south carolina -- sewer for the water bill. .n south carolina i have to maintain a vehicle. i have to also get clothes and shoes. it is just crazy. host: what areas have you seen the biggest increase in your expendable money? are you spending more on housing related issues, health care related issues, where have you seen the most increased? caller: i am spending money 24 hours a day, spending money in my sleep. it is like grocery. milk is almost five dollars. read is through that -- bread is three dollars and i am shopping at reasonable places of groceries. gas dropped, thank god. spending, aou are nice. of sneakers that will last for a minute, that is from $50 to $160. host: what industry are you in? caller: i am retired. i am getting disability, i have prostate cancer. the guy shot me a bill for $500. i am like, what? from the hospital and minor all the just. -- my neurologist. a lady on the phone on social security and can barely make it. all the people on social security can just pay their bills, they are totally broke. if something goes wrong with their home, they have to go to other sources to get what they need done. it is a shame. a terrible shame. host: pensacola, florida, over 50, steve, what do you think about the economy? caller: because i am over 50, anybody not old enough to have worked before reagan does not have a fair comparison of what a real economy looks like. person andie sanders until we go back to something like that, it will be more like martin luther king said it, more concisely than anybody i have heard, in this country, it is socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. he is right. it has been more so since reagan. will bere hoping trump what reagan was for mine -- host: explain what you mean by what the economy was like during that time and how it is different from now. caller: you got paid to work. you got paid enough money to pay your bills. usually the men would work in a factory that covered the family health insurance, it covered all the basics. if a woman work also, she had the luxury of choice to some extent but if she chose to work, which most did part-time at least, then you had maybe a second car or more comfortable, you are not rich but you could make it. now, you cannot make it unless you are a professional. everybody else is kicked to the curb, i worked in 13 states over the years and i know what it is like working and making money. i was working in the telephone business going from job to job. , nothing will get right until we do what bernie sanders said. corporations do not want a democracy and that is that. half of what donald trump is doing, pulling out of the paris agreement, i was watching a republican saying how it did his oil friends a favor that they can do a deal they could not with the paris agreement. they are running everything. host: let's look at how president trump's proposals are being scored by the congressional budget office. the washington post does a comparison of his proposals to his predecessor and says president trump received his first official estimate thursday, how his proposals would affect the economy. the results were mediocre, especially compared to barack obama while in office. his proposal would add only about .1 percentage point growth of domestic product according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office which would increase the pace of gdp growth to 1.9% per year. lower than the 3% administration officials have promised after a decade gdp would be about .7% greater if donald trump's proposal are enacted. the obama plans would have more than they budget put forward in 2014 with an increase deal for all afteric activity by 2.1% a decade by comparison. texas. on the line from age 30-50. what are your thoughts about the economy? caller: i am a licensed plumber and texas and i think this is one something washington screwed up. it is about time the american people wise up and get angry and stop talking to this people -- these people like people will do something for you, they will not do anything for you, the american people will have to start demanding with anger that people get up and do their jobs. all this side talking. we have a hero when killing -- fair when is killing -- heroine is killing thousands of people. we know what is going out in the streets, we live in the streets. they are causing this trouble and lying about what is going on with our economy and we trust the dam things they say. you are not helping things by perpetrating it. this is our only stand we have to talk anything. to voice any kind of opinion tried here. that is ridiculous. host: since you have this platform, what would you like to see elected officials do to help people feel the economy on the ground? caller: that is what kills me, it is so simple, if you keep everything transparent. just keep it transparent. look, she cut me off. host: you are still on. caller: you keep it transparent. everything transparent, no more closed-door meetings, all this will side deals -- bull side deals. you cannot get into the white house and become a millionaire. these people going in there poor and coming out millionaires. this is not whatever government is about an running the country is about. everything has to be wide open and in the public. nothing should be done behind our backs, everything should be full transparency. if