Briefing this morning to discuss economic and workplace issues for businesses. Live coverage begins at 10 30 eastern. Coming up, the white house columnist for the hill will talk about the trump administration. Host President Trump pitching tax reform calling on lawmakers to deliver on this once in a Generation Opportunity are hardworking americans. Democrats say the plan aims to cut taxes for the wealthiest americans. We will spend the first hour of washington journal getting your opinions on the american tax code. If you make under 50,000, call in on 202 7488000. And 100,000,0 your line is 202 7488001. For those who make over 150,000, call 202 7488002. Join us on twitter or go to facebook. To your experience paying taxes in just a minute. First, lets listen to the president yesterday. Trump tax relief for middleclass families. [applause] President Trump i have been saying this for a long time. They have been the forgotten people. They are not forgotten any longer. I can tell you that. We will lower taxes for middle income americans so they can keep more of their hardearned paychecks and do lots of things with those paychecks. That really means buying ideally made in this country. That means they will spend their money and it will be a beautiful thing to watch. This includes helping parents afford childcare and the cost of raising a family. That is so important to ivanka trump. [applause] very, very important to everyone in this room, but very important to my daughter. It is one of her big beliefs and she is very committed to that. Right . Ordinary americans know better than washington how to spend their own money. We want to help them take home as much of their money as possible and then spend it. Host President Trump in springfield did not offer details on his tax agenda plan. That needs to be worked out with congress. The democrats on capitol hill, nancy pelosi, responding by saying this in a statement. Instead of offering the American People a plan for job creating tax reform, President Trump is pushing a billionaires for his trickledown tax scheme that hands out massive tax cuts to the wealthiest at the expense of american families. Democrats believe that hardworking americans deserve a real tax reform with better jobs, wages, and a better future. We will demand not one penny in tax cuts for the top 1 . Oft has it been like for all you to pay taxes. Under 50,000, good morning. Caller good morning. I go to work every day. I am one of the people that think the country work. I work overtime when granted and recovering from the surgery i am recovering from now i had 2000 hours of overtime to date. The government possibly demanding more of my money just as a couple of quick examples, democrats are bashing republicans on their opposition to the relief bill justifiably helping the people in dallas. In mississippi and alaska, this is what we have to deal with the government. Of our money. Much democrats are talking about tax cuts for the rich. They pay the taxes. He top 1 one out of 100 pay 40 of the federal income taxes. Half of the people pay 97 . If youre going to give tax cuts it is going to be for the people that pay taxes. Host how have you seen your tax bill change over the last few years . Caller living in the peoples republic of maryland, when you add up not only income taxes, gaseverything else taxes, payroll taxes if you are running a business you have even more piled on top. Allow these people to run their own business. It could be a familyowned business. You maybe get a cup of coffee. If they dont go through all of the tax preparations with the corporation set up they pay the same tax rate as everyone else. People give half of their money to the government when you add up federal, state, and local taxes. They are greedy. Host under 50,000 as well. Good morning. Morning. Ood i am so grateful for cspan. Thank you for everything you have been doing, and thank you for booktv on the weekends. Anyways, it make under 50,000 and i think the tax code is fair. Thank you, america, for our loss system, roads, bridges, everything our taxes provide. It is hypocritical of our president to tell people in texas we are going to help them and spend all of this money to get them out of the situation we where hehen come over went last and tell everyone else we need to cut taxes. I would like to say it is hypocritical of the republicans, because they want a littler government, but who is the first have their hands out when a disaster strikes . It is not the size of the government, it is that we all need help. Im grateful to pay my taxes and live in america. Thats all i have. Thank you, cspan. Host has your tax bill gone of in recent years gone up in recent years . Caller no. No. No. Host we will go to john in pennsylvania, over 150,000 dollars. What is it like to pay taxes making over 150,000 . Caller it is fine. Taxes are the price of civilization. This