. >> well, he should the point has been made, congressman ryan may be a good guy, but he's a wonk. he's constitutionally incapable of doing something simple. he loves being in the weeds because i think he feels it justifies his existence. look, steve forbes also wrote that if the republicans blow this, they might lose their majority in 2018 elections and if that happens, trump's new friend nancy pelosi will take about five minutes to launch impeachment hearings. david: that's right, that's right, with the house-- with the democrat house, they probably get impeachment hearings. steve, want to forget about your simple post card idea. the idea of a flat tax, now, this is not going to be a flat tax, three rates are still more than just one, but it's a lot better than the seven or eight we have now and is close to the post card. >> forget about big reform, we don't have time to do it. get a simple tax cut. and in truly simplifying with a flat tax, do it in a couple of years. reagan had two big tax bills and trump can do the same thing. david: and they're looking at the flat tax, but the

i'm not an econ wonk. i just have an ass tattoo of alan greenspan. that. that. that is why i don't tell people. it leads to these inane discussions about the-the current acceptable terminology. and it's none of your business. so what happens when they find out? you quit and run away again? oh, you're living your perfect life? how's that music program for inner city kids going? damn it. no, that was good. i'm sorry. you got good aim. i'm not done getting where i'm going. it's a journey. isn't that what you used to say? oh... oh, i hope not. that-that sounds really trite. (chuckles) i just want you to be happy. and i want people to really know you. i'm lucky i got to. seems like there aren't very many of us. see? you can be nice. i'm glad to see you're doing well. take care of yourself, bro. "bro"? i know. ugh. don't use "bro." i know. i tried it. i just... never. i hate it. don't ever say that. when in rome, right? dalton: this week was marred by the loss of 22 brave russian soldiers. i have expressed my deepest sympathy to our russian friends, but also my profou

i'm not an econ wonk. i just have an ass tattoo of alan greenspan. that. that. that is why i don't tell people. it leads to these inane discussions about the-the current acceptable terminology. and it's none of your business. so what happens when they find out? you quit and run away again? oh, you're living your perfect life? how's that music program for inner city kids going? damn it. no, that was good. i'm sorry. you got good aim. i'm not done getting where i'm going. it's a journey. isn't that what you used to say? oh... oh, i hope not. that-that sounds really trite. (chuckles) i just want you to be happy. and i want people to really know you. i'm lucky i got to. seems like there aren't very many of us. see? you can be nice. i'm glad to see you're doing well. take care of yourself, bro. "bro"? i know. ugh. don't use "bro." i know. i tried it. i just... never. i hate it. don't ever say that. when in rome, right? dalton: this week was marred by the loss of 22 brave russian soldiers. but also my profound gratitude. because the intelligence g

the folks who did the work, it wasn't just policy wonks. it was moms and dads, people who had crushing medical bills. , who apparent who has lost had it checkup might of been found earlier. those voices from every walk of life made a difference. time 90% oft americans know the security of health insurance. paying more for insurance, or being denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions, or because you are a woman, that is not a thing anymore. we got rid of that. people are alive today because of it, and that is progress. passed wastion we full of things that still need to be fixed. it was not perfect. it was better. when i see people trying to undo that progress for the 50th or 60th time with a bill that would raise costs or reduce coverage or rollback protections for older americans were people with pre-existing additions, cancer survivor, the expecting mom, a child with autism or asthma for whom coverage would once again be unattainable, it is aggravating. all of this is being done without demonstrable economic or actuarial, or pla

[applause] but the folks who did the work, it wasn't just policy wonks. it wasn't just politicians. it was moms and dads. people who had the experience with a sick child, or crushing medical bills that threaten to bankrupt them. maybe a parent who was lost to cancer that, had that person got a regular check up, might have been caught earlier. and those voices from every walk of like and every corner of the country, against all odds, made a difference. for the first time, more than 90% of americans know the security of health insurance. paying more for insurance, or being denied insurance because of a preexisting condition or because you are a woman that's not a thing anymore. we got rid of that. and people are alive today because of it, and that's progress. now, the legislation that we passed was full of things that still need to be fixed. it wasn't perfect, but it was better. so when i see those people trying to undo that hard-won progress, for the 50th or 60th time, with bills that would raise costs or reduce coverage, or roll back protections for older americans or people with pr

unlike the vast majority of politicians in the swamp and sewer and the so-called policy wonks in dc, the president actually runs a business. he wants bold tax cuts and reforms. he wants an emphasis on benefiting the middle class. he wants seven brackets to go to three brackets to make it easy. he wants that 15% corporate tax rate because that makes american businesses more competitive on the global stage. and allowing multi-national corporations to repatriate trillions of dollars and invest in american workers and build factories right here. and of course he's alleges pushing energy independence. why? because there are literally millions of high-paying jobs available. the administration wants to make these tax cuts retroactive. cruz is also offering up his own plan. here he is explaining to today what you need and why you need tax reform. >>our economy since world world war ii has grown. ronald reagan was elected on a promise of tax cuts, tax reforms. we saw historic tax reform in '81 and '86. and by the fourth year of his presidency, we went from stag economic growth to 7.2% a year.