you cannot do that, you cannot do this deal. host: let's look at what janet yellen told democrat joe donnelly when she testified this week about the impact of the opioid crisis on the economy. >> my state like many others has an opioid abuse epidemic. people of all ages and backgrounds impacted, families, friends, personal editions. it not only impacts health outcomes but has a consequence on economic and employment opportunities. the national unemployment rate is 4.4% but the labor participation rate has gone down. people talk about the aging population. how much of a factor do you think the opioid abuse situation has been? chair yellen: i think it is related to decline in labor force participation among prime age workers. also -- anow if it is cause or symptom of long-running economic maladies that have affected these communities. and particularly affected workers who have seen their job opportunities decline. this is something that has been going on for many decades. surveys suggest that many prime age men who are not actively participating in the labor market are involved in prescription drug use, not always opioids but we are seeing, as i mentioned, an increase in death rates, which is extremely unusual. i think the united states is the only advanced nation i know of where, in these communities, we are actually seeing, especially seeing -- among less educated men, an increase in death rates partly reflecting opioid use and it is a very serious and heartbreaking problem. host: mark calling from philadelphia, over 50, how is the economy treating you? caller: the economy is treating me very well. overall. i would say, going forward, kimberly, i am not to optimistic and i say that because, so far, recently, health care costs have stabilized. now, with this ridiculous republican health care bill, that has an approval rating of forward,ople going this will be a disaster. --re are no two ways that right now, health care costs my wife about 12%, 13% of our net income, we are paying more on health care than any other bill in the house. this is totally ridiculous. i saw where the deficit was higher this last fiscal year them a thought. mick mulvaney, the cbo guy, complaining about it. i am on social security and medicare. let's face it, they will be a target. they will give us a zero social security raise and make us pay more for medicaid. -- medicare. if you do not stabilize health care, you will not stabilize the economy and you cannot pass a bill that has a 50% approval rating -- 15% approval rating for health care, who is running the show? i thought we were but it looks like these politicians will pass something, whether we like it or not. host: what would you like to see lawmakers do? there are problems now with the federal health care law that is costing people a lot of money and raising premiums. what would you like to see them do? caller: work together to fix obamacare. trumpcare --care, call it ryancare, trumpcare, it does not matter who takes credit, call ryan, mcconnell, pelosi, chuck schumer, get together and fix this thing instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. the ted cruz amendment is lunacy. theooks like that will take day. host: james is calling from gainesville, georgia between 30 and 50, are you feeling the economic recovery? caller: just a little bit. i am blessed i have a job. i moved from chicago, illinois and my base has taken a tremendous hit in terms of base income. phd and i have an electrical engineering degree, a math degree and an mba and am working as if i have a bachelors degree. i fell into the small businesses in atlanta and it is the pace in bid, of buying service telephone bid, internet bid, it is not there. as most people would assume. one thing i want to highlight is this opioid addiction. this is huge. i would hate for americans to assume that that is preventing individuals from getting jobs. when you do an analysis of it out my brief review of it, of rural areas, west virginia and places like that where it is huge. if you look at the unemployment rate in the black community, which the opioid addiction has not hit as hard, and if it did, i do not think it will be all over the tv as it should be in terms of when these problems do hit certain segments of our population. peopleare not educating that can get these jobs that do not have opioid addictions and problems? let's not allow our politicians and whomever to turn their attention to that and say, we cannot get these people jobs because they are struggling with opioids. that is not the case. i am calling on small businesses. you have smoke shops pocket -- anding up over atlanta selling everything related to opioids legally which has these young men and women addicted to all forms of stuff that they smoke out of these types. -- pipes. we are all blessed to have a job and there can be more done. as well as helping those that want to work. host: let's hear from sherwood calling from wayne, michigan, over 50, how is the economy affecting your life? caller: the economy is good for me. the thing about my perception is that there are market forces opposing each other that are making things impossible. as i was saying to your person asking me my opinion, i worked for general motors in a large factory and the company went from a second shift and hired over 800 people. last year. ended