is the same junk that the republicans have been spinning since the middle 1980s with reagan. It is trickledown economics. It has never worked. If that fellow in maryland ever drove to pennsylvania he would see why we pay taxes. They have great roads in maryland. In pennsylvania they have terrible roads. Is, look at the disparity of the income since 1973. I hope you have those statistics and can bring those up. Salary for the lower incomes are flat or negative. Taken 90 the 10 has of the wealth, the new wealth. Companies, corporations, they do stock buybacks and hide money pay their ceos exorbitant salaries. We need to change the tax code to help the middle and lower class. Host do you think President Trump can do that . Caller he cant do anything. He has never got anything to back up his overthetop statements. Health care. Cheaper, better, all this other stuff. Tax reform, the republicans and democrats both are just going to ignore him, like mattis did yesterday, and the secretary of state did. Of a human being, and he happens to be the president of the united states. Jons thoughts in pennsylvania. I dont have the statistics he was talking about, but i do have these. It was a story put together why a conservative website based on the bureau of labor statistics on tuesday. D americans spend more on taxes then food and clothing. According to the bls, the same 20132016, the average tax bill for americans increased 41 . The article goes on to say that taxes have increased for americans. Now, americans pay more in taxes than they do for food and clothing. Is that the case with all of you this morning . We want to get your thoughts. More calls coming up. The latest on Tropical Storm harvey in the newspapers this morning. The Washington Post second landfall brings more flooding. City Officials Say much of port arthur, a city of 55,000, was underwater. A shelter flooded. To enter estimated one third of the buildings. 135,000 people were in shelters in houston. 37 were dead, and that water was climbing as water receded revealing the storms toll. Journalington refinery shutdowns reverberate. Restraining the superhighway of energy trade. Harvey shutdown 1 3 of Oil Refineries and is knocking on the door of the fourth. Including the two biggest, a Saudi Arabian company and port arthur and exxon mobils facility. Than 30 of more the u. S. Refining capacity. More than 3 Million Barrels a day of Refining Capacity in texas remains shut on monday morning. Shattered refineries said thatrefineries they were planning to start again. Thatoes for houston warned they will be close for a while. So for thea set u. S. A flotilla of european fuel tankers will sail to the u. S. In the wake of harvey as oil traders scramble to replace the petrol knocked out by the worst storm in 50 years. Ship brokers in london said 40 cargoes of petrol were being negotiated. Well up on the usual volume. Traders were asking for flexibility to deliver to the atlantic seaboard or gulf coast depending on when ports reopen. That on the oil sector. On the cost of Hurricane Harvey and the Tropical Storm, rain ceases, misery remains. That is the front page of usa today. Their headline, harvey could be the costliest u. S. Disaster. Compare that to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 50 billion. Hurricane andrew in 1992, 24 billion dollars. Superstorm sandy in october of 2012 was 20 billion. The earthquake in california 20 billion in 2004, and hurricane ike 14 billion. We will talk more about the cost therecovery effort with former fema director during the bush administration, michael brown. Also taxpayers face the biggest share of the bill expected to top 50 billion. As we talk with you about your experience paying taxes, that is the headline. 10 billion is the estimated bill taxpayers face for repairs. The forecast of damage to cars is 4 billion cost of a Hurricane Harvey. They note that in Insurance Companies may not make residential flood layouts, but they are facing multibilliondollar claims on policies. Standard car policies do cover flood damage. At as muchis put as 4 billion. Back to our conversation with you. Your experience paying for taxes as President Trump calls on lawmakers in washington to see what he says is a once in a Generation Opportunity. Houston, texas making under 150,000. 50,000, well under. 20 should not get a tax cut. 22 trillion in debt. Houston is an in trump saw. Han he comes for five hours and leaves. President obama is on the ground for days in new jersey. 500,000 cars have been destroyed. 250,000 homes with water in them. The death tolls going up. 38 now. Dead so far and you think it will go higher. Caller the federal response has been horrible. Troops and 200 high water vehicles. They are using bass boats, plucking them out tothree at a time. We need hundreds of high water vehicles. I have only seen a couple of helicopters. We need to hundred helicopters. It is worse than katrina. Houston is huge. We have people still underwater. Host what about you. What is your situation . What happened to your home . Caller im ok. I am way up north. 