inside china but also, again, china's trading partners, us here in the united states a lot of policy wonkswell. who he selects on some of the key cabinet positions will also overlook the economy, the direction of the economy so will this person be dovish, hawkish? it could be significant. >> in general president xi is seen as perhaps the most powerful chinese leader since ma whoever he selects, either way, he's in a strong position. >> who he selects will likely cement or further consolidate his power in the specific election i guess you call it or political event if you will. >>> checking -- sticking with china. >> sticking. >> sticking with china but switching tobusiness parts zhongan plans to have an ipo at $10 billion. it's the first online only insurer is set to begin a share sale today in hong kong. it named japan's stock bank as a corner stone investor in the deal with a 5% stake. >> think of everything. >>> workplace messaging app slack drawing in fresh cash from investors. raising another quarter of a billion thanks to a big injection from softbank. it values the company at $5 bil

toward the end, though, i thought if ever there's going to be a trump doctrine as the foreign policy wonkse you guys like to discuss, when he talked about the revival of nations, which seemed to be this statement against institutions like the european union which seem to suppress individual countries, their individuality, their particular sovereignty for this kind of bigger bureaucratic existence, that toward the end i thought really spoke to the whole speech any thoughts on that >> first of all, i accept the fact that you called me a wonk i'll accept that so if you're looking at this in a wonky kind of way, it's a fascinating speech because it is his most important foreign policy speech and there's a lot in there suggesting what his strategy is now. what is the trump strategy he's spending four days in new york a senior u.n. official says that's terribly unusual. he's here with vice president pence the whole time they've been keeping other people quiet on foreign policy the last couple of days. so they wanted people to focus on it. and the strategy is something he called principled realis

this is what i think unites a lot of free market conservatives and sort of center-left policy wonks. you have these big cities that are centers of economic growth, but they do not have enough housing, so nobody can move their. so they are not effectively serving the kind of engine of of working in middle class prosperity function that cities that exist 100 years ago. san francisco can be much more dense. new york much more dense. i agree with all of that. sort of. but, if you make san francisco a lot denser, you're not going to be building the kind of houses -- you could but you probably not going to be building the kind of houses where people are going to have three kids and live there for 20 or 25 years. you're much more likely to be building more urban standard spaces, which are a good place to live by yourself, or with a roommate or girlfriend or spouse and maybe good space to have one kid. i may be if you squeeze, a good place to have two kids, but it is exhausting. they are not places in the long run, where if you encourage more and more people to move to, you're going to get a

hoover, by contrast, was an avid policy wonk, and a trained engineer besides. and engineers are taught to alter their environment, not leave it alone. for the next five and half years after coolidge's assent to the presidency, the great enigma in the white house, as some called him, and the great engineer, has as many called hoover, dominated the american political landscape. with all their disparities in outlook, some measure of friction between the two men was well-nigh inevitable. although some of the vagaries of their interaction are no doubt lost to history, the record is sufficient to disclose the basic pattern. behind the facade of official etiquette and party irregularity, one finds an evolving and increasingly tense relationship. hoover's early contact with coolidge showed every sign of cordiality and cooperation. indeed, in the first year and a half of coolidge is tenure, he appeared to welcome hoover's input and even added to hoover's responsibilities. one area where they found common ground was agricultural policy. perhaps the most contentious issue

. >> it's a bittersweet thing to hear a woman who's a policy wonk, a grandma and she's thought thesehe's not president because of the electoral college. thank you. that's our show. keep it right here on msnbc. it'! it's me? alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay? you ready? one, two, three. [ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. whentrust the brand doctors trust for themselves. nexium 24hr is the number one choice of doctors and pharmacists for their own frequent heartburn. and all day all night protection. when it comes to frequent heartburn, trust nexium 24hr. whoamike and jen doyle?than i thought. yeah. time for medicare, huh. i have no idea how we're going to get through this. follow me. choosing a plan can be super-complicated. but it doesn't have to be. unitedhealthcare can guide you through the confusion, with helpful people, tools and pla

