i am wondering, when did all of this heavy pork start coming into our bills that are supposed to be for the american people? millions and billions of dollars that they pass in these 1500 page bills, 3000 page bills that pelosi wrote and said just sign it, you can read it later. when did that start happening that this became unaware to the american people? guest: 1789. congress did do away with earmarks some years ago.

that's an enormous question. not all of this is negative. that is what lobbying and the first amendment is for. not to give a flippant answer, powerful interests are able to stuff bills with whatever they want. until congress gets back to doing business like it used to, having hearings and fully vetting these things instead of just signing it and reading it later. i can't give you a better answer to that. that's in a norm is subject to tackle in a short period of time. host: martin di caro, host of "history as it happens." you can find his work online at historyasithappens.com. thank you for being with us today. a lot of topics we got through. next on washington journal, the university of north texas at dallas political science professor orlando perez will discuss the history of the panama canal.

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democracy in real-time. this is your government at work. this is c-span. giving you your democracy unfiltered. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us now to discuss the history of the panel can now is university of north texas at dallas political sense professor orlando perez. thank you for being with us today. guest: thank you for having me. it is a pleasure. host: we will start with just the basics. we have heard about the panama canal the past few weeks. provide our audience what the canal is and why it was or is important to the u.s. guest: sure. the panama canal is one of the most important inter-oceanic waterways in the world.

about 5% of global cargo commerce passes through the canal on a yearly basis. but for the united states, it is over 40% of our container shipments passing through the canal and about 70% of canal traffic is from the united states. we are the leading users of the canal. particularly it's important for trade between the eastern seaboard ports and the west. it cuts down about 7000 miles of shipping distance when you traverse the canal to go from the east coast to the west coast. in terms of

is about a 51 mile distance from the pacific at the shortest point, from the pacific to the atlantic. and then the transport would transfer that cargo, mostly gold and silver, onto galleons, and then transport them first to cuba, and then to spain. the influence of panama and the geographic location of panama has been a key component of

global trade for hundreds of years. in the 1850's, the goldrush in california led the united states to begin to get an interest in the canal route. initially, panama at that point was part of columbia. the united states worked out a deal with columbia at the time in the 1850's and 1860's to build a railroad that connected, again, panama city on the pacific side with the largest city on the atlantic side, colon. that was instrumental in transporting people and cargo

from the pacific and because of the way the french wanted to build the canal. they wanted to duplicate their success in egypt, in the suez canal, which is a c-level canal, and that type of canal is not possible on the isthmus of panama because of geography and the continental divide. and so, disease, inefficiency,

the wrong planning, and corruption led to the failure of the french effort. that led the united states into the process of negotiating the rights to build a canal. for teddy roosevelt, for president roosevelt the canal became a very important part of his international policy. the united states had at the turn-of-the-century become a major global power. the notion of a two-ocean navy,

of adding a two-ocean navy and the ability to traverse the distances between the atlantic and pacific for military purposes were key. and the united states was able to reach an agreement with columbia to build a canal, but the colombians failed to approve that treaty, and it was at that point that the united states then aided in the independence of panama, and subsequent to that -- and we can get into some more details about that process -- subsequent to that signed what is known as the treaty that gave the united states the rights to build and enter the canal through panama. at that point, in perpetuity. host: and the u.s. did have a

major role in construction of the canal and then had control of the canal for several decades until a couple of treaties were signed, that neutrality treaty and the panama canal treaty. what do those treaties say, and why were there two separate treaties signed? guest: so, the united states began the construction of the canal in 1904. it opened in 1914, and as i said, the rights of the united states where -- were guaranteed in perpetuity in the so-called treaty of 1904. it is important to note that the hay is the then-secretary of

state of the united states come and varilla was a frenchman who had worked on the french canal and had acquired the rights to the equipment of the french canal company in panama, and has been assigned by panama as the negotiator of the treaty. it is a treaty that no panamanian -- and panamanians are very keen to remind folks about this -- it was a treaty that no panamanian actually signed. that treaty, of course, generated a great deal of consternation and opposition in panama to many of its provisions. and panamanians, for the rest of the 20th century, had stopped to change that treaty.

and to gain greater access to the canal. the treaty allowed the united states to control what became known as the canal zone, a 10-mile-wide, 50-mile-long stretch of panamanian territory to build the canal, and the united states built a military and civilian infrastructure around the building, the administration, management, and protection of the canal. throughout -- again, throughout the 20th century the panamanians had thought to change that treaty. by the 1960's the issue of national sovereignty over the canal was critical to

panamanians. and in 1964, early in january 1964 there were a significant level of protests and violence in the canal zone. about 20 panamanians died from the protests and the reactions to these protests. panamanians had saw to raise the panamanian flag over section of the panama canal zone, specifically a high school in the canal zone. they were repressed by u.s. military personnel and police,

and in the scuffle, again, about 20 panamanians died. about four u.s. soldiers died. and that incident led to the start of serious negotiations to revive the canal treaty. to revise the canal that gave the united states the rights to the canal zone in perpetuity. it really started with lyndon johnson. it continued with richard nixon and joe ford. but the problem was that there was significant opposition in the united states to getting back the canal and in panama in 1968 there was a military coup that brought to power a military

dictatorship, and so there was concern in the early 1970's, really, that making a treaty, ideal for the revision of the treaty with a military dictatorship was not in the interest of the united states. by the time president carter came to power in 1977 those negotiations had advanced significantly, and i think carter generally in his foreign policy and in his engagement with latin america wanted to really change the narrative of our relations with region.