10ple south of interstate have water in their homes. I dont see what they are going to do. They are talking about 45,000 people defaulting on their homes and leaving. On what happened in katrina. It is horrible. The federal response has been terrible. 20,000 more troops, we need helicopters, high water vehicles immediately. Im very displeased with what ted cruz has done. Multimillion dollar homes on Buffalo Bayou flooded, the whole first floor of these multimillion dollar homes flooded. Make ofat do you senator cruzs criticism of money that went to Superstorm Sandy . He tried to hold up that money. He was critical of getting out that much of taxpayer dollars. What do you think now as his state will need money from washington . Caller well, the northeast got their money, so we want our money. Billioning to be a 160 in damages. I dont agree with what ted cruz thinks or says. I dont think he has done a good job of getting federal personnel , military people, down here. Toy are using bass boats pluck people out of flooded subdivisions. Houston is huge. The size of the houston area and how much has been flooded, the entire city of houston one third of houston is underwater. 1 3 of houston. I didnt agree with anything that ted cruz said. Host his home is fine, but giving us the lay of the land for the rest of the area. We are talking about President Trumps pitch for tax reform yesterday. He went to springfield, missouri. The midwestern town hearing according to the washington journal because of its proximity to historic route 66, a symbol of american middleclass prosperity and culture. He called for the tax plan to be bipartisan. Some would appeal to democrats including assistance for middleclass families and economic growth. The president s call for doubling the standard deduction and vagueness on tax provisions makes it harder to calculate how a typical family would benefit. Ondidnt offer any details wednesday. Mr. Trump plans to lower business taxes significantly, for highividual taxes income households. It has found little support among democrats. Some have called his speech deceptive and vague. In indianapolis, making between 30,000 and 150,000. What is your experience paying taxes . Caller fairly low because i dont have a lot of income, and i have some deductions. I think i ought to be paying more. I think the Social Security that is difficult to rationalize that we can continue to do these Social Securitys. I talked to a lady the other day, 60 nine, and she will go to 70 and expects 40,000 a year. Let me get on to the bigger goingabout what should be on in congress as we return. There is a chance for the republicans to join the unity we are finding in america to join with the democrats and, with a plan which would require cutting spending and raising taxes. Let me give you one fear, the wasp plan that he put out reviewed by the kennedy nonpartisan tax policy standard. They found it would add 3. 5 decade tover the next our deficits. Our deficit right now for this is 700 billion. The Congress Budget office projected that if we keep going at the pace we are going, deficits, since the great depression, if we keep going with those kinds of deficits of 700 billion, theyre as to mid from the congressional their estimate from the congressional 10et office is projecting trillion in deficits from now 2027, the next 10 years. We have to get together, all americans, pay a little more taxes and take some hits on spending. Get what deductions do you that lowers your tax bill to the point you think you could pay more . Caller i have to get assistance to get my taxes done. There is no way im capable of doing my own taxes, which is another disgrace. In waterford works, new jersey. Welcome to the conversation. Caller good morning. President trump is speaking on taxes when he wont even show his own tax returns. Did see his tax returns it came out that he hasnt paid taxes in over a decade. The problem with the republican tax plan is it is another plan to give more money to the tolthy, and take more money the least of these. Historically, since Ronald Reagan put a lot of things in place. Do ore did first was credit card. Since Ronald Reagan millionaires and billionaires have more than millionaires and billionaires have been made and more than tripled the people put into poverty. When president obama had an infrastructure plan in place to deal with some of the things that are really affecting us today, especially in texas, the. Epublicans sat on it we didnt get nothing done. When President Trump comes into office, he goes we are to have this infrastructure program. President obama tried to have one and they didnt get nothing done. As far as donald trump, wealthy people dont pay taxes. 