in lates last year and they let those people go. what happened during that time when they were building the cars, they found they were not able to have the quality they wanted. the people literally were not working out. talking about the opioid situation. it is a problem with our culture , we are a free enterprise society and the people who work hardest are successful and unfortunately, in our world right now, young people are not being given the support they need to begin in to get an education and work hard and feel good about what they have. the economy does not allow us to make the money. i do not have a family, do not have dependents and that is the only reason i am doing well. at the same time, looking at the economy be way it is, i do not anticipate having a time when i can retire with the expenses being too much. i will have to have some income and that is the way the world is. host: more news about janet yellen in the wall street journal, people say she will not keep the job at the fed, economists say long odds president donald trump nominating federal reserve chairwoman janet yellen to a second term but have little consensus on who may take her place. a recent survey found economist placed a 20% average probability on her getting the nod, the latest -- largest share one by anyone in the poll from -- but she is not expected to be picked. the second most likely candidate according to the survey was national economic council director gary cohen with 13.7% probability, a former goldman sachs president. he manages the white house search for a nominee to take the helm when janet yellen's term in center early february. jim calling in from west virginia, over 50. what do you think of the economy? caller: the economy for me really does not matter at my age. i am doing ok. i worry about younger people, my family, 25-35 years old. i am from west virginia. probably the only person that voted for clinton in the whole state. i would like to go back to what the man from florida said. about the reagan years. i got a job before that. the job was good. it was good to me. family.ood for my those jobs do not exist anymore. certainly not in west virginia. host: what kind of jobs are you talking about? caller: industrial jobs, straight out of high school into maintenance programs. a plan was taught. by the company. know, thatow, you that exists at all anymore, straight out of high school. i am very fortunate to have lived when i did. i worry about our children. i want to give back to the taxation, when you cut the taxation like we did in 1982, and then never make -- which was fine, if that is what they wanted to do, but they had to make the cuts to the government, which never happened. if you look at any graph of the debt, the debt comes directly from that. you look at any graph, it starts 1980ish, and go straight up. somebody needs to explain progressive taxation to people. everybody pays the same tax on the same amount. if you are in the 50% -- everybody should strive to be in the higher percentage tax brackets. make $10,000,u you pay the same price as some nielsen makes $10,000 and if you make $100,000, you pay for -- you pay progressively up and down. host: we have a lot of calls and i want to talk about the economy, this is mark from frederick, maryland, between 30 and 50, what do you think? thatr: my observation is the economy is a $10 per hour economy in most parts of the country. that is not a superpower mentality. one of the reasons for this is globalization. justlization has made about everybody work harder for less. they work longer hours. the observation that our government is about the only ,ector that has never downsized when everybody else is asking to do more with less, our government continues to withlize the taxpayers ever-increasing real estate , taxes here and taxes there. insurance goes up. yet we keep getting lectured about how there is no inflation. how could there be no inflation when stagnant wages for most people in most parts of the country are around? we are a $10 an hour economy and yet we have a government that gets bigger, bigger, bigger. government does not make anything, they do not produce anything, they just suck the money out of the system. host: what short of complete tax reform overhaul, which is difficult to do in congress, they have been trying for over a decade, are there things short of that that could be done to help? caller: what would be is a good wantsis what donald trump them to do, drain the swamp, send 15% of the federal government home and 5% of the state government workers home and tell them to go find a $10 an hour job like everybody else. amazon is hiring, why do not they get cut out, cut taxes and take their foot off the backs of the next of the working class -- necks of the working class. the proof, we are a sub 2% gdp economy, when you have it set up 2%, how do we call ourselves a superpower? $10 per hour economy and you tell me we are a superpower? we do not make anything anymore in this country. how --ennessee, over 50, are you feeling the recovery where you are? caller: i am hanging in there. trying to make it. host: what is the toughest thing, jimmy, wages that are not rising high enough, cost increasing, what is making it tough for you? caller: too much government giveaway. host: what do you mean? caller: people that will not and