and deserters and military families torn asunder by those political questions, as well as the policy wonksrom the pentagon. as well as what behind the ears reporters were anxious to go there and report on the triumph of democracy over this evil communism. only when they got there they realized the reports from the field were not what the press offices in saigon or the pentagon were saying. they suddenly become our agents, what is going on? and then we have these two presidents, johnson and nixon. they are tape-recording themselves and had forgotten it. which is the greatest gift to historians. charlie: we will hear from johnson. but we will hear his doubts about the war. ken: usually we are trying to do a bottom-up story of so-called ordinary people and then you have this more abstract top-down policy consideration. but when you have a guy making that policy, showing his anxieties and his concerns, or you hear -- charlie: he is almost crying out to his friends, saying, what do i do? i do not want to send these young men to die. ken: he said i feel like a jack -- in a texas hailstorm. nixon

she was supposed to crush donald trump because she was a policy wonk.ie: you think it made a difference? steve: irrelevant. i think it was clinton cash and the greed and banality of the clintons. that is what we focus on. you don't need meetings, you had all the information you needed. the comey thing was background noise. we in the campaign didn't focus on it. charlie: americans didn't care about the emails? steve: they didn't care as much as i cared. you know why the emails are important? they are important for the clinton cash. those emails are the personal emails that show coordination with the speeches and all of the favors. when she went into the secretary of state, who were the people who didn't trust her? obama -- you can say a lot about obama, and i do but he is an , incorruptible guy as far as standard political corruption, cash. the obama guys and john kerry, what did they make her do? they made her have that agreement that before you have bill clinton do anything, going to notify us and have permission. she had to sign a document that said t

what, if you have a big name recognition as a as a celebrity, you can win over people who are policy wonks: i think i first made this observation when i went to republican conventions for comedy central or my radio show. i'd go to the conventions, people were like, hi, al. all i did was, you know -- savaging your people and hi, al. charlie: i normally vote republican but i remember that great skit, i'm going to vote for you next time. al: believe me. i write about the 2008 campaign and everything i'd ever done in comedy was put through a $15 million machine the republicans -- charlie: looking for an attack ad. al: to create an attack ad but they put everything through a dehumorizer. charlie: explain that. you write about it several times. al: this machine was built with israeli technology which would decontextualize anything i've ever written. in satire and comedy you use irony and hyperbole. sometimes when those things are taken out -- i'll give you an example. so, i wrote this joke which was -- is a very conservative joke, because it was warning parents about the internet and you should

trish: before we wonk out, i want to talk about the consequences of that, heather. if you actually start to see interest rates spike, if rates, what are we at 2.25 on treasury yields? >> 2.23 on the 10-year. trish: if that starts to move significantly higher pretty soon you get yourself at a point, heather, it becomes very suffocating to pay interest on our debt, why we worked up about the 20 trillion number to begin with. >> yes, you're right, hello. $20 trillion in debt. we can't even pay interest cost on that debt if interest rates do rise. not ownly, i know it's a wonky term but inverted yield curve, when credits dry up, banks won't lend any money because they're not making any money, that is the biggest risk if we see interest rates rise, but not only on rising debt. trish: i have to say to everyone, this is absolutely fascinating stuff, it really is. this is economics at work. it is fascinating because this is also such unchartered territory. the federal reserve never went out and made all those asset purchases until ben bernanke. no one ever had to unwind a 4

on the other end of that, it's very clear president trump is not a policy wonk, someone who pored over what he wants the american health care system to look like. he wants republicans to get it done, and i think there is some frustration on capitol hill that the president hasn't been out there doing rallies, something that he loves to do, something that he could do to energize the base around this. instead, a lot of members go home and hear from liberal activists at town halls telling them they don't want them to support the bill. i think there is a little frustration there that the president is not taking the lead on this. >> melissa, what's next, if the president calls them chuck and nancy back to dinner, trying to work out a deal with democrats. the president, of course, appreciated the praise when he came up with the deal relating to the debt ceiling and harvey aid. not so much the pushback from conservatives on the daca deal, but is that potentially in the cards? >> i think we'll have to see. in terms of health care, republicans are pressing up very quickly against a september 30t

a lot of the policy wonks will tell you that there's going to be some serious sticker shock in termssured as the previous bills. and we'll wait for that to come to see if that affects the process. >> john kirby, we'll talk about london and the terror attack earlier this morning. shortly afterward the president tweeted another attack by a loser terrorist. these are sick and demented people who were in the sights of scotland yard. must be proactive. to which the british prime minister, theresa may, responded by saying this. >> i never think it is helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing information. as i've just said, the police and security services are working to discover the four circumstances of this cowardly attack. and to identify all those responsible. >> did the president's comments udermine or hurt the investigation? >> i don't know, it is maybe too early to say whether it hurt, it certainly didn't help any and it was inappropriate. this was hours after, not even hours after this, when he tweeted that. and then she had to respond. and she was right to slap him ba