90 because them at they had an accountant, they didnt pay taxes anyway. Like the boxer who was giving millions of dollars to the federal government because he was not educated enough to have an accountant. Who actually about pays. The president talked about his different plans for tax reform. One of those being reducing the Corporate Tax rate. [video clip] comes tomp when it the business tax, we are dead last. Can you believe that . This cannot be allowed to continue any longer. America must lead the way, not follow from behind. We have gone from the tax rate that is lower than our economic competitors, to one that is more than 60 higher. We have totally surrendered our Competitive Edge to other countries. We have totally surrendered. We are not surrendering anymore. [applause] pres. Trump ideal lee, and i say this for our secretary of the treasury, we would like to bring our business tax rate to 50 , making hours lower than most countries. Lowest,y no means, the unfortunately, in the world, but it would make us highly competitive. In other words, Foreign Companies have more than a 60 tax advantage over american companies. They can pay their workers more, sell their services at lower cost, and still make more money than their u. S. Competitor. We cannot restore our wealth if we continue to put our is mrs. At such a tremendous disadvantage. We must reduce put our businesses at such a tremendous disadvantage. Must reduce the tax rate so they create jobs in america and workers right here in america, the america we love. Host President Trump yesterday pushing tax reform. One of the principles of his plan would be reducing the Corporate Tax rate. He wants to take it as low as 15 . Reports today saying that is not a realistic number. If republicans can get to 25 , something they have pushed for, many see that as a victory. The president , yesterday, pitching this tax reform in springfield, missouri because of its proximity to route 66. The reaction from democrats, rob wieden tweeting out we dont know if President Trump would benefit from tax return because he refuses to release his tax return. There is new about the trump gop tax reform plan. Enny. Ep bernie sanders, heres what trump for ceos dont want you to know Corporate Tax cuts dont create jobs. They go into the pockets of wealthy ceos. We will go to ellen in pennsylvania who makes between 50,000 and 150,000. Caller i think we should lower the taxes. Especially state taxes. Think trump we should not have them at all. This is about more money going some of them are working for it, some of them deserve it, and some of them do not. Is makinge like pmc over 1 million in salary, that is disgraceful. Pennsylvania is being taxed to death. The governor is not a great governor. He has to go i hope the president continues to work his plan. Host and numeral call this morning, the president does fored plan to keep pushing tax reform, he will huddle with key governors and hold other events during the fall. Lawmakers return next week, the president will be meeting with some tax makers in the white house, according to the rollcall. Those include speaker paul ryan, the house ways and Means Committee chairman, the Senate Majority leader, mitch mcconnell, and also the National EconomicCouncil Director gary . In baltimore. 150,000 . Over thank you, for taking my call. This president has no interest in helping anyone but his empire. It why anyone would believe that someone born with wealth would have any understanding of individuals who have had to struggle and work hard. People who are working hard coming from poor families. And i makey husband well over 150,000. Lot,y seem like a but at the end of the day it is not, when you think about the insurance, the social taxes, medicaid, state, local and federal taxes that you have to pay. Every year when we do our taxes, we do them two ways. Should be them married or separately . Bracket,f the income we do not get certain do actions did actions. We cannot write we do not get certain deductions, we cannot loopholes because of the income bracket we are in. I think it is a disgrace that the that thees thought of reducing corporate would help any individual person making over 150,000. Every time they talk about reducing something, the middle class gets hit. What about his ideas of doubling the standard deduction, is that what you and your husband need . Caller if we utilize the deduction, i would not benefit us. We do the standard deduction, and we own a few properties because before we got married, i had a home and my husband did. But because it is a passive income, we only get to write off your interest rate, not a whole depreciation, the but that it is not like we are getting money, because you have two mortgages on those homes. That we pay, that is above that, depending on where you fall, you can or cannot take. We are not overly savvy with the tax code, we