lydia depillis. what does that mean? guest: i think part of it is that if you are making more, you pay more in social security taxes than your employer does. and that is a common pool that people who are not being members might draw from. and you are also could you bidding to your union pension fund -- also contributing to your union pension fund. it is true that union -- the color -- the caller spoke about education. it allows people without a college education necessarily to go into a skilled trade and make a living. we hear a lot now about workforce training. and the fact that unions are not much of a force anymore makes it so that you have to find other ways to do that. host: going into the segment, i just presumed that michigan would have the highest rate of union membership. was i correct? guest: actually, -- host: not even close is the answer. guest: yes. so, the state that has the highest is new york, 24.6. followed by alaska. and hawaii. host: why? why did those three states have the highest union membership? gu

then a round table discussion with washington post reporter lydia depillis. as always we will take your calls and you can enjoy the conversation at facebook and twitter as well. washington journal live at 7:00 eastern on c-span. >>> this sunday on q and a, eric larson on his new book "dead wake", the last crossing of the lusitania. >> the question gets difficult when the question arises as to what ultimately happened to the lusitania, why was the lusitania allowed to enter the irish sea without escort, without the kind of detailed warning that could have been provided to the captain but was not. and this has led to some very interesting speculation about was the ship essentially set up for attack by, by churchill for someone in the admiralty. and it's interesting. i found no smoking memo, and believe me i would have found a smoking memo. that is to say there was nothing from churchill to jackie fisher or to somebody else in the admiralty saying let's let the lusitania go into the irish sea because we want to get something. nothing like that existing. >> sunda

lydia depillis, of the "washington post" thank you for being with us. a reminder that "booktv" and "american history tv" are on c-span3 every weekend. so if you are done with public policy, turn over to "booktv" on c-span2 and turnover to "american history tv" on c-span3. enjoy the rest of your day. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> on this friday, senate democratic leader harry reid i doubt will not be seeking reelection. he will be finishing up his fifth term in the u.s. senate. he released a statement this morning. here's a look at his complete statement which he released on video. senator reid: these bruises on my face are in inconvenience, but trust me, they are nothing compared to some of the bruises that i've got. when i was a boy, i dreamed of being an athlete. i envisioned being a man in centerfield at yankee s stadium. the work that i have done for the people of arizona has been just