these people -- [ applause ] >> but you know, the folks who did the work, it wasn't just policy wonks. it wasn't just politicians. it was moms and dads. people who had the experience of a sick child or crushing medical bills that threatened to bankrupt them. maybe a parent who was lost to cancer that had that person got a regular checkup might have been caught earlier. and those voices from every walk of life in every corner of the country against all odds made a difference. and for the first time, more than 90% of americans know the security of health insurance. paying more for insurance or being denied insurance browse because of a pre-existing condition or because you're a woman is not a thing anymore. weigh got rid of that. people are alive today because of it. and that's progress. now, the legislation that we passed was full of things that still need to be fixed. it wasn't perfect. but it was better. and so when i epeople trying to undo that hard-won progress for the 50th or 60th time with bills that would raise costs or reduce coverage, or roll back protections for older america

kind of diagrams and the charts that are -- you know, i read because i am kind of a health policy wonk but most people don't have an appetite for. >> and doctors are about their patient's stories. in the end, one thing that really struck me is like many of us who watched health reform, i repeated the phrase, you know, a hundred times about we are looking for patient center evidence based care. at some point, i stepped back with researching the book and thought wait a second what other kind of health care could there be? >> guest: i think i was in er daca so the chief complaint they got was its high prices and unaffordable health care. i don't think anyone republican democrat independent for libertarians would disagree with that. >> host: how did we get to those high prices? what is the diagnosis? >> guest: this is where the history of present illness has to pull itself out and i think what i realized as i was digging into that is this is kind of a classic case of the road to hell is paved with good intentions. you see a new idea come and that was a good idea and then it somehow gets ki

he's not a policy wonk. he's not a public intellectual. why is he doing this?ut i believe as unanimous said, senator bill cassidy set him up for this when he declared that there's a jimmy kimmel test. and in some ways he actually had an obligation to respond to this bill. >> he said, my name is on it. what, am i not supposed to respond to it? go on. >> right. exactly. so if he had said nothing, it is entirely possible people would have inferred he has no problem with this bill when clearly he does have a problem. it is interesting to note i believe there was a daily beast story that came out today that suggested in fact kimmel's staff had actually been in contact with chuck schumer's staff to get information about the nature of the bill so when he did deliver his monologues he would actually be armed with some degree of facts. and i believe politifact rated some of his more recent monologues and did stretch the truth or exaggerated -- >> i want to move on. i want to talk about the -- i'm sorry. finish your thought. sorry about that. >> no. that was all i was go

that's point number one, this interparty republican wonk war that we're going to see play out over the next couple days. the second point i would quickly make, you have this big issue called flood insurance. we just heard from that interview, people who have been impacted by this horrific tragedy, flood insurance is actually due to expire in the next couple of weeks, and where conservatives are talking about how to reform that. you're going to be hearing a lot about the government's role in the flood insurance program over the next couple of weeks as well. >> many thanks to kevin and erin. and we will see you both later. >>> well, places like beaumont, texas, continue to experience major flooding and loss of power. nbc's mariana atencio is live in beaumont just outside flooded interstate 10. what is the latest there? >> reporter: that's right, alex, and i appreciate the conversation you were just having with your panelists about flood insurance, because that's precisely what is on so many people's minds today, five and six days after this devastating storm hit this area. businesses lik

deserters and military families torn asundayer by those political questions as well as the policy wonks from the pentagon as well as the wet behind their ears reporters like neil shee han who were hang shus to go there and report on the triumph of democracy over this evil communism and only when they got there and suddenly realized the reports from the field were not what the press offices in sigh gone or the pentagon were saying that they suddenly become our agents in this, saying what is going on. and then we have these two presidents, johnson and nixon who are tape recording themselves and have forgotten it. which is the greatest gift to historians. >> rose: we'll hear from swron son. but we also hear his doubts about the war. >> that is the thing so amazing. usually we're trying to do a bottom up story, so called ordinary people across every stripe. and then you've got this more abstract-- abstract top down policy consideration. but when you've got a guy who is making that policy, showing his-- his anxieties and his concerns, his angst or you hear the real-- . >> rose: almost crying