do our own taxes, and sometimes it is a little bit difficult. To have to go to different channels to make sure that you are getting fully, what you need. My husband and i owe federal and state taxes. It is not likely make a whole lot of money. We do have the deduction, that i do not believe that doubling the standard action for an individual. Host nancy come in michigan. Good morning to you, your turn. Caller good morning. Is an i think trump idiot, of course, but his tax plan,the republican tax they only two to big business and only toot big business upperclass people. Host , we can disagree, but let us not call names, let us keep it simple. , myer let us put it simply husband and i can hardly make it anymore. Time, having such a hard there are times that i think we should just claim bankruptcy. We never used to be like this. What are you some of your big expenses . Caller everything, food, clothing, everything. Host taxes . I just think that the average middle class is going down the drain. Anything, big corporations are getting richer and richer and businesses are not coming back to the united states. A lot of things were taken over by robotics. Host ok, nancy there in michigan. The bureau of labor statistics put out a survey that shows that american are paying more in taxes. Average income before taxes in 2014, 2 2016. At the average annual 2016,itures, 57,000 in 7000 of that going for foot, housing about 18,000, shelter, 11,000, apparel and services, about 2000. Ransportation, about 9000 and Health Care Costs about ,4600 for the average family cash contributions, personal insurance making up about 6,800 , pensions and Social Security about 6,500. You can find this data if you go to the bureau of labor statistics website. There it is on your screen. We will go to nancy in michigan sorry mark and philadelphia. Hello mark . Caller i did a quick calculation and we do pay more in taxes, but i am saying federal state and local, we are paying more taxes than clothing. Ood, and actually, it probably gets close to food, shelter and clothing, which is hard to believe. Ofare sitting in the city philadelphia, one of the cities which is most highly taxed. Host hasnt gone up in recent years, your tax will your tax bill . Caller yes, it has. Your property taxes, then we have the soda tax, i do not know if you know about it. Now, a soda in the city of philadelphia costs more than beer. Alsoto believe there are cigarette taxes, which are second only to new york city. So not only are they kneeling youon are they kneeling nailing you are not those kind of taxes, but youre paying more in other ways. Host thank you, mark from philadelphia. Joe, in maryland, go ahead. Caller good morning. Experienceis your paying taxes . Caller with the latest tax increase, with the Affordable Care act, and living in maryland, taxes are fairly high. But i would feel much more generous to pay more taxes, if i people, theike most money was being spent in a more appropriate way, trying to solve her problems. One of the things trying to solve real problems. Different things is a Hurricane Relief problems, and if you look at the bill from sandy, if you go through the itemized bill, there was a report in the wall street journal that only about two thirds of the money ended up being spent in new jersey. Your hard to feel like money is being used appropriately, when things of that nature happen. The other point i wanted to make sure is that the the tax rate, the Corporate Tax rate is being cut in this plan, but we have one of the highest Corporate Taxes in the world. But it just makes sense to reduce our taxes to make our products and services, and even our employees be more attractive to foreign investors. I think we get so caught up in partisanship that we do not realize that we are competing for the worlds goods and services, and then buying our products on a global basis. A lot of the agreements, the trade agreements, especially our tax code, we are not using the ability to invest in ourselves on a global scale. Power,uld have as much in income, as well as employment in our country. Host joe is mentioning the money that went to Superstorm Sandy, saying that some of it did not even go to areas that were hit by the storm. Now, we are faced by the cost of Hurricane Harvey, and the Tropical Storm, and usa today is putting the price tag, according to Moody Analytics at 160 billion, as being the potential cost. Larger than recent storms that we have seen. Abbottas governor, greg yesterday, talking about the impact of the storm when you look at comparisons, the population size and square mile size of the area impacted, both by the hurricane swath and the flooding, is far larger than katrina. For larger than sandy. Correctly, and i will not have a precise number here, my recollection is that the katrina funding was well over 100 billion. Over 125 billion. On a parallel standard, it