refused to work and play the system. they are sitting back. they are not making progress. they are freeloaders playing the system. host: ok. caller: the working people are having to pay their way plus our own way. host: let's look at what fed chairwoman yellen told democrat -- a democrat about the state of the housing market. >> talk about it when it comes to the younger generation who grew up through the housing crisis. at one point, owning a home was the best investment you could make, i do not know if they think that anymore, do you think that is something that is going to be of concern for our future and for the younger generation when it comes to owning a home? chair yellen: there has always been a big debate about whether it is correct that housing is the best investment. that one can possibly make. i agree that, in the aftermath of the crisis, views on that are changing. i am not going to opine on a personal view as to whether or not that is true. those -- for all that but those individuals with very strong credit, it is difficult now to gain access to mortgage credit. we do have, overall, i would say, a shortage of housing, whether owner occupied housing, or rental housing, relative to what you would think would be a normal pace of household formation in this country, as you have said, inventories are low, we have seen a significant pickup in rental production -- production of rental housing. host: matt from north carolina, between 30 and 50. what do you think of the economy? caller: good morning. me personally, i am doing well. i wanted to make a couple of points from my opinion. he. the other night on pbs news and they had warren buffett and he cited facts about, over the last 1970's,, late in the two cents on every dollar was spent on health care. $.17 on is $.15 to every dollar spent on health care, why has the cost increase compared to everything else? i think it is a cultural problem in the united states. everyone talks about the government and medicaid cuts, everybody wants the government to solve their problems. likeexpect -- they feel people today they have no sense of responsibility for their own personal health and welfare. we are unhealthy, smoke cigarettes, do not eat right, have a culture of individuals who consume compulsively to try to find happiness. andng junk at walmart watching garbage on tv and putting terrible stuff in their bodies. nobody talks about that. nobody wants to seek a quality education. look how times change. a caller talking about a factory job before could provide for everybody, that is before and times change and people involved. olve. we need to look forward and educate ourselves for tomorrow and take more responsibility for our health and welfare and not expect the government to come help us. a caller earlier says we need to get angry and they will not help us, he is right, they will not help us. we need to look at ourselves and what we can do in our own communities and for ourselves. host: harvey calling from arizona, over 50, what are your thoughts? caller: good morning, america. i watched ronald reagan come in -- and throw them out the window and every product we make is terrorist all around the world -- has a tariff all around the world. if you take the health care out of it and put it on the government, people will get more money out of their paychecks. and set of in lieu of insurance payments. in come he came sadly -- he stabbed the working man in the back and said you have to compete with the $.83 per hour across the pacific. slowly, all labor started dying in this country. we elect politicians to up hold the constitution. , i, as a commercial driver was subjected to drug test four times per year to make sure i was drug-free. and lost my fourth amendment right. then i find out ron reagan let the employers that hire undocumented workers, there would be no penalties. he signed a waiver this is all corporations are not responsibility for their city, state, and country anymore, just liable to their stockholders. money to go over. host: ok. this weekend, c-span cities tour takes booktv in american history tv to concord, massachusetts where we explore the city's history and learn about the famous authors to shape its literary scene. today at noon on booktv, all of our programs from the city will air together in one time block, here we visit the orchard house where author luisa may alcott wrote her novel "little women." >> this house becomes the home of amos bronson all caps and his family. one of the daughters in this house writes a book that changes a lot of the way people think about children, the way they think about young women and mature women. it was a progressive book for its day and today it still remains this because it is a simple true to life story of four young women and their parents. "little women" was a simple story to the author, a family story. she did not think much would come of it when she sent it to the publishers but she may note in her journal that they had really lived most of it. if it would succeed, that would be the reason. host: tune in this weekend on booktv and american history tv as our c-span cities tour travels to concord, massachusetts and catch any of the programs on the cities we visited at c-span.org/cities tour. 50,anapolis, between 30 and what do you think about the economy? caller: good morning. morning, you