he's not a policy wonk. why is he doing this?s unanimous said, senator bill cassidy set him up for this when he declared that there's a jimmy kimmel test. and in some ways he actually had an obligation to respond to this bill. >> he said my name is on it. what am i not supposed to smond to it? go on. >> right. exactly. so if he had said nothing, it is entirely possible people would have inferred he has no problem with this bill when clearly he does have a problem. it is interesting to note i believe there was a daily beast story that came out today that suggested in fact kimmel's staff had actually been in contact with chuck schumer's staff to get information about the nature of the bill so when he did deliver his monday logs he would actually be armed with some degree of facts. and i believe politifact rated some of his more recent monday logs and he did stretch the truth or exaggerated. >> i want to move on. i want to talk about the -- i'm sorry. finish your thought. sorry about that. >> no. that was all i was going to say. >>

also remember this is a little bit wonky, but we'll do wonk for a second here.l with 51 votes expires at the end of the month. >> what happens then? >> they need 60 votes to repeal it and so there's got to be something more than this. there's a lot of things on the table and not much time and will. >> danger i have been told to expect it. >> i do expect it now. >> ron, say that they're not able to pass the debt ceiling and the government shuts down, how does that affect harvey relief? does it? >> well, certainly if harvey relief somehow passes before that disbursements will stop. you know not passing the debt ceiling is more cataclysmic, because it means our government is in default for first time in history. it's failure to pay our debts, failure to pay our bills that will erode the u.s. credit rating. long term economic ramifications for our country. they have a big agenda. you have to add daca which will become a legislative matter depending on what president trump decides on tuesday. you have a very crowded agenda and a president who doesn't seem to sweat th

process and the importance of speech making probably than i did at the time because i was a real policy wonk and thinking about arms control proposals and so on, but i realized that reagan probably because of being an actor understood the power of a speech. >> that's right. >> so he, you know, we would get speech drafts back. we wrote a very important speech at the beginning of the second reagan administration where george schultz, finally vanquished cap wineberger and richard pearl and this was pre-gorbachev, what it was, the message was we're going to start talking to the russians and here are the categories we're going to talk about and reagan invited the whole dip the maic core to the east room of the white house to give that speech and schultz and i really wrote that speech and schultz insisted it didn't go to the speech writers. he wanted it to be word perfect and we got a draft back that was all written up. i saw it, and he said who got a hold of the speech at the white house? no. that's ronald reagan's handwriting. >> it's extraordinary for those students in the audience, if you go t

has in the past and acknowledging that the fed may not understand the dynamic and may have policy wonks. she doesn't quite concede that and essentially ends up concluding, supporting the fed's current gradual rate hike policy, but leaves open the chance of easier policy in the future if inflation doesn't cooperate, moving back towards the first degree's 2% goals. she says, quote, persistently lower health care costs continue, achieving our 2% inflation grow over the medium term may require a more accommodative stance of monetary policy than might otherwise be appropriate. she said policy could be easier than anticipated in the future the fed is already on. and the fed should also be wary of moving too gradually and sources of low inflation should fade over time guys, i'll just conclude there and say it's a speculative speech that goes further than it has in the past that says, there could be stuff at work, globalization, technology, other things at work that are keeping prices low the fed may have to adjust but because there are risks on the other side, she's onboard with this continual

in the process, they tell a story that for a policy wonk at least is close to astonishing. based on government tax records, the income for the typical retiree household is nearly one third higher than we previously thought. poverty is substantially lower, and the typical retiree has an income very close to what he or she enjoyed prior to retirement. that's good news. it shows america's retirement system in a new light. we don't know what the future will bring in light of increasing life-spans and the decade-long shift to defined contribution plans like 401(k)s. and they don't make predictions regarding those future outcomes. but more accurate data do seem to show that americans retirement incomes would need to drop a great deal further before we could consider our retirement system to be in crisis. i'm very happy to welcome our two presenters. our first is peter brady, a senior economist in retirement. following peter will be joshua mitchell, who is a senior economist at the u.s. census bureau. thank you very much for coming and welcome to aei. but both pete and josh are pr

it brings a lot of policy expertise as well as a wonk at heart. marry those up exceedingly well. last but not least, well mets who was the former j2 for u.s. specific command, u.s. cyber command and also had roles inside the intelligence community as well as the u.s. navy and is also one of our senior fellows. thank you to the panelists here. i want to duodeep with some of the deterrence related questions. i think maybe start with you to sort of paint the picture it is some of the opportunities to get to a deterrent approach. what should we be thinking about? what is missing? i would argue it is greatly one of our big holes in our cyber defense strategy but help us think through some of that. >> thank you very much. let me put a plug as a 21 year member of the neighal guard. it can help us get involved in the cyber domain. when i'm often asked the question around cyber deterrence i was always hard press. it doesn't naturally send lend it's sell. there are so ch many more across the number of different add ver sars. so m -- what are you trying to deter? from my seat we were trying