are talking to melissa yeager, senior staff writer at the sunlight foundation, who has also won regional emmy awards and formally a part of the kshb inative team at kansas city. callmore about these centers. we have a tweet that asks "what happens if they members of congress just says no, refuses to work in the call rooms?" guest: john oliver kind of givess on how the party stipulations on how much the dues are. if you refuse -- that is a good question. why do a bunch of them not ban together and say we will not do this anymore. but you risk being the one guy in a primary against another

do you have a question for melissa yeager? caller: i just have a comment.ed listening to this a little late, but to me, it seems living proof that legislators are influenced strongly by contributors is this tax code. benefits that have been gained by contributors to legislators, and there is nobody wille legislature that touch it. they talk about how terrible it is, but when it comes time to reforming the tax code and doing away with these benefits, tax breaks that have been bought and paid for, no one will do anything. i am wondering what she thought about that. not as well rehearsed in the tax code and how things got put in there, but certainly people are concerned with are there people who have a voice stronger than mine in congress? and isn't it keeping us from making progress and making our government better? familiar witht the tax code issue and how things are put into that, overall, certainly people are concerned with how their voices are being heard by their lawmakers and whether they are being heard. host: on the independent line, james is from flo

melissa yeager from the sunlight foundation on the amount of time members of congress spend fundraising and how it affects their official duties. ♪ host: good morning. 2016.friday, april 8, the headlines for today's "washington journal" are about the war of words in the democratic presidential primary, as hillary clinton and bernie sanders had a sharp exchange about each other's qualifications, leaving some in the democratic party worried that the change in tone might hamper efforts to unite the party behind the eventual candidate. the stalemate over the supreme court nominee merrick garland continues, as president obama warned that political polarization puts the judiciary in jeord

and melissa yeager for the sunlight foundation talks about organization's ongoing efforts to highlighthat they described as the outsized role fundraising plays in the daily lives of congressional representatives. beginning live, join the discussion. >> the supreme court cases that shaped our history come to light with the c-span series landmark cases. it explores real-life stories and constitutional drama behind the most significant decisions. puts the things about that -- that may not be expressly said in the constitution. >> he said as you did in your article the case is accepted by the culture. how many can you say about that? as onesolated the u.s. of only four nations across the globe that allowed abortion for any reason after fetal liability. it has not settled the issue at all. establishedse that redistricting issues paving the way for the one man, one vote of american democracy. watch tonight at 10:00 >> tonight on c-span, president obama calls on the senate to consider his supreme court nominee, merrick garland. then the senate judiciary chair discusses his position against ho

melissa yeager from the sunlight foundation on the amount of time members of congress spend fundraising and how it affects their official duties. ♪ host: good morning. 2016.friday, april 8, the headlines for today's "washington journal" are about the war of words in the democratic presidential primary, as hillary clinton and bernie sanders had a sharp exchange about each other's qualifications, leaving some in the democratic party worried that the change in tone might hamper efforts to unite the party behind the eventual candidate. the stalemate over the supreme court nominee merrick garland continues, as president obama warned that political polarization puts the judiciary in jeord