have to let your opinion out about this economy, it is a billionaires economy. for people like me and millions of americans, we have to struggle. go to work in the morning. working 70 hours per week. does not matter who is in the administration, democrat or republican, it is a billionaires club. everything is in their favor. i am struggling. i am in iranian-american who came in here in the 1970's, 1980's. reagan will divide the country, no middle class, upper class and lower class and that is what happened. a $10 an hour economy, we are struggling. we have no leaders. no leaders that are democrats or -- [indiscernible] host: what would you like to see leaders do? caller: let's go to bernie sanders. we have to look at the economy on the vast majority of americans in this country who are struggling. who does notndiana to earn a decent wage, $7.50 per hour, i am working 70 hours per week and being a good citizen and putting food on the table and paying taxes, but we struggle. i am working for a company i have been with 25 years and eight years ago i got outsourced and got no benefits. no medical, nothing. host: what industry? caller: hospitality, the hotel business, they outsourced everything. the greek of america and companies -- greed of america and companies. the politicians do not care about us. they beat their drums to get the votes and talk about the laws tos and pass these do them favors. wage in california, washington, $15 and hour, according to inflation, you cannot make a dollars an hour working 30 hours per week and say i will support my family. we have to struggle. you cannot put your kids through these educations. be economy is a billionaires economy. going istion we are not a direction for working americans. look at the fed. it is a billionaires club. , he will not care about -- host: let's hear from mike from springfield, virginia, over 50. what are your thoughts? caller: i have a solution to fix the country and it is simple, analyze the industry, minimum wage in 1970 when the housing boom started was $1.70 per hour and now across the union is $15 per hour and when it 15 times -- six times. ,f you look at the trade wages they did not move up. if you analyze the industry come in 1970, they call it inflation, houses in 1970 were $20,000, $30,000, now they are several hundred thousand dollars and a car was $2000 an hour and now there are tens of thousands of dollars in health there was hundreds of dollars and now thousands of dollars. in life in general, you start out with a credit card to use it for your advantage and get a credit score, then work on your credit and get purchasing power and purchase your house and the bank will tell you that the three essentials -- [indiscernible] when you move into the house, you get into debt. i see this happening everywhere. host: what is the solution? caller: against the industry, the mortgage industry, it is a simple process. a sample at a checkbox at the top of a mortgage note and rental note. you pay your mortgage for three years and hold the receipt for the three essential and on the fourth year, the money goes towards out of your mortgage to the fourth-year. with insurance and pay back the three essentials. you cannot control the prices. the way e.u. bailout the country is that -- $1000, 90 million homes, 1000 times 98 million is $98 billion, you divided up $98 billion to the state of union 250 states that is a little over $2.5 billion per state for infrastructure and repair which would lower taxes. the second port -- the second mortgage payment takes care of the situation about to collapse. you create new jobs in the market for the coliseum's coming out of universities that do not have jobs. host: does that put a disproportionate burden on homeowners? a lot of people who do not own homes, when they get off scott free? >> it becomes a 30 year note any 40 euros note. -- 40 year note. it saves the economy and helps out the middle class. host: ok. let's hear from earl from davidson, north carolina. between 30 and 50. what do you think about the economy? life,: in regards to my the last couple of years, i am a displaced worker. i live in metropolitan virginia and work for a for-profit college. i was laid off last year and had to move back to southarolina, moved in with my parents for a number of months. i am also a graduate student and next year i will receive my phd. i am now working in davidson, north carolina. my day is 25% less than when i worked in metropolitan -- d.c. i am very well educated but facing student loan debt which is probably right now around $135,000. host: what industry are you working in? caller: and higher education. let's talk about health care. i was very lucky that i was able to get health care. i was able to get part of the exchange with obamacare and between august of last year until november of last year, i was unable to get health insurance. cobra was too high. now that i am working and have an employer insurance, it is about $150 every two weeks out of my paycheck. that does not include dental or vision. you are caught between a rock and a hard place. for me, overall, the economy is not going well, even for those well-educated. i do not think that it will be going well for anybody. host: let's talk
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American Libraries
TV News
Understanding 9/11