he wanted to emphasize human rights. not just in latin america, but across the world. i think the nation -- the notion for many in the carter administration and many scholars in many political figures in the united states was that a new treaty was necessary to change the nature of our engagement not just with panama, but also for the rest of latin america. and those negotiations were not easy. but they lead to, as you mentioned, those two treaties. host: i'm sorry, i'm going to hop in here quick because i want to make sure our collars have the numbers to call in so they can join this conversation as well. we are opening those phone lines. democrats, your line, (202) 748-8000.

republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . our guest is orlando perez, a political science professor at the university of texas at dallas, and our discussion is on the history of the panama canal. professor perez, apologies for jumping in there. you were talking about the treaties, what they allow us to do. please continue. guest: as i was saying, and please interrupt me whenever you feel the need to do that. i can get carried away with the narrative here. so, two treaties, one, panama canal treaty, and the other one, the neutrality treaty. the panama canal treaty basically set up a process by which the united states would eventually, by december 31,

1999, turnover control of the panama canal, the management of the panama canal, to panama. this was a process that took about 20 years, gradually turning over pieces and areas of the canal zone to panamanian management, and ultimately on december 31, 1999 panama received the management of the canal. the neutrality treaty was a separate treaty by which the panamanians committed themselves to maintaining the panama canal as a neutral waterway. not favoring any particular country or particular international power, or actor.

to treat every user of the canal equally. and this is -- and this has become an issue recently with the president-elect's comments on the panama canal. the neutrality treaty also gives the united states the right to intervene in the canal if that neutrality is jeopardized. the treaties were done instead of one. i understanding is it had to do with him the best way to get this entire process through the united states senate was not an easy process, but the treaties were ratified by two thirds of the u.s. senate in 1978. they went into effect in 1979

and they were effectively implemented by december 31, 1999. host: our guest is orlando perez. our discussion is on the history of the panama canal. our first color is rory, from riverside, california on the line for democrats. caller: hi. how are you? i just want to make it clear, i am a native panamanian. i was born in that country and i came here in 1963 as a nine-year-old. i am a citizen, 22-year-old military vet and everything. what is misleading as what he is saying about the united states having the panama canal in perpetuity. it was a 99-year lease, ok? and that is what is misleading. the craziness from our fearless and will -- our fearless leader

now, it was not theirs to take back. we need to clarify that. yes, the canal zone was american. it was actually governed by louisiana law. but all of the jim crow trappings of gold and silver, and the only reason there were a large number of black employees from the west indies was because they spoke english. and that in itself became divisive with the american hispanic public also. this about we are going to take it back? it was not yours to take back. you did the construction, but you have no sovereignty now over that land. host: professor perez, your response? guest: i agree. i agree totally. the question of whether it was perpetuity or 99 years, that has been a controversial issue, and

it has to do with the translations from english to spanish and spanish to english of the initial treaty. but i agree with roy. the treaty itself said, literally, that the united states would act as if it was sovereign, but the implication of the acts -- but the act if statement is if sovereignty remains fundamentally with the panamanians. i also agree with him that the canal was dealt -- was built mostly by black labor from the caribbean region and from imported labor from other parts of, again, the caribbean and latin america. and so, i totally agree with roy

that, indeed, sovereignty rested with the panamanians and that any discussion of sovereignty, any discussion of returning the canal back to the united states, united states' management, i think is counterproductive to our relations with not just panama, but with latin america in general. and i think if the aim of this discussion is to bully the panamanians to move away from chinese investment and chinese engagement in the region, i

honestly believe it is counterproductive and will not readily succeed. host: let's hear from tina in alabama. the line for republicans. caller: good morning. mr. perez, nice job. i was born and raised in the canal zone. my father is a civil engineer who maintained government contracts. and americans got on great and the influence of america in panama created a middle class that will other central american country enjoys. panama had 137 bank charters when i was down there. but in 1962 with the cuban missile crisis it was cuba and russia who sent a lot of instigators down for the riots. that happened throughout central america. i would encourage you to look into that. i appreciate you taking the topic on. god bless.

guest: thank you very much. host: let's hear from shawn in blacksburg, new york, line for republicans. good morning, sean. caller: good morning. guest: morning. caller: hello, professor. how are you doing today? guest: all right. caller: just to bounce off the woman who was just on, it sounds like she has a tremendous amount of ground. my dad actually was navy and he spent time in the panama area i'm a was stationed down there. what is your take on the chinese influence in that area, and what influence, you know, because the fact we built the infrastructure there, and i do get the sovereignty aspect of that. i understand that is a sovereign nation. what would be your -- i'm