should be far in excess of that amount. I want you to know, i have been working with senator cornyn who is on the Senate Finance committee, who has provided me the categories of funding that were provided for fema. We are working to use those categories as a general outline of what will be provided. Host Texas Governor there saying that the cost will be much more for taxpayers than it was for Hurricane Katrina and other recent storms. The president yesterday in missouri, talked about those who experienced loss from Hurricane Harvey. Those americans who lost loved ones, all of america is grieving with you, and our hearts are joined with yours forever. The citizens of texas, in the gulf coast, need all of the prayers, support and resources that our communities have to offer. Icovery will be to half, but have seen their resilience of the american spirit firsthand, all over this country. To the people of houston, across texas and louisiana, we are here with you today. Tomorrow, and with you every single day after, to restore, recover and rebuild. ,he president yesterday there talking about the impact of tropical harvey. Host most of you this morning want to know we want to know the idea of forming the tax code, what you think about that. We have a caller from south carolina, under 150,000, what is it like for you to pay taxes . Here init is very hard, beaufort county, they continue to raise taxes. They have money down there that they do not even know to do with. I was sitting in one of the meetings, and one of the City Council Members said we have to billion we have 2 million over here, what do we do with that . We need to give the money back. And they said no, we will just set it over here and use it for something else. Ought to the president know whats wrong, because he set himself on national tv, that he would not show anyone his taxes. So he ought to know how to fix it, ok . If you knows how to fix it, he needs to tell us how he got around it, not letting us know and not paying taxes for years host lets go to andre in all the branch, mississippi. Under, youre on the air. Caller thank you for taking my call. Taxes,no problem paying i do not think there is a big difference now, and 10 years ago. People have to understand, when youre working for leaving, and paying taxes, your taxes create jobs, and maintain jobs. You cut taxes acrosstheboard nationwide, state or locally, then you are losing jobs. , thee in the olive branch south haven area, it is really a suburb of memphis, tennessee. When these taxes are cut in cities, it is really horrible. The cannot keep police, firemen are losing their insurance, police as well, it is a terrible, terrible thing. When you cut taxes, youre not maintaining the infrastructure of where you live. People have to understand that, when you cut taxes, you lose jobs and those people are no longer spending money, because they do not have a job. 75 of the people who work, they spend all of their money. Not many of them save their money. That money is put back into the flow of the economy. Quit cutting taxes, people. It is not going to help the working class. Host suzanne, from pennsylvania, what do you think . Good morning. Host you make over 150,000 . Caller i have in the past. I have very hard times paying my family, we do not have a problem paying taxes. Usually all of my taxes are included in my fathers and my fathers accounting. Investment mothers and fathers accounting. I have no money for taxes, no everythingater, costs money. Has is what donald trump added to the homeless epidemic. Old, 7286, sevento86, and that is what the president has done to me. Host what has the president unto you, how has he done it . Caller by tweeting. I respect, it is about taxes, if you have shelter, then you have a safe place to be. Pennsylvania, im from chester hill, pennsylvania, so i everything that pennsylvania has to offer a very safe place. We do not have run off, because we have fracking. Host thank you. Edward, from tennessee . Caller good morning. Did taxeske to know, pay for congressman, all of the staff, people all there in the white house . Toy are not doing nothing help the tax agenda. And they want to go and all of this stuff going on. Wet on a sacrifice their vacations and stay where they need to be, to get some of this stuff past . That is a good question. Jerry, from california. He makes between 50000 and 150,000. Say, and would like to be very clear, i am a single person. I was verymarried, familiar with the comment about the other caller made, that it was hard to say whether he was to marry to file joint or separate taxes. Career iin my entire close to at times 150,000 in my career, and my taxes, have always been as an independent, with no children, nothing to claim as a writeoff, i do not have grants, nothing coming from the government. Cents out ofthing every single dollar that i make, the more i make the more i take. People need to understand, be very clear, your taxes are going specifically to grants and programs that people should be putting in themselves. We are really taking care of those, and when i say we, i do not consider myself middleclass. Idol have student loans, idle have certain things, but stop blaming donald trump. I do not have student loans, i do not have certain things, but, stop blaming donald trump. He has always been the same person, and im more intrigued by all of this commentary about people being surprised. I am more surprised by those who are good and cap and explain away the taxes theyre talking about, someone said that because listen, you need to go to your councilman, those shelters that people are supposed to be paying for. Taxes are paying for shelters that are not being erected. Host ok, jerry, we will leave it there. Theres a story on the hill newspaper website contaminated water is one of the concerns, huge swaths of houston are submerged in as much as 30 of water. Experts say that all sorts of chemicals are likely to be in that water. Houston is a major center for the oil and gas industry, adding to those worries. Mosquitoes, all of the stagnant water will also provide new mosquitoes, bringing more diseases. Harder forakes it people to treat Health Conditions they already had, and mold as well, is another longterm issue that is a problem which a vacuum these may not realize is a problem, until after the waters recede. According to the Washington Post, cdc found mold in more than 50 of homes after Hurricane Katrina. There are thousands of people crowding into shelters and there is a risk of disease spreading you to close contact. The federal Emergency Management agency says that there are over 30,000 people in 230 shelters across texas in shelters. There is also this story and political this morning about the russian investigation, special Counsel Robert Mueller teaming up with the new York Attorney general in the Paul Manafort probe. The corporation is the latest sign that the investigation is intensifying. Couldco reports that it potentially provide muller with the additional leverage to make men afford cooperate in a larger investigation into trump campaign. Be two teams have shared evidence, and one of the people familiar with progress on the case says that there has been evidence collected on financial crimes, including potential money laundering. That is the latest on that. There was also this in the new york times, human official schools the president s the u. N. Official schooled in the president for attacking these media. The human rights chief of the u. N. Said that the president s repudiation of some Media Outlets as fake news could amount to incitement of violence and have potentially dangerous consequences outside the united states. Also another story in the Washington Post, the fda has cleared its first gene altering therapy for child leukemia, the 475,000, making it one of the most expensive. Oncologyigh price of policies, with people expressing displeasure. Noting that the federal government has spent billions of dollars on basic research, paving the way for the drug. Excesseslled the drug the drug price excessive. David in oil city, pennsylvania. Good morning to you. We are talking about your tax bill every year, what is it like . Caller greta, what i am calling about is the income tax question. There are a large number of businesses, and individuals who work off the books. In other words, they have income that does not show up on federal income tax forms. Oft is a very big part people escaping or avoiding taxes. It is widespread. I know of Small Business that i go to frequently, and they always ask, do you need a receipt . If you say no, they bring it up on a different key, so that it on the books, and they avoid paying income taxes as a result of that. I know individuals with very nice incomes, from jobs that are under the table, they get paid under the table, but there is no record of it. Of the major problems, only the honest people, only the people that are getting all of their income reported, pay income taxes at the level that they should. Many people, and unique companies as well avoid paying the full income tax. Host ok. Angelo in new haven, connecticut. Caller good morning, i wanted to remind people that the Republican Party unfortunately started something years ago, as far as paying taxes. Reagan is the one who introduced these the Social Security tax, and after that point we had very low taxes, and as time went on, we moved to taxes. Now, what President Trump is talking about, from 35 to 15 , and not even mentioning what the middle class is supposed to get in savings, saying that all he has overlooked that somehow, people do not seem to believe that republicans are for the wealthy even in the last eight years, the money they have been making not seenealthy, i have any fulltime jobs, just parttime jobs, with hardly no benefits. Now he is talking about lowering the taxes from overseas, to this country. It seems like everything that ran on, he is not fulfilling his promises. Im not even talking about obamacare, im talking about taxes. Host in the Washington Post, there is a report from the Washington Institute of policy studies, which comes solidly against argument, asserting that more tax that reap savings are not likely to expand their workforce. Since the tax code is full of loopholes, most firms already pay less than 35 . The average rate for taxes for most businesses with 22 three 2007 and 2011. Fran, in a Jacksonville Florida am a good morning. Under 150,000. Caller yes, i wholeheartedly agree with the Washington Post. In those we patriot moneys that trump says, trillions of dollars from offshore, those countries that , for ourng the money corporations, they are getting pretty savvy about this. Ireland, and other countries, they see that they are not getting what they should, and they are raising their rates. They are trying to get up to where we are, not trying to get down. So those Companies Want to come back here. We should not have to pay them to come back here. And when they come, theyre not going to do desk or not going to create jobs, we know already that trickledown does not work. We should not be relying on them to do something for the people, when the money goes straight to the top, they get richer and richer and people suffer. Host kevin, in pennsylvania, what do you think . Wonder,sometimes i just i might getting my buck that i am paying in taxes, and my reaching my maximum potential for that dollar . Or is most of it wasted . What do you think, kevin . Caller sometimes it is hard to see. There are a lot of background things that the government does, that people do not see. Good things, they do a lot of research, they bring up new ideas, and they make stuff with this research. Sometimes you do not see this stuff, i just wonder, am i getting my net worth out of what i am paying for in taxes . 2014, when i was under obama, it seemed like i was paying more. It went up. I was getting less back. I had 750 back, from 14,000, im getting nothing back almost. Host one more story from rollcall, the government outlines its Corruption Case against new jersey democratic senator bob menendez. Some arguments are about the Senate Ethics rules. This report comes from a reporter following the case out of florida, saying that the federal Law Enforcement is putting a case against the senator alleging a pattern of corruption that includes a 20,000 flight to the local airport in fort otter tail. Four otter tail. Fort lauderdale. Caller i have discovered myself to be enslaved by taxes. Over 7,000 inid taxes, and i am selfemployed. For the working poor, our homes have also enslaved us. The amount of money that we estimate for property taxes keep going up but our incomes, due to immigration keep going down. We are fighting for jobs with immigrants. Taxes after and me into a slave, because all i do is work to pay my taxes. Enough for retirement, not for my family, just to pay Insurance Companies their money and taxes. Stay with us, coming up, we will be joined by the hills newspapers white house columnist nage to discuss the trump administrations Hurricane Harvey response. And later, michael brown, the former fema director under president bush will be here to discuss the Lessons Learned during Hurricane Katrina. Announcer sunday night on afterwards, we talk about the expression of federal government and what the country must do to move back to what the founders intended in his book rediscovering americanism. Have we reached the court where we cannot get back . Every now overwhelmed in the culture, and politics, in the media, with this progressivism notion of centralized government, phony egalitarianism, the smothering of individualism . Has it become so entrenched in our institutions, that there is no way to rip it out . I say this, we have to do everything we can to confront it, debate it, explain to our fellow citizens what is taking place. We simply have no choice. Watch afterwards sunday night at 9 p. M. Eastern on cspan twos book to be. Eastern,ay at noon author, speaker and radio host eric metaxas is our guest on book tvs in depth. America is not defined by ethnicity. Every religion exists in america. We are defined by an idea, we are the only country in the history of the world defined by an idea. Therefore, in order to keep the American Republic as franklin and joined us to do, we must know those ideas, we must buy into those ideas and we must live them out. His books include biographies on william wilberforce, and his latest if you can keep it, a book about american liberty. Join us, on sunday at 12 00 eastern on cspan two. Washington journal continues. Ge, the hillsana white house columnist, here